Edited May 21st, 2009

Author's Note December 1st, 2004: I've decided to name Kaiba's former self "Seth" for the sake of distinction. Also, this chapter does contain elements from the main story of History of Magic . It might help if you read that too, although it's not necessary.

Warnings: AE arc spoilers!!! I'll leave you to wonder how much is canon and how much is mine. :P I think I'm gonna ignore the Doom arc. #twitch# Too much heartache for Yami and Yugi. You just don't split up a pair like that. It's so, so wrong.

History of Magic: Cloak and Dagger
By Lizeth Hallington
Originally published 12-01-2004

Chapter 2 - Follow

Brilliant golden light flashed in his hands, offset by a darker power boiling in his blood. Distantly, someone screamed... and was ignored. He focused only on the writhing, snarling shadow that sought to escape the grasp of his magic.

Then it stopped, the shadows bent, and he was victorious as he'd always known he would be.

Drawing himself up, he sneered at the now-silent figure at his feet and gestured for the grim-faced guardsmen to take the prisoner -- the body -- away. What right did lawbreakers have? What mercy deserving? Kemet would be a place of order. He would see to it.

Quiet footsteps approached from behind; his name called by a familiar voice.

"Seth..."

He turned and found red, red eyes frowning on him, solemn with disappointment.

Seto Kaiba jerked up in bed, taking deep breaths as fists clenched around darkly-colored covers. Slowly, he took stock of his surroundings -- somehow both familiar and fuzzily foreign -- then closed his eyes and grounded himself in a way that bespoke of years of practice.

Dammit, he sighed and ran a hand down his face, blue eyes glossy in the shadows of the room.

Voices and images and incomplete half-remembered spells wafted through his mind like restless ghosts... too indistinct to be real; too persistent to pass off as a figment of his imagination. Overlaying it all was a whirlwind of emotions he had never really allowed himself to feel, fragments of experiences he'd never had, and he'd have to tell himself over and over: That is NOT my life.

The dream-visions had peaked not long after Battle City, all the those years ago, but then they'd settled out... faded, as dreams tend to do, and Kaiba had been able to move on.

...And now they were back.

He bit back a curse formed in a language he wasn't supposed to know.

Silently, he shoved the comforter aside and padded barefoot across the cold wooden floor, stopping in front of the window. The Kaiba estate was hardly modest by any means, and he wouldn't be able to see the city through the trees no matter how hard he tried... But he could feel it now. Domino City was his in the absence of its Pharaoh. His to watch over and his to protect.

Let the police and the firefighters do their job. Let the mayor kiss babies and the lawyers and judges argue about laws and by-laws... But the currents of the city, its powers and energies, had been weaving themselves into his consciousness ever since Mouto left for Egypt. Now, somehow, any and all magical threats were his to deal with: his duty to overcome.

Jounouchi, damn him, had known it subconsciously. Known it well enough to drag him into their latest, soul-snatching mess when Seto, with his repressed memories and fervent denial, had only just begun to become aware of it himself. Now it was all that much harder to ignore.

Dammit, I won't lose myself to this, Seto growled with conviction, glaring darkly into the night-

-and recoiled violently, staring at the faint, almost non-existent reflection in the window.

For the briefest instant, his image in the glass had stared back through stormy-blue kohl-darkened eyes, set in a face that was far too tanned to be entirely his.

Kaiba Corp's main office building was dropping into a lull as work hours drew to a close, its employees oblivious to his presence as they headed home in small droves. On the other hand, Jou noted with mild amusement that Kaiba Corp's security team was watching him like a hawk. It wasn't often that a person wearing raggedy street clothes had the nerve to enter such immaculate surroundings.

All in all, the situation wasn't so different from the last time he was here. He'd been wearing his uniform then, and a police officer on grounds had been a foreign, unwelcome intrusion. Security had not been pleased with having their territory invaded.

Now in a t-shirt, faded blue jeans and torn denim jacket, he was regarded with equal suspicion, if for entirely different reasons. His sister had once told him that he looked like an entirely different person when in uniform and it seemed she was right. No one seemed to recognise him as yesterday's surprise visitor.

"Hey," he greeted casually.

Kaiba's secretary looked up to see vaguely familiar blonde hair and brown eyes and frowned as she tried to place the face.

"Oh hello, um... Business hours are over, I'm afraid..."

Jou smiled. "No problem. I've got an appointment and everything this time. Under Jounouchi?"

Mimori eyed him skeptically.

"No, really," Jou wheedled, pumping the puppy-dog look for all he was worth. "Just check."

Two security guys hovered closer and Jou carefully kept his hands loose at his sides. No need to give them a reason to toss him out of the building before he had a chance to accomplish anything, ne?

Arching an eyebrow, the secretary checked and was surprised to find that his name was, indeed, in the books. In Seto Kaiba's own, precise handwriting no less.

Must be a pretty important guy, Mimori mused. Most appointments were made indirectly through a secretary. That Kaiba-sama would set aside a time slot after hours and note it down himself meant that this 'Katsuya Jounouchi' was more than just a passing aquaintance.

"Alright. Go right ahead Jounouchi-san."

"Sweet," he said, and risked throwing a mocking salute at Kaiba's disgruntled security team.

"Be careful though," she said, although she wasn't quite sure what possessed her to say it, "Kaiba-sama's in a particularly bad mood today..."

The man stopped dead in his tracks, but instead of the expected apprehension, he made sound that could well have been a muffled snort. He turned and graced her with a grin.

"Honestly, with the face he pulls, how can you tell?" Jou asked, then shrugged carelessly. "But no worries. I come bearing gifts," he smirked, hefting a cardboard cup-holder and two tall cups demonstratively.

"Coffee?" Mimori asked perplexedly.

"The blessed wine of sleepless over-achievers," he confirmed. Approaching the door, Jou knocked twice and opened the door without waiting for a reply. Mimori's wordless protest died on her tongue as another voice filtered from the office.

"You're late," Kaiba's disembodied voice snapped from the other side of the door.

"You're still an ass..." Jou retorted easily, stepping into the office and closing the door behind him without a second's hesitation.

Outside of Seto Kaiba's office fortress, every employee within hearing distance had stopped to gawk at the strange blonde's gall.

"Damn," one of the security personal whistled, staring disbelievingly at the door, "Did he just mouth-off the boss?"

"Oh yeah... Where do we keep the body bags?" the other answered wryly.

Mimori twitched imperceptably and gathered her things as quickly as decorum would allow. That's it, this is out of my hands.

If she was lucky, she might make it half-way home before anything exploded.

"I've been looking through international case files. So far I've managed to find 48 similar cases across Great Britain some five years ago," Seto reported without preamble.

Jounouchi frowned and perched on the table's edge. "Hell, that many?"

Kaiba's fingers darted across the keyboard. "They're not necessarily connected-" He paused when a cup was shoved in his face.

"Double-tall Americano. Quality coffee," Jou drawled, "You look like you could use it... Unless you prefer double latte?" he asked, brandishing the other cup.

Seto glared out of habit, but took the first cup without protest and continued his report. "Most of the victims five years ago woke up on their own after a few weeks, disoriented and suffering severe symptoms of withdrawal but otherwise fine. Alternatively, we know our people aren't going to wake up on their own any time soon."

The young CEO stopped typing and sipped his coffee. The only indication that he tasted it at all was a slight raise of the eyebrows. "Still, medical doctors were unable to find any trace of a drug in the victims' blood... and all of them ended up with a mysterious case of 'selective amnesia' not long after."

"Memory wipe?" Jou grimaced.

"Likely. There are still too many inconsistencies, but might be worth looking into."

"Kaiba, I'm not flying to England on a 'maybe'," Jou stated blandly, taking a gulp from his own cup. "I do have a day-job I'd like to keep."

Seto gave him a look. "Why go when Mouto's already there?" he pointed out with narrowed eyes. "Conveniently enough."

Jou soundlessly opened his mouth, put two and two together and buried his face in his hand with a groan. "Dammit, he just can't stay out of trouble can he?"

"Hm, we have our own problems," Seto grunted. "Our top priority right now is finding out who and how. Yugi will have to fend for himself."

The blonde rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Anything else?"

"I'll tell you when I find something."

"...Want to tell me how you managed to get into British police files?" Jou asked slyly.

"You'd be forced to arrest me if I did," Seto deadpanned.

"Heh. Y'know, six years ago you wouldn't have taken something like this seriously."

"Six years ago, something like this would be hounding Mouto instead of me." Seto's face remained perfectly neutral, but his voice was laced with annoyance... and something deeper that wasn't readily identifiable.

Jou couldn't suppress a smirk. "Welcome to the world of weird," he drawled, watching Kaiba contemplatively. There were a few moments of quiet keys clattering before he said slowly: "...You wanna talk about it?"

The air seemed to grow heavy, and the CEO seemed more agitated than ever.

"No." Kaiba snapped.

Jou grimaced and hopped off the desk. If Kaiba didn't want to talk about whatever it was that had crawled up his ass and died, it was just as well. The CEO wasn't exactly the heart-to-heart type and the conversation probably would have been awkward as hell. At least he'd made the offer. Kaiba was free to take it up any time his pride would allow. Meanwhile, if Kaiba wanted to avoid whatever was on his mind, Jou had no objections.

"Well then, while you were busy chasing paper-trails, I did a little legwork... Wanna give it a shot?"

"Aw, dammit, why do they always have to run?" Jou breathed in annoyance as they pounded after a man in rather dirty street clothes.

"Hn," Seto smiled grimly but kept his remarks to himself. There were so many unflattering answers to that question, it would be unfair to voice a reply.

The blonde growled irritably, as if sensing his thoughts, but turned back to the matter at hand and raised his voice to shout: "Hey Spooky, why so spooked, man? We just wanna talk!"

"I don't know anything!" the man gasped, out of breath.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe," Jou countered dryly.

"Do you know what they'd do to me if they found out I squealed? If they ever found me?"

With an extra burst of speed, the cop lunged and tackled 'Spooky', sending them both sprawling rather painfully. Flipping him around, Jounouchi grabbed the man by the collar and bared his teeth in a grin.

"A little bit of advice, Spook. Right now, you should worry about what we would do to you."

Spooky squirmed and studied his captor carefully, weighing his options. The blonde man's bearing betrayed the fact that he was used to life on the streets, but not so low as the slums. A gang member gone solo, maybe. That made him dangerous. Anyone who defected from a gang would be hunted by his former comrades, and in most cases that made a person tight enough to snap given the smallest provocation.

Spooky's eyes slid from the blonde to the taller man suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Living as he did, there was always the chance that someone could come around the corner and nail you for a few measly bucks, but those guys were nothing more than common thugs.

Looking at the tall, dark-haired man and those cold, biting blue eyes, Spooky shuddered. That was a man who had killed with calculated precision, and would probably be willing to kill again if it suited his purposes.

"Any time now." the blonde was saying.

Kaiba took a step forward.

"T-They... They talked about harnessing souls or some mumbo-jumbo like that," Spooky stuttered, voice taking on a slightly hysterical quality. "The hell if I know. The hell if I want to know. I don't believe in that sorta stuff. I'm not involved, alright?!"

"Old news, pal. Why are they doing it?" Jounouchi pressed, giving the man a shake.

Their captive choked off a laugh. "Why does anyone do anything? S'not that hard to figure out."

The blonde scowled. "That's all you got to give us?"

"Look, I told you what I know already, didn't I?"

Seto narrowed his eyes. Catching the look, the older man cringed.

"What else do you want me to tell you?!" Spooky exclaimed, sidling as far away from the CEO as he could. Jou's arm snapped out again and blocked his retreat.

Seto spoke silkily, "Something useful."

The man's eyes darted nervously around the alley. "Alright... Alright look: they said they needed stronger targets. Whatever they've been doing up 'til now, it- it wasn't what they were trying to do. They were defects... mistakes."

Jou made a furious noise in the back of his throat which Seto pointedly ignored. The mutt could growl his heart out, for all he cared. "What else?"

"I don't know! I couldn't understand the rest. I don't understand any of it!"

"What else?" Seto repeated, ignoring the man's pleas. "Anything, even the smallest detail. I don't care if you don't understand it, just repeat it."

The man mulled for a moment, brow furrowing with wary uncertainty. "There was... one thing they said a lot. I don't know if I got it right. It wasn't really a word."

"Spit it out," Jounouchi growled.

"It was... It was 'kekiwika'... something like that. That's all I know. I swear !" the man proclaimed, hands raised defensively in front of him. "Fuck, they'll kill me if they catch me... Or suck out my soul."

Seto turned away slightly, his entire stance shifting from icy threat to disdainful dismissal. "Then you'd better start running."

Jou reluctantly took the cue to back off, and after a wary look at both of them the man took off down the street, running like his life depended on it... which it probably did.

The blonde's face was a mask of restrained fury and disgust. "A mistake, damn them. A friggin' mistake. They're not even trying and they're destroying lives without a thought."

Seto's expression tightened. "Monsters."

Jou gave him a startled look. "Yeah..."

"No," Seto snapped, "Kekewy Ka. They're trying to extract monsters," he repeated, his voice sounding strangely off. "To harness the power of human Ka , the shadow soul."

Jounouchi looked blank. "Hell, can someone do that?"

"The Millenium Rod can."

"They don't have the Rod!" Jou exclaimed, "Or at least they damn well shouldn't! Whatever else Malik may be, he's not that careless."

"Which is why they're making mistakes. They're taking the whole soul."

"And you sound like that doesn't bother you one bit, you bastard!" Jou let out a furious breath. "Okay, back up the train a bit, buddy, and run it by me again, from the top."

Seto looked back over his shoulder and shot the blonde a sharp, venomous glare. "Where-" he said in a deadly hiss, "did you think monsters came from in the first place?"

For an excruciating instant, all of Jounouchi's thoughts ground to a halt... and then they exploded.

"Human souls?! Duel Monsters are human souls?"

"Just the one part, most of the time," Seto said with deliberate carelessness, and turned to leave.

"The hell, Kaiba. Get back here! I'm talking to you!"

Jounouchi stumbled to avoid collision when the CEO stopped abruptly, eyes burning with cold rage. Seto sneered. "What - part - didn't - you - understand?"

The blonde drew back, mind on overload. "I-"

"What," Kaiba snapped sarcastically, "even after Pegasus stuffed our souls into Duel Monsters cards, you didn't make the connection?"

Brown eyes were wide with dawning understanding.

Game pieces. Over and over again. Wooden ones. Cardboard ones. The medium didn't matter. The result was the same. Even Yami Bakura had been able to--- And they'd been playing with human lives.

"...Shit. Oh shit."

Oh god, Yug'. When you reach for the Heart of the Cards, what exactly is it that you touch?

"It's a Shadow Game, pup," the former priest said bluntly. "A Shadow Game reveals your true nature; bars your soul... and there's always, always more at stake in a Shadow Game than most fools could ever hope to understand."

Kaiba's lips pressed into a grim smile and the chuckled darkly. "I suppose I should be glad Pegasus never thought to put any of us on the field. Maybe he just didn't think us useful enough... Can you imagine if little Yugi had had to destroy his own grandfather in that duel?" he drawled, eyes taking on a malicious glint. "I wonder what he would have chosen-"

"Just shut up!" Jounouchi snapped suddenly, having had enough, grabbing the other man by the collar. "Don't you dare suggest that..." he growled lowly, unable to finish the thought.

The scenario ran through his head like a twisted nightmare. If Pegasus had had the ability to put Solomon Mouto on the field. If Yugi had been forced to decide between attacking his grandfather's soul for the sake of the duel or losing his own soul, bringing the total of Pegasus' victims to four. Either way, he would have lost. Either way, he would have been unable to save the one he meant to save.

God, what would Yami have done? Jou thought with a sinking felling in his stomach. If the spirit had been willing to sacrifice Kaiba's life to save Grandpa, what would Yami have done if he'd had to choose between his Light or the one his Light loved most?

If, if, if...

Suppressing a shudder, Jou grabbed Kaiba by the collar, intent on giving the man a thrashing when it finally clicked that Kaiba was being almost submissive . He hadn't fought back at all, and that was nigh well unthinkable. He studied the brunette's face carefully, taking in the emotionless mask and blank stare. Doubt began to fester.

"It actually bothers you, doesn't it?" the blonde asked quietly. "Why would you care?"

Closing his eyes briefly, Kaiba opened them again with a chillingly dead look. "If Pegasus had been capable of it, don't you think he would have used Mokuba against me?"

Jou released his hold and, after a moment, stepped back abruptly. Kaiba brushed past, smoothing his outfit back into perfection.

Both men stared the other down in stony silence.

Jou ground his teeth together. "Does Yugi know...?"

"I doubt it," the CEO said sardonically. "He's not the type to look for worst-case scenarios."

Jou gave him a look.

"Yami probably knows," Seto conceded with a nod.

Silence.

Chew on that, mutt.

Jou did. He gnawed the idea full of holes, and he didn't like it.

"That is so twisted , man," he announced into the silence, as if it needed to be said... Then, "If you ever breathe a word of this to Yug', I swear they'll never find your body, rich-boy," he said levelly, catching Seto's eyes with his own. It was a promise, not a threat, and he meant every word. Yami and Yugi didn't need that kind of doubt between them.

To his surprise, Seto only gave a brief smirk in acknowledgement, and Jou was actually glad to see it. They were back on familiar ground now. Almost. That dead look in the CEO's normally glaring eyes had been too unnerving for words.

Seto nodded once, looking as immaculate as ever, and began the long walk back to the car. Jounouchi followed behind with a scowl.

They were silent as they buckled in.

"God, when did you think this up anyway?" Jou finally sighed, running a hand nervously through his hair. The knot in his chest hadn't loosened at all.

Kaiba graced him with a misanthropic mockery of a smile, fingers turning the key in the ignition. "In my darkest nightmares."

Later that night, Jounouchi lounged on the living room couch of his modest apartment, head tilted back and eyes roaming distractedly across the peeling ceiling. The world made a little too much sense right now; weighed a little too heavily on the shoulders.

Knowledge was a burden.

But something was still out there, preying on those who couldn't defend themselves from magical attack, and he still had a job to do.

His deck sat alone on the cold surface of a low, glass table, all but radiating isolation. With a slow sigh, the blonde straightened and reached forward to rest his palm over top of the pieces of flimsy, illustrated cardboard...

The paper was warm to the touch.

TBC

Next time : Mokuba and friends run into something nasty and Seto pays a visit to the police station.

End Notes :

Well, there you go. It's still rough around the edges, but I wanted to get something up. It's been so long and people were getting a bit pissed at all the little spoilers. XD If I have time, I'll be fixing this up a little over the next few days, especially the scene with the secretary and the beginning of the Spooky hunt.

Thanks to:

Skyla Doragono, shiny-chan, hush the silent, Destiny's Dragon, QuickSilver5, Mimiheart, QueenOfHearts3, Yugi, Kaira-chan, shadowwaker, Rosz-chan, almalao, Darkness-Fire, Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki, Lethe Seraph, Yami) White Rain, JK Fie'r, kali, ryou's kitty, Saiyan Jedi, Maia Webmistress, pheonica, Curtis Zidane Ziraa, tiger-of-ice, Jaded Skye, Midnight Ice Wolf, Draco's Daughter, ChibiSerenity3, Reppu, Nightengale13, Katt26, lilmatchgirl, kitsune-hoseki, bakuralover-2008, sara, kiraistoocute, D&G, Yamilover2284, Flora, kesenaibs, The Cheshire Katt.