Recap:

"Where to Mr. Kaiba?"

"Back to the house!" Kaiba ordered from the backseat.

"Wouldn't a doctor be better sir?" The driver asked cautiously.

"She just ran away from a hospital! I'm not about to take her back to wake up in one." Kaiba said glaring at the driver in the mirror.

"Y-your right Kaiba sir!" The driver said mentally smacking himself as he pulled away and drove off into the night.

"Talking" 'Thinking'

"George! I don't see why we have to do this!" Max said frowning and placing her hands on her hips.

"Maxi, you just don't get it!" George said as a wicked replaced his calm demeanor. Three small wounds appeared in George's chest and stated to leak a dark red liquid down the front of his shirt and splashing onto the stark white tiling beneath his feet.

"G-George! No!" Max called out a scream taering its way out of her throat.

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"Max! Wake up!" Max heard a distant voice calling out to her, pulling her from the awful dream. Max sat up with a start wrapping her arms around George's neck and burying her face in his neck, George stiffened in shok and din't move a muscle. Max inhaled deeply, this wasn't George. No! This smell, the only other time she had run across this pecular sent was when she woke up in Kaiba's arms in the elevator.

"Kaiba?" Max pulled back utterly surprised, looking up into equally surprised sapphire eyes. Max's surprise didn't last for long before it turned to a cold horror in the pit of her stomach. "Please tell me it was all just another one of my dreams! Tell me none of this really happened!" Max demanded as she looked pleadingly into Kaiba's eyes and knew it was true. It wasn't a dream.

"I can't Max." Kaiba said sadly, his eyes suddenly widening in shock and for a fleeting second Max wondered why. Then she felt it, the warm wet tear make its way down her cheek, she was surprised and quickly brought her hand up to wipe it away, thought it was too late Kaiba had already seen it. His face softened as he moved closer to Max, she felt another wet tear rolling down her cheek. Max hung her head, unable to stop the flow of tears but not wanting Kaiba to see her cry. Two strong arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders; she tensed and almost pulled back.

"Max, I'm so sorry!" Kaiba whispered into her ear, gently stroking her hair that had long ago fallen out of its neat ponytail. Max gave up her battle with the tears and laid her head onto Kaiba's shoulder, silently letting the tears that had longed to be shed slip past her closed eyes. Max cried, letting the grief and sadness flow out of her eyes to be replaced by a cold emptiness. She cried till her body would no longer give her enough moisture to create a tear, she don't know how long they sat there it could have been minutes, it could have been hours. Kaiba sat there for it all holding her silently, unmoving except for his hand that was running comfortingly through her hair.

Numb, I guess is how she would have described it. What her body was feeling right now, she had lost her parents causing her to become an orphan, and then she was adopted and also lost those parents. Now the only one she had left had now joined those four people, leaving her once again alone. No, not alone there were a couple people left, like Mokuba and maybe even Kaiba. His behavior had been very strange lately, like now. The Seto Kaiba she had read about was nothing like this man who was sitting here letting her cry on his shoulder. He was cold and caustic, and maybe she shouldn't have believed the things she read since he had proven them wrong quite a few times already.

"Max?" Kaiba asked cautiously Max had stopped crying a while ago and just held onto him for a support not caring if it made her seem weak, it was what she needed right now. A lifeline. And he probably knew that, that is why he let her cling to him without complaining. "If you need help keeping your company, all you have to do is let me know. I can help." Max sat up wiping her face and looked at Kaiba, he didn't glare, and he wasn't mocking her. Kaiba was just looking at Max with genuine concern.

"Thank you Kaiba." Max replied with an empty and exhausted smile "But I am allowed to fully take the company when I turn eighteen and that will be November first." MAx sighed giving him a look of appreciation, then glanced around the room she was in "My room?" Max turned to Kaiba confused.

"I didn't think you'd be comfortable waking up at my house." Kaiba glanced down at Max's clothes "I only have male help, and I was NOT going to let them undress you." Kaiba said his eyes taking on an emotion she had never seen before so she was unable to place it.

"I thank you once again Kaiba." Max said managing a small smile. 'Is this what George meant? Let someone in, did he mean Kaiba? Did George see something that I did not? Why am I able to smile so soon after this happened? And why is Kaiba the one I am smiling at?' these thought flitted through Max's mind as she continued to look into the depths of Kaiba's sapphire eyes.

"Your maid found this in your pocket." Kaiba held out his hand Max's dueling deck in the middle of his palm. Max looked from the deck to Kaiba and back, she slowly reached her hand out to take the deck before she pulled her quickly hand back.

"I don't want it." Max said closing her eyes and standing up, she swayed unsteadily on her feet for a second before regaining her balance.

"You're giving up?" Kaiba asked from his position on the bed "Funny, I didn't have you pegged as a quitter." Kaiba said his voice emotionless. Max turned around and looked at him the ice back in her eyes.

"Don't act like you know me!" She said through clenched teeth. Kaiba almost looked as thought she had hurt him, but he covered it so fast she wasn't even sure.

"I think I know you well enough." Kaiba said the icy edge coming back to his voice. Max narrowed her eyes and walked back over to Kaiba stopping a foot away from him.

"Yeah? Well I don't think you do!" Max said glaring at him.

"You're angry!" Kaiba said matching her glare "Not at me, but at yourself. Your blaming what happened to George on yourself."

"Shut up!" Max growled barely above a whisper. Her hands curling into fists, as her breathing started to come faster.

"You don't want to admit it do you?" Kaiba said giving her an almost mocking stare. "But you know I'm right!"

"No, you're not!"

"Of course I am!" Kaiba said brushing an invisible hair off his jacket. "Admit it!" Kaiba challlanged Max as he captured her eyes with his.

"Shut up!" Max said raising her voice in anger, as she threw a strong punch aimed at Kaiba's head. Kaiba brought his hand up and effortlessly caught her fist, he twisted Max around and pushed her onto the bed pinning her arms at her sides and leaning on top of her inches from her face. Max tried to struggle out of Kaiba's grasp, but it was useless he overpowered her in both height and weight.

"Listen to me!" Kaiba said harshly, Max stopped her struggling and glared up into his eyes, surprised that she found no anger in them. In fact he looked if she wasn't mistaken concerned and upset. "Stop it! Stop blaming yourself! Even if you were there I doubt anything would have changed, you probably would have only ended up in a bag right next to George. Is that what you would have wanted? Is that what George would have wanted for you?" Max could feel Kaiba's breath on her cheek as she shut her eyes against a fresh wave of tears.

"No." Max whispered biting back the tears.

"Then why are you blaming yourself?" Kaiba asked softly. "You know this is not your fault." Max sighed and turned her head away from Kaiba.

"If I just... "

"If you what?" Kaiba interupted Max "Life is full of 'If's'. What happened, happened! And there is nothing we can do about it, no matter how much we want to change what happens. Real Courage is in standing up and walking forward. Hold your head high and face what comes next!" Kaiba released Max and stood up, she could feel his eyes on her as she sat up. She hung her head as she considered Kaiba's strong words. Lifting her head

"I'm sorry Kaiba; to you I must look like a fool. But I really did need to hear that. Thank you!" Thankfulness shined through Max's eyes as she looked up at Kaiba. Turning away from Max he walked to the door and opened it, he sighed and set her duel deck on the desk.

"Max, I could never think you a fool." Kaiba said quietly from the doorway "Mokuba wants to see if you're alright for himself, he got scared when he saw you running away. Would you mind if I brought him by later?" Kaiba had his back to Max but she could hear the hesitation in his voice.

"I wouldn't mind, I would love to see Mokuba again." Kaiba nodded his head in acknowledgement and walked out Max's door closing it softly behind him. Max sighed and flopped back onto the bed. SHe wanted to cry again, but tears wouldn't come. She tried to think, but it was too painful. She should get up and shower, but she didn't have the energy. So instead she let herself drift off into a less than peaceful slumber.