Part 3

-----"The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as playing a poor hand well." -H. T. Leslie-----

"Okay, that was not at all fun," Lorne said, as he and Cordelia accepted hands up. "Anything broken, princess?"

Cordelia had her assist from Seto Kaiba, and she staggered slightly as he pulled her to her feet. "Yummy..." she said faintly.

"What was that?"

"Yami! Um, we didn't find him. But I think we've got a lead. And I'm okay, really."

"Anyone wanna tell me what just happened?" Joey asked.

"I'm not sure," Lorne said. "All I know is that I was getting more and more static, and then Cordy here managed to give me a boost. She's the only reason I held on as long as I did, and maybe why we got a clear visual."

"Did I do the floating thing again?" Cordelia asked, and Angel nodded.

"Did you find him?" Seto asked.

"Thought you didn't believe."

"I never said that. But even if I hadn't, I don't ignore my own eyes. Something happened...but if you didn't see Yami, what did you see?"

"I could only follow the trail so far before the static cut me off. It's a spell, by the way, a strong one. And it got a power boost somewhere around the cutoff point."

"Which is?"

"Ten minutes away. Get the car; I'll show you."

* * *

The rain was gone, so they went topless. Angel's convertible was roomy, but the group had no desire to be stopped, and the company's namesake had only five seatbelts to said name. Thus Lorne rode shotgun as Angel drove, and Gunn filed in between Joey and Kaiba in the back seat. Gunn looked to his left, then his right, and caught the two glaring daggers at each other. Great. One of *those* jobs.

Well, time to try and defuse things. "So, what's the deal with Yugi and Yami, anyhow? How'd they get linked by that puzzle thing?"

"Well, 's not really my story ta tell," Joey began.

"You know all you need to know at this stage," Kaiba said at the same time.

Then all three jerked against their seatbelts as the car slammed to a halt. Angel turned around.

"You're both hiding something," he said mildly. "And I don't care how much you're willing to pay. If you're withholding anything that's going to get my friends hurt, this is as far as we go."

"Two hundred fifty an hour per employee plus expenses," Kaiba replied.

Angel paused for a moment. Then, "Okay."

"Angel!" from Lorne and Gunn, simultaneously, as the convertible started again.

"What? I've got an extra mouth to feed."

"Angel!"

"You realize that as the founder, I have a higher billing rate."

"ANGEL!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hyperion. . .

Yugi sipped yet more tea. Lines of strain were forming around his large, violet eyes, and every so often, those eyes would unfocus, his gaze wandering off into space. Cordelia, seeing this, had switched him to decaf, but that hadn't seemed to help.

"You're reaching for him," Fred said suddenly. "That's where you keep going, isn't it? And why you don't look better when you get back."

"Are you psychic too?" Yugi asked.

"No," Fred replied softly. "But I know a lot about loneliness. I kinda get the feeling you're used to havin' him with you."

"It's been years now," Yugi replied. "I was scared at first. He seemed so different. But now...I can't imagine life without him. I don't know how he could think that he..."

Yugi's voice trailed off as he became aware of more eyes on him. Cordelia and Wes were watching and listening.

"Go on," Wesley said, and Yugi felt the man's quiet authority. It made him feel safer, but it was no substitute. There was a dull ache all through him, and it was soul-deep.

"It was ... it was very personal," Yugi said slowly, looking down at his cup. "But...he said he thought he was corrupting me. I think that's the word. I'd felt that in him before, but just as a fleeting concern. I'd always managed to make him feel better about it. Then, suddenly, today, it was all he could think about. I couldn't get through to him at all. And when I confronted him...." Yugi's voice dropped to a whisper. "When I confronted him, he ran from me."

Fred put a comforting arm around his shoulders, as Wesley said, "You said today. When today did this start?" He crouched before the boy, meeting his eyes, speaking in soothing tones. "When, exactly, did things change? Think carefully. Close your eyes if you need to. When did all this begin?"

"The airport," Yugi said. "No...the hotel. He was in his soul-room. We were checking in. Someone bumped me. He spilled something on my shoulder, and then he said something to me."

"What did he say, Yugi?"

"I didn't recognize the word...I was going to look it up..."

"Focus on the moment. Hear it again. Sound it out."

Yugi's eyes were closed. He looked back, remembering. The same mind that catalogued every Duel Monsters card he'd ever seen and memorized every move returned to one particular moment in time.

"'Segregare.' He said 'segregare.'" Yugi's eyes opened. "It wasn't English, was it?"

"Latin," said Wesley, standing. "He was casting a spell."

* * *

"Okay, this is it," Lorne said. "Trail goes cold here. Guessing the spell was reinforced hereabouts."

The car's passengers looked around the empty parking lot. At least it wasn't an alley or a warehouse, Gunn reflected. It was a business district, though, and completely deserted at this time of night.

Well, maybe not completely.

A skittering noise first skirted the edges of Angel's awareness, then Lorne's. It might have been a rat, or it might have been a boot on gravel.

Then, by the time the noise reached the humans' ears, Angel had a pretty good idea of their stalkers. By sound and scent, it had to be... "Vampires. Four or five, circling."

"All right, what?"

"Y-you're kidding, right?" But Joey took the proffered stake, grasping it firmly.

"Lorne?" Angel said.

"Hey, I'm a lover, not a fighter." Lorne sighed. "But what the heck."

"Get ready. They'll show themselves soon."

"How hard can it be?" Seto said. Gunn tossed him a stake from below the seat.

"Stake to the heart or decapitation. That's how you kill vamps."

Seto reached below his coat and removed a shotgun. "Shotgun to the neck?"

Gunn's eyes widened. "Yeah, that'll work too."

Joey goggled. "How did you get that on the plane?!"

Kaiba shrugged. "I had it here. Doesn't everyone in this country have guns?"

Then, melting from the shadows, they came. There were five, and they looked relatively normal, save for an abundance of black clothing. But one of them growled and his face shifted, deforming. The rest followed suit, and they no longer looked quite so human.

And as one, all the vamps bowed.

"Well, at least they have manners," Seto said.

"Hail to thee, father of the Miracle Child!" The leader said to Angel.

The other four circling the car echoed, "The Miracle Child!"

Angel hit himself in the head with the heel of his hand. "Oh, no. Not these guys again." And Gunn and Lorne groaned.

"Y-you know these clowns?"

"Yeah. They think Angel's kid's the second coming. Don't ask."

"We waited for those who would follow. It is written that the Darkness' followers will come for him!" the lead vamp continued.

"Followers?" Seto said dangerously. "Oh, I don't think so."

"But it was not said that the followers would include the father of the Miracle Child!"

"The Miracle Child!" the vampires chorused.

"We will anoint the Dark Sacrifice with his blood!"

"It shall cement the connection to the Miracle Child! Surely, he shall turn to darkness and forsake the light!"

"We are truly blessed!" They gathered to spring.

"So I guess this is the part where we fi-" Joey began. He lifted the sharpened stake. But after two shotgun blasts from Seto, axe swings from Gunn, and sword slashes from Angel, all five vampires exploded into dust. Joey looked at the stake in his hand and then at Lorne.

The green demon smiled. "They were toast, kid. These guys face bigger hordes than that every other week."

"Hmm. Not as hard as I thought," Kaiba said.

Gunn looked at him. "You didn't have much trouble with the concept of bloodsuckers."

"Like I said, I believe my eyes. And I didn't believe in soul-sucking fiends, either, until one very nearly stole my company out from under me. Since then, I've found I ignore the supernatural at my peril." //Not to mention that I have yet to determine how to publicly humiliate a 3000 year old Egyptian at Duel Monsters// he thought. //Which I can't do if he's dead. Again. Permanently. Speaking of which...//

"So, was it just me, or did their leader mention a Dark Sacrifice?" Gunn said.

Joey sat back down in the car seat, the look on his face shading from concerned to horrified.

"Not only that," Lorne added, brushing dust from his suit, "but unless I'm mistaken, we're fresh out of leads."

"Hey," Angel said, "We've got information. We'll go back and put it together with whatever Wes, Cordy, and Fred dig up."

"Just hope they're doing better than we are," Gunn muttered, although he made sure the client didn't hear him.

* * *

Yugi watched as Wesley mobilized his troops. "Cordelia, if you wouldn't mind helping me hit the books?"

"Got it."

"Fred, I'll need you online. We're looking for spells with the Latin word 'segregare' as a trigger. They'd include a physical component as well - some sort of ingredient list."

"Already on it."

This was a kind of power Yugi hadn't seen before, subtler than Yami's or Kaiba's but no less potent. The Englishman was still mild, still calm, but his authority was accepted. And unlike the examples set by the stronger personalities in his life, Yugi could see himself wielding this kind of power someday. Wes smiled down at Yugi, and despite himself the boy smiled back, his normally positive personality attempting a comeback.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, standing.

"You should rest," Wesley replied. "You don't look well."

"It hurts," the boy confided. "Not just whatever's blocking us. Not just our argument. I'm not used to the emptiness, and it just . . . aches."

//Withdrawal// Wesley thought, but what he said was, "There must be a strong bond between the two of you, then. This bodes well for our eventual success in breaking this barrier." He gripped Yugi's shoulder briefly and then returned to the stack of books he and Cordelia had gathered. He'd no sooner sat down, though, before Fred announced, "Got it!"

The four crowded about Fred's screen.

"There's a few spells use that word t' trigger," she said, "but only one came up when I added in 'psychic barrier.' This one's got an ingredients list, too - the others don't, really. But there's something weird - look what it's used for."

"Possession," Wesley said, looking over her shoulder. "And not demonic possession but ghosts, specifically. This spell is meant to make the vessel repulsive to the possessing spirit, so that it leaves of its own accord. The ingredients then catalyze and create a barrier to keep.... but this spell is useless unless two souls are effectively residing in one body."

And Yugi took a half-step back as Cordelia, Wesley, and Fred looked to him at once.

"Is there something about Yami that we should know?" Wes asked. Cordelia, for her part, frowned slightly, and asked,

"Yugi, what's a soul room?"

* * *

Yami sat on the floor of a cage, a deck of Hoyle playing cards sitting just outside. He held a five-card hand, as did his one remaining captor, the others having dispersed. Unlike his captor, he had to negotiate wrists bound with silvery tape.

"Too bad we got nothin' to play for," the thug said affably. "No cash, no kittens. That leather thing you got on don't have too many pockets, do it?"

"It has enough. And we could make things a little more interesting..." He tried again to gather his magic. "We could play for our minds and souls."

"Sorry, no can do," the man said, as the magic fell away, the Shadow Realm refusing him again.

"What? Why?"

"Hey, I'm all for high stakes," he replied, "but I can't do the soul games bit. I ain't got one."

"How do you mean?"

He snorted. "Thought you knew, kid. Vampire over here. We got no souls. I'm a demon in a corpse, kiddo."

"Undead..." Yami backed up an inch or two.

"Hey, I didn't figure you for a species-ist. We don't gotta play poker if you're gonna be that way."

Yami shrugged. "No problem here." He withdrew a card. "I'll take one." As any good duelist knew, confronting undead monsters merely required a change in strategy. "How about we play for information?"

"Hey, sure, why not? Not like we're gonna torture you - I hear you gotta be healthy 'till they kill ya. Whoops. Guess that one was free."

The vampire did not hear Yami's heart rate rise, though the false organ was capable of it. He was ice cold, collected; he showed no signs of stress to the world. Inside, though, he allowed himself to gulp.

//But better dead than destroying aibou's innocence? // he thought. Then, //No. I don't need to be dead again for that. This is a game now, and these creatures do not get to win. // And the Horus-eye on his forehead glowed.