Title: Amaranthine

Tags: Romance, Drama, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Kaiba's defeat in the Battle City tournament caused a rift between him and Atem. Despite living together, Atem has never felt more alone and deserted. Fed up, Atem walks out on Kaiba, but it turns out to be a deadly mistake when he's attacked by a gang of thugs. It's up to Kaiba to rescue the Pharaoh, but will he make it in time? Does he even want to?

AU: Atem and Yugi are two separate people. Atem duals Kaiba in the Battle City tournament finals.

BETA: TheSupernova

The Battle City tournament was over, the world was saved, and the Ishitar family was staying in a local hotel nearby until the end of the Egyptian exhibit. Kaiba and Mokuba were buried deep within the planning stages of their new world-wide amusement parks, Kaiba Land. Yugi and his friends were back at school.

"I'm so glad things have returned to normal," Yugi had told him, "at least for a while."

Normal. Atem wasn't sure what that meant anymore.

Ever since he defeated Kaiba at the tournament, things between them had been strained. Atem knew his rivalry with Kaiba would continue to exist for eternity; lovers or not, that was a fundamental part of their relationship. He knew his relationship with Kaiba wouldn't be always easy.

Atem was the one person Kaiba hadn't been able to defeat, not really. And with every defeat, Kaiba retreated inside himself, leaving Atem on the sidelines, once more unable to pierce through Kaiba's defenses. But it was worse this time, it wasn't just about Atem; Kaiba intended to win on the very spot Kaiba Corp had been founded. He wanted to prove to his stepfather he was stronger, better. By winning, he would conquer his inner demons and finally be able to move on from the past.

Maybe that was why Kaiba hadn't forgiven him for winning the duel. For being better, taking away his victory and everything that wasn't Atem's fault. It was jealously, pride and Kaiba's obsession with power that was fueling this anger towards his lover.

Despite living together, Atem rarely saw Kaiba at home. They rarely slept together anymore, ever since Kaiba had started sleeping at the office. Kaiba was avoiding him.

He would have turned to Yugi for advice if he could, but that would only serve to make the situation worse. This was 'family business' and Atem respected that; it was one of the conditions that came with dating a man like Kaiba. But other than Mokuba, who was similarly at a loss on how to help, Atem had no one else to turn to.

Duel monsters, millennium items, destiny, what good was it all if he couldn't even save this relationship from falling apart? He loved Kaiba.

But Atem had had enough. Enough waiting and watching as Kaiba's attitude slowly grew colder, as everyone else seemed to be able to move on with their lives while Atem was left behind. Recover his memories, save the world. That's all he was here for. Without Kaiba by his side, Atem's world was crumbling.

Atem needed a break, to escape. As far as Kaiba was concerned, Atem wasn't worth his time. Logically, Atem had a feeling this would blow over, given time, but he was tired of waiting for Kaiba to come around.

Atem walked into Kaiba's home office. It was empty, of course. Kaiba and Mokuba were at work.

"Maybe this will get your attention." Atem muttered. He set his duel monsters deck neatly on Kaiba's desk, with the black luster soldier card face up. "Will you return my deck to me or send someone else in your place? I guess we'll find out where your priorities lie."

Atem had intentionally taken his duel disk with him, because the point wasn't to frustrate Kaiba, just get his attention. With the tracking system in the duel disks still active, the search wouldn't take long.

Atem found himself in downtown Domino city. Walking around endlessly, blindly; he didn't care where he was going, as long as he kept moving. Anything was better than another day spent waiting for Kaiba to come home, only to be ignored.

"Hey boys, what's this?" a deep voice rumbled behind him. "Looks like we have someone trespassing in our territory."

Atem turned around to find four large men and two women standing in the ally. He swore to himself; he had run into gang territory. This was not the best part of town to be walking around in, day or night.

The big guy cracked his knuckles. "Let's say we teach this pretty boy what we do to trespassers?"

A wide grin spread across Atem's face. As a pharaoh, he was trained in advanced martial arts; warfare was a part of Egyptian life back then, the constant fight for territory and wealth. He was being surrounded. A golden, Egyptian eye appeared on Atem's forehead.

"If you think you have what it takes to defeat me," Atem said, "then show me what you've got."

To the pharaoh's credit, he had been right: those guys never stood a chance. Among his fragmented memories were visions of battles and warfare, blood and the death of men by his hands. Atem knew how to fight dirty, because that was how you won.

That didn't mean they weren't able to get in a few good shots before they decided that retreating was the safer option. Atem threw the long, bloody metallic pipe on the ground. He hoped they had medical insurance.

Pain pierced through his side. "No!" Atem cried out, blood flowing down his side. Apparently they had been luckier than he thought.

Atem sank against the alley wall, his broken duel disk banging against the nearby dumpster as he hit the ground. His head felt hot and the cool metal of the dumpster a small relief. His chest hurt when he breathed, a sharp, hot pain. Apparently his fighting skills had been a bit rusty and now he was going to die here.

"Kaiba." Atem wheezed out. It hurt to talk. If Kaiba hadn't tracked him down by now, he might not be able to at all. Not with the busted duel disk. Unless the tracking device inside was still working, but judging from the flying sparks and electronic guts spilling out, with broken bits scattered upon the ground around him, it was doubtful.

Blood trailed down from the corner of his mouth. Atem spit a mouthful of blood onto the street. That wasn't good. He shivered. The wind brushing along his skin felt like sandpaper and he wished it would stop.

"Kaiba," he mumbled again, holding onto a futile hope that Kaiba would hear him and come running. Wishful thinking or not, it was all he had left.

His forehead was burning up, but he felt cold inside.

"Seto…" Atem shook his head, chocking out a laugh. "Is this it? I wonder… I guess I'm out of shape if it's this bad."

"Atem, you idiot." Kaiba's voice startled him. Large arms wrapped around his upper body, pulling him away from the brick wall. Atem's head found a resting place against Kaiba's chest. The soothing sound of Kaiba's heartbeat called to Atem. He missed Kaiba, missed being held like this.

He was getting emotional. All his bottled up emotions, the frustration and anger, the uncertainty over his relationship with Kaiba, he couldn't take it. Atem couldn't hold back his tears. He bunched up the black fabric of Kaiba's shirt, burying his face in it. He didn't want Kaiba to see him like this.

"Forgive me, Atem," Kaiba admitted softly. The words were so kind and gentle, that it didn't sound like Kaiba at all. "This is my fault. I'm sorry."

"What-"

Atem felt Kaiba's hand slip through his hair, and across his lower back, as if Atem would slip away from him. Blood was dripping onto Kaiba's clothing, but the man didn't take notice.

"Seto…" Atem mumbled again. He was having trouble focusing. All the words inside his mind were jumbling up before they could reach his mouth and he had so much to say. Atem's energy was draining fast, making him so very tired.

The alley way, the large green dumpster, Kaiba's face, his vision was narrowing, growing black. His ears felt like they had cotton in them, and it was getting harder to concentrate. Kaiba was here and he wouldn't let anything happen to him.

"Stay with me," Kaiba begged him. "I'm sorry for how I've been treating you."

"Se-to…"

"Don't leave me, Atem. Come back, please!"

A few days later in the hospital…

"Really?" Yugi asked. "He did? Kaiba!?"

Atem chuckled softly from the bed, which ended in a light coughing fit. "He apologized and told me he loved me. It probably won't happen again, but he can be sweet when he wants to." He gave Yugi a sideways glace. "Promise me you won't tell anyone, Yugi. No. One."

Yugi held up his hands. "You know I won't tell anyone! What happened was between you and Kaiba. I know how he gets about 'family business' but all the same, I'm glad the situation is finally resolved. I think it's great he considers you family, though."

Atem nodded. "He was having a rough time figuring out his emotions, between what happened with his stepfather, Noah and losing to me in his duel monsters tournament. Pushing me away was a natural defense but in the end, I think he realized just how much he needs me. How much we need each other."

"Poor Kaiba," Yugi said, laughing. "He's always the one saying you can't rely on anyone but yourself and now his whole world has been turned upside down."

"I don't think he'll ever openly admit that. He doesn't like people getting too close. After all, you can only-"

"Rely on yourself," Yugi finished. A big grin split his face.

"Hn," Kaiba said from the doorway. "Sounds like good advice."

"Kaiba!" Yugi yelped in surprise.

"We were just talking about you," Atem said. His body decided to add an extremely painful coughing fit for good measure. "Wonderful. And the coughing continues."

Yugi rubbed soothing circles on Atem's back. "It'll get better eventually, you'll see."

"I better go now," Yugi added. "I'll leave you two alone."

Kaiba stepped inside, letting Yugi pass.

"Later Atem, later Kaiba." Yugi waved as he left, shutting the door behind him. "I'll be back tomorrow after school!"

"See you!" Atem yelled.

He enjoyed seeing Yugi every day. It helped cure his boredom and take his mind off the fact that he still had another two weeks (at least) of hospital bed rest. At least he was being treated by Kaiba's personal physicians, who were twice as skilled compared to most doctors, and Atem had been placed in a single room with a nice view as an added bonus. Sometimes it paid having a powerful, wealthy boyfriend.

Atem would never admit it, but being treated like a pharaoh once in a while felt nice.

"Doing better?" he asked, as he sat in Yugi's vacated chair next to Atem's bed.

"Yeah, getting there." Atem shrugged. "Can't really do much yet. I should be able to start walking about in a few days and the coughing should start to subside soon."

Kaiba nodded, but Atem could sense he was distracted. Atem furrowed his brow.

"Seto?" he asked, placing his hand over Kaiba's. Kaiba took Atem's hand between both of his.

"If you need anything, just ask. I'll have someone get it for you right away," Kaiba said, "anything."

Atem grinned. Kaiba was worrying about him, it was sweet.

"I need you back home with me," Kaiba admitted softly. He slipped Atem's deck from his pocket and place it on the nearby table. "After what happened, this whole mess, none of it was your fault."

"Come here, you," Atem said, tugging Kaiba towards him.

Kaiba kissed him gently. Atem couldn't keep the smile off his face, which made it hard to keep kissing. This Kaiba, the compassionate, loving one—this was just for him.

"Stop smiling and focus," Kaiba said pointedly.

"Whatever you say," Atem said, getting down to business. Kissing Kaiba deserved his full attention, after all.

Atem knew they would still be rivals; Kaiba would always be driven to defeat Atem in a duel. But win or lose, there would always be a next time. Through life or death, their struggle was fated to go on for eternity.

"I'll never leave your side," Atem murmured softly.

"Hn," Kaiba responded.

Their souls were immortal. The Pharaoh and his priest. Amaranthine: undying and everlasting.

A/N: I don't think this needs mentioning, but when I said that Atem knew how to "fight dirty" I was talking about combat and tactics during warfare. Atem was still an honorable ruler in the face of his enemies defeat and one-on-one duels (combat or duel monsters) were fought with honor.

Disagree with me or no, but I find Atem's abilities to fight (martial arts/weapons) in combination with his involvement in warfare (for territory and power/wealth) were all things he would have dealt with as Pharaoh (including leading his men into combat).

In this case, Atem's time as Pharaoh is AU.