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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Seto Kaiba rarely left work early. Every once in a while he would surprise Mokuba and Joey by strolling through the door an hour before he was generally expected. On an even rarer occasion, he would even take an entire day off. This was not one of those nights.

Instead, this was a night where Seto felt like it would be dawn before he would be able to leave. At least he wasn't alone. Stealing a quick glance at the couch, Seto smiled at the sight of Joey snoring away. At least one of them was going to get some sleep tonight.

That couch... Seto's office had never had a couch until Joey came into his life, nor would it ever have had one if not for Joey. Though it was amusing now, the whole incident had been one of their first big fights, or so Seto had thought. "The Great Couch War" Joey called it whenever the subject came up. Seto merely chose to refer to it as "that stupid fight about the stupid couch."

It had all started simply enough. Joey would come to keep Seto company on the nights he worked late, and would end up falling asleep. When he woke up, he always complained about being sore from sleeping in the chairs Seto had in his office - chairs that Seto had specifically picked out because they were uncomfortable. Seto never wanted to give anyone a reason to stay in his office longer than they absolutely had to.

And then came the day Joey declared that Seto needed a couch in his office.

"No," Seto had simply insisted. His office was just fine the way it was. He didn't need to go cluttering up the place with furniture. Nor was he going to let Joey change every aspect of his life. Some things needed to remain inviolate, and Seto's office was one of those things. Joey hadn't seen it that way, however, and had ended up storming out of the office, leaving Seto alone.

It had been an idiotic thing to fight over, but once the gauntlet had been thrown, Seto couldn't bring himself to back down. And in this fight, Seto found himself surprised by Joey's tactics. Rather than carrying on like a bull in a china shop, Joey dropped the subject entirely. Instead, he merely stopped coming to the office when Seto was working late, and when Seto came home; Joey was already sleeping soundly in bed.

After allowing this foolishness to go on for days, Seto finally decided to swallow his pride just a little. Adding one piece of furniture to his perfect office wouldn't be the end of the world. So on the ride to school, Seto broached the subject. "Do you really want a couch that badly?"

"Huh?" came Joey's extremely lucid answer.

Seto had sighed and stared off straight ahead. He hated giving in. "Look, I'm tired of fighting about it, so if you want a couch in my office, we'll go get one. Just don't expect me to redecorate for all of your little whims."

"Whoa! Back it up!" Joey had said, turning Seto to face him. "When were we fighting? I mean, we had that spat a couple weeks back, but we haven't even brought it up since. You said no, and I figured that was that."

"Then why haven't you been coming to the office?" Seto snarled, trying to retain his patented glare even as he realized that the worst part of the fight had all been in his head.

Joey merely shrugged. "Because I always fall asleep when I wait on you to finish up. And I get this god-awful crick in my neck sleeping on those chairs of yours. I told you that before. Or did your ears turn off after I said you need a couch?"

Seto chuckled to himself at the memories. The "couch war" had been a perfect illustration of so much of their life - minor spats and irritations getting blown out of proportion, only to realize that somewhere along the way the lines of communication had simply gone down for a moment. Things always had a habit of working out, though, once they'd had enough cool down time. Joey, for instance, had picked out the couch; under the condition that Seto could reupholster it to match his decor. The result was a sleek, black leather piece of furniture that, according to Joey, "was the most comfortable damn thing you ever sat your ass upon."

The funny thing was that Seto agreed, though the only time he ever "sat his ass" on the couch was when he and Joey were feeling, for lack of a better term, frisky. Their fights really weren't so bad anymore. Where once they'd both just as soon have strangled each other, now they just growled insults, and even then there was a hint of camaraderie that hadn't been there before. Oh, and the making up... Seto didn't know about Joey, but sometimes he would start a fight simply so that they could make up. Joey was always especially frisky then.

Still smiling over the past - something Seto rarely did since there wasn't much to smile about - Seto buckled down to look over another financial spreadsheet. He almost missed noticing that the voice mail light on his phone was on, and that earned a frown as he tried to figure out who was calling at this hour. Certainly not Joey, who was still snoring softly just a few short feet away. Nor was it Mokuba, who would have just dialed Seto's cell phone directly.

Once the light went out, indicating the caller had left his message and hung up, Seto picked up the phone. He didn't really care who the caller was, but he was curious. And so he entered his security code and began to play his messages. "Kaiba-boy!" an all-too-familiar voice chirped from the earpiece. "I know you're there. You're always at the office. But if you want to screen your calls, that's fine with me. I suppose I can talk to your dear, sweet voicemail box. At least I won't have to worry about any of your nasty insults. It will be quite a refreshing change of pace."

Seto resisted the urge to delete the rest of the message and slam the phone down. "Now really, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus's recorded voice continued. "You've surprised me, dear boy. Quite a feat, that. I honestly don't know whether or not to thank you or scream at you. But..."

With that simple "but," something in Pegasus's voice changed. Instead of sounding slightly buzzed from whatever he'd been drinking before the call, or even sounding amused at the world in general, Seto heard a note of sadness creep into his voice - a tone that had always seemed foreign to Pegasus before. "She's perfect, Kaiba-boy. Really, she is. I guess 'thank you' really is what I want to say. So, thank you for the princess. Thank you."

Seto stared at the phone as the message ended. What the hell was that madman raving about now? Seto had never done anything for Pegasus that didn't serve himself first. He'd certainly never done anything to deserve a heartfelt "thank you" from the man. And this talk of a princess? Pegasus must be hitting something harder than wine these days. The only place outside of his twisted imagination that Pegasus was likely to find a princess was Age of Heroes.

Seto growled to himself, knowing that Pegasus's little mystery message was going to gnaw at him until he figured it out. And no, he wasn't about to call the man back - especially not over something like this. Since he didn't need anything to make his night longer, Seto figured someone else could do the investigative work. Smirking, he tossed a bottle of correction fluid at Joey's head. The small effort was rewarded with a brief yelp of pain as Joey sat up. "You bastard!" Joey growled, rubbing his head as he glowered at Seto.

"Save it, you second rate duelist."

"Get some new insults, Seto," Joey grouched, but Seto couldn't help but notice his grin. Once upon a time, if Seto had chucked a bottle of white out at Joey's head, things would have ended in more than insults. Joey would have tried to pound Seto into the ground. Not that he would have succeeded, of course. If Seto knew Joey was coming, he could take him in a fight any day of the week. Though if Joey launched a sneak attack, the outcome of the fight would be in jeopardy. Street-fighting versus martial arts - both styles had their strengths and weaknesses, especially when pitted against each other.

"I told you to can it," Seto ordered. "I've got a project for you, unless you want me to do it and have us both here all night." Quickly Joey shook his head, earning a smirk from Seto. "Good. Then get out my laptop and start comparing the design sketches of the princesses in Age of Heroes to the game sprites that are already loaded. Then let me know if there are any anomalies."

Ever since that nasty little incident with Siegfried over the summer, all of Seto's designers uploaded their concept drawings to the Kaiba Corp network servers, so even Joey could get to the preliminary designs. All he had to do was go to the right network folder. Seto took a few minutes to show Joey how to access the game character files. Once he was sure Joey could handle the task without assistance, he murmured a soft, "Good pup. You'll get a treat when we get home."

"Not if I end up falling back to sleep," Joey grumbled as he set to work. Seto bit his tongue to keep from pointing out that Joey had already slept more this evening than he had. If anyone needed a nap right now, it was Seto. But there was too much to do, and not enough hours in the day.

An hour ticked away in near silence between the two boys, the only noise in the office being the clatter of fingers across computer keys and the whir of the air conditioning. "Holy shit!" Seto's head whipped around to stare at Joey, who only had eyes for the laptop monitor. When at last he turned towards Seto, Joey grinned sheepishly. "I think I found what you're looking for."

"No!" Seto muttered mockingly. "And here I always thought you break out in random fits of swearing."

"Well, if you're going to be so rude, I'll just pull the plug and let you find it," Joey snapped back, fingering the cord to the AC adapter.

"Battery back-up," Seto said mildly, knowing that Joey wouldn't unplug the machine. Still, Seto moved to the couch to take a look at what Joey had discovered.

Once Seto was settled, Joey brought up a design sketch. "This, Daddy Warbucks, is the Princess Ophelia that your guys came up with." Seto frowned a little at the picture. The princess really wasn't his company's best work. According to the size reference, she was of medium height. Her thin blonde hair fell limply down to her waist. She had a straight, haughty nose and cruel eyes. Something about her demeanor screamed, "spoiled brat" to Seto.

"And this..." Joey waved his hand in the air in an exaggerated flourish before clicking on another file. "This is the Princess Ophelia that's in your game. Look familiar?" Seto stared at the screen, his frown deepening. The character did look familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on where he'd seen her before. Certainly this Ophelia was more beautiful than the original designs. Picking up on Seto's blank look, Joey sighed. "Here's a hint: Duelist Kingdom."

Seto shook his head, still not getting it. Mai Valentine, maybe? Certainly the woman bore at least a passing resemblance. Mai had rougher edges, though. This woman looked soft, coddled, and kind. "Come on, Seto!" Joey griped. "Didn't you pay any attention to the pretty pictures Pegasus had all over that place?"

"I had other things on my mind," Seto grumbled. Other things like rescuing his brother. Seto hadn't gone to Duelist Kingdom to sightsee.

Joey's finger stabbed out at the monitor, pointing to the princess. "That," he declared solemnly, "is Pegasus's dead wife. How the hell did she wind up in Age of Heroes?"

"She's perfect, Kaiba-boy. Really, she is." Seto's stomach took a quick plummet to his feet as he recalled Pegasus's words. He could think of only one person capable of hacking into the Kaiba Corp network to edit a character like this. That person had even done so before, leaving behind the two Vampire Lords that were physical doppelgangers of Pegasus and Dartz.

Seto slammed a fist down on the arm of the couch. He missed the satisfying thud he would've gotten if he'd been at his desk, but at least on the couch he could pound at it without hurting his hand. "That... That..." In his fury, Seto sputtered incoherently, unable to come up with a proper epithet fitting enough for the culprit. Joey, however, had no problem offering Seto a few choice suggestions to pick from, the most repeatable of which was, "slimy, ass-licking, pink snake in the grass."

In a single, fluid motion, Seto rose from the couch and went back to his desk. Sliding his finger through his Rolodex, Seto found the number he wanted and began dialing, his finger jabbing at the buttons like a knife going for his enemy's heart. The line rang once, twice. "Ja?" a soft, cultured voice answered.

Seto wasted no time with pleasantries as he roared into the phone. "Siegfried, you stupid shit! What the hell are you playing at now?"

"And a good evening to you as well, Herr Kaiba." Siegfried sounded completely unperturbed by Seto's unorthodox greeting. Seto wondered briefly whether that was because Siegfried had been expecting this call or because he was simply used to being greeted on the phone in such a manner. If he messed around with his other business partners the way that he did Seto, then the latter was quite possibly the case.

"Didn't you learn anything the first time you pulled this shit?" Seto growled, not about to let Siegfried attempt to distract him with small talk. Seto's voice had evened out a little, however. Joey had come up behind Seto and started rubbing his shoulders. There was something calming about a shoulder rub, even when Seto didn't want to be calm.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Siegfried sounded so infuriatingly at ease that Seto wanted to reach through the phone and strangle the man. Still, Seto had calmed enough to notice that Siegfried hadn't denied anything. He'd merely answered a question with a question.

Of course, admitting to hacking into Age of Heroes would be stupid, and stupid Siegfried was not. Whatever Siegfried's game, Seto couldn't let him get away with it. Yet if he restored the princess's files, how would Pegasus react? As far as Pegasus knew, the princess had been a little gift from Kaiba Corp. If that little "toy" were taken away, Seto felt that Pegasus might just be childish enough to withdraw Industrial Illusions' ties to Seto's company. As much as Seto might dislike the man that was not an appealing thought. Duel Monsters was too important to the success of Seto's Duel Disks. A new thought occurred to Seto and he began to smile maliciously, seeing a way out of the corner Siegfried's tampering had backed him into. "Perhaps I was mistaken," he murmured sweetly to Siegfried before hanging up without a farewell.

Joey, having been expecting Seto to verbally rip Siegfried a new one, stared as though Seto had grown another head. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Seto?"

"Relax," Seto murmured pulling Joey into his arms. "I just had a better idea. That's all." Joey still eyed Seto in disbelief. One moment Seto had looked ready to disembowel Siegfried, and now suddenly he was all right with the tampering. "Obviously, Siegfried is trying to get Pegasus's attention," Seto explained. "Why else design a character after someone so close to him? And Pegasus thinks that Kaiba Corp is the responsible party. What better way to drive Siegfried crazy than to take the credit for his hard work? We'll just monitor the princess to make sure our dear hacker friend hasn't done anything else to her."

Joey's eyes widened in comprehension, and he began to chuckle. "Not bad, Boss Monkey." Seto popped Joey over the head for that nickname. Some of Joey's name-calling might go right past Seto, but some he'd asked about. And learning that "Boss Monkey" had been what Joey called his old gang leader had left a sour taste in Seto's mouth when it was used in reference to him. Joey chose to grin and change the subject. "So, can I get you to give me any clues about which city would be the best to sign up with?"

Seto laughed and shook his head. "Now that wouldn't be fair to the other players. Though I do wish more people would stop fighting among themselves and at least try to find the stolen elemental rings. But everyone seems to be more interested in legalized player killing."

"Knew it was a bad idea," Joey grumbled. Of course, Joey had been griping about the player killing ever since getting caught in an ambush. Still, Seto felt that once the novelty wore off, players would concentrate more on the plot line. If they didn't, the designers had set up a few natural disasters designed to get everyone's attention. At least, that's what Seto hoped would happen. Somehow, he doubted it would work out that way, however. If Seto voiced his doubts, he knew Joey would tell him something along the lines that he needed to show a little more faith in the basic decency of humanity.

"Let's call it a night," Seto murmured. This business with Siegfried had killed any appetite for work that he'd had. "I'll give you your treat for a job well done when we get home." However, things rarely went as planned when Joey was involved. For instance, they only made it as far as the elevator before Joey began claiming his "treat." Oh, that wasn't a bad thing, Seto decided as he pushed the buttons for all the floors in the building to make sure that Joey had plenty of time to savor his reward. It just meant that they would be a little later getting home than planned.