Title: Grave Robber

Summary: Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

Contains: Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

Pairing: Seto X Joey

Disclaimer: I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

Author's Note: Well, it's been about 4 years now, but guess who's back? This chick! Now let's see how this goes...

( ) ( ) ( )

Dinner hadn't been so horrible after all, Seto had realized after he'd finally composed himself enough to venture out of his office. Eating was so simple… You didn't have to talk when you ate because your mouth was full.

And let's face it, Mokuba had more than enough to say. He always did. He balanced Seto out.

Dinner hadn't been so horrible. In the presence of all of the others, Seto felt normal. Mokuba was there talking about something…Seto felt remotely bad about not remembering what…there were maids rushing in and out, offering more food and fresher drinks… None of them allowed themselves to be distracted by the smile—the smirk—that their employer had creeping over his face as he watched the houseguest stew in excitement over the never-ending meal.

Seto felt…normal when he was surrounded by the others who didn't know what he was really like. He felt normal when he was acting like Kaiba.

Immediately after leaving the dining room, that feeling—that control—vanished. Mokuba skidded away to some part of the house leaving Joey and Seto…alone again.

"Kaiba…" Joey said, once the brunette had followed him into his assigned bedroom seemingly without thought once dinner was over. He looked at him over his shoulder, but didn't like the cold, insensitive message that the body language sent and turned to face him directly. "Why do you…Why did you ask if my dad was the one who—"

"Because if anyone else hit you, you wouldn't be here." Kaiba locked their eyes. He was glaring and it made Joey nervous. "You think I don't remember hearing about your reputation?"

"My repu—"

"The best little mumble I ever picked up on was the kid who hissed that Wheeler was like an attack dog. Brainless and mean." Joey's eyes narrowed while Kaiba's curved upwards in a smile. "If you crossed him the wrong way, he'd tear you apart. It reminded me of me. And we both know how much I 'love' me." Kaiba's tone sounded both honest and sarcastic at the same time. "You don't let people push you around. Not even me—and I have more than enough power and money to run you into your grave. I could have you go missing and no one would ask a question or even think to point their finger at me. You know that and you still take every chance you can get to piss me off."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Joey asked, keeping his eyes locked with Kaiba's and watching as sanity and madness swarmed inside of those electric blue eyes.

"We're evenly matched," Kaiba stated, as if commenting on the weather. It's raining, didn't you know? That was what his tone sounded like.

"What does that have to do with my dad?" Joey asked, looking away briefly because Kaiba's eyes were becoming mesmerizing. What did any of this have to do with being hit by his dad? Kaiba said that the two of them were alike—"evenly matched"—that they were…both attack dogs? Brainless and mean?

If anyone but his father had hit him, he wouldn't be here? Where? Here in the mansion or here in the world?

Yeah, Joey admitted that he could get into some pretty intense fights, but he'd never kill anyone to prove a point. Maybe Kaiba meant that he'd have picked a fight and gotten himself killed.

But what did that have to do with…

"Why do you let him get away with it?" Kaiba asked, grabbing Joey's chin and forcing their eyes to meet again.

Joey saw something there, and dots were connected with lines.

Kaiba saw himself in Joey—at least vaguely. They were both bullheaded, both ruthless to some extent, and fairly persistent. They didn't let people push them around, they didn't give up, and they didn't have any trouble getting their hands dirty if the moment called for it.

Joey knew about Gozaburo. Not in detail, but he knew enough.

Why did you let him get away with it? Kaiba had asked. Why didn't you fight back harder and put that old man in his place?

Joey had asked himself that question dozens of times and came up with multiple answers. Because he was just a drunk old man who didn't know what he was doing half of the time. His dad was depressed about losing his wife and daughter. A middle-aged man had nothing on a teenager in a fist fight—his stamina would give out if he fought too hard. A teenager heals faster than an older person—he didn't want his dad to be hurt.

He loved him. Yeah, his dad could be mean and inexcusably brutal, but he was his dad…

That wasn't the answer Kaiba was looking for though. Kaiba didn't want to hear about love or father-to-son affection.

Such things were foreign to him. He couldn't comprehend them.

Maybe Kaiba actually thought they could connect over the cruelty of their fathers, but Joey didn't think that they could. Joey still loved his dad, Kaiba obviously didn't.

"He's my dad," Joey said. An answer that wouldn't satisfy the other's needs. "And I can handle it."

"But you don't have to!" Joey flinched and met Kaiba's anxious gaze. He'd used a parental tone—the type he commonly used with Mokuba.

"Kaiba, I don't know where you're trying to take this—"

"You shouldn't let him get away with doing this!" Kaiba ran his finger along the cut on Joey's lip and narrowed his eyes into a glare.

"It's none of your business!"

"I won't let him hurt you!"

"Why do you act like you care all of a sudden!?" Joey spat back. "Two weeks ago you cursed the fact that I even exist. Why do you care so much now?"

"I always care. You're near me. Your image reflects mine."

"So let me go!" Joey pushed Kaiba away from him, just for emphasis. It was hard to think rationally when the man who you used to think was your enemy was shoving anxiety and worry down your throat.

"I don't want to! I want you around and it's pissing me off! I don't need anyone, so why do I want you?"

"Why do you want me?" Joey demanded.

"Because you're mine!"

"No, Kaiba, I'm not."

"Yes, you are! And I'm not going to let some drunken lowlife tear up something important to me! He doesn't deserve to have you, and I do! I'll take care of you!"

"I can take care of myself!" Joey shouted. "Why do you think I need you? I can barely stand you half of the time!" Kaiba's eyes narrowed further, but he didn't seem put-off by the words. "I don't want you involved!"

"Yes, you do," Kaiba said, his expression becoming one of smug certainty. "Sometimes, you do. You want help, then you don't want help—you want someone, but you don't. I chose not to let anyone get involved. I won't let you do that to yourself."

Joey clenched his teeth and stared at Kaiba through narrow eyes. Deep down, he understood what was happening. He knew Kaiba was seeing Joey as a reflection of himself—as if looking at Joey were looking into a slightly warped mirror. He wasn't talking about Joey wanting help or not wanting help, he was seeing himself when he'd needed help and there was no one around to save him.

He tried to be rational, but Joey couldn't tamp down the anger, the rage he felt for Kaiba who'd done nothing but insist upon causing him pain for years. Kaiba, who had never once been nice to him before was all of a sudden bringing out this backhanded affection and had the nerve to say Joey wanted it.

Kaiba, who repeatedly referred to Joey as a dog and worked so hard to undermine his self-confidence and self-worth, told Joey that he was his? That Kaiba had some sort of ownership over him?

"Stay out of my business, Kaiba," Joey spat. "What goes on in my house, in my life, has nothing to do with you. And no matter what you think, I'm not yours. I don't belong to anybody!"

Joey had expected the words to make Kaiba angry. To get him frustrated at least. But Kaiba's face showed nothing. He didn't have shock, he didn't have carefully concealed pain—his face was blank. Hard, icy eyes. Thin, pressed lips.

At the very least, he expected Kaiba to say something. But he just stood there. His face blank until, all of a sudden, his lips twisted into a large smirk.

"I mean it, Kaiba," Joey said, feeling nervous when Kaiba just continued to stare.

"Wheeler—"

"Cut it out!" Joey yelled when Kaiba's face just kept getting more and more twisted. "Ever since I met you, all you ever did was bully me and degrade me. Why are you acting like you care all of a sudden?"

"Because we're alone," Kaiba said darkly.

Joey didn't like the shadows that appeared in Kaiba's eyes. It made him look more dangerous than sleep-deprived or stressed.

"What, you can only be nice to me when no one's lookin', rich boy?"

Seto felt like he'd lost control of everything. Whatever he'd been working toward so gradually over the past few days was falling down rapidly around him. Joey was getting angry, his tone had become spiteful, and for once in his life Seto couldn't think of anything to say.

He didn't want to admit it, but the anger in Joey's eyes hurt him. Seto knew he deserved that rage—he'd done nothing but make Joey's life a living hell whenever he'd been around before. Of course Joey wasn't going to welcome his kindness with open arms. He'd be a fool to. Joey was suspicious of the generosity because he was afraid of what would happen if and when Kaiba took it away. Would the kindness be replaced with more hostility? More pain? If all he knew at home was abuse and neglect, he had a right to be wary of Seto's shifting mood.

Unable to think, unable to come up with an answer that would calm Joey down, Seto gave in to the madman at the back of his mind. He lunged forward and grabbed Joey by the back of the head, he forced their mouths together. Blood from Joey's lip ran into his mouth, spit that came with Joey's stifled scream ran into his mouth, Joey's breath ran into his mouth—it was perfect. Even the way Joey looked when he finally broke free was perfect.

"That's—Kaiba! That's what I'm talkin' about! You can't do that!"

"Do what?" Kaiba asked, smirking.

"You know what," Joey said, looking so confused and uncomfortable. "That. You can't just…kiss me like that."

"Why?" Seto asked.

"Because we're not— Kaiba, what's going on with you, man? Did you get on new meds or somethin'?"

Now Joey was feeling concern for him. It was funny to watch his rage turn to an embarrassed red flush on his cheeks.

"We need to practice, Wheeler. You still get mixed up when reading your parts of the presentation. No one's going to buy anything from you if you can't even explain what it is without confusing yourself." Seto smirked when Joey's eye started twitching. For some reason he was biting back his rage, maybe realizing that the great Seto Kaiba had finally lost his mind. Seto knew it was pity that made Joey bite his tongue, but this was probably the only time in his life Seto didn't detest being pitied. Right now, it worked too much to his advantage.

"Fine," Joey said, wiping the blood off his lip and sitting down with his papers in hand. He sighed heavily and started reading off information about a scientific experiment. Seto watched him and recited his parts when they came, mostly from memory. As he recited, he would see Joey flashing him cautious, nervous looks. He was afraid Seto would pounce him again. That puppy was so cute…

( ) ( ) ( )

"Tristan, I need your help." Joey was whispering into the phone in his room at Kaiba's house. He didn't have his own cell phone and was made to talk on the phone Creepy Kaiba probably had bugged.

"What?—Why are you callin' me so late for, man? We've got school tomorrow," Tristan said, sounding like he'd been woken from a very deep sleep.

"Somethin' weird's goin' on with Kaiba," Joey whispered.

"Weirder than normal?"

"He's…he's being nice. Like, nice, nice to me, you know?"

"No, I don't know… Can you wrap this up? I wanna go back to bed."

"This is gonna sound really weird, and I don't want you to freak out—Ah, I probably shouldn't say anything about it, but I'm really confused about it."

"Confused about what, Joey?"

"Okay, you're not gonna believe me, but he kissed me. Like…on the mouth. More than once."

There was a long pause and Joey was prepared to ask if he was still on the line.

"He did WHAT!? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious!" Joey said. "He did it like…three times now."

"Why didn't you punch him the first time and make him stop?—Is he out of his mind or something?"

"I don't know, man. He's actin' really weird." Joey wasn't going to mention how possessive Kaiba had acted. He wasn't going to tell Tristan how Kaiba called him "his," like he was property. "I know he's tired and stressed, but this is just something else."

"Did you tell him to quit it?" Tristian asked.

"I did the last time and he just smirked at me, then he acted like nothing happened. I don't know what to do."

"Beat him up. That's sexual harassment. You could ruin his whole career if you wanted to."

"No," Joey said, feeling embarrassed when he realized he didn't want to hurt Kaiba even though he wouldn't have let the opportunity pass him by even a month ago. "I don't want to do that to him. He's got something goin' on with him, I just don't know what or what to do."

"I don't know what to tell you, Joey. That's so weird. I can't believe he kissed you. He actually kissed you."

"I know, Tristan. I was there."

"And you didn't punch him?"

"I don't wanna punch him…"

"Well that's new. You were foaming at the mouth to get a shot at him just last week. Don't tell me you forgot how he used to call you a dog."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. He still does that. It's Kaiba we're talkin' about here."

"So he calls you a dog, then kisses you, and you let him get away with it? You're going soft on me, man."

"I told you, he's got somethin' goin' on. I just don't know what… He got really mad when he saw that my dad and I got in a fight. I had a split lip and Kaiba just went…crazy. He said all kinds of weird stuff and then he kissed me."

"What kind of stuff?" When Joey didn't answer, Tristan asked again. "Joey, what did he say to you?"

"It was weird. He said…" Joey sighed heavily and started rubbing at his brow. He knew where this was all heading now and he didn't know if Tristan would blow up about it or not. "He said he wanted to take care of me, and when I asked why he was suddenly acting like a he cared about me, he said it was because we were alone."

"Oh, wow… That's—Joey, you don't think…you know, do you?"

"I don't know," Joey answered. Did he think Kaiba wanted more to do with him than just to torment him? "I guess I can't get past the idea that he's just doing it to mess with my head, to see if he can freak me out."

"That doesn't sound like Kaiba. The only games he plays with people is Duel Monsters—otherwise he's kinda straightforward. Either he likes you or he doesn't."

"That's all fine and dandy, Tristan, but up until we got paired for this project, Kaiba hated me. Now he's kissin' me and callin' me his!"

"He said you were his?"

Joey groaned and fell back against the large, spacious mattress. "Yeah. When I asked why he kept pushin' to know if my dad was the one who hit me, he started sayin' 'you're mine.' It's so weird…"

"That doesn't sound like Kaiba. Are you sure it's not an imposter?" Tristan laughed with good humor and Joey growled in his ear.

"You gotta be serious, man, and help me with this!"

"It's simple, Joey. If you don't want Kaiba kissing you, then tell him to quit and punch him if he doesn't listen. I can't even believe you're confused about what to do. That's not like you—are you sure they aren't spiking the water over there in that mansion?"

"I just feel like something else is going on. I don't want to hurt Kaiba—"

"See, that's where you don't sound like yourself. Since when do you not want to beat the crap out of Kaiba?"

Joey sighed and rubbed at his face again. He didn't want to hurt Kaiba because he could tell by the look in his eyes that he'd been hurt before. Seeing Joey hurt by his dad reminded Seto of being hurt by his stepfather.

"Maybe he just wants to make a friend…and doesn't know how," Joey mumbled.

"I think even Kaiba knows kissing people isn't how you make friends."

"I don't know. What do you think I should do?"

"Well, you don't have to do anything. Once the project is done, you won't have to see him anymore. If you don't see him, he can't—" Tristan paused to laugh. "—he can't kiss you again. Unless you want him to, that is." Tristan said it as a joke, but it made Joey cringe.

"Why would I want him to?"

"I don't know. You're the one who didn't punch him right away—anyway, I'd love to keep chatting with you, Joey, but I need sleep. We've got class and I'm getting detention if I sleep through History again."

"Alright, bye, Tristan. But, hey, don't…don't tell anyone about this, okay? I don't want it getting around."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me, Joey." Tristan hung up without saying goodbye, leaving Joey to lie on the large mattress alone with his thoughts.

Why hadn't he punched Kaiba for that stupid kiss or the ones before it? Kaiba deserved to get punched for the stuff he was saying… Why didn't Joey want to punch him the one time he deserved it more than any time before?