A/N: This chapter goes out to StarnightX, kaaayyytteee, and Dreamer of a Thousand Memories for your awesome reviews! Thanks guys and I hope you enjoy this new chapter.
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Chapter Twenty Five
Alyssa nearly wore a hole in the floor that night as she thought about what had happened. All of her sleepiness had vanished the instant he had touched her inappropriately. She now was wondering why he had done that, and if it had somehow been her fault. It was all very confusing, especially when she added in the fact that he had obviously been drinking earlier that evening.
"Duh…I'm so stupid!" she exclaimed, smacking herself on the forehead. "The answer's been right in front of me for so long!"
Soul Tiger looked at her curiously as she walked over to her phone and dialed a number, tapping her foot impatiently. She heard some indistinct grumbling when the person finally picked up their phone.
"Hey, Kathy," she said. "I need you to help me out with something."
"Aly, it's too damn early for me to do anything." Kathy complained.
"I know, I know. But this is important." Alyssa stated, sitting on the edge of her bed. "It involves saving Kaiba and the jobs of the thousand or so employees of Kaiba Corporations."
"Okay. Now I'm listening." Kathy said, sounding more awake.
"I need you to meet me at the KC building in thirty minutes. We've got a lot of work to do."
"I'll be there." Kathy promised. "Do you want me to bring Keith?"
"Uh…no." Alyssa muttered. "Thirty minutes, Kathy."
She hung up and grabbed her black hoodie and pulled it over her bra. She held out her purse and Soul Tiger jumped in. She slid on her black flip flops and ran out the door. She left her whereabouts with Croquet, in case her uncle asked. He nodded and she went on her way.
Two minutes later, she parked her motorcycle in her parking spot in the KC building employee parking lot. She heard Kathy's truck before she saw it a few minutes later and waited for the blue haired girl to park it before walking towards the KC building.
"So, what are we going to do that will save Kaiba and all the jobs in KC?" Kathy asked as Alyssa unlocked the front door and entered the security code.
"Well, remember how Kaiba likes to drink during business deals because it loosens more people's tongues while he just does it to be 'polite'?" Alyssa questioned, heading for the first conference room on that level. "And on dates, he drinks more than one glass of wine or any kind of alcoholic beverage. Well, I think that when he went missing for a couple of days that he was somewhere out of the city, drinking away his life or going to a failed 12 Steps meeting or Alcoholics Anonymous because he has a serious drinking problem."
"Uh-huh…" Kathy said, looking confused as Alyssa flipped the lights on and started rummaging through the cabinets and file holders, looking for alcohol. "And you came to this conclusion how?"
"Kaiba was feeling frisky after drinking a bit earlier." Alyssa admitted, pulling out two full bottles of brandy. "And I guess he didn't like my whining while he tried to feel me up, so he threw me out…I haven't seen him that drunk in a long time."
"So what are we going to do with all the alcohol we find?" Kathy asked, taking the glasses that Alyssa handed her.
"Well, pouring it down the drain would get rid of the alcohol, but we should also throw away the bottles and maybe we could sell the glasses somewhere." Alyssa muttered, turning the lights off with her elbow after searching the rest of the room for hidden alcohol. "And we have to check every unlikely place in here for the alcohol. Tonight, I'll have to search Kaiba's house for any alcohol and get rid of it…But I will let him keep some champagne here and there for galas and romantic dinners with 'the one'."
"You are very dedicated to this job," Kathy commented, pulling a box out from under her desk as they passed and putting the glasses in it, "if you're willing to risk it like this."
"Kaiba should consider this a favor." Alyssa mumbled, heading into the next room to search for more alcohol. "I'm saving his life, his job, and any chance he has of finding someone to complete him."
"You go girl!"
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Alyssa and Kathy had found all the bottles of brandy, sherry, beer, whiskey, and vodka that Kaiba had hidden around the KC building and had properly disposed of it all with an hour until it was time for the KC building to come to life. They had left the wine and champagne for now in case there was a gala or something in the future. Alyssa held the box that was brimming with shot glasses as Kathy fumbled with her car keys. They would stow the glasses in Kathy's truck until they found somewhere to sell them and they would give the money away to someone who really needed it. And Alyssa still had to go to Kaiba's house and do the same thing there. It was a job that she wasn't looking forward to doing, but knew that she had to.
"Hurry up, Kathy…" Alyssa urged as thunder rumbled through the darkening sky. "Kaiba will be here any minute and I don't want you to get caught helping me do this!"
"But what about the cameras?" Kathy questioned, gesturing at the one next to them that was facing in the opposite direction.
Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Why do you think that I made sure that we were out of the cameras' view? I didn't want you to get caught helping me. I want you to keep your job so you can support your deadbeat brother and Bakura when he gets back from where ever."
"Thanks…I guess." Kathy said, finally managing to open the rusty door and stowing the box of glass behind the driver seat, pulling a tarp over it. "There. Phase one is complete."
"And not a moment too soon." Alyssa commented as shiny silver Porsche drove into the parking lot. "Say hello to Mr. Boss Man."
"Hello, Mr. Frisky Boss Man." Kathy said, watching him park the car as the rain started coming down.
Kaiba got out of his car and made sure that it was locked before looking over at them. "Well, don't stand around, you two," he ordered, heading towards the KC building. "Get inside before it starts pouring."
Alyssa and Kathy looked at each other and hurried inside, which was kind of a problem for Kathy because she had chosen to wear 6 inch heels for some reason or other. She hadn't complained when they had been running about in the building, but maybe that was because she had kicked them off for a bit when they went up the levels. Alyssa almost pitied her, but she knew that it was Kathy's fault for wanting to wear shoes that she could break her neck in.
"So, Kaiba, what do you want to do today because your schedule isn't as packed as normal today?" Alyssa asked, falling into step next to him as he headed for the elevators.
"I want to get some coffee, and then I'll tell you what I want to do whenever I feel like it." Kaiba muttered, pressing the up button to summon an elevator. "And I need you to call the school to make sure that Mokuba actually went there today."
"Got it." Alyssa muttered, heading back over to where Kathy was sitting.
"Well?" Kathy asked.
"He's definitely recovering from last night." Alyssa whispered, reaching for one of the phones. "And now he wants coffee which he usually puts a shot of brandy into…"
Kathy laughed. "He won't find any! You made sure of that!" she declared as Kaiba got into the elevator.
"Shh…" Alyssa whispered before listening to what the person on the phone was saying. "Hello. This is Mr. Kaiba's assistant, Ms. Alyssa Pegasus. I'm calling because Mr. Kaiba would like to know if his brother, Mokuba, has made it to school by now?"
"He has, Ms. Pegasus," the woman she guessed was a secretary said. "And he's in the middle of a test right now, but I could have him come to the phone if you want to speak to him."
"No. That's alright." Alyssa said. "Mr. Kaiba was just wondering. Thank you for your time." She hung up. "And people like that make me hate my assistant job even more," she confided in Kathy.
"Me too." Kathy said. "Now, get up there or Kaiba might jump out the window or something."
Alyssa smirked and grabbed her purse from behind Kathy's desk before she walked towards the elevators. She could hear Kaiba's bellow about where his brandy was even from where she stood and sighed. It was going to be a long, temper trying day.
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"Kaiba, I'm going to watch Mokuba now." Alyssa said, walking into Kaiba's office at the end of her work day. "What the hell?"
The room was a wreck. Kaiba was sitting in the corner with his head on his knees and was muttering to himself.
"Kaiba, what happened in here?" Alyssa questioned, taking a step closer.
A notebook came flying at her leg. She jumped back instinctively and glared at Kaiba. His head hadn't moved, but now his hand was searching along the ground for anything that he could throw at her. She sighed and knew that he was doing this because he had had no alcohol that day.
"Kaiba, stop acting stupid." Alyssa ordered, taking another step closer to him and dodging a letter opener.
"Leave me alone…" Kaiba hissed, looking at her with one eye.
"Seto, you're acting like a stupid little brat." Alyssa stated, dodging a coffee mug and some pens. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Someone stole my booze…" Kaiba whispered. "All of it besides that no good champagne…" He looked at her with both eyes now. "You did it, didn't you?"
Alyssa crossed her arms and crouched down in front of him. "I did nothing of the sort," she lied, making sure to make her tell tale signs of deceit invisible to even him.
Kaiba was obviously convinced or was so messed up that he couldn't tell that she was really lying to his face. "Someone took it all…who would do that to me…I need it…"
"Kaiba, you don't need alcohol…or sex, for that matter, right now…" Alyssa whispered, placing a hand on his knee. "You need help…which is something I can't give. Support is the only thing I can give you right now."
"I don't need help. I don't need support. I WANT MY BOOZE!" Kaiba shouted, slapping her across her face with so much force that he knocked her back onto her ass. "I want it, and I plan to get it somehow!"
"Kaiba, please…don't go get drunk." Alyssa begged, getting onto her knees. "It will hurt you and your family in the long run. It will hurt your career possibly…"
"I don't care." Kaiba stated, getting to his feet. "I want my booze and I will get it." He smirked. "Just like I'll get other things…"
Alyssa watched him leave his office with a frown on her face. So much for being a changed man, she thought bitterly, picking herself off the floor. Now he's going to make things a lot worse for me, and possibly Mokuba. The poor kid…
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When Alyssa had told Mokuba about the things she had done to remove the alcohol from the KC building, he was shocked that she had had the guts to do something like that. He was even more shocked when she told him that even though Kaiba was acting horribly to anyone who tried to keep him from drinking, she was still planning on doing the same thing to his mansion.
"You don't have to help me do this, and I'll understand if you don't." Alyssa said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing all the alcoholic drinks she could find. She popped the lids off of them and started pouring them down the sink. "He is your brother, after all."
"But I don't want him to be this way." Mokuba said, placing glasses in the box that Alyssa had procured. "He's so…weird. And I heard you two screaming yesterday."
Alyssa paled. "You don't know what it was about, do you?"
"No…he must have done something wrong though because he was all mopey after you left."
Alyssa nodded. "Let's just say that you really don't want to know what happened last night and we probably will never tell you, no matter how many times you ask."
"He canceled the festival trip." Mokuba said, following her into Kaiba's home office in search of more alcohol.
"It's not your fault, Mokuba." Alyssa mumbled. "It's mine because I am doing these things to make life better for you and him. Things always get worse before they get better, but hopefully things don't get too bad here." She smirked. "And I can take you to the festival on Saturday if you want me to. It will just be you and me and we can stay out as late as we want. Which means we have to be home an hour before your bed time."
"Cool." Mokuba said. "And he's got a stash hidden on the 3rd shelf, 15 up, 5 to the left."
Alyssa counted the distance and found three more sherry bottles. "This could take awhile." she muttered.
Between the two, they had found all of the alcohol stashes in the Kaiba mansion and had properly disposed of the liquid. The glasses were safely tucked away in a pouch on Soul Tiger's back. Mokuba had helped her enforce a rule that if any of the maids saw Kaiba sneak a stash somewhere that they were to get it as soon as he was gone and dispose of it properly. All of them agreed before walking out to go home for the night.
Alyssa and Mokuba started dancing near the fire as they listened to music a half an hour after that. They looked up when the music stopped and saw that Kaiba was standing there, holding the radio remote. Alyssa took a step in front of Mokuba.
"Why'd you turn the music off, Seto?" she asked.
"It was giving me a headache." Kaiba stated simply, putting the remote down next to the dozen other ones. "Like you are."
"I think you're confusing headaches caused by loud noises and people with the headaches caused by hangovers, drunks, and alcohol withdraws." Alyssa shot back. "But I bet yours is caused by the hangover."
"And since when do you care?" Kaiba questioned in an icy tone.
Alyssa marched over to him and poked him hard in the chest. "I have always cared, Kaiba, but you have never truly grasped that, thanks to all that shit you put yourself through and into you." She glanced over her shoulder at Mokuba. "I'll see you tomorrow." She started walking away.
"What's tomorrow?" Kaiba asked in a more subdued tone of voice.
"Tomorrow is Saturday, and I am taking him to the festival while it's still in town." Alyssa stated.
Kaiba looked at his little brother. "Go with her tonight."
"What?" Mokuba asked, confused.
"Go spend the night with her." Kaiba ordered.
Mokuba looked at Alyssa. "Is that alright?"
Alyssa nodded slowly. Mokuba ran off in the direction of his room with a small smile on his face. Alyssa glanced at Kaiba's back again and sighed.
He is very strange…
Yes, he is.
A look of alarm flashed on Alyssa's face. Who are you?
You of course.
Good or evil?
Good. Well, better than that person who was trying to kill me and you.
Thank the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.
Praise Ra, the first Egyptian God I created.
Okay. Now you're freaking me out, so shut up.
Fine.
Alyssa heard Mokuba running towards her and attempted to put a smile on her face for him. She opened the door for him and heard him exclaim in wonder at the sight of Soul Tiger. Once again, Alyssa found herself looking at Kaiba, and this time she was shocked to find that he was looking at her with what looked like remorse in his eyes.
"I will see you tomorrow when I bring him home." Alyssa stated, backing towards the open door.
"What time will you be at your house?" Kaiba asked.
Alyssa thought about it for a second. "The fair closes at around two, so probably two thirty," she said.
Kaiba nodded and watched her leave. Alyssa helped his little brother onto the back of Soul Tiger before getting on herself and instructing him to put his arms around her waist.
"Bye, Seto!" Mokuba called as Soul Tiger started running away.
Kaiba didn't wave or smile as he closed the door. He looked into space as he leaned against the closed door and thought about all that Alyssa had done for him and what he was about to do.
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A/N: What do you think of Alyssa's plan? What do you think is up with Kaiba? (Dreamer of a Thousand Memories, I forbid you from giving anyone clues because that's my job.) Let's just say that the roller coaster of fun and drama has begun to reach another peak and a dip is bound to follow. Review and stay tuned!