[Amnesty Day] [Yu-Gi-Oh!] Assorted ficlets
Title: Unexpected Family
Day/Prompt: April 3rd - How'd it get like this or has it always been this way
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): G; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Gansley had always thought his life would turn out much differently than it did. But how it turned out isn't a bad thing.
Gansley had once thought his life would be relatively normal: a successful business, a wife, children. . . . But all of that had changed through the years. His wife had always hated his ruthless streak and the way he saw marrying her as a good investment, and his obsession with business had eventually driven her away, taking all the kids with her. She had even gone so far as to change their names after the divorce, knowing how easily he could find people and not wanting him to find them.
He still hadn't.
As for business ventures, he had founded his very successful lemonade distributing company as well as several others before he had caught the attention of Gozaburo Kaiba and joined KaibaCorp. Gozaburo had been putting together his new board of directors and wanted Gansley and Johnson for it. He had also put Gansley and his second-in-command Lector in charge of selecting the other members for the board, and they had decided on Crump and Nesbitt. Thus they had started the deep and lasting association as the Big Five. Years later, after falling more deeply down crooked paths and finally emerging to try to live righteously, they were still together when almost all others had left them. And they were more comfortable with each other than some biological families were with their members. They may have started as business associates, but after everything they had gone through together, by now they were something far more.
Gansley looked around his living room in touched disbelief. Nesbitt had fallen asleep over a desk, working on plans for the submarine attraction at Crump's Penguin World sanctuary. Johnson had kicked back in a recliner and Lector was dozing slouched on a couch. Only the oldest members, Gansley and Crump, were awake.
"Did you ever think this would be your future?" Gansley mused. "I thought I'd have grandchildren playing at my feet by now."
Crump chuckled. "I had a lot of crazy dreams back in the day. Most of them involved beautiful girls and me. Figures I could hardly ever get a date. I stopped trying after a while."
"I eventually gave up looking for my family as well," Gansley said. "But you know, I found them anyway." He laid a hand on Lector's shoulder. "Not the family I thought I would have, but perhaps better, in a way. All of you have chosen to stay with me, while my biological family chose to leave and never contact me again. I would say all of you are my true family."
"That's a good way to put it," Crump said. "You know that saying ‘Blood is thicker than water'? That's really a corrupted version of the real statement, and the real thing ends up saying just the opposite, that sometimes unrelated people who've gone through everything together are better family than the people you're related to."
"Hmm. Interesting." Gansley smiled a bit as Johnson rolled over in the La-Z-Boy.
"And you're like the Team Dad," Crump said. "You're always looking out for the rest of us and taking care of us."
"While you're always fussing over us and trying to get us to open up about our problems." Gansley quirked an eyebrow. "Does that make you Team Mother?"
Crump went red. "Eh." He busied himself by getting up and gently pushing Nesbitt back into the chair, away from the desk, and picking up the papers he had been working on. "Hey, guys should open up too. It's not just a girl thing." He looked at the sketch. "This is pretty good."
Gansley looked away, but he was smiling a bit. An untraditional family in every way, but one every bit as caring as the best biological families.
His life was full after all.
Title: It's Time to Duel
Day/Prompt: April 4th - I'd really love to see the look on your face
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): G; dub verse, silliness, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Yami Marik decides to make the Big Five play his latest Shadow Game . . . with a twist.
Yami Marik loved to torment his victims in all manner of ways, usually psychologically, sometimes physically. And he loved putting his victims in Shadow Games.
The Big Five supposed they shouldn't be surprised that he eventually decided to send them, body and soul, into a game of Duel Monsters, but they were surprised by the card characters he chose for them to portray.
"What the . . ." Lector stared down at himself. He was wearing a purple suit, albeit a lighter shade than usual. White gloves were on his hands and a matching cape on his back. A monocle fell from one eye, which he regarded in distaste. His father often wore one of those, and he had no desire to look like his father.
"You're the White Magical Hat," Nesbitt said, quirking an eyebrow. "I guess it fits in the respect that he looks a lot like you and he likes purple." He eyed himself. The first thing he noticed, to his chagrin, was that he was shirtless. Next he saw the heavy weaponry he was carrying. A hand quickly went to his face. He was wearing a face plate over his nose and mouth. He immediately removed it.
"And apparently you're the Cyber Commander," Lector remarked.
"What am I?" Johnson approached, wearing Chinese robes and carrying a paper fan.
"Chow Len the Prophet, maybe?" Lector said slowly.
"This attire is absolutely ridiculous," Gansley growled. He walked over in black and blue robes and purple armor-not the Dark Magician's, but more elaborate. "The Dark Sage?"
"Well," Nesbitt shrugged, "he's an old and wise character. I would say it suits our leader."
Crump screamed. "What the heck is this?!" He crashed down on the grass, desperately tugging on what seemed to be very short blue and pink skirts. A thick blue strap slid off one bare shoulder. The skimpy outfit hardly meshed well with a hairy chest and limbs.
Nesbitt clapped a hand over his face. "My eyes. . . ."
Crump leaped to his feet. "I'm dressed as the Dark Magician Girl!" he cried in horror.
Johnson couldn't help himself. He started to laugh. "I guess this is your just desserts for trying to take over female bodies in Noa's world? First Téa, and then Serenity when you couldn't win against Téa."
"Yeah, but it'd be different if I actually looked like a girl. I'm still me!" Crump exclaimed. "This looks awful!"
Yami Marik's laughter echoed through the sky.
"Well," Gansley said, unable to hold a straight face, "I suppose we're just going to have to deal with it." He sighed and started forward, using his staff as a cane. "Let's get this over with so we can return to the real world."
The others trailed after him, Crump looking like he badly wanted to hide behind a tree and never come out.
Lector finally walked over to him. "Crump, it's alright," he said. "I'm sure we're all feeling ridiculous here. Yami Marik is deliberately trying to humiliate us."
Nesbitt finally nodded. "I don't mind carting around all this technology, but I'm too underdressed to suit me."
"And I certainly don't feel very threatening," Johnson said, turning the paper fan over and over.
"And I feel loaded down," Gansley grunted. "These robes aren't light."
"Yeah, but at least you guys all have some dignity!" Crump retorted. "That thing's taken away all of mine!"
"Watch it, Crump, or he might decide to really take all your dignity and leave you without anything to wear," Gansley warned.
Crump's eyes widened in horror and he clapped a hand over his mouth.
Lector sighed. "At least you're with friends," he said. "No matter how humiliating your attire is, isn't it better to be with us while you're wearing it instead of with someone else?"
". . . I guess," Crump mumbled. "But I don't really like for you guys to see me like this either."
"We know it's not your fault," Gansley said. "It's just that thing deciding to engage in some more of his psychological torture."
"Although we will have a hard time getting this image out of our minds," Johnson chuckled.
Lector frowned at Johnson. Crump couldn't find any humor in the situation, so teasing him about it was only going to make it worse. Not that Lector cared for teasing in any case.
"Try focusing on this," Lector said at last. "You're one of the most powerful Duel Monsters. We're not just dressed like the characters; we have their powers. Out of the five of us, you're the second most powerful after Gansley."
". . . I guess that's something, anyway," Crump conceded.
"It's a lot," Lector insisted. "You'll probably be vital to winning this game, and you'll no doubt help protect those of us who don't have as strong of powers."
"Yeah . . ." Crump tried to smile a bit. Maybe he could find something good about this mess.
As it turned out, Crump was indeed invaluable. In the end, he and Gansley were able to combine their characters' powers to lead the group to victory and win the Shadow Game. They dropped out of the sky, returning to where they had started in Lector's house, and thankfully, returning to their normal clothes.
Johnson was a bit shame-faced. "I'm sorry I laughed, Crump," he said. "We couldn't have made it through there without you."
Crump sighed. "Maybe someday I'll be able to laugh about it too. In the meantime, I'm not mad at you or anything, Johnson. But . . ." He looked to Lector and weakly smiled. "Thanks for not laughing, Buddy. . . ." He awkwardly patted Lector on the arm.
Lector nodded and smiled back at him.
Title: What is Reality
Day/Prompt: April 5th - I'll give you my blood if that's all you need
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13; dub verse, post-canon, attempted suicide, gratuitous hurt/comfort, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Nesbitt's life has become a nightmare.
It was funny how while Nesbitt and Lector argued, it seemed like the most important thing. But then Nesbitt's rage boiled over and he shoved Lector backwards and suddenly he couldn't even remember why it was important.
Lector stared at Nesbitt with such a disbelieving look as he fell, striking his head on the wall as he went down. Then he was still.
Nesbitt stared at him, shaking, not able to believe himself what he had done. Then he screamed, running over and kneeling next to him. "Lector! Lector, wake up! Wake up!"
Lector didn't move. Shakily Nesbitt reached out, feeling to make sure his neck wasn't broken. As he did, he felt something wet on his hand. He drew it back in horror. "No. . . ." Blood was on every finger. Nesbitt screamed.
That brought the others running into the room. "Nesbitt, what on Earth happened?!" Gansley demanded.
"I did this," Nesbitt said in horror. "We were arguing and I shoved him. . . . I . . . I didn't think he'd fall . . . or hit his head. . . ." He held up his hand, violently trembling as he did. "It's his blood. . . . He's bleeding. . . ."
Immediately Gansley hurried over the rest of the way and knelt down, checking for a pulse. "He's dead," he whispered in disbelief.
"No. . . ." Nesbitt backed up, shaking his head. "No, he's not dead. . . . He's not dead!" He turned and ran up the stairs, his stained hand leaving crimson prints on the banister.
Crump and Johnson stared after him, then back to Gansley. "He can't be dead!" Crump exclaimed.
"Are you sure?!" Johnson cried. "Check again!"
Gansley did, and then he pulled Lector to him in grief. Lector was definitely dead, and Nesbitt would never be able to stand it knowing it was his fault.
****
Upstairs, Nesbitt had run into the bathroom and was desperately scrubbing to get the blood off his hand. He could see it swirling down the sink . . . more and more . . . and then it was all gone, just like Lector's life.
Nesbitt turned off the sink and sank to his knees, sobbing, digging his fingers into his hair. He had been warned so many times about his recklessness, his temper. But he had never thought it would get this out of hand.
He was up again in an instant, digging through the medicine cabinet. He didn't know why there was an old-fashioned straight razor at the back, but he didn't care. He positioned it over his wrist. His hand was shaking too much to make the incision, and he cut his shirt instead. Swearing under his breath, he forced his hand to steady and tried again.
"Nesbitt, stop!"
He looked up with a start, heart pounding in his ears. The razor clattered from his hand and to the counter.
"Lector?" he hissed under his breath. Lector was a ghost, watching him, trying to stop him from another impulsive act that would take a life. Or maybe he was losing his mind. After all, this had to be a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.
He stumbled to the doorway. "Lector?!" he screamed.
He ran back down the stairs, to where Gansley was still cradling Lector's body in grief. Crump and Johnson were holding him now as well.
Then, unbelievably, Lector stirred.
Nesbitt was sure he was seeing things at first. But when Gansley stiffened and pulled back, Nesbitt knew it was real. "Lector?!"
"Lector?!" Crump and Johnson echoed.
Lector groaned, sinking into their arms as he turned onto his back. "What . . . happened?" he mumbled.
". . . You were dead," Gansley said. He was still trying to wrap his mind around this. "You were dead, and now you're not. . . ."
"Oh. . . ." Lector squinted up at Crump and Johnson, who seemed frozen as they held him.
Suddenly they snapped to.
"You're not!" Crump exclaimed. He hugged Lector close. "Oh Buddy, you're not. . . ."
Still shaken, Johnson tried to examine the back of Lector's head. "But you must still be badly hurt," he said. "You were bleeding. . . . The blow killed you. . . ."
". . . There's no trace of blood now," Gansley said.
Nesbitt sank to his knees on the stairs. This was too impossible. He had lost his mind. He was seeing what he wanted to see because he couldn't cope with reality. He sank against the banister, sobbing.
"Nesbitt?" Lector stumbled up and limped over to him. At the same moment, the others looked, stricken that they had forgotten Nesbitt in their grief and shock.
"It's not real," Nesbitt choked out. "I killed you. . . . It's not real. . . ."
Lector knelt in front of him, dizzy but not in life-threatening danger. "I left my body," he said. "I saw everyone grief-stricken. . . . I saw you weren't there, and suddenly I knew I had to get to you."
"You stopped me," Nesbitt rasped. "I knew I heard you. . . ."
"Thank God I stopped you," Lector said. "Then I was back. . . ."
"You're alive," Nesbitt whispered. He reached to touch Lector but then drew back. He wasn't worthy. He didn't dare. And how could Lector even want him to . . .
Lector slowly reached for him, drawing him close even as he tried to recoil. "Nesbitt, it's alright," he said. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean to do it. It was an accident!"
"I'm imagining this!" Nesbitt insisted. "You can't really be here. You can't be. . . ." But he suddenly clutched at Lector anyway, desperate to believe in spite of himself.
A snarl and they all looked up with a start. Yami Marik was standing before them in utter annoyance. "You were never dead," he spat. "And I made Nesbitt hallucinate the blood. So how did you astral-project like that to stop him from slicing his wrists?!"
All of the Big Five stared at him in shock and anger.
"You creep!" Crump spat. "You actually made Nesbitt think he'd killed his best friend when it wasn't even true?!"
"He was just knocked out," Yami Marik growled.
"And Nesbitt almost killed himself?!" Johnson went sheet-white.
Gansley snarled, rising to his feet with his cane clutched tightly in his hand. "Get out," he rumbled. "I'll beat you again and I won't stop this time if you don't leave!"
Yami Marik, frustrated that his plans had been foiled, teleported out with only a grotesque expression in reply.
Nesbitt looked back to Lector. "I still hurt you," he said. "There's no excuse for what I did. Yami Marik showed me what could have happened. And you . . . you thought you were dead! You thought I'd killed you and you still tried to save me! . . . How?" Nesbitt stared at him. "How did you know?"
"I don't know," Lector admitted. He hugged Nesbitt close. "You have to get your temper under control. But you know that now."
"Anything! I'll do anything," Nesbitt promised. "I'll never let anything like this happen again." He shut his eyes tightly, but tears still slipped out.
"We could have lost you as well as Lector, or you instead of Lector," Gansley said in horror. "None of us thought to check on you . . . but Lector did."
"I thought you'd all turned against me," Nesbitt rasped. "It's all I deserved. . . ."
"Of course we were angry," Johnson said. "But mostly we were in shock. And we'd all know that no one would feel worse about what happened than you yourself."
"We just didn't realize how awful you'd feel," Crump whispered.
"It's alright," Nesbitt said.
"It's not alright!" Gansley snapped. "We love both you and Lector. We don't want to lose either of you!"
"And thank God we haven't," Johnson said.
They came over now, embracing both Lector and Nesbitt. They were all together, still, just as it should be.
****
"Nesbitt?! Nesbitt, can you hear me?!"
Nesbitt stirred, opening eyes heavy with sleep and burning with fever. Lector was standing over him, deeply concerned.
"I killed you," Nesbitt rasped. He reached for Lector's hand. "You came back. . . . It was all a trick of Yami Marik's. . . . But I still pushed you. . . ."
"Oh Nesbitt, you didn't," Lector frowned. He gripped Nesbitt's hand. "Don't you remember what happened?"
". . . That's what happened," Nesbitt frowned back, giving him a bewildered look.
"Nesbitt, you sacrificed yourself to save me from Yami Marik," Lector insisted. "We were arguing, but you never pushed me. Yami Marik showed up and tried to make you push me. He tried to mind-control you into it, but you resisted! You'd already hurt me once while under his control, and you weren't going to do it again. You fought him off, and in revenge he struck you down! You fell down the stairs! You were the one we thought was dead."
"What?" Nesbitt squinted at Lector in disbelief.
"We found you were alive, but Yami Marik had wrapped you in the darkness. You've been fighting it off all this time." Lector's stoic voice finally cracked. "I thought I was going to lose you. I know what it's like in the darkness. I knew you were strong enough to fight it off, but Yami Marik said he'd trapped you in a world of despair. I wasn't sure you'd ever find your way out."
Nesbitt slowly rose off the bed. ". . . My worst fear is killing one of you because of my temper," he confessed. "It seemed so real. . . . But if that world was fake, why did you come back in it? He wouldn't want you to come back. . . ."
"I doubt he programmed that into your experience," Lector said. "Maybe you heard us calling to you to come back and your world brightened at that point and crafted a happier outcome." He gripped Nesbitt's hand. "I know what it's like to be lost in the darkness and then to hear someone calling me back. Nesbitt . . . my dear friend. . . ." He finally pulled Nesbitt into a firm embrace. "I've missed you so much. The others have too."
Nesbitt finally sobbed, clutching Lector close. "I didn't push you," he said in awe. "I didn't push you. . . ."
"Never," Lector assured him.
"I almost killed myself in the dream," Nesbitt said. "But then you called to me and stopped me."
"And I'm sure I did," Lector said fervently. If Nesbitt had given up in the dream world, his body would likely have died. But he was still alive, and conscious. Lector held him close, whispering a prayer of thanks.
Title: Slow Down
Day/Prompt: April 7th - Take some time and learn to breathe
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): G; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Gansley has a tendency to overwork himself. Crump wants him to stop.
Gansley had always had a bad habit of pushing himself too hard and too far. All his life he had studied the value of hard work and had never stopped at anything until he had it. Crump had often complained about his obsession. Tonight, as they were working overtime on the necessary budget for Crump's Penguin World project, both things were happening again.
"Gansley, you really need to take a break," Crump protested. "We've been at this all day!"
"You can take a break if you want to," Gansley said, not looking up.
"Look, I don't want a repeat of what happened when we worked for Gozaburo," Crump said. "You remember, don't you?"
Gansley paused. He did indeed. He had tried to delegate what he could, but much of the work in his department had to be done personally. Gozaburo had pushed him and the others on relentlessly, just as he had done with Seto at home. One night Gansley had been struggling to work overtime when he had felt a sharp pain in his heart. It had gone away and he had tried to ignore it, only for it to come back with a vengeance several minutes later. He remembered collapsing across his desk, but nothing else.
"You don't know how much it freaked me out to find you like that," Crump said. "I yelled for Lector and we both got you down to the medical center as fast as we could."
"And the doctor told me I was pushing myself towards a heart attack. I remember," Gansley grunted. "But I seem to have been healed now, you know."
"Yeah, but maybe only if you take care of yourself," Crump said. "If you don't, things might just flip back the other way again!"
". . . I suppose you have a point," Gansley relented.
Crump sighed. "Going against Gozaburo sounded pretty good to me after that." His expression darkened. "He didn't even care! He just said that if you couldn't cut it anymore, you weren't good enough for the company and he'd let you go!"
"It may have been part of our reasoning, but don't forget about the promise of more power and wealth," Gansley said. "I know we were all drawn in by that as well."
"True," Crump conceded.
"And Gozaburo's ruthlessness mirrored my own," Gansley continued. "I had to do my share of firing older employees when they couldn't handle the pressure any longer. They all hated me for it. I remember one of them cursing at me and telling me someday I'd be them and I wouldn't want to leave any more than they did. I suppose that was true." He looked down at his cane. "Odd that I don't really feel that old, in spite of my difficulties. They probably felt likewise."
"Yeah, probably," Crump said. "Age is a weird thing. I know I don't feel 55."
"The difference between you and Gozaburo," Lector said as he suddenly appeared in the doorway, "is that Gozaburo once cared about another human being-his son Noa-and stopped. You always cared about your family, and you started caring about other people as well."
"But we all could have been like Gozaburo if we weren't careful," Nesbitt said as he appeared next to Lector.
"And thankfully, we're not," Johnson added.
Gansley sighed but smiled a bit. "Quite true. But I'm still ruthless, and I still overwork myself."
"A break won't hurt anything," Nesbitt said.
"I suppose then I'll come back with a fresh mind," Gansley said.
"Yeah, and figuring out the budget could be a several-day job," Crump said. "I should know."
Gansley pushed the papers back on the end table. "Alright. Let's relax for a while."
Title: Forget Me Not
Day/Prompt: April 10th - heaven knows I'd erase you if I could
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five, Yami Marik
Rating/Warning(s): PG; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Yami Marik duels Lector, with the same Shadow Game conditions as in his duel with Mai.
Nesbitt ran over, heedless of the ongoing duel and Yami Marik's growled warnings about interfering. He couldn't care less what that creature thought. After forcing Lector into a duel and announcing he was going to make Lector forget all of the others, one by one, Nesbitt had been watching with increasing helplessness and agony. What had happened in the last few minutes had torn his heart to shreds and he had refused to stay back any longer.
"Now, who will be the next one to go?" Yami Marik taunted.
Lector fell back, shaking, as something only he and Yami Marik could see flashed before his eyes. "Not Nesbitt!"
"Ah yes." Yami Marik sneered, the veins popping out across his face. "In spite of all your problems, he's the one who insists you're his best friend. Well, you won't be his anymore! You won't even remember him!"
"No!" Lector stood, shaking, and suddenly reached out in desperation at thin air. "Don't take him from me! Nesbitt!"
Nesbitt leaped into the middle of the duel and in front of Lector. "I'm not gone! Lector, I'm right here!" His heart pounded in his chest. He had seen the blank look Lector had given Gansley after Yami Marik had erased him from Lector's mind. He couldn't bear for Lector to look at him like that. Lector couldn't look at him like that. . . .
Lector's arm dropped to his side and he looked through Nesbitt rather than at him. "Who are you?" he asked. "I don't know you."
"Of course you know me!" Nesbitt burst out. He grabbed Lector by the shoulders and shook him. "You were just screaming for that thing not to erase your memory of me! Think, Lector! Think! He can't really erase me from your mind. That's impossible! It's just a trick!"
"Nesbitt, get down!" Gansley snapped. "You'll be hurt as well!"
"I don't care!" Nesbitt yelled.
"What about us?!" Crump burst out. "Don't we matter?! This is tearing us apart too! Do we have to lose Lector and you?!"
Lector looked to Crump, who hadn't yet been erased from his mind. "You know him?" He frowned, reaching to brush Nesbitt's hands away from his shoulders. "He's awfully violent and impulsive."
"Yeah, Lector, we all know him," Crump replied. "You too. Come on, you've gotta remember something, about both him and Gansley!"
"Gansley . . ." Lector looked to Gansley, then back to Nesbitt. ". . . I'll admit, something about you both seems familiar . . . even right . . . but I don't understand it."
Gansley sighed heavily. "You will, in time. If you beat that madman, your memories of us should fully return."
Nesbitt snarled. "And if he loses, who knows what'll happen to him!"
"I won't lose." Lector narrowed his eyes. "This creature has been getting the best of me for long enough. No more."
"That's the spirit, Lector," Gansley encouraged. "Nesbitt, get down! Let him finish this duel and prove he can do it."
Nesbitt growled, but finally stepped back.
Yami Marik sneered at Lector and made a face. "Why would you want to remember them? You said yourself how violent Nesbitt is. I know he really annoys you. Maybe the erasures worked because deep down, you wanted them yourself. Did you ever think of that?"
Lector stared at him. "No . . . that can't be true!"
Nesbitt wavered. Could it be true?
"Nesbitt, don't let yourself go down that path!" Gansley snapped. "You know Lector would never feel that way about either of us!"
"Never about you, maybe," Nesbitt said, "but would he really want to remember me? I am an annoyance to him. And I've hurt him so badly at times. . . ."
"By even entertaining that thing's suggestions for one moment, you're playing into his hands," Gansley insisted.
"That person is violent," Lector spoke, "but all he wanted was for me to remember him. Someone so desperate not to be forgotten must love me dearly. There is no way I wouldn't feel the same about him. I would never want to forget someone like that."
Yami Marik growled. "Very well then. Let's keep dueling. We'll see how long you manage to keep hold of your memories of the rest of your pathetic friends."
"Hey!" Crump snapped.
"Lector's going to win," Johnson said. "He has to. . . ." But he couldn't keep up his smooth facade under these dire circumstances. He reached up with a shaking hand to adjust his glasses.
The rest of the duel was long, grueling. Near the end, both Yami Marik and Lector had lost more monsters. The fear in Lector's eyes was obvious. He had lost the memories of Crump and Johnson by now as well as Mokuba and his sister Evangeline. Yami Marik, delighted to not remember anyone, was becoming more unhinged and sadistic as the duel went on.
Crump was tightly clenching his fists. "There's gotta be something we can do!" he exclaimed. "But talking to Lector now doesn't do much of any good! We're all strangers to him!"
"But he does still remember us underneath this demon's lies," Gansley said. "He said we all feel familiar somehow." He gripped his cane. "There is nothing we can do save to keep encouraging him to win and telling him that we love him."
"It would just freak me out if some strangers were telling me that," Nesbitt growled.
"He's terrified that he doesn't remember," Johnson said. "But he clings to those feelings he has about us." At least . . . he had to believe that. He couldn't stand this if he thought Lector was actually rejecting them.
"Look at yourself!" Yami Marik taunted now. "You're a pathetic mess! You no longer remember anyone you love. All you can think of, no matter how hard you try, are people you don't like or who don't like you!" He sneered. "All of your family hates you and has turned against you. You don't have any friends."
"I do remember some friends." Lector straightened. "Yugi offered friendship to me and I accepted. And while I don't remember these people here, I know how they make me feel. I'm not alone, no matter how you try to make me feel that way. And you won't win. I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back my Satellite Cannon."
Yami Marik fell back. "No! . . ."
"Unless you have another 8 star monster waiting to destroy it, there's nothing you can do this time." Lector glowered at him. "And with my cannon, a portion of my memory returns. I remember Mokuba."
Yami Marik snarled. As Lector ended his turn and he drew his card, he found Lector was right. There was nothing he could do. He had no way to summon The Masked Beast Des Guardius again, nor had he drawn another 8 star monster. In disgust and frustration, he lashed out by having his lone monster attack Lector's lifepoints before ending his turn.
"Lector!" Crump and Nesbitt called in alarm as he fell back.
"This is the end," Lector said, stumbling back to his feet. "I equip Mage Power to my monster. Now, Satellite Cannon, destroy the rest of his lifepoints."
Yami Marik roared as the rocket did indeed attack him to his defeat. He crashed to the ground, floored by the power of the Duel Monster. Then, getting to his feet, he stuck out his tongue at Lector as the darkness covered him. "You won't win next time," he vowed.
Lector stumbled, holding a hand to his forehead. Suddenly he was dizzy.
The Big Four all ran to him now, desperately hoping the spell was gone. "Lector?!" They surrounded him, ready to catch him if he collapsed. "Lector, are you alright? Do you remember us?"
Lector looked up, studying each of them in turn. "My dear friends," he whispered. "Yes, I remember you. Please forgive me for forgetting you. . . ." His voice caught in his throat.
Nesbitt charged in, pulling Lector into a tight hug. Lector clutched him close, not wanting to let him go.
"You never forgot us, Lector," Gansley told him. "Not really." He and the others joined the hug.
Title: Sacrifice
Day/Prompt: April 11th - You pulled the pin in my heart like a hand grenade
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13; dub verse, gratuitous hurt/comfort, post-canon, references to other stories, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Trapped in another Shadow Game, Nesbitt feels forced to sacrifice himself to save the others. Lector does not handle it well.
Lector didn't often break down. He tried so hard to be strong even when his heart was breaking, as Gansley had observed. But now, stranded in a cruel Shadow Game and cradling the body of one of his dear friends, he didn't know how to be strong any more. He had screamed in lieu of sobs, but now he was trembling, gently supporting the limp head and neck with a shaking hand.
"Oh Nesbitt," he whispered. "Why did you do it?"
But he really knew the answer. Someone had needed to be the bait to draw the deadly beast away from the group. With neither Crump nor Seto able to run fast from their injuries, the rest of the Big Five had hung back with them. Nesbitt had wanted to give them the chance they needed to get away. And he had, at the cost of his own life. Lector had run back after a snarl and a crash and had found Nesbitt lying on the floor, badly slashed in the chest. The beast, which could not be fought, had departed after its kill.
"He said ‘I'm sorry, brother. I'll try . . .' And then he trailed off and . . ." Lector shook his head, holding Nesbitt close to him as he spoke to the others, who had come back now as well. "I don't even know what he meant. Try to come back?" It was a Shadow Game, so maybe he could, but what if he couldn't? What if they couldn't get him back and this was the end?
"It should have been me," Gansley said in grief.
"It shouldn't have been any of us!" Crump cried.
"Nesbitt was a fool," Lector whispered. "Always so impulsive and reckless. . . . But my dear friend. . . ."
Gansley gripped Lector's shoulder. Those two had so many heated arguments, but they had a special bond regardless. There couldn't be two friends who loved each other more.
"We can't stay here," Yami Bakura tensely said. "You'll have to leave him and we'll go."
Lector looked up, his eyes completely cold and unrelenting. "No."
Frustrated, Yami Bakura looked to Gansley for help.
"We left Gansley the last time we were stranded in a video game Shadow Game," Lector said, "and it didn't have to be that way. We should have taken his body with us no matter how hard or awkward it was. I won't leave Nesbitt behind, especially since I can carry him myself."
Gansley gave a heavy sigh. "I won't tell you you can't, Lector," he said quietly. "I don't want to leave him either. But you have to be aware that he might not come back like I did in the other game."
"I still won't leave him," Lector said darkly. "If this is the end and he's gone, I'm not leaving his body in the middle of a Shadow Game! He deserves better than that." He got to his feet, Nesbitt's limp body held firmly in his arms.
"Let's go then," Gansley said. "And we'll pray he can be restored, as I was."
Johnson stared at Nesbitt, badly shaken by the sight of the deep wounds. "Why did he do it?" he whispered. "He knew none of us can stand losing any of the others."
"I'm afraid he still felt like he'd let me down in the past Shadow Game," Gansley said. "He believed he hadn't done all that he could back then and he was desperate not to be a failure in his eyes again."
"He's still leaving us," Lector said bitterly. "He told me how he was going to abandon us in Noa's world, and said now he'd done the right thing." His bitter tone quickly gave way to the anguish underneath. "He was still beating himself up over that. . . ." He fell back to his knees, the weight of the grief too much. "But he's still leaving us now. . . ."
"Maybe not permanently. . . ." But Gansley's voice caught in his throat.
"Oh, Buddy. . . ." Crump gave Lector a look of sorrow and anguish. None of them would be able to get over this, but he could tell Lector had been hit especially hard. He loved their impulsive fool so much. . . .
"Would he have done it if he had really known?" Lector finally spoke again, and his voice was deadened.
"Known what, Lector?" Gansley asked.
"That I don't know how to stand it without him!" Lector finally cried. "Did he really know how badly it would hurt?! Or did he think . . ." He pulled back, looking down at Nesbitt's pained face in horror. "Did he think we could never really love him so much that we wouldn't be able to get over this?"
"I don't know, Lector," Gansley said, his voice and his heart heavy. "I don't know. . . ."
****
Lector kept to his word, carrying Nesbitt's lifeless form as they advanced in the game. Many of the others, such as Joey, were disturbed and uncomfortable, but they did not voice their objections. They understood all too well, and they were all grateful to Nesbitt for his sacrifice, but it was still very macabre for most of them.
Lector was being run ragged as well. He grew very agitated and disheveled as their time in the game went on. He would speak quietly to Nesbitt when they were alone, as a coping mechanism. But when he was spent, he found himself staring down at the motionless form and he finally screamed, "Why won't you come back?!" He sank to his knees, trembling. "Why won't you come back. . . ."
He didn't know for how long he had been there, so disconsolate and shaking with unshed tears, when he felt hands on his shoulders. "Lector . . . I'm so sorry. . . ."
He looked up with a start. The trenchcoat he had wrapped Nesbitt in was empty. And it was Nesbitt's voice. . . .
He reached up with a shaking hand. "Nesbitt?" he whispered.
"Yeah. The game finally restored me." Nesbitt's grip tightened, and he bent down to embrace Lector from behind.
Lector felt a mixed rush of emotions. Overjoyed, overwhelmed, unable to fully grasp the reality, and still with something he badly wanted to say.
"Why didn't you know how badly we'd hurt?!" he screamed. "How could you not know?!" He grabbed Nesbitt's arms, pulling him around to face him. Yes . . . it truly was Nesbitt. He was back. . . . "I love you just like you love me! My brother. . . ."
Nesbitt fell to his knees and clutched Lector close, any remaining defenses dropping. "I wish there could have been another way. . . . I did know it would hurt all of you. I just didn't know what else to do. You knew someone had to be the bait. You knew it. . . ."
"You mean the world to me, and to the others," Lector said fiercely. "I couldn't bear for you to be the bait! None of us could."
Nesbitt squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm so sorry. . . . Can you even forgive me for hurting you? I know I would be angry. . . ."
Lector held him tightly. "Of course I forgive you," he choked out. "Always. . . ."
The others were running over now, drawn by the commotion. "Nesbitt!" Crump exclaimed in joy. They all embraced him. The Shadow Game hadn't kept them apart.
Title: My Heart Lives On
Day/Prompt: April 13th - Have you ever been afraid of your own ghost
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five, Seto Kaiba
Rating/Warning(s): PG; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around, supernatural elements
Summary: Seto really couldn't explain why Nesbitt was suddenly in his office, begging him to save Lector. Nor could he explain anything that followed.
Seto Kaiba was sitting alone in his office that night. It had been a perfectly normal day, really, filled with too much going on and too much idiocy to clean up after, but with Roland's help everything had been straightened out and Seto was preparing to go home. He was calm, wide awake, and perfectly sane . . . but he couldn't explain what happened next.
"Kaiba!"
He looked up with a jerk. Somehow, inexplicably, Nesbitt was standing in front of his desk. He was badly disheveled-his hair a mess, his shirt unbuttoned at the top, his tie loosened. . . . But mostly what Seto noticed was the utter panic in his eyes and in his voice.
"Nesbitt, how did you get in here?!" Seto demanded.
"Kaiba, you've got to save Lector!" Nesbitt pleaded. "He'll die if you don't get to him!"
Seto slammed the folder shut that had been occupying his attention until now. "What is this?" he objected. "Why can't you save him? Or get the others?"
"It will be too late by then!" Nesbitt insisted. "They're too far away. He's only six blocks south of here, in a blue sedan. Kaiba, you know I detest begging. But please, I'm begging you now, save Lector!" He slammed his hands on Seto's desk, although oddly enough, the gesture made no sound.
Seto got up. "Alright! I'm coming. But I still don't get why you can't go after him yourself. . . ."
He trailed off. Nesbitt was already gone, most likely running for the elevator.
Seto didn't encounter Nesbitt again, either on the way down or in the parking garage. He didn't think a great deal of it; Nesbitt was no doubt chasing after Lector himself. Seto wasn't even sure why he himself was doing anything. Of course, he didn't want anything to happen to Lector, especially now that they were allies and he saw how much Mokuba loved their former caretaker. And he knew he hadn't imagined Nesbitt's presence. So he went.
The blue sedan was right where Nesbitt had said it would be-six blocks south . . . and crashed into a telephone pole. Gasoline was dripping from a ruptured gas tank, shot by a bullet.
Seto flew out of the limousine and over to the other car. He could see Lector slumped back against the driver's side, not moving. Not bothering to knock, Seto simply pulled the door open and grabbed for the unconscious man. That was when he saw the impossible truth.
Nesbitt was sprawled over Lector, having leaped over from the passenger side and thrown his body across his friend to protect him in the crash. Glass from the windshield was everywhere, and from Nesbitt's position, he had likely kept Lector from hitting his head on the steering wheel.
"I'm losing my mind," Seto gasped. He pushed Nesbitt back before grabbing Lector and hauling him out of the car. When he was safely away in the grass, Seto ran back for Nesbitt. He only barely dragged Nesbitt away from the vehicle before it went up in flames.
He lay on the grass with the two victims now, feeling Nesbitt's neck and back for any breaks and then for breath. A chill went up his spine.
Lector was groaning now, returning to consciousness. Seto turned away from Nesbitt and back to him. "Lector? Can you hear me?"
Lector stirred, opening his eyes halfway. "Mr. Kaiba . . . where's Nesbitt?" he mumbled.
". . . He's here," Seto said.
Lector looked to the side, taking in the sight of the other man's still body. ". . . He's dead, isn't he?" he said in grief.
". . . Yeah," Seto admitted. "He's dead." He hesitated. "He was determined to protect you at all costs. He threw himself over you to protect you in the crash."
Lector sat up. "Nesbitt. . . ." He reached over, laying his hand on the still and cold hand in the grass. "You fool. . . ." His voice cracked.
Seto looked away. Nesbitt's ghost had got him out here to save Lector. But could he say that out loud? Lector didn't seem to be in any mood to ask why Seto was there; right now he didn't even wonder why. He was gently rolling Nesbitt onto his back and then taking the limp hand between his.
Seto stood and quietly slipped away to call for the medics from the KaibaCorp infirmary . . . and to call for the other members of the Big Five. They had to know what had happened . . . and Lector would badly need them now.
It only took minutes for the medics to arrive from the KaibaCorp grounds. Lector had to stumble back, letting them get to Nesbitt and examine him for any possible signs of life. Another medic examined him, but couldn't find any serious injuries. Lector stood by, watching as Nesbitt was loaded onto a gurney. One of the medics reached to pull a blanket over his head.
"Please," Lector said, stepping forward. "Please, let me have one more moment with him. . . ."
The medics looked to Seto, who nodded his consent. They stepped back, allowing Lector to get to Nesbitt. But after a long moment of just staring down at him, unable to think or say anything, Lector cried out in grief and fell to his knees, clutching the limp hand between his.
Seto looked away. He had never seen Lector like this, and it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. The Big Five loved each other, just as Seto and Mokuba loved each other. For either brother to lose the other would destroy the one left. And for the Big Five to lose any of their own destroyed the others. Lector and Nesbitt had been especially close.
"Lector . . . ?"
Seto went sheet-white. So did the medics. Lector looked up with a jerk. Nesbitt was blearily looking down at him, slowly curling his fingers around Lector's hand.
Lector couldn't even speak. Again he just stared at Nesbitt.
"Lector, why am I tied to this thing?" Nesbitt mumbled. "Get me down. . . ."
Lector stumbled to his feet, still staring at his friend. "Nesbitt . . . you were dead. . . . They were going to take you away. . . ." He trembled.
"He must have still been alive," one of the medics stammered. "Sometimes the heartbeat is so faint we can't pick it up out in the field. . . ."
Seto turned away, shaking his head and running a hand over his face. By now he didn't know what to believe.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lector undoing the straps binding Nesbitt to the gurney and then bending down to embrace him. Nesbitt reached up, pulling him close.
"You risked everything to save me," Lector whispered. "I don't know what to say. You were a fool, but I . . . I'm grateful. . . . But you almost got yourself killed! . . ."
". . . I think I was dead," Nesbitt said, shaken. "I went to Kaiba to beg for him to come help you, since I no longer could. . . ."
Lector looked up with a start, staring at Seto with searching eyes. Giving up, Seto nodded in acknowledgement. "That's why I'm down here. . . . If I hadn't come, you'd both be dead. . . . But if you're asking me to explain any of this further, I can't."
"I don't need it explained," Lector said fervently, and hugged Nesbitt close.
****
Of course, both Lector and Nesbitt were taken to the infirmary to be further examined. Seto, who hadn't been able to figure out how to tell the others over the phone about the disaster, had left a cryptic message on Gansley's phone that there was trouble and he needed to come to the KaibaCorp medical center. Gansley, Crump, and Johnson all came thundering in while Nesbitt was resting in one of the rooms and Lector was standing guard over him.
"What on Earth happened here?!" Gansley exclaimed.
"It's a long story," Lector said, relieved that the rest of the family was here. "Nesbitt and I got in trouble with those enemies of Johnson's stalking us and we had to take one of their cars to escape. They chased us and shot at us and I eventually lost control of the car when they shot out the tires and the gas tank."
"What?!" Crump yelled.
"They left us alone then, I suppose figuring we were as good as dead anyway. And . . ." Lector's voice caught in his throat. "Nesbitt apparently really was dead. . . ."
Johnson nearly fainted. "But . . . he's alive now, isn't he?!"
Nesbitt opened his eyes. "Yes. . . ." He looked badly shaken. "I left my body without even meaning to and went to Kaiba for help. I don't even remember leaving my body, or being dead. . . . I remember talking to Kaiba, and then everything was dark until I woke up with Lector breaking down. . . ." He looked away, not wanting to talk about that.
"Then maybe you weren't dead," Johnson said. "Maybe you were just unconscious. . . ."
"And in any case, you're alive now," Gansley said, trying to shake off his shock. "Thank God you're both alive. . . ." His voice broke.
Crump hurried over to Nesbitt's side. "How bad are you hurt?! Do you have to stay here?"
"I can go, thankfully," Nesbitt said.
"If we keep an eye on him," Lector interjected, "and I know we won't have any problems doing that."
Everyone thoroughly agreed, and they all helped Nesbitt up. He gripped at them, still shaken.
"Hey, I know what happened must have been scary, but you saved Lector's life," Crump told him as they headed for the door. "Kaiba never would have known to go if it hadn't been for you."
"I know, and I'm grateful I managed to do that," Nesbitt said. "I'm shaken about Lector almost being seriously hurt or killed . . . but I can't deny this brush with the supernatural is also shaking me up. How did it even happen? Why don't I remember?"
"While I once would have scoffed, I think it's obvious now that it happened because of your love for Lector," Gansley said. "You had to find a way to save him, and you just went to Kaiba because he was nearby and could actually help in time. It probably wasn't even deliberate, but instinctual."
"And I am so very grateful, not just for that, but that you came back," Lector said.
"I am too," Nesbitt said shakily. "For both of those things." He really wished he could remember, but on the other hand he wondered if he preferred not remembering in every detail. The idea of having been clinically dead shook him up badly. The idea of losing Lector shook him up far more, of course. He gripped Lector's hand as they all headed outside.
Day/Prompt: April 3rd - How'd it get like this or has it always been this way
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): G; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Gansley had always thought his life would turn out much differently than it did. But how it turned out isn't a bad thing.
Gansley had once thought his life would be relatively normal: a successful business, a wife, children. . . . But all of that had changed through the years. His wife had always hated his ruthless streak and the way he saw marrying her as a good investment, and his obsession with business had eventually driven her away, taking all the kids with her. She had even gone so far as to change their names after the divorce, knowing how easily he could find people and not wanting him to find them.
He still hadn't.
As for business ventures, he had founded his very successful lemonade distributing company as well as several others before he had caught the attention of Gozaburo Kaiba and joined KaibaCorp. Gozaburo had been putting together his new board of directors and wanted Gansley and Johnson for it. He had also put Gansley and his second-in-command Lector in charge of selecting the other members for the board, and they had decided on Crump and Nesbitt. Thus they had started the deep and lasting association as the Big Five. Years later, after falling more deeply down crooked paths and finally emerging to try to live righteously, they were still together when almost all others had left them. And they were more comfortable with each other than some biological families were with their members. They may have started as business associates, but after everything they had gone through together, by now they were something far more.
Gansley looked around his living room in touched disbelief. Nesbitt had fallen asleep over a desk, working on plans for the submarine attraction at Crump's Penguin World sanctuary. Johnson had kicked back in a recliner and Lector was dozing slouched on a couch. Only the oldest members, Gansley and Crump, were awake.
"Did you ever think this would be your future?" Gansley mused. "I thought I'd have grandchildren playing at my feet by now."
Crump chuckled. "I had a lot of crazy dreams back in the day. Most of them involved beautiful girls and me. Figures I could hardly ever get a date. I stopped trying after a while."
"I eventually gave up looking for my family as well," Gansley said. "But you know, I found them anyway." He laid a hand on Lector's shoulder. "Not the family I thought I would have, but perhaps better, in a way. All of you have chosen to stay with me, while my biological family chose to leave and never contact me again. I would say all of you are my true family."
"That's a good way to put it," Crump said. "You know that saying ‘Blood is thicker than water'? That's really a corrupted version of the real statement, and the real thing ends up saying just the opposite, that sometimes unrelated people who've gone through everything together are better family than the people you're related to."
"Hmm. Interesting." Gansley smiled a bit as Johnson rolled over in the La-Z-Boy.
"And you're like the Team Dad," Crump said. "You're always looking out for the rest of us and taking care of us."
"While you're always fussing over us and trying to get us to open up about our problems." Gansley quirked an eyebrow. "Does that make you Team Mother?"
Crump went red. "Eh." He busied himself by getting up and gently pushing Nesbitt back into the chair, away from the desk, and picking up the papers he had been working on. "Hey, guys should open up too. It's not just a girl thing." He looked at the sketch. "This is pretty good."
Gansley looked away, but he was smiling a bit. An untraditional family in every way, but one every bit as caring as the best biological families.
His life was full after all.
Title: It's Time to Duel
Day/Prompt: April 4th - I'd really love to see the look on your face
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): G; dub verse, silliness, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Yami Marik decides to make the Big Five play his latest Shadow Game . . . with a twist.
Yami Marik loved to torment his victims in all manner of ways, usually psychologically, sometimes physically. And he loved putting his victims in Shadow Games.
The Big Five supposed they shouldn't be surprised that he eventually decided to send them, body and soul, into a game of Duel Monsters, but they were surprised by the card characters he chose for them to portray.
"What the . . ." Lector stared down at himself. He was wearing a purple suit, albeit a lighter shade than usual. White gloves were on his hands and a matching cape on his back. A monocle fell from one eye, which he regarded in distaste. His father often wore one of those, and he had no desire to look like his father.
"You're the White Magical Hat," Nesbitt said, quirking an eyebrow. "I guess it fits in the respect that he looks a lot like you and he likes purple." He eyed himself. The first thing he noticed, to his chagrin, was that he was shirtless. Next he saw the heavy weaponry he was carrying. A hand quickly went to his face. He was wearing a face plate over his nose and mouth. He immediately removed it.
"And apparently you're the Cyber Commander," Lector remarked.
"What am I?" Johnson approached, wearing Chinese robes and carrying a paper fan.
"Chow Len the Prophet, maybe?" Lector said slowly.
"This attire is absolutely ridiculous," Gansley growled. He walked over in black and blue robes and purple armor-not the Dark Magician's, but more elaborate. "The Dark Sage?"
"Well," Nesbitt shrugged, "he's an old and wise character. I would say it suits our leader."
Crump screamed. "What the heck is this?!" He crashed down on the grass, desperately tugging on what seemed to be very short blue and pink skirts. A thick blue strap slid off one bare shoulder. The skimpy outfit hardly meshed well with a hairy chest and limbs.
Nesbitt clapped a hand over his face. "My eyes. . . ."
Crump leaped to his feet. "I'm dressed as the Dark Magician Girl!" he cried in horror.
Johnson couldn't help himself. He started to laugh. "I guess this is your just desserts for trying to take over female bodies in Noa's world? First Téa, and then Serenity when you couldn't win against Téa."
"Yeah, but it'd be different if I actually looked like a girl. I'm still me!" Crump exclaimed. "This looks awful!"
Yami Marik's laughter echoed through the sky.
"Well," Gansley said, unable to hold a straight face, "I suppose we're just going to have to deal with it." He sighed and started forward, using his staff as a cane. "Let's get this over with so we can return to the real world."
The others trailed after him, Crump looking like he badly wanted to hide behind a tree and never come out.
Lector finally walked over to him. "Crump, it's alright," he said. "I'm sure we're all feeling ridiculous here. Yami Marik is deliberately trying to humiliate us."
Nesbitt finally nodded. "I don't mind carting around all this technology, but I'm too underdressed to suit me."
"And I certainly don't feel very threatening," Johnson said, turning the paper fan over and over.
"And I feel loaded down," Gansley grunted. "These robes aren't light."
"Yeah, but at least you guys all have some dignity!" Crump retorted. "That thing's taken away all of mine!"
"Watch it, Crump, or he might decide to really take all your dignity and leave you without anything to wear," Gansley warned.
Crump's eyes widened in horror and he clapped a hand over his mouth.
Lector sighed. "At least you're with friends," he said. "No matter how humiliating your attire is, isn't it better to be with us while you're wearing it instead of with someone else?"
". . . I guess," Crump mumbled. "But I don't really like for you guys to see me like this either."
"We know it's not your fault," Gansley said. "It's just that thing deciding to engage in some more of his psychological torture."
"Although we will have a hard time getting this image out of our minds," Johnson chuckled.
Lector frowned at Johnson. Crump couldn't find any humor in the situation, so teasing him about it was only going to make it worse. Not that Lector cared for teasing in any case.
"Try focusing on this," Lector said at last. "You're one of the most powerful Duel Monsters. We're not just dressed like the characters; we have their powers. Out of the five of us, you're the second most powerful after Gansley."
". . . I guess that's something, anyway," Crump conceded.
"It's a lot," Lector insisted. "You'll probably be vital to winning this game, and you'll no doubt help protect those of us who don't have as strong of powers."
"Yeah . . ." Crump tried to smile a bit. Maybe he could find something good about this mess.
As it turned out, Crump was indeed invaluable. In the end, he and Gansley were able to combine their characters' powers to lead the group to victory and win the Shadow Game. They dropped out of the sky, returning to where they had started in Lector's house, and thankfully, returning to their normal clothes.
Johnson was a bit shame-faced. "I'm sorry I laughed, Crump," he said. "We couldn't have made it through there without you."
Crump sighed. "Maybe someday I'll be able to laugh about it too. In the meantime, I'm not mad at you or anything, Johnson. But . . ." He looked to Lector and weakly smiled. "Thanks for not laughing, Buddy. . . ." He awkwardly patted Lector on the arm.
Lector nodded and smiled back at him.
Title: What is Reality
Day/Prompt: April 5th - I'll give you my blood if that's all you need
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13; dub verse, post-canon, attempted suicide, gratuitous hurt/comfort, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Nesbitt's life has become a nightmare.
It was funny how while Nesbitt and Lector argued, it seemed like the most important thing. But then Nesbitt's rage boiled over and he shoved Lector backwards and suddenly he couldn't even remember why it was important.
Lector stared at Nesbitt with such a disbelieving look as he fell, striking his head on the wall as he went down. Then he was still.
Nesbitt stared at him, shaking, not able to believe himself what he had done. Then he screamed, running over and kneeling next to him. "Lector! Lector, wake up! Wake up!"
Lector didn't move. Shakily Nesbitt reached out, feeling to make sure his neck wasn't broken. As he did, he felt something wet on his hand. He drew it back in horror. "No. . . ." Blood was on every finger. Nesbitt screamed.
That brought the others running into the room. "Nesbitt, what on Earth happened?!" Gansley demanded.
"I did this," Nesbitt said in horror. "We were arguing and I shoved him. . . . I . . . I didn't think he'd fall . . . or hit his head. . . ." He held up his hand, violently trembling as he did. "It's his blood. . . . He's bleeding. . . ."
Immediately Gansley hurried over the rest of the way and knelt down, checking for a pulse. "He's dead," he whispered in disbelief.
"No. . . ." Nesbitt backed up, shaking his head. "No, he's not dead. . . . He's not dead!" He turned and ran up the stairs, his stained hand leaving crimson prints on the banister.
Crump and Johnson stared after him, then back to Gansley. "He can't be dead!" Crump exclaimed.
"Are you sure?!" Johnson cried. "Check again!"
Gansley did, and then he pulled Lector to him in grief. Lector was definitely dead, and Nesbitt would never be able to stand it knowing it was his fault.
****
Upstairs, Nesbitt had run into the bathroom and was desperately scrubbing to get the blood off his hand. He could see it swirling down the sink . . . more and more . . . and then it was all gone, just like Lector's life.
Nesbitt turned off the sink and sank to his knees, sobbing, digging his fingers into his hair. He had been warned so many times about his recklessness, his temper. But he had never thought it would get this out of hand.
He was up again in an instant, digging through the medicine cabinet. He didn't know why there was an old-fashioned straight razor at the back, but he didn't care. He positioned it over his wrist. His hand was shaking too much to make the incision, and he cut his shirt instead. Swearing under his breath, he forced his hand to steady and tried again.
"Nesbitt, stop!"
He looked up with a start, heart pounding in his ears. The razor clattered from his hand and to the counter.
"Lector?" he hissed under his breath. Lector was a ghost, watching him, trying to stop him from another impulsive act that would take a life. Or maybe he was losing his mind. After all, this had to be a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.
He stumbled to the doorway. "Lector?!" he screamed.
He ran back down the stairs, to where Gansley was still cradling Lector's body in grief. Crump and Johnson were holding him now as well.
Then, unbelievably, Lector stirred.
Nesbitt was sure he was seeing things at first. But when Gansley stiffened and pulled back, Nesbitt knew it was real. "Lector?!"
"Lector?!" Crump and Johnson echoed.
Lector groaned, sinking into their arms as he turned onto his back. "What . . . happened?" he mumbled.
". . . You were dead," Gansley said. He was still trying to wrap his mind around this. "You were dead, and now you're not. . . ."
"Oh. . . ." Lector squinted up at Crump and Johnson, who seemed frozen as they held him.
Suddenly they snapped to.
"You're not!" Crump exclaimed. He hugged Lector close. "Oh Buddy, you're not. . . ."
Still shaken, Johnson tried to examine the back of Lector's head. "But you must still be badly hurt," he said. "You were bleeding. . . . The blow killed you. . . ."
". . . There's no trace of blood now," Gansley said.
Nesbitt sank to his knees on the stairs. This was too impossible. He had lost his mind. He was seeing what he wanted to see because he couldn't cope with reality. He sank against the banister, sobbing.
"Nesbitt?" Lector stumbled up and limped over to him. At the same moment, the others looked, stricken that they had forgotten Nesbitt in their grief and shock.
"It's not real," Nesbitt choked out. "I killed you. . . . It's not real. . . ."
Lector knelt in front of him, dizzy but not in life-threatening danger. "I left my body," he said. "I saw everyone grief-stricken. . . . I saw you weren't there, and suddenly I knew I had to get to you."
"You stopped me," Nesbitt rasped. "I knew I heard you. . . ."
"Thank God I stopped you," Lector said. "Then I was back. . . ."
"You're alive," Nesbitt whispered. He reached to touch Lector but then drew back. He wasn't worthy. He didn't dare. And how could Lector even want him to . . .
Lector slowly reached for him, drawing him close even as he tried to recoil. "Nesbitt, it's alright," he said. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean to do it. It was an accident!"
"I'm imagining this!" Nesbitt insisted. "You can't really be here. You can't be. . . ." But he suddenly clutched at Lector anyway, desperate to believe in spite of himself.
A snarl and they all looked up with a start. Yami Marik was standing before them in utter annoyance. "You were never dead," he spat. "And I made Nesbitt hallucinate the blood. So how did you astral-project like that to stop him from slicing his wrists?!"
All of the Big Five stared at him in shock and anger.
"You creep!" Crump spat. "You actually made Nesbitt think he'd killed his best friend when it wasn't even true?!"
"He was just knocked out," Yami Marik growled.
"And Nesbitt almost killed himself?!" Johnson went sheet-white.
Gansley snarled, rising to his feet with his cane clutched tightly in his hand. "Get out," he rumbled. "I'll beat you again and I won't stop this time if you don't leave!"
Yami Marik, frustrated that his plans had been foiled, teleported out with only a grotesque expression in reply.
Nesbitt looked back to Lector. "I still hurt you," he said. "There's no excuse for what I did. Yami Marik showed me what could have happened. And you . . . you thought you were dead! You thought I'd killed you and you still tried to save me! . . . How?" Nesbitt stared at him. "How did you know?"
"I don't know," Lector admitted. He hugged Nesbitt close. "You have to get your temper under control. But you know that now."
"Anything! I'll do anything," Nesbitt promised. "I'll never let anything like this happen again." He shut his eyes tightly, but tears still slipped out.
"We could have lost you as well as Lector, or you instead of Lector," Gansley said in horror. "None of us thought to check on you . . . but Lector did."
"I thought you'd all turned against me," Nesbitt rasped. "It's all I deserved. . . ."
"Of course we were angry," Johnson said. "But mostly we were in shock. And we'd all know that no one would feel worse about what happened than you yourself."
"We just didn't realize how awful you'd feel," Crump whispered.
"It's alright," Nesbitt said.
"It's not alright!" Gansley snapped. "We love both you and Lector. We don't want to lose either of you!"
"And thank God we haven't," Johnson said.
They came over now, embracing both Lector and Nesbitt. They were all together, still, just as it should be.
****
"Nesbitt?! Nesbitt, can you hear me?!"
Nesbitt stirred, opening eyes heavy with sleep and burning with fever. Lector was standing over him, deeply concerned.
"I killed you," Nesbitt rasped. He reached for Lector's hand. "You came back. . . . It was all a trick of Yami Marik's. . . . But I still pushed you. . . ."
"Oh Nesbitt, you didn't," Lector frowned. He gripped Nesbitt's hand. "Don't you remember what happened?"
". . . That's what happened," Nesbitt frowned back, giving him a bewildered look.
"Nesbitt, you sacrificed yourself to save me from Yami Marik," Lector insisted. "We were arguing, but you never pushed me. Yami Marik showed up and tried to make you push me. He tried to mind-control you into it, but you resisted! You'd already hurt me once while under his control, and you weren't going to do it again. You fought him off, and in revenge he struck you down! You fell down the stairs! You were the one we thought was dead."
"What?" Nesbitt squinted at Lector in disbelief.
"We found you were alive, but Yami Marik had wrapped you in the darkness. You've been fighting it off all this time." Lector's stoic voice finally cracked. "I thought I was going to lose you. I know what it's like in the darkness. I knew you were strong enough to fight it off, but Yami Marik said he'd trapped you in a world of despair. I wasn't sure you'd ever find your way out."
Nesbitt slowly rose off the bed. ". . . My worst fear is killing one of you because of my temper," he confessed. "It seemed so real. . . . But if that world was fake, why did you come back in it? He wouldn't want you to come back. . . ."
"I doubt he programmed that into your experience," Lector said. "Maybe you heard us calling to you to come back and your world brightened at that point and crafted a happier outcome." He gripped Nesbitt's hand. "I know what it's like to be lost in the darkness and then to hear someone calling me back. Nesbitt . . . my dear friend. . . ." He finally pulled Nesbitt into a firm embrace. "I've missed you so much. The others have too."
Nesbitt finally sobbed, clutching Lector close. "I didn't push you," he said in awe. "I didn't push you. . . ."
"Never," Lector assured him.
"I almost killed myself in the dream," Nesbitt said. "But then you called to me and stopped me."
"And I'm sure I did," Lector said fervently. If Nesbitt had given up in the dream world, his body would likely have died. But he was still alive, and conscious. Lector held him close, whispering a prayer of thanks.
Title: Slow Down
Day/Prompt: April 7th - Take some time and learn to breathe
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): G; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Gansley has a tendency to overwork himself. Crump wants him to stop.
Gansley had always had a bad habit of pushing himself too hard and too far. All his life he had studied the value of hard work and had never stopped at anything until he had it. Crump had often complained about his obsession. Tonight, as they were working overtime on the necessary budget for Crump's Penguin World project, both things were happening again.
"Gansley, you really need to take a break," Crump protested. "We've been at this all day!"
"You can take a break if you want to," Gansley said, not looking up.
"Look, I don't want a repeat of what happened when we worked for Gozaburo," Crump said. "You remember, don't you?"
Gansley paused. He did indeed. He had tried to delegate what he could, but much of the work in his department had to be done personally. Gozaburo had pushed him and the others on relentlessly, just as he had done with Seto at home. One night Gansley had been struggling to work overtime when he had felt a sharp pain in his heart. It had gone away and he had tried to ignore it, only for it to come back with a vengeance several minutes later. He remembered collapsing across his desk, but nothing else.
"You don't know how much it freaked me out to find you like that," Crump said. "I yelled for Lector and we both got you down to the medical center as fast as we could."
"And the doctor told me I was pushing myself towards a heart attack. I remember," Gansley grunted. "But I seem to have been healed now, you know."
"Yeah, but maybe only if you take care of yourself," Crump said. "If you don't, things might just flip back the other way again!"
". . . I suppose you have a point," Gansley relented.
Crump sighed. "Going against Gozaburo sounded pretty good to me after that." His expression darkened. "He didn't even care! He just said that if you couldn't cut it anymore, you weren't good enough for the company and he'd let you go!"
"It may have been part of our reasoning, but don't forget about the promise of more power and wealth," Gansley said. "I know we were all drawn in by that as well."
"True," Crump conceded.
"And Gozaburo's ruthlessness mirrored my own," Gansley continued. "I had to do my share of firing older employees when they couldn't handle the pressure any longer. They all hated me for it. I remember one of them cursing at me and telling me someday I'd be them and I wouldn't want to leave any more than they did. I suppose that was true." He looked down at his cane. "Odd that I don't really feel that old, in spite of my difficulties. They probably felt likewise."
"Yeah, probably," Crump said. "Age is a weird thing. I know I don't feel 55."
"The difference between you and Gozaburo," Lector said as he suddenly appeared in the doorway, "is that Gozaburo once cared about another human being-his son Noa-and stopped. You always cared about your family, and you started caring about other people as well."
"But we all could have been like Gozaburo if we weren't careful," Nesbitt said as he appeared next to Lector.
"And thankfully, we're not," Johnson added.
Gansley sighed but smiled a bit. "Quite true. But I'm still ruthless, and I still overwork myself."
"A break won't hurt anything," Nesbitt said.
"I suppose then I'll come back with a fresh mind," Gansley said.
"Yeah, and figuring out the budget could be a several-day job," Crump said. "I should know."
Gansley pushed the papers back on the end table. "Alright. Let's relax for a while."
Title: Forget Me Not
Day/Prompt: April 10th - heaven knows I'd erase you if I could
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five, Yami Marik
Rating/Warning(s): PG; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Yami Marik duels Lector, with the same Shadow Game conditions as in his duel with Mai.
Nesbitt ran over, heedless of the ongoing duel and Yami Marik's growled warnings about interfering. He couldn't care less what that creature thought. After forcing Lector into a duel and announcing he was going to make Lector forget all of the others, one by one, Nesbitt had been watching with increasing helplessness and agony. What had happened in the last few minutes had torn his heart to shreds and he had refused to stay back any longer.
"Now, who will be the next one to go?" Yami Marik taunted.
Lector fell back, shaking, as something only he and Yami Marik could see flashed before his eyes. "Not Nesbitt!"
"Ah yes." Yami Marik sneered, the veins popping out across his face. "In spite of all your problems, he's the one who insists you're his best friend. Well, you won't be his anymore! You won't even remember him!"
"No!" Lector stood, shaking, and suddenly reached out in desperation at thin air. "Don't take him from me! Nesbitt!"
Nesbitt leaped into the middle of the duel and in front of Lector. "I'm not gone! Lector, I'm right here!" His heart pounded in his chest. He had seen the blank look Lector had given Gansley after Yami Marik had erased him from Lector's mind. He couldn't bear for Lector to look at him like that. Lector couldn't look at him like that. . . .
Lector's arm dropped to his side and he looked through Nesbitt rather than at him. "Who are you?" he asked. "I don't know you."
"Of course you know me!" Nesbitt burst out. He grabbed Lector by the shoulders and shook him. "You were just screaming for that thing not to erase your memory of me! Think, Lector! Think! He can't really erase me from your mind. That's impossible! It's just a trick!"
"Nesbitt, get down!" Gansley snapped. "You'll be hurt as well!"
"I don't care!" Nesbitt yelled.
"What about us?!" Crump burst out. "Don't we matter?! This is tearing us apart too! Do we have to lose Lector and you?!"
Lector looked to Crump, who hadn't yet been erased from his mind. "You know him?" He frowned, reaching to brush Nesbitt's hands away from his shoulders. "He's awfully violent and impulsive."
"Yeah, Lector, we all know him," Crump replied. "You too. Come on, you've gotta remember something, about both him and Gansley!"
"Gansley . . ." Lector looked to Gansley, then back to Nesbitt. ". . . I'll admit, something about you both seems familiar . . . even right . . . but I don't understand it."
Gansley sighed heavily. "You will, in time. If you beat that madman, your memories of us should fully return."
Nesbitt snarled. "And if he loses, who knows what'll happen to him!"
"I won't lose." Lector narrowed his eyes. "This creature has been getting the best of me for long enough. No more."
"That's the spirit, Lector," Gansley encouraged. "Nesbitt, get down! Let him finish this duel and prove he can do it."
Nesbitt growled, but finally stepped back.
Yami Marik sneered at Lector and made a face. "Why would you want to remember them? You said yourself how violent Nesbitt is. I know he really annoys you. Maybe the erasures worked because deep down, you wanted them yourself. Did you ever think of that?"
Lector stared at him. "No . . . that can't be true!"
Nesbitt wavered. Could it be true?
"Nesbitt, don't let yourself go down that path!" Gansley snapped. "You know Lector would never feel that way about either of us!"
"Never about you, maybe," Nesbitt said, "but would he really want to remember me? I am an annoyance to him. And I've hurt him so badly at times. . . ."
"By even entertaining that thing's suggestions for one moment, you're playing into his hands," Gansley insisted.
"That person is violent," Lector spoke, "but all he wanted was for me to remember him. Someone so desperate not to be forgotten must love me dearly. There is no way I wouldn't feel the same about him. I would never want to forget someone like that."
Yami Marik growled. "Very well then. Let's keep dueling. We'll see how long you manage to keep hold of your memories of the rest of your pathetic friends."
"Hey!" Crump snapped.
"Lector's going to win," Johnson said. "He has to. . . ." But he couldn't keep up his smooth facade under these dire circumstances. He reached up with a shaking hand to adjust his glasses.
The rest of the duel was long, grueling. Near the end, both Yami Marik and Lector had lost more monsters. The fear in Lector's eyes was obvious. He had lost the memories of Crump and Johnson by now as well as Mokuba and his sister Evangeline. Yami Marik, delighted to not remember anyone, was becoming more unhinged and sadistic as the duel went on.
Crump was tightly clenching his fists. "There's gotta be something we can do!" he exclaimed. "But talking to Lector now doesn't do much of any good! We're all strangers to him!"
"But he does still remember us underneath this demon's lies," Gansley said. "He said we all feel familiar somehow." He gripped his cane. "There is nothing we can do save to keep encouraging him to win and telling him that we love him."
"It would just freak me out if some strangers were telling me that," Nesbitt growled.
"He's terrified that he doesn't remember," Johnson said. "But he clings to those feelings he has about us." At least . . . he had to believe that. He couldn't stand this if he thought Lector was actually rejecting them.
"Look at yourself!" Yami Marik taunted now. "You're a pathetic mess! You no longer remember anyone you love. All you can think of, no matter how hard you try, are people you don't like or who don't like you!" He sneered. "All of your family hates you and has turned against you. You don't have any friends."
"I do remember some friends." Lector straightened. "Yugi offered friendship to me and I accepted. And while I don't remember these people here, I know how they make me feel. I'm not alone, no matter how you try to make me feel that way. And you won't win. I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back my Satellite Cannon."
Yami Marik fell back. "No! . . ."
"Unless you have another 8 star monster waiting to destroy it, there's nothing you can do this time." Lector glowered at him. "And with my cannon, a portion of my memory returns. I remember Mokuba."
Yami Marik snarled. As Lector ended his turn and he drew his card, he found Lector was right. There was nothing he could do. He had no way to summon The Masked Beast Des Guardius again, nor had he drawn another 8 star monster. In disgust and frustration, he lashed out by having his lone monster attack Lector's lifepoints before ending his turn.
"Lector!" Crump and Nesbitt called in alarm as he fell back.
"This is the end," Lector said, stumbling back to his feet. "I equip Mage Power to my monster. Now, Satellite Cannon, destroy the rest of his lifepoints."
Yami Marik roared as the rocket did indeed attack him to his defeat. He crashed to the ground, floored by the power of the Duel Monster. Then, getting to his feet, he stuck out his tongue at Lector as the darkness covered him. "You won't win next time," he vowed.
Lector stumbled, holding a hand to his forehead. Suddenly he was dizzy.
The Big Four all ran to him now, desperately hoping the spell was gone. "Lector?!" They surrounded him, ready to catch him if he collapsed. "Lector, are you alright? Do you remember us?"
Lector looked up, studying each of them in turn. "My dear friends," he whispered. "Yes, I remember you. Please forgive me for forgetting you. . . ." His voice caught in his throat.
Nesbitt charged in, pulling Lector into a tight hug. Lector clutched him close, not wanting to let him go.
"You never forgot us, Lector," Gansley told him. "Not really." He and the others joined the hug.
Title: Sacrifice
Day/Prompt: April 11th - You pulled the pin in my heart like a hand grenade
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13; dub verse, gratuitous hurt/comfort, post-canon, references to other stories, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around
Summary: Trapped in another Shadow Game, Nesbitt feels forced to sacrifice himself to save the others. Lector does not handle it well.
Lector didn't often break down. He tried so hard to be strong even when his heart was breaking, as Gansley had observed. But now, stranded in a cruel Shadow Game and cradling the body of one of his dear friends, he didn't know how to be strong any more. He had screamed in lieu of sobs, but now he was trembling, gently supporting the limp head and neck with a shaking hand.
"Oh Nesbitt," he whispered. "Why did you do it?"
But he really knew the answer. Someone had needed to be the bait to draw the deadly beast away from the group. With neither Crump nor Seto able to run fast from their injuries, the rest of the Big Five had hung back with them. Nesbitt had wanted to give them the chance they needed to get away. And he had, at the cost of his own life. Lector had run back after a snarl and a crash and had found Nesbitt lying on the floor, badly slashed in the chest. The beast, which could not be fought, had departed after its kill.
"He said ‘I'm sorry, brother. I'll try . . .' And then he trailed off and . . ." Lector shook his head, holding Nesbitt close to him as he spoke to the others, who had come back now as well. "I don't even know what he meant. Try to come back?" It was a Shadow Game, so maybe he could, but what if he couldn't? What if they couldn't get him back and this was the end?
"It should have been me," Gansley said in grief.
"It shouldn't have been any of us!" Crump cried.
"Nesbitt was a fool," Lector whispered. "Always so impulsive and reckless. . . . But my dear friend. . . ."
Gansley gripped Lector's shoulder. Those two had so many heated arguments, but they had a special bond regardless. There couldn't be two friends who loved each other more.
"We can't stay here," Yami Bakura tensely said. "You'll have to leave him and we'll go."
Lector looked up, his eyes completely cold and unrelenting. "No."
Frustrated, Yami Bakura looked to Gansley for help.
"We left Gansley the last time we were stranded in a video game Shadow Game," Lector said, "and it didn't have to be that way. We should have taken his body with us no matter how hard or awkward it was. I won't leave Nesbitt behind, especially since I can carry him myself."
Gansley gave a heavy sigh. "I won't tell you you can't, Lector," he said quietly. "I don't want to leave him either. But you have to be aware that he might not come back like I did in the other game."
"I still won't leave him," Lector said darkly. "If this is the end and he's gone, I'm not leaving his body in the middle of a Shadow Game! He deserves better than that." He got to his feet, Nesbitt's limp body held firmly in his arms.
"Let's go then," Gansley said. "And we'll pray he can be restored, as I was."
Johnson stared at Nesbitt, badly shaken by the sight of the deep wounds. "Why did he do it?" he whispered. "He knew none of us can stand losing any of the others."
"I'm afraid he still felt like he'd let me down in the past Shadow Game," Gansley said. "He believed he hadn't done all that he could back then and he was desperate not to be a failure in his eyes again."
"He's still leaving us," Lector said bitterly. "He told me how he was going to abandon us in Noa's world, and said now he'd done the right thing." His bitter tone quickly gave way to the anguish underneath. "He was still beating himself up over that. . . ." He fell back to his knees, the weight of the grief too much. "But he's still leaving us now. . . ."
"Maybe not permanently. . . ." But Gansley's voice caught in his throat.
"Oh, Buddy. . . ." Crump gave Lector a look of sorrow and anguish. None of them would be able to get over this, but he could tell Lector had been hit especially hard. He loved their impulsive fool so much. . . .
"Would he have done it if he had really known?" Lector finally spoke again, and his voice was deadened.
"Known what, Lector?" Gansley asked.
"That I don't know how to stand it without him!" Lector finally cried. "Did he really know how badly it would hurt?! Or did he think . . ." He pulled back, looking down at Nesbitt's pained face in horror. "Did he think we could never really love him so much that we wouldn't be able to get over this?"
"I don't know, Lector," Gansley said, his voice and his heart heavy. "I don't know. . . ."
****
Lector kept to his word, carrying Nesbitt's lifeless form as they advanced in the game. Many of the others, such as Joey, were disturbed and uncomfortable, but they did not voice their objections. They understood all too well, and they were all grateful to Nesbitt for his sacrifice, but it was still very macabre for most of them.
Lector was being run ragged as well. He grew very agitated and disheveled as their time in the game went on. He would speak quietly to Nesbitt when they were alone, as a coping mechanism. But when he was spent, he found himself staring down at the motionless form and he finally screamed, "Why won't you come back?!" He sank to his knees, trembling. "Why won't you come back. . . ."
He didn't know for how long he had been there, so disconsolate and shaking with unshed tears, when he felt hands on his shoulders. "Lector . . . I'm so sorry. . . ."
He looked up with a start. The trenchcoat he had wrapped Nesbitt in was empty. And it was Nesbitt's voice. . . .
He reached up with a shaking hand. "Nesbitt?" he whispered.
"Yeah. The game finally restored me." Nesbitt's grip tightened, and he bent down to embrace Lector from behind.
Lector felt a mixed rush of emotions. Overjoyed, overwhelmed, unable to fully grasp the reality, and still with something he badly wanted to say.
"Why didn't you know how badly we'd hurt?!" he screamed. "How could you not know?!" He grabbed Nesbitt's arms, pulling him around to face him. Yes . . . it truly was Nesbitt. He was back. . . . "I love you just like you love me! My brother. . . ."
Nesbitt fell to his knees and clutched Lector close, any remaining defenses dropping. "I wish there could have been another way. . . . I did know it would hurt all of you. I just didn't know what else to do. You knew someone had to be the bait. You knew it. . . ."
"You mean the world to me, and to the others," Lector said fiercely. "I couldn't bear for you to be the bait! None of us could."
Nesbitt squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm so sorry. . . . Can you even forgive me for hurting you? I know I would be angry. . . ."
Lector held him tightly. "Of course I forgive you," he choked out. "Always. . . ."
The others were running over now, drawn by the commotion. "Nesbitt!" Crump exclaimed in joy. They all embraced him. The Shadow Game hadn't kept them apart.
Title: My Heart Lives On
Day/Prompt: April 13th - Have you ever been afraid of your own ghost
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five, Seto Kaiba
Rating/Warning(s): PG; dub verse, post-canon, the Big Five trying to turn their lives around, supernatural elements
Summary: Seto really couldn't explain why Nesbitt was suddenly in his office, begging him to save Lector. Nor could he explain anything that followed.
Seto Kaiba was sitting alone in his office that night. It had been a perfectly normal day, really, filled with too much going on and too much idiocy to clean up after, but with Roland's help everything had been straightened out and Seto was preparing to go home. He was calm, wide awake, and perfectly sane . . . but he couldn't explain what happened next.
"Kaiba!"
He looked up with a jerk. Somehow, inexplicably, Nesbitt was standing in front of his desk. He was badly disheveled-his hair a mess, his shirt unbuttoned at the top, his tie loosened. . . . But mostly what Seto noticed was the utter panic in his eyes and in his voice.
"Nesbitt, how did you get in here?!" Seto demanded.
"Kaiba, you've got to save Lector!" Nesbitt pleaded. "He'll die if you don't get to him!"
Seto slammed the folder shut that had been occupying his attention until now. "What is this?" he objected. "Why can't you save him? Or get the others?"
"It will be too late by then!" Nesbitt insisted. "They're too far away. He's only six blocks south of here, in a blue sedan. Kaiba, you know I detest begging. But please, I'm begging you now, save Lector!" He slammed his hands on Seto's desk, although oddly enough, the gesture made no sound.
Seto got up. "Alright! I'm coming. But I still don't get why you can't go after him yourself. . . ."
He trailed off. Nesbitt was already gone, most likely running for the elevator.
Seto didn't encounter Nesbitt again, either on the way down or in the parking garage. He didn't think a great deal of it; Nesbitt was no doubt chasing after Lector himself. Seto wasn't even sure why he himself was doing anything. Of course, he didn't want anything to happen to Lector, especially now that they were allies and he saw how much Mokuba loved their former caretaker. And he knew he hadn't imagined Nesbitt's presence. So he went.
The blue sedan was right where Nesbitt had said it would be-six blocks south . . . and crashed into a telephone pole. Gasoline was dripping from a ruptured gas tank, shot by a bullet.
Seto flew out of the limousine and over to the other car. He could see Lector slumped back against the driver's side, not moving. Not bothering to knock, Seto simply pulled the door open and grabbed for the unconscious man. That was when he saw the impossible truth.
Nesbitt was sprawled over Lector, having leaped over from the passenger side and thrown his body across his friend to protect him in the crash. Glass from the windshield was everywhere, and from Nesbitt's position, he had likely kept Lector from hitting his head on the steering wheel.
"I'm losing my mind," Seto gasped. He pushed Nesbitt back before grabbing Lector and hauling him out of the car. When he was safely away in the grass, Seto ran back for Nesbitt. He only barely dragged Nesbitt away from the vehicle before it went up in flames.
He lay on the grass with the two victims now, feeling Nesbitt's neck and back for any breaks and then for breath. A chill went up his spine.
Lector was groaning now, returning to consciousness. Seto turned away from Nesbitt and back to him. "Lector? Can you hear me?"
Lector stirred, opening his eyes halfway. "Mr. Kaiba . . . where's Nesbitt?" he mumbled.
". . . He's here," Seto said.
Lector looked to the side, taking in the sight of the other man's still body. ". . . He's dead, isn't he?" he said in grief.
". . . Yeah," Seto admitted. "He's dead." He hesitated. "He was determined to protect you at all costs. He threw himself over you to protect you in the crash."
Lector sat up. "Nesbitt. . . ." He reached over, laying his hand on the still and cold hand in the grass. "You fool. . . ." His voice cracked.
Seto looked away. Nesbitt's ghost had got him out here to save Lector. But could he say that out loud? Lector didn't seem to be in any mood to ask why Seto was there; right now he didn't even wonder why. He was gently rolling Nesbitt onto his back and then taking the limp hand between his.
Seto stood and quietly slipped away to call for the medics from the KaibaCorp infirmary . . . and to call for the other members of the Big Five. They had to know what had happened . . . and Lector would badly need them now.
It only took minutes for the medics to arrive from the KaibaCorp grounds. Lector had to stumble back, letting them get to Nesbitt and examine him for any possible signs of life. Another medic examined him, but couldn't find any serious injuries. Lector stood by, watching as Nesbitt was loaded onto a gurney. One of the medics reached to pull a blanket over his head.
"Please," Lector said, stepping forward. "Please, let me have one more moment with him. . . ."
The medics looked to Seto, who nodded his consent. They stepped back, allowing Lector to get to Nesbitt. But after a long moment of just staring down at him, unable to think or say anything, Lector cried out in grief and fell to his knees, clutching the limp hand between his.
Seto looked away. He had never seen Lector like this, and it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. The Big Five loved each other, just as Seto and Mokuba loved each other. For either brother to lose the other would destroy the one left. And for the Big Five to lose any of their own destroyed the others. Lector and Nesbitt had been especially close.
"Lector . . . ?"
Seto went sheet-white. So did the medics. Lector looked up with a jerk. Nesbitt was blearily looking down at him, slowly curling his fingers around Lector's hand.
Lector couldn't even speak. Again he just stared at Nesbitt.
"Lector, why am I tied to this thing?" Nesbitt mumbled. "Get me down. . . ."
Lector stumbled to his feet, still staring at his friend. "Nesbitt . . . you were dead. . . . They were going to take you away. . . ." He trembled.
"He must have still been alive," one of the medics stammered. "Sometimes the heartbeat is so faint we can't pick it up out in the field. . . ."
Seto turned away, shaking his head and running a hand over his face. By now he didn't know what to believe.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lector undoing the straps binding Nesbitt to the gurney and then bending down to embrace him. Nesbitt reached up, pulling him close.
"You risked everything to save me," Lector whispered. "I don't know what to say. You were a fool, but I . . . I'm grateful. . . . But you almost got yourself killed! . . ."
". . . I think I was dead," Nesbitt said, shaken. "I went to Kaiba to beg for him to come help you, since I no longer could. . . ."
Lector looked up with a start, staring at Seto with searching eyes. Giving up, Seto nodded in acknowledgement. "That's why I'm down here. . . . If I hadn't come, you'd both be dead. . . . But if you're asking me to explain any of this further, I can't."
"I don't need it explained," Lector said fervently, and hugged Nesbitt close.
****
Of course, both Lector and Nesbitt were taken to the infirmary to be further examined. Seto, who hadn't been able to figure out how to tell the others over the phone about the disaster, had left a cryptic message on Gansley's phone that there was trouble and he needed to come to the KaibaCorp medical center. Gansley, Crump, and Johnson all came thundering in while Nesbitt was resting in one of the rooms and Lector was standing guard over him.
"What on Earth happened here?!" Gansley exclaimed.
"It's a long story," Lector said, relieved that the rest of the family was here. "Nesbitt and I got in trouble with those enemies of Johnson's stalking us and we had to take one of their cars to escape. They chased us and shot at us and I eventually lost control of the car when they shot out the tires and the gas tank."
"What?!" Crump yelled.
"They left us alone then, I suppose figuring we were as good as dead anyway. And . . ." Lector's voice caught in his throat. "Nesbitt apparently really was dead. . . ."
Johnson nearly fainted. "But . . . he's alive now, isn't he?!"
Nesbitt opened his eyes. "Yes. . . ." He looked badly shaken. "I left my body without even meaning to and went to Kaiba for help. I don't even remember leaving my body, or being dead. . . . I remember talking to Kaiba, and then everything was dark until I woke up with Lector breaking down. . . ." He looked away, not wanting to talk about that.
"Then maybe you weren't dead," Johnson said. "Maybe you were just unconscious. . . ."
"And in any case, you're alive now," Gansley said, trying to shake off his shock. "Thank God you're both alive. . . ." His voice broke.
Crump hurried over to Nesbitt's side. "How bad are you hurt?! Do you have to stay here?"
"I can go, thankfully," Nesbitt said.
"If we keep an eye on him," Lector interjected, "and I know we won't have any problems doing that."
Everyone thoroughly agreed, and they all helped Nesbitt up. He gripped at them, still shaken.
"Hey, I know what happened must have been scary, but you saved Lector's life," Crump told him as they headed for the door. "Kaiba never would have known to go if it hadn't been for you."
"I know, and I'm grateful I managed to do that," Nesbitt said. "I'm shaken about Lector almost being seriously hurt or killed . . . but I can't deny this brush with the supernatural is also shaking me up. How did it even happen? Why don't I remember?"
"While I once would have scoffed, I think it's obvious now that it happened because of your love for Lector," Gansley said. "You had to find a way to save him, and you just went to Kaiba because he was nearby and could actually help in time. It probably wasn't even deliberate, but instinctual."
"And I am so very grateful, not just for that, but that you came back," Lector said.
"I am too," Nesbitt said shakily. "For both of those things." He really wished he could remember, but on the other hand he wondered if he preferred not remembering in every detail. The idea of having been clinically dead shook him up badly. The idea of losing Lector shook him up far more, of course. He gripped Lector's hand as they all headed outside.