Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Hostile Takeover ❯ "MINE" ( Chapter 39 )

** Because I am a lazy ass this morning, review responses next chappie**

"MINE"

Aten laid on his side, his arms wrapped around his naked body. His tears covered the stone beneath him. His body shook and his body bled. Steven stripped the bloody pants and shirt from Aten's body and gave them to Malik. Malik returned to the real world with the bloody trophies.

A single chain held him to the stone preventing his escape.

The Change of Heart approached the shaking, whimpering chibi, laying in a puddle of his own body's blood. The angel sighed, a single tear falling from its eye. Aten looked up at the duel monster with large, teary eyes. "Mommy….wan….my…..mommy."

"Poor child…in pain."

Aten gripped his chest. "Nee mecashin…..heart…hurts."

Steven approached Aten. He touched the boy's forehead. The child was too scared to react.

"He will begin transforming soon."

Aten clenched his eyes shut and whimpered.

"Once you become one of us, you will stay with me forever. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I wan……my….daddy," Aten said clutching his chest.

Steven narrowed his eyes. "Change of Heart, you know what to do. Dump him somewhere remote where no one can find him. If he survives the transformation, bring him back here."

The angel caressed Aten's hair. "What if the child dies?"

Steven looked down at Aten coldly. "Leave him."

"Your own grandchild?"

"He's of no use to me if he is dead."

The angel shed a tear. "I can't…."

"He'll be a casualty of war! This is a war against Bakura! We must all be prepared to make sacrifices. I have already assured our victory through the offering and shedding of Aten's blood. I have offered the tainted blood of this child to Osiris."

"'Tainted?' My little master's son is innocent. He is young."

Steven grinned. "He may be young, but it was my hand who has taken his innocence before. And now he has learned to fear my hand once more."

"You mean….?"

Steven grinned and stroked the boy's cheek gently. "My grandson is such….an obedient little boy."

Aten curled up clutching his stomach with one hand and his bony back with the other.

The angel narrowed her eyes. "But my little master is only an infant! I can't abandon him after you…..!"

Steven growled. "Leave him. His father will find his corpse eventually."

Steven returned to his throne. The chain holding Aten to the altar disappeared. The angel gathered Aten into her arms, careful not to injure the child's carved back anymore than it already was.

The devil grinned. "We will do as you say, my lord."

The Change of Heart flew away with the boy.

*********************

Aten was put on the ground. The purple mist surrounded him as he tried to get to his feet. He screamed, fell down, and his body trembled.

"I..wan…my….daddy."

The angel took the child's hand to comfort the crying child.

"Can you say you feel no pity for our master's child?"

"No one defies the Unfaithful Guardian!" the demon growled.

"Ok. If this child dies, do you believe that Master Ryou would favor us anymore? Master Ryou has been our master for many years and Lord Bakura will surely come after us if the child dies!"

Aten let out a wail as his skin began to change color and grow scales. "I WAN MY MOMMY!" Aten shrieked loud enough to break glass.

The angel looked up and saw something flying towards them fast. "What is that?"

The Winged Dragon of Ra landed beside Aten roaring at the Change of Heart. The dragon's head slowly lowered to the crying, twitching boy on the ground. The Change of Heart approached Aten and the dragon snapped its jaws. Aten tried to crawl to the dragon, but fell on his stomach. His little chest heaved desperately for air. Aten looked down at his fingers. They were turning into claws!

"What are you doing with my master's offspring?" the dragon growled.

"The Unfaithful Guardian ordered us to wait until he transformed into a duel monster."

The dragon growled. "I am sending him home this instant!"

"You can't do that, Great One!"

Ra spread its wings, stamped its feet, raised its tail, and roared angrily. "You DARE tell ME what I can and cannot do?! Who do you think you are, you weakling?!"

The Change of Heart looked down at the child. The angel growled at the devil.

"I WILL NOT LET OUR MASTER'S CHILD DIE!" the angel threatened as she took control of her darker side.

The angel kneeled beside the crying child. Ra growled at the blood which soaked the child's back and legs.

"Ra, forgive me. Will the child stop transforming when he is returned to the real world?"

Ra nodded and lowered its head to Aten. "You are going home to my master, little one."

Aten raised a hand and gently rubbed the dragon's cheek. "Tankoo, Wa."

The angel put the child on his back. Aten let out a shriek as his back touched the cold ground.

****************

Aria opened her eyes as a bright light filled the room. She gripped onto her M&M plushie, shielding her eyes.

In the light, hovering above the bed, Aten appeared. The light disappeared and Aten fell down on the bed, a shrill painful scream tore from the child's throat.

************

Ryou's POV

I never heard such a cry of pain! I jumped out of bed and ran to the babies' room. It didn't sound like Aria. Could it be???

I open the door and scream at the sight of blood drenching the bedsheets. Aria was next to him holding his hand. Even she was terrified.

My hands shook as I picked Aten off of the blood-stained sheets.

"MOMMY! Mommy! It hurts!"

"Ok, baby, Sorry!" My heart raced in panic and saw the blood flowing from his back and dripping onto the carpet. This bleeding had to stop! I pressed the sheet to Aten's back as a compress.

"Aria, go get Daddy Marik for me!"

Aria ran from the room and could be heard crying and screeching that Aten was hurt.

"I know it hurts, baby. Take a deep breath."

"Mommy! Mommy! It hurts!"

I sat Aten on my lap and he gripped onto me tightly screaming. I hugged Aten, my own tears falling on his hair. He buried his face into my shoulder sobbing as he sat on my lap. Half of me was afraid to ask him why he couldn't sit right on my lap.

I removed the sheet from the bed as Aria came into the room. "Daddy Mawik no wake up, mommy!"

I carried Aten into my bedroom and dialed Tristan's home number.

"Tristan! I need you! Can you come over and watch Aria?"

[What's wrong?]

"Aten's back!"

[That little man has a strong set of lungs on him!]

"Hurry, Tristan! Please! I have to take Aten to the hospital!"

[Where's his father?]

"He won't leave his bed!"

Tristan groaned. [Okay. Be there in ten minutes! Bye!]

I put Aten on the bed and wrapped the sheet around him to clothe him. Aten really didn't like to have others see him naked. "Aria, stay with him. Aten, I'll be right back."

I ran downstairs to get a pill for Aten. Of course, the hands holding the pill bottle were too damn shaky to hold onto anything. COME ON, TRISTAN!

I ran back upstairs and gave Aten his medication. "Breathe, baby." I quickly put some jeans and a shirt on.

Aten reached out for me and I picked him up. Tristan ran through the door and I called up to him.

Tristan stopped short when he saw me holding Aten wrapped in a blood-soaked bed sheet. "Holy Shit! What the hell happened here?"

"Tristan, can you stay with Aria until I get back?"

Aria ran to Tristan and wrapped her arms around his leg. "Stay with me, Unkie Tistan! Please?"

I kissed Aria on the forehead. "I love you, baby girl. Tristan, can you put her back to bed?"

I ran out the bedroom door and out of the house.

Normal POV

Tristan picked Aria up and she whimpered. "Unkie Tistan, I don't want to seep alone tonight."

Tristan looked down at Ryou's bed. "You want to stay here with me, princess?"

Aria pouted and nodded. "Yes. Can you stay with me?"

Tristan removed his shoes and she cuddled up beside him.

"Unkie Tistan?"

"Yes, Aria?"

"Will my brudder die?"

Tristan's heart nearly leaped out of his throat as the little chibi in her pink and white sleeping gown looked up at him with large, brown eyes. She gripped onto his shirt tightly. "No, Aria. He's just a little hurt. He'll be ok."

Aria bit her lip. "Unkie Tistan?"

"Yes, Aria?"

"What does 'die' mean?"

Tristan hesitated. Why was he getting all the hard questions??? "Well…..Aria….it means…that….something…sleeps for a really long time."

"Oh. Do they wake up?"

Tristan wiped his forehead. "No. They stay asleep. They don't wake up."

"Oh. Don't they get tired of sleeping?"

"No, Aria."

Aria sighed as she snuggled up to Tristan. "I don't want my brudder to seep for a really long time. I'd miss my brudder. I need my brudder. I love my brudder."

Tristan wrapped his arms around the child and watched her stare off into the distance. He could tell she was thinking about Aten.

Aria closed her eyes. "Ra, don't let my brudder seep."

***********************************

Ryou held Aten's hand in the Emergency Room. Dr. Zira had been called in by Ryou on the cellphone. Aten cried loudly as they placed an IV in hand. They placed Aten on his stomach.

"What happened, Ryou?"

"Aten went missing for the past few days and he just appeared in his room not long ago."

"Missing?"

"He had been kidnapped from school without my knowledge."

Zira slowly cut off the sheet from Aten's back and kneeled in front of the shaking chibi. "Hello, Aten. We'll get you cleaned up, ok?"

"My bat hurt!"

"We'll look at your back, Aten." Zira stood up and stroked the child's hair.

Aten's thrashing had calmed as the sedative began taking effect. Aten's eyes started to glaze over and he went limp. Ryou watched as the doctors slowly removed the pieces of sheet.

When the sheet pieces were removed, Aten's back was caked with dried blood. They cleaned off the blood and saw a word tattooed to Aten's back along his spine: MINE.

Ryou covered his mouth and gripped Aten's hand with the other. "Baby boy....oh gods."

Zira looked at the word. "It looks like it was made with a sharp edge dipped in ink."

Aten's breathing came in sharp gasps.

"That's enough sedatives! We have his heart to worry about, people!" Zira commanded the staff. Zira took some alcohol and sterilized the wound.

He and the other doctors cleaned up Aten's back. Zira cleaned lower and noticed a little tear in the skin near his bottom. The patient emitted another tiny "ow" as Zira cleaned the area around the tear. This could only mean one thing.

"How is he, Ryou?"

Ryou kneeled in front of Aten and kissed the boy's forehead. Aten's eyes struggled to look over at his mother. "Mommy?? I wan my money," Aten whimpered.

Ryou bit his lip. "I know, sweetheart. Just relax. I'll get your monkey for you."

Ryou knew that the alcohol on Aten's injury must have stung fiercely, but Aten laid there quietly not even moving a finger.

"My heart hurts, mommy," Aten whispered as his eyes started to close.

"Sweetheart. My boy. You're being such a brave little boy."

The doctor monitoring Aten's heartbeat sighed. "Aten's heart is beating at

83 bpm."

Zira nodded. "Check his blood pressure."

A doctor put the cuff on Aten's arm and squeezed it. A tiny "ow" came from the limp patient. "It's stable."

Zira finished cleaning the injury and looked at the word "MINE." The doctor's fist clenched angrily. "What kind of monster would do this?" he whispered. Zira gathered his anger and turned Aten on his back with the help of the other doctors. Zira noticed the boy wince when his bottom touched the table.

Aten's eyes squinted against the lights shining down on him. Zira moved the light out of Aten's eyes and opened up Aten's eyes to examine the pupils.

"He must have been in a dark place. When we brought him in after his last abduction, he was extremely sensitive to light." Zira took his temperature through the ear. "He must have been in a cold place. His body temperature is lower than I would like." The doctors brought over a blue and white blanket and wrapped Aten up in the warm fleece.

Zira brushed back the boy's white and blond hair. "Aten? Aten, can you hear me?"

Aten's head slowly turned to Zira. "Siwa, my bat hurts. And my dummy urts."

"Aten, are you hungry? Have you eaten?"

Aten sighed and yawned quietly. "No. I no eat."

"How long has Aten been gone?"

"A few days," Ryou said sadly.

Aten yawned again.

Zira chuckled a little. "You tired, little man?"

Aten yawned and shook his head. "I'm affaid to doe aseep."

I kissed Aten's forehead. "Remember what mommy said? Bad dreams cannot hurt you."

"But de meanie man tame bat."

My breath stopped. Meanie Man? "Aten, who were you with?"

Aten's eyelids fluttered. "I no seep…bat man det me."

I looked up at Zira. "He's been having bad dreams of the cabin."

Zira shook his head. "That would explain why he's afraid to go to sleep now."

Zira looked down and saw Aten asleep and sucking on his thumb.

Zira turned to the other doctors. "I need a minute alone with the mother. Everyone else out."

The other doctors left and Ryou crossed his arms. "Dr. Zira, before you start, why didn't you inform me of Aten's sexual abuse?"

"Ryou, I had a hard enough time keeping you alive. If I told you about Aten, I could not even guarantee that you would be standing in front of me now. It was wrong of me to withhold that information, but maybe now I can make amends."

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"It happened again."

Ryou's POV

Oh gods, no. Not again. Anything but that!

"Are you sure, doctor?"

//WHAT THE HELL?!//

/YAMI! Please!/

Zira nodded. "There is some tearing and I don't want to risk him being infected. There may also be a chance we can get a DNA sample and find out who did this. I want to keep him in the hospital for monitoring. He hasn't eaten and without knowing who did this, the risk of infection is high."

I looked down at my sleeping son. He snuggled into the material. I placed my hand on his cold forehead.

"Dr. Zira, Marik lost his job. I don't have health insurance. Malik took all the money out of the family bank account. I have no money."

Zira covered Aten with another blanket. "Right now, Ryou, money isn't an object. Let me get Aten up and about before we discuss money. Your son is more important right now."

I wrapped my arms around Zira. "Thank you, doctor! Thank you!"

Zira returned the embrace, but pulled away. "I will have to get Aten a room. The sedative will keep him asleep for a while, not to mention the trauma of what he's been through will keep him asleep."

I nodded. "Ok, doctor. I have to go home and pick up a…."

"Ryou?"

I turned around and there was Otogi with Aten's overnight bag and his toy monkey in his hands!

"Otogi! What are you doing here?"

Otogi yawned as he entered the Emergency Ward. "Tristan called me and told me you were at the hospital with Aten. I made up a hospital bag for Aten. It has his sleeping robes, some diapers, his brush, and some of his plushies. I couldn't forget his toy monkey."

Zira gave a final stroke of Aten's hair. "I'm going to find a room for him. Stay here, guys."

Zira left and I bit my lip. I covered my eyes with my hands, trying not to look into Otogi's eyes.

"It happened again, Otogi."

"What did?"

I wrapped my arms around Otogi tightly. "Someone…….hurt Aten."

"Is the little man o.k.?"

"His back is scarred. His back reads "MINE." Who could have done this to him?"

Otogi sighed. "Has Malik been found?"

//MALIK!//

"You think Malik did this, Otogi?"

"Malik hasn't been seen anywhere, has he?"

I shook my head. Malik was still missing, but would he do this? To Marik's child? Malik loved Aten. Why would he do this?

"I don't know what to think."

"Ryou, his bloody clothes were found in Malik's room in KaibaCorp!"

//That mortal is as good as dead the next time I see him!//

/Yami….don't make me more upset than I am./

I took the toy monkey and put it beside Aten. Aten's arm reached out of the blanket and grabbed it. He pulled it into his arms and nuzzled it sadly.

"Money……miss money," Aten whimpered in his sleep.

Zira entered and he placed the security rails up on Aten's bed. "He's going to be taken to Room 406 in the children's wing."

Sadly enough, I knew that room all too well. When Aten was in here before, that was the same room he stayed in.

"Ok. I'll be along. I need a minute with my friend."

Zira smiled. "Ok. Let's go to your room, Aten." Zira wheeled Aten out and I clung to Otogi sobbing.

"Otogi! Not again! I can't believe my angel was hurt again! I don't know where he's been or who he was with! What if he gets really sick? What if his injuries never heal? I don't know if I can do this!"

Otogi held me as my mind raced with questions and my fears. It happened to him again….

Otogi stroked my hair. "Listen, Ryou. You may be scared, but Aten draws his strength from you. You need to be strong for him."

"I thought he was dead, Otogi! I thought he was dead!"

"But he's not, Ryou! He's not dead! He's your son and he needs you."

I sniffled and rubbed my eyes. "I know he needs me. But, Otogi…..Aten. My boy was hurt again."

Otogi pat my back. "We'll be there for you, Ryou. Tristan and I will be there to help you with Aten and Aria."

"Thank you, Otogi."

I lead Otogi up to Room 406. Despite the terror and fear I felt regarding Aten's condition, I felt relieved that he was back to me where he belonged.

Otogi and I stayed up with Aten all night. They kept the IV in him. I brushed back his hair and watched his little body twitch as he slept.

//He'll be ok, Ryou. We'll be there for him.//

/I know./

I leaned down and gave Aten a kiss on the cheek. "Welcome back, my son."

Updates: Tomorrow.

Note for next chappie: I have a special scene planned for the next chappie, guys! Aten gets a special visitor…no, Not Anzu, that kid has been through enough torture as it is.