The Offer

Title: The Offer 7/9

Author: Puppys_Seahorse

Rating: NC-17

Pairing (s): Seto/Jounouchi Mokuba/Yugi

Beta: Mofaf1

Spoilers: Minor for Noa Arc

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or make any money or profit from this
work.

Summary: Seto believes Jounouchi left him for someone else. But he
discovers he was wrong and his lover had received an offer he
couldn't turn down.

Chapter 7

Doctor Mazoto flipped the next page of printed notes he'd been given for his patient, Jounouchi Katsuya. Although he was a doctor and bound to treat all of his patients equally, privately he admitted that Jounouchi was a favorite. He'd missed the blond in the time he'd been gone. There was something bright and joyful about his patient that reminded him of his own departed and sorely missed lover.

His heart ached with sympathy even as his mind fogged with rage at what had been done to the bright, gregarious, and energetic young man. He'd read the information several times, trying to devise a course of treatment that would give Jounouchi back his life and memories to the fullest extent possible. No matter how many times he reviewed the facts his rage didn’t diminish. Such recklessness and brutality was unconscionable.

Seeing the results of the sheer cruelty perpetrated on the blond made him want to cry. The bright vibrancy dimmed, almost gone, the strong body reduced to a fragile skeletal frame and robust good health faded, leaving a wrecked, chemically dependant body.

A soft agonized moan caught his attention along with a sluggish movement from one of the cots beside him. With a pained sigh he opened his bag and took out a small vial of transparent, amber-colored liquid. Right now Jounouchi was under mild sedation but when he woke he would be very ill with the side effects of abruptly stopping the medication. Not as bad as it could have been, his patient had been very smart to step down his dosages, but he would be sick for several days and it would probably be a month or more before he would feel normal. As for his memories, the doctor unconsciously shook his head; there was just no way to know if they were gone forever or if they would return if given enough time. In all of his years of medicine he’d never seen such a case. He literally had nothing to guide him but instinct and his own experience.

He carefully measured the medication into a syringe and inserted the needle into the piggyback port on the I.V. After a few moments the distress still visible on the young face smoothed and the agitated movements calmed. It wasn’t much, but it was the most he could do right now. A soft voice caught his attention.

"Doctor? What did you give him?"

He turned to the black-haired Kaiba. "Something for the discomfort and restlessness. It's not addictive and won't have any interactions with the medicines he's been taking." He faked a reassuring smile. “It will help him sleep.”

The teen bit his lip and nodded. "How...I mean...what...I..."

He thought he knew what the young man was trying to ask. "He will have symptoms very like Influenza for at least three or four days and then he will slowly regain his strength and vitality. Over the next month he may have trouble sleeping, feel anxious and have panic attacks. These are normal withdrawal symptoms. Just try to soothe him. Distract him if you can.”

A vaguely familiar smaller man with spiky, tri-colored hair stepped forward. "Is he ... in any danger doctor?"

"Not now. If he'd been on the medicine much longer, I can't say. But I think we got to him in time." He frowned slightly "He will be very confused and his memories may or may not come back. If they do they will not come back all at once, nor will they be chronological. He may remember his first grade teacher but not his current address. It's best that the memories come back naturally. Do not force them. If asked a question answer simply. Do not elaborate. It's important that he remembers, not gather information from your memories.”

Yugi and Mokuba sighed, shared a glance, and nodded. They understood and would do as the doctor asked but they knew it was going to be very hard on Seto. As the doctor turned back to his patient, the two girls who’d been watching silently, stood. The taller one, Kajuku Mai, the doctor remembered, said softly “Thank you. We are going to leave you with Jounouchi now. We have to check on our other patient then we will get some sleep in the back cabin.”

At the reminder the doctor growled low, turned and crossed the cabin to look at his other patient. This man was in part responsible for the shape his favorite patient found himself in. It was only because the doctor knew Kaiba would deal with punishing the vermin that he had agreed to help the man. The loss of his own lover was too new, and Jounouchi too like his Kyo for the doctor to have his usual detachment.

He was guiltily pleased at the damage already inflicted on the man. The cuts were deep enough to be excruciating, but not so deep as to inflict nerve damage. Robert White had required almost sixty stitches, and seeing Jounouchi's condition made the doctor wish he hadn't used the local anesthesia when closing the wounds. A random possibility crossed his mind and he perked up. As much as the American fought his bonds he was bound to rip some sutures and when he did the American wouldn't get any anesthesia and he’d use the largest suture needle he could find.

Seeing the man was sleeping peacefully, he felt a slight letdown. Then turned and took a seat next to Jounouchi, automatically he picked up the I.V free, rail-thin wrist and felt for a pulse. He didn’t notice when Yugi and Mokuba slipped to the front cabin and the girls disappeared. Satisfied with the strong, steady beat he gently laid the wrist gently on the bed. With both of his patients were sleeping he settled comfortably into his seat and picked up Jounouchi’s medical record again. They wouldn’t land for another nine hours. Maybe this time he would find something he’d missed.

Three hours later and halfway across a continent, Joseph Wheeler Senior sat on his balcony enjoying a light lunch. “Becca, you’ve been quiet today. Are you worried about the bird flu?”

The green eyes he loved so well stared out over the lush green lawn pensively. “Worried? No, I don’t think so. After all I’ve died once already. It wasn’t so bad,” she said, her voice somewhat cool and distant.

A twinge of unease snaked through the older man at the unfamiliar tone. He knew his love and something was bothering her. She never brought up ‘before’ because she knew it upset him. He grasped her hand tight. “Don’t say that. You were never dead. You were in a coma. Don’t talk about dying. I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

“Joseph we all die sometime. My first husband and your first wife, our children…our grandchildren, they’ve all gone. I’d like to see them again. We’ve had thirty years together. If that’s all we get, then I am happy.” She smiled tenderly and stroked his cheek. “It hurt worse to live and know my precious granddaughter had died.” Her hand fell away and she turned back to gaze out at the green expanse again. “If I could die and she live, I would give up this life in a heartbeat. I’ve lived and loved. I enjoyed my life to the fullest. She never had the chance. Her life had barely begun.”

The twinge grew and Joseph tossed his napkin onto the table. “It’s not possible. I’m sorry you are hurting, but I thought…” He hesitated as if in pain. “I thought I…we…made up for that. Perhaps I was wrong.” With a hard sigh he stood, but before he could make his dramatic exit his cell phone rang. He was tempted to ignore it, but a glance showed the hospital exchange. He needed an update on Joey and Kaiba.

“This is Wheeler.” He answered curtly.

“Joseph, this is Dr. Hinds.”

“Yes Doctor. Do you have an update on the Avian Flu? Or something on Joey?” Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Becca had turned to watch him with inscrutable green eyes.

“No…yes…well something.” Joseph could hear the strain in the other man’s voice. “I…there is no other way to say this. Is Joey with you? Did he ever come home?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course he’s not with me or at home. He was at the hospital with Kaiba.”

“No. That’s just it. He’s not here. Kaiba says that Joey rushed him into the bathroom, and then told him to go out to the reception desk while he used the facilities. The last time he saw Joey was in the bathroom. The security tapes show Joey and Kaiba going into the bathroom and Kaiba rushing out, but no Joey. He’s not still in the bathroom and the camera doesn’t show him leaving.” The doctor paused for a breath. “In the back of the bathroom, hidden by fake plants there is a small utility room that leads to a sub-basement. That door was locked but it is the only unmonitored exit from that room. Right now it looks like Joey may have picked the lock and exited through the sub-basement. It leads to an employee parking lot. Because of the time of day, night shift going off duty and day shift coming on, there are many people in the security video from the parking lot. He could have easily slipped through.”

“What…Are you telling me my grandson is missing? That he’s not in isolation? That he has not had any of his medications?” Joseph’s voice rose with every question.

“I…yes. I’m sorry Joseph. I…uh…have asked security to search the hospital grounds for a missing patient but so far they haven’t found him. Given the possibility for pandemic…I think it would be best if we informed the CDC that Joey is…missing.”

Are you out of your mind?" The elder roared. "If they find him first they will..." He broke off and gave Becca a hasty glance. "They will try to change his treatment. And we..."

"Do you think I don't know that Joseph? But just consider what could happen if he’s been exposed. It's not just you and Becca. It could be millions of people. They need to know." The doctor may have been willing to sacrifice a few people who volunteered and were already more than half dead for money and research, but millions of healthy and unknowing men, women, and children were more than he could handle.

"No." Hearing the wavering conviction, Joseph mentally cursed idiots and their inconvenient morals and put on his most persuasive tone. "Look he's going through withdrawal. He's probably curled up somewhere away from everyone. He might even have passed out. He can’t have gone far. I will send my security out to find him."

“But…” Dark panic swirled through the doctor. Images of the death camps from world war two, with their piles of dead and the burning ovens, filled his mind. To control the disease he could see it happening to the victims of Avian Flu. There was already talking in the medical community about such places.

“You’re forgetting about the tracker. It will trace him anywhere within a hundred mile radius. We implanted it months ago when he kept trying to run away, remember?”

The doctor sighed and grabbed that fact like a lifeline as the images cleared. Surely Joey hadn’t gone far. And he would be brought into isolation soon. Besides with a new exposure he wasn’t even contagious yet. “I’d forgotten. All right then I will leave it to you.”

“Thank you.” He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. Not that he tried to. He hung up.

“Problems?” His lover asked softly.

“Joey is not at the hospital. Nobody has seen him since Kaiba went to the emergency room.” Agitated, he briskly walked into his bedroom and hit a button; signaling for his elite guards to come to him before beginning to pace around the room.

“Hmm…so he meant it.” She observed quietly, standing in the doorway beside the table that separated the balcony from the bedroom.

“What?” He blinked at her. What was she talking about? Sometimes he missed the rapier intelligence that had been dulled by the drugs that kept the ‘other’ personality subdued.

Casually she picked up a slice of melon and nibbled delicately as she moved back to her chair. “He said that he would leave if you didn’t turn off the cameras. Seems like he did.”

“That’s ridiculous. He would never leave. He has nowhere to go and no memories.” He scoffed automatically, but inside his heart skipped a beat. Last night Joey had snarled that he would leave, but he’d written it off.

“He has the memories you gave him.” She pointed out casually and nibbled more of the succulent fruit.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, you said yourself he was acting like you at that age. Would you have tolerated being watched every second of the day? And, would you tolerate seeing what he saw last night? He doesn’t know that he is only a shadow of you, that Joey Wheeler died. He also doesn’t know that you are planning on merging with him.” She pursed her lips against her treat and observed, “It’s odd, but since he stopped taking the medications his personality and traits have really come out. Are you positive Joey was brain dead? Sometimes it almost seems like there is another person fighting to break free.” Viciously she sank her teeth into the flesh of the melon and turned to look once more at the man standing in the middle of the bedroom.

Joseph’s heart skipped several beats as he met the hard jade gaze. “Wh…what are you saying. Of course I am sure. Do you think that I…that I…my own grandson?”

“Hmmm…a grandson you never knew from a son you disowned?” Then she relented at his outraged gasp. “I didn’t say that Joseph. I simply asked if you were positive. I know how devastated you were when he was brought from Japan, bruised, and broken, with machines keeping him alive. I remember how joyful you were when you found his brain could heal enough to accept a transfer. And after the first transfer and receiving the drugs he started to wake up. And I remember when he tried to run away. I held you as you wept.” She set down her food and carefully wiped her lips. “Something about his running away disturbs me.” She rose unhurriedly from the table and swayed past him to the door just as the knock announced the arrival of the security team. “If he was running away because the plane never made it and felt compelled to complete the journey as the specialist said then he couldn’t have been brain dead.” She opened the door and waved the men into the room. “If he had been he wouldn’t remember his trip from Japan or the accident on any level would he?” Giving everyone a wave she stepped into the hall.

Joseph started after her, but stopped and shrugged. He would deal with her later. Right now they had to find Joey. “My grandson has disappeared from the hospital. He’s ill and not in his right mind. We have to find him immediately. Of course none of us may leave the house. I will contact some friends and have them coordinate with you about retrieving him.” He turned to the tallest guard. “Do you have the tracking computer on?”

“Of course, Sir. It’s kept up at all times. We’ve kept it at 24/7 for months.”

“Good, let’s go see where he’s run to.”

The head security agent led the way to the small room at the top of the third floor.

Becca, watching from behind her door, waited until they were out of sight before she stealthily crept down to Joey’s nurse’s door. The man jumped and looked up from the chart he had been reading over for the third time, obviously surprised to see her slipping into the room.

“Ma’am. Uh…can I help you?”

Green eyes glinted with knowledge and purpose. “Yes. Give me all of Joey’s records.” Then she hesitated and added “And all of mine.” When the man hesitated she said coldly “Now or you will leave here with your ass on fire and no prospect of ever finding another job in the medical field.”

“Uh…ma’am…Those records are restricted to the doctors and Mr. Wheeler.” Williams tried to explain.

The blond girl leaned forward, the force of her personality bearing down on him. “I don’t care about your rules. You’re not dumb. Something is not right and I’m going to find out what’s going on. You can help me or you can disappear. Your choice.”

The man gulped hard and nodded. “I…you’re right. There are some issues. I wanted to discuss them with the doctor when we went to see him. It…the medicines aren’t…they have known effects that can do damage. I…Mr. Wheeler didn’t seem to want to know.” He unlocked the desk drawer. “All of Joey’s files are in here. They date back to just after the plane crash.” The nurse hesitated, worrying the back of his neck with one hand. “But the injuries…are not consistent with that kind of trauma. And I haven’t found any documentation or x-rays that indicate a brain injury.” He sighed and gave her an apologetic look “As for your records ma’am, I don’t know where your files are. I’ve never seen them.”

The determined eyes hardened further. "Never seen mine? That was before your time wasn’t it. No documentation at all about Joey’s injuries?" The woman nodded reflectively. "There wouldn't be would there? If there was no crash."

The man stared at her in shock. "No crash? But why would someone lie about that?"

A bitter smile curved the pretty mouth, "I don't think I should tell you just yet.” Scooting a chair next to him she picked up a pen and paper. "Read. Start with admission notes and go from there."

One floor above Joseph was staring at the tracking monitor in frustrated rage. “Why the hell didn’t any of you notice that he hadn’t been tracking since yesterday afternoon?”

“Sir, Mr. White rescheduled the twenty-four hour tracking guards a week ago, putting them on grounds duty. You never scheduled them back. You said it wasn’t necessary any more since your grandson had settled down and it would all be recorded. We’d use the tracker only in emergencies.” The head guard explained firmly, reminding his boss of his own culpability. He wasn’t going to let any of his team get fired simply because one of the bosses had changed the schedule and now they were regretting it.

“Damn! What the hell changed?” The elder man paced back and forth. “He shows up until at the office, then…” Seeing the time his grandson’s tracker had stopped working he realized it had been when Joey had interrupted his meeting with Kaiba. “Pull up the tapes from Kaiba’s rooms last night. The bathroom and the Rose bedroom.” With a few clicks and whirs, the screen filled with snow and the sound of flutes came over in a soft continuous murmur. The snow and flutes continued for several quickly scanned hours, only to end abruptly the next morning and the empty room appeared on the screen.

“Kaiba!” Joseph hissed in realization. He snapped open his phone and called the hospital extension Dr. Hinds had called him on. A cheerful voice answered. “Staff lounge, how can I help you?”

“Yes, hello, is Dr. Hinds still there?” He asked evenly.

“Sir, this is a private phone booth. I was just tidying it. Let me see if Dr. Hinds is in the lounge.”

In just a moment the voice came back on. “Sir he’s coming now.”

The doctor’s voice came over the line. “This is Dr. Hinds.”

“It’s me. I need to speak to Kaiba.”

“He’s in room sixteen eleven. I will transfer you. But really Joseph I’m not a telephone operator.”

“For what I’m paying you, you are whatever I say you are. Now connect me.” Joseph was in no mood to pander to the doctor’s god complex. It was time the other man learned his true place – under Joseph Wheeler’s heel.”

The ring of the ancient hospital phone brought Seto out of his relaxing daydream. Automatically he glanced at his watch. When he saw the time he smirked. The old man was slower than he’d thought. He waited for the fourth ring before he picked up the receiver. Affecting a sleepy voice he mumbled “Moshi Moshi”

“Kaiba! Where is my grandson?” He attacked immediately, hoping to catch the younger man off guard.

Seto’s smirk deepened to an outright grin. He fumbled. “Who…is? Japanese prease?”

The elder switched to flawless Japanese. “Kaiba, where is my grandson Joey?”

“Your grandson Joey? I do not know him.” Kaiba affected confusion. But overlaying it was amusement and condescension.

“Don’t play dumb with me. The blond young man from my office that you ate dinner with last night is my grandson. Tell me where he is. If you value your life and the life of your precious little brother you will tell me where you’ve hidden him.”

“My brother?” Seto’s voice sharpened and his amusement died.

“I investigated you. I know you have a brother whom you adore and spoil outrageously. I don’t know what you hoped to achieve by kidnapping my grandson but you won’t get away with it. I want Joey Wheeler returned immediately.”

Dropping all pretenses Seto growled and said with deadly softness “My brother is beyond your reach. And I never met Joey Wheeler. The man I spent yesterday with was my lover Jounouchi Katsuya.” He waited a second for that to sink in before adding coldly “Your employee Robert White kidnapped him seven months ago. I have Robert White’s confession as well as the detailed records of everything you ordered done to Jounouchi. I have all of his medical records and the documentation of his forcible incarceration on your orders. I also have the outline of what you were planning to do to him. Jounouchi is safe with our friends and you will never touch him again. But don’t worry too much about missing him. When he feels back to himself I’m sure he will look you up. Don’t look forward to an extended visit. If I know him at all, you probably won’t live long enough to enjoy his company.” With a decisive click he placed the phone back in the cradle.

Now that the need for the subterfuge was over, Seto stood and dressed in street clothes then called his pilot. He was going home. With any luck he would meet Jounouchi’s plane. Idly he wondered if the fines for breaking the sound barrier were worth the time saved. With a shrug he decided to find out, gathered his things, and opened his phone to call his pilot. He had a lover to meet.

He left unnoticed by simply walking out the three containment doors. Nobody was expecting to see a potentially gravely ill person simply walk out, so they didn’t pay any attention to the tall, obviously healthy, brunet walking confidently out the doors. His exodus wasn’t discovered until quite a few hours later when the doctors stopped in to tell him the good news…that his Flu-Chip had been negative.

While Kaiba was gathering his belongings Joseph Wheeler was frantically dialing Robert White’s cell number. It rang twice and was answered cheerily by a New York accented voice, “Hello, are you looking for your phone?”

“Who is this? Where is the phone?”

“This is Mei. I’m a server at the Rising Sun restaurant. This phone was found in the bathroom here last night. Are you the owner? Or maybe you know who the owner is?”

Numb realization began to sink in. Rising Sun...hadn't the chauffer told him that was the name of the restaurant where Kaiba and Joey had dinner? He was almost positive. "Are you on 37th?" He asked for clarification.

"Yes, Sir we are."

"Then yes, I am...I will send someone to get the phone. Thank you." Mechanically he severed the connection.

His security man asked softly "Have you found him Sir?"

"No...and yes. He..." The older man shook his head and pushed down his fears. He'd come too far to let some perverted, uncivilized, under-educated fag destroy his plans. "Use our government access. Find out the flight plans for any aircraft belonging to Kaiba Corporation or Seto Kaiba for today.”

It was thirty minutes before he had the information. His security guard, strangely pale, reported hesitantly, “Three Kaiba Corp jets have taken off from La Guardia today. One bound for California, another for Ontario, and the third to Paris. There was only one listed for Seto Kaiba. It is scheduled to lift off in less than an hour from La Guardia and due to land in Japan in eight hours.

“Eight hours? That’s not…” Then the elder Wheeler clenched his jaw. “The bastard has a Super Sonic.”

“Sir, there is more. I was warned, forcibly, not to attempt to inquire further about Seto Kaiba or Kaiba Corporation.” The guard swallowed and stepped back at the rage that contorted his employer’s face.

“Who…” the elder man started to spit out, enraged that his power and control had been questioned.

The guard took another step back. “Sir, all I know is that within ten seconds of my inquiry I received a message telling me to desist further inquiries. It was encrypted with White House seals.”

“White…? How the hell does a toymaker get that kind of contact? It had to be fake.” The enraged man sputtered.

“No, Sir. It was verified and confirmed. The verification and confirmation is what took so long.” For a moment the guard thought his boss was going to explode. But gradually the dark red face returned to its normal pale color, clenched fists relaxed, and hoarse breathing calmed.

The guards were shocked and more than a little terrified when the old man smiled. The lead asked hesitantly, “Sir, have you--?”

“We know where Joey is. We will just go get him. He has no memories and is in the middle of a crisis. I will simply have Doctor Hinds declare him incompetent and I will be appointed his guardian.” Flipping open his phone he dialed the number for his lawyer.

Kaiba deplaned at his personal airstrip an hour before Jounouchi’s flight was due to land. It had been worth the risk of putting one of his personal aircraft in Jounouchi’s name to move it anonymously. He’d bet every yen he had that Joseph Wheeler would never check under his own grandson’s name because in the mind of the old despot Jounouchi wasn’t human. It was not the first mistake Wheeler had made, and it wouldn’t be that last.

While he waited for Jounouchi to land he personally checked the ambulance that was to transport his love to their home. He frowned at the one pillow and two blankets, but decided to take the ones out of White’s ambulance. Jounouchi would have the best. The American would be lucky to live another week, he wasn’t going to waste comfort on a dead man walking. Satisfied that his love would be comfortable he settled in for what he privately considered the longest forty minutes of his life.

When the plane taxied in he hurried out the door, making sure the ambulance and crew were standing by. He watched from the tarmac as first Anzu and Mai exited then Yugi and Mokuba, holding hands and looking candy sweet, and finally the doctor stepped out of the aircraft. Several security guards carried out White, still strapped to his bed. The difficulty and a near drop of White’s bed gave Seto all the excuse he needed. He bounded up the stairs, released the bindings on his love, grabbed the I.V. bag off the bed, and scooped Jounouchi up into his arms, cradling him with all the tenderness of a loving mother. Carefully he carried his long missing love to the waiting ambulance. They were going home.