The wait was the worst part. It had been a total of sixty-seven hours, thirty three minutes, and twenty-four seconds. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31,32-

"You're still up." Kaiba observed, entering the quiet room and sitting across from the stoic woman. Serenity stared at the fire that burned in such a way that it appeared the share the feelings of the expressionless woman.

Kaiba sat looking at her. Her eyes were distant and shallow with large dark bags beneath them. Her make-up was forgotten and he could clearly see all the years of abuse etched into her face and form. "We won't stop looking Serenity, I give you my word." His eyes were just as tired at hers but shown the truth in his words.

When she said nothing for several minutes he turned to leave. "How much is your word really worth." She never broke away from her gaze on the fire. "Sixty-seven hours, forty-two minutes, and thirty-eight seconds. It's been sixty-seven hours, forty-two minutes, and thirty-eight seconds." Her eyes closed and when they shifted to him she was in tears again.

"You promised me she would be here by now. And she's not, do you see her?" Her voice rose and she stood. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't got me pregnant I wouldn't have moved to New York and met that bastard! I hate you!"

"Serenity, what are you talking about, we had an agreement when I got you pregnant and I had no control on who you chose to lie about!" He wasn't shouting but his voice was slowly rising in volume.

"I didn't want to lie but I couldn't tell Joey it was you and-"

"He knew Serenity! They ALL knew! Even your mother knew who Konic's father was! I mean come on she looks almost exactly like me!" He held his arms out exasperated.

"You're just as bad as that ass!"

"Yeah I may be an ass but I've NEVER even thought of hitting you." He said standing up straight again. "And actually you were the only who liked to hit me if I recall correctly, on the ass too." He said void of all emotion.

"I can't believe you just said that you-you- TEME!" She screeched sending the lamp on the table beside the chair at his head.

"Glad to see you haven't forgotten your first language." He said as he stepped out of the room.

Serenity fell onto the couch and sobbed herself into a restless sleep.

She stood there in the small super market line with a cart full waiting for the cashier to catch up with the long line.

"Excuse me miss, I can help you over here." Called the graying-blonde haired woman in the next aisle.

"Thank you, I've been so frazzled lately." She said handing the woman the bottle of pregnancy vitamins.

"You're pregnant?" Her almost invisible eyebrows rose. "But you look no older than sixteen."

"Thank you, but I'm almost eighteen, and I' m not sure but well…no harm in making precautions right?"

The woman smiled kindly, "I guess not dear." She handed the pills back and Serenity put them in her purse.

She picked up her four paper sacks and started out the door, perfectly for not being able to see, until she ran straight into the wall. Or what she thought was a wall. "Oh shit, lady are you okay?"

A hand reached towards her and suddenly she was looking into small gray eyes that were on a very handsome face and framed by passed ear length black hair. "Wow, I'm Richard, what's your name, and which cloud did you fall from?"

"Serenity Wheeler, and I'm from Japan, I just moved here."

"Serenity." Her dream continued.

"Serenity." The dream Richard said her name.

"Serenity!" She bolted into a sitting position looking franticly for the source of the disturbance, only to find a young blonde woman with blue eyes hidden behind a pair of oval spectacles.

"Rebecca?" She asked squinting at the sleep still in her eyes.

"In the flesh…I'm all grown up huh?" She had changed quite a bit. She was tall now at least five-eight with a slim almost barely-there figure.

"Yeah, what are you doing here, do you still 'work' here?" Rebecca had worked for Mokuba at the time Serenity had left for New York it wasn't all that different from her relationship with Seto, but Mokuba didn't pay for her and it was only her that he slept with.

"No um, we're married now, Syui and Karyoi are already at the safe house, I'm going to stay here and help the best I can." She was all ready moving toward the door "Seto sent me in here to check on you, he should be in here soon. It was good to see you Serenity."

She sat back on the loveseat where she laid, 'Oh God, please let this all just be a dream, please.'

&&&&&&

"Let me go! Who are you, what do you want from me!" She wretched and bucked against her bindings "Where am I! What are you doing?"

"It's not you we want from Ms. Kaiba, it's from your daddy."

"What?" She felt a prick in her arm and saw darkness.

A/N: I am so sorry, your not going to believe this, but Yukita is in the hospital again, but shes in New York with me now so updates might be coming more often, hopefully.