A/N: This chapter may seem slow and short and I apologize for that but magic has its limits and I have to keep time, both literary and reality, in mind when I write this. Also, it turns out that yes, I am getting the cold or something along those lines. Thanks Dad. I have a runny nose, slightly sore throat, ears that won't pop, and a slight pressure in my ainuses. It could be due to the wavky weather we've been having or I could be getting sick. Ugh.

Chapter 3 summary: In which the Kaiba group arrives at the hotel, windows are a problem, and they wait.

Windows and Waiting

Anywho, I'm posting this tonight and will hopefully start getting to the good stuff tomorrow in the next chapter. Merry Christmas again~

"Where are we going?" Mokuba asked, noticing they were avoiding the downtown area of Starling City.

"To the hotel," Oliver said. "We're just taking a back way."

"Overly cautious," Kaiba muttered in Japanese.

"Better safe than sorry," Oliver replied in kind.

Both Kaiba brothers and the two bodyguards stiffened. Two pairs of startled eyes, one sparkling blue and the other dark gray, stared at forest green in surprise. "You... In a year?" Kaiba exclaimed in his native tongue.

Oliver just shrugged casually. "It's spoken by you and the entire Shadow Court so I figured it'd be good to learn it," he said with a crooked smile.

A grin made stretched across Kaiba's face sharpening his eyes. "Of course," he said proudly. Mokuba snickered and Helios gave a put upon sigh.

"This is it," Diggle said, pulling into the high rise hotel overhang.

Mokuba leaned over his big brother's lap and stared out the window in wide eyed awe. The building itself was a sleek steel and glass tower that glittered from the lights flickering inside and the cloudy sunlight outside. The convention center was a shorter building made of a material that resembled stone and was built in the same style as buildings more associated with the eastern coast of the United States.

"It's an interesting blend of the old and new," Helios said, admiring the architecture. "Athens was a good choice of centerpiece. Although, I think I she could do without the armor. She doesn't often wear it."

"This is art," Diggle said, nudging the Titan aside so everyone else could file out of the SUV. "It's not always suppose to make sense. Just look weird and cost a lot of money."

Helios chuckled. "I can stand behind that."

"Move." The group followed Kaiba into the lobby, each carrying their own bags.

"You didn't bring a lot," Diggle commented.

"I only bring what I have to," Kaiba replied. He approached the desk and signed them in. The woman behind the desk handed him four room keys and told the room number. Not surprisingly, they were once again on the highest floor.

"I forgot how much you like heights," Oliver said when they filed into the elevator.

Kaiba said nothing, simply slid in his key card and pressed the 17 button and waited for the elevator to glide up to his floor. When the doors opened, he waited for Fuguta to step out first before following. The bodyguard unlocked the hotel room door and entered first before allowing everyone else to enter.

The layout was similar to the one Kaiba stayed in last time he came to Starling City with one glaring difference. The entire far wall was covered with floor-to-ceiling windows. The first door immediately to the left of the entrance was to the bathroom. It was large with the tub and shower on the left wall, the toilet on the niche between the far shower wall and the true wall, and the sink on the right. The door on the far side of the sink opened to the bedroom.

The current room the group stood in was the common area. Aside from the far windowed wall, everything was black, white, and shades of gray. A couch with a long perpendicular side with no backrest sat in the middle of the room. Two cushioned chairs sat directly across from the couch with a coffee table in between. The rug underneath the furniture was a modern design of interlocking black and gray squares on a white backdrop.

A sliding glass door in the windowed wall opened up to a small Juliet balcony. It was just wide enough for a person to stand but that was about it. Two curtains hung on either side of the windowed wall. One was sheer and the other was a dark gray blackout curtain.

A fully stocked bar small kitchenette was nestled on the wall that projected into the common room courtesy of the bathroom on the other side. A coffee pot with a full box of assorted coffees sat on the counter and Kaiba noted it with a smirk. A television was mounted on the wall across from the couch. A door hung open several feet from the television and that's where Kaiba walked.

The room behind the television wall was the bedroom. There were two queen size beds against the far wall, a television mounted on the wall they just walked through, a bedside table separating the two beds and a sliding glass door that opened up onto the black steel balcony. The sheer and dark gray blackout curtains also adorned this windowed wall, waiting to be pulled across the wall and blot out the light.

Oliver sighed heavily. "So much for staying away from windows and outside," he muttered.

Diggle stood next to the Starling City vigilante and shook his head. "I honestly don't know why I was expecting anything else," he said.

Helios did not follow the Kaiba brothers to the bedroom. Instead, he made his way to windows, slid open the door, and stepped out into the late afternoon sunlight. Roland and Fuguta cased the three rooms inside the suite before taking up positions near the entrance and the bedroom door.

When Kaiba came back out Mokuba was still inside the room but Seth was out and about. True to his preferences, Seth had chosen to retain his ancient Egyptian attire, or a more modern and conservative rendition of it, and jewelry. Seth was speaking to Kaiba softly in hieratic and Kaiba seemed to be listening closely following Helios with his eyes. After a moment of contemplation, Kaiba nodded.

"You're welcome to stay here if you want," he said to Oliver and Diggle. "I have no plans for the day besides wait for Ishizu and Shaadi to show up."

"Any plans before that?" Oliver asked.

Kaiba shook his head. "No. Except try to get some real sleep and not the light airplane sleep."

Seth chuckled and stepped back into the bedroom. Kaiba followed his Ba's form with his eyes before rubbing the back of his neck, grimacing when his neck would not pop.

"If you don't mind, we might just take you up on that," Oliver said. "We'll just make ourselves comfortable out here."

The young CEO nodded. "I'll be in here if you need me." He ran a hand over his face and returned to the bedroom. He paused to let Mokuba bound out of the room before closing the door.

"Tired much?" Diggle asked.

"Yeah," Mokuba said. "He never sleeps well on airplanes."

"I'm with you there," the man said. "Mind if I get some coffee?"

"Sure. It's complementary. Just leave a couple for Ni-sama," Mokuba said before going over to the balcony just as Helios was coming back in. "Hey," he said.

Helios nodded to the boy before sitting down on the sectional, stretching out across the open length of cushion, kicking off his shoes as he did so. He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes.

"I take it this is where you'll be sleeping," Oliver said with a smile.

"Yes," Helios said. "I prefer open places like this to a bed. This is more in the style of beds I'm familiar with."

"We won't be bothering you will we?"

Helios shook his head and waved casually. "Not at all."

Oliver sat down on the couch close to Helios's head sipping his freshly brewed coffee. He took the time to actually study Helios's appearance. The Titan definitely looked healthier. "New hair style?" he asked, half teasing.

Helios huffed a laugh and let his eyes close comfortably. "If by tying it up instead of letting it hang in my face I'm trying a new style, then yes."

"It looks good."

Helios opened his eyes and unerringly caught forest green. "You do not have to speak if you don't want to."

Green eyes studied the cup of coffee carefully before Oliver took a sip just as Diggle joined him on the couch. "You said he's been experiencing that shivering thing for about a week now."

"Yes," Helios said softly. "It worries me. It is worse for Seth. What Kaiba is feeling is a reflection of what Seth feels."

"Do you think it could be an attack by an enemy?" Diggle asked.

"No," Helios said after a moment, shaking his head. "At least, no enemy I am aware of."

"So not Ares then," Oliver said.

Golden eyes flickered to the vigilante sharply. "No. I would know. I know how his power feels. Besides, he is more direct in his approach. He would either attack us directly or indirectly by possessing someone already in or near a battle rage."

"So basically as long as don't get angry he can't possess us?" Diggle asked.

Helios nodded. "Correct."

Diggle shook his head. "Alright then."

"The Egyptian valued their graves," Helios said drawing everyone's attention to him. "The penalty for desecrating a tomb was death, no exceptions. The name of the person entombed there was often carved into the walls numerous times to prevent the soul from getting lost on its way to the afterlife. Without a name, you were nothing and were cursed to drift endless in the void. For Kaiba to even consider saying such a thing..."

"You think he may have been serious," Oliver said quietly.

Helios said nothing but turned his gaze to where Mokuba stood in the open doorway watching them with worried eyes.

"Will Ni-sama be alright?" he asked.

No one could answer him.

XxX

Kaiba collapsed on his bed closest to the window with his face buried in a pillow. Seth smiled indulgently and pushed open the sliding door to let the breeze and sounds in. A light drizzle had begun to fall providing a soft lullaby for his exhausted Ka.

"You should rest," Seth said softly in hieratic.

"What do you think I'm trying to do idiot?" Kaiba muttered into the pillow.

Seth sat on the bed and began tugging at Kaiba's trench coat. "Come on. Take this off."

Kaiba reluctantly sat up long enough to remove his coat and Deck holster. He promptly fell back onto the bed facedown. Seth hummed and began working his out the kinks in Kaiba's back. Now that they were alone, he reverted his attire to the simple kilt and shoulder wrap he was used to wearing back in Egypt. Tossing a stray braid back over his shoulder, he straddled Kaiba's body and dug the heels of his hands into the tight muscles.

"How you manage to sleep on the plane in such positions knowing what it does to you is beyond me," he said.

:Shut up,: Kaiba grumbled in his mind causing Seth's lips to quirk upwards.

He found a particularly big knot and sat up on his knees and bounced, forcing all of his bodyweight onto the balls of his hands. Kaiba grunted in both pain and from the sudden loss of breath. Seth grinned and dug his thumbs into the knot mercilessly until it was finally worked out.

"This would be much easier if your shirt was off so I could actually see what I was doing, you know," he said.

:Sh...shut up,: Kaiba muttered in his mind. His mental voice was breathless and wavering from both pain and arousal.

Seth sent a rush of sympathy through their link and eased back on his ministrations. Kaiba's rejection of physical contact was not totally without cause. He, like their previous incarnation Set, was overly sensitive to touch. If anyone rubbed Kaiba's, Seth's, or Set's back, neck, or head even casually or medicinally like a masseuse, it would aroused them. It made it difficult when Kaiba pulled long hours and had to visit a chiropractor a his physical therapy after waking from his coma. The feeling was indiscriminate. It did not matter who touched them when, the result was always the same.

Thankfully, Seth was both aware of and subject to this weakness and therefore Kaiba allowed him to do what a chiropractor or masseuse could not, touch him. Running his hands over his Ka's back thoroughly, Seth lifted his left leg and swung back so he sat on one side of Kaiba. He stretched out beside his Ka, blocking the rainy light from the windows.

He lay there calmly massaging Kaiba's neck until he felt eyes on him. He lifted his own eyes and met Kaiba's silently. Again, the guilt of feeling arousal for anyone other than Kisara returned and they looked away. Even though Kisara had given them her blessing and they were two halves of the same soul exactly like Yugi and Yami, Kaiba and Seth never took things too far. The knowledge that they had yet to find a way to return Kisara to her human form weighed heavily on them.

:Rest, my Ka,: Seth whispered in Kaiba's mind. :The others will wake us when Shaadi and Ishizu arrive.:

:They don't know the hotel or room number,: Kaiba answered.

:But they both have a phone and their Shadows. They can contact us or Mokuba or Oliver should she need to. Everything will be fine.: He pressed a gentle kiss to his Ka's forehead earning him a tired glower. :Rest please. We will deal with this when we wake.:

Without further complaint, Kaiba closed his eyes and fell asleep. Seth slithered as close to his Ka as he dared before laying his head on the pillow next to Kaiba and closing his eyes to join him in sleep.