The weekend came and went with out further incident and as early Monday morning came around Chance found herself at the airport waiting for Seto's flight to get in. It wasn't early for her, in fact Chance was only shorting herself an hour of sleep that night to do this though she couldn't figure out why Mokuba wanted her to do the picking up instead of Seto's usual driver.
She brought her focus back to the gate Seto's flight was scheduled to come in on as the disembarking call was made. Waiting wasn't too difficult as he was one of the first people off the flight. Maintaining a proper facade since the media was there to enquire about the technology conference she carved an aisle through the reporters and with a good look at the young CEO she made a snap decision. "Mister Kaiba will be happy to entertain your questions about the conference tomorrow afternoon. Please hold your questions until that time."
With that she pinned the elder brother with a look and noted that he looked moderately relieved to have someone fronting for him. To be honest, he was extremely tired from the trans-pacific flight and he still had school that day. Following close behind Chance she carved another path out of the reporters. This time in the direction of the baggage claims.
The reporters followed, hoping that Seto would stop to answer their questions. However neither he nor Chance gave them the opportunity to ask many more questions as the taller CEO had to lengthen his stride to keep up with the bustling efficiency of the young woman that had been there to pick him up. A few short minutes later they were both in her car and headed back into the heart of the city when Seto found the presence of mind to ask. "Why were you at the airport instead of my driver?"
Chance glanced at him before returning her attention to the road. "Your brother asked me to pick you up this morning. I get the feeling that he knew that there would be reporters and that you would be exhausted from your flight. Don't worry about it now, go ahead and tip the seat back and rest till I get you back to the mansion. You'll have a couple hours where you can sleep before you need to be up to get ready for class."
Seto mentally shook his head at the attitude she was projecting. It was a novelty to him that someone who was employed by him would treat him so casually and shrug off his questions. The only thing he could compare it to was how he treated his own brother from time to time. Still, her advice was sound and even if he didn't go to sleep he did get some rest before she pulled up to the mansion.
"I'll just get your things from the trunk and take them inside. Don't worry about them, just go on up and get some sleep. I figure I'll just stay here till Mokuba needs to leave for school so I'll have the housekeeper wake you, or at least make sure that you are up in about two hours." She looked at Seto as they walked into the mansion and he looked ready to argue with her.
"Don't worry about a thing Seto. My report from the weekend is on your desk, or will be as soon as Tammy gets in this morning, and the couple hours sleep you get from this nap will do you a world of good." She looked up at him with a stern look in her eyes that Seto found to be one of her more intimidating traits. That look meant that she would not persuaded from her current path of action and he knew that she would somehow enforce her suggestion. Privately though, Seto thought that it was a very sound suggestion and knew that she was right on this issue so he turned and headed for the stairs while he heard Chance marshalling his house staff to take his things and get them taken care of. It was one of the last things he remembered before the oblivion of sleep overtook him.
Even as Seto slept and Chance relaxed on the couch in the TV room, another person was wide awake and working his way onto the grounds of the Kaiba estate. Carefully working around the security system and the guards the shadowy figure had made it up to the main house and was now preparing to enter when he realized that there would be no way for him to get in unless he tried a simpler method than trying to dodge the state of the art security system that protected the house. Pulling his mask off he moved around to the back door of the house where most of the kitchen deliveries were taken and rapped sharply on the door.
One of the cooks answered and using all of the charm he could pull to the fore, he won his way past her saying that the regular delivery driver wasn't able to make it this morning and that he was there to help him cover the deliveries till the poor guy could recover. He asked her then if he could use their restroom before pulling everything out of the truck since it was a chilly morning and once he had permission and wasn't being monitored he quickly yet quietly moved down the main hall and to the stairs that lead upstairs.
Once on the third floor it was just a matter of finding which room held what he wanted. For this was no ordinary thief. Instead, he was looking for something specific and he was very good at getting what was ordered. Looking in the office, he noted the golden glow and smiled quietly, jackpot. Walking quickly over to the glass casing he pulled out one of the tools in a side pocket and using the slender glasscutter, carved an oval hole large enough for the rod inside to be pulled through.
He had just tapped the glass in and had his hand on the Millennium Rod when he heard a noise behind him. "Going somewhere?" He turned to meet the feminine voice and found himself practically nose to barrel of a 9mm berretta. The woman that handled the weapon looked at him evenly as if he was of no threat to her and therefore no consequence.
"How did you know I was here?" The man asked quietly, looking around for an escape and noting that there was a boy in the doorway watching the proceedings with no small amount of interest.
"That was the easy part. You see you fooled the cook, but not for long. When you didn't come back from the bathroom she came to me and told me what happened. Young Mister Kaiba was the one that informed me that you were on the third floor. From there it was easy to deduce where you were." Her tone was calm and even as she spoke, and she noted that there was no fear in the man's posture or features. He was either a very good bluffer, or he honestly did not feel that she was a threat to him even with a gun in his face.
"Well then. If you will excuse me, I have other places I need to be." He smiled winningly but was brought up short by Chance's repositioning to stand between him and any avenue of escape.
"I don't think so. I think the police would like a few words with you." Chance's tone darkened. She didn't like this; this situation was setting off all kinds of alarm bells in her mind. First and foremost was the man was still smiling it screamed of disaster in the making.
Disaster was what happened. Almost faster than her eyes could register the man had pulled out a small two shot pistol and had aimed it squarely at Mokuba. "I know who you are. I know what you are doing here. So let me go, and I'll let the boy live to see another day."
Chances hackles were instantly raised. No one threatened someone under her charge and got away with it. Snapping out with a cross body palm block she tried to knock the gun off course. It worked, but the trigger was pulled, embedding the bullet in her arm with enough force to completely turn her around.
Letting the systemic shock work for her she forgot her own gun and in a quick motion, pulled the dagger of the Millennium Rod from its sheath with her good hand and with a fast spin embedded the blade into the man's back to the hilt. She was surprised that he had tried to make a break for it and turning his back to her to do so. A maneuver she had counted only to injure or even incapacitate had just killed the man. For if he wasn't dead now, he would have been by the time any medical help arrived.
By the time all of this filtered through her mind there was a haze creeping in on her vision and the shock of having been shot was wearing off, allowing the pain to set in. With a wince she turned to check to see if Mokuba was ok and noted that he wasn't in the doorway. Scared now that he might have been taken she forced herself to move, holstering her berretta and then holding her hand to the wound in her left arm to stem the blood flow until she could be sure that Mokuba was safe.
She hadn't gotten even halfway to the staircase when Mokuba came back up the stairs at a run and this time with Seto dressed only in the slacks he had kicked off before collapsing into bed close behind. Both of them took note of her condition even as Chance forced her attention away from the pain to look Mokuba over. He was safe, and sound her mind registered that before the level of pain from the bullet moving in her arm against the bone became too much and she collapsed. Only the fast action of both brothers kept her from hitting the floor.
When reality faded back in for Chance, she noted that she was lying in a bed in the hospital and that her arm didn't hurt. The thought caused her some confusion as the pain killing drugs she had been given had not worn off yet and she was a bit fuzzy minded because of it. Looking down she saw that her left arm was bandaged carefully in white gauze and looking at her other arm she noted the IV and vital sign monitoring equipment that had been hooked up to her.
It was full daylight, that much she could see through the curtains that looked out on the world but what time was it? Who was watching Mokuba? The questions filtered through her mind as her duties and what had happened early that morning came back to her. The sudden anxiety caused her vitals to spike which set of the alarm at the nurses' station, letting them know that she was now awake.
One of them came down to her room and looked in. Seeing that she was indeed awake and looking around in a mild panic she came in and made her presence known. "Chance Castner?"
"Who..." Chance paused from how dry her throat was and tried to swallow some to try again but she was parched so she tried again and managed to croak out. "Water?"
The nurse nodded understandingly and went into the attached bathroom to fill a paper cup with water. Handing it to the young woman she watched carefully as Chance took the glass with a shaking hand and took a few judicious sips before speaking again. "Who wants to know?" She asked carefully.
The nurse merely shook her head at the return question. She had been warned that this one would probably be overly cautious when she woke up. "I'm nurse Charmaine. You are at Domino General Hospital. Do you remember how you got here?"
"I remember taking a bullet after knocking the gun off its aim." What happened right after she did not say, as she did not want to deal with that right away. She knew that she would more than likely go on trial for the death of the man, even if it had been in defense of herself and Mokuba. "Just about everything after that is kinda fuzzy." She admitted.
The nurse nodded, that corresponded with what she had been told had happened. "Well Mister Kaiba had left a directive that he was to be informed immediately when you woke up. Shall I contact him now?"
Chance nodded and then closed her eyes to relax again. There was no way Seto would have gone to class today, nor would he have let Mokuba go when his own mansion had been burglarized. Granted, nothing had been taken but there would still have been police inquiries, reports, medical forms and paperwork on the damage done to the mansion that would have taken up the day. Mokuba wouldn't have been let out of Seto's sight after that scare, At least he wouldn't have been allowed to go to class if he told Seto everything that happened.
The effort she had made to speak with the nurse took its toll on Chance, and so she put the half finished glass of water on the bedside table and allowed herself to slip into a light doze.
She brought her focus back to the gate Seto's flight was scheduled to come in on as the disembarking call was made. Waiting wasn't too difficult as he was one of the first people off the flight. Maintaining a proper facade since the media was there to enquire about the technology conference she carved an aisle through the reporters and with a good look at the young CEO she made a snap decision. "Mister Kaiba will be happy to entertain your questions about the conference tomorrow afternoon. Please hold your questions until that time."
With that she pinned the elder brother with a look and noted that he looked moderately relieved to have someone fronting for him. To be honest, he was extremely tired from the trans-pacific flight and he still had school that day. Following close behind Chance she carved another path out of the reporters. This time in the direction of the baggage claims.
The reporters followed, hoping that Seto would stop to answer their questions. However neither he nor Chance gave them the opportunity to ask many more questions as the taller CEO had to lengthen his stride to keep up with the bustling efficiency of the young woman that had been there to pick him up. A few short minutes later they were both in her car and headed back into the heart of the city when Seto found the presence of mind to ask. "Why were you at the airport instead of my driver?"
Chance glanced at him before returning her attention to the road. "Your brother asked me to pick you up this morning. I get the feeling that he knew that there would be reporters and that you would be exhausted from your flight. Don't worry about it now, go ahead and tip the seat back and rest till I get you back to the mansion. You'll have a couple hours where you can sleep before you need to be up to get ready for class."
Seto mentally shook his head at the attitude she was projecting. It was a novelty to him that someone who was employed by him would treat him so casually and shrug off his questions. The only thing he could compare it to was how he treated his own brother from time to time. Still, her advice was sound and even if he didn't go to sleep he did get some rest before she pulled up to the mansion.
"I'll just get your things from the trunk and take them inside. Don't worry about them, just go on up and get some sleep. I figure I'll just stay here till Mokuba needs to leave for school so I'll have the housekeeper wake you, or at least make sure that you are up in about two hours." She looked at Seto as they walked into the mansion and he looked ready to argue with her.
"Don't worry about a thing Seto. My report from the weekend is on your desk, or will be as soon as Tammy gets in this morning, and the couple hours sleep you get from this nap will do you a world of good." She looked up at him with a stern look in her eyes that Seto found to be one of her more intimidating traits. That look meant that she would not persuaded from her current path of action and he knew that she would somehow enforce her suggestion. Privately though, Seto thought that it was a very sound suggestion and knew that she was right on this issue so he turned and headed for the stairs while he heard Chance marshalling his house staff to take his things and get them taken care of. It was one of the last things he remembered before the oblivion of sleep overtook him.
Even as Seto slept and Chance relaxed on the couch in the TV room, another person was wide awake and working his way onto the grounds of the Kaiba estate. Carefully working around the security system and the guards the shadowy figure had made it up to the main house and was now preparing to enter when he realized that there would be no way for him to get in unless he tried a simpler method than trying to dodge the state of the art security system that protected the house. Pulling his mask off he moved around to the back door of the house where most of the kitchen deliveries were taken and rapped sharply on the door.
One of the cooks answered and using all of the charm he could pull to the fore, he won his way past her saying that the regular delivery driver wasn't able to make it this morning and that he was there to help him cover the deliveries till the poor guy could recover. He asked her then if he could use their restroom before pulling everything out of the truck since it was a chilly morning and once he had permission and wasn't being monitored he quickly yet quietly moved down the main hall and to the stairs that lead upstairs.
Once on the third floor it was just a matter of finding which room held what he wanted. For this was no ordinary thief. Instead, he was looking for something specific and he was very good at getting what was ordered. Looking in the office, he noted the golden glow and smiled quietly, jackpot. Walking quickly over to the glass casing he pulled out one of the tools in a side pocket and using the slender glasscutter, carved an oval hole large enough for the rod inside to be pulled through.
He had just tapped the glass in and had his hand on the Millennium Rod when he heard a noise behind him. "Going somewhere?" He turned to meet the feminine voice and found himself practically nose to barrel of a 9mm berretta. The woman that handled the weapon looked at him evenly as if he was of no threat to her and therefore no consequence.
"How did you know I was here?" The man asked quietly, looking around for an escape and noting that there was a boy in the doorway watching the proceedings with no small amount of interest.
"That was the easy part. You see you fooled the cook, but not for long. When you didn't come back from the bathroom she came to me and told me what happened. Young Mister Kaiba was the one that informed me that you were on the third floor. From there it was easy to deduce where you were." Her tone was calm and even as she spoke, and she noted that there was no fear in the man's posture or features. He was either a very good bluffer, or he honestly did not feel that she was a threat to him even with a gun in his face.
"Well then. If you will excuse me, I have other places I need to be." He smiled winningly but was brought up short by Chance's repositioning to stand between him and any avenue of escape.
"I don't think so. I think the police would like a few words with you." Chance's tone darkened. She didn't like this; this situation was setting off all kinds of alarm bells in her mind. First and foremost was the man was still smiling it screamed of disaster in the making.
Disaster was what happened. Almost faster than her eyes could register the man had pulled out a small two shot pistol and had aimed it squarely at Mokuba. "I know who you are. I know what you are doing here. So let me go, and I'll let the boy live to see another day."
Chances hackles were instantly raised. No one threatened someone under her charge and got away with it. Snapping out with a cross body palm block she tried to knock the gun off course. It worked, but the trigger was pulled, embedding the bullet in her arm with enough force to completely turn her around.
Letting the systemic shock work for her she forgot her own gun and in a quick motion, pulled the dagger of the Millennium Rod from its sheath with her good hand and with a fast spin embedded the blade into the man's back to the hilt. She was surprised that he had tried to make a break for it and turning his back to her to do so. A maneuver she had counted only to injure or even incapacitate had just killed the man. For if he wasn't dead now, he would have been by the time any medical help arrived.
By the time all of this filtered through her mind there was a haze creeping in on her vision and the shock of having been shot was wearing off, allowing the pain to set in. With a wince she turned to check to see if Mokuba was ok and noted that he wasn't in the doorway. Scared now that he might have been taken she forced herself to move, holstering her berretta and then holding her hand to the wound in her left arm to stem the blood flow until she could be sure that Mokuba was safe.
She hadn't gotten even halfway to the staircase when Mokuba came back up the stairs at a run and this time with Seto dressed only in the slacks he had kicked off before collapsing into bed close behind. Both of them took note of her condition even as Chance forced her attention away from the pain to look Mokuba over. He was safe, and sound her mind registered that before the level of pain from the bullet moving in her arm against the bone became too much and she collapsed. Only the fast action of both brothers kept her from hitting the floor.
When reality faded back in for Chance, she noted that she was lying in a bed in the hospital and that her arm didn't hurt. The thought caused her some confusion as the pain killing drugs she had been given had not worn off yet and she was a bit fuzzy minded because of it. Looking down she saw that her left arm was bandaged carefully in white gauze and looking at her other arm she noted the IV and vital sign monitoring equipment that had been hooked up to her.
It was full daylight, that much she could see through the curtains that looked out on the world but what time was it? Who was watching Mokuba? The questions filtered through her mind as her duties and what had happened early that morning came back to her. The sudden anxiety caused her vitals to spike which set of the alarm at the nurses' station, letting them know that she was now awake.
One of them came down to her room and looked in. Seeing that she was indeed awake and looking around in a mild panic she came in and made her presence known. "Chance Castner?"
"Who..." Chance paused from how dry her throat was and tried to swallow some to try again but she was parched so she tried again and managed to croak out. "Water?"
The nurse nodded understandingly and went into the attached bathroom to fill a paper cup with water. Handing it to the young woman she watched carefully as Chance took the glass with a shaking hand and took a few judicious sips before speaking again. "Who wants to know?" She asked carefully.
The nurse merely shook her head at the return question. She had been warned that this one would probably be overly cautious when she woke up. "I'm nurse Charmaine. You are at Domino General Hospital. Do you remember how you got here?"
"I remember taking a bullet after knocking the gun off its aim." What happened right after she did not say, as she did not want to deal with that right away. She knew that she would more than likely go on trial for the death of the man, even if it had been in defense of herself and Mokuba. "Just about everything after that is kinda fuzzy." She admitted.
The nurse nodded, that corresponded with what she had been told had happened. "Well Mister Kaiba had left a directive that he was to be informed immediately when you woke up. Shall I contact him now?"
Chance nodded and then closed her eyes to relax again. There was no way Seto would have gone to class today, nor would he have let Mokuba go when his own mansion had been burglarized. Granted, nothing had been taken but there would still have been police inquiries, reports, medical forms and paperwork on the damage done to the mansion that would have taken up the day. Mokuba wouldn't have been let out of Seto's sight after that scare, At least he wouldn't have been allowed to go to class if he told Seto everything that happened.
The effort she had made to speak with the nurse took its toll on Chance, and so she put the half finished glass of water on the bedside table and allowed herself to slip into a light doze.