Heart of the Blue-Eyes

by Azure Eyes Silver Dragon

When tragedy strikes at KaibaCorp, Téa and the gang rush to the aid of an old acquaintance. Set approximately three to four years after the events of Dark Side of Dimensions.

8. Téa's Guard

Hello again, my few but faithful!

I apologize that this update is late. The laptop that I normally work on crashed and corrupted the save files on my old jump drive, and I lost quite a bit of this chapter. My rage was palpable. I promise I had a lot more than this to give you, but I'm having to re-write the whole thing from scratch. I will hopefully be able to post the rest of the chapter later this month, not make you wait the normal three months.

Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had quite a few people send me messages about co-writing stories with them! I am so flattered and honored that my writing has piqued such interests from others, and I do sincerely appreciate the offers. However, this is just a fun hobby that I like to do, and outside of this I am a full-time medical professional, so I unfortunately don't have the kind of time to devote to such projects. You have no idea how much of a confidence boost that gives me, though, so thank you from the bottom of my heart! I was seriously thinking no one really enjoyed my stories, seeing how little site traffic and favorites I have, and that was a pleasant surprise.

And now, without further ado, I give you the next installment of Heart of the Blue-Eyes...or at least half thereof.

- Azure Eyes Silver Dragon

---

Terrance kicked open the door to Ghedsu's office, dragging a struggling body with a cloth bag tied over its head. Ghedsu glanced up with a disapproving look on his face at the lack of polite entry, while Mateo openly gaped at the fighting figure, saying, "I don't believe it! You can't possibly have captured Seto Kaiba that fast!"

"Don't flatter me, Mateo. Of course it's not Kaiba." replied Terrance, pulling the figure up-right on its knees before Ghedsu's desk. "It's almost as good, though. I found us a useful informant fresh from KaibaCorp."

Terrance tore off the hood, and Neil gasped for precious air before glaring daggers up at his captor. Ghedsu's brow furrowed at the guard, who was wearing normal clothes now, and said, "And who might this be?"

"A mid-tier security guard who was recently discharged from the ranks of KaibaCorp." said Terrance, unsheathing a long dagger-like blade in warning as Neil tried to struggle out of his binds. "I watched him leave the main building like a dog with his tail between his legs, complete with a moving truck that brought all his personal effects to an outside residence. So I personally invited him to come share what he knew about his now ex-boss, and when he didn't comply, I gave him a little more persuasion."

"If you think I'm telling you anything that would jeopardize the security of KaibaCorp just because the CEO fired me, you're sorely mistaken, scum!" spat Neil. "I'm not stupid enough to bring the wrath of Seto Kaiba down upon myself!"

"Don't fret, my friend. We'll put in a good word for you with your old boss once we're done with you." said Terrance, scraping the tip of the dagger up Neil's windpipe as he added, "We'll let him know you didn't spill any corporate secrets willingly."

Neil didn't flinch even as he felt the sharp blade draw blood, saying, "You can torture me until my blood runs dry, but I'm saying nothing!"

Ghedsu nodded, saying, "You should listen to the man, Terrance. Kaiba makes all of his security personnel sign an agreement that dictates that even after their employment with KaibaCorp is terminated, they still won't break protocol for any reason. I'm afraid you wasted your time and your efforts. You can dispose of this one so he doesn't run off and blow the whistle to his former employer, and then you can do as I said the first time and do the same to Seto Kaiba."

"Take out Seto Kaiba? That's your big plan?" asked Neil suddenly. "Hah! I suppose you lot think that offing the CEO will land you all of his power and fortune so long as you reach 51% ownership first. Sorry to burst your bubble, old man, but that's not how it's set up at KaibaCorp."

The silence in the room was so deafening a pin could have been heard dropping on the floor.

"Is that right?" said Ghedsu, leveling his eyes at Neil and steepling his hands together, suddenly listening intently to the ex-guard before him.

"If you don't believe me, by all means, go ahead and pick off the big boss." said Neil, shrugging nonchalantly. "We'll have a booming economy for at least a decade if not more, but otherwise you won't see a single coin of his wealth in your own coffers."

Mateo's eyes were wide and disbelieving. "A booming economy?" he repeated. "So you're telling us that, instead of KaibaCorp defaulting to a publicly owned company, all of Seto Kaiba's assets will just be seized by the government in the event of his death?"

Neil smirked knowingly, saying, "That's exactly what I'm telling you. Seto Kaiba's always two steps ahead of everyone else. If it were really as simple as taking him out of the picture, don't you think all the business executives that tried this kind of scheme before you rag-tag lot would have just put both him and his brother Mokuba out of their misery ages ago?"

"Now that you mention it, Pegasus and the Big Five did indeed try that." said Ghedsu pensively. "However only with the elder. Legally they would have been required to keep the younger to run the company in name only. It would appear that Maximillion Pegasus had the right idea."

"I see now..." said Terrance, catching on. "The KaibaCorp by-law that says only a Kaiba heir can inherit the company is now what's ultimately protecting Seto Kaiba. His little runt brother suddenly kicking the bucket was actually an advantage to the elder Kaiba. That crafty bastard."

"You got it, buzzcut." said Neil. "If you want control of KaibaCorp now, the only way to do that is to take advantage of Seto Kaiba himself. You'd be screwing yourself sideways to simply eliminate him altogether." Neil smirked, looking triumphant, and added, "But good luck with that. With Mokuba gone, you've got no one to hold over Seto Kaiba anymore. You can't threaten him with death, either, or he'll just call your bluff. Oh, and don't go thinking you can use me as a ransom, either. If Mr. Kaiba felt the need to get rid of me over a tiny mishap, obviously he doesn't think I'm worth it."

Terrance gave Neil a smirk of his own, saying, "I'm in agreement with you there." Terrance looked up at Ghedsu, asking, "Are we done here, boss man?"

"We are." said Ghedsu, meeting Neil's eyes before saying, "I thank you for using your last moments in life to be useful, good sir."

Before Neil could open his mouth to answer, Terrance raised his dagger and jammed it into back of Neil's neck at the base of his skull. He was dead before he even keeled over and hit the floor.

"Well, as useful as he might have been, now we're back to square one..." said Mateo, ignoring the bleeding mass on the floor. "...there's nothing we can do to convince Kaiba to give up his company and all the power and wealth that comes with it."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." said Terrance, flicking his zippo lighter open and casually burning the hairs off his fingers.

Ghedsu raised his eyes from his steepled hands, suddenly intrigued. "Is there something you know that we don't, Terrance?" he asked.

"Not at all, you're the one who said it yourself." said Terrance, putting a match in his mouth and lighting the end. "Kaiba's security chief may have extended the security coverage to his friends."

"You're saying we should go after the others that Kaiba was with on his little escapade to the mountains?" asked Mateo incredulously. "Also a stupid idea. Like Master Ghedsu said, there are well-known names in that lot."

"True, but not all of them are." Terrance pointed out. "And it doesn't take but a little deductive reasoning to figure out which ones aren't the high-profile targets."

"What you're suggesting is a dangerous game, boy." said Ghedsu. "You're playing Russian Roulette trying to figure out which ones Seto Kaiba has or has not given security coverage to, assuming he didn't give them all their own guards."

"It's not Russian Roulette, boss man, it's process of elimination." said Terrance, a sick grin spreading across his face as he said those words. "There's only three targets left when you take away the others that are high-profile."

Mateo thought for a moment, recalling the faces of the group that had entered the bus he had crashed. "The tall guy with the bad cowlick and the dancer girl." he said.

"Bingo." said Terrance. "Add the sister of Joey Wheeler and you've got your threesome."

"And if those three are precisely the ones that were given security?" asked Ghedsu.

"I'm counting on it." said Terrance, pulling the burnt match into his mouth with his tongue and chewing the charcoal remains. "That means those are the three that Kaiba cared to waste his resources on. Ergo, your targets."

"I hope you understand what you're saying, Terrance." said Ghedsu. "That means you plan to take on what could very well be high-tier, military trained security personnel from KaibaCorp."

Terrance spat out the charcoal onto Neil's corpse, as if spitting tobacco, saying, "If they're anything like this old scrub was, I can take them all out with a single thumb. Hell, I could even take out Seto Kaiba's own Tier One team if I felt so inclined, just me and my good friend Fairbairn-Sykes here."

Ghedsu was silent for a long moment, drinking in the words as he suddenly took notice of the long, dagger-like blade in Terrance's hand. He glanced over at Mateo after a moment, saying, "You surprise me, Mateo. I didn't know you had friends in high places."

"And speaking of high places..." said Terrance, wiping the blood from his long blade on his black cargo pants. "I hope you don't think a measly million would be a high price for someone rendering services of my caliber."

Ghedsu's eyes turned back to Terrance. "What is it you want, then, Ranger?" he asked.

"You can keep your fifty-one percent when you acquire KaibaCorp, boss man..." said Terrance. "...so long as I get no less than half of the other forty-nine. Do what you will with the rest of it."

Ghedsu's eyes glinted. "Done." he said, holding out his gnarled hand, and Terrance took it and gave him a single firm handshake. "Now go after those friends of Seto Kaiba. I want him groveling like a scared animal so he'll do my bidding."

"Done." said Terrance, his dangerous smirk stretching across his face.

"And while you're at it, get that thing out of my office before it stains my carpet." said Ghedsu, gesturing at Neil's prone corpse.

"No worries, boss man. I'll put it right back where I got it." said Terrance, crouching to stuff a handkerchief in the bleeding hole in Neil's neck left by his blade.

"Back at his residence? What if someone finds it?" asked Mateo incredulously.

"So what if they do?" asked Terrance, grinning as he hefted Neil's body over his shoulder with one arm. "The guy just lost out on his cushiony job from KaibaCorp. No doubt he would have been put out, so he'd put himself out of his misery. I'll just press his hand over his gun to leave behind some fingerprints and shoot him in the bulls-eye just for good measure. I'll be out before they even come looking."

He turned without any further word and exited the office, and Mateo shifted uncomfortably.

"Master Ghedsu, if I may..." said Mateo. "Are you sure giving a little over a quarter of KaibaCorp's wealth to this guy is really a good idea?"

"If he does as I desire, then he will have most certainly earned it." said Ghedsu, leaning back in his chair and giving Mateo a haughty look as he added, "So far, he's proven himself more than you have, Mateo."

The right-hand man's face burned, but he persisted, saying, "But a quarter of the fortune-...!"

"Is nothing compared to the other seventy-five percent." finished Ghedsu impatiently. "Clearly you don't have an inkling of the extent of Seto Kaiba's wealth, Mateo. That guard wasn't lying when he said our economy would be booming for ten years. It may well be double that."

The greed in Mateo's eyes was evident, and he rubbed his hands together gleefully as he said, "We'll be rich men for the rest of our days, won't we, Master Ghedsu?"

A thin smile spread slowly over Ghedsu's face, saying, "That we will be, my good man."

---

Téa knocked on the door of Joey and Serenity's house, and the door flew open.

"Téa, hi! Come in!" said Serenity, beaming at her, and Téa walked into the house. She spotted Tristan and Duke sitting at the table while Joey emptied out his huge camping bag, throwing the pots, pans, and cooking utensils into the sink.

"Hey Duke! Closed up shop today? How's your hands?" asked Téa, noticing the red self-adhesive bandages wrapped around them.

"Good! The doc said no infections, and they even used this fancy glue stuff to stitch them back in place!" said Duke with a grin at his hands. "Can't use them for at least a week, though, so I left the shop to the old man and I'm taking medical leave for the time being while they heal up. But I should be back to high-rolling in no time!"

"That's great news!" said Téa before glancing over at Joey, adding, "Really, Joey? You're just now emptying your pack?"

"Hey, I was beat afta dat post-accident hike, an' I kept forgettin' what wit' bringin' Serenity around town, alright? Gimme a break!" said Joey as he pulled the cooler out of his pack and emptied it into the sink. It had been four days since the camping trip, and Téa knew Joey's pack probably didn't smell like a bed of fresh spring daisies at this point.

"It smelled so bad!" said Serenity, as if she could read Téa's mind. "He had some fruit in there that had rotted and leaked juices on everything. I told him to empty it out today before it started farming penicillin."

"Gross." said Téa. "So when's Mai supposed to get here?"

"Right now." came Mai's voice as she walked through the door. She pulled a face, adding, "Ugh! What is that smell? It's nauseating!"

"Joey's just now cleaning out his bag from the camping trip." explained Tristan.

"Ew! Joey, that's disgusting!" exclaimed Mai, turning her face away as Joey picked more rotten food out of his bag and tied a bag around it before dropping it in the trash can.

"I can't wait to go shopping!" said Serenity, changing the subject and distracting Mai's attention from Joey's work. "It's been forever since I've been to the mall!"

"You need to get out more, hun." said Mai.

"Ugh, I know! I never have time during school between photography classes and soccer!" groaned Serenity. "I'm so glad this year will be my last in high school!"

"Enjoy it while you can. Adulting is no walk in the park." said Duke.

"I agree. The only thing I never missed was having to cover for Joey every time he copied my homework." said Tristan.

Joey didn't seem to hear the remark; he was staring into his bag with a furrowed brow and an inquisitive hum. "Hey guys, does dis belong ta any o' yas? It ain't mine."

Téa gasped as Joey pulled out Kaiba's black thermos. "That's Kaiba's!" she said.

"Oops, my bad!" said Duke. "I thought all the food items were Joey's, so I stuffed it in his bag while I was packing up the camp."

"Really? That thing belongs to Kaiba?" asked Mai, staring at the scratched and dented thermos as it spilled black coffee onto the floor when Joey tipped it.

"Yikes! It's a leaka!" said Joey, righting it quickly and blinking as it splashed him in the face. He grabbed a paper towel, wiping his face before dropping it on the floor and mopping up the mess with his foot on the towel.

"You sure that's Kaiba's thermos, Téa?" asked Duke, staring at the leaky thermos. "It's really low-quality for a KaibaCorp product, and you know Seto Kaiba is a stickler for that stuff."

"Does it have the KC symbol on it, Joe?" asked Tristan, and Joey rotated the thermos and peered at it, lifting it into the air to look underneath it.

"Nope...looks like a plain ol' thermos ta me." said Joey. "An' a really old one at dat."

"Why would Kaiba keep an old, beat-up coffee thermos with a bad seal?" asked Duke. "Even if it wasn't one of his high-end products, I would think Kaiba wouldn't be caught dead with that in his possession. Especially with an inconvenience like easy leakage. He'd probably fire the person who designed it so poorly in a heartbeat."

Téa recalled the second morning of the camping trip. She remembered how Kaiba looked visibly upset when she mentioned that his thermos looked like it could use replacing, and how he had immediately rebuked such a thought. She took a deep breath, suddenly eager, and said, "Well, since it's Kaiba's, we should bring it back to him. If he's kept it that long, he'll probably be upset when he realizes it's missing."

"You really think Kaiba misses it that much?" asked Mai, raising an eyebrow. "It's borderline garbage, if not completely."

"Yeah, fer all we know, Kaiba brought it wit' him on da trip because it's disposable." agreed Joey. "I really don't think it means anythin' to him, Téa. We can prob'ly just throw it in da trash an' it wouldn't break his heart any."

"No, don't do that!" said Téa quickly, snatching the thermos from Joey's hand before he could move towards the waste basket, and Joey stared at her. "You know better than anyone, Joey, that Kaiba would probably be livid if you made an executive decision regarding his stuff. We should at least bring it back to him. Just in case."

"Yeah, can't argue wit' dat." said Joey with a roll of his eyes. "Well, I sure ain't bringin' it back to him an' I definitely ain't payin' da postage to mail it, so you do whateva ya want wit' it, Téa. I ain't steppin' foot anywhere near KaibaCorp if I don't gotta afta da last greetin' we got dere."

"I'm sure he's in a better mood since last time, dude." said Tristan, giving Joey a look.

"Well, den I ain't interuptin' him while he's workin' or whateva he actually does in dat fancy office o' his." said Joey. "I'd hate ta waste Kaiba's precious time an' dour his mood any further wit' da likes o' my presence."

"Come on, Joey. Why can't you get along with Kaiba?" asked Serenity with a solemn and pleading look at her brother. "He had fun with us at the arcade and now the camping trip, and you even helped save his life. I'm sure he holds you in higher regard now."

"Hah! Fat chance!" said Joey. "We've always been at each other's throats, Serenity. Dats just how we are an' it ain't gonna change overnight! I've taken one too many dog jabs from Kaiba ta let him off da hook dat easily! Especially now dat he got da nerve ta hide behind a retirement before I even get da chance ta get him back fer it!"

"You really don't get it, do you?" snapped Mai, glaring at Joey.

"What's dere ta get?" asked Joey, staring back at her in confusion. "Kaiba's bein' a coward! I finally get close ta his level an' he puts his tail between his legs like he's da dog!"

"Joey, Kaiba stopped Dueling because that's all he was focused on when Mokuba died!" snapped Téa, and Joey's mouth dropped open in a surprised grunt. "All of his attention was on reviving Atem and getting his revenge over a silly card game! He blames himself for his brother's death!"

"Dat's ridiculous! Kaiba can't stop death ei'da way!" said Joey. "Why would he blame himself?"

"With all the resources KaibaCorp has at his disposal, he probably thought he could have done something about it were he actually focusing on his brother's health and not his salty run-back." said Duke. "Everyone else in the world certainly seemed to think so as well."

Joey sighed, saying, "I guess yer right about dat. Even I was surprised all his fancy tech couldn't do nuthin' ta help." Joey crossed his arms, adding, "...in any case, I still ain't bein' da delivery person fer dat thermos o' his, so get it outta my house one way or de otha!"

Serenity sighed, and Téa quickly said, "It's alright, Serenity, I can take Kaiba's thermos back to him. It's not a problem. They know who I am at KaibaCorp."

"Yeah dey do!" said Joey with a snicker as Téa approached the sink to wash the thermos. "First ya got da nerve ta barge inta KaibaCorp an' jump in fronna da ragin' Blue-Eyes White Dragon himself wit' his chief security honcho standin' right dere watchin', an' den ya get a psycho rich brat throwin' punch glasses atchya durin' his charity ball! Yer probably famous dere already!"

"Whoa, back up! She did what?!" asked Duke, who wasn't present for the prior instance, and neither was Mai or Serenity as they also gave Téa looks of shock.

"We said Téa got past Roland on the camping trip. Weren't you listening?" said Tristan, cocking an eyebrow at Duke.

"Yeah, but I didn't hear anything about her confronting Kaiba during a bad temper!" shot Duke.

"...or people throwing punch glasses at her!" added Serenity. "When did this happen?"

"The punch thing happened at the charity ball we went to. Just some spoiled, bratty, jealous girl trying to get attention after she insulted Mokuba in the girls' bathroom." said Mai, waving it away impatiently. "...but what about the first thing? I wanna know about that!"

"The day KaibaCorp announced that Mokuba had passed away, Téa felt compelled to get up and run through the pouring rain to KaibaCorp to check on Kaiba, and it's a good thing she did because he made a hot mess of his office during a tantrum." said Tristan, and the three who didn't witness that event stared at Téa. "She managed to get him to calm down and grieve silently in his room, but oh man, Kaiba was in an absolute fury at his medical staff! The worst we've ever seen in him, and we've all bore witness to Kaiba's infamous temper at some point or another."

"Yeah, Roland told us dat Kaiba docked all de medical staff's pay an' everythin', and was thinkin' real hard 'bout firin' dem all an' throwin' dem out inta da streets!" added Joey. "Only reason he didn't was cuz Kaiba didn't want dem blabbin' to da press when dey were right outside his door!"

"And you had the gall to stand before Seto Kaiba during all that?!" asked Duke, his wide green eyes regarding Téa now. "In the same hour or so that his brother died?! Geez, Téa! You've got bigger twins than me, Joey or Tristan combined! And you don't even have twins!"

"I have to agree with Duke on this one, Téa." said Mai. "For someone who can't hold still when she's nervous, you've got some nerves of...I don't even know what! Steel isn't hard enough when we're talking about going up against the big guy!"

"A diamond!" said Serenity with a cheerful smile at Téa. "She's beautiful like one, too!"

"Aw, stop it, Serenity!" said Téa, coloring at the compliment and everyone's attention on her.

"Well, you'd better go get that thermos to Kaiba before he rips up his office again looking for it, if he hasn't already." said Mai. "Assuming he actually cares that much about it."

"Wha-...? But what about our shopping trip?" asked Téa, her eyes wide.

"There's plenty of daylight left. Just bring it to him and come right back." said Mai with a wink. "Don't keep us waiting, hun. We'll start getting suspicious if you take too long."

"Hahah, very funny, Mai!" said Téa, blushing as the guys snickered. "Tristan, can you take me there on your motorcycle?"

"Sure. I don't mind popping in and seeing Kaiba." said Tristan, rising from the table. "...and I'll make sure the two of you behave." he added with a wink at Mai.

"Tristan, come on! Don't you start on me, too!" said Téa, flushing to her roots as everyone burst into laughter, Joey making a face.

"I'm just kidding." said Tristan with a grin at Téa's embarrassment. "I'll be right back, Joey, Duke. Let's go, Dragon Tamer."

"Cute." muttered Téa as she followed Tristan out the door, shooting a look at Mai and Serenity as they giggled. Téa waited until they were around the corner, where Tristan's motorcycle was parked safely under Joey's car port, before she seized Tristan by the collar of his leather jacket and pulled his ear down towards her, whispering dangerously, "Did you tell them?!"

"Wha-...? No! Of course not!" said Tristan quickly, cowering at Téa's sudden tenacity and her scrutinizing glare.

"You'd better not have!" hissed Téa. "You'll be up the creek without a paddle!"

"I promise I didn't say a word to anyone!" insisted Tristan. "I swear on my mother's grave!"

Téa sighed and released his jacket, saying, "Good. Keep it that way."

"Sheesh. I didn't know you two were that serious." said Tristan, adjusting his jacket.

"We're not!" said Téa, feeling her face grow hot. "I mean, I'm serious about you keeping quiet about...what you saw on the trip...but we're not seriously together."

"Are you non-seriously together?" asked Tristan carefully, raising an eyebrow.

"Tristan!" exclaimed Téa, flushing to her roots. "What do you take me for?!"

"What? No judgment! We guys do it, too!" assured Tristan as he righted his motorcycle and threw a leg over it. "Not me personally, so don't go telling Serenity I said that." he added quickly as he put on his helmet. "...but in general."

"Kaiba and I are not together!" snapped Téa as she stuffed her purse and Kaiba's thermos into the saddle bag of Tristan's motorcycle. "Seriously or non-seriously!"

"If you say so." said Tristan as Téa climbed behind him into the passenger seat. "Not what I saw, but you're the boss, boss."

"All you saw was me holding his hand and us kicking your butt at Siege Towers!" said Téa as she shoved the passenger helmet on her head and buckled it. "If you see us kissing, that's another story!"

"We were all witness to that, too, in case you forgot about Spin the Bottle." retorted Tristan, ending their conversation with the roar of his motorcycle as he started it. Téa was actually glad, considering she couldn't retort that it was a fake kiss, so she simply let out a "hmph!" and wrapped her arms around Tristan's middle, interlocking her hands on her opposite wrists. Tristan snapped down the visor of his helmet, revving the gas handle to keep it in gear as he drove them out of Joey's lot, taking off towards KaibaCorp at least ten miles faster than the speed limit, and Téa held Tristan's middle in a death grip as he weaved between the cars.

The looming glass structure of KaibaCorp towered before them, and Tristan slowed the motorcycle to a screeching halt right in front of the gate, startling the guards standing outside. "Way to make an unsuspecting approach." said Téa, and Tristan rolled his eyes as she hopped out of the passenger seat, removing her helmet quickly. Tristan did the same, noting the guards' suspicious looks.

"Hold it!" said one of the guards. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I have something of Seto Kaiba's." she said, taking out his thermos.

The guards froze, their hands on their weapons as they stared at the container suspiciously, and Téa suddenly felt stupid. They were probably trained to think it could be a bomb. "He took it with us on our camping trip last weekend!" she said quickly, and the guards stared at her this time, a mix of shock and confusion on their faces, and Téa remembered that Kaiba hadn't told anyone where he had gone except his personal security team. "Ask Roland! Or Fuguta! They know!" she said, knowing they must have comms to Roland at least.

The guards exchanged looks with each other, and one of them nodded to the other. "What's your name, Miss?" asked the guard on the left.

"Téa Gardner." said Téa. "...and that's Tristan Taylor."

The guards' reactions were hidden behind their sunglasses, so Téa couldn't tell if they recognized her name or not. They didn't look like the guards who were at the side entrance the day she came to KaibaCorp when Mokuba's death was announced and even then, they probably didn't know her full name. The guard on the left pressed his lapel, saying, "Sir, there's a Téa Gardner and Tristan Taylor here to see Mr. Kaiba. They say they have a thermos that belongs to him?"

Téa waited patiently, clutching the thermos to her chest. Finally, after a long minute, Roland's voice responded over the guard's receiver. Send them up.

"Yes sir." said the guard, sounding surprised. He released his lapel and reached into his pocket, pulling out a handheld device. "Please hold still a minute, Miss Téa." he told her politely. "This is just a security precaution."

The guard pointed the device at the thermos and pressed a button, and Téa saw a blue laser light scan the thermos as the guard moved it up and down, also scanning the length of her body. A computerized voice came from the scanner, saying, Personal cellular device with active geo-tracker detected. No hazardous substances, weapons or explosives detected.

"That's fancy." said Tristan holding out his arms as the guard also scanned him, and the scanner's voice said, Personal cellular device with non-active geo-tracker detected. Pocket-knife detected, blade length: four inches. No hazardous substances or explosives detected.

"We'll need to take your knife from you for the time being, sir." said the guard, holding out his hand. "You can have it back when you're out of the building. You can leave your motorcycle here, too. We will guard it until you get back."

"No problem, and thanks!" said Tristan, taking his pocket knife out of his pants pocket and holding it in his open palm out to the guard, who took it with a gloved hand and pocketed it.

"You may go in now." said the guard, swiping a card into a reader on the gate post, and the heavily barred gate slid open. Téa and Tristan walked through the gate, and they saw another guard up ahead waiting for them at the door. Téa recognized the sharp, high cheekbones and brown bowl-cut hairstyle with goatee of Fuguta. His eyes were hidden by his rectangular red shades, making his sharp features even more angular and scrutinizing.

"Hey Fuguta! It's been a while!" said Tristan, raising a hand in greeting, and Fuguta nodded to them both.

"Tristan and Téa, good to see you both again." said Fuguta cordially. "Please follow me. I will take you up to Mr. Kaiba."

"How's boss man?" asked Tristan as Fuguta led them into the building.

"Busy as usual." replied Fuguta as he nodded to the receptionist, who looked up from her desk as she was typing into a desktop computer and speaking into a headset at the same time. "Mr. Kaiba likes to keep himself occupied more than normal these days. He's in a meeting right now, but he has a few minutes afterwards to see you two so you can return his item to him."

"Man, we were right, Kaiba did need a break." said Tristan to Téa as they entered the elevator, and Fuguta scanned his badge into a reader, making the elevator shoot up to the top floor with no interruptions. Téa watched Tristan open his jaw and move it side to side as his ears popped, and she also stifled a yawn with her hand to relieve the pressure in her head.

The elevator dinged loudly, and Fuguta led them to the end of the hall, where Kaiba's office was. He opened the door and gestured them inside, saying, "You may wait here. Mr. Kaiba should be back in a few minutes. I'll be right outside."

"Thanks Fuguta!" said Téa, and the guard inclined his head and closed the door.

"Why hello there." came a feminine voice, and Téa and Tristan turned to see a woman in her forties, straightening from setting a tray on the table. "You must be Mr. Kaiba's friends."

"Hi." said Téa politely. "Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't interrupt anything at all, dear." said Mayura. "As a matter of fact, I was told to bring these refreshments for you."

"Wow, before we even got up here? Now that's service!" said Tristan, walking forward and picking up a glass of water before starting to guzzle it down.

Téa gave him a disapproving look before saying, "Well, thank you. That's very kind of you, um..." She peered at Mayura's apron, trying to see a name tag.

"My name is Mayura." she replied, seeing what Téa's intentions were. "It's good to finally meet you, Miss Téa. My husband's told me all about you and the others."

"Your husband?" asked Téa, blinking in confusion.

"That would be Roland, dear." said Mayura with a grin.

Tristan choked on his water, staring up at Mayura. "Whoa, Roland's married?! When did that happen?!" he asked.

"Oh, you know, about twenty-three years ago." chortled Mayura.

Téa giggled at Tristan's baffled look. "So I assume you work for Kaiba as well?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I'm Mr. Kaiba's head chef and the chief coordinator of the service staff at KaibaCorp." said Mayura, doing an exaggerated flourishing bow.

"Woo, another head honcho! Nice!" said Tristan, and Mayura hummed in amusement.

"So may I ask what brings you to KaibaCorp?" she asked, looking around at Téa again.

"Just delivering something Kaiba forgot on a trip he went on with us." said Tristan.

Mayura caught sight of the thermos in Téa's hands and gasped. "Oh, that's-...!" she started.

Téa blinked owlishly, following the chef's eyes, and Mayura quickly cleared her throat and said, "...Mr. Kaiba's! Thank you for bringing it back, Miss Téa!"

"Of course." said Téa, exchanging a matching glance of confusion with Tristan. Téa held the thermos out to Mayura, saying, "I guess I can just leave it with you?"

"Oh no, Mr. Kaiba will want that handed directly to him." said Mayura, holding her hands to her chest and looking nervously at the thermos, as if she thought it would bite her. "That's why he let you up here instead of just having you hand it to the guards or the receptionist, or even Fuguta. That thermos is quite precious to Mr. Kaiba. He doesn't allow it to change hands."

"Odd. That's how Duke got ahold of it." said Téa, staring at the thermos. "Although to be fair, he really needed that coffee..."

Tristan laughed. "Yeah he did!" he said, and Mayura looked between the two of them, but didn't ask. "I guess it's a good thing you didn't let Joey toss it after all."

"Oh dear! Yes, Mr. Kaiba would have been furious." said Mayura, her eyes wide as the thought of Kaiba's reaction to such a thing flitted through her mind. "And probably very upset."

"Do you know who this belonged to, Mayura?" asked Téa suddenly, watching the maid carefully.

Tristan gave her a perplexed look, but at that moment the door opened, and in walked Kaiba himself. He wore a black collared dress shirt and slacks with a silver tie held in place by a stick pin, and he stared at Tristan and Téa, who suddenly felt very under-dressed in comparison.

"Well, don't you look snazzy!" said Tristan with a grin, and Mayura watched with awe as Tristan leaned forward and held out a hand, and Kaiba's eyes flitted to Mayura momentarily before he held out his own hand and let Tristan clasp his. "Good to see you again, man!"

"Likewise." said Kaiba simply, and his eyes roved to Téa's before catching sight of the thermos. "Where did you find that?"

"Duke accidentally put it in Joey's bag." said Téa, holding the thermos out to him. "I hand-washed it real quick, but it may need to go in a dish-washer, if it can handle that."

"I see. It'll definitely need a heavy cleaning if it was in Wheeler's bag." said Kaiba as he took the thermos carefully from her hands.

"You're not kidding, though. It's been brewing along with the other foodstuffs he had in there for four days." said Tristan, and Kaiba allowed a disgusted expression to flash across his face.

"Thank you for bringing it back." he said, holding the leaky thermos to the side, away from his good clothes. "You don't know how important this thermos is to me."

"No problem. Téa figured it meant something to you if you kept a beat-up piece of junk like that." said Tristan. "No offense." he added quickly.

"None taken. It has seen better days." said Kaiba.

"That's putting it mildly." said Tristan, glancing at the dented thermos. "I wouldn't take it on another trip if it means a lot to you. It's a good thing it didn't break completely after Serenity used Joey's backpack as a landing pad escaping the bus crash."

"Doing what?!" exclaimed Mayura, her eyes huge, and the three of them winced.

"Oops." said Tristan sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, man."

"Roland already knows." said Kaiba with a pointed look at Mayura as he added, "And he's the only one who needs to know."

Mayura took the hint and bowed her head, saying, "Understood, Mr. Kaiba."

"So where is the chief?" asked Tristan suddenly. "I wouldn't mind dropping him a quick hello, too, if that's alright."

"Next floor down." said Kaiba. "Escort him there if you would, Mayura."

"Of course, sir." said Mayura, bowing to him. "Will you be joining us, Miss Téa?"

"Um, I'll stay up here." said Téa, and Tristan snuck her a sly grin before following Roland's wife, leaving her and Kaiba alone in the office. She turned her attention back to him, and her eyes lowered to the silver tie. She reached out a hand and smoothed it, saying, "It's nice to see you wearing something that's not black."

Kaiba relaxed under her touch, exhaling softly before saying, "I've been in better spirits lately."

Téa blinked and looked up at him, her expression softening into a warm smile, and Kaiba felt a warmth in his chest at the sight. Her smile made her blue eyes twinkle more, making them even more radiant. "I had Roland speak to the security team." he said suddenly, laying his hand over hers before gently pulling it away from his tie. "They have your profiles on file. From now on, they'll let you through the gates no questions asked, in case you or the others need to come here again...or want to." Téa met his eyes, and Kaiba added, "You're welcome anytime. All of you."

"You may want to be a bit more specific. The guys have a tendency to crash house at three in the morning." giggled Téa.

"That's usually when I'm awake." said Kaiba, flashing a half-smile.

"Ugh, do you ever sleep?" asked Téa, rolling her eyes and shoving Kaiba lightly in the chest.

"Sometimes." he chuckled, rubbing the spot. "It's gotten easier recently."

Téa blinked up at him, and Kaiba averted his eyes to the thermos, saying, "I need to go put this back." He walked to the door to his living quarters, opening it and pausing for a moment before turning to her again. "You can come in, if you want." he said before disappearing into the room and leaving the door open.

Téa followed him, looking around the room and admiring the various things that adorned it. Everything from the art on the wall to the potted plants to the light fixtures, and the architecture in general, was more elaborate than any apartment or town home she had ever lived in. Even the furniture was arranged in a perfect rectangle around a marble coffee table, inlaid with one of those fancy Lavelle blue gemstone fire pits, which was unlit at the moment. A pair of French doors opened up to the balcony outside, pouring fresh air and natural light into the room, made even brighter by the clean white walls. She had to hand it to Kaiba, he knew who to hire for interior design. Besides the spacious living room, there was also an open-concept barstool kitchen area right next to it, complete with a wine fridge and a chef's sink and stove area. Did Kaiba even know how to cook? Téa knew he had been adopted at 12, which was fairly young for most boys to care about learning how to cook, and after that he had probably been waited on hand and foot by maids and butlers under Gozaburo's roof, and then his own.

Téa watched Kaiba as he stood at the sink, taking apart the thermos and laying the pieces carefully in the basin to soak, and she decided to chance the question that was eating away at her.

"So, if I may be so bold as to inquire..." she said, stepping toward Kaiba slowly. "Why would Seto Kaiba, a man who makes state-of-the-art technology and fires anyone that doesn't perform to that standard, keep a thermos that's almost twice his age?"

Kaiba's hands were braced on the edge of the basin, and he blinked and stared over at her as she spoke those last words.

"I saw the date of manufacture engraved on the bottom as I was washing it at Joey's." explained Téa. "That thermos is forty-five years old. There's no way you would have acquired that in your lifetime, and I don't see a beat-up, unbranded thermos being a collector's item that you would have cared to own and keep in your possession..." Téa twisted her hair in her finger, adding, "...unless, of course, it belonged to somebody you knew."

Kaiba lowered his eyes to the sink again, appearing to be deliberating. Téa reached out a hand and laid it on his arm, saying, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Kaiba. I just figured, seeing as you kept a locket with your brother's old picture in it, that maybe you kept other items of sentimental value."

Kaiba glanced over at the door, as if making sure no one was in the office that could overhear them, and softly murmured, "This is my dad's thermos. It's the only thing I have left of his."

Téa nodded, her suspicions confirmed. She smiled softly as she gazed into the sink with him, saying, "I take it he was a bit of a coffee guy."

Kaiba let out a rumble of amusement at their shared joke. "He lived on the stuff." he agreed. "He could drink an entire pot by himself. Sometimes he'd drink it straight out of the carafe."

Téa clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle her surprised giggle. "You didn't get that from him, did you?" she asked.

"No." chuckled Kaiba. "I'd make myself sick from all that caffeine."

Right on cue, Kaiba felt a roiling sensation in his stomach, a pained expression crossing his features as he held his stomach.

"Are you okay?!" asked Téa, her hand going to his arm again.

"I'm fine. I haven't eaten yet." Kaiba assured her quickly.

Téa gave him a disapproving glance, saying, "You don't sleep well and you keep forgetting to eat? You'll send yourself into an early grave that way."

Kaiba let out an annoyed grumble as he loosened his tie and unfastened his top shirt button so he could breathe easier, but gave no retort. Téa sighed and reached her hands up to straighten his tie, her voice gentler as she said, "Seriously though, try not to break the plate again. Kintsugi is only so durable after a point."

Kaiba looked down at her hands before raising his blue eyes to hers, saying, "You don't have to worry about me, Téa."

"Yeah well, I do." said Téa firmly. "It's a crux of being a woman. I worry about all the people I care about."

Kaiba watched her for a moment before his amused half-smile slowly appeared. "I didn't think I'd ever hear you say that about me." he joked.

Téa looked up at him with those sad, shimmering eyes, saying, "We've cared about you since Duelist Kingdom, Kaiba. Mokuba showed us you were a different person than the bully who first introduced himself to us. That's why we came to rescue you from the Big Five."

"I think that was more for Mokuba's sake than mine, don't you think?" asked Kaiba. "I wasn't exactly civil about expressing my gratitude then, either."

Téa hummed in amusement. "Maybe." she admitted, nudging him teasingly as she added, "You did take longer to mature than the rest of us."

Kaiba chuckled at their shared joke, and Téa felt her heart flutter at the sound. "Yes I did..." he admitted. "...and that's why you don't have to pretend you cared about me before I did so. I told you I prefer your honesty."

Téa sighed, saying, "Fair enough." She indicated to one of the barstools, asking, "May I?"

Kaiba's half-smile flashed again before saying, "You know, another thing you've never done is ask my permission for anything."

"You're right. What was I thinking?" teased Téa, jumping lightly up onto the barstool. Kaiba let out an amused rumble before leaning back against the bar counter next to her. They were quiet for a moment as Téa looked around, her beautiful blue eyes shimmering as she admired the hand-painted artwork on the walls. Kaiba contemplated his thoughts for a moment before finally allowing his curiosity to get the better of him.

"When did you actually start caring?" he asked.

Téa looked back at him, her expression taking on gentle concern as she said, "When I saw your step-father for the first time in the virtual world, and I heard how he talked so derisively to you and Noah."

Kaiba couldn't stop himself from blinking. That was far from the answer he had been expecting. He had been so certain it was after Mokuba had left this world. "Why then?" he asked.

"Before then I thought you were exactly what Joey had always called you: a spoiled rich brat who thought you were better than everyone else." said Téa, giving him an apologetic glance before adding, "It never crossed my mind that you were the way you were because of how you were raised."

Kaiba flashed a weak grimace before glancing away, saying, "That's hardly an excuse for me. I was raised by my real dad before then, and he had proper morals. If he had seen the way I had become after Gozaburo, I'm not sure who he would have given the earful to first."

Téa giggled. She was quiet for moment before she asked, "Can I ask when you started caring about the rest of us?"

Kaiba looked back at her. "Battle City...the pier." he said simply.

Téa gave him a warm smile, saying, "When you saved me?"

"I told you Yugi...Atem...had told me about the Millennium Items while we were on the way in the helicopter..." started Kaiba. "...and I thought it was more hocus pocus nonsense until we got there and I saw what was happening. I knew you and Joey wouldn't have turned to Marik over your best friend like that, and that's when I started thinking there may be a grain of truth to all that Egyptian superstition and trickery."

"So you admit it wasn't just for Mokuba to return the favor?" said Téa with a knowing smile.

Kaiba glanced away. "It probably was at the time..." he admitted.

Téa noted his averted gaze and said, "I don't think so. Yugi told me afterwards that you had been adamant in the helicopter about going your own separate ways after you got him to the pier, and that we were none of your concern."

"My point exactly." said Kaiba, shifting uneasily at the memory.

"Well, Mokuba was in the helicopter with you that entire time, wasn't he?" asked Téa.

"Yeah...?" said Kaiba slowly.

"...and he didn't try to talk you out of your decision then." said Téa. It seemed Yugi had divulged most of the conversation that had happened between them at the time.

Kaiba thought for a moment, recalling the moment, before saying, "No, he didn't."

Téa cocked her head at him, asking, "So what changed your mind, if it wasn't your brother?"

Kaiba felt a strange twisting sensation in his gut as he contemplated her question. He wanted to say that she was wrong, that Mokuba had asked him to, but he knew all too well that his brother hadn't done so until close to the end of the duel. And even then, Mokuba had just pleaded with his big brother to do something, not anything specific...like taking out the crane by destroying an auto-piloted empty helicopter. It was for her sake, not Mokuba's, even if Téa had been the one to spare his little brother from the Rare Hunters and put Mokuba's life before her own. He could deny it all he wanted, but that had been far more than any simple favor for Kaiba to return, and he knew that all too well.

Kaiba mind wandered back to that time in history, when Joey and Téa had been taken captive by Marik and his blindingly loyal followers. He hadn't wanted to believe that Marik's Millennium Rod had the power to absolutely brain-wash anyone and keep them under his control. He had seen the empty look in Joey's eyes first, but then again, the mutt had always been brain-less to begin with, so it hadn't been much of a change to Kaiba.

Téa, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. Her gorgeous crystalline blue eyes had always sparkled in multiple facets, reflecting her caring heart and her deeply ingrained love of those she cared the most about, which she had always made evident every time she spewed one of her notorious, gag-inducing friendship speeches. Kaiba remembered seeing that vacant look in Téa's normally bright and beautiful eyes when Marik had taken over her mind, and the nagging feeling he had felt in his heart and mind that something was truly amiss. Joey was understandable; he had been a street brat before. But how could Téa, a brilliant and quick-witted young woman who had been friends with Yugi since their childhood days, have been so easily corrupted into manipulating her best friend and pulling at Yugi's delicate heartstrings? He remembered Téa talking in a sneering, ruthless tone as she had descended the stairs of the ship and explained the rules of the high-stakes duel; it had been very much unlike the Téa Gardner that Kaiba had always known since high school, and it had secretly shaken him to his very core.

Kaiba clearly remembered thinking back to the time when Pegasus had put that same empty look in his little brother's eyes at Duelist Kingdom, where his disdain for those items had really taken hold. He knew exactly what had changed his mind with Téa during Battle City, but he wasn't entirely sure just how to put that into words.

"Kaiba?"

Her voice cut across his thoughts, and Kaiba realized he hadn't answered her. He glanced over at Téa, noting her curious and concerned expression as she watched his thoughts play out in his deep blue eyes. Her own blue eyes captured his attention again, and Kaiba dismissed any and all attempts at mincing his words. Without really thinking, or even realizing what he was doing, he reached out a hand and gently pushed Téa's hair out of her face so he could see her eyes better, saying, "I saw that same dull and lifeless look in your eyes that I had seen in my brother's when Pegasus used his Millennium Eye on him, and it reminded me of how I had failed Mokuba, that I was helpless to save him from it." Kaiba's fingers halted at the level of Téa's eyes. "I didn't want to make the same mistake with you." he said. "Not when I could actually do something about it."

Téa held his gaze, and Kaiba didn't dare look away. He meant what he said, and he wanted her to see that. Téa's gaze never faltered as she said, "You really did care."

The swelling in his chest turned into a strange warmth, and Kaiba inclined his head wordlessly. Téa gave him a warm smile before leaning her face against his hand. Kaiba appeared to just then realize what he was doing, and Téa actually saw his eyes widen in fear for a split second before he quickly took his hand away from her face, excusing the hasty movement by running his hand through his hair. "Did you hear anything from your college yet?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject and keeping his gaze turned away.

Téa blinked at him, but then shook her head, saying, "Not yet. They usually send out any announcements a month before classes start back up again."

Kaiba nodded, keeping his eyes focused on his hands, which he was rubbing slowly together. "Well, whenever you wanted to...that is, if you still want to, learn how to not have performance anxiety...stage fright, I mean..." he said. "...I usually set aside two hours in the evenings to practice my public speaking."

Téa gave him a warm smile, saying, "Of course I still want to. What time in the evenings?"

"Usually around four o'clock." answered Kaiba.

"Okay." said Téa, trying not to sound too eager as she asked, "Can I come over tomorrow?"

"Of course. Like I said before, you're welcome here anytime." said Kaiba.

"Even at three o'clock in the morning?" teased Téa, nudging sideways against him. "Roland and the security team won't give me any funny looks?"

"Oh, I can't guarantee that much, but yes, you can even visit at three o'clock in the morning." replied Kaiba, his dark blue eyes twinkling as Téa giggled.

"What if I accidentally wake you out of a dead sleep?" countered Téa.

"You'd have to catch me sleeping first." retorted Kaiba.

"You can't just go without sleep forever." said Téa incredulously.

"Or can I? Ah-ah-aaah!" said Kaiba, doing the vampire laugh, and Téa burst into giggles.

"You are such a dork." she said, shoving him teasingly.

"Oh, I'm a dork now, am I?" laughed Kaiba, straightening again. "What happened to nerd?"

"You're still a nerd, but now you're a dorky nerd." said Téa, and Kaiba let out a chuckle.

They heard the door to his office open at that moment, and the two of them cleared their throats simultaneously and put on straight faces before Tristan stuck his head through the open door, whistling as he looked around. "Nice pad, man!" he said.

Kaiba flashed his amused half-smirk. "You're welcome anytime, as are the others." he said.

"Sweet! I'll spread the word to the gang." said Tristan. "We ought to get going, Téa. Don't want to keep you from your ladies day. Mai's probably getting impatient at this point."

Kaiba's eyes flitted to her again, and Téa nodded, saying, "Yeah, you're probably right."

"See you later, boss man! Don't work too hard!" said Tristan, raising a hand in farewell before leading Téa out of the room. She glanced behind her and saw Kaiba give her his soft smile, and Téa returned the gesture before closing the door, feeling her heart skip a beat at the sight of it.

"I'll bring you back outside now." said Fuguta when they returned to the hallway, and they were led into the elevator and back down to the lobby, and the guard even walked them to the gate outside, where he bid them farewell.

"Thanks, Fuguta! See you around!" called Tristan as he took his knife back from the entrance guards, and Fuguta inclined his head before returning to the KaibaCorp building. They donned their helmets and climbed onto Tristan's motorcycle again, and they waved to the guards before Tristan took off, his motorcycle rumbling loudly through Domino City.

Tristan pulled up to Joey's house again, where Mai was waiting in her car with Serenity. "About time!" she said as Téa hopped off Tristan's motorcycle and handed him the passenger helmet. "We were about to leave without you!"

"We didn't take that long." said Téa, waving her thanks to Tristan as she hopped into the back seat, as Serenity had already called shot-gun. He waved to them both before parking his motorcycle under the car port and going back inside the house. "There was just a few security precautions and then we were in and out. Kaiba was too busy to talk for long."

"Of course he was." said Mai as she drove her purple convertible out of the driveway and took off towards downtown. "So are you looking for anything in particular at the mall, Serenity?"

"I could use a couple new pairs of boots and a good waterproof coat." replied Serenity. "Oh, and maybe some of those cute sweater-dresses! I like those ones with the cable-knit design. And maybe a cashmere scarf if they have them. The winter stuff should be on clearance right now."

"Now you're talking my language, hun!" said Mai, her violet eyes lighting up with excitement.

Téa giggled as they drove into the parking garage downtown, and they walked from there to the mall. They went from store to store, flipping through the racks and trying on several clothes and shoes, sometimes just to see how they looked with absolutely no intention of buying them. They carried several bags to the food court, piling them under their table as they dined on sushi, miso soup and spring rolls.

"Mmm, so good!" said Téa, holding her hand to her mouth as she chewed her crunchy roll of crab stick, cucumber and cream cheese. "I've been craving sushi for almost a month now!"

"It's certainly an upgrade from all the cold cuts my brother keeps in his fridge." agreed Serenity before taking a bite out of her spring roll.

"And rotisserie chicken and rice balls and burritos and hot dogs and pizza..." added Téa, repeating Tristan's comments about Joey's fridge contents.

"Ugh, I know, right? Doesn't he know what a vegetable is?" asked Mai, sipping daintily at her green tea.

"He's more into meats, carbs and junk food." admitted Serenity. "And soda. So much soda."

"Yeah, you should have seen him and Mokuba together at Kaiba Land. They were really hitting it off together." giggled Téa.

"Speaking of the Kaibas, tell us hun." said Mai, the mischievous glint appearing in her violet eyes as she peered over her teacup at Téa. "How was your date with the big guy?"

"Oh yeah! What was the space station like?" asked Serenity, leaning forward eagerly and propping her chin up on her hands.

"It was awesome!" said Téa, her smile lighting up her face. "It had this cool holographic telescope, and I got to see all the planets and their moons. I even got a picture of Saturn!"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Cool science-y stuff." said Mai, waving her hand impatiently. "What about Kaiba? Give us the details, hun."

"Wha-...? There's no details to share!" said Téa, feeling her face warm.

"You mean that you want to share." said Mai, a smile playing at her lips.

"Seriously, nothing happened!" insisted Téa. "We played around in the anti-gravity. That's it."

"Anti-gravity?! Oh, that sounds so cool!" said Serenity, her eyes wide and awed.

"It was so cool." agreed Téa, beaming at her.

"So absolutely nothing happened while you and Kaiba were alone in a dark space station together, playing around in anti-gravity and getting a close-up of the stars you were cuddling under during the camping trip?" persisted Mai. "Not even a little touchy-feely?"

Téa sighed, saying, "He just hugged me, Mai. That's it."

"He did?!" said Serenity, her brown eyes lighting up excitedly. "Was it a real hug or that lame one-armed thing guys do?"

"It was a real hug." giggled Téa.

Mai looked mildly disappointed, saying, "Well, that's not as exciting as I was expecting."

"I thought you were the one who said he better not try anything while we're up there?" Téa reminded her.

"Well yeah, but I thought he would have at least tried to kiss you afterwards." admitted Mai.

Téa shifted in her seat, and Mai's eyes snapped up again, catching the movement. "Yes?" she asked slowly, the glint appearing in her eyes again. "What is it, hun?"

"Nothing." said Téa quickly, picking up her spoon and turning her attention to her soup.

"Oh no, I know that shifty dance well." said Mai, her lips curving into a smile as her violet eyes bored into Téa's blue ones. "Something happened."

"What was it?" pressed Serenity, leaning forward eagerly. "Did he kiss you?"

"No..." murmured Téa, playing with the tofu in her soup.

"Did you kiss him?" persisted Serenity.

Téa felt herself flush to her roots, and Mai and Serenity squealed in unison. "I knew it!" cried Mai triumphantly. "You've done it before and you did it again, you sly vixen!"

"Wait, she has?!" cried Serenity, her wide eyes turning to Téa, who felt herself blush again.

"I know she has! Yugi was covering for you during Never Have I Ever, wasn't he?" said Mai, her violet eyes boring into Téa's blue ones. "Admit it!"

"When was the first time?" asked Serenity before Téa had even verified Mai's inquiry.

Téa bit her lip, her insides squirming uncomfortably. "The charity ball." she said in a tiny voice.

"I knew it!" shouted Mai again.

"Mai, hush!" hissed Téa as several people in the food court turned to stare at them.

"So Kaiba's let you kiss him twice now?!" said Serenity, her cheerful smile finally breaking through. "Aw, Téa! He likes you! I knew it!"

Téa let out an amused hum, saying, "Maybe..."

"That's not a maybe, hun. If Seto Kaiba let you kiss him twice with no repercussions, there's definitely something there, even if he doesn't have the guts to admit it." said Mai affirmatively.

Téa glanced up at Mai, appearing to take comfort from her words. Perhaps Mai noticed the hopeful look in her eyes, as she suddenly blinked owlishly and asked, "What's wrong?"

Téa shrugged, swirling her soup with her spoon, and said, "It's just...I'm not really sure if Kaiba actually feels the same way."

Both Mai and Serenity's eyes widened simultaneously, and Téa knew why. It was the first time she admitted that she did, in fact, have feelings for Kaiba. Téa had never allowed herself to be alone with a guy after Tristan had tried flirting with her while the others were saving Kaiba from the virtual world. Kaiba had given her a strong sense of security that she couldn't even get from one of her long-time best friends. That combined with her trust in him, knowing that he would catch her when she fell, had kindled into a deeper feeling that Téa couldn't deny.

Mai and Serenity glanced at each other, realizing the seriousness of Téa's comment, and inclined their heads in silent agreement that all jokes were aside now. Serenity was the first to speak, saying, "Téa, how could you think that after seeing how close Kaiba's let you get to him?"

"That's just it, though." said Téa. "It seems like he just permits me to get closer than anyone else, but he's never made a move of his own."

"He just said you could come visit him whenever you like." said Serenity encouragingly.

"He said that about everyone." Téa reminded her.

"He asked you out to the space station." Serenity pointed out.

"...and that's the most outrageously forward date I've ever seen a guy offer someone." added Mai.

Téa flashed a smile, saying, "He actually blurted that out during the camping trip. I mentioned how I wish we had a telescope, and he said he could do one better. I don't think he realized what he was saying at the time."

"Well, he went through with it." persisted Serenity.

"She's got a point." agreed Mai. "A good businessman like Kaiba would have no qualms about backing out of a deal if he thought it wouldn't do well for his image."

Téa lowered her eyes to her soup, saying nothing.

Mai let out a soft sigh and placed her teacup back on the table. "Look, Téa, I'm going to let you in on a secret of mine..." she said suddenly. "...I've actually known Kaiba for a while, long before he popped into public school to get his diploma and crossed paths with you and the guys." Téa glanced up at Mai, suddenly intrigued, and Mai continued. "Not personally, of course, but you know I came from a wealthy family, too. When I first ventured out on my own, I would see him all the time at business conventions, usually on the cruises I would hop on going from place to place, dueling people and making a name for myself in the process." Mai glanced at her long nails, saying, "As you can probably imagine, a devilishly handsome, young, rich guy like Kaiba attracted many a desperate lady in waiting. The amount of times I've seen an overly bold girl try to make a move on him is probably more than I can count on all my appendages combined..." Mai leveled her eyes at Téa, saying, "...and do you know what he did every single time?"

Serenity answered for Téa, leaning forward eagerly and asking, "What did he do?"

"Not only did he reject them, but he would rebuke them in a way that absolutely humiliated them in front of everyone's attention." answered Mai. "It was as if he wanted all those business types to know that he could never be swayed by anything or anyone, even a pretty face."

Téa's eyes widened. She remembered how Kaiba had reacted to the waitress at the restaurant touching his shoulder. That was tame compared to what Mai was detailing now, but then again, that certainly sounded like something the old stand-offish Kaiba would have done. And of course she couldn't forget about the girl at the charity ball that had thrown punch at her. "So what you're saying is, if he didn't feel similar that he'd do that to me, too?" she asked softly.

"Humiliate you so much that you wouldn't even think about doing it again? Absolutely." said Mai, nodding affirmatively. "Kaiba may be a more perfect gentleman than he was in his snarky teenage years, but I can assure you that what has never changed about him is that he's forthright and honest, sometimes to a fault."

Téa lowered her eyes to the table again, saying, "Well, if that's the case, if he's really as honest as you think he is, then he hasn't said anything, either."

"Téa, think about what I just said for a minute." said Mai, and Téa blinked and looked up at her again. "Kaiba's gone the majority of his formative years never allowing anyone to get too close. Then you come along, and now he has to unlearn all those harsh rebuttals, break down all the walls he built up, remember how to trust people. It's not gonna happen overnight, hun, and most especially not with a guy like Kaiba." Mai's violet eyes took on a soft look, almost maternal, and said, "Give him some time, Téa. He's still testing the waters, and once he's certain he won't drown, Kaiba's gonna dive in head-first. Trust me on that."

Téa gave Mai a warm smile and nodded, saying, "Thank you, Mai. That's actually makes me feel a lot better."

"That's what I'm here for, hun." said Mai, giving Téa her signature broad wink.

They finished their food after a while, and Serenity suddenly let out a loud burp and clapped her hand to her mouth, her eyes huge as it echoed across the food court.

"Yep, that's Joey's sister for you." said Téa with a laugh, and Serenity burst into giggles.

Mai sighed, her face in her hand as she shook her head. "You two have been hanging out with the boys for too long." she said sullenly, finishing her hot green tea before setting the cup down. "Come on, ladies, let's go to the restroom and head on out. I think we're done for the day."

"Yeah, I'm beat! Today was so much fun!" said Serenity, finishing her own tea and standing. Téa upended the remains of her cup and set it down on the table for the waitress to collect.

They grabbed their bags and went to the ladies' room, then made their way out of the mall and back to the parking garage.

"Hey guys." whispered Serenity softly as they threw their bags into Mai's car trunk. "Don't look now, but I think that lady in the blue trench coat has been following us all throughout the mall."

Téa knelt down suddenly, pretending to tighten the laces on her sneakers. She let her hair fall in front of her face and glanced sideways, and she noticed the woman in question, leaning against a nearby concrete column and smoking a cigarette. Téa couldn't see her face through a pair of gigantic sunglasses and a similar sized white sun hat that matched her belt, shoes and purse, but she could see a tight military style bun holding back her copper red hair. She blew a stream of smoke from between her ruby red lips, her head angled slightly in their direction, and Téa had a feeling that the lady was indeed watching them from behind her shades.

"You're right, Serenity, I noticed her, too." murmured Mai. "She was sitting out on the couches in front of whatever store we were in or window-shopping nearby, and she was in the food court near the bathroom. Looks like we got ourselves a stalker."

"A woman, though? Don't men usually do that?" asked Téa, straightening again and getting into the car with the girls.

"Yeah, but women can be, too. When their prey is a group of women, or one particular woman, what better way to be unsuspecting than to be the matching gender?" said Mai as she started the car, keeping the convertible top up this time. Téa turned around and looked through Mai's tinted windows, and she saw the blue and white garbed woman toss away her not even half-smoked cigarette and hop in a white car nearby.

"That doesn't look promising." she said uneasily as they pulled out of the parking garage, and they watched as the white car followed them, keeping at least five car lengths between them.

"You don't think it's the same person who crashed the bus we were on with Kaiba, do you?" asked Serenity, suddenly sounding panicked.

"That was a man, if you're talking about the bus driver." said Mai, who was white-knuckling the steering wheel and glancing in her rear-view mirror. "Besides, Kaiba isn't with us. Why would the people who were after him be after us?"

"Maybe they saw me and Tristan leave KaibaCorp." said Téa, her heart pounding as the car turned with them onto the second street.

"Oh no, maybe she heard us talking about Kaiba and Téa in the food court!" said Serenity.

Téa's stomach twisted into knots. "Mai, you gotta lose that woman!" she cried.

"You got it, hun!" said Mai, and she suddenly took off down another side road without bothering to turn on her directional. Téa's stomach flew to her throat, both from Mai's sudden turn and the fact that the white car also turned with them and sped up to keep pace with Mai's car.

"She is following us!" exclaimed Serenity, her eyes wide as she watched in the side view mirror.

"Mai, look out! Intersection!" cried Téa as they approached a four way with traffic lights, which were starting to change to red.

"Everyone hold on!" yelled Mai, gripping the steering wheel and flooring the pedal. Téa screamed as Mai zoomed forward through the intersection, the other cars screeching to a halt and laying on their horns as they almost caused an accident. The white car also slammed on its brakes as the intersection traffic started up again.

"Phew! We lost her!" said Téa, settling back into her seat and holding her chest.

"Not yet." said Mai, turning a few more corners just for good measure. "Now we lost her."

"That was creepy!" cried Serenity. "Why don't you two stay the night at my brother's house, just in case? I'm sure he won't mind if we tell him what happened."

"You probably have the right idea, Serenity. I don't like the idea of driving home by myself if that lady got my plate number." said Mai, glancing in her rear-view mirror, and Téa had a feeling that Mai was still paranoid about the lady following her car.

"Do you think we should let Kaiba know, too?" Téa asked. "Just in case it is the same people?"

"I don't think we should bother the big guy over a speculation." said Mai as they pulled back into Joey's parking lot. "It could have just been some regular shop-lifter after our fresh purchases."

"I hope so." said Serenity as they exited the car and grabbed their bags from the trunk. They hurried inside, finding Joey, Tristan and Duke joined by Yugi and Bakura, the five of them huddled together on Joey's sectional sofa and leaning forward as they all co-oped a new video game that Yugi had brought from the Game Shop.

"Cover me, Joey!" said Tristan, slamming the buttons on his controller.

"I gotcha, Tristan! Tank d'ose goons fer us!" said Joey, who also manhandled his controller.

"Gogogo!" said Yugi, his eyes wide as his gaze stayed locked on to his section of the screen.

"Look out, rocket launcher!" cried Duke suddenly, then threw up his hands and grabbed his head with his free hand, saying, "Aw dang it! I'm dead."

"Head-shot!" said Bakura with a grin. "Got the launcher!"

"Guys, listen! There was a woman following us the entire time we were in the mall, and then she got in her car and tailed us while we were driving!" said Mai, talking over the guys' chatter.

Joey paused the game and looked up quickly, a concerned look on his face as he said, "What?! Someone followed ya? Did ya shake 'em before ya got here?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if she got my plates or not." said Mai, glancing over her shoulder.

"You think she noticed your plate number and not the fact that you drive a purple convertible?" asked Duke incredulously, and Mai shot him a look.

"Can the girls sleep over here tonight, Joey?" asked Serenity, clasping her hands in front of her pleadingly, her eyes shining. "I don't want them to be alone after what just happened!"

"Of course, sis! We'll all have a sleepover!" said Joey. "Us guys'll knock da stuffin' outta anyone who tries to barge in on our lady friends! How 'bout it, guys?"

"I'm game, I just have to let grandpa know." said Yugi, pulling out his phone before getting off the couch and walking into the next room to take the call.

"I should probably let my old man know, too, so he doesn't come looking for me and accuse me of trying to ditch work at the factory." said Tristan, who also pulled out his phone and started texting his dad.

"I'm cool with it if there's room for me." said Duke.

"Dere's plenty o' room fer everyone! How 'bout it, Bakura?" asked Joey.

"Certainly! We'll have good fun tonight!" said Bakura, beaming.

"This is so exciting!" said Serenity. "I haven't had a sleepover since we were kids!"

"Maybe you did, sis, but you know I couldn't risk invitin' friends over to dad's." said Joey with a sullen look as he recalled his past, and Serenity gave him a knowing solemn look.

At that moment, Yugi came back into the room, saying, "I told Grandpa what happened and he's okay with running the shop by himself for a night or two if needed."

"Hopefully we won't need longer than that. My dad's not as lenient when it comes to my absence at work." said Tristan woefully.

"We'll probably be fine for one night." said Mai. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't followed back to my place all by myself. Not that I'm there a lot, but I still don't need any creepers or thieves knowing where I live and stealing my valuables."

"I'm more concerned about you dan yer valuables, Mai." said Joey. "Come on, we should hide dat conspicuous convertible o' yers in my garage fer da time bein'."

Nightfall came soon enough. Téa tried to sleep on the air mattress that she'd been provided with, but it was quite stiff and squeaked every time she shifted, trying to get into a more comfortable position. She sighed and threw the thin blankets off of her. Maybe the sofa in the living room would be more comfortable, if she could convince whoever was on it to let her sleep there.

Téa quietly exited Serenity's room, being careful not to wake her or Mai, and made her way down the hall. She passed by a window that Joey forgot to close the blinds on, and Téa was reaching up for the string to lower them when her eye caught something moving near the bushes that separated Joey's house from the street. Téa blinked and peered out the window, but she didn't see anything more. She shrugged to herself and lowered the blinds. Téa glanced over at the sliding glass door in the dining room, and for some reason she had this nagging feeling that she should go outside and check the yard. She tried to ignore it, assuring herself that she was stupid to even think about going outside by herself, but the nagging feeling didn't go away. Téa quietly pushed aside the curtain and even more silently slid the sliding glass door aside.

Téa stepped outside and eased the door back into place, turning and looking around the small yard. At least Joey mows the lawn. she thought as she stepped through the freshly cut grass in her bare feet, thinking she should have at least put on her shoes. Thankfully the summer air was warm enough, so Téa wasn't cold in the sky-blue tank top and white shorts that Serenity had provided her. She breathed in the scent of cut grass, sighing as she looked up at the sky, but as she had mentioned on the camping trip, there were too many city lights for her to really see the stars, even though there was now a crescent moon in the sky so it was darker than normal.

A loud rustle caught her ears, and Téa's eyes snapped towards the bushes again, but still she saw nothing. The nagging feeling arose in her chest again, and Téa couldn't stop herself from walking towards the bushes and peering over them. They separated Joey's yard from the street corner and the sidewalk, so Téa pushed through them and started walking along the sidewalk, looking around. The streets were completely desolate, with only a few lamps lighting the road, and Téa was starting to wonder if she was being a little too paranoid when she looked up just in time to see the coat-tails of a blue trench-coat disappear behind a nearby tree.

Téa's brow furrowed. She was certain it was the woman from earlier, but this time she seemed to be moving away from Téa instead of towards her as she had done in her car while tailing Mai's. She recalled Mai saying that the woman had kept her distance in the mall while still maintaining a line of sight. Surely if she wanted to steal something from them or even kidnap them, she would have taken her chance in the parking garage. No one had been around after all, and the parking garage had no cameras in it, the concrete too thick to allow a good signal. But why on earth would someone be following her without actually meaning harm?

Unless she's doing the opposite.

Téa recalled Serenity's suggestion that it could be the same people that had been after Kaiba, but now Téa had a fleeting suspicion that this was something else. She remembered Kaiba saying that Roland and Fuguta had eyes on his location during the entirety of the camping trip, and Téa was certain they had been watching him while he was at the arcade as well. But Kaiba couldn't possibly just have his two chiefs of security from within the walls of KaibaCorp as his only line of protection. Surely they would see where he was going and have guards that could actually defend him on sight, assuming the now sole CEO and president of KaibaCorp was as heavily guarded as she assumed Kaiba would be now that there was no one else to take his place should something happen to him.

Téa's speculations went further as she recalled the bus incident. Kaiba had said no one cared about them, only him, but was he so sure about that? Or better yet, did he just say that to make everyone feel safer around him? She remembered at least three instances where Mokuba had been taken hostage, used as a pawn in a plan to get Kaiba to surrender his company to his rivals. Was it outside the realm of possibility that whoever crashed the bus had seen them all together, and did indeed have their sights set on the rest of them? And if that were the case, wouldn't Kaiba in turn send out members of his security team to see that their group wasn't made into targets to use against him? Téa remembered his glance in her direction when Tristan had mentioned her shopping trip with the girls, so she knew Kaiba was well aware of it. Plus Téa had a further suspicion that there was a reason this woman was wearing blue and white, as if to match the employer she worked for...

She decided to put that theory to the test.

Téa started forward boldly, ignoring the voice in her head that told her she was being reckless as she set off towards the downtown area in her skimpy clothes. She heard the movement behind her, but ignored it as she marched down the sidewalk, keeping her eyes straight ahead. Téa came to an intersection and crossed it, continuing down the walkway, keeping an eye out for anyone that may try to jump at her. The streets were pretty well empty at this time of night, and Téa walked past a clothing boutique with a steel grate separating the window from the display mannequins. She took the opportunity to come to an abrupt halt and inspect the garments whilst peering out the corner of her eye. This time she saw the woman before she had a chance to duck behind a standing mailbox; this time she was wearing a large hood that connected to her blue trench coat, her conspicuous white sun hat gone. Téa suddenly took off at a run around the corner, sprinting into the alleyway. She skidded like a baseball player into home base behind a dumpster, waiting and holding her nose to block the smell.

Finally after a long minute, the woman came into view. She ran farther down the alleyway, pausing and looking down either side alley, which stretched further downward. She chose the one on the right and took off down the alleyway. Téa waited in her hiding place for what seemed like forever before the woman appeared again, this time from the opposite way, breathing heavily. She removed her hood and smoothed her military-style bun of red hair, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her shades were also gone this time, and Téa saw a pair of green eyes with a worried look to them. The woman took a deep breath and pinched the lapel of her trench coat, saying, "Sir, I'm sorry. I lost her."

Téa's eyes widened as she heard Roland's voice over the receiver respond, How? Is she not at Wheeler's residence?

"Not anymore, sir." replied the woman. "She left the premises and-..."

"I knew it!" shouted Téa suddenly, and the woman jumped out of her skin and spun around, her hand on the holster of a gun in her belt concealed by the trench coat before her startled green eyes fell on Téa, who jumped up from behind the dumpster.

What was that? came Roland's voice again.

"You're one of Kaiba's security team members, aren't you?!" demanded Téa, glaring angrily at the woman, who quickly removed her hand from her gun. "You're the one who was following me and my friends in the mall, and you tailed our car to the house!"

"Miss Téa, please! I can explain..." started the woman, putting her hands out to show she no longer had hold of her weapon and meant Téa no harm.

"Oh, and you know my name, do you?!" said Téa, her hands on her hips, and the woman winced as if she had made yet another major mistake. "You'd better start talking!"

Claire, do you read me? came Roland's voice through the receiver again. He was probably checking to see if the woman (whose name, or code-name perhaps, was evidently Claire) was injured or not. Apparently he had not recognized Téa's voice when she had shouted the first time, and Téa was quick to remedy that. She reached out and snatched the lapel of Claire's coat, startling her. She gave Téa a baffled stare as she talked right into the receiver.

"Roland, you have some explaining to do!" she yelled into the receiver. Claire's eyes were huge; she was apparently unaware that Téa knew the first-in-command security chief by name.

Miss Téa?! came Roland's surprised voice. Claire, what is going on?

"Why don't you tell me that?" Téa said into the receiver, and Claire tried to pry her hand away from her lapel, but Téa held tight to it. "Did Kaiba tell you to do this? You tell him he'd better have a good reason for scaring us like this, making us think we were being stalked!"

That won't be necessary, Miss Téa. came Roland's voice.

Téa was about to shout back, saying that was completely necessary, before she stopped herself. She turned the words over in her head for a moment before she realized that was probably Roland's way of telling her that Kaiba was standing right there. Her thoughts were confirmed as Claire bit her lip, a frightened look in her eyes, as Téa's phone suddenly rang in her pocket. She took her hand away from Claire's receiver and pulled out her phone, glancing at the blocked number before picking it up and holding it to her ear. Before Téa could even open her mouth to get out a hello, she heard a familiar voice over the line say, "Yes, I have a good reason."

"Kaiba?!" said Téa, glancing over at Claire, who averted her eyes and turned down the alleyway, speaking into her receiver to Roland and giving Téa some privacy. "How did you get my cell phone number?"

"You kept your geo-tracker on your phone active and entered KaibaCorp with it, so my cyber security network picked it up." explained Kaiba.

"Oh..." said Téa, glancing uneasily at her phone and wondering what other facility she had visited in the past may have that level of high-tier security. "...right."

"And I got the message that Claire needs to be reassigned." continued Kaiba. "Evidently she's not very good at keeping incognito."

"Oh, well, I mean...I kinda lured her into an alleyway and hid on her..." responded Téa, glancing nervously over at Claire and hoping the woman didn't just lose her job because of her.

"Regardless, she was supposed to stay out of sight, and she clearly failed." said Kaiba. "You weren't supposed to know you were being followed."

"Oh? Care to explain why?" asked Téa, her temper suddenly flaring again.

"It defeats the point of your security if you bring awareness to it." replied Kaiba coolly.

Téa felt her face burn at the retort. "Why do I even have security in the first place?" she demanded. "I thought you said your enemies didn't care about anyone but you?"

"I didn't want to take any chances." said Kaiba. "My brother is no longer here to be the carrot dangling on the end of their stick. I wasn't about to let you or the others become the new bait."

"Why didn't you just tell us that?" asked Téa, her voice gentler now as her heart warmed at the thought of Kaiba caring enough to look out for her.

"Like I said, it defeats the purpose if you know about it." said Kaiba.

"I don't see why. If you had told me this afternoon that someone would be guarding us while we were out, I wouldn't have freaked out about it after I noticed her." said Téa.

"Somehow I highly doubt that." said Kaiba flatly.

"You shouldn't." replied Téa. "I would have even been grateful!"

"Would you, now?" said Kaiba, and Téa could tell he still didn't believe her.

"Would I be thankful that you had even a passing thought about wasting your high-end resources on me? Yes!" insisted Téa.

Kaiba was silent for a moment, and Téa wondered if he still had doubts about her words. Finally he spoke again, saying, "You've never been a waste to me, Téa."

She felt her heart skip a beat at his words, and Téa pondered the deeper meaning behind them as she was once again reminded of the time Kaiba had used one of his auto-piloted helicopters to take out the shipping container trap during Battle City.

"Never?" she asked him, clarifying whether Kaiba was thinking of the same instance.

"You were always far more indispensable than any of my resources, even my aircraft specifically." said Kaiba, and Téa could swear she could hear the knowing smile in his voice.

Téa smiled. "Thank you..." she said. "...for everything."

"You're welcome." said Kaiba. Neither of them said anything for a moment, then Kaiba asked, "So should I still be expecting you tomorrow evening?"

"Of course." said Téa with a smile.

"Good." said Kaiba, and Téa thought she could hear relief in his voice. "Now get back to Wheeler's place and go to bed. You're supposed to be sleeping at this time of night."

"And you aren't?" teased Téa.

"I told you, I'm not much of a sleeper." said Kaiba.

"Well, you should be! Go to bed." commanded Téa.

"You can't make me do anything, Miss Téa." said Kaiba, and she heard the smile in his voice.

"And you think you can with me?" asked Téa, smiling at their shared joke.

"I think you probably don't want to be locked out of Wheeler's house when someone realizes the back door was left open and unguarded." said Kaiba.

"Touché." said Téa. "But you'd better be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow evening."

"I will be." affirmed Kaiba. "Now get back to the house. I'll have Claire follow you at least that far to make sure you get back safely."

Téa bit her lip. "Can't she stay as my guard?" she asked. "Now that I know she's not just a random stalker, I'd feel safer when I see her around."

There was a momentary pause before Kaiba responded, "I'll run it by Roland."

Téa smiled knowingly. She knew Seto Kaiba probably didn't need to run anything by anyone, but she recalled their earlier bet and knew Kaiba was making it appear as though he wouldn't immediately cave to her request. Nevertheless, she replied, "Thank you."

"Goodnight, Téa."

"Goodnight." she replied, and Téa heard the phone cut out on Kaiba's end. She put her phone back in her pocket, sighing contently. Téa looked up at the sky and startled; Claire was peering over the rooftop of one of the buildings aside of the alley, giving Téa a grateful smile and waving down at her. Téa hadn't realized the guard had disappeared, and was shocked that Claire had scaled the building that quickly. She saw Claire mouth a silent "Thank you." and Téa winked up at her before she started back to Joey's house. She held her hand to her heart as she walked, feeling its strong beat. As she thought back on her and Kaiba's fleeting conversation, Téa was even more eager for tomorrow to arrive.

---

"Were you able to sort things out with Miss Téa?" asked Roland as Kaiba entered his office again, clicking off his cell phone.

"Yes, everything's fine now." replied Kaiba, dropping into his desk chair and running a hand through his hair.

"I'm terribly sorry for what transpired, Mr. Kaiba." said Roland quickly, seeing Kaiba's open frustration. "I take full responsibility for Claire's inadequacy, and I'll be sure to-..."

"Spare me the quality assurances. I'm not firing Claire." said Kaiba impatiently.

"Oh." said Roland, genuinely surprised. "Well...in that case, should I simply reassign her?"

"No, she'll stay on as Téa's guard for now." said Kaiba, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. "But she'll need to have some over-sight by a superior to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"I agree, Mr. Kaiba. We can put a second guard on Tristan, Serenity and Téa." said Roland. "I'll put Fergus with Tristan, Patrus with Serenity, and Kent with Téa."

"No, Kent isn't good enough." said Kaiba, spinning his chair side to side as he mused to himself. "Make it Ivan."

"Ivan?!" cried Roland, his shock evident. "But sir, he's special ops!"

"And?" said Kaiba coolly.

"And he's part of your guard, sir." said Roland.

"And now he's part of Téa's." said Kaiba simply. "I was going to demote him anyway, so what better time than now? Go tell him he's reassigned."

Roland stood there wordlessly, staring at Kaiba. He made no move to do as he was told, so Kaiba scowled at him and said, "Did I not make myself clear?!"

"You did, sir, but I would highly advise against your decision." said Roland cautiously.

"And why's that?" asked Kaiba, his leg bouncing impatiently as his ire grew.

"Because Ivan's prowess is well-known, Mr. Kaiba." explained Roland. "That is why he is part of your security team. No one would dare mess with an elite special ops guard such as him."

"That's the point." snapped Kaiba.

"No sir, you don't understand." said Roland. "Such a move may appear suspicious to a potential enemy, and it could have the opposite effect you're intending."

"What are you saying?" Kaiba demanded dangerously.

"I'm saying..." said Roland. "...that if you were to assign Ivan to Miss Téa, the enemy may suspect that she means something to you, Mr. Kaiba, and they will make her a primary target."

Kaiba's leg stopped bouncing, his chair coming to a creaking halt as his entire body stiffened. Roland's brow furrowed, noting the abrupt changes, and asked, "Is that why-...?"

"No." said Kaiba, far too quickly. He felt his insides squirming as he could feel Roland's eyes scrutinizing him from behind the opaque shades.

"Forgive me, sir, but I have to know for her security's sake." said Roland. "Is Miss Téa your-...?"

"No!" insisted Kaiba, feeling his face grow hot. "I told you already, she's just a friend!"

"I see..." said Roland, but he didn't sound entirely convinced. "Well, as long as you're certain you won't be swayed by an enemy if they tried to do to her what they did to your brother..."

Kaiba felt the color drain from his face, and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"Mr. Kaiba?" asked Roland, once again noticing the sudden change in Kaiba's demeanor.

Kaiba closed his eyes and inhaled slowly and quietly through his nose, trying to control his suddenly pounding heartbeat. He knew Roland could see right through him. The security chief had been looking after him for almost a decade, after all.

"Mr. Kaiba, if you have any reason to believe that Miss Téa is in more danger than the others, we can still increase her guard." assured Roland carefully. "I would just advise against resorting to any of your own personal security to do so."

Kaiba's mouth became a thin line. "Okay." he said at last. "Do what you think is best."

Roland inclined his head. He reached out a hand, hesitating for a moment before laying it on Kaiba's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mr. Kaiba. We'll keep her safe." said Roland knowingly. "I'll make sure of that."

Kaiba nodded wordlessly, avoiding Roland's eyes, and the security chief released his shoulder and left the room without another word, closing the door behind him. Kaiba let out the breath he had been holding in, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his desk as he ran his fingers through his hair.

What was happening to him?