Dark Roses

Disclaimer - if you been reading this story for this long, than you obviously already know that I don't own them.

Author's Notes - Here's another chapter. As of now, Roses is completely written, finishing at 18 chapters. And for all of you who wanted Ashida to get what he deserved . . . well, you'll find out soon enough. Enjoy the chapter, and sit back, relax, and review!


Chapter 16 – Arrival


“Seto should be back from meeting his informant by now,” Marik growled, clenching his hands into fists by his side as he stared out the window. The others shook their heads, but even they were beginning to worry.

A week had passed since Ashida Ishtar’s arrival in Japan . . . and they’d found out yesterday that he was coming to Domino. Tracking his movements, they found that he was making stops in every town where Malik and his siblings had stayed before Domino, and that made it inevitable that he would arrive in their town.

Malik had spent the last week in a near constant state of paranoia, and the others had kept a close eye on him. It was easy to see that the blonde was scared to death of what his father might do if he found him, and they’d withdrawn him from school again the minute they found out his father was on his way.

Not a night had passed that Marik hadn’t spent with the blonde, although nothing happened between them other than a few kisses and some cuddling. Right now was a very trying time as it was . . . Marik didn’t want to push for more, and Malik wasn’t ready for more.

Thinking of his love, Marik glanced back at the couch, where Malik sat cuddled between Yami and Yugi. They were trying to keep his mind off of things by watching a movie, but it wasn’t really working. You could see it in the way Malik held himself. He was relaxed enough, but the lavender eyes kept darting about, coming to rest on Marik anxiously before turning back to the movie, only to start the whole cycle over again a few minutes later.

He growled under his breath, crossing his arms over his chest. Now that they knew that bastard was coming to Domino, it was time to put his plan into motion. He would be damned before he let Malik fall into that hellish grip again, and he was going to do whatever it took to make sure that didn’t happen.

Everything was in place . . . to a point. A room at a hotel had been booked under Malik’s name, and he had borrowed high tech video and audio recorders from Seto to prepare it. Only one thing remained . . . and that was to enlist Yami and Bakura’s help. They weren’t going to like what he was planning, but it was the only way. Ashida Ishtar needed to be taken down permanently, and to do that, they needed proof of what he’d done to Malik. What would be ideal would be a confession from the man’s own lips, recorded and taped.

Usually, that would have been a difficult, if not an impossible proposition. But why would the man not speak of the things he’d done . . . to a person he thought was the very son he’d done them to?

Marik was well aware of how much he and Malik resembled each other. And he was counting on that resemblance to keep Malik safe . . . by forcing Ashida to come after him instead.

They all nearly jumped out of their seats when the front door finally opened and closed, and Seto walked into the room, closely followed by a tall, shaggy haired blonde. Malik was up off the couch in a flash.

“Jounouchi!”

“Malik!” The tall blonde caught the slightly smaller youth in a tight hug, amber eyes suspiciously wet as he held him close. “Gods, thank all that’s holy that yer all right!”

“You two know each other?” Seto asked suspiciously, and Jounouchi nodded as he let go of Malik.

“Jounouchi is the son of my father’s aide,” Malik said, wiping at his own eyes as he smiled at the tall blonde. “We’d run into each other on occasion and became friends. Of course, father found out and tried to stop it, but you couldn’t keep the two of us apart if Jou’s father had to come over for something. He was the only friend I had.”

“You shoulda told me what he was doin’ to ya, Malik,” Jou said, staring down at the lavender-eyed youth solemnly. “I would stopped at nothin’ to get ya outta that.”

“I couldn’t risk you getting hurt, Jou,” Malik murmured. “It was better that you knew nothing. Besides . . . I didn’t think you’d . . . want to be my friend anymore, if you found out.” Jou surprised them all by taking Malik’s shoulders and shaking him lightly.

“Ya know better than that,” he said warmly and hugged the young Egyptian again. “When ya disappeared, yer father was in an uproar about it. I figured ya had to have had a good reason to run, so I did some . . . investigating. The minute I found out what had been goin’ on, I started looking for ways to make sure ya were safe. That’s how I hooked up with Seto here. Long story short, I started helping him keep an eye on yer father.”

“If you’re here, than Father must be in Domino,” Malik whispered. Jounouchi nodded slightly.

“We got here this afternoon. He immediately set out for the school to look for ya under the excuse that he’s touring Japan’s school system.” Malik shuddered violently and nearly started out of his skin when bronze arms wrapped around him from behind, holding him to a warm chest tightly.

Amber eyes widened in shock as he stared at Marik.

“Holy shit, ya coulda stepped outta a frickin’ mirror!” he said, and the others laughed, including Malik. He got a look at the gathered friends finally, and they widened almost to the point out of dropping out of his head. “What is this, a clone colony?” he asked, and Malik shook his head.

“Nope. The two with the multi-colored hair are Yami and Yugi, and the two white haired teens are Bakura and Ryou. And my ‘clone’ here is Marik. These are my friends, Jou. They . . . helped me. A lot.” Jounouchi waved to all of them, smiling.

“Hey, any friend of Malik is a friend a’ mine,” he said. “Nice ta meet ya.”

“Let us get down to business,” Seto said, a strange look in his sapphire eyes. Yami noted it and shared a smirk with Bakura. It looked like Seto had found someone intriguing finally. “Ashida is staying at the Hilton. He intends to be at the school tomorrow as well. Jounouchi?”

“He thinks he saw ya today, Malik,” Jou said, sinking into a chair as the blonde Egyptian settled onto the couch with Marik, Yami, and Yugi. “Now that I’ve seen Marik, I take it that it wasn’t you.” Malik shook his head.

“I was here in the mansion all day,” he murmured. “As a precaution.” Jou nodded.

“I kinda figured. Anyway, he’s hoping to catch a glimpse of ‘you’ again tomorrow. After that, I have no idea what he’s planning . . . he hasn’t mentioned any of this to Dad, but he’s brought his own elite bodyguards. My best guess is he’s going to try to grab ya when no one is looking.”

“So your best bet is stay in the mansion for now, Malik,” Yami pointed out, and Malik nodded. But then the lavender eyes grew worried, and he looked at Marik.

“What if he tries to grab you thinking you’re me?” he asked, and Marik smiled at him before running his fingers lovingly down the side of that worried face.

“Then he’ll be in for a shitload more trouble than he really wants,” he murmured.

“We’ll be sticking close to Marik, so he’s not really going to have a chance to grab him,” Bakura said from the floor, where he was lying with Ryou. “He’ll have to go through all of us, and somehow I don’t think he wants to do that. I’m sort of hoping he tries it though . . . I’d love to hand him his ass.” The others murmured in agreement, but Malik didn’t relax.

There was a strange tension radiating from his love . . . like he was anticipating something. Had Marik planned something for his father? He wouldn’t put it past him . . . but it scared him to no end. He’d finally found someone he loved, who loved him in return . . . he didn’t want to lose that. And he didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of him. His father was a dangerous man, and he wouldn’t take kindly to anyone standing in his way. Especially not a group of teenagers with more time and money on their hands then was probably healthy.

But for now, they had done all they could to make his father’s hunt for him difficult. The rest, he supposed, was up to fate. For once, he hoped that they were smiling kindly on him.


*-------*-------*-------*-------*


“Marik’s up to something,” Bakura murmured, watching as Kaiba and Jounouchi drove away later that night. They’d continued talking, even after Malik and Marik, along with Ryou and Yugi, had drifted off to bed, and now he and Yami were the only ones awake in the house.

“Indeed,” Yami replied from his place in the leather armchair near the fire. “I wonder what?” They both started out of their skins when Marik answered from the doorway.

“I’m going to trap his father into admitting on tape to what he did to Malik,” the blonde murmured. “By making him think that I’m his son.”

“Are you nuts!?” Yami said, rising out of his chair in a flash. “Marik . . .”

“I know what I’m doing!” the teenager snapped. He flopped into a chair, running a hand raggedly through his hair, making it stand even more on end than usual. “Yami, I won’t let him get Malik again. He needs to be brought down permanently, or else he will continually hunt his son down. Malik doesn’t deserve that . . . he shouldn’t have to live his life in hiding.”

“Marik . . . man, trust me, we agree with you, but think of how Malik’s going to feel if something happens to you. His father is a dangerous man . . .” Bakura saw he wasn’t making any headway and sighed. “Fine, Marik. But you’re not doing it alone. What do you need us to do?”

Marik sighed, glad that he hadn’t had to fight too hard. Of course, Bakura wasn’t stupid . . . and with a violent streak as wide as his own, he had figured the pale teenager would want a piece of taking Malik’s father down. Actually, he’d been counting on it. He needed Bakura as his backup if things went bad.

Yami was still quiet however, and he glanced over at the crimson-eyed teen carefully. He was drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair he’d sat back into, obviously waiting for Marik to continue.
‘Well, that’s as good a sign that I’m going to get that he’s going to go along with it,’ Marik thought to himself, and began to lay out his plan.


*-------*--------*--------*-------*


Malik padded away from the den as Marik fell silent, lavender eyes dark with worry. He’d known Marik was planning something . . . but that the blonde would go to such an extent to protect him! It warmed him, but at the same time it scared him to death. Marik didn’t know what his father was capable of.

If Father found out Marik was not, in fact, Malik, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. He had to stop this . . . had to stop anyone else from getting hurt because of him. Images of the maid that had tried to help him escape flashed through his mind, and he nearly staggered into a wall as a case of violent shudders ripped through him.

No, he couldn’t allow this to happen. But he’d be damned if he could think of how to prevent it.