Adult-FanFiction.org : Yu-Gi-OH

I Know You're Out There Somewhere	By : Firewing Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 3536 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter 10 Truth and Ashes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the major players appearing in this amateur production. I most definitely do not own Maria Wheeler nor would I ever want to�
��
Monday.
Jou was up, showered, and dressed. Yugi had been released from the hospital on Sunday, but had spent most of the day with Joey anyway. Tristan was conspicuous only in his absence. Tea, Mai, and Ryou Bakura had all stopped by.
The doctor had taken the bandages off Joey�s hands earlier. He had almost begged the doctor to replace the bandages after he saw the red, blistered, swollen mess. Once the air hit them, his hands immediately began to itch. The doctor gave him some cream to put on them and left. Jou didn�t have a lot of mobility in his stiff, swollen fingers, but the pain was relatively mild. Of course, that was probably because of the painkillers they had kept pumped into him through the IV that was now gone.
Yesterday he had sent Tea to the mall with most of the tips he�d earned Friday night and he suspected she�d had a little too much fun shopping for him. She returned with the requested items-basic Joey staples-plus a few extras. She�d gotten him a suit to wear to his dad�s funeral tomorrow-a suit he was certain he would look like either a pimp or a mobster in. It was dark green with baggy trousers and a double-breasted jacket with a black silk shirt.
He was getting out of the dreary hospital today. Shyla Tanner had called to tell him that he could stay at the Motou�s for the following week, but both because of Solomon�s age and the fact he already had custody of his grandson, Joey couldn�t make his permanent residence there. All of the other households on his list were approved. All he had to do was pick one. He was expected to return to school the following week. He had no idea what he was going to do about his living arrangements, but he would deal with that later.
A quiet knock on his door brought Joey out of his reverie.
�Mr. Wheeler?�
�Yes?�
A slight built man entered the room. �I�m Hal Jacobson, your father�s lawyer.�
�Huh?� Jou didn�t know his father had a lawyer.
�I�ll be taking you to the Turtle Game Shop. We can talk on the way.� Joey�s lawyer by default continued.
�Uh�okay. Could you help me with these?� Joey indicated a couple bags with a tender hand.
�Certainly.�
On the drive to the game shop, Mr. Jacobson explained to Joey what his business with him was. �I represented you father when your parents divorced, Mr. Wheeler. Your father left several documents in my care. In case something should happen to him, he wanted to be certain you were provided for. He put a respectable college fund away for you and there is a life insurance policy to be divided between you and your sister. And his will.�
The lawyer pulled up in front of the game shop and turned to give his full attention to Joey. �In his will your father stated that if he died before you were of legal age, he wanted it made known to you that he and Maria Wheeler were not your biological parents.�
�What�s that supposed to mean?� The lawyer was giving Joey a major headache.
�It means, Mr. Wheeler, that you were adopted.�
On top of everything else Joey had faced in the last four days, this new tidbit of information was overkill. He got out of the car and promptly passed out on the sidewalk.
��.
Tristan had been a busy boy. The only feasible plan he could come up with to get Serenity back to Domino for her father�s funeral involved Kaiba. So he decided to face the cold CEO again. He was prepared to get down on his knees, grovel, and beg for forgiveness if necessary. Instead, he was stunned when Kaiba pulled out his checkbook and simply asked, �How much?�
Tristan brought Yugi and Tea in on his little conspiracy as well. Serenity would arrive this evening and stay with Tea until her return flight next Sunday. Maria Wheeler was less than enthusiastic about the idea, but Tristan had planned for every contingency carefully so the woman had no excuses to keep Serenity from attending her father�s funeral.
Yugi had the difficult task of getting Joey to the airport without him suspecting anything. They would meet Tristan and Tea there to pick up Serenity. Tristan could barely wait to see the look on Joey�s face.
��.
Joey woke up on the couch in the Motou�s living room.
�Joey, are you okay?� Yugi asked.
It took Joey a minute to get his bearings. �Yeah. Yug, I�m okay. Could you get me the bag with my medicine in it?� Both his head and his hands throbbed painfully. Yugi came back with the smaller of the two hospital bags and a glass of water. �How long was I out?�
Yugi shrugged, �About an hour.�
�Is that pizza I smell?�
�Yep.� Yugi retrieved a pizza box from the kitchen and returned to Jou�s side with a wide grin on his face. Joey tried not to drool.
�Joey, do you think you�re up to doing something tonight? If you�re not, it�s okay. I wanted to take you someplace, but we don�t have to go.�
�Where?� Joey asked his curiosity piqued.
�Well�it�s a surprise.�
Jou was understandably wary. After all, he had enough surprises over the last few days to last him a lifetime and he wasn�t feeling that great. But he hated to disappoint Yugi. Maybe a couple slices of pizza and doing something other than sitting around would make him feel better. �Sure, Yug, I�m up for it.�
Yugi positively beamed.
��..
An hour and a half later, the Domino City Public Transit bus made its stop at the airport.
�This is our stop!� Yugi cheerfully announced.
�Uh�Yug? This is the airport�� Jou said baffled.
�Wow! You�re right. It is.� Yugi bounded off the bus with a quirky grin plastered on his face.
�Why are we at the airport?�
�It�s a surprise.� Yugi told him again mischief making his eyes dance.
Yugi led the way to a terminal; Jou became more perplexed when he saw Tristan and Tea waiting for them. Joey had a feeling that he should know what was up, but his brain wasn�t processing the obvious.
�Jou, have a seat.� Tristan invited.
Tea grabbed Yugi and pulled him off to the side whispering in his ear. When they came back they were grinning like a pair of Cheshire cats. Some how this only disturbed Joey more.
People started filing in through the terminal entryway after disembarking from their flight. They were here to meet someone, Joey slowly realized, but who? A light bulb went on in the blonde�s head just as a certain petite auburn-haired girl stepped into the terminal. He jumped up and grabbed his sister in a tight bear hug lifting her easily off her feet. �Serenity! How?�
�Oh, Joey, I�m so glad to see you!�
�But I thought you weren�t coming!�
�We wanted to surprise you, big brother.� She explained sheepishly, nodding toward her co-conspirators. The other three looked extremely pleased with themselves.
Tea had her hands clasped in front of her, tears running down her face, stars in her eyes. �Actually, it was all Tristan�s doing.�
�Tristan?� Well, that might explain his peculiar absence on Sunday�

�Hey, I just called in a favor�let�s go get Serenity�s luggage and blow this Popsicle stand.� Thanks to Tea, his cover was blown. He was embarrassed and thought that mentioning Kaiba had footed the bill for this might spoil Joey�s mood.
��
On the way back to the game shop in Tristan�s dad�s van, everything suddenly caught up to Joey. Serenity was not his sister. His happy party mood dissolved as he started to shake and sob uncontrollably.
�Big brother, what�s wrong?� Serenity wrapped her arms around Joey in an attempt to calm him down.
His mother had abandoned him because Serenity was her only child. Maria Wheeler had never really loved him. He had no family, no home, nothing. He didn�t even have a name. Who was he? Well, he had an answer to that at least -nobody�nobody at all. Despair engulfed him.
Tristan pulled the van over and slid into the back with the others. �Jou? Hey, man, talk to me.�
Joey threw himself into the taller boy�s arms and buried his head in Tristan�s chest.
�Calm down, Joey. You�re scaring your sister.� Tristan sounded calm, but he was pretty scared himself. Blood and biology aside, Joey was his brother. �It�s okay. I�ve got you.�
Jou pushed away from Tristan as soon as he settled down a little. Tea handed him some tissues from her purse.
�Thanks, Tea.� Joey sniffed.
�No problem. Are you okay?�
Joey looked around at the worried faces surrounding him meeting the eyes of each one briefly before turning to Serenity. He took a deep breath. �I talked to Dad�s lawyer today.

I was adopted, Serenity. I�m not really your brother.�
�That�s not true, Joey. You�ll always be my big brother. I love you and that�s a stronger bond than anything written in some legal mumbo jumbo. It�s not blood that makes you my brother, it�s love.�
�Yeah, what she said.� Tristan agreed.
�B-b-but I don�t know who I am. I don�t have a family, home, anything. All I�ve got is a bunch of friends that pity me because I�m such a pathetic loser.�
�Joey. Look at me.� A demanding voice cut through the blonde�s self-pitying blather.
Joey met the fuchsia gaze of the pharaoh.
�No one here pities you. You are anything but a loser. You have everything you need-your wealth is in your friends.� Having thrown in his two cents worth, Yami retreated and allowed Yugi to continue. �Weren�t you listening to your sister, Joey? We all feel that way. We�re your family.�
Joey felt like a bigger charity case than he had ten minutes ago. He wanted to crawl under a rock until he felt like he could face the world again. But hey, since when did he back down from a fight? Never, right? He wasn�t about to start now. So he smiled through his tears and gave his friends a thumbs up. Reassured, Tristan continued driving to the game shop.
��.
After they arrived and settled in, Serenity offered a black duffle bag to Joey. �Here, big brother, I brought you something.�
�It better be food, Serenity. You know Jou, the bottomless pit.� Tristan joked trying to get things back to as normal as they could be under the circumstances.
Joey jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow. �Thanks, sis, but you shouldn�t have.�
�Well, Joseph, are you going to open your gift?� Solomon asked.
�Yeah.� The first thing Joey pulled out was a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Tristan instantly mad a grab for the cookies, but was chastised by the look on Serenity�s face.
Next, Joey pulled out a Red Eyes Black Dragon plushie that caused a round of �Aaah, how cute!� and an equally cute blush on Joey�s face. He pulled out a nicely stocked toiletry bag, a pair of black jeans, a pair of midnight blue silk pajamas with crazed-looking Kuribohs printed on them, and a black muscle shirt with a beautiful Red Eyes on it. �Sis, I don�t know what to say. Thanks. You�re the best.�
A couple of hours later, Tristan, Tea, and Serenity left for the night. Joey was more exhausted than he knew it was possible to be. �Tomorrow is going to be a long day, Yug. We should probably get some sleep.�
��
Tuesday.
The funeral was a closed casket service. Joey knew his father�s remains were in the wooden box, but refused to think about how much of his father�s body was left after having an apartment building fall on top of it. He sat through the service in numb shock. He couldn�t think about his future, he could barely concentrate on taking one breath after another as one minute crawled into the next.
Jonathan Wheeler was the only father he had. The concept of another man having actually contributed to his gene pool was as alien to him as trigonometry. They had been so close. Home had always been where Jonathan Wheeler was, but he had gone where Jou could not follow.
Finally the cemetery service drew to its inevitable conclusion. People started moving away, talking in groups, or drifting over to Joey and Serenity to offer hollow condolences. It was surreal on a beautiful spring day, a day full of hope and the promise of new beginnings. Joey felt completely dead inside.
He noticed a limo parked away from the other vehicles. A pickup pulled away. A tall, lean, all too familiar figure rested against a tree. Arms crossed over his chest, he virtually radiated an attitude of being above all this nonsense. A hot, sickening rage boiled in Jou�s gut as the two boys locked eyes and then Kaiba moved off, returning to his limo in long effortless strides revealing something that took the blonde�s breath away.
Highly polished and looking as if it had just been rolled off the showroom floor was a beautiful emerald green Harley Davidson motorcycle. Jou�s motorcycle. Tears burned hot trails down Joey�s cheeks. It wasn�t just the sight of the bike itself, but also the act of compassion behind it that brought Jou back to life. Kaiba saved his bike from the flames and returned it to him at the exact moment he needed it most. The limo pulled away and the spell that rooted Jou to the spot was broken. He went to his bike and caressed it like a lover.
Tristan had been pretty involved with giving a sobbing and emotionally distraught Serenity his support while Jou was lost and distant and incapable of helping anyone, least of all himself. But Tristan did notice Joey walk away and saw what had distracted him.
Duke offered his condolences to Serenity a little too profusely, but Tristan took advantage of the moment to dig in his pocket for his keys. As he walked over to Joey, he removed the spare key to the Harley Jou had given him for safekeeping in case he lost his own. Tristan stood by his friend and held the key out wordlessly.
Jou smiled. It was a grim smile, but a smile nonetheless. �Tris, cover for me? Tell Serenity I�ll meet her at the game shop later.�
Tristan nodded and watched Joey get on the motorcycle and bring the engine roaring to life. Jou was out of here.
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

I Know You're Out There Somewhere