Hello! Again I'm sorry for the long wait :/ I promise you; this is going to be an interesting chapter! I'm actually a little nervous, because I think that the story practically stands or falls on this chapter, so I really hope you like it :D

Before it starts I'd like to thank Nadia Blackrose for her "second opinion" and of course my beta DaAmazingMeepers.

Also a great Thank-you to all who have reviewed, favourited, alerted or just read the story.

The Truth

Kaiba was met by the geek patrol as he re-entered the building. "Where's Nikki?" a fuming mutt yelled and grabbed his collar.

Kaiba gave him a deadly stare and yanked free of his grip. "That is none of your concern, Wheeler! And if you don't get out of my way I'll call security."

Something in Kaiba's voice made Yugi put a hand on Joey's arm. "Let's go Joey."

"But.." Joey started.

However, he was interrupted by Tea. "Let's GO!" she hissed through her teeth, also sensing that something was wrong.

When Joey didn't react she grabbed his arm and in unison she and Yugi practically dragged him away. Kaiba returned to the arena just in time to announce the two finalists. When the duel started he made his way to the technician box. Mokuba had seen his brother disappear down the passage to the toilets following a tall man he'd never seen before. After 15 minutes Yugi and his friends also followed. He started to get worried, what was going on? And where was Nikki?

When 20 minutes had passed the guys came in and disappeared in the crowd. Shortly after, Kaiba followed and made his way to the arena to start the finals. He still couldn't see Nikki...

As Kaiba entered the box he was met by a worried Mokuba. Without a word he took the seat next to him and tried to focus on the duel. "Seto?" Mokuba began hesitantly, "Where's Nikki?"

Kaiba turned his attention to his brother, thinking about his options. In the end he decided it was best to tell the truth. It would be painful, but it was nevertheless necessary. "In the limo." He started, not exactly sure how to continue.

Mokuba looked at his brother in confusion. "Why?"

Kaiba sighed and told him the story, his voice turning more and more bitter for each sentence. Mokuba's eyes widened in disbelief. "This can't be true!" he thought, but then stopped himself. Hadn't he always had a feeling that she was holding something back? That something wasn't as it seemed? Suddenly the pieces fell into place; the man, her lack of reaction towards the fact that he and Seto were from an orphanage, her pained expressions, her reluctance to speak of her past. "But why is she in the limo?" he suddenly asked, "Didn't the headmaster leave?"

"I'll deal with her later." was his brother's only reply.

Mokuba didn't like the way he said the word deal. "What do you mean?" he demanded, hoping that Seto wouldn't confirm his suspicion.

"She lied to me – to us, Mokuba. Don't you see? She misused our trust." He hissed and looked away from Mokuba.

"Idiot." was Mokuba's only answer.

Kaiba stared at his brother in disbelief. Never before had he called him an idiot. "What did you say?" he finally managed to ask.

"You heard me, brother. I love you, but right now you're behaving like an idiot! Did it ever occur to you that she might have a reason not to tell the truth? Did you even ask for her side of the story?" Mokuba snapped.

For a moment Kaiba sat baffled by his brother's words. He did intent to question her later when the tournament was finished, but he hadn't really thought about what he would find out. However, nothing she could say would change the fact that she lied to him. Mokuba waited for an answer, but when none came he decided to ignore him and turned his attention to the duel which seemed to be coming to an end. "Idiot" he mumbled under his breath.

5 minutes later the duel was finished and Kaiba went to the arena to announce the winner and hand over the prize money. When people started to leave the building Kaiba and Mokuba made their way to the exit in silence. Nikki had been staring into the air ever since Kaiba had left her.

She'd finally stopped crying, but hadn't bothered to wipe away the marks on her cheeks from the tears or her now ruined make-up. She'd decided to tell Kaiba the truth. Not that she thought he wouldn't demand it anyway, but she would tell him everything. The sound of a car door being opened snapped her out of her thoughts, but she didn't look up.

Mokuba was quite shocked when he saw Nikki. She was a mess. Her short hair stood out in all directions, her make-up was smeared and her eyes swollen and red from crying. "Wait crying? She never cries..." he thought, as he stared at the evidence that obviously refuted this claim.

He looked at his brother, who just ignored the girl. Demonstratively he went to sit next to Nikki and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gave him a small glance, but then returned her attention to her hands in her lap. The trip back to the mansion went without a word being said. Mokuba ignored Kaiba, Kaiba ignored Nikki and Nikki didn't dare to acknowledge either of the brothers' presence. When they reached the mansion Kaiba waited for Nikki to get out of the limo, before he firmly grabbed her arm and started leading her to his office. As he saw Mokuba following he tried to signalize that he should stay away, but his brother simply kept ignoring him. Nikki felt her knees starting to give away, but Kaiba's grip prevented her from falling. Suddenly she found herself outside Kaiba's office. Kaiba led her through the door and placed her in the chair across his desk. He seated himself in his own chair as Mokuba took a stand beside Nikki. Finally Nikki dared to look the older brother in the eyes, but she was met by nothing but cold. She quickly looked down and tried to find her voice.

Kaiba got tired of waited and snapped at her, "Explain yourself!"

Nikki jumped from his sudden outburst and looked up. She tried to hold his gaze, but had to settle by staring on his chest. Her resolve about telling Kaiba everything, without having him to drag it out of her, had vanished in thin air. Kaiba sighed, it was clear the girl wouldn't talk on her own accord. "Let's start with something simple" he thought sarcastically. "What's your real name?" he asked, daring her to look him in the eyes.

Nikki's hands started fidgeting, "Nicole Anderson" she answered with a shaking voice.

"Age?"

"17".

"Well, that explains why she couldn't legally escape"Mokuba thought as he followed the interrogation. He kept his position behind Nikki.

"Care to elaborate anything?" Kaiba asked mockingly.

Nikki took a deep breath and tried to get a hold of her voice. She opened her mouth to explain, but not a sound came out. She tried again and this time she succeeded in producing an audible sound. "My mum became pregnant with me when she was 16 and I've never known my father..." Nikki talked slowly and quietly to prevent her voice from shaking. "For some reason the authorities never questioned her ability to take care of me, until she died from an overdose when I was 4..."

She paused when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Silently she thanked Mokuba. "Since I had no family I was sent to an orphanage – more precisely the Crystal Orphanage led by Dean Sanders." Even under the current circumstances her voice began to shake with fear and anger by the mere thought of the man. "Actually it wasn't that bad in the beginning. The staff and Sanders may have been harsh, but it was bearable. But when I turned 13 it changed."

Kaiba suddenly realized that Nikki's gaze no longer lingered at his chest; in fact it was fixated at his face... but the look in her eyes made it clear that she no longer saw him.

"One night Sanders called me to his office." she continued as if in a trance. "It was nothing unusual in the beginning, but then he asked me to... to strip... I refused, but then he began to hit me and just kept hitting and hitting. There was nothing I could do and in the end... That was the night he put his mark on me. He said I should never forget who owned me." Unconsciously, her hand went to the back on her neck.

Mokuba was utterly mortified, but he had to ask the question since his brother remained silent. "Did he ever... you know?" he wasn't sure how to say it, but Nikki caught the meaning of his words.

She hid her face in her hands, "No, he only demanded that I'd strip for him. It went on like this for years. Once in a while I tried to refuse, but then he just started to beat me. 3 months ago, he was drunk and tried to feel me up, and when I kept fighting even though he hit me, he made his dog attack me instead." Tears began to run down Nikki's cheeks as she relived the moments where she was sure she'd die, but she didn't care.

"After that, he left me and I somehow managed to get to my room. I knew I couldn't stay, but I wanted to get back at him, for what he'd done. So I hacked his computer. I had done it before as an experiment, but when I found nothing interesting I never tried again. I don't really know what I was planning to do, but then I found something..." for the first time since she began her story, she looked Kaiba straight in the eyes, "He has plans to hack your system, steal your money and ruin your firm."

Kaiba stared at her for a moment incredulous, "You know that's impossible." He said, no emotion in his voice.

Nikki shook her head, "They somehow found a way by bit by bit to infiltrate your system... trying to create a backdoor somehow, but the process takes about 4 months... they were about 2 months ahead, but I think the development of the virus must have taken much longer... I melted down his system and destroyed everything...after that I knew I had to get away immediately so I broke into his office and stole some money, then I drenched the whole place in vodka, scotch and anything else flammable, but when I was about to lit it his dog came into the office, thinking I was him... It attacked me again and I jumped behind the desk and... and when I looked in one of the drawers for something to defend myself with I found a gun and shot it... and lit the place... for about 2 months I wandered around until he found me.. and then you saved me"

"You said 'they', and 'they somehow'." Kaiba asked, trying to ignore any kind of feelings. "What do you mean by that? And can you even prove any of it?"

Her gaze was again absent and glasslike and she rocked slightly back and forth in the chair, but nevertheless she answered. "Sanders isn't smart enough to plan something like that. There has to be a leader. I-I-I didn't think of taking a copy, but there might be traces left in your system."

For the first time since the limo Mokuba and Kaiba looked in each other in the eyes. Maybe for the first time in his life, Kaiba didn't know what to say or do. She had lived through horrors, but nevertheless she'd lied to him. He was torn in two; one part wanted to forgive her and embrace her, protect her from the world and its cruelty, and make sure that her face would never show this vulnerability and despair. But the other part, and he didn't know how strong that part was, wanted to kick her out and never see her again. "Why didn't you tell the truth from the beginning?" he simply asked. The question earned him an evil glare from Mokuba.

Nikki snapped out of her trance. "I-I don't know. I didn't know you or have any reason to trust you, and I feared you might have thought I was involved in the virus and... and... and I just didn't want you to know." as she spoke she felt herself trying to shrink deeper into the chair.

Nikki bent down her head, feeling like wounded prey, just waiting for the lethal blow. Never before had she felt this vulnerable, this exposed. Never had she deliberately gazed away from anyone out of fright for what the person might do to her. Never before had she trusted anyone as she trusted him. Despite everything; his anger, his threats, his hate, she trusted him fully. And at that moment she felt something she'd never felt before – no, something she'd never allowed herself to feel before – love. But however new and amazing this feeling was, she knew it didn't matter. She could never have him anyway – not now, not ever.

"Mokuba, please take Nikki back to her room." Kaiba suddenly said, interrupting Nikki's depressing thoughts. Without a word Nikki and Mokuba got up, and Mokuba followed Nikki to the door. As she left the office and started towards her room, Mokuba looked over his shoulder at his brother. "You know Seto, I don't think she'd ever cried before tonight... think about it." And with these words he left the room.

As Mokuba entered Nikki's room, he was met by darkness, but as soon as his eyes had adjusted themselves to the lack of light he saw the trembling figure on the bed. After debating with himself for a few seconds he walked to the bed and sat down beside Nikki. He stayed until he was sure she had fallen asleep.

Kaiba stayed in his office for hours doing nothing but stare into the air. He didn't know what to think or feel. On one hand there was the problem with the hackers or whatever they were and if they even existed. "That should be easy enough to find out." he thought, but kept staring at nothing, because on the other hand there was Nikki. He couldn't figure out what he felt towards the girl, but he started to realize that it was the before-mentioned "first" part that was strongest. This, though, didn't change the fact that there still was another part...

And what did Mokuba mean by 'never cried'? For Kaiba crying meant weakness. Had he ever considered the girl weak? No.

He thought about her past; she'd had to make herself hard. A bit like him... a lot like him...

Well? Did you like it? Please let me know, because as I said in the beginning I'm really unsure about this chapter. I mean I think it's good, but what do you think?