Hello hello! We are getting closer and closer, ladies and gents. This chapter came into being because someone wanted more Kaiba and Meg; plus, someone wanted a bit with DSOD, so... Tada! I admit I had no idea what I was going to do with this, but an idea hit me and I ran with it. I hope you all enjoy it! Lots of Phasmaphobia was watched to get in the mood.

After this, one chapter left!

*I don't own Yugioh! I only own my OCs: Meg, Megara, and Christine. If you recognize anything, I don't own that either.*

Kaiba and Mokuba up and vanished about two days ago, leaving only a note saying that they'd be back. No one had heard from them since, and it was slightly amusing seeing Roland panic. Meg was still unnerved somewhat that she was home alone for this long. But still, she looked away from the TV screen if the door of her favorite parlor squeaked. It got her character killed more often than not, but she still expected Kaiba or Mokuba to show up by now. The ghostly version of her former life huffed when she died for the third time against a common enemy when the wind rustled the door.

"Will you pay attention?" Megara huffed. "That's the third time you've died against that stupid bell woman."

"Sorry." Meg replied, looking back to the game.

Wordlessly, she worked her way back to the bell woman, knocked her about a few times, and got her blood echoes back. "Happy?"

"Yep."

Meg rolled her eyes, giving her a look. Megara looked right at home on the Kaiba's couch. She lounged like that one statue of Napoleon's sister in the guise of Venus; 'Stine would have been so proud of her being able to even recognize that. Her braided hair was clean and freshly washed, covered with her green cloth. She looked far happier than she did when she first came around; Meg was glad that she was getting comfortable. Meg then watched as Megara's eyes narrowed at her.

"What's that look for? I have my blood echoes back."

"I'm not looking at you."

The response sent chills down Meg's spine. She recognized the sight of Megara's face caving in, and she snapped her head back to the TV; she hated seeing the skeletal version of her former life. This had become a regular occurrence after the ghost decided to ensure no other spirits bothered her. She would revert back to that terrifying form and literally scare them away. Out of the corner of her eye, Meg watched Megara, her clothes now ripped and tattered, stalk towards the windows and hiss like a territorial cat. There was a bit of skittering, then Megara returned to the couch; a peek showed that her face was back to normal, but she still looked annoyed. "What a pest."

"What was it?"

Megara waved dismissively.

"Some old ghost; so old, his face was only bone. I can't even tell what kind of clothes he's wearing!"

The ghost gave another hiss, eyes locked on the window. "If he so much as thinks about messing with you, I'll tear what's left of his innards out and decorate the garden with them."

"Please don't do that." Kaiba huffed, walking briskly into the parlor. "I'd rather not see that every time I looked out the window."

The spirit chuckled, a smile back on her face. Meg looked up from Megara, smiling as Kaiba and Mokuba came in. The younger Kaiba looked tired, yawning into his hand.

"Welcome home." Meg greeted. "Good trip?"

"It was productive. Why is she talking about disemboweling someone?"

"Some old ghost was poking around the window, so she's become a territorial cat again."

Kaiba's eyes flicked towards the window, and Meg sighed. "And we have the territorial dragon now as well; what a grand day for me." Kaiba scoffed and walked away; it made Megara laugh. Mokuba then pulled his hand away from his mouth.

"Man, it's still weird only hearing part of the conversation." Mokuba sighed. "Seto already doesn't talk much, but when he answers a question out of the blue, it's scary."

Meg laughed. Megara did like to poke around Kaiba's stuff, and he bluntly answered her ignorant questions. He had an easy out by just putting the amulet somewhere, but he never did; he never answered why, though. "It's still weird that a three-thousand-year-old ghost is sitting right there!" He attempted to point at Megara but pointed to the wrong side of the couch since he couldn't see her, making the ghost snort. Meg pointed at her.

"Here."

Mokuba quickly changed the direction of his pointing finger.

"There!"

The boy then sighed. "Man, I wish I could see." Meg's immediate response was to say, 'No, you don't.' All of the trauma caused by the ghosts throughout her childhood… She wouldn't wish that upon her greatest enemy. Megara's happy expression faded into a sad frown, and she pulled her knees into her chest. Since she was the only ghost she could touch, Meg leaned over to pat her hand comfortingly.

"You've made up for it."

Megara didn't cheer up, but she did nod. She always got like this whenever Meg thought about all she'd gone through. The ancient ghost apparently had seen all of it and even pushed a few of the spirits onto her. After the truth came out, Meg was mad, but Megara committed to her promise of ensuring no more came. And she kept it; Meg hadn't been bothered by a rogue ghost in months.

Since the Kaiba brothers were gone for so long, Kaiba holed himself away in his office, completing what work he'd missed. Meg contemplated pushing his door open and dragging him to have dinner with her and Mokuba; she'd done it at least three times already, but she didn't this time. The two ate quietly for a few minutes, Megara hiding in the shadows, so Meg had some time by herself. After a bite of chicken, which was fantastic as always, Meg looked up again. "So, where'd you two go?" Mokuba had to swallow his food before replying.

"Seto wanted to go to Egypt for some reason."

Meg raised her eyebrow. Huh? Why would he want to go to Egypt? "We bumped into Yugi and his friends there." Mokuba sighed then. "Christine looked really upset; it looked like she'd been crying." Meg sighed; she always knew this was coming. She remembered the images of the chamber collapsing, the Millennium Items falling into that pit, as clear as day now. "Since you… know things… do you know what happened?" Meg stayed silent for a minute but did end up talking.

"You know the Millennium Puzzle that Yugi wears?"

Mokuba nodded; of course, he would know about what it was. "Was he wearing it when you saw him?" He shook his head.

"It was gone! He looked naked without it!"

Meg chuckled; 'Stine always said the same thing. "It's not gone forever, is it?" She shook her head.

"It's buried under a few tons of rubble, along with the other items."

Mokuba's face was blank, making Meg sigh. "The supporting columns were destroyed in the shockwave. It'd be expensive as well as dangerous to even go down there. Only a mad person would attempt it, and you know I'm right, Mokuba." The boy sighed. When he didn't vocally agree with her, Meg got concerned. If she knew these brothers as well as she thought she did, she knew what they'd do. "Is Kaiba thinking about attempting it?" Mokuba shrugged.

"He hasn't said anything about it, but I think so."

Meg sighed again. Typical Kaiba. "Why shouldn't he try? Seto deserves a rematch!" She gave him a look.

"Against who?"

"You know! Yugi!"

Meg leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, he has Yugi. He'll be flying back from Egypt in the next few days."

Mokuba gave a groan of annoyance at Meg's faux ignorance.

"Not that one! The tougher one!"

And here's the kicker. Meg couldn't stop the smile that lifted her face.

"That isn't Yugi."

Mokuba blinked, the stern expression fading from his face. The apparent surprise made Meg's smile grow. "Don't tell me you never wondered why Yugi was so different every once in a while."

"Well… He… he did act oddly when he dueled…."

"Exactly, because when he dueled, someone else took control, and they dueled together."

Mokuba blinked at her again. "That someone was a three-thousand-year-old Pharaoh that lived in his head and used him as a host." Mokuba was silent. "The only reason he was there to begin with was his soul was sealed inside the Millennium Puzzle. Since Yugi wasn't wearing it when you saw him, the Puzzle has completed its purpose, and the Pharaoh is free." Meg was impressed that Mokuba came up with an argument so quickly.

"But what if Seto puts the Millennium Puzzle back together? Yugi… the Pharaoh would come back, right?"

Meg shook her head.

"He's not in the Puzzle anymore, Mokuba. If Kaiba could gather all the pieces and put it back together - a feat that took Yugi eight years to do - the Pharaoh wouldn't be there. He would just be holding a three-thousand-year-old golden pendant."

Mokuba sighed. Meg felt terrible being so blunt, but it had to be said. Kaiba couldn't focus on the dead when he had his younger brother to look after. There was a small bright side, though. "Besides, Yugi beat the Pharaoh in a duel." Mokuba actually looked surprised by that.

"He did?!"

"Yep. Why would your brother want to duel the loser when he could duel Yugi and jump right back to the top?"

Mokuba still looked surprised, making Meg cackle. He must have been surprised that Yugi won a duel without the Pharaoh's help, and it was against the Pharaoh himself. She'd have laughed longer, except Kaiba walked in, sitting in the chair between the two. He was pinching his nose in exhaustion or annoyance. Meg gave him a lifted eyebrow. "What's up?"

"Too many idiots in this world." Kaiba huffed.

Ain't that true. Meg sent Mokuba a look, seeing him nod his head knowingly. "Meghan." Meg stopped herself from huffing at him; he was going to call her by her real name no matter how much she complained. "Describe the ghost from the window." She shrugged.

"I didn't see him. I kept my eyes on the TV since Megara did the whole—."

Meg made a zombie face, making Mokuba snort around his bite of food. "-thing. She may know better. Hey-!" The moment Meg turned her head in the direction the ghost was hiding in, something materialized beside her. She couldn't see it very well, but she could tell she was looking at long rotted dark fabric. Kaiba grabbed her immediately, yanking her to the dining room floor. Mokuba followed, obviously unsure of what was going on. Megara's hiss echoed in her ears, and she jumped out of the shadows, tackling the unknown entity.

"Move!"

Kaiba tugged at Meg's arm, pulling her and his brother out of the dining room. Based on the crashes of silverware and plates and the flickering lights throughout the house, it was quite the tussle. He shoved them into his office and slammed the door shut. "What the hell was that?! I thought we were done with this!" Meg had to catch her breath so she could reply.

"I… I thought so too… It's been months."

Mokuba's face was slowly turning green, so Meg stepped over to hug him. Surprisingly, he returned the hold. They both jumped when someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

There was a familiar sigh, and Meg relaxed slightly. It was Megara.

"It's me, Rich Boy." Megara huffed. "I can phase through the door, but I decided to knock to not scare the crap out of you living people."

"We appreciate it, Megara." Meg called back before Kaiba retorted.

Kaiba opened the door, showing Megara was there. She was giving him a dirty look, arms crossed over her chest. "What was it?" The ghost sighed.

"The same one from the window. It apparently got quite the ego boost from me hissing at it."

"Is it spread across the gardens now?" Kaiba asked, making Megara hiss in annoyance.

"Sadly, no. It slunk away like a little coward."

Megara hissed again. "What a pest." Her nostrils then flared; the action made the lights flicker slightly. Mokuba flinched into Meg's embrace, and she tightened her grip. "Let him hope I never catch him." There was only a second of silence before Mokuba attempted a laugh.

"Okay…" Mokuba breathed. "I don't think I want to see them anymore."

Megara sent him a smile even though he couldn't see her.

"Smart one."

Kaiba was still working when Meghan and Mokuba went to bed. He lost an hour or so getting the dining room cleaned up from the ghosts' fight, so he had to work extra to keep up. Mokuba calmed down after a while, but Kaiba found himself slightly wound up. After so long of not seeing anything besides Meghan's twin, he had gotten rather comfortable with the lack of excitement.

He constantly questioned why he didn't just throw away that silly amulet after Meghan's twin started to show up, flashing him playful smiles. He definitely thought about it now; it would be so easy to just toss the amulet into the trash and throw it out. But… it was precisely incidents in the kitchen that made him keep it. He didn't want another incident where everything spun out of his control; if he kept one hand on that amulet, he felt like he had some measure of control in his own home. Yet, even then, the things Meghan and the Geek Squad pulled into his life were utterly insane.

And just his luck; more Hocus Pocus bullshit when he gets home.

Sadly for him, Kaiba was having difficulty concentrating on his work no matter how hard he tried to focus on it. While he typed, Mokuba's words echoed in his head. Was the Other Yugi truly gone? Had Yugi beaten him to the point he literally left this plane of existence in shame? The second one Kaiba doubted based on Christine's expression when he saw them from a distance; she was smiling, but it was obvious that she had cried. He didn't approach, keeping to his distance and heading back to his jet to head home before they saw him. But still… The thought of dueling Yugi didn't appeal the same way as dueling his more powerful alter ego. The scheme of digging up the Millennium Puzzle crossed his mind just as the phone on his desk rang. He didn't even care that it was 10 at night; he picked it up and put it to his ear.

"What is it?" He huffed.

"Kaiba?" Meghan's voice appeared on the other end of the line, making him sigh.

"What is it, Meghan?"

"I… I just wanted someone to talk to…."

Kaiba checked the clock. Egypt was seven hours behind, so it would only be 3 in the afternoon where the Geek squad was.

"Christine is still awake."

"I don't have a number for her. They haven't checked into a hotel."

Kaiba sighed, bringing his free hand to pinch his nose again.

"Why me?"

"I've already scared Mokuba today, and, no offense to Megara here, but she's not much of a conversation partner."

Kaiba heard huffs of annoyance in the background; her twin was obviously taking offense at the words. "I'm sorry. What do you want me to do about that?" Kaiba sighed again.

"If you two are going to have a spat, I'm going to hang up."

Meghan shushed the ghost, and Kaiba heard the sounds of shifting fabric; she was sitting in bed using the landline. When she didn't hang up, Kaiba sighed again and got back to typing his work.

"What are you doing?"

Kaiba thought about not answering, but he decided to for the heck of it.

"Pegasus emailed me today about new cards he's designing and asked if the new duel disk will be ready in time."

"Will it?"

Kaiba scoffed. Did she really think that he wouldn't have it done in time?

"Of course it will. I'm working on it myself, so it'll be ready in six months."

"Six months? That's not a long time. Weren't you also working on that tournament out in California?"

"Yes, that'll be happening in eight months."

Kaiba heard Meghan sigh, but he didn't need to ask what it was for since she was talking again.

"You're going to burn yourself out, Kaiba."

He'd heard the same sentence from Mokuba a few times, but he always replied with the same thing.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You're burning a candle at both ends."

Kaiba sighed, lifting his hand back to his nose. "Why not take a break? You and Mokuba could go out and -" Kaiba's temper snapped.

"I have lots of work to do, Meghan. Do you know how much work it takes to run this company?"

The silence could be cut with a knife, but Meghan replied, a hesitant twinge to her voice.

"Probably not as well as you, but I see how much you work. I was just-"

"Exactly. So, please, excuse me."

Kaiba hung up the phone and went back to typing. He'd barely gotten through five words before what he'd done caught up with him. Just like Mokuba, she was just worried about him. Kaiba sighed, pinching his nose once more. He didn't need someone to mother him! But she wasn't trying to; all she was trying to do was make sure he didn't burn himself out. She knew how much his work meant, but she wanted him to have a life outside of it with his brother. Kaiba sighed. "Great."

He would have to apologize.

His opportunity came when the phone rang. Perhaps Meghan was calling him back to huff at him for hanging up. He picked up the phone. "What is it?"

"Mr. Kaiba!" Roland's voice appeared instead of Meghan's, sounding panicked. "We have a situation!"

There's always a situation in this house.

"What kind of situation?"

"A security sensor was tripped! Something's trying to break into the manor!"

Someone was trying to break into the house? At this time of night? Kaiba flicked his eyes to his computer, pulling up the security cameras. Nothing immediately caught his eyes, but what did was the camera of the garden just outside Meghan's room was showing something. The window was smashed in, and the lights were clearly flickering, even in the black and white footage. "What do we do, Mr. Kaiba?!" His eyes remained locked on the footage until a black shadow took the whole camera out. So much for having control in his own home. He growled and got to his feet.

"Get to Meghan's room. Now!"

The moment the phone went dead, Meg gave a heaving sigh and put the phone back on its receiver. Had she said too much? She was only worried about him... Meg pulled her knees up to her chin, fighting to not cry. She had to fight it, though; this wasn't the time for tears. She was fine! She'd probably just gotten on his nerves; he was jetlagged to all hell since he had just gotten back from Egypt. No matter how much she tried to soothe herself, her brain got the better of her. She was suddenly back in that small house in New Haven with her mother and father glaring down at her like she had a disease. She deserved that snap… She pressed too much... A tear escaped, and her walls broke.

"Meg…" Megara whimpered, sitting down beside her. "I'm… I'm sure Kaiba is just stressed; he didn't mean…."

Meg shook her head.

"You know Kaiba. If he says it, he means it."

"Meg."

She continued to fight off the pesky tears that threatened to stream down her cheeks. She'd pressed too close for their relationship. It would probably be best if she backed off for a bit; he would likely approve of—

SMASH!

Meg shrieked, hiding her face in her arms and knees from the exploding window. Megara tried to cover her as well, but tiny shards of glass hit Meg's arm. The growls, shrieks, and rapidly flickering lights showed that the ghost was back. How convenient. "Meg, move!" As carefully as she could, Meg climbed out of bed and ran to the door; surely the alarm was blaring, and people would come running. She tried to escape, but the door was locked shut. The lock flip was inside the room, but no matter how hard Meg pulled at it, the door wouldn't budge. She resorted to banging on it.

"Hey!"

No response could be heard over the shrieks and growls. "Help!" There was a loud growl, and Meg turned back around.

Just as Megara described, the ghost was so old that any skin had rotted off long ago. Its jaw was even gone! All that was covering the body were dirtied robes that had long since lost their colors. Deep in its sunken eyes, Meg saw a dark red light; it was far different than what Megara herself had looked like. She was caught in its gaze before the door shook in her grip.

"Ms. Peters!" A voice called; was that Roland?

Meg looked back to the door, once more trying to pull it open. "Open the door!" She pulled again, but the door remained firmly shut.

"I can't! It's unlocked, but it won't open!"

There was a loud shriek making Meg flinch, her hands lifting to cover her ears from the terrible noise. It was worse than the sound of nails on a chalkboard. There was then a smash, clearly heard through her hands, and she turned again. The glass case holding all her trinkets had been knocked over by the ghost pushing Megara into them. Great, there'd be no saving that. The eyes were then locked on her again. Meg was frozen in fright and only had a second to react when it leaped at her.

Meg ran from the door, hearing as the ghost crashed against the wood right where she was standing; it was solid enough that it couldn't phase through walls, apparently. Her eyes flicked about the room, desperate for an idea to hold it off. Her heart lifted when she caught sight of her vanity. Alright, here's an idea. She dashed over, keeping her eyes on the adjusting ghost, and grabbed the baseball bat Mokuba had given her as a teasing gift when Megara started to come around, holding it up. What had he said when he handed it over? Just in case? Well, now was as good a time as any. When the ghost shot at her again, she swung as hard as she could. The tip of the bat knocked on the skull, making a loud thunk and sending it flying backward. "Ha! Take that!"

What she didn't anticipate was how fast he was. One second it was crumbling on the ground; the next, it was right behind her.

"Meg!" Megara cried, pulling herself free of the ruined glass case.

Meg only had a second to react, hefting baseball bat once more before she felt the strange sensation she had described to the gang as 'whoosh.' It wasn't exactly the sensation she was expecting. Meg blinked and turned her head.

She blinked again at what she was looking at. The ghost's gnarled hand had gone right through her. It could touch objects, but it couldn't touch her.

Meg watched as the ghost tried again and again to grab her; it only succeeded in phasing right through her skin and clothes. Meg should have used the opportunity to get away, but she was frozen in place. "Get away from her!" Megara gave her ghostly shriek and launched herself at the ghost, the force sending the two out the ruined window and into the garden. The silence gave Meg a chance to get back to the door. It opened at the first pull, and she ran into the collection of guards.

"Ms. Peters!" Roland breathed with a sigh of relief.

She then could see his eyes widen behind his sunglasses. "You're bleeding!" Meg looked down, seeing the tiny cuts from the shattered window. They were minor; she wasn't going to die.

"I'm fine!" Meg huffed.

"Like hell!" Kaiba huffed in return, pushing through the guards like they were made of melted butter.

Meg's heart flipped in worry at his appearance. Was he still mad at her pressing? He didn't say anything about it, but she could tell he was pissed about something. "What's going on in there?" Meg was honest.

"I have no idea; it just showed up!"

Kaiba hissed in annoyance, but Meg wasn't done. "I do know something, though." The CEO's eyes were back on her. "It can't touch me!" Kaiba's eyes narrowed slightly. Great, she had to explain. "Until I met Megara, all other ghosts go through me like... well... ghosts! This one is like that!"

"Then what is it doing here?!"

"I don't-!"

Meg's brain then jumped to a strange conclusion. It was something Megara had said just after the ghost appeared at dinner. 'It apparently got quite the ego boost from me hissing at it'... Was it possible that the spirit wasn't after Meg but was actually gunning for Megara? Kaiba noticed her thoughtful expression quickly.

"What?"

"What if it's not after me? What if it was trying to use me like a pseudo hostage?"

Kaiba gave her narrowed eyes. It was apparent that he was unsure of her conclusion.

"A ghost going after a ghost?"

"You got a better idea?"

Meg could tell he didn't as he kept quiet. But what were they to do? The only damage Meg had been able to do was whack him with a baseball bat, and that didn't knock him down for long. Based on the continued shrieks and flickering lights, Megara was keeping up with it; it seems she was their one hope. But what...

Hostage...

This was such a terrible idea, but she was gonna do it anyway.

Meg thrust her bat into Kaiba's hands and ran down the hall toward the garden entrance.

"Meghan!"

Meg didn't call back, continuing to run. She faintly heard people run after her, but she didn't stop.

The garden was trashed when she reached it, and the shrieks of the two ghosts echoed in Meg's ears. She pressed on, though. She slipped through the door, fighting to remain unseen, and snapped her head over to Megara just as she was thrown into a flower bed. The skeletal version of her former life still scared her, but she held the reaction back. Based on how she was gasping, she was getting thrown around a lot. The new ghost stalked over, the dark red eyes staring right at the spirit strewn across the flowers.

Okay. Time to test her theory.

Meg ran into the garden, turned back, and threw her arms out in a welcoming motion.

"Hey, you!"

The ghost stopped its stalking and turned its head toward her. Megara was still gasping, but her eyes were wide at Meg suddenly being there. The red eyes made her flinch, but she kept still. "Come on! You wanna get her through me, right?" The ghost, even without a jaw, was able to make a hissing sound. "Then come on! I don't have a weapon this time!"

"Meg!" Megara shrieked. "What are you doing?!"

Something really dumb.

But it seemed to be working.

The ghost had turned entirely away from Megara and was starting to stalk towards her. Meg's heart was thundering in her chest, but she kept still. After a few seconds, Meg knew her distraction had worked. Just as the ghost leaped at her, Megara had gathered her breath and threw herself at it, throwing him off target and into the stone fountain. Meg flinched at the loud thunk as heads collided with stone, jumping again when the sound repeated again and again.

After a prolonged hiss, every sound except for the wind faded away. Meg's heart continued to thunder in her ears, but she managed to turn her head toward Megara as she got to her feet. The other ghost was gone; it was like it melted into the ground at the fountain's base.

"Is it gone?"

Megara nodded, and Meg gave a sigh of relief. Thank god! The ghost's beautiful face quickly turned to Meg, and she stomped over to whack Meg over the head. "Ow!"

"What bright idea was that?! If Rich Boy told you to do that-"

"Don't drag me into this." Kaiba huffed, coming out from the house, still holding Meg's bat. "She ran off by herself."

Megara huffed at her current life again, batting her over the head once more. Meg was starting to feel a little bit like a child.

"And you're all cut up too! Silly!"

Meg lifted her shoulders in an embarrassed shrug; she had to do something! Megara gave a sigh, either of relief or annoyance, before relaxing into Meg's shoulder in exhaustion. "That was ridiculous." Meg believed that.

"So?"

Meg felt Megara's head tilt towards Kaiba. "Was she right? Was it after you?" The ghost was silent for only a moment before she nodded.

"As far as I could tell, yes."

Megara turned her head back into Meg's shoulder and gave a sigh. "I don't know where it came from or how it found us, but it's gone now."

"Will it come back?" Meg asked.

"Not for a while. Even though we're dead, if we're damaged, we have to repair ourselves, and that takes some time."

Megara gave a shudder, and that made Meg look at Kaiba with concern. The CEO kept his eyes on the Mycenaean era ghost.

"What?" He asked sharply.

Megara was silent for a long moment, keeping her head pressed into Meg's shoulder. If she was scared, what had they just survived? It was almost a whole minute before she replied.

"I think I knew who it was."

Meg watched as Kaiba's head tilt and his eyes narrowed. "That last hiss was a word in my birth tongue. 'Traitor.'" Megara spat it out like it was poison in her mouth.

"And who said it?"

Megara's hands gripped Meg's shirt; the grip was tight, slightly reminding her of her grip on her throat all those months ago. Meg fought the reminder back, keeping herself steady.

"Someone I hoped to never see again."

The spirit gave no other explanation; instead, she left the answer open and, essentially, unanswered. After three thousand years, she still had a lot of secrets to keep. Meg was now doubly worried about when that rogue ghost would come back.

It was now two in the morning, and Kaiba still had nothing done.

It had been four hours now since the incident in Meghan's room. With her windows and glass cabinet shattered, there was no way she would be able to stay there overnight. Roland quickly ordered a guest room to be made up until Meghan's room was repaired. Kaiba also ordered the garden to be fixed since flowers were crushed and strewn across the entire space; he had to admit, he was slightly surprised to see ghosts had done all that damage.

Speaking of ghosts, Meghan's twin made herself scarce after calming down. Perhaps knowing that the other spirit had been after her made her want to pull away for a while. How noble, Kaiba thought sarcastically. She goes to hide after everything has settled down! It didn't help his garden or that side of the house. Then again… She had been pretty beaten up in this attack… The ghost was probably resting herself. As much as he wanted to believe this thought… He was still annoyed.

Once again, he had lost control of his home to Hocus Pocus bullshit.

When his eyes began to ache from staring at his computer, Kaiba pulled them away, covering them with his hand. He didn't adjust even as someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Me." Meghan replied, her voice quiet through the door.

Kaiba pulled his hand away to look at the clock. It was just past two in the morning; what was she doing up? "Can I come in?" Kaiba thought about it for a second before agreeing.

"Fine."

Silently, the door opened and closed; he'd have only known she'd come in when she sat down in the chair across from his desk. She was covered in band-aids and other medical tapes because of all the cuts, but, if Kaiba could be honest for a moment, this was better than the straps, tubes, and bruises of last time. She found his eyes on her and gave a hesitant smile.

"Thank you for letting me in. It… It was too quiet in that room."

Right… She usually had some sort of background noise since she hated the quiet. All of her stuff was still in her room; Kaiba quickly sent a note to Roland to retrieve them in the morning. "Sorry about the house." Kaiba didn't look up from his message as he replied.

"You didn't destroy the house."

"Still, it was…."

"It was Hocus Pocus bullshit; you can't control it."

Kaiba heard the sigh, and his eyes flicked over to see Meghan now holding a pillow to her chest. It was apparent that she didn't believe him, but when she spoke again, she'd changed the subject slightly.

"Then I'm sorry for pressing."

Pressing? Kaiba pulled his eyes completely away from his computer to give her a look. She didn't look back, keeping her eyes on the chair in front of her, the one Mokuba usually sat in. What was she talking about?

"Pressing?"

Meghan buried deeper into the pillow. He could now really only see her eyes.

"You know… the whole 'burning a candle at both ends' bit?"

Oh. That. Kaiba had utterly forgotten about that conversation after the panic that had been his house getting destroyed. "I overstepped, and I shouldn't have. I was only worried about your health. Sorry." Kaiba exhaled through his nose, thinking over her words. He was right to think that she was only worried, and he'd reacted with his normal response: shutting it down with a quick snap. Seeing her response to that, he was also right to know it had been a bad move. He quickly came to the same conclusion as earlier and forced his mouth open.

"Thank you for the apology."

Meghan nodded, keeping her face locked on the pillow. It took all of his control to not stop there; he forced his mouth to continue. "I'm sorry as well." Meghan looked surprised, looking up from her pillow to look at him.

"About what?"

Kaiba looked back to his computer, trying to save face, but he felt her eyes on him. She didn't look away, so he forced himself to continue talking.

"About the snap. You were only worried, and it was wrong to react in such a way."

A quick flick of his eyes showed that Meghan still looked surprised. "What?" She blubbered for a second before getting her words back.

"Nothing!"

He kept up his look, and Meghan sighed. "Fine. It's just… I never picked you as the kind of guy to apologize." He narrowed his eyes, and Meghan's surprised expression faded into a huff. "Come on! I know how you work, Kaiba!" Really...

"Well, I just apologized."

She blinked, not coming up with an argument. Kaiba felt a bit playful as he turned fully toward her. "Come on, Meghan; I thought you knew how your favorite character thinks and acts." It was amusing seeing the embarrassed blush cross her face once more, but she didn't retort. He claimed the victory and looked back to his computer.

There was silence for a minute as Meghan cleared the blush from her cheeks. Kaiba was a little surprised she didn't leave like the previous times he'd messed with her about his knowledge. However, he assumed that she still wanted the company and the noise, even if it was just his typing. His thoughts then got the better of him, and he was once again thinking about the Other Yugi and how he was quote/unquote gone. He looked up once more to Meghan. "Meghan." She looked up. "Is he really gone?" She shrugged.

"I don't know… 'Stine called a bit ago, saying something about a gift, but…."

She shrugged again. "From what I know, the Pharaoh is gone; he's probably lounging it up with all the other Pharaohs." Kaiba ignored the Pharaoh part and leaned back in his chair. A gift, huh? What did that mean? "But Kaiba, Yugi beat him. Why would you want to duel him, the loser, and not the winner? Beating Yugi means you get your title back." Mokuba told him that Meg had said this. His initial reaction was to brush it off and say he only wanted the Pharaoh, but to amuse her, he contemplated them for a second.

A part of him considered Yugi weaker than his alter ego; every time they had dueled, even that first time when they had a draw, the Other Yugi was in charge. He didn't quite believe that he had beaten him in a duel. And yet… Kaiba's amusement faded as the next thought took over his brain. Yugi was looking more confident nowadays and especially after their incident in the museum… Could it have happened? Was it actually true? Kaiba faintly saw Meghan lean over, wanting a better look at how his confident expression was now fading into indecision. He sighed and gave her a look.

"You're sure he beat him?"

Meghan nodded.

"'Stine told me that Yugi was able to beat two God Cards. He even predicted that the Pharaoh would use Monster Reborn to bring Slifer back from the Graveyard, so he locked it up so neither of them could use it."

Kaiba knew the card immediately as Golden Sarcophagus. It was a risky play as circumstances could make the combo near impossible to keep up. If Yugi had been able to do it and beat his alter ego with it… Kaiba could handle that in a rival.

"Then I guess Yugi should be holding that title as tightly as he can."

Meghan's face lifted into a smile.

"Because you're going to beat him into the ground and take it back?"

Kaiba was slightly impressed. She really did know him….

"Obviously."

She clapped her hands and gave an evil laugh. It was far better to hear that than see the sad expression. He was still going to be honest about something. "But if I have the chance to duel the Other Yugi, I'm taking it." Meghan gave a cackle.

"Why am I not surprised?"

While Meghan continued to laugh, Kaiba looked back to his computer. He still wanted that duel with the Other Yugi, but he'd be patient. Meghan had mentioned a gift. He had no idea what it was, but he was patient; he could wait until it revealed itself.

Maybe it would be one he enjoyed as well.

Okay... I'm pretty sure ya'll know what I'm planning, but if you don't, I'm not saying anything.

Yami Bakura: Though tell me this: who was that?

Who was who?

Yami Bakura: The ghost, you dimwit! Tell me *you* at least know who he is.

Of course I do! I just can't say it.

Yami Bakura: Why not?

That project is still in pre-production. I don't know when it'll be ready...

Yami Bakura: *groan*