Fleeing the Shadows

Sorry that took so long to get this posted, we had an emergency of the fucked up kind! Well, here’s the next chap. Please enjoy – and remember, I don’t own and this is YAOI – if you don’t like it, you know where the back button is.


“Lemme go! Put me down!!!” Jou beat on agent’s back as hard as he could, feet flailing in the off chance of landing a groin hit. His legs were promptly restrained by a steely hand, and his fists didn’t even faze the man.

When the stubborn teen refused to get out of the car, Seto took matters into his own hands. Hoisting the blonde over his shoulder, the agent carried him, kicking and squirming, into the tidy, white washed Tudor style house that they would be staying at, kicking open the screen door.

A slim pale haired boy was settled comfortably on the over stuffed sofa watching television when the noise erupted from outside. Hearing the shouts, Ryou froze like a frightened rabbit; until the flimsy door bounced off the wall from the force of Seto’s kick. A terrified scream tore itself from the boy’s thin throat, and he took flight to hide behind his protector.

He had only been safe for the past five months and it was not enough time for the nightmares to fade. Still extremely edgy, the slender teen spent half the time worried that someone would find them, kill his protector and take him back to the life he led before. And he couldn’t deal with that, he wouldn’t. Sobbing quietly, he hid behind his look-a-like as two men invaded his house.

“Son of a bitch! What the hell was that for?” Bakura barked, eyeing the duo from the other side of the living room. Reaching behind him, he settled a reassuring hand on Ryou’s shoulder, grimacing when he felt it shaking beneath his hand. Great, just what he needed. His white haired charge was just beginning to show signs of healing, and now this.

“Nice to see you too, asshole. What a greeting.” Seto sneered as he hauled his struggling burden over to the couch and unceremoniously dropped the furious teen onto the cushions.

Jou hit the couch with a thud and yelped, half in pain and half in indignation, and shot to his feet again. The second he was upright, he tried to take a swing at the man who had dragged him here. “Damn it! I told you that I wanted to see Yugi. You told me he was safe! I wanna see him now!!”

Seto caught the teen’s fist, refusing to wince when the strength behind it was much greater than he thought. He’d be damned if he showed this… this yelping dog any weakness. Instead, he growled back his answer. “Your Yugi is in hiding right now. I refuse to call him up and risk his safety just for your comfort. So shut the hell up.”

The ungrateful little shit. He should have been happy just to be out of danger, but no, he wanted to be with his friends too. Well that was just too bad. The blue eyed agent couldn’t believe the gall this kid had. When Seto first met his charge, the first thing the teen did was to bite him. Of course, he wasn’t entirely blameless, having pulled the blonde from the back of the cop car to dump him into his Mercedes. But the kid bit him! It was totally uncalled for. And now he was just being an ass.

“I will not shut up. I wanna know where my friend is. You drag me halfway across the country…telling me that I will be able to see him. And when we get here, you tell me he’s not here. What kind of bullshit operation you running here?!” Jou snarled furiously, trying to wrench his hand from the other’s grasp. He was ready to throttle his so called savior.

Jou had dozed off in the cop car not long after he and the detective had grabbed a quick bite of food. He wasn’t even out that long before someone roughly picked him up, catching him unaware, and attempted to haul him out of his cozy spot in the back of the cop car. Jou lashed out, kicking his attacker in the leg, and taking a bite out of his arm for good measure. How was he to know that the man he had just bit was there to help him?

By the time the detective managed to separate the fighting pair, the damage was done. The blue eyed agent was furious, holding his bleeding wrist, the blonde teen holding his bruised cheek. Jou found himself pinned against the cop car, while the detective tried to shield him from his new guardian’s wrath.

After the detective was assured that Seto was not prepared to commit any immediate manslaughter, a quick phone call was made to the man’s superior. Following several harsh words passing between the detective and the agent in charge during the hasty phone conversation, Jou was reluctantly handed over to the glaring blue eyed agent.

Seto had promptly thrown him into the Mercedes, slamming the door on his new charge. And after that, Jou took pleasure in bating the blue eyed agent any chance he got. It wasn’t hard. All he had to do was refuse to do what he was ordered. That seemed to set off the high handed agent more than anything else, like he was used to being obeyed in anything he did. Once the blonde learned that weakness, he exploited it each and every chance he got.

The two day ride to the safe house in Florida was no picnic for either of them. Between Jou’s constant asking after his friend, and Seto’s blunt refusal to give even the slightest bit of information, the two spent most of their time on the road fighting and squabbling over every topic that had the misfortune of being brought up. The crowning moment happened not ten minutes from the safe house.

Jou informed his new protector that he absolutely refused to get out of the car until he was able to talk to his smaller friend. Seto was livid. He couldn’t believe the outrageous demands that his charge was making. The boy ought to be thankful that he was alive at the moment. Not making demands that couldn’t be met. There was no way he would endanger his cousin’s mission. When Shadi told him that no one was safe, he meant no one. The blue eyed agent couldn’t even be sure his phone was untapped, that was why he left it back in Tennessee.

“I promised you no such…” Seto started.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Bakura snarled at the duo, catching them both by surprise.

Bakura had been watching them clash for almost five minutes now, and frankly he was sick of it. He knew that his sometimes partner was a little high handed, but this was ridiculous. To refuse to let the kid know that his friend was safe, when the solution was fairly simple?

Both young men looked over, Jou now realizing that there was someone else in the room. The blonde’s face turned scarlet with embarrassment. He hadn’t realized the room was occupied, not having heard the greeting that his so called protector had uttered before. And now he’d made an idiot of himself in front of a couple of complete strangers, fighting with this icy-eyed man. His warden could have told him that there would be other people here. But maybe this white haired man could help him out of this situation.

Seto ground his teeth together loud enough for the sound to be heard in the silence of the room. When the eyes of the others landed on him, they could see the blue vein pulsing on his forehead. He really needed a drink. Bakura had better have some of the good shit.

“I wanna know that Yugi is safe.” Jou broke in, his voice still heated. “I’m not just gonna take his word for it, I don’t trust him.” He added, glaring at the man he’d aptly named as his warden.

The blue eyed agent glared back haughtily, before turning on his heel and exiting the room. He walked into the other room, rummaging through the cupboard for something to drink, leaving Jou to recount how he came to be driving through the country with the dour agent. In his absence, the blonde made sure that the white haired agent knew very well how he felt about the man who was in charge of his case.

By the time Jou finished his story, Ryou was feeling secure enough to venture out from behind his protector’s shadow. But the white haired teen didn’t do much more than that, still feeling uneasy. Bakura stilled him with a gentle hand on his arm, a look passing between the pair, before returning his attention to his unwanted houseguests.

“Look, I have a simple solution to this little hissy fit that you two are having. I have a prepaid cell, I’ll call Atemu. It can’t be traced to me. So, if you two will just shut up for two seconds, this will all be over and you can find something else to fight about…and somewhere else to do it. You’re scaring my charge with your angsty bullshit!” Bakura complained as Seto came out of the kitchen, a bottle of Bakura’s Smirnoff in his hands.

“Fine, but you better explain to Atemu that you can’t be traced. He’ll have your head if those people find him. The kid that he’s babysitting is extremely important in this case.” Seto replied crossly as he took a swig right out of the bottle. He wanted no part of this. He wouldn’t be the one to get his younger cousin caught by these people.

“Whatever, and put that back. That shit costs a mint.” Bakura muttered, dialing his friend’s number.

Seto snorted, tightening his hand around the bottle. Like hell he was giving this up, this was all he could find. He had been through hell the past two days. And he was going to get at least one drink to calm himself. Besides, Bakura and Atemu used to raid his collection when they were younger, on top of many other things. It was his turn to be annoying.

Bakura shook his head as he listened to the phone ring. Seto was still the same stuck up asshole as he had been when they first met. But then again, he had had his own moments too. Especially when they were first introduced.

The two teen’s adoption had irritated the white haired teen at first. Shadi and Isis were the only two people in his family to pay him any attention whatsoever. He didn’t even exist to his parents, who were always at some function or dealing with the running of their multimillion dollar corporation. They pawned him off on his aunt and uncle soon after they learned of his thieving ways. For rehabilitation purposes, he was told.

He wasn’t there long before he realized that no matter how badly he behaved, someone would always care for him. It was then that he started to settle down - until the adoption. Then, he thought they were trying to replace him, that he wasn’t wanted anymore.

But one night shortly after Seto and Atemu moved in, Shadi took the white haired youth into his den, and sat him down to explain their situation. Bakura had never felt so low in his life. He was envious of two people who were in a worse situation than he was in. Their parents were no longer living; they had no family to turn to. That night he almost felt blessed. He had his aunt and uncle, even if his parents couldn’t have given a fig about him. He had the rest of his family. The two teens that they had adopted didn’t even have that.

From that moment on, the white haired youth was bound and determined to make friends with his two new cousins. And it turned out to be easier than he thought, at least with Atemu. They both shared the same interests, and Atemu even held some of the same mysterious gifts that Bakura was exhibiting. They never told Seto though. It was their secret. The icy brunette had always been harder to get along with than his slightly hot tempered cousin.

“Yes?” The phone was picked up just before the eighth ring.

“Atemu? Is that you?”

“Bakura? Why are you calling me? I thought you were in protective custody.” Atemu asked curiously. His adopted cousin knew better than to call at a time like this.

“Listen, I wouldn’t, but Seto’s down here. And he has a friend of your witness’s with him. The kid’s going berserk right now; he wants to talk to his friend.”

Atemu put a hand over the phone. “Excuse me for a moment Yugi; we’ll continue the game after I take this call.”

The small amethyst eyed teen nodded silently before turning back to the video game they were trying to conquer.

The ruby eyed agent moved quickly from his place on the couch into the bedroom. He didn’t want his young charge to hear any of this discussion. Something bad had happened to make his cousin go into hiding along with one of his charge’s friends. And right now the boy wasn’t mentally up to anymore nasty surprises.

“What happened? Why is Seto there? Why does he have one of Yugi’s friends with him?” Atemu paced back and forth in the space between the bed and the closet, trying to keep his voice down.

“I don’t know what went down. I’ll let you talk to the boy; he can tell you more than I can. I’m just trying to settle an argument before it gets out of control.”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

Bakura handed the phone to Jou, who looked like he was going to pitch a fit if he wasn’t able to talk to his friend any time soon.

“Hello?”

“May I ask who I’m talking to?”

“My name is Jou sir. Is Yugi there with you? If so, can I talk to him?” He asked respectfully. The voice on the other end of the phone sounded authoritative, commanding respect the moment he heard it. It also sounded younger than he would have thought.

“I’m afraid not. At least not at this moment. Look, Jou, I need to know what happened.”

Jou snarled. Commanding voice or not, he wasn’t saying a word until he knew how his small friend was. “Why does everyone want me to talk, yet they aren’t willing to do the same. I don’t think so. You tell me how Yugi is first. I wanna straight answer. Then I’ll tell you what happened.”

Atemu sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fine. He’s conscious. I don’t know if he’s okay, I’m going to wait and reserve judgment on that right now. It’s all I can tell you for the moment. What happened?”

“Whaddya you mean ya don’ know? How the hell can you not know?” Jou snapped.

“I mean he’s…today is the first day that he’s been conscious. I’m not going to let him fall back into the state he was in previously. I know you want to talk to him, but right now it’s not a good idea. Give him some time to digest everything. Now are you going to tell me what happened, or not.” Atemu rubbed his temples against the oncoming headache.

“Fine.” The blonde shot Atemu’s word back at him.

Jou explained his predicament, starting with the disappearance of his friends, and ending with his forced trip to Florida. He left nothing out, not even his attack on his protector. Atemu had to swallow a laugh upon hearing that comment. It sounded like his cousin had his hands full with his feisty charge. But the news from Yugi’s hometown was discouraging to say the least. Now that Yugi was unavailable, it seems that the men were targeting his friends. The ruby eyed agent hoped that his co workers would be able to track down the rest of the boy’s friends and get them away safely.

Before they ended the conversation, Jou had a question. “Will ya please look after Yugi? Make sure he stays safe. Please, he’s the only friend I have left.”

“You may depend on it. I will call if there are any changes. And I may be able to let you talk to him in a week or so. I don’t want you to think that I’m keeping the two of you apart for no reason. I just don’t want to undo all the progress that was made yesterday.”

“I understand.” Jou said in a defeated tone.

The moment Atemu hung up the phone, he dialed Shadi’s number. He needed more information. He needed to be ready in case something else happened. But there was no answer. Perturbed, he left a terse message for the bald agent to call him back as soon as possible. He didn’t want to tell his young charge anything yet. All that would accomplish would be to put him right back in the state he was in when he first arrived.

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Sorrowful amethyst eyes took in the scenery in the quiet haze of the early morning, as a dense mist rose up off the moss covered ground. With the tall green trees and shrubs surrounding the picturesque little cabin, it was beyond beautiful. But, in reality, Yugi saw none of it as he sat, curled up on the antique porch swing. The petite teen had only come outside this morning to catch a breath of fresh air, and think about everything that he had gone through recently. And he still wasn’t finished sifting through all of his thoughts, even though he had been sitting out here for well over an hour. It was so hard to believe that he had been here for two weeks.

Two whole weeks of hiding out in this quaint little cabin in the woods, having nothing to do with his time but sit around and worry over what was going to happen to him. The suspense was grating on his nerves. He woke up this morning, before the sun even made an appearance, to discover that his mind was not going to let him shy away from the memories any longer. It was time to sort out his chaotic thoughts.

Gazing listlessly at the spectacle nature created, he tried hard to think of anything other than his grandfather. But his mind kept gnawing on the edge of the memory like an old bone, returning again and again to see if there was anything left to pick at. If those men hadn’t killed his grandfather, he wouldn’t be here - hiding out in this beautiful, secluded little cabin, with his sexy albeit bipolar roommate. And those thoughts bothered him immensely.

He was still uncertain about his new guardian. The man was an enigma. Most of the time he was surly and distant. But if Yugi showed even the slightest bit of emotion, he was right there, giving him a shoulder to cry on. Frankly, he didn’t know what to expect from the man, he was so unpredictable. And to make matters worse, every time those intense ruby eyes glanced his way, the small teen felt even more unsettled, butterflies taking flight in his stomach.

“What brings you out so early little one?”

Yugi jumped at the sound of the deep tenor voice. He turned quickly, to catch sight of the person his thoughts were centered on as he sauntered across the front porch to sit down beside him, a fresh cup of coffee in his hand. The man was dressed in a pair of figure hugging black jeans, and nothing else, his muscular chest bare to the chill of the morning breeze. It didn’t seem to bother him, even though it was cool enough for his coffee to give off fragrant wisps of steam, so Yugi didn’t comment. It wasn’t as if he could breathe properly anyways, looking at that broad, caramel colored chest.

“I…oh nothing really. I just got up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I came outside to think things over.” Yugi could feel the heat rise to his face. He turned to study the landscape, rather than face the man who was staring at him with such intensity.

“The memories are coming back to the surface, aren’t they?”

It wasn’t a question really. It was more of a comment. Yugi shrugged. But he felt the need to explain himself. “A little, yes. They’re not that bad though. Honestly.”

Atemu grunted, tightening his hands around the steaming mug. His charge was a bad liar. He could hear the boy crying out in his sleep from his place on the couch. It was where he had started sleeping ever since that first night, when he realized that he may do more harm than good sleeping in the same room. He couldn’t keep his hands to himself. And this was an entirely new experience for him.

Any other time, any other person, and he couldn’t have cared less. But this boy, he couldn’t seem to keep him out of his thoughts. It was distressing, to say the least. Somehow, though, despite starting his nights out on the couch, he always ended up waking in the morning to find himself curled around his small teenage charge, both lying comfortably in the large bed.

He had made up his mind earlier in the week that he would just ignore the boy, unless it had something to do with the case. He needed to keep as much distance between them as possible. But this morning, when he was getting a cup of coffee he saw his young charge sitting outside, looking so lost, as he stared at the surrounding forest. The ruby eyed agent walked outside before he could stop himself.

“Do you think you’re up to looking at photographs yet?” Atemu cringed the moment the words left his mouth.

What he really wanted to know, was why the boy would blush whenever he looked his way. It was really kind of endearing, the way the color stood out against his porcelain skin, those beautiful amethyst jewels glowing, before glancing shyly away from him. Just the memory of that look and Atemu’s pants tightened uncomfortably. The boy was entirely too beautiful. And his natural shyness and vulnerability just increased his appeal.

Yugi glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye, before quickly looking away again, his face coloring. What was it about this man? If he wasn’t so afraid of him, the teen could swear that he had a crush. But that couldn’t be it. Maybe it was just the aftermath of what happened. Or a type of hero worship. Yeah, that was it. Nothing more than a dose of old fashioned hero worship. Yeah, right.

“I guess…It’s so peaceful out here. But don’t you feel like you’re all alone…What I mean is do you ever get lonely here? It seems like we’re in the middle of nowhere.” Yugi fumbled, trying for a change of topic. He wanted to get to know the person that he was going to be living with for god knew how long.

For a moment, it didn’t seem as though the man heard him.

Atemu mulled the question over. There were different types of being alone. To him, it wasn’t as if he were alone out here. Here, he could be himself. Out here, he could do what he wanted, and no one thought he was odd. No, he couldn’t honestly say that he felt lonely. At least not anymore than he did in a crowded room full of people who would never understand the freak that he was.

“No…but then again, I’ve always been a little odd.” Atemu answered cryptically.

Yugi thought he was going to add to his comment. So when he didn’t, the teen turned to him, curious. “What do you mean odd?” He assumed the agent was talking about his abilities, but that didn’t make him odd. At least not to Yugi. Maybe he was talking about something else?

His interest was piqued when the crimson eyed agent did nothing more than shrug. He could clearly feel the man’s unsettled thoughts. Closing his eyes, Yugi attempted to scrutinize the medley of conflicting emotions that his protector was giving off. All of a sudden, a wall went up, cutting him off completely from what he was trying to examine. He glanced quickly at the man, to see him staring back, an unsettled look in his exotic eyes. He quickly looked away.

“Why don’t we take a look at those pictures now?” Atemu got up from his place on the swing, walking back into the cabin.

Yugi sighed uncomfortably, uncurling from his place on the swing and following him into the house. That was strange. For a moment, he could have sworn that the man knew what he was trying to do. But that was impossible. No one had ever known about his intrusion into their thoughts.

Hell, most of the time he wasn’t even trying to eavesdrop. Other people’s thoughts just happened to come to him in the form of images and feelings. But this, this was different. This time he had to make a conscious effort to go after what was sent his way. And he may have gotten busted for it. But it was hard to tell, his guardian wasn’t the easiest to read.

Atemu strolled into the living room and booted up the computer, clicking onto the download that Shadi had sent him earlier. Then he indicated for Yugi to take a seat in front of the screen, showing the boy briefly how to maneuver through the endless faces of known offenders.

The agent was pretty sure this wasn’t going to work, but he had to try. And he needed some time to think. He had the feeling earlier, like someone was trying to invade his mind. The touch was gentle, as if it meant no harm, but it still freaked him out. Only Bakura was able to do something like that, and his cousin was no where near. That only left one person. But the touch, if it happened, was too light for him to be positive. Until this, the boy exhibited no unnatural abilities, no signs of anything odd. Honestly, Atemu would have figured him for normal. Now he wasn’t so sure.

“I’m going to get us some breakfast. Just call out if you see any faces that look familiar. I can’t sketch, and it’s going to be a while before I can get you to someone who can, so this will have to do for now.”

Yugi nodded solemnly. Taking that as his cue, Atemu made his way into the kitchen in search of food.

The amethyst eyed teen watched as his protector wandered into the kitchen, his eyes lingering on the man’s backside. As soon as Atemu disappeared from view behind the fridge door, he went back to the screen, his face a curious shade of crimson.

He really didn’t want to do this. He had a hard enough time with this memory. Yugi glanced at the first set of faces, comparing them to the faces in his memories. The men he saw that night all looked like upstanding citizens. So far, all he saw on the first couple of pages was a bunch of tattooed bikers.

The teen sighed. He could remember the blonde man in the policeman’s uniform and the bald man with the mole on his face. Other than that, none of their features really stuck out in his mind. But he continued looking at photos, if only to please the man in the other room. He had irritated the agent enough for today, attempting to read his thoughts. Or at least he might have.

Atemu was in the middle of making them an omelet when his phone gave off a shrill beep, startling him enough to slosh uncooked egg over the top of the stove.

‘Shit!” he exclaimed, turning off the burner and grabbing his phone from its place on top of the counter. The egg would have to wait until it cooled down before he would touch it.

“Yes?”

“Atemu, are you alone?” Shadi’s voice answered his query.

“Kind of…why, what’s up?” Atemu drifted out of the kitchen, pointing towards the bedroom. Breakfast would have to wait for a few, this conversation could not.

Yugi looked up to see that his protector was on the phone. When the agent pointed to the bedroom, he nodded. Atemu wanted privacy. The teen waited until the man was out of the room, before turning back to the computer. If only he could hear what was going on. But every time the agent got a phone call, he automatically took off for the other room, out of Yugi’s earshot. It was exasperating.

More and more the feeling of being left out of something important was weighing on the teen’s mind. But, there was more than one way to find out what was going on in the outside world. He wasn’t about to try to hear the conversation through Atemu’s mind, not after last time. Besides that, he had the whole world at his fingertips right now. The agent had satellite internet!

“I’m out of hearing range. What’s up?”

“There was another body found today. The man’s name was Amelda Warsaw. He’s an officer from Minnesota. His body was found not far from the two teen’s that were reported missing over two weeks ago.”

“I take it from the tone of your voice that you’ve found Yugi’s friends then.” This was not what Atemu wanted to hear, but he had been expecting this phone call. He never thought that the two missing teens had a prayer in hell.

“Yes. They’ve already been identified. The wounds are identical to the rest. The mark was carved into their chests. It’s the same way with the cop. I have Malik and Marik looking into this Warsaw’s life. The precinct in Minneapolis says that he has a younger brother living with him, but no one’s been able to contact him. I sent the two of them out there to look around yesterday.”

Shadi let the information sink in for a moment, before dropping a bomb. “I think that this kid just became the group’s 43rd victim. He’s the right age, and when Marik called from their apartment a few moments ago, he said there were signs of a struggle. And someone painted another symbol in blood on the wall.”

Atemu squeezed his eyes shut. This murder would be on his head. He had the witness to bring this group down, but he had been too afraid to put the boy through any more trauma then he’d already been through. And now another life was lost due to his procrastinating.

“Atemu?” Shadi questioned hesitantly.

“I’m here. Damn Shadi, I thought they would hold off for at least another week. I…” The ruby eyed agent ran his hand through his hair, frustrated.

“Atemu don’t, there wasn’t anything you could have done. We have no idea where to look until they strike. We just need to concentrate on finding this boy. And you, you need to work with the witness. It will come to you.”

This deviation from the norm was disturbing to Atemu. The group usually waited until three days before the Harvest moon, at least according to the timeline that Isis emailed him. But the full moon was still a week and a half away. What went wrong? As Atemu fretted over what Shadi had said, he almost missed the last comment.

“W-what did you say?”

“I said that it will come to you, how you need to deal with the witness. It will take a little time to bond. He’s had it rough lately.”

The off handed comment brought Atemu back to the night that he had left his coworkers, witness in tow. “You…you knew. And you didn’t say anything! How? Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“I had a feeling Atemu.” Shadi corrected his protégé. “I didn’t know anything for certain. It wasn’t until the moment I saw the two of you together that I was positive. Not only do the pair of you look alike, you both give off the same aura.”

“What?! How in the…”

“You read the book, correct? Some things that you need to discover for yourself. And Atemu, you’re not the only one who has been called a freak. Just remember that. I know how hard it is to deal with the fact that you are different. And I know it was you who was manipulating the silver ware that night. I have to go now, I’ll keep in touch.”

Atemu’s face turned red at the comment. Before he even had a chance to remark, the phone went dead. It wouldn’t have made a difference, he was pretty much speechless after finding out not only did Shadi have some bizarre abilities of his own, but that he knew that Atemu was the one who twisted the spoons into artful designs the two days they were on surveillance. His respect for the man grew exponentially.

He shut the phone off and sauntered back into the living room, expecting to see his witness obediently flipping through the many mug shots that he had to go through. Instead, what he saw was Yugi’s tearstained face, as the boy’s head shot up the moment he entered the main room. Atemu had to give the kid credit, as he attempted to wipe his face clear of the moisture and put on a smile. But he wasn’t fooled.

“Little one, what happened? Did you see one of the men?” Atemu made his way over to the teen. Was that a hint of guilt he had seen in his eyes? Why?

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