Seto was, unsurprisingly, the first awake when the jet began to descend. The flight was twelve hours, after all, and they needed to be rested for the night raid they were planning so they had all been napping.

He looked around at the others, contemplating waking them up.

Marik and Malik were sleeping sideways in their chairs, Malik curled up on her side like some weird cat while Marik lay on his back, legs flopped over his armrest to rest on Malik's side. Across from them, Ryo rested her head against Bakura's shoulder; the Yami had been indignant when she first fell asleep, muttering about not being a pillow and how was he supposed to get comfortable now, but was careful not to wake her anyway and eventually fell asleep with his head atop hers. Atem was sleeping in his chair, head tipped back but still sitting straight enough that one might mistake him for awake. Yugi, on the other hand, was slumped over the table with her arms on either side of the precious puzzle that only needed perhaps three more pieces to be complete.

Joey looked ridiculous, as usual, lying on the too-small couch face down with one arm thrown over her head and the other bent behind her back. One leg was straight behind her, bent and resting on the back of Marik's chair, while the other wasn't even on the couch at all. Meanwhile, her hair was in complete disarray, spreading everywhere it could including across her face and even a little into her open mouth.

Not that Seto was staring or anything.

He decided they could wake themselves up, and pulled out his computer to once more go over the fastest route to the mansion. Atem would surely be awake soon anyway, so if someone didn't wake themselves Seto was sure his noble cousin would be more than willing.

Sure enough, Atem was the next to wake up and when he realized they would be landing in the next few minutes he went around and made everyone wake up. After he gave Yugi a disgustingly honest smile the second he set eyes on her, that is. The fact that Seto knew it was probably a reflex that Atem didn't even notice made it that much more gag-inducing.

"Hello passengers," the pilot started over the intercom, cutting off the general grumbling that was natural after just waking up, "we have landed in the Sacramento International Airport and the stairs are lowering now. When the stairs have lowered fully, please exit in a quick and orderly fashion. Have a nice trip."

They did as told, making sure to grab everything of theirs from the jet before making their way off and helpfully not into the crowded airport but simply onto a runway outside. That freed up about two hours that Seto had accounted for being forced through customs.

"Okay, so now we're in California with no transportation. What's the plan?" Malik asked, looking at Seto. He was the plan guy, after all.

"First, we find the long-term parking lot," Seto stated, typing with one hand while the other held his PC up. After a moment of flicking through pages, he began walking away without another word. "Now," he said after they had arrived nearly ten minutes later, "find a car that hasn't been here long with at least eight seats."

After a few false starts (Marik trying to get everyone on board with the hippy van and Bakura voting for a limousine), Malik located a suburban that would do nicely.

"Now wadda we do with it?" Joey asked, though she had a sneaking suspicion she knew the answer.

"Who can hotwire a car?"

Marik and Bakura's hands shot up without hesitation. Joey, making a conscious effort to not look like she was purposefully avoiding eye contact, half-raised her hand and looked at the asphalt.

Ryo, who had turned beet red and glanced around as if afraid someone would see, raised her hand briefly in an awkward wave, let it hover there for a moment, and then dropped it when she saw that everyone was looking at her. Most looked confused or scandalized, but Bakura looked like he'd just won the lottery.

"My dad was a mechanic; sometimes the people that called lost their keys…" She said defensively.

"You are in charge of getting that car running," Seto declared. "Mutt, help her." Bakura was looking much too pleased, and Seto had an inkling that Marik's breaking-and-entering actually involved breaking things. Joey muttered a comment about not being a mutt under her breath, but still approached the car with Ryo.

As the two worked on the car (Ryo getting the locked door open with almost worrying ease and Joey supplying a running stream of reminders and tips for more effectively stealing a car), Seto supplied the basic plan.

"Pegasus' mansion is only a two hour drive from this airport, but we will be waiting until dark to break in since no doubt there will be guards and other security measures. The mansion is only about five minutes' walk away from the nearest town, so through the day we'll rotate keeping an eye on the mansion in pairs to get a better idea of the security. The rest of us will be in the town, and around an hour after sunset will be when we break in."

"We got it!" Joey called from the car only a moment after the engine came to life. The group turned to see Ryo looking like a normal person in the front seat, while Joey sat on the passenger's side hanging halfway through the window since she was sitting precariously on the ledge and instead of doing the smart thing (keeping some semblance of balance by holding on to anything) she was waving her arms around in victory.

Predictably, the already injured girl slipped backwards and began to plummet towards the ground.

Bakura and Marik watched with an amused smirk and a gleeful grin respectively.

"Joey!" Several voices shouted out at once, people rushing forward. Yugi was the fastest, despite being the shortest, and Seto even stumbled a few steps forward seemingly without his own permission.

They rounded the car, knowing it would be much too late to catch her…

And found her grinning, hanging upside-down from her knees which she had managed to hook around the window at the last moment.

"Woah, dat was close," Joey chuckled, attempting not to show the others how truly terrified he had been in that moment, or how hitting her head on the car had actually hurt pretty badly itself.

"… Idiot," Seto snapped, though he also helped Yugi and Atem get her to her feet.

How in the world would this plan work with such klutzes as this as all he has to work with?


Factoid #47: No, mechanics aren't allowed to hotwire cars. That's what tow trucks are for. They may break into them to retrieve keys locked inside, but no hotwiring… so why would Ryo's dad teach her that?