A/N: Haha…Sorry I made some of you mad with that cliffhanger ending, but it had to happen that way? Here's what's happened now…

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Chapter Thirty-Six

The world seemed to move in slow motion as another gunshot rang out. Sieg and Kaiba stared at Alyssa in shock. Tears continued to pour from her eyes as she held the gun Kaiba had dropped with shaking hands.

Two bullets tore into Sieg's body, making him jerk involuntarily. The gun in his hand dropped to the ground and a stray bullet hit a wall, embedding itself deep in the brick. Slowly, he put a hand over one of the wounds and saw the blood on his hand.

"Alyssa, what have you done?" he asked, looking at her and taking a step towards her.

"Stay – stay away from me!" Alyssa cried, pointing the gun at his chest again.

Not heeding her words, Sieg took another step towards her, withdrawing a knife from his pocket. Alyssa panicked and pulled the trigger again.

Sieg's eyes widened and he coughed up blood as he sank to his knees. Alyssa watched him fall forward and lay on the ground, unmoving. A puddle of blood started forming underneath him.

A hand was placed on her shoulder as the sound of sirens drew near and Alyssa jumped. Kaiba gently pried the gun out of her hands and pushed it away from them. Alyssa's eyes glowed dimly before she grabbed onto him and started crying into his chest.

"It's all right Alyssa," Kaiba whispered, stroking her hair. "It's over now."

"I thought I'd lose you!" Alyssa cried, tangling her hands in the fabric of his jacket. "When he pointed the gun at you…I couldn't lose you like that!"

"Shh…It's all right. I'm right here and no one's going to hurt either of us."

Alyssa looked up when she saw the flashing lights of the police cars and let Kaiba pull her to her feet. She quickly released him and wiped away her tears. Soon she was surrounded by police officers and in their midst she saw Nicholas Shame. The problem was that Kaiba saw him too.

"Was he the one who was hired to kidnap you?" Kaiba demanded, pointing at Nicholas.

Alyssa nodded and took a step towards the kidnapper. The kidnapper quickly lowered his eyes and pressed himself against the police car. Kaiba growled and started towards the man, his hands becoming fists.

"Kaiba, don't!" Alyssa exclaimed, watching him almost hit Nicholas. "He – he was the one who called the police!"

Kaiba's fist stopped an inch away from Nicholas' face. "He did?"

Alyssa nodded hurriedly and walked over to them. "Didn't you, Nicholas?"

Nicholas nodded. "But it doesn't make up for what I let that bastard do to you…"

"No it doesn't, but you helped me," Alyssa said with a wan smile. "You got the police on the right track, despite what it's going to cost you, and that allowed them to find me sooner. You helped save me and Kaiba and I'll never be able to repay you."

"I don't want payment," Nicholas muttered, looking down at his feet again. "After everything I've done, I'm getting what I deserve."

Alyssa shook her head. "I'm going to hire the best lawyer I can for you and I'll testify on your behalf. I don't want you to have to rot in jail for the rest of your life."

Kaiba grabbed her arm. "Aly, he kidnapped you and practically gift wrapped you for Sieg! And you're helping him?"
Alyssa shrugged. "Even monsters can have changes of heart. He changed for the better, Seto, and I'm making sure that the world notices that. I personally don't hold him responsible for my kidnapping. If you do, that's fine, but since I'm the one who was kidnapped, I think what I say has more power than what you say."

Nicholas looked at her in surprise when she hugged him. "Ms. Pegasus…"

"Angel!" Pegasus' voice rang out above the sound of the police sirens. "Angel! Where are you?"

Alyssa pulled away from Nicholas and looked around for her uncle. Spotting him, she waved and let him pull her into a bone breaking hug as relief shown on his face. Alyssa hugged him back as tightly as she could and told him that she was fine.

She's lying, Kaiba realized. She's not fine. She just killed a man after being raped by him. There is no way she can be all right. I bet if I even attempt to kiss her, she'll flinch and retreat into herself.

Alyssa looked over her uncle's shoulder at him as if she heard what he'd just thought and smiled at him. "Can I go home now?" she asked with a small amount of hope in her voice.

"The police will want to question you Angel," Pegasus stated, keeping an arm around her shoulders. "They'll want to know everything that happened when you were in the custody of that deranged boy."

Alyssa's eyes darkened. "Oh."

"I could ask them to hold it off for awhile, so you can rest," Pegasus offered and for the first time ever, Kaiba realized that Pegasus really did care about Alyssa as if she was his real daughter. "You wouldn't have to answer any of their questions until you were ready."

Alyssa shook her head. "I want to get this over with as soon as possible. The longer it waits, the more it'll hurt." She looked at Kaiba. "And then I want to go home with you."

Kaiba nodded. "If that's what you want."

Alyssa sighed and looked at the police officers that were approaching her. "I hope the gods give me the courage to do this…"

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Alyssa was at the police station for a few hours, recounting her tale over and over again until there was no one in the station that didn't know what had happened to her. Word came around that Sieg had died on the operating table and many were convinced that no one really wanted to save him anyway. They didn't want to listen to her when she pleaded for a lighter sentence on Nicholas Shame, but with the help of Pegasus and a reluctant Kaiba, she managed to get him a light sentence of ten to fifteen years behind bars.

On the ride to Kaiba's house, she was silent except when she heard a song on the radio that she knew the words to. Kaiba wanted to hear her sing and be happy, so he didn't bother her even when he noticed the tears that sparkled at the corner of her eyes.

She's been through a lot. I just have to give her time, Kaiba told himself as he held the door open for her. She'll open up to me when she's ready.

Alyssa smiled when she was tackled by Mokuba. She hugged him back and whispered that she too had missed him. When he challenged her to a fight on a video game, Kaiba decided it was best to intervene before Mokuba could convince her to play a bloody game.

"Mokuba, she's been through a lot and I think it's best if we just let her get some sleep," Kaiba said, not caring about how his brother frowned.

"Oh…Do you want me to tuck you in Alyssa?" Mokuba asked, looking up at her.

Alyssa smirked at him. "It's supposed to be me that gets to tuck you in. Not the other way around."

"I know, but I'm not tired."

"Well, I'm not tired either. So, if your big brother doesn't mind, how about we watch a movie?" Alyssa suggested, looking at Kaiba.

"I don't have a problem with it," Kaiba muttered, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

Alyssa smiled warmly at him and let Mokuba drag her away, talking loudly about what movie he thought she'd like to watch. Kaiba followed at a slower pace.

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Mokuba really was tired as Alyssa and Kaiba soon found out. He fell asleep half way through the movie and leaned against his brother. Alyssa looked over Mokuba's head at Kaiba, who nodded and turned the movie off. She followed him as he carried Mokuba in the direction of the boy's room and held the door open for them.

"He's getting to be too big for this," Kaiba muttered, emerging from the room.

"He's still young. Give him a couple more years," Alyssa whispered, closing the door. "Then you can talk to him about girls…"

Kaiba sighed and walked with her down the hall. "Alyssa, I was really worried sick about you when you were gone…"

"I was more worried about my friends than I was about myself. I couldn't stop thinking about how you guys were going to freak when you found out that I was gone. And then when Sieg threatened to kill you all…I was really afraid for you."

Kaiba looked at her as he paused outside of his room. "And he raped you…"

Alyssa nodded and she scratched herself as she hugged herself almost like she couldn't stand the skin she was in. "He violated me and all I could think about was how wrong it was to have that monster on me when it was supposed to be only you that did that. It was supposed to be you who looked at me like that and not some monster…You were the one who was supposed to be moving inside me and no matter how hard I focused on that, I was tormented by the thought of him moving inside me, trying to hurt me…Even now, I can still feel him under my skin…"

Kaiba grabbed her hands when he saw the angry red lines on her skin start to seep thin lines of blood. "Alyssa, stop hurting yourself."

"I can still smell him. I can see the look in his eyes. I can taste him. Kaiba, I think I'm going insane!"

Kaiba pulled her to him as she started trembling again. He made soft comforting sounds and pulled her into the bedroom.

"Alyssa, you're safe now. Sieg is dead. He can't come back to hurt you."
Alyssa looked up at him with pleading in her eyes. "Take me to the shower, please. I have to get him off of me!"

Kaiba nodded and led her to the bathroom. He tried not to watch as she pulled her clothes off, knowing that she probably didn't want to have anyone look at her without a layer of clothing after everything she went through. She frowned and started scrubbing herself as hard as she could the instant she was under the scalding hot water.

"You must think I'm silly," Alyssa muttered, glancing at him through the glass door. "That I'm tiring right now."

"No," Kaiba said, watching her distorted form through the glass. "I understand what you're going through."

But how can I really? Kaiba asked himself. I've never been raped before or kidnapped…

Alyssa was silent for a moment. "Kaiba, I don't want that house anymore…I don't want to be alone…"

"You don't have to be," Kaiba assured her. "You can move in here. I have plenty of room…"

Alyssa pushed open the door after making the water slightly warm and peeked out at him. "Thank you Kaiba."

Kaiba quickly diverted his gaze from her. "Do you want a towel?"

"No. I want you in here and I just want you to hold me in your arms…"

Kaiba looked her in the eyes and saw that she really did want him to hold her. Under her watchful gaze, he pulled his clothes off and walked into the shower with her, letting the door close behind him.

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Kaiba watched Alyssa's chest rise and fall with each of her slow breaths. They had stayed in the shower for almost an hour, just standing there in each other's arms. Now, a couple hours later, Alyssa was fast asleep in his bed, wearing one of his shirts, lying next to him. After losing her the way he had, he wasn't sure that he wanted to close his eyes in case he opened them and she was gone.

Am I willing to let her go again? Kaiba asked himself, touching the hair that trailed over his pillow gently. After everything we've gone through, can I risk losing her like this again?

The answer was no. He couldn't risk losing her. He wanted her with him forever. He wanted to be sure that he would always see her and that he would never have to be without her for an indefinite time period. He couldn't live that way anymore.

But will she agree with me? After everything that she's gone through for the past few days, would she agree to anything that takes away her freedom? True, she'd gain some new freedoms, but she wouldn't be the same afterward…

He sighed and sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the enormous bed. He ran a hand through his short hair as he wandered over to the window and stared out at the distant city.

Am I even ready for this kind of thing? Dueling and business adventures I can handle and do so without questioning myself. But this…This I question myself about…

A soft sigh made him look back over at the bed. Alyssa rolled over on the bed and moonlight lit her face. She looked so peaceful now. He wondered what she was dreaming about. If it was him that she was seeing that made that small smile appear on her lips.

I think I'm ready for this…But there are at least five people that I have to convince before I can do anything…Gods, I don't know if I'm ready for that though.

"Seto…" Alyssa whispered in her sleep and Kaiba returned to her side.

He watched her until he too fell asleep.

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A/N: Any idea of what Kaiba is planning? Tell me! Tell me! REVIEW ME PEOPLES! Next update in about a week's time…I hope.