Long time no see! Sorry about taking so long to update this…I'm really busy with band and school and all that. But now I have a little bit of time… Yes, this chapter is a bit short, and yes, I might not be updating again for a long time, but please, don't loose interest!

Thanks to the reviewers!

bingbing: He knows that they're watching her because of that letter, but he knows that they don't know about her telling him because the letter isn't urgent sounding. If they knew, do you think they would hesitate to write a harsher letter?

lilxangelxsweetz: I hate him sometimes, too…

Shanichan11: I can't tell you anything about Mokuba…it'll spoil the story! But something doing with him will happen very soon…

On with the story!

Serenity stared up at the tall business building before her, with its glass windows and walls. All of a sudden, she didn't feel like she could walk up there anymore. Walking on a bench a few feet from the skyscraper, she put her backpack at her feet and sat down.

It had been a week since the accident had happened. Surprisingly, nothing from a third party had occurred after then. Still, she had been quiet and distant, unwilling to talk to her friends or even her brother about it. Only able to talk with herself about it, it took up her thoughts all day and all night. She had been so far into her memories that she could rarely concentrate on anything for long, and her friends had worried unceasingly over her condition, trying to get her to become her old self again and whispering to each other about her when they weren't. Even though they thought she didn't notice anything around her, she did.

Most of her thoughts hadn't been on the crash itself. She didn't remember enough to think about that. Instead, they were mostly of Seto and Mokuba. It seemed that everything she had done had been so good before; she had even gotten praise for her work. But now, after Seto had told her he didn't want her help, it brought the world crashing down. She knew now that she hadn't helped anyone at all. All the praise she had received had been nothing but comments—she could see that now. Instead of doing everything right, she had done nothing. All of the information they had obtained was what Kaiba had found. The puzzle pieces that had been put together were put together by him. All she had done was burden him, and hold him back.

Serenity shivered. It was getting chilly out here. She huddled into her sweater and put her hands inside the sleeves as far as they would go, and crossed her legs together. She watched as businessmen and women hurried home and wished she was one of them. But she couldn't just walk away, now that she was so close. Leaning back and staring up at the sky, she could see the logo KC once more. She had to get the courage some way to go up to Kaiba's office. Her apology had been delayed for too long already.

It was so hard just to walk to the doors, though. To go up the elevator into that office would be…would be…she didn't know. And even if she did manage all of it and eve to knock on the door? Would he let her in to talk, or would he immediately make her get out? Would he even consider looking in her direction?

Frantically, she pushed the thoughts from her mind. Doubts would get her nowhere now. She had gotten this far, and she only had so little to go. Taking in a deep breath to calm herself down, she stood up, pulled her backpack onto her shoulder, and walked towards the door of Kaiba Corporation.

Meanwhile, Kaiba was in his office, like usual, doing his everyday work. Nothing seemed unusual about today, other than he still had that nagging feeling in the back of his mind. It had been there since…well, he didn't know. All he knew was that it had come recently, and he had no idea what was causing it. He felt like he was anticipating something, but he had no idea what. It was almost as if he was waiting for something to pop up and surprise him. How he wished that feeling would be true and let the surprise be his brother…

These last few days had yielded no new information concerning Mokuba. Everything that had been happening before was still the same, but nothing showed up anymore. He sat back in his chair and reflected on that thought as he waited for a file to be sent.

Sometimes, it seemed that the young Wheeler was a magnet attracting everything. Once she was around, all sorts of things started popping up. When she wasn't, everything was boring and plain. It made no sense. She didn't have anything to do with this unless she decided to help him. If she hadn't helped, would any of this even happened? Or would it have found another target in an important employee in his company instead? Maybe this was all to wound and hurt him until he broke down and couldn't stand it anymore. If so, why Serenity Wheeler out of all people? He had barely noticed her before…

He frowned as his mind focused once more on that thought, not noticing the window that popped up. Out of all people. Why not just send the threats to him instead of some innocent girl that was pulled into the whole scheme? Sure, she had been Mokuba's best friend and would be the easiest to move because of that. He was made of harder stuff, and, therefore, would be even harder to move than most people despite having his brother as the captive. But what made his nemesis think that she would be the one to make the difference? They had talked only once before then unless Mokuba made them, and ignored each other's presence. They avoided each other when they could. Only Mokuba put them within ten feet of each other. Why was she so important to this whole thing all of a sudden?

Unless his nemesis thought something of the girl. Unless the enemy knew something about her that he didn't, and was using her for that. If that was true…he almost refused to think about that. She was too ignorant to even have something like that go through her head. But if someone gave her the idea…If it was true, then someone or something was misplaced. Either she was putting up an act, or someone else she knew well was.

Doubts began to fill his mind. Did she know something he didn't? And was she hiding it? If she was, then everything he had put his trust and confidence in was all wrong, completely wrong. Everything he had put together so far would have been misplaced. Those he mistrusted and those he trusted could all be placed in the wrong place. His expression darkened. Something was wrong with this…

The feeling of expectation gnawed at him again as he doubted all his mind had just gone through. Was that something else…? Surely not. He was just being foolish, nothing else. None of that mattered now, anyway. She was gone and wouldn't come back, and he was sure that no one would take her place, either. He was left to do it on his own, the old way. Just how he liked it.

His hand had just left the mouse and was touching the keys on the keyboard when a timid knock sounded on the door. He narrowed his eyes and looked out of the corner of his eye. "What is it?" he growled, suddenly in a foul mood. He was a bit surprised, and had no idea what caused the attitude change, but he didn't let it show. If felt like it fit, anyway.

The door clicked as the knob on the other side was turned, and inched open hesitantly. Wheeler, his mind thought at once; but as soon as the thought popped up, he turned it down. Of course it wasn't her. He opened his mouth to say something else that befitted his grim mood, but instead, they were stuck in the back of his throat in surprise. It was her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, failing to completely hide his surprise.

However, Serenity didn't notice. She edged into the room just enough to close the door behind her, then stood there, with her backpack still slung over her shoulders, looking down and twiddling her fingers. "Well, um…" she stuttered. "I—I just wanted to apologize…"

Kaiba sighed quietly to himself. Was she going to stand in his office all day like she did before? Anticipating how long it was going to take for her to tell him what she wanted to tell him, he got comfortable in his chair before saying anything. "Apologize for what?"

"For…for…" She took a deep breath before continuing. He could tell she was fighting something from the expression that flitted across her face. "For…wasting your time. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have begged to help you in the first place. I—I didn't help you anyway."

Kaiba scrutinized her for a few seconds. She was still staring down, unable to meet his eyes. Her face was turning pink, no doubt from embarrassment that he had unknowingly caused until now, and she looked even more nervous. She was still the same shy and quiet girl he had known before, but somehow, she was different. When had she found it in herself to be so straightforward? It almost seemed like another person…He pushed the thoughts away and let his mind wander back to the conversation. So she had come up here to apologize. "Serenity, you didn't have to come up here to apologize."

Her head came up meekly when he said that. Her eyes showed her nervousness and a bit of confusion. "Really? But I thought—"

He interrupted her. "I think you need to boost up your self esteem. Why do you think you weren't any help just because I said it was dangerous for you to hang around me?"

"Well…um…I…I…"

He shook his head and pushed himself out of his chair. "You helped me a lot, Serenity, and I really appreciated it. But I can't let you stay and help anymore. I would be happy to accept more help, but I can't. Don't put any blame on yourself because Mokuba is still missing." She looked back at him, doubt still lingering on her face.

Damn you, he thought, why do you have to be so difficult? He pushed his hair out of his eyes. "The world doesn't work the way you think it does, okay? I have no idea how else to put it. Not everything in this world has happy endings, and most don't have happiness the whole way down the road. I know you're not happy that you couldn't find him, but that's the way life is. And—" he hesitated, "—we may never get Mokuba back, either. It's just the way life is," he said softly, his blue gaze intent on her. "Don't think that's what I want. It isn't. That's just how the world works."

Serenity's eyes widened in shock, just as he had anticipated. "But…"

"There's no buts. The world is a cold, harsh place." He stayed that way a bit longer, reclined in his chair with icy eyes steady. Abruptly, he stood up and walked to the girl that looked so helpless and lonely before him. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he turned her gently towards the door. "It's best that you don't stay here too long. We both have work to do, and it's time we go our separate ways. But," he said as they reached the door, "I promise you, nothing in this world will stop me from reaching Mokuba. Nothing."

He led her out of the office and softly closed the door behind her. Well, enough of that. There was work to do now, and lots of it. He didn't need troubling thoughts on his mind.

However, he didn't get back to work. Instead, he sat in his chair and waited. He felt like something wasn't resolved; that there was still something left to do before he could go back to what he was doing before. Elbows on his desk and interlaced fingers at his chin, he sat there and watched the door, waiting.

Kaiba didn't have to wait long. Even before she had put her hand in contact to the smooth surface to knock, he said, "Come in." Nothing happened at first, no doubt surprise that he had known she was going to come in again, but the door eventually opened. Once again, the door inched open hesitantly. He sat there and waited for her to say something. He knew she would come in again, and he could guess that she was going to ask if she could help again—after all, wasn't that what she came to do in the first place?—but he wanted her to ask.

She didn't come in, but she stuck her head inside his office. "Sorry if I'm interrupting you…I just wanted to ask you something."

Kaiba nodded and let her continue. "Well, um…" She hesitated. "Is it okay if I still call you Seto?"

Mentally, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. Was she ever going to be able to do things a bit more directly? Not that it was always a bad thing, but most of the time, it was. Or at least in his experience. Outwardly, though, he showed no sign of what was happening inside. Instead, he nodded. "Is that all?" he prompted.

"Well, um…" He watched her carefully and saw that her mouth was prepared to say, yes, that's all. But the small pause was enough to tell him it wasn't. "I wanted to ask…if…if…"

Suddenly, Kaiba was loosing his patience. He still had loads of work to do, if she didn't. "You wanted to ask if you could still help. Or beg, or whatever."

She gaped at him, then quickly hid the expression. "Well…um…yes, that was what I wanted to ask…" He didn't answer, but simply watched and waited.

She looked confused for a few moments, no doubt wondering why he wasn't answering. "Can I?" she asked.

"Can you what?"

"Can I still help you?"

Kaiba thought through what she said deeply. Before, he had thought nothing of it and let her, and it brought many things falling. Was it really wise to let her help again? But how would she feel if he said no?

He got up and looked out the window. He was silent for a few moments before he said, "To say it bluntly, I don't know. It's a lot you're asking of me."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

It was awhile before he finally spoke again. "I'll consider it. But don't get your hopes too high, or they might come crashing down. Like I've told you before, this is dangerous work. I don't know if it's worth risking your life for it. I'll tell you when I reach a decision."

He heard a small thank you, but stayed facing the window, saying nothing. He was lost in his thoughts once more by the time the door clicked shut.

A few days later, the phone rang at the Wheeler's household. Joey grumbled, complaining that it was ruining his enjoyment of television. However, he dropped the huge bag of chips he was eating from and answered the phone anyway. "Hello?"

"Is Serenity there?"

"And who is this?" Joey asked. What was a guy doing calling Serenity? Maybe if it was Duke or Tristan, it would be fine, but he didn't exactly recognize the voice. However, it did sound a bit familiar…

"It's Kaiba. I—"

"Kaiba!" Joey exploded. "What are you doing calling us? I thought you were done with us!"

He heard a sigh. "Look, Wheeler, just get your sister on the phone. I need to tell her something."

"Well, she's not home. If there's anything you want to tell her, tell me."

There was a pause. "If I tell you, how can I be sure that you'll tell her for me? Or should I just call later?"

"I'll find out anyway, Kaiba. Just tell me."

"Fine. Tell your sister that I'll pick her up at the parking lot next Monday."

"What? Why? What are you hiding?" Joey asked suspiciously. However, Kaiba had already hung up.

His face darkened slightly. "Was is that bastard up to?" he muttered. He was going to have a long talk with his sister tonight. She was hiding something, he knew it. "Well, I'll think about it later. It's time for some TV." He jumped back on the couch and picked up the chips once more, munching on them and watching the show like there was nothing else more important.

So, that's it for now. Hope it was good enough; after all, I haven't been submitting anything for awhile. Review, please!