Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

The first thing Seto remembered was the unevenness of the mattress. Second, the annoying inconveniences of dozens of sharp object jabbing into his back and shoulders.

Everything hurt. His head alone felt as though it had been cleaved in two. A faint metallic taste lingered in his mouth. The taste of blood. Perhaps he'd had too much whine last night. He never got drunk. Maybe he'd past out on his keys, or fallen down 100 flights of stairs.

Seto tried to bring himself to open his eyes but his eyelids flat out refused to budge. With a quiet groan he moved his hand to his head and felt the rough gauze of a bandage running around the circumference of his head beneath his bangs, a second wound tightly around his forearm. What was going on . . .

Then something soft met his fingers. Whatever it was it was a welcomed sensation compared to the irksome aching of all his limbs. It was the only thing not completely sweltering hot. A one night female companion . . .? Last night's party must have been a wild one if he picked up a girl.

Seto continued to pet whatever it was with his thumb, rolling his head to the side then managed to open his eyes just enough to make out his one night stand's face.

Only it wasn't some rich man's daughter. Well actually it was, but not the kind he would have guessed.

The tips of Jordan's vivid orange hair tickled his cheek, and he realized the softness he'd been stroking was the delicate underside of her forearm. He quickly jerked his hand away, which caused a lot of unnecessary pain. Seto made a quick mental note to move slower.

What was he doing here, and with her of all people? Sharing a be-

Wait a minute . . .

Sharing a . . . TENT?

Rapidly, wide blue eyes looked around the small makeshift version of a tent. It was more like a tarp placed over a rope spread between two trees. The plastic material was also set very low to the ground leaving no more than a foot between it and his nose.

This was no lavish party . . .

Slowly everything began to come back to him, piece by painful piece.

The rock climbing . . . Jordan holding onto his wrists . . . blood . . . India . . .

Oh God, this really wasn't a dream.

Seto's gaze dropped back to the young woman lying by his side.

Her body looked as bruised and battered as his. Odd, when he remembered- vaguely of course- taking the brunt of the deadly fall.

She stayed strangely still, although he could see her chest rise and fall tenderly. Her brow creased. Most likely she was in pain even her subconscious couldn't hide from. Her light colored eyelashes made for a natural compliment for her tanned, freckle sprinkled skin. Resting against his shoulder, Jordan's head tilted slightly, her lips parting just enough to let out a noise signaling she too was gaining consciousness.

Seto tried to sit up. He'd rather not be in this compromising position when she awakes. His reputation was already walking a thin line. Cuddling with a David Suzuki wannabe didn't fit his profile of a productive morning.

Seto managed to get to his elbows, his chest silently crying out in pain like his lower back. All the blood rushed to his head and Seto found himself pausing in his quest to blink and regain his focus. The ground refused to stop spinning, but that wasn't the reason he froze in place half a second later.

"I can't do anything now" hissed a very angry voice. He couldn't make out who for sure, but by process of elimination he guessed it to be Robin. "They could wake up any moment!"

A reply to her voice was an almost inaudible mumble, something Seto couldn't catch even despite his impeccable hearing. Maybe if he got closer.

"But I-!"

A twig snapped under his hand. The voices stopped.

"Mr. Kaiba, good to see y'all are doin' a bit better," Robin welcomed, suddenly appearing out of thin air at the mouth of the makeshift tent, that brighter than the sun smile stretching across her face. She kneeled down to check the bandage around his head.

Maybe he'd just imagined it, Robin wasn't the type of person to sneak around like that. He should know, he'd been around that type of people all his life.

"Well it could have been a lot worse" she sighed, checking his other bandages and bruises. "You don't know how lucky you two really are . . ." Her voice trailed off and her smile disappeared.

"Very lucky . . ." groaned a voice beside the pair. Jordan winced as she sat up. "Apparently he's useful for at least something . . ."

"Miss Taylor!"

Once again Colby's booming voice sounded like a foghorn in the quiet rustlings of the jungle. Seto and Jordan cringed at the same time, each mumbling a groan of their own. Seto brought a hand to his temple. Jordan did something similar.

"Quiet, please, Colby." The red head pleaded. "I'm fine, and I'm going to presume you are as well, Mr. Kaiba?"

Seto nodded but stopped realizing she couldn't see him on the account of her eyes remaining pinched shut.

The Herculean bodyguard whispered a barrage of apologies and was at Jordan's side in an instant.

Of course that meant he had to get under the tent, which undoubtedly meant pushing up the side. With a hiss the tarp slid over the rope and landed over Seto and Robin, nothing but a bumpy, talking tarp in their place.

Robin giggled cutely. "That man doesn't know up from down when it comes to her." The doctor looked up.

The position they'd come to land in was with Robin kneeling over his knees, slender arms by his hips between his own that supported him so he could sit up. Her hand came up to cup his face. Their noses became inches apart.

"You're not so pale," she said, voice heavy. "That's good. You looked like a ghost . . ."

Abruptly the tarp was ripped off them.

Seto blinked at the sudden light but focused on something else, something he didn't believe he'd saw.

Jordan's nutmeg eyes narrow to slits, the fiery emotion of anger fighting to spread to the rest of her face.

Pure, unadulterated fury, maybe . . .

Jealousy?

Seto only caught a glimpse when green army shorts blocked his view.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that, didn't mean to go burryin' ya," Colby bellowed quieter, lowering the volume a decibel. At least he was trying. He offered his hand but Seto ignored it. From the corner of his eye he saw Robin throw him a disappointed look before taking Colby's hand instead.

Seto wobbled on his legs, not something he'd normally allow his body to do in front of other people but he let it slide. All the aching of his body lying down was nothing compared to the pain of standing. His chest gave a sharp jab, like a stitch in his side when he ran for too long, when he tried to take a deep breath. So he opted for shorter more even breathes instead.

The forest of India, or Nepal, he wasn't quite sure, flourished around him. Everything was green, the waist high ferns, the bushes and lower trees, and the canopy above. The only other colors were the baby blue of the sky and the mahogany tree trunks of the tallest trees stretching towards it. Mahogany brown . . . just like-

Seto whirled around as fast as his injured body would allow.

But Jordan was already moving away. Her back stayed turned to him as she walked towards Eric, Nathan, Kale and Phoenix. He knew she was limping. She couldn't hide it completely, though God knows, she was trying. Never the less she picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, grimacing at the jostle.

"Hey wait boss!" Kale said, panicked. "Take it easy, you just woke up! You need to rest-"

Jordan ignored him. "Eric. Status report."

Eric frowned but obeyed. "After your fall we moved three miles south east. We avoided the cliffs but we had to move into the farmland. Th-"

"How long was I unconscious?" Jordan demanded.

Eric hesitated.

"I asked you a question, Donolov." The words came out as a hiss.

"17 hours and 23 minutes, ma'am."

Seto saw her body stiffen. He didn't know whether to be amused or worried.

"We've practically lost a whole day," Jordan growled, her voice precariously low. She stayed silent for a long moment, and then suddenly her head snapped up. "Why are you all standing around?! Get your things! We're going double time today!"

Foliage crunched under her feet as she strode towards Seto. It took six longs strides, a motion that made even Colby stand a little straighter.

"We can't have anything slowing us down now, Mr. Kaiba" she seethed. "You'll be dropped off at the next village with a phone. From there you can find your way to Delhi."

"No," Seto replied coolly.

Her umber eyes flashed. "Excuse me?"

"I said no," Seto repeated. He swore he heard her teeth snap together.

"I thought going home is what you wanted," Jordan said through her teeth.

Seto shrugged, covering a flinch of pain. "It was. However, I also said I wouldn't be leaving you alone until you signed my contract, and since you left that at base camp I find myself needing to follow you to make sure you don't run off."

Well, at least that was partially correct. Truthfully, he didn't want to leave because this was too much of a challenge for him to turn down. His opponent? Jordan Taylor. Diehard environmentalist, protector of all the innocent little animals and tough enough to stand up to him. That was something that deserved commendation by itself.

No, the gauntlet had been thrown and he was in this until the end.

Jordan looked livid. Her clenched fists shook by her sides, just itching to hit him. Robin swallowed nervously. She was probably mentally debating on whether or not she should step in before she had to stitch one of them up again, and wondering if she could do so without getting her head ripped off. Her eyes flickered to him, then widened in awe.

"But you're hurt." Jordan gritted the words one at a time, not bothering to sound sympathetic.

"So are you" Seto answered frostily.

"But you're worse!" Her tone sounded mildly hysteric.

Seto realized he'd been smirking. Honestly, it was funny, but he didn't want to risk getting dragged off by Colby. So he wiped his face clean of any expression and replaced it with a cold business like one instead. The move threw Jordan for a loop, even as mad as she was. Seto grabbed the opportunity.

"You remember my . . . request back at your office, I hope?"

Her dirt smeared faced paled and her jaw locked. "Yes."

"Good. I'm glad you see it my way. I knew you'd come around." He spoke with a leering smile.

Jordan inhaled a fast, deep breath through her nose, chest rising and falling sharply. She nodded stiffly. Nevertheless, she didn't look away. Seto felt the fire in her eyes clash with the ice in his.

Briefly they glared at each other until Jordan abruptly ended the silent argument and stormed off into the brush. Still limping.

The day worn on as SquadT1, plus Kaiba Corp.'s CEO, diligently made their way though the jungles of northern India. The atmosphere stayed tense and everyone kept quiet, except for the occasional questions in navigating. Other than that, talking seemed to be silently forbidden less one of them accidentally provokes the brooding redhead leading the march.

Seto preferred to listen to the sounds of the strange, emerald world around him. Nathan fell back with him whispering under his breath the names of the calls coming from the canopy above or the brush below.

Soon he was able to identify the loud caw of the Blue Peafowl, the frantic tapping of the White-Bellied Woodpecker and both heard and saw the oddly named Swamp Dear, giving a shrill baying whistle as it sprinted away.

This place was so different than Domino.

Remembering back to his world geography class, one line shot to the front of his mind.

'India is a land of magic and mystery . . .'

Of course everyone knew where he stood with so called "magic". He got enough of that when he was forced to be around Yugi and his group of lunatic disciples. However despite his 'cynical' views on the supernatural he had to admit there was something about this place.

Magical? That was debatable, but mystical? He'd give that a resounding yes.

It was in the air, he could practically taste it. It hung like the mist, it clung to the vines, the petals of the wild flowers, to the bark of the mighty Himalayan cedars. Seto Kaiba doesn't shiver, but a definite quiver tingled up his spine.

Thinking of home gave a smart pang to his insides taking away from the wistful world of North Eastern India.

Mokuba.

Seto wondered how his brother was coping. It had been nearly a week since he'd seen the bouncing ball of black hair he called a brother. Undoubtedly he was worried, as he should be. His big brother had seemingly run off and disappeared into thin air. But Mokuba was a smart kid, he'd figure it out. All he had to do was look at his planner and follow the trail from there-

"Psst! Rookie!" Kale nudged him in the side.

"What?" Seto hissed back, shielding his injured side from further poking.

"If you haven't noticed, bud, we're taking the long way." Kale frowned sharply, jutting his chin towards the front- towards the very frustrated looking red-head who was stomping her way through the underbrush glaring at a hand held GPS unit.

Seto's eyes narrowed. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"Well if you went and talked to her it would help us move a little faster in the right direction for starters." Kale gave him a dark, meaningful look. "And maybe ease some of the tension . . ."

Funny how the first seemed to be the request, Seto thought, and the second was the demand.

He opened his mouth to argue, only to find all of Squad T1 suddenly behind him, gesturing him forward. How did that happen . . .?!

"Do it or I'll put leeches on you while you sleep!" Kale hissed.

Seto's eyes widened comically and he shuddered at the idea. Kale wouldn't think twice about doing it either.

So the CEO swallowed- made an obscene hand gesture- then lumbered his way forward through the thicket of foliage until he was in step with the red haired time bomb. He cleared his throat.

Jordan didn't seem to notice. She was too busy violently shaking the seemingly broken GPS, muttering curses like a sailor. Seto tried again.

"Ahem . . ."

No dice.

"Ahem . . ." A little louder.

Not even a glance. Was she deaf or something? Nobody ignored Seto Kaiba.

"Ah-"

"Would you shut up?! I know you're there! God!" Jordan screeched, throwing her arms in the air. The members of Squad T1 flinched back.

"You could have just said so." Seto had to work to keep his voice indifferent. You have to admit she was entertaining.

The forest lulled back into a tense, uncomfortable silence. Seto sighed. Might as well try again. Could lose a limb or two, but honestly, he was a corporate suit lost in the jungle with a bunch of loons, what did he have to lose?

"Nice weather we're having." He tried but he couldn't stop the smug grin.

"Are you trying to provoke me?!" Her teeth ground together so hard he could hear them cracking. Jabbing the console into his chest, Seto found himself automatically holding his hands up in case she tried to lunge at him, which she looked more than ready to do. Phoenix whispered something to Eric and Jordan's head snapped around. Jeez Louis she really was like a fox.

"No, Phoenix, I don't need the GPS. And no we are I not /I lost! So I would shut my mouth if I were you until you know what you're talking about!"

W-o-w. If looks could kill . . .

The thought was abruptly cut off as Jordan shoved the GPS into his hands and stormed like hell itself into the mass of emerald.

Seto looked down at the piece of technology. The dimly glowing screen fizzed sickeningly, showing that they were somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. Running his tongue over the roof of his mouth, Seto glanced up at the retreating back of his only female rival then down to the GPS. The first real good- if not slightly off- piece of hardware he'd held in days. He had the sudden urge to hug it, wrong coordinates and all. But of course he didn't. Seto Kaiba didn't "hug" . . . where anyone could see.

Kale patted his shoulder, sighing heavily. "Well, at least you tried. I guess we're gonna have to think of something else. Hey Nathan is there some sort of rare flower 'round here?"

"I don't think that would be a very good idea . . ." Nathan frowned.

The pair launched into a debate over whether or not Jordan would like the idea of them picking any local plants. Let be and let live 'n all that. Seto wasn't listening. Instead, he turned the GPS over in his hands, thinking.

It was newer technology. Not complex, mind you, but definitely not stuff made available to the public market yet. Opening the latch on the back, he grinned to himself. The jumble of wires and chips that would confuse even a technology expert looked like a cakewalk to the CEO. A few adjustments here, untangle a naked wire there and viola, fit as a fiddle- or a GPS, whatever. Surely this would get Jordan off his back. And besides, now she owed him one.

It took a harrowing jog to catch up with her, but Seto managed, holding out the newly restored GPS like it was the prize-winning piece of the science fair.

"I don't need that," Jordan said shortly, turning back to maneuvering the ferns.

Well didn't that just pop his balloon. Seto's eyes narrowed. "We're in the middle of nowhere. I would say you do."

She snorted, expression turning amused. "Some of us, Mr. Kaiba, don't need to rely solely on technology. Really, I don't need it."

"And how is that?" Seto snapped. "You plan to just meander along in some random direction until we just happen to come across a giant cat?"

Jordan paused in her step, making him stop to. "You really don't think very highly of me, do you?"

That lobbed him a curve. Her voice wasn't angry nor was it holding anymore of that annoying gratification. It was simply . . . empty.

Seto looked away awkwardly and after a moment Jordan continued walking, him following mechanically.

From the corner of his peripheral vision he could see her tossing him a glance every few minutes, scrutinizing his features. They crossed two streams, helped each other uncouthly up a loose dirt hill and scrambled over half a dozen fallen trees before she spoke again.

"Thank you for fixing this." She said quietly, gestured to the GPS. "It's very important for finding Zahra."

Could this get any more awkward?

"Your welcome." Seto murmured.

Jordan pressed a button on its dirtied black surface and the screen changed. No longer did it show them but some far off red blip further north. It was tracking the tiger. He'd figured as much.

"You don't have to be worried about me getting everyone lost you know" she said, still in that scarily vulnerable tone. "I know this place better than I know the back of my hand."

At least this was better than having her biting his head off. "How's that?" he asked.

The corners of her mouth twitched in the ghost of a smile. "Easy, I was born here."

Seto stumbled in surprise. "You were born here?"

"Yes." She seemed hesitant to elaborate. For the first time Seto felt as though he was seeing the seventeen-year-old girl rather than the environmentalist. She kept her eyes downcast and he could only make out the chocolate brown through her thick, lightly colored lashes. Jordan inhaled, and then the tender girl was gone.

"My mother was living in Canada when she heard what was happening to the tigers. She was on the first flight to India she could find. Crusading against illegal poaching, traditional medicine makers and the government, trying to pass laws to protect Bengal tigers and their shrinking habitat. She was speaking at a seminar in Mumbai when she met my father. They got married that same day and four years later I was born."

Her rambling trailed off into deep though but Seto couldn't tear his attention away. For whatever reason, her story fascinated him. He actually wanted to hear more. Breaking from her reverie, Jordan continued.

"Anyways, I grew up here. Dragged all over these mountains and back again. Like I said, I won't get us lost." She finished, waving her hand airily as though the story was no more than a boring news report. Something niggled at the back of his mind that told him there was a lot more to the story.

"I believe you." He wanted to say. But of course he couldn't.

"I didn't ask for your life story." The words came out as a sneer and he regretted it instantly.

Jordan's face turned cold, the warm cinnamon of her irises hardening. The tension was back. Her gaze locked on his.

"Everything goin' alright up here?" Robin's sweet southern drawl broke the stillness, eyes smiling with innocence. Seto felt both her arms wrap around one of his. Jordan's eyes flashed dangerously and in a blur she turned on her heel and called Eric and Kale to her side to discuss coordinates. It was the last real show of emotion he'd see from her in the coming days.

That is, until the poachers came...

Thank you to those who reviewed. I'm sorry this took so long to put out. I've been working on my other Kaiba/OC story "You, Me and Baby Makes Three". As much as I love writing a teenage Seto that one has an older, though I don't know about mature, Kaiba. Go check it out and see what you think. Review if you'd like, I love hearing from you guys. :D