Seto learns a bit more about the repercussions from night Bakura's attack, and to just what lengths he'd driven Flynn.

No smut in this one, sorry. I'll make it up to you next chapter.

-BB

[

]

[

]

Flynn didn't chase him off the next morning and to be honest, the brunet wasn't in a hurry to leave. She invited him for a lazy morning watching the news while she scrolled on her phone, her feet in his lap. He followed the long toes back up her leg, by passing her sweats and t-shirt to see her face. She raised an eyebrow before smirking.

"Want to hear a joke?"

"Yes."

"Priest and a Rabbi come running out of a burning church. The Priest stops and says 'What about the children?' and the Rabbi goes 'Fuck the kids!' And the Priest goes 'You think we'll have time?'"

He chuckled and squeezed her foot. "Give me another."

She scrolled a bit before chuckling and starting to read.

"One day, a young Catholic couple is involved in a fatal car accident on their way to the church. The couple found themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to process them into Heaven.

While they were waiting, they began to wonder: Could they possibly get married in Heaven? When St. Peter showed up, they asked him. St. Peter said, 'I don't know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out.' and he left. The couple sat and waited, and waited.

Three months passed and the couple were still waiting. While they were waiting, they began to wonder what would happen if it didn't work out. Could you get a divorce in heaven? Finally St. Peter returned, looking somewhat frazzled. 'Yes,' He informed the couple, 'You can get married in Heaven.'

'Great!' said the couple, 'But now we were just wondering, what happens if things don't work out? Could we also get a divorce in Heaven?' St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slammed his clipboard down and yelled;

'COME ON! It took me three months to find a priest up here! Do you have any idea how long it'll take me to find a lawyer?'"

That one drew a genuine laugh from the brunet. "Alright that one was pretty good." A ping from her phone drew her feet down. "Dad's here."

His nose curled. "Bakura better not show his face here today."

She shrugged and stood. "He wants attention. Since you've come along and even more so since I've left the house, he's been acting out. You can't feed it."

"He wants you. You know that, right?" His eyes narrowed at her.

"Yes. I know that. I also know how to coexist with him. I've been doing this a while longer than you."

Follow my lead. She says. The doorbell rang and rang and rang. "Uba! I'm back! Uba!"

"Use your damn code! That's why I gave it to you." She growled, more to herself than anything as she started for the door.

A moment later the grey haired boy bound in. "Hi Dragonnnn!" He chirped as he dove for the far end of the couch.

Seto chuckled. "Hello Tito. Did you enjoy your evening with your Papa?"

"Yeah! Daddy says you went swimming! I wanna go."

"Not today, Tito. The pool's broken." Said Mike, stepping in ahead of Flynn and Ryou, who were still murmuring in the foyer.

"Ah! What? What did you do?" Said Tito with a squinted stare at the brunet.

"I tried to fit in my Dragon shape, and it didn't work nearly as well as I thought it would. I've made quite the mess. Flynn has to call someone out to fix it. I apologize." Said the CEO.

Tito scrunched his face but relented. "Well… it was an accident, right?"

"Correct." Said Seto with a small smile and a glance to Mike who was watching his grandson in amusement.

"Then I s'pose it's okay. Just don't do it again."

"Noted." Said the blue eyed man.

"Well, just because the pool is off the table, doesn't mean we still can't have a good day." Said Mike.

"Papa's right." Said Flynn, stepping in with a smile. "We have paint for each room. I think that would be fun. For the more height inclined I have some things I'd like hung up in my study. Or we could toss all that off to sit here, which, I think, Is just a lovely thought." She flopped herself next to the brunet and sank against his shoulder, drawing his chuckle as he wrapped an arm around her.

"You know Max was wondering when he'd see the new place." Said Mike casually.

"I want to get it nice so I can have a house party, I think that would be fun. Pool, food, stop at the off-license."

Kaiba raised a brow at the woman. "You would willingly invite Pegasus?"

"Of course I would! I love Max. He's a peach. Bit excitable I suppose, but a good sort."

"He's only got one eyes." Said Tito with a look to the CEO.

"Eye. And you're right." He replied.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Just to the left… perfect love." Said Flynn as she closed the distance between them and marked above the frame with a pencil. They were just placing, nothing had been hung yet, with the box of degrees and awards sitting on her desk. She was meticulous in her planning. She could hang them alone, but she couldn't see how they would look without someone holding them up first.

Kaiba set the degree aside as she dug out the next. Only this one was a blank DVD case. "What's this?" She muttered, popping it open. Inside was a disk with 'Tomb 2759' in Flynn's familiar hand.

"Oh… I forgot about this… It's the tomb footage. After we'd excavated. It's to help document all the markings on the walls. Obviously, we couldn't bring them."

She fiddled with the case a bit and he gently pulled it from her.

"Something on here that bothers you?" He asked her.

"No... Well, yes." She looked up at him shyly.

"It's me. I'm on there. Early in my pregnancy."

"Can I see?"

He waited for her response.

"If... if you want." She said quietly

Seto sat down at her desk and popped the disk tray of her computer to load it. Tons of pictures showed up, with a few videos. The pictures were of the walls of the tomb mostly, though parts of Flynn could be seen to one corner. Mostly they were just propaganda of Bakura's deeds.

When he hit the first video, he played it.

The screen was dark at first, before the light from the camera and a flashlight lit the area. They were in a stone tunnel with a dirt floor. Ryou's voice came through.

"Alright, so here we are. Tomb number... what is it again?"

"2759, The Thief King's Tomb, we've just uncovered this chamber here off the main hall, we don't know what's inside obviously, but the men say it's just a stand alone chamber, meaning there's nothing leading off of it." Said a woman, quickly apparent to be Flynn as her image appeared on screen.

The woman in the video looked sickly, even in the dim yellow light of their torches. Her skin was tan but flat, with dark circles beginning to start under her eyes. Flynn herself was standing behind the blue eyed man, watching over his shoulder.

"They said there weren't any traps that they could find but we should still look..." Said Ryou, drawing a snort from the woman as she pulled a pry bar from the spot in her bag.

"At least let me double check Flynn-"

The woman didn't wait. She tucked one end of the bar under a corner of the large stone door and pulled. There was a sharp release of air, burying the hall in dust. The camera tumbled while they coughed.

"GET THAT BLOODY VENT GOING!" Roared the woman. For a long few moments the only thing you could hear was the draw of fans, the screen a swirl of dust until they died and Ryou picked up the camera once more.

The door had been moved aside, and Flynn had taken the lead. She was thinner. You could immediately tell the difference. She wasn't bone thin, but it definitely lacked the softness he favored in her present form.

"Wait! Flynn please!" Ryou managed to grab her just as the floor gave away. Inside the trap were a number of small tunnels for the various creatures of the desert to come hide. Several snakes and a number of scorpions were suddenly on guard. Flynn clung to the side of hole, the camera falling to the ground once more, this time on it's side. Ryou's thin arms grabbed at her.

"Hold on! I've got you. Just- wait, stop!" The woman's eyes came up as she gave Ryou a hard shove back, knocking the floor out from the camera and sending another wave of debris down. The footage spun, before Ryou's voice could be heard calling for Flynn, calling for help.

The camera caught sight of Flynn, crumpled at the bottom of the ledge, the slide had sent a number of the wildlife away, but one very large snake remained, too large to escape out of any of the tunnels remaining. It quickly identified itself with a wide hood as Flynn stirred. You could see the exact moment she spotted her threat. Her eyes got wide, and dropped to the floor for a beat before looking back up. Finding the snake's gaze. The snake hissed immediately, lifting itself up.

"Flynn! Flynn stop! Don't move!" A sharp beam of light landed on the snake, drawing it's attention away from the woman. She got to her feet and the snake hissed, lurching itself to try and match her height. The fact that it could sent a chill down Seto's spine. That was a big snake. Flynn took a shaky step in, her hand out.

The center of the room suddenly warped, and Bakura seemed to emerge into existence in a twisting of shadows. His hand lashed out and pinned the snake in his fist, squeezing until it popped in a spray of blood. Flynn dropped to her knees, her face covered in gore. The back of Bakura's hand slammed across one cheek.

"You stupid bitch! That trick won't work twice." His hand buried in her hair and yanked her face up.

"Do you have any idea how painful your death would be? You'd barely last an hour before your lungs gave out! Carrying my welp can't be that bad, can it?"

"Why did you do that?" Asked the woman shakily.

Bakura frowned and looked over his shoulder before looking back to Flynn, using the hand in her hair to keep her still and taking his shirt to her face to try and clear it.

"Ryou! Get those disgusting workers down here! I need water! NOW."

The footage morphed into a flurry of movement. Getting the woman out, flushing her eyes with water and what appeared to be milk. The clip ended when Ryou grabbed the camera and shut it off.

Flynn's hands had been on Seto's shoulders, but he was just now feeling them clenched in his shirt. Holding on for dear life. He looked at her, but she was looking at the windows.

"That… was a very dark time for me, I didn't intend for you to see that, but… you asked."

She tried to kill herself twice. When the first time didn't work, she tried again in England before getting help.

Given the circumstances, he'd probably snap too.

His heart ached for her. He turned the chair and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her hips. Her hands immediately came to his hair and back, running her fingers in soothing motions.

"I hadn't watched these, you know? I knew what they were… I didn't realize how big that damn snake was…"

"It was looking you in the eye, Flynn."

"Yes, well, bit in the moment. Didn't notice. Couldn't see by the time they dragged me out, so I didn't see the body."

Kaiba sat back and looked at her, her eyes found his.

"Your eyes."

She gave a small smile. "Contacts. Though I imagine you'll see me in glasses eventually. It wasn't a direct shot."

"Even so." His hand leaned up and she dipped her head to find his fingertips with her lips before allowing them to brush under one of the sparkling eyes.

"Did they always look like this?"

"No… I always thought they looked like my fathers." She said quietly. "The doctor said it's scarring… I'll have to be cautious as I grow older for cataracts." Her eyes flicked to the computer. "Bakura saved my sight… and my life." Her face grew cold. "Isn't that just the Gods idea of a joke?"

"You wouldn't be here." He reminded her, drawing her in so he could have her on his lap.

"Seto-"

"Hush." He said firmly, seating her on his knees, hers out to either side. He squeezed her thighs and found her eyes again. Much easier this time.

"You must promise me you will say something if you're feeling this way again…" She brushed his face. He had a bit of stubble from the day before, he'd forgotten his razor.

"I can safely make you that promise." She said. "I'm okay… I told you I've had help… Dad keeps a close eye too, but I understand." She pressed her lips to his forehead. "I promise I will speak up should my thoughts ever stray like that again… okay?"

Seto smiled at her and nodded. She smiled back. "You make me quite happy, you know? Seems the furthest thing from my mind. I'm having a blast with you."

"I can't seem to get enough of you either… I miss you at the park."

"I miss seeing you at the park… I know it makes your day." She said with a giggle.

"Like little else… but... I get to think of you when I get home… I can see the light from your study in my kitchen." He chuckled. "Usually leads to me texting you, since I know you're up."

"I can't find my binoculars. I think they got lost in the move... I've got this super hot neighbor you should meet." His brows pinched and she giggled.

"You, you dope." He smiled at her and hummed.

"Feel free to jump the fence. Keep Roland on his toes."

"I might." She flashed a toothy grin before dropping another kiss on his lips. When she sat back, she moved to get up. "But… after I look at this again." She moved to the desk and clicked around on the footage feed. Settling on her kneeling beside the Thief.

"You stupid bitch! That trick won't work twice."

"I didn't remember that… but that day's a blur in my head." She flicked through the next few pictures. "But I remember these… The room we opened, it was the Queen's chamber... the pregnant woman. Here's a picture of the whole chamber."

The floor had caved out from about half of the room itself. In the picture, some had been filled in, and what hadn't was covered in heavy boards to walk on. The Sarcophagus was sitting in the center, with large stone pieces to shape layers around the coffin inside. Immediately around the base the image of a serpent could be seen.

"Bakura refused to tell me how she died. He didn't come in that room at all after that. He would tell anyone where that gold plated dagger came from, but not say a word about her. I went home shortly after."

"You think she's you." Flynn looked to the CEO and shrugged.

"I don't know… but I think she looks like me. I think the symbols on her tomb suggest she had a connection to snakes. Enough that Max released a whole new set of cards when I showed him the photos of the walls in her burial chamber."

Kaiba's brows pinned. "The venom release."

She nodded. "I think… that snake didn't want to bite me. It had sprayed it's venom already, anything it had left may not have been enough to kill me. I think… When we slept buried in the sand in the desert, I woke up with a sand viper on my lap, and it just wandered off on it's own. I think everyone on that trip woke up with a snake in their bag at least once… but not me." She looked at him once more.

"I think it's pretty fucking weird that Bakura doesn't like me with you. He didn't like me with anyone, but you. You're a problem."

"Go back. Show me the picture of the whole room." He told her, leaning forward to study the screen. She did as he asked, and at the bottom of the pit, he saw something hiding partially buried under the rubble.

"What do you see?" She asked.

"There." He pointed to the pit. "That looks like a duel monster card." He reached for his phone and searched for it before bringing up a picture.

"It's called 'The Embodiment of Apophis'. It's a trap card. When activated, it forms a creature that can be used to protect yourself and stop an attack."

"Apep is all over this room. You can see it. The snake there? And all along this wall, you see that snake? That's Apophis." She said as she drew up pictures of the chamber walls.

"What's it's meaning in mythology?" Asked Seto.

"Apophis was the Great Serpent. The sun was Ra's barge, and every day when it set, Ra travelled through the underworld at night, and the people would pray for his return with the dawn. During one of these trips, Apep tried to kill Ra, to keep him from completing his journey. The other Gods defended Ra, and kept the snake at bay. Ancient Egyptian Priests would engage in rituals to protect Ra and destroy Apophis during burials. Linking the living with the dead and the natural order as established by the Gods. To see him here, shows that Bakura was using him to guard the tomb instead of trying to banish him away…" She stared at the screen and grabbed a notepad out of her desk drawer.

"Which makes sense! Her burial was so informal, not at all like anyone else that's been uncovered, but there was still things done… the resin, the wrapping… In Bakura's death chamber, there's none of the usual calls to the Gods, just more bragging on his deeds. She warranted protection that he did not." She scanned the images and started scratching down strings of symbols.

"Apophis never had a formal cult and was never worshiped in any temple but he's seen in a number of tales dealing with his efforts to destroy Ra and turn order into chaos. Apophis is associated with earthquakes, thunder, darkness, storms, and death, and is sometimes linked to the god Set, who as we know was the God of Chaos. Thing is though, Set was originally a protector god, and appears a number of times as the strongest of the Gods on board the sun god's barge, defending the ship against Apophis. To use Apep as a protector would be an insult. She'd never be welcomed into the Afterlife."

Kaiba could almost see the cogs in her head turning. Putting pieces together. Finally, she pulled her phone from her pocket and brought it up to her ear.

"Ishizu…. yes, I'm so sorry Darling, time change and all, I didn't mean to catch you so late… Oh good… Yes! I'm well, thank you. I'm going to send you some shots from Bakura's tomb, I want to see what you see. I think I've found something, but… right, I don't want to put the idea in. Let me just see what you see, and email me back after you've had a look, alright? You're a peach darling. Give your brother my best, you're alright?"

There was a moment of conversation before Flynn nodded and replied. "That's good. All the same." She blinked and looked to the brunet. "I will… thank you Ishizu." She hung up and smirked a bit. "She said: Give Kaiba my regards as well.' You had dealings with the Ishtars, love?"

Kaiba snorted. "More than I would like."

Flynn chuckled. "Ryou said Malik had a bit of an incident a few years ago with the Millenium Rod."

"During my tournament." Said the brunet flatly.

"Did he? Why that cheeky twat. Ryou!" A moment later the hikari appeared in the doorway.

"Get cozy. You're staying tonight… I found some pictures I want to go over with you."

[

]

[

]