AN: Back with another update for ADE. If you wondered where the heck I left the romance part of the story: It's slowly building up :-) If you wonder how old they are right now: I leave it to your fantasy. :P

Enjoy chapter IV and if you want to cheer up my day please leave a review.

CHAPTER IV
Needles & Pins

Silky material enveloped my limp body and kept me warm. My head hurt; I felt how my blood pulsed with a torturous pressure through it so that I sensed it in my ears. Slowly I awoke from the blackness that had held me in a tight grip. My palm met my forehead; my arms still weak from whatever knocked me out. I had no idea what happened to me. I tried to massage the headache away with my thumb and index finder on my temples, but it just seemed to make it worse. Still dizzy I let out a moan and opened my amber-olive eyes cautiously.

„Welcome back." I heard a familiar voice speak in gentleness. The words echoed through my aching head as I propped myself up and looked over to where it came from. My gaze was met by intense lavender irises.

I just answered with letting out yet another pain-stricken moan while I scanned my surroundings. It was Marik who sat beside my bed, his legs crossed like usual. His hand held a book which he flipped shut. ‚Was he here all the time?' I asked myself mentally as he placed the book on my nightstand.

„What happened?" I muttered and sat myself finally upright. „We've been to the valley of the kings… and found Ra. But everything is black from the moment we left the burial chamber…"

„Those fools haven't been attentive enough and missed a security guard. He attacked you and knocked you out with a taser." Marik explained sternly. His jaw tensed as he finished his sentence. It was more than obvious that this incidence had pissed him off.

„Oh… That explains why my head hurts like hell." I sighed. „How long did I sleep?"

„All the way back to the headquarter plus about two hours." He answered short and crisp and leant forward, his chin rested in his right palm and his lavender eyes scanned me carefully.

„And you've been here…" I swallowed before pressing out the last words of my question. „…all the time?"

His triangular golden earrings jiggled beside his jawline as he nodded, his orbs never leaving mine. My eyes went down to the silky bed sheet that covered my legs and I bit my bottom lip; unsure how to handle or react to the situation that he didn't leave my side while I've been knocked out. Since he changed so much I stopped to take his presence for granted; or his kindness or him caring for me, although I knew he did… in his own way.

"How are you now?" Marik's words cut through my thoughts and I looked back up at him.

"A bit dizzy. Besides that I think I'm okay… Could be worse." I said after I took a deep breath.

A slight smile emerged on his lips. My eyes followed him curiously as he stood up from the chair and drew a step closer; then he sat himself down in front of me on he bed. I inhaled deeply but didn't move as his index finger brushed away a hair strand from my forehead.

"I'm happy to hear that." Marik said almost whispering. My lips formed into a shy smile at his words, but didn't say anything in return. There was this awkward silence again; somehow it felt so comfortable. It was one of these moments in which I could loose myself completely in a lavender ocean.

Suddenly he broke the intense eye contact and grabbed something from my nightstand. I raised a brow as I saw that it was a newspaper. Marik flashed me an amused grin and handed it over to me.

"I thought you'd like to read the breaking news." Marik smirked and tapped his index finger two times into the front page of the newspaper. "I told you that it would be fun."

My eyes followed his finger and read the big headline above a big photo of Zaha Hadad. "World famous egyptologist claims to be abducted by aliens." I read out loud. With that Marik bursted out into laughter.

"Oh my god…" I sighed and covered my agape mouth with my palm.

"One of my best ones yet." Marik added after he caught his breath again.

"But you ruined his career, Marik." I urged and put the newspaper away without reading the whole article. I narrowed my eyes at him and felt sorry for what he did to Hadad's mind.

"He should have thought about that before he made deals with my precious sister, Jesara. One does not simply withhold my destiny from me and get away with it without paying the price." He answered back in his usual stern tone.

"However…" I exhaled, well aware of the fact that an argument like that wouldn't lead anywhere. It was time to change the topic. "Are the others and Odion alright? I mean… after I blacked out?"

Marik nodded cooly. "They are."

"Thank Ra…" I sighed.

"Except of the fool Ausar." Marik added.

I blinked at him in confusion. What did he mean by that? Did he also got tasered by that security guard?

"I expect my servants to be attentive all the time. He should have seen or at least checked the area twice for other security guards before we entered or left the burial chamber of king Sethos I. With being so unmindful he put the whole mission at risk and it caused that you were hurt. You know that I don't accept failures, Jesara." He spoke; his gaze remained icy.

"Did you…" I whispered, but I didn't dare to finish my question or say out loud what I thought.

"Send him to the shadows?" Marik continued for me and I nodded while I nibbled on my bottom lip. "That's where fools like him end up every time, Jesara."

I shot him a wistful glare. Ausar has been a quite nice guy, although I didn't know him well. Sometimes I thought about how full Marik's personal hell must be after such a short period of time. The shadow realm definitely was his own personal hell for people who disappointed him.

"I could have been more attentive too, Marik…" I sighed and blamed myself for the latest incidence too.

"Stop that." He hissed through clenched teeth. I stared at him; his harsh tone startled me. "It was his fault and wether yours nor mine. All of my servants have the purpose to obey and make sure to protect what's mine. He failed in protecting you as my wife. End of the story."

My cheeks blushed as the word wife left his lips. As his father arranged it for us to tie this knot the day before Marik's initiation we both had no idea what it meant. Things like that were so far away from our young and childish minds. The more we started to live in the modern world the more I learned about what they called ‚marriage'. And the more I got the actual meaning of it the more irritated I got when Marik called me that. Instead of getting closer to each other he seemed to become more and more distant to me… untouchable.

„Maybe you're right." I said to draw the line under this topic and the fate of poor Ausar.

„The Winged Dragon of Ra is finally in my possession and that's all that matters." Marik added seriously. A triumphant grin played on his lips again.

„What's next?" I asked short and crisp.

„Now we will search for Slifer and Obelisk. There will be a organisation meeting in half an hour to talk about the next steps." He answered and stood up from where he sat on the edge of my bed.

„Oh, I should get ready to be in time." With that I threw my legs out of the bed and wanted to stand up hastily.

„No." Marik cut me off and my movements froze by the second. My big eyes stared at him in confusion, waiting for him to tell me why. „You should get some more rest and I will update you later."

„But… Are you sure?" I asked again and sat back down on the bed.

„Yes." That's all he said and his demanding gaze bored right into mine. I just nodded and decided it was better to do as he said. Honestly I always hated those meetings. Marik then broke eye contact and turned for the door of my room.

„I'll look after you later." With that he left, with a silent click the door shut behind him and left me to the silence. I sighed as his calculated footsteps were out of hearable reach.

Slowly I stood up from where I sat on my bed and freshened myself up in the attached bathroom of my room. My fingers stroked over the bruise on my left side of my waist after I stepped out of the shower. It still hurt a bit, but things could be worse and at least I could tell that I was a tough girl. Then I dressed myself in one of my favourite sleeveless caftan dresses in a dark crimson shade decorated with golden ornaments on the chest and waist area. It was the most comfortable piece I could find within a second in my closet, besides that I always loved the cushy material.

From the corner of my eye I saw my deep purple cloak hanging over the chair by my vanity table and again a comfortable shiver ran down my spine as I thought about that he might undressed me from it. As I ran my fingers over it for no reason I noticed that it had a quite big snag in the bottom area. Maybe it happened when I stumbled to the ground because of that taser, but possibly it was fixable.

Getting some more sleep as Marik ordered me was out of question anyways. I was wide awake and felt like I've slept enough for about two days. After searching through all of my drawers of the vanity table I finally found a sewing kit. Although sewing and handcrafting stuff weren't my favourite things to do it was more exciting than doing nothing to kill the time. My thoughts drifted back to Marik's words yesterday and his plea that I hopefully won't ever consider to knit him a pullover with my two left hands. I chuckled mentally while I sat myself back onto the bed and started to sew my cloak.

Much to my surprise it worked just fine although I possibly was the most untalented person of the world. The sewing was quite meditating; I hummed the melody of the song 'All Of Me' by John Legend, which was one of my favourite songs lately. Somehow I lost every track of time while I did one stitch after another.

Suddenly the noise of an opening door startled me out of my concentration. "Ouch!" I shrieked as the needle stung deep into the tip of my left index finger, ignoring that someone just entered my room.

"What are you doing?" I heard Marik say as he stepped closer to the bed. He was dressed in his usual Rare Hunter attire and raised a curious brow as he looked down at me. I carefully eyed my slightly bleeding index finger before looking up at him. 'At least there was no need to amputate it.' I sighed mentally with a bit of sarcasm.

"Didn't I tell you to get some more rest until I return?" He urged again, his arms elegantly crossed in front of his chest.

"I know… I saw that my cloak had a big snag and decided to sew it to kill the time." I answered and looked back at my bleeding finger wryly.

"And kill yourself while you're at it…" Marik added with a sarcastic sigh and sat down in front of me. "What did I tell you about you and handcrafting in combination? Besides that we have servants who do stuff like that for us, Jesara."

I raised my eyes at him. "Caught in flagrante delicto…"

Marik stretched out his hand and motioned to show him my absolutely deadly injury. "Let me see if I need to take you to an emergency room." I loved how the sarcasm played in his gentle tone. At least we still had the same kind of humour.

I placed my left hand in his with my palm up. While he inspected my index finger carefully my amber-olive eyes stared at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Mh." Marik started to smirk. "You're lucky - it's not deadly."

"Thank Ra." I played along with his sarcastic diagnosis.

"A patch and 4 days of bedrest will do it." Marik grinned and opened the top drawer of my nightstand. My eyes followed his movements carefully as he pulled a box with patches from it. Again he gently grabbed for my left hand, but my heart skipped a beat or maybe 48 as his lips gently encircled the tip of my index finger. I inhaled deeply and swallowed hard from the touch. Smoothly he sucked away the tiny amount of red liquid from it. A sudden attack of sweating and a racing heart hit me like a sledgehammer. Marik just pulled a patch from the box on his lap cooly. Nervously I bit my bottom lip, not sure if I enjoyed the caring touch of his lips or if I should crawl up and die right here and now.

As my index finger left his lips he put the patch on it and laid my hand back into my lap.

"T-thank you." I stuttered nervously. My gaze was met by a smirk and pale lavender orbs staring straight into my soul. "Soooooo…. How was the meeting?"

"Nothing special at all. I ordered them to research for the hiding places of Slifer and Obelisk, such as checking the authenticity of Ra. I wouldn't be surprised if my precious sister hid a fake." Marik explained as if nothing ever happened a few moments ago.

"Sounds like a plan…" I answered randomly - at least to say something after that situation.

"Do you feel better now? Except of the attempted suicide with the needle?" Marik asked with a sarcastic smirk.

"Almost like nothing ever happened." I shot him a wry smile. "Why?"

"We found Ra. So I thought it was a good occasion to celebrate." His words made me cringe.

I blinked at him twice; confused and wondering about what's coming next. "Celebrate?"

Marik only answered with his smirk growing wider. Then he stood up and went over to my closet. I raised a curious brow as my eyes followed his steps. He pulled a long dress out of it and hung it on the door of my bathroom. It was the dark violet wrap dress he bought me a while ago during a shopping trip in Cairo.

"Be ready at six." Marik said short and crisp back in his demanding tone as he turned to look at me again. "I will order Odion to pick up your cloak and replace it with a new one."

"Ooookay…" I answered a bit overchallenged. "And where do we go to celebrate?"

"Just be ready at six and leave the rest to me." He commanded with a grin playing in his gaze. With that he turned on heel and left my room with calculated steps. My eyes locked with his pale lavender ones for a second as he looked back at me over his shoulder. When the door closed behind him I found myself back in the silence again, staring at the dark violet dress in front of me.

A sheepish smile crossed my lips at the thought of today's evening. My cheeks blushed as I looked down at my patched index finger. Warmth filled my chest when I remembered how his lips felt on it.

AN: No, this story isn't turning into a vampire love story :P

Thx for reading! If you'd like to make me happy take the time and leave a review on the story!

Merci!