Disclaimer: Don't own. Can't think of anything witty. Sorry.

Tasmin meditated on her bed. She had done everything in the book that she could that Gozabura loathed. She had laid out a reading of tarot cards. She had lit incense and taken out her crystals and a few other magickal things she owned still.

Since he was going to kill her anyway, she might as well go down in a blaze of glory. Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead and all that...

Dying unlike she had lived.

How did that go? "If this is to be our end, I would have it be such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance..." She sighed and looked at the tarot cards, strewn out on her bed. Five of Cups, The Devil, then Death. Doesn't look very promising to me, but hell... I think I'm pretty much past the point of no return... and past caring anyway.

She closed her eyes and relaxed, letting the litanies her grandmother taught her drift through her mind slowly. No matter what happens, I am prepared. Her eyes opened again, and her mouth curled up in a humorless smirk. And it doesn't matter, because either way, I get rid of the thing inside me...

She knew all about anti-abortionists... she had once been one herself. This changed all that. She had been tied down, chained to walls, chained to ceilings, then raped over and over and over until finally...

Even if her soul went straight to hell, she wanted the spawn out of her body. She had been through hell already- she failed to see how it could be worse than the room next to Gozabura Kaiba's office.

Gozabura was in a sour mood as it was. His business meeting had gone badly, and as he stormed up to his office, he caught the scent of incense and turned, throwing the door to Tasmin's room open. "Get rid of that garbage," he spat, slamming the door, then turning and stalking down the hall to his office. He didn't wait around to watch her. He knew his order would be obeyed.

It wasn't.

He entered his office and relaxed. Soon, the woman would be in to wait on him and he could... vent his frustrations out on her. She deserved a punishment for having that incense anyway. She knew that was forbidden here. He smirked and sat back, thinking of how to torment her, letting his gaze drift over the room. It slowly drifted over the shattered case of the Millennium Rod, then snapped back to it. What?

Tasmin hadn't moved from her cross-legged position as Gozabura kicked the door to her room wide open. "What have you done with that artifact?" He demanded, stalking over to her.

She didn't answer right away. In fact, she appeared not to have heard him at all. Furious, he struck her across the cheek, hard, snarling. "Little whore, I'll teach you to ignore me!"

Tasmin spun out of her sitting position and slammed into the headboard and dropped down, slightly dazed, then her eyes sharpened on him. "Hm? What was that?"

Gozabura ground his teeth. "You did something with the artifact that was in my office! What was it! And don't you dare lie to me, girl..."

Tasmin shrugged. "It wanted to go home to its owner..."

Gozabura's eyes narrowed. "Don't insult my intelligence. Inanimate objects don't want things..."

Tasmin shrugged again and smiled at him. "It did. It had someone inside of it."

Gozabura hit her again, just because he could. She deserved it, after all. "If you're going to lie to me, make up a plausible story, if you'd be so kind..."

Tasmin just laughed breathlessly and licked at her bleeding lip. "If you don't believe the truth, there is no lie to tell."

He struck her again, then leaned down nose-to-nose with her. "Then who is this 'rightful owner' of yours?"

Tasmin managed a smirk. "Who do you think it is? You?"

"Don't you dare talk like that to me," Gozabura snarled. "Show me the respect I deserve..."

"You don't deserve the respect one gives sewage," Tasmin spat weakly.

Gozabura stood and dragged her up with him. "I deserve it more than any other!"

Tasmin just shook her head. "A bully with bigger toys than everyone else..." she mumbled. "Seto is a thousand times the man you will ever be..."

"Seto is locked in a mental institution, and there he will stay!" Gozabura growled, shaking her sharply. The only response he got was a dry, if weak, chuckle. "Unless you- you wouldn't..."

Tasmin grinned at him. "For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee..."

Gozabura's face showed brief fear before he struck her again, letting her drop to the floor this time. "Bitch... You're going to pay for helping him to escape..."

Tasmin laughed harshly and got to her knees. "How can I pay? I'm already broke..."

"You'll be 'broke' even more when I'm done with you, girl..." he hauled her to her feet roughly and threw her on the bed. "But first, I have to stop my son..."

"No." Tasmin rose and leaped on him, digging her nails into his shoulders. "I won't let you!"

"Get off of me!" Gozabura easily picked her off and threw her against a wall. "You're just asking to be hurt, aren't you?"

Tasmin laughed breathlessly. "I'm just trying to win..."

"That'll never happen," Gozabura scoffed, picked her up and threw her on the bed again. "Perhaps you'd like a reminder of that..."

Tasmin spat weakly at him. "Go to hell!"

Gozabura smirked. "You're already there, my dear. I think you should lie there and be silent now."

"Never!" She scrambled back up and lunged for him again. "I won't give up! Not this time!"

Gozabura side-stepped neatly, and smirked, rolling up his sleeves. "Well, then, I'll just have to give you a reminder lesson..."

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Seth slipped over the back wall of the Kaiba property and stalked through the trees. Escaping the asylum had been child's play for him. Then again, he had the magical powers of the Millennium Rod, and he was healthy, strong, and not drugged...

You're certain you know where you're going?

Seth sighed quietly. :Yes, hikari, I'm sure... I have all your memories, remember:

Seto fell silent. Oh...Silence for a bit longer. ...all of them?

:Yes.:

Oh...

More silence between them as Seth stealthily approached the house. His skin was crawling. There should be guards all over the place, and he had to focus all this attention on avoiding them, clouding their minds so that they did not notice the pale boy in the hospital scrubs heading up to the house.

He was nearly there... a hundred yards... ninety... eighty... He jerk violently as a female shriek of pain tore through the night air.

Tasmin! Seto's voice was filled with surprised and a metallic bite of fear and rage. Get up there now

:As you wish, hikari.: Seth broke into a dead sprint, ignoring the shocked guards and racing up into the house. He sped past Mokuba, who managed a startled "Niichan?" and raced up the stairs towards the room where the scream had come from.

Gozabura smirked down at the limp form of Tasmin, curled up at the base of the far wall of the bedroom. "I hope you're learned your lesson..."

Tasmin coughed weakly, wiping blood from her mouth. "Oh, I've learned something all right... You don't... give a damn about... your own... flesh and blood..."

The older man looked confused, before realization dawned on his face. "The baby..." His expression contorted with fury and then he regained control. "It doesn't matter... you'll be pregnant again before the year is out..." He hauled her to her feet and threw her on the bed.

She struggled weakly. "No..."

"Yes..." He smirked down at her. "I own you... I always have, and I always will. Just like I own Seto."

As Tasmin struggled to deny that and get to her feet, she cried out weakly and collapsed. Gozabura glanced at the blood starting to trickle down her legs and sneered. "Weakling." He turned. "Now to make sure my good for nothing son stayed where he was. If he knew what was good for him-"

The door exploded open and Seth stormed in. He too one look at the situation and stopped dead, paling even more than he had been before. Gozabura looked stunned, then drew himself up and smirked. "Seto..."

Seto grabbed control of his body back before Seth could blink, snarled, then lunged for Gozabura. His stepfather had been expecting something of the sort, and brought his fist up and slammed it into Seto's face. Stunned, the other boy fell, and Seth snatched control back. His head rang, and the coppery taste of bloody filled his moth and nostrils, choking him. He couldn't focus. A hand grabbed his hair and yanked him to his feet.

"Idiot boy..." Gozabura hissed into his face. "You're going to regret this..."

Seth's vision turned black and he snarled. "Let me go... Stop!"

Gozabura quickly punched him in the stomach. "Shut up, boy..."

Seth's fingers wrapped around the older man's arm and squeezed, crushing the muscle to the bone. "I. Said. Stop."

Gozabura gasped sharply. It had been a long time since someone had managed to hurt him like this. "What- who are you?"

Seth grinned and brought up the Rod. "I am your death."

Gozabura actually blanched before recovering his blustering facade. "What nonsense are you spewing now, you lunatic?"

Seth's grin grew impossibly wide. "You're about to find out. My Seto says to think of what it's like to be held down and tormented... locked away and drugged... and it'll all seem so real... Goodbye." Without any further ado, he held the Rod up and tore Gozabura's soul from his body and flung it into the furthest reaches of the Shadow Realm. He then fell to his knees, as Gozabura's body convulsed, then collapsed.

"Niichan? Oh, God, neechan..." He hurried into the room and took Tasmin's hand. "Neechan?" He turned quickly to Seth. "Seto, help me!"

Seth wiped blood form his nose and coughed wetly. "What?" He looked at Mokuba with confusion, then shook his head. "No, no I am not your Seto..."

Mokuba blinked, but caught on much faster than his stepfather. "Are you his yami then?"

Seth nodded weakly. "I am... I am Seth..."

Mokuba grabbed his hand. "I'm gonna call a doctor! Neechan's really sick..."

Seth glanced over at Tasmin and paled again. "Tasmin... Yes! Yes, call a Healer, now!" He scrambled over to Tasmin's side as Seto took over.

"Tasmin... Damn him..." He held her hand as Mokuba ran to the phone. "Just hold on..."

Her eyes fluttered a bit and she moaned, but didn't regain consciousness. Mokuba ran out at the fastest speed he could. He hoped that he wasn't too late.

A/N: Ok... explanations... The tarot reading is a three-card reading, Past, Present and Future cards. "Five of Cups": Partial loss, regret, friendship without real meaning, marriage without real love, inheritance, incomplete union or partnership. Tasmin's past card. "The Devil": Subordination, ravage, bondage, malevolence, subservience, downfall, lack of success, weird experience, bad outside influence or advice, black magic, unexpected failure, inability to realize one's goals, violence, shock fatality, self-punishment, temptation to evil, self-destruction. Tasmin's present card. "Death": Transformation, clearing away the old to make the new, unexpected change, loss, alteration, abrupt change of the old self though not necessarily physical death, the ending of a familiar situation or friendship, financial loss, beginning of a new era, illness, possibly death. Tasmin's future card.

"If this is to be our end..." From LotR:TTT, King Theoden...

"For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee..." are some of Captain Ahab's last words. Also some of Khan Noonian Singh's last words from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Best fucking Star Trek movie... except for "Voyage Home"... and "First Contact"... yeah...