Apparently, I'm really terrible at remembering to post updates on things. This story has been written for awhile now, and I was holding off on posting the later chapters because it was my first attempt at writing something in which continuity plays a very major role, and I was on the lookout for plot holes. Then...months passed xD Thank you to everyone who has read up to this point-I appreciate it very, very much! Have the rest of the story :3
She hasn't been back to her apartment in days. Everything smells like stale air and the pot of molding rice she had abandoned on her stovetop. Too exhausted to deal with cleaning, she throws the lid on the pot and sticks it into the freezer before collapsing onto her couch, staring at the dust on the floor.
Seto's decision to confront his blackmailer should be more of a relief than it is. After he paid the tab for their basket of fries, he called a taxi for her, telling her to go home and rest.
"It's over, Kisara. Go home."
"I just…"
"This isn't a discussion. There's nothing left for you to do."
"You shouldn't meet him alone…"
"Even so, go get some rest. We can talk about it in the morning."
Kisara sighs, closing her eyes. After so many days in the constant but silent presence of Seto Kaiba, she feels strangely vulnerable alone.
Days of sleep deprivation have pushed her to her breaking point. She sighs, grabbing a flimsy cotton blanket and pulling it over her shoulders, and sleep claims her in a matter of minutes. Her dreams are unclear but unsettling, with ominous figures lurking in the shadows and the bright, fearful eyes of nameless children peeking out at her behind the blinking green cursor on a black terminal screen.
Kisara is waiting in his office before his secretary arrives, nursing a paper cup of coffee. The heavy purple-blue bags under her eyes remain, but her hair looks freshly washed, gleaming like gossamer in the weak, watery light that streams through the office window.
Seto spots her the moment he steps out of the elevator. His eyes narrow at her. "I thought I told you to go home and sleep."
Kisara strides quickly across the room to walk side-by-side with him. Seto catches a whiff of vanilla and lavender, and the gentle scent makes him blush. "I did," she responds firmly. "We need to talk about you meeting up with this Atem character."
"Not up for discussion."
"I know. I want to come with you."
Seto freezes halfway to opening the doors to his office. "You what?" he demands incredulously.
Kisara folds her arms across her chest. "You need backup," she points out fairly. "It might be dangerous, Seto."
A soft beep registers Seto's key card, and the heavy doors to his office open. "I have a gun," he responds coolly. "You're not even my employee, Kisara. I absolutely will not put your life in danger."
He can hear Kisara huff softly. "I can track your cell phone coordinates," she says stubbornly.
A long sigh escapes his lips. "Well, then. I can't stop you, I suppose."
It still bothers him. He had always known that the ghosts of Seto Kaiba's past would come back for him someday, and despite Seto's genuine repentance for his actions as a teen, Joey still hadn't managed to find it in himself to fully forgive him. What bothers him is that Seto is poised to take a fall for something he didn't do. In the grand scheme of the universe, given everything that Seto had done, it hardly seemed fair.
Joey sighs, setting his pen down momentarily to rest his head in the crook of his elbow. None of the children who had gone missing from the sanctuary were cases assigned to him, and thus so far he has had minimal involvement with the police investigation. Still, it is hard not to feel the grim and fearful mood that grips the Children's Sanctuary like a clinging fog as uniformed policemen and crisply-suited detectives become regulars in the hallways. Even children that are too young to understand the magnitude of the situation that is occurring, are frightened by the twice-daily head counts and strict new rules regarding outdoor playtime. On this endlessly gloomy Wednesday, the sun was overtaken in the early afternoon by charcoal clouds that crackle ominously, swollen with bursts of lightning that occasionally light them from within, glowing faintly with supercharged white light.
"Joe. A moment?" Joey's head jerks upwards, and he sheepishly blinks sleep from his eyes. Gavin Steinborn swims into focus, wearing a black windbreaker over a crumpled work shirt.
"Yeah. Gavin. Everything cool?" Cringing at his own words, he amends, "I mean….well, you know what I mean."
The door swings closed, and Gavin heaves himself into the chair that sits across from Joey. "I need a favor, all right? We're going to have a movie night for the kids. I pulled some strings with a buddy who works for a film studio, and they're going to screen one of their kid's movies here tonight. It's not even out in the cinemas yet."
Joey finds himself smiling, and he leans forwards in his seat. "Great," he offers encouragingly, tilting his head as he gets a closer look at the face of his superior. Everything at the Children's Sanctuary is growing lifeless and weary, but Gavin has been taking the investigation the worst out of everyone. His golden-brown hair seems to be receding and thinning on his forehead, and a few untamed strands have managed to work their way loose from his signature coif, splaying themselves across his forehead. The tie under the black windbreaker looks a little crumpled.
"I was going to supervise the movie night myself, but I have to duck out for a couple of minutes around eight. Do you think you could hang back tonight and help to supervise the movie night?"
"Eh, sure, why not. I'm not doing anything tonight, anyways." Joey smiles at Gavin, giving him a quick thumbs-up gesture. "All right, you're on."
Gavin smiles at him. "Thanks. It'll be good for the press to see the kids getting to enjoy themselves, instead of just focusing on the police investigation...and it'll be a good distraction for the kids, too."
"I couldn't agree more," Joey responds. "So, great hall, I'm guessing?"
Gavin nods at him, standing to leave. "You're a lifesaver." The man pauses in the door frame, then turns back to Joey. "Another thing, Wheeler. The police were reviewing our records over the past few months...you had a meeting with a cyber security consultant?"
Joey frowns. "It was just a girl I met," he says, running his hand uneasily through his puffy blond hair. He winces as images of Kisara Endo, with her thin shoulders and dark eyes, her lips pursed around the name Seto Kaiba…
"Friend of a friend introduced us," he says, trying his best to sound nonchalant. "She's kind of my type, and I mentioned at a friend's kick-back that I worked at the Children's Sanctuary, so she asked me if I wanted to do lunch. Haven't gotten around to it yet." He channels his tension into wiggling the computer mouse on his desk, although the computer is too deep in hibernation to respond.
A shadow crosses Gavin's face, and a brief, unsettling expression that flashes through the man's green gaze gives Joey pause for a moment. Then Gavin shakes his head, re-combing his stray bangs into position, and smiles at Joey. "You're a good guy," he says cheerily. "Be there by nine, okay? You don't have to stay the whole time, I'll be back soon enough. Thanks for being my backup, man."
