Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Time on a Chain ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.
Willow woke. Something wasn't quite right. She got up and dressed Scrounging around she found a
pair of black jeans and a dark grey sweater. She also took time to find her heavy boots. They'd
protect her foot. She didn't see any reason to hurry she just had jitters.

After the day she'd had it was just nerves. Between searching the trail again with Roland and reassuring
her own people she was strung tight. Seto hadn't helped matters any either. He'd been on a rampage
and the only thing that had calmed him down was Mokuba right where he could see him. He'd come
down from his suit followed by Joey who had shown a decided tendency to stick to him. So she'd had
Joey looking at her like she might bite, Seto on the verge of homicide and Mokuba trying to soothe and
comfort both of them when he was obviously, at least to her, in need of both himself. So, yeah, she was
strung fairly tight.

She checked on Mokuba. He was sleeping in the middle of his bed, curled up and looking like a hedge
hog. Joey was sprawled across his bed on his back snoring. Seto was also a sleep half on one side,
wearing nothing but sweat pants and without his usual sneer he looked young and handsome.

Willow started to go back to her room when she smelled something it was so faint it was almost the
thought of a smell. Wandering down the hall toward the vestibule she hunted for what was making the
smell.

Smoke! It was definitely smoke here on the ground floor she could smell it better and she didn't like it.
She was going to get everyone out and then figure out exactly what was going on.

"Joey!! Hey Wheeler! UP! Get up!" Willow banged on the door and then opened it just in time to duck
a punch headed her way. "Get dressed and grab Mokuba. I smell smoke. Go to the garage and get an
SUV ready to roll. I'll get Seto and meet you there. We're on the move."

Willow ran to her room and retrieved her harness; the back pad holding her knives and the new belt
which held a Desert Eagle .50 AE at her hip and a Smith and Wesson model 686 .357 magnum with a
six in barrel at the small of her back. She also had a pouch with four clips for the .50 and four speed
loaders for the .357. She was loaded and ready.

Joey grabbed clothes and rammed his feet into boots, then he headed for Mokuba's room at a dead
run. There was no time. He could smell smoke and the hall was getting hot.

"Mokuba, get up! Hey, Runt. Up! Now!" Joey shook Mokuba hard but he wouldn't wake up. All he
would do was groan and bat at him. "Shit! Mokuba, get the fuckn' hell up. Damn! Come on little
buddy ya gotta get up." Joey shook Mokuba harder, then he gave up, he was wasting valuable time. He
snatched up Mokuba's backpack, dumped everything out of one part and stuffed the clothes and shoes
he found on the floor into it he also crammed an extra blanket into the pack. He scooped Mokuba into
a firemans' carry and started out the door.

Willow shook Seto jerking him into an upright position but he wouldn't wake up either. He was so out
of it that his head lolled on his shoulders like a rag doll.

"Damnit, why now? Okashira! Wake up! Come on, damn you, up!" Willow dragged Seto out of bed
and threw him over her shoulder. She was just short enough that she had trouble. His feet dragged on
the floor and she was off balance. But she managed, it wasn't that he was too heavy he was just
awkward and limp.

She met Joey in the hall with Mokuba over his shoulders. "What the hell is going on with these two?
They're both so out of it I can't wake Seto-chan. Mokuba too?" Willow looked at Joey. He had
several inches on her. "Here! Trade with me. Can you manage Okashira? I can carry him but he's tall
and his feet are dragging. Come on hurry up yes or no."

Joey braced Mokuba against the wall and reached for Seto. "Yeah, I can handle him. You get
Mokuba. I'm headed for the garage and that SUV. Get a move on."

They changed brothers and Joey headed for the garage. Then all hell broke loose. There were gun
shots and an explosion in the back of the house. Willow shifted Mokuba so she had her right hand free,
pulled her Desert Eagle and ran like hell. She caught Joey up. When he realized who it was he turned
and reached for her. She started to dance away but realized that he was reaching for the .357. He got it
out of the holster and swore.

"Shit! Big gun."

"Yeah. You know how to use that thing?"

"Yeah, I do. We need to get out of here. Who's shootin' who?"

Willow scanned the vestibule from the railing. "Don't know, don't care. They're shootin' at us as far as
I'm concerned."

Joey juggled Seto into a more convenient position. He didn't even react. "Damn he's all skin and bone.
Look! The front's on fire!"

Willow looked at the front of the house, she could see fire through the front windows and the library
was already burning. She turned her head and swore. The back of the house was on fire too. The
whole thing was bad. The front and back of the house were on fire and it was burning way too fast.

"What the hell is going on? How could the whole house catch so fast?" Joey was frantic. The stairs
were already on fire. "How are we gonna get out of here? Everything's involved already."

"Can you say arson? Accelerants, I can smell them." Willow looked at the stairs. They weren't that
bad.
"What kind of shoes do you have on?"

"My old boots. You think we can make it? I'll try it. How's your foot?"

Joey didn't wait for an answer he just started down the stairs as fast as he could go without worrying
about falling. If he fell it would be all over. Willow followed his lead. She was keeping an eye out for
anyone trying to either help or hinder them. She was hoping for some help but no one showed up.
Willow dumped Mokuba into an SUV and started a quick reconnoitering of the garage checking for
trouble. Joey stuffed Seto into the same seat with Mokuba. Neither one of them had done more that
groan or struggle weakly.

"Keys! Keys! Where the hell are the damn keys? I can't find . . . " Joey remembered where the keys
were. They were in a locked cabinet on the wall next to the inside door. He rummaged in a mechanics
tool box and came up with a pry bar. "Open! Damn you! Come on!" Joey used the pry bar to smash
and pry the door open. He searched quickly thanking whoever had decided to label the hooks with the
plate number of the vehicle.

Willow relieved Joey of her .357 res holstered it and climbed into the passenger seat. "You drive. I'll
shoot anything that get's in the way. We got unfriendlies all around. Don't stop for anything. If it get's in
front of you run it over."

Joey scrambled around the front of the SUV and stuffed the keys in the ignition Starting the powerful
engine he punched the door opener and threw it in gear. Ignoring the flames leaping in front of the roll
up door he floored it and ran right through them.

Willow took in the scene as Joey drove straight for the gate. He wasn't going to stay anywhere near the
house just in case. "I'm going to head for town. We can call back to find out what the hell is going on. I
don't want to be anywhere close to here. Gun shots and explosions I don't wanna be around. "

Willow was glad. The whole house was on fire, part of the back wall had already collapsed. There
were people running everywhere. Security was putting up a good fight. She saw several fall in a way
that told her they'd been shot. When her phone rang she nearly swallowed her tongue.

"Talk to me."

"This is Rolland. Where are you?"

"SUV. Running for town. Everyone's ok. Seto and Mokuba won't wake up. Know what that's all
about?"

"Yeah. Seto probably made Mokuba take a sedative and took one himself. Pretty powerful stuff. I
wouldn't take it myself, but Mokuba will do almost anything Seto really want's him to."

"Fuck! I really need two unresponsive corpses on my hands right now. Any way to wake them up?"

"Not that I know of. Do you know where you're going?"

Willow thought for a moment

"NO and I wouldn't tell you if I did. There's a mole on your end or mine. We're on the move til further
notice. Call my people and give them the low down, tell them I'm out of touch til they can prove they're
clean."

Roland snarled, he knew there was a mole. After the fiasco of the morning all he wanted to do was find
the bastard and do nasty things to him until he told everything he knew.

"Ok. You're out of touch. Do you have money? We can arrange a drop or something."

"NO! No drops, Baka. I've got resources. Find out what the hell they've taken and get back to me."

Joey, who'd been listening with half an ear, looked in the rear view mirror. "Neither Mokuba nor Seto
show any signs of waking up. What's up with them, if someone had juggled me around like we did them
I'd be cussing up a storm."

Willow rubbed suddenly stinging eyes. "Seto gave Mokuba a sedative and took one himself. They'll be
out for an indeterminate length of time. It's all up to you and me for right now. How's the fuel? We're
going to stay on the move and out of touch til I can figure out what's going on. I thought this was just
one of those scared rich guy jobs but this is way serious."

Joey checked the gauges. "Full tank. Big one in this mother, but it sucks fuel like a bitch. I know a few
places we can go." Joey drove for a while trying to decide where to go. "Serious, yeah, I think it's real
serious. They blew up the whole fuckin' house. You know there's a mole? Rolland can take care of
that. He's good. Seto hates him, he's one of Gozabouro's left overs. So you know he has to be good if
he's still around."

Willow watched the back, turning around in the seat and looking through the back glass. She also
checked on Mokuba and Seto. They were both starting to wake up some.

"Just keep driving around for a while. . . . Oh! Do you have your wallet? I left mine behind. Hit the
nearest ATM and get all the money you can then head for the next one quick. We can get maybe three
or four before the bank catches up to us. We need to get all the money we can at once so we don't
leave a trail. I'm gonna see if I can't wake Seto no Baka up."

Willow climbed into the back seat and untangled Seto and Mokuba. She shook Mokuba first and got a
glassy eyed look and mumbled "Wha'? Can't wake up. Sed'tve. Don't li' " She could see Mokuba was
doing his best to wake up.

"How much did you get? Do you know? Anything we can do to help you wake up? I need Seto awake
and aware. Damn!" Willow shook Mokuba as he started to fall back to sleep. He was nearly useless.
"Half a pill, but I threw it up as soon as I could. Still got a lot in my system. Need coffee. Caffeine will
do it. What's goin' on. Where are we?" Mokuba was waking up fast, and the combination of cold,
strange surroundings and Willows' persistent shaking had produced enough adrenalin to partly
counteract the drug.

Joey pulled up to an ATM and hopped out. "Be back soon. Willow! Get behind the wheel incase this
doesn't work. I'm gonna try to fudge the system."

Willow got behind the wheel ready to take off, but it wasn't necessary, he came back grining. "I got
three times what I shoulda. If we hurry I think I can do this at least twice more."

Joey made it to three more ATMs before the computers caught up to him and confiscated his card. By
then Mokuba was awake and sorting his head out. Seto was starting to stir but not really with it.

"What?! Where am' I? I'll . . . Mokuba where's Mokuba?!!" Seto crashed again and Willow lost her
famous temper.

She made Joey pull over and dragged Seto out of the SUV. She shook him so hard his teeth clicked
together then she slapped him across both cheeks. That woke him up fairly well.

"Damn you! Wake the hell up. I'm tired of this. The fuckin' house blows up around you, I carry you,
Joey carries you, we dump you in a truck and you don't even flinch. What the . . . Just wake up!"
Willow gave Seto another shake and dropped him on the sidewalk. "Damn, come on we need you
awake."

Willow stuffed a now fairly awake Seto back into the SUV and told Joey to keep driving. Joey drove.
The look on Willow's face was one he wasn't arguing with. Besides she was right, if they kept moving
they were safe. Can't hit a moving target.

Seto rubbed a stinging cheek and wondered what was going on. Why they were in an SUV and Willow
was hitting him was beyond him. {I got to quit taking those pills. They mess me up too much. I'll just
have to do without sleep for a while.}

"I'm confused, why are you slapping me? Why are we driving around in an SUV? Why am I in sweats?
When did the house . . . EXPLODE?!!" Seto finally caught up with what she'd said.

"Someone better start explaining. Fast!"

Willow turned around and took stock. She'd been working on a mission plan. Now she was going to
implement it.

"To wake you up, so we don't get killed, no time to get clothes for you, about three hours ago.
We're on the run until further notice. Wake yourself the fuck up and listen. We're staying in this SUV
until I get notice from my people that we have a safe house. Joey knows a few places we can crash. I
know some too. You wake up enough can you figure out how to get an ATM to coff up a significant
amount of cash? I think Mokuba may have his bank card. He's got clothes because Joey snagged him
some. But you've got what you're wearing. I couldn't find anything to hand and didn't want to take the
time to look for something. Be glad I didn't. We'd be hamburger if I had."

Seto was all of a sudden very wide awake. "You're not pulling some kind of prank? The house really
blew up?"

Joey answered Seto in a hard cold voice that didn't sound like the Mutt. He sounded more like a
starving junk yard dog.

"Yeah, you dumb shit! While you were drugging yourself and Mokuba into oblivion, the bad guys
raided the place, set it on fire; something blew up. I don't know if it was a bomb or one of the fuel tanks
out back. Then they shot the place up for good measure. Get your shit together and get us some
money. And if you say to go to a bank and ask. I'm gonna go yakuza all over your ass."

Seto looked from Willow, turned around and glaring at him over the back of the seat; to Joey, flicking
his eyes from the rear view mirror to the road, alternately glaring at him and the road.

"Big Brother, we are in really deep shit. You better get your head out of your ass and help out. Think.
We need money. The more the better. Here's my card. What do I do?" Mokuba watched as Seto fell
completely apart for the first time in his life.

"I don't know! We need to call the cops! They'll know what to do. Take us to a precinct station."

Mokuba took it a lot better than anyone would have expected.

"Ok, freak out on me. I'll do it myself. Stop at the next ATM Joey. I think I know what to do. Willow,
how much should I get? Shit! I need some clothes."

Willow took in a shaking confused Seto and an in control Mokuba and formed her own conclusions.
Seto was stretched way too, tight protecting Mokuba, running a company and going to school; this
hiatus was too little too late and under the added pressure of this last crisis he was gone. And those pills
had something to do with it too. She shelved pills for later.

"Get as much cash as you can. If you can pull that stunt more than once do it"

Joey eyed Mokuba in the rear view mirror. "You ok? Mokuba, can you really do this? We don't got
the leeway for you to mess up. Seto, get it together. Willow, slap him again or somethin'"

Willow wondered if Seto was going to be any help at all. He was still shaking and seemed confused.
She hauled out her phone and called Roland. {Glad I grabbed this when I got my weapons}

Roland answered with, "This had better be important."

"I think it is. Did you have a chance to find out anything about these stupid pills?"

"No, I got a real mess here. Concerted raid on the estate. Came over the wall where you found that
weak spot. I can't mess with pills now."

"How bad is it?"

"We lost several people. Anderson, Russel, McCloud, Patterson, Franks, Jones, and Gennie. They're
all dead. And half a dozen wounded. Keep on the move. I know the mole isn't on our end the only one
I suspected is dead."

"Fuck you say! Gennie? How?"

"She was in the wrong place at the right time. They shot her to keep her quiet best I can tell."

"I'll tell Seto, Joey and Mokuba. Damnit, she was a nice lady." Willow snapped her phone shut and
wondered why she didn't feel worse than she did. {Well, shit! I better get busy keeping us alive.}

"Guys, I got bad news. Ginnie bought it. She's gone. Bunch of others too."

Mokuba started to cry, Seto finally got a grip and put his arms around Mokuba "Don't cry Mokuba.
I'm sorry I fell apart. It'll be ok. I'll fix it. I promise." Turning to Willow he snarled. "Ok, I freaked out a
little. Coffee would go good." Seto dug in the side pocket of the SUV. It was one he used frequently
that was why it was so close to the front of the garage. He found what he was looking for and
swallowed two blue and white capsules.

Joey wiped his eyes with the palm of one hand. He needed one hand to drive with but he had to clear
his eyes so he could see.

"Damn I really liked her. She was real good to me. Willow when you find whoever is responsible for
this, I get a piece. 'K?"

"If there is anything left over sure." Willow repeated her mantra to herself {Feelings are a distraction,
distraction leads to error, error leads to death. Repress all feeling} She wondered how she'd managed
to step in a puddle.

Joey pulled into a quick stop with an ATM. "Seto work your magic on that ATM. I'll cover by ordering
stuff from the clerk. Whatever I bring, just look like it's what you want."

"Get me two energy bars and a protean drink." Willow said absently as she scanned the area. Joey just
nodded.

"I can't. I'm not wearing anything but sweats." Seto couldn't believe that Joey expected him to wander
around half naked.

Joey stripped off his T-shirt and handed it to Seto "Ok, Prissy. Take my shirt. Just get as much money
as you can. We can't visit ATM's too often. The Spooks will be watching them sure as shit."

"I'll stay here with Mokuba. I'm too recognizable with this red hair. I ought to cut it." Willow drew her
knife and grabbed her braid in her left hand raising her right she started the cut from above her braid.

Seto and Joey both jumped her Mokuba yelled so loud that she stopped in confusion.

"What? It's too recognizable. People we're likely dealing with will know it's me in a second."

Joey nodded. "Yeah, if what you say is true, you've got a killer rep. Might help if you are recognized by
the right people. But you need bangs. You look . . . I don't know. Kinda pealed with your hair all
slicked back. I'll cut it better when we get a chance. But leave it alone for now."

Seto approached the ATM and studied it for a second. It was a cheep, simple machine and it took him
only a few seconds to convince it to give him every thing it had. "Whore" Seto smirked. All it had taken
was a simple pill and a few moments time. {So why doesn't that make me feel good}

Joey had chattered at the clerk, distracting him from everyone else. Now he capped his performance.
"Tanks buddy. Catch ya. Oh, Gimme smokes, doky?" Resurrecting a heavy dock side accent and slang
had gotten him the look he was expecting. Pure contempt.

"Sorry, you're too young. Better beat it. People around here don't care for dock dabbers."

If he was asked, the clerk would only remember a young, crude, dock side boy with a typical dock
side accent, thick and difficult to understand. He wouldn't remember what he was driving or who he'd
been with.

Joey handed Seto a cup of luke warm quick stop pseudo coffee in a Styrofoam cup, Seto sipped at it
and started counting money.

Mokuba shifted from where he'd been staring out the window and accepted hot tea and some kind of
sweet bun.

Willow took the energy bars and protean drink without comment. Watching Joey she'd seen his
inherent shrudness and was thankful for him. He'd help her get them all out the other side safe and
sound. She'd never had help before and took a second to enjoy the feeling it gave her. Then she
crammed all feelings down into their box.

"How much money do we have? Can we get to any more machines before the computer takes your
card?"

Seto was as terse as she'd ever been. "Two thousand seven hundred dollars. I can get more but we
should wait a few days. The reason most people run from machine to machine is so that they get the
maximum before the accounts are frozen. They can't freeze my accounts. I'm the one accessing them.
They took Joey's card because the pattern of withdrawals indicated that the card was stolen"

Joey started shivering, tension and adrenalin crash finally getting to him. He clutched his own cup of
coffee as if it was his life line. In a way it was. He needed the caffeine and sugar badly.

Willow opened her door and walked around to the drivers' door. She didn't fall apart. She couldn't
afford to.

"I'll drive for a while. Where should we go. Joey, just tell me which way to drive. We need somewhere
we won't stick out."

Mokuba had dressed and fished around in his pack to see what was in it. Joey had dumped his books,
{Yay!} but he still had his MP3 player, handheld, cell phone, and note book.

"Seto needs real clothes. Joey needs his shirt back. It's getting too cold for him to be running around
bare chested it'll attract attention. If you turn left at the next corner we can go to one of his favorite
stores. We all need clothes and . . . "

Willow told Joey to explain things to Seto and Mokuba, she didn't have the words. She was so used to
hiding out that it was instinctual.

"We can't go anywhere you'll be recognized. You can't dress like you're used to. I'm ok. I look like I
belong on the streets. I grabbed old boots and everything else I've got is well worn. Willow will do too.
She's got on dark stuff. Mokuba with his hair and build is gonna be harder to camouflage but if he slicks
back his bang and puts the back in a tail he'll do. Willow's hair can be braided and stuffed down her
shirt. You Seto shit you're so tall but skinny. . . .I'll have to think."

Joey was good. He thought like a street rat, hiding and running came almost second nature. It was how
he'd managed to survive his father. He'd stayed out of sight as much as possible and now his skills
would probably help save their lives.

"Willow, we need to get under cover for a while. This SUV is too new, where we need to go it'll stick
out like a sore thumb. If only it was a little more beat up. The body style hasn't changed in like three or
four years. . . . We can run it through someplace muddy and that'll help. If only it wasn't so . . . "

Willow calmly drove the SUV into a wall, crushing the passenger side quarter panel. Then she drove
into the construction site they'd been passing and found some mud holes to drive through.

Seto just held Mokuba and kept his mouth shut. He might be an arrogant, intimidating, imperious,
truculent prick, but he was also a brilliant strategist and he knew when he was in over his head. If it had
been just himself, he would have gone it on his own but when Mokuba was involved he didn't take
chances.

Willow drove around for about an hour. Seto was quiet, holding Mokuba and thinking hard. Joey
napped kicked back in the passenger seat. Mokuba cuddled up to Seto and thought too.

As she drove, Willow took all the feelings and emotions she'd started to have and butchered them. She
didn't have time to worry about those things. They just distracted her and she couldn't afford to be
distracted. {I so need to be retrained, Damnit}

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Sorry about that weird post. Mediaminer and I arn't getting along right now. It keeps eating my format.