Summary:  Tragedy strikes.  Joey Wheeler is gone forever.  Or is he?  Joey POV.  Post Duelist Kingdom AU.  Will eventually be Seto/Joey shounen-ai.

Author's Notes:  Well, I thought I'd try writing a YuGiOh fic.  And it's still going.  And going.  And whoa, still going.

Thanks for continuing to read the story.  The thought gives me warm fuzzies ^_^

Angel-Belle:  Yup, I used your sign. I didn't know I'd used it until after I'd written the chapter, does that make sense?  Err… I guess I'll ask permission now ^_^;;

Athene:  It's hard...   I don't think I'll be doing the 'update every day' thing after I finish this entire fic.

bigfuzzydiceperson:  If I update any faster I'll explode…

Hakai Suru:  That's why I put this story under 'General' ^_^

The end of the story is near!  Well, in sight, anyway.

Warnings:  Character death (sort of), language, angst, eventual Seto/Joey.

Disclaimers:  I don't own YuGiOh or any other brand names you might come across.  No cooties were harmed in the making of this fic.

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Being Dead Ain't Easy

Chapter Nineteen:  I Told You So

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I end up leggin' it to Kaiba Corp.  Hitch hiking doesn't work anymore; I get woozy just trying to be solid enough to get in and stay in while the car's moving.  It's a long walk.  Kaiba's really gonna get it when I find him.

I finally make it there who knows how many hours later.  The sky's gone dark and grey.  It looks like it's gonna rain and Kaiba didn't bring an umbrella.  I hope it rains buckets on him.  He deserves it for being so stupid.

I float up and barge into his office with a nice little speech in the back of my head, all ready to go.

He's not here.

Not at his desk, not in his chair, not hiding behind the door 'cause he saw me coming and didn't wanna face the wrath of Joey.

He didn't go home already, did he?  It would really suck if I went through all that trouble for nothing.  I take a look at his desk.  Looks like Kaiba got a new phone and got rid of his old one.  His papers and things are spread out over his desk.  All his stuff's still here.

So where the fuck is he!?

Kaiba's things are in his office, so he's still in the building unless he suddenly decided to run around outside without his trench coat.  I don't see him doing that, so he's got to be here somewhere.  Maybe he went to get more coffee.  Maybe he's struttin' around the place like I giant rooster.  Maybe he's passed out in the hallway.  For all I know, he could be de-

No.

Should I go look for him, floor by floor?  It'd be hit and miss, though.  If he's wandering while I'm wandering, I'll never find the guy.  But what can I do?  No way am I goin' back to Mokuba, saying 'Sorry, no dice, couldn't find him, even though ya didn't ask me to'.  Not that he'd hear me, but still.

I hear the door open.

Well, look who finally decided to show up.  Good news, Mokuba; he's still alive.

And oh so happy to see me.  "What the hell are you doing here, Joey?"

Look who's talking!  "What the hell are you doing here, ya stupid freak?!" I spit back in his face.  "Mokuba's worried sick!"

Kaiba shoves me away and heads for his desk.  "I'll be done in a few more hours," he says calmly.

I don't think so.  "We're goin' home NOW!  Get your stuff; we're leavin'!" I growl.

He turns around to face me.  "No, you're going home now.  How many times do I have to tell you to rest, you deaf mutt?"  He starts shoving me out the door, but then he changes his mind and drags me back in.  "Never mind, stay.  You can't waste your strength walking back.  I'll call a limo to drive you home."  He pulls out his cellphone.

Yeah, I can picture it now.  "This is Kaiba.  Drive this person you can't see back to my mansion.  And make sure he lies down in the backseat so he can rest.  The stupid dog keeps trying to get up.  No, I'm not crazy, why do you ask?  By the way, you're fired."

I grab his wrist so he can't call.  "Not gonna happen, Kaiba.  We're both goin' or we're both stayin'.  Wait, scratch that.  We're both goin', period."

"I can't!" he hisses.

"Why the hell not!?" I hiss back.

He pulls outta my grip and goes to his desk.  He spins the laptop around and shoves it in my face.  "Do you see?  Do you understand, you stupid dog!?" he yells.

I narrow my eyes.  "Not everybody breathes spreadsheets like you do, Kaiba.  Tell me what I'm lookin' at here."

He sighs and drops in his chair.  "The company is falling to pieces around me.  The Big Five have ruined me, and exceptionally well.  Flawless work from the inside.  I couldn't have done it better myself."

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing I can do, NOTHING!"  He slams his fist down on the desk so hard the pencils bounce.  Then he just sorta deflates in his chair and stares off into space.  "I can do... absolutely nothing."

If it's so pointless, why are you still here bein' a dick?  "Then come home with me, Kaiba."

He snorts.  "And leave all this behind?"

"Well, yeah.  If Kaiba Corp.'s goin' down the toilet and ya can't do anything about it, there's no point just sitting there."

He glares at me like I'm the one in the wrong.  "I can't just give up, you dumb mutt!  Mokuba-"

"Mokuba wants ya home," I interrupt.  "What, are ya gonna go broke the second the company goes belly up?  You've got money saved away, right?"

"Of course I do.  What kind of fool do you take me for, Wheeler?"

I'll answer that when we get home, ya jerk.  "So there ya go!  Use the money you got, get a new job, problem solved."

"I don't want a new job.  I am, and always will be, Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corporation!" he growls.

The guy's nuts.  "You're not your job, ya freak!  It's just a company!"

"It's not just a company to me!  It's... everything.  It's mine."

I've had just about enough of this.  It's like talking to a brick wall.  I turn around and make like I'm heading for the door.  "Jeez, and here I was thinkin' your little brother meant more than that.  Guess I was wrong, eh Kaiba?  Sorry for buggin' ya."

He grabs me by the arm.  Hard.  How the hell is he doing that!?  "Never doubt what Mokuba means to me, Joey Wheeler," he growls in my ear.  "Everything I do is for him."

"Can't be.  You're still here arguin' with me instead of goin' home like he wants."

Kaiba lets me go.  "The company-"

I straighten out.  "-Can go screw itself, oh, never mind, it's already doin' that."

"Very mature, Wheeler."  Like you're any better?

"Mokuba doesn't want cha to get killed, alright?  You think he's gonna be happy if you die?"  I guess I'll hafta spell it out for Kaiba; he's just not getting it.  "He's cryin' his eyes out right now, didja know that?  He's cryin' 'cause his big brother thinks his job's more important than his life.  He's cryin' 'cause his big brother might die and leave him all alone with nobody but a dyin' dead guy for company."

He swallows, tries to argue.  "I..."

"He loves you."  I can't make it any simpler for you, Kaiba.

He puts his face in his hands.  We're both quiet for a while.  "...He's really worried about me, isn't he."

"No, he wants ya to hurry up and die so he can give your company to Yuugi and call it Mutou Corp.  God, Kaiba, you're the stupidest genius I ever met."

He looks up and gives me a smirk, sorta.  "And how many geniuses have you met, puppy-boy?"

"Three:  Yuugi, Mokuba, and the moron I'm talkin' to right now."

He closes his eyes.  "I'm a terrible big brother."

"Yeah, you suck."  I put a hand on his shoulder.  "So come back with me and do a better job, okay?"  Gah, I'm touching Kaiba!  I take the hand off.

"I suppose you're right."  Kaiba calls for a limo and starts packing his briefcase.  Finally.  "You'd have to be to even have a chance at winning an argument, chihuahua."

"That's what I'm sayin'."  I think.  "And don't call me that."

He just smirks and opens the door for me.  What Mokuba sees in the guy, I'll never know.  We leave the office and get into an elevator.  Kaiba puts his briefcase down and pushes the button for the ground floor.  The doors close.  "I'm expecting you to actually rest when we get back, understand?"

"I'm not stupid, Kaiba.  I only got up 'cause of you."

The elevator shakes and starts moving.

Up.

Is it supposed to do that?  NO.

Kaiba frowns, pushes some more buttons.  Now he wants to get outta here.

We're still goin' up.

Okay, no biggie, maybe some guy on the floor above us wants to get on the elevator, too.  Yeah.

Is it just me, or is the elevator speeding up?

"Uh, Kaiba..."

"Yes, something is wrong, shut up."  He pushes the emergency stop button.  Not working.  Emergency phone.  Not working.  None of it's working.

We're going way, way too fast.  "Kaiba, fix the damn elevator."

He pulls some stuff outta his briefcase.  "What does it look like I'm trying to do!?"  He's holding his cellphone in one hand and trying to pry the elevator control panel off using a screwdriver with the other.  The panel falls off.  The insides are smoking.  He backs off, yells into his phone, swears, stuffs it in his pocket.  The reception on his cellphone is crap.  We're on our own.  Kaiba's on his own.

At this rate, we're gonna blast through the roof.  Okay, that's not too bad, it's better than crashing down, right?  Right.

"Kaiba, there's gotta be a way outta here, to stop this thing, right?  This ain't another one of your custom designs, right?"  I stick my head through the door.  The floors zoom by.  We're goin' even faster than I thought.  We hafta stop the elevator, or slow it down, or something, if we wanna get out.  Sure, I can get out now, but Kaiba...

He'd get spattered all over the shaft.

The elevator's starting to fill with smoke.  It's not too bad right now, but...  "Kaiba, can ya stick the panel back on or something?"

He grabs it, sticks it roughly where it's supposed to go, and hammers it in with his elbow.  Good enough.

Kaiba scans the walls, ceiling, floor, looking for anything, anything to make the elevator stop.  His eyes fall on a funny little black thing above his head.  He stares at it, stands on his briefcase so he can reach it, and then suddenly lunges and stabs it with his screwdriver.  He smashes it until it's a mess of smoking wires.

"Kaiba?"

"Optical bug," he spits out.  "That man must have done something the moment he saw me enter.  The elevator's been sabotaged."  He punches the wall.  "Morrison!" he snarls.

Psycho gunman.  And, from the looks of it, a 'blow shit up' extraordinaire.

We're dead.

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