Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Stronger Than Before ❯ chapter24 ( Chapter 24 )

Stronger Than Before

by Dragondreamer and Yami Dragon

Disclaimer: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If we did, we'd be rich. But we don't, so we're not.

Warning: This story contains shouenen-ai (guy/guy relationships) and yaoi (guys having sex with guys). It also contains coarse language and violence. If you don't like it, or become offended by such things, leave now! Don't bother flaming us, because we'll just laugh at you.

Note: /…/ Tristan's thoughts

[…] Joey's thoughts

{…} Seto's thoughts

[[…]]Yami's thoughts and mind link to Yugi

//…// Yugi's thoughts and mind link to Yami

`yak yak' (Artificial Intelligence) Sadie's voice

~*~*~*~*~

YD: This chapter was fun.

Tris: Says you.

YD: *growls* Listen, boy-o, back off.

DD: Careful, Tris, she's PMSing.

Seto: She's ALWAYS PMSing!

DD: Bakura gets a lot of print in this chappie.

Bakura: Go me!!

~*~*~*~*~

Bakura stood in the middle of the lavish living room of the eleventh floor condo, a sneer on his face.

Mokuba had mentioned to him that the money Kaiba Corp. had been donating to the orphanage wasn't finding its way to the kids. With an angry look in his slate grey eyes, the young Kaiba had asked Bakura to get to the bottom of it.

Justin had come home yesterday and, after unpacking the few personal items the boy had brought with him, Mokuba had called Bakura half in tears. He had told him of the threadbare condition of the too small clothes, the few pitiful toys and a book with half the pages missing.

Breaking into the high rise hadn't been a problem, despite the so called security.

He had tracked the Knowles woman from the orphanage to her home, growling to himself at the sight of the two year old Mercedes she was driving.

An hour later, she had left again and Bakura had followed her uptown to a restaurant he was familiar with. It was Seto's favorite place to take his friends when they had something to celebrate and Bakura knew that if he was to take Ryou there, it would cost him a week's pay.

He had allowed her to get inside and get settled before following.

The maitre d' had tried to stop him, but all it took was mentioning Seto's name and he was quickly left to his own devices.

He had stood, watching, as the woman entertained a half a dozen friends. He stopped their waiter with a veiled threat and took a quick look at the bill, eyes widening at the tab's total.

After stalking her and her friends for a few more hours, he left them at the theater and decided to take a look at how she lived.

"There's no way she can live like this on a civil servant's pay." He growled to himself.

Bakura pulled a small digital camera from his pocket and took a few pictures of the expensive furnishings and next to priceless artwork. His gaze fell on a small glass display case on the mantle and he stepped closer to it.

"Sweet Isis." He whispered.

And indeed, it was.

The glass cube held a small gold statue of Isis, obviously original and obviously ancient.

Anger pooled in his gut as he lifted the camera to take a picture of the familiar object.

Bakura slipped the camera into his back pocket and left quickly…before he gave in to the urge to trash the place.

~*~*~*~*~

"You've come a remarkably long way in such a short time, Joey." Jack said, smiling at the man sitting on the opposite side of his desk.

"Yeah, well," Joey reached into his shirt pocket, taking out the picture of Lexi and handing it to Jack. "I have even more reason to now. Tristan and I are going to adopt her."

Jack looked at the photo, then looked up at Joey with a raised eyebrow.

"No, she's not." Joey said before the other man could comment.

"She looks just like him."

Joey grinned. "She does."

"So tell me, what else is going on?" Jack handed the picture back and leaned back in his chair.

"I miss Tristan." Joey sighed. "When I came back…everything happened so quickly. We haven't…well…been together. There wasn't any time."

"I understand." Jack said sympathetically. "Maybe we can do something about that."

Joey shook his head, confused.

"Well, your physical withdrawal seems to be under control and I think that the emotional end of it will improve if you had some private time with Tristan." Jack grinned at the surprised look on Joey's face. "We'll see how you do over the next couple of days."

"You guys really DO do things differently here, don't you?"

"That's why we have such a high success rate, Joey." Jack grew serious. "I've never believed in a thirty day program. It takes as long as it takes. In some cases, a lot more than a month. In cases like yours, where the patient has something to look forward to, it can be less."

"I know what you mean. I wrote a paper on that subject for my addictions rehab class."

"Are you planning on finishing school?"

"Absolutely. I only have three more credits left." Joey looked down at the floor. "I royally screwed that up. I should be almost done by now."

"You'll get it done. You've got the determination to finish. That's more than half the battle right there."

"You're right. There's no reason I can't finish over the winter so I can graduate in the spring."

"What do you want to do with your degree?"

Joey shrugged. "Not sure, really. I had thought about social work, but after seeing how you guys run things I think I'd rather work in a private clinic. I just know I want to work with kids."

"Why the drive to work with children?" Jack asked, though he already knew the answer.

"After everything I went through as a kid…the abuse from my father…the drugs…I didn't have any professional help until Yugi and Tristan put me in the hospital…and I fought it." Joey paused, thinking. "And now that I can think clearly, I can look at it from a clinical point of view. I know that's why I gave in to Keith…why I stayed. If I can keep one kid from having to go through that, it'll all be worth it."

"I think you'll make an excellent psychologist, Joey. And that's why I think you're recovery is going as quickly as it is." Jack smiled. "Your patients will be lucky to have you. Not may councilors have the sort of life experience you have."

Well, if I can use that to help someone else, so much the better."

"And it will get better, Joey."

Joey looked at the picture he still had in his hand. "It already has."

~*~*~*~*~

"I don't think this is such a good idea, yami." Ryou whispered.

"Shh. We managed to get this far. Don't screw it up."

Bakura let go of Ryou's hand and silently opened the door to the kitchen, dragging Ryou inside with a triumphant grin.

They startled Odette, who spun around with a small gasp, the knife in her hand falling to the floor with a clatter.

"Sorry we frightened you, Odette." Ryou apologized.

Seeing the smirk on the white haired spirit's face, the woman placed his hands on her hips. "Bakura! How did you get in here?"

"I walked."

Odette rolled her eyes. "They're in the dining room. Go sit and I'll bring you some supper."

"Thank you, Odette." Ryou said politely, taking Bakura's hand and pulling him from the room.

They entered the dining room unnoticed and Bakura grinned as he came up behind Yami.

"Hey, Pharaoh." Bakura placed his hand on the back of Yami's head and pushed.

Yami's yelp of surprise was cut off as he landed face first in his soup.

Everyone, with the exception of Justin, burst into laughter as Yami lifted his head, wiping the liquid from his eyes.

"Very funny, Tomb Robber." Yami growled, picking noodles out of his bangs.

Bakura threw his head back, laughing uproariously, his pointed canines showing.

Justin's eyes widened. Thanks to the prescription glasses his new parents had bought him, he was able to see the sharp, and to him, vampire-like teeth.

He scrambled off his chair and ran around the table, throwing himself into Seto's lap and burying his face in his shirt.

"'kura!" Ryou slapped his yami on the arm. "You're scaring Justin."

Bakura stopped laughing and looked at the child shivering in Seto's arms. "Ra damn…I'm sorry, little one."

He took a step toward the little boy and Just clung to Seto, whimpering.

"It's okay, Justin." Seto held him gently. "Bakura won't hurt you."

"Good job, idiot thief." Yami said low.

"Yami…" Yugi's voice held a note of warning as he exchanged glances with Mokuba.

"Justin?" Ryou approached slowly and kneeled next to Seto's chair, his voice soft. "I'm Ryou. It's nice to meet you."

Justin peeked at Ryou from under Seto's arm. "H-Hello."

"Don't be scared of Bakura. He's just loud sometimes."

The child's gaze went to Bakura, who was standing quietly, trying not to look menacing. He saw the boy's eyes on him and he smiled, feeling a stab of disappointment when Justin squeezed his eyes shut.

"Justin," Seto said. "Why don't you go with Uncle Mokuba and see what Odette has for dessert?"

"O-Okay." Justin slipped from Seto's lap and edged around the table, keeping as far away from Bakura as he could.

Mokuba stood and took the little boy by the hand. "Come on, Justin. I bet we can talk her into giving us some ice cream."

Bakura forgotten, Justin pulled away from Mokuba and ran for the kitchen.

"I take it "ice cream" is the magic word?" Ryou commented, sitting down.

Yugi frowned. "He never got it at the orphanage."

"You're kidding me!" Bakura sat down next to Ryou.

"No." Seto's eyes were cold. "The more I find out about the way that place is being run, the more pissed off I get."

"Well," Bakura pulled a disk out of his pocket and threw it on the table. "Prepare to be COMPLETELY pissed then."

"I'll get my laptop." Seto said, standing.

"Oh, no you don't." Odette entered the dining room with two large bowls of soup. "Food first, work later."

Seto sat back down, shaking his head with a grin as Odette placed the bowls in front of the two white haired men. "How's Justin?"

"Up to his elbows in a bowl of ice cream." Odette paused as she passed Yami, reaching out and picking a piece of bok choy from his hair, cutting a glance at Bakura.

"What?" Bakura tried to look innocent.

Odette shook her head, lips twitching, as she left the room.

Suddenly, something occurred to Yugi. "Sadie didn't tell us you were here."

"Sadie doesn't know." Bakura grinned.

Seto sighed. "Before you leave, you're showing me how you got in here."

Bakura shrugged and turned his attention to his dinner.

~*~*~*~*~

Tristan leaned against his car and pulled Joey close, sighing into his hair. "Gods, I don't want to go."

"I know." Joey slipped his arms around the brunet's waist. "I don't want you to go either."

"Hey…look at me, baby." Tristan whispered.

Joey looked up at Tristan, the setting sun casting a golden glow across his skin. Tristan reached out and gently traced the contours of Joey's face with the tips of his fingers, slowly, as though trying to commit his lover's face to memory.

"I love you so much." Tristan's voice quavered.

"I love you too, my angel." Joey leaned into Tristan's touch. "It won't be much longer, Tristan, and then you'll never have to sleep alone again."

A small sob escaped Tristan as he tangled his hands in Joey's hair and leaned down to kiss him deeply.

[I've never seen him look so vulnerable. Jack was right about us needing to be together…but I'm not the only one it's going to help.]

Tristan broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against Joey's, fighting back the tears. /Gods, I miss him…worse now than when he was gone. I need him. I don't know how much longer I can handle not being able to love him./

"Tris?" Joey moved back and looked into Tristan's eyes. "Jack said if everything goes okay over the next few days I'll be able to leave for the night. We can spend the night together."

"Really?!"

"Really." Joey smiled. "It's been so long, Tris. The last time we made love was just after my dad died."

"That's not true." Tristan shook his head. "The day before you came here…at the cove. Don't you remember?"

"I thought…" Joey looked away. "I thought it was a dream."

Tristan grasped Joey's chin in his fingers, forcing the blond to look at him. "It's okay, baby."

"I wasn't sure if it was real or not." Joey said sadly. "It was too much like the hallucinations I had when I was with Keith."

"Shh, love." Tristan drew Joey's head against his chest. "It's over now. Keith is gone. He's never going to hurt you again."

"I know." Joey squeezed Tristan before reluctantly pulling away. "You'd better go. I have to get back inside before someone comes looking for me."

"Yeah, I suppose." Tristan caught Joey's lips in a quick kiss. "I'll stop in before I head back to the city to see Lexi tomorrow."

"Okay." Joey opened the car door and waited until Tristan got in before sticking his head in and kissing him again. "Love you."

"I love you too, baby."

Joey stood on the steps of the clinic, watching as Tristan drove away. /Soon, Tris. Soon I'll be home again. Then I'll never leave you again. I swear./

~*~*~*~*~

Bakura pointed at the computer screen. "This came from the temple of Isis outside Karnak. It's well over five thousand years old."

Seto looked closely at the palm sized statue. "How can you be sure?"

"I've seen it, Seto." The white haired man replied. "I've held it in my hands. I took refuge in that temple one night from Yami's guards. I was going to steal it."

"Why didn't you?" Yami asked.

Bakura shot him a look. "Even thieves can have ethics, Pharaoh. Isis is my guardian goddess. That statue would have fed and housed me for a very long time, but I couldn't do it."

"I did a search on it." Ryou interrupted before Bakura and Yami could start fighting. "It sold at auction for two hundred thirty two thousand US. Cheap, considering it's origions."

"Bitch." Seto growled.

"When I followed her the other night, she had six friends with her. She picked up the tab for everything."

The four men sat silently, trying to take it all in, until Yugi joined them.

"Justin's asleep." He said. "Bakura, you really freaked him out."

"I didn't mean to." Bakura shook his head.

"It's okay." Seto said. "Just give him some time. Everything here is still new to him."

"Where's Mokuba?" Bakura changed the subject. "He's the one who set me one this. I thought he'd want to know what I found."

Seto's eyes went to the phone on his desk, seeing Mokuba's extension active. "He's on the phone."

Yugi and Yami exchanged a grin.

"Well, anyway," Bakura continued. "I still have a few things I'm looking for. I'm going to go over to the orphanage with Tristan tomorrow and take a look around."

"Whatever you need, Bakura." Seto looked at him seriously. "Just keep a low profile. I don't want this woman trying to put a stop to Tristan and Joey adopting Lexi."

Don't worry. By the time I'm done with her, she'll wish she's never been born."

~*~*~*~*~

"Papa! Papa!"

Tristan grabbed the little girl as she threw herself at him, swinging her up over his head before bringing her down to face level, kissing her.

Lexi squealed, grabbing Tristan by the collar, covering his face with kisses.

"Hello, baby girl." Tristan smiled when she finally stopped.

"Lexi home a day?"

"Not today, sweetheart. Soon though."

Lexi pouted for a minute before noticing Tristan wasn't alone. "Papa? Who dat?"

"This is my friend Bakura."

Lexi stared at Bakura. Bakura stared back.

Suddenly, Lexi tried to squirm from Tristan's hold, reaching her arms out to Bakura.

Bakura took her from Tristan, holding her away from his body, her chubby little arms and legs dangling.

Lexi stared at Bakura. Bakura stared back.

Lexi looked at Bakura's hair and her eyes widened. She reached up with her deformed hand, her thumb and forefinger wrapping around one the batwing-like spikes.

"Ooooohhhh!!" Lexi slipped the white hair through her fingers. "Toft…nize."

A smile crept onto Bakura's face as the little legs wrapped around him and two small hands reached up to pat his cheeks.

"Hey-doe, Ba-ra!"

"Hello, Lexi." Bakura grinned, rubbing their noses together, making the child giggle.

She stopped laughing when she caught sight of Bakura's sharp teeth and Tristan held his breath. Bakura had told him what happened with Justin.

The smile quickly left Bakura's face and Lexi pouted.

"No. Ba-ra t-mile!" She demanded, using her thumbs to push up Bakura's top lip, exposing his canines. "WOW! Ba-ra tarp teef! Neat!"

Bakura's smile grew as he buried his lips in the little neck and growled playfully, the vibrations making Lexi squeal happily, squirming.

Tristan smiled at the display. /Another one bites the dust./

Lexi fisted her good hand into Bakura's hair and pulled. "Ba-ra top! Tick-tle!"

Bakura set the child on her feet and she immediately went to Tristan, wrapping her arms around his leg, smiling up at him.

"I've got a surprise for you, Lexi." Tristan got down on his knees, reaching for the bag he had dropped at Lexi's exuberant display of affection. "Here, baby girl."

Lexi's eyes grew huge as Tristan pulled out a brown stuffed bear out of the bag. She grabbed it, squeezing it before beginning to play with the red bow.

"Tank-too, Papa! Lexi low it!"

Tristan kissed her on the forehead before standing and brushing off his pants.

"I'm going to go have a look around." Bakura said quietly.

Tristan just nodded and took Lexi's hand, leading her off.

Bakura snuck around the side of the building, checking to see if a certain Mercedes was in the staff parking lot.

It wasn't.

Bakura let himself in through the first door he came to, finding himself in an empty kitchen.

Preparations for the children's lunches were in evidence in the cans of soup lining the counter and the plate of buttered bread next to them.

Bakura began opening cupboards, finding them next to bare, holding on canned goods and dry cereal. He moved to the refrigerator, opening it and scowling.

It, too, was almost empty, a few cartons of milk and bottles of juice on the top shelf.

Hands on his hips, Bakura surveyed the entire room. There was no fresh fruit or vegetables to be seen; not so much as a single apple.

A flight of stairs off to one side caught his eye and he ascended them. Reaching the top, Bakura wrinkled his nose at the damp, musty smell.

He wandered from room to room, taking in the cracked, water stained plaster walls and moldering carpets, his anger growing.

Going down another flight of stairs, he found himself in the main hallway.

Opening a door to his right, he found himself in the laundry room.

There was a pile of dirty clothes next to the single washing machine. Bakura reached down and pulled out an infant's sleeper, holding it up. It was threadbare and there were holes in the knees and elbows. The rest of the clothes in the pile didn't look to be in much better shape.

Bakura frowned. The children he had seen today had been well dressed. Then it dawned on him. They probably had only one set of good clothes each that they were expected to wear when the orphanage had visitors.

Leaving the room growling to himself, Bakura continued down the hall, opening doors at random. A single bathroom, a room with one crib for the two babies currently in residence; no sheet on it's plastic covered mattress; and one room for the older children.

Bakura stepped in, closing the door behind him, his eyes narrowing at the number of beds crammed into the small room.

Each bed had a sticker on the headboard, or the wall above if it didn't have a headboard, bearing each child's name.

Picking out Lexi's bed, Bakura crossed over and sat down. The mattress was thin, as was the blanket. There was no pillow.

He'd seen enough.

He made his way back, easily avoiding the staff as they herded the children back inside for lunch.

He met up with Tristan and Lexi in the playroom.

"Ba-ra!" Lexi ran up to him, holding out her arms. "Up!"

Bakura picked her up, burying his face in her soft hair, alternating between wanting to cry and wanting to find the Knowles woman and kill her slowly and painfully.

"You okay?" Tristan asked.

Bakura nodded. He couldn't tell Tristan about what he had seen. He knew his friend would lose his famous temper if he saw the condition his soon to be daughter was living in. Lexi couldn't leave here until Joey was able to come and sign the papers.

"Ba-ra. Lexi down."

Bakura put her down after kissing her and she wrapped herself around Tristan's leg again.

"Papa come back?"

"I'll be back tomorrow." Tristan bent and kissed the top of the little head, handing her her bear. "I promise."

"Papa bring Da-ee?"

"Not tomorrow, baby girl, but soon."

"S'o-tay." Lexi smiled. "Lexi go munch now."

"Okay, sweetheart." Tristan stroked her hair. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tay! Bye, Ba-ra!" Lexi called as she ran from the room.

The two men watched her go, hair flying and little legs pumping as she ran.

"So?" Tristan turned to Bakura. "What did you find?"

Bakura shook his head. "I have some more digging to do."

Tristan raised an eyebrow. Bakura was upset, that was plain, but the mixture of emotions in the bottomless brown pools of his eyes was difficult to read.

"Well, let's go grab some lunch then." Tristan led the way out of the building. "I want to get back to see Joey."

Getting into Tristan's car, Bakura caught sight of Gladys Knowles pulling into the parking lot and he growled, baring his teeth.

He was going to bury the bitch.

~*~*~*~*~

It was mid afternoon when Ryou arrived home to find Bakura sitting in a chair in the living room, staring at the wall.

"'kura?" Ryou dropped his bag and went to sit in Bakura's lap. "Are you okay?"

"No." Bakura wrapped his arms around his hikari, leaning his forehead against his shoulder.

"What's wrong? Is Lexi scared of you too?"

"It's not that. Oh, Ryou…the way those kids are living…Seto and Tristan don't know the half of it."

Ryou sat, shocked and trying to control the tears, as Bakura told him what he had seen.

"Seto's not going to be happy." Ryou said.

"That's an understatement." Bakura replied, wiping a few tears from Ryou's face. "I'm not sure I want to be there when Tristan finds out."

Ryou shivered. "He's going to explode."

"He can't know, Ryou. Not until Lexi comes home." Bakura held Ryou's eyes, his own worried. "I don't trust him not to go down there and start breaking bones."

"Let's go." Ryou stood up and held his hand out to his other.

"Where are we going?"

"Shopping." A look of determination settled on Ryou's features. "We're going to go get those kids some fruit and some treats and order pizza and have supper with Lexi. And I'd like to see that bloody bitch try to stop me!"

Bakura stood, wrapping his arms around Ryou, tipping his face up and looking into the angry brown eyes. "You really are the perfect mate for me. You know that, don't you, my light?"

"Hmm." Ryou wound his arms around Bakura's neck. "Someone has to put up with you."

Bakura laughed, dropping a quick kiss on his lover's lips before dragging him out the door.

~*~*~*~*~

DD: Go Ryou!

Bakura: So…can I kill the bitch? Please?

YD: I'm seriously thinking about it.

Seto: Hey…I smell something.

Yugi: What?

Seto: *grins at Tris and Joey* There's sexual frustration in the air.

Tris: Very funny.

YD: Yeah, well, the next chappie's lemony good.

Joey: You mean I get some…right? Right?

DD: *grin* We're hoping to have that chappie out by Friday.