*10* Seto *10*
After getting rid of the mutt I didn't feel any better since his words hit so close to home. The thing about that dog was that he could be so in tuned to how people really were. Not like I would admit any of that to anyone. I looked at the door and wondered if I should have let him stay. He was getting on my nerves though. I turned back to my computer in an attempt to get him out of my mind. I never would have cared about kicking him out before.
I tried to finish my work but all I could think about was his broken face when he saw Yoshi hanging there. "Well, it serves him right for following me when I told him not to." I ran a hand through my hair; I couldn't get that look out of my mind. I saved my work and decided to call it a day. I shut down my computer and grabbed my coat.
As I exited the elevator I was greeted by Roland, who was there to inform me that two suspicious people had been spotted outside the building. I thanked him for the information and carefully made my way out to the door. I looked around but there didn't seem to be anyone looking too interested in me. Still, I was careful as I made my way to my car.
I opened the door and sank into the seat before pulling the door closed. I fumbled around with the keys and glared when they fell out of my hands, landing on the passenger's side floor. As bent down to pick up the keys I could hear a faint beep coming from the ground.
I got out of the car and looked beneath it to find a small car bomb. "Shit." I backed away from the car and pulled out my cell phone to call Roland but the radio waves from my phone must have set the bomb off because the next thing I knew there was a huge flash and my hearing gave out along with my consciousness.
When I woke up my ears were still ringing and my throat felt dry. I could feel small burns and pains on my skin as my wounds woke with me. I winced at the flash of pain running through my body but I didn't have time to worry about that yet. I looked around to find that I was tied to a chair in the middle of a warehouse.
"Have a nice nap, Mr. Kaiba?" I knew that voice. It was one of the Americans. "I must admit that I am surprised you were smart enough to get out of that car when you did. My bomb maker isn't very good, to think that anyone using a cell phone in that area could have been blown to smithereens."
"What do you think you are doing? Let me go." I said, "You think I am going to give you the contract if you threaten me?"
"Contract? We don't care about that." He said and leaning in closer. "If we wanted the contract then what would be the point of killing you? For a genius you aren't too smart."
"You bastard!" the next instant I was met with the back of his boney hand, my face now felt as if it were on fire but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of making me scream.
"Listen, I am going to share my master plan with you." The American smirked, "you see, our government has become sloppy and no longer cares about the needs of the people. And I had an idea; I should take America back for the people. How do I do that? Well, I need an army and several weapons that America has never seen."
"You…" Militia? People who wanted to overthrow the government. He needs weapons… that means…
"I can tell by the look in your eyes that you know the next part of the plan. Yes, your father had interesting weapons and plans for developing never before seen weapons. We are here to get everything."
"I destroyed everything."
"Oh, come now, we both know that's not true. You are a man of science, you wouldn't do that. Lock them away? Yes. But destroy? I don't think so."
"I won't help you." I said.
"You will, dead or alive. You see while you were busy doing god knows what we discovered your little hiding place and the key we need is right here." The man said and pointed to my right hand. "Now I could just kill you and cut off your hand or you can join me. We could use someone of your intelligence on our team, also it would be a big help if you could help us bring your father's plans to life."
"I won't help you." I said, "I'll die before I help you."
"Ah, I will give you some time to think about it." The American said before leaving.
There was no way I would help them. My stepfather's goals were something I never intended to help with. I didn't want Kaiba Corps to be known for war. I sat back trying to remain calm and figure out a way out of the chair. Suddenly I noticed a mop of yellow hair from the corner of my eye. The mutt was here.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him being careful to hide the pain I was feeling. "How did you know to find me here?"
"I noticed those guys outside your office but then I lost energy and disappeared. As soon as I rejuvenated at my memorial I came back as fast as I could but when I got there I saw your car. "Jounouchi's eyes peered into mine and his gaze looked me over. "You are lucky you made it out." Jounouchi finally sighed. "Anyway, a couple of guys were talking about you so I overheard that they had you here."
"I see." I said, "Hurry, they are going to come back." I sighed, "now that I know they tried to kill me they are done."
"Don't you need that contract? America will be a big leap for you."
"I don't need to make deals with them. I can find someone else..." I said, not wanting to let him know how I was fooled. I grimaced when the mutt cut my hands free. I rubbed my wrists and stood up but I had been sitting in that chair for so long that I lost balance, how undignified… Then I felt strong arms around my waist.
"Careful." Jounouchi said, his breath tickling my ear, I tried to pull away but he held me tighter. "Just let me help you, damn." He was stubborn and I wanted to get out of there so I wrapped an arm around his neck and let him walk me out of the building. It still boggled my mind that he was able to hold me this way, he felt as alive as I was. I looked away, that's right, he was dead.
"You are being awfully quiet." He said but did he have to fill the silence? It just made things more awkward. I pulled away from him when we reached the door.
"Let's just keep going." I said and just as we were about to walk out I heard footsteps all around us and men yelling in front of us. "Shit." I grabbed Jounouchi by the collar and yanked him behind a couple of huge crates. "No doubt they will shoot us on sight… uh, me, shoot me on sight. They have no reason to keep me alive."
"You didn't have to pull me in here with you, I am already dead. Maybe I can take out a few of them."
"With what?" I asked, was he stupid? What am I saying; of course… it was the mutt after all. "You are a ghost, how will you do that?"
"Well I have noticed that I am more alive when I am near you." He said and suddenly my heart skipped a beat. I ignored it and watched him as he grabbed a lead pipe from the rubble behind us. "See. I guess you give me strength." He said. Ugh, why was everything he said making me feel things…
"Okay, what about you, if you exert yourself too much you'll fade away, I'll be alone again." He looked at me suddenly.
"I won't let that happen. I will stay by your side until you are safe." He grabbed my hand and I flinched, I wanted him to stop touching me, I didn't want to think he was alive… he was dead! I tried to pull my hand free but in the next instant I noticed that he had curled his pinkie around mine. "Promise."
"Child…" I glared and yanked my hand back though deep down I was glad to have such a promise. Not that I was scared or that I couldn't handle any of this alone, of course. It was still nice.
"Find him!" Shouted a man and Jounouchi drew the pipe back but I grabbed his elbow and pulled him back toward me.
"Don't just charge in there." I warned.
"They can't see me." Jounouchi reminded me.
"Still, use your head."
"That implies you think I have one." He smiled and added, "it's progress."
"Shut up." I let him go and carefully peeked around the crate, there were three shadows on the ground, and three men were headed toward us. I pointed to the shadows and followed Jounouchi carefully as he headed toward the closest guy. I didn't know how far we could be away from each other before Jounouchi lost the power to hold tangible things.
I stayed behind a bench and watched as Jounouchi stalked over to the first man and lifted the pipe. The sound of metal meeting skull rang out followed by a loud dropping noise. The man had fallen and Jounouchi grinned at me with that big dumb smile of his.
I walked over to him slowly and punched him in the arm, "don't celebrate." I said and patted down the unconscious man and grabbed his gun. "We have to keep moving." I whispered and ducked behind a table and pulled the gun up and aimed at the second guy.
"You sure you want to do that?" Jounouchi asked me.
"He's trying to kill me; I won't just stand around and have a moral dilemma about it. I do that and I could die. You can't reason with a killer." I said and suddenly Jounouchi's face dropped. "What?" I paused, "Yoshi… is that… you tried to talk to him… Damn it, how could you be so stupid?" before I could stop myself the words were out of my mouth.
"…you are right…"
"No. I…m sorry." I said quietly. Though it wasn't perfectly spoken I was sorry and it was one of the few times I actually meant it. "Look, we don't have time for this. We have to get out of here first." I took aim once more and shot the second man in the leg, waited for the third man to go to his aide. When the third man arrived I shot in the air above them sending a hanging crate down on top of them.
"Bad ass." I heard Jounouchi say, I guess he was fine again. I quickly made my way out of that room and peered around the corner through an open door that lead outside. There were no men there but I could hear guys coming from behind us. In front of us was a boat dock but there were no boats. We'd have to swim. I sprinted out the door and yanked it closed behind us. I tossed the gun into the water and dove in.
I began swimming as fast as I could but when the door behind us burst open a shower of bullets came down around me. I dove under the surface and tried to swim away but I was too slow and a bullet lodged itself into my leg. I was torn between my need to scream and my need to hold my breath. I couldn't stop. I had to keep going. And the last thing I could remember was swimming until everything was dark.