YUGIOH

Getting Back to Square 1

Narr: Romance/suspense, yaoi, J/K. Kaiba ran into some bad luck in order to save Mokuba from another kidnapping, and it's up to Joey to nurse him back to health. Why not...everyone else has probably done a similar plot atleast once. Rated, PG-13.

Note: Though this is a J/K romance story, the main plot of it is actually about Kaiba's bond with his brother Mokuba, and what lengths he is willing to go in order to protect him.

Chapter 1.

"You son of a bitch!" The man known as Luther spat at him.

Kaiba was down on his hands and knees, battered and bruised, and unable to do much more than take the next blow about to come to him. Yet, he couldn't stop the smirk forming back on his face despite the pain he had gone through.

The man kicked him hard, causing him to crumble. But Kaiba began to once again crawl back up, even if it meant he would be knocked back down again. That's just the kind the guy he was.

The man grabbed him by the collar, forcefully yanking him up to yell into his face. "You think you're so damn smart, don't you you fuck!"

Again, Kaiba replied with a cocky smirk to his face.

One of the men approached Luther, clad in what looked like a military outfit, saying, "Sir...we can simply send our men out to personally kidnap his brother, this time."

"It wont work now, don't you get that?" Luther spat. "By now, the little brat is surrounded by so many Kaiba Corp security, it would be like breaking into Fort Knox!" He turned back at Kaiba, and shook him, ranting, "You weren't supposed to be there! Why the fuck were you there!"

"I guess you're just not thorough enough." Kaiba choked out.

(flashback)

It was any other typical day. There hadn't been any other danger or attempts on Kaiba Corp or the brother's lives for some time. There was no sign of anything happening. Mokuba was older now, and allowed to go to certain areas without escorts, so he didn't look like a freak all the time. And Kaiba didn't always have the time to hang around his brother 24/7 to watch him over a threat that wasn't there. There was no reason to believe something was going to happen.

What Luther didn't know was that he was 'too' careful in his planning. He had a couple of his plain clothes militia checking that day to make certain nothing unusual was going to happen to ensure his plan worked perfectly.

...and when Kaiba was walking with his brother to work that day, his paranoia strangely kicked in seeing one suspicious person that he felt looked out of place in a crowd, and he was certain that person was looking their way. He knew it didn't really seem like anything...but since that moment, the alarms of danger was going on in his head and he just couldn't let himself allow Mokuba to continue to take his routine walk alone.

"You're staying with me?" Mokuba asked him, surprised by the sudden change of events. "But, you have a real important meeting in like 10 minutes. Is something wrong?"

"I rescheduled." Kaiba lied. He then looked down at him and offered a soft look. "It's nothing. We haven't spent any real time together, lately. If Procon can't handle me taking a little time off to spend some time with my brother, then they'll just have to find another business to deal with."

'Boy, there's a load of bullshit.' Mokuba thought, automatically assuming his brother had some spur of the moment reason to feel paranoid again. Not to say he was never right, but he could be a bit over-protective at times. And after working almost a month to get that client, something must have spooked him to just drop their appointment like that.

Kaiba didn't want to tell his brother the truth. He didn't want to worry him, he didn't want to look paranoid and overprotective, and it might just be nothing. And he knew if he was wrong, he'd be kicking himself later for letting that important appointment go like that.

But, then they both entered the building where Mokuba was to be dropped off at, which held special classes for both skilled and rich students. And instead of students and teachers inside the entrée way, there were what looked like a bunch of soldiers inside. In the very center of these people was one man that stood out, and appeared to be the soldier's possible leader.

The man calmly looked up, expecting to see Mokuba enter. But, he turned immediately wide-eyed to also see his old brother next to him. Instantly enraged, Luther snapped, "Get that brat!"

The instant the man looked up, Kaiba recognized him...he was Leichter's little brother of the Big 5. This was one of those days that Kaiba's paranoia had actually pulled through. The same time Luther was chiding his soldiers to get them, Kaiba had grabbed his brother, launched him towards the door, and yelled, "Run!"

And Mokuba did not question or hesitate from his brother's command. Doing exactly what was ordered, he turned tailed and ran out of the building, without looking back. Worry filled him after seeing those people with guns, and praying his brother would make it out of there alive. But, he had learned from the past that if he turned to look and see, he could only put his brother in worst danger to do so. The best thing he could do for Kaiba now was escape and be safe. Once he got with any Kaiba Corp security or police, he could inform them of the danger, and help his brother that way.

And Luther was fuming with rage. He had planned this scenario to death to make sure everything would be right. He had spies watch the path and patterns of both Kaiba brother's for the past month. He had worked with the company that were good friends of his brother in order to get this important meeting set up with Kaiba just during this time, to ensure there would be no possible way he would be there to interfere. He made sure this kidnapping took place on a day a special event was happening that would keep the majority of the police away from what they were doing. He had his men study the school intricately in order to know exactly where to hit in order to prepare the trap for Mokuba to come here without any kind of police warnings or danger. He even had a couple of his men give confirmation that very morning, to let him know the Kaiba's were still following the same pattern and everything was fine.

...and yet, to Luther's shock and horror, both Kaiba's ended up entering the building instead of just one.

The school and the deal with Procon was supposed to be the complicated part. Capturing Mokuba was supposed to be the simplest of the whole thing.

And if Seto Kaiba wasn't there, Mokuba's capture would have been child's play. And when Mokuba ran, if Kaiba wasn't there - that too would have been a peace of cake to simply block the exit. But, it wasn't.

Mokuba started running that must faster. Kaiba valiantly threw himself in the way and started to attack the 5 professional militia crew, stalling their chase to a stand-still as Mokuba slipped through their fingers.

"Don't let him get away!" Luther practically screamed, seeing his opportunity disappearing in a whiff of smoke.

As more backup militia came forward, Kaiba had somehow managed to get away from the first 5, to attack whoever was now nearest to the doorway. Infact, he had placed himself in the way of the doorway, so that the only way they were going to get through was to take him down.

Luther's eye twitched watching as his fighters, no matter how hard they hit him, still could not succeed in knocking this man down. Despite the beating he was getting, he continued to fight on and prevent them from leaving. And Kaiba was doing pretty damn good for a guy fighting 10 men...that is until Luther finally had enough and shot him in the leg, which then the soldiers jumped him at once...beating him until he couldn't stand, anymore.

But, Kaiba didn't care...he was happy. He succeeded in his goal...Mokuba was safe from harm.

(end flashback)

Since that time, Luther had quickly escaped with his soldiers out of the area back to their base, hauling the beaten Seto Kaiba with them.

Now at their camp sight, he was shaking Kaiba like a rag doll...the man's temper out of control. And Kaiba didn't see any way he was going to survive, this time...not that it mattered. As long as he knew his sacrifice was so Mokuba could live on safe and sound, he would die content. He defeated them at their own game, and was prepared for whatever was coming next.

Luther screamed down at him, "Not thorough enough? You have no idea what I went through to ensure this day was perfect! How could you have known?"

Kaiba just grinned, too tired to say anything, anyway. The grin would be enough of a spit in the face. And he was rewarded with having the mad man belt him at the side of the face, causing him to collapse again.

Luther then pulled back the trigger and aimed it right against his head, saying, "How does it feel to know you're about to die, Seto Kaiba?"

Kaiba weakly turned his head to face Luther, not seeming to care of the danger in the least. Instead, he gave the man those cold piercing eyes, as he roughly managed to reply, "...better not miss. If I don't die, you'll regret it."

Luther was so angry, the gun was shaking in his hand. This wasn't how his revenge was supposed to be, at all. He pulled the gun away and kicked him hard, yelling, "How the hell can you face death with no fear! I have seen you afraid before, Kaiba...and not because your brother was in danger, either. Just after you taken down Gozaburo, you faced someone in a game you created. He defeated you in that game, and...did something to you. Right there on public TV, you had the look of terror in your eyes. It was the look a person has on their face when they know they're going to die. I never forgot that face. And after you betrayed and killed my brother, I wanted nothing more than to make you have that look on your face again. So, WHY DON'T YOU NOW FEAR DEATH?"

Kaiba remembered the day he was talking about...Death T. His priorities were different then, thanks to his stepfather's brainwashing, or more likely his own stupidity. With the hint of a smile, he replied, "I all ready faced it once. It's overrated."

"We still have him, sir." The soldier said. "Seto Kaiba 'was' our main target. Can't we simply kill him, now?"

"The brat was the one that was important, you dolt!" The man shrieked. "He is the key to Seto Kaiba's torment. Without him, we cannot succeed in making him suffer the ultimate fate after betraying my brother! How many times must I repeat this for you people to understand?"

"But, we have him." Another man said. "We can use him as a hostage to perhaps lure his brother back here."

Luther spat, "That will never work! By this time, the police and the media are involved! Things are too messy, now!" He took a few breaths to try and prevent himself from hyperventilating, then turned back to look at his crumpled up prisoner on the ground. "The best we can do now is cut our losses and be done with it."

Luther squatted down, pulling Kaiba's head up by his hair, stating, "You may 'think' you got away with something, Kaiba...but you got away with nothing! I will 'not' give you the benefit of being granted a quick death. We will keep you and beat you until you wish you were dead, before we finally kill you. And when you are dead, we will wait until everything quiets down...then once again when they least expect it, we will kill Mokuba, too. So, you see, Seto Kaiba...you have really won at 'nothing'. We didn't originally want your brother, we wanted you. Eventually, we would have killed you and spared him. But because of your interference, we will kill you both!"

"Uh...but, I thought we was gonna kill the brat, too." One of the stupid guards said.

"Will you shut up!" Luther spat. He turned and walked away, ordering the guards, "Have your fun with him. Do 'not' kill him...yet."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

For the next few weeks, no one could find any sign of Seto Kaiba, despite their efforts. Mokuba had hoped by now to get a phone call from the kidnappers, but there was nothing from them.

And Kaiba had been beaten to the very inch of his life. And Luther might have been right that he would have prayed for death, except that Luther had made 2 more stupid mistakes. First, the man had foolishly told Kaiba that after his death, he would seek out and kill his brother. And secondly, no one knew that the Duel Monster's card around his neck was a picture of Mokuba.

Shortly after they had left him alone to suffer with the pains of his wounds, he would take that moment to once again open the pendant and look at his brother's picture, helping to give him renewed hope. No matter how badly his condition became...he still fought tooth and nail to hold onto every bit of life he had, so that Mokuba would be safe. His existence depended on Mokuba's safety.

And none of the soldiers could believe that there was, even now...still some fight left in him. And today they had to once again report to Luther on their progress.

"This is dumb." Lt. Korgy said. "The longer we hold onto him, the bigger the chances we're gonna get caught."

Lt. Mane stuttered, "I-I've heard that they're getting closer to finding us. If they do, and this guy is still here, we're all gonna burn for it!"

"Listen." Korgy said. "Just don't say anything...leave this meeting to me."

They approached Luther that day, who said, "Report."

Korgy saluted, saying, "Seto Kaiba is officially a broken man, sir. There is absolutely nothing more we can do to him."

"Are you certain?" He asked.

Lt. Mane nervously glanced Korgy's way, praying that Luther wasn't going to catch on that he was blatantly lying.

Korgy added with a sneer, "Today as we beat him, he begged for us to kill him."

Luther nodded, "Very good. It's about time. I'm assigning you two to drive to the edge of the island and finish him off there. I don't care how you do it...just do it and make sure you don't botch it up."

"Yes, sir!" Korgy said and the 2 left to finish off Kaiba.