A Monopoly Of Blue Eyes

by FeistyFox

He had refused to believe in his past, refused to be sucked into the fairytale that had been hurled at him again and again. But it appeared that his past had found him whether he wanted it or not. She was here… sitting right here in his class, this ghost from the ancient past, looking exactly as he remembered, exactly how she did in his dreams and the visions he had been shown.

19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Acquisitions

Smiling demurely at the businessman from France she finished the conversation and the man walked off, satisfied, as she stood next to Seto. She had been on his left for the better part of four days, and was starting to really lag, but was trying to hold off for a few more hours until this black tie affair was over and the conference finished. Overall, she thought it had gone well, very well.

After three days of frantically programming Seto and Mokuba had managed to get the AI program up and running, although they had been working on it on the plane nearly the whole way over here. While she didn't understand what they had done she was very aware it had been a massive effort and taken some sort of genius work to make it happen. Seto was deeply pleased, and not only with himself, but also Mokuba who had picked up on that and was trying to hide his happiness at making Seto proud. For her part she was as satisfied with that as them getting the new duel disks done. When they got to San Francisco she was not surprised to find that Seto had procured Kaiba Corp the prime spot at the venue, save of course for the Industrial Illusions section, which was only right as it was Pegasus company that was sponsoring the entire thing.

Seto didn't let that stop him from shining, and his team from his American branch, who had never met him personally, were torn between awe and terror as he swept in and took full control. Having never really pictured Kaiba as a showman she was surprised with how he organized the event for himself, which was as clever as it was impressive. She, and Mokuba, were also shocked when he handed the duel disk to his younger brother right before the hall opened and told him he would be showcasing it. Dumbfounded, Mokuba had stared up at him and Kaiba nodded with utter confidence in his brother's abilities, moving to the sidelines to watch. She had moved next to him after smiling encouragingly to Mokuba, who after a moment pulled himself together and put the duel disk on his arm, looking eager.

"I was sure you were going to duel someone here." She murmured quietly so none of his other employees could hear. She had actually been hoping to see that as now that she knew how good he was she wanted to watch. Not that she was disappointed in his choice as Mokuba would show himself, and all the Kaiba Corp gear off spectacularly.

"Mokuba is an excellent duelist." He told her, clearly confident with his choice. "And it's time he stepped into his role at Kaiba Corp. I don't want to push him as hard as I was, but this is where he'll start. He does well in front of an audience."

She nodded, having expected this was what Seto had been planning for some time. "You're going to make him vice president aren't you?"

"Of course, if that's what he wants." Seto said, as if that was always what had been set up to happen, although she strongly suspected it was not what his adoptive father had in mind. "Clients will flock to him and he has a good, if moderate, approach to business dealings."

"Is that bad?"

"No, not at all." Kaiba told her. "I'm extremely aggressive, sometimes I need an outside opinion I trust to hold myself back. Mokuba can provide that, and apparently he's a rather gifted programmer." He glanced down at her. "How long has he been doing that?"

"I don't know." She replied honestly. "Before I moved here I think."

Seto accepted that and they waited a few minutes for everything to start. Once the doors to the facility open and people flooded in the place had turned utterly chaotic as they pushed and shoved to see what was there. Seto's demo had gone beautifully as the Kaiba Corp section was surrounded. Mokuba had easily trounced multiple ranked duelist, which earned him some serious recognition from the crowd, and the battles themselves had been rather breathtaking to watch. The crowd had been even more impressed than she had and the roar of approval had nearly rocked the building down around them as the program they had worked so hard on was showcased. After that they had moved around the hall as Seto inspected what was on offer with an educated and critical eye. She had translated in nearly every language she knew, sticking next to him from the time they got up in the morning to the time they went to bed. Within days he had several new clients pending as well as interviews set up with some of the more impressive inventors there to talk about contracts and job offers.

The whole thing had been magnificently productive from start to finish, but one thing had been mentioned over and over by hundreds of people that were in attendance. Maximilian Pegasus had not been seen. Despite having hosted this event, and no doubt spending millions on it, he had never appeared. It was odd, and when she mentioned it to Seto on the third day he had been suspicious in the extreme. Kaiba had clearly been expecting some sort of grandiose display, but instead was greeted with absolutely nothing. She figured it was probably for the best and was simply happy Mokuba had relaxed and entered one of the higher level tourneys on the last open convention day. Roland had been shadowing the younger Kaiba closely, no doubt on orders from Seto, but for once wasn't arguing with his brother about it. Considering Mokuba hated the whole idea of a bodyguard it only worried her more about whatever had gone down before.

However, nothing happened and she had lost most of her wariness despite Seto telling her to be on her guard around the man. But when he still didn't show up at the party the last night she was sure he wasn't going to show up at all. She wondered at it, but only briefly as she had been busy getting ready. Despite Seto's fears that she wouldn't spend money on something nice, it was clear her choice on her dress, or more like Mai's, had been correct. Mai had a field day when she told her what she needed and had gone all out to procure her a dress. Seto had actually complimented her, which she took as a huge win. The long blue dress was a simple, but elegant affair. The same deep blue as her eyes it was sleek and form fitting. The silk fabric sat at her collarbones and went straight down to the floor in the front. In the back it dipped low, showing off the majority of her back, which was a stark contrast against the deep blue of the fabric. She was wearing simple, understated silver jewelry, accentuating the fabric, which was the real star of the outfit. Her hair was up, which had taken her over an hour to accomplish as she had put it in a complicated mass of braids and curls. She felt very sophisticated, which was a new experience for her.

As the Frenchman walked away she spoke quietly. "Can I have a bathroom break? I think everyone that doesn't speak English or Japanese is done with you for at least a few minutes."

"If they aren't they can wait." He told her, easily allowing her a break. "Do you want wine?"

She smiled up at him, amused with the offer. "You know we're both too young to drink in this country? You have to be twenty-one."

He stared down at her. "That's ridiculous."

"I'm just letting you know you're breaking the law, wild thing." He rolled his eyes, but his lips were twitching up. "I don't drink, but water would be really great." She requested, having too many apprehensions about allowing herself alcohol after what she lived with in the past. "I'll be right back."

He hummed in agreement as he made a motion toward a waiter that was nearby. For her part she slipped away quietly to use the facilities. Finding the main bathroom full she moved to the other end of the hall and was directed to a different one by one of the staff. After turning into a side hallway she found it, thankfully with no line, and was able to get out quickly. Stepping back out into the hall, with every intention of returning to Seto's side, she came to a dead stop when she turned back around the corner to the dining hall and found a suited man blocking her path. He was tall and had a earbud in his ear, no doubt attached to a radio under his jacket. She knew at once that he was waiting for her by the way he was watching her and stopped in her tracks as cool brown eyes met hers. Warning bells blared in her head and she turned to go back the way she had come only to find another man behind her, preventing her from retreating. Turning her head forward again the first man spoke. "You're to accompany us, Miss Drake."

She eyed him. "Accompany you where?"

"To a meeting."

"I didn't agree to a meeting with anyone." She informed him, not liking this one bit.

"Your agreement isn't necessary. I'm under orders to escort you to the meeting one way or another. I'd appreciate it if you didn't make this difficult."

She didn't care at all what he wanted. Pulling air into her lungs she opened her mouth to scream and the man behind her put his hand over her mouth and grabbed one of her arms as the one in front of her lunged forward and grabbed the other one. Her curses were muffled dramatically by the man's hand as she was forced to walk left into another hall. Struggling hard she was forced into an elevator with clear glass walls and the first man, the one that didn't have his hand on her face, pressed the button for the top floor of the building. As soon as the doors closed the hand fell away from her mouth. "There's no point in screaming." The second one told her as they went up, the view of the dining hall spread out below them. "No one can hear you in here, but feel free to try if you'd like."

Believing that she wouldn't be heard she took a different approach and tried to ram into one but was pulled back by his partner and stood there simmering in rage, caught between them. Her fear of small spaces was pushed aside by her anger, and the clear glass was also helping somewhat. In less than a minute the elevator slid to a smooth stop and opened up into a long carpeted hallway. She was lead forward, struggling and with her stomach in knots, but unable to fight against the two men holding her, who she could only assume were weight lifters of some kind, because they were practically carrying her to get her to go. Getting to a large wooden door at the end of the hall one of them knocked and then pushed it open, shoving her inside before them.

The men loosened their hold substantially when they walked into a dimly lit, long room with an equally long table in the center. One wall, the one facing the area where the conference floor had been, was made entirely of one way glass. Wrenching her arms free she glared at them, more angry than frightened by being abducted this time. She was starting to think this was becoming a bad sort of habit, but at least she hadn't been knocked out in her own home this time. As the flunkies backed away the lights came up a bit and she saw a man with light blond, shoulder length hair covering part of his face sitting at the head of the table on the end farthest from her. He was in a red suite with a crazily patterned ascot around his neck, which looked strangely okay on him, and was sipping a glass of wine. She knew who he must be at once. This was the elusive and eccentric Pegasus. He hadn't made an appearance at his own event, and yet for some reason she had the dubious pleasure of his company.

As she stood there silently, trying to decided how to handle this situation, he glanced up at her. She saw one brown eye glitter with interest, and could just barely see that he appeared to have a patch over the other, hidden behind his hair. He looked like a strange sort of business pirate. "My, my, I suppose I never could fault Kaiba boy for his excellent taste."

She narrowed her eyes, refusing to be intimidated since that was clearly his intention. "Why am I here?"

"I've met everyone else at my little soirée. Everyone important at any rate." He indicated the chair next to him, which had another beautifully made goblet and bottle of wine in front of it. "Wine?"

"No." She said, refusing to move, and very aware the two men on either side of her could no doubt get her in a chair, her protest be damned. That didn't stop her from refusing however. If she was going to be a kidnap victim she was going to be the most unruly one imaginable. "And I have to tell you abduction isn't the best way to start a date no matter how good the vintage."

He laughed, the sound filling the room. "Oh, my sweet, you are spirited." He waved his hand at the two guards. "Wait outside, I've private matters to discuss with this beauty."

The two guards left and she stayed planted where she was since it was clear she wasn't going to be allowed out. She didn't sense any sort of sexual interest despite the second reference to his approval of her appearance, although that didn't necessarily mean she was safe from assault. Not that she was necessarily safe from anything at this point. The cryptic warnings she gotten from Seto about being careful around this man rang loudly in her head. Not for the first time she wished he had given her more information about him rather than less. Other than being told he was 'a raving unhinged lunatic' she didn't have a lot to go on. Unfortunately she didn't have much of an option as it was clear he meant to get something from her since he went to all the trouble of dragging her in here. "Why am I here?" She demanded again.

He sipped at his wine. "Kaiba doesn't befriend just anyone, or really anyone at all."

"I'm his employee." She said easily, thinking she might have been snatched for ransom or something, although Mokuba would be the more logical target for that. "An excellent one actually, but an employee."

"Tut tut." He waved his finger jauntily. "Lying doesn't become you, and I'm afraid you aren't overly skilled at it. Those mesmerizing eyes of yours betray you left and right. I've been watching the two of you since you got here." He indicated the glass. "He's clearly quite charmed with you. Why, he even smiles for you, and laughs, oh my! I've never seen him do that for anyone, not even for the much beloved younger Kaiba." He sipped at his wine. "Mokuba is such a lovely boy isn't he?"

She raised an eyebrow, playing it off, but becoming more uneasy by the moment. She hadn't liked the way he said that at all. It had been totally creepy. "Have I mentioned that I'm funny?" She asked. "And since when is entertaining your boss a crime? There's no shame in making sure your employer likes your company at business functions."

"You are quick witted." He replied, his voice filled with dark amusement. "But I've had so many terribly good reports about your, shall we say, exploits with dear Kaiba." She frowned more deeply and he waved his hand in a lazy circle. "I mean, spending at least thirty hours of your free time at his lovely estate a week even after spending your work days with him, going on mysterious vacations-" He made a 'hah' sound, feigning scandalization as he referenced her last abduction. "And living with him for what was it? Nine days? Well, how unseemly. What would the press think?"

"Reports." She repeated flatly, unmoved by the implication that they were sleeping together and fully believing this was not a way to get her to confess that she had indeed done all of that. Well, not the implied part, but everything else. This man was sure about that information, she could tell in the way he was holding himself. There was an easy, arrogant confidence hanging about him. It didn't take a genius to fill in the blanks. "How many spies do you have in Domino? Or at Kaiba Corp for that matter?"

"Enough to get me the information I need." He replied easily, a small smile on his face as he swirled the deep red liquid in his glass absently. "Shall we have a more frank discussion about your association with the dear Kaiba brothers now that the air is clear?"

"I have absolutely no reason to explain, or justify, any relationship I have with anyone to you." She told him bluntly. "And if you brought me in here to tell you anything about either of them, or headhunt me as I'm still not sure why I'm here, you've wasted your time."

"Now, now, Miss Blanche, not even the smallest tidbit?"

Her shoulders went stiff at the use of her real name. She felt her unease increase tenfold, because he shouldn't know that, no one should. "That's not my name."

He reached over and tapped a manilla folder that was sitting on the table to his left with the tip of his finger. "I'm very sure it is. And interestingly enough you're also three months away from being eighteen. Did you know you aren't allowed to make your own decision until then? At least by U.S. standards, and since this is where you're from." He shrugged. "Well, what would child protective services do to you? I've no doubt they've been searching all over for you since your little escape act last year. How brazen of you to come back so soon, or really at all." She clenched her jaw as her stomach rolled with anxiety. Her secret was clearly less safe than she had hoped and she was very sure this was not the person she wanted to have worked this out. She should have known if Seto could dig up her past others could as well. "And whatever would Kaiba think when he finds out? He's certainly not allowed to employ anyone under eighteen. Labor laws can be such a hassle, not to mention all the other laws you broke illegally obtaining a visa. Domestic, foreign, international. You really ran the entire gamut."

She felt panic begin to set in, but beat it back, calling his bluff. She was buoyed ever so slightly by knowing that Seto already knew about this. "Have fun proving that." She challenged, going all in. "Call them in if you're so sure about whatever information you have." His eye glittered as she pushed back. "Well?" She taunted. "Surely you have a cell phone, and at this point we both know he's started to look for me if I'm as important as you think I am. How much time do you really think you have if you're so sure that we're friends?"

He smiled, a crafty thing. "Spirited indeed." He said to himself, before addressing her. "Last chance. It's a good offer and the alternative..." He shrugged.

"Would you like me to tell you where to shove that offer?" She threw back, knowing she would rather be deported from Japan and imprisoned here than telling this man a damn thing about Seto. Kaiba had been better to her than anyone else ever had, and he was her friend. She wouldn't betray him.

Throwing his head back he laughed. When he stopped he watched her. "You are amusing." He told her. "It's too bad you're so loyal. I would have enjoyed working with you." He sighed. "But no matter, I was hoping you would pass my test."

"What?" She snapped.

"I could hardly trust you to help dear Kaiba boy if I could sway you to my side." He replied calmly, although he clearly wasn't surprised she had defied him.

"Help him?" She asked, confused and off kilter by this odd conversation, which was flipping around so quickly she wasn't sure where she stood with him from one moment to the next.

Putting his hand on the folder he slid it to her across the long table. Taking a step forward she stopped it before it could fall to the floor. After staring at him for a moment she opened it, expecting to see information about herself, information he meant to use to blackmail her. Instead, she found a small pile of legal documents. Frowning, she glanced up at him again to be sure he was staying put and began to read through them quickly. She was further confused when she realized what they were. "Kaiba Corp stock?" She asked, thumbing through the paperwork. With growing trepidation she realized how much these were worth. Her back went rigid and she looked back up, truly alarmed. "How much of it do you own?"

He smiled, fully pleased with himself, as he sipped his wine. "Ten percent, well a little more, but really why quibble over tenths of percentages?"

She kept her composure, although even with only the most basic understanding of how this worked she could see the very real danger this presented to Seto and his control of his company. She didn't understand how he hadn't found out about this when he had a team specifically for watching his stocks and predicting when it would be a good time to roll out new products, increase sales, or decrease production. Surely there was no way Pegasus had bought this much without anyone noticing. "Seto owns fifty percent. Mokuba owns another one percent. You don't have enough to take over." She said. "And even if you did Kaiba Corp has to be run by a member of the Kaiba family. It's in the bylaws."

"Keep reading." He encouraged, clearly aware of all of that. Going back to the paperwork she got to the end and blinked when she saw her name on the bottom line. It took her several baffling moments to process what she was reading. While the stocks had been purchased by Maximilian Pegasus he had signed them all over to her. Her eyes darted back up to the top of the page. These stocks were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, at her very lowest estimate having no idea what a share was worth at this particular moment in time. She would never make enough to even come close to being able to buy this. When she raised her head sharply he tapped his finger on the glass, studying her reaction closely.

Silence stretched between them before she finally broke it. "What is this?"

"Why ten percent of Kaiba Corp. Do keep up, dear."

"Don't patronize me." She snapped. "Why is it in my name?"

"Oh my." He sighed tragically. "As I suspect you know the Kaiba brothers and I had a falling out about five years ago now. The whole affair was so upsetting." She said nothing, having managed to get no details about whatever that incident was from either Mokuba or Seto. "And I do so want to make it up to them, but they couldn't very well trust me now."

"Still not following." She said bluntly.

"Consider this a peace offering." He told her. "I have a feeling one day Kaiba is sorely going to need control of those stocks, and if he buys up anymore his board of directors is going to get very nervous indeed, which is no doubt why he's refrained. It's only a matter of time before he enrages some powerful someone or other. He's got all the tact of a brick thrown through a window." She couldn't really disagree. "And when that time comes he won't take help from me. Oh no, never." She couldn't disagree with that either. "But, my dear-" His voice went from teasing to serious. "-he will trust you."

"And what do you think he's going to do when he finds out you gave me millions of dollars worth of stocks in his company? This would make me the most influential person of Kaiba Corp short of the majority shareholder, which is Seto. Even Mokuba wouldn't be able to overrule me and he's the only one with any other percentage of the company."

"I hardly care what you tell him." He told her, clearly approving of her thinking. "You may not want to tell him at all. I assume you're fully aware of the control issues he has. What a reaction he'll have when he finds out what you could do." Gleeful delight filled his face at the thought of Seto no doubt having a full on meltdown. "But it's up to you completely. As of ten minutes ago when I signed those documents in front of my lawyer and a notary the stock is completely yours. I've no power over it at all now."

"I didn't ask for this." She told him, thinking this was some sort of elaborate plot, or bargaining chip, or blackmailing scheme, although what it could be was beyond her. "I'm not giving you anything for it."

"I'm not asking you to, my sweet." He replied, taking another sip of his wine. "But I hardly need to. You'll do what I wanted you to do with it and hold onto it until he needs it, if he does."

"How can you possibly know that?" She demanded. "You don't know anything about me. I could walk out right now, sell these, and vanish."

He smiled. "I think I know enough about you to feel more than comfortable giving those to you, my little runaway. You were made to protect him and that's exactly what you'll do." Her forehead crinkled, not understanding that, but he went on. "And besides, people in love are so predictable." She faltered hard at that statement and he smirked. "You haven't told him have you? How amusing." He sipped at his wine as she stood there. "Poor thing, aren't you in a nasty bind. You can't seem to help yourself though can you?"

"You're insane." She told him frankly, gathering her mangled thoughts together and refusing to be baited even as she felt as if she'd been smacked across the face by his casually stated observation. "Like, way more than people say you are, clinically so."

"I prefer eccentric to insane." He told her, not at all hurt. "But semantics. The paperwork will be mailed to you immediately. No need to try to carry all that around while you drink champagne. I do so want everyone to enjoy the party, they're such fun. I suggest you contact your lawyer about it as soon as you get home." Before she could answer there was a shout and a resounding thud out in the hall. She turned her head as Pegasus hummed. "Alas, there's the end of our meeting."

The door was thrown open and Kaiba stepped in. The look on his face actually frightened her. She had seen him irritated, frustrated, moody, and even angry, but this was completely different. He was absolutely radiating cold fury. He took in the situation at once and moved to her, striding boldly into the room as if it were his. She saw the two men that brought her here unconscious on the floor outside. Beside them Roland and Mokuba were looking rather shocked, and she could only assume Seto had knocked them both out himself. "Not one word." He said fiercely to Pegasus. He kept his eyes trained on the other man as he got to her. "Did he hurt you?"

"No." She told him.

"Did his men?" He demanded.

"Not really." She answered.

"We're leaving." He put his hand on her back and began to herd her to the door, and away from the other man. Since all she wanted was to get out of there she made no protest. When she was safely between himself and Roland he addressed the older man again. "This is absolutely the last straw." Kaiba stated in perfect English, his voice cracking like a whip. "If I ever see you again, if there is one hint that you're bothering her in any way, if I find out that she's involved in any of your insane plots I will come back here and I will kill you."

Pegasus raised an eyebrow and sipped at his wine, saying nothing, but not looking very concerned by what she was sure they were all aware was a very sincere promise. In fact, he appeared smug, and Kaiba saw it. With one last furious glare Seto turned, putting his hand on the small of her back and walking out with her. She said nothing, truly understanding how dangerous he was right now. As he made a sharp motion for Mokuba to go before them Roland hurried in front of all of them, no doubt ready to clear the way as they went. The bodyguard pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and hit a single number as he got the elevator back open. The phone connected to someone and he spoke as his head swiveled about, searching for more of Pegasus' men as they filed in before him. "I want the car out at the south entrance to pick us up now. No excuses."

"Have our things taken directly to the airport." Kaiba ordered, smashing the ground floor button viciously. "I expect to be in the air in the next hour."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." Roland agreed as he hung up with the driver. He began to make more calls as the elevator took them down and Seto urged them out quickly, routing them around the outside of the party hall and toward the side exit, avoiding the crowd as best they could. By the time the stepped out into the cool night air the car was there with the driver holding the door open for them. Seto had Mokuba and herself in the car before him and she saw his eyes darting around, hyper-alert. She continued to say nothing, and when she sat down she saw Mokuba had his eyes trained on his brother as he got in, but was also silent.

The drive to the airport was uncomfortable. Seto was seething silently and his rage filled the back of the car in palpable waves. Knowing she was, if not the cause, at least the catalyst, she remained silent. Having no idea what would throw him fully over the edge, and seeing he was indeed on the brink of control, she erred on the side of caution and said nothing. As they drove she began to shiver as the cold of the night seeped into her. Her wrap had been left at the coat check as the building had been quite warm with all the people in it, but the weather here was cool and the heat in the car wasn't on. Crossing her arms in an effort to get warm she looked over at Mokuba. He met her eyes and it was clear they were agreed on how best to deal with Seto. He was not to be poked, prodded, or questioned until he calmed. Having silently agreed to this course of action she looked down at the floor. It wasn't like she didn't have enough to think about.

Even now she wasn't sure if Pegasus had actually intended to give her those stocks, if the paperwork had been real, or if it was all some sort of game. It was obvious from what Seto said that he was well acquainted with whatever 'insane plots' the man was capable of, which meant he had done things like this before. She certainly didn't believe anything was going to come in the mail. It was just as likely he had gone through the drama and made everything up to get some sort of specific reaction or action from her or Kaiba. The only thing she was sure of was that whole thing had been some sort of test, but if it was really for her or Seto she had no idea. He certainly got a great deal of information about both of them for all she'd refused to answer any of his questions. However, having Seto burst in the way he had certainly cleared up any possibility that they weren't on some sort of intimate terms with one another, and her reaction to his other statements had been more than telling. And if that meeting had indeed been exactly what he said it was, then she had no idea how to approach the idea of owning a tenth of Kaiba Corp, which she neither wanted nor deserved.

Baffled, and with her adrenaline still rather high she ended up biting her lip to try to settle herself down. The slight pain that brought helped a little, but it clearly wasn't enough to stay under the radar. Seto shifted and she glanced up at him. He was shrugging out of his jacket and once it was off he handed it to her, his eyes raking over her. Taking the jacket she smiled at him, trying to soothe. He was clearly far more upset than she was, despite the fact that she had been the one that had been dragged through the building. "Thank you." She began to draw it over her shoulders and was relieved at the heat that was still clinging to it from his body, but the first good thought she'd since she came out of the bathroom over half an hour ago was shattered.

"You're covered in bruises." He stated icily, and it was clear from his tone that he hadn't calmed down much in the last ten minutes of driving.

She followed his gaze and saw that there were a number of finger shaped bruises on her upper arms and wrists where the two men had held her. She doubted she had made them better with all her struggling as they were forced to hold her hard to keep her from getting away or hitting them. She pulled the jacket fully over her arms, giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts. When she spoke she kept her voice calm. "I was trying to get away. I don't think they intended to hurt me." Seto's response was another silent wave of rage, although this one felt raging hot rather than the cold fury when he was addressing Pegasus. She wasn't sure which was worse. "They'll be gone in a few days."

His eyes flashed dangerously and too late, she realized that was the wrong thing to say, although she wasn't entirely sure there was a right thing to say. Mokuba skidded into the conversation to help prevent catastrophe. "I'm sure Sarah will feel better once we leave."

She grabbed at that at once. The best thing for all of them was to get Seto out of here before he could do anything that would get him in real trouble, such as murder. "He knows I'm a runaway." She said, and then all attention was on her. If she could make this about her it would work, although she was no more sure Pegasus' threat about getting her in trouble with the law was legitimate either. "He said he would call child protective services and tell them I was here. I need to leave."

Mokuba frowned and she saw Roland look at them through the back window. The driver hadn't understood as they had been speaking Japanese and continued driving calmly. Despite his general silence the bodyguard spoke, confusion in his voice. "How can you be a runaway? You're nineteen."

She bit her lip again and looked over at Seto nervously. He pressed his lips together hard before speaking. "Call the airport. If our things aren't already on the plane when we get there have them shipped to us."

"Wait." Mokuba protested. "You're nineteen. Aren't you?" She tugged at Seto's jacket nervously, and this time she wasn't acting. Mokuba was not slow. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen." She whispered, seeing Roland leaning nearly through the open window separating the front of the car and the back to hear her. "I'll be eighteen in three months. They have every legal right to keep me here."

Roland pulled his phone out again and she heard him talking, ordering someone to get the plane ready and their flight plans changed at once. Mokuba's eyebrows drew together. "Your birthday isn't even in April?"

"It's June seventh."

Mokuba was now torn between that fact and a thousand other things. "How in the heck did you make it through the background check?"

"I…" She whined softly, really not wanting to admit this even if Seto already knew, or at least inferred, what must have happened. "I ran away from foster care and broke into a veterinary practice, stole all the money they had on site, and quite a few of the drugs they used on the animals. I sold all the drugs to a dealer, then took all the money and paid a hacker I found to change my birth certificate and cyber history. He wasn't as good as I had hoped, but it was good enough to pass the background check and fool the recruiter. I was afraid to push my luck and tell him I was more than eighteen, I don't look old enough to pull it off, and I didn't know that meant I had to finish school until he told me. At that point I was in too deep to back out even if I'd wanted to. My visa was already processing at the state department and they would have arrested me if I up and vanished. It would have looked too suspicious. Pegasus must have found something the hacker missed."

"No." Seto corrected. "He must have found a hard copy of your actual birth certificate. There's nothing left in any computer system on the planet that would say you are anything other than Sarah Drake who was born on April twelfth nineteen years ago."

That threw her as she understood very clearly what he had said, and what he must have done. "You-"

"Yes." He said, answering her question shortly. "And none of us will ever speak about this again. It could get you deported and I would have to pay far too much in legal costs to prove I had no part in altering state records in two countries and try to keep you in Japan."

She felt very guilty. "I never meant to-"

He made a sharp motion, dismissing her concern. "You didn't ask me to do anything. I made that decision by myself. Now, no more." Her guilt quickly shifted to gratefulness the likes of which she had never felt. This was well beyond him finding her an apartment and that had nearly had her breaking down. This was her whole life. What he had done made her completely safe, forever. She nodded, swallowing what felt suspiciously like a sob, although she was hardly sad. She thought it was just so much relief knowing that something she worried and feared was no longer an issue that she didn't know how to handle it. She still didn't know what to do about Pegasus knowing, but if all he had was a piece of paper and nothing to back it up then she could defend herself much more easily.

Mokuba shook his head, looking like he had a million more questions, but the car slowed to a halt. They all looked out the window and heard the driver speaking to someone at the gate of the airport. After only a few moments the gates open and the car drove forward. Less than two minutes later and the car was parked outside of a hanger. They got out and she saw the pilot in the cockpit moving around. Roland spoke to Seto as Mokuba got out of the car ahead of her. "Your things are still twenty minutes away. I've re-routed them to the nearest postal services."

"Fine." Seto said, reaching down to help her out. She took his hand and he kept her steady on her heels until she was fully out of the car. "How long until we take off?"

"Five minutes." Roland told him.

"Good." Seto headed to the plane and she followed after him quickly, being moved forward by the firm grip he still had on her. Good to the short timeline they were in the air in five minutes. They barely had time to sit down and settle in before they were taxiing out and then flying off. Looking out the window with Mokuba leaning over her seat from the one behind it she let out a sigh of relief as the land fell away and they started heading home. When she looked over she saw Roland had also relaxed and headed to the cockpit to get the flight plan, or talk to the pilot about the trip.

Mokuba flopped back in his chair and Seto stood up as they leveled off. He walked over to her and sat down in the chair across from her. "What did he want from you?" He asked. Behind her Mokuba sat back up and leaned over the seat again.

"A spy I think." She told him, which could be as true as anything else. She was so confused she was going to wait to see about the stocks. "He already has some either in Domino or at Kaiba Corp. I tried to convince him I was just an employee like anyone else there, but he said he had reports about what I did and where I was all the time. He knew how much time I spent at the mansion with both of you. He was going to make some sort of deal with me about it. I told him no." Seto said nothing and she began to tug at the jacket nervously again. "I swear I didn't tell him anything, Seto. I wouldn't do that."

"Of course not." He dismissed that as a given.

She gave him more, and willingly. "But honestly, I don't even know if that's what he wanted. I'm usually good with reading people, but he was all over the place. Maybe he just wanted to know if he could upset me, or he was trying to get me to work for him in some weird roundabout way. Or maybe he wanted to see what you would do when I went missing. He knew I was with you and he knew you would know something happened." She made a helpless gesture. "He seemed crazy."

"Yeah." Mokuba said. "Because he is."

"Don't let his mannerisms fool you." Seto advised. "He may be crazy, but he's sane enough to use that to his advantage. He thrills at unsettling people and he enjoys being outrageous." Seto appeared to have settled down from enraged to irritated, which was a good shift. "Which he got both of."

"So…" They both looked up at Mokuba. "Pegasus is still crazy, normal, the party was cool until the kidnapping, also sadly normal for us." Seto rubbed his face and she cracked a small smile. "Having established this are we going to talk about the fact that Sarah is a hard core criminal? Super neat, didn't see that coming at all."

Mortified, she said nothing, her smile vanishing. She was in no way proud of herself for doing any of that. She began to twist her fingers unhappily as she looked down at her lap. "I don't think she finds it nearly as cool as you do." Seto said, finally relaxing to a certain degree, his fingers tapping on the arm of his chair.

"Ah, I'm just teasing." Mokuba caljolled. He reached over and patted her shoulder in a friendly way, but her stomach was bunching with anxiety.

"I needed money. I didn't want to have to sell myself." She whispered, which was really more for Seto than Mokuba, although he also heard it. Kaiba hadn't been wrong about that assumption at all. "I didn't know what else to do but steal. Foster care is horrible. I was afraid of what would happen to me after what some of the other kids told me at the crisis center."

"Sell yoursel-" Mokuba stopped mid-question as he realized what she was saying. All the teasing was gone in an instant. Out of the corner of her eye she could see he looked both terribly uncomfortable and disgusted at once.

To her surprise Seto leaned forward and gently adjusted the jacket around her shoulders. "You won't ever have to worry about that again." He said, his voice calm. "We'll be home in a few hours and no one will be able to put you anywhere you don't want to be."

She nodded, looking up at him. "Okay."

He patted her face a little awkwardly, but he meant to be comforting. "Relax." He said, standing up. "Even if he calls the authorities we'll be in international airspace well before they can do anything. They won't be able to get you back here without a significant fight, and I doubt they'll think it's worth it for three months of your time."

"That's probably true." She agreed hesitantly, although she thought he was neglecting all the laws she had broken both here and Japan. It wasn't just about her running away.

"It's very true." He told her confidently, before turning his attention to his brother. "Did you eat at the party? There should be food on board." He and Mokuba headed toward the back to look for it when his brother told him he hadn't and she collapsed back into her seat, her adrenaline crashing now that they were well away from there.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hours later and Mokuba and Roland had both drifted off to sleep on opposite ends of the now darkened aircraft, the lights having been dimmed dramatically to allow everyone to rest and try to acclimate to the time difference between the two sides of the globe. She was sitting quietly staring out the window, too worried about what Pegasus might do even with Seto's reassurances to think about sleeping. Even if her government didn't think it was worth the fight Japan's might. It would be no real issue for them to deport her and bar her from the country for the rest of her life. The thought upset her unbearably, and not because she had made a life for herself there. There was more to it than that now and she knew it. The more part was sitting a few feet away typing quietly on his laptop, working on she wasn't sure what.

She had thought, foolishly no doubt, that she had been hiding her feelings well, or at least she had hoped she had. She knew better than to show them, or to allow herself any sort of hope or expectation where he, or anyone else, was concerned. She had learned quickly and early that few, if any, people would ever care for her in any meaningful way. When she moved here she had known she would need to make him care, if only for her skills, even before she met him. She would need to make herself valuable in the only way she knew how in order to be kept. That hadn't bothered her, it hadn't been an issue that she would need to be the best to be wanted or needed by him. That had been part and parcel of the deal. He had demanded perfection and she had given it, working long hours and learning languages faster than she ever had before, pushing herself to her limits. But it had been worth it to keep her job and her livelihood. At least at first.

Now she would be lying to herself if she said that was true. It was more than a job now, more than a way to survive, far from it. She was enmeshed with him now, so tangled up that she could no more tell where her happiness started and his ended. It seemed impossible for her to be happy when he was in a mood, and distracting in the extreme when he was bothered or upset. She knew that it wasn't normal, that it should be nothing more than a crush, but it was so far beyond that she was baffled by what she was feeling. This, whatever nameless thing it was, it felt like it was more than her, more than what she was capable of doing, or feeling, or giving. It felt old and new at once, and none of those thoughts made any sort of sense. What was more was that she clearly wasn't hiding it as well as she thought. Oh, Pegasus had spies, but he had seen it too, seen it in the way she interacted with Seto, seen it in the way she smiled at him, seen it when she had refused to tell him anything even with the threat of her entire existence over her head.

Catching the reflection of her own trouble gaze in the window she sighed softly and tried to push it all away. There was nothing to be done now but wait and worry, which was no doubt what Pegasus had wanted to begin with. She wondered if he had also anticipated them fleeing before she could get her clothes, because this outfit wasn't exactly made to travel in. She supposed she wouldn't put vindictiveness past him after their meeting. Reaching up to her hair she began to take it down as the updo began to irritate her, tight as it was, and at least it gave her something to do. Pulling bobby pins from hair she slipped them into the pocket of his jacket one at a time as her hair fell down around her face and neck one gently curled lock at a time. Ten minutes later and she had fished the last one out, putting it away before starting to carefully unbraid one of the three parts of her hair she had twisted to get it up this way. Her hair was so thick she had to tuck it up somewhere and braids had been an easy solution.

She she got the strands free she ran her fingers through it one last time to get it all to lay down, although she knew it would take a shampoo or two to get it straight again after all the curling and product she put into it. All at once she felt eyes on her and turned, catching Seto observing her quietly, his laptop shut and sitting in the seat next to him. Never one to be embarrassed he didn't look away when she caught him staring, he simply kept watching her with those thoughtful navy eyes of his. Caught off guard, and feeling as if he had watched her do something scandalous or explicit she turned her attention toward her hands, her cheeks heating up as she began playing with the last bobbypin. A moment later and she heard him shift and then he eased down next to her, the heat of his body radiating toward her.

"I won't let anyone take you away from me." He said softly, reaching up and tucking a curl behind her ear with the utmost gentleness. "You don't need to worry."

She looked up at him, knowing her cheeks were flushed, and cursing her fair skin. "This is my mess, not yours." She told him, keeping her voice low as well. "I always knew I might get caught, but it was worth the gamble." Guilt curled up in her belly. "But I never thought I would drag anyone else into it with me. I should have thought of that, of what it would make you look like if anyone found out, of the position it would put you in." She shook her head, angry at herself as she shoved the small metal wire away. "I should have known better. I should have left as soon as-" She caught the last words before they could tumble out, having nearly said as soon as she knew she loved him. "I should go now." She finished at last, turning her head to look out the window, feeling sick and hurt at the only solution she could see to this. The only way she saw to keep him out of her trouble. "I can stay until you find a new translator."

"I don't want a new translator." He told her. "I want you."

"This time last year you would have been happy to be rid of me." She whispered, seeing him watching her in the glass, appearing torn between exasperation and concern.

"I never would have been happy to be rid of you." He told her. "I won't let you quit." He said the last part as if it were an order, or a foregone conclusion, and she wasn't even surprised he expected to get his way.

His arrogance had her sighing and turning back to him. "Seto, you can't make me stay-" He slid his hands up so he was cupping her cheeks and she stuttered to a halt.

His thumb caressed her cheek and her breath caught in her throat as she stared straight up into his eyes. She could feel heat coursing through her as he held her and began to tremble as her senses went haywire. He stared back down at her for an endless moment, with the same unusual tenderness she had seen in him the day he took her to her apartment. "Stay with me." He murmured, and it was so strange, to hear such a heartfelt request from him. Breath hitching she wasn't sure she was capable of saying no to him. She certainly didn't want to, and felt very much as if she had been waiting to say yes to this question since he stopped next to her desk her second day in Japan. Unable to speak, and feeling fully overwhelmed, she nodded jerkily as she tilted her head back on instinct. His navy eyes softened as serenity appeared to wash over him. "Good." He whispered in satisfaction before dipping his head down and pressing his warm lips tenderly against hers.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she kissed him back, butterflies erupting in her stomach. When she responded he deepened the kiss ever so slightly, and she pressed up into him, shifting in her seat to get closer, one of her hands settling nervously on his shoulder. Seto let out a soft hum of approval in the back of his throat before one of his hands slid back into her hair, tangling in the curls. Shivering all the way down her body she let out a little sound of protest when he gently pulled back. His breathing was ragged as he stared down at her with his gentle eyes and she was sure she appeared as dazed as she felt. Setting back in the seat he gathered her against him, tucking her head under his chin. More than half dazed she let her head rest on him and heard his heart beating hard in his chest as he reached up and carefully stroked her hair. Small tingles ran from where his hand was down her back and she relaxed into him fully. She wasn't even angry he had somehow gotten his way again, although she really wondered how he was always able to pull that off. She supposed she could worry about that later though, because she was too pleased to do anything but sit quietly against him as they flew home.