Fleeing the Shadows

Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but I fear it will be like this in the coming months. I now work 50+ hours a week, and it takes up a lot of my time. Add that to all the current chaos that is my life, and you have a person with only two hours a night to myself. *shrugs* Never fear, I will update, it just won’t be on spot weekly.

Big note: Thank you to ObsidianJade for helping with this chapter! I was so tired that I wasn’t making much sense. She took most of my ideas and ran with them! It turned out better than I could have done on my own. And Obsidian, I promise not to send you another chapter as screwed up as this one was!

Other note: I do not own and this is Yaoi, don’t like – don’t read! For all others, sorry – no lemon yet. I’m guessing about two chapters from now.


Yugi poured over the pages for hours. He was re-reading certain chapters for perhaps the fourth time when a thought struck him. This was almost like their normal daily routine. Atemu was sitting at the small desk in the corner of the room, working on the computer, emailing back and forth with Shadi and the others, gathering scraps of evidence into a folder.

Any other day and Yugi would be watching cartoons on the TV, or playing the many video games that Atemu had collected over the years. But this time, Yugi was doing his own research. His protector was finally letting him in, even if it was only reading something that he knew a little bit about. That wasn’t the point. A small grin made its way to the teen’s face, before he remembered that the man was watching him. The thought sobering him quickly, as he returned to the pages before him.

Every once in a while Atemu would casually glance up to see Yugi looking at the papers, an odd look in his eyes. Then the teen would look up and their eyes would meet - one or the other of them glancing away quickly, their faces red. It was nerve wracking. Atemu wanted to know what the boy’s thoughts were. Would he freak out? Or would he understand what they were supposed to be? Or would he be disgusted, as so many people from Atemu’s past were?

The agent turned his ruby gaze back to his computer, staring blankly back at the screen, thinking about all the different ways his charge could politely tell him to fuck off. And it would be polite; the ruby eyed agent had no doubt about that.

If Atemu were the nail biting kind that was exactly what he would be doing at the moment. He was so sick of being thought of as a freak. If just one person would understand…Well, Bakura understood, and so did Shadi and Isis, but they were his family. And other than the three of them no one even bothered to look past the bizarre talents that he had to see the person underneath.

First it was just the relatives that he was sent to live with. Then it was at the many foster cares, the schools, and finally at the academy. For the most part he was pretty good at hiding his talents – not even Seto had a clue, as close as they were. But when Atemu was bored or frustrated, his unnatural abilities seemed to manifest without his wanting them to. God he was such a fucking freak.

“Will you quit calling yourself a freak?!” Yugi slapped the sheaf of papers down on the couch, the noise absurdly loud in the quiet of the cabin. Leveling a glare straight at Atemu, the boy let his exasperation flow out. “You’re not a freak! I swear, just because you have a few…odd talents, anyways, it doesn’t mean that you are a freak. Look at me; I can practically see people’s thoughts without trying. If that isn’t an odd talent, I don’t know what is.”

He stood up from his place on the couch, marching over to stand in front of the agent. The small teen had reached the boiling point with frustration; he had been listening to his protector, his rescuer, downgrade himself the entire time that he had been trying to read. He couldn’t let the man think like that. It wasn’t healthy. His whole attitude wasn’t healthy.

Yugi’s grandfather had called his talent a gift. And the small teen grew up thinking exactly that. To hear Atemu call himself a freak for exhibiting the same type of talent, it was wrong - on so many different levels. And Yugi wasn’t going to put up with it anymore.

Atemu sat back in shock. Here was his normally quiet, pint sized charge, chastising him for having the same thoughts as everyone he ever came in contact with; barring his family. The notion of someone outside that circle caring so much was almost laughable.

A faint, disbelieving smirk began to curl the edges of his mouth, but he sobered as the full impact of it hit him. The boy was pissed off for his sake. No one had ever been mad for him. At him, yes, plenty of times. But for him? He couldn’t remember such a time. His heart pounded loudly in his chest as he met his charge’s amethyst stare. It wouldn’t do to let the boy go running around with the wrong idea. If he wasn’t convinced Atemu was a freak… then the agent would just have to reinforce the notion.

“You think that little trick I pulled the other day was the total extent of what I can do little one?” Atemu forced his shock away as he rose smoothly from his chair, quirking an eyebrow at the impetuous teen.

“I…Uh, I don’t…you have other talents?” Now that he was close enough to have to look up at his protector, Yugi was having second thoughts about taking him to task.

The ruby eyed man was quite unpredictable, and so good at hiding his emotions that the small teen wasn’t able to predict what he was going to do after that outburst. Why, oh why couldn’t he have kept his mouth shut? Lowering his gaze to the ground, Yugi berated himself for his show of temper. This wasn’t the way to get the man to come around to his way of thinking. In fact, he probably just pushed him further away.

The small teen wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into him. He had never been this bold before, preferring to stay in the background, never commenting on anything for fear that his remarks would make another person angry at him, and end up with him taking another beating. But if that book was right, then this man was his soul mate, and he couldn’t let this stunning, sexy man continue thinking along the lines that he was.

“Come with me little one.” Atemu’s voice was even lower than usual; whether from anger or something else, Yugi didn’t know. The teen curled in on himself, fidgeting, unsure of how the agent was going to react.

“I will show you exactly why I am a freak.” Atemu rumbled, catching hold of Yugi’s hand. The instant their skin touched the agent couldn’t help but notice how right the contact felt. Taking a deep breath and a split-second of focus, he shook the sensation off. Yugi, however, wasn’t so lucky. It was all he could think about, even as Atemu pulled him out the door, was the feeling of their hands intertwined together.

They walked for a couple of minutes in silence, as Atemu led the out of the house and past the painted wooden shed in the back yard. It was nearing dusk now, perfect timing for what he was going to do. The two of them rounded the corner of the shed, and Yugi blinked in surprise. They had stepped into a clearing, a good fifty feet across, and made entirely of hard-packed dirt. Any grass and brush that might have been here was cleared away. The only things still remaining inside the tree line were a trio of bow-hunting targets at the opposite end of the field. Clearly, Atemu practiced archery when he came up here; one of the bulls-eyes still had an arrow embedded dead-center.

Shoulders tense, Atemu let go of the teen’s hand and motioned him to stay still. Turning his back on the boy, he took three long, hard strides, stopped short and spun on his heel. He wouldn’t quite meet Yugi’s eyes; instead, he gazed slightly over the boy’s head, a self-depreciating smirk on his face, and slowly raised one hand, palm-up. “I can’t do this inside, you see. It’s too unstable, and I’m not sure how well I can control it.”

At first Yugi had no idea what the other was talking about, giving Atemu a questioning glance. He couldn’t feel anything unusual, as he had the last time. He was giving Atemu a questioning look when a flicker of movement caught his eye. Yugi glanced down, and his breath caught in his throat. There, held cautiously in his protector’s outstretched hand, was… Well, the only way the teen could describe it was to call it a shadow flame. A tiny, purplish-black fire, perhaps the size of a golf ball, was dancing in Atemu’s palm

Atemu laughed mirthlessly. “Since you don’t seem to understand how much of a freak I am, I think a simple demonstration is in order.”

Without so much as a glance behind him, the ruby eyed agent flicked his wrist, sending the flame hurling towards the hunting target. His aim was as true with the fire as it was with an arrow. The tiny flame struck dead-center, and the bag of hay and dried grass burst into an eerie purple-green blaze. Within a the space of a heartbeat, it had completely disintegrated, a few bits and pieces of straw lying on the ground the only evidence left that it had ever existed.


Smirk firmly back in place, Atemu finished, throwing his last blow at the boy. “I’m not quite sure how I’m able to do that, but it’s a lethal ability. I can also lean on people’s thoughts to the point of convincing them that they are crazy. I’ve done it before. All it proves is that everyone was right from the start…I’m nothing but a freak of nature. And now not even you can deny it.”

His emotions buried, the crimson eyed agent began to move back towards the house. That was it. Now the boy would know how much of a freak he really was. Everyone in his life found out eventually. Though, normally it wasn’t through a controlled demonstration. It usually happened when he let his guard down, let his emotions control him.

But invariably their reaction was always the same. They would walk out of his life. Turn him over to the next person who would take him in temporarily. He had quit hoping for someone to care enough to not let his oddities scare them. He refused to care that the boy he was starting to feel so strongly for would turn away from him now… just like everyone else.

Yugi stared, disbelieving, at the singed patch of ground where the target had been only a minute before, Atemu’s words still filtering slowly through the astonishment clogging his mind. The man’s movement snapped him out of his trance; stepping sideways, he snagged a hold of the man’s wrist as he passed, amethyst eyes glowing with emotion. Atemu stopped, staring blankly past him, a sculpture of a god with his beautiful, expressionless face and hard eyes patterned crimson and gold in the dying light.

“Please…” Yugi whispered, clinging to the man’s wrist with all the strength he could muster. “Please don’t walk away from me. What you just showed me was amazing. I’ve never seen anyone do that before. But it still doesn’t make you a freak. Just because we have these talents doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with us. My grandpa always told me that what I had was a gift. What you have is a gift, too. You just need to learn how to use it, control it. You’re not a freak Atemu.”

Receiving no reaction, Yugi slowly released the man’s arm, staring blankly at the ground. Whatever he had said didn’t matter. Not once did his guardian even look at him when he spoke.

When the boy made no move to leave him, Atemu’s impatience overcame him. Raking a hand through his unruly hair, he turned away from the boy, letting out a violent hiss. “Why aren’t you running? Any person with sense would be out of my sight as fast as they could! What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you understand that you should fear me?!”

Yugi shook his head softly, scuffing his foot on the ground. “I don’t fear you…at least not for that.”

The ruby eyed agent turned around at the comment, astonished. The boy didn’t fear him? What did he mean – not for that? Why else would his charge fear him? Had he done something else wrong, other than molest the teen? He knew that wasn’t what Yugi was talking about, for the boy enjoyed those rare encounters just as much as he did.

“But you still fear me. Why?”

“It’s not you that I’m afraid of…it’s the circumstances. I know that you’re just going to up and leave me. Leave me alone, like I was before. And I don’t want to go back to that…Why do you look at me like you can't stand the very sight of me, yet when we kiss…?” Yugi trailed off, his face turning a bright pink. He hadn’t meant to get into this conversation, but like every other time he was around this crimson eyed god, he stuck his foot in his mouth. He must like the taste of his size seven boots by now.

Atemu was slack jawed in astonishment. His little one didn’t fear him? But rather feared losing him? What could he say to that? He couldn’t stay. It wouldn’t be right. The agent turned his glare towards the shed. His small charge was so emotionally drained right now; he probably didn’t know what he was saying.

“Yugi, you’ve been through a lot the past month…”

Yugi held up a hand, shaking his head. “Don’t, don’t you dare bring up what I’ve been through! It has no bearing on this discussion. Damn it – I read that book too. I know what it means, even if you don’t want to acknowledge it.” He set his hand against the agent’s toned chest, caressing softly. “For the longest time I wondered if I was crazy…I had the biggest crush on you. And you returned my feelings, even if only at certain times. And to find out that you knew the whole time, and yet didn’t plan on saying anything, doing anything about it…why? Why are you going to drop me the minute you can find someone to take me in? Doesn’t this mean anything to you?”

“It does mean something to me. But…I…” Atemu said as he reached up to caress Yugi’s face, mimicking the patterns the boy was tracing on his chest, his senses drowning in those gorgeous amethyst jewels.

‘I refuse to drag you down with me little one. I’m not worth it. What would you want with a man like me?’ The agent thought to himself, closing his eyes against the gathering moisture. He truly hated feeling exposed, and that was how he felt ever since this one small teen entered his life a little more than a month ago.

“You are worth it.” Yugi said softly, reminding Atemu that his thoughts were not his own. “You’re worth it to me.”

“No, I’m not,” the agent snapped back, pulling away. “You have no idea what I’ve done in this life. I don’t deserve your affection,” Atemu added, half-under his breath as he hung his head, rooted to the spot.

Damn, he had forgotten what his little one was capable of, even after such a short period of time. But it didn’t matter what the boy thought, he was still not worth it. He was nothing but a murderer, a freak that used his abnormal powers to kill another person.

-He was ten when it happened. One of the older boys in his foster home had taken a liking to him, and not in a good way. Ushio was a bully, used to getting his own way. As a matter of fact, the sixteen year old pretty much ran the foster care. The woman who watched them only wanted the money, and she didn’t care enough to go toe to toe with someone who outweighed her by at least fifty pounds.

The older teen decided to make Atemu’s life a living hell. Bewildered and frightened, Atemu could only put up with the constant groping him whenever the elder found him alone. He might have thwarted the older boy’s plans, constantly staying in the company of the other children, but Atemu hadn’t counted on Ushio’s cunning. One night, the older teen had scared the foster mother into gathering up the younger children and going shopping, and the small ruby eyed boy found himself at the mercy of his older tormentor.

Ushio forced Atemu to strip, and then he attempted to bind him to the bed. Even at the tender age of ten, Atemu was no longer any stranger to what one man could do to another. Even if you discounted Ushio’s physical advances, the boy’s bragging would have given him a fair idea. Atemu might have surrendered to the seemingly inevitable conclusion, if Ushio hadn’t bent forward, halfway through binding Atemu’s second wrist to the bed, and whispered in the small ear.

“I’m gonna make you bleed, you little bitch.”

And something in Atemu’s heart froze. Terror dissolved slowly into nothingness; raw fury boiled up to take its place. The wild haired boy fought his captor with all the might in his being. Within moments, his wrists were torn bloody on the ropes binding him, and his face stung from open-handed blows. But that cold, icy core of anger refused to dissipate; if anything, it had grown, until suddenly the rage poured out of him, icy-cold yet burning hot, until he thought he was going to die, had to die in the sheer fury of it all…

And then he heard Ushio scream.

The fury that had poured from his body had coalesced, taking on an impossible, physical form, burning-cold black fire that was enveloping his tormentor in a hellish purplish flame. Still bound to the headboard, stripped naked and beaten half-senseless, Atemu could only watch in horror as his would-be rapist died in agony. When nothing was left but a charred, faceless corpse, the boy curled up against the headboard, hiding his nakedness, his terror, his everything, and lost himself in tears.

Police were called to the scene as soon as the foster mother came home. They were baffled to find that the room was completely destroyed, all except for the bed that Atemu was tied to. He was taken to the hospital; the other children were taken to another home, and the case was left unsolved. And the number of incidents and foster cares rose from there.-

Yugi shuddered. He had seen it all in that brief second when Atemu’s mind was unguarded. Everything, from the first unwanted touch, to the end result. It was as lucid to him as if he had been the one living it. Never before had another person’s thoughts come to him so loud and clear. It was as if Atemu wanted him to know what he had done. What he had done to survive. Tears filled his eyes at the thought of what his protector had had to endure.

The ruby eyed agent turned back towards the house. By now all light had left the sky, leaving only the thin glow of moonlight to guide them back to the cabin.

“And now you know why you need to stay away from me.” Atemu murmured as he walked away.

‘Oh no you don’t’ thought Yugi, lunging forward to snatch hold of his protector’s arm for the third time that night. He was really going to have to watch himself, Atemu’s attitude was rubbing off on him. In the real world, he’d have gotten beat for his behavior by now.

“That still doesn’t make you a freak!” Yugi cried, exasperated. “You were defending yourself. Don’t you understand…god, you were so young. If it weren’t for your powers, you’re the one who would’ve died. H-he would h-have killed you and I never would have m-met you at all!!”

With that, the small teen promptly burst into tears, turning away from a thoroughly bewildered Atemu. Staring blankly at the teen until his common sense overwhelmed his shock, the ruby eyed agent finally gathered the crying boy into his arms and made his way into the house. The petite, amethyst eyed teen’s attitude confused him. He should have been running in the opposite direction, not holding onto him as if he were the only person the boy could trust.

Atemu sat down on the couch and settled Yugi in his lap, rubbing his hands soothingly over the boy’s back, whispering words of comfort. He hadn’t meant for the teen to see what had happened prior to the incident. He was trying to scare some sense into the boy, not make him feel sorry for him. That should have been for him to remember, alone. He really hated to be pitied.

Yugi turned to face his protector, not letting go of the hold that he had. “I don’t understand why you’re ashamed of your talents. You did what you had to, to survive. No one would blame you for that. And I don’t pity you…you’re too strong for that.”

Atemu opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. The ruby eyed agent couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Yugi put a gentle finger to his lips, the gentle touch wiping away the rest of the agent’s unsettled thoughts.

“Please, no more. You can’t continue to beat yourself up over this. It happened. I don’t care what anyone else says. You’re not a freak.” Inwardly shaking, Yugi reached up and pulled Atemu’s face down to his, initiating their kiss. He couldn’t let his protector continue to think that no one cared. He cared, and that was all that mattered.

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Detective Gary Feldman prided himself on being able to solve any case that came his way. But when this torture – murder case came to him, he automatically knew he was going to have to call in the big guns. The detective considered himself lucky that the FBI was more than willing to help. But as he drove around the town that night, he was still going over the scene in his head. Something wasn’t right. And his mind wasn’t going to let him rest until he discovered what it was that wasn’t quite right about that particular scene. Spinning the car in a tight 180, the overweight detective made his way back to the scene of the grisly murder.

As soon as he pulled up in front of the house, he shut the lights off on his unmarked Caprice cruiser. Removing his bulk from the front seat, he ambled his way through the front gate and up the steps of the eerily silent house. What was it that he couldn’t get out of his mind? The death occurred over a month ago, and he couldn’t let it lie. As he opened the squeaky screen door, the answer came to him.

Of course, how could he be so stupid as to not notice that? It was the simplest little thing. There was no forced entry! Why on earth would a man who had been in hiding for a total of twelve years open the door to someone they didn’t know?! Or did they? Gary remembered the piece of blue fabric that had clung to the broken molding on the porch. If the old man didn’t know who was at the door, why did he open it? Unless he was assured of his safety. And who would be…

The older detective didn’t even feel the blow to the back of his head as he slipped into the darkness…

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“Doctor James.” Isis greeted the tall, heavy set black man who was conducting the autopsy. The blood-smeared white lab coat he wore testified to recent time in the autopsy lab behind him. Despite this, the man always reminded her of one of the characters off of an old nineties television show ‘The Fresh Prince of Bellaire’. He looked quite like the main character’s stodgy uncle, only this man had a gentle, high toned voice.

“Miss Isis, it’s good to see you again, considering the circumstances.” The doctor replied quietly, taking off his blood stained gloves to hold his hand out to the elegant brunette.

“That it is. This is my husband, Shadi. Shadi, this is Doctor James. I did my residency in his hospital.” Isis introduced the two men as she pulled on a pair of clean latex gloves.

“A pleasure, Dr. James. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Shadi shook the larger man’s hand.

“And I’ll bet that none of it was good.” Laughing at the befuddled look on the agent’s face, Dr. James pulled on a new set of gloves himself and pushed his way through the swinging double doors. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”

“By all means. What have you found so far?” Isis queried her old professor, as they all made their way to the table where the body lay. The two room morgue smelled of burnt pork, most likely from the half charred corpse that lay before them on the cold steel examining table.

“This poor kid died an excruciatingly painful death.” Dr. James started. Pointing to different areas on the charred body with his scalpel, he outlined the many various injuries that were on it. “If you look really hard, you can see that there were symbols burnt into the flesh on both of the kid’s palms. There are markings carved into his chest, like the rest of the victims, but these markings – although of the same type – are different symbols completely. Let’s turn him over, and I’ll show you where the real torture began.”

The three worked to turn the stiff, unyielding body over. Once the corpse was situated on its stomach, the true horror of the ritual came into focus. This part of the body was not burnt at all, as if it had been resting face up when it was torched. But there were hundreds of crisscrossing welts on the boy’s back, buttocks and thighs – some that cut deep enough to see bone protruding from the injury.

Shadi looked slightly green as he backed away from the table. “What did they do to him?”

“From what I’m seeing here, they practically flayed him alive. And there’s more…this poor kid was raped repeatedly, to the point where he was torn so bad that I doubt he would be able to live a normal life, had he lived. I sent samples up to the lab to confirm the presence of sperm. But, did the two of you even notice what he was missing, when he was lying face up?”

Isis answered for them, as Shadi was too ill to do more than fidget uncomfortably. “He was castrated and sexually mutilated.” She stated firmly.

Shadi looked at his wife, how did she know that? The front of the body was pretty well destroyed by the fire. He probably could have looked closer, but his concentration was elsewhere at the moment – on trying hard not to lose what little lunch he had eaten on the plane. His stomach was doing flip flops as he swallowed thickly.

“Very good. I can see that you still remember your anatomy lessons. With as burnt as this body was, it was easy to overlook if you didn’t know what to look for.” The doctor winked at Isis, earning a brief smile from the lady.

She turned to her husband. “If you looked close enough, you could still see some of the marks from where they cut into the flesh. He’s missing both nipples as well.”

Shadi nodded, understanding, but not truly paying attention to her words. It wasn’t the smell of burnt flesh, nor the sight of the grotesquely mutilated body that was disturbing his senses. He had seen many other sights like this in his line of work. What was bothering him was that there was no residual soul left in this being. He noticed it the moment he laid his hands on the body. Nothing at all.

Usually, when the soul left the body, there was at least a mark left, not unlike a scent that is left on clothing after a person wears them for a day. But here there was nothing, nothing except the deep, permeating presence of malevolence. He had noticed that presence the moment he stepped into the autopsy suite. It cloaked the room like a noxious gas. And it was making him ill.

Isis and the doctor talked about the case, leaving Shadi to his thoughts. The bald man couldn’t take much more. The longer he was in the room, the sicker he was becoming. Between the total nothingness that was left inside this body, and the deep seated presence of evil, it was throwing all of his senses into an uproar. With something between a burp and a sputter, the bald man took off out of the room like a shot, skidding in an undignified manner on the newly polished floor as he retreated to the nearest bathroom.

“Will he be okay?” The doctor asked as he turned back to his work.

“He’ll be fine. He’s not used to seeing them up close like this.” Isis replied evenly. She knew what set her husband off, but she wasn’t going to go into that with the good doctor. She had accomplished what she had hoped to by dragging Shadi with her on this trip. He so very rarely came into contact with the corpses of the targeted victims, and she wanted to see if what she had surmised was the truth. Now she knew it was, for Shadi was far more sensitive than she was.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” Isis snapped back to the task at hand.

“What I was saying was that, these wounds, some of them were made at least thirty six hours before the boy died. I know that from the color of the bruising. These ones here” The man pointed to a couple of yellowish bruises that were seen at the edge of the boy’s ribs. “They are already yellow. It takes a good three days for them to turn color like that. On top of that, he’s dehydrated and it looks like he lost a good amount of weight in his ending days. It looks to me as if maybe they starve their victims during their ritual.”

“So you’re saying that they torture and starve these victims for three or four days before slitting their throats?” Isis clarified, startled.

The research they were depending on so heavily for answers to their questions about the rituals only gave suggestions as to methods of torture. It didn’t spell out every gory detail. And now the female agent was wishing that she didn’t know what went on in these horrifying ceremonies. But the dead were dead; nothing could be done to change that. One could only hope to benefit from what they left behind.

“Yes, I think the torture is drawn out for a period of days. They space it out to cause the maximum amount of pain to the victim before they kill them. These symbols – what do they mean” The scalpel winked in the harsh light as doctor pointed to a couple of crudely drawn circles on the victim’s neck. Each rough-edged mark had three lines crossing diagonally through it.

“I’m not sure what that one means. Shadi would be the one to clarify their implication. He’s done research on all of the pagan rituals. I really should be going Dr. James; I need to check on my husband. It was nice to see you again.” Isis said shakily as she peeled the gloves off and threw them in the bin.

“Take care Isis. I’ll send you the rest of the report via email.” The old man waved.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Isis waved back as she glided out the swinging doors in search of her husband.

He wasn’t hard to find. She could sense his upset from the morgue, and that was in the basement of the busy hospital. As soon as she made it up the third flight of steps, she smiled concernedly at him, watching as he rose shakily to his feet from the bench that he was sitting on.

“You felt it too.” Isis murmured as she held a hand out to her husband.

“Yes. I felt the total emptiness of that husk. And I felt the contamination from something that is beyond the worst evil in our imaginations.” Shadi answered, equally quietly, as he took her hand.

“And the worst thing is, is that fool who is following their directives – he knows nothing of why he’s doing it. He’s only in it for the power. The shadows have an alternate plan. One they don’t even want their closest ally to know of. That man is a total fool!” Isis said harshly.

“You know this person is a he? Do you know who he is? How do you know there is a hidden agenda?” Shadi questioned.

Knowledge was power, and if this discovery was going to land them in trouble, there had to be something to help the boys who were out there with their lives on the line, trying to protect the witness. At this point, anything they had was a plus. Shadi knew full well what his objective in life was; what he needed to know now was whether the shadows had the same goal.

“I only catch a glimpse of his profile every now and again, and of his intentions. Nothing noteworthy as of yet. It’s as if he’s being hidden from me. And as for knowing the shadows’ purpose, you know as well as I do that these sacrifices mean absolutely nothing to them. They are interested in only a small handful of people. These extra killings are so they can disguise their true intentions. You know of what I speak Shadi, there is no reason to keep secrets any longer.”

The bald agent hung his head, berating himself. The idea had come to him once before, but he dismissed it summarily. “Yes, I do. To claim the light half of the son of Ra, the mightiest soul on earth, a true god incarnate - that is their supreme objective. He and the powerful priests bound to the will of that one powerful soul. I have managed to gather together those that were torn apart…this time. But sometimes I wonder if I didn’t make the shadows’ job easier. For if they find one, they will find the rest, or use who they have in custody to lure the others out of hiding. There are only three left, if they are sacrificed…I hesitate to consider the consequences.”

“That is something we will not know until the final scene is played out. I cannot even see either of our sons’ futures right now. It is in fate’s hands, ours are tied. Come, let’s head back to Tennessee. We need to arm our boys with everything we can. Even if it means telling them everything about who they really are – witness included.”

The couple made their way out of the hospital, gathering stares from the people scurrying about. They were a striking couple after all, and it was only natural for those around them to be drawn to them. But hidden from sight, behind one of the decorative pillars marking the hospital’s entrance, was another person with their eyes on the couple. And his interest was far from impersonal.

The wire-thin microphone of the headset was almost invisible beneath his hair. “They’re heading back boss. Do you want me to intercept them?”

“No, stay as you are, you have other business to attend to. The damage is already done. I will take care of them on this end. You deal with those two miscreants you were foolish enough to trust. That makes for two mistakes, Raphael. Need I remind you of what will happen if you screw up again?” The boss’s agitated voice came through over the cell phone.

“No sir, you don’t. I know what happens.” Raphael replied shakily, watching as the bald agent looked around apprehensively. The blonde hugged the side of the pillar, unwilling to be seen. After a few tense moments, the two agents continued on their way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi was lying in bed awake, his arms wrapped around his exhausted protector. The poor man was so tired he didn’t even put up a fight when the small teen tucked the blanket around his shivering form. For the past two weeks, the ruby eyed man pushed himself to the limits of his endurance. The small teen couldn’t help but think that he was responsible for the man’s predicament. After all, it was his words that led to their current situation.


Flashback:


“You’re not a freak, Atemu. Why do you insist that you are? You’ve done nothing wrong. Anyone in your position would have done the same thing. Don’t let anyone tell you any different!” Yugi waved his arms wildly as his spoke, trying to convince his newly found soul mate that he was worthy.

The man just wasn’t listening to him, and he didn’t know how else to say it. They had been rehashing the same argument for the past three days, and the man just couldn’t understand that he wasn’t the one at fault. Atemu continued to blame himself for what happened in the foster home. God only knew what else the agent blamed himself for. At the moment, Yugi was all for slapping some sense into him; the small teen was so frustrated.

As the teen calmed down, he put a comforting hand on the ruby eyed agent’s chest, gently commanding his attention. “And I don’t care what anyone else thinks anyways.” He huffed. “No one’s perfect, so I think before someone goes looking for flaws in you – they need to look at their own lives first.”

Atemu stared down at the small hand that was caressing his chest trustingly. This small teen believed in him, trusted him with his life, despite his destructive powers. It was apparent in the boy’s words and the looks that he was giving. Did he really want to walk away from the only person to trust him like this?

“You accept this without question…why?” Atemu glanced into concerned amethyst eyes.

“I’ve heard the stories my whole life. I wasn’t allowed to touch the book, but my grandpa; he used to tell me stories of soul mates who found each other. They were kind of like bedtime fairytales. He used to hint at it all the time, but he never came right out and told me what I was. I think he wanted me to figure it out.” The teen replied evenly, staring his protector down with the truth.

The ruby eyed agent looked away. So the boy had known something of this the whole time. The teen was accepting the explanation with a lot more grace than he had earlier in the month. But then again, Shadi dumped the whole thing on him all at once; and Yugi had known some of what the older agent was talking about well before he read from the book. Perhaps it was time to give in gracefully. Who knows, maybe he would get to keep the boy. But if he failed, then what? His little one would die a horrible death if he failed to protect him.

“I…I’m not the easiest person to get along with little one. You understand that don’t you?” Atemu tried one last ditch effort to extricate himself from the situation.

It wasn’t that the agent didn’t want to be the teen’s soul mate, or that he didn’t want to be with him. He just didn’t know how to share his life with another person. Atemu had always been a solitary individual. On top of that, this small teen – with those beautiful amethyst eyes – needed someone extraordinary to protect him from this group of murderers that were after him. And the agent didn’t think that he could do it. He was too afraid of his unusual gifts.

“It doesn’t matter. I love you…I have ever since the night you saved me from myself.” Wide amethyst eyes caught Atemu’s ruby gaze, allowing the agent to see the truth hidden in their depths.

That did it. Atemu was caught. Wrapping his arms around his little one, the ruby eyed agent drew the teen in for an earth shattering kiss. He wasn’t going to let those men have this boy. This one belonged to him. The boy said it himself, those three words coming straight from his petal soft lips. He would find a way to control his devastating gifts, just to keep this one small teen who had taken over his life with his beautiful looks and stunning personality.

Yugi sighed into the kiss. Finally, after fighting their attraction for so long, his protector was giving in to their fate. The teen snuggled further into the warm embrace, seeking more contact with his soul mate. Come what may, he was not going to lose the man again. Not even to himself.

Atemu pulled away to look straight into the teen’s eyes, promising “I will protect you. With my life if I have to. I swear it, Aibou.”

Yugi laid a gentle hand on the man’s face, ecstatic with his new title. “And I will protect you from your demons. You deserve so much more out of life than to abuse yourself for your mistakes.”


End Flashback:


And that was what Atemu was doing for the past week. He was practicing control over his unyielding powers. The agent refused to let these powers control him, to become a threat to his little one. But it was so hard to control these gifts. Especially what he came to call a shadowfire. Just the shear amount of effort it took to draw one of those shadow flames back into his body took a toll on the man’s strength. The agent could call one to his hand with little or no effort at all. But to rein one in once it was called, therein lay the problem. The shadow flames were a destructive force, and once they came into being, their energy needed to be expended somewhere.

Yugi used a damp cloth to wipe the beads of sweat from his soul mate’s brow. The past week had been murder on his protector. And they were out of food now, as no one had thought to go shopping in the past seven days. Both of them had too much on their minds. On top of practicing with Atemu’s gifts, Yugi had strengthened his gift to the point where he and Atemu could converse mentally from as far as a mile away. The conversation took quite an effort on both their parts, but the end result was well worth it.

“Aibou.” Sleep clouded ruby eyes looked up at him from where Atemu lay, trying to return to consciousness.

“I’m right here. You’ve been out for well over five hours. Did you sleep well?”

The exhausted agent nodded, lifting his hand so he could touch the teen’s face. “I slept great. What did you do with your time?”

The youth blushed becomingly. “I watched you. You look so innocent when you’re sleeping. I couldn’t resist. Oh, and the house is clean too – other than that mess you call a desk. I opened the windows. It’s really nice outside. It’s an Indian summer this year.” It felt so good to talk to the man openly. And all it took was three little words. Yugi shook his head, stifling a chuckle. He sounded like a girl in a bad chick flick! Love obviously made him overly sentimental.

“That’s fine, it will do this place some good to get fresh air in here.” Atemu pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling Yugi into his arms for a chaste kiss.

“Oh, and you need to go shopping today. We’re out of just about everything, milk included.” Yugi flicked the agent’s nose, watching as the man scrunched up his face.

Atemu pushed Yugi gently off to the side and swung off the bed, wandering into the bathroom. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll go shopping. Make a list for me and let me know if there’s anything special I should bring back.”

Yugi wandered out into the living room of the cabin, relishing the gentle breeze that came in through the open windows. The last heat wave of the fall was going through, and the small cabin had grown stuffy over the past week.

“I will.” He called out, hearing the soft sounds of water running in reply.

Fifteen minutes later, and Atemu’s rusty, reliable old pick up was kicking up dust as it pulled out of the driveway and onto the dirt road that led to town. The teen watched from one of the open windows as the battered truck disappeared from sight, before wandering back into the living room, content to relax.

Please review: This plot bunny is fading fast from lack of sleep! It really does kick my ass back into action when I hear your comments!