You guys are the best!!!!  Ryou and I love our fans and loves our reviewers!!! Bakura loves plotting revenge on Anzu.

\\…\\-Bakura to Ryou through Mindlink

//…//-Ryou to Bakura

Gone….

            Bakura carried two bags of groceries home.  Who would have known modern food would be so heavy!  “I guess I can’t complain.  All I had in Egypt were the scraps.  Now I’ve hit the jackpot!  Double Fudge Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream!!” he thought.  The cold air of the house hit him feeling much better than the heat outside.  “Ryou!  Come help me with the bags!”

Ryou didn’t answer him.

“He’s probably sleeping.  Anzu really hit him last night.”  Bakura closed the door and unloaded the groceries.  He returned to the living room when he detected a familiar scent, a scent he once cherished….the scent of blood.  Maybe Ryou’s wound had opened again.

“Ryou?  Ryou, are you up there?”  Bakura ran up the stairs.  The bitter smell was coming from Ryou’s bedroom.  Bakura opened the door and found the box with his Millenium Ring on the floor.  Beside the box little red dots fused into the carpet and on the wall, a red streak.  “Ryou!” Bakura ran through the home screaming his name.  Nothing was taken, even Ryou’s mother’s jewelery was still on his father’s dresser.  Either Ryou was unable to answer or unwilling to open the mindlink.  Bakura picked up the phone beside Ryou’s bed and called Marik.

[Marik Ishtar speaking.]

“Have you seen Ryou?  Is he over there? He’s not here!  Do you think he’s at Yugi’s?”

[Whoa, Bakura!  Settle down!  No I haven’t seen Ryou.  Malik, put that away!…Don’t let Isis see that!…  He’s not here. I don’t know if he could be at….dammit, Malik, I’m on the phone!]

“What about your sister?”

[Isis!  Have you seen Ryou?…I see…No, she hasn’t seen him either, but did say he’s in danger.]

“Can she tell me where he is? Please, Marik!”

[Hold on, Bakura….Malik, please put that laundry away!  I’m tired of tripping on it!  My sister does not need to see your personal items!..Isis, can you see where he is?…No, Bakura, she can’t detect him.]

Bakura grit his teeth and clenched his fists.  “I’ll have to try Yugi, but I can’t talk sense to that pharaoh.”  Bakura hung up the phone and ran to the bureau.  He opened up a secret compartment in the wood and revealed the Millenium Eye.  “At least this Millenium Item is safe with me.”

Bakura called Yugi.

[Yugi Motou.]

“Yugi, have you seen Ryou?  Is he over there?  Please say he’s there with you.”

[No, Bakura, I haven’t seen him.  I’ve been helping Grandpa with the new shipment of cards.]  Silence came over the line…followed by a sniffle.

[Bakura?  Are you…crying?]

“I can’t find him, Yugi.  What’s worse, his bedroom and the wall are covered in blood….his blood.”

[Are you certain it’s his?] 

“Don’t you think I would know the scent of my hikari’s blood by now?” Bakura seethed.

[What about your mindlink?]

“He’s not answering me!  Isis told me he’s in danger and I can’t help him!” A sob broke through Bakura’s voice.  “I can’t help him.”

[Yami and I will be right over, Bakura.  Stay there.]  Bakura hung up the phone.

\\ Ryou!!  Love, talk to me! \\

Bakura took a wet rag and tried to clean up Ryou’s blood off the wall until Yugi and Yami burst in the door.  Bakura called to them and the ran up the stairs to the bedroom and froze at what they saw.  Bakura wept turning to them.  “The stain won’t come out.”

Yugi went to Bakura and put his arm around him.  “We’ll find him, Bakura.”

The doorbell rang and Yami ran down the stairs to get it.  “Ryou! Open up!  Yami?”

Joey, Tristen, and Serenity were standing there with pizza.  “What are you doin’ here, Yami?”  Joey asked scratching his head.

“Same question.  Why are you here?”

“Well, Ryou was nice enough to invite us over for dinner and a movie.  We’d thought it’d be nice if we brought the grub seeing as he invited us.”

“I’m here for the free pizza, compliments of my buddy, Tristan!”

“Just save us a piece this time!”

Bakura dashed down the stairs as he heard Ryou mentioned.    “You saw him?”

“Yeah, Yami told me to check on how Ryou was doing and he invited us for dinner.”

Bakura turned to Yami, his eyes blazing with anger.  “You’re never satisfied are you?”

“I was looking after Ryou’s welfare.  I have that right!”

“Don’t I deserve a second chance?  Isn’t that my right?”  Yami avoided Bakura’s gaze.  Bakura turned back to Tristan struggling with his desire to knock that pizza from his hands and crush him against the wall.  “What did Ryou do after that?”

“I don’t know.  I left him alone.”

“Was Anzu here with him?” Yami rolled his eyes.  Anzu wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone Ryou.

“No. He was alone.  Is something wrong with Ryou?” Tristan asked before Bakura staggered back from the crowd at the door.

A wave of pain hit his head and he fell to the ground clutching his head.   

//Yami!  Yami!//

Bakura’s chest closed in the fear transferred to the mindlink.  Yugi took Bakura in the arms. 

\\ Ryou! Are you hurt?\\

//Yami!  Where are you?//

  Bakura doubled over onto the floor.  Serenity helped Bakura to sit up when  a red mark appeared on his cheek. 

\\ Ryou! Answer me!\\

Nothing.

“Did he say anything to you?”

“He’s not answering me now.  I can’t track him.  He’s put a block up on our link.”

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

Bakura wiped a tear from his eye. “I could feel all his fear, all his pain, when he spoke to me.  He must be intentionally blocking so I don’t feel what he’s going

through.”

Tristan put the pizza on the table.  “Let’s have dinner.  We can break up into search parties and look for him.”