Part 4

-----"Shall we play a game?" -"Joshua," War Games, 1983-----

"...and that's when I realized who and what Yami was," Yugi finished.

"So you two have a body timeshare, but you can split too?" Cordelia confirmed, to Yugi's nod.

"A very unusual arrangement," Wes said. "I suppose the Puzzle's magic enables it. It must be a great deal more powerful than my texts suggest."

"Anyway, why should we jump to negative conclusions?" Cordelia said, waving a hand. "Dennis possessed me once, and it really wasn't so bad."

"Cordelia, what you and Dennis do on your own time isn't really..."

"To fight his evil mom!" Cordelia exclaimed.

"Oh, yes, that."

"Dennis?" Yugi asked.

"My ghost. Haunts my apartment. Long story."

Fred opened her mouth, but the door slamming open stole whatever she was about to add. Angel, Lorne, Seto, Joey, and Gunn walked in, not a great deal the worse for wear, but somewhat dustier than they'd been a few hours previous.

"Vamp dust?" Cordelia asked.

"Yep."

"I'll get the Hoover," Fred said, standing.

"Any progress?" Angel asked, and Wes responded.

"We have a good idea what spell was used to separate the two. And Angel? There's something about Yugi and Yami that you ought to know."

"You told him?" Joey asked.

"What Yami is? Kind of," the spiky-haired boy admitted. "But they pretty much figured it out on their own."

"He's really a spirit possessing Yugi's body," Cordelia said. "Only, he can go corporeal too."

"Gotcha," Gunn said. Joey just stared at him.

"So that's what you weren't telling us," Angel said to Kaiba. "Why not? Might've sped things up."

"Oh, perhaps because you might think we were *insane!*" the young businessman replied. "Locating a person is a usual job for an investigative firm. Locating a spirit that sometimes possesses a high- schooler, well, you specialize in the supernatural, but some might find that especially bizarre."

"Around here? Nah."

"Well, then, what would you call a job locating a kidnapped ancient spirit that happens to be next in line for a vampire cult's sacrifice in honor of their chosen child?"

Gunn snorted. "Tuesday."

"Kidnapped?" Yugi said, then, eyes widening, "Sacrifice!?" He felt a strong wave of vertigo, then. The stress of that instant would have called Yami to him for protection, only he was gone, and the anxiety was on his behalf. He stood, staggered, and Fred caught him, vacuum in one hand, boy in the other. Joey rushed to Yugi's other side.

"We'll get to him, Yug.' Don't you worry." Which didn't stop the worrying at all, but did add a compensating thread of support. Yugi gave him a wan smile.

"The Connor cult, then," Wes said.

Angel nodded. "They think sacrificing Yami's going to turn my son evil."

Yugi looked up, sharply. "Yami's not evil!"

"Wouldn't have to be," Lorne replied. "From what I'm getting of your little dichotomy, you're oriented towards light, and he's aimed towards darkness. And babies are real malleable. Even if he's not evil, that orientation can be pushed there without too much trouble. Just need the right magic."

"Well, we know the how and the who," Wes interjected. "Can we put that together for the where, I wonder?"

"Can you break the spell?" Angel asked. A new tenseness filled his frame as the threat to his child became more real.

Wes sighed. "It's far more like a curse than a traditional spell. It wears off by itself in a few weeks, which I doubt we have. The theory is that the possessing spirit will be hopelessly lost or somehow trapped by that point. Still, as with most curses, there's a loophole. It can be overcome by force of will, mutual desire for reunion from the parties involved." He pushed his glasses up. "My guess is that clause is meant to prevent just this sort of misuse. This spell is white magic. It's meant to be used for good, and it's been perverted."

"But it's working," Fred put in. "It's convinced Yami that he's bad for Yugi, so we're not going to get that force of will thing to break the spell and find him from here. And when we do find him..."

"Just let me talk to him." The room hushed at Yugi's quiet voice. "He'll listen this time. I know he will."

"Yeah he will, if I gotta hold him down to do it," Joey said. He squeezed Yugi's hand protectively and Yugi squeezed back. "Even if I end up in traction," Joey finished, under his breath.

"All right. So, anyone know anything that knows anything about vampire messiah cults?" Angel asked. To stares from his own crew, he added, "Other then the one I was in, okay? Anyway, that was way more Darla's thing."

"You're a..." Kaiba began.

"Later, okay?"

"Fine." The electronics magnate rubbed his forehead and sat on the edge of a desk.

"Well, it's not a messiah cult, but Harmony called me yesterday from Mexico, asking for cash. She's still in her cult."

"Harmony. As in, 'Don't come anywhere near my city or I'll kill you,' Harmony?" Gunn asked.

"Yeah, well, I still don't like her, and she did sell me out, but, on the other hand, she needs money and we've got it." Cordelia looked at Kaiba. "Right? Right. We'll send it Western Union. Believe me, I don't want Harm around either."

"I might have one or two favors to call in, too," Lorne added. "I hate these zealots, but fortunately most of them hate each other. And I've still got a connection or two from Cult Karaoke Night."

"Right, then. Let's hit the phones. We're not lost yet," Wes said.

* * *

"You ain't lost yet, kid." The vampire sighed. If they'd been playing for kittens, he'd be down twelve tabbies by now. "OK, ask another one."

"You said this cult wants to sacrifice me. They're religious vampires. But you're not one of them."

"Nope, strictly hired muscle." He leaned in close to the cage, to the boy whose forehead revealed a luminescent eye pattern at infrequent, disquieting intervals. "You ask me, kid, they're all a bunch of whackos. Total nutcases."

"Who do you work for?"

"Me? Actually, I work for their lawyers. Boss lady said I could take this side job when she heard the details. They own this joint, too." He looked down at his cards. "I fold. Ask another one."

"Are all the staff members vampires?"

"Nope. We got humans, demons, all kinds."

"Hmm..." the boy replied. "That might explain..."

"Explain what?"

Yami grinned, though he seemed slightly distracted. "If you want me to answer, you'll actually have to win a hand." And as part of him focused on the game, another part of him sensed...something, the same something that had tickled his other-senses, prompting his last query. The Horus-eye on his forehead glowed again. Not his Light, it wasn't his Light...but something...there!

* * *

The slight, mocha-skinned woman with large eyes and close-cropped hair leafed through the newspaper. As a telepath on Wolfram and Hart's payroll, she didn't have much to do between the random loyalty purges. They kept her busy riding the safe-house circuit, randomly monitoring prisoners for thoughts of escape. Such was her task this evening, but it was boring as all get-out. She had one more hour out of three at this location, and then she'd be moving on. She yawned, and let her thoughts brush against the boy in the other room. It was hardly worth her time...whatever magical blocks the firm had put on him made it highly unlikely she'd get anything detailed. She brushed against him again, and received the shock of her life.

He was aware of her.

//Shall we play a game? //

* * *

"Okay, Harm says she heard these guys were out in Bellflower. Or Redondo Beach. Or somewhere between Bellflower and Redondo Beach. And we owe her five grand."

"Hmm. Still a lot of territory there."

"That's not all," Gunn added. "Compton's between Bellflower and Redondo Beach. I could poke around Compton no problem; rest of y'all might stand out a little."

"Lorne, do you have anything?" Wes asked.

"Not yet, hon."

"Well, maybe some of us could head that way, keep on the cell, and maybe see if Yugi picks anything up..."

"Aaaaargh!" All eyes on Joey as his hand punched through an old, thin end table.

"You're paying for that," Kaiba remarked.

"Sorry." An apology definitely directed to the Angel crew, not to anywhere in Kaiba's vicinity. "'S just...I'm gettin' so frustrated!" And now Yugi had his hand on Joey's shoulder, switching roles, giving comfort.

"We'll find him. I know it." He looked Joey in the eyes. "I mean, what's the most important thing we've learned since I got this puzzle?"

"To have faith in our friends," the blond replied softly. Yugi nodded solemnly

"Faith," Angel echoed, staring at them. "Faith. Fred," the vampire said, "check for abandoned churches between the South Bay and South Central."

"Been there, done that?" Cordelia asked softly. Angel nodded.

"Vampires and religion. A desecrated church - it'll help power their spells. That's where they'll be."

"There could be a million of them."

"Maybe in Sunnydale," Gunn said. "'Round here, a church stays vacant too long, bam, instant IKEA."

"Three!" Fred shouted. Then more quietly, "Well, nine, but I went ahead and cross-referenced by churches owned by Wolfram and Hart." She shrugged and smiled. "Since they're almost always at the bottom of everything, I figured it could save us some time."

"I've heard that name," Kaiba said. "That was the law firm retained by Industrial Illusions under Pegasus."

"I have no idea who that is, but I'm guessing, bad guy?" Joey nodded at Cordelia.

"All right," Wes said, "We start with those three and work outward to the other six. If only we knew what timetable we were working with. I fear time is very short. Frankly, we could really use a break."

"What, like a bunch of bad guys who caught on to us and followed us here? Yeah, I suppose if we're all alive after the inevitable life-and-death battle, I guess we might have one left over to question," Gunn said as he rifled through the weapons locker.

"Hey, it doesn't always work like..."

But Angel was cut off as the door slammed open again.

* * *

Finally, a break. His undead jailer had left, possibly to rest, possibly to deal with the distraction. The woman had opened herself to his punishments, and had hopefully been quite distracting once he'd finished with her. Thus he'd finally been able to take a few measures against what the cult had planned for him.

//"They're going to use me to taint a child's soul?"

"Sounds like. Could be real magic, could be B.S. You know how I feel. But they think you're the embodiment of darkness or some crap like that. Me, I'm just the muscle. What do I know? Anyway, your move."//

Darken a child's soul and taint his heart. //Like I'm tainting Yugi. // But something about that thought rang increasingly false as it repeated in his mind. //Still, I can't allow it. //

His outfit didn't hold much, true, but it certainly did conceal a deck of cards. And the single card in his sleeve might have an edge fine enough to attack the silver tape at his ankles and wrists.

For the sake of the unnamed child, at least, he had to win free of this madness.