Wow – when I started writing this fic several weeks ago, I had no idea I would be able to write 11 chapters! This is, by and large, the longest thing I have ever written! And it still isn't finished! However, there is no way I would have reached this point without my beloved reviewers…thank you all so much! I would also like to thank all of you who have continued reading to this point…you haven't gone unnoticed!

And now we return to the extremely tall Kaiba Corp building in Domino City where an extremely successful CEO is making an almost futile attempt at freedom…Skiving off early is pretty damn difficult when you head a multi-billion dollar company…but that doesn't mean it's impossible…

Kaiba's POV

Seven strides for an ordinary person. Three strides for him. That was all that was separating Seto Kaiba from the door of the Kaiba Corp building and an early escape to his mansion. A mansion which he was finally beginning to think of as home.

Two strides. One stride. Freedom at las-

"Mr Kaiba, sir! Mr Kaiba!"

Busted.

Kaiba closed his eyes. So close yet so far. "What is it Roland?" He growled.

"Mr Kaiba, I'm afraid I just received a very important phone call from-"

"Listen carefully, Roland, because I'm only going to say this once. I'm going home now and you're not to bother me for the rest of the weekend."

"But Mr Kai"

"Goodbye Roland."

"But Mr K-"

With a great flourish, Seto Kaiba left the building and Roland's protests were soon drowned out by the heavy traffic of Domino City centre. Kaiba tried to repress a smile. In just thirty minutes, twenty if his limo driver would put up a half-way decent show of competence, he would be reunited with his puppy and, shortly after that, he would be smelling that mesmerising honey and candied apple smell that seemed to emanate from his long, shaggy fur. Yes. It was going to be an excellent evening and an even better weekend.

Joey's POV

Catching sight of Kaiba from Mokuba's window, Joey grinned a huge doggy grin and his tail began thumping excitedly against the floor. He'd come home early! With a massive leap, Joey bounded down the stairs to greet him.

Catching sight of his master, Joey began prancing around him eagerly, pawing his trench coat and tugging on his sleeve buckles with his teeth.

"It seems I need to schedule you in for some etiquette lessons, puppy. On second thoughts, such lessons would be wasted on a hopeless mutt like you."

Joey's wide doggy grin increased to one of epic proportions. "Missed you too, rich boy" he replied silently. "Good ol' moneybags. No matter what shape or species, things between us will never change."

"I don't know what you're so happy about. You must know what my return means for you. Unless, of course, your monstrous fatuity transcends my already poor estimation of your cerebral capacity."

By this point Joey had stopped listening to Kaiba's increasingly loquacious insults and was instead trying to herd him towards the bathroom. No mean feat considering it meant leading Kaiba up no less than four flights of stairs and along five corridors.

Nevertheless, after a surprisingly short amount of time, the seemingly arduous task had been completed and Joey's bathing pleasures could begin. He couldn't even begin to understand the strange delights of the tub but he assumed they were the same delights that Tea had constantly been babbling about whenever they were camping together. The pleasure of bubbles and relaxation. After all, what other explanation could there be for his fervent bath time felicity?

Kaiba's POV

Pulling up in front of the Kaiba Corp building on Monday morning, Kaiba was feeling slightly unsettled. He had a meeting right away and he hadn't done his usual preparations. In fact, he hadn't even checked his email inbox or fax machine for any last minute notifications.

Instead, he had spent the whole of Saturday chasing Buddy around Domino (he had jumped out of a second story window after seeing a bright blue butterfly fly by and had refused to stop chasing it for several hours) and he had then spent the whole of Sunday watching Buddy get his leg x-rayed and bandaged at the vet (Buddy's ardent pursuit of the beautiful blue butterfly having led to a sprained leg muscle – silly puppy.)

Then again, Kaiba wasn't that nervous. After all, he owned the company and, unless Gozaburo Kaiba had miraculously revived for a second time, it was extremely unlikely that anyone had taken over his company that weekend.

Calling his meeting to order, Kaiba felt marginally better. True he had slacked off a little that weekend but it really wasn't a big deal. He would just work extra hard that week to make up for it. After all, his business associates really weren't that incompetent. Wait, what was that?

"You offered them what?"

"We're sorry Mr Kaiba. But he said that if we didn't accept those terms than the merger was off and you told us that the merger was important."

"Of course it was important, you fools, but not so important that you had to promise one quarter of all our shares! You were meant to negotiate with him, idiots! Not blindly accept whatever pathetic offer he made you. Do you blockheads know anything about the business world?"

"But, sir, you've always handled the negotiations in the past. We didn't know how to handle it! Every time we tried offering less, he threatened to take his business elsewhere!"

"He was bluffing, fools! You are such-" Kaiba suddenly stopped as the truth of what they were saying sunk in. He had lost one quarter of Kaiba Corp and the strength of his organisation had been fatally weakened. All this as a result of his little stunt. He was the idiot.

Joey's POV

Joey paced anxiously up and down the hallway. It had been five days since Seto had been home. Five days since he'd had his last bath (Mokuba had been really busy with some big company crisis and had consequently been neglecting his pet). As a result, Joey was feeling nervous, miserable and really rather ill. His cuts were being to itch and some were even burning. A burning that was spreading each day.

Looking at the clock, he noted the time. Three o'clock in the morning. Sighing, he made his way towards his basket…only to hear the almost silent sound of the front door opening. There was only one person who came home this late and, fortunately for Joey, it was the only person he was interested in seeing.

Scampering towards the door, Joey forgot his misery and confusion, instead preparing himself for the lickfest of a lifetime. And if moneybags didn't fancy giving him a bath this late? Well then, Joey was just going to have to make him.

"It's for the mission, it's for the mission, it's for the mission" he told himself over and over again. However, by this point he had pretty much accepted that there was slightly more to it than that. Even if he wasn't willing to open himself up to the truth.

Seeing the tall, slim figure stride through the door, Joey began to bound up to him. "Ok, I need a plan." He thought to himself. "First I'll lick his face, that oughta wake him up a little. Then I'll grab one of those buckles on his legs and drag him to the bathroom. That oughta do the trick!"

Leaping up to Kaiba's face, Joey felt his heart lift. Phase one is go! However, his jubilation was short lived…

One minute he was in the air, flying towards his master, and the next minute he was slamming into a wall. Joey looked around frantically. What had just happened? Was it an earthquake? Was Seto ok? Forgetting about his pounding head, aching limbs and stinging wounds, Joey rushed towards Kaiba, jumping in front of him to make sure he wasn't hurt.

That was when he saw Kaiba's face. A face so enraged, so vehement, so tumultuous, that his features had been distorted almost beyond recognition. "Poor guy" thought Joey, pouting at the pain on his master's face, "I wonder who upset him this much?" Joey growled slightly, "I hope whoever did this really suffers" he added, rather ironically.

Noting that Kaiba's fists were shaking with rage, Joey made to lick one of them – only to be punched by that very fist. "How dare you come near me, you filthy mutt! Do you honestly think I'm going to let you ruin my life after all the hard work I've put into it? Really? Well, I've got news for you, I want you to LEAVE MY HOUSE!"

The last three words were yelled so loudly that Joey thought his sensitive ears might just explode in pain. However, his whimper of pain didn't soften Kaiba's expression. If anything, it just hardened it. You think you're so cute with those big brown eyes of yours and all that soft, shaggy hair but you're just a menace and a pain. So I want you out, do you hear me? OUT!"

Unfortunately for Joey, the shock and the pain of Kaiba's sudden brutality had left him frozen in his place and, consequently, Kaiba felt that he was left no choice but to grab Joey by the scruff of his neck and throw him violently out of the mansion.

Emma's Charmer's POV

Emma was staring into her crystal ball, motionless. Having just witnessed Joey's expulsion from the Kaiba mansion, she knew she had two options. On the one hand, she could keep Joey as a dog to punish him for rejecting her advances. This would be the more dignified approach as it would mean sticking to her earlier terms. Terms that stated the transformation spell could only be broken by Joey melting Kaiba's stone heart.

However…there was another choice. A sneaky, underhanded choice that could possibly appear just a little bit desperate. Nevertheless, if it worked – no, when it worked – then it would result in the acquisition of a soul mate… what should she do?

Joey's POV

Joey was trembling under a hydrangea bush just inside the gates of the Kaiba mansion. He couldn't believe it. Kaiba had thrown him out. It was all over.

What had he done wrong? What could he possibly have done to deserve such pain? The physical pain he could deal with, but not the emotional pain. He'd believed the thought of losing Yugi forever had been painful but that was nothing compared to this. Things simply couldn't get any worse.

"Hello, Joey dear."

The universe just loved proving him wrong, didn't it?

"Now, now, don't growl at me like that! I'm here to give you another option."

Joey's ears pricked up in spite of his best efforts to restrain them. The last time he had seen this vile woman, Emma Charmer had been extremely strict about the conditions of his contract. He would regain his human form on capturing the heart Seto Kaiba and as long as he held Seto's heart, he would also hold onto his human form. Nothing else would work…

"Listen honey, I'm going to offer you an arrangement. If you promise to be my…er… partner – human partner, mind – then I'll undo the spell and we can both live happily ever after, till the end of our days. How does that sound, sweetie? Do you accept?"

Joey had to admit, the thought of spending the rest of his existence with this crazy witch was initially rather repugnant. Then again, what if he refused? What would he be left with? The rest of his life spent as a golden puppy dog!

However, as a dog he would be able to tail Seto and Mokuba – making sure they were safe and happy. Sure, he wouldn't be much help if they got into trouble, but he could still be with them – even if they never knew it.

NO! Kaiba had just rejected Joey's presence from his life. Joey had to accept it and move on with his own. And if he couldn't do it for himself? Well, then he would do it for Kaiba and ensure he had a distraction-free existence. Sighing, Joey prepared to nod his head…

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh" – wait, that sounded like Seto! Was he in trouble?

Without a second thought, Joey began to bound back towards the mansion.

"Joseph Wheeler! Come back here right this minute!"

Joey didn't even pause.

"If you don't come back now then the deal's off. Forever. I'm not giving you a second chance. It's now or never."

For Emma Charmer, Joey was now just a yellow speck in the distance.

"You're are fool, Wheeler! You're going to give up a human life to help a man who doesn't want to see you again! A man who threw you out of his house!"

By this point, Joey had vanished from Emma's sight. He had entered the Kaiba mansion once again and he was prepared to do whatever it took to shield his master from harm.

Ok, I admit, this chapter is a little on the long side, however, I hope you enjoyed it!

You know the drill, review for continuation. The more reviews I receive, the quicker the next chapter goes up.