Author's Note: If any of you speak French and you see that what I've put in here is wrong, please tell me how to fix it and I will.

Tragedy

Joey raised an eyebrow and ran a hand through his hair. "Hey, Mokie. Who's your friend?"

Mokuba blew a raspberry. "Joey, you know who he is!"

The blond frowned. "I do?"

The red-haired boy laughed. "You've probably seen dozens of pictures of me, anyway!"

Joey stared.

"…This is Hikaru," Mokuba introduced shortly, scowling. "Midori only has a bajillion pictures of him on her desk."

"Oh!" Joey smiled. "Yeah, whenever she starts talkin' about ya, I sort of tune her out!"

Hikaru blinked, jaw dropping with speechlessness.

"JOEY, WHAT THE HELL!" Mokuba roared, glaring at him.

Joey frowned. "I tune out your brother when he talks about you, too, if that makes it any better."

"IT. DOESN'T. It just makes it worse!" The younger boy pouted, feeling genuinely hurt. "Why? Don't you like me?"

The blond frowned and squatted down in front of him so he could meet his eyes. "Mok'. It's not about whether I like you or not. I didn't have a good childhood. I was never particularly smart or special and my parents only talked about me when I did something wrong. I just… stop listening to people when they talk about kids. Because I get mad that I never had that." He glanced away and sighed. "I know it's terrible. I'm still talkin' t' that therapist that Seto sent me to. We're workin' things out."

"You know, 'therapist' is just 'the rapist' shoved together," Hikaru commented, clasping his hands behind his back.

Joey and Mokuba turned to look at him. The younger boy raised an eyebrow. "Hikaru. What the hell."

"I thought I'd diffuse some of the heaviness of the conversation. By the way, my mom knows you don't pay attention, because she says the same thing every time and you never mention it," he added, rocking back on his heels. "She's quite unimpressed."

"Midori's unimpressed with me? Nooo, she's my favorite person at the company!" Joey exclaimed, grabbing his hair.

Mokuba looked up at him in disgruntlement.

The blond paused. "…Aside from your brother, of course. Most of the time. When he doesn't piss me off."

"…Fine. Well, let's go!" the raven-haired boy said cheerfully. "Hikaru and Midori are going out for lunch, too!"

Joey smiled and reached down to grab both of their heavy duffle bags. "Hey, maybe you guys can go out to lunch with us!"

Hikaru smiled awkwardly. "Oh. Well, I don't know. I don't really like fancy food, and Mom doesn't really like expensive places—"

"We're going to Burger World," Joey cut in bluntly.

"…Oh."

"Hey, how come we don't go to fancy places anymore?" Mokuba asked after a minute, frowning. "I don't mind, because I don't like getting dressed up to go eat, but Seto always liked it because he likes fancy food. You don't even go on many dates anymore…"

The blond grimaced. "That's… sort of my fault. I mean, Seto's the one that decided we shouldn't eat out so much anymore, but it was because of something I did."

Mokuba blew another raspberry. "Joey, please. I flick mashed potatoes at waiters when I'm bored. There's nothing you could possibly do to embarrass him."

Hikaru looked up at the blond and frowned. "What happened?"

"Ah, uh. Well." Joey blushed a little and glanced away. "The last time we went out, I wasn't quite ready, so I told him I'd meet him there after I was finished. Well, I got there, but… Uh… The maitre d' wouldn't let me in." He blushed a little more. "I had t' call Seto from outside. He was pissed. He was yelling at anyone who worked there.

"I just stood there. The maitre d' kept makin' all sorts of excuses and skirtin' the real issue until he finally just blurted out that they didn't allow 'Yakuza scum' on the premises." He ducked his head. "Seto was so disgusted that he couldn't even yell properly. He just grabbed my arm and dragged me out. I thought maybe we'd just come home, but he was so mad he just drove around for a while. I was too embarrassed t' bother him and I didn't want him t' get mad at me…"

"Aw, Joey." Mokuba frowned.

Hikaru blinked up at him and frowned. "You're Yakuza?"

"…Maybe a little, once upon a time," Joey mumbled, shifting the weight of the duffle bags on his shoulders. "God, what's in these things? You're still wearin' most of your gear!"

"Mostly snacks full of sugar and stuff," the boys replied.

Joey squawked in affront. "Why the fuck am I carryin' them, then!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

"—And I don't think I'm quite getting enough out of this partnership, Mr. Kaiba. I partnered with you for this project because you're the best, but the reports I'm getting are… lacking."

Seto fought the urge to grimace. The man in front of him would glom onto it and eat him alive if he had the chance. "The reports I'm getting are quite… vague as well. I'll look into this, because it's just unacceptable."

The man stared at him with piercing brown eyes. It was almost unnerving, because they almost looked like Joey's eyes, but they were in the face of a man with short black hair and a few inches taller than him. "I hope you find out what's going wrong, Mr. Kaiba. If I lose money on this or have to push back release date, I'm going to tell the press exactly why if they ask."

If he wasn't carefully, his eyebrow would twitch, and this man was not just someone he could cow with a glare. "Yes, Mr. Kobayashi. I understand and I will deal with the problem as soon as I return from lunch."

Kobayashi scowled. "Why don't you deal with it now?"

Seto paused. "…Have you ever kicked a puppy, sir?"

"I am against animal cruelty," the man began, looking even angrier.

"—That's how my lover makes me feel when I don't keep lunch dates or dinner dates with him. He gives me this look like I've betrayed him because I care more about this company than I do him, and while other people have tried to make me feel the same, he is the only one that can actually execute it because that's how he really feels." Seto paused. "…I like puppies."

Kobayashi frowned. "Does he know he has that control over you? It's dangerous in your position."

"I'm sure he knows. He hasn't used it against me yet, though." Seto shrugged. "He's skittish. He's afraid of doing something that would make me push him away. –In any case," he added, forcing the thought of blond puppies from his mind because this meeting had gotten way too personal. "I'll look into it after I get back from lunch and get back to you. How long will you be in Domino?"

"A few days." Kobayashi cleared his throat awkwardly. "My son's… fiancée is dead-set on getting a wedding dress that she's dreamt of from her childhood and they only have it here, so I'll be helping her with that. She has no family so I've taken her under my… financial wing." He paused. "She's thrifty, but if that's the dress she wants, I won't take no for an answer. She hasn't seen the price tag yet."

Seto snorted. It reminded him of when he and Joey had first started dating and they'd had to go to places that Joey could afford so that he could put in half. It had taken months to convince him that Seto just wanted to spoil him a little. It worked well when Joey couldn't see the price tag.

He'd bought Joey a lot of things that way.

Seto stood and offered his hand. "I'll make sure to call you once I finish. My secretary should have your number."

Kobayashi raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And how do you know that?"

"…Because I saw you give her your card with your cell phone number on the back. Do you flirt with everyone's secretaries or just mine?"

The man at least had the decency to blush a little. "Mr. Kaiba, I'm a widower. I'm allowed to think women are attractive now—it's been several years since she died."

"And you just happened to think my secretary is attractive. That's not weird or anything."

Kobayashi blinked. "…Are you her… teenage son or something?"

"…No, but she has one named Hikaru who will be her first priority always." Seto led him to the door. "I was thinking about asking her if she and her son would like to join us for lunch."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Would her son really enjoy that-?"

Seto looked up at him and deadpanned, "We're going to Burger World."

"…That seems… Okay. Why not. Children."

Seto allowed him out of his office first, then turned to his secretary. "Midori, would you care to join me and take Hikaru out to lunch? We're going to Burger World."

She looked up at him in surprise. "B… Burger World?"

"Joey's coming and he likes it there," he replied.

She pursed her lips. "I see."

She knew about the incident that had turned him off from fancy places and had been tirelessly looking up high-class restaurants that wouldn't turn Joey away if he wasn't accompanied by Seto himself. She hadn't found any up to his standards yet.

Midori tilted her head for a moment, then smiled. "Yes, I don't see why not. It might actually give Hikaru a chance to get rid of his energy from soccer practice. I don't know how he does it, but just always seems to come back from practice hyped up instead of exhausted."

Seto and Kobayashi glanced at each other before they looked back at her and deadpanned, "Candy and soda in his duffle bag."

She looked up at them in surprise. "What?"

"It's a boy thing," Kobayashi continued, sighing.

"…Well he's grounded when we get home tonight!" she huffed, gathering her things into her purse, then stood. "Let's get going so I can give him a dirty look and say 'I know.'" She paused, then smiled coyly. "Mr. Kobayashi, would mind if I took your arm?"

"Not at all," he replied suavely, and allowed her to take it as he led her to the elevator.

Seto didn't bother to hide his grimace this time. She was like an aunt to him and she'd been single as long as he remembered. This was weird.

"Mr. Kaiba, are you coming?" she asked impatiently, and he realized they'd been waiting at the elevator for him.

He huffed and stalked up after them. "Yes."

She nudged him gently as the doors closed. "Are you pouting because I usually take your arm?"

"…No."

Kobayashi snorted. "As adult as you appear to be, you're still just a child."

"I'll punch you," Seto warned, glaring at him, and nearly blanched when he realized that Joey might finally be rubbing off on him.

"Boys, behave. You can both take me to lunch," Midori teased, laughing. "I just can't date you, Mr. Kaiba. I like Joey. He's had a positive impact on you."

"…Positive impact my Blue-Eyes White Dragon," the brunet grumbled. He'd have to talk to Joey about this. He'd never grumbled before. How humiliating.

The lights flickered violently.

Seto looked up at them in concern. If the power went out, they'd flicker a few times, then go back to a steady gleam. This wasn't right. Something must be—

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey frowned as an ambulance went blaring by them, then turned to watch as not one, not two, but three fire trucks rushed past. These were followed by another ambulance. The cacophony of wailing sirens was nearly deafening. He looked up to see if there was smoke and found it not too far away. He hoped it didn't affect Kaiba Corp too much. He knew that Seto would probably evacuate the building and then complain about all of the time wasted—

…Wasn't that about where Kaiba Corp should be…?

As if having the same thoughts, both of the younger boys latched onto him worriedly.

"Maybe there was an accident in front of the building?" Hikaru suggested.

"Or maybe something they were testing short-circuited or something," Mokuba added. "That shouldn't be too bad. Right, Joey?"

Joey looked down at them. "…I think it's bad," he stated. He saw both of them pale and scowled. "Don't go to pieces. Your brother doesn't need that and neither does your mom. We're gonna go t' the buildin' and see if we can help, and if we can't, we're gonna go somewhere safe and wait for more information. Mokuba, ya got your cell phone?" Mokuba nodded. "Hikaru, do ya have a cell phone?"

"Um, yeah. It's in my bag."

Joey set the bags down so they could get their cell phones, watching as more ambulances and fire trucks went blaring past them. "Don't try callin' 'em yet. Wait until we get there and see what's goin' on. Don't wanna tie up any phone lines."

Once they had their phones in hand, he hefted the duffle bags back onto his shoulders and led them toward the Kaiba Corp building at a high lope.

Two blocks from the building, there was a line of caution tape and a group of officers was actively turning gawkers away, because it was certainly Kaiba Corp spewing smoke.

He approached one of the officers and before the man could tell him to leave, he asked, "Casualties?"

The officer opened his mouth to snarl at him, then paused. "…Wheeler?"

"Are there any casualties?" Joey repeated, letting the duffle bags drop beside him.

The man sighed. "We don't know. There's too much going on. We're mostly treating people with smoke inhalation and minor burns, but they haven't brought down people that were close to the explosion."

"Explosion? And you're not lettin' people by," the blond muttered, looking up at the smoking building. He looked back at the officer and asked, "If I leave these guys nearby, will ya keep an eye on 'em?"

"I'll try to keep an eye on 'em as well as I can."

"Good." Joey grabbed the duffle bags and led them over to a covered bus stop. "You guys stay here. Try callin' Seto and Midori. Call. Let it go to voicemail. Leave a message. Call again. Keep doin' it until ya can't leave anymore voicemails and then keep callin'. Okay?"

Mokuba frowned. "Where are you going, Joey?"

"…Gonna go get your brother," the blond replied, then turned and began sprinting for the caution tape.

The two boys watched in awe as he leapt over the tape cleanly and dodged between two of the cops, disappearing behind some cars and people rushing away from the scene. They vaguely heard the cop that had recognized him barking into his walkie-talkie, but then they remembered what they'd been told to do and began dialing.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey got to the front of the building just as the people closest to the explosion were being brought out. He recognized a duel card locket hanging from one of the stretchers and rushed over to it, gasping in horror when he saw half of the brunet's face was burnt black. He reached for his wounded lover's hand but was brushed away by one of the paramedics, so he only got the chain of the locket. He bit his bottom lip when it was easily dragged from the brunet's fingers, because he'd have never willing let go of it.

"Joey!"

Joey turned sharply and couldn't help a sob. "Midori."

She held her hands out to him from her stretcher, tears streaming down her burnt and bloody face. "Joey, where's my baby? Is he okay? What happened?"

He rushed over to her and grabbed her hands; apparently this was okay with the paramedics, because they hadn't been able to calm her down. "He's okay, Midori. He's with Mokuba. They couldn't come with me so I left 'em someplace safe. Are you okay, Midori?"

She sobbed and shook her head. "Oh, Joey, if Kobayashi hadn't put himself between me and the blast—Joey, I don't know—Do I look okay? I don't feel hurt anywhere but the paramedics told me I'm burnt. Oh, Joey, take care of my baby for me!"

Joey smiled and nodded. "Yeah, alright. We'll come t' the hospital and he's gonna tell ya all about how soccer practice went."

"Oh, that's right—he has a game on Saturday—I do hope I can go to it—"

"I'm sure ya will," he soothed. "And I'll cheer with ya and those little munchkins will score all the goals. They gotta put ya in the ambulance now, Midori. You'll be okay. We'll come straight t' the hospital even if I have t' carry 'em all the way there."

"Thank you, Joey. It almost makes up for all the times you ignored me talking about Hikaru," she replied tearfully, before the paramedics eased her from Joey's grip and put her in the ambulance.

Joey flinched. "I'll listen to all your little stories about him after ya get better, okay?"

"Okay. You better promise!" she called before the doors were slammed shut.

One of the paramedics came up and shook his hand. "We've been trying to calm her down since we got her out of the elevator. Thanks for your help, but you'd better get out of the way now. There are more people being brought down and you'll just get in the way."

"Yeah, okay," Joey whispered, then began the walk back to where he'd left Mokuba and Hikaru.

It had felt like hours when he'd been running to the building. It seemed to take even longer to walk back, and not just because he wasn't running anymore.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey and Mokuba looked through the glass, the younger boy's eyes filling with tears as he listened to the steady beeps of all of the machines. "Joey, he's in so much pain."

Joey gripped the locket in his hand tightly. "I know. He's been in pain for several days."

"Joey, will you tell him?" Mokuba begged, looking up at him. "I can't stand the thought of—Seto might think I—"

Joey knelt in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll tell him ya love him very much. He won't think anything other than that ya love him. Okay?"

The younger boy sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, okay. I—I'm gonna go see Hikaru and Midori. Call me if he gets worse."

"I will. Just relax, kiddo. Midori will make ya feel better." The blond patted him on the head, then stood, gripping his hands into tight fists as he took a deep breath. He made sure the younger boy was out of sight before he cleaned up and suited up to step into the room.

He approached the bed and gently slipped the chain of the locket into the brunet's fingers, catching it on one of his fingers so the locket hung from it. "Seto? Can ya hear me?"

The slumbering brunet didn't reply.

Joey knelt beside the bed, reaching up to brush the brunet's hair out of his eyes. "Seto? Seto, I want ya t' know I love ya. Mokuba and I love ya very much. So… so much." He traced his fingers over the skin grafts and sobbed. "We know you're hurtin'. We know… we know you're in so much pain. I mean, lookit all the meds they got ya doped on." He sniffed. "We just want ya t' know that… that we'll be okay. If ya wanna let go, and stop bein' in pain, we'll be okay.

"If ya wanna just go away, and stop hurtin', we won't mind. We'll be okay. So you can go and be happy. We just want ya t' know that it's okay t' let go. We won't be mad at ya. We'll understand. We just want ya t' stop hurtin'. So… so if ya wanna go, ya can."

He bit his bottom lip and rested his hand on the bed, staring at the brunet's injured face and thinking he still looked beautiful even in pain. He felt tears rolling down his cheek but didn't sob. He'd been crying a lot the last few weeks. He didn't need to make a huge scene about it.

"…Jeneserontcertainementpas."

Joey blinked and looked up at him again. "…W… What?"

"…Je ne…" Seto's lips were moving, just the tiniest bit! "…Seront… certain…ement… pas."

Joey sobbed and stood up. "Seto, are ya talkin' t' me?"

"Non, je pensais que je parle à moie-même pendant un certain temps." Seto licked his dry lips and coughed weakly.

The blond slammed his hand against the 'call nurse' button and turned as doctors and nurses immediately filed in. "He's talkin'! I think he's just babblin', but he's sayin' stuff and his mouth is movin'!"

He was rushed out of the room as the doctors and nurses began reassessing him. He just watched them for a few minutes, unable to help feeling excited, before remembering he needed to call Mokuba. "Mokuba, he's talkin'! He's just babblin', but he's talkin'!"

"I'll be right there, Joey!"

Mokuba took the stairs and appeared only five minutes later, breathless. "He's babbling? That's better than nothing. Did his eyes open?"

"No, his eyes were closed, but his mouth was moving and he said stuff," Joey explained, smiling through his tears. "I don't know if he'll be okay, but he just said it with such ferocity-!"

"Mr. Kaiba, he's asking for you," one of the doctors said, leaning out of the room. "Would you mind cleaning and suiting up and coming in to see him?"

Mokuba looked up at him, then nodded shortly. "Yeah, okay."

Joey waited with baited breath as the younger boy went in and spoke quietly with his brother. He wanted nothing more than to go in and listen, but he'd said his piece and maybe Seto was trying to whisper his last words to his brother.

When Mokuba walked back out, he looked both stunned and annoyed. "What was it, Mokuba? More babblin', huh?"

"'Mokuba, dites-leur que je ne suis pas du babillage et je parle francais.'"

Joey frowned. "…What?"

"'Mokuba, tell them I am not babbling and I am speaking in French.' …Joey, he's not babbling and he's speaking in French."

"…Like I've ever heard anyone speak French before!" the blond snarled, blushing.

"The doctors think it might be some sort of brain trauma. Or French is just easier to speak because he doesn't have to move his mouth so much, or something. I don't really understand because they're all talking to each other in doctor-speak." Mokuba reached out to grab his hand and looked down at his feet. "…He says to tell you 'Je t'aime beaucoup. Et je ne suis pas en train de mourir.'" He smiled when Joey blinked at him in confusion. "I love you very much. And I am not dying."

Joey covered his mouth and took a deep breath, smiling, even as more tears rolled down his cheeks. "Yeah, I guess I love 'im too, even when he's making me worry and shit."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto looked around the charred remains of the highest floor they could get to, reaching out to grab his lover's hand. Apparently a large explosion had been set on one side of the building to get the top floors to collapse and slide off so that they would crush and burn anyone it caught on the ground. Luckily, that hadn't happened, but the blast had blown out the side of the elevator he'd been standing on, and almost everyone in the above floors had died.

Joey kicked a piece of burnt timber away, frowning when he realized it used to be a desk. "This is gonna be expensive…"

"…I don't think it is," Seto rasped slowly. His stint speaking only French had been caused by the head trauma when his head had bashed into the opposite side of the elevator. It had taken several days before he'd finally forced some other language out (he wasn't sure which, but it certainly wasn't one Joey spoke, because the blond had only smiled awkwardly and patted his hand).

He still found himself slipping into French when he wasn't concentrating hard. The doctors had assured him that it was only temporary and the more he talked in his primary language, it would start to come naturally. Joey was incredibly patient with him.

He almost believed that Joey liked it when he spoke foreign words to him.

Joey looked up at him in concern. "What is it, Seto?"

"…I can't… do this… anymore. Doing dangerous things was okay… but what if you… and Mokuba had been… here?" Seto cleared his throat, eyes watering a little in pain; being up here reminded him that his flesh had been nearly seared off. It almost felt like he was burning all over again.

"…Well, we wouldn't have been as high up, so it woulda been okay…"

"No. It doesn't… matter where you… would have been. I just want to… keep you both safe. This was… This was unacceptable. –And Midori. She was hurt, and so was Kobayashi." Seto lifted a hand to rub his eyes tiredly. "Kobayashi is… stuck in a wheelchair for the… rest of his life now. I don't ever… want this to happen again. Maybe I shouldn't… open the building again."

Joey looked up at him and frowned. "Seto, ya don't mean that. I mean, yeah, it's unsafe, and maybe ya need t' implement some more security procedures, but… but Seto, this is your life—"

"Maybe it shouldn't be," Seto snapped angrily, then began to cough.

Joey began rubbing his back. "Seto, ya thirsty? Ya need a drink? I brought a water bottle. Doctors said ya might still have damage from smoke inhalation—"

"—So sick of this…" The brunet snarled something in French, then let out an exhausted sigh and turned to hug the blond tightly. "I'll be fine… I think. …We'll see what… happens… once I'm healed."

The younger boy nuzzled his chest. "Okay. Yeah." He kissed the brunet's neck, shuddering when he felt the burnt-warm-hurt-scarred skin against his lips. He knew that Seto would be getting more plastic surgery done after his skin had finished healing (and he was paying for Midori despite her protests), but feeling the hurt skin, knowing that Seto had been in so much pain that he'd been willing to tell him it was okay to die…

Seto leaned back and brushed the blond's hair out of his eyes. Somehow, he knew that Joey was probably more broken than he was. While he'd suffered the pain and helplessness of serious injury, he knew—he knew—that Joey was there for him and would help him recover every step of the way.

And Joey had told him it was okay for him to let go. If he wanted to stop being in pain, Joey wouldn't have hated him if he died. He would have understood and allowed him to stop hurting despite having to carry on alone without him, raising his little brother for him and doing his best to keep the company running until Mokuba could take over.

Joey was by far a better person than Seto could hope to be, because he knew that if the situation was reversed… he wouldn't have had the strength to let Joey go. He was selfish, and needy, and so afraid that no one could love or understand him like Joey could that he didn't want to ever lose him. He felt guilty that Joey was stuck with him, because he knew that Joey knew that he was too twisted and broken to be normal, and even if they broke up, Seto might never be able to accept that.

He wanted to love as unconditionally as Joey could, but Joey was the trusting puppy and he would always be the greedy, cold dragon that scared other people away from his treasure.

Joey reached up to cup his cheek and frowned. "Seto, don't cry. I'm right here."

Seto jerked slightly in surprise. He hadn't even known he'd started crying.

The blond went up on his toes to kiss him lightly. "I'll be right here every step of the way."

Seto didn't sob, but he continued to cry, unable to tear his eyes away from the beautiful human being standing in front of him. He knew that Joey had his flaws. Perhaps his loyalty was one of them.

Joey tilted his head and reached up to cup the brunet's scarred-burnt-wet cheek, not flinching as his mind screamed that this wasn't his lover's face. "Seto. I will always be by your side."

"…I believe you." Seto grabbed his hands and held them tightly. "I know you'll… always be there. So… thank you."

"You're welcome, Seto. Come on, let's go. This place is makin' me sad." The blond paused, then went up on his toes to kiss him again. "And I'm sure it's not helpin' you, either." He kissed him again a few times, reached up to trace his fingers over the side of his face that had slammed into the elevator after the explosion, then leaned back and smiled at him. "'nd maybe if you're feelin' up to it… we could cuddle?"

"Je voudrais beaucoup."

Joey blinked.

Seto flinched. "…I would… like that very much."

"…Then we'll cuddle." The blond smiled. "I'm so glad ya came outta this okay, Seto. Ya have no idea how scared I was."

The older boy opened his mouth, paused, then smiled instead of saying anything. He liked to think he did, but he knew that arguing would have the opposite effect of what they wanted.

Besides, Joey might decide he didn't want to cuddle with him if he argued.