Glass

Pegasus came down the next morning with a glasses case. Seto raised his eyebrows and leaned forward a little, silent because he wasn't going to let Pegasus trick him.

"I accept your terms. Although, you'll have to change back should Mr. Wheeler not heed your advice."

"Fair trade," Seto said. He moved forward to meet Pegasus at the hatch.

"I figure you can eat with Mr. Wheeler," Pegasus said, and for some reason that made him smile, not a comforting smile, but like Seto wasn't part of some joke.

"How long will I have?"

Seto switched out the glasses and didn't let himself break the green pair. He felt like he could breathe again with the black frames and it took a lot of effort not to run to the mirror to erase the past weeks of green staring back. But the guards bringing in a ladder distracted him from it.

"I'll give you until his time slot. An hour or so."

Like all the times before, the guards didn't glance his way, but Seto found that he didn't mind. The glass was coming up. Seto was getting out, even if just for a few minutes, but it would be longer than the time it took him to walk the hallway. Seto didn't care what the reason for the outing was. He was getting out for a while, and that had to be his biggest accomplishment since waking up behind the glass.

He'd convinced Pegasus to let him out.

And the glass came up.

Pegasus reached into a pocket and brought out a set of handcuffs, dangling them from one of his fingers. "You'll put these on," he said, voice flat.

It was another thing Seto didn't care about. He took the cuffs and clicked them on one wrist at a time, then gave them a tug to prove they had latched.

"You'll get these back-" Pegasus said, plucking away Seto's glasses. "-once we're there."

Seto didn't argue it, just requested that he be careful of fingerprints on the lenses. He expected a tease, something like, oh yes, now you're careful of them, but got nothing from Pegasus. Too anxious about letting Seto out, he supposed. The firm grip on his arm confirmed the theory.

Avoiding the guards, walls, and doorways was easy enough with the light fixtures mounted along the walls. But after they went down the stairs, Seto's vision turned into shadows with the occasional speck of light out ahead. Pegasus must have been able to follow from memory.

The stench hit him after a turn. Pegasus didn't comment, but his grip tightened the stronger the smell became. Seto couldn't turn from it or cover his face, although if Pegasus wasn't reacting to it, Seto certainly wouldn't.

"Thought I had longer without you?"

Wheeler's voice was low and rough, his accent just as strong as ever, but with far less energy. Pegasus dragged Seto a few steps forward and they were met with an additional, "Kaiba?"

"Wheeler."

"Well you're off to a smashing start," Pegasus said. He slid the glasses back over Seto's eyes.

"Nice glasses, nerd."

"Nice kennel, mutt."

Pegasus changed his grip to the chain between Seto's wrists. "Honestly, Kaiba, this is not what you promised me."

"Aren't you supposed to trust me?"

Only Seto's left hand came out of the cuff. Pegasus took the free end and snapped it to the cell bars before stepping away.

"You're fuc-"

"Rules still apply out here, Seto."

"You're kidding."

Pegasus shook his head. "Not at all. I've got to go grab breakfast and you need to talk to our Mr. Wheeler. Would you rather I left you inside with him?"

Inside was a cesspool in every definition Seto could think of. It was the stench and probably the cause of the dark corner. Pegasus had mentioned Wheeler being downgraded early on, and that was seven months now.

And Bakura had it worse than this.

"I'd rather stay out here."

"I thought as much," Pegasus said, tapping his palm to Seto's cheek. Seto leaned out of it and glared. He didn't know what it was about the wall being up and Pegasus touching him. Probably just to prove that he could, that Seto couldn't stop him from it.

Pegasus left with the promise to return quick as a whip. Seto gave him a few seconds before saying, "You fucking reek, Wheeler."

A sad laugh came from the dungeon. "You seem t'be doing real well. Some fancy bling you got on that wrist."

"You have to give up this pointless struggle."

"Yeah? Clue me in, moneybags. Why should this creep win?"

"Is that what I said?"

Seto adjusted his glasses and realized that with the position of the handcuff, he would have to either remain standing or sit with an arm raised. The bars had a horizontal iron railing across the middle and Seto was cuffed above it.

"Figured you'd at least be too stubborn t'give in. He told me ya'd surrendered, but I thought for sure he was fulla shit."

Listening for the returning footsteps, Seto dropped his voice, just in case. He checked the ceilings for a camera and found one almost directly behind him. No way to tell if it had sound.

"Mokuba's been moved to a nicer room. I've been given a video tour of it."

Pegasus clacked into sight with a plate in one hand and a bag in the other. He set the plate by Seto's feet and rifled through the bag for two water bottles, both tossed through the bars, followed by an apple, two protein bars, and a bag of baby carrots. He took out a final water bottle and handed it to Seto.

"I'm visiting Yugi-boy and then darling Tea. I'll be back in under an hour."

"Sure."

There was a long moment of hesitation and scrutiny before Pegasus went back down the hall. Seto listened as they footsteps faded, expecting Pegasus to hang back. But instead, two guards came down the hall and stationed themselves about twenty feet away.

"So Mokuba's gotta nicer room and that means I should clam up?"

"No," Seto said, checking on the guards and not looking at the camera. He waited to sit in favor of stretching out and scanning either direction for any sign that it was unsafe to talk.

"You should shut the fuck up because this-" Seto paused to gesture to the chains and the cell. "-is not going to get you out. He's going to kill you or let you die."

"So what? You're his rep now? Gonna preach me t'gospel of Pegasus?"

"No, you insufferable moron. I'm here to tell you that he does not plan to ever let us leave. This isn't Duelist Kingdom. It isn't a matter of beating him and going home. His guards are under orders to kill us if we try anything." Seto paused to read Wheeler's expression through the darkness and found it irritatingly blank. "You think we can kill him and go home? They will kill us. Convince him to let us go? Won't happen. He's not going to prison for this. Are you getting my point?"

Wheeler scoffed and cracked open a water bottle. "You're chugging that kool-aid, aren't you, Kaiba-boy?"

"Can you get out of this room?"

"Course not."

"Did you know that Bakura managed to get out of his in under a day?"

"No."

"That Mokuba is in a bigger room, with more items and more possibilities?"

"I mean, you just said-"

"That your friends are up there, all alone, and you have the chance to do something about it?"

"I know they're here."

Seto tilted his head and wished he could cross his arms. Half a year had dampened his memories of Wheeler's idiocy. The simple facts of their imprisonment weren't so complicated. It came down to one simple concept—play the game. Wheeler's inability to do even that much hindered Seto's efforts. Pegasus wouldn't get off edge until he trusted them all.

"I understand that I'm one of the last people you want to hear this from," Seto said. "But you're screwing this up for everyone. Do you want to see your sister again?"

Wheeler nodded.

"Then get out of this dungeon. Get somewhere useful. Look at yourself. You're sitting in your own shit."

"I'm not letting him beat me."

"No one is saying that. I'm telling you to stop being an idiot. Right now, what can you do to better your situation? Is it fighting to no end? Is it rotting down here? Or is it playing this game to the conclusion?"

The chains rattled and Wheeler got to his feet. He walked to the end of his slack, putting him around an arm's reach from Seto and the bars.

"I want t'hear your master plan."

Seto chuckled. "It's no wonder you dueled based on luck. Master plans take strategy, mutt. And strategy requires time and playing with what you have." He paused to gesture to the cell. "You want to be involved in the master plan? Make yourself useful. You sure as hell aren't here."

"So you got nothing."

"Pegasus has been planning this. He has resources. He already has us. We're down in the odds. I don't have much, but I will be getting Mokuba and getting out of here. I will not be coming back to open this door for you."

Wheeler dropped back to the dirty floor and the movement sent another gust of the stench up to Seto, who for the sake of argument, didn't comment. He gave Wheeler the time he needed to process the idea of getting along with Pegasus being in his own interest. It took longer than Seto expected for the point to sink in, so he sat down to pick at his breakfast.

"You're spoutin' teamwork," Wheeler said. "Using a lot o'words to say it, but you're saying we're gonna have t'work together. Seto Kaiba's preaching teamwork."

Scoffing, Seto distracted himself with a sip from his water bottle. Eating wouldn't be possible with each bite tasting like the air, and he held his breath for seconds before the sip and after it went down.

"I'm telling you that you won't get out if you stay in there."

The smile was clear even though the darkness. "You're asking for teamwork, moneybags. Never thought I'd see the day."

"You won't see many more days if you don't stop whatever feeble protest you're marching in."

"Maybe," Wheeler said, and Seto saw that as progress.

He adjusted his glasses and hoped Pegasus saw it that way.

"So, you know what's going on?"

"Generally. He wants you to figure it out on your own."

Wheeler snorted. "And you care what he wants?"

"Playing the game. I'm supposed to be seeing Mokuba in a week or so." And Seto wouldn't screw that up over Joey Wheeler.

"How's he doing?"

"A fourteen-year-old alone with the man who has kidnapped him twice now? As well as you might expect."

Seto held his breath for another sip of water. Mokuba would be okay. He was resilient and had already come through so much—he shouldn't have to go through more—that Seto was sure he would make it through this one. Maybe Seto would find someone for him to talk to. Mokuba might do well in therapy, so long as he didn't have to discuss any of the magical components of the time spent on the island.

"Wonder what Ren's up to."

"Knowing Pegasus, he'll tell you if he sees you're cooperating."

"You think?"

Seto nodded. "He gives me pictures or videos of Mokuba once a week, updates on KaibaCorp sporadically. He doesn't care if you know what's going on outside of this madhouse."

Wheeler grabbed a protein bar and tore off the wrapper, squeezing it into a ball with his fist and tossing it out in the hallway beside Seto. "Gives him more to clean," he said before taking a bite.

"You're an idiot."

"And you're getting repetitive."

"Are you going to at least play along with him?"

The shrug annoyed Seto more than it probably should have. He couldn't tell Wheeler that he would have to switch glasses back because that would be admitting to the other pair's existence, and if there was one person who didn't need to know about them, it was Wheeler.

"It feels like giving up," Wheeler said.

"That's the point. You want him to think you are."

"But like, wouldn't it be better t'prove that we're not gonna bend to his plans? That he can't force us into stuff?"

"Wheeler. He can force us. Be realistic. You fight much harder and he'll stop coming back."

It might have been a lie since Seto remembered Pegasus saying that he would continue to drop by until one of them died, but Seto's point needed more of an impact than that. The idea was still there. If Pegasus wanted to kill them, he would. There wouldn't even be a trigger to pull. He could just walk away.

"Never thought I'd see the day that you gave up."

Seto rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose and wondered how Wheeler had made it so far through life. "No one is giving up. You have to play the game until you find a piece you can work with. I can't do anything where I am. So I play until I'm somewhere better. The more moving pieces, the better."

"That sounds like giving up."

"At least I'm not living in my own shit."

"You might have me there."

Another victory.

Seto shook the handcuff and gave it a tug, although he didn't expect it to come off. If he had anything to pick it with, Seto would have, even if only to prove that it was unnecessary. He might have been able to fight the guards at the beginning of the year, but not after so long imprisoned. The guards were also likely under orders to use the tasers before he got close enough to do any damage.

"All you have to do is answer questions, maybe ask a few," Seto said. "In case you haven't noticed, he rambles."

"He never shuts up."

"Then you should have no problem carrying on a conversation."

Wheeler finished off the protein bars and sucked on the tips of his fingers. Seto turned away so he didn't have to watch. Those hands couldn't have been washed in at least a few weeks, and the cell was covered in filth. He must have gotten sick at least twice a month.

"You seen anyone else?"

"Mokuba twice now. Bakura stayed with me for a week last month."

"He put you two together?"

"The less charming half of Bakura's personality kept escaping. My cell is escape-proof."

"Where's he got you?"

"Couple halls down, one floor up. Concrete room, glass wall that can only be opened from the outside."

Wheeler's laugh turned into a cough. "He's got you in a zoo cage?"

"I usually go with display case."

"The plan is to let Pegasus win then."

Seto shook his head. Trying was going to end up pointless since Wheeler would end up forgetting anything he said within minutes of Seto leaving. It really wasn't so complicated.

"You need resources. Get yourself to resources."

That was about as simple as Seto could explain it. If he had to explain any more, he might raise his voice to a volume that the guards could overhear. They didn't seem to be paying much attention, chatting under their breaths with the occasional glance over.

"That mean you're going t'be one of my resources?"

Seto practically heard the upcoming teamwork jokes and veered away from them. Wheeler's only service to him would be getting the glasses switched out. He wouldn't be much use anywhere else. At one point, Seto might have wanted him around for his fighting abilities, but from the looks of him, Wheeler wouldn't be any good.

"It means get your ass upstairs. He's a nuisance, but no more than you are."

Wheeler flipped Seto off. "You may be out there, but you still ain't the boss of me."

"I don't have the energy to supervise you, mutt. Just do something intelligent for once."

"I'll think about it."

Thanks for reading and reviewing! You all are fantastic.

You can expect an update on Saturday, May 21st.