Title: Legally Blond

Pairings: Eventual Puppyshipping, past Snareshipping. Sideships: Persevereshipping, Ardentshipping, Puzzleshipping

Rating: T

Words (Chapter 16): 2,500

Author's Notes: Hey, everyone! So, I guess I didn't need to inform the site of the issue, because I was busy basically all Friday but when I got back on, I could see my reviews! I replied to the signed ones, but thank you to the two Guests who reviewed! This chapter was really fun to write because it has to do with my favorite mini Kaibas! (and them meeting Joey)

Joey's POV:

The start of the trial seemed to be sneaking up on us fast. The office became very tense, all of us trying to figure out a way to get the jury to see Mai as innocent…or at the very least, not guilty, which if you didn't know, meant something different in law terms.

Téa and Mahad hadn't been able to get much from the ex-wife, except that apparently, everyone agreed that Mai and Jean-Claude "humped like bunnies." (They reported that it was a direct quote.) Afterward, Téa and I went to the diner for dinner and she'd gone on a rant about what a vile woman Vivian Wong was in person. I'd yet to hear her badmouth someone, and I didn't know if it made me a bad person to say I enjoyed it.

(Unrelated, but Yugi had met her that day, and I don't know which made him happier – the fact that I was becoming friends with Téa or that Téa seemed to want to be friends with him, too.)

Duke and Rebecca didn't have any luck, either. They couldn't catch Jasmine in a lie in her story, and even came back with her claiming Mai would disappear with said pool boy sometimes. Always the bearer of good news, Duke also came into the office with other information.

"We found out what District Attorney is heading this case," he started, before Kaiba came into the room and dropped a file on the table in the middle of us. Pegasus wasn't there yet, and we'd come to know that meant Kaiba was in charge of all our sorry asses.

"Johnson. One of the sneakiest pieces of trash to ever hit a courtroom."

There were audible groans from my fellow interns. "We're screwed," Rebecca declared.

"Wait, why are we screwed?" I asked.

"Johnson is, as Kaiba said, a sneaky, deceitful lawyer who cares about convictions more than the actual truth," Téa started.

"He's supposedly got this way of making everyone believe lies are the clear truth and manipulates the fact of the case to convince a jury," Duke continued.

Rebecca nodded along. "I heard he once convinced a jury that a guy who feared water stole a boat."

I made a face. "That doesn't even make sense," I said. "And if he's going to use manipulation, we just have to make his lies blow up in his face to prove Mai didn't do this."

Duke gave me a look that I realized I'd seen from him a little too often. It was that you're so cute but so stupid look. "Joey. It's certainly not that easy as it sounds. We're basically done for. Johnson was one of Pegasus' top students of the last decade."

"Yeah, he taught Johnson everything he knows. Now we're going up against him without any idea how to win," Rebecca agreed. It was almost scary how those two seemed to always be on the same wavelength lately.

"Well, I think one idea on how to win would be to stop counting ourselves out before trial has even started," I snapped. "I mean, I'm pretty sure being a good lawyer doesn't mean just giving up when you find out a tough D.A. is your opposition."

"I never thought I'd say it, but Wheeler's right."

I looked up in shock at Kaiba. "I am? I mean. 'Course I am."

He rolled his eyes. "If you guys are ready to give up and send your client to prison before even opening that folder to see what he has on Mai, none of you are fit to be in this office."

Mahad, who was always so quiet compared to the rest of us, spoke up. "Besides. Just because Johnson learned everything he knows from Pegasus, doesn't mean Pegasus taught him everything he knows. There's got to be tricks up his sleeve Johnson doesn't know."

"Glad more than one of you might actually have a brain," Kaiba mumbled.

I just wanted them to stop giving up on Mai, because I would be fighting for her until the moment the jury came back. Maybe longer.

Before we could continue to talk about Johnson and the trial, Pegasus came in. He clicked a button on a remote and a screen came down from the ceiling. He then went over to the laptop, fiddling with it for about a minute before the screen came to life.

"Unfortunately, we finally got through going over the security footage outside the house. Here, you see Mai and her husband saying goodbye before she gets into the car. The car leaves, he goes inside, fast forward to a little before his death…" He did as he said, and another car, similar in shape and the same black color, pulled up into the driveway. Unfortunately, you couldn't see who got out, because the person seemed to know where the camera was and parked so they'd get out of the driver's seat on the opposite side.

Pegasus fast forwarded again, finding where the car left again and then kept going until Mai's car came back and she went back into the house, her stepdaughter following a little bit after.

"Okay, but they can't prove that it was Mai getting in and out of that other car," Téa pointed out.

"But we can't prove it wasn't, either," Kaiba said. He glared at me, probably because it was my idea to check the tapes.

"We could if she gave her alibi," Rebecca said with a sigh. "If she's even got one."

"She does, and it's a good one." I wanted to bite my tongue off the moment the words left my mouth. All eyes turned to me.

"You know it?" Mahad asked and I slowly nodded. No use lying to them now.

"Well?" Pegasus asked and I stared at him.

I heard Kaiba huff and I looked at him. "What's the alibi, Wheeler?"

"I can't tell you guys that."

He looked like I just told him the sky was neon green. "Why the hell not?"

"I swore I wouldn't."

Pegasus cleared his throat. "You went to our client without telling anyone, got her alibi, but now you're saying you aren't going to tell us?"

"Erm. Yeah."

Duke reached over and grabbed my hand. "Joey, come on. Just give us the alibi, and then Mai goes free."

I pulled my hand away, noting from the corner of my eye how uncomfortable Téa looked. "I'm not betraying her trust. She told me in confidence. We can prove her innocent some other way. Does the tape tell us anything at all?"

"I mean, it narrows down the pool of other suspects, though," Téa said, not commenting on the subject of the alibi at all. "They clearly knew where the security cameras were in the front of the house. It had to be staff or someone close to the family."

"Well, we're not getting anywhere on the ex or the daughter," Kaiba replied, still half-glaring at me. "When are we speaking to the pool boy?"

"Glad you brought that up, Kaiba boy. Our dear friend Valon seems intent on avoiding my calls at all cost, to the point where he's either blocked my numbers or changed his altogether."

"Sounds pretty fishy," Rebecca agreed.

"Lucky for us, his address isn't so easily changed," Pegasus said with a smirk.

"Can we at least get something to eat first?" I tried not to whine, but I was hungry. Not that Kaiba was the kind of guy who seemed to care, but seeing as he was my partner in this, and the one who had the car, I needed to ask.

"No."

"Kaiba."

"No. We can grab something on the way. I have to stop home and we can't afford to waste any extra time."

He took his keys out of his pocket and a sleek black car beeped to life.

"That's your car?" I asked, a little embarrassed at the obviously impressed tone of my voice.

"Yes, and I have rules."

"Of course you do."

"No shoes on the seat, do not touch the radio dial, do not fiddle with the heat or cooling systems, no eating, no drinking, no opening the window without permission, no backseat or passenger seat driving, no being obnoxious, no –"

I rolled my eyes at his extensive list of rules, reminding me scarily of Duke's rules in his dumb car. "No blinking, no breathing, no living, no speaking, yeah, I got it," I replied sarcastically as we neared the car.

He glared, getting in and I followed suit. "Any questions, Wheeler?" he asked, but I got the feeling he didn't care and wouldn't answer if I did.

"Yeah, just one." I smiled dopily. "How are we 'getting something on the way' if there's no food or drink allowed in the car?"

He didn't answer, as I assumed. Instead he buckled his seatbelt and took off before I had a chance to even do mine.

The ride was silent, and I decided to just take in the different neighborhoods we drove through. I'd learned in my research that the Kaiba family had a mansion, but neither him or his brothers lived there, so I wondered what kind of place Kaiba actually had. He finally pulled up to a very normal looking house, the kind I'd always passed on my way to school as a kid and wished I'd lived in.

"Stay."

I looked over at him incredulously. "You're not seriously leaving me out here?"

"I'll be five minutes, Wheeler. I don't want you in my home. Who knows if you're even house trained yet."

"Quit it with the damn dog insults, Kaiba. But fine, if you'd rather me be out here all alone with your precious perfect car…"

He seemed to think it over a bit, jaw locked. "Fine. Get out."

We got out of the car and he pushed the button to lock it again before walking up to the house. He opened the first door, a grand looking one with a design on the window, and I noticed two other doors, one on top of a flight of stairs that he headed to, and realized this was a two-family house.

I waited for him to open the second door, and when I stepped in, I looked around. It looked homier than I'd imagined Kaiba's place would, but then I remembered he didn't live here alone. I briefly wondered about his brothers, and then found myself wondering about if he ever brought anyone else up here, and then I thought about killing Mai because the fact that I was thinking about it like that was probably completely her fault.

"Take your shoes off and don't touch anything."

I rolled my eyes. Again with the commands. "Yes, Master," I mumbled sarcastically under my breath, expecting him not to hear me.

Unfortunately, I got the feeling that he did, because he stared at me for a second in an uncomfortable silence before, "Shoes."

I cleared my throat and began taking my shoes off before I heard footsteps walking towards us. "Hey, Seto, you're home early. We didn't expect you for din—oh."

A tall boy with long black hair and a childlike face stopped short when he noticed me. He looked curiously between me and Kaiba and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't realize you had company. Should Noah and I leave you two alo—"

Kaiba rolled his eyes and shook his head, and my face heated up a little at the insinuation. "Mokuba, this is one of my interns. I needed to get some stuff from my room before we went to go do fact checking."

The kid, Mokuba, looked me up and down and nodded as Kaiba left the room and walked down the hall. "I see. Nice to meet you, I'm Mokuba. Seto's brother. You probably figured that out."

"Joey," I introduced with a smile, looking up when a slightly shorter boy with teal hair came in from what looked like the kitchen.

"Hey, pizza's ready. Who's this?"

My stomach grumbled at the thought of pizza, as Mokuba introduced me. "Noah, this is Joey. He works for Seto."

"Technically, I work for Pegasus," I objected.

"Eh, same thing," Mokuba shrugged.

Noah tilted his head. "You hungry? We always make the pizzas big. Even when Seto's here, there's leftover." He ushered me into the kitchen, where the smell of pizza started taking hold of my senses.

"Oh, I don't want to take your food," I insisted. As hungry as I was, I knew I wasn't exactly an invited guest.

"It's fine, Noah's got a thing for feeding the stray puppies of the neighborhood."

I growled, turning to glare at Kaiba, who walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. "Didn't you have to get something from your room?"

He pointed to the file that I didn't notice he'd put on the kitchen island before grabbing a plate and a slice of pizza. Noah gave me a plate of two before he and Mokuba each took their own, and Mokuba placed a water in front of me, as well.

It all seemed a little too normal for Kaiba, to be leaning against a kitchen counter eating a homemade pizza while his brothers sat on the island and chatted. It was simultaneously unsettling and relaxing, all at once. I wondered if he was usually as quiet as he was now, or if he typically joined in their conversation but was holding back because I was here.

I was halfway done my second slice when I noticed Mokuba trying to sneak a peek at the file. I took it from his hands, holding it closed and good naturedly hitting him on top of the head with it. Noah snorted and I smirked as Mokuba pouted. "Can't blame a kid for being curious. This case is all over the news."

"Then you'll hear the details on the news," I countered.

"Or in court. Are we allowed in, Seto?" Noah asked.

"I'll see what your grades are, first," Kaiba answered, putting his plate in the sink and leaving the kitchen. "Don't wait up."

The two younger Kaibas gave each other a look and I got the feeling I knew what they were thinking. I put down the crusts, wiping my hands on a napkin and getting up to throw my stuff out when I heard one of them mutter, "I wonder if the file's the only thing he got from his room."

I choked on the water in my mouth, turning to glare at the two smirking boys, but before I could, I heard a call from the foyer. "Wheeler, come."

My face heated up more at the snickering from Kaiba's brothers and I glared harder, stomping out of the kitchen. "Cut it with the damn commands, I'm not your fucking dog," I practically yelled, poking him in the chest before getting my shoes on. He was silent as we walked down to the car.

Author's Notes: Aren't Mokie and Noah little shits? I love them. I need to write them in Super Rich Kids, too, but I got the bug back for this and found some time so I banged out a couple of chapters. I'm going to work on the next one, too, but not post it until I update some of my other fics.