Chapter 15

The ride home with Kaiba was eerily silent. Aria felt like she needed to say something, just for the sake of conversation but she knew Kaiba was not one for small talk. It did allow her however, to reflect on the night's events. It looked like her and Kaiba just had their first date, even though they had agreed not to use that word. This however was definitely different then the other times they had been out together. The carnival or the pizzeria were outings with other people. But tonight it had just been them, having dinner and talking. Who knew having take out in an office could be so charming?

A small smile played at Aria's lips as she remembered Kaiba's arrogant behaviour. Standing close, whispering in her ear, his cocky words. The man had so much confidence and ego, she's surprised his head hadn't exploded yet. But it was incredibly attractive, not that she would ever admit that to him.

Lost in her thoughts, Aria realized they had turned down her street. Kaiba's car looked terribly out of place, sitting in front of the run-down apartment. Aria had to bite down on her lip to stifle a giggle. "You bought me dinner and drove me home. Do you treat all your employees this way?" she asked dryly.

"I only drive home the ones who live in derelict neighbourhoods. So, needless to say, you're the only one."

Aria laughed, for it was probably true that she was the only Kaiba Corp employee who would live in such a poor area. "I had fun tonight, even if it did cause me to get behind on my work."

"I think I can extend your deadline by one more day." Kaiba smirked at her. "Especially since I was the one that distracted you."

Aria could hear the underlying meaning in how he said 'distracted' and couldn't help but feel herself flush at his words. "I appreciate that." Grabbing the Chinese food, she opened her door. "See you Monday then, Mr. Kaiba." Kaiba responded by scowling at her. She grinned broadly, glad she was able to get back at him for his outlandish flirting. She gave him a quick wink then ducked out of the car.

Bounding up the front steps, Aria let herself in, giving Kaiba a quick wave before heading inside. The grin never left her face as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. Unlocking the door with her key, Aria swept in, humming to herself as she went into the kitchen to drop off the leftovers. When she came back out, she was stopped abruptly by Joey standing in the living room, arms crossed in annoyance.

"What's got you in such a chipper mood?" he asked. "You glad Kaiba let you out half an hour early tonight?"

Aria huffed at him. "What I do with my time after hours is completely up to me. Not you or Kaiba has any say in that. Are we clear?" She gave him a look that dared him to refute her.

Joey rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Geez Aria, I didn't mean to come off as controlling, I just care about ya, you know?"

Aria's anger deflated out of her. She never could stay mad at Joey, especially when he turned his big puppy-dog eyes on her. "I know you care Joey, and I do appreciate it, but you have to trust me to handle things, okay?" She went over and gave him a mock punch in the shoulder. "When's Serenity back from her mom's? Apparently you need a little sister to always be watching over."

Joey chuckled. "I know, the big brother intuition just never seems to shut off."

"Hey, do I smell food in here?" Téa walked into the living room, her nose in the air trying to sniff out the source of the aroma.

"Oh yeah, I brought back Chinese." Aria said, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the kitchen.

"Food! Why didn't you say so!" Joey exclaimed. He rushed into the kitchen, leaving Téa and Aria shaking their heads at his over-enthusiasm.

"You did bring it over for everyone to share with, right?" Téa asked.

"Hey, Tristan!" Joey yelled up the hallway. "Aria brought home takeout!"

Aria laughed. "Yes, there is way more there than I could ever eat. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it was all gone by the time the boys were done with it."

"Why the splurge on food?" Téa asked. "I thought you were saving every penny for college this fall."

Aria went a little pink in the face. "Well, someone actually brought it to me at the office, since I was working so late."

Téa looked confused. "But who would-oh!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth with both hands. "Was it Kaiba?" she whispered, not wanting the boys to overhear in the kitchen.

Aria bit her lip and silently nodded.

"Eeek!" squealed Téa as she ran over and hugged Aria. "He bought you dinner! Was tonight your first date? Did he kiss you?"

"Heh? What's with all the screamin' over here? And who kissed Aria?" Joey entered from the kitchen, followed by Tristan, both with their plates piled high.

Aria groaned. "No one kissed me."

"But apparently there was a possibility," chimed in Tristan.

Aria shot him a glare, hoping he would get the message to shut his big mouth.

"Is that where all this food came from? You were on a date?" Joey asked, his mouth half full.

"It wasn't a date, I was hungry from working late so Kaiba-" Aria immediately slapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to slip his name.

"Oh ho!" Tristan hollered. "So it was Kaiba! I was wondering when he was going to make his next move," he said with a smirk.

"You mean to tell me," Joey interjected, "that he's been making you work all these late nights, so he could get you alone for a date?"

Aria wanted to argue that that wasn't the case, but it certainly looked that way. And Kaiba himself admitted to having not-so-selfless reasons for giving her a tight deadline. But isn't she the one who refuses to see him outright? Thus forcing him to resort to conniving methods? "It's a little more complicated than that," she hedged.

"Well I for one am happy that he's made his move," Téa defended. "It's about time someone softened that hard shell of pride and ego. This has been a long time coming if you ask me."

Aria smiled at her friend, glad to have at least some support. "The point is," she stated firmly, "is that how I spend my time with Kaiba is none of anyone's business. He is still my boss after all."

"Well I'll be willing to overlook a few of his flaws as long as he keeps sending Aria home with food," Joey said between mouthfuls.

Aria raised a condescending eyebrow at him. "Good to know how much my happiness is worth to you." But she didn't think Joey heard her over his incessant chewing.

"Do you have any plans with him for the weekend?" Téa asked whimsically. Her eyes shimmering with notions of romantic daydreams.

"No," said Aria, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She thought she was happy with the current arrangement her and Kaiba had, but now she was beginning to realize there were bothersome limitations. How much she wished she could just call him up and see if he was free tomorrow. She snorted inwardly to herself. She didn't even have his phone number.

The weekend passed by amicably well. Yugi came over in the evenings to either watch a movie or play video games with Joey and Tristan. A couple of times it seemed Yugi was going to ask Aria something, but always ended up changing his mind. Aria wondered if Pharaoh and him were having conflicting thoughts. She couldn't even imagine having a second voice in her head all the time.

Aria was actually happy to go back to work on Monday. She couldn't believe how much she missed seeing Kaiba over the weekend. At least at work, she got to see glimpses of him everyday, even if they never talk.

Walking in early Monday morning, Aria was surprised to see Jim sitting in his office working away. Usually she was the only one to arrive early. All the other offices remained untouched. Entering her office, she started unloading her bag, getting everything set up for another long day. Her hand brushed against a stray piece of paper, and it fluttered to the ground. Picking it up, she saw something written on one side. Flipping it over, she read the neat script.

Aria's face grew white as it felt like all the blood had drained from it. She shakily sat down in her chair, no longer able to stand. Who could've possibly written this to her?

"Ito, I need to talk to you."

Kaiba had driven himself crazy all weekend thinking about Aria. He would try to distract himself at work during the day and then in the evenings passed his time with Mokuba. Even his good-natured little brother was getting annoyed with Kaiba's distracted attitude. "Why don't you just call her already!" his brother had said vexly. The problem was, he did want to call her, but he didn't have her number. It crossed his mind several times to go to her apartment, but his pride wouldn't allow the geek squad the satisfaction of seeing him groveling to Aria.

Overall, all of these thoughts were incredibly infuriating. A Kaiba never pined for anything, let alone a woman. He just couldn't remember the last time he actually enjoyed having dinner with someone. And it all took place in an office over Chinese takeout.

Monday morning had Kaiba out the door bright and early. Usually he was early to work anyway, but today had a different reason than just wanting to get a head start on his day. Arriving at 7 a.m., he forced himself to sit and work for an hour before heading down to the lower level. He knew Aria came in early but he wasn't sure exactly how early.

The second the clock read 8 a.m., Kaiba was up and out to the stairwell. He knew he was acting like an infatuated teenager, but for the moment he didn't care. All he knew was that he needed to see her.

Coming out of the stairwell, Kaiba looked across the room and could see Aria in her office. He had no idea what his reason was going to be for seeing her, he was just going to have to figure that out on the fly. As he walked towards her, he saw her bend down to pick something up off the floor. Not bothering to knock (it was kind of moot point anyway), Kaiba simply strutted in. "Ito, I need to talk to you." Subtlety never was his style.

But what Kaiba saw made him stop in his tracks. Aria had sat down in her office chair, and her face looked pale, almost ghastly. She clutched in her hand a small piece of paper. After a moment, she realized he had spoken to her and snapped out of her trance. Aria crumpled the piece of paper in her hand before standing.

"Mr. Kaiba, sorry, I was...preoccupied."

Kaiba couldn't remember the last time she addressed him as "Mr" so seriously. It made him scrutinize her more closely. He didn't see any of the usual signs of nervousness or anxiety. In fact, Aria looked entirely still, too still. One thing Kaiba learned was that when Aria was under stress, she fidgeted. Then he looked into her eyes, and he found the emotion she was trying to conceal. Fear.

"I need a progress report on the seven layers," he said staunchly. "Bring it up to my office within the hour." It took every ounce of strength he had to turn around and leave Aria standing there in that state. He knew something was terribly wrong, and it had something to do with that scrap of paper.

Sitting back in his office, Kaiba waited for Aria to appear. But he soon grew restless sitting and decided to stand looking out onto the city. After about 15 minutes, he heard the door open and close. He didn't move, nor did he tear his gaze away from the view in front of him. He felt more than saw Aria's presence as she came to stand beside him. Both were silent as they watched Domino City move with life below them.

"What happened down there Aria?" Kaiba asked. He heard her take in a deep breath before answering.

"I found a note on my desk this morning." Aria held up a piece of wrinkled paper to Kaiba, which he wordlessly took.

Kaiba smoothed out the paper and read the contents. Time is running out. How much is your future worth to you? Kaiba's hand clenched around the paper in anger. Angry that someone like this could infiltrate his company. And that they would threaten a young girl into doing their dirty work. A girl that he happened to care about very much.

"I'm scared Seto, I don't know what to do."

Hearing his name broke Kaiba from his thoughts. Looking down at Aria he saw tears beginning to stream down her face. Cursing himself for only thinking of his own feelings, Kaiba grabbed Aria and pulled her close, not caring about their arrangement. He wrapped his arms around her while she buried her face in his shoulder. "I will find out who did this," he said fiercely. "Believe me, they will regret this."

Aria sniffled and then stepped out of his embrace. Walking over to a coffee table, she grabbed a tissue to dry her eyes with. "How are we supposed to find this person?" she asked. "He is right under our very noses and yet completely hidden!" She stomped her foot in frustration.

"Was anyone else in before you?" Kaiba asked.

Aria nodded. "Jim was."

Kaiba continued looking out the window, lost in thought. "It doesn't prove anything, but it may be a start."

"Have you looked into the other programmers?" Aria asked.

"Yes, but so far nothing has turned up."

"Are there surveillance cameras? Would you be able to see who put the note on my desk?"

Again Kaiba responded in the negative. "It's illegal for me to do so. Hence why I installed the glass walls. Kind of a self-made surveillance."

Aria sighed dejectedly and sat on one of the couches. "I tried watching them for a few minutes one day, but other than a few bad habits, all they did was work diligently." She sat forward with her elbows on her knees. "I'm in way over my head."

Kaiba strode over from the window and sat beside her on the couch. Laying his arm behind her on the headrest, he used his other hand to tip up her chin so that he could look into her emerald eyes. "You're safe with me. Do you understand?"

"But are you safe? Is Mokuba safe? How far is this guy willing to go for some blueprints?" she said in anguish.

"I don't know," Kaiba said honestly. "But we won't give him the satisfaction of scaring us into submission. You're strong Aria. And I will be right here beside you."

Aria's eyes swam with tears as she gave him a shaky smile. "Okay," she said, with a little more compulsion.

"That's my girl," Kaiba said with a smirk. Then he once again pulled her into his arms.

Going back downstairs was extremely difficult for Aria. How badly she wanted to stay in the safety of Kaiba's office, and his arms. She knew the line between boss and boyfriend had just become incredibly blurry, but after reading that note and feeling an icy cold fear fill her body, she had trouble caring about the consequences.

This insider had just made a move against her. He obviously didn't believe that Aria was going to go through with stealing the plans. Which made her think about if he was also aware that she had told Kaiba everything. And it didn't help that she had just spent 20 minutes upstairs in his office immediately after reading the note.

Walking back onto the floor, Aria's first impulse was to run straight to her office and hide. But she couldn't pass up the opportunity to see if anyone would be watching her as she walked by. Aria hoped to catch the insider in a mistake.

Measuring her steps, Aria slowly made her way to the back of the room. Everyone seemed, as usual, engrossed in their work. Other than Tenzin's leg bouncing up and down erratically, everything looked business as usual.

Aria balled her hands into fists, frustrated that the one person they were trying to find, was sitting right in front of her. She took a deep breath as she sank down into her seat, feeling like this whole situation was just one big mess. How did her stepfather even find this person? Money? And where did she come in in all of this? So many questions with no answers. The rogue programmer was right when he wrote that time was running out. Knowing that she couldn't do anything more now, Aria tried to refocus her mind back on her assignment for she still had a deadline to meet the next day.

While she worked, Aria always tried to maintain a constant eye on the offices. Her efforts always came across as futile. Who would conduct conspicuous behaviour on a floor with glass walls, and her sitting right at the front to see it all? It was very unlikely but she still held out hope that she would see something incriminating.

It was then that Aria saw Jim get up from his desk and head over to the elevators. Aria couldn't recall a single instance of Jim ever leaving his office in the middle of the day. Acting on impulse, Aria dashed out of her seat and tried to half walk and half jog to the elevators without appearing hurried.

"Hold the doors!" she called, slipping through at the last second. Jim gave Aria a wary look but didn't comment. Aria hit the button for the lobby floor, noticing that the button for the 10th floor was also pressed.

"Not still doing work for Langley are you?" Aria tried to ask casually.

"No," was all Jim said in reply. When the doors opened on the 10th level, Jim exited without a backward glance. Interest piqued, Aria quickly hit the button for the 9th floor. Jumping out when the doors opened again, she went to the stairwell and ran up the flight of stairs. Poking her head out, she saw the hallway to the programming lab was deserted. Lightly walking, Aria tiptoed to the lab. Pressed up against the wall, she shuffled over until she was beside the viewing window. Peeking through, she tried to catch a glimpse of Langley's desk. Coming into view, she saw that it was empty.

Her face fell, wondering where they could have gone. Continuing past the computer lab, Aria searched for any doors they might have entered. The sound of muffled voices reached her ears. Coming upon an intersection, Aria peered around the corner. Gasping she quickly threw herself back, afraid she had been spotted. When the voices continued unperturbed, she chanced another look. What she saw was Jim and Langley talking, or maybe conspiring was the better word. Aria couldn't figure out why they would be having a conversation, let alone down a deserted hallway.

Langley said a few last words to Jim who gave a curt nod before walking back up the hallway. Realizing that she was about to be caught, Aria turned around and sprinted back the way she came, not caring if the programmers in the lab saw a blur going flying past the window. Slamming into the stairwell, Aria grabbed at the door before it could bang shut. Once closed, Aria ran down about three flights before she finally stopped to catch her breath. Sweat covered her brow and her heart was racing at about a million beats per second. From adrenaline or fear she wasn't sure.

After a few minutes, Aria began to feel her heartbeat return to a normal rhythm. Able to think coherently again, her mind tried to piece together what she just witnessed. Jim apparently had gone for a meeting with Langley. That in itself wasn't a big red flag, but the fact that they had their conversation away from listening ears was.

Aria's breath hitched as a thought occurred to her. Was Langley the real insider working for her stepfather? Was he just using Jim to get closer to the plans? Aria's head began to hurt at how convoluted this whole thing seemed to be getting. She should probably inform Kaiba, he would want to know of his employees conducting secret rendezvous in his building.

Aria pressed her body against the cold wall, letting it cool down her overheated skin. She knew Langley was a sexist blockhead, but was he really capable of betraying the company he worked for? Aria always thought his disdain for her came from simply being a woman, but maybe he knew her stepfather was also using her to steal Kaiba's technology and didn't want her stealing his glory. It all seemed to fit, but she would need more concrete proof before she could point fingers.

"How do I get myself into these things?" she mused out loud to herself.