"I don't believe you're an agent," Kaiba growled, and he heard Isono's loud shout above him.

"Mr. Kaiba!" And then sounds of a loud scuffle, followed by shouting and more pained grunts.

The woman slipped her hand into her blazer and held her badge up tiredly. "We showed it to your camera at the front door—"

"I've seen fakes. And you could've hacked the database to put your face in there. I don't trust…any of you…!" Kaiba breathed, swaying dangerously on the spot as his vision blurred.

Oh fuck fuck fuck….

The men from the stairway came trooping down, carrying an unconscious Isono on their shoulders. They dumped him on the nearest couch and sniffed arrogantly, adjusting their blazers and holstering their weapons.

"Have you…met them already, Mr. Kaiba?" The woman asked curiously, tucking her badge into her blazer and waving the men away who tried to surround Kaiba once more. "That's one of their tactics. They pretend to be us. Impersonating a—"

"I don't give a fuck! Just get out!" Kaiba shouted, his head spinning the more he saw Isono lay there on the couch, unconscious but steadily breathing. "I don't need your fucking help. As you can see, I have sniper A and B up there on payroll."

"Yes very nice. I'm under instruction to bring you into the safehouse. I'll ask again. Please come willingly," she said quietly, crossing her arms stiffly. "Now, please. You can bring anything you want."

Kaiba let his breath out in a slow hiss and realized he shouldn't fight them anymore. He needed to tell Yami and let Yami deal with this.

"I need to make a phone call to Mokuba, and then…I'll come," Kaiba said venomously, pulling out his phone and dialing Yami's number as he walked to the veranda, feeling three agents follow him magnetically.

The phone rang on forever until it hit the last ring, and then silence, followed by a recording beep.

"Hey, Mokuba," Kaiba said gruffly, hanging onto the kitchen counter as he swayed on his feet again. "I'm headed to a so-calledsafehouse with some agents who showed up out of nowhere. Eight of them, four with military backgrounds by the looks of it and one woman, about 5'5 with heels, a slender build, long black hair, and round eyes. If none of this checks out, well, I'm walking into a fucking death trap because they fucked Isono up and they have me on a mild sedative. Okay…Love you."

He hung up and decided to take one more countermeasure just in case.

"And I need to take a piss," Kaiba growled, turning around to walk into the nearest bathroom, feeling more agents following him. God fucking dammit.

He locked himself inside and dug through the drawers until he found a packet of dental picks, using the sharp end to pop out his sim card which he slipped into his sock. Hopefully Yami could track him if he ditched his phone somewhere close to the outskirts of the safehouse.

Kaiba decided to search the other drawers just in case, and found a small pocketknife the size of his palm in the drawer containing soaps, and he thanked Yami again in his mind, slipping the knife into his sock as well before slamming it shut.

Playing Hide-the-Weapon with Mokuba had paid off.

Pocketing his phone and washing his hands for the noise of running water, Kaiba walked out of the bathroom and found himself instantly surrounded by the three agents again.

He was escorted past an unconscious Isono before he was put into one of their black cars, and sandwiched between two male agents, with the female agent sitting in the passenger. Another agent was driving, and Kaiba bit his tongue, hating how he'd miscounted.

If one driver stayed behind in each car, that meant there were 11 agents total. Ugh.

"Do you really need a whole army to escort me somewhere?" Kaiba asked tiredly, rolling his eyes and trying to cross his legs, but it was too cramped in the back seat.

"Standard procedure," the woman replied, and the car backed out of his driveway, circling the fountain to drive down the gently sloped road to the black gates which were slowly opening. "You're an important person, Mr. Kaiba."

"Do you mildly sedate all your important people?" Kaiba snapped, and he received a hard nudge from the man sitting beside him.

"Shut up or I'll sedate you again."

Gritting his teeth in rage, Kaiba watched the scenery flash by, and he recognized where they were headed. Somewhere at the docks, where criminal activity was usually rife.

Hey…something was fishy about being shuttled here….

"Are we there yet?" Kaiba asked loudly when the car made a turn down a deserted road flanked with giant containers. His skin crawled and he hated how the shadows panned over the car as they drove past each towering stack.

"No, and this is completely the wrong highway exit," the woman said stiffly, giving the driver a sharp glare. "Mr. Aoyama, why are we—"

The man stepped on the brake so hard, the car lurched forward, and the woman gasped, losing her balance for a moment, and the man struck out to smash her head against the dashboard.

A pang of fear ripped through Kaiba's body as he watched the woman go limp, and the men on either side of him grabbed him roughly, pushing him out of the car.

Fighting back with all his might, Kaiba froze when he felt the cold barrel of a gun against the back of his neck, and his hands were cuffed stiffly behind his back with a deafening click.

"Fight me again and I'll pull the trigger," the man threatened shakily, giving him another rough shake. "Please Mr. Kaiba. Let's get along. My instructions were to deliver you here alive."

Kaiba hissed in annoyance and climbed out of the car, wishing he could've left his phone in there when he had the chance, but the time had passed.

The other agents climbed out of the car looking solemn, and the man holding him pulled out a second phone and began talking into it.

"Yes… We have him. Yes….he's restrained and slightly sedated. Container 70? Got it."

He was pushed forward roughly, and he'd only taken two steps when one of the men spoke up, stammering, "I-I can't do this Machii-senpai…" and he turned to run back towards the cars before two other agents grabbed him, tackling him to the ground with a loud scuffle.

"Mr. Kaiba can pay you ten times more if you spare his life!" the man shouted before he was muffled by many hands fighting him to stay down. "This isn't worth betraying our oath, Machii-sen—" Someone hit him across the face and the man remained motionless on the ground.

Oh shit, Kaiba paled and flexed his hands against the cuffs. These agents had been bought.

"Walk," the man holding the gun to his neck said gruffly, so Kaiba dutifully strode forward through the shipping containers, his heart thudding painfully in his ears when he arrived at one that was open and waiting for him, furnished with a lone chair, a few crates, and two men, stationed on either side of the opening.

Great. They were mailing him out of the country in this box.

"Get in, sit down, don't make noise," the man nudged the gun against his neck again, and Kaiba grit his teeth, stepping up into the container and plopping himself down on the rickety metal chair.

"Can I get a bottle of water?" Kaiba asked tersely, and the guard standing to his left growled at him.

"Shut up. If you drink, you'll piss. So no."

Alright then, fuck, Kaiba grimaced and tried to keep his hands floating in the cuffs, but the metal dug uncomfortably against the sharp bone of his wrist. Goddammit…

The agent was still taking orders from the phone, and when he hung up, he gave orders while looking guilty, "…they said to search him, but we already did."

"Did we?" An agent standing in the ground frowned, and the leader shot him a glare, nodding hastily.

"Yes. Koji-san and I searched him before we threw him in the car."

Idiots, Kaiba thought mildly as he sighed and hung his head dramatically. Better keep the weakling act up until they let their guards down. They probably thought he was a harmless keyboard nerd—which was true, but he was a keyboard nerd with marksmanship training, thanks to Gozaburo's violent ass.

Now if he could get his hands on any of their guns….

"Okay. They said to keep him here until the exterminator arrives. We'll be paid because we did our part, and make sure to wipe the car GPS and loop our camera buttons," the leader instructed, giving Mr. Kaiba a wide-eyed look. "Goodbye, Mr. Kaiba. Good meeting you."

Mmm yeah, fuck off, Kaiba didn't dignify that with an answer and kept his head lowered, choosing to remain silent. It was only a matter of time before they all died at the hands of Yami. All he had to do was sit here and wait.

Yami eased back into his car after his targets walked back into the building after a lunch meeting, and he dug his third phone out of his pocket with guilt, knowing he wouldn't see a lovey-dovey text from Seto, but he wanted to look at the screen anyway, to make his mind stop churning.

His chest tightened when he saw five missed calls from Isono, one missed call from Kaiba, three voicemails, and a few texts.

Oh. Shit.

Yami checked the voice messages first, his breathing shallow as he listened to the first one.

It was Seto, sounding calm, but there was a slight edge in his voice, leaving the message for him by calling him Mokuba.

That couldn't be good…

"Hey, Mokuba. I'm headed to a so-called safehouse with some agents who showed up out of nowhere. Eight of them, four with military backgrounds by the looks of it and one woman, about 5'5 with heels, a slender build, long black hair, and round eyes. If none of this checks out, well, I'm walking into a fucking death trap because they fucked Isono up and they have me on a mild sedative. Okay…Love you."

Yami swallowed thinly and played the next one. It was Isono, sounding breathless and panicked.

"They took him. Agents who checked out on our facial scans, but they used too much force. They knocked me out and Mr. Kaiba resisted but I heard they sedated him when he fought back. They shot your men in the stomach with sedative and they're both recovering. I told them not to take the shot because I don't want to kill real government agents in our home, especially when we're still dealing with the first incident—"

The message cut off and there was a pause before the next one played.

"I tried to track the master's phone, but something strange happened. It went dead in our bathroom on the first floor, which means I think he killed the connection on purpose. Is there a way around this? I'm furious I wasn't able to do anything. He's unarmed and cuffed. I watched the security feeds and have images of all their faces and plates. I can send them to you if you'd like, just say the word. Call back soon."

Yami pulled the phone away from his face and hastily read the messages, which only repeated what had been said in the calls, and he gripped his phone so hard, his fingertips ached. Those disgusting men must've bought out the police to kidnap Seto and moved him to a remote location to exterminate him within the next few days after leaving a trail of confusing evidence.

The plan would move up by two days, but it was fine. He'd make his move now. The whole reason he'd sent Mokuba away was to make sure this wouldn't involve the child.

He dialed Isono and pressed the phone to his ear, hearing it ring once before the manservant picked up, sounding relieved.

"Oh good. Can you help? Shall I send you photos and videos of all the agents?"

"Yes. And stay alert. I may contact you again to station you at a pick-up location for Kaiba." And he hung up quickly, reaching into his backseat for his laptop and angling his seat back to make room for it on his lap as he pried the lid open, his fingers flying over the keys as he began to track Seto's phone. As Isono had said, the sim card had been removed, but that wouldn't deter Kaiba's tech one bit… because Seto kept his phone connected to his own satellite network, all he had to do was access that and… A string of coordinates popped up on his screen, showing a location at the docks not ten minutes from where he was parked.

Yami bit the inside of his cheek as he wondered if this was too easy.

His first instinct was to run to Seto and make sure he was fine, but then that would mean leaving his post and leaving days of work behind…. Leaving his targets unattended during a stake-out was unacceptable. He'd had everything prepped, but he couldn't act now.

Yami closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Think.

If he wasn't so head-over-heels in love with Seto, and Seto was merely the client, he'd leave the CEO at the docks for at least an hour to take care of the targets first.

That's what I'll do. Hang in there, Seto, Yami thought nervously as he slapped his laptop shut and grabbed the badge he'd copied a few days ago and straightened his tie in the rearview mirror.

Five more targets and retirement was finally in his sight.

He stepped out of the car and slipped on a pair of glasses before he glanced at the shiny building in front of him, a small voice nagging him in the back of his mind, telling him he wasn't the same man he was 2 years ago.

Seto was more important. If anything happened to the CEO, targets be damned, his whole life would change. There would be no one to return to.

Throwing himself back in the car, Yami gripped the steering wheel and glared at the parked car ahead.

Damn. This was what it felt like to be in love.

He felt jittery and anxious all the time.

The calm, collected coolness that came with each preparation stage had been replaced with cold dread. And his worst fears were quickly coming true.

His phone kept vibrating with messages, and Yami snatched it out of his blazer pocket, seeing Isono sending him a stream of faces taken from the Kaiba Mansion facial scans. In the midst of all the serious masculine faces, he spotted a familiar, feminine one.

Anzu Mazaki.

She's grown her hair out in the span of two years and was apparently still in charge of her own task force to hunt national threats down. Aw…

Was she caught up in the police buyout? Unlikely.

She was the most virtuous agent he'd ever met, and always placed Honda in her care whenever things got heated. Hopefully Honda was safe with her now. Better call to make sure.

I'll use her… Yami thought before he shook his head and reminded himself to remain human.

"I'll ask her…for her help," Yami growled, typing out the department number from memory and praying it hadn't changed. If Seto was with Mazaki's task force, he should be fine, but that wouldn't explain why he was being held at the docks.

Five rings passed and a front desk operator picked up, sounding grave. "I see you're calling from a secure line. Name or badge number please."

"Please connect me to Miss Mazaki. This is an emergency. I'm yakuza. I'd like to speak with her directly." Yami said smoothly, his heart thundering in his ears as he watched a happy couple amble by on the sidewalk, arm-in-arm, walking their dog with smiles on their faces.

Goddamn, how he wanted to switch places with those two right now and do that with Seto instead.

There was a cold silence on the other end before the line went dead and began ringing again.

Claiming he was a gangster with information always did the trick.

The phone rang all the way through until it hit an automated message, "you've reached Mazaki, Anzu. Leave a message." And the recording tone beeped.

Frowning, Yami pulled the phone away from his face and listened to his heart pounding in his ears as he pieced it together quickly. Anzu always picked up her phone while on duty, no matter what. If she couldn't reach it, her partner would answer for her. It had never gone unanswered.

Maybe the situation at the docks was more dire than he'd anticipated.

Fuck.

Hissing in fury, Yami shoved the phone back into his pocket and started the car with a quick button press, making sure to tuck the laptop safely back into the metal briefcase before he peeled away from the curb and onto the street, his mouth dry from anxiety. He hadn't felt this kind of fear when being under fire from a hailstorm of bullets, but the mere thought of Seto being harmed sent a pang of this crippling fear through his body and made his palms sweat.

I should stay in retirement! Yami fumed as he stepped on the gas and narrowly ran a yellow.

He would make it there in time.

He always did.

Kaiba kept his fists clenched as he watched three men on motorbikes make a noisy arrival, and his heart leapt with hope. Yami?

His spirits sank when the first man took off his helmet to reveal a cascade of long, white hair.

Nope. Not Yami.

Another deranged motherfucker judging by the crooked smile on his face.

Bakura hung his helmet up and marched into the storage unit, pulling a gun out of his belt and freezing when he recognized Seto Kaiba tied up in the tiny metal chair, and his resolve faltered slightly.

He'd been sent to exterminate Domino City's #1 golden boy.

This would have consequences of unimaginable proportions.

He might even get caught for this.

Kaiba raised his head and gazed into the sharp face hovering above him, taking in his angular eyes and stark white hair.

"Changed your mind?" Kaiba challenged, and he kicked himself mentally. His goal was to live long enough for Yami to get here, not goad his attacker into killing him early.

Bakura narrowed his eyes and was about to answer when heard a rustle behind him, and he spun around to raise his weapon at the intruder, his resolve shattering once and for all when he saw a slender, spiky-haired figure take out the two guards by the container with two solid strikes to their jaws. The men crumpled to the ground silently, and Yami stayed at the mouth of the container, his heart thundering in his chest as he recognized Bakura, and his stomach twisted.

Great. Just his luck. Hopefully, Bakura could be reasoned with, unlike the Joker Pair.

Kaiba celebrated silently, secretly admiring how handsome Yami looked wearing a tight-fitting suit and a pair of glasses he'd never seen before, and it made his heart race with relief.

"The money won't cash out," Yami said instantly, aiming for what he thought Bakura cared about the most. "I know your clients. They intend to kill you after you finish this job, because they sent The Pair after me, andtheir money didn't cash out either. Go home."

Bakura swallowed thinly and lowered his weapon a fraction of an inch before tightening his grip on it again, hissing, "Nice to see you too…Atem. I'm not falling for your meaningless lies—"

"Walk away andI'll pay you," Yami said calmly, holding his hands up defensively before folding them confidently across his chest. "2 million for just walking away. Your clients are my targets. They're being dealt with right now, so even if they were alive to pay you… that number is too good to be true, and even you know that."

Bakura grit his teeth so hard, his vision turned green, and he weighed his options.

He wanted to avoid fighting Atem at all costs.
In their last encounter, he barely made it out alive with all his limbs.
His target was Seto Kaiba, a person with the highest profile, higher than all his past targets, whose death would impact the world of tech and finance.

He'd take the money that cashed out the fastest and run.

2 million for walking away unscathed from Atem sounded like a good deal.

"Fine," Bakura hissed, sheathing his weapon and reaching slowly for his phone. "Here."

He held the screen up for Yami to see, and Yami calmly nodded, slipping his hand into his blazer pocket, quickly making the transfer in the heavy silence that settled over the entire container.

Kaiba watched this transaction with fascination.

Yami was more skilled at making deals than he was. Shit. He had a thing or two to learn.

"How about two million more to round up some crooked agents?" Yami asked calmly as Bakura tucked the phone back into his pocket and brushed past him, wearing a scowl.

"What? You want my help?" Bakura spat, already at his bike and grabbing his helmet. "After you almost killed me? Don't talk to me like we're friends, you monster."

"I'm offering free money!" Yami called over his shoulder, stepping into the container to kneel behind Seto's chair, picking the handcuff lock with ease.

Bakura gnashed his teeth furiously, aware that Atem was taking advantage of him, but it was hard to refuse. Easy jobs were easy jobs, no matter who they came from.

He chanced a nod and saw Atem flash him a cold smile that didn't reach his eyes, and the phone was in his hand again. After a tense moment, his own phone buzzed in his pocket and Atem nodded in the distance.

"That's all of them. Just round them all up and bring them back here…alive."

Bakura scowled and dug his phone out of his pocket with a tired sigh, scrolling through the long list of faces. 10 faces. All men.

"5 million," Bakura growled, already knowing he was pushing his luck, and he shoved the helmet on his head to avoid making eye contact.

"The offer is still 2 million and you get to walk away without an injury," Yami replied flatly, raking his eyes up and down Seto's tall form, glad to see he was unscathed. "…As thanks for sparing my client."

Kaiba's stomach dropped at being casually referred to as a client, but he kept his expression impassive. He chose to stare at the unconscious men on the ground instead, hearing the white-haired man start up his bike and ride away with a deafening roar, followed by his two lackeys.

"Fuck him," Yami said calmly, reaching out to grab Seto by the arm and leading him out of the container, feeling like his legs were made of lead. What a close call.

Kaiba said nothing because his voice had gone. He saw more unconscious men by another container before they rounded the corner and approached a beige, nondescript car parked in the space between two giant stacks of shipping pallets.

Yami pulled him towards it and helped him into the passenger seat.

"I'm fine," Kaiba began, and Yami gave him a strained smile before the door was closed for him and he circled the vehicle to climb into the driver's side.

Kaiba held his breath and noted all the gear Yami had equipped inside the car. Gauges, cameras, and extra phones were mounted to the dashboard, and one of his own metal briefcases was in the footwell, leaning against his knee. It felt like a mini spaceship in here…

"Now to find Miss Mazaki," Yami muttered under his breath, starting the car quietly and inching it out of the makeshift alley, feeling himself calming down with Seto safely at his side now.

It frightened him that he felt this way. He couldn't trust his own feelings anymore because they could be irrational and warped due to love.

This was why people in his profession never fell in love.

"Who?" Kaiba wondered as he rubbed the sore spots on his wrist.

"The only female agent leading the entire terrorist division," Yami replied calmly as he pulled the car down a row of containers, searching for tire marks on the ground. "Have you met her?"

Oh shit, Kaiba thought frantically as he quickly relayed what he saw happen to her.

"They hit her on the head in the car," Kaiba breathed, gripping his knees in fear as Yami made a harrowing turn around another stack of containers, clearly searching the area for something. "I don't know where they went afterwards—"

There was a lone black car parked in the middle of the nearest alleyway, so Yami brought the car to a lurching halt and jumped out to check it, feeling Seto follow him out.

"Stay in the car!" Yami cried, and Seto shook his head furiously.

"Why?! It's fine! There's no one here!" Kaiba retaliated, and he received an exasperated headshake from Yami.

He ran to pull the door open on the passenger side, and sure enough, the female agent was still slumped over in her seat, unconscious. Yami was on the other side, so he hurried around to help unbuckle her, reaching across Seto's chest to give her a shake.

"Miss Mazaki! …Anzu?!" Yami rested his hand on her neck, feeling a weak pulse, and gave Kaiba a frantic look.

"We'll take her back to the mansion and call your doctor. She needs medical attention," Yami instructed, and Kaiba nodded, hurrying back to their car to wrench the backseat doors open for Yami to ease her into the seats, buckling her in safely and shaking her again.

"Miss Mazaki, can you wake up please?" Yami said loudly, giving her shoulders a shake, and he noticed a thin trickle of dried blood running from the side of her temple, and he grimaced, checking her pulse again before leaning away to close the door.

Seto was already in the car, on the phone, so Yami threw himself into the driver's side and stepped on the gas with force, rushing out of the container alleyways to the main road, listening to Seto speak quietly to Isono.

"Yeah, I'm fine. No, they didn't hurt me but the female agent is unconscious. Yeah… Call him and we should arrive back at the same time. I'm with Yami."

He hung up and settled back into the seat, daring to enjoy this rare moment where he experienced Yami in his element. The ride was smooth, and Yami appeared to know his way around a car.

"I didn't know you could drive," Kaiba said coolly, leaning back into the seat and feeling oddly relaxed about everything. Yami always asked he to drive them out for their date nights, and he assumed it was because Yami never applied for a license and never wanted to.

"Cars are the easiest to operate," Yami replied in monotone, his knuckles white over the wheel as he changed lanes with ease and maneuvered the car smoothly off the highway to the low road leading to the mansion.

"Can you fly a plane?" Kaiba asked curiously, already knowing the answer, and Yami gave him a tight nod. "A helicopter? ...A boat? … A bulldozer?"

"Yes, Seto," Yami replied impatiently as the car rolled over the smooth pavement leading up to the tall black gates. "If it runs, I can most likely drive it…. Isono, let us in." He stuck his hand out the window and waved at the intercom.

The gates pulled back and they parked by the fountain just as the medic's van came rushing up the driveway behind them, so Kaiba got out and opened the passenger door for the doctor, seeing three nurses climb out with a gurney and gently lift the unconscious agent onto it and wheel her up the mansion steps.

Yami grimaced and leaned into the car to pick up his briefcase before following them inside while Kaiba stuck by his side, trying to get him to smile.

"I see you stole one of my briefcases," Kaiba said playfully, giving Yami a nudge. "It fits laptops perfectly, doesn't it? Do you like how it's reinforced but light at the same time?"

"Your tech is the best, and you make it with care," Yami replied calmly, standing by the window, watching the nurses and doctor set the agent comfortably up on the couch with an IV drip and heart monitor.

They stood together in silence watching the doctors prop the agent upright, and Kaiba glanced down at Yami, unable to get used to the frames he was wearing, so he decided to comment on it. "Nice glasses," Kaiba attempted another compliment, and again, received another robotic answer.

"Thanks. You're less likely to punch a guy wearing glasses," Yami offered the explanation he usually gave, and almost wanted to tell Kaiba about the infrared coating he'd developed for glasses, but he decided to wait.

Isono rushed to greet them with a bow, looking extremely relieved and sporting a bruise on his cheek which he hid by wearing dark glasses.

"Masters. I'm glad you're back," Isono said anxiously and Yami gave him an approving nod before striding towards the stairway and beckoning for Seto to follow.

Kaiba hurried after Yami, his throat tight as he wondered if things would ever go back to normal after this. He missed the warm, smiling Yami from a week ago before this chaos. The person walking robotically in front of him felt like a stranger.

Author's note:

*yes your phone can still be tracked when you take the sim card out–you know how when your phone is deactivated but it still says "emergency dial only"? (in most countries) that means its still connected to a network / pins to the nearest cell tower, and anyone with access to that information can locate you.