#gansley

1. Rescue

The Big Five were grateful but shaken as they crowded in Seto's limousine that night. They had just come from a horrendous several hours spent in Cooperstown's cursed cemetery, courtesy of Yami Marik. They were only alright now thanks to Yugi and the others' tireless searching for them all evening, and they burrowed deeply into the blankets Seto provided on the ride.

Nesbitt stayed close to Lector as the limousine drove off and started back down the mountain. After all the emotional twists and turns and horrors of their experience, it was hard for Nesbitt to believe they were safe now. From everyone else's expressions, they shared similar thoughts.

"This is real, isn't it?" Nesbitt plaintively asked. "We're all alive, and going home. . . ."

Lector squeezed his hand. "I certainly hope so. I really believe it's real."

"What happened to all of you?" Téa said in dismay. "It's obvious you've been through something terrible. . . ."

"As w said, we were made to think each other was dead, repeatedly," Gansley said. "And no matter how we wandered, we could never find each other or escape from where we were."

"At least none of us had to face it alone, but it was horrible enough as it was," Johnson said.

"You know, honestly, I don't think we would've come out of that mess okay if we'd been alone," Crump frowned.

"At least now it's all over and we don't have to think about the What Ifs," Gansley grunted.

"Although we all know we're going to," Johnson sighed. "I wouldn't say we're ‘okay.' It's probably going to take a long time to recover."

"Well . . ." Téa smiled at them all. "At least you have the chance to try. I believe you will recover, even if it will take a while."

"I hope so," Johnson said quietly.

"Are any of you physically hurt?" Atem asked.

"Nesbitt struck a tombstone and has a nasty bump on his head," Lector said, frowning at the spot.

Nesbitt grunted. "I'm fine. I'm not going to any hospital tonight."

Lector sighed. From his expression, he wondered whether Nesbitt needed to, and yet he understood the man's reluctance. What they all really wanted was just to get home, to any of their homes, and relax and try to recover emotionally.

"We thought Crump had been wounded," Gansley frowned, "but there's no sign of it now."

Crump reached behind himself to feel along his back. "I dunno how I could really be hurt and not know it," he remarked.

"You definitely acted like you were hurt and didn't know it back in that horrible place," Johnson said.

"That's freaky," Crump frowned.

"So who was it who was doing all of these awful things to you guys?!" Téa exclaimed.

All of their expressions darkened.

"Yami Marik," Gansley growled.

"We don't know how he managed to get back from where he was supposed to be sealed away," Johnson said, "but he was most definitely there."

Atem frowned deeply. "I wonder if it's that because he is a being of complete darkness, he is somehow able to reach out from where he is if someone is in a place of complete darkness."

"Cooperstown sure qualifies as that!" Joey cried.

"None of us even remember what we were doing right before we woke up as his prisoners," Johnson said.

Mokuba started and looked up in surprise. "You were all going to go up to your cabin and try to find something," he said. "I'm not sure what it was. . . . You were all pretty secretive about it."

Lector shook his head in dismay. "I still have no memory of it. I can't imagine what we were trying to do. What would be there that we'd need to be secretive about?"

"I'm sure you'll remember in time, if it was important," Atem told him. "Right now I believe all of you should focus on getting well."

Gansley nodded. "That's good advice. We will try to see that it's followed." He sank back against the seat, wearily closing his eyes.

30. Recovery

It was a peaceful morning at Gansley's home. The Big Five were gradually drifting downstairs after pleasant slumbers and settling in to eat breakfast around the long table. All looked well-rested and fairly content.

"So how is everybody?" Crump asked. It had become a thing that he would ask every day, hoping to draw out anyone who wasn't doing so well after what they'd been through. The others would answer and then ask how Crump was doing as well. Sometimes it was tempting to not be completely honest, but they had mutually agreed that they needed to be honest in order to help on the road to recovery. The morning ritual had helped all five of them through the difficult days and weeks.

"I'm alright," Nesbitt said.

"So am I," Lector said. "There was one unpleasant dream, but it faded and the rest of the night was fine."

"I'm well," Gansley said.

"I feel a lot better today," Johnson said. He sounded slightly amazed. "Maybe there will still be setbacks, but right now I'm alright."

"Healing is a gradual process," Gansley agreed, "as we have all been discovering.

"How are you, Crump?"

"I'm good," Crump said. "We're all okay and we've got great plans for Penguin World!" He grinned. "It's gonna be an amazing Christmas season!"

Lector smiled. "I believe it really may be," he mused.

"We'll make it great," Crump insisted. "And all our other buddies will help with that too!"

Everyone could agree with that idea. It had been a rough road back, and as Johnson observed, there might still be some bumps along the way. But they were together and they would get through whatever else came at them, just as they had done up to this point.

"We've still gotta decide what we're gonna do about Santa Claus," Crump said now. "Are any of us going to do it or are we hiring out?"

"I'll do it, at least for now," Gansley grunted.

"And I'll fill in . . . or do it at the Christmas party," Nesbitt added in a near-mumble, still looking embarrassed yet determined.

Crump blinked. "You, Buddy?!" He grinned. "Well, hey, that's great! We're all set then."

Nesbitt also looked surprised. He had been expecting the third degree. Slowly he relaxed as he realized that everyone was just accepting it. Maybe they weren't that surprised overall.

24. Panic Attacks

Johnson was down in the kitchen, his hands shaking as he tried to prepare morning coffee and breakfast for himself and the others. He had not slept particularly well and found himself utterly exhausted. He might try to go to back to bed, only he doubted it would help. Either he would stay awake and miserable or he would drop to sleep and back into nightmares of that Hellish night.

"Why can't I get over this?" he whispered. "I'm not supposed to act like this! I'm supposed to be strong! . . ."

He placed his hands on the edge of the counter and slumped forward in despair. In the background, the television he had on but wasn't paying attention to suddenly stabbed him in the heart. He jerked upright, horror flashing in his eyes at the familiar, demonic laugh.

"He's there!" he screamed. "He's there!"

He fled from the kitchen, crashing into Crump as he came down the stairs. Shocked, Crump braced himself and grabbed Johnson to keep him from falling. "Hey hey hey! What the heck's wrong?!" he exclaimed.

"He's there!" Johnson shouted again, pointing behind him at the television. "I heard him laughing!"

Crump peered into the kitchen doorway at the set. The news was on and depicting a crowd scene. Yami Marik was nowhere to be seen, but it certainly wasn't impossible that he could be in there somewhere and had laughed maniacally.

If he was free of where he had been trapped, that is. . . . They still didn't know how he had come out to torment them.

Johnson was sobbing in his arms now, forcing his attention away from the television. "He's never going to leave us alone! He'll always be here, somewhere, ready to reach out for us again!"

Crump held him close. Usually he knew what to say, but right now he was at a loss. What if Johnson was right? What if Yami Marik really had been there and would keep coming back? He certainly would if he could.

On the other hand . . . what if Johnson had imagined it in his lingering torment? What if it hadn't been real?

By now the commotion had brought the other three to the top of the stairs in alarm.

"What on Earth is happening?!" Gansley demanded.

"Johnson heard that thing laughing on TV!" Crump explained.

Nesbitt snarled. He and Lector hurried down the stairs, Gansley following close behind as quickly as he could.

"I'm never going to get better!" Johnson cried. "Every time I think I might be getting there, something else happens!"

Lector's eyes flashed with rage directed at Yami Marik. "You are going to get better!" he insisted. "He is not going to haunt us forever!"

"You don't know that!" Johnson yelled, his voice practically strangled.

"I know I won't stand for it!" Lector countered. "Somehow, someway, there has to be a way to get rid of him permanently! And I won't give up until I find it!"

Crump looked to him with worried eyes. That won't help if this is in Johnson's head. . . .

Lector frowned. He could pick up on what Crump was worrying about, but he wasn't willing to concede that Johnson had imagined it. And even if he had, that would certainly be understandable under the circumstances. It wouldn't mean Johnson was losing his mind.

Finally Crump drew a shaking breath. "Hey, Lector's right," he said. "One way or another, everything's gonna be okay. Things are not gonna be like this forever, Buddy. We won't let that happen! And we're gonna be right here with you every step of the way to you getting better!"

Johnson closed his eyes and slumped in Crump's arms. It was still hard to believe everything could really get better, but maybe . . . with his loved ones here, he surely had a chance.

"Hey, I thought of something else too," Crump said. "Maybe you should talk to your parents about all this. They'd sure wanna know, and they'd be even more support for you."

Johnson shook his head. "I don't like to burden them with all this. . . . They have no idea about all the horrible things we've seen and been involved with. . . ."

"But they would want to know," Gansley spoke up. "I can promise you that as a parent myself."

"I wish I could still go to my parents sometimes," Lector said quietly. "That certainly isn't possible with my father, and my trust of my mother is still shaky at best. You have a wonderful gift to have parents who have never betrayed you, Johnson."

"Yeah, no kidding," Crump said. "I had no idea what it was even like to have good human parents before I met your parents and Gansley's, Johnson!"

Finally Johnson managed a weak smile. "Maybe you're right," he said. "Maybe I should tell them. . . ."

"There's a 99.99% chance you should!" Crump insisted.

"After breakfast then," Johnson said.

Gansley looked at him in concern. "Do you feel like eating?"

Johnson nodded. "I'm hungry. And . . . I want to get my mind on something else."

4. Anxiety

Johnson lay in the dark, staring up at the ceiling. Gansley had thankfully gone to sleep without a great deal of trouble, as had Crump. The older man's snores were filling up the room. Johnson, however, wasn't having as easy a time.

He rolled over in the large bed, practically hanging over the edge of the mattress. He always tried to present himself as smooth and obnoxious, but in actuality he could be sensitive and distraught. He hated for his loved ones to be harmed, and every time they were, he died a little more inside. The others felt the same, of course. But the more things happened, the more agonized Johnson became. He had been worse than any of the rest of them, and yet he always had to stand by and watch them suffer! He had been a victim at times as well, but it always seemed like just desserts when it happened to him. He wished that he would be the victim the most, instead of those he loved having to take the brunt of it.

Silently he slipped out of the bed, making sure not to disturb Gansley. Crump had flopped on a couch in the room, and Johnson tip-toed past him as he headed into the hall.

They had mutually agreed to leave their doors ajar tonight, in case any of them needed comfort or help from the others. Johnson crept up to Nesbitt's door and silently eased the door open farther. Lector and Nesbitt had burrowed into the bed and the covers, holding each other close. Johnson turned away with a bittersweet smile.

What a strange, mismatched crew they were. But they had always worked so well together, save for Lector and Nesbitt's problems, and now they had certainly moved past those.

"I can't lose any of them," Johnson whispered. "Please. . . . We were lucky tonight, and all the other times, but I know that can't last indefinitely."

"Buddy?"

He looked up with a start. Crump had suddenly appeared in the hall, regarding him in concern.

"Oh. . . ." He pushed away from the wall, hoping he didn't look as conflicted and agonized as he felt. "I was just checking on them. . . ."

"And I'm checkin' on you," Crump said. "I'm not sure I like what I see. Are you really okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Johnson bluffed. "We're all alive, we're home safe. . . ." But his voice cracked. He couldn't put on a show tonight.

"And we all went through somethin' awful," Crump said. "We're all still reelin' from it in our own ways. Lector and Nesbitt, they deal with it by snuggling close so they're right there for each other during the night. You, you act like you're dealin' with it by pretending you're more alright than you are. I saw the real you in your eyes, Buddy. It's okay to show you're still upset."

Johnson drew a shaking breath. "After all we went through, it's just hard to believe it's really over and we're safe," he said. "I keep expecting the illusion to end and we're still stranded in that Hellish place!"

"We're probably all gonna go through some of that," Crump said. "I started awake thinkin' I was layin' in the grass back there." He gripped Johnson's shoulder. "But we're home! Everything really will be okay, even if it's not yet."

Johnson gave a wan smile. "I hope so. I . . . don't know if I'll ever be alright again."