Black out

Chapter 2

During the next few days Joey kept getting similar dreams and started to wonder if Kaiba could be anything like he was in his dreams. He probably wasn't but since Kaiba wasn't romantic even in his dreams and not especially caring either, it might be possible, especially since he was mostly after sex in Joey's dreams. Just rarely Joey dreamed about just lying with Kaiba in the big garden of his huge mansion with his head on Kaiba's lab while he read a story for Joey who would definitely enjoy listening to Kaiba's velvet voice and they would discus the book with each other afterwards. Joey loved to read but none of his friends shared that passion and Joey was sure that Kaiba did read a lot but wondered if it would be something else rather then fantasy books which Joey preferred. Kaiba probably would chose some boring autobiographies. Still the thought about how it might be to date Kaiba was never far from his mind and sometimes he thought that some lover's spats with Kaiba might even be nice.

A few more weeks passed in that manner. Over and over similar daydreams lingered in Joey's mind whenever it was unguarded. And after each and everyone of them Joey argued with himself that the thought of him being together with Kaiba couldn't possibly be appealing to him. He told himself over and over what a jerk Kaiba was and that he only cared about himself but unfortunately there was a little voice in Joey's head that reminded him that Kaiba did care for something else. He cared for his little brother Mokuba, he cared for his company for which he worked hard. And on top of that the same little voice in Joey's head reminded him on the fact that Seto Kaiba was exactly his type. He hadn't thought about that fact before but now that he did he couldn't argue the fact that Seto was appealing to him physically.

Joey loved the pricing blue of his eyes. He liked that it was emphasized by his rather pale skin and his dark hair. Even the famous Kaiba death glare made those eyes only more appealing to Joey. In fact, but he wouldn't even admit it if his life depended on it, said glare always had made Joey want to kiss the ruby lips under those eyes.

This went on for weeks and Joey hoped that a little distance to the cold CEO might help and was happy that he had an invitation from Mai to visit her in the states, a free plan ticked and stay at her place included. Joey was already very exited by the time he was picking up the new passport that he needed for said trip. The only down part about it was that Joey was sure that Serenity had called Mai and that she now only wanted to see the tattoo, an assumption that was mainly based on the fact that the invitation reached Joey two hours after he had said his good byes to Serenity on the Sunday at the beach. The knowledge that he would be questioned about it didn't decrease his excitement thought, he still couldn't wait to see Mai and was happy that he had gotten a week of from work to go on the trip.

Said excitement changed once Joey looked into his new passport with the happy thoughts about what he might get to do in the states. He looked inside mainly to make sure that there weren't any mistakes that might course him any troubles at the airport, but he was not prepared for what he saw. The tattoo was nothing compared to the mistake he found. Or rather he hoped that it was a mistake but already feared that, just like the tattoo, it might be a keepsake from one night with too much booze. "I'm sorry." Joey said with shaking hands to the girl that had handed him the finished passport. "I think ya made a mistake with the name."

"Why?" She asked and looked onto the scream of her computer.

"My name is Wheeler." Joey answered.

He watched the girl look onto the computer screen while his heart was racing so hard that he was sure she could hear it. "I'm sorry, but didn't you take your husbands name because here stands that your name is Joseph Kaiba, maiden name Wheeler."

"Husband?" Joey whispered hardly audible in his shock.

"Yes." The woman said slightly confused by his reaction. "Your husband, Seto Kaiba."

Joey paled even more. This just couldn't be true. "When exactly did I marry him again?" He asked even though he was reasonably sure that he knew the answer. But a small part of him still hoped that this was all just due to some mishap in the computer system and that she would apologize for it in a moment and promise to have a new passport ready in time for his trip to the states.

Instead the women looked even more confused but once more looked onto the screen of her computer before giving Joey the date he had feared to hear. The day where Joey had a black out and probably got a tattoo too.

"You've got to be kidding me." Joey whined and wanted to cry out in his misery, he couldn't be married to Seto Kaiba could he?

"Is there a problem?" The woman asked confused.

"Yeah." Joey answered. "I mean no, I mean oh forget it." Joey took his passport and left to walk around the city. After about an hour he got his mobile out and phoned Mai. He didn't care how much it would cost him he just wasn't sure what he should do now and Mai was the only one he felt safe talking to about that kind of topic. He knew that Tristan, Yugi and the rest of the gang would support him with anything he did but he also knew that if he called Tristan or Téa and told them that he was married to Seto Kaiba they would absolutely freak out and advice him to get it annulled right away. The amusing thing was that both would probably try to get into Kaiba's office to beat the crap out of the arrogant rich moneybags.

If Joey called Yugi with the same news he would be overjoyed and tell Joey to move in with Seto and make sure that he is cared for and has someone to talk to and share Kaiba's responsibilities with him and to teach Kaiba how great life can be when you got friends and so on. He wanted to talk to someone who gave a damn about Seto Kaiba and who he was, he needed to talk to someone who hardly knew the jerk and would only think about what was best for him because he wasn't sure anymore. Before the tattoo thing he would have gone with Tristan and Téa without a second thought but after all those dreams he had started to get some really confusing feelings for Seto and wasn't sure what he should do about those now. He still didn't want to have them, but he feared about what might happen with those if he really did walk into Kaiba's office to get it annulled and it would be really hard to get their marriage annulled without seeing Kaiba and getting him to sign the papers, if not to say impossible. The fact that he didn't even know if Kaiba knew that he was married or what he thought about it didn't help his confused heart and mind. And Joey still remembered the mental image of the shocked Kaiba who woke up in bed with him and feared that he would be just as shocked about him being his husband.

It took a moment before Mai picked up and asked, "Hey Joey how are things?"

"Bad." Joey mumbled quietly and deep in thoughts.

"Why?" Mai asked with a suddenly much more worried tone. "What happened?"

"I'm married." He mumbled.

It was quiet on the other side of the phone for a moment and then Mai chided him "How can you marry without inviting me Joey Wheeler, you're damn right that it's bad, I'm furious."

"Mai please." Joey begged "I would invite you if I had known. I'm married since the night before you left, you know where I had that black out."

"The one where you got a tattoo?" Mai asked sounding less angry and more surprised and Joey hoped that he only imagined the faint amusement in her voice.

"Yeah." Joey answered quietly "Seems like that wasn't the only surprise, and by the way, the name isn't Wheeler anymore."

"What is the name?" Mai asked curious.

"Kaiba." Joey mumbled so quietly that all Mai could understand was "khhhhmmmaaa."

"What was that?" she asked, "Could you please talk a bit more clearly?"

"Kaiba." Joey mumbled a little louder but still so quiet that Mai could just about understand the Kai part. But since Serenity had told her all about the KC tattoo she was sure that she knew the answer now.

"You mean, your Joey Kaiba?" She asked surprised, she really had thought that the tattoo was the only surprise Joey had earned from his black out. "You're married to a Kaiba?"

"Not a Kaiba." Joey answered "The one and only Seto Kaiba a.k.a. the biggest jerk on the planet, mister I can do what I want and I'm better then the rest of you, Mai, I'm married to the god damned devil in person."

"You're married to Seto Kaiba and call me instead of going to him and force him to get it annulled?" She asked surprised. "Okay spill it, what else did I miss? Is domino City still standing or did your world already go under?"

"I started thinking about some things. Ya know after finding out about the tattoo." Joey started to explain and took a deep breath while Mai stayed quiet to give him the time to unscramble his thoughts, especially since he had been calling her and was the one paying for the call. "I wasn't in any pain really. I mean the morning after; he must have been really gentle. Usually it hurts much more. I mean it's usually really worth it but it didn't hurt so much that time so he must have been like REALLY gentle. And then he had paid for the suit for an extra day and all and for the food. Before I knew about the tattoo I thought that it must have been an extremely nice guy and then when I found the tattoo I thought that it couldn't have been Kaiba since he ain't nice. But I still wondered what it would be like to be with a Kaiba that could be nice. Even if he was still mean at times and making fun insults because he might like to fight with me or see me all angry or whatever." It was quiet again while Mai already thought that she knew where this was going but she also knew that Joey had to speak it out loud himself. "I started to really like the idea of being with a nicer Kaiba. And he is nice to Mokuba and he did help us sometimes before. I mean he always claimed to have some selfish reason behind it, but he did help and came through for us. So I thought that if he could care for me a little bit than it might be nice to be with him."

This time the silence stretched out even longer and Mai asked "And now?" Just to make him answer her a little faster, she didn't want him to get into too much financial problems because of a long distance phone call that went on for ages.

"I don't know." Joey answered honestly. "I think I don't really want to storm into his office and get it annulled and just walk out again like nothing ever happened, but I hardly know that side of him never mind if he even cares about me or wants to be with me at all, for all I know he'll be storming up to my apartment anytime soon to get it annulled once he finds out about it. I mean I can hardly just move in and be his little husband."

"Then don't do any of that." Mai suggested.

"And what can I do instead?" Joey asked.

"Do what you had planned." Mai advised, "Pack your stuff and get into that plane I booked for you. Give yourself a few days to think everything through instead of acting on a wimp. It got me in trouble more often then you know so take your time."

"Okay." Joey said sounding much more cheerful. A whole week to think about everything and talk it through with Mai in peace sounded heavenly.

He was exited about his trip again and hardly could wait until his plane took off to take him as far from Kaiba as possible. And he truly enjoyed the time once it came and used it too the fullest. He did a lot with Mai, mostly things that would distract him further. Mai kept him busy all week, showing him around going out with him and even introducing him to a few gay guys she knew and hang out with sometimes. Joey loved every minute of it. Especially the nights they spent in some of the gay clubs where to his liking.

On the last night she didn't go out with him though, which was a contrast to what they usually did when she was over to visit him. They stayed at her apartment instead and had a few cocktails she prepared for them. While putting down the first one on the table right in front of Joey she asked him "How did you like my friends?"

"They're nice." Joey answered innocently.

"I mean…do you like, like them, the gay ones I mean?" She asked with a wicked grin. "I know that one of them asked me to talk you into moving here so he could see you more often and considering their looks at your butt, I think one or two more would be really happy if that happened, they clearly enjoyed the little eye-candy I introduced to them."

"Yeah right." Joey laughed "I doubt that it is true and even if, their nice and I like them, but I don't like, like them."

"To bad for them." Mai mused and smiled knowingly. "Could that be because you kept thinking about Kaiba?"

"What gave you that impression?" Joey asked and blushed a little. It was true, he had thought about him a few times and once even been so deeply in thought that Mai had to call his name a few times to get his attention.

"Easy." Mai said with a chuckle "Whenever you saw something in the shops that had a KC sign on it you stared at said letters and usually scratch your back, brushed your fingers over your tattoo you got in the process. You also seemed to only see products produced by Kaiba Corp."

"I did?" Joey asked with an even darker blush on his face.

"You sure did Joey." Mai replied and watched him in silent for a moment noticing the thoughtful look on his face. "Your thinking about him right now aren't you."

"Well, since you brought it up." Joey mumbled slightly upset that Mai could read him so well.

"You do get that there is away between moving in or getting it annulled." Mai pointed out.

"And what would that be?" Joey asked and looked at her questioningly. He hadn't even tried to think about another option since he had those two on his mind all the time and they where the only ones he had pictured. Neither one had looked like a great solution though.

"Talk to him and see what happens but take it slow." Mai answered. "I mean, he might not like you the way you hope but if he does, it doesn't mean that you have to go with his pace and either move in or dump him completely. Well you can't really dump him since you never even dated him but you know what I mean. You could date him now, at least for a while, just go out every now and then when you got the time and enjoy his company, if that's even possible, a few hours a week until you feel more comfortable making a choice and sticking with it. Wait till you aren't as worried about his high and mighty attitude that he used to show you all the time. Bring him down a notch or two by making him wait until you're ready. Or dump him once you sure that you couldn't possibly live though another date with him, whatever comes first."

Joey stared at her. He hadn't thought about that possibility at all, they where married and he hadn't thought that there still might be a way to take it slow considering that it already was pretty far along, but they hadn't lived like a married couple so far so why start now just because of a piece of paper that said they had married, he couldn't even remember that so he might as well ignore that fact. "And what if he doesn't like me?" Joey asked after a while, he really wanted to give it a shot right now, he wanted to find out if Kaiba could be nice.

"Then you'll be the strong guy I know you are and let him get it annulled or get divorced whatever he suggests. I would advise a divorce though since you might get a bit off money out of him that way." Mai said "And after that you call me and cry your pretty eyes out when he doesn't see it. Or even better, you come back as soon as you can and I hook you up with some of my gay friends again and find you a job here. Maybe they got more of a chance when Kaiba isn't messing around in your head all the time and I get to spend more time with my best pall."

Joey smiled at her and felt much better about flying back and dealing with his situation since he got that damned passport. "But one thing I know for sure " Joey mentioned in a joking tone and grinned towards Mai "whatever happens with Kaiba, I'll never get that drunk again."

"I remind you the next time I see you get close to it." Mai answered in a chuckle and grabbed her glass and grinned evilly "And now let's drink on not getting too drunk again."

"I'll probably so gonna fail the way we start my not getting drunk policy." Joey mused with a grin.

"Then let's start with it tomorrow and tonight I'll make sure that you won't get married." Mai suggested with a chuckle.

"That'll be easy. I can't get married again anyway." Joey pointed out laughing and the two of them started to joke and laugh throughout the remainder of his last night and neither one got much sleep before they said their good byes at the airport.

On the next day Joey arrived back in domino and once he had his stuff back at his apartment he went to the Kaiba Corp. building. Joey got more nervous with every step he took towards it. He was even considering leaving again for a brief moment when he saw the big building towering above him, especially since he was a little tired from the lack of sleep, but then he just wanted to kick his own ass for being scared of Kaiba and making excuses for himself. He knew that he needed to get it over with and that he would be worried until he did and so he walked right into the building and to the receptionist at the front. Joey had a feeling that it was easy to find Kaiba's office but who knew if he really was in at all and Joey also had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to just walk right in past all the security that was walking around and standing to both sides and between the multiple elevators.

"Hey." Joey said to the young woman that sat at the reception she looked much younger then he was. "I need to talk to Seto Kaiba. Is he here?"

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked friendly.

"I'm afraid not but it's important." Joey answered and wondered if he might be better of waiting till the evening and get to Kaiba's mansion, it'll probably be easier to get a hold of him there. He saw people walk in and out and the securities obviously didn't know everyone working here but they all had an ID card and had to show it to get into an elevator.

"What is your name sir?" She asked and Joey was glad that he wasn't kicked out right away.

"I'm Joey Wheeler." Joey answered and regretted it already. He should have said Joey Kaiba; she would probably let him pass if she thought him a relative and he had a passport to prove his identity as a Kaiba, but like always he had been to slow to think of that.

She looked at Joey for a moment and then mumbled "One second sir." Joey saw her walk over to a woman that was a little older but busy on a phone a bit further behind. The younger one just pointed to Joey and said something into the other ones ear. The older woman put a hand over the phone to make sure the person on the other side of the line didn't understand what she said and then past the phone to the younger woman and probably gave her some instructions along with it before the older one walked up to Joey.

"Please excuse the delay mister Kaiba." The older woman said, "Layla is only an intern and didn't recognize you. How may I help you?"

Kaiba? Joey thought and felt his eye twitch in anger. If she knew, he knew…but for how long? While Joey wondered that he simply informed this woman that he needed to talk to Seto Kaiba.

"Of course Mister Kaiba." The woman said in a very friendly voice that sounded a little fake to him. She probably had to be nice to everyone and uses that fake smile and friendly voice for everyone. "Please follow me." She added and walked to the elevator where one of the security guards stood. "Please guide Mister Joey Kaiba up to Mister Seto Kaiba's office." She told the guard who gave a nod before the woman walked back to the reception desk.

Joey entered the elevator after the security guard and from inside he saw the woman reach the reception desk again. He could see how she picked up a phone where she just pressed one button before she waited for someone to pick up before the doors to the elevator closed. Joey was sure that she informed Kaiba that he was there and knew that there was no turning back now, and he didn't want to turn around anymore either. He wanted answer now more then anything. Why did Kaiba just wait at his office when he clearly knew about the fact that he was married to Joey, and more importantly why did that woman know? Didn't Kaiba care who knew about his obviously rushed wedding while he must have been too drunk to know who he married? Or hadn't he been as drunk as Joey and if he hadn't been, why where they married at all?

Joey kept wondering about those questions while the elevator went all the way up to the top and that didn't surprise Joey at all. The hallway that leads to the huge door of Kaiba's office was impressive and Joey was getting more and more nervous about what he was going to do. And by now he didn't really care for how long Kaiba knew what or if he had been drunk too. He just hoped that Kaiba wouldn't figure out that Joey wanted to give this a shot before Joey was sure that Kaiba didn't want to get out of it instead. Kaiba would probably laugh about it for ages if he would find out that Joey wanted to date him while he just wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible.

A woman, that had a desk right before the big door that lead to Kaiba's office and probably was his secretary, opened the door for Joey. The guard stopped half way to the door and Joey slowly walked onwards feeling like he was about to meet his doom.

Authors Note: Thanks to BrowneyedShamer, LovelyRose5001, Nagareboshi-Lover and dancing elf for the reviews.

The next chapter where Seto will talk to Joey and tell him everything that happened, well most of it anyway, will be out tomorrow.