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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
- 45
- 46
A/N: This is it! The last chapter�finally. Whew! I bet you didn�t think I�d actually finish it. LOL. I want to thank all of you for sticking with it this long. Especially Leaf Zelindor who been a faithful reader since I first started posting �I Know You�re Out There Somewhere� a year and a half ago. Better check what you have saved on your PC before you go to all that work. It was the site that messed it up a while after it had been posted, so what you have may be okay. LOL.
I hope the ending was worth the wait!

Chapter 46 Love Wears More Than One Face

One week later.
Almost everyone had gone back to Domino the day after the incident in the pyramid. Their vacation had turned out to be more stressful than their day to day lives by far. The Pegasus�s and Croquet returned to Duelist Kingdom. Croquet had called from the beach house and had the jet flown back to Shell Beach.
Seto had moved Joey and Serenity into the mansion. There seemed to be no point in the four of them spending most of their time in the small apartment over the garage when there was a perfectly good mansion for them to spread out in. Both Tristan and Ryou had made themselves a little too comfortable on the Kaiba Estate for Seto�s taste and he finally opened the third floor of the mansion and hired an interior designer to remodel it to give he and Jou more space. He still hadn�t adapted to the fact that when he adopted his puppy he had ended up taking in Joey�s entire circle as well. Joey and Mokuba seemed to think this was a good thing. Seto�s only defense against being ganged up on by his brother and lover was his infamous Kaiba glare which was a completely ineffective weapon against them.
Once in Domino, Bakura started raising a ruckus over Seto�s promise to create him a body of his own. Having lost most of his data on the programming he had developed to recreate a body for Cecelia, Seto had to start over almost from scratch. Jou made arrangements for everyone to get together on Duelist Kingdom to transfer the thief�s soul into the body Seto would create from a combination of holographic technology and cloned cells from Ryou. While everyone had their misgivings about setting Bakura loose in an unsuspecting world, it did seem to be a solution to many problems and Seto was certain that he could reign the dark spirit in if he got out of line. Tomorrow they would be back on Duelist Kingdom and they would all be free to start their new lives.

��..
Pegasus� joy was quickly clouded as he got out of bed and reached for a robe to slip over his pajamas. Without looking he had chosen a thick Turkish terry cloth garment a shade darker than midnight. He had forgotten it was hanging there in his dressing room quite literally like a skeleton in his closet.
�Christopher�� He murmured softly into the thick cloth that still bore the scent of his lover of many years.
There was something absurdly unfair in having to give up one love in favor of another, yet for Cecelia�s sake he knew this was the way it had to be. She was his first love, his forever love, his wife, and the mother of his son. For her he had made untold sacrifices just to have a chance to hold again. He resented none of it. He loved her now as he had always loved her. The problem was that while his love for Chris was different, it was ever bit as deep and meaningful.
Now he couldn�t hardly go sneaking around behind her back to play hide and seek with Croquet, could he? Although this particular game little resembled the one he and Chris had played as children. No, this was definitely a far more adult and carnal version. He sighed, threw the robe on a bench in the dressing room and chose his wardrobe for the day. Instead of greeting the sun on the balcony he would start the day with a walk.

Once he was dressed, Pegasus made a cursory examination of the contents of the dressing room. Although a week had passed since they had returned to Duelist Kingdom his love triangle was no closer to being resolved. An uneasy truce existed between the three of them. Cecelia had chosen to stay in a guest room and kept herself busy by redecorating it. Croquet had security details to deal with and Max had Industrial Illusions run. The island was large enough the three of them could peacefully coexist without too much tension�as long as they didn�t cross paths. The one thing they hadn�t done was sit down together and talk things out. Childish, true, but none of them were ready for the confrontation they all knew must come. For now it seemed that Max had lost them both. He gathered up the robe and a few other articles of Christopher�s that had collected in the dressing room over the last twelve years and packed them into a suitcase.
He got a piece of parchment from his writing desk and scribbled a brief note to Chris, laying it on top of the man�s possessions. He sighed again knowing Chris would be out on the beach for his morning jog. He stepped out of the bedroom carrying the incriminating bag. He would deliver it himself to Christopher�s apartment in the North Tower. The distance that had sprung up between the two men since Cecelia�s return was neither awkward nor puzzling, just empty.
��.
Croquet left his apartment that morning in his running shoes and windbreaker pants with a neatly covered basket of fresh homemade lemon poppy seed muffins under his arm and headed for the southern side of Castle Pegasus. There on a level lower than the castle itself was a rambling greenhouse and the small stone cabin where his father still lived.
His father had been widowed for 32 years and still the man�s knowledge of food preparation was limited to toast and coffee. At the age of ten, after his mother�s death from malaria, his father had gotten a position as head gardener on what was at the time Pegasus Island. The change of residence from the primitive jungles of South America to the medieval flavor of the island paradise had been more than welcome to the young boy, in spite of the fact that it had taken his mother�s death for his father to decide that missionary work was no longer his calling.
On the other hand, young Chris felt like a beggar every time one of the kitchen cooks caught him in their domain, lamented on his skin and bones appearance and sent him home with leftovers. He also had to admit that he was sick of plain rice and toast at every meal. The cooks were friendly and didn�t seem to mind him hanging around the kitchen. Eventually he started to ask a few questions, the cooks were more than willing to share their vast knowledge with him�and to put him to work. Not that Chris really minded and he took what he learned home both in the sense of a finished edible product and in knowledge he could apply later. His father never objected to letting Chris take over the kitchen detail and what started out as a survival technique quickly became a favorite pastime.
There had only been one glitch in hanging out in the kitchen with the cooks. Little Master Max had always known where to find him and in his wake disaster was sure to follow. The white-blond boy was not permitted to be in the kitchen, but of course that didn�t stop him. The only way to keep Max out from under the cooks� feet was for Chris to leave with the younger boy in tow much like a puppy.
Even then, as exasperated as he became, he never really blamed Max for wanting his undivided attention. There were no other children in residence on the island and Max was either left to his own devices or to endure the idolization of the adults around him, not all of whom were sincere. And so he started looking out for the younger child while he was still a child himself�and he�d never really stopped.
Chris shook his head to shake off the memories, knocked on his father�s door before entering his childhood home to find his humble father sitting at the table with a pot of steaming coffee, two cups, and a stack of seed catalogs.
�Christopher, you brought breakfast. Now there�s a good lad. Sit down. Have some coffee. Tell me which of these saplings you think best to replant where the lightning took out those trees last spring.� Matthew Croquet poured coffee into the second cup and shoved it at his son along with some open catalogs while he managed to snatch the basket of muffins.
Chris did as he was told, well aware that he would not be allowed to go for his morning run until he and his father got into a good debate over the lifespan and hardiness of a variety of strains of conifers. He sighed, but only to keep from chuckling at his old man.
��..
When Chris returned to his apartment, he immediately noticed the duffle bag that had been placed on his couch. Only two people had both the keys and the permission to enter his apartment while he wasn�t there. One was his father and the other was his boss. Since he�d only left his father ten minutes ago having debated trees and then argued semantics on rose bushes, not only had he not gotten to go jogging, he also knew his father was not responsible for leaving the bag there.
He approached it as stealthily as he would have a potential bomb, which he actually thought it probably was-a bomb of the emotional variety. Max would never resort to blowing up his own castle, after all. Finally, taking a deep breath, he opened the suitcase and read the note that had been left on top of its contents.

Christopher-

I am returning your belongings to you. Forgive me for being unwilling to return them to you in person, but I am certain you will understand.

Maximillion

Croquet crumbled the paper and tossed it back inside the suitcase, closed it, and pitched it into the deepest recess of his catchall closet. For his efforts a clatter of metal electronics equipment announced its protest at the intrusion.
Chris sat down on his couch with his head in his hands and allowed himself fifteen seconds of self-indulgent despair before deciding that the whelps upstairs were getting soft and required intense physical training to toughen them up.
As he abruptly stood he knocked over the picture on the end table. The sound of breaking glass set his temper off and he left his apartment without bothering with the mess intent on seeing that his security team was well enough trained to take him down.
The picture had landed face up, a sunburst pattern of broken glass radiated out from its center, starting from where he and Max stood side by side. Chris� father had taken it a few days before Chris left to go into the military. They had gone fishing and Max, who was a mere slip of a twelve-year-old boy proudly held up the day�s catch. It was a perfect portrait of innocence and friendship lying broken on the stone floor.
��
While Max was no body builder, he did take the time to stay in shape. Usually midmorning, after his breakfast had settled and his workday via satellite with Industrial Illusions had been concluded but prior to lunch, he spent an hour in the gym.
This morning he walked in on quite a splendid floorshow of hand to hand combat techniques. Croquet stood in the center of the mat with ten young security guards in a circle around him barking orders like a drill sergeant. They each took turns attempting to take down the bull in the center of the ring. It was obvious as they failed to do so that Croquet was more than a little disgusted.
Kemo, who was now serving as Pegasus� personal bodyguard, shook his head while it was still attached to his shoulders. He was certain that Croquet would have it on a platter shortly.
�Kyoto! What have you been training these guys to do? Eat donuts?� Croquet snapped as soon as he became aware of Kemo�s presence. He had spent so much time with Max that he had delegated much of security�s training to the younger man. Since Cecelia�s return, Croquet had reassigned himself to a more supervisory detail. They all needed a chance to adjust to the changes in their lives and Chris loved them both too much not to make that adjustment. It was then that Chris realized that if Kemo was in the gym then so was Maximillion. Suddenly all of his pent up energy drained away from him and he could no longer deal with the idiots surrounding him.
�All right, girls, I want a foot patrol of the entire coastline of Duelist Kingdom! And that means run, don�t walk!� Croquet barked. The ten men barely stifled groans as they moved to carry out the head of security�s orders when he snapped, �Brattigan, you�re in charge!�
Brattigan swallowed hard. The nineteen-year-old redhead was the newest member of Pegasus� security force. At six foot four inches, he was as tall as Kemo but about as big around as a beanpole. He also worshipped the ground Croquet walked on. His father had served with Croquet in the military and had never forgotten the soldier who had been nicknamed the Man of Steel. The boy was thrilled with the amazing opportunity to work with the man and practically fell all over himself in his efforts to please his hero.
�Yes, sir!� The boy responded too enthusiastically and marched off to carry out his mission.
Croquet sighed and imperceptibly shook his head, exasperated by the kid�s obvious idolization. His thoughts turned briefly to Tristan Taylor in whom he saw great potential. Chris intended to start recruiting him tomorrow when the �gang� arrived to create Bakura�s holographic body. There was going to come a day when Joseph Pegasus would require a personal bodyguard of his own and Croquet knew Taylor was the right man for the job.
While Chris was planning Tristan�s future for him, Pegasus had walked up behind him and Kemo made himself scarce. As Croquet�s second, both in terms of command and close personal friendships, he understood the complexity of the circumstances in which Croquet found himself embroiled, although Chris was unaware that Kemo knew his supervisor�s services to their employer stretched the meaning of the term �bodyguard� to its extreme limits.
Kyoto Kemo had followed young Brattigan out of the gym to see how he fared as the leader of the far more seasoned than he was security detail. Kemo understood Brattigan�s hero worship of Croquet, even though Croquet found it an embarrassing nuisance. Few people saw the personal power of the taciturn man who so often contented himself with being Pegasus� shadow.
Kemo discovered his superior�s subtle grace the hard way. He had worked on Duelist Kingdom for two years and thought of it as a cushy, but boring way to earn his bread when his fiancé abruptly dumped him. Angry and bitterly depressed, he had believed a bullet would solve all of his problems. Just as he had been about to pull the trigger he looked at his reflection in the window only to find Croquet standing there silently watching him. He said nothing and all he did was turn and walk away, which made Kyoto even angrier than he already was. His supervisor knew he was going to commit suicide and he was going to let him do it.
Ten minutes later, Kemo was pounding on Croquet�s door and demanding an explanation. Chris raised an eyebrow, handed him a beer, and invited him in to watch a football game. Three hours, a twelve pack, a bowl of popcorn, and a thwarted suicide attempt later, Kemo realized he was going to live. He left that night and thanked his boss turned friend. Croquet nodded sagely and said, �You�re a good man, Kyoto, don�t waste your ammo on yourself.� The advice struck Kemo as being profound and hilarious at the same time and he chuckled to himself all the way to the ferry to catch his ride home.
��
�Quite impressive.� Pegasus applauded Croquet. Barefoot in black yoga pants and a black tunic held closed by a sash with his long silver hair bound back by a ribbon revealing the Millennium Eye, no one could possibly doubt that this was a powerful and dangerous man. He bore himself regally with a confidence and natural grace that could bring even a strong man to his knees as Chris well knew. In his heart, he was Max�s captive slave, bound, broken, and imprisoned, forever with him, yet now forever apart from him.
Pegasus circled him so they were face to face. He was aware that Chris was avoiding him, could easily read his mind, and knew that his former lover wished at least a dozen times a day that Pegasus had allowed Bakura�s sword to finish him off. Max longed to touch the face of the square-jawed man, to tell him that he would always love him, in spite of their changed circumstances. They were both wounded by their choices and neither of them knew how to make the pain end.
Croquet simply stood there staring at some point on the other side of the gym that demanded his full concentration and in the process tried to make his mind as blank as the wall.

He�s blocking me from reading his mind, Max thought. He was too much of a gentleman to probe Chris� thoughts against his obvious wishes, but he also could not tolerate the situation as it stood. Duelist Kingdom was simply too small for them to continue in this manner. He was rattled by the concept of actually letting Christopher go. They had attempted that before with disastrous results. He circled him again thoughtfully. In the past, Chris had taught him a few self-defense maneuvers and worked with him to be certain they became engrained. Considering the present situation, Pegasus knew that Chris would never consent to work out with him and so he simply attacked the older man.
Croquet blocked him automatically. While he would not take the offensive, he could easily defend himself. Eventually Max would get frustrated and become more aggressive, his moves would get sloppy, and when he exhausted himself he would give up. Somehow knowing how this particular encounter would play itself out cheered Chris up considerably. He decided that, for once, he would be the unpredictable one knowing that while Max was focused on breaking through Chris� physical defenses he wouldn�t be using the Eye to work on Chris� mental ones.
The next time Max came at him Chris did more than simply defend himself by blocking.

He flipped Pegasus so that suddenly his master was looking up at the lofty ceiling from the mat.
If the change in tactics surprised Max, he didn�t show it. Chris cocked an eyebrow at him and wondered what he was thinking. As he offered his boss a helping hand he noted a dangerously mischievous grin on the other man�s face. Croquet had enough time to realize his tactical error before Pegasus pulled him down and rolled.
Abruptly Croquet was looking up at Pegasus who had him straddled with his hands pinned to the mat. Max laughed triumphantly and Chris� eyes sparkled in amusement. For a moment all was as it should be as they indulged themselves in some simple playtime fun.
Max leaned in closing the distance between them and kissed the older man deeply. He released Chris� hands and the strong arms willingly embraced him, coveted him, held him safe from hate and harm, and he never wanted to leave them again.
Kemo silently stepped back into the gym, feeling derelict in his duty as Pegasus� personal bodyguard, discovered Pegasus� body was being guarded far more closely than he had any desire to know about, turned around, and left ever bit as silently as he had come in.
��..
Cecelia made her way out to the courtyard. The entire island felt deserted. There were very few servants around, none of whom had seen Max. The security personal had seemingly vanished, but maybe Croquet was having them run a drill.
In any case it was Croquet she was actually looking for. There were still some details on the arrangements for tomorrow�s gathering that she wanted clarified and she had a special request of her own. She wanted this uncomfortable situation between the three of them resolved tonight. She would speak to both men separately and arrange the meeting. They had danced around the subject long enough. She wanted answers and solutions in spite of not having any to offer. She had her life back, she had spent seventeen years in limbo, she didn�t want to waste any more time. If her marriage to Maximillion was over she wanted to know. She needed to know. She needed to know where to go from here.
Cecelia arrived at the North Tower and found the security headquarters unoccupied. Puzzled, she decided to try Christopher�s apartment before going back to the castle main. She knocked on the heavy oak door and while she waited she noticed the details of the door itself. The top of it was rounded and the metal hardware looked medieval, not modern. She knocked again and wondered for a moment if she had really escaped the Shadow Realm at all or if this was just another of her too vivid dreams. She tried the door and found it unlocked. What kind of security guard leaves the door to his own home unlocked? She�d never been in Croquet�s apartment before and it wasn�t in her nature to let her curiosity go unsatisfied. She had learned long ago that you could find out a lot about a person from their home. She expected the head of security�s to be as austere and severe as the man himself.
She was quite surprised to discover how little she knew of the quiet man who was, inexplicably, her romantic rival. Christopher�s quarters were beautiful in a masculine, earthy way. The somber natural browns of wood and stone, the heavy furniture upholstered in supple suede leather, and the shield and crossed swords adorning one wall added to the sense of understated strength and solidity Cecelia had long been accustomed to. But there was so much more to Croquet than what there seemed to be.
The main room was divided equally into a kitchen and a living room. The kitchen was supplied with every gourmet appliance imaginable making the castle�s kitchen look woefully under equipped. Cecelia smiled at the irony of it as she touched the spotless copper-bottomed cookware hanging from a heavy crossbeam. Fresh herbs from the garden had also been hung to dry for future use. She had no idea the man had such a passion for cooking and wondered why he was bodyguard and not a chef.
The dark stone floor was highly polished and so immaculate that the large trestle table dividing his kitchen from the living room seemed unnecessary. One could easily eat off the floor. The table sat twelve and she realized that from time to time he probably fed his men in the apartment.
The other side of the large room was dominated by an arched fireplace that matched the soft brown of the stone walls and her eyes were drawn to the portrait above it. It was immediately obvious to Cecelia that Maximillion had painted it, but it wasn�t as clear to her who the woman was. She was perhaps forty and striking, her long thick chestnut hair was bound back in a loose braid, her creamy yellow blouse was feminine, but not fancy, her lips curved into a slight smile, yet it was her serious piercing gray eyes that gave her identity away.
Cecelia picked up the worn Bible lying on top of Chris� full bookshelves and opened the cover. �Isabeau Annette Croquet,� Cecelia read and gently laid the Bible back in its place. �It�s nice to meet you, Mrs. Croquet.� She curtseyed to the portrait of Christopher�s mother.
That was when another picture caught her attention. Left carelessly on the floor with the glass broken the picture would have been taken the same summer she met Max. She gingerly picked it up by the frame and sat down with it on Christopher�s couch lost in thought. Her husband and his bodyguard were total opposites. She had never known Croquet to be anything but withdrawn while Max loved being the center of attention, yet they had been lifelong friends and more. She wondered if Croquet would resign and if Max would let him go. She wondered if that happened how detrimental it would be to their marriage, if it would destroy what death had not. And if she were the one he chose to give up, how she would cope in this world that had changed so much. How could she accept the only man she�d ever loved choosing another man over her? Tears slid down her cheeks as her fears overwhelmed her.
She traced the edge of the picture frame with her finger and ended up cutting it on the broken glass. She laid the picture aside and went to the kitchen sink to clean the wound. She felt quite foolish, not only for carelessly cutting her finger, but also for being in Christopher�s apartment without his knowledge or permission and wondered how she would explain to him if he happened to come home while she was still here. Those details seemed frivolous in the face of the larger issues. She would deal with it if and when it happened.
The blood flowed freely from the stinging cut and she realized it was quite deep. She stood there with her hand over the sink thinking of her options for a temporary bandage. She didn�t want to bloody any of Croquet�s towels and found no paper napkins within easy reach. Finally she remembered the pink cotton scarf she had used as a headband for her hair. She pulled it out and wrapped it around her finger while she searched for a first aid kit.
She realized that the cast iron spiral staircase must lead up to the bedroom and bathroom. It was logical that she would find what she needed up there. As she entered the bedroom she quickly took in its more outstanding details. The walls were a painted a soft gold that captured the warmth of late afternoon fading toward evening, thick brown carpet, a large freestanding wardrobe, armoire, an easy chair, and a king-sized bed. She raised an eyebrow at the bed, suspicious and resentful of its probable occupants. She faced two identical doors, both of them with ventilating Venetian slats. One would be the bodyguard�s closet and the other the bathroom. Cecelia opened the one she was closest to and gasped in surprise, finding herself looking into neither one. What she had found instead was an armory of weapons from ancient to high tech.
She stepped into the large converted walk-in closet, her astonishment and curiosity overriding both her painfully throbbing finger and her common sense, to take a closer look. She caught movement in her peripheral vision and her first thought was that Croquet had come into his bedroom and was going to catch her snooping through his weapons cache. But as she turned she realized it was only the door of the closet shutting and taking with it much of the sunlight as it latched before she had a chance to react.
Cecelia tried to open the door from the inside, but discovered that she couldn�t. She frowned. Now this is an interesting predicament� Why was I snooping around in Croquet�s apartment in the first place?

She heard footsteps and then flinched when she heard a fist slam into an unyielding stone wall. Cecelia watched through the slats in the door as Croquet entered his bedroom. She was not about to announce her presence to the enraged bodyguard. He looked as though he could take the castle apart stone by stone with his bare hands. He walked passed her hiding place and went into the bathroom.
Cecelia sighed in relief when she heard the shower turn on and sank to the floor. She noticed a first aid kit on a lower shelf and busied herself with properly bandaging her wounded finger.

��.
Chris stood in the lukewarm shower hating himself with every fiber of his being. His tears mixed with the running water and he was able to pretend he wasn�t crying.
Max had been oblivious to Kemo�s quick entrance and even quicker exit from the gym while they were making out on the floor. Chris had not been. He had frozen and Max had probed his mind to find out what was wrong. There was quite a lot wrong actually, but it got worse as Max recoiled from his protector instantly with his shame and horror written plainly on his face. Nothing had changed, in spite of the fact that he had nearly died in Max�s arms only a week earlier. Chris had stormed back to his apartment in a wrath that could have rivaled God�s.
Chris wasn�t worried about Kemo. The man knew when to keep his mouth shut and Chris suspected he had been doing just that for several years. There were little things that gave Kemo�s knowledge of Chris and Max�s secret affair away. It was in the way Kemo tended to steer others clear of them so they could be alone and in the knowing look the younger man gave him when he headed up to the castle to do the late night security check.
Cecelia created a nice enough shield for Max to hide behind, but Chris didn�t believe that she truly came between them. She was as beautiful as a fragile flower, but she had great strength as well. She had survived the Shadow Realm for seventeen years with her sanity intact. She had dwelt in the places where the monsters did and magic was law with no more magic of her own than her faith and her love for her husband. He had to respect that for he knew he could not have done the same. Cecelia was not a fragile eighteen-year-old girl. She was a strong and willful woman.
In the end, his frustration lay with Pegasus. Chris hadn�t wanted to see the truth, hadn�t wanted to accept that Pegasus was ashamed of their relationship and would never have fully given himself over to it even if it had not been possible to bring Cecelia back. Max would never openly acknowledge it, Croquet was useful to him, he served Max�s needs, but that was the extent of it. Cecelia�s presence didn�t change the real problem.
Chris sighed. Her presence didn�t change the love or the loyalty he freely gave the man either. As he calmed down he turned off the water.
��..
Cecelia bandaged her finger and looked at the door from her place on the floor. She could see how the mechanism worked from this angle and unlatched the door easily. She was about to open it and sneak out of the apartment when she heard its twin open first.
Her breath caught in her throat as Croquet reentered his bedroom as naked as the day he was born. She told herself that she was looking at him from a purely artistic point of view. The physical form of the man was beautiful; every muscle had definition and rippled as he moved. He did not have Maximillion�s innate grace, but his body language was smooth and spare, efficient and purposeful. His earlier rage, if not vanquished, was at least under control. Cecelia had the strangest urge to reveal herself to the man if only for the opportunity to trace his powerful musculature with her hands, but perhaps stranger still was the fact that it never occurred to her that her impulsive desire to touch what she saw was in any way a betrayal of her husband.
Chris sat down on his bed directly across from her hiding place with his legs spread hiding nothing. Cecelia�s eyes widened and she had to cover her mouth to keep any sound from escaping. He was only partially aroused, but she could tell that there was no aspect of his physique that was mismatched. As he pleasured himself and reached a full erection a stifled moan escaped her. His gray eyes focused on the armory door as though he could see through it. Suddenly Cecelia felt like she was the one who was naked and exposed. She held her breath, but when he made no move to drag her from her hiding place she opened the door and walked across the room to him.
One thing Chris would have never expected was to be spied on in his own bedroom. And certainly he would never have entertained the thought of such a spy being the lady of the castle. He could only watch her without expression, in spite of his shock, as she sank to her knees before him with her full white skirt blooming out around her like a flower.
Cecelia took his strong calloused hands into her own and turned them palm up. She had never been remotely attracted to anyone other than Maximillion; he had always been her first best destiny. She traced the palm of one of Chris� hands with a feather-like caress then kissed it reverently with her petal soft lips before she laid her golden head in the cupped palms of the weathered warrior of a man in total submission knowing that no harm would come to her through him.
Christopher�s heart hammered in his chest. Only the experience of many years of practiced self-restraint held him still. Of all the possibilities for a resolution to his hell this had not been one to occur to him. That this beautiful golden forever young angel could desire him was the stuff of purest fantasy and Chris was not prone to such fancifulness.
He sighed, �Cecelia, look at me.�
She met his eyes with vulnerability and openness then she put her hands on the top of his thighs and pushed herself up to meet his lips with her own. He pressed her against his chest apparently having about as much resistance to the seductions of one Pegasus as he did to the other. All thought of telling her how wrong this was or asking her what she happened to be doing in his armory faded from his mind as he gave himself over to the soft curves of her body and her lightly jasmine scented hair. Her kisses were as tenderly sweet as only a woman�s could be and his body responded eagerly preferring the real stimulus to the imaginary.
Chris broke off the kiss, but continued to hold Cecelia close. He couldn�t betray Max even if Cecelia was willing to. He could barely accept that Max�s wife could be so easily tempted to break her vows. He nearly pushed her away in disgust when another train of thought occurred to him.
Maximillion was very much in the habit of reading his thoughts and usually did so with no concern about violating Chris� privacy. But then again, Chris had never really minded that Max read his mind either, as a result they had been able to be far more intimate than mere flesh would allow.
Chris couldn�t ask Cecelia for what he now knew he wanted, what was, in fact, the perfect solution to their conflict. In his old age, he was becoming pigheaded and selfish or maybe he�d spent too much time with Maximillion and the man�s insanity was catching. All Christopher knew for certain was that the silver and gold Pegasus�s were a matched set, not to be divided and he treasured them both. He could love them both.
He focused his mind on calling Max to him, as Max so often was unaware of sending for Chris. He focused his mind on his beloved master, his master�s bride, on the concept of the three of them together hoping Max would read his mind now and come flying into the bedroom before things went any further and rescue him for a change.

��..
Cecelia settled back on her heels, �Christopher?�
�I am at your disposal, Lady Pegasus.� He answered her formally.
She smiled and caressed his inner thighs, feeling the tension in the hard muscles so intent on what she was doing that she wasn�t aware of her husband�s presence until the bed shifted startling both the man and woman in their equally compromising positions.
�My, my�now this is a surprise party.� Max commented with a cocked eyebrow.
Cecelia was horrified. Her face went scarlet in shame and embarrassment. She jumped up and backed away from the two men on the bed, nearly in tears and unable to meet her husband�s eyes.
But Pegasus had closed his real eye feeling her pain and confusion with the other. The moment had come when their fates would be chosen. He had also read Christopher�s mind as the older man had stalked out of the gym earlier. What Chris had interpreted as Max�s shame of their relationship was a perfect reflection of Cecelia�s feelings now. He was a married man who simply adored his wife and yet had been, like his wife, unable to resist the temptation Christopher presented, and like Cecelia, he had gotten caught. The irony of it deeply amused him; the distress the situation caused did not.
�Cecelia, my darling, my love, I�m not angry, merely surprised.� He told her gently and moved closer to Christopher.
�Max, I�� At a loss for an explanation, Cecelia fell silent in her confusion and imagined disgrace.
Max was still reading her mind and wished with all his heart she could read his as well. He loved her with a depth and passion that drove him into madness, into places where Croquet alone kept him sane.
He still wore the black workout clothes he had worn earlier to the gym. He crossed one bare arm over Christopher�s chest possessively. He was determined to set the score straight with the two loves of his life even if it meant letting one of them go forever.
�Christopher, I have never and could never be ashamed of you. I believe you know that deep within your heart. You would never ask anything for yourself while I, on the other hand, am quite selfishly asking for everything.� He extended his other hand to his stunned and shaken bride. �Cecelia, my lady love, whatever you decide, please understand that my relationship with Christopher in no way diminishes my love for you. I�m offering you the best of all possible worlds, my darling. Can you love us both?�
Chris turned Max�s words over in his mind and grasped the revelation in what his master had not said. He had given Cecelia a choice, not a choice of staying with him or dissolving their marriage, but a choice of accepting his relationship with Chris and joining it or walking away from them both, nor had Max offered him the option of leaving. It seemed Maximillion had made a choice of his own between his lady of light and his earthy soldier and he had chosen to let Cecelia go if he must.
Chris closed his eyes to prevent his tears from falling, overwhelmed by his master�s love, and so he did not see Cecelia take her first timid step forward toward them or her trembling outstretched hand reach for her husband�s. He wasn�t aware of her at all until she knelt again between his knees. He opened his eyes to her radiant smile, her hand clasped firmly in Maximillion�s. She met Chris� eyes and wrapped her free arm around his knee, then kissed the sensitive skin along the inside of his muscular thigh.
After the initial shock of Max�s sudden appearance, she instinctively felt that by loving Christopher she was only loving him more. When she looked up to meet her husband�s gaze he gave her a contented smile and as she stretched up to kiss him she brushed up against Christopher�s erection. Chris made a small growl of frustration. Cecelia and Max broke apart to give him puzzled looks.
�Are you two ever going to do anything more than just torture me?� He huffed at the fair pair.
They responded with gentle laughter. Max winked at Cecelia, but addressed Croquet, �Are you man enough to take us both on?�
Cecelia sat back on her heels cradling Chris� arousal in one hand while stroking him lightly with the other, �Maximillion, I think there�s enough of him to satisfy both of us and then some.�
Pegasus threw his head back in a deep rumbling laugh, �Let�s find out, shall we?�
Chris was mildly alarmed wondering just what he had gotten himself into now that he had surrendered to the duo. But he lost all coherent thought as Max shifted him so he was laying in the silver haired man�s arms who plundered his mouth ravenously while Cecelia�s sweet lips laid claim to his far too long engorged arousal. Thus in the process of being devoured, he came quickly. Chris� talent for cooking was legendary on Duelist Kingdom, but he himself had never been the main course of such a banquet.
Max grinned at him delighted with the way their affairs were resolving and by the deeply etched eroticism in Christopher�s mind. Momentarily sated, the older man had no objection to being a sex object for the two magnificent blonds.
�I have always,� Chris spoke slowly as he found his voice again, first to Max and then to Cecelia, �And shall always be yours to command.�
Christopher drew Cecelia to him, both males shifted to make room for her on his bed, and he stretched out between them with his arm around her small waist as her fingers laced in her husband�s across him.
�Lady Pegasus, you are simply the most amazing creature to ever grace this plane of existence.� Max told her in, what passed for him, great humility.
�You should have told me before, Maximillion, while we were at Seto�s beach house. You should have trusted me. Why did you want to keep your relationship with Christopher a secret from me?� She didn�t accuse him, but she did feel entitled to an explanation.
�I simply had no idea how you would react, Cecelia, and you must admit you were quite appalled at first.� Max started and continued when she nodded. �I was not prepared to accept either an ultimatum or a complete rejection from you.�
She considered his explanation, knowing that an ultimatum was precisely what she had intended to give him tonight after supper. She had not truly believed he would choose Croquet over her, yet now she suspected that he just might. With her faith in Max shaken, she whispered, �But you�re ready to take that chance now?�
Pegasus didn�t want to hurt her, but he was tired of keeping things from her. He�d had a little time to love her, to hold her, and gaze into the splendid depths of her crystalline blue eyes. Seto�s radical technology had recreated her body as though she had been frozen in time for seventeen years.
But such was not truly the case. Her body had been destroyed, but her consciousness had been imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. She remembered only fragments of those years and most of those memories revolved around the playful Dark Magician Girl. Yet some of them were strange even to Max who had no small experience with that dark dimension himself. Cecelia now had a deeply otherworldly streak, a sense of mysticism beyond his comprehension. She had known the grave and it held no terror for her.
�Yes, my love.� He finally answered.
Once again her curiosity got the better of her, her feelings were hurt, she couldn�t deny that, but she had to know the answer. �Had I given you an ultimatum who would you have chosen, Maximillion?�
Chris rolled his eyes, Women�there�s no satisfying them�

Max chuckled as he read Chris� mind, but it was to Cecelia he spoke, �I have no wish to hold you against your will.�
�You would have chosen Christopher.� She said in a small awestruck voice, not really surprised. �Why?�
Max nuzzled the back of Chris� neck. All she really wanted was to understand the bond that had developed between the two men over a lifetime so he searched for the right words to attempt to explain what was in his heart.

�I have come to know that love wears more than one face, my darling. In spite of my various flaws and eccentricities, Christopher has loved me as selflessly as humanly possible all the while knowing that I could not commit to him as I had to you and that my entire existence has been bound to your resurrection. He has stayed my by side unconditionally. I simply cannot do without the stabilizing stillness of the man�s presence, the pleasure and the peace I know under his protection. I offer you both my profound apologies for the grief my cowardice has forced you both to bear, even I fear rejection,� Pegasus apologized.
Croquet snorted at the grand statement or maybe it was just that one of Cecelia�s curls had tickled his nose.
�What is it, Christopher? Either speak your mind or I shall simply read it.� Pegasus demanded in slight irritation.
Chris decided it would be rude to contradict his long-time lover�out loud at least. �Even I fear rejection�? Please, Maximillion, I wasn�t born yesterday. Your greatest fear is rejection. Sure, you�ll go to the ends of the earth to chase your rainbow hued dreams and brave all the monsters of the Shadow Realm with great dignity, but an unkind word from one you love will bring you to your knees faster than any sword.

�You may be right, Christopher.� Max smiled at him indulgently and traced Chris� bottom lip with his thumb leaving Cecelia with the distinct impression that she had missed part of the conversation.
�You both came overdressed to the party.� Chris stated indignantly.
Cecelia giggled girlishly and blushed deeply. She felt oddly self-conscious in this new undiscovered terrain. It was not a sensation she had much acquaintance with having known very early on what she wanted from Maximillion and merely followed her instincts to get it. With her husband she was a bold temptress, but then again, she had fully committed her heart to him when she gave up her virginity.
He got up and walked around to the other side of the bed, �Cecelia, the man does have a point.�
Max sensed her uncertainty, but also her desire to please them both. It was a new situation for all concerned, yet he understood why she felt especially vulnerable too.

Cecelia did not know Chris all that well and truthfully, he was not easy to get to know with his tendency to be taciturn and withdrawn. Then he rethought that, after all, she wasn�t terribly shy when it was only Christopher in the room�Maybe it was simply awkward to be intimate with another man in front of her husband. Max frowned, �The two of you wouldn�t really have continued without me now, would you?�
Croquet cocked an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. While Max offered Cecelia his hand, drew her to her feet and then went to work on loosening the sash that closed his tunic. Cecelia relaxed a little in the more familiar territory and slipped the tunic off of her husband�s broad shoulders.
�No, Maximillion. I don�t know why that would even cross your mind�� Cecelia whispered into his ear as she kissed his neck delicately and the thought vanished from Max�s mind as though it had never entered it.
Croquet had long ago turned watching and waiting into an art form. In this particular instance the intrigue was intense and as he watched hungrily with his sharp gray eyes even he barely had enough patience to wait for the encounter to unfold.
Cecelia traced her husband�s face with delicate fingertips and lightly ran her fingers over the nicely defined muscles of his chest before tilting her head up to him. He kissed her deeply as though drawing a draught of purest mountain spring water and his hands gathered her full skirt at the sides, lifting it as he searched for the silk panties he was certain she wore, letting his knuckles lightly graze the soft skin of her thighs. Once he found them, he hooked his fingers into her panties and slowly pulled them down allowing her skirt to fall back into place as he went. She didn�t resist him, having momentarily forgotten that they had an audience and he removed the undergarment quickly, feeling a bit like a sly devil.
Cecelia stepped out of her shoes even as she stepped out of her panties and in doing so caught the ravenous look in Chris� eyes. So often covered by dark shades, she had always found his eyes startling and she saw now that they were beautiful as well. His duty was to protect his master, yet he had served Max as a loyal friend long before he was employed by him. She had believed she had been responsible for breaking their bond long ago, that Chris had loved her even as Maximillion did, and she wondered now if that was true or if Chris had been in love with Max even then. It hardly mattered now in any case. How could she deny this man when he obviously had so much to give? She crawled across the bed to him and curled up in his lap. �Christopher, you have such lovely eyes. Why do you always hide them?�
Behind her, Max chuckled. �He�s naked without his sunglasses, my dear.�
�And fully clothed with them?� She inquired of her husband with an ironic tone. It didn�t go unobserved by her that he had shed the last of his clothing and she now was in a room with two naked men as Max joined them on the bed.
He gathered her golden tresses and kissed the long line of her neck before he answered her. �Exactly so, my darling.�
She picked up Chris� shades from the nightstand and put them on him. He had frowned at the Pegasus�s playfulness, but supposed that it could be worse. When he was again �fully clothed� Cecelia giggled, �You�re absolutely right, Maximillion.�
She kissed Chris lovingly as Max gently rubbed her back. She broke the kiss a moment later and laid the sunglasses back on the nightstand where she had found them. �Still you really shouldn�t have to conceal all of your stunning features, Christopher.�
Croquet slowly turned lobster red as her meaning sank in and Max snickered. He leaned in over his wife and kissed the man in whose lap she sat and let his hands travel up her body of their own accord until they reached the pleasing full curves of her breasts. He drew away from her and met Chris� eyes, tilting his head slightly acquiescence. Chris took a deep breath. It was his turn to feel uncertain, but it wasn�t Cecelia�s reaction he feared. She was Max�s wife and although his master was willing to share his lady, he couldn�t help but wonder if Max would become possessive and jealous if Chris took a more active role. So he hesitated with his hands on her small waist, her sweater separated from the top of her skirt enough to expose a narrow strip of enticingly bare skin.
�Don�t be shy, Chris,� Max gently told his male lover. He had picked up on Croquet�s wariness, but he wanted this almost more than the other two combined. Not only did he find watching his lovers in each other�s arms tremendously erotic, he yearned to be with Chris again. �I love you. I trust you with far more than my life.�
It dawned on Cecelia that Max wanted Chris to undress her and that Chris was hesitant to make such a bold claim to his master�s wife. She provocatively unbuttoned her pink sweater herself, smiling a little as she remembered seducing Max in much the same way.
Max slid the sweater off of her smooth bare shoulders and kissed them while keeping eye contact with Chris, tempting him with his chocolate passion glazed eye, revealing his lady to him, layer by layer and putting her on display. He broke eye contact with Chris to unfasten Cecelia�s bra.
Chris took a deep breath and drew the garment off of her shoulders, down her arms, and laid it aside. He focused only on his task, not looking at the fair pair at all.
�Christopher,� Cecelia took the gray-eyed man�s chin in her hand, �I want you to make love to me.�

For just a moment Chris� brain shut down in complete shock. She snuggled against his chest and he moaned involuntarily as she kissed him again while he gathered her close with one arm blindly reaching for Max with the other.
Max took Chris� hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before guiding it to his erection and sliding his own hand down the front of Cecelia�s skirt, touching the warm moist heat of her and whispering lustily, �You�re still overdressed, my darling.�
She laughed, � Oh, I don�t mind, Maximillion.� Her eyes sparkled impishly.
�Hmm�� He commented and withdrew from the bed motioning for Chris to join him.
Cecelia was slightly miffed about being forced to move out of Chris� lap. She had been enjoying herself, comfy and snug between the two naked passionate men. But she wasn�t about to let them get away easily and sat on the edge of the bed bright eyed with a devious smile on her face as she let herself fall back across the bed with her blonde curls fanning out behind her.
�Come here, Maximillion,� She beckoned with a finger.

He stood over her head and she laced her hands in his, arching her back and swept over his erection with one long swift stroke of her wet pink tongue. Across the bed from them Chris groaned, decided he�d had enough of watching to last a lifetime, pulled off her skirt, and admired her young fresh body for a moment while Cecelia placed her husband�s hands on her lovely breasts and locked her hands around his neck pulling him down to meet her, their tongues touching briefly before their mouths came together.
Chris was spellbound by them, both of them beautiful in their own way. Max belonged in his medieval castle as a feudal lord in command of all he surveyed, Cecelia

at his side as his precious queen. They could have renamed Duelist Kingdom Camelot and then Chris smiled a rare smile that went unseen by king or queen. He supposed that made him Sir Lancelot invited to the bed of royalty� or maybe it was they who had invited themselves to his bed. She was certainly the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on clothed or not.
He pushed her knees apart and stood between them then laid his hands over Max�s where they still fondled her breasts. Max broke the kiss with his wife and met the clear gray eyes of his protector as he drew away from her to watch the strong calloused hands he loved to have on his own body tenderly caress his wife. She arched a bit and whimpered as Chris ran his hands along her inner thighs.
Max returned to Chris, standing behind the older man, pressing his erection against him, his hands teasing Chris� nipples as his lips blazed a trail over his bodyguard�s neck while he whispered an erotic mantra into his ear that only Chris could hear.
If Pegasus had done nothing else, if there had been no other stimuli at all, Chris would have come soon enough just with sound of Max�s voice whispering his desires to him over and over. Chris moaned, breaking out into a sweat, and then Cecelia�s hands were on him, drawing him to her, positioning him, guiding him into her warmth even as Max entered him with a long slender lubricated finger going as deeply as he could into the tight channel. Chris bit his lip until it bled. He�d never expected to feel Max touch him like that again. The double sensation of both of the Pegasus�s was nearly overwhelming.
As Max stretched him, Cecelia arched her back and tightened her inner muscles around Chris� erection and he moaned again, his need more than he could bear. �Max, what is taking you so damn long!� He cried out in exasperation.
�Impatient, are we, my beloved Christopher?� Pegasus snickered while thinking to himself that Chris only knew a third of it as he was using the Millennium Eye to touch both of their minds drowning in the eroticism of both his lovers� desires and his own. He felt as though he might well never be satiated. He focused primarily on Cecelia, knowing that he would set the timing of their lovemaking and wanting to do what would please her most.
He entered Chris carefully and had to bite into the thick muscle of Chris� neck to keep from losing his very last shred of willpower.
�Please�Max�� Chris whimpered.
He had never known Chris to ever beg and started his thrusts deep and hard and slow. As he struck Chris� prostrate, he nearly passed out, having forgotten the powerful sensation of being able to read Chris� mind as they made love, the deep sympathetic reverberations it sent through his mind and body.
Cecelia gasped and grabbed at Chris� hips with her knees, lost to her own orgasm, wanting it to go on forever, and pulling both men out of their fragile balance as they were set off in a domino effect. They ended up in a graceless heap. It wasn�t exactly what Max had in mind, but it was certainly effective. He wasn�t going to complain anyway having been overcome by the sensations of three incredible orgasms.
He managed to fall off of Chris, who more slowly rolled to Cecelia�s side who was making strange sounds and startling both men thinking at first that she was crying, but quickly realizing that she was laughing.
�That was fun. Can we do it again later?� She finally managed to get out.
Pegasus winked at Chris who shot him his long suffering look in response.
��
At sunset the next day, Jou snuggled into Seto�s chest and tried not to think too hard about what they had done that day. Setting a five thousand year old spirit loose in the world seemed neither wise nor sane. He took comfort in the fact that father didn�t seem to approve either, for that matter, none of them was particularly happy about it. They were all on the beach watching the boat sail away with Bakura on it in a subdued and thoughtful mood.
The dark spirit had been quite specific about the alterations he wanted made to Seto�s program with respect to his appearance. He still basically looked like his light because it had been Ryou�s DNA they had used. Now he was taller, heavier muscled, though still slender, his white hair was subtlety streaked with strands of gold, his skin was bronzed, and his eyes were the color of the Mediterranean ocean. But Bakura hadn�t stopped there. He�d insisted on designing his clothes as well and Jou remembered how Seto had rolled his eyes in exasperation over what he�d wanted. So now Bakura stood on the deck of his new boat, sailing off into his new life dressed head to foot in leather the color of dried blood so tight it was obscene. Still Jou thought it was impressive that when Bakura moved he could actually see every rippling muscle in motion.
Ryou�s eyes were huge and frightened when he approached Seto and Jou. �I really hope you have some way to control him, Seto.�
Bakura had spoken to Ryou last and Joey�s heart sank at the expression on his friend�s face. �What did he tell you?�
Ryou shuffled his feet in hesitation while the others gathered around curious about Bakura�s parting words.
�Ryou, do you really think I�m fool enough to just let him drift off into the sunset without being able to track him?� Seto snarled defensively. �I added a small electronic signature into his neural pathways that will be monitored constantly from Kaiba Corp. If he so much as sneezes I�ll know it.�
Ryou nodded, �I know, you told me that. But do you have some way to control him?�
�What�s wrong, Ryou?� Mokuba gently squeezed his hand.
�He said that he knows of a cult in Egypt that needs a new leader.�
�The Ennead.� Cecelia stated and with a swirl of her skirts turned her back to everyone so they couldn�t see the fear in her face. She nearly crashed into Croquet as a result, but he steadied her with his hands on her shoulders. She leaned into his broad chest almost as if that had been her intention when she turned.
None of this was lost on Seto who did a dramatic head slap. Pegasus merely arched an eyebrow and gave the CEO the faintest of smug victorious smiles.
�Look, guys,� Yugi interjected, �It�ll be okay. Even if Bakura does resurface someday to cause us trouble we can handle it. We haven�t faced anything we couldn�t handle together, right?�
�That�s right,� Tristan confirmed, �Because we are the supreme team.�
��.
Three years later a cherubic giggle caught Cecelia�s attention. She set her knitting aside as her auburn haired adopted daughter walked into the sunroom followed by her tall husband who was carrying a squirming, giggling bundle of toddler girl.
�Mommy!� the child escaped from Tristan�s clutches and leapt into her mother�s lap.
Cecelia gently smoothed the wild golden curls out of her baby girl�s face. �I hope she wasn�t too much trouble, Serenity.�
Tristan grunted and Serenity gave him a warning jab in the ribs. �Of course she wasn�t, Cecelia.�
The toddler twisted on her mother�s lap and Cecelia�s knitting basket tipped over. Balls of yarn rolled in every direction.
�Christina Aurora Pegasus, you are such a little handful.� Cecelia told her bundle of joy indulgently.
�That I agree with,� Tristan said under his breath to his young bride and went to retrieve his mother-in-law�s knitting basket.
By the time he and Serenity collected all of the yarn the room had become strangely quiet. The little girl yawned sleepily and snuggling into her mother closed her big beautiful gray eyes.
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