Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Up ❯ Chapter 9

After giving the driver the address to the club, Jaden leaned back against the seat and watched as the night life of Domino City pass them by. Jaden was wondering what had changed there since she had left. It hadn't been too long ago, maybe just a matter of a month or two, but in that short of time, anything could have happened. Heck the place may not even be running as a dance club any more…Dance club, HA!

`The Bottom Tier' as it was called was a dance club in disguise. It contained the deadliest and most powerful people on any given night. Assassinators roamed the dance floor and more then one person would show up dead there in the morning…usually due to the person's own recklessness and carelessness.

Jaden knew that she and Tea` wouldn't be in any danger. She had even done some odd jobs for some of the owners and `customers' of this club and was held in some regard among them. The pay would be great, but she had to watch who she did jobs for. Some of them thought they had a sexual provocative ness about them and would consider sex fair payment. It disgusted Jaden to no end. Luckily she always got paid in the end…cash wise.

She looked over at Tea`.

"K, hun, no matter what happens, if you're unsure of what to do, just follow my lead. There can be some real creeps sometimes and I don't want to ruin Yugi's precious treasure." Jaden said with a Cheshire-cat like grin. Tea` blushed and then smiled innocently.

"Yeah, I think he'd kick your butt." She said.

"Or Yami you mean." Jaden said sourly. Tea` looked at her confusion.

"Jaden, Yami and I are friends, but we're not on that level if you know what I mean." Tea` said. Jaden looked at her confused.

"So then it's definitely Yugi you're into and not Yami?" she questioned. "Because if it was Yami, I don't blame you, I guess. Who wouldn't find him…attractive. He's strong and was once a very wise and powerful pharaoh…five thousand years ago!!!" Jaden said laughing. Tea` giggled.

"Oh by Ra! Did you see their faces when we were leaving them? Joey and Tristan were actually quiet!" Jaden started laughing.

Tea` wiped away a tear that had managed to creep out from her eyes.

"Jaden, Bakura looked ready to throw a blanket around you. But I think Devlin liked you just the way you were." Tea` said, as she poked Jaden in her side. Jaden yelped aloud from the tiny tickle that was received.

The cab finally arrived at their destination. It looked to be an abandoned warehouse down at Domino's east side Harbor district. Tea` looked around as she remembered suddenly when Yugi was forced to duel his best friend Joey, as Jaden paid for the fare and turned around to face Tea`. Her smile dropped as she looked at the pained look on Tea` s face. Instead of breaking Tea` from her reverence, Jaden peered inside her mind. She felt a small twinge of warmth flow from her arm and up the back of her neck.

As though she were looking through Tea`s eyes she watched a scene unfold. Yugi, not Yami, was battling Joey. His millennium puzzle! Oh by Ra…how could Joey do that…wait a minute there was someone…else…

Jaden froze up and watched in muted horror as she followed the energy radiating from Joey…it lead to the holder of the millennium rod at the time. Marik. How she despised him…then. She kept watching as snip-its of the scene unfolded even more. Kaiba used his helicopter to remove the crane from dropping its weighted package onto Tea`. Eventually the memory played out and Yugi was able to help free Joey's mind from Mariks'.

Tea` took a step back and looked at Jaden. She plastered a fake smile on her face. Jaden shook her head and spoke.

"Tea`, I am so sorry about what you all had to endure, and what he had put through you. You are much stronger then you appear to be at times." Jaden said.

"Huh?" Tea` took a step back from Jaden.

"Do not be upset with me, but I saw the sadness on your face. I peered inside your mind and now know what went on here. Please forgive me, but had I known I doubt I would have brought you here." Jaden said bowing as she apologized.

"You can enter my mind???" Tea` yelped out. Jaden stood back up and smiled.

"Yeah, well, the first time I tried it, Yami got pissed at me. I haven't done it to anyone since. But I never do it on any bad intentions." Jaden stated.

"Just let me know when you do that again. Heck it may even come in handy for us sometime! Ahhh! Let's go dancing already!" Tea` said and did a small shake of her body. Jaden laughed and led her in the direction of the building that had the outward appearance of having been deserted for years.

Jaden approached the door and knocked three times. After a moment, a small slot opened up and a pair of eyes gleamed down upon the two girls.

"Password." A gruff voice slithered out to them. Jaden saw Tea` s eyes widened and she looked at Jaden in confusion. Jaden noted a slight fear in Tea` s eyes and gave her arm a small gentle squeeze as if to say `its ok.'.

"Pyromaniac." Said Jaden.

The eye slot shut close and the door opened up. The two girls went inside and behind them the door shut with a loud thud. A second later a small bulb above them turned on and they could now see the guard.

He was well over six foot and was nothing but muscle. The guard peered down into Jadens face. He studied her for a moment before righting himself into a stiff position and leering down upon the two girls. Tea` looked up at him with round enormous eyes. He took a quick glance at her then back at Jaden.

"Who's that?" he growled out.

"A friend. A very good friend of mine." Jaden said icily.

"Everyone thinks you're dead." He growled back out. Jaden smiled and gave a small laugh.

"Do I look dead? And who said that?!?!?" Jaden asked. Tea` s eyes darted back and forth between the burly guard and Jaden.

`Jaden had friends like this???' Tea` thought incredulously.

"Beats me. But nice to see you're not dead. Some of us missed you here." He gruffed out. Jaden smiled even wider and jumped up to give him a hug. He returned the hug and put her down.

"Alright, now get lost before someone see's I actually give a damned about someone." He said. Jaden nodded but before she did she slipped him a piece of paper.

"Here's my new address." She simply said and walked Tea` down a set of stairs towards a rusted up red door.

She yanked that door open and loud thunderous music thundered out the door and nearly blew them backwards. Jaden spun around and grabbed Tea` s wrist.

"Don't lose sight of me, stay with me." She yelled over the music to the brunette. "There's some people I have to see first and I want you to meet them." She yelled out once again.

She pulled Tea` across the huge dance floor and over to another set of doors, black this time. Jaden pushed the doors open and now the girls were in a small corridor with four doors, each a different color. Tea` kept quiet, unsure of where she'd be led to next. Jaden went past the first two doors and pushed in on a yellow one. It swung open and the two girls walked in. The room was well lit and had small tables everywhere with a small bar to the back. A wide flat screen tv occupied the back wall above the bar below it. Together, there were about ten tables, four people to a table. Jaden stood still scanning the room for a moment before walking over towards a table already occupied by two people. She sat down and Tea` followed her lead.

Tea` quickly took a peak at the two guys sitting in front of her. They were both dressed in black suits and from the looks of it, very expensive. Tea` felt a little out of place dressed the way she was sitting in front of these two men. She quickly turned her head to the side and found nearly everyone else there dressed ready for a very important business meaning.

"Hey Boss Men. Have any jobs for me?" asked Jaden sweetly. The two men's eyes widened in surprise, then after a moment one took a long sweet drag on his secret then blew it above their heads.

"I may have something of interest for you, my dear. Though we had all heard that you were killed." He said. Jaden looked at him skeptically.

"I'd love to hear who's been saying that. Because lately I've been having a pretty good idea who has been saying it. Are they here tonight?" she asked angrily. Tea` leaned back from her friend to make sure to stay away from her fury.

"Hahaha, no they are not here. In fact all of them, the three that were left, were kicked out of the club. They are no longer welcomed here, my dear." He said smugly.

Jaden knew not to pry and that she'd eventually find out why the idiots had been kicked out. The three that he was talking about were from the original seven that had taken Mokuba and that she'd rescued him from. Sometimes she didn't even realize how severe her attacks could be. Whether or not the other four were dead didn't concern her. If they were, the world was a safer place and she had no regrets.

Without losing eye contact with the man in front of her, she addressed Tea`.

"Remember when you and the guys found Mokuba and I in the alley?" a slight nod from Tea`. "Those are the guys we're talking about. Apparently, in my absence they have taken it upon themselves to tell everyone that I'm dead. Since when they woke up I wasn't around and neither was the kid. Idiots." Jaden finished off.

Tea` sat there in confusion and listened in more as Jaden spoke.

`Wait until Yugi hears about all of this', Tea` thought to herself.

"So who are you working for now?" Jaden addressed the two men again. One looked at the other and back at her. The question of trusting her never even had to come up.

"Seto Kaiba." He calmly remarked.

Jaden shot up out of her chair and slammed it in. Tea` got up and followed her out of the room.

Jaden waited until Tea` had caught up with her out in the hallway before spewing.

"That creep! How could he lower himself to work with that monster! I refuse to be any way involved with that…person!" Jaden angrily yelled. Tea` reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Jaden. Don't get so worked up about this, you know Kaiba is a very powerful person and its not a big surprise that he'd have people down here working for him." Tea` said. She watched as Jaden calmed her temper down and looked back up at her.

"Yeah you're right. Anyways, I promised we'd be dancing tonight, so let's go. Plus if I get worked up, it'll be harder for me to protect if any sleazes come your way…" Jaden said laughing. As they left to head for the dance floor, a pounding headache started at the base of her skull and just as fast shut up to the center of her forehead. She fell back against the wall, and barely heard Tea` calling out her name.

"Young mistress! Please don't' ever run off like that again!" exclaimed Jaden. She had finally caught up with her protectee. It was he job to protect her or lose her head.

The young lady, twirled around the garden of flowers and let her laughter ring out from her small torso. The wind picked up her sing-song voice and carried if over the garden. The young lady dipped down and picked a beautiful rose that had just begun to bloom. She ran over to her protector and slid the rose carefully behind her ear.

"Oh just wait until he sees you!" Her lady said smiling and clapping her hands together.

Jaden looked down at her lady in confusion.

"Who would that be, my Lady?" she asked, touching the rose tenderly.

The searing pain left the front of her forehead and traveled back to the base of her neck before disappearing completely. She removed her hands from her head and looked up to see a pair of concerned blue eyes staring at her.

"Jaden! What happened?? Are you alright??" asked Tea` holding both of Jadens' wrists. Jaden looked up at her and smiled wearily.

"I promise you I am fine. I just had a bit of a flashback." She thumbed towards her millennium bracelet. "I saw more of ancient Egypt's past, but not enough to tell when. I promise I'm fine." Tea` looked at her skeptically and finally shrugged if off.

"Yugi used to go through that all of the time. He still can't remember all of his past though." Tea` said sadly. Jaden nodded then laughed.

"Alright! Enough delays! Let's go dance!" she laughed and grabbed Tea` s wrist and took off to the dance floor.

At first Tea` was a little unsure with all of the people in close proximity to each other. She eventually `found her footing' and began dancing. At first she kept it simple but when familiar songs were played, she stood out. Not to say Jaden wasn't an excellent dancer, but Tea` was more ambitious in the field of dancing and study nearly all there was to it, hence her leverage. Tea` s dance held pure provocative ness, Jaden was all out sexuality. As a joke, the two girls would sometimes pair up and leave the guys mouths around them gaping. They'd pull away from one another in peals of laughter. Every now and then a guy would come up behind one of the girls and dance with them. All would go fine until they'd try to put their hands in unwanted territory or said the wrong things into their ears. With that they'd spin out of the guy's arms and dismiss him. At one point a guy wouldn't let go of Tea`. She was struggling to get out of his arms and the moron kept laughing and holding onto her tighter. Jaden came right up to him. She allowed her power reach a small point, enough to scare him away from Tea`, but not seriously hurt him. She grabbed his shoulder and when he turned away from Tea`, she sent a burst of energy into him. He jumped back and moved quickly away. Unsure of where he was and even who he was.

Jaden smiled and walked back to her spot. The effect would wear off in a couple of hours, and in that time, Tea` and her would probably be gone.

From the bar two sets of eyes had continuously watched the girls since they had first arrived. When the guy got on Tea` s case, the one almost got up and went to help her out, but the other held up his hand to keep his companion from revealing himself to soon to them. He didn't sit back down. He watched as Jaden went up to the guy and almost literally pulled him away from Tea`. He felt his anger simmering back down to a low point and then he sat down.

After a bit they watched as Jaden stopped dancing and pulled Tea` towards the bar. They would up about seven seats down from where the two were sitting watching them. Because of all the noise and people in such close proximity to one another, Jaden couldn't pick up on sensation that she and Tea` were being followed visually.

They found two bar seats together and sat down. The bar tender came over and leaned on the counter smiling at the two. The two guys watched as Jaden talked easily with the tender and wound up ordering drinks for herself and Tea`.

"What would you like to try Tea` and its all on me, so no worries about anything tonight, k?" Jaden said. Tea` looked at all the alcoholic bottles and knitted her eyebrows in confusion. She looked at Jaden and the bar tender.

"I've never had any alcoholic drinks before except for that nasty wine at my cousins wedding." Tea` said honestly. "Anything that can help to cool me down." She added, holding up her bangs from her forhead. Jaden nodded her agreement and looked over at the bar tender. "You know what I like, and I think Tea` will have the same." The guy nodded and left to prepare the drinks. A few moments later, two identical drinks, each with a tiny parasol in them, were served and sitting in front of them. Jaden paid and the two enjoyed their drinks.

The taste was sweet but very very cold, making Tea` happy. There was no sharp taste of alcohol and the drinks were easily downed soon. Another round was ordered, and those disappeared also. After helping each other off of the stools, they headed back towards the dance floor, a little bit drunk.

After a few more moments of watching the two girls continue on dancing, the two decided to go ahead and join them.

Tea` felt a little heady but was giggling along with Jaden. She had never been anywhere near drunk before but she didn't fully dislike it. She knew, at least, that Jaden was better off then she was at least. Jaden was watching Tea` giggle and each time she did, Jaden had to laugh right along with her. The two girls were the eye candy of the night so when Jaden felt a pair of arms slide down her arms, she wasn't overly concerned. She leaned back against her new partner and kept dancing. She looked over at Tea` who looked more like a deer caught in headlights now.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out. Jaden looked at her confused, but to her astonishment someone joined Tea` from behind her. After looking at him closely, she saw that it was Yami and not Yugi who was dancing with Tea` now. Tea` spun around and looked the person who had snaked his arms from behind her and around her waist.

"Dance with me Tea`" he breathed down into her ear. Tea` felt shivers run up her spine and allowed him to press her closely to his body. Jaden watched the two until Yami looked up and over at her. Jaden spun around to see who was dancing with her.

Tea` couldn't figure out why Yami was here. She looked into his sharp violet eyes and the small grin that was caressing his lips.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Tea` managed to say. She felt Yami chuckling watched as he closed his eyes and lower his lips right next to her ear.

"Well, when you left, Devlin decided to tell us where you were going. Needless to say, I and the rest of the guys were not happy that Jaden would take you to such a place like this. But we've seen her keep her word and she's looked out for you, kept you safe. Like she promised she would." He tightened his grip on her and let his lips trail across her cheek. He felt her shiver beneath him as he reached her lips. "This isn't a safe place to be." He brought his lips down upon hers and crushed them to her own lips. She was so stunned at first that she didn't move. When Yami began to caress her lips with his own, she felt her knees give way slightly, but he was holding onto her tightly.

Her lips were still being unresponsive to his. He snaked his hand from his shoulder and up beneath the base of her skull. He pulled her closer to him and gave a slight growl from deep within his throat. She tasted like sweet…peaches. He thought he was going to devour her… or lose it with her.

Unlike Yugi, Yami had height and was a good couple of inches taller then she was. Tea` moved her hands up to his shoulders, and what seemed like forever to the pharaoh, she kissed him back. He relaxed his hold on her but after a few moments, he wanted more. He grazed her lips with his tongue, causing her to give a little jump in surprise. She reluctantly opened her mouth to him and he pressed his tongue further into her mouth. He felt the velvety smoothness of her tongue and caressed it with his own. Tea` felt a cold shiver in her stomach and a rush of excitement from her toes to the top of her head that she had never felt before. A moan escaped her throat and she unconsciously pressed her body closer against Yami's. With some reluctance, he pushed himself slowly away from her body and looked down at her. She had her eyes closed, but slowly opened them up. When she looked up into his piercing gaze she felt her body shudder. She lowered her gaze and was about to back away from him. He tightened his grip on her and brought her back against him.

"I've always wanted to do that, Tea`. And you're not leaving me now." He growled out to her.

April 28, 2004

Recap: tea and jaden at dance club, yami comes and surprises tea from behind. Sweet moment shared. We have no clue who jaden's dance partner is.

Ideas: Seto Kaiba…gets her to do the job for him that the other two men briefly mentioned. Was contacted by Yugi about the place, OR went inside to talk with the two same men, sent one out to the dance floor to get her, who was dancing with Devlin at the time. Place Seto at club, but not as the dancer

Duke Devlin: wants to seduce jaden, (hahahaha) and was the one in the group at Yugi's who knew where this club was.

Bakura: seems to be too obvious. It would have to be his evil side, Jaden is not too fond of him…rarely `attacks' right in the open, waits till alone.

Ideas: Jaden is dancing with Devlin. Rather pushes him away, goes to bar and has another drink. Gets tap on shoulder, leads jaden into the back hallway again. Through the very back door, Just a bit drunk! Seto Kaiba is in there, wants Jaden to work for him. In her confusion she agrees to. Chaos ensues.

+++++

"Damned it, I should have known it would be you." Jaden said looking up into the face before her. Devlin gave her a wry smile.

"Who else could it have had been?" he asked. Jaden pondered this for a moment, considering she felt like her brain was a little fuzzy from drinking.

"Um, well I don't think Bakura would come to this place, with Yami. He seems to be a loner, but then again, this place isn't to safe and kind of dark. He'd fit right in here." She said peering up into his eyes. "So why did you come?" she asked.

Devlin brought her closer to him and looked up across the small distance to where Tea` and Yami were together. "I could be a gentleman and say that Yugi was concerned for Tea` safety after I told him about this place and we two rushed off to save the maiden's fair. Or I could be honest and say I wanted to see you again, in that sexy little get-up you're wearing." He looked back down at her and narrowed his eyes. Jaden grew a bit uneasy around him and pulled back. A frown crossed his lips when she pulled back and he stepped towards her again.

`Geezus! I could kick the crap out of this guy…or I could get another drink…' Jaden thought peering over at the bar. She made up her mind and smiled over at Devlin.

"I'm going to get a drink." She said and walked away from him. Devlin frowned at the disappearing back of Jaden and walked to catch up with her at the bar.

By the time he had maneuvered around all of the bodies and reached the bar, Jaden already had her drink in hand. She saw him approaching her and decided to play around with him.

She brought the glass closer to her lips and let her tongue encircle the straw seductively. It didn't seem to phase Devlin one bit and he sat down beside her on a stool smiling. When he turned to the bartender to order a drink she easily finished the one in her hand and ordered a fresh one. Receiving both of their new drinks, Devlin turned around and rested his elbows behind him on the band and Jaden turned to face him.

"So what's up with you and Bakura?" Devlin asked. Jaden rolled her eyes.

"Beats me." She answered. Devlin rose one eyebrow up at her and took another drink with his eyes closed before reopening them and answering her.

"You know he warned me to stay away from you tonight." He said. Jaden smiled.

"Why in the hell didn't he just come here himself."

"He said he had already made plans with someone else and couldn't break them."

"Then he's with someone else. Therefore, nothing is going on between us." Jaden firmly stated, slightly drunk. Devlin smiled at her drunkenness and moving closer to her, he laid a hand on her upper leg. She seemed not to notice nor care.

"But if he had come tonight…?"

"There still isn't anything between us." Jaden looked down her glass and seemed to regard the last remaining contents still in her glass. She smiled and titling her head back, drank the last of the beverage and sat it back down on the bar. Sitting down on the bar she knew she was fine, but as soon as she stood up she'd have trouble. She suddenly had a very uneasy thought settle into her mind. If she was drunk, then she wouldn't be able to pick up on anyone or anything that might be dangerous. Then she remembered Yami was here and shrugged it off. She could take it easy for one night and just let go. She concentrated her fuzzy mind for a brief moment on Tea` and saw what she was doing through her eyes. She saw Yami pull back and look at her and growl. Jaden pulled back from Tea`s mind and giggled. She hadn't realized it in her stupor but Devlin had come closer to her and was right next to her now.

"What's so funny?" he demanded. Jaden looked at him and smiled.

"Tea` is getting it on with Yami!" she said smirking.

"Oh, really…" he said and started to bring his lips down onto hers. A hand shot out and landed on Devlin's shoulder and he stopped. He spun around angrily at the person who'd interrupt them. Jaden peered from over Devlin's body and saw who it was. It was the guy that had offered her a job earlier that night here in the back room.

"Hey what's up Charlie?" she asked and peered at him. He noted the fact that she was drunk and shrugged his shoulders. He had to follow orders still.

"We have a new offer for you. Pay's higher." He bellowed out towards her, ignoring the pissed off young man standing beside her with his arms crossed over his chest. Jaden hopped off the bar stool and quickly regained a sense of balance before falling over.

"Sure!" Jaden said happily. She turned to Devlin and jumping up gave him a peck on his lips. Instead of looking surprised he smiled down at her.

"I've gotta go and take care of something. Tea` knows where I'm going to if she asks. See ya later!" and Jaden turned around and followed `Charlie' back through the double doors and into the hallway that she was in earlier. Devlin watched the two disappear as they went through the double doors. He regained his seat on the stool and looked around for Tea` and Yugi.

A deal to be made

Jaden followed `Charlie' through the yellow door and entered the room. She looked around and saw no one at first. She was led towards the back of the room and to a table in the corner. She had a chair pulled out for her and she sat down in it. When she was comfortable she looked up at the person at the head of the table. He vision was a little blurry but she made out the face but it was the icy stare of the blue eyes that told her who it was.

"Ah hell," she said leaning back in her seat. "This night has been pretty screwed up as it was. Let's just throw another element in. Hello Kaiba. Enjoying your night out?" she asked bitterly.

Kaiba just stared at her, almost as though he was trying to penetrate into her soul. He peered at her eyes and the glazed look that she was casting back at him. His lips formed a smile before he started laughing.

"You're drunk." He rasped out.

"No shit Sherlock." She spat back out at him. She sighed and looked at him. "So, what do you want?" she asked him. He was still smiling and it was starting to get on her nerves. Somewhere in her mind there was a part of her screaming out to be careful but in her state she pushed the voice back. She tried to level her gaze at him but with everything floating around the room and spinning she couldn't. She lowered her gaze and looked at her hands that were now resting on the table before her.

"I want to hire you to do a job for me." Kaiba growled out. A piece of paper was put in front of her by an unseen assistant and a pen followed.

"What the hell is this now?" Jaden asked with some amusement in her voice.

"A contract." Kaiba simply said. He smiled. He was enjoying seeing Jaden drunk. Jaden peered at the piece of paper. She could make out a few words, but her vision wouldn't stay still. After another try to read the paper she looked away and brought her hands to her head as though it hurt her.

"I'd like a glass of water." She mumbled out. Kaiba looked to his left and nodded once. A moment later a glass of water was placed in front of her. Carefully reaching out she took and brought it to her lips. She finished and put the glass back down carefully.

"Tsk, tsk. Getting drunk tonight was very careless of you Jaden. What would have happened if you and Tea` got into trouble. Would you have been able to defend her?" he asked and let a smirk remain on his lips.

"Bite me moneybags!" she yelled out. She had heard Joey refer to Kaiba with that name and rather liked it. From the way his face scowled, if only briefly, she knew he didn't like that name. What'd she care?

"I'm offering you a job to do for me, and you'll be paid very well." He growled out to her. That got her to stop snickering for a second and look back at him.

"Alright, what the hell is this job?" she asked.

Leaning forward, Kaiba rested his arms onto the table and peered into her face.

"Some people don't know when to shut up. I need you to shut them up for me." He said. "You'll be paid according to the job and how well you do it." He pushed the paper and pen closer to her. "Sign this as a contract." He ended.

She felt herself reach for the pen and look for the place for her to sign it. In her haze she didn't see Kaiba smiling at her as she signed her name next to Seto Kaiba's. She put the pen down and pushed the paper towards him.

"Excellent. I'll be contacting you in the days to come with your first job." He stood up and went to stand next to her. She pulled her body up and leaned against the table to steady herself. He came towards her and grabbed her arm and lead her out of the room. Jaden felt sleepiness closing in and let him lead her.