Case-chan: Ahhh! Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! Bows repeatedly I am sooo sorry for not updating and not replying to reviews! I have been being so lazy recently! Cries Problems are hopefully sorted though... I should be updating more quickly now, and defiantly more after May when I'm done with exams. I'll do replies at the bottom, ok everyone? Replies to chapters four and five, and six but there aren't any for six so yeah.

Ryou paused with his hand on the door to F Section. He'd hoped never to see this place again, now he was entering willingly, well, almost. They hadn't found Mokuba in E Section, so now there was only one place left. F Section.

Pushing the door slowly open, Ryou braced himself for the sight he knew he would see. He felt Yugi's comforting hand on his shoulder, and relaxed ever so slightly. He knew he would never have got this far without the smaller boy that meant so much to him. The albino felt the rich teen behind him flinch away from the sight now presented in front of him; no one could really blame him, but it still made Ryou feel happier that the brunette was actually human, unlike he'd heard from some rumours off new inmates.

"Do you see him?" Ryou muttered, refusing to look anywhere but the floor by his left foot and the door frame; which he absentmindedly noticed was in need of painting. All the albino got in answer to his question was shoved out of the way as the young business man ran into the section; Ryou took that as a yes. "Here're the keys."

Seto caught them easily, and after a moment of jangling, a rusty door creaked open, then Kaiba was back with them, Joey still in his arms and his brother on his back, barely conscious and crying into the brunette's shoulder.

"Can we get out of here now?" He asked

"And leave all these people like this?"

"I'll send someone to sort this place out soon as we get to the car."

"Promise?"

The brunette nodded, jumping his brother a little higher on his back and shifting his grip on Joey. Ryou nodded finally and walked back towards the window, climbing out and helping Seto, before they made their way to the land rover by the gates.

"In you get; I'll give you both a lift back."

"You don't have to; we can just walk." Ryou smiled, "Right Yugi?"

"Not really Ryou... look..." Yugi was staring out through the crack in the gates at the baron landscape surrounding them. "You can't see anything for miles..."

And as Ryou looked, he could see it was quite true. Every direction you looked, all you could see was cracked, dry land, no vegetation in sight, and the sun was burning so brightly Ryou could feel himself beginning to burn. He took a tentative step forwards, still not believing what he saw, what was right in front of his eyes. Birds circled over head and as Ryou dropped to the dry earth, he heard the cry of some strange creature, running paws, and a gunshot.

The albino's head shot up at the last sound, and he stared all around, finally spotting the creature that'd been shot; a wolf-like beast, slightly bigger than a lion, sharp, pointed teeth showing it as a carnivore. It's brown fur was matted and covered in dust, it's starved appearance clear now to the albino as he went to examine it more closely.

"I wouldn't get much closer Ryou, those things are a breading ground for flees and lice, not to mention all the diseases you can catch from them. Come on, hurry up before we get caught by anything else; this world isn't safe outside now." Seto said matter-of-factly, strapping Joey and Mokuba safely into the back seats of his car, before going round to the boot and unfolding two small seats, one of which Yugi hopped gratefully up into, Ryou soon following and settling in the other.

"It's about two hours drive to the city." Seto explained as he slipped into the front passenger seat, the driver starting the engine and setting off.

"What about to the country?" Ryou asked, twisting in his seat to look out of the window behind him, scanning the vast desert planes for any sign of greenery.

"Country?"

"Yeah! Trees, grass, sounds of small birds in the hedgerows..."

Seto turned round in his seat, looking at Ryou as though he was insane

"...All that got wiped out Ryou... It couldn't survive without the ozone layer, it all died out, all the vegetation, all the animals, only the strongest could survive. That's why we're left with things like that wolf and the vultures; even desert animals had trouble surviving, over the past year and a half, so much has changed... so much has been destroyed... this world isn't what it once was."

Ryou stared back in shock.

"But... but me and Yugi are gonna buy a little cottage somewhere quiet! Somewhere peaceful and beautiful! The countryside can't all be destroyed! It just can't be!"

"It can and it has Ryou, just forget your little fantasies, the rest of us've had to."

The albino was quiet after that, giving a small smile when Yugi's hand found his, but otherwise, the rest of the journey was silent.

"What in the world...?" Yugi breathed as they cleared a small hill, several large domes coming into view over the horizon.

"That's the city."

"No way! People live in that! How can they breathe!"

"There's a ventilation system, and the oxygen levels and heat are carefully managed."

"I've just thought of something... with no vegetation and no animals worth eating by the sounds of things, how do we live?" Ryou muttered, still watching the huge domed city move towards them.

"There's a carefully balanced diet created inside, it's made sure that no one dies from malnutrition."

"Created...?"

"Stop asking questions, you'll see once you've lived here a little."

Minutes later doors opened admitting them, and soon after that, they stepped out, quickly being handed in to the care of a guard to get themselves registered as citizens. Once that was done, they were shown to their accommodation, then what was expected of them was explained by a bored looking man with a clipboard.

"You will leave for work at nine am; to get to your work station you simply follow those from your block. You will work 'til seven pm. At seven thirty dinner will be served, once again, move with your block, miss dinner and you won't be given another chance to eat until seven thirty the next morning, when breakfast will be served. Block lights are out at ten pm. Once every month you will sit a small test; if you fail this test, you will be removed from the facility and disposed of to prevent you dragging down society; we can not accommodate slackers or idiots. Clothes are in the wardrobe over there, bathroom there. I think that's everything. If you have any further questions ask another member of your block." The man's bored drone finally finished and he left; it was a few seconds before the pair looked around, not really believing their ears or eyes.

The room was small, and there was a two seated sofa and a small radio in one corner. One door leading off the room went to the bathroom, containing a sink, toilet and small shower. Off to the other side of the room they were in was a door leading to the bedroom, which consisted of two wardrobes, containing nothing but plain, boring, grey clothes, and two single beds.

"...It's as bad as the test centre..." Ryou mussed, running his fingers over the course materials.

"Lets go for a walk, maybe it's just this area."

Ryou was quick to agree to the suggestion, but after barely fifteen minutes, the pair were back, lying numbly on their beds, reflecting on their new life.

Outside were streets suspended over streets, buildings and machinery towering over them or sinking into the murky, polluted-looking depths below them. The whole city was a black grey, the only colour coming from the yellow-hued lamps providing light and the small flickering indicators on the machinery, and maybe the odd warning button somewhere, red to make it easily visible.

Ryou sighed dejectedly, looking over at Yugi who's eyes were closed, small, crystalline tears forming along his lashes. The albino felt his heart tare a little as he looked at his love, so small and fragile; he'd really thought he could protect him, give him what he deserved... but no, all Ryou'd done was move them from one hell hole to another.

"Yugi..." He said quietly, crawling off his own bed to get to the other, "I'm really sorry Yugi. I... I didn't know, I didn't mean for this-"

"It's ok." The smaller replied, opening his eyes to look at his Ryou, "I know you only wanted to help..."

"But... I was hoping to make your life perfect for you... I wanted to give you everything you wished for..."

"You already did."

"But..."

"You're here aren't you? We're not in the labs anymore are we? I love you Ryou, haven't you ever realised that? All I've ever wanted was your love..." Yugi shifted over a bit and held his arms open for Ryou. The albino was slightly shocked, but crawled up all the same, pulling Yugi close to him and tucking the smaller's head under his chin.

"I do love you Yugi, I always have and always will." He tilted Yugi's head up a little and gently pressed his lips to the soft petals below him.

Yugi let out a quiet sigh, and smiled up at Ryou as the kiss ended. It didn't matter where they were now. It didn't matter how cold the world outside was, nor the lives they now led. For Yugi, all that mattered were a few small words.

"I love you to Ryou."

Case-chan: Finished! Another fic complete! Thanks to Cloud135 for help at the end! He made it perfect! Or as perfect as it's gonna get Sweatdrops

Keisha: Don't you need to reply now? Or are you gonna forget again?

Case-chan: I didn't forget last time! messed up and deleted them!

Keisha: So just do the damn reviews already!

Case-chan: Yeah, yeah, am doing.

Replies: Chapter 4:

Mafdet-TK: ' Heh, well, I updated eventually, ne?

Elizabeth Aiken: Thanks! But that cliffie was just begging me to be left there!

dontmesswithYami: New test subject? Well you know that by now! ' It as Joey!

Pharaohs-slave: Well... I had actually written that chapter ages ago, I just had a load of shit stopping me posting it. .

Tiger witch: ...yeah... the fuss with the rock is?

Chapter 5:

AnimePunk5243: lol Subway! My friend loves Subway! ' Random, I know.

Mental: ...err... evil cliffie cause there was? '

Pharaohs-slave: Man? Man! I'm a girl! ' Damn all these people who think I'm a guy. Grumbles But yeah, I know I'm evil!

Bluegrass Elf: More came... eventually.

Tiger witch: Blushes lightly I was feeling tricky... I didn't mean to get you mad...

Flame Swordswoman: heh, well you can't say I didn't update...

Hiro.P: lol Sowwy. I made you scared. Sniffle But it is bassed on fact! They do treat animals like that in some labs!

Hikarinotenshi15: Yay! Thankus!

DojomistressAmbyChan: Yeah well, I do try to keep people interested, I'm not here to bore you all to sleep! I wouldn't get any reviews that way! Lol

Chapter 6:

It was half expected, I didn't get any. You people are mean! Sniffle But I guess I deserved it for not replying to reviews and not updating for ages like I really should cause I know how annoying it is when there aren't any updates to fics you like. ;;

Massive thanks to everyone who did review though! And thanks to all those people who waited for the updates and who threatened/showed concern towards/helped me so that this fic got finished and posted! I love you all really! (as friends of course)