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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
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Chapter 42 Magic Hour

~*~*~*~

When Tristan returned to the dining room half a dozen puzzled faces greeted him. �Something weird is going on up there and I don�t even want to think about what it is. Next time remind me not to volunteer to be the errand boy.�
�Weird? In what way?� Yugi�s worry crept into his voice as his doubts about Yami Bakura crept into his heart.
Tristan shoveled food onto his plate like there was no tomorrow. In truth, he wasn�t at all certain that there would be. �I think we�re going to be playing another round of musical bedrooms tonight if Ryou lives that long.�
�Oh no, Ryou didn�t make a pass at Joey, did he?� Tea asked.
Tristan almost choked on his food. The quick peek Tristan had gotten of Ryou and Mokuba�s room was enough to see that while one bed had the covers pulled up, the other looked like the hapless victim of a wrestling match. There was Seto�s thunderous roar and the subsequent sounds of a struggle to take into consideration, along with the fact that Mokuba was still getting dressed and the quick sheepish glance he had given Tristan�by themselves these things might mean nothing, but the brown-eyed brunet hadn�t been born yesterday either.
�Tristan, Seto and Joey aren�t fighting are they?� Serenity asked.
�Uh, I don�t think this dispute is over Jou, Sweetness.� He reassured her.
�Well, that�s a relief.� Tea sighed.
Pegasus, having been rejoined with the Millennium Eye, stared at Tristan with his soupspoon halfway to his mouth. The corners of his mouth turned up in a devious, but slight smile. �Look at it this way, Taylor-boy, what�s good for one Kaiba brother is good for the other.�
Cecelia gave her husband a very odd look as the room became as silent as a tomb. Why would Ryou make a pass at Joseph? Seto and Joseph fighting? A dispute over my son? What�s good for one Kaiba brother is good for the other?

Pegasus paled as he realized he had not even considered how Cecelia might react to Joseph�s situation because he had been so wrapped up in his own.
�No�� Tea was the first to respond to what Pegasus was implying.
�Ryou and�Mokuba?� Yugi whispered in shock.
Cecelia rose from the table. �Maximillion, you have a lot of explaining to do!�
Croquet found himself wondering if any of the monsters in the Shadow Realm needed a bodyguard, just in case he decided he wanted to move there�

I�m such an idiot� �Please excuse us for a moment.� Pegasus rose gracefully from the table, took Cecelia by the arm and guided her out to the deck. �I�ve failed you, I�m afraid, by omitting certain details�� Her beautiful blue eyes intently questioned him and he thought he might melt before he had the opportunity to explain. �I was uncertain of how to broach the subject��
Cecelia tilted her head in a gesture that Seto would have recognized instantly from his puppy, the resemblance between mother and son was striking. �What are you trying to avoid telling me, Maximillion?�
He sighed and sank into a deck chair, �Please, Cecelia.� He indicated with a sweep of his hand that he would like for her to sit beside him. Once she did he took her hand and turned it palm up in his own, examining the fine lines as if the answer was written there. �I truly doubt that even if we had raised Joseph together the results would have been any different. It�s difficult, if not impossible to go against our true natures. But as it is�� He took a deep breath, �Neither of us is in a position to judge Joseph for his choices.�
She sat there with him, half-hypnotized by the sound of his voice and his fingers stroking her palm. He could have told her anything�that the moon was made of cheese or that she was dreaming this life�and she would have believed him. He used the Eye to gauge her response to his words and he frowned. �Cecelia?�
�You�re saying that our son is involved romantically with that boy genius, aren�t you?� She asked dreamily.
Pegasus chuckled, �Yes, I am.�
She leaned over and kissed him with no regard for chastity whatsoever and he pulled her onto his lap. His hands nearly encircled her tiny waist, but he broke the kiss off while he still could. �You don�t disapprove, do you?�
�Yes, I do.� She answered and closed the distance between their lips once more.
� I meant of Joseph�s relationship.� He tried again, mildly exasperated with her.
�Oh.� She returned to reality, at least somewhat. �I�ve never given that sort of relationship much thought�I love you so much, Max. You know them both better than I do. If you�re not opposed to their relationship then I can accept it, even if I don�t understand it.�
Max nodded gratefully and wondered how much different her reaction would have been if it had been his relationship with Chris he�d been telling her about. Inwardly, he shuddered, the thought too terrifying to contemplate. �Shall we return to our meal?� He asked picking her up as he stood. Her laughter was glorious to hear as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
~*~*~*~
Pegasus and Cecelia had no more than stepped outside when the sounds of another struggle ensued from upstairs.
�I�m not going back up there.� Tristan told the wide-eyed teens firmly and continued to eat.
�You might as well follow his example,� Croquet suggested, indicating Tristan. �There�s no sense in letting the food go to waste. It doesn�t look as though everyone will be sitting down together tonight.� He rose, having no appetite of his own. He hadn�t given much thought to Cecelia�s reaction to Seto and Jou�s relationship himself. It upset him that Max could deal with his son�s love life, but not face up to his own, and he was disgusted with himself for the envy he felt.
�Mr. Croquet?� He stopped and looked at Serenity, silently praying that she wasn�t going to insist on going to the kitchen with him. �Please eat with us.� She invited gently.
As he reseated himself, feeling as numb and useless as a robot whose programming had been erased, he wondered why she wanted to include him in their little group. He was, after all, no more than a hired gun. Yet it was only after he silently agreed to her request that the teens started to fill their plates and pass the food.
~*~*~*~
�I handled that badly.� Seto sighed as he paced the floor of their suite after they had retreated from the second scuffle in the hallway.
Jou shrugged, �It could have been worse. Come here.� He opened his arms to his lover who went to him eagerly, hungry for the embrace and the steady rhythm of Jou�s heart. �You did the best you could. For now that�s gonna have to be good enough. We�ve got to take this a step at a time. It�s all so new and none of it�s easy.�
�You make everything easier, Jou. You�re so open and unafraid, so generous.� Seto smiled and it chased his lingering sadness away. �Pegasus and I are going to have to keep a close eye on our companies. You�re likely to run off with all the billions we�ve worked so hard for and just give them away.�
Joey laughed, �Yep. That�s right. You better watch your back, Mr. CEO!� He kissed Seto quickly, �Let�s go find some food. I�m starving.�
They got downstairs at about the same time Joey�s parents returned to the table. He found an empty place and began to make good use of the leftover food, oblivious to the quiet room. Seto sat down next to him painfully aware of his brother�s absence.
�So�?� Tristan broke the silence.
�Hi, guys!� Yugi broke in cheerfully. �After you get done eating what should we do? Anybody got any ideas?�
�I don�t know, Yug. Hey, maybe we could take the Millennium Puzzle apart and see if we can get it back together.� Joey smirked.
Yugi�s smile faded as he paled in dismay.
�I think he was just kidding.� Tea nudged him in the ribs.
Joey snickered, snatched Seto�s plate and began to fill it too, since the dragon master didn�t seem inclined to fill it himself.
�Oh yeah. I knew that.� Yugi said with equal parts relief and uncertainty.
Cecelia watched her son and Seto Kaiba with curiosity. Homosexuality was something she�d never given much thought to, let alone ever had to deal with. Returned to the land of the living, she felt as out of place as she had been in the realm of monsters. Everything and everyone she had known was different. Sitting at this table among family and friends, she felt alienated, alone, and out of touch with reality.
~*~*~*~
Upstairs the ebony and ivory duo had returned to their room. Neither of them knew what to say. Ryou busied himself with remaking the bed he and Mokuba had spent most of the day in with fresh linens. Mokuba sat on the other bed watching him but not really seeing anything. Ryou finally sat down across from him on the remade bed.
�I lost my brother�he�s my whole family, my best friend�Seto hates me. He looked at me like done something unspeakable to him personally.�
Ryou reached over and clasped one of Mokuba�s hands in both of his own, �Mokuba, Seto doesn�t own you. He�s even giving us a chance and even if you don�t want to keep seeing me or�be with me that way again, he�s willing to let you be your own person.� Ryou actually believed that it was only because of Joey that he was still breathing, but he was willing to give Seto the benefit of doubt.
�Ryou!� Mokuba�s eyes flashed with sudden determination, �I am not going to have gone through that for nothing!�
Ryou smiled, �Really?�
Mokuba felt much better having made his choice. He nodded and kissed Ryou almost shyly. �I�m ready to go downstairs now.�
When they got to the dining room the first thing they witnessed was Jou�s attempt to get Seto to eat. �Come on, Seto, you know I�ll feed you anytime, but I gotta draw the line at chewing your food for you too.�
�Oooh, that�s just gross, big brother!� Mokuba exclaimed.
Seto scowled at his brother, �You�ve been around the mutt too long. You�re starting to sound like him.�
Mokuba laughed and launched himself at Seto, �Thanks, big brother!�
Seto�s scowl deepened as he tried to decide whether he had intended his comment as a compliment or a slam as Mokuba clung to him. He caught Jou�s melt-in-your-mouth chocolate gaze and chose the former.
�You better be prepared to fight Jou for your share of the table scraps.� Seto pushed Mokuba away and glared at Ryou.
The albino blond fingered the Ring, suddenly a little hesitant about being parted from it, but Yami Bakura was someone he could do without in his life. He lifted the Millennium Ring over his head and went to Pegasus. �Would you be willing to keep this for me? It might be safer for all of us if you did.�
Pegasus' face paled as he clasped Cecelia's hand incredulously. In his shame, he felt that he didn't deserve the angel that sat beside him; he had descended to terrible lengths for her return, driven by the insanity that had been the curse of the Millennium Eye. Strangely enough, though, the fulfillment of his quest seemed to have appeased the Eye's restless hunger for power, and Pegasus attributed this to his own lack of desire for anything beyond his mortal reach.

It took him a long time to respond to Ryou�s request and when he did it was with complete conviction. �I�m honored, Ryou, but I feel I must decline.�
Ryou blinked in surprise and his startled expression was echoed by everyone in the room with the exception of Croquet who knew his master�s heart better than anyone else. Ryou had been so certain that Pegasus would be willing to take the Ring. There was a certain poetic justice in the making the duel monsters creator the custodian of the dark spirit who had nearly destroyed him and in the process had stolen his own Millennium item.
�Pops?� Joey went to his father and whispered in his ear.
Pegasus gripped one of his son�s arms and shook his head in denial of the reasons behind Ryou�s request as fear and panic reached out from the depths of the Shadow Realm through the power of the Millennium Eye. He had no idea that what he was sensing was literal rather than metaphorical until it was too late.
Yugi and Ryou exchanged a horrified glance. The Millennium items started glowing even as all other light was sucked from the room. Something was coming, something evil, ancient and unseen. Ryou turned slowly, holding the Ring out before him, silently asking it for direction. It pointed at Mokuba.
�NO!� Ryou screamed, lunging for his lover.
A dark vortex appeared, opened, and vanished taking Mokuba with it in the split second it had taken Ryou to understand. He sank to his knees feeling broken in a way he didn�t realize was possible as Cecelia knelt on the floor and cradled him in her arms.
�Oh, Ryou, it isn�t over. Will it ever be over?� She sobbed.
On the other side of the room, Yami firmly held his aibou by the shoulders, forcefully restraining him. No one else had noticed his appearance. �It was sent for you, Yugi. It meant to take you.�

�So you gave �it�, whatever �it� is, Mokuba instead, Yami?!� Seto howled.
Cecelia was as white as Ryou�s hair, �Souleater needs the pharaoh�s power to unleash the dark forces of the Shadow Realm on the world. In ancient times the monsters nearly destroyed it. The Ennead must need to sacrifice the pharaoh�s host��
Ryou stared at her, �Are you saying that they�ll kill Mokuba thinking that he�s Yugi?�
�You gave my brother to Shadi?!� Seto accused Yami in a piercingly shrill voice.
�I could not allow Yugi to be taken. It may very well have meant the end of the world.� Yami admitted levelly.
Yugi confronted his dark before Seto had another chance to. �You did what?!�
�I only knew that it was evil and that it intended to do you harm, aibou. I merely confused the intelligence behind the portal.� Yami explained guiltlessly.
�So you�re going to let them kill Mokuba? What kind of pharaoh are you?� Ryou was fast becoming a white tornado. �Damn you, Yami!�
~*~*~*~
Mokuba woke up chained to a cold dirt floor in the middle of a circle of stone tablets embellished with strange carvings. His shirt was missing, but as he tried to raise his head to get a better look at his surroundings he noticed that markings similar to those on the stones had been painted on his chest. Hieroglyphs, that�s what they�re called. He laid back and searched for the seemingly nonexistent ceiling and sighed. I�ve been kidnapped so many times; I should be awarded frequent flyer miles for all of my escapes. Seto will come for me and when he does, these goons better look out. He heard footsteps approaching and a moment later a tall man in a turban stood over him.

�This is not the one. Unbind him and lock him away. He may prove useful in another way.� He turned to leave.
The man was a study in contrasts, his angry azure eyes conflicted with his deep placid voice, his dark skin, and the white robes. Mokuba noticed the oddly shaped cross around the man�s neck too. It might well be the symbol of some religion, but Mokuba was certain it wasn�t Christian. �Hey! Who are you? Where am I? What do you want with me?�
The man wearing the turban paused and looked down at him again, �I am Shadi, though I have been known by other names. You are in Egypt. More than that I cannot say.� Then he was gone.

Egypt! How long was I out? Mokuba wondered.
Two men in brown robes snickered as they unfastened his restraints, speaking to each other in what Mokuba assumed was Arabic. He squirmed and fought to get free of them as he spieled off a bunch of threats about what was going to happen to them when his big brother showed up.
The men laughed at him as they tied his wrists behind his back, bound his ankles, then gagged him and pulled a hood down over his face. He started to panic feeling suffocated by the hood and the gag. He thrashed as much as he could and was rewarded with a sharp blow to his head. He went limp as consciousness deserted him.
��
While the others were busy arguing, Pegasus sat down and in the quiet of his mind gathered the power of the Millennium Eye, focusing it with his iron will to a single purpose. The mind knows no distance, no time, and no barriers. Rigid and limited thinking over thousands of years had limited man�s ability to access no more than one-tenth of the vast capacity of the brain.
Pegasus was well aware that he had mastered neither the greater abilities of his own mind nor the Millennium Eye, yet he was still exceptionally gifted; human, mortal, frail, but certainly more in control than the panicked idiots around him. Finally, he located the entity that called itself Mokuba. The boy had just awakened from a pleasant dream wishing the dream was reality and the reality was only a nightmare. He was chained to the floor, others were present, and a name was given, as well as a place in answer to Mokuba�s questions. Then Pegasus lost the tenuous connection he had to the younger Kaiba.
�Shadi. Egypt. Underground. He�s okay and relatively unharmed at the moment.� Pegasus announced.
�Of course!� Ryou exclaimed, �The Eye can read minds�.� He stood up and helped Cecelia to her feet as Pegasus casually walked behind them.
�Egypt?!� Seto cut Ryou off, �My brother is in Egypt?! And we�re just sitting here?�
Pegasus paused, now standing between Ryou and Yugi. �Well, Kaiba-boy, look at it this way, at least he isn�t in the Shadow Realm.� He ignored Seto�s angry snarl and inclined his head toward his wife, �My darling, you�ll be safe here. Christopher, please look after her.�
With no more warning than that, he placed one hand on each on the shoulders of his fellow Millennium item keepers. Yami had an idea about what Pegasus was planning and quickly disappeared into the Puzzle as a vortex widened in concentric circles expanding outward from Pegasus� boots to engulf all three of them�and then they were gone.
�What the hell?� Seto roared.
�Max, if you think I�m going to sit here and wait for you like a good little wife, you�re wrong!� Cecelia called out after her husband. Croquet stared at the place where Pegasus had been in mute horror. �Christopher, why are you just standing there?�
�What would you have me do, lady?� He asked her, perplexed.
She sighed, �Frankly, I�m surprised you didn�t throw yourself in there after him.� Croquet raised an eyebrow at her thinking that the woman was quite insightful and that he would have done just that if Pegasus hadn�t acted as quickly as he had. �Isn�t that what you�re hired to do? Keep him safe?�
�More like keep him out of trouble�� Croquet mumbled under his breath.
�Excuse me?� She bit her lip in thought, �Arrange transportation to Egypt. We don�t know exactly where in Egypt they went��
She trailed off as an angry dragon master stormed through the dining room, �What do you mean the transponder�s here?!� Jou held up the locket that looked like a duel monsters card for Seto to see. He snatched it from the blond, �Fine!� And slammed his cell phone closed.
�Master Pegasus intended for you to stay here where it�s safe.� Croquet remarked.
�Christopher, now really, think about it. How safe can it be here? A young boy was just snatched from this very room.� Cecelia reasoned with him.
Croquet groaned inwardly, but decided that he could keep her safe while they went to Egypt to get Max and the others. He took his own cell phone from his breast pocket and gave some orders of his own. �Illusionary Airs will be at the landing strip outside of Shell Beach in thirty minutes, but someone needs to stay here in case they either magically return,� He spoke the word �magically� as though it were a curse word, �Or they contact us here to give us their location.� He was pointedly looking at Tristan even as he said it.
�Sure, Serenity and I will stay here.� Tristan volunteered, not realizing he�d already been given the detail.
Joey was relieved that at least one member of his family would be safe. �Thanks, Tris.�
�Hey, no sweat, man.�
Serenity reached out to Tea who looked ever bit as determined as Cecelia did about getting her way, �Would you please stay here with us, Tea? I know you want to go��
Her azure eyes filled with tears and she didn�t look at Serenity, instead she went to Joey and grasped his upper arms, �I don�t want to lose him��
He hugged her, �You won�t, Tea. You know I won�t let anything happen to Yug, right?�
She nodded and smiled in an attempt to be brave, �Alright. I�ll stay here.�
��..
By the time Mokuba woke up again he had lost all sense of the passage of time. He tried to sit up, but found that he was chained to the frame of a metal bed. The room had the feel of a sterile hospital ward, except that one side of the room had jail cell bars across it. His mouth was parched and his head ached.
�Hey! Can anyone hear me?� He yelled.
One of the brown-robed men from earlier appeared and he had a nasty grin on his face. Suddenly, Mokuba wished he had kept his mouth shut.
�Pretty boy,� the man said as he unlocked the cell and approached Mokuba. He slid a hand under the sheet and groped Mokuba who realized with some alarm that his clothes were gone. He started screaming for his brother, for Joey, for anyone who could get him out of this hell.

��
Pegasus focused on Mokuba�s mental energy as Ryou used the Ring to physically locate him and Bakura had a fit from within his soul chamber.
//When did you start taking orders from Pegasus? That�s Pegasus!!! Kid Kaiba�s not worth it! I should have killed that one-eyed freak when I had the chance! I can�t believe you let that child go down on you! You�re so pathetic!// And so on and so forth. Ryou tuned his yami out and let him ramble. He was used to the ranting and raving. It was actually familiar and comforting in a way.
Ryou sighed, /I didn�t know you cared so much, Yami Bakura. You must have really missed me./
Bakura groaned in disgust, but then he fell silent. The Shadow portal vanished and they were on the other side, somewhere in Egypt. The screams that echoed throughout the underground chamber registered with Ryou before any of his surroundings did.
�Mokuba!� He shouted and threw himself against the jail cell bars in the white room. �No!�
The hooded man climbed off of the small pale figure on the bed. Nothing could be made out of the man�s face as he approached from the other side of the bars. Horrified and revolted at the sight of the naked boy, Yugi allowed Yami to take over. Yugi felt responsible for whatever had happened to Mokuba. After all, he was supposed to have been the one who was taken, possibly in more ways than one.

Yami uttered something in ancient Egyptian and Mokuba�s assailant flew back against the stone walls, sliding down it as bonelessly as the bag of excrement he was.
Pegasus gave the pharaoh a look that was part amusement and part glower. �Yami, do you have a plan for getting inside the cell and to the object of our rescue?�
Yami blinked in surprise. He hadn�t thought of that, just as he hadn�t thought that the evil that had come for Yugi would take another innocent in his hikari�s place, and he had just sent the soul of the guard, who likely had the key to the cell, to the Shadow Realm. It wasn�t like him to be so careless about assessing his options before he made a move, but then this wasn�t a game either.
Ryou groaned in frustration and disgust, sickened by the sight of Mokuba�s still form.
//You really believe you�re in love with the little morsel of gooseflesh over there, don�t you?// Bakura made the telepathic equivalent of a disgusted snort. Ryou fought tears as a string of explicatives formed in his mind in answer to his yami. //Oh my! Such brash vulgarity�// Bakura said perfectly impersonating his light once again. //Concentrate the power of the Ring on the lock. It was not for nothing that I was the most wanted criminal in all of Egypt.//
Ryou�s eyes widened at the revelation and he did as Bakura had instructed. A moment later he heard the lock click and watched the door swing silently inward. He ran inside the cell and gave Mokuba a quick once over, looking for obvious injuries before pulling the sheet over the younger teen. He focused the newly discovered ability of the Ring on the chains that bound Mokuba�s wrists and ankles to the frame of the bed.
�Chibi tenshi koi,� Ryou whispered in his sweet tenor as he gathered the boy to him.
As Mokuba started to wake up he resisted the arms that held him and cried out wordlessly when he couldn�t free himself.
�Mokuba�hush�look at me. We�re going to get you out of here.� Ryou held him firmly until his eyes widened and awareness returned to the lavender-gray depths.
Mokuba clung to Ryou for a moment, willing painful memories away. Then he realized Pegasus and Yami were there too. �Where�s Seto?�
�We�ll take you to him soon, young Master Kaiba, but perhaps you should slip into these first?� Pegasus smiled as he handed the boy his discarded shorts.
Mokuba flushed and the memory of the now silent guard�s unwelcome advances returned to him against his will. Ryou kissed the top of his head, �It�s okay, Mokuba, we�re all guys.�
The dark haired teen relaxed a little as a sweeter memory replaced the bitter one. Ryou had told him much the same thing earlier in the day, although it seemed have been in another life now. He snatched his shorts from Pegasus and pulled them on quickly. Ryou took off the blue and white striped sweater he was wearing over a plain white shirt and gave it to Mokuba too. Ryou smiled a bit to himself; he seemed to remember that Mokuba also had a fondness for stripes. The sweater was quite fetching on the ebony haired boy.
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I Know You're Out There Somewhere