Archive of Our Own

A paper airplane soared through the air, crunching against the side of Yugi's head for landing in a crumpled heap on his desk with the others.

Well, Yugi thought as he tried to ignore his partners' snickering and focus on his work, at least it didn't get stuck in my hair this time.

His nose twitched as the smell of… whatever the hell Marik was cooking in the break room reached him, and he hunched his shoulders as if that would protect him from the foul odor. Jonouchi must have caught a whiff of it too, for he gagged and nearly fell out of his chair. Looking up through his bangs, Yugi glanced at Honda, wondering if the Sargent would investigate. But no - the dark haired man had his yogurt spoon hanging out of his mouth as he banged away at the keys of his keyboard, unperturbed.

Of course, Yugi mused. He has little ones. Weird smells are probably an every day thing in his house.

"Stupid fucking - " BANG.

The sound of Mai on the verge of destroying yet another computer made everyone jump, but no one dared look up in fear that they would end up getting beaten up next.

Yep. Just another glorious morning in the Seven.

With a wistful sigh, Yugi was about to return his attention to his report when the elevator dinged softly, and their Captain stepped into the room, briefcase and usual brown paper lunch in hand.

"Are you limping?" Jonouchi asked - no good morning, Captain from him - and pointed to Kaiba's left leg, which Yugi noticed he was favoring.

Suddenly all eyes were on the Captain.

"Yes. I'm fine. I sprained my ankle over the weekend." Kaiba's answer was clipped and left little room for comment or debate as strode into his office as best as his hurt leg would allow him.

Once he was in his office, the occupants of the room quickly moved to huddle around Jounouchi's desk, Anzu included. All except Yugi, who stayed seated, shaking his head.

"Alright," Jounouchi whispered excitedly, "how do we think the Cap hurt his leg?"

"Maybe be was chasing a perp?" Honda offered. "Obviously a guy like that never really takes a day off, much less a whole weekend."

Marik scoffed and waved the idea away with his hand like a fly. "Nah, he's like a hundred years old, he probably pulled something trying to get dressed!"

Mai snorted, and Anzu let out a surprised shriek of laughter, clapping her hand over her mouth as all eyes turned to the doorway of Kaiba's office, where the man loomed like a predator waiting to strike.

"Excuse you." He snarled as they all began to shrink away. "I can hear you idiots speculating about my injury from my desk. If you must know, I stepped in a pothole walking my dogs and twisted my ankle." Nostrils flared, he pointed a menacing finger at all of them in turn. "Now quit gossiping like schoolgirls and get back to work."

The crowd dispersed quickly, leaving Jounouchi without cover or protection when his surly Captain locked eyes with him and slowly limped his way over to his desk. Jeez, the guy somehow managed to make a limp look menacing.

Instinctively, Jounouchi straightened from his slouch and puffed out his chest, just seconds away from rising to his feet to meet the other man eye-to-eye. He was shocked when Kaiba bent down and whispered, low and conspiratorial, "Do you want to know how I really hurt my leg?"

The detective froze, sensing a trap. "No," was the right answer, "fuck off, Kaiba" more appropriate but would definitely get him fired, which left, annoyingly the truth. The grinding teeth, he said, "Yes."

A truly evil smile twisted Kaiba's mouth in a way that made Jounouchi want to punch him even more than usual. "I was competing at the regional ballroom dancing championship with my husband," Kaiba explained, keeping his voice low as he pulled out his phone. He swiped through a few pictures of himself a shorter man who Jounouchi recognized from the picture his boss kept on his desk as Atem. The two wore matching dress shirts in sparkling gold with black dress pants, each outfit obviously well-tailored to fit the mens' frames. They were chest to chest, hands clasped, Kaiba's left hand on Atem's waist where Atem's lay gracefully across one of Kaiba's broad shoulders. Some of the pictures were even a little blurred to suggest their movements.

Kaiba continued, taking absolute glee in the way Jounouchi's mouth fell open in total shock. "We picked it up a few years ago and have gotten quite good at it. But this past weekend there was a… mishap. Another couple crashed into us. Now I'm forced to take a break from the sport due to a twisted ankle."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jonouchi slowly, tearing his eyes away from the pictures before him to look back at Kaiba's face.

With a smirk and a flourish, Kaiba's phone went dark and disappeared into his front pocket.

Kaiba's answering smile was cold, malicious. "Because no one will ever believe you."

And with that, he gave Jounouchi's stiff shoulder a condescending pat and strode back into his office, door closing behind him with a soft click.

~*~

Detective Marik Ishtar was about to throw his phone off the roof. The near constant buzzing of the wretched thing was driving him mad. They were messages he didn't want to see. He didn't want to think about them. He didn't want—

"ISHTAR! My office! Now."

—the Captain to find out about it. Sighing, Marik shoved back from his desk and took what felt like the walk of death to Kaiba's office. His fellow officers looked at him with pity. Kaiba only shouted like that when something had gone wrong. Or someone fucked up. Or both. Jounouchi was usually on the receiving end of that tone, and for his part the other man looked relieved that he wasn't the one in trouble this time.

He shot Marik a pitting smile before returning to his phone call, which Marik found he appreciated.

"Close the door," Kaiba commanded when Marik crossed the threshold.

Marik did so and Kaiba directed him to sit, and Marik moved to one of the armchairs across from the desk.

"Not there," Kaiba instructed, and instead gestured towards the couch, that lined the back wall, away from the windows and out of sight from the others. Marik blinked in surprise, and did so gingerly. Kaiba spun in his chair and wheeled himself to be setting almost knee-to-knee with Marik, studying him in a way that made him squirm uncomfortably.

"Am I in trouble, Sir?" Marik finally asked, not bothering to disguise his disdain. When he'd learned his… God, what even was Kaiba now? Former almost brother-in-law? Now cousin-in-law? (Was that even a thing?)

The only other father figure he'd ever really had besides his elder brother Rishid?

Whatever. When he'd learned that he'd been placed under the watchful eye of a family member in the Seventh, he'd been both relieved and horrified. Relieved, because perhaps someone would come up to bat for him when his inevitable weirdness reared it's weird, ugly little head, and horrified at what being under the thumb of someone like Kaiba Seto would actually mean.

He'd been shocked and more than a little hurt to learn that the best Kaiba offered him after his formal introduction were a few nods of approval here and there, but otherwise… nothing.

Silence.

Kaiba had ignored him. And Marik had hated it.

Kaiba, used to Marik's disregard for authority from the years spent with him in his youth, coolly said, "I was hoping you would tell me. You've been acting strange all morning. Is something going on?"

Since when do you care?

"No." Marik answered, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away, hating himself for reverting back to being a fifteen year old screw-up. He was now an almost thirty-five year old screw up, thank you very much.

For his part Kaiba just raised an eyebrow, waiting.

Marik threw himself back on the couch, slouching. Of course, the piece of furniture was ridiculously comfortable for an office couch. The man apparently skimped out on nothing.

"It's personal," he muttered.

Kaiba sighed, and Marik really did feel like a teenager again. Maybe this was why Kaiba had been ignoring him for all these months. Old habits were hard to break.

"I understand that my relationship with your family is… odd," Kaiba started, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees , "but I want you to know that there was a time when I considered you a second little brother. And while many years might have passed, I still care for you, and we are still family. If there is something I can do to help this personal problem, I hope you know you can tell me."

Marik sighed, feeling the fight rush out of him. Kaiba had been good to him when he'd been dating Ishizu, despite all the ways he'd acted up. And yes, things had been… weird for a while after Kaiba left his older sister for their cousin Atem, they were all amicable now. Friends, even. Had been for the better part of the last two decades.

Still, Marik was always quick to bow out of family dinners and any kind of holiday gatherings. Working in the Seven had been the most he'd seen Kaiba since he'd been a kid, and while it was… still weird, he had to admit that Kaiba was in a unique position to assist him with this particular problem.

With that, Marik relented with a heavy sigh. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

Kaiba straightened, all business. "I'm a vault. What's going on?"

"I'm dating someone," Marik confessed. Kaiba looked bemused and Marik added, "A man."

Kaiba's bemused expression turned to confusion. "I didn't know you were gay."

"No one does! And they can't know!" Marik blurted out in a rush. "Rishid isn't exactly and ally and Ishizu said some awful things when you and Atem came out!"

Kaiba's continued amusement made Marik understand why Jounouchi was always muttering about how Kaiba had a uniquely punchable face. "I think your sister's anger was more directed at the fact that her cousin had just stolen her fiance out from under her nose." Kaiba muttered. He cleared his throat and said louder, "But I understand. I won't tell anyone."

"Ryou's mom—that's his name, Ryou—is a gigantic…. " Marik trailed off. Could he say the word bitch in Kaiba's company? Were they talking as family or as boss and underling?

Alright, fine. He understood why Kaiba had decided to keep a cool distance from him. The lines were easily blurred.

So, with a frustrated huff, he let the let the last sentence dangle and continued: "There was a B&E at the Domino Museum a few years back. I was still with the three-two, and since the museum's under their jurisdiction, I was called in to investigate as a new detective. That's how we - Ryou and I - met. He was doing research there for his master's degree and was a witness. Anyway, we were just hanging out as friends at first but one time his mom came home and threw me out because I'm…" with that he trailed off again, raising his hand to show off his dark brown skin. The Ishtar's hailed from Egypt, and they all bore the dark brown skin, black hair and almond shaped eyes of Arab people. Even though Marik chose to bleach his hair to a white-blonde, there was still no mistaking him for anything other than not white.

Kaiba's eyebrow twitched, the only physical reaction to the rage boiling within him. Never would he understand racism. Even if he lived a million years. The idea of something as uncontrollable as skin color or ethnicity being able to cause divisions between people was completely beyond him.

"I already hate this woman," he said. "Continue."

"When Ryou and I decided to start dating, we tried to keep it a secret from her. Which was of course almost impossible. He was still living at home while he finished up school, and... Well. She found out. That's why I had to transfer here, actually. She followed me to the precinct and started to cause trouble." Marik scrubbed his face with his hands, shuddering at the memory. "She kicked up such a fuss that Captain Pegasus told me I had to transfer. Rishid told me there was an opening for a detective here. When I moved across town to take it, Ryou came with me. You have to believe me when I said we did all we could to make sure she couldn't find us. Ryou cut off all contact. We made sure our new place was unlisted. We even changed our phone numbers. Heck, Ryou even switched to a different campus to finish his graduate studies and made sure his records were sealed from his mother's potential prying. And yet…"

Again, Kaiba's brow twitched. Because, yet again, his superiors had kept secrets from him.

He was going to have a word with Pegasus when this was all over.

"And yet." Kaiba repeated, finishing his sentence. "She's found you."

At that moment, Marik's phone started to buzz again. From the way he physically flinched away from it, Kaiba didn't have to spare a guess who it was.

"She's been harassing me all morning," Marik explained with a heavy sigh. "I tried blocking her but then she starts up again from a new number. I can't imagine how much she's blown in burner phones just to call me a 'faggot.'"

Kaiba's eyes narrowed, his jaw clenching as he fought to keep his raging temper down. Marik had seen that look more times that he cared to count in his youth; usually all directed at him. By all rights, he should have been locked in jail with the key thrown away but having two lawyers and two cops in the family were the only things that kept him a free man. Once he got clean, got his head on straight, grew up a little, he knew he wanted to repay that kindness the only way he knew how: helping the people who were like him. He may not lead in collars, but had the best rehabilitation rate on the squad.

Kaiba's next words, then, were something of a surprise:

"Is Ryou safe?"

Marik blinked. Then sighed, the thought bringing some relief. "Yes," he said. "Somehow Akami got a hold of my number but still can't find his. He's laying low at a mutual friend's who she knows nothing about. That's one of the reasons she keeps calling, of course: to find out where he is. She's even accused me of murdering him, Captain." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. "It's a huge mess. I'm sorry."

Kaiba thought to reach out and place one of his hands on top of Marik's head, the way he'd done with Mokuba so many times when they were young and Mokuba was in distress.

Instead, he clenched his hands into a fist against his pantleg.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he said quietly. Then he stood, looking down at Marik who peeped at him through a gap in his fingers. In his usual clipped, authoritative tone, Kaiba said, "Go to the front desk and give them a picture of Akami, tell them she is not welcome anywhere near the premise and is to be stopped if she tries entering. Then send an email out to all staff and officers with the same picture and let them know that this woman is stalking a fellow officer. While you're doing that, I would like you to turn your device over to me. I personally will see to tracing the calls to find out where they're coming from. In the meantime, get a new phone with a new number, and try to keep it turned off unless you absolutely need to use it."

Marik blinked up at him, surprise clear on his face. "Sir?" Marik asked, slowly rising to his feet. "A-are you sure about this? It seems like… a lot of trouble."

Kaiba sighed, and clasped hold of Marik's shoulder in a firm grip. "Unlike your previous captain, I don't throw my officers to the wolves when their personal lives begin to interfere with their professional ones. This will take time, but we'll get it figured out. In the meantime, focus on work and keep me notified of any developments."

Marik proceeded to stare quietly down at his boots, so Kaiba gave his shoulder a squeeze that caused him to look back up.

"Do I make myself clear, Detective?"

Remembering himself, Marik stepped back and snapped to attention, a renewed sparkle in his eye as he saluted Kaiba.

"Yes, Sir!"

~*~

Marik shouldn't have been surprised when the email appeared in his inbox at the end of the day, but he had to blink several times and rub his eyes for good measure.

An email from his Captain. Nothing written in the body, but containing a forwarded Cease & Desist order, delivered into the hands of Bakura Akami at 4:35 that afternoon. Signed by none other than the Honorable Atem Kaiba.

What came next were three days of quiet. But what should have been a reprieve just served to set his nerves even further on edge. Indeed, he'd followed Kaiba's instructions to the letter. But still, his new phone felt like a time bomb ready to go off. Any door opening or sound of a shout from somewhere in the building had him shooting to his feet, ready to bolt.

Ryou was not much better, safe at their friends' house as he was. They spent a lot of sleepless nights whispering in the dark to one another, sharing their fears and half-hearted reassurances to one another.

The anxiety and sleep deprivation, then, definitively contributed to the way Marik nearly jumped out of his own skin around lunch time on the fourth day since his meeting with Kaiba at the sound of his own name.

"Jesus, Rishid," he gasped, hand on over his heart as he put his head down on the edge of his desk to regain his breathing. "Make noise when you approach a guy, will ya? I almost shot you."

Rishid, for his part, only cocked his bald head and quirked his one remaining eyebrow, giving his scared face a twisted look at he knew well enough to interpret as bemusement. The scar marring the left side of his face was courtesy of their late father, although it had not been enough for child services to finally step in and take them away. No, not until Marik's own back became marred with slashes from reeds cut from the willow tree in their back yard that their cries for help had been answered, and even then, poorly. Somehow Ishizu and Rishid stayed together but Marik had been shipped off to a foster home, having had to move several times before his elder brother and sister were finally able to convince the social worker that they could support their younger brother and be reunited.

Indeed, the thin lines crisscrossing Marik's back tugged at the memory, and he shoved it away quickly. Maybe Ryou was right, maybe he did need to go to therapy.

"Hi to you, too, little brother," Rishid said, still, the unscarred half of his face pulling up into a smile. "Any interest in going to lunch with me today? I feel like I've barely had to chance to see you since you transferred to the Seven, and that was nearly six months ago now."

With a heavy heart, Marik realized he was right. Even though they worked in the same precinct, Rishid's promotion to lieutenant and his transfer from detective down to running the uniformed units meant they'd rarely cross paths even if Marik wasn't actively trying to avoid him. It was bad enough dealing with one disapproving family member on Ryou's side, and he hadn't wanted to add his brother and sister to the mix.

Still, he found himself rising in agreement, grabbing his coat as he followed Rishid out of the building. Things were too damn complicated, but at the end of the day, he admitted that he missed his family.

The two men found comfort in small talk, catching up without diving too much into detail as they headed for Rishid's squad car. It was a beautiful summer day; the birds were singing, the air was pleasantly warm, and there was a breeze making everything heavenly. Perhaps he had been cooped up at home or in the office too much the last few days. He couldn't let the fear of this woman ruin his life. In fact, he was going to—

"There you are, you faggot."

Oh no. Marik whipped around to see Ryou's mother standing on the sidewalk that crossed the driveway between the parking lot and the road, looking like something out of a 50s fashion magazine her white-blonde hair done up in a perm, cat-eye glasses, and floral-patterned dress with it's half-length skirt. She even wore a pair of dark brown Mary Jane shoes, to complete the Grandma-fresh-from-Church look. Ironically, she'd had Ryou when she'd been a teenager, and since Ryou was almost ten years younger than him, Akami wasn't that much older than Marik himself.

Rishid froze, eyes narrowing. Marik looked between the two of them. Shit shit shit, would she out him right here, to his own brother? He'd sent the email with her picture through the general Seventh Precinct internal address, so as to avoid any personal questions.

"Ma'am," Rishid said, stepping between Marik and the woman as if on instinct. "You are barred from entering the police station or being anywhere near the property. I suggest you - "

"Excuse me?" she all but screamed, hands clenching into fists at her sides as she took a daring step forward. "'Barred from the property?' Under what pretext? My tax dollars pay your salary you ungrateful oaf."

Rishid's frown deepened, the scared flesh pulling at the left corner of his mouth making him look as though he were sneering.

For a small, joyful moment, Mrs. Bakura looked almost afraid of Rishid. But then she turned to Marik, and the moment ended swiftly.

"I see how it is," she said, pointing at Marik. "You drag my son away from God to live a life of sin, and then you murder him and use your police friends to cover up the crime! Just wait until the press gets a load of this. If you thought the Sam Alexander case was bad, I promise you, you have seen nothing yet."

Marik's heart sank. She was right. There was a lot Kaiba apparently was willing to put up with for his sake, but the PR nightmare from only a few months ago still haunted them. He opened his mouth, ready to deny her, to tell her off, to -

"Marik," Rishid's cool voice cut through the spiral of his thoughts. He was standing at the driver's side of his cruiser, door open, watching him over the hood. "Get in the car."

Marik did so, not thinking. But just as he managed to shut the passenger door shut, there was a loud crash, as something rectangular and heavy smashed into the back windshield. They both turned to see a brick at the center of the indent in the glass, which had caved from the force of impact and was now white with spider-webbing.

From the outside, Mrs. Bakura screamed "Where's my son, you faggot?!"

Both men were out of the car in a flash, Rishid reaching for his radio, eyes darting to the door of the building they had walked through not moments ago.

A loud howling sounded in Marik's ears as rage and his training melded together in one. For her part, it seemed the crazy bitch finally realized that she'd just vandalized a police car and had attempted to injure not one, but two police officers. She turned on her flat heels and took off.

Well. At least now Marik knew where Ryou got his stamina from. Mrs. Bakura wasn't slowing down at all as she careened haphazardly through the streets of Domino, knocking over people and hot dog carts to try and slow Marik down. She didn't count on the fact that Marik grew up in the crowded streets of Cairo; urban parkor was a pastime of his. He was mentally making a tally of all the laws she was breaking and where she was breaking them, knowing he'd need to come back and get statements from everyone they passed. He started checking around for security cameras and hoped the ones he glimpsed as he zoomed by were working properly.

At one point she darted across the street, ignoring oncoming traffic. Marik half hoped he'd see her get run over. Even worse, though, was that when a driver didn't want to get charged with involuntary manslaughter slammed on his breaks in the middle of lunch rush traffic, the person behind him slammed into him. And the person behind them slammed into them. Before Marik could blink, a five car pile up happened on one of the main arteries in the city right around lunch rush. 

Ryou was right; his mother really did ruin everything she touched.

It wasn't until they got into the park that Marik finally caught a break in his chase. The crazed woman wasn't watching where she was going and tripped over a sprinkler. She face planted into the dirt just long enough for Marik to catch up to her. She was attempting to crawl away when Marik planted his knee between her shoulder blades and forced her arms behind her back.

"Bakura Akami, you are under arrest for—"

"HELP HELP THIS FAGGOT IS ASSAULTING ME!"

Marik sighed. He was shouting at her to stop resisting, but she was screaming so loudly she probably couldn't hear him. She kept wiggling her arms and wrists so much that he was having trouble getting the cuffs on her. It did not help when her perfectly manicured fingernails turned into claws that began ripping into his flesh. filthy and bleeding, it was several more long moments before he finally locked the handcuffs around her wrist. He could hear the police sirens heading towards them, saw the gathering crowd of civilians out of the corner of his eye.

"Domino Police," he announced, showing the crowd his badge. "Please move along. Bakura Akami, you are under arrest for assaulting—"

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" she shrieked again so high pitched that Marik flinched. "THIS IS A FAKE POLICE OFFICER! HE'S HURTING ME! HE'S KIDNAPPING ME! HE'S CHOKING ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"You have the right to remain silent!" Marik hollered, though his cry was drowned out by her banshee wailing. Several of the civilians had started recording on their phones. Great. "Anything you say or do can and will be—"

"SOMEONE GET THIS NIGGER OFF ME!" she screamed.

"Okay, that's it, no more Mister Nice Cop," Marik huffed.

He did get off her, but only to loop his arms around her waist and haul her to her feet. Or he tried to. She instantly went boneless, slipping right out of his arms and back down onto the ground. He held in an aggravated sigh as he tried again. This time when he got her up, she kicked her legs out, forcing him to grab her around her waist so neither of them toppled over. He really should have tazed her, but with the amount of people watching and filming, that probably wasn't the best idea.

"LOOK AT HOW HE'S ASSAULTING ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!" she screamed again, but the civilians were much to interested in recording her hissy fit than assisting her.

"Are you okay?!" Rishid called as he jogged up to Marik with a couple of his uniformed officers in tow.

"There you are," Marik shot back, "Give me a hand, would ya!?" Marik cried as Mrs. Bakura started flailing again.

Shaking his head, Rishid approached and tried to grab onto her legs. She kicked him in the nose, breaking it, before he managed to get a hold of both her feet. They slowly carried her back to the squad car while she wiggled and writhed in their grasp. Marik rattled off her charges and read her her rights, but he doubted she was listening as she kept screaming about being assaulted, slung racial slurs at the top of her lungs, and even spat in Marik's face at one point.

For some reason, Marik thought that she'd go into the car easily. Instead she proved where Ryou got his flexibility as she tore herself from Rishid's grasp and went into a split across the doorway, making it impossible for them to shove her in without breaking her hips. Thankfully Jounouchi had arrived on scene with Honda. Marik was expecting Jounouchi usual boasting and bravado, but instead the blonde detective was unusually stoic as he and Honda rounded the cruiser, opened the other back door and helped Marik and Rishid wrangle Mrs. Bakura into the backseat. It was quite the production and Marik, and Marik was not looking forward to the headlines and trending hashtags on the other side of this. What a sight it must be, four grown men struggling to get one tiny banshee of a woman into a cop car.

By the time they finally got the doors closed on her, Rishid had a broken nose, Marik had bleeding bites and scratches on his arms, Honda had a black eye, and Jounouchi was nursing some bruised ribs. She was still wailing and writhing against the seat belt and they all looked at each other with dread.

"So who wants to drive her back to the precinct?" Rishid asked, jamming a thumb over his shoulder. "Do we draw straws?"

"I'll drive," Marik offered with a heavy sigh. He turned to his colleagues, dreading what he was going to have to do. "Jounouchi, Sarge, can you guys trace our route here and collect statements? We came down Fourth Ave, then turned onto Belmont, then up Eight, and then here. She knocked over a ton of carts and people, some of them may need medical assistance."

"I've already got my officers canvasing the area and helping where they can," Rishid said with a nod.

"What made her go ape shit on you, man?" Jounouchi asked, furrowing his brows in concern. His eyes were genuine as he asked his question and Marik gulped.

It was an odd feeling for Marik. He was usually the butt of the precinct's jokes. Being on the receiving end of Jounouchi's compassion was strange. He looked from Jounouchi to Honda, who had similar concern written on his face, and then back to Rishid.

He supposed there was no harm in telling them the truth. Doubtless he would need to be transferred and he'd likely never see any of these people again. Marik turned towards the car and bit out, "I'm dating her son."

He didn't wait for the slurs or jokes to start. He just climbed into the driver's seat and headed back towards the precinct.

~*~

A gentle knock on Kaiba's door made him snap his head up. His detectives only knocked like that when something had gone horribly, horribly wrong. Otherwise they just burst into his office unannounced, loudly, often giving him a migraine. So when he looked up to see Marik looking completely deflated, his heart sank.

"What happened?" Kaiba asked, pulling his glasses off.

"Ryou's mom is in Interview Two," Marik said, his voice quiet, defeated, and Kaiba felt his blood boiling. 

"Why?"

Marik started ticking off on his fingers, "Harassment, disturbing the peace, vandalism, damaging government properly, destruction of private property, running from the scene of a crime with personal injuries, pedestrian negligence, aaaaaand resisting arrest." Kaiba raised an eyebrow and Marik added, "So far. Jounouchi and the Sarge are still taking statements. I think she's on drugs or something. I chased her for close to ten blocks after she threw a rock at Rishid's cruiser. She wants to talk to a supervisor."

Sighing heavily, Kaiba pushed himself to his feet and snatched his tablet off his desk. This aught to be good. Before he could leave his office, Marik stepped fully into the door frame, blocking his path.

"If you need to transfer me, I understand," Marik said with a heavy heart. "In fact, if you could transfer me to another prefecture all together, I would be grateful."

"You're not going anywhere, Detective Ishtar," Kaiba said coolly. "Now lead the way."

Marik had to swallow past the lump in his throat as he stepped out of the Captain's way and headed to the interview room. For as much at the squad teased him, could it be that he actually found a place to belong? After so many years of searching?

Despite the fact that the interview rooms were sound proof, they could hear her wailing from down the hall. Not distinct words, just the cadence of her voice. It wasn't until they got closer that they could hear her screaming for a supervisor. Kaiba held up a hand to Marik to wait a moment, went back to his office, and returned a few minutes later with ear plugs; a custom molded set for himself and a pair of foam ones for Marik. Marik only wished he'd had them during the drive; his ears were still ringing.

Kaiba didn't knock or otherwise announce himself when he entered the room. He opened the closed the door quickly to save everyone else on the floor from the noise. She grew silent when he entered, looking him up and down as he opened his mouth to speak.

"ARE YOU A SUPERVISOR?!" she shrieked.

Kaiba didn't give her the satisfaction of flinching as her voice scratched on the fragile chalkboard of his mind. He simply nodded and took a seat across from her. "I'm Captain Kaiba Seto of the Seventh precinct. What can I do for you?"

Her face softened so quickly Kaiba wondered if he just watched a shape shifter warp. The banshee was gone, replaced by a homely, kind woman who looked like the quintessential pillar of a community.

Kaiba did his best not to shudder.

"Thank God you're here, Captain! I've been wrongfully arrested!" she sobbed, trying to reach out to take his hands but she was handcuffed to the table. "That ugly faggot has been posing as a police officer in order to rape my son! I wasn't doing anything wrong and he started chasing me! I was in fear of my life!"

"I see." Kaiba tapped on his tablet, bringing up the footage from the police car, then Marik's body cam, then Rishid's, Jounouchi, and Honda's. Each one showed her insane actions, including everything she did at the park once Marik got her down. "What's this, Ma'am?"

"Self defense!" she cried, crocodile tears welling in her eyes. "I was in fear of my life! I was afraid he was going to take out his gun and shoot me in the head, just like he did to my son!"

"No, Ma'am, that's you resisting arrest," Kaiba said calmly even as his hands were shaking with rage. "My officer is clearly giving you orders to stop resisti—"

"I don't take orders from fags!" she shrieked. "Not even ones in uniform! How are you waste public dollars on hiring such disgusting lowlifes!?"

Kaiba sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. "Madam, you are going to be processed and then you're going to be escorted to jail. Bail will be set, you'll be allowed to make a phone call. Do you have an attorney or do you need one to be assigned to you?"

"Jail?!" Her face then twisted up and she curled in on herself as much as she could being locked to the table. "My heart hurts. Please, I need a doctor. I need to go to the hospital."

Now Kaiba groaned, standing up sharply and storming out of the interview room. "Someone call an ambulance for this bitch!" He then pulled his phone out of his pocket just as Marik joined him in the hallway.

"Kaiba," Mokuba answered after two rings.

"Mokuba." Kaiba's face softened a little bit hearing his brother's voice. "I have a racist, homophobic client here for you that is dead to rights guilty. I will pay your entire fee if you can make sure she gets put away from the maximum sentence."

He could practically hear the gremlin smile from the other line. "I'll do that pro-bono. Give me fifteen minutes and I'll be over."

"You can take your time, medics are on their way because she says her heart hurts. Thanks, little brother." Kaiba hung up and then started dialing another number. "Now to make sure her case gets put on Atem's docket and she'll never see the light of day again."

"Thank you, Captain," Marik said with a small, relieved smile.

"I protect my family," Kaiba said simply as he pressed his phone to his ear once again. "You were family long before you joined my squad. Don't worry. We'll make sure she never bothers your or your boyfriend again." Then, into his phone he said, "Good afternoon, Your Honor. You're never going to believe this."

Kaiba walked off just as the EMTs arrived. Marik showed them to the interview room where Mrs Bakura was now bent over the table, sobbing. Marik just rolled his eyes. What did she think was going to happen? Even if they took her to the hospital, an officer would be going with her before taking her to jail.

"OH MAN DID WE HIT THE JACKPOT!" Jounouchi cried as he and Honda returned. Marik ran to the main room where Jounouchi was waving a stack of papers in the air. "That bitch is gonna get locked up tight! That is what happens when you mess with one of the Seven!"

"You guys mess with me all the time," Marik pointed out with a huff.

"Yeah but you're one of us. We are allowed. They aren't," Honda chuckled.

"I'll take that, Jounouchi," Yugi said with a smile as he snatched the paper from Jounouchi hands (after he stood up on his chair to reach it). "The Cap is going to want all this filed swiftly and properly. And we'll need to add your report ASAP, Marik."

Marik nodded and started to head back to his desk. "Yes. Right. I'll do that right—"

"Marik." Rishid's voice made Marik freeze in place. When Marik turned to look at his brother, Rishid looked distinctly displeased.

"Hey, Big Brother," Marik said with a nervous chuckle. "Thanks for your help with her. I wouldn't have been able to—"

"You didn't tell us you were dating someone," Rishid said.

Only for a moment was Marik cowed by the look in his brother's eyes. Then he saw his captain over Rishid's shoulder, leaning on the door to his office with a cup of coffee, watching. There was at least one person in this building who supported him. Marik puffed up his chest and stood up to his full height with renewed confidence.

"I heard the way you and Ishizu were talking about Seto and Atem when they got together. Don't think I couldn't hear you through the walls. Of course I wouldn't tell you when I started dating a boy. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, it's none of your business! We don't live together anymore; you have no control over my life anymore. I—"

"Marik!" Rishid interrupted him, a small, amused smile on his face. "First, we said those things because we were angry that our cousin just stole Ishizu's fiance, not because we disagree with their lifestyle. Second, if you thought that neither of us knew you were gay, then you're wrong. We've known since you were four."

From over Rishid's shoulder, Marik could see his captain giving him the 'I told you so' look and Marik had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Yes, rather poor choice. I. . ." He sighed, trying not to shrink in on himself as he asked, "You knew? And you... don't mind?"

"Of course I don't, you're my brother!" Rishid huffed, as though it was obvious. "Let's all have dinner together this weekend. I want to meet him."

At that Marik smirked, looking at his watch and then turning towards the elevator, which was thrumming with the tell tale hum of rising to their floor. "You're not going to need dinner. He's going to be here in about ten seconds."

Right on cue, the doors opened. A kind-looking young man with fluffy white hair ran out, looking around frantically before his eyes landed on Marik. His shoulders slumped in relief even as he ran over and pulled Marik into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" the young man cried in a crisp British accent, squeezing Marik until he couldn't breath. "I can't believe what mum did! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Marik said with a soft smile as he extracted himself from the lad's grip. "Here, I have people I want you to meet." He turned him towards Rishid and said, "Ryou, this is my older brother, Rishid. Rishid, this is Bakura Ryou. My boyfriend."

~*~

Late that evening, a haggard Kaiba all but fell through the front door of his sizable house. Closing it behind him, he bent down the give the dogs - all three of them hopping in excitement to see him returned from the great beyond - obligatory ear rubs, before he stepped into the adjoining living room. There, he found his husband and Ishizu curled up before a roaring fireplace, each with glasses of wine delicately clutched in their fine-boned fingers. 

Before either of them could even open their mouths in greeting, Kaiba held up a hand. "Why am I the last person to know that Marik is gay?" he asked.

The room went icy cold, Atem and Ishizu staring at him, wide-eyed. 

Then, like the ridiculous children they were, the two cousins threw their heads back and burst out in manic laughter. 

It did not improve Kaiba's mood.

Not one bit.