[Amnesty Day] [Yu-Gi-Oh!] Still more assorted ficlets

[insaneladybug]

Still working through April's set. Sorry, some of them continue to be gratuitous hurt/comfort and varying explorations of similar themes....

Title: Back Home Again
Day/Prompt: April 6th, 2019 - You've got salvation you've got scars
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): K. Lector has had a serious falling-out with his family; this takes place deeply in my timeline.

Lector took a deep breath as he unlocked and pushed open the door to the small house. He hadn't been here in so many years, and really hadn't ever planned to return at all after the falling-out with his family. But his mother had contacted him and told him that if he wanted anything in there, he should come get it out, as the family was planning a new use for the little cabin that was situated in a corner of the mansion's property. He had decided he did want to look and see what was there in case he wanted anything, so he had flown to New Orleans with his friends in tow as support.

"This is a cozy place," Crump commented as Lector switched on the lights, bathing the large living area in a glow. A dark green couch was positioned against a partition that went halfway up the wall, separating the rest area from a computer nook. Several doors around the room presumably led to other rooms, including an odd door in the corner.

Lector nodded. "I always loved it here. I was allowed to use it for my own when I wanted to get away from the chaos and commotion in the mansion. As I grew older, I performed my first work here on that computer." He nodded to the old model.

"Does that fossil even still work?" Nesbitt grunted.

"Let's find out. If it still has copies of my old documents, I may want to take it with me, or at least get the files off of it." Lector walked over and pressed the button. The computer loaded, not seeming any the worse for wear despite the many years of inactivity.

"You don't suppose somebody's been using it since you were here, do you?" Crump wondered. "Like Marie or Evangeline?"

"It's possible," Lector said. "I wouldn't mind if they did."

Johnson wandered around the room and finally opened the corner door, confused and intrigued by the oddity. He was greeted by a closet with several small shelves of boxes. The one whose contents he could most clearly see looked like it contained children's drawings. He took down the top one and studied the image of a yard with blue sky and white clouds overhead. "Did you draw this?" he asked.

Lector glanced over. "Yes. . . ."

"Doesn't your mother want any of these things?" Johnson said in chagrin.

"I don't know if she even knows they're here," Lector said. "Nor do I know if she would care." He turned back to the computer and typed.

Gansley sighed sadly. He felt the woman would not, but he didn't want to voice that feeling. Instead he walked over to another door and opened it. It led to a short hall, with a door on each side.

Nesbitt wandered past him to explore. The door on the left opened into a bathroom. On the right was a bedroom. "This must have been paradise to a kid," he commented. He certainly would have loved a set-up like this, a place to escape to when solitude was desired.

"I spent many happy hours here," Lector said. He inserted a flash drive he had brought with him and proceeded to copy the files on the computer.

". . . So, what are you gonna do with all this stuff?" Crump wondered. He looked to the boxes in the closet. "Are you gonna take it?"

"Is there really any point?" Lector said. "If my mother doesn't want it, I don't know if I do either. It's just reminders of a different time, one that's long gone now. It's probably better to leave everything about it behind."

"Yeah, but . . . all of these things you made. . . ." Crump went to the closet now and took out more pictures from the box. "You can't ever get any of this back if it's just tossed. . . ."

"Just like my family's love," Lector grunted. He finished copying the files and ejected the flash drive.

Crump exchanged a sickened look with Gansley. He knew all too well what it was like to have a rotten family, but in Lector's case they had once been good. How much worse was it for him to lose them after knowing their love for a while?

"I'll tell you what, Crump," Lector said as he started to get up from the computer. "If you don't think I should leave these things behind to probably get thrown out, then you take them. Maybe someday I'll want them, maybe I won't, but at least they'll be with somebody who actually cares about them."

"Yeah?" Crump shuffled through the pictures and then put them back in the box. "You're on, Buddy." He lifted the box out of the closet. "Anytime you change your mind, you can come get them."

Lector nodded. He wasn't sure he ever would, but it actually did feel nice, to know that someone really was still interested.

"You wanna look around anymore?" Crump asked.

"You go ahead and load everything you want to take," Lector said. "Maybe I'll make sure we haven't overlooked anything." He headed for the hallway.

Gansley gave a quiet sigh. That might be what Lector was doing, or maybe he did want to say one last Goodbye to a place that had meant so much to him in his younger years. He stood by, silently watching as Lector wandered about, opening the doors and entering every room.

Lector came back to the living room within a few minutes. "I'm ready to leave."

"And I think we've got everything," Crump said. He and Johnson were lifting the last items out of the closet.

Lector smiled a bit. "Alright then."

The group headed for the door and stepped out into the New Orleans evening. Lector cast one final look inside the little home before shutting the door for good.

"What do they want to use it for now?" Nesbitt wondered.

"I never thought to ask," Lector realized. "Maybe Marie wants to use it as I did."

"I hope she'll enjoy it like you did," Crump said.

Lector didn't respond, but he really hoped so too.

"You could build something like this on your property," Johnson said.

"I have an entire mansion to myself now," Lector mused. "I'd have no need of it."

"That's true," Johnson conceded.

"And perhaps it would bring back too many bittersweet memories to build another one," Gansley said.

Lector nodded. That was pretty much how he felt. "I'll just leave it in the past," he said. "Right now, I want to focus on the present."

No one objected to that.

Mrs. Leichter met them as they reached the front walkway. "Did you find anything, Démas?" she asked.

"I didn't want much, Mother, but Crump decided to take a lot of it just in case I change my mind someday," Lector said.

"It's stuff you should want," Crump said to her. "Pictures and things he made when he was a kid!"

"Oh. . . ." The woman's eyes flickered, and there was a certain regret and longing within them, but then she looked away. "You go ahead and take them then. I haven't been much of a mother to him for quite some time. You've been a more loyal family than most of us have been."

Crump frowned, peering at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said, her voice taut. "I could have got them out many times before and I didn't."

Lector sighed. "Alright then. Goodbye, Mother."

"Goodbye, Démas." She still wouldn't face him.

Gansley was deep in thought as they reached the rental car. Finally he looked to Crump. "Would you mind . . . ?" He took several of the pictures out of the top box and looked towards Mrs. Leichter.

Crump blinked and shrugged. "If you really think she'll take them and not toss them. . . ."

"I don't think she'll throw them out." Gansley walked back to the porch and held them out. "Why don't you look at these for a while?" he said gruffly. "If you have any parental instincts left, these might bring them out."

Slowly she turned back. ". . . Thank you," she said, her voice cracking as she accepted them and started to look through them.

Lector especially was stunned. He looked to Gansley with disbelieving eyes when he walked back to them. "She wants them?"

"I'm hoping looking at them will make her want you," Gansley said. "There's still some caring there; that's obvious."

Lector slowly nodded. "Thank you," he said quietly. "For trying like this."

"You deserve to have your family back," Gansley said, "although they're not deserving of you." He drew an arm around Lector's shoulders as they all got in the car to drive away.


Title: Fairytale Ending
Day/Prompt: April 12th, 2019 - You'll have to make sense of my life somehow
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): K+. Gratuitous hurt/comfort, fairytale-ish

Nesbitt was cold and silent laying on the slab. He looked asleep, but Lector knew otherwise.

This battle in the Duel Monsters' dimension had been taking its toll on everyone. So many terrible things had happened, but this was the final straw. Nesbitt had given his life to protect the others. They were all more than ready to deal out justice and vengeance on the renegade Duel Monsters who had caused this, but first they had to deal with the situation at hand.

Lector didn't know how he was going to do that. He had awakened after that battle badly frazzled, his hair loosely falling against his neck and brushing his shoulders. But when he had found Nesbitt laying next to him completely still, he had broke. The others had found him cradling the lifeless body close to him, his eyes shattered and lost.

Now they were all gathered around him to say Goodbye. They would take him back through the dimensional rift and bury him in the Domino Cemetery. Then they would try to go on with their lives. But part of their family was gone; they couldn't go on.

Each of them had bade him farewell in his own way. Lector had opted to go last. He didn't know what to say or do or even think. He felt blank, empty. Nesbitt was his dear friend, his brother. He stood over the other man for a long time, not speaking, not knowing how or what to even say that would possibly begin to encompass his feelings. Finally he bent down, kissing Nesbitt on the forehead. Grief-stricken and anguished, he sobbed, grabbing Nesbitt's hand between his as his knees suddenly grew weak.

"Buddy . . ."

He could hear Crump starting to move to him in concern, but Gansley stopped him and held him back. Lector needed this moment.

The stirring under Lector's hands nearly startled him out of his mind. He looked up with a jerk. He hadn't jostled the body; Nesbitt was opening his eyes and looking up at him in confusion. "Lector . . . ?"

Lector just kept staring, unable to believe this was real. "Nesbitt?!" He clutched the hand tighter. "You're dead. . . ."

"You're not dead!" Crump exclaimed, tearing over now. "What the heck?!" He hugged Nesbitt as best as he could with Lector still there. "Is this a fairytale world or something?!"

"Fairytale . . . what?" Nesbitt weakly hugged Crump and then slowly sat up, looking to Lector.

Johnson and Gansley were hurrying over now too. "Lector kissed you," Johnson explained. "And . . . you woke up. . . ."

Nesbitt was still trying to grasp what was going on. He felt foggy, like he was coming out of a deep sleep. But apparently the others hadn't thought it was just a deep sleep. "Lector . . . ?" He looked at his friend, who was still just staring at him, stock-still, trying to work out in his mind if this was really happening or if he had lost his mind and was imagining it.

Finally Lector came to life. "Nesbitt!" He choked on a sob as he pulled the other man close. "You're alive! You're alive. . . ."

Nesbitt, stunned and confused, slowly hugged back.

Gansley smiled. "Welcome home, Nesbitt." He laid a hand on Nesbitt's shoulder.

"You all thought I was dead," Nesbitt realized. "I'm sorry. . . . I didn't mean . . ."

"You were protecting us," Johnson said. "And you were struck down. . . . But it really must have been like a fairytale, wasn't it? It was an enchanted death . . . something reversible. . . ."

"But we all love him," Crump said. "Why weren't we all able to bring him back with our feelings? And why does it have to be a kiss?"

Gansley shook his head. "I don't know why fairytales tend to work that way. Let's just be grateful it did."

They all certainly were. They surrounded the slab, all embracing Nesbitt at once.

Nesbitt looked around at all of them, his true family, his brothers, and he smiled.


Title: Role Reversal
Day/Prompt: April 15th, 2019 - Everybody cracks and bleeds
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): K+. Gratuitous hurt/comfort.

The rain was pelting down hard when Nesbitt started to regain consciousness. He groaned, muttering to himself as he pushed himself up on the asphalt. He couldn't quite remember what had been happening before this, except . . .

"Lector?!" He looked over with a start. Lector was lying facedown on the road next to him, very still. His hair was loose, the rain beating it around the sides of his neck.

Horrified, Nesbitt pushed him onto his back. "Lector?!" Maybe it was just the rain, but he couldn't see that Lector was breathing. He bent down, shaking, desperate to hear his brother's heartbeat . . . to feel his chest rising and falling. . . . But there was nothing.

"Lector!" Nesbitt screamed. "Lector, wake up!" He didn't dare shake the other man, but he frantically tried to perform artificial respiration. Over and over, then leaning back to see if it worked. . . . It never did.

Nesbitt trembled. "Lector . . ." He felt utterly helpless. What could he do?!

Wait. . . . When he had been hurt in the Duel Monsters' dimension, he had been thrust into an enchanted death. Of all things, True Love's Kiss had revived him, just like in children's fairytales. He couldn't remember what had happened to him and Lector right now. Was there any chance . . .

Well, he was willing to try anything. He did love Lector, just as Lector loved him. He bent down, shaking, and kissed the older man on the forehead. "Lector, please . . ."

He waited for he didn't know how long before he knew it wasn't going to work this time. It wasn't any enchanted death in Lector's case. He sobbed, lifting the lifeless body into his arms and cradling him close.

"Oh God, please . . . don't let it end like this," he begged. "I know I never really believed in You before, but I've come to realize you're real. Your angel brought me and the others back to life when we died trying to save Lector. Please . . . please save Lector. I . . . I don't know how I'm going to stand it without him . . . or how the others would stand it. . . . We all love him so much. . . . And he loves us and wants to be with us. Please don't take him. . . . Please. . . ."

It really seemed like hopeless pleading. He was sure God very rarely granted such prayers, and probably never to someone like him. Still, if he could be revived, Lector certainly could, and Nesbitt was sure Lector was more deserving of it.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he actually felt Lector stirring in his grasp. He looked down with a start. "Lector?! You're alive?!"

Lector slowly opened his eyes. "Nesbitt. . . ." He smiled, weakly. "We both made it."

"I thought you hadn't!" Nesbitt exclaimed.

"I had some doubts myself," Lector said. "But I'm alright." He reached out with a shaking arm, drawing it around Nesbitt's upper torso.

"I don't even remember what happened," Nesbitt admitted. "But I don't care. All that matters to me is that you're alive." He hugged Lector close.

"I heard you . . . praying for me," Lector said slowly.

"It's not something I've ever made a habit of doing," Nesbitt said, his voice gruff. "But if I was going to pray for anything, praying for you to be alright sounded logical to me."

"Thank you," Lector said. "I'm glad you care that much."

A car suddenly sped onto the road and stopped. Crump ran out, followed quickly by Gansley and Johnson. "What are you guys doing here?!" Crump cried. "You're both gonna catch pneumonia!"

"We'd better not," Nesbitt grunted. He stumbled to his feet, bringing Lector with him. "I don't even remember what happened. I just woke up here . . . and thought Lector was dead. . . ."

"Well, thank God he isn't," Gansley said. He brought an arm around Lector while Crump tried to support Nesbitt. Johnson watched them all to make sure they wouldn't slip on the way to the car.

"Yeah," Nesbitt said, sounding far away. "Thank God he isn't." His grip on Lector tightened on their way back to the car.
****
Nesbitt and Lector did not catch pneumonia, to their relief. They each showered and changed clothes upon arriving back at Lector's house, and Lector laid down on his bed in exhaustion.

Nesbitt came to the doorway and looked in at him. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I mean really?"

"Yes," Lector assured him.

"Did you . . ." Nesbitt shifted. ". . . Did you leave your body or anything like that?"

"No, I don't think so," Lector said. "Maybe I wasn't really dead. I felt like I was in a deep sleep. Then I heard your voice and it gradually gave me the strength to wake up."

"You sure seemed to be dead," Nesbitt said. "I tried to wake you up and I couldn't. . . ."

"I'm so sorry," Lector said in dismay.

Nesbitt sighed. "I used to be unbreakable. I even thought that those who weren't were weak. Now I just fall apart so much. I'm one of them."

"You certainly are," Lector said. "A loving, caring person. I never would have believed it of you in the past either, but I'm glad we were both wrong."

Nesbitt finally smiled. It was nice to know that Lector didn't see anything strange or wrong in his behavior. Not that he really thought Lector would, but he knew Lector was often very frustrated with him for his reckless and impulsive outbursts.

"Truthfully, when I first met you, I thought you were unbreakable too," he said. "And I didn't think you cared about anything except being at the top. Then I saw you with Mokuba Kaiba and I knew you cared about him. And I started to see that same look in your eyes when you were with Gansley, Crump, and Johnson . . . and me. You cared about all of us, including me."

"Always," Lector said.

"Were you ever surprised by that?" Nesbitt wondered. "Caring about us, I mean. I already know you were surprised by caring about the kid."

"Yes, I was surprised," Lector said. "Crump kept wanting me to be his friend and he finally got under my skin. Johnson was the same way, although it took longer for me to recognize the friendship longing in him. It was sometimes hard to tell what was truth and what was lies with him, but I figured it out at last. Gansley, well, I always respected him as a business professional, and then I started realizing I loved him as a friend, even a father figure. And you . . . it probably took the longest in coming with you. But I suppose that only made the love deeper when I recognized it."

Nesbitt nodded. "I feel the same."

Lector hesitated. "Nesbitt . . . I don't ever come off like your biological family, do I? The way they tried to mold you into being what they wanted you to be?"

"No," Nesbitt said in shock. "We don't agree on things 80% of the time, but just disagreeing isn't the same as what they tried to do. You've never acted like that."

Lector relaxed. "Thank you. I'm glad to know that."

Nesbitt leaned back, making a face. "Meanwhile, I'm worried about not remembering what happened to us today. Do you remember at all?"

"I'm afraid not," Lector said. "And the others only know that we were out talking to construction crews about building Penguin World."

"That's hardly the kind of situation that results in laying in the road in the pouring rain with one of us apparently dead," Nesbitt grunted.

Lector sighed. "I suppose when we're feeling better we'll have to retrace our steps and figure it out. It could be important."

"That's what I'm thinking," Nesbitt said. "But right now, I'd rather just focus on you being alive and safe."

Lector smiled. That was just fine with him.



Title: Off to Save the World
Day/Prompt: April 16th, 2019 - And if we die, I'll meet you up in Heaven
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five
Rating/Warning(s): K+. Gratuitous hurt/comfort, deeply ingrained in a scenario from my timeline.

The Big Five had never thought things would come to this, but now they were standing in a circle, gripping each other's hands, staring down Zorc Necrophades.

"We're not going to be able to defeat him," Nesbitt growled. "All we can do is keep him from getting to the others, and that might not last for long."

"If it can last long enough for Yami Bakura to get to him, it will hopefully be enough," Gansley said.

Their rings were all starting to glow with their individual elemental powers.

"What if we don't come out of this?!" Crump worried. "What's gonna happen to us? Where will we go?"

Johnson shut his eyes tightly. "I don't know if we've repented enough for our past sins to keep us out of Hell, but if we have . . ." He opened his eyes again. "I guess we'll all be together in Heaven."

Lector nodded. "I believe we will be." He gripped Nesbitt's and Gansley's hands tighter. "But let's hope it's not our time to go yet."

The others were certainly in agreement. They prayed for their success in holding off Zorc, and everyone's survival . . . including their own. As Zorc advanced on them, their rings glowed brightly. Then there was an explosion of light.
****
Everyone was panicking when Zorc fell, not knowing what had become of those who had been close enough to him to try to take him on. The Big Five were all missing, as well as Yami Bakura.

"Lector!" Mokuba screamed. "Where are you?!" He brushed the blood away from a cut on his cheek.

"If it hadn't been for them, Zorc probably would have killed all of us before Yami Bakura could even reach him," Téa knew. But the explosion of light from their rings couldn't have left them uninjured. It had knocked Zorc completely off his feet and stunned him, which was no easy task.

". . . I see them," Yugi suddenly gasped. "Oh no. . . ." He ran ahead. "Guys?!"

Everyone else chased after him, catching up as he fell to his knees in tears next to their lifeless bodies.

"They're all dead," Téa whispered. "No. . . ." She blinked back tears of her own, but they only returned. They were all laying there, so still . . . and still trying to hold on to each other. Nesbitt was sprawled across Lector's back, as though desperately trying to shield him. Crump was laying on Gansley, while both Gansley and Lector had a limp arm draped over Johnson.

Mokuba screamed. "Lector!" He crashed down, sobbing as he shook Lector's shoulder. "Wake up! Come on, you've gotta wake up!"

Yugi reached out and touched Gansley's shoulder. "Please," he whispered.

Joey stared at the scene, aghast in spite of himself. "Oh man. . . ."

Serenity fell down, shaking Nesbitt on the shoulder. "Mr. Nesbitt! Wake up!"

"It's no use," Atem said quietly. His heart heavy, he knelt down by Gansley. "They gave their lives for all of us. At least we can be grateful they died together. We've seen that they can't stand being apart. Now, they will never have to be."

"But . . . I can't stand them being gone!" Mokuba cried. "I want them back! Lector . . ." He desperately hugged his friend as best as he could with Nesbitt shielding him. "Lector, please don't leave us . . . or me. . . ."

Seto's heart broke as Mokuba wept. There was nothing he knew to say or do that could comfort the boy. He felt helpless, as he had when their parents had died. He hadn't been able to replace them. He couldn't replace Lector either.

Téa gently laid a hand on Crump's shoulder. "You really changed," she said softly. "You're a good guy. . . . You and the others. . . . You're all our friends. . . ." She cried. "Please don't leave us! . . ."

Joey dropped to one knee by Johnson. "What she said," he said gruffly. "Come on, Johnson! . . . All of you!" He slammed a fist into the dirt. "You've gotta wake up!"

Tristan and Duke stood by, not sure what to think or say, but badly shaken all the same. They both looked to Nesbitt's motionless form, and Serenity crying over him. Finally, in agreement on one thing, they both bent to try to comfort her.

"They didn't deserve this," Serenity sobbed.

"No," Tristan said, and realized he really meant it. "No, they didn't."

"Do you miss them too?" Serenity softly asked, looking up at them.

They both looked away.

"I never thought I would," Tristan said. "Especially him. But . . ." He bowed his head. "This isn't right. Yeah, I miss them all."

Duke glowered at the ground. "Me too."

"It's just too sad," Téa choked out. "I'll never get this sight out of my head. . . ." She moved her hand down to Crump's hand and weakly squeezed. "Wake up. . . ."

It almost seemed all at once that all five men stirred. They slowly looked up, focusing on the group in stunned shock and surprise.

"Lector!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Oh Lector, you're okay!" He hugged him closer.

Lector looked to him, still dazed. "Mokuba. . . ."

Nesbitt blinked back the glassiness from his eyes. "We're alive?"

"You're all alive!" Serenity happily cheered.

Crump backed off of Gansley. "Well, how about that." He grinned. "We made it!"

Yugi beamed, hugging the astounded Gansley. "This is just the way it should be," he proclaimed. "You're all part of the group now. We all wanted you to be okay!"

Atem smiled in agreement. "We did," he agreed.

Johnson looked around in amazement. They were all alright, incredibly, and all of the people they had hurt in the past were now rejoicing that they were alive. It was something none of them had ever thought would come to pass, but when it had, it was beautiful beyond measure.

The Big Five returned the hugs and happy gestures and then all hugged each other close.

"I pray that when we die, we will be all together," Gansley said. "But I'm thankful it isn't this day."

Lector firmly nodded. "What about Yami Bakura?"

"We don't know where he is yet," Téa softly admitted. "Bakura and the Ishtars went out ahead to look for him."

"But you're all okay, so he probably is too," Joey said, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Let's hope so," Johnson said as they stumbled up to help look.