Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Yami Virus ❯ Mercy ( Chapter 27 )

"Why aren't you eating, Jaimen?" Seto asked the child calmly.

Jaimen looked at the fork and knife. He scratched his head, still tingling from the Head Lice treatment. He looked down and up at his father.

"How do I eat this?"

"Use your knife and fork," Seto said.

Jaimen shrugged. "I never seen these things before."

His fingers touched the ceramic plate. "What is this stuff? Is it made of stone or something?"

Joey and Seto exchanged confused glances. "It's china. Not stone."

"Oh! I thought plates were only made of paper! I've never seen plates like these before! It's so pretty!"

"What did your….." Seto struggled to find a word to call Diane that was age-appropriate for the child. "What did your mother put your food on?"

Jaimen flicked the plate with his fingers. "Mommy only fed me on paper plates."

"She never cut up your dinner?" Joey asked.

Jaimen shook his head as he picked up a piece of chicken with his fingers. "Mommy fed me frozen dinners. I ate with forks, but she never cut my food up."

Seto growled quietly, not wanting to scare the child.

"Use your fork to eat, Jaimen," Joey said.

Jaimen stuck his fork in his chicken breast and started to eat it without cutting it up. Mokuba and Hayden watched as their jaws dropped in surprise.

Joey nudged Hayden. "He doesn't know any better, boys."

Seto stood up and hovered over Jaimen. "This is how you cut up your meat."

Seto took the fork and knife and showed Jaimen how to cut up his food. Jaimen watched his father with wide eyes.

"See?"

Jaimen's jaw dropped. "You made the food smaller to eat! Wow! Thanks, daddy!" Jaimen wrapped his arms around Seto's waist.

The CEO put down the knife and pat his son's back. "No problem, son. Eat your dinner now. For dessert, we have Lemon Meringue Pie."

Jaimen's eyes widened. "Dessert? WOW! I can have dessert?"

Seto nodded. "Yes."

The boy jumped up and down excitedly. "I never had dessert before! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Okay, son." Seto said returning to his seat.

Jaimen looked over at the floor. "Do you want me to sit on the floor like my mommy made me?"

Seto growled again. "No, Jaimen. You can sit at the table. Do you have any clothes in your pillowcase?"

Jaimen shook his head. "Not really. My Aunt Gerty never brought any of my clothes from my house. I've been wearing this set of clothes since my mommy died."

Hayden gave a cringe. He remembered wearing the same outfit until it fell off his body. His uncle rarely gave him new clothes.

Mokuba shook his head silently as he shoveled the chicken into his mouth.

"Hayden, do you have a sleep shirt Jaimen can borrow?"

Hayden nodded. "Yeah, I can lend him one of mine for tonight."

Seto turned to Joey. "We'll have to go shopping for clothes tomorrow."

Mokuba jumped up and down excitedly. "Can Jeanie and I take him shopping?"

"We'll all go shopping. Hayden, you're going to need more shorts."

"The ones I have don't fit me anymore."

Joey watched Jaimen eat his corn with his fingers. He shook his head in dismay.

After dinner, they had their pie. Jaimen ate his pie with his fingers. He licked his fingers clean after eating the pie with his hands.

When he was done, Joey went for a washcloth. He approached Jaimen and washed the boy's hands.

"What a mess!" Joey said, smiling. He washed the kid's hands and wiped his mouth.

Hayden watched in shock as Joey cleaned Jaimen.

Seto stood up. "Do you have any toys?"

Jaimen sniffled. "No. I had to leave all my toys at my house."

Seto thought for a moment. "I think I have some of my toys when I was a kid. I think I kept them in my closet."

Mokuba chuckled. "You? You still have your toys?"

Joey gave a shudder. He didn't have children's toys.

Seto nodded. "There were some toys that I managed to hide from our stepfather, Mokuba."

"Our stepfather forbid you to have toys! How did you get them?"

Seto grinned and folded his arms. "Alex. Alex bought some toys from his sister's house."

Mokuba stood up quickly. "I never knew you had them!"

Seto nodded. "I had to keep my toys to myself. I was afraid of them being taken away from me."

"Can I see them?"

Seto lead the group to his bedroom and his closet. Seto opened the closet door and dragged out a brown box of toys marked: Seto's Toys! Yeah!

Seto opened the box and removed some G.I. Joe action figures. Seto held onto the dolls tightly.

"I played with this doll late at night. I pretended it was going to come to life and take us away from Gozuboro." Seto removed a carousel from the box. "The music box broke in this, so when I played with it, nobody heard." Seto removed a piece of paper from the box. "This…this was the Blue Eyes White Dragon card you made me, Mokuba. I kept it in here to make sure our stepfather wouldn't find it. I still take it out of the box and look at it." Seto ruffled Mokuba's hair. "It always cheers me up."

Mokuba smiled. "Really?"

Seto nodded. "This little card kept me going, Mokuba, even when it looked like things were never going to get better for us."

Seto removed a pack of Duel Monsters cards. "I dueled myself to tone my skills. But these were my only toys. I think you should have them, Jaimen."

Jaimen picked up the carousel. "Really?"

"We'll get you some toys of your own tomorrow."

Jaimen squealed and wrapped his arms around his father. "Thank you, daddy! Thank you!"

Seto hugged his son, who started to sob. "Jaimen, what's wrong?"

Jaimen started to cry. "I didn't think you would want to buy me new clothes and toys!"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I was always taught nobody wanted me! That nobody would love me! Now…now…now you're going to buy me new clothes and new toys! My mommy never did that for me!"

Seto pulledback and looked the boy in the eyes. For a moment, Seto thought he was looking at himself. The resemblance between father and son was unmistakable. Jaimen looked just like he did when he was nine years old and still in the orphanage.

The boy's blue eyes were large and sparkling. Seto couldn't deny the child was his own reflection. This boy was his own flesh and blood….born from an act of cruelty.

That hurt most of all.

"I'm not your mother, Jaimen. I am your father. And…you are a part of me."

Jaimen nodded sadly. "Yes, I know."

Seto looked up at Hayden and Mokuba. "Can you guys give me a few minutes alone with Jaimen?"

Hayden and Mokuba left. Joey decided to leave the father and son alone.

"Jaimen, I don't want you to think that what happened was your fault. It wasn't your fault."

Jaimen sat down, taking a stuffed teddy bear from the box and cuddling it against his chest. He hugged it tightly. "My mommy never said it was my fault. My mommy always told me though that she wished that she never had me. She always told me the story of what happened."

Seto went pale. "She told you….what?"

Jaimen looked up. "Mommy told me everything. About holding you down and stuff. She told me everything she did to you. Daddy, I…I'll understand if you don't want me to stay and live with you."

Seto put his hand on the child's arm. "Why would you think I wouldn't want you around?"

"Because my mommy hurt you. I just happened to….be a result…of what my mommy did to you. Daddy?" Jaimen looked up at Seto with his large blue eyes. "Daddy, I'm sorry."

Seto's bottom lip trembled. "Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong."

"I'm sorry my mommy hurt you. What she did was wrong. She hurt you. And….I'm very sorry. So, I'll understand if you don't want me to stay here."

Seto's eyes filled with tears. "Jaimen…." Seto brought the kid onto his lap and held him against his body. "I don't want you to think that because your mommy hurt me, I don't like you. You had nothing to do with what she did to me. You are not to blame."

Jaimen sniffled. "How can you say that?"

"Because you aren't blameworthy, Jaimen. Look, son, I still love you, no matter how you were conceived. You're my flesh and blood."

The child's eyes filled with tears and he started sobbing, clutching onto him.

"Jaimen, why are you crying?"

The little boy's harsh cries resulted in hiccups and loss of breath. The tears flowed from his eyes in rivers. "My mommy never told me that she loved me! She always said she hated me for being born! That I was an accident! My mommy hated me!"

Seto clung to the child tightly, giving the child a kiss on the top of the head. The child cried harder.

"My mommy never kissed me! She didn't like me at all! My own mommy didn't love me!"

Seto rocked the child in his lap quietly. Seto's tears fell onto Jaimen's head. He knew the trauma the child had gone through. His stepfather never said 'I love you' except after he was done with him for the night.

"I love you, Jaimen. No matter what your mother did to me, I'll still always love you."

Jaimen continued to cry until he fell asleep. Seto carried him to the spare bedroom and dressed him in Hayden's nightshirt.

Joey found Seto sitting by his sleeping son. He walked up to Seto and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"How is he, Seto?"

Seto stood up and gave his son a kiss on the cheek. "He's asleep."

Joey followed Seto out of his room. "Seto, do you need to talk about this?"

Seto turned to Joey. "Certainly not here in the middle of the hallway."

Seto returned to his room and went to the large window in his bedroom. Joey sat on his side of the bed.

"What do you think of Jaimen staying here?" Joey asked.

"It's fine."

Joey rolled his eyes. "'It's fine.' Seto, this kid will be a constant reminder of what Diane did to you."

Seto turned to Joey. "Puppy, it's not his fault. No. It's not easy seeing him. Everytime I see him….it's….he looks just like me. But, he's my son. It's not going to be easy to have him around. I just…I need some time, Joey."

Joey nodded. "This isn't going to be an easy adjustment for both of you. If you need to talk, Seto, you know you can talk to me."

Seto nodded and walked over to his lover. "I know, baby."

Seto and Joey left their room to tuck Hayden into bed.

They knocked on Mokuba's door and Jeanie answered.

"Hi, Seto," she said, winking at her boyfriend's brother.

"Tell Mokuba we said goodnight, Jeanie," Seto said.

Jeanie leaned over to Seto. "Don't we get a goodnight kiss?"

Jeanie puckered up her lips as Mokuba stepped beside her.

Mokuba saw his brother blush fifty shades of red. "It's so much fun to watch her torture you, big brother."

Seto gave a playful push to his brother. "Jeanie, tell Donny when you want to go home. He'll drive you."

"Donny went home, big brother. He called up here because he said he was going to drive Jeanie home. He said one of his kids is sick and he had to go home. Alex can drive her home."

Seto shrugged. "Okay." Seto took Mokuba and brought him out of ear shot. "Just watch what you two are doing in there. I already had one unexpected kid come into this house and I'm running out of bedrooms quickly."

"Aww…Don't you want to be an uncle, Seto?"

"I'm already an uncle, Mokuba."

Mokuba snickered. "Oh, come on, Seto. You know we use protection."

Seto covered his ears. "Mokuba, I do not need to hear that."

Mokuba giggled as his brother's face turned red from blushing again.

"Besides, big brother, we use condoms and everything!"

Seto shook his head. "How my little brother ended up straight is beyond my comprehension."

Mokuba looked at Jeanie. "I mean, look at her, Seto! She's sweet! She's sexy!"

Seto shuddered, feeling his stomach turn at the thought of a woman in an intimate fashion. "Look, just be careful. I'm not turning my office into a nursery."

Mokuba laughed. "Seto, we're just doing our homework together. It's nothing more than that. She's my girlfriend. Besides, we want to finish college before we decide to become more serious. School is more important."

Seto pat Mokuba on the back. "Good for you. I'm going to take some stomach medicine now, thanks."

Seto passed Jeanie. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mr. Seto Kaiba," Jeanie said in a seductive voice, making a chill crawl up his spine.

Seto and Joey returned to their room and prepared for bed. Joey crawled in beside Seto. The CEO shifted closer to Joey, resting his head on the blond's chest.

Joey ran his fingers through the brown hair, giving his lover periodic kisses on the forehead.

"My baby," Joey whispered as he held Seto close to him.

"Joey, just hold me. I really need you to hold me tonight," Joey heard the crack in his lover's voice and understood why Seto was breaking down.

"I won't let you go, Seto," Joey said gently.

Joey held his crying brunet lover close, remaining silent, knowing no words could take away what Seto was feeling.

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

Ryou and Aria watched Bakura at dinner. Bakura gripped the fork with his fist, unable to remember how to hold a fork properly. Aria saw the piece of pork fall from Bakura's fork.

"Messy daddy," she said putting the pork on her fork. "Here, daddy." Aria put the food up to his mouth and Bakura ate it. "Is it good?"

Bakura nodded. "Yes."

When dinner was over, Ryou and Malik cleaned the table. Bakura wandered away from the table and into the living room before Ryou could clean him free of dropped food. Marik had followed him to the living room. Pieces of corn dripped from Bakura's chest which were quickly eaten by the dog.

Aten giggled as he watched Sekhmet follow Bakura around, eating food that was dropping from him.

Bakura turned around and saw Sekhmet eating a piece of pork that had fallen. Bakura let out a screech and backed away from Sekhmet, shaking.

Ryou and Malik ran into the living room. "Bakura, baby? What's going on?"

Bakura backed into the door, his body tense. Marik slowly approached Bakura.

"Tenshi, tell me what you see."

Bakura's chest rose and fell quickly. He looked down, seeing one of Anubis' dogs snarling at him with large pointy teeth. "Anubis….the dog…..the guards."

Ryou and Malik stood behind the dog and Bakura let out another screech.

"NO! GO AWAY!"

Ryou leaned down to Aria. "Aria, sweetheart, take Sekhmet out back."

"What's wrong with my daddy?"

Bakura turned and began to bang on the door violently. "LET ME OUT FOR RA'S SAKE! MERCY! LET ME OUT!"

Aten watched as Bakura clawed at the door, tears creeping to his eyes. "What's wrong with him, daddy?"

"Aten, go outside and play."

"But.."

Marik looked down at the child sternly. "Aten Bakari, do as you are told and do not argue with your father!"

Aten ran from the room quickly. Aria called to the dog and the puppy followed her obediently.

Bakura looked at his husband and the Ishtars with large eyes. Bakura looked like a frightened animal who had been cornered.

Ryou took one step closer to his yami. "Bakura? It's me, Ryou, your husband. Do you remember me?" Ryou asked calmly.

Bakura looked up the stairs and back at them.

Ryou heard Bakura through the mindlink. //If I can get up those steps, I'll be out of this dungeon.//

Bakura darted for the stairs and Ryou caught him. Bakura let out a scream as he fell onto the stairs.

Bakura struggled with Ryou. "Get off of me! I won't let you rape me anymore! Let me go!"

"Baby, I'm not going to hurt you."

Bakura let out a loud sob and elbowed Ryou in the chest, sending him down on his knees. Bakura ran up the stairs as Marik caught him.

"Let go of me, you son-of-a-bitch! Let go!" Bakura kicked Marik and the yami fell down the stairs, holding his side and his shoulder.

Malik called up the stairs, going to aid his fallen yami. "Bakura!"

Bakura ran into his room. Ryou slowly climbed the steps, staggering from the blow to his chest.

"Bakura! Wait!"

Marik whimpered. "Malik…help…Ryou."

Malik ran up the stairs as he heard Ryou give a yelp. Malik found Ryou kneeling on the floor, holding his bleeding hand.

Bakura was standing over Ryou with his brown eyes glazed over. The yami seethed angrily. A line of drool fell down his chin as he growled. Bakura gripped his old dagger in his hand, the blade already stained with Ryou's blood.

Malik held his hands out in front of him. "Bakura, listen…you're not in ancient Egypt. You are with us. Ryou, Marik, and I."

Bakura growled. "Stay away from me! I won't let you hurt me anymore!"

Marik heard Bakura at the bottom of the stairs and picked up the Millennium Rod that had fallen from his hand when he fell down the stairs.

"Marik!" Marik cried out from the top of the steps.

Marik struggled to his feet and stepped up the stairs.

Bakura snarled, stepping over Ryou. "You're next….Anubis!"

Ryou grabbed Bakura's leg. "Don't hurt Malik, Bakura!"

Bakura turned and kicked Ryou in the chin. Ryou fell onto his back, unconscious from the impact.

Bakura turned to Malik and raised his weapon. "Die, Anubis!"

Update: Monday