Fleeing the Shadows

Okay…*raises eyebrow* To almost all of you, thank you for the reviews. I never thought this would be that interesting to you guys. But…to my one reviewer (you know who you are). I am not about to explain everyone’s motives up front. That would make this whole story worthless. If you can’t just realize that there is more going on here than meets the eye, I’m sure there are other stories out there that you would like better. Thank you for taking the time to read this, but please, don’t bother anymore. Not after you jumped the gun and assumed certain things about the characters.

To everyone else, please pay my bitching no mind. All explanations will come in good time. This one is a little more complicated than the other stories I have done. Constructive criticism is welcome, but it has to be constructive. All flames will be used to heat the garage where I work on my cars!

Thanx to ObsidianJade for beta and consulting.

On to the next chapter:



‘Please get here soon.’

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Lt. Gary Feldman was stumbling out the doors of the station by the time he hung up with the boy on the other end. He almost had to laugh at his safe word. Hamburger. If the situation were any lighter, he would have. Honestly, it was all he could think of at the moment. It had been at least eight hours since he had last eaten something, and his stomach was taking over his brain. He needed to get to this kid first though. Before someone else did.

As soon as he squeezed into his cruiser, he pressed the speed dial that was a direct line to Isis’s phone at FBI headquarters. He had been in communication with her and Shadi ever since news of the murder hit the airwaves, seeking advice and going over damage control. Someone with inside information, it seems, had leaked the case to the media overnight. And now his small town was overrun with reporters asking questions they had no right to ask, and just generally making a nuisance of themselves.

He hadn’t even known that Mr. Motou had a grandson living with him until sometime this morning, when his CSI crew tore the rest of the house apart. And this boy’s picture was plastered all over the news well before that time. When he confronted Shadi earlier on there being a possible kidnapping along with a murder, the agent told him that the kid was in custody, and far away from the scene. So who notified the news crews? Whoever it was, they held a lot of weight for being an unnamed informant. And when his warrant went through, the detective was going to rake them over the coals.

He was pissed off enough as it was, his FBI contact could have informed him earlier on the possibility of another person living in the house. Just how had he come across that information in the first place? That was what Gary wanted to know. But right now, he needed their help, so he would shut his mouth and play nice. The detective knew that his contacts didn’t fully trust him, and for what it was worth, he didn’t blame them. There was something going on here. More than what he was seeing, and he saw a lot more than anyone gave him credit for.

“Special Agent Isis Ahmad, may I help you?” The woman on the other end of the phone asked politely.

“Isis? What’s the passcode?” He had to ask, he didn’t know Isis from any other pleasant female voice, having only talked to her a couple of times. They had each agreed on a code word that only the three of them knew not long after catching one of his younger coworkers listening in on their conversation.

“Watcher.” She responded easily.

Isis didn’t need to ask his code. She knew the detective’s voice, and she knew he was going to call, just not what the call would be about. Call it a sixth sense, but Isis had the uncanny ability to see bits and pieces of future events. She had seen one of the possible outcomes of this case she and Shadi were working. Not all of it, but what she saw was more than enough.

And those visions had been giving the female agent nightmares for the past couple of weeks. But, as she learned not long ago, these visions were not set in stone. They could be changed before they came to pass. And she fully intended on stacking the deck where their young witness was concerned. For, if he went down, her adopted son would be taken with him. Their fates were tied together.

“Thank god. Things are going crazy here. I have a kid waiting for me at the Motou house. He thinks he’s in trouble, and I tend to agree with him. Apparently he’s friends with the Motou boy, and he said that his friends haven’t been seen since they were talking to an officer in an unmarked car. I haven’t talked to anyone today, and my car is the only unmarked car around this area. I’m going to pick him up now. What do I do with him? He can’t stay here.” Gary outlined, for Isis, the rest of what the kid had told him earlier.

As he’d left the station, he’d caught a glimpse of the desk sergeant writing up a couple of missing persons reports, two local teenagers. The kid wasn’t lying. He was pretty sure that those were the two kids in question. The thought sent a chill up his spine. Their parents were quick to call them in missing. Hell, he would be too, after what happened last night.

“I’ll get someone on the way now. Where do you want to meet them?” Isis’s pen was poised over her notebook, ready to take down directions.

“I’ll call you back as soon as he’s in my custody. Then we can plan on a meeting.”

“Okay, just call as soon as you know.”

This was serious business. Not only were these people after Mr. Motou, they were targeting his grandson’s friends. Something wasn’t adding up. The Motou murder wasn’t just for kicks, him and the boy – they knew something, had some information that was vital to this group’s work.

Isis hung up the phone and hurried into the other room, where her partner, and husband, Shadi was typing furiously away at the computer. “Shadi, have you found anything else out?”

He got up and walked away from the desk, speaking to her as he went about his business. “Apparently the names Solomon and Yugi Motou have a very complicated paper trail…false documents and likewise. Someone really went through a lot of trouble to give these two a history past twelve years ago. But I also have a record of a Yugi Halli who was born around the same time as Yugi Motou. And the kicker is that Solomon Motou was his great-great-great grandfather’s name. His grandfather’s name was Siamun Hitori.”

The bald agent tore a piece of paper off his printer, and sat back at the desk, staring at the computer screen. “Yugi Halli’s parents were killed in Colorado only three days before the Motou’s appeared on the credit bureau’s financial radar. About the same time Saimun disappeared, along with the child. I’m still looking into the rest of this. I booked a flight to Colorado for tonight. That’s where this all starts. Why, what’s up?” Shadi turned from the information on his computer to look into his wife’s deep brown eyes. She looked troubled.

“I have another child that needs to disappear for a while. Whoever is behind this, they are targeting the boy, Yugi’s, friends. Two of them are more than likely dead by now. A third was lucky enough to get in touch with that detective, Gary. He’s out there looking for the boy now. Do you have anyone to send out there to pick him up?”

“I’ll call Seto. He’s between jobs right now - after last night’s bust. And with Atemu in hiding, he has nothing to keep him here.” Shadi informed his wife as he dialed the number to the older of his two adopted sons.

“There are days when I wish the two of them would have chosen a different career. I really hate sending them on cases like this. They are the only children we will ever have.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, shuddering at the thought of finding either of her adopted son’s bodies. “Even my brother would have said enough is enough. He would have hidden his children too. For some reason, those people are after this boy and I don’t think they’re going to let up. I don’t want my boys caught up in this.” At the moment, she was unable to see either of her boys’ future. And it worried her to no end.

Shadi took hold of her hand, cradling the phone between his shoulder and his ear. “Relax; they’re old enough to handle this. Look at how far they’ve both come since we took them in…” Speaking into the phone, he said “Seto, I have a job for you…”

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Two days, he had been stuck up here with this lifeless doll, this beautiful, lifeless boy. With no way to reach him. He had tried everything he could think of to get the boy to come back to the land of the living. But so far nothing had worked. The boy had cocooned himself deep within his mind not long after the episode that first morning in the cabin. The young agent couldn’t help but think that he had contributed to the boy’s state of mind. He had never felt so guilty in his life. If he wouldn’t have grabbed the child...He didn’t know.

Atemu didn’t even know the child’s name, or how old he was. Today he had gotten so frustrated that he ended up putting a hole in the wall of the cabin with his fist. But still, no reaction from the small boy who was curled up on the floor, in a fetal position. He didn’t even flinch. Atemu was at the end of his rope. If he didn’t do something quick, the boy would die, and he’d never know what he saw.

Atemu growled when he heard the phone ring. The agent glared at the device for a minute before picking it up. Only a few people even knew of this prepaid number. And if it wasn’t Shadi, with information, then he was going to go ballistic on the person calling.

“Yes?”

Shadi’s animated voice carried over the phone. “Atemu, listen to me carefully. I can’t talk long, there are other people around. I want you to do some research on this book. It’s called The Power of the Shadows – Rituals and Ceremonies, Legends and Myths. I found a copy in the boy’s house, and forwarded it to your email. That is where you will find the answers to what I’m about to tell you.”

Shadi could barely catch his breath to rattle off what he had found. “The boy’s real name is Yugi Halli. But he goes by the name Yugi Motou. He is seventeen years old. And he’s not just a witness, he’s the primary target. Yugi is the one they were searching for when they killed his grandfather. You’ll know why when you read the book. I have to go. I’ll call you when I get back into town.”

“Wait! Shadi, he’s not eating, he’s not sleeping…”

The line went dead. Atemu stared at the phone, incensed. Read the book? What the hell was that all about? This book couldn’t tell him how to get the boy to eat. Or how to break through the boy’s catatonic state. Would it? He took a deep breath, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. Glancing briefly over at his charge, the agent blew the hair out of his face in frustration.

He was no use to anyone in this state of mind. This case was affecting his head as much as his young charge was. If he wasn’t able to clear his head soon, he’d probably do something he would seriously regret. A bullet to the brain sounded nice. Atemu smirked at the sarcastic thought.

After a few more calming breaths, he got up and walked over to the table to boot up the laptop. It wasn’t as if he had anything else to do. His charge was currently staring at the wall, his half open eyes glazed over. It was like the boy wasn’t even there, only an empty husk.

After downloading the email in question, Atemu skimmed over the first couple of pages. Then he read out loud, putting voice to the words, outlining anything of significance.

“There are two types of souls on the earthly plane, whole souls and half souls. A half soul is formed when the transition from soul to physical entity becomes too much for the whole soul to bear. It is torn in two before the transition is complete.” This wasn’t exactly what he was expecting.

What was it his boss wanted him to read? There had to be something here that was worth the time. He may have questioned his adopted father’s methods, but he never questioned what the man thought was important. Shadi knew too much for that. The man was almost supernatural in his ability to know almost everything.

“All whole souls and most half souls are rendered powerless the moment the transition to physical entity is complete, as they each contain light and dark sides. Light and darkness cancel out each other’s abilities. Only those few half souls split along the lines of darkness and light are able to retain some portion of their powers. Of these one sided half souls, the only ones pure enough for the sacrificial ritual are those of light…What the fuck?!!!”

A sacrifice? What an archaic thought. Who in their right mind would want to sacrifice another person? That practice had died out centuries ago. The agent continued reading. A couple hours later, after finding nothing else of interest in the chapter he was reading, he was convinced that this book was nothing but a relic. Something that the old man was interested in. But why would Shadi want him to read it if that’s all it was?

Atemu shoved back from the table and walked away, frustrated, pulling at his tricolor hair. This wasn’t going to tell him anything. So far it was about as interesting as reading an instruction manual. He was going to need all of his brain function just to get past the current chapter. He was the first one to believe in the supernatural, but this was above and beyond.

The crimson eyed agent walked into the kitchen and grabbed a red Monster energy drink and a slice of cheesecake out of the refrigerator. He would need the energy boost, it was getting late, and his concentration was lagging. Thank god that the small store in town had homemade food. Absently, he grabbed an extra piece of cake and set it down in front of his charge. Briefly, he checked the boy’s condition before going back to his reading on the laptop. Nothing had changed. He didn’t think the boy would eat it, but he had to offer. Maybe that would work where nothing else did. Something had to give soon.

Picking up where he left off, he looked for the reference to the sacrificial ritual that was mentioned earlier. As he found it, he began to read aloud, taking notes in his book.

“The sacrificial ritual is the repeated acts of…torture bringing out the power of a half soul of light and offering it in its original form to the gods of the shadows in exchange for an endowment. The endowment will be whatever the master or masters of the sacrifice wish. A sacrifice is only honored during the harvest moon, when the soul’s power is at its peak. Isn’t the harvest moon within the next month?”

He was going to have to check the calendar on that one. Maybe this was leading somewhere. It mentioned burning the bodies, and so far all the victims’ bodies were found burnt beyond recognition.

Atemu skimmed the page. He could hardly bear to read what these people – the masters – put the victims through to release this power. He jerked his head back, ruby eyes shifting to the boy sitting in the corner. How could anyone do that to such an innocent? The thought was beyond his comprehension. He looked back at his snack and pushed it away; now wasn’t the best time to eat. He had lost what little appetite he had when he began reading this chapter.

A note at the bottom of the page caught his attention. “The honor of a sacrifice is based on four different elements: Strength of the soul, purity of the light, physical beauty, and chastity. A sacrifice with all four elements is the highest honor to the shadows. And the master shall be rewarded accordingly. But, a sacrifice does not need all four elements to be acknowledged by the shadows. Where the hell did they get this stuff?” He snorted.

By now the agent was agitated beyond all reason. He needed to finish his notes and break this down into something he could understand. Light souls, dark souls, shadows, power? He paged back to the footnotes. It was a book based on the rituals and customs of the druids. Rituals dating back before the dawn of civilized man. This was what these people were doing? Torturing innocents for their own power?!

Half way through the night, he found something of interest in the book, a small note at the bottom of the page. A reference to another chapter. He skipped ahead. It said that physical traits were similar among the halves of light and dark. Was this why Shadi had placed the boy in his care, even after how he had acted? Did the older agent believe that he was a part of a soul that had been torn in half? Did he know something that had so far eluded his young protégé? Atemu couldn’t help it, his eyes slid to the small figure on the floor.

True, they looked alike…but could he really believe what this book was saying? He had felt something missing from his life for as long as he could remember, but he had always thought that it was his family. Could it be something entirely different? Could this be where his strange talents came from? Could this be part of the reason he was drawn to the boy so completely? More questions than answers. Atemu weighed the information in his mind, and that was all he was able to come up with – more questions than answers. He shut off the computer with a sigh.

It was time to test the book’s theory. If he were really this boy’s soul mate then he should be able to wake him from this vegetative state that he was currently in. Atemu got up from the chair and walked over to his charge. It was hard to believe that this boy was almost eighteen years old. He looked like he was about twelve. But he was so beautiful, it made Atemu’s heart ache for him to be well again. To see what he was like before he grief and terror turned him into the zombie that he was presently. Gently, the ruby eyed agent picked the boy up and made his way to the couch.

Settling the small teen in his lap, Atemu laid his forehead against the boy’s. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander. He had used this persuasion technique before, on criminals that he interrogated. The power of suggestion. It seemed to work better the closer he was to his target.

‘Yugi’ He called out mentally, concentrating on his task. “Little one, where are you?”

Without warning, the air was knocked out of his lungs, and when his vision cleared he found himself in what appeared to be a dark hallway. What the hell?! This had never happened before! He glanced both ways down the eerie hall. There was a door on each side. Atemu studied the first one that he came to.

It was dark and forbidding, made of what looked like dark stone, carved with overgrown vines that, to him, looked like bars of a cage. The knob, heavy and black, possibly cast-iron, had a complicated rune carved into it. It was also closed tightly against him. There were some symbols of a different design etched into the door that seemed slightly familiar to him. He turned away. As curious as he was about this door, he had more urgent matters to attend to. He needed to find his charge. So he continued cautiously down the hall.

The door on the opposite side was a rather ordinary door, painted pale blue, with a brass knob. And it was wide open, allowing brilliant light to penetrate the dark shadows. This must be the way he was supposed to go then. Atemu glanced warily into the room.

The room was radiance itself, it shined on the walls and from the objects on the floor. Patiently, he covered his eyes waiting for them to adjust to the brightness. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he was able to make out a child’s room. The objects on the floor were scattered toys, items of innocence and youth. Atemu wondered where he was for a moment. Then he caught sight of the small figure curled up in a ball on the bed. It was his charge. The boy was thoroughly engrossed in what appeared to be a small television in the corner of the room.

Atemu sat down on the bed gently. “Yugi?” He reached out and tucked a lock of blonde hair behind the boy’s ear, trying to make contact.

The boy flinched, but otherwise remained silent, his attention focused solely on the screen, as tears ran down his face.

Frowning, Atemu turned around, catching sight of what was on the TV. There were blurry, distorted images moving across the screen. He could barely make out what was going on. And then an eerie shriek erupted from the screen. And another. He took a closer look. It looked like the boy was watching reruns of what happened to his grandfather. He grimaced. He couldn’t let the boy drown himself in memories of something he couldn’t change. As much as he’d like to see the faces of the murderers, he couldn’t let his young charge continue to watch this.

Atemu got off the bed and pulled the plug on the television. But the macabre scene still played itself out. Quickly, he walked back to the boy and covered his eyes, hoping for a response. As soon as he put a hand to the boy’s face, the television blinked out, silent.

“Yugi?” He questioned again.

“He did it for me. He died because of me. What did I do that was so wrong?” The quiet voice was music to Atemu’s ears, even with the turbulent emotion that he heard clearly.

Dropping back onto the bed, he picked the boy up, settling him in his lap. The small teen gave no resistance. “You did nothing wrong little one. Sometimes people are just evil…like those men. It wasn’t anything you did. They are after you for who you are, for what you are.”

When Yugi burst into tears and buried his head in Atemu’s chest, the young agent rocked him gently, trying to soothe the boy as best he could. And if not all the tears that fell were Yugi’s, well, neither of them would tell. To Atemu, it was as if he had lost his family all over again. Just thinking of what his young charge had been through the past couple of days. He had been there, seen what happened. Atemu hadn’t, and he couldn’t imagine the thoughts that were running through the boy’s mind. Another wave of guilt assaulted him.

“What am I?” The boy gazed up at him, tears clinging to his lashes.

Who was this man who came into his prison? The small teen hadn’t even been able to open the door earlier. As soon as he found himself in this room, the TV came on automatically, playing his grandfather’s final hours repeatedly. He finally gave in, after what seemed like hours of pounding on the door, to no avail, curling up on the bed. That was why he was still sitting in front of the television. How someone was able to get the door to open was a mystery to him. But he was never happier to see another person in his life.

Atemu clasped the small body closer to him, the boy tucking his head under his chin. The small teen fit so perfectly against him. Maybe there was some truth to that book after all.

“You are a very special person, little one. And I need you to come back to the land of the living. If you stay here, you will die.”

“If I come back, those men will come after me.” Yugi sobbed as he snuggled closer to the muscular chest that he was pressed against. For some reason, he felt safe, protected in this man’s embrace. It was too bad he couldn’t get a good look at him. It would be nice to know who his savior was, but his eyes just wouldn’t focus, he was so tired, so hurt.

“I won’t let them get to you. I will protect you little one, with my life if need be. But I need you to come back.” Atemu soothed the shivering teen with his hands, softly rubbing his back.

“I don’t know how. I don’t know where I am, or how I got here.”

“We’re inside your mind. Just concentrate on my voice little one. I’ll help you.” Atemu eased back onto the bed, taking the small teen with him.

The agent wasn’t really sure how he knew they were inside the teen’s mind, but somehow he knew it for a fact. Just as he realized that there was more to this small teen than what met the eye. And it was time for them to return to the real world. The teen couldn’t hide himself away forever, no matter how bad the pain was.

“I-I’ll try.” Something about the man’s smooth voice soothed Yugi’s nerves. He could listen to that voice all day. It was deep and strong, lulling the teen into a sense of safety, of security, even in all the chaos. He could even swear that he had heard that voice before. But where, he had no idea.

“Come with me Yugi. I know you can do it. Come on little one, I’m waiting for you.”

…Yugi opened his eyes, to see the most stunning features he had ever laid eyes on. The beautiful stranger who was holding him tightly gave a light shudder, before opening his eyes. Yugi gasped, his rescuer was the man with the devil’s eyes, the one who had previously tried to kill him. How did he not notice this earlier, when they were talking?

The small teen scrambled up and out of the man’s reach before Atemu could even react. “You! I remember you! You tried to kill me.” He backed up until he hit the wall, to slide down to the floor. There was no where to go now, no place to hide. He was dead this time. Yugi started to sob.

What?! Just a moment ago, the boy was holding onto him as if he were his only hope of salvation. What went wrong? Atemu made to help the teen off the floor, not understanding what he had done wrong. It was a bad move on his part

With a glare at his attacker, the small teen decided that it was time to fight back. Using a strength he didn’t know he possessed, Yugi lashed out and knocked the man off balance as he tried to attack, pushing himself off the floor in an attempt to escape. To where, Yugi had no idea. But if he didn’t want to die, he couldn’t just give up. He had to find somewhere safe.

Atemu had just about had enough, swearing roughly as he caught his balance. This was the third time that his young charge attempted to do him bodily harm. He grabbed a hold of the boy as he shot past, catching him around the waist, pulling him back tightly against his body.

“Enough Yugi!” The agent roared at the struggling teen.

Every movement the small teen was making sent a warm, tingling sensation straight to his groin. His member reacting violently to the soft, slender body pressed against him. Atemu groaned - this was definitely not the time. He tried to reign in his body’s response before he did something he would regret. His small charge was already afraid of him. And if he couldn’t control his body’s reaction to a simple touch, the boy would be even more frightened, and rightly so.

“Damn it, listen to me! I’m not here to hurt you. I’m the only friend you have right now.” He hissed at the boy, tightening his grip on the boy’s slim hips. “I told you that earlier.”

“B-but y-you tried to k-kill me.” Yugi gasped, pushing ineffectively at the slender hands that held him tightly. His pitiful struggles did little to loosen the grasp those hands had on him.

The small teen recognized how tenuous his situation was. He had no idea where he was, or how to get out of here. Slowly he stilled, settling into the embrace, his body trusting even if his mind wasn’t willing to. Crystal clear drops spilling down his face. He was so helpless. Yugi was praying that this man with the exotic eyes was here to help him, like he did in that strange room.

“I-I’m sorry about our first meeting little one. I don’t even know what I was trying to do. I was a little…overzealous. But you trusted me the last time we talked. Do you not trust me now?” Atemu whispered huskily, loosening his grip.

Yugi trembled as the warm breath blew past his ear. He felt…almost protected in this stranger’s embrace. What was it about this man that made him want to trust him? He didn’t even know him. “We talked again? I-I didn’t know that. I don’t remember. I don’t remember much since…”

Now that he knew the boy wasn’t going to bolt, Atemu turned him so they were face to face, brushing the moisture away from his cheeks. “It’s okay little one. You haven’t been yourself for a while now. You’ve been here for two days now. This isn’t good for you, to grieve this hard.”

“I-I saw them…I saw what they did to my grandpa. He was…trying to save me. I don’t know what to do, w-where to go. What do I do now?” Yugi’s breath hitched. He was perilously close to breaking down again.

“I…can help you, if you want me to. I can take away some of the pain, help you bury what happened deep within your mind. It’s only temporary, but it will get you past this stage. You need to be able to think, and in the condition that you’re in, it’s not possible.” Atemu was torn between keeping his oddity a secret, and helping the young teen who was currently upsetting his orderly life.

The desire to help was overruling his need for privacy at the moment. As much as the young agent would have liked to have kept his unusual powers a secret, he needed to break his young charge from the grief that was currently holding him prisoner. And the only way to do that was to let him see part of what he was capable of.

“You can do that?”

“There are a lot of things I can do…that aren’t exactly normal little one. Rearranging memories is just one of them.” Atemu admitted truthfully.

Yugi thought it over for a minute. He believed the man when he said that he could do this. How could he not. Yugi, himself, had some secrets of his own. Like the fact that he could feel what other people were thinking. Not exactly read minds, but close. The small teen closed his eyes. To be free from this haze that was clouding his judgment. It would be so nice. But at the same time, he didn’t want to forget what had happened that horrible night. He couldn’t do that to his grandfather. Not after what the man had done for him. Those men needed to be brought to justice, and he was the only one who could make it happen.

“I-I don’t want to forget him…forget what happened.” Yugi laid his head on the man’s shoulder.

It was so hard for him just to keep a coherent thought right now. The haze never left his mind, not even for a minute. At this moment, the ever present shadows were threatening to cloud him over again. He was willing to take comfort in any form that it came in, even his strange ruby eyed protector.

“You won’t forget. If I do this, it will be as though it happened in the past. Not as clear, or as painful.”

“If I can still remember him…then I’ll do it. I-I just don’t want to be alone. And when my grandpa was there, I wasn’t alone.” He sniffed lightly, rubbing at his eyes, looking for all the world like a small child.

“You’re not alone. I’m right here with you little one. I promise.” Atemu wrapped the small teen up in a tight embrace. “You’re not alone.”

Yugi pulled back to look into the man’s exotic ruby eyes. “Who are you? Why would you want to help me?”

“My name is Atemu. I work for the FBI. I’m going to be watching over you until we catch the people responsible for your grandfather’s death. As for why…I will tell you about it later, when you are thinking straight. Are you okay with that?” The agent ran his hand along the teen’s face, comforting him with the soft touch. He just couldn’t leave it alone. This boy was…well, he was lost and hurt, and to Atemu – he just couldn’t stand to see him this way.

“I…Yeah, I guess. But what happens after? Where will I go then? Am I…I don’t know, I don’t have anyone left. Am I just left to go back to my life?” Yugi closed his eyes, trying to swallow his fears. This man, the one who was holding him so tenderly. He didn’t know what to think about him. Should he fear him or should he…He couldn’t focus.

“That is up to you little one. We need to focus on one problem at a time. We can discuss it at another time, when you’re back to yourself. Come on, to do this we need to be comfortable. I have to be able to concentrate. I don’t want to hurt you.” Atemu tugged gently on his hand. The agent didn’t want to give his charge the chance to slip back into his catatonic state. The sooner they did this, the better off the young teen would be.

Yugi nodded, allowing his rescuer to pull him over to the couch, where the man sat down, indicating that he should sit next to him. He sat lightly on the corner of the worn blue couch, gripping the edge with his hands so hard his knuckles turned white. The small teen wasn’t sure what to expect. He still couldn’t get over the fact that his life was destroyed. For what reason, he had no idea. He just wanted to go home. Home before those men destroyed his life. Now he had no home, no place to go.

“I want you to relax. Close your eyes for me little one.” Atemu laid his hands gently on Yugi’s temples, massaging softly.

The teen obeyed his command with a shiver, closing his eyes as one last tear slipped out. Atemu closed his eyes as well; he needed to concentrate on his task. The last time he had done this, it was to urge a witness’s memories to the surface. And he ended up hurting the man badly, bringing that memory back out into the open.

The young agent didn’t feel too bad for him though. It turned out that he had been the one to murder his girlfriend. And bringing those memories back to the surface only caused him to go insane with grief over what he had done. Justice was served as far as he was concerned. But he didn’t want to harm his young charge like that; he had to be extremely careful.

Dark wisps of shadow extended out from the agent’s fingertips, caressing the boy’s face as he concentrated on finding the memory in question. Once it was found, he used the tendrils to push the memory back to the back of Yugi’s mind. That done, Atemu pulled back his powers, the shadowy wisps returning to his body. It only took a minute.

Crimson eyes opening slowly, the agent asked “How do you feel?”

Bright amethyst eyes blinked open as Yugi thought on the question for a couple of minutes. “I feel…I don’t know, not so foggy. It’s like I know he died, but it was a while ago. I can remember some of the good times we had together. Not just that night. I can breathe.”

Atemu smiled at his charge. “Would you like to take a shower and get cleaned up? I have some clothes here that might be a little big, but they’ll work for now.”

There was no reason to try and pry the information out of the teen right now. Even with his having seen the murderer’s faces, he was really no help until they had a suspect or a place to start looking. At the moment, they had nothing to go on. He just wanted the boy to relax for a little while before he brought the subject up. They had almost a month before the next ritual. And right now, the boy needed to get himself together. They could do sketches later, after his charge calmed down enough to collect his thoughts.

Yugi smiled shyly at his rescuer. It was his first true smile in what seemed like ages. “I’d really like that.”

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