Heart of the Blue-Eyes

by Azure Eyes Silver Dragon

When tragedy strikes at KaibaCorp, Téa and the gang rush to the aid of an old acquaintance. Set approximately three to four years after the events of Dark Side of Dimensions.

11. The Closure He Needed At Last

See? I told you no promises. I apologize for the delay. Enjoy the update, and stay tuned for more!

Also I've been getting more reviews and I wanted to thank those of you who commented and gave me positive feedback! It truly helps to keep me motivated and gives me a reason to keep going with the story. It's a comforting and welcome surprise when I get other people telling me how good my writing is. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

-Azure Eyes Silver Dragon

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Téa rolled over and stretched, her eyes still closed. She didn't remember her bed being so spacious, or so luxuriously comfortable. And she only had a single sheet and blanket. Where did all her comforters go? She reached over and felt blindly for her Kuribohrn plush that Mokuba had given her, realizing it wasn't with her.

Téa's eyes flew open as she vaguely recalled her brief wake from her nap the night before, and she remembered with a jolt that she was in Kaiba's bedroom. She sat up in the king-sized bed she was in, looking around the unfamiliar room. The walls were painted a dark navy blue that was almost black, with similar colored light-blocking curtains adorning the two small windows. There was a tall black chest of drawers to her right and a single door next to that. A large plump armchair and ottoman was tucked into the opposite corner along with a bookshelf with an overhanging lamp. Téa smiled at Kaiba's quaint little reading nook and noted his bookshelf was full of classic literature and some harder sci-fi, along with non-fiction books written by people who had nomenclatures that included "Dr." and "Ph. D" on either end. There was a smaller lamp that looked like a glass cylinder with a wrap-around screen on the bedside table to her left, and Téa found that touching the base turned on the light while touching the screen revealed a digital clock that told her it was half past seven o'clock in the morning.

She eased herself carefully out of the bed, dropping two inches until her feet hit the floor, and made her way to the door that she hoped was a bathroom. Upon opening it, she realized it was a simple closet that held a line of suits, coats, collared shirts and dress pants, with only three pairs of dress shoes and a pair of black boots. Téa closed the door and looked around until her gaze fell upon an opening in the opposite wall, where there appeared to be a hallway leading somewhere behind the wall where the bed was situated. She looked around the corner. On the wall that separated the hallway from the bedroom, there were three heavy metal panels with handles that pulled downwards, and Téa read the labels on each one: clothes, linens, and dry clean. She pulled one open, revealing a chute that went to what must be the next floor down, and realized they were laundry drops. She closed the panel and continued down the hall, and she pushed open the opaque glass door at the end of the hall, relieved to find it was the bathroom. Besides the vanity with a large frosted-glass basin and the toilet hidden behind a privacy wall behind that, there was a huge black limestone shower with a sliding glass door. Téa finished her business and walked back out to the bedroom. She opened the only other door in the room, which must lead to the living area, and looked around. No sooner had she done so did a young woman on one of the armchairs look up from her phone.

"Good morning, Miss Téa." she said, putting her phone away and standing to attention. "I hope you slept well."

Téa blinked, and it took her freshly wakened brain a moment to draw the connection between the small woman before her and the one she had met the other night. "Claire?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am." affirmed the guard, appearing pleased that Téa remembered her name.

Téa studied the guard. She hadn't really gotten a good look the first time, considering it had been dark outside. Perhaps the trench-coat and boots had made her appear taller, but now as Téa looked upon the thin young woman wearing a casual black T-shirt with her matching dress pants, she realized Claire couldn't possibly be much taller than herself. Her orange-red hair was loose and hanging to her shoulder blades in frizzy banana curls, her cheeks littered with freckles. Had it not been for the lines on either side of her mouth, likely from smoking, Téa would never have guessed that Claire was much older than her early thirties.

"The chief asked me to stay with you, in case you needed anything, Miss Téa." explained Claire, as if noting Téa's uncertainty. "Most of Mr. Kaiba's personal service staff are men, and they didn't think you'd be comfortable with that."

"Oh." said Téa, shaking her head to clear it. "Well, um...thank you."

Claire's lips spread across her face in a smile. "I can see you don't really recognize me, Miss Téa." she said. "That's good. It means I was better at disguise than I was at keeping incognito."

Téa laughed uneasily. "Yeah, I suppose so." she said. "...and um, I'm sorry for how I acted the other night. I promise I'm not usually that mean."

"Oh no, Miss Téa, perfectly understandable." assured Claire, waving it away. "Your reaction to being followed was tame compared to what I would have done had I been in your shoes. I was more surprised that you knew Roland by name."

Téa giggled. "Yeah, we go a while back, both him and Kaiba." she said.

Claire let out a pensive hum, giving Téa a similar gaze.

Téa looked around, saying, "So um...where is Kaiba anyway?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's somewhere in the building." replied Claire. "It's Saturday, so he normally takes leisure. If he's not perusing the library, then he's either in the gym or the tech lab."

Téa let out a laugh of disbelief. "That's his idea of a day off? More work?" she said.

"He's a bit of a tech junkie, if I may say so, Miss Téa." replied the guard.

"Of course you may say so." said Téa, sounding surprised. "You're entitled to your own speech."

Claire's green eyes twinkled as her smile stretched across her face again, and Téa noticed the vaguest hint of tired lines under the green eyes. "Just so." she agreed.

Téa looked down at her wrinkled clothes, pulling a face. This would be the second day in a row she was unable to take a shower, seeing as she hadn't been able to take one at Joey's house, and she was starting to feel grimy. "So um...do you think Kaiba would let me take a shower in his bathroom?" she asked suddenly.

"He said himself to make yourself at home." nodded Claire. "Would you like me to see about getting you a fresh outfit?"

"How would you do that?" asked Téa, blinking. "I didn't bring any clothes with me."

"With your permission, your second guard can enter your residence and bring you your own clothes, along with anything else you may need." explained Claire.

Téa bit her lip. "Um...isn't my second guard a...a guy?" she asked uneasily.

"He is." affirmed Claire. "But to ease your discomfort, though I'm not normally allowed to share personal details, he grew up in a household of sisters and he has two daughters of his own. I can assure you he's very considerate of a woman's privacy."

That did actually give Téa some comfort. "Okay, then yes, if he could bring some clothes along with my toothbrush and hairbrush, that'll be sufficient." said Téa.

"We'll have them to you before you're done with your shower." assured Claire. "Would you like me to put an order in for your breakfast while you're freshening up?"

"Oh, um, yes please." said Téa. "Any suggestions?"

"Oh goodness, that's a tough one." said Claire, putting her finger against her chin and thinking earnestly about it. "Mayura is such a fantastic cook. I'm quite partial to her berry crepes, myself. Or her Greek omelet. Her homemade apple-cider granola oatmeal is to die for."

"That one sounds like a winner." said Téa with a smile.

"Anything to drink?" asked Claire. "Coffee, tea, juice?"

"Coffee please." replied Téa.

"Coming right up." said Claire, and she walked over to Kaiba's bar counter, where there was a cordless phone in a mount similar to the one he had used outside the auditorium. Claire picked up the phone and dialed the extension, glancing up at Téa and adding, "If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'll be right out here."

Téa thanked the guard before returning to Kaiba's room, and she heard the guard talking to Mayura on the phone as she placed Téa's breakfast order. Téa was undressing and laying her clothes on Kaiba's bed when she heard the click of the phone being placed on the receiver. She heard a familiar beep, similar to Kaiba's lapel receiver, and suddenly she heard Claire speak again. "She gave the green light, Mav. Hairbrush, toothbrush and clothes. Hop to it, partner."

Téa's brow furrowed. Mav? Was that the name of her second guard? It certainly didn't sound like a traditional name. She figured it must be a code-name, and that Claire was informed that Téa should not be told her other guard's identity, considering she was hesitant to tell Téa of his personal life. Téa shrugged to herself, then returned to the interior bathroom.

She noticed a deep shelf built into the wall before the shower that held freshly folded towels and washcloths, with a towel-rack built underneath that in reach from the shower, and Téa put a towel on the rack and took a washcloth before stepping into the shower. She blinked in confusion at the L shaped column before her. There were three square silver buttons sticking out of the column body, so Téa proceeded to push the first one. She heard a fan come on, along with a blue light that lit up the head of the L-column, and Téa pushed the same button to try to turn it off, and she made a noise of surprise as a bigger blue light lit up a larger square on the ceiling of the shower, and she looked up to see there was a rainfall shower overhead. She pressed the button again and the blue light and fan turned off. Téa pressed the button below that one, and the water came on in the L head, and pushing it again made the rainfall shower overhead turn on and dump water on her entire body.

"Okay, so first button is the fan and UV lights, second is water...so the third one is...?" Téa said aloud, pushing the button, and she let out a surprised squeal as a line of jets sprayed out of the L column in line with her spine, except for the topmost one, which sprayed her in the face. Téa figured it was built with Kaiba's height in mind, and he was a good head and a half taller than her. She turned off the jets and left the water from the rainfall shower on, and she saw another button to the side of the blue light one. She pushed that one, and she gasped as the main lighting in the bathroom went off, leaving her in total darkness. A thought came to Téa then, and she felt for the blue light button and pushed it twice. The rainfall square lit up with blue light, but the main lights remained off, bathing her in dark blue glow. Now this is cool. thought Téa.

Now that she finally figured out the combination to the shower, Téa realized she didn't have any of her usual personal hygiene products. Oh well. I guess I'll smell like Kaiba. she said, taking the single bottle down from a metal holding shelf that was attached to the L column. It was a shampoo and body wash combo that had a mild smell of sage, menthol and something woody. Téa lathered a small amount into her hair and squeezed more into the wash cloth before putting it back in the holder and proceeding to wash herself from head to toe. It felt so good to have a proper shower after two days, and the heavy water flow and endless hot water that created a pleasant and relaxing steam certainly helped.

Téa finished her shower, turning on the main lights before turning off the water and blue light. She realized the fan was still on despite her turning off the buttons, and no matter how many times Téa pressed the buttons, the fan remained on. She decided to let it go after three attempts. She wrung out her hair and pushed her hands along her body to get off as much water as possible before sliding open the shower door and taking the towel from the rack. She had just finished drying her hair and body when there was a knock on the door, and Téa hurriedly wrapped herself in the towel before allowing Claire to open the door.

"Here you go." she said, talking slightly louder over the fan, and handing Téa one of her own messenger purses. "He put some other items in there he thought you may need."

"Thank you." said Téa, amazed at how fast they had gotten her items to her. Her shower had only been maybe twenty minutes long. "Um...I tried turning the fan off, but it doesn't work."

"Oh, don't worry about that." said Claire. "There's a sensor that detects the humidity in the room. It'll automatically turn off the intake fan when it senses the room is no longer hot and steamy."

"Oh." said Téa. "That's convenient."

Claire's green eyes twinkled. "You can drop your towel in the linens chute when you're done with it. Let me know if you need anything else." she said before she closed the door again.

Téa brought out her toothbrush and hairbrush, noticing that Mav had wrapped an elastic hair tie and a blue scrunchie onto the handle as well. She also noticed her deodorant and her phone charger, and she was silently grateful that Mav had thought of those when she hadn't. Téa saw a closet hanger that lay on top of a neatly folded outfit, and she pulled it out and held it up. It was a soft blue sundress with dark-blue star flower stitching, complete with a white silk quarter-sleeve tie top.

"Ooh, that's cute." Téa said aloud, forgetting she had this outfit tucked away in her closet. She was glad Mav had an eye for women's fashion. She hung the outfit on the towel rack while she brushed her teeth and hair, applying her deodorant before she pulled on the sundress and tie top. She did a quick once-over, inspecting herself in the mirror, before she grabbed her bag and exited the room, dropping her towel into the linens chute on the way by. She put her dirty clothes that she had laid out on Kaiba's bed into her bag, and Téa pulled her phone out of her shirt pocket, wincing as she noticed the battery was at nine percent. She noticed an outlet near Kaiba's bedside table where her phone was, remembering her phone charger. Thank you, Mav. she thought as she plugged her phone into the charger, and that into the outlet. She leaned her bag in front of the bedside table and exited the bedroom, and was greeted by Claire sitting at the bar-stool with a covered dish on a tray in front of her.

The guard immediately stood as Téa walked forward. "Right on time." said Claire, pushing the tray over to the seating area beside her. "Mayura just brought this. It's fresh off the burner."

"Aw, I missed Mayura?" said Téa, sliding into the bar-stool. "Oh well, I guess I'll run into her another time." She lifted the domed lid, inhaling the glorious smell of the oatmeal. There was also a small metal pitcher and a ceramic cup, along with a small glass of cream and a tiny tin of sugar complete with miniature tongs. "Wow." said Téa, blinking at the arrangement. "Mayura sure knows how to present."

Claire made a hum of agreement, and Téa looked up at the guard, who had remained standing. "Aren't you going to sit down?" asked Téa.

Claire blinked. "Did you want me to?" asked the guard.

"Well, you certainly don't have to stand there the whole time!" insisted Téa, patting the bar-stool next to her. "Sit! You probably stand on your feet all day!"

Claire's green eyes twinkled as her smile stretched across her face. "That I do." agreed Claire before seating herself next to Téa. "Thank you, Miss Téa."

"You don't have to call me miss, either, you know." said Téa as she used the tongs to plop two cubes of sugar into her coffee. "And especially not ma'am. I'm no one important."

Claire stared at her. "But you are a close friend of Mr. Kaiba's." she pointed out.

"Well yeah, but I'm not a stickler like he is with his staff." said Téa, pouring the cream.

A corner of Claire's mouth twitched ever so slightly as she fought not to laugh at the comment. "Understood ma'a-...Téa." she corrected quickly.

Téa stirred her coffee before cleaning the spoon with her mouth and tucking into the oatmeal. "Do you happen to know when he woke up?" asked Téa before taking her first bite of oatmeal.

"Mr. Kaiba?" said Claire. "He usually rises around three in the morning."

Téa remembered Kaiba telling her it had been nine-thirty when he put her to bed, and she winced after mentally counting the hours in her head. Assuming he fell asleep right after her, Kaiba had only gotten maybe five hours of sleep. And since she had been occupying his bed, it probably wasn't a very restful sleep, she realized with a twinge of guilt. "Does he always sleep so little?" she asked, hoping to assuage some of her guilt.

"Yes, that's quite natural for Mr. Kaiba." answered Claire. "Especially if he gets into a worker's flow with his tech. I've seen him go up to three days without sleep."

Téa almost choked on her oatmeal. "He's gone three days without sleep?!" she exclaimed. "…and that's normal?! Oh, I'm gonna kick him so hard when I see him next!"

This time Claire had to put her hand to her mouth to stifle her surprised giggle. "He'd let you do that, would he?" asked the guard.

"What, like I need to ask his permission to give him a piece of my mind?" retorted Téa before taking a sip of her coffee.

Claire shook her head in amazement at Téa's bold confidence. "...and here I thought the chief was exaggerating." she said suddenly.

Téa blinked, staring over at the guard. "Roland?" she asked. "Exaggerating about what?"

Claire gave her a knowing smile. "The night you discovered me, while I was talking to the chief while you spoke to Mr. Kaiba..." she said. "...he told me to forgive your outburst, and that you had an admirable assertiveness that could even quell Mr. Kaiba's temper."

Téa recalled the day she had burst into Kaiba's office and had done just that, and remembered that Roland was there to witness it. "He thinks it's admirable?" asked Téa, sincerely surprised.

"Everyone does, Téa." said Claire. "You are the only person who has ever dared to speak about Mr. Kaiba the way you do, and especially to Mr. Kaiba himself. The only other person he ever allowed to do so was his brother, rest his soul. Mr. Kaiba must hold you in the highest regard."

Téa let out a surprised noise from her open mouth, then glanced away, a solemn look on her face. "I guess so..." she said before continuing to eat her oatmeal.

Claire watched her for a moment, allowing her to mostly finish her breakfast before asking, "May I be so bold as to ask you something, Téa?"

"Of course. You can ask me anything!" insisted Téa, sipping her coffee again.

"I noticed you don't call Mr. Kaiba by his first name." said Claire carefully. "Why is that? The two of you appear to be very close."

Téa swallowed her coffee, which helped to moisten her suddenly dry throat. "Because he hasn't given me permission to do so." she answered simply.

"I don't understand." said Claire, her brow furrowing. "You just said only a moment ago that you never ask his permission for anything else. Why exclude Mr. Kaiba's name?"

"Well..." said Téa, turning her coffee cup around in her hands. "...because that's just a little more...um..." She swallowed nervously. "...intimate, I guess? To him, anyway."

"I see..." said Claire. "And the two of you are not...intimate?"

Téa felt herself flush to her roots at the double meaning. "N-no." she stammered. "We're friends. Just friends."

"Oh dear, that came out terribly wrong." said Claire, seeing Téa's reddened features. "I'm sorry, Téa, I didn't mean to sound so forward. I just had a professional curiosity."

Téa blinked. "What do you mean professional curiosity?" she asked.

Claire bowed her head, deliberating. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you this..." said Claire before meeting Téa's eyes again. "...but I suppose if it'll help you forgive me for my prying. I was originally your one and only guard, but then I was given a partner after you discovered me."

Téa nodded. "Mav." she said.

Claire blinked. "Oh, you heard that, did you?" asked the guard. "Well, no matter. It's simply a code name. Yes, Mav...and that's exactly what my curiosity is about. You see, Téa, I'm a Tier Three guard, which is mid-level security. The chief would usually start a principle...that is, a person we're hired to protect...out on Tier Four, but Mr. Kaiba asked for Tier Three."

"Okay..." said Téa slowly. "...so Kaiba gave me two Tier Three guards. Why is that curious?"

Claire looked her in the eye, saying, "No, Téa. Mr. Kaiba gave you one Tier Three guard and one Tier One guard. Mav is a plainclothesman, one level below the special operatives team."

"What's a plainclothesman?" asked Téa.

"An undercover agent that has the same judicial powers of a law enforcement officer, but he dresses like an everyday person so he's not as noticeable…hence plain clothes." replied Claire.

"Oh." said Téa, her surprise evident. "…and…and the special operatives…?"

"…are the ones who protect Mr. Kaiba himself." answered Claire. "They're no less than special forces military…think American Seals, Swiss Armed Forces, British Royal Marines, that sort."

Téa stifled a gasp with her hand, her eyes wide.

"That's why I was wondering about your relationship with Mr. Kaiba." said Claire. "He never hires anyone past Tier Three for someone of little consequence..." The guard met Téa's eyes again, saying, "...so evidently, Mr. Kaiba doesn't think you're someone of little consequence."

Téa held her hand to her heart as she felt it warming, and she felt the blood pool into her cheeks again, but this time for a different reason. "I had no idea..." she said quietly.

"Likely not." said Claire. "I'm not sure you were supposed to know that about Mav, so if you could keep that knowledge between the two of us. I already have one strike."

"Oh yes, of course I will!" assured Téa. "Your secret's safe with me, and Mav's as well."

Claire's smile twinkled her green eyes again. "Thank you, Téa. I do appreciate it."

Téa finished off the rest of her oatmeal and coffee, letting out a sigh of content. "So um...is there a way to find out where Kaiba is?" she asked.

"Absolutely. I can just ask the chief. One second..." Claire said before pinching her collar. "Sir, Miss Téa's awake and refreshed and would like to know where Mr. Kaiba is."

He's in the tech lab. answered Roland.

"Um...can I go see him in there?" asked Téa cautiously.

Claire relayed the question to Roland, who was silent for a minute or two before he finally answered, Yes, she may, but escort her down there, Claire.

"Yes sir." said Claire before releasing her collar and asked Téa, "Off we go then?"

"Yes please!" said Téa, hopping to her feet. She glanced at her dirty dishes on the tray, saying, "Um...should we take those with us?"

"Oh no, don't worry about that. One of the butlers will get it." said Claire, waving away.

"Oh. Right." said Téa before following Claire out of the room, through the office, and out to the elevators. The doors dinged open after Claire pushed the down button, and when they were inside, she pushed the B1 button before pulling an ID card from a string lanyard on her belt and scanning the security box. The elevator plummeted down to the lower floors before dinging open again, and Claire led Téa down what looked more like a tunnel than a hallway, one that rose up a bit before dropping into a steep incline. They came to a set of heavy metal doors with two guards standing staunchly on either side. Claire nodded silently to the guards, who gave her a similar greeting before scanning her ID badge on the reader to the right of the door, then held her eye up to it. The retina scanner flashed with two green lights, and the heavy metal doors slid open, Claire ushering Téa inside.

"Welcome to the pride and joy of KaibaCorp...the tech lab!" said Claire proudly.

Téa put her hands on a rail before her and looked out over the huge space before her, and she couldn't help but let out an awe-induced, "Whoa!"

The tech lab seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see in all directions. In the center of the room was a massive circular chamber with the KaibaCorp logo on it, surrounded by four metal bridges with glass panes leading to it. There was a second floor below where they stood, the quadrant of rooms separated by partitions of heavy glass. In one quadrant, several assembly lines made of what appeared to be hard light rolled out various parts and pieces of tech, each one inspected by numerous line workers. In the next quadrant over, engineers were welding together Duel Disks at work stations while others used cranes and forklifts to put together the larger Duel Arenas. A third quadrant revealed people testing out the finished products and working out any programming kinks, and the fourth quadrant had a team of men loading the finished products onto pallets and loading them into shipping containers and trucks for outside delivery.

Téa looked skywards, where there appeared to be a tube-like compartment suspended from the ceiling. She noticed Kaiba through the glass, standing before a large console with what appeared to be a hard light monitor that spanned almost the entire upper half of the wall. He stood with his arms crossed as he regarded the details on the monitor being shown to him by an older man in a white lab coat. Claire led her up through a glass elevator to this office area and swiped her ID card into the reader, and the heavy metal door slid aside to admit them into the room.

"...as you can see, Mr. Kaiba, we unleashed a barrage of software and hardware threats upon the Duel Gazer while it was mounted upon the test subject's heads, and it surpassed every single one with flying colors, sir." said the man in the lab coat. Neither he nor Kaiba appeared to notice the two women that had entered the room. "...and our beta testers reported no adverse physical or mental effects from the Gazer. An absolute marvel of neuroscience and biofeedback. I must say you've truly out-done yourself, Mr. Kaiba."

"You say that every single time I invent something new, Irvine." replied Kaiba, sounding thoroughly annoyed. "You're starting to sound like a pandering echo-chamber."

Téa giggled aloud at the metaphor, and Kaiba turned to look as his ears caught the sound, and he immediately uncrossed his arms and stood more upright. The man in the lab coat also noticed the newcomers, as well as Kaiba's changed behavior with a sly twinkle in his eye.

"Ah! You must be Miss Téa!" said the man, walking over to her and taking her hand in his. "I'm Dr. Scott Irvine, chief director of KaibaCorp's research and development team. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my dear."

"Likewise." answered Téa, returning the hand-shake. Her attention roved over to Kaiba, and she caught his gaze lingering downward, as if admiring the needle-work in her dress, before his blue eyes snapped back up to hers. She felt her face warming in response, and she offered him a shy smile, and Kaiba inclined his head silently in response. Claire seemed to notice the silent interaction, and her green eyes twinkled as she watched the two of them.

"Well, Miss Téa!" said Irvine, snapping her attention back to the tech director. "Doubtless you've seen the many versions of Mr. Kaiba's Duel Disk technology and the virtual reality simulators he's created for Duelists worldwide. You, my dear, are the first one to bear witness to the latest upgrade in that technology."

Irvine indicated to the console in the center of the room, where a raised pedestal appeared to showcase two Duel Disks along with a pair of the Duel Gazers she had seen during the duels between Yugi, Kaiba and Aigami a few years back.

"This is the visual piece of the third generation Duel Disk, what we call the Duel Gazer." explained Irvine. "We've recently upgraded the neural sensors to do what no other creation of neuroscience has done before. A pair of Duel Gazers can now be set to a Tag Duel team's brainwaves, allowing them to be shared between the Gazer partners. Thus can a Tag Duel team see each other's card hands and work together to create a strategy, all in the privacy of their minds so the other team is none the wiser." Irvine smiled proudly, saying, "In other words, Miss Téa, the Duel Gazer would allow you to read the thoughts of another person, so long as the second Gazer is paired with yours."

Téa couldn't help but let out a noise of awe, her blue eyes wide. She didn't have to be a neuro-scientist or even a genius to know the implications of that kind of technology.

"We've recently finished the alpha testing phase, where we had two people test the functions of their Duel Gazer pair whilst outside testers attempted to infiltrate, brute force, or disrupt the brainwaves of the two Gazer testers, and I'm proud to say the initial testing was a success." continued Irvine, walking forward and picking up on the of the Duel Gazers. "Our next testing phase will be to try out two pairs of Duel Gazers in a formal Tag Duel, but that will be at a later date. For now, we're going to demonstrate the functionality of the Duel Gazer to Mr. Kaiba. I was initially going to make myself Mr. Kaiba's Gazer partner, but…" Téa watched, her eyes widening, as Irvine held the Duel Gazer in his hand out towards her, saying, "...perhaps you would like to be the first to test it out, Miss Téa?"

Kaiba appeared to stiffen. "You're certain it's safe, Irvine?" he asked suddenly.

"Of course, Mr. Kaiba! One hundred percent!" assured Irvine. "I wouldn't allow you to don a Gazer if it hadn't passed all health and operational security checks, sir, so of course I wouldn't offer an unsafe product to your girlfriend."

Téa stifled a surprised giggle with her hand as Kaiba's face flushed red, and Irvine blinked, looking between the two and saying, "Oh dear, have I misspoken? My apologies."

Claire sighed and shook her head. "Really, Irvine…you and the chief both." she said suddenly. "How can you not see that these two are simple acquaintances? She doesn't even call Mr. Kaiba by his first name."

Kaiba appeared to linger on Claire's remark before his gaze flitted over to Téa, as if realization had dawned upon him.

"Oh." said Irvine, sounding genuinely surprised. "I see. Well, in that case, I suppose I'll leave the decision up to you, Mr. Kaiba. Do you trust Miss Téa to share a mind with you?"

Kaiba's blue eyes met Téa's, and his gaze remained on her as he answered, "Of course I do."

Téa felt her heart warm at his words, and she gave him a warm smile in return.

"Alright then, let us begin!" said Irvine, his demeanor changing from hesitant to excited in an instant. "Come, Miss Téa. Have a seat, if you could."

Téa walked forward and eased herself up into an elevated chair with a high back that Irvine indicated to, and he maintained communication with her as he set the Duel Gazer up on her head. "Now I'll just move your hair aside if I could...and this part goes around your ear...just so...and now the neural sensor must align with the cusp of your frontal and temporal lobe...and the halo mounts around your that of your parietal and occipital. There we are!" Irvine stepped back and inspected his work, saying, "I must say, Miss Téa, you make the Duel Gazer look positively fashionable. Perhaps we should hire you as a model for advertising."

"I concur. The back-light does wonders for those lustrous eyes of yours." agreed Claire.

Téa blushed at the compliments and offered a grateful smile while Kaiba had to resist rolling his eyes. Leave it to his staff to brown-nose wherever they could.

"...and now, Mr. Kaiba..." said Irvine, turning to look at him. Kaiba picked up the second Duel Gazer and made quick work of setting it on and about his head, activating the blue light on the neural sensor.

"Right then, I should probably explain how this works to you, Miss Téa." said Irvine. "The Duel Gazer requires the upmost concentration to work, which is usually pretty simple in a game like Duel Monsters where it's required for strategization. However, we're just testing out the shared cerebral processes, so you'll merely think about what you want to say to Mr. Kaiba, and imagine projecting it towards him, not with your words, but with your mind. Give it a try, my dear."

Téa looked over at Kaiba, who stood with that unwavering gaze of his as he regarded her, waiting. She leveled her own blue gaze at him, concentrating on those intense dark-blue eyes of his, and thought, Can you hear me?

Faster than her cognition, both of the Duel Gazers' blue lights glowed brighter. Kaiba gave her a pleased smile from across the room.

Yes, I can. she heard his voice from within the confines of her mind.

Wow! This is cool! thought Téa to herself. It's like I'm psychic! Psychic reminded her of the Duelist Espa Roba, and in turn his monster Jinzo, which Joey now had. The hard light ocular screen suddenly sprang to life on Téa's Gazer, and she shuddered at the visual of the tall iron-clad monster with an exposed brain in her Gazer's focal lens. Eugh, that thing was creepy.

I agree. she heard Kaiba's voice affirm. It reminds me of Lector. Pick a different memory.

Téa's eyes were huge, and she looked up to see Kaiba's focal lens on his Gazer was also activated, but she couldn't see what his displayed. Can you see Jinzo, too?! she asked.

Of course. answered Kaiba. The Gazer was made so that Tag Duel Teams could see each other's hands. But we're not focusing on that right now, so you're showing me your memories instead. Kaiba's blue eyes twinkled mischievously as he added, Try to stay concentrated so you don't show me anything you don't want me to see.

So it can project auditory and visual?! asked Téa.

Exactly. replied Kaiba.

Whoa...okay. thought Téa. How about...this?

She focused on digging into her memory bank for a song and the music along with it, and Kaiba recognized the song Domino that they had danced to at the arcade. In response to it, Téa's Gazer changed from her memory of Jinzo to Kaiba's memory of Téa dancing on the arcade stage with him. She noticed his point of view flitting to certain more prominent areas of her body as she danced. Well, well...I guess I am very distracting, aren't I? she teased.

Kaiba's face reddened. Oh, like you were any better during the camping trip. he retorted.

Téa couldn't help but remember the last night with the two of them in the lake together, and the Gazer's focal lens changed once again from Kaiba's memory to Téa's, particularly when she was running her hands along Kaiba's bare chest, arms and shoulders. Kaiba smirked triumphantly over at her. See? I only looked, but not touched. You, however, had your hands all over me.

Téa felt herself coloring. If he was going to play that way, then...

She leveled her eyes at him. And I suppose you wouldn't want to do the exact same thing if I let you? she asked him boldly.

Kaiba's eyes flitted downwards for a split second before he tore his gaze away. "It appears to be working well, Irvine." he said out loud.

The Gazer's lens changed into Irvine's visage, and Téa smiled as she realized Kaiba was putting all his focus on the person he was speaking to instead of his inner thoughts.

"Excellent!" replied Irvine. "Now that we know the neural sensor is functioning optimally, let's try it with a card hand from a Duel Disk, shall we?"

Téa saw Kaiba visibly stiffen, his eyes flitting to the Duel Disk that Irvine picked up.

The blue glow of the Duel Gazers brightened, and the ocular lens came to life. Téa watched as a flurry of Kaiba's memories flashed across her lens. Her eyes widened as she witnessed pieces of a Duel in a familiar Egyptian throne room, Atem throwing forth the arm that held his diadankh as he commanded Quintet Magician to destroy Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. In the next instant, Roland appeared, his face solemn as he tried to explain to Kaiba what happened in his absence to the space station. The next visual showed Kaiba's arms lifting his limp and pale little brother from a hospital bed, his arms and legs sagging like a rag doll…

…and just as fast as it all appeared, another vision came forth, clearer and louder than the others. Téa stared at the all too familiar dark eyes framed by dark hair, and the pre-pubescent voice shouted as clearly as if he were standing right there, but from within the confines of her brain.

You'll probably just work, like you always do! Mokuba's voice echoed in her mind as Kaiba's memory played before her. You never did anything else if it didn't have something to do with Duel Monsters!

Téa's eyes were huge as she stared over at Kaiba, whose hand clenched into a fist. He tore the Duel Gazer off his head, saying, "No, I can't. I'm done Dueling. Find someone else for that."

"Wha-…?" said Irvine, looking baffled and confused. "...but sir, how are you supposed to-…?"

"I said find someone else!" snapped Kaiba, thrusting his Duel Gazer into Irvine's hands and sweeping past Téa, avoiding her concerned gaze as he passed her before exiting the room.

"Oh dear..." said Irvine, staring down at the Gazer in his hands. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Téa. I don't know what happened."

"I do." assured Téa, and Irvine stared over at her inquisitively as she hopped down from the chair, adding, "I'll be right back."

"Miss Téa, please. I highly advise against pursuing Mr. Kaiba when he's in a foul mood." warned Irvine.

"It's okay, Dr. Irvine, I'll be fine." said Téa reassuringly, and Irvine stared at her in a mix of awe and disbelief at her confidence. She indicated to the Duel Gazer in his hands, saying, "May I take that with me?"

"Miss Téa, this is proprietary technology of KaibaCorp." said Irvine. "Just because you are an acquaintance of Mr. Kaiba's doesn't mean I can just let you walk around with it unchecked!"

"I'll go with her, Dr Irvine." said Claire, stepping forward. "Though I trust Miss Téa would never do so, I'll make sure she doesn't leave the premises with them."

Téa gave Claire a grateful smile, and Irvine sighed as he conceded, saying, "Oh, I suppose, then. But do be careful with them, Miss Téa. The neural sensor is especially sensitive."

"I'll treat it as if it were my firstborn made of candy glass." assured Téa, holding out both her hands, and Irvine smiled grimly at the metaphor before handing her the Duel Gazer. Téa turned and walked briskly out of the room with Claire in tow, and Irvine stared after her.

"Where do you think he would have gone, Claire?" asked Téa when the door shut behind them.

"Likely his tech office on the second level." said Claire, glancing up at the opaque glass windows on the floor above them. "Though if that's the case, we'll have a hard time getting in. Only Mr. Kaiba has access to it."

"Then we'll just have to get him to give us access." said Téa affirmatively.

"You say that with such certainty of that happening, Miss Téa." noted Claire as she led Téa up a hard light escalator that brought them up to the second floor. "I don't think you understand how difficult it is to persuade Mr. Kaiba when he's not in the best of temperaments."

"Trust me, Claire, I've known Kaiba for five years. I know how to talk to him." said Téa.

"I feel compelled to remind you that my chief has known Mr. Kaiba for twice that long, Téa, and even his closest advisor can't speak to him the way you claim to be able to." Claire pointed out.

"That's because Kaiba doesn't let Roland talk to him the way I do." said Téa. "Kaiba doesn't have that option with me. I'm not under his employ."

Claire's smile appeared again. "You got me there." said the guard. "I guess I'll just have to witness your wonders before I believe in them."

The guard led her down a hallway which inclined upwards a bit before turning to the left, and they came upon a metal door with the KC symbol on it, along with a keypad and an ocular security scanner outlined by a blue glow.

"He's in there, alright." said Claire. "That blue light is an indication that Mr. Kaiba's inside."

Téa suddenly felt her heart beating nervously as she gazed at the barricade between her and Kaiba. "I need to talk to him alone, Claire." said Téa. "Can you stand at the end of the hall and make sure no one else bothers him?"

"Of course." said Claire, and she bowed slightly to Téa before walking off around the corner and down the inclined hall again.

Téa waited until she heard Claire's footsteps halt before she took a deep breath and pushed the speaker button on the keypad. "Kaiba?" she spoke into the speaker. "It's me." She released the button and waited a few seconds, but there was no response. She pressed the button again, saying, "I know you're in there. Claire said you're the only one with access to this room, and the blue light means you're in it." She released the button again, but still no response after twenty seconds, so she tried once more. "Kaiba, you don't have to be ashamed of what happened. I told you I'd be there for you, and that you don't have to deal with this alone. I just want to help." She released the speaker button and took a deep breath to steady her nerves before pressing the button again, saying, "Please let me help you."

She waited for only a few seconds this time before she heard the sound of a desk chair's wheels rolling along the floor, then five long strides that got louder as they approached the other side of the door. Téa heard a beep before the metal door slid aside into the wall, and there stood Kaiba, his blue eyes dark with mental fatigue. His gaze went from Téa's head to the Gazer in her hands, and he finally spoke, saying, "I see Irvine is very trusting with my proprietary tech."

Téa offered a weak smile at the remark and lowered her eyes to the Gazer, touching the neural sensor gingerly as she said, "I think he knows you trust me with it, or at least…" She glanced cautiously up at him through her lashes, saying, "...you said you did, anyway."

Kaiba's blue eyes met hers. "I meant what I said." he assured her softly.

He indicated inside the room with his hand, and Téa stepped into the room, the door sliding shut behind her. The same large pane of glass that was black and opaque from the outside stretched along the wall to her left, but apparently it was one-way, as she could see as clearly out of it as if it were clear. She looked down at the three stories below, at the people in white lab coats with hard light clipboards inspecting and testing the myriad of pieces of technology that rotated around the floors on assembly lines. Téa smiled softly as she gazed over the length of the tech lab, saying, "It's still hard for me to wrap my head around all of this, you know."

Kaiba stared over at her inquisitively, and Téa continued. "How you went from an orphan to all of this. Even if you never wanted it, it's still inspiring what you did with this place. You turned a manufacturer of war and death into a creator of imagination and discovery. And this…" Téa looked down at the Duel Gazer in her hands, saying, "...this is unlike anything I've ever dreamed of, and you brought it to life. I don't know how you do it."

Kaiba flashed a weak smile down at the Gazer and attempted a light-hearted remark, saying, "With an obscene amount of knowledge of several scientific and technological disciplines."

Téa let out an amused hum. "I'd love to share in those parts of your mind." she said. "I know this would allow me to do that, but…" She gazed up at him with a concerned look on her face, saying, "I guess there's probably some parts you'd rather me not hear."

Kaiba let out a sigh from his nose and took the Duel Gazer from her hands, walking over to his desk and placing it down on the surface. "I don't want you to get caught up in the cacophony that is my mind, Téa." he said, keeping his back to her as he leaned his fists onto the desk. "It's not your mess to clean up."

Téa gave him a sad smile, and she walked over to him and laid her hand on his arm, saying, "I'd still offer to help."

She felt Kaiba relax at her touch, and he turned to meet her blue eyes with his as he said, "Well, thank you for the offer."

Téa smiled sadly at him, her blue eyes shimmering with concern as she looked down at the Duel Gazer and back up at him. "Those words Mokuba said…" she started carefully. "...that was when you tried to bring him back, wasn't it?"

Kaiba lowered his eyes away from hers and said nothing, and that was all the answer that Téa needed. "Kaiba…" she said, her hand sliding down the length of his arm to rest over his hand. "...you know he didn't mean-…"

"Yes he did." said Kaiba firmly, cutting across her, and his hand slipped out from under Téa's as he turned to sit on his desk. "He may not have meant to say it so harshly, but he meant every word. And nothing he said was wrong." Kaiba inhaled slowly through his nose before releasing the sigh through his mouth. "That's why I promised I'd do more with my life, even if it wasn't with him in it." he added.

Téa bit her lip, trying to hold back her tears. "I still don't think he would have wanted you to stop Dueling altogether." she insisted. "You gave him a good life because of it."

"He also died because of it." said Kaiba bitterly.

"Kaiba, that's not true and you know that." said Téa firmly, stepping closer to him. "Why do you do this to yourself? Would you have stopped inventing Duel Disks and holographic projectors if you had been focusing on that when Mokuba died? Do you think your brother would have wanted you to let your entire company fall to ruin?!"

Kaiba remembered that same time when he tried to revive his brother, and the rest of his words when Kaiba tried to join him. Think about everything we did to make this world a better place! You're just gonna throw that all away because I'm not there anymore?!

"No, he wouldn't have." he admitted aloud. "I just…"

Téa waited, but Kaiba couldn't seem to find the words he wanted to convey. She sighed, reaching out both hands and running them down the length of his arms as she asked, "What's it going to take for you to stop beating yourself up over something you didn't do, Kaiba?"

Kaiba lowered his eyes, his brow furrowing slightly as if he were actually deliberating the thought. "If the medical team would just tell me who was really responsible…" he said at last.

"Why does that matter?" asked Téa. "You want someone else to pin the blame on?"

"No, of course not." insisted Kaiba. "I just want to know that it was really an accident and not someone who had malicious intent. I want to know that there was really nothing I could have done had I been here with Mokuba."

Téa laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Kaiba, I'm sure the medical team and the security team would have told you if they suspected foul play." she assured him.

"Then why won't they tell me what happened?!" he demanded. "Why won't they say who's responsible?! What have they got to hide?!"

"Kaiba, be honest. What would you have done the moment you found out who supposedly killed your brother, whether it was an accident or not?!" demanded Téa, her blue eyes blazing as they bore into Kaiba's with that same tenacity that she had always used when she stood against him.

Kaiba internally shriveled at the look in her eyes, but kept his stoic facade up as he answered, "I would have fired them."

"Exactly. And that's if you were nice about it!" said Téa. "Or did you forget you were in such a blinding rage that you assaulted the doctor and almost punched me in the face?!"

Kaiba winced at her blunt honesty, his stomach twisting into knots of guilt. She was right and he knew it. There was no arguing with her on that one.

"...and let's not forget about how you docked the pay of the entire medical staff." added Téa. "I'm sure that didn't help bolster their courage, either."

"I only did that after the entire team stayed silent." said Kaiba defensively. "I thought someone might come forward after that, but they're still not co-operating even after two months of-..."

Kaiba's voice died away as he saw Téa's eyes widen and the color drain from her face. Her blue eyes went from dilated with disbelief to dangerous pin-heads, and Kaiba swore he could see a literal fire in her blue eyes. Her hands went to her chest, further expressing her shock. "You still aren't paying your medical staff?!" she asked him.

Kaiba closed his mouth, as if that would stop him from damning himself any further.

"How long were you planning on withholding their pay?!" cried Téa.

"Until someone gave me a straight answer." said Kaiba simply.

"Kaiba, do you ever think about the consequences of your actions?!" asked Téa, her hands clenching into fists as they dropped to her sides again. "All of the medical staff have families, too! Families that are also affected by what you're doing to your staff! They have wives and husbands and siblings and children! And you were just going to let them suffer, too?"

Kaiba stayed silent, lowering his gaze to the floor as he felt the guilt attempt to consume him. Téa had always had a way of making him feel the shame he so rightfully deserved from his actions, and this time was no different. "What would you have done?" he asked quietly.

Téa blinked, caught off guard at the question. What would she have done? She thought for a moment, then asked, "Did you look at Mokuba's medical record to see who was in direct contact with him right before he died?"

Kaiba stared at her wordlessly.

"Kaiba! Don't tell me you didn't even read his medical record yourself before you made a decision like that!" said Téa, shock etched across her face. "I'm sure the entire medical staff wasn't working on Mokuba all at the same time!"

Kaiba averted his eyes, saying, "It wasn't high on the list of things I wanted to expose myself to at the time..."

Téa sighed, her hands unclenching again. "Kaiba..." she said softly, raising her hand and laying it gently on the side of Kaiba's face. She felt his jaw relax as he allowed Téa to turn his gaze towards to hers. "I know this is hard for you. I get that you wanted the medical staff to feel even an inkling of your pain. And I understand why you wanted to punish them for what they did to you and Mokuba. But this isn't the way to do it, and you know that."

Kaiba lowered his eyes and sighed through his nose again, his hand going to Téa's on his face as he pulled it gently away. She was right, of course, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud. "I'll look at his medical records, and then I'll call a meeting with the medical staff and go from there." he said definitively.

"And you'll do it as soon as possible?" asked Téa, leaning forward to look up into his eyes as she grasped his hand with both of hers, her beautiful blue eyes shining as she pleaded with him. "Tomorrow even? You swear you won't drag this out any longer than it has to?"

She was way too good at this. Kaiba looked away from Téa's sparkling blue gaze as he tried to shake off the strange feeling in his gut. "I'll do one better." Kaiba said, slipping his hand out of her grasp and walking over to his phone. He picked it up and punched in three buttons before holding it to his ear. "It's me. Bring me my brother's medical records, both the hard copy and the electronic...yes, right now...make it quick." Kaiba hung up the phone, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, leaning his fist on the desk.

Téa heart ached as she watched the pained expression on his face. "Kaiba, I understand if you need to wait until tomorrow..." she started.

"I have to do this, Téa." he said, his other hand sliding off the phone. "...and I want you here with me when I do so you can keep me accountable."

Téa blinked, momentarily surprised, before resuming a softer expression and nodding. "I'll stay as long as you need me to." she said affirmatively.

Kaiba picked his head up, his eyes closed as he inhaled deeply, then sighed and opened his eyes and looked down at Téa. "Thank you." he said softly to her. "You really didn't have to help me clean up my mess."

Téa gave him a solemn look before lowering her eyes to the Duel Gazer on the desk. She picked it up and held it up to Kaiba, saying, "I want to show you something."

Kaiba stared down at the Duel Gazer before his eyes lifted to meet hers, looking uncertain, but Téa merely picked up his hand in hers and placed the Duel Gazer in it, saying, "Trust me."

Kaiba looked up at her again and met her blue gaze with his, a strange look in his eyes as he regarded her. After a moment, he lifted the Duel Gazer slowly towards his head, hesitating for a moment before seating it as needed, and the blue light came on again as his was activated. Téa took a deep breath through her nose and closed her eyes, concentrating on her own memories, and her Duel Gazer lit up.

The ocular circle of hard light appeared in front of Kaiba's left eye on his Duel Gazer, and he blinked and stared into it as he saw Téa's memories come to life before him. He saw Téa punch him in the stomach when he had called her short, his amused half-smirk flashing as he rumbled in amusement and rubbed his stomach. That one turned into him bending over in outright laughter as Téa stuffed a pair of peaches into Mai's corset on Joey's torso, his smile gleaming in the light of the campfire. The night darkened around him, and he saw himself chuckle as Téa splashed him with water, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously in the glow of the full moon. The memory changed into a new one, and he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes as Joey glared daggers at him around the campfire with the girls, and in the next one, he let out a coughing snort before he burst into laughter as Téa's startled scream echoed through the night from her balcony, his face in his hand as he tried to regain his composure. Kaiba stared at himself in all of those memories, and it was hard for him to believe that the same smiling young man in these visions was the normally stoic-faced, brooding Seto Kaiba that he had been for most of his life.

"That's how I see you." said Téa suddenly, and Kaiba stared down at her, the ocular hard light on his Duel Gazer disappearing as she broke her focus on her memories. "That's how I always want to see you...happy and carefree. And if helping you clean up your mess is how I'd be able to see you smile and laugh like that all the time, then I'll gladly help you do so. I know I don't have to do it. I still want to." Téa stepped closer to him, squeezing both of his hands in hers, adding, "I'm always here for you, Kaiba, whether you like it or not."

Kaiba let out an amused rumble from his throat, his smile upturning both corners of his mouth, and returned the gesture. "I think I'm starting to like it." he admitted softly.

She watched as Kaiba lowered his head, lifting her hands in his and pressing his lips against her knuckles, and Téa's breath rushed into her open mouth as he did so. Kaiba must have heard her quiet gasp, as he immediately took his mouth away from her hands. "I'm sorry." he said quickly. "That was inappropriate of me."

"No it wasn't." assured Téa quickly, keeping a firm hold on his hands before he could pull them away. "It was sweet of you."

Kaiba kept his gaze on their hands, his thumbs caressing hers hesitantly. "It's just..." he started, swallowing to moisten his suddenly dry throat. "...something my dad taught me a long time ago. He told me never to touch a lady. Not without her permission."

Realization dawned on Téa then. She knew now why Kaiba was always hesitant with her, waiting until she made a move first before returning a gesture. She had been afraid Gozaburo had been the one to beat any notion of affectionate advances out of him, but now she realized Kaiba was just honoring the morality of his actual paternal role model.

Téa took a deep breath, suddenly nervous, but she wanted to let Kaiba know that it was okay to touch her, that she wanted him to. She stepped a bit closer, leaning her face towards Kaiba's before whispering, "You have my permission."

Kaiba lifted his head, his blue eyes meeting hers with that intense gaze of his, and Téa suddenly felt her heart beating rapidly. She didn't dare look away though. She wanted him to know that she meant what she said, and that she wasn't afraid.

Then, after what seemed like an agonizingly long minute of eye contact, he started to raise his hand towards her face, hesitating as his fingers grazed the bottom of her jaw. Kaiba steeled his resolved, and placed his entire hand on the side of Téa's face. She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of his gentle touch. She kept her eyes closed for only a few seconds before she opened them again, meeting Kaiba's blue eyes with her own. She watched as his gaze lowered from her eyes to his hand on her face, tracing his thumb gently up Téa's sleek jaw with a feather-light touch, as if testing the feel of it. His fingers dipped a bit, brushing along her neck, and Téa could feel her pulse pounding against his fingertips, but she didn't dare stop him. She closed her eyes again as Kaiba's fingers slid to her collarbone, then over to her shoulder, and she felt his other hand on her upper arm before both of them followed the path of her arms down to grasp her hands. Téa opened her eyes just in time to see Kaiba's gaze move back to meet hers cautiously, as if making sure he hadn't crossed a line. She gave him a warm, reassuring smile, her blue eyes twinkling as she did so. Kaiba found himself unable to tear his eyes away from Téa's, from their radiant sparkle. They really were distracting.

...like the stars around us... he thought as his Duel Gazer suddenly lit up with a soft blue glow.

...san ta asteria gyro mas…

Téa's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening as the memory of the space station flickered across her ocular hard light lens while the neural sensor simultaneously allowed her to suddenly understand the words that had come out of Kaiba's mouth.

"Kaiba." she said breathily, her hand going to her heart.

Kaiba blinked out of his trance, realizing that his mind was wandering, and he saw the healthy glow in her cheeks as Téa regarded him with adoration. He hurriedly pulled his Duel Gazer off his head and ran a hand through his hair. He cleared his throat, saying, "We should bring these back to Irvine. They could do with some modifications."

Téa let out an amused hum, peering up at Kaiba through her lashes with a coy and knowing glance. Kaiba averted his eyes, rising from his desk and striding purposefully towards the door, and Téa suppressed a giggle before following him. They turned the corner to walk down the inclined hallway, and Claire turned to look, her green eyes wide as she saw Kaiba walking with Téa. "Claire, bring these back to Irvine." commanded Kaiba, handing the guard the two Duel Gazers. "Tell him to proceed with the phase two beta test."

"Yes sir." said Claire, taking the Gazers and bowing deeply to him. She peered up at Téa with a look of awe while Téa gave her a wink before sweeping past her and following Kaiba out of the tech lab and back to the elevators.

While they were waiting for the elevators to take them back up to Kaiba's office, Téa slipped her hand around his arm and down to hold his hand, nudging teasingly against him and saying, "You really do have a way with words, you know."

She felt Kaiba stiffen and saw his eyes glance upwards before he lowered his head. "Camera." he murmured to her under his breath.

Téa blinked, then realized that the black glass panel above the buttons of the elevator was just that. She released his hand, whispering, "Vultures?"

"Mmmm-hm." affirmed Kaiba with an annoyed emphasis, glaring up at the panel.

Téa bit her lip. "Not in your offices, though?" she asked in a hushed undertone.

"Mm-mm." said Kaiba, shaking his head slightly.

Téa felt herself color, realizing that was why Kaiba was more forward with her in certain rooms of the building, but not others. She entwined her fingers together and waited for the elevator to take them up to the floor where Kaiba's office was, feeling her ears pop as it rocketed up the top floor before the elevator dinged open. She had to take two strides to match Kaiba's one as he crossed the hallway to his office door, holding it open for her before entering himself. Téa looked up at him as he appeared to pause as he closed the door behind him, his eyes locked forward. She followed his gaze over to his desk and immediately saw what had halted him.

A thick blue binder sat on Kaiba's desk along with a USB drive, both with the KC symbol adorning them along with the medical cross: Mokuba's medical records.

Kaiba made his way to his desk and lowered himself into the chair, staring at the binder. It had been two whole months since his brother left their world, but Kaiba still couldn't seem to bring himself to open the binder. He willed his hand to lift itself and laid it on the front cover, but his fingers would do nothing more. Kaiba swallowed the lump threatening to form in his throat. He couldn't do this. Not by himself, anyway...

Téa watched with an aching heart. She had never seen Kaiba's normally hard and intense blue eyes so pained before. Even the one time she had seen Seto Kaiba be so vulnerable, when Mokuba had been under Noah's influence and Kaiba had confessed to his little brother that he had saved Kaiba as a kid under Gozaburo's roof, seemed to have been nothing compared to how he looked now. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, her voice full of gentle concern as she said, "Kaiba, you don't have to do this right now."

Kaiba shook himself out of his daze, saying, "Yes I do, Téa. I've put it off for long enough."

He took a deep breath and finally opened his brother's medical record, and there he was, staring right back at Kaiba from the front page. It was the most recent photo of Mokuba before his life had been taken from him, his hair cut to just below his shoulders and groomed neatly at the top instead of the wild and haphazard rock-star do he had sported for so many years. Those dark-grey eyes still glinted with mischief, the matching grin plastered across his round face; the face of a little hellion masked by an angelic, child-like demeanor. Mokuba may have gotten most of their mother's features, but Kaiba never did find out where his little brother had gotten that trouble-maker persona from. He didn't recall either of his parents being so reckless and carefree, but then again, they had both been in their mid-thirties before they were taken from him, too.

He felt Téa's hand squeeze his shoulder, jolting him out of his trance again, and Kaiba started turning the pages towards the back of the binder. It was Mokuba's entire medical record from birth up until his death just after his 16th birthday, so Kaiba had to flip through sixteen years of medical information, which wasn't too much when he considered that both he and his brother had been in better than average health compared to others. That had probably been one of the reasons Mokuba's death had been so jarring to Kaiba; neither he or his brother had ever gotten sick to begin with. Their family history was all but spotless, give or take their faster-than-average metabolisms and Kaiba's own rapid growth spurt, another thing he had inherited from his father along with the genius intellect. He remembered the discomfort of going from four foot ten at twelve to six feet tall by the time he had turned 14. The tailors were re-measuring him almost every month. Thankfully Kaiba's deeper voice had evened out faster than Mokuba's, who unfortunately never managed to grow out of that pre-pubescent wavering pitch.

Kaiba finally flipped to the last page, skimming the words. It was mostly medical jargon, meant to befuddle the average mind so any slip-ups on the nurses or doctor's parts weren't easily deciphered without an extensive internet search or dictionary read, but Kaiba understood all of it. Advanced biology and anatomy had been part of his rigorous tutoring curriculum, but even without them, the terminology was an easy read. To Kaiba, it was a simple break-down of basic Latin roots, which had come to him as naturally as plain English. His paternal line of gifted intellects amazed even Kaiba sometimes. His eyes lingered on the last paragraph, carefully scanning the words:

Wed, 7/2, 17:53 PM: Mr. Mokuba presents with a complaint of dysphagia and cervicalgia; ultrasound and CAT scan of cervical and thoracic cavity showed no neuropathy or myasthenia. I administered 5 MG cyclobenzaprine and 250 MG acetaminophen for cervicalgia. I advised the patient that the muscle relaxer may make him nauseous, but will help with the pain. Sign-off: Dr. VR

Wed, 7/2, 18:27 PM: Mr. Mokuba suffered emesis; respirator mask replaced; administered 5 mg/mL metoclopramide to help with nausea. Sign-off; RD, RN

Wed, 7/2, 19:30 PM: I offered Mr. Mokuba an easy digestible meal of rice and chicken with starchy vegetables, explaining to him that there may be residual nauseating effects of the CAT scan's barium sulfate shake he ingested, and the meal may help to offset those effects; patient accepted. Sign-off: EO, MA

Wed, 7/2, 20:19 PM: Mr. Mokuba suffered second bout of emesis; respirator mask replaced; increased metoclopramide to 10 mg/mL. Sign-off: RD, RN

Wed, 7/2, 20:30 PM: Patient offered meal; he refused, stating, "I will just throw it up again". Sign-off:MI, MA

Wed, 7/2, 21:49 PM: Offered half-liquid with easy masticatable solids meal, patient refused. Sign-off: SP, MA

Wed, 7/2, 22:50 PM: Patient offered ginger ale; patient accepted. Sign-off: TO, MA

Kaiba shook his head. Of course Mokuba would drink soda without complaint. Typical kid.

Thurs, 7/2, 23:30 PM: Mr. Mokuba presented with dyspnea; respiratory rate at 89%, pulse 55 BPM; initiated continuous positive air pressure with full facial mask. Sign-off RD, RN

Kaiba's eyes lingered on the last entry:

Thurs, 7/3, 3:19 AM: EKG alarm triggered; Mr. Mokuba found unresponsive. CPR was administered unsuccessfully; Ruth administered the defibrillator, which was also unsuccessful; time of death: 3:24 AM. Sign-off: Dr. VR

"That can't be right." he heard Téa's soft voice, as if thinking aloud.

Kaiba looked up at her, tearing his eyes away from the last entry, and asked, "What?"

"The medical team went four hours without checking on Mokuba before he died?" asked Téa, her brow furrowed as she stared at the record. "That seems like an awful long time to go without monitoring him, even during the night. Aren't they supposed to log every interaction? Surely someone must have checked in on him several times before then. They have a sign-off from someone every half-hour to one hour."

Kaiba looked back at the time-stamps and realized Téa was right. The medical staff had rotating staff for night shift, and someone should have checked on him at least every hour. Kaiba picked up the USB drive and opened his laptop, unlocking it before inserting the drive to check the electronic record. Perhaps it was logged there. Kaiba opened the file and scrolled to the bottom, cross-referencing the electronic with the hard copy, but the entries were the exact same. Something was seriously wrong here.

Kaiba opened the command prompt, and Téa watched as he entered a long code from scratch, full of random numbers, letters and symbols, with only the occasional English word here and there. She saw the words file, script, rewrite, log-entry...among others, before Kaiba finished with .exe and pressed Enter. Téa watched as the electronic medical record file maximized itself on the screen, seeming to erase the latest entries before they started appearing again, as if a phantom hand was typing into the medical record.

"What did you do?" she asked Kaiba, watching as the entries wrote themselves on the file.

"Executed a code to show the entries as they were recorded." said Kaiba as he sat back in his chair, his arms crossed as he, too, watched the medical record rewrite itself.

"You mean like a rewind and replay button?" asked Téa, her eyes wide.

"Exactly." said Kaiba, pleased that Téa understood basic programming at least enough to know what it did.

"How did you do that?" she asked, watching in awe as the words erased and re-wrote themselves where a medical assistant, the nurse, or Dr. Rianski modified the file for accuracy.

"It takes some technical know-how." Kaiba said simply before leaning forward quickly and pressing the space bar to pause the execution code. He saw an entry erase itself before moving on to the next one, exactly in the middle of where the four-hour gap was. Kaiba pressed the Backspace button on his laptop, holding it down to rewind the file, and pressed the space bar to pause it again, reading the erased entry:

Thurs, 7/3, 1:13 AM: I checked on Mokuba and noted mild cyanosis despite the CPAP mask. His complexion is pale to ashen, but he is alert and responsive. Mokuba states that he, "feels as though he's drowning in his own lungs". He asked for morp

That was all Kaiba could get before the entry started erasing itself, to be replaced by the entry in the next hour. He couldn't see who wrote that entry, nor could he tell if Mokuba's request was fulfilled. Anyone could have answered Mokuba's call light, from an assistant to Dr. Rianski himself. Kaiba felt his heart pounding. Dyspnea was difficulty breathing, and cyanosis was blue lips. That was the first noted instance when Mokuba had started showing signs of pulmonary distress. His fist clenched as he read the rest of the entry; Dr. Rianski knew two hours before Mokuba's death that his brother was started to show signs of respiratory failure, and had seen Mokuba be put on a CPAP machine. Kaiba noted the unfinished last word; it had to be morphine, as Mokuba had asked for a stronger pain-killer. Neither he or his brother had ever needed anything stronger than the barebones acetaminophen, and morphine was an opioid. He had no idea how either of them would react to narcotics, but if Rianski had administered that, it could have been what killed Mokuba. Kaiba would definitely have remembered if Rianski had asked him for that kind of authorization, which means...

Kaiba pressed the receiver in his lapel, saying, "Roland, come to my office, now!"

Yes sir, on my way! said Roland. It had barely been a minute before Roland opened the door to his office. "You wanted to see me, Mr Kai-...? Miss Téa!" he exclaimed, catching sight of her, and he seemed surprised that she was in the same room while Kaiba was looking at his brother's confidential medical records.

"Did you authorize this?" demanded Kaiba before Téa could respond, turning the laptop and pointing to the entry.

Roland glanced at the screen. "Mr. Kaiba, this is-..." he said, glancing nervously over at Téa.

"She's already seen it!" snapped Kaiba impatiently. "Answer the question!"

"Kaiba, take it easy." murmured Téa, laying a hand on his shoulder, and she felt him relax under her gentle touch.

Roland stared at her for a moment before looking down at the screen, reading the entry. Kaiba saw Roland's already hard brow furrow further. "I don't remember this entry, Mr. Kaiba, but I made no authorizations on medicine administration past the muscle relaxer and the anti-nausea medication." he said. "I also authorized the CAT scan and the ultrasound, and of course the meals."

"Did you or Fuguta make sure the food and drink was clear of contaminants?" asked Kaiba.

"Of course, sir, as always." said Roland, looking up at him. "I checked the ginger ale myself."

Kaiba's face twitched as he suppressed a scowl. Someone had lied to him.

"I take this to mean you didn't authorize what I assume to be morphine, Mr. Kaiba?" asked Roland. "Shall I have Ivan interrogate Dr. Rianski?"

"We'll need to do more than that." said Kaiba, running a hand through his hair. "Get him, Ruth, Todd, Stephan, Marie and Elise. They were the latest sign-offs."

"Do you want me to include the nurse's station attendants as well?" asked Roland. "Perhaps they saw who entered the room."

"Good point...yes, do it. Call them to the meeting room right now." commanded Kaiba.

"Right away, Mr. Kaiba." said Roland, bowing before leaving the room.

Téa watched as Kaiba pushed himself back to standing, his fists clenched as he leaned on the desk, and she saw the dangerous glint in his hard, dark-blue eyes. "Kaiba..." she said, her voice trembling at the sight of his anger.

"I'll be quick. Wait here." he said, closing the laptop with a snap and taking it with him. He paused and looked back as Téa grabbed his elbow, stopping him. "What?" he asked curtly.

"Don't do anything reckless." she said, her crystal blue eyes pleading as Téa met his gaze evenly. "Please." she added, a little more gently.

Kaiba averted his gaze and moved away from her hand, striding towards the door and shutting it behind him with a hard click. Téa swallowed nervously; she knew Kaiba's unspoken dialogue was probably something along the lines of, "No promises." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and walked to the couch, seating herself slowly. All she could do was wait...

---

Téa was pacing by now, and she paused and looked up at the clock. Two hours had gone by, two long, agonizing hours since Kaiba had left for the meeting room, and still no word from him or anyone else. Mayura had checked in on her every half-hour, asking if she needed anything, but Téa had only asked for water to dampen her dry throat. Her nerves couldn't convince her to eat anything. What was taking so long? She remembered Roland use the word interrogate, and Téa fidgeted nervously with her hair. Surely, he didn't mean anything beyond a basic police-level questioning. Téa tried to imagine the security chief leaning over a table with a single heat lamp lingering overhead like a spotlight aimed directly at the person in the chair, demanding answers out of each individual medical personnel, but Téa had never seen Roland in such a way and couldn't picture it. Kaiba, on the other hand, may not be as gentle. Téa remembered the look in his eyes and shuddered. She had borne witness to Kaiba's infamous temper before and had even stood boldly before it, but this time Kaiba knew someone had blatantly lied to his face, about his sole family, no less. It made Téa sick thinking about how Seto Kaiba may react to such flagrant disobedience from the people who had insisted they knew nothing of his brother's death...

Téa took a deep breath to try and cease her trembling before steeling herself and walking out of the office. Maybe Mayura would tell her where the meeting room was and Téa could go there herself. Even if she wasn't allowed in, perhaps she could at least stand outside and wait. She made her way down the hall to the elevator. Téa had barely reached it before it dinged loudly and opened. Kaiba appeared from behind the opened doors, his laptop clutched in one hand as he caught sight of Téa before averting his eyes and walking right past her.

"What happened? What did they say?" asked Téa, running to catch up with him. Kaiba ignored her, marching militantly down the hall. "Kaiba, what did you do!?" asked Téa, running ahead of him and grabbing the front of his shirt to steady herself as he plowed into her.

Kaiba grabbed her hands with his free one, pulling them away from his shirt as he simply said, "I did what I had to!" before walking around her and continuing his stride into his office.

Téa's eyes widened as she felt a lead weight drop into her stomach. She didn't like the sound of that at all. "Please don't tell me you did something worse than docking their pay!" said Téa.

Kaiba remained obstinately silent as he laid the laptop on his desk and gripped the ends of it.

"Kaiba, tell me what you did!" said Téa, the panic in her voice making it pitch higher.

"They won't tell me the truth, Téa." Kaiba growled, refusing to meet her eyes. He gripped the desk harder, his knuckles turning white as he tried his hardest not to lose his temper at her, too. "Even after narrowing it down to those few people, none of them will admit what transpired. I can't keep a medical staff that won't tell me what happened to my own brother!"

Téa's hand went to her mouth. "You didn't!" she whispered, her eyes huge. "Kaiba, please tell me you didn't fire every single one of them!"

Kaiba closed his eyes and said nothing.

Téa bit back a sob and clenched her fists, and her anger burst out of her. "Kaiba, how could you?!" she yelled at him, her voice breaking as the tears welled up in her eyes. "You promised you would work things out with them!"

"I didn't promise anything!" he snapped, his temper flaring in response. "I did exactly what you suggested and it did jack and all!"

"But their families-..." started Téa.

"I don't care anymore!" he shouted, rounding on her, and Téa jumped at his sudden outburst. "They didn't care about my family, so why should I care about theirs!? They lied to me, Téa! I can't trust a medical team like that! I'm done with them!"

"Kaiba-..." Téa tried again, her voice cracking as the tears threatened to pour down her face.

"Save it!" yelled Kaiba, ignoring her pleas. "They let my brother die. I'm not giving them that power again! I'm not waiting until it's me, or you! I won't allow them to kill anyone else I love!"

Téa's tear-brimmed eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat as she stared at Kaiba, who froze, a similar expression appeared on his face as he realized what just busted out of his mouth.

Kaiba tore his wide-eyed gaze away from Téa's and pivoted, striding quickly into his living quarters and shutting the door with a hard click. Téa didn't follow him this time. She stood there, shocked into silence, Kaiba's words still hanging in the air. She finally shook herself out of her trance and became serious, and Téa also pivoted on her heel and ran out of the office. "Mayura!" she called down the service corridor. "Mayura, where are you? I need you!"

A door opened, and Mayura hurried out of it, her face the picture of worry as she said, "Yes, Miss Téa? What is it?"

"I need to know where the medical wing is!" said Téa.

"It's on the 12th floor." said Mayura, her brow furrowing as she looked Téa up and down, as if looking for injuries. "But why-...?"

"Thank you, Mayura!" said Téa as she ran into the elevator before the chef could question her any further. Mayura stared after her, then quickly entered Kaiba's office.

Téa mashed the 12 button, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator to bring her all the way down. She was grateful when the loud ding finally resounded above her head and ran out of it before the doors could slide all the way open. She ran down a hallway much like the one on Kaiba's office floor, but instead of a door at the end of the hallway, it opened up into a huge white room full of desks, beds, and various medical equipment behind a thick glass enclosure. Téa was sure the entire thing was one gigantic clean room, and she paused before the glass, looking into the wing. She could see men and women in white coats and blue scrubs walking around, their faces somber as they talked amongst each other. Téa knew the word had probably already reached them from the ones that had attended the meeting.

Téa stood there, suddenly wondering why she had brought herself all the way down here in the first place. She didn't have a plan. She didn't even have an idea of what she could possibly do to help them. And even if she did, she probably only had a few hours in which to execute it, if even one. Téa had no idea how much time Kaiba had given them to gather their things and get out of KaibaCorp. She paced back and forth, holding her knuckles to her lips pensively. She had to do something, but what? What could she do?

"M-Miss Téa?"

Téa stopped in her tracks and looked up, humming inquisitively. A small girl, shorter even than Téa, peered around a column at her, her eyes huge.

"Hello." said Téa kindly. "Are you one of the maids?" It must have been one of the service staff if they knew her name.

"N-No ma'am, I'm one of the m-medical interns." said the girl, approaching Téa slowly. "M-my name is D-Dia. I...I thought...I was hoping...maybe you could help me?"

"Me?" asked Téa, blinking in surprise. "I'm not sure how I could do that."

Dia looked around, then asked, "Can...can we go s-somewhere private?"

"Certainly." said Téa, still confused. "Lead the way."

Dia reached out and took Téa's hand, and Téa realized the intern was trembling. The small girl led Téa down the hall a bit until they came to a side room that looked like a utility closet. There was a small generator and a few cleaning supplies, and Dia upturned a giant bucket and lowered herself slowly onto it. Téa took a seat on a large box of industrial cleaners, moving aside a push broom that was leaned against it.

"So, what is it you think I can help you with, Dia?" asked Téa.

"I've...I've heard about you, M-Miss Téa...from the service staff." said Dia. "They said you stood before Mr. K-Kaiba in the midst of his worst t-temper ever. They said you were able to calm him without s-suffering repercussions." She took a deep breath, trying to control her stuttering, and continued. "...and...and he's let you return here...even after all that, so I know...Mr. Kaiba must hold you in greatest respect, Miss Téa."

"I suppose." said Téa, though secretly she was still replaying the words that Kaiba had ranted out to her, turning them over in her head. "...but how is that supposed to help you?"

"I...I have something v-very important that I n-need to say to Mr. K-Kaiba." said Dia, and Téa could tell that the intern was shaking from head to toe.

"Well, I'm sure Kaiba will let you talk to him. He has an open-door policy with his staff, doesn't he?" asked Téa.

"Y-yes ma'am, of course." said Dia, wringing her hands. "...b-but I'm scared...scared to speak to him. I'm scared of what'll happen...of what he'll d-do if I tell him what I..." Her voice trailed off, and Téa saw tears welling in the intern's eyes.

"You don't need to be scared of Kaiba..." said Téa weakly, but she knew her reassurance didn't sound entirely persuasive. She honestly wasn't convinced herself that Kaiba wasn't hard with all of his staff, and Téa knew he would fire people if they didn't meet his strict standards.

"It's just...I have a younger brother and sister...they live with me here at K-KaibaCorp..." began the intern. "Our parents died five years ago in a car crash...I've had to support them ever since. They...they rely on me for our livelihood. We wouldn't even have a roof over our heads if I didn't work here for Mr. K-Kaiba. I need to finish my internship...I have nothing else I can do to bring in a good income for them. I can't be let go...I just can't..."

"What is it that you need to tell him?" asked Téa, her heart racing now. She had a feeling she already knew the answer.

Dia took a deep, shaking breath, the tears welling up in her eyes again, and said, "I'm the one responsible for Mr. Mokuba's death."

Téa felt a block of ice drop into her stomach. She leaned forward and took Dia's hand in both of hers, saying, "Tell me what happened."

Dia sniffed and whimpered, wiping her other hand across her eyes, and said, "It was the night before he died...Mr. Mokuba was already at the maximum amount of pain medication we could safely administer to him, but he begged for morphine."

Téa remembered the deleted entry, and suddenly realized who must have typed it in. "Go on..." she said cautiously.

"He said he felt like he was drowning in his own lungs." said Dia. "I told him we couldn't give him that because he'd never been tested to see if he could handle an opioid. I explained that it could make him nauseous and aspiration could occur and there was a risk for apnea..."

"Can I have that in layman's terms?" asked Téa. Her knowledge of medical terminology was lacking to say the least.

Dia smiled momentarily, saying, "He was wearing a ventilator, and if he vomited it could get backed up into it and go into his lungs. And apnea is where he stops breathing in his sleep..." Dia took another deep breath, the tears coming on again, as she said, "I told him I couldn't do it. Even if I wanted to, I'm only an intern, and I can't do anything without a doctor's approval. I'm just an apprentice, if you will. Everything I do has to be overseen by a doctor standing right there to make sure I'm doing it correctly. So I told him all I could do was ask the doctor if they'd switch his medication, but that morphine probably wouldn't be approved because he was already at max dose. Mr. Mokuba told me not to bother, then."

"I don't understand." said Téa. "If you didn't administer the morphine to him, then how are you responsible for Mokuba's death?"

"It's not what I did, Miss Téa, it's what I didn't do." said Dia, her eyes swimming again. "I should have stayed with Mr. Mokuba over-night to monitor him after such a request, but I didn't...and..." Dia sniffed, and a sob escaped her mouth before she covered it with a hand and said, "...and the next morning, he was dead. The doctors said there was a bag of morphine attached to his drip, and it was increased almost a quarter more than maximum dose, and there was no record of anyone doing so. Which means Mr. Mokuba got a hold of the medicine and adjusted his own drip in the middle of the night. It would've never happened if I had stayed with him over-night. Everyone knew Mr. Mokuba liked to crawl through the vents when he was younger. He knew the entire layout of the building." Dia took a deep breath, saying, "...and I even checked the opening of the vent in his room. The screws were loose, and I found his medical band in it, which means Mr. Mokuba went through them to the medicine room himself."

Téa's eyes were huge. That's why there was no video footage. That's why Kaiba and the other medical professionals didn't know who was responsible. He had questioned only the three most recently noted doctors, nurses, and assistants, but there was absolutely no record from the intern that was now sitting right in front of Téa.

The tears fell from her eyes as Dia covered her face with both her hands and sobbed. "It's all my fault, Miss Téa! It's my fault Mr. Mokuba is dead. And now Mr. Kaiba is going to get rid of all the medical staff because of me! My siblings and I will be out of a home..."

"Dia..." said Téa weakly and pulled the intern into her arms, where she sobbed into Téa's shoulder. She let Dia cry there for a moment, rubbing her back soothingly. When she finally eased her sobs, Téa pushed Dia upright gently, holding her shoulders as she looked the intern in the eyes. "Listen to me, Dia. You have to tell Kaiba exactly what you just told me. Everything, even the part about your little brother and sister. He'll understand..."

"How do you know?" whined Dia. "His brother was the most important person in the whole world to him. How do you know Mr. Kaiba won't just fire me on the spot and kick us out?"

"He's gonna do that to the whole medical staff anyway, isn't he?" said Téa sternly, and Dia whimpered, her eyes lowering to her lap. "Dia please. You need to do the right thing. You have to admit what happened. It'll just make it worse for everyone if you stay silent. You know that. And..." Téa took a deep breath, saying, "...and Kaiba deserves to know what happened to his brother. He's looking for that closure, and he won't move on with his life if he doesn't get that. Trust me, Dia, I've known Kaiba for a very long time. I know he's intimidating to a lot of people and I know he can be cold and quick-tempered, but I promise he has a heart underneath all of that." Dia looked up at Téa, her eyes wide. "Just tell him what you told me. I'll go with you, but you have to do the talking. Please, just tell him the truth. Give Kaiba the closure he needs. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Dia sniffed and wiped her eyes again, nodding as she said, "Yes ma'am."

"You don't have to call me ma'am, you know." said Téa with a smile. "I'm no one important." Dia smiled meekly, and Téa stood and held her hand out to Dia, saying, "Let's do this."

---

The elevator dinged, and Téa led Dia with a gentle hand on her arm, letting her grasp the other one. Dia trembled harder as they approached the office door, out of which Roland slipped into the hallway and closed it behind him. He looked up in surprise at their approach, saying, "Oh, Miss Téa! Forgive me, I didn't realize you were still here."

"Roland, this is Dia." said Téa, unsure if the security chief knew everyone in KaibaCorp. "She's one of the medical interns. She requests a meeting with Kaiba."

Roland inclined his head slightly to Dia, saying, "I'm afraid Mr. Kaiba is not seeing anyone else today, and most especially not medical staff. He said he's had more than enough lies and excuses for one day, so he's not in the best of moods for meetings."

Téa felt Dia's trembling increase, and Téa straightened herself and squared her shoulders. "Roland, it's imperative that Dia speaks with Kaiba right this minute." said Téa, locking eyes with the security chief. "This cannot wait. It won't be a bunch of lies or excuses, and it won't be a waste of his time. I know Kaiba will want to hear what Dia has to say. Tell him I said so."

Roland stared back at Téa, shocked at her tenacity, but bowed and said, "I will do my best, Miss Téa." before slipping back into the office.

Dia gripped Téa's hand, and Téa patted it reassuringly, saying, "It's alright. Deep breaths."

Dia did as she was instructed, and her trembling decreased slightly. Téa closed her eyes, her hand going to her heart for a moment. Please Kaiba... she prayed silently. Please let Dia talk to you. They waited for what probably seemed like an eternity to Dia, who stood there continuing to breathe deeply. She jumped when Roland finally opened the door and indicated inside with his open hand, saying, "Mr. Kaiba will see you now."

Téa felt Dia lock up, and she had to put her hand on Dia's back and push her gently forward into the room. Roland closed the door behind them, exiting the room. Téa looked up to see Kaiba standing by the back wall behind his desk, his arms crossed as he gazed out the giant floor-to-ceiling window. Téa could see his hard expression in his reflection in the glass as they approached his desk. "What is it?" he asked, sounding irritated.

Dia peered up at Téa beneath her hair, and Téa knew the young intern was looking to her for strength. She took a deep breath and said, "Kaiba, this is Dia..."

"I know who she is." Kaiba snapped impatiently, and Dia flinched as if she was expecting to be hit. "What is it that's so important it couldn't wait?"

Straight to the point as usual. thought Téa as she hardened her gaze. "Kaiba, listen to me." said Téa sternly, and judging by the wide-eyed look Dia gave her and her soft gasp, no one had ever dared to talk to Seto Kaiba like that. "Dia is being very brave coming forward like this. You need to hear her out completely before you jump to any snap decisions."

Kaiba looked over his shoulder, his blue eyes scrutinizing Téa and the intern at her side, who trembled under his hard gaze.

"Please, Kaiba." said Téa, her voice gentler and her pleading eyes shimmering. "Just listen to what she has to say and don't interrupt her until she's done."

Kaiba turned his gaze back to the window again, and Téa could see his expression soften from the hard scowl to his usual stoic facade. Finally he turned around, his fist on his hip and the other one resting on his desk, and said, "Start talking."

Téa gently pushed Dia forward, whispering, "Go on."

Dia trembled as she approached slowly, bowing low to Kaiba. "S-sir...Mr. Kaiba...th-thank you for seeing me so late..."

Kaiba waited, his gaze locked on Dia, and she continued, her hands fumbling with her necklace. "I...I came here to...to tell you...about how...about what happened to your b-brother. Sir."

Téa saw Kaiba's brow furrow ever so slightly before resuming his neutral expression. "I'm listening." he said carefully, his tone suddenly less harsh.

Dia looked over at Téa, who nodded encouragingly to her, and Dia took a deep breath and told Kaiba everything she had said to Téa. Kaiba listened without interruption, his expression never changing, while Dia couldn't maintain her composure and had tears pouring down her face by the time she made it to the end.

"...and I know what I did was unforgivable, sir. I'll never forgive myself for it, either, because it's my fault everyone else had to take the hit because of me. I don't deserve to work at KaibaCorp and I know that, and I know I shouldn't be asking for anything from you, Mr. Kaiba, but..." Dia sniffed and wiped her eyes, saying, "...but please don't make me and my siblings leave, Mr. Kaiba! I'll never accept another penny from KaibaCorp for as long as I live. I'll do whatever you ask of me and never ask for anything in return except please, please don't let my little brother and sister go back to the streets!" Dia sobbed and held a hand to her mouth, the tears pouring onto the carpet as she bowed as low as she could to Kaiba. Téa had to hold back tears of her own as Dia's voice broke. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba! I'm sorry I took so long to tell you the truth! I'm sorry for all the torment I put you and the whole medical staff through! And I'm sorry about your brother, sir! I'd give my own life if it could bring back his!" Dia sunk her knees, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed uncontrollably, her head bowed in shame as she hid her runny nose with her hand. Téa ran forward and handed her a clean handkerchief from her pocket, whispering to her soothingly. She chanced a glance up at Kaiba. He was still staring down at Dia, his expression unchanging. Finally after a long minute, he reached over and pressed a single button on his phone.

Yes sir? came a voice over the intercom.

"I need you to reinstate all the medical staff and their pay, and make certain all of them receive retro pay for the past two months." said Kaiba.

Yes sir! Right away! came the shocked voice before the intercom cut out.

Dia covered her mouth as a fresh wave of sobs came over her again, and Téa could hear her relief in these ones. Kaiba strode forward until he stood before them, then he reached down and grasped Dia by the upper arms, lifting her upright again. Dia gasped and raised her head all the way to look up at Kaiba; she just barely came up past his stomach. "Dia, you and your brother and sister are also to remain here at KaibaCorp." said Kaiba, holding her gaze. "You will keep your paid internship as a medical student and all the benefits that come with it, but you are never to work triage under my roof ever again. You are to stick to non-emergency practice only. If you mess up this time, you'll be assigned to desk work, so don't disappoint me again. Am I understood?"

Dia's eyes were huge, shock etched across her face. She burst into tears and flung her arms around Kaiba's middle, completely forgetting her professionalism. "Oh thank you, Mr. Kaiba! Thank you!" she cried. "I promise I won't make you regret your decision, sir!"

"Good." said Kaiba curtly, placing his hands on Dia's shoulders and pushing her gently away. "Now go tell the medical staff that they and their families are to remain at KaibaCorp with all their pay and benefits reinstated."

"Yes sir! Right away! Thank you, Mr. Kaiba!" Dia said, wiping her eyes and bowing as deep as she could to Kaiba again. She suddenly threw her arms around Téa as well, who jumped, not expecting the gesture. "Thank you, too, Miss Téa!"

"Of course." said Téa, patting Dia's head before the intern broke away, and Téa was shocked to see Dia give her the same deep bow she gave to Kaiba before running out of the office with a huge smile on her face. Téa let out the breath she had been holding in and smiled as she watched Dia go, relief washing over her. She turned back to Kaiba, who had walked back over to the window, his arm over his head as he leaned into his fist. Téa walked quickly to his side and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, asking him, "Are you alright?"

Kaiba sighed through his nose, rubbing his eyes with his fingers and thumb. "I'll be fine." he said, and Téa was shocked to hear his voice wavering a bit. Her hand slipped from his shoulder and down his arm, around which she linked her own.

"I'm proud of you." she murmured to him, rubbing his arm with her other hand. "You did the right thing, and you didn't have to do any of that for Dia and her siblings."

Kaiba sighed. "What can I say? I have a soft spot for orphans." he said, and Téa gave him a sad smile before gazing out the window with him. It was dark out now, and it was starting to drizzle.

"I guess I should go before the rain gets bad." she said.

Kaiba pinched his lapel and said, "Roland, have a car ready to bring Téa home."

Yes sir. came the quick reply before Kaiba removed his hand from his lapel.

"What, I don't get to drive the car this time, either?" teased Téa. Kaiba let out a rumble of amusement, but gave no further response, so Téa added a soft, "Thank you."

"No, thank you." replied Kaiba.

"For what?" asked Téa, peering up at him.

Kaiba looked down at her, meeting her blue eyes with his. "For making me listen when I didn't want to." he said. "I needed this. And I needed you to show me that I needed this. Thank you for always having the nerve to say what I need to hear."

Téa hummed in amusement, a soft smile on her lips. "You're welcome." she replied. They were quiet for a moment, and Téa bit her lip and slipped her arms around his middle, giving him a gentle squeeze and saying, "I'm sorry for shouting at you."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing for losing my temper." said Kaiba gently, raising a hand and stroking his fingers through her hair. "You're not the one who did anything brash and stupid."

Téa looked up at him and raised her eyebrows, a smile playing at her lips as she said, "Did you actually admit you did something stupid?"

"It happens on the rare occasion." said Kaiba with his signature half-smirk.

Téa let out an amused hum before sliding out of his embrace. She suddenly remembered something. "Um...I left my bag and phone in your room." she said.

Kaiba's amused half-smirk lingered. "Are you waiting for my permission to get it?" he asked.

"I mean, yeah." said Téa sheepishly. "It's your private room, after all."

"I trust you." said Kaiba, ushering her forward by her waist and opening the door to his chambers for her. Téa gave him a warm smile before hurrying to Kaiba's bedroom. Upon entering, she noticed that his bed had been made up again, likely by wait staff. She unplugged her phone from the wall and put it and the cord in her bag. She did a quick check to make sure she had everything before shouldering the bag and exiting the room.

Kaiba was waiting for her by the office door. "Roland just informed me that the car is ready for you." he said. "Do you have everything?"

Téa nodded wordlessly, playing nervously with the ties of her cardigan. "Thank you for letting me stay the night." she said shyly.

"You're welcome." said Kaiba.

Téa lowered her eyes for a moment, linking her pinky in his before peering up at him through her lashes, saying, "I guess I'll see you on Wednesday?"

"I'd like to see you sooner..." said Kaiba, squeezing her hand gently. "...if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind." said Téa, giving him a warm smile. "I'm welcome anytime, aren't I?"

"Always." replied Kaiba.

Téa hummed contently. "I'll see you later, Kaiba." she said, and she slipped her hand out of his and made for the door. She had just barely put her hand on it when she heard him speak.

"Seto."

Téa paused with her hand on the knob and blinked, wondering if she had heard correctly. She turned to look back at him, her blue eyes meeting his, and murmured a soft, "What?"

Kaiba held her gaze. "You can call me by my real name." he said.

Téa's eyes twinkled. "Just me?" she asked coyly.

"Just you." Kaiba said affirmatively, and the rare smile appeared slowly, his blue eyes twinkling. "I'm still Kaiba to everyone else."

"You got it." said Téa before opening the door and stepping out. She made sure no one was in the hallway before turning around and saying, "Goodnight, Seto." before closing the door.

Kaiba gazed at the door for a minute until the dinging of the elevator broke him out of his trance. He unconsciously raised a hand and ran it through his hair, and Kaiba released a slow exhale through his mouth and walked into his living quarters, trying to clear his head as he felt a strange dizziness overtake him.

From inside the elevator, Téa waited, leaning against the side and drumming her nails on the metal rail. It was a long way down to the lobby before the elevator dinged and slid open, and Téa had barely stepped out of the elevator when she heard a voice call to her.

"Miss Téa, wait!" came an old man's voice, and Téa blinked and looked up as a man in a white coat ran up to her and clasped her hand in both of his. She recognized an older version of the very same doctor that had treated Joey, Bakura, Mai, and Odion on Kaiba's blimp during the Battle City finals. "Miss Téa, I'm Dr. Rianski." said the man. "Dia told me what happened, and I wanted to thank you on behalf of all the medical staff at KaibaCorp for what you did for us!" He bowed over her hand as low as his age would allow him.

"Please don't do that, sir. I'm not the one you should be thanking." said Téa, and the doctor looked up at her. "Dia is the one who talked to Kaiba and got him to make his decision to reinstate everyone's pay and benefits. I had no part in it at all."

"That's not true, Miss Téa." said Dr. Rianski. "You gave Dia the courage to face Mr. Kaiba and risk her position and her livelihood and that of her siblings here at KaibaCorp. She would have never approached him if it weren't for your encouragement, Miss Téa." The doctor released her hand and bowed to her again, saying, "Should you ever have need of our expertise, Miss Téa, the medical staff is forever in your debt. For what you have done for us and our families, we would be more than honored to serve you."

"Thank you." said Téa, her hand to her heart.

"No, thank you, Miss Téa." said Dr. Rianski, straightening. "I shan't keep you or the driver waiting any longer. Have a good night, Miss Téa."

"Goodnight, doctor." said Téa, waving to him as she made her way towards the entrance, where the driver was waiting for her outside the door with a large umbrella. She recognized him from the charity ball, and said, "Hello, Eric. Good to see you again."

Eric's eyes widened, amazed that she remembered his name, and bowed low to her, saying, "The same to you, Miss Téa."

Téa sighed, saying, "Does everyone really need to bow to me?"

"No, ma'am. My apologies." said Eric with a smile, and he graciously held out an arm, which Téa accepted. Eric led her to the car, holding the umbrella over their heads as he opened the car door and held Téa's hand as she slipped inside, making sure she was situated before closing the door. Téa waited til he was in the driver's seat and the car started before she told him her address again, and he pulled the car around the center Blue Eyes statue before exiting out the gate and into Domino City. Téa looked behind her out the car's rear window, and she could see a tall figure standing at the balcony, gazing down from above as he watched her go.

Eric pulled the car up to her apartment, and Téa thanked him before exiting the vehicle, waving him farewell before heading up her porch steps. She had barely reached her door, her hand still in her purse fishing for her keys, when her door swung wide open. Téa let out a startled yelp before she recognized Mai's long blonde locks and that devious smile of hers.

"Well it's about time you came home!" she said teasingly. "Whatever took you so long?"

"Mai!" cried Téa. "How did you get into my house?"

"I may have coerced Yugi into lending me the spare key." said Mai innocently as she twirled a blonde lock of hair. "You know, bat my eyelashes at him, say pretty please, insist that I was so worried about you being gone for so long that we should check up on you."

"We?!" said Téa, peering around her shoulder, and she caught sight of Yugi, Joey, and Serenity sitting at her dining table and on the stairs. Yugi flashed an embarrassed smile and waved apologetically at her as Serenity giggled behind her hand.

"Yeah, we came ov'a to see if ya wanted ta go to de movies, an' lo an' behold, you ain't here." said Joey accusatorily. "We tried callin' and textin' an' nuthin'. No call, no text, no nuthin'! What gives?"

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything, you guys." said Téa. "...but you'll never guess what happened!"

She immediately launched into the explanation, telling the four of them what transpired while she was at KaibaCorp. The others listened intently, their eyes huge.

"Whoa, you got Kaiba to reinstate his entire medical staff?!" said Mai when she had finished.

"An' dey got back-pay fer all dat time?!" said Joey. "Man, I can't believe I'm sayin' dis, but I wish Kaiba was my boss. I neva get months o' back-pay fer nuthin'!"

"That was so brave of that girl Dia to come forward." said Serenity. "I can't imagine what must have been going through her mind that whole time. What a burden to bear..."

"So that's what happened to Mokuba..." said Yugi sadly. "I bet Kaiba's grateful for the closure."

"He is." affirmed Téa. "You should have seen him after he forgave Dia and reinstated the medical staff...he looked like a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders."

"I bet." nodded Mai. "I'm happy the truth finally came out, and it's all thanks to you, Téa. Who knows what would have happened if you didn't go to KaibaCorp today. I'm starting to believe all that talk about Fate Yugi and his grandpa keep going on about."

"Heheh! We'll make a believer outta ya yet, Mai!" grinned Joey. "Well, I guess now dat we know all's well, I wanna get home an' get me some grub in my belly! I'm starving!"

"You just ate an hour ago!" cried Mai disbelievingly.

"An' dat's an hour too long fer my stomach!" retorted Joey. "Besides, dat was just rice balls...hardly an appetizah!"

Serenity giggled at Mai's look, saying, "You'll get used to it after a while."

"Ugh, maybe a long while." said Mai disapprovingly. "Alright, Téa, I guess you probably want to hit the sack after your long and eventful day, so I guess we'll see you later. I have to go feed the hound again."

"Hey! Don't ya start on me wit' da dog jokes, too!" said Joey as he followed her and Serenity out the door. "I get enough o' dat from Kaiba already!"

"See you around, Téa." said Yugi on the way by. "...and sorry for barging into your house uninvited and without notice."

"Aw Yugi, you know you're all invited anytime!" said Téa cheerfully, waving him out the door. "Besides, I can't blame you for being coerced. Mai's charms are too much for many!"

"You got a point there." laughed Yugi. "Goodnight, Téa!"

"Goodnight!" called Téa before shutting her door. She leaned back against it for a moment and sighed before making her way up to her room, smiling as she thought back on the events of the day. Téa, too, was happy for the closure, and that Kaiba could finally be at ease with the passing of his brother. She gave the Kuribohrn doll Mokuba had given her a tight squeeze before settling into her bed. She lay there in silence, gazing up at the glow-in-the-dark stars and planets that decorated her ceiling, listening to the soft pattering of the rain on her roof. Téa closed her eyes and quickly fell into a restful slumber. In her dream, the boy with messy black hair and mischievous dark eyes looked over at her as they rode the rollercoaster at Kaiba Land together, his trouble-maker grin lighting up the night.