A/N: And here I thought this chapter was going to be a little later than the others. Carpal tunnel can't stop me! I got more into the romance side of things. I hope its not sudden, cheesy, lame, forced or OOC. Seriously, I'm more nervous about this chapter than any of the others to date. Let me know what you think!

Edit: The first time I posted this chapter I was in a hurry and so I didn't get much of an opportunity to edit and revise. When I did get around to reading it I was seriously unhappy with the product. It wasn't bad by itself, but it was totally out of place with the rest of the story, and I didn't like some of the steps I took. Some of the dialogue was forced and some of the action doubly so. As a result, I tuned it up. I think it's better…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… yet.

Chapter Five: Belief

He had failed. Since their parents' deaths, Kaiba had made it his first duty in life to protect his brother Mokuba, and he had failed once again. Memories flooded back to him from Duellist's Kingdom. He remembered putting himself on the ledge of Pegasus' Castle to force Yugi to call off his attack, desperate to save his brother. He remembered duelling Pegasus with everything he had, putting his very soul on the line to save him brother. And he remembered failing. He recalled sacrificing himself in the virtual world, throwing his duel with Noah in order to win back his brother, brainwashed by the bastard son of Gozaburo. And he remembered being helpless to do anything when Noah stole his brother from him, and his body from his brother. He had failed Mokuba too many times before. With nowhere to start his search for Mokuba, he knew he had failed his brother again.

Despair embraced the elder Kaiba. Uselessness was a feeling foreign to him, but now it seemed there was nothing he could do. Work was out of the question. Recreation was out of the question. So he sat, and brooded.

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It was a phone call, not unlike the one Kaiba had received directing him to the empty warehouse, that had brought Joey to the warehouse the previous day. Told that the Ghouls had Serenity, Yugi, Duke and Tristan had helped him strong-arm his way out of the hospital and race down to the warehouse, stopping only to ask a beat cop they had met along the way to come with them.

Serenity felt horrible. Having gone to the empty warehouse, Kaiba had returned at the behest of the police officer that Joey had brought along. In many ways, Kaiba looked worse then than he had fresh from his assault. It was his eyes that had worried Serenity the most. Kaiba had amazing eyes; in addition to their spectacular shade of blue they were always vibrant, bursting with life and energy. Whether they glowed with the fire of his fury or shone along with his laughter his eyes had always seemed to have so much life. Perhaps that was part of what made him seem so untouchable, the strength and determination that shone from his eyes, defying the world to try and stop him. When he had returned from that warehouse, his eyes had been dead.

She had decided that she had to see him today. First, because she had to apologize. It was her fault they had taken Mokuba, she knew, and if she wanted to be his friend he would have to forgive her for that. Second, she needed to see how he was. The look on his face had been one of sheer despair yesterday, and she knew that if he gave in to despair he'd never rescue his brother.

"Joey!" She called as she made her way to the door of their meagre apartment, "I'm heading over to the Kaiba mansion."

Joey understood immediately why she was going, and so he didn't try to stop her despite the warning in his stomach. Smiling at her, he simply called, "Say hi to Tess for me. Tell her I miss her."

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"Miss Serenity!" Cecil stated in surprise, "I had not expected anyone, least of all you today. Perhaps it would be best if you went home. I've never seen Master Kaiba in such a foul mood before. He could be dangerous in such a state."

Serenity smiled compassionately at the older man. "I have to come in anyway. You understand, don't you Cecil?"

Cecil ushered her in with a hand and a look of kindness passed over his face. "Miss Serenity, no one is at fault for Master Mokuba's kidnapping except for those that took him. I want you to understand that."

A nod was the only reply that Serenity was able to make.

"Master Kaiba is in his office. Good luck, Miss Serenity." He said, and returned to his duties.

Serenity marched up the stairs and turned to the door that she knew held the office. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. Kaiba rose as she came in, and she paled as she looked at his face. Deep bags were under his eyes, his hair was a total mess, and his eyes were flat and lifeless. He wore only his black undershirt and trousers, obviously the same batch from yesterday, and the handkerchief tied around his arm. Looking at her, his face turned red. His arms began to twitch because of how tight his fists were clenched at his sides. Red rimmed the edge of his grey-blue orbs, and he stared wordlessly at her for what seemed like an eternity.

Tell her! He screamed at himself, Tell her how this is all her fault. Tell her how she betrayed your trust, how she misused your friendship, how she stole her brother from you! Tell her! His mind raged. He stared at the smaller girl, pale, tears forming in her eyes, trembling with fear as she stared at the raging CEO. Drawing away from him, her obvious terror showed across her face. Still, she didn't leave. She wouldn't flee from him. He unclenched his first, ran a hand through his hair and say back down in his chair. "I'm glad you're here." He said, unsure whether or not he meant it.

Serenity visibly relaxed and sat at her usual chair in front of the desk. She looked into Kaiba's eyes, still so flat and cold, and waited for him to say the first word. Idly, she thought back to the feelings she'd found herself having for him since yesterday. She'd taken a liking to him, but not until she saw him fly from the roof, silhouetted against the sun, diving to her rescue, had she noticed how her heart skipped a beat when she looked at him. How could I have missed that feeling for so long? Maybe I was brushing it aside, thinking I was just impressed by him. Or maybe, this is something totally new. Aware that she falling for the CEO, it was even harder now to see him so devastated. She knew he was better than this. She had to make him see it too.

Inside Kaiba's mind was chaos. As soon as the girl had walked into his office his anger at her had melted. And his had not been an irrational anger, it had been righteous indignation and he knew he was justified. Still, he found he couldn't stay made at the beautiful young redhead. He thought that it must be the feelings of friendship he held toward her. Though he had always thought of friendship as a rational expression, perhaps there were deeper emotions involved with the ties of friendship. Satisfied that that was what he felt, he brushed past the uncomfortable subject.

Finally, he decided simply to tell her how he felt, "There's nothing I can do now. I don't have anywhere to start my search."

Hmm, so that was it. He had given up. Serenity shook her head, "You'll find him" She replied simply.

Kaiba shook his head and rose to look out his window. "I don't have anywhere to start."

"You have sources, don't you?" Serenity asked, unwilling to let the proud Seto Kaiba sink into despair.

"They have a man inside, I don't have any sources I can trust," was Kaiba's flat reply.

"Then you can use your computers can't you?" She said insistently.

"To do what?" He shot back, spinning back around on her, "I don't know where to look!"

"So you're just going to give up?" She demanded, rising to her feet.

"I don't have anything to work with!" He cried. "Why are you wasting your time badgering me over something you know I can't do anything about?"

"Why can't you believe that I believe in you?"

"Because I don't believe in me!"

"And I don't believe in me!" She shot back, leaning back and crossing her arms resolutely. "No one believes in themselves because we're all too stupid to see what we're worth. But from where I'm standing, Seto, nothing's more clear than that you're worth more than someone like me could earn in a lifetime." She said, and then blushed, realizing what she had just said.

"…What are you saying?" Kaiba asked, realizing a blush had made its way to his own face.

"I'm saying that you can save your brother." She said, diverting him away from her off-topic outburst.

Kaiba closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, Serenity could see a familiar fire begin to kindle itself in his eyes. "There may be a way." He said, and sat at his desk, sliding a cable into his laptop the image of his computer desktop shot to the plasma screen TV mounted on the wall. Typing furiously a map of all of Domino shot up on the screen. "First… I'll highlight all industrial buildings… next, I'll eliminate those that have full time occupants. Eliminate those near police structures… We can also eliminate those around where they said Mokuba was being held. I searched all of those already. Hmm, about a dozen or so buildings left." Kaiba paused, looking over at the screen.

"Focus on those near the docks. Marik had a boat, as I recall." Serenity said pensively, smiling slightly at Kaiba's renewed enthusiasm.

Kaiba nodded slightly, still typing, "Three. Wait a second, what's that building there?" Kaiba wondered, zeroing in on it, "Didn't show up on the list. I'll cross-reference it with the city plan… It's an abandoned museum of Egyptian antiquities. I think we found our hideout."

Rising, Kaiba picked his discarded trench coat off of the floor and looked up at Serenity. "My chauffeur will drive you home. Come back tomorrow, I still need to talk to you about what happened."

Serenity nodded slowly. She had a feeling what he was going to say, and was dreading the conversation. Still, she owed that much to Kaiba, and she needed to see him again anyway.

As he stormed out the door, Kaiba turned back, "Be careful, Serenity."

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Kaiba stopped directly out front of the museum. Angry and reckless, he didn't care who spotted him. Purposefully, he strode through the front door. It was dark inside the museum. Brazenly, he pushed through a pair of double doors and found himself in a large dark room. Using two rows of glowing LEDs to navigate he made his way down what seemed to be the main path in the room. Presently he became aware that the path he was walked was sloping upward. Finally, he came to another large pair of double doors. Caution taking over, he leaned carefully against the door and glanced into the room ahead.

"Come in, Seto Kaiba, come in." A voice called from inside.

Striding through the doors, Kaiba glanced around at the room. Along either wall were two large sphinx replicas. Centred in the room was an enormous throne, with Egyptian hieroglyphs on the back. A single door stood in the side of the sphinx along the right wall. Sitting atop the throne was a large Ghoul, obviously the leader, dwarfed by the size of the throne itself. His hood was pulled back, revealing his tanned middle-eastern face. His black hair was short and spiky, and his irises seemed to be black. Easily Kaiba's height, the man had at least forty pounds of muscle on Kaiba. Smiling darkly, he watched Kaiba intently.

"Where is Mokuba?" Kaiba demanded.

The large Ghoul motioned toward the door with a nod of the head. "I have the key, of course. We couldn't allow him to wander off."

"What's this about?" Kaiba asked, meeting the Ghoul's intent gaze with his own cold stare.

"Revenge." The Ghoul said lightly, leaning on one of the arms of the throne with a truly bored expression on his face.

"For what?" Kaiba replied.

"Battle City- honestly, I thought you'd have figured this out by now."

"Yugi Moto made peace with your leader after Battle City." Kaiba asked, fully expecting the answer he was about to receive.

"We're under new management. Marik was too… caught up in the past to be a leader of a gang like the Ghouls. Once I break the three of you who caused us so much trouble and prove to the gang that I can fill Marik's shoes, we'll get back to what's really important."

"I don't care about any of that." Kaiba stated, "Give me my brother back."

"No."

"How did I see that coming?" Kaiba said, his voice dripping sarcasm. He'd have to take the key by force. He started walking toward the throne.

"Not so fast, Mr. Kaiba." The Ghoul laughed, rising from his seat and holding out the millennium rod. "I think I can persuade you against that course of action." Light erupted from the rod, and shone on Kaiba. As a glow settled on the blue eyed brunette, the Ghoul barked his order. "Come to me."

Seemingly in a trance state, Kaiba walked slowly toward the Ghoul. As soon as he was within arm's reach of the muscular rare hunter, Kaiba snapped into action. In one smooth motion, Kaiba snatched the staff from the Ghoul's hand. Gripping it firmly, he swung it at the Ghoul's head, who was caught unaware. The rod hit wit a crack, and the Ghoul crumpled to the ground.

"Next time, rely on yourself instead of a bunch of ridiculous hocus-pocus magic." Kaiba spat at the felled Ghoul, then looked to the door. An impression on the door seemed to match the head of the rod. Taking the rod firmly in hand, he pressed it into the depression on the door. He was rewarded with the satisfying sound of the magnetic lock disengaging. Kaiba swung the door open.

"Mokuba!" He called.

"Seto!" was the reply from the darkness. Charging out of the room, Mokuba threw himself into his brother's open arms. "You came!"

"I told you," Kaiba said, squeezing his brother tightly to his chest, "I'd fight through hell and back to save you." He rose, grabbing the rod from the open door, he muttered, "This belongs in a museum."

"Can we leave now?" Mokuba asked nervously.

"Yeah." Kaiba said with a smirk, "Let's go home."

The two left the room where the crumpled body of the leader of the rare hunters lay. Kaiba pulled out his cell phone and placed a quick call to the police, letting them now what had happened and giving them the address of the stronghold. They passed through the unlit room, which Kaiba now realized was some kind of projection room. Back in the foyer, Kaiba took a scan of the area. Doors opened off to either side. They likely lead to where the rest of the Ghouls were hiding.

Grabbing two two-by-fours from the remnants of a broken desk, he barred the doors as best he could. Satisfied, he escorted Mokuba to the BMW parked outside. Even with the safe return of Mokuba, he still had a lot on his mind. He had to figure out what he was going to do with Serenity the next day.

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Serenity could hear her heart pounding as she stood on the step of the Kaiba mansion. She'd been standing there for half an hour, trying to work up the courage to enter. She desperately wanted to see Kaiba, but she dreaded what he'd say. Mokuba had been returned safely, that much she knew. As to whether Kaiba could forgive her or not, that was anybody's guess.

The door opened before her, and Cecil smiled reassuringly at her. "Did you intend to come in at any point today, Miss Serenity?" He asked.

She gulped, and then stepped over the threshold. "Could you show me to Seto, Cecil?"

Cecil led her up to the office where Seto spent most of his time. He motioned to the door, and then left. Taking a deep breath, Serenity pushed through the door. Kaiba was working at his laptop; he didn't look up, but ordered, "Take a seat." It was a cold, flat voice. That was not a good sign. Serenity took a seat.

"How was it?" He asked casually.

"How was what?" She replied, confusion obvious in her voice.

"The ice cream." He replied cruelly, "Was it worth risking your life, and my brothers? Was it worth betraying the trust I'd put in you? Was it worth destroying what little there was of our friendship?"

Serenity's heart sunk. Desperately, she searched for words and found that none would come.

"I've appreciated what you've done for me over the past few days, but I'm afraid that you simply aren't trustworthy."

"No… Seto-" she began.

"Don't interrupt me!" Seto yelled, looking up from his laptop for the first time. After a moment of stunned silence, he continued. "Your continued presence here won't be necessary. My staff has been flushed since the incident, with the exception of those I know I can trust, and I can rely on them to keep Mokuba within the mansion." He paused, waiting for her reply.

"Seto, please-"

"Please don't use my first name." Kaiba replied, deathly calm.

"Kaiba, please don't do this. We were friends, even you admitted that much, can't you just forgive me? I made a mistake and-"

"In the business world, you aren't given second chances, Miss Wheeler. If you see Cecil on your way out, you will be compensated for your trouble. You'll understand if I don't want to see you again." He said, keeping his gaze firmly on his laptop. Inside, his gut ached with every word and he feared if he looked at her he would lose his resolve. This had to be done. Serenity had betrayed his trust, and he couldn't count on her as a friend or as…. He couldn't count on her. Still, irrational as it was, he didn't want her to go. But it had to be done.

Serenity was crying by now. She had felt so close to Kaiba only a few short days before, and now he was cold to her again. He was untouchable again. She could only sit there, watching him, waiting for him to tell her it was all a joke, that it was alright…

"Is there anything else?" Kaiba asked flatly when she didn't move.

"Please Kaiba…" she rasped, her heart breaking in her chest, "Please don't…"

"Don't what?" Kaiba demanded as he rose to his feet, "Turn you out? You stabbed me in the back! Because of you my brother could've been killed and all you can think about is whether or not I want your company?"

"It was a mistake!" She cried, tears streaming down her cheek.

"Yes." Kaiba replied, ice in his voice. "This whole damn friendship was a mistake." Taking the short few steps to the door, he opened it and turned to Serenity. "If you please."

Serenity stood, and her eyes met Kaiba's. Quickly, he looked out the door, unable to hold her gaze. Serenity collected herself and walked to the door. Turning to face Kaiba, she sighed, "You don't want to do this anymore than I do, do you?"

For an moment, compassion shone through Kaiba's eyes. An instant later it was gone. "Goodbye, Miss Wheeler." He snapped coldly and walked back to his desk. Speechless, Serenity left the office.

She met Cecil at the bottom of the stairs, refusing the compensation check that Kaiba had left with him; she did accept a ride home from the chauffeur. Her stomach ached, though she knew no food or medicine would cure the sick feeling. She wanted to put the entire thing behind her. She wanted Kaiba. She didn't know what she wanted. All she knew for sure is that she wasn't happy.

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"Seto, would you pick up the phone and call her?" Mokuba begged, sitting on the couch behind where his brother was seated on the floor. He was back to Resident Evil 4, a game that Mokuba knew he only ever played to cheer himself up over something. He'd made it through the game twice in the time he normally spent sleeping while he was injured. Now he was assaulting the game with a vengeance.

"No." Kaiba replied simply, hoping that would put an end to the questioning.

"Come on, Seto. You care about her. I can tell. And don't just say that she was your friend, because I can tell it's more than that."

"You're right." Kaiba said, irritably. "That's why I feel so betrayed. How can I care for a girl if I can't trust her?"

"You could try forgiving her." Mokuba offered.

No reply.

"Come on. It was as much my fault as hers. I begged her to let me go out."

"You're my brother." Kaiba answered matter-of-factly.

"Right. And when you care about someone you forgive them when they let you down."

Again, Kaiba had no reply.

"Come on, call her. You're going to be miserable until you do."

"Then I'll be miserable."

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"Why don't you just call him¸ Ren?" Joey said, sighing heavily.

"He doesn't want to talk to me, Joey." Serenity replied, leaning back on the couch and flicking through their eight channels over again.

"So? Listen, for whatever stupid reason you care about that jerk, right?" Joey asked.

"I wouldn't phrase it like that, but… yeah."

"So who cares if he wants to talk to you? You want to talk to him." Joey said simply.

"It's not that simple, Joe." Serenity replied. Since Kaiba had kicked her out two days ago she'd been lazing around the house in her pyjamas. Joey hadn't seen her this depressed ever before. The only time that even came close was when Excel Saga went to reruns.

"Why can't it be?" Joey insisted. "Listen, if moneybags is half as good as he'd need to be to earn you caring this much, he'll hear you out."

"Joey… I can't. When… if he wants to, he'll call. If not… I can't force him."

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Meanwhile, while Kaiba moped around the mansion a call was made from the servant's house in the Kaiba complex.

"Hello, Master Vex?"

"Ah, good, this was a call I've been expecting."

"I've retrieved the rod. But you've been lax in filling your side of the bargain."

"Relax, my friend, all in good time. We've only been feeling out our enemies. Now that we know their capabilities, we can begin to implement out final plan."

"And this time you'll finish the job? You'll kill the Kaiba brothers?"

"Of course, my friend, of course. I know that they trust you implicitly by now. You're sure that it'll be worth your while?"

"Five hundred million dollars. It's worth the risks I've been taking."

"Good. Just relax, my friend, the plan will be implemented soon. Soon."

"Thank you, Master Vex."

"No, thank you, Doctor Watanabe."

A/N: So now you know who the traitor is. In the next chapter, Seto finally calls Serenity and we get to see if they get their happy ending. And more build up to the big plan to come. Why don't they ever kill the bad guy when they have the chance? Oh well.