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.

Holy bananas, over 400 reviews! *gives out little chocolate Millenium Items*  Thanks, everyone!

Angel-Belle:  Kaiba keeps forgetting that Joey's dead (he shoved him out of the elevator, right?) so he's assuming the crazy guy knows about him, too...

Llyxius:  There was an aardvark plushie at the bottom of the elevator shaft.  Some joker decided to put one there for laughs.  Oh the cruelty!

radiany-chan:  Nope, not an English major, but I did ok in English during high school. ^_^  And the reason the plot's not too bad is because this story's been sitting in my head for about a month before I actually decided to write it...

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 umbrellas were harmed in the making of this fic.

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Being Dead Ain't Easy

Chapter Twenty-One:  Déja Vu

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Kaiba just stands there with his hand on the door.  He's not moving.

Morrison might be on the other side of the door.  "So do we go or do we stay?"

"This door leads outside to the rooftop.  My cellphone should work there.  I doubt Morrison would have the resources to block the signal once I'm outside.  I could call a helicopter to pick us up.  And police as well, of course."

"But he's waiting for us.  For you."

"There's no other way out."  Kaiba brushes his hair outta his eyes.  It's getting kinda messy.  He smirks.  "I could always try my luck and leap down the elevator shaft."

Funny guy.  "No ladders.  I don't think so."  Unless...  "You got rope?"

He snorts.  "Exactly how much do you think I can fit into my briefcase, Wheeler?"

I guess that means 'no'.  "And the stairs are a no go, huh..."

"Right."

Well, what's the big rush?  "Can't we just stay put and wait for help?"

He opens his mouth, but suddenly we hear a static-y crackling sound, like the way a loudspeaker sounds before somebody makes an announcement.

- "I can see you, Seto Kaiba." -

Kaiba narrows his eyes.  "Morrison."  He searches the room for the source of the sound, but it's like it's coming from everywhere.

- "Yesss...  Your conversation makes interesting listening, Seto Kaiba.  Who is this 'Wheeler' that you talk to?  I can't see your imaginary friend anywhere." -

"What do you want?" he says coldly.

- "Come out and I'll show you, Seto Kaiba." -

I don't think so.  "This is a pretty bad time to be playin' show and tell, don't cha think?"

Kaiba nods at me.  "I think it would be in my best interests not to."

- "I think you should come out, Seto Kaiba.  Let me help you decide." -

We hear a click from his end, and a beep from ours.  What did he just do?

- "You have...  mmm... five minutes." -

"Before what?"

- "Before.  YOU.  DIE!" -

 And the crazy fucker starts laughing.  And he won't stop.

"Damn you, Morrison!" yells Kaiba.  But the guy just keeps laughing.

The room's starting to fill with smoke.  Kaiba coughs, covers his mouth and nose with his hand, breathes some in anyway.  I don't know if it's smoke or poison gas.  He drops.  I guess that answers my question.  "Kaiba!"  I shake him and the world spins for just a second.  "KAIBA!"

He glares at me.  "I'm fine, Wheeler!"  he coughs.  "Get out of here before he kills you, too!" he gasps out.

Before he kills me too?  "He already did!  I'm freakin' dead, Kaiba!"

His eyes are watering.  Must be the gas.  "I'm aware of that, chihuahua!" he snarls.  "It just... slipped my mind.  It's been a long day.  Days.  Weeks, even..." he trails off.

What the hell's in this smoky junk!?  Kaiba's starin' off into space.  We have to go NOW.

"Come on Kaiba, we've gotta get outta here.  I know it's what he wants, but we've got no choice."  He's still on the floor with a glassy look in his eyes.  "GET THE FUCK UP, KAIBA!"

He blinks up at me.  "...Wheeler.  What are you doing here?"  He's totally out of it.

This is so not good.  "Listen up, Seto Kaiba.  See that door over there?"  I point at it and make sure he's looking.  "I want cha to go over there and open it, okay?"

"I don't really want to."  He closes his eyes.

There's no way I can pick him up and get him outta here.  It's all up to him.  There's gotta be some way I can get Kaiba to drag his own ass out the door!  "I can't believe a little smoke can drop the great Seto Kaiba!"  I shout.  I won't believe it.  It's not true.  "Look!  LOOK AT ME, DAMMIT!"  I grab him by the shoulders and shake him hard.  I blink away the stars.  "The DUMB MUTT can do something you can't!  It's gonna get broadcast all over the news!"  He's swaying back and forth.  "KAIBA, YOU LISTENING TO ME!?" I scream in his face.  "LOOK AT ME!"

Kaiba's looking, thank god he's looking.  "You're nothing but a whimpering, pathetic dog, Wheeler," he mumbles like a zombie.  "Chihuahua."  Autopilot.

Good enough.  "Then drag your rich butt over to that door and prove me wrong, Kaiba!  Prove me wrong."  Please.

I walk over to it and wait for him.  Kaiba slowly, slowly crawls on the floor until he's in front of me.  How many minutes did it take?  The psycho said we had five, right?  Five until what?  Death?  Brain damage, then death?  "Anything you can do I can do better."  Then he giggles.  He's getting worse.

"Good, that's good, Kaiba.  Man, you really showed me!  Hey, look, I can't open the door!  But that's okay, 'cause you can't either, right?"  He's passing out.  Don't you dare do this to me, Kaiba.

I give him another shake and I almost black out on top of him.  When I can finally see again, Kaiba's lookin' at me, worried.  I can't get up.  He blinks.  "I can open doors better than anyone..."

He's still with me.  Sort of.  "Show me."

And he does.

The door swings out, Kaiba loses his grip on it, and we both spill out on wet concrete.  It's pouring rain out here and the sky is totally grey.

He tumbles onto his hands and knees and starts coughing.  I didn't notice before, but the stupid freak's still got his briefcase.  I crawl up to him.  Damn, I can see the rough surface of the cement right through my hands like I'm freaking hollow.  "Kaiba?  You with me?"  He's got the coughing under control and now he's gulping in air.

He coughs one more time and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.  "If you mean if I'm still alive, then yes, I suppose so," he says, voice scratchy.  "And you look terrible.  Didn't I tell you to rest?"

Kaiba's okay.

- "Very impressive, Seto Kaiba.  I wasn't expecting you to live.  A worm with nine lives." -

There's no way to tell where the sound's coming from.  Kaiba manages to get to his knees.  "Why are you doing this, Morrison!?  All I did was fire you!" he snarls.

- "You destroyed my life!  Nobody wants to hire a man who wasn't good enough for the great Seto Kaiba." -

"No, they don't want to hire you because you're insane."

- "But you're wrong.  I'm not insane!  I can see you for what you really are, just like my new employers can." -

"Who are they."  But I think Kaiba already knows.

- "The five greatest men in the world.  Now you know why you have to die." -

Kaiba stumbles to his feet.  "Show your face, you coward!" he hisses.

A static-y chuckle.

- "I don't think so.  I can see you just fine where I am." -

Where's the crazy fucker hiding!?  I scan the roof we're on even though I can't get up.  Kaiba's doing the same, slowly walking around.  Helicopter landing pad, some sorta storage shed or something, another closet thing...  There's too many damn things to hide behind!  He could be anywhere!

I see something move outta the corner of my eye.  It's a guy with black hair.  And a gun.

Shit, he's got Kaiba in his sights!  "Kaiba, DOWN!"

He sees the gun.  Freezes.

Shit, he's not gonna make it.  I stagger up and start running.  The world's doin' a crazy dance around me and every step's so hard but I can see them and everything's in slow motion -

Kaiba's moving outta the way but he's too damn slow

The crazy fuck's pulling the trigger, I can see it move

Gun goes off, it sounds like a messed up, stretched out cassette tape, slow, not slow enough

-and I slam into Kaiba so hard he totally drops.  Everything snaps back to real time and I hear the gun go off.  He cries out.

Is he dead please no don't be dead Kaiba!  KAIBA!

I can't even see straight, but I look down at him and concentrate real hard.  There's a line of torn cloth on his arm.  Red starts spreading on his white trench coat where the rip is, but not a lot, just a little.

He's okay.

But not for long if he just lies there.  "Move, you stupid freak!" I gasp out.

Kaiba rolls outta the way in time to dodge another shot.  He blocks the next one with his metal briefcase.  Heh, so it's good for something, after all.  Is that why he carries it around all the time?  I can't do anything but watch.  I'm not even doing too good at the watching thing, but I focus 'cause I'll be damned if I miss this.

Kaiba's dodging bullets left and right, taking cover behind anything he can find, blocking with his briefcase when he can't.  Morrison's laughing, having the time of his life.  When he runs outta bullets, he just pulls another gun outta his coat.

I have to help.  I have to do something.  But I can't even stand up.

Kaiba's panting.  He can't keep this up.  Not enough sleep, too much stress, poison gas, it's all catching up when he can't afford to fuck up.  He's getting desperate, he's got a crazy look in his eye.

Morrison's standing right there with his back turned to me.  If I could just...

Seto Kaiba picks right this second to rush the guy.  He charges straight at him.

Morrison aims his gun.

I headbutt the back of Morrison's knee and the fucker loses his balance.  The shot goes wide.  He looks down, his eyes widen.  "You..."

Kaiba slams into him and rips the gun away.  With a snarl, he punches Morrison in the gut so hard I hear ribs break.  Bent over, coughing blood, he staggers backwards until his heel hits the edge of the building.  He turns his head, sees where he is.  I can see his eyes filling with fear.

Kaiba slowly walks up to him.

Morrison's mouthing, 'No no no...' shaking his head.

Seto Kaiba smiles in the worst way I've ever seen... and shoves Morrison off the top floor of the Kaiba Corp. building.

It's a long way down.

Six seconds later, there's a screech of tires and a thick-sounding 'thud'.  No more Morrison.

Kaiba just killed a man.

I close my eyes.  I ache all over.  I really did overdo it this time.

I hear Kaiba run up to me, his boots making a 'sploosh' sound every time he hits a puddle of rainwater.  "Joey!  NO!"

Hey Kaiba.  You just killed a man, and I don't care.  He deserved it.  Does that make me one of the bad guys?

"Open your eyes, you stupid dog!"

Sorry, can't.  Woozy.

I can feel him holding me in his arms.  I never did figure out how he does that, did I...?

"Don't you dare do this to me again, Joey Wheeler!  I won't let you," he growls.  He takes one of his arms off me and I hear him call for a helicopter on his cell.  Reception's great.

"Kaiba..."  I manage to say.  I can hear the blades of the chopper as it comes closer and closer.  We're gettin' outta here.

"I won't let you die, Joey.  Not this time."

And he means it.

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