FicWad

Chapter 2

Running

“Yugi, Yugi wake up!”
Yugi groaned and opened his eyes.
“Oh, thank Ra, I thought you were dead!” Malik exclaimed.
“Wha…?”
“You were attacked by some kids. It’s a miracle that you are alive at all,” he replied. Ryou stood next to him. His eyes darting around as if he were waiting for something. He looked a little different, but Yugi didn’t pay close attention to it.
Yugi tried to sit up. A sharp pain to his head told him that it wasn’t the best idea. He ignored the pain as his memory kicked in and replayed what had happened the few minutes before he passed out.
“It was no miracle,” he whispered.
“What do you mean?” Malik asked nervously.
“I mean, Atem came out. He fought them off,” Yugi replied.
“We know, Yugi,” Malik said as he shifted slightly.
“How?”
“He was out here, we saw him. He told us to take care of you,” Malik replied, not looking at Yugi.
“He was out here? You mean, he actually retained control for that long?” Yug asked.
“Yes,”
“Oh my god, what am I going to do? He took control. If they find out, I’m a goner,” Yugi exclaimed as he tried to stand up.
“We’ll run,” Malik said as he helped Yugi up.
“We’ll?”
“Yes, we, now can you please get the brat up so we can go?” Ryou suddenly snarled.
“Ryou? No wait, Ryou doesn’t talk like that,” Yugi said.
“No shit Sherlock. As if I’d let that weak Hikari have control right now.”
“Bakura,”
“Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Now grab him, and let’s get going. I don’t want to be here when they come looking!” Bakura snarled as he went to grab Yugi.
“Don’t you dare touch him,” Yugi snarled.
“Yugi?”
“If he so much as lays a hand on him, I swear he will wish he was with them.”
The two looked at each other, and then looked back at Yugi. It was then that they noticed the subtle differences in Yugi’s appearance. His eyes were crimson and his hair was a different color. All of a sudden he swayed and reached out to latch onto Malik.
“Atem please, we’re too weak to fight with him right now. Let’s just do what he says, please?” Yugi whispered, his eyes closed.
But you’re hurt! If you stress it too much, it’s going to hurt you worse, Atem said.
“I’ll be fine, now please calm down,” Yugi begged.
Alright, aibou, but if he tries to do anything that will hurt you, I’m going to take control and stop him, Atem said.
“Agreed.”
“Everything okay Yugi?” Malik asked.
“Yes,”
“I take it that was Atem that we just had the pleasure of meeting?” Bakura asked.
Yugi nodded.
“What a charmer,” Bakura said.
“Like you’re much better?” Yugi replied.
“Hey!”
Yugi shrugged and smiled before swaying again.
“Who knew he could be so possessive?” Malik said so that no one could hear him.
“Let’s go, we need to get away from here,” Yugi muttered as he began to walk. He kept a firm grip on Malik’s arm in case the earth decided to move on him again.
They walked quickly. It was decided that for now they would go to Yugi’s grandfathers, since it was the closest to where they were. They had to make detours several times in order to avoid anyone that came near them. They didn’t want them to see their clothes that linked them to the “Organization.” They made it to Yugi’s grandfathers quickly. Malik held Yugi up as Bakura knocked on the door.
“Yes?”
“Grandpa, help,” Yugi moaned.
“Oh my gods, get in here, quick,” he said as he pulled them into the house. He led them to the living room and had them set Yugi on the couch while he went to get a fist aid kit. He rushed back into the room and started to work on cleaning up the various cuts that littered the young boy’s body.
“How did this happen?” he asked as he cleaned a nasty looking cut on Yugi’s leg.
“He was attacked not far from here, by some teenagers,” Bakura said.
“Why didn’t you go to the facility instead of coming here?” he asked.
“…”
“Well?”
“It’s because Atem took over,” Yugi said with a slight hiss as his grandfather applied some peroxide to the cut.
“Oh?”
“He tried to protect me from them. From what I remember, he fought them off, it’s all still a little bit hazy,” Yugi said weakly.
“Let me talk to him,” Grandpa demanded softly.
“What?”
“I’d like to talk to him,” he replied.
Atem? Is that ok? Yugi asked.
Sure, he replied.
Yugi felt a slight tug and suddenly he was floating beside his body. It was a weird sensation to watch his body alter to make up for the difference between him and Atem.
“Atem?” Grandpa asked.
“Yes,” his deep baritone rang throughout the room. It sent shivers down Yugi’s back.
Where the hell did that come from? Yugi thought once the shivers passed. He felt rather than saw the mental smirk that Atem threw at him. He blushed when he realized he forgot to shut his half of the mental link. He looked down and quickly shut it, but not before feeling the pout that Atem sent him. He smiled and stuck his tongue out at his darker half, knowing that he would see it. Atem shook his head and chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Malik asked.
“It’s nothing,” Atem said shaking his head, “Just something aib… Yugi did.”
“Okay…”
“It’s nothing,” he replied sighing, “What did you want Mr. Motou?”
“Please, call me Grandpa, everyone does,” Grandpa said with a wave of his hand, “And I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
“Yes, you protected my grandson, so I wanted to thank you,” Grandpa said.
“Oh, well, you’re welcome,” Atem replied. A slight blush was just barely visible beneath his tan skin; another contrast between him and Yugi, “I just didn’t want him to get hurt. I’m supposed to be there for him, but that damn “Organization” keeps me from doing anything! I just couldn’t stand by and watch him get beaten to a pulp. I had to do something, even if it meant taking control from him.”
“And for that I thank you,” Grandpa said as he stood up.
“You’re not upset?”
“Why would I be?” he asked.
“It’s against the law for a yami to take control of a hikari, which is what I did,” Atem said quietly.
“Now you listen to me, Atem, that law is stupid and unfair. What you did saved Yugi’s life and for that I will be eternally grateful. As for the “Organization” and its laws, I hope it gets infested with a million man eating scarabs. Do you understand?” he replied sternly.
Atem’s eyes widened and he nodded numbly. Yugi giggled at Atem’s shock.
Hey, Atem? He asked.
Yeah?
Why don’t you remain in control for a while? I’d like to sleep, Yugi asked.
Sure, aibou. Go to sleep, Atem replied.
“Yugi’s going to let me remain in control for a while, he’s sleeping for now,” Atem said.
“Alright, well, for now I suppose we should talk about what you are all going to do. You can’t go back to the facility now,” Grandpa said.
“I have no idea. We can’t stay here for long. Even without the GPS chip, this is the first place they’ll come looking,” Malik replied.
“If only there was a way to get rid of those damn chips,” Bakura grumbled.
Atem remained quiet. He knew little of the world outside of what Yugi had shown him, so he thought it best to leave it up to those with more experience.
“I know! I have a friend in America that works with people just like you. She helps hikari’s that are thought to be dangerous by the “Organization.” She can help you,” Grandpa said.
“Really?” Bakura asked suspiciously.
“She’s trustworthy, Bakura, don’t worry,” Grandpa said.
Bakura looked a little surprised when Grandpa said his name instead of Ryou’s. Grandpa chuckled and merely smiled and walked out of the room. He started to rummage around for the number to his friend in America.
“We’ll have to leave tonight. Before they start plastering our faces all over the news,” Atem said suddenly.
“Yeah. Ra only knows what would happen if they caught us,” Malik said.
“What does Marik think of all of this?” Atem asked.
“He’s laughing. He finds it funny,” Malik replied.
“Bastard,” Bakura said as he took a seat on the couch next to Atem.
“Like you’re much better?” Malik asked.
“At least I’m trying to help,” Bakura snarled.
“Yeah, well…” Malik started.
“Al right guys, drop it. We’re already fighting them, we don’t need to fight between ourselves,” Atem snapped.
“Stay out of this, Pharaoh,” Bakura hissed.
“Tomb Robber,” Atem snarled out Bakura’s nickname warningly.
“I’ve made arrangements,” Grandpa interrupted as he walked back into the room.
“Yeah?” Malik said.
Bakura and Atem shot each other one more glare before turning back to the old man.
“Yeah, you’ll be taking a flight from here to New York. There you’ll take the train out of the city to the capital, Albany. There you’ll take and meet with my friend. You’ll know who she is when you see her. She’ll take you to a small town to stay at for the night,” Grandpa said.
“Alright, thank you,” Atem said as he stood up. He shook hands with the older man and then closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Yugi was in control.
“I’ll miss you Grandpa,” he said.
“I’ll miss you too Yugi,” Grandpa said.
Yugi hugged his grandfather before turning to the other two.
“Shall we get going?”

Several hours, a plane trip, and a train ride later the group found themselves standing in a small train station just outside of Albany, New York, the state’s capital. They just walked off of the train, and were feeling rather happy. Bakura had let Ryou take back control long ago, and they had shed any clothing that would relate them to the “Organization.” The train station that they were in was very small. It had the ticket booth and that was about it. Surprisingly, they were the only ones to get off at that stop. They all looked around and spotted a young man in a suit holding a sign saying, “Motou.” They walked up to him and smiled.
“We’re the Motou party,” Yugi said.
“Right this way, sirs,” the young man said.
He led them out of the station to a waiting limo. To say the group was shocked was an understatement. The young man held the door open and the group climbed in. The interior was empty, except for a small mini bar, to which Malik helped himself. The other two decided to just grab a water bottle. The limo drove them to a hotel in down town Albany. The boys enjoyed looking at the sites as they passed. It was a definite treat for them all seeing as they had never been outside of Japan before. That was another of the “Organization’s” rules. When they arrived at the hotel, the driver opened the door and they all climbed out. Not totally sure of what they were supposed to do, the group walked inside. It was a very fancy hotel. The floors were covered in a beautiful tan rug that looked expensive, never mind the price itself. The front desk was a beautiful mahogany color. It was obvious that it was actual wood, and not paints. The clerk looked at them and smiled.
“Welcome to the Hilton Hotel, you must be Mr. Motou? You’re host is awaiting you in room 534,” he told them, “Zach here will show you the way.”
“Thank you,” a surprised Yugi muttered before they were led away.
The bell boy, Zach, led them to an elevator and took them up to the floor where their room was. After showing them to where their room was, he bowed and left. Yugi looked at the other two and turned to the door.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
“Come in,” a female voice called out.
“Excuse me, I’m Yugi Motou, we were supposed to meet you?” Yugi asked.
“Hi Yugi, it’s been a while,” the girl said as she turned around.