Title: From the Past 4/?

Author: Telpei

Rating: PG-13

Pairing(s): Various combinations of Seto, Joey, Jouno, and Seth

Beta: Samurai Butterfly

Spoilers: Nope. This is an AU.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Summary: Joey gets accidentally summons High Priest Seth back from the past. The Priest has to get back to his slave Jouno, but he can't get back to his own time until the past has been repeated...

OoooooooO

He was being held captive – a prisoner of war. His cell was dank and dark, and he longed for the warm arms of his lover. "Come for me," he pleaded with the darkness. "Let the future be able to decipher the past..."

His stomach cursed its emptiness, and he curled in on himself, matted golden hair falling into dull amber eyes. Tears slipped down his cheeks, and he berated himself for his weakness.

Seth would come. He had to believe.

OoooooooO

Joey stumbled backwards as he was wrenched from Seth's arms, still a little stunned as to what was going on. With wide eyes, he realized that the Egyptian had been kissing him...and that Kaiba was now pulling back to deal a punch to the Egyptian that was bound to rival Joey's own assault on the priest.

With a startled cry, the blonde lunged at Kaiba, holding him back before he could pummel his former self. "Kaiba, get a grip!" he growled, one arm around the brunette's waist to hold him back. In vain, he tried to ignore both their provocative position against one another, and the way his body felt so hot against the executive.

"Oh, so you're allowed to punch him and I'm not?!" the CEO growled, apparently too lost in his anger and jealousy to realize just how close Joey was.

"Why do you wanna punch him anyway?!" the blond demanded, shoving Kaiba back in a desperate attempt to put more space between them. He narrowed his eyes into a glare and crossed his arms over his chest accusingly. "Why would you care if he kissed me?"

Kaiba stood in stunned silence for a moment, trying to think through his actions. Why did it matter? He wasn't jealous. He hated the mutt...didn't he? He grunted noncommittally, shaking the thoughts from his mind and berating himself for getting distracted. He looked to Seth in an attempt to put the blame on his former self, but the priest cut him off and spoke first.

"Joey has a point, Seto Kaiba," the Egyptian put in oh-so helpfully. "Why would you care?"

"I don't!" Kaiba bit back, eyes narrowing into slits. He was angry, now, for letting himself get outwitted like this. He'd let his guard down and allowed the priest to lure him into an attack.

"I'm going to make sure that Mokuba is on his way to school," he offered tightly as a lame excuse before he turned and swept out of the kitchen, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides.

Behind him, Joey turned confused eyes onto Seth, who only dismissed the blonde's unspoken question with a wave of his hand. Joey sighed, glancing at the doorway from which Seto had left before he turned to his burnt breakfast. He stared at it for a moment before he scooped it onto his plate and reached for the imported maple syrup he'd found in the Kaiba fridge.

'No point in worryin' about him now,' he mused to himself, though he had half a mind to go and find Kaiba and ask him straight out what his reaction had been all about. He knew, though, that this would get him nowhere. Kaiba was stubborn, that much was certain. No, he wouldn't be getting a straight answer out of Kaiba. Hell, he'd be lucky if he ever got an answer at all...

OoooooooO

Around half an hour later, Seto found himself alone in the living room with Seth, waiting for Joey to finish in the shower. He was sitting on the couch beside his former self, and they were both staring at what appeared to be an innocent stone.

Kaiba reached out to pick it up, but Seth's hand gripping his wrist stopped him. "What is it now?" The CEO growled, turning an icy glare onto the priest.

"Jouno said that this stone was not for you. It is for me to use in my time...It will free my love from his captors."

Seto sighed. "Look, I just want to see what the writing says."

"You cannot touch it," Seth insisted, reaching out and picking up the stone, sliding it into the folds of his Egyptian robes. He'd given up on modern day clothing, but since he wasn't going out in public (at least, not if Seto could help it), then no harm should be done. "I will not risk anything that could change its magical wavelengths."

Seto stared. "Bullshit," he grumbled after a moment of shocked silence, wrenching away from Seth's grip on his wrist and slumping back into the couch. "This is all a bunch of bullshit."

Glowering, he fell silent, his brow furrowed in thought. What had happened over the course of the last dozen hours had him confused...and Seto Kaiba did not deal well with confusion. There were several questions plaguing his mind...and all of them had to do with one blonde puppy. Frustratedly, Seto listed them off in his head:

1. Why was he being so stubborn about keeping Joey here? Seth didn't seem to need the blond anymore...

2. Why had he bothered to clear Joey's name as per his absence in school today? And why the hell had he thought to threaten the secretary not to inform the mutt's father?

3. What had Joey been implying when he'd said that they had to 'find love', whatever that meant?

4. What had he seen in Joey's eyes the previous night and that morning? He knew there had been something there...something that hadn't been anger or hate.

5. And most importantly: What had he felt when he'd seen Seth kissing Wheeler? Why had he detected a hint of challenge in his counterpart's eyes? And why the hell had he wanted to resort to physical violence?

Kaiba didn't have the answer to any of these questions just yet. In fact, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. But he was positive that he needed to get Seth out of this time. The Priest kept smirking in his direction, licking his lips...and Seto knew that he was being mocked. It irked him (though he had no idea why) that Seth had kissed Joey and he had not. He was snapped out of his thoughts, however, when the Egyptian spoke, his smooth baritone jerking the CEO back to the present.

"You're thinking things over entirely too much," the dark-skinned priest said bluntly, eyeing his hikari critically. "Love is not about coherent thought, Seto Kaiba. Love is about impulse and emotion...something I do not think you are comfortable with."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "I love Mokuba," he replied tersely. "With all of my heart. I would give anything for him. Anything"

Seth paused for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, I was partly mistaken. You do know how to love your brother. What you do not know is how to love Joey."

Seto glared, sparks practically flying between the priest and his reincarnation. "Why would I want to know how to love that mongrel? Joey Wheeler is the last person that I would want to-"

His sentence was cut off, however, as he found Seth straddling his hips. He retaliated instantly, jerking his entire body in an attempt to dislodge the priest, but the millennium rod flashed and he felt himself unable to move.

"How dare you insult the reincarnation of my lover," Seth hissed, wrapping his fingers tightly around Seto's throat. The CEO struggled for breath, but under the control of the rod he was helpless. "Joey feels for you, I know he does," Seth murmured dangerously, "and if you hurt him in any way, I swear that I will punish you properly."

Seto was choking now, his fingers twitching at his sides and his entire body trembling. He could do nothing but stare up at the priest, practically begging to be released with his eyes. He hated to stoop so low, hated how his former self could make him so helpless...

Seth held him for a moment longer, watching as Kaiba's face began to turn blue, before he released the executive from the hold of his rod and the grip around his neck. Seto gasped, drinking in air in huge gulps. He turned his eyes away from Seth, ashamed at how he could be so weak.

"On top of Joey's feelings...your cooperation is needed, Seto Kaiba. If I am to return to my own time and save Jouno, then you must exert some effort." Seth said, his eyes distant and sad as his thoughts turned to his lover. "I will do anything in my power to keep him safe...and I must ask for you to do the same."

The priest waited for a moment, but Seto seemed intent on withholding any reply. With a sigh, Seth got to his feet and turned, glancing over his shoulder at the executive. "Jouno needs your help, Seto Kaiba, and Joey needs your love. Think about it," he urged, before he turned and left the room.

Kaiba sighed once the Egyptian had left, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to fight off a growing headache. A flash of white caught his eyes, and he reached down between the cushions of the couch, pulling out the seeing stone. He stared at it for a moment, knowing that he should just set it down. But his curiosity overtook him, and he brought it closer to his eyes, inspecting the writing on the white band closely.

The stone was suddenly hot as embers in his fingers, but he couldn't let go. A flash of light blinded him, and Seto cried out as his mind was wrenched from his body.

Ooo TBC ooO