AN: I've been planning this scene since 2016, and it's gone through several versions since then, but this was always meant to happen.

Seto hesitated with his hand hovering over the door handle. The last time he stood in that office, Noah had stolen their invention. The time before that, Gozaburo had almost killed him.

He hated that office. He hated the Kaibas.

"You've got this." Joey whispered his encouragement, knowing that he didn't know what passed through Seto's mind right now.

He took a deep breath.

"Let me do the talking," then Seto opened both doors, pushing them wide apart.

"Noah."

"Seto!"

Mokuba's voice answered him, a joyous, fearful cry, and for a split second, Seto was a tiny bit relieved. Mokuba was still unharmed, only bound and held at Noah's side behind the desk. Noah was seated and had one hand on Mokuba's shoulder, the gun in his other, which he now pointed at the three intruders to stop them from stepping any closer.

"I knew you would come." Noah smiled coldly, staring only at Seto.

"You didn't give me much choice," the brunette responded, his voice even as he tried to stay calm.

"No, I didn't." Noah's smirk deepened, and his grip on Mokuba visibly tightened. "The ropes are quite crude, I admit, but all the handcuffs I have on hand are too big for him. Tell me, Seto, do you have a preference between the ropes and the cuffs?"

He clenched his teeth. No way on earth would he speak a single syllable in response to that.

"I mean, do you have a preference for yourself? I'm sure you hate seeing the kid restrained in any way at all."

Seto couldn't suppress a sneer. Joey balled his fists at his sides.

"What, you don't want to tell me in front of your little friends?" Noah laughed, the sound cruel and empty. "I'm sure they're just dying to know. Aren't you, Duke?"

The black-haired teen blinked. He wasn't expecting to get called out.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Duke answered tactlessly, deeply uncomfortable. Why was Noah's attention suddenly on him?

"And here I thought you two were friends." Noah chuckled. "After I blackmailed you, I expected an exchange of secrets."

Duke opened his mouth and shut it again. There was no point arguing with him, and he didn't want Noah's focus on him anyways.

"Some secrets should never see the light of day," Seto retorted, glaring directly at Noah. He wasn't interested in the diversion. "But that's not why we're here and you know it."

"You want your brother to go free."

"Obviously." Seto maintained his steady glare. "What do I need to do to make that happen? What do you want?"

"Oh, Seto, you know exactly what I want." Noah slowly stood from his chair, gun aimed at the teenagers. "I want you. That's what I've always wanted."

Joey's disgust was visceral, a full-body shiver that he couldn't suppress. He'd known what Noah wanted, but hearing him say it was worse.

"I want to own you. I want to break you." Noah spoke in slow, deliberate tones. "I want to destroy you so completely that there's nothing left of who you thought you were."

Seto–

"Your father couldn't do that, and he was twice the man you'll ever be."

Why are you provoking him?

"My father," Noah sneered. "Made the mistake of letting you stay free. I know better."

"You were a disappointment to him, and you know it."

Noah's face contorted with rage.

"You're lying! There's no way he told you that."

"You can believe anything you want to, but you know I'm right."

What are you trying to do?

I'm trying to make him easier to manipulate.

"What is destroying me supposed to accomplish, Noah? Are you still trying to earn his approval?" Seto scoffed. "It's a bit late for that."

"I want to wreck you for reasons that have nothing to do with my father. And I will do it because right now, I hold all the cards. Will you give yourself to me in exchange for your brother or not?"

Noah hadn't lost focus, but he was certainly off-kilter.

"I will, but Mokuba goes free first."

"Not a chance. You're going to come to me before I let him move even an inch towards that door." Noah aimed the gun at Mokuba again, who swallowed hard as he eyed the weapon fearfully.

"You're not going to kill him," Seto asserted, taking two steps forward. "You know that if you kill him, you have no more leverage over me. I have no more reason to listen to you."

"That's right." Noah narrowed his eyes. "If you lose him, you have nothing. Having nothing left to lose will only make you more dangerous." He aimed the gun at Duke, who stiffened, face turning pale.

Seto frowned.

"I'll kill your partner instead. Which is a real pity, because the two of you together were the best team KaibaCorp had. I almost didn't let him quit, but I thought it better long-term to separate you."

He didn't respond at first, but let his eyes flicker down to Mokuba's scared face as the gears turned in his mind.

"Seto…" Duke breathed his name in fear, his usual charm and bravado completely absent in the face of imminent death.

"As I walk to you," Seto said slowly. "Mokuba will walk to the door. I said that I'd make the trade; you don't need to kill anyone."

"Not at the moment, no." Noah considered him. "Your brother will go to your friends. He can walk on this side of the desk"—here, Noah shoved Mokuba to his left—"and you'll walk on the other side. Move slow and don't try anything, or your friend gets it."

Mokuba looked at his brother and Seto nodded.

"Do what he says, Mokuba." He took a step himself, towards the desk, but not towards his brother. He moved one hand to the Millennium Rod, not pulling it out of his belt loop, simply keeping his hand close to it. The brothers took several steps like this—Mokuba looking at his brother while his brother watched Noah—until they were about halfway and Kaiba spoke again.

"I don't really have to let him go free, I suppose."

Those words made both brothers freeze in their tracks.

"Keeping him would make it so much easier to control you, after all." Kaiba grinned ferally. "And you're not in a position to stop me."

Damn.

Noah was right. Seto didn't have a way of ensuring that he held up his end of the deal. Duke and Joey couldn't do anything. Noah probably expected them to call the police as soon as they were made to leave, and he probably had a plan for escaping with his prisoner that would render police interference useless.

He had a weapon, but it was no match for a gun. The blade and the magic weren't fast enough to be used against Noah if he decided to shoot someone.

Then Seto had a thought.

Do it.

Seth's approval steeled his nerves.

"Mokuba, close your eyes."

The kid obeyed, squeezing his eyes shut and lifting his bound hands to cover his face.

In a single swift movement, Seto removed the Rod's blade from its sheath and pressed it to the side of his own neck. He could feel the cold metal and wondered how long it had been since this blade was last used on a person.

Not since it was in my own hands.

Noah's expression of shock was priceless. He'd thought that he had full control of the situation, but now he stared dumbfounded at the one who held the power.

"Put that down!"

It wasn't Noah ordering him, it was Joey, but the answer was the same.

"No. Not until Mokuba goes free."

Seto's eyes flashed as he held Noah's gaze.

"You wouldn't," Noah asserted, trying to recover his composure.

"You've underestimated me yet again, Noah."

Seto tilted his head slightly, pulling taut the skin that pressed to the blade's edge as he applied a little more pressure with it.

"I will do anything for Mokuba's safety."

It was just a small cut, barely slicing past the surface of the skin, but watching the tiny trickle of blood run down Seto's neck made Noah snap. He lowered his gun.

"Fine! Your brother goes free, just put that down. I need you alive."

Joey hated those last words as much as they relieved him.

Seto slowly lowered the blade and sheathed it, but kept it in his hand. A warning, in case Noah changed his mind.

"You can open your eyes now, Mokuba."

Obediently, he lowered his arms. He was biting his lip.

"Seto?" he implored, voice quivering. There was no way he didn't understand what had just happened, especially with the thin trail of bright red running down his brother's neck.

"Go stand with Duke and Joey." Seto's eyes didn't leave Noah's as he spoke. He couldn't afford to look away, not while he still held the gun.

Mokuba moved slowly, timidly towards his brother's friends. Duke held out a hand to him with a soft smile that didn't reach his eyes. Joey was watching Noah and Seto, brown eyes flicking between the two of them. When Mokuba reached Duke, he rested his bound arms in the teen's hands, letting him work on undoing the knot.

"There, your brother is free." Noah stepped out from behind his desk, gun still in his hand. "Now come over here."

"I'm a man of my word, Noah." Seto took slow steps towards him. "I wasn't going to cheat you."

"You'll bolt the moment you get the chance," Noah retorted in disbelief. "Deal or otherwise."

Noah kept the gun aimed at Seto until he decided he was close enough and stopped walking. Noah reached out and grabbed the lapel of Seto's coat, pinching a bit of his shirt in the process, and yanked him forward, so close that there was barely a foot of space between them. Noah smirked, leaning in closer as Seto leaned back, trying to keep the space between them without actually backing away. Backing away would probably anger him. Noah licked his lips and turned to face their audience, still gripping Seto's coat.

"You three, leave. I have no further use for you."

Duke finished undoing the knot and pushed the ropes off of Mokuba's arms, letting them fall to the floor.

"I'm not going anywhere." Joey's jaw was set, his mind made up. He couldn't leave them alone together.

"Joey." Seto looked at his friend out of the corners of his eyes, face still turned towards Noah. "Take Mokuba home."

"I'm not leaving you–"

"Yes, you are." Blue eyes drifted downwards. "Be good for Joey, okay?"

Mokuba nodded and seized Joey's hand, tugging him back towards the doorway, but the blond's feet were rooted to the floor.

"No, I–"

"Leave now." Noah pressed the end of the gun barrel into Seto's left shoulder. "I said I need him alive. I didn't say I need him in one piece."

Joey looked to Seto, trying to catch his gaze, trying to confirm that he had a plan, but those blue eyes were fixed on Noah and told him nothing.

"Come on." Duke grabbed Joey's other hand and yanked, making him stumble backwards. It was enough, though. Duke pulled the doors to the office closed and he heard the lock slide into place almost immediately.

"No!" Joey reached for the door handles and yanked on them, but they didn't budge.

"Joey, call the police," Duke ordered, walking away from the doors towards the desk that belonged to Noah's assistant. "I'm going to look for the keys to the office, so they can get in when they arrive."

Joey hesitated. He wanted to grab anything large nearby and hurl it at the door until something broke it. He didn't want to stand around talking, not even if it was to the police. He wanted to do something.

"What are you waiting for?" Duke snapped at him as he checked the drawers of the desk. They were all locked, maddeningly enough. "Call the cops, Joey, now!"

The blond obeyed this time, pulling out his phone and dialing the emergency number. He looked down at Mokuba to find that he was already staring up at him.

"What does Noah want with Seto?"

"I wish I knew," was all Joey said, though he had his theories. Then the dispatcher answered the phone and started speaking, so Joey's attention was turned elsewhere.

"Mokuba, can you help me over here?" Duke called, and Mokuba left Joey's side to join Duke at the desk.

"How can I help?"

"I need paperclips, big ones if you can find them."

Mokuba started poking through the items on the top of the desk. Seto had taught him not to ask too many questions, and this was an emergency.

Duke checked the door behind the desk, hoping it was a supply closet, but it was locked too, as were the filing cabinets beside it.

Joey stood on the other side of the room, facing away from them as he tried to keep his voice low, tried not to panic, and tried not to lose his temper. He was trying to explain the situation to a baffled dispatcher who seemed more focused on asking questions than sending help.

"Are these big enough, Duke?"

Mokuba held out a pair of inch-long paperclips for his friend to inspect.

"I can work with those."

Duke took the clips and began reshaping them, straightening the lengths as best he could before fiddling with the tips. Mokuba watched in mild fascination, trying not to listen to the phonecall happening behind him and trying not to think about what might be happening in the office behind him.

"Now we just take these," Duke murmured to himself, crouching down in front of the desk drawers. "And it shouldn't take much…" he continued, sliding one of the crooked metal hooks between the top of the drawer and the top of the desk. His focus on his task made it that much more of a shock when the air was pierced by the sound of a gunshot.

Joey turned to face the doors of the office, his jaw slack.

Two more gunshots followed in rapid succession.

"Did you hear that?" Joey asked the dispatcher, then snapped, "Send someone over here now!" He hung up and put the phone in his back pocket, moving back to the office doors to press his ear against them.

"Joey, what happened?" Mokuba asked, hoping that the blond would somehow be able to answer him.

"I don't know," the blond breathed. "I don't hear anything."

"Got it." Duke opened the top drawer of the receptionist's desk and started rifling through the contents. He was expecting a full keyring but only found a single small key, too small for the office door, but the right size for the other drawers on the desk.

"Mokuba, I still need your help."

"Yeah?" The kid looked back at him, eyes wide and face pale.

Duke started unlocking all of the desk drawers.

"Yeah, I need you to help me look for the keys." He pulled open the second drawer on the left hand side of the desk and moved over to the right side to start unlocking those drawers as well for his own search. Mokuba obeyed, the two rifling through the drawers as Joey stood by the doors.

It only took seconds for them to find the right key, but to Joey, it felt like forever.

"Here!" Duke tossed the key to Joey, who snatched it out of the air and turned to the door. Mokuba and Duke joined him.

Push the key into the lock, turn, click.

The doors swung open, and the first thing they noticed was the silence; neither Noah nor Seto were present.

The second thing they noticed was the breeze. One entire panel of window glass was missing, some jagged pieces still clinging to the frame, but the gaping hole in the wall sent chills down Duke's spine.

Joey dashed towards the opened window, skidded to a halt in the glass dust, and leaned a little to look down at the street below.

"Oh god."

Duke swallowed hard.

"Joey…"

"Come on." The blond pitched away from the window, running past them out of the office, to the elevator. Duke and Mokuba scrambled to follow him.