Well I seem to be successfully shortening the story, trying to make the chapters longer. At this point in the original I was on chapter 8 but this is only the 3rd. It might be just as long though, as you can tell I like to stretch out the scenes sometimes.

The Way We Used To Be

The ride to the lab wasn't as unbearable as Seto and Joey thought it would be. They were still scared and mad in Seto's case, but they had expected to be treated like dirt. The air conditioning had been turned on and it even reached the back of the van, keeping the two cool. The van made frequent stops and while they weren't allowed out of the van Kasakabi bought them water, snacks and take out dinners. Seto despised fast food but it was food nonetheless. Joey had stayed in Seto's lap for the better half of the trip and had refused to budge until Seto's lap became numb.

"Good thing this is a van, we can at least stretch." Seto grumbled as he cracked his neck and stretched his legs out. He looked over at Joey, even though he had been glued to Seto out of fear he too had admitted to needing to stretch.

"Yea, feels like we've been driving for days." Joey sighed as his back popped.

"Do not worry my pets, the drive is almost over." Both boys sighed. Mixed feelings entered their minds, both were confused as to how they were to react. Both were terrified and yet eager to know of their fates. Both afraid for the other, hoping they would be able to protect each other. During the ride both had realized that now was not the time to be so afraid, even though he continued to be scared Joey tried to put on a tough front. Survival was the key and to do that he needed a clear mind, and he wouldn't accomplish that when blinded by fear. He, However, could not contain his curiosity any longer. Joey carefully stood up, trying not to fall on his face as the van went over a pothole, he walked to the window at the back of the van and his eyes widened a good deal.

"What do you see Joey?"

"Sand, lots of it." Seto walked to the window and his eyes narrowed. Indeed, there was quite a lot of sand. It was everywhere, dunes, cactus, desert flowers, and nature all around untouched by man.

"We must be quite a ways from any civilization."

"As any secret lab would be, we wouldn't want anyone finding out about this little experiment now would we?" Kasakabi's voice broke the tense silence, causing both boys to turn to look at him. His smirk sent chills down their spines, but Seto refused to look scared in front of this monster. Kasakabi turned back to the road and grinned at the sight before him.

"Ah, we have arrived." Joey took a deep breath and held onto Seto's hand, which squeezed his hand back in reassurance. What sounded like a metal garage opening groaned and made them wince. As they pulled in darkness fell over them until a few dozen lights lit up the garage. The two looked out the back window, it had indeed been a giant steel door opening, but the garage….it was small. Or so they thought it was the garage. Another door in the small space, just barely big enough for the van opened and it led to a dirt tunnel. They drove on for about ten minutes, the tunnel turning downhill though not steep enough to make the vehicle slip. They drove another five minutes going downhill and yet another door opened to let the van through. As they drove past the opening and into the new tunnel a large Vault closed behind them, Joey whistled.

"This guy spared no expense on security." They drove for yet another couple of minutes and three different security doors closed behind them as they finally entered the building. The door to the back opened and they hesitantly stepped out, greeted by the smiling face of Kasakabi.

"Sorry that took so long, have to be far enough underground so were not detected. Before I give you the tour let me just put this on." A collar looking the same as Joey's was snapped around Seto's neck and he scowled.

"What is this for exactly." Kasakabi rubbed his hands together and grinned, seemingly excited about having to explain his creation.

"I am glad you asked. Think of it as a training collar, a shock collar if you will. As long as you act accordingly you won't feel a thing, but if you misbehave I will have to push this button and you will be shocked. Clichéd I know but it works." He gestured at them to follow him up some stairs.

"Up here is where you will be staying. Don't look so nervous your living quarters won't be as big as you are used to but they are still, what's the word? Cozy, yes cozy."

'Cozy my ass.' Thought Seto as he looked at their living space. It looked exactly like a cage, and that's what it was. There were two mattresses on each side of the room, both had sheets and quilts covering them along with a pillow each. Thankfully there was a little room with a door leading to a small bathroom with toilet, sink and trash. There was also a small shower that barely looked big enough to hold one of them, but on the door to the shower was a kind of lock. The entire space looked like a kind of jail cell with the bars surrounding it.

"If you want a shower you'll have to ask so you can be monitored. One of my assistants will stay near your living space until you are done."

"What about our clothes? You can't expect us to wear the same thing everyday."

"I have already thought of that. My prime assistant Isa will make her way to the nearest town and will purchase clothing for you tomorrow. Now if you'll follow me I will continue." They went back down the stairs and into a more open area until they came to a large circular room. In the middle was a metal gurney that was nailed to the tile floor, along with a large flexible lamp right behind it. Tables and desks were everywhere with scattered papers and pens and pencils. Vials of all shapes and sizes were on almost every desk and surface, almost all filled with who knows what.

'I really don't want to know.' Seto grimaced as a back liquid began to fizz and bubble on a nearby table. A large double door fridge sat against the wall, and who knows what was in there. Tools of all kinds were lying around in a mess, some of them looking like something out of a torture film.

"I apologize for the mess, I've just been so busy lately." Joey noticed some brown stains by the drains on the floor and flinched. Busy as in busy making or killing experiments. All the way on the other side of the room was a large room the size of a trailer, it didn't run the length of the wall it was built into but it was wide. Kasakabi walked up to the room and put a hand on it.

"Ah yes this room. This is where I will monitor your vitals after giving you injections and the like. The rest of the facility is of no concern to you, that being said I do believe it's time we begin." He clapped his hands together and looked a little too eager. He turned his attention to Joey who tensed under his gaze, Seto stepped in front of him and glared.

"Now there's no need for that Kaiba. Need I remind you of that collar around yours and Josephs necks?" Seto grinded his teeth, he hated being forced to do anything. If he defended Joey, he would end up hurting him instead.

"If it makes you feel any better you will be staying with him after the injection."

"This better not hurt him."

"I can't say whether it will hurt or not, he did not feel his teeth changing so he may not feel this. It has not been done yet." Seto felt a hand graze his arm and he looked into Joey's eyes, he looked afraid but he also looked determined.

"Alright Joseph if you would come over to the gurney please and lay down. Isa! I am in need of your assistance!" A young girl in her twenties jogged into the room, her light brown hair fell beyond her back and her green eyes held a lot of warmth. Her eyes flashed to the two boys and she gave them a quick smile before turning her attention to Kasakabi.

"What do you need doctor?"

"Please prepare a 5cc syringe with the canis lupus for me Isa." Quickly she gathered all of the supplies, the syringe, the alcohol wipe, and a rubber strip. Isa turned to Seto.

"You might want to hold his hand, this is going to go in deep." Before Seto could move his hand Joey had already grabbed onto his, his grip making Seto's hand white. Isa tied the rubber strip around the arm muscle tightly then rubbed the area with the alcohol wipe. She held the syringe up to the light and tapped the top to get rid of any bubbles, Joey sighed. It was like someone telling you they were going to hit you but they didn't do it right away to keep you in suspense.

"Ready?" Joey nodded and closed his eyes and squeezed Seto's hand tighter, if that were even possible. Seto frowned ad glared at the needle as it pierced Joey's skin, as nearly the entire needle has gone into his skin Joey let out a little cry. It was more of a dull throbbing pain than a sharp stabbing. No the stabbing pain started as the DNA was being injected, causing Joey to cry out a little more loudly. Seto ran a hand over Joey's forehead and stroked his cheek with his thumb. When the needle came out Joey opened his eyes and sighed.

"Excellent! Now then into this room you too Kaiba. Isa bring the patient monitor in here please. Normally this room would be able to track one's vitals without the patient being hooked up, but since it cannot detect two at one time we will have to do this the old fashioned way." Seto eyed the shackles on the wall and stiffened. Joey seemed to know what to do though as he walked to where the shackles were and sat in front of them. Isa walked into the chamber and put his wrists in the shackles.

"Why does he need to be restrained?"

"We don't know how he'll react. He could be violent, if it's painful he might thrash and I don't need him damaging himself. In fact, I think you need to stay out here." Isa jogged out of the room and Kasakabi grabbed Seto's arm and pulled him out of the room. Seto pulled his arm away from the man and scowled.

"I need to be in there with him!"

"No you don't." Kasakabi walked to an intercom on the wall by the door.

"Alright Joseph here's what's going to happen. Your vitals are being monitored and you should start feeling the effects of the injection fairly soon. If your heart rate or anything gets too high you will be pulled from the room. Isa and Kaiba will be standing by the whole time, Isa will be monitoring any changes. "

"You can't just leave him alone in there! How long will this take?" Seto yelled and moved closer to the door to see Joey's face.

"It is best that he remain in there alone, and I don't know how long it will take. It could take a couple hours or it could take a day maybe more. I suggest you get comfortable and prepare yourself, when he is done you will be going in after him." Seto glared and sat next to the door.

'I'm here Joey, don't worry.' He blinked and looked up as Isa stepped right in front if him. He was now able to get a good look at the girl. She was tall for a woman, almost as tall as he was. She had a green bow at the bottom of her hair that almost reached the back of her knees. He noted a small but noticeable scar over the bridge of her nose, and she had blue eyes. Wait blue? Seto blinked as he thought back to just a while back.

'She had green eyes before, didn't she?' Isa blinked and started at Seto as he seemed to drift off, but his staring was getting a little uncomfortable.

"Is there something wrong Mr. Kaiba?" He blinked and seemed to snap out of his stupor.

"Pardon me for asking but I recall you having green eyes before." Isa smiled sweetly and nodded.

"You are correct, my eyes change colors on me sometimes. Unfortunately this trait of mine has gotten me into quite a bit of trouble when I was back home. My eyes don't always change to natural colors." Seto 'humphd' not at all interested in a story at the moment. He watched as Isa unlocked the door to the chamber and took a clipboard in there with her. Isa turned to glance at Seto over shoulder.

"You can visit him for a second if you want, but you'll have to come back out when I say so."

"Fine." Seto stood up and quickly stepped inside behind Isa, the sight before him nearly made him stop in his tracks as his eyes narrowed. Joey leaned heavily against the wall behind him broken out in a cold sweat. He had a light blush on his face and his eyes were half open. Before Seto could even take all of this in Isa was next to Joey jotting down notes on his condition and the time. Joey smiled lightly when Seto came into his line of sight, and within a second Seto was kneeling next to him holding him tightly.

"I'm fine Seto."

"You don't look fine, you look sick." Seto's hand went to Joey's forehead and pulled away from the heat.

"He is sick, a low fever. It's time to go now Seto."

"We can't just leave him in here when he's sick, can't you at least give him aspirin or something?"

"Nothing can interfere with the injection, there is nothing I can give him. All he can do is ride it out now. As I said before it is time to leave now."

"I will not leave him here!" Isa sighed and turned to look at him.

"I am technically not allowed to let you in here but I have anyway because I assumed you would follow directions. If Kasakabi comes here and finds out I let you in, there will not only be severe consequences for both you and me but for him as well." She pointed a finger at Joey and Seto scowled and looked at the door.

" I will continue to let you visit him again but you must leave when I tell you to, for all of our sakes." He sighed and looked back at Joey with a worried expression, the blonde grinned and laughed lightly.

"It's fine Seto, you should go. You'll see me again ok?" He almost refused to leave again, but light footsteps caught his attention.

"Get out quickly now." He nodded and looked back at Joey one more time before exiting. He managed to sit back against the wall a couple of seconds before Kasakabi strolled in with a smile on his face. He walked to the door and peered inside the chamber.

"How is he doing Isa?"

"He's picked up a light fever but it's not rising any at the moment. His fangs have sharpened slightly and his eyes have acquired tapetum lucidum, the ability to see in the dark. Aside from the fever his vitals are normal and stable."

"Very good! How are you holding up Kaiba?" Seto didn't even make eye contact at the man as he growled and glared at the wall across the room, not dignifying him with an answer.

"Looks like we'll have to work on your manners in the near future." Seto grunted and closed his eyes, resisting the urge to fly at him and tear his head off.

"Continue to monitor him Isa, I will be back again in two hours to check up on you. If there are any problems even slight ones, don't hesitate to contact me."

"Yes Doctor." As Kasakabi walked out of sight he heard Isa walk away from him.

"Why don't you rest, I will keep an eye on him."

"I'm not going to sleep. Tell me when you're going back in to see him, I will be going back in with you."

" I'll let you visit him, if next time you listen to me. If not I will have to have you taken to your living quarters."

"Fine, just tell me when you go back in." Isa nodded and sat down in a chair near a table surrounded by filing cabinets. It looked like a worse clutter than back at Kaiba corp. His eyes widened and he growled lightly.

'That's right, my company. I worked so hard to keep it these past years, and in a matter of minutes it all gets taken away so easily. I still can't believe all this.' He looked around the room, then at the walls of the chamber Joey was in.

"It's unbelievable that this kind of science even exists isn't it? Almost hard to imagine."

"Hmm I'm somehow convinced that I'm going to wake up from all of this. Me and Joey will be back home, he'll be safe."

"That sounds ideal for the two of you, it sounds like you two had a pretty good life together."

"Don't refer to our life in the past tense. I will get us out of here, away from that man." He blinked as Isa got up from the chair and moved in front of him.

"That's dangerous to say around here you know. If Kasakabi overhears something like that, the punishment will be dire."

"What around here isn't seen as disobedience?" Seto grumbled and shifted his position on the floor, his feet were starting to fall asleep.

"You should know by now the only safe thing to do is to obey. If both of you are tolerant of the injection and survive it, then you are lucky in a way. You two will be the first to be tolerant of that specific injection, therefore very valuable to him. However, that won't stop him from disciplining you two. You will be powerful, but he will control you."

"How can you assume he will make us obey so easily?"

"You two are too close to each other, caring for another when placed in a difficult situation will make it harder to make a safe decision. You will protect him and get hurt in the process, and he will protect you and get hurt. He will manipulate you easily by threatening the other. I've noticed your friends' body language, he is submissive. Unfortunate that someone like that would end up here, it will only get worse."

"Thanks for the comforting words." Isa blushed and looked away.

"Sorry, I just want you to know what you've gotten into so it doesn't come as a shock later."

"Your warning is a little late."

"Yes well, this is just the beginning you know. I know I said it was an inconvenience to have someone close to you involved in something like this, but it is also a good thing. You two will help each other survive through this. Times will be hard but you will get through them."

"Yes, we will." A loud scream suddenly erupted from the chamber and Seto jumped to his feet and ran to the window in the door.

"What's happening to him?" Isa ran to the door and unlocked it without even looking in. She turned to look at Seto and gave him a dead serious look.

"Stay here until I say it's safe." She shut the door and locked it from the inside to prevent Seto from entering. Joey's back was turned to him and he was in the fetal position on the floor. He waited for three pain staking minutes before he heard the door unlock and it slowly opened, Isa's head poked out from behind and she smiled lightly.

" You can come in." He didn't need to be told again and he quickly stepped inside, the sight before him was troubling. Joey still lay in the fetal position, hands clutching his hair tightly. His eyes were clenched shut and tears streamed down his face, every now and then a small scream or whimper escaped him.

"It's not a severe reaction, he's fine."

"You call this fine?"

"Compared to things I've seen before yes." She moved to sit next to Joey and put her face near his.

"I need you to move your hands for just a minute ok? Come on." Joey's eyes slightly opened and he looked wearily up at Isa, a pained look in his eyes.

"I know it hurts, but I need to see." He squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered, but after a minute he slowly moved his hand from his ears. Wait…ears?

"What the?"

"Ah, I thought that's what was happening." Seto paled noticeably and his eyes had widened to a comical size, a sweat drop falling off the side of his head. His eyes fell to the top of Joey's head where a pair of blonde Inu ears had appeared, his human ears now gone.

'What the hell?' Joey's hands quickly went back to the new ears and he screamed loudly. Isa got up and walked out of the room, she went to the fridge in the corner and opened up the freezer. Grabbing a small dishtowel he wrapped it around a plastic bag filled with ice. She walked back to the chamber and handed it to Seto.

"Hold this against his head. The pain he's feeling from the transformation is not directed to where the ears are, but on the top of his head. I need to get another towel for his lip." Seto finally blinked and looked to Joey's face, indeed his lip was bleeding. He had bitten right through his bottom lip with his sharp canines. Another strangled cry sounded out, accompanied with a sharp pain in Seto's arm. His eyes widened and he looked down at Joey with a surprised look on his face. Joey had bitten into Seto's arm, the bite was deep and Joey wasn't letting go, as his jaw seemed to lock. The blonde was growling and an enraged look appeared on his face.

"Pup?"

"Is it deep?" Isa calmly walked back to Seto and her frown deepened and she sighed. Seto flinched as the fangs dug deeper into his arm as he continued to stare down at Joey. The pressure was suddenly off and he heard a yelp come from Joey.

"Seto! Get back now!" He jumped back and he flinched as he watched Isa tugging on Joey's ears with an annoyed look on her face. Once he had let go of Seto's arm Isa jumped back towards the back of the room, Joey looked at Isa with a newfound rage and he lunged at her. Seto closed his eyes but opened them at the sound of the metal chains clanking against each other. They had kept him from reaching her but only by a couple of feet, the restraints on his wrists holding him in place. Like a chained guard dog he pulled at the chains and continued to growl at Isa.

"Seto shut the door and wait outside."

"You're going to stay in here?" She nodded and sat calmly on the floor, seemingly oblivious to the threat right in front of her.

"I'll be fine, he won't be like this for much longer." She proceeded to jot down notes on the paper and sit patiently. Seto hesitated for a second but eventually shut the door, silently questioning the woman's sanity. True to her word after ten minutes the growling had stopped. Seto looked into the room and saw that Joey was once again clutching at his head, a pained look on his face. Isa put her hand against his forehead and smiled at the lack of heat. She smiled warmly at the blonde and softly patted his head.

"It's alright, the process is almost over now." He whined and dug his head into the tile. Isa turned to look at Seto looking through the door and beckoned him in. He approached Joey and sat next to him, bringing him to his lap.

"He's almost done with all this." She held the ice pack against his head and smiled.

"He's handled this very well actually, his fevers gone and it looks as if he's calming down." Indeed Joey was now completely relaxed and breathing heavily, his hands clutching at Seto's shirt. Seto smiled faintly and kissed Joey's forehead. Isa stood and unlocked Joey's wrists from the shackles and took some more notes.

"Here, carry him to the table out there." Seto carefully picked him up and set him down carefully on the table in the lab. Kasakabi walked in and looked very pleased.

"It looks as if he is done correct? Why else would he be out?"

"Yes doctor he just finished. His fever is gone but he is exhausted."

"As expected. Well done Isa, any complications?"

"There was an incident a bit ago, his instincts kicked in and he became violent for a while." Kasakabi turned to Seto and frowned at the wound on his arm.

"I suppose that is the reason Kaiba is bleeding?"

"Yes sir."

"Why was Kaiba in the chamber?" Isa shuffled her feet and looked at the ground.

"Joey was distressed by the fever, I was not able to accurately take note of his condition so I had Kaiba come in to calm him down. He won't require stitches and I am about to bandage him. Joey did bit through his lip though so he needs stitches." Kasakabi went to stand next to Joey and took his chin in his hands to turn his face towards him.

"I see, is it alright to give Kaiba the injection when he has an open wound?"

"Yes it will be fine. Shall I have someone contact you when I am ready to give the injection?"

"Please do, I will be in my office." As Kasakabi walked away Seto stepped in front of Joey and glared at the man over his shoulders.

"Joey's asleep, we have to take him to your living quarters then I will give you the injection. I will wait until he wakes up so he doesn't think you've disappeared on him."

"It's only been a couple of hours since the injection, how can you be sure he won't have anymore side effects?" Isa sighed.

"I have administered many injections Kaiba, I know what I'm doing."

"You said yourself that no one else has lived through this injection, so how would you know if he is alright or not?"

"His vitals are still being monitored, I can tell from his body language what is happening. If it would make you feel better I suppose we could find a spare bed and lay him here."

"I would prefer that yes."

"Unfortunately that decision is not yours to make Kaiba, neither is it yours Isa." Both turned to look at Kasakabi as he walked into the room, a disapproving look on his face.

"You're still too soft Isa, our test subjects do not get the luxury of making our decisions. They will be the ones obeying us, what kind of messege do we send to them when we are supposed to be the ones in charge here?" Isa was nearly sweating and she looked nervously at the floor before she bowed deeply.

"My apologies doctor, I was just trying to make it easier for him to comply." Kasakabi snorted and looked at Seto, who had set Joey down on the bed and was standing protectively in front of him.

"It is fairly easy to make one comply with your wishes if you have the power to do so, you just simply do not wish to use such methods." Before Seto could even blink Kasakabi's fist was buried in his stomach. Seto slumped to the ground and flinched as a hard kick was delivered to his ribs.

"There, easy to control. Do not forget that you too carry controllers to the shock collars that they wear. You have not been here long Isa so this time your carelessness is forgiven, next time you will not do so without a punishment." Kaiba listed his head to look up at Isa but another punch was swiftly delivered to his face. He felt the cold shock of handcuffs around his wrists and grunted he was shoved against the side of the bed.

"Isa, give him the injection now." He felt the cold alcohol wipe against his arm and nearly screamed out loud as the needle went deep into his muscle. He flinched as the liquid was dispensed and nearly sighed in relief when the needle was pulled out. He felt himself being dragged to the chamber and heard the shackles lock around his wrists and the handcuffs removed.

"Monitor him closely, Joseph will stay on this table but he will be restrained so you can keep an eye on both of them. I will come back every hour to check on you, do not be too gracious with them Isa." Kasakabi walked over to the bed and restrained Joey's arms and legs, he eyed the chamber and glared at it.

"That one will be particularly hard to break, luckily we have leverage." He grinned as he turned to Joey.

"Keep up the good work Isa, when Kaiba is done we will put Joseph in their cell and Kaiba will lay on the table for further observation."

"Yes doctor." Isa glanced at the chamber with a frown and walked to the door and slowly opened it. A very disgruntled Seto sat on the cold floor glaring at her.

"I told you to cooperate you know, he gets very impatient." His glare deepened as she sat in front of him to inspect the bruises. Seto grunted and looked away, he could already feel his body warming up.

"Are we to expect the same thing will happen to me as Joey?"

"We'll see now won't we? You body is different from his and it could handle this in an entirely different way."

"Like?" Isa seemed to think as she studied him, putting her hand to his forehead as she had done before.

"Your fever, which I can already feel, might be worse. A lot worse, many different things could happen. Your body could get defensive and try to reject the injection, since this is the first injection. This was Joey's second so his body had at least a while to adjust to the change before the major one. That's why I'm going to stay in here with you, to keep an eye on you." Seto raised his eyebrows.

"You're going to stay here the entire time?"

"Not every second but a majority yes, I still need to keep an eye on Joey for anymore changes." Seto's eyes widened and he looked out the door to the lab. He sighed in relief as he saw Joey on the bed, still sleeping it seemed.

"How do you feel?" Now that she asked he had noticed a slight pain in his head, but he'd be damned if he was going to tell her that. He heard her sigh and inwardly smirked as she got up and left the room. She kept the door open as she walked to Joey and looked him over before grabbing a folding chair and carried it to the chamber. She unfolded it and sat on it, stretching as she waited.

"You're really going to sit there?"

"You bet."

"…"

"Feel anything yet?"

"…"

"Fine then." An hour passed by and Isa was looking just as comfortable as she did when she sat down an hour earlier. She seemed quite content with herself on her ability to annoy him. He scowled and looked out into the lab, he was bored and his butt hurt from sitting.

"So how about now?"

"…" She chuckled and stretched again, writing down notes he guessed. His body had slowly begun to heat up even more and he began to sweat, he noted a headache was forming as well. His eye twitched as he tried to imagine himself with Inu ears.

"Looks like your fevers picking up, I'm going to guess you have a headache as well?" He grunted and nodded slowly but winced as the action made his headache seem ten times worse. His eyes widened and he clutched his head as searing pain tore through his head it felt like someone was slowly prying his skull open with the back of a hammer. He refused to cry out but he let a small whimper escape him, it seemed like it was going to last forever. Tears formed but refused to fall and he wondered how much longer it was going to last. In a matter of minutes it was gone, but afterwards he felt a strange pulling sensation in his head. Isa pried his hands away from his head and with a confirming nod she wrote more notes down.

"Well you have your ears now, open your mouth please." Too tired to care Seto opened his mouth as wide as he could and grunted in annoyance as his jaw protested. Isa poked Seto's canines with her pen and smiled.

"Fangs are in." She grabbed a flashlight and shined it in his eyes. He covered them with his hand as he was nearly blinded.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Checking for eye shine, ah there it is. Congratulations you can now see in the dark."

"I'm not going to grow a tail or anything am I?"

" It's definitely possible, but I haven't seen it happen with anyone before." That was what bothered Seto, as well as many things at the moment did.

"How long have these tests been going on and who do you test?" Isa's smile was gone and she stared at the floor for a minute before sighing and standing up.

"It's been going on for about a year now, as for whom we do these tests on. Mostly drifters, people that don't have a home or family." Seto glared at her and looked at Joey.

"Why did you choose him? He had a home, and although not a good family he had a father."

"Kasakabi chose him, I don't get to choose who we do these…experiments on. If I had my way I wouldn't be doing this at all, you'd have to ask the doctor about Joey."

"Then why do you do this if you don't want to?"

"I'd rather not say, just that I don't have a choice." An uncomfortable silence fell upon them and Isa went back to the chair she was sitting in before. Another hour passed and no other changes had made themselves known.

"If you don't feel anything now I think it's safe to say you're done. I'm quite surprised you took it better than Joey did, glad you made it through." Seto grunted and stood up, stretching out his legs and cracking his neck. The shackles were removed and he instantly walked to Joey's side. Joey stirred and slowly opened his eyes, he blinked sleepily up at Seto for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened and he tried to sit up. His restraints were keeping his still however, and he whined.

"Why can't I move?" Isa walked up to them and undid the straps keeping him down.

"You had a violent reaction in the chamber and we didn't want you to hurt yourself." Seto nodded at him as Joey looked at him. He eyes Seto's injured arm and frowned.

"I bit ya?"

"It wasn't that bad pup, don't worry about it."

"But Seto-" Seto brought a finger to the blonde's lips.

"It's fine." Joey sighed and nodded before turning his attention to Seto's ears. He grinned and brought up a hand and tugged on an ear.

"These are cute." Seto grabbed both corners of Joey's mouth and stretched his mouth open.

"They also hurt." Joey flailed and whined.

"Ahh I'm sorry I'm sorry! Setoooo that hurts!" Isa found it hard not to laugh and giggled at them. Seto let go of Joey's mouth and sighed. He turned to Isa.

"So, what now?" Joey held onto Seto's coat and leaned into him.

"Well I should tell the doctor that you're both done. Before we do anymore testing he'll probably want you two to rest up. I do still have to go and get you two clothes, leave your stitches alone Joey." Joey blushed and brought his hand away from his lip. Isa got out her cell phone and proceeded to inform Kasakabi that they were done.

"Alright then follow me, were going back to your living quarters."

"It's more like a cell." Joey mumbled, Seto laced his hand in Joey's and gave it a small reassuring squeeze. They walked up the stair and as the door to the cell squeaked open Kasakabi was walking up the stairs as well.

"How are they Isa?" She handed him the papers and the clipboard.

"They're both done, Kaiba finished sooner than I thought he would."

"Very good." He turned to the two in the cell and smiled.

"I am going to let you rest for a while until Isa returns with your clothing." He took out two plastic water bottles and tossed them onto the mattress.

" Drink the water, I will have food brought to you in an hour or so. I don't want the food to react with the injection and make you sick. It takes a little bit to calm down in your system. Isa will return to wake you up when she comes back." The door to the cell closed and as Isa and kasakabi walked away Seto and Joey sat on the joined mattresses. Joey lay down and smiled as Seto lay next to him.

"How are you feeling?" Joey sighed and snuggled into Seto's side.

"Tired." Seto wrapped his arms around Joey and kissed his forehead.

"Then sleep, I'm going to stay up."

"You should sleep too Seto." His voice was getting lighter and he closed his eyes and kissed Seto's cheek.

"I'm not tired." Thankful that Joey was too tired to even reply he smiled for a second before glaring at the cell around them. He didn't trust anyone here, not even Isa. He would guard Joey as he slept, hoping that whatever was ahead of them would become easier.

Omg finally a place to stop! I just kept typing and typing, didn't want to stop yet. Things felt a little rushed here, like Seto's transformation. I'm willing to be it was a little anti climatic? Well no worries there's more action and angst ahead especially in the next chapter. FYI Isa in German means strong willed. Please review, they sustains me! NO FLAMES!!