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Seto was immediately on his feet reattaching his computer to the necessary wires in reaction to the flashing red light. He clicked a button.

'Hello?' he spoke into the computer.

'Well about time,' came a cheery voice from the other end of the line, 'hey bro, hey Mai.'

Seto smiled at the sound of Mokuba's voice. He looked around for Mai, expecting her to be crowding in as she had done the time before, but she was on the other side of the lift, propped up against the wall. She had looked up when Mokuba had said her name and had given the camera a small smile and a little wave before going back to studying her nails. Seto felt the uncomfortable twang of guilt again seeing her unhappiness and vowed to make it up to her later.

'Hi Mokuba,' he said warmly facing back towards the console. 'What's the situation? What's going on up there?'

'Well, the building's been evacuated and everyone who's needed it has received medical attention. Luckily the bomb was quite small and the blast was concentrated in a small area.'

'So it definitely was a bomb then?'

'Yeah, looks like someone's trying to kill you again bro,' Mokuba said with such little concern that Seto heard Mai make a small sound of disbelief. He decided that he didn't want to see the expression on her face so he pushed on.

'Does anyone else know that it was a bomb?' he asked.

There was a brief pause and when Mokuba did answer he sounded slightly nervous. 'Straight after the blast the whole place was in pandemonium. It was difficult to contain.'

'So what are you telling me?'

'Umm, the idea that it was a bomb has got out. Were not sure how but it did and now there are police all over the place and pretty much every major network broadcaster has set up camp outside,' he paused again. 'I'm sorry Seto,' he said in a small voice.

Seto sighed, having the police and the press around was the last thing he needed. 'It couldn't be helped,' he said kindly, 'just make sure that the bomb idea remains speculation, keep any statement to the press vague and make sure the police get nowhere near my office.'

'I'm on it Seto,' Mokuba said, seemingly happy again.

'How are efforts going to get us out of this lift?'

'Err, pretty well so far. There was a bit of a delay getting hold of the right equipment but that's here now. The rescue team tell me that we're going to have to try and come in from a side shaft as the shaft you're in is too unstable. They say it's going to take a while though.'

'How much of a while?' Seto asked suspiciously.

'A couple of hours - six tops,' Seto could almost feel his little brother wincing as he said it.

There was a pause and a sound of voices that Seto couldn't quite make out. When Mokuba came back on the line he sounded apologetic again.
'I've gotta go. Apparently the police want to talk to me about who would want to kill you.'

'Good luck narrowing that one down,' Mai muttered quietly.

'Oh and there's someone here who wants to talk to you Mai I'll just pass him over. Well, see you soon bro. Hope you don't get too bored, I guess it's lucky that Mai is there to keep you company, huh?'

Seto turned around to exchange a caustic look with Mai.

'Very lucky,' he said dead pan voice before standing up and exchanging places with Mai who was holding out her hands to take the computer.

'Hello?' she said curiously.

'Hey Mai!' a voice, loud, full of energy and with a very distinctive American accent filled the room.

Mai smiled warmly, 'Well hi Joey! How's it going?'

'Hey I'm cool. But what about you?' his voice dropped to what he clearly considered to be a whisper, 'Jeez, Mokuba told me you were stuck in a lift with his uptight brother and my heart just went out to you. How is that obnoxious brat? I hope he's treating you well.'

Mai grinned and turned to Kaiba who had clearly heard every word. 'Oh he's fine. Nothing I can't handle,' she said giving Seto a quick wink. He scowled back at her.

'Oh jeez, can he hear me?' Joey whispered, sounding concerned, 'I'm looking in the monitor and he's giving me one of those looks. Hey, now he's mouthing something...'

Mai quickly positioned herself between the camera and Seto. 'Focus Joey,' she said sternly trying to head off the argument that always seemed to start whenever Joey and Kaiba were in the same vicinity. 'How is everyone, did anyone get injured in the blast?'

Joey's voice returned to its usual strength 'Nah, no one was hurt by the explosion. Tristan sprained a muscle trying to lift a block of masonry that was too big for him. I think he was trying to impress Serenity at the time so it serves him right!' He laughed. 'Look Mai, there's this guy here who's telling me I can't talk long - something about batteries?'

'That'll be Murdoch,' Mai smiled, 'Hey Murdoch!' she said blowing a kiss into the camera.

'Jeez Mai - you made him blush!' Joey said, laughing again.

It was Seto's turn to make a disgusted sound from the back of the room and Mai's turn to ignore it.

'He's right Joey, you'd better go. Kaiba's not skilled enough to rig this thing up permanently without running down the batteries in his precious computer.'

'Ha!' was Seto's indignant response.

'Take care of yourself and the others.' She said fondly continuing to ignore the man behind her.

'You too Mai, we'll be here for you when they finally get you out. Catch you later rich boy!' Joey signed off with another laugh.

Silence filled the room once more as Seto moved across and worked on disconnecting the wires once more. Mai shifted so that she was sitting on the floor her long legs stretching out before her, underneath where Seto was working.

'Wheeler must be used to your flirtatiousness,' he said, studiously ignoring the shapely limbs of Mai below him, 'he didn't seem at all bothered by your flirting with Murdoch.'

Mai looked up, surprised. 'Firstly I wasn't 'flirting' with Murdoch, more sort of, 'teasing' him and secondly why on earth would Joey mind anyway?'

Seto raised an eyebrow at her.

'What, you think that Joey and I...?' her eyes widened as she realised Kaiba's assumption. 'No no no,' she said, laughing, 'no no no no no. Uh uh, never. No.' There was a long pause, 'I mean he's sweet and alright looking but... ugh! No no no. He's like a cute kid brother.'

'Like a little puppy?' Kaiba added.

'Kaiba, you're not going to get me to join in with your strange game of how many ways you can call a man a dog. Joey's a good kid and a much better duellist than you would ever give him credit for.'

Seto snorted in derision.

'Suit yourself,' Mai shrugged as Seto took a seat on the floor opposite her. 'It sure was good to hear his voice though,' she said, smiling to herself, 'he doesn't seem to have changed one little bit.'

'What, since last week?' Kaiba scoffed.

Mai looked at him blankly. 'What thinly veiled sarcastic point are you trying to make now Kaiba - I'm afraid you've lost me,' she said archly.

Seto had the sinking feeling of having been wrong footed once again. 'Well,' he started awkwardly,' it's just that Mokuba has been hosting these regular parties at the house I just assumed that - ' he trailed off lamely.

'What, that I was a regular party goer? Hey, you remember that little story I told you earlier, you know the one with all the inner turmoil and depression?' She asked coldly, 'well, shocking to say but that's kinda made me a bit of a social hermit of late. Today is the first time in a long time that I've agreed to meet up with my old friends.' She took a long exaggerated look around the lift. 'Going out sure isn't as much fun as I remember,' she said sarcastically. 'Anyway,' she said after a moment's pause, turning her violet eyes on Seto, 'if all these parties are being held at your place - haven't you been going?'

Seto laughed coldly. 'Not likely,' he said scornfully, 'The moment I begin using my leisure time to spend with that geek squad - shoot me.'

Mai smiled at the reference back to their earlier conversation. 'So what do you do with yourself while the rest of the gang are partying it up in your house?' she asked, intrigued.

Seto paused before he answered. Her phrasing was uncomfortably fitting for the way he occupied himself during Mokuba's annoying parties. She would know exactly what I 'do with myself' if she knew about my virtual reality programme, he thought. He briefly considered telling her about it, about the sexual fantasies that he had programmed into it but he couldn't think of a way to talk about it without it seeming impossibly sleazy. Mai, out of everyone he knew, was probably the most liberal minded (at least he assumed so), but he thought that an embarrassed silence would be even worse than the awkward silence he was getting used to.

'I work,' he answered finally.

Mai picked up on the hesitation and the small smile that had played across his lips and decided that 'work' was probably a euphemism.

''Work'?' she repeated with a raised eyebrow, ''work' doesn't really come under the dictionary definition of 'leisure time' now does it?' she teased.

'Private work,' Seto expanded. 'Personal work... a hobby if you like.'
Mai smiled at him, eyebrow still raised.

'One day, maybe I'll let you see it.' Now where had that come from? Seto felt his heart suddenly lurch at the very thought of showing someone else his machine. He had always thought he would rather burn down his entire house, with him still in it, rather than run the risk of anyone ever being able to see the machine with all its programmes. Hell, maybe he should run home and destroy the thing just for having suggested it to Mai. Still though, his heart raced with excitement at the thought and he knew that a part of him really wanted to see what Mai's reaction would be.

Mai simply smiled, unaware of the turmoil that Seto had unleashed upon himself. Kaiba likes porn she thought to herself, underestimating him completely, how sweet.

There was a long silence as both allowed themselves to become wrapped up in their own thoughts.

'I'm sorry I was a jerk earlier,' Seto finally said, breaking the stillness.

'Which time earlier?'

Seto narrowed his eyes. He wasn't much into apologising and had just known that Mai wasn't going to make it easy for him. He hadn't been wrong.

'The only time I was a jerk earlier,' he said coldly giving her a look which warned her not to push it.

'Ohhhh... no sorry, you'll have to narrow it down,' she said, smiling at him innocently.

Seto grimaced and raised two fingers to the space between his eyebrows to ward off the ensuing frown. 'I'm sorry that, after hearing how you have struggled with duelling, I wanted to duel you. It was insensitive and I'm sorry.'

'Oh that time,' Mai smiled, enjoying the teasing. She could tell that Kaiba was getting close to breaking point though so she decided to back it off, just a little bit. 'Hey, don't sweat it,' she said kindly, 'it happens all the time. I mean I don't usually tell people the whole story but the reaction is generally the same. I guess if you tell people you're invincible they kinda want to try it out.'

'It did sound a lot like an extended challenge,' Seto nodded, smiling.

'I'm serious though. I won't duel again. Not ever.'

The sadness had returned to her eyes and Seto quickly looked for a way to distract her.

'So, in Vegas, you said you had a stage name?' he asked.

'Yeah, they called me Madame Bu -'

'Butterfly,' Seto finished off for her.

'Hey, so you heard of me?'

'Yes, a while back. There were reports coming through about this amazing duellist that, you know - '

'Couldn't be beaten?'

'Something along those lines. I was going to travel up and see what all the fuss was about but suddenly all the reports dried up. I just assumed that it was some sort of urban myth or another one of those publicity stories that casinos dream up to get more business. But that was you huh?'

'That was me.'

'So, if you lived off your money from duelling that must mean you're pretty broke now?'

Mai laughed, 'Jeez Kaiba, what was it you were saying earlier about being insensitive?'

Seto realised that he'd got carried away by the story, by Mai's openness. He began to apologise again.

'Hey, don't worry. It's a valid enough question - I just hope you don't talk to heads of state like that!' she grinned. 'I made a fair amount from duelling and I still have a little nest egg from those days that I try and keep as an emergency fund. Although,' she added, smiling, 'if you're thinking of sleeping with me for my money you should bear in mind that a nest egg to me is probably an afternoon's earnings for you. These days I make my money the old fashioned way.'

'What, you mean you...?' Seto asked, stunned.

'What?' Mai suddenly realised what Kaiba had thought she had meant by 'the old fashioned way'. 'NO!' she said, shocked, 'God Kaiba, I always thought that you were rude on purpose to wind people up but now I find it comes completely naturally!' she laughed and Kaiba grinned sheepishly. 'These days I make my money playing an old fashioned game - Poker.'

'Ohhhh,' Seto said nodding his head in an exaggerated way whilst still laughing.

'Yes, 'ohhhh'! I can't believe you would think...' she laughed again her eyes shimmering with humour.

Earlier she had been kicking herself for having told Kaiba about her past. His immediate reaction had been exactly as she had feared. But now... she couldn't believe she was having a giggle about the way her life had turned out. After all the months of quiet sadness it was finally all out in the open and she was actually laughing about it. Looking across at Kaiba, his blue eyes sparkling as he laughed, she realised that surprisingly, he had been the best person to tell. She had often thought about telling the others but had always shied away, scared to face the outpourings of sympathy that they would have lavished on her. The last few months had been hell but she'd always kept it together. She had the dark feeling that, if she were to start crying about the whole thing then she simply might never stop. Kaiba's interest, mixed with his distinct lack of flowery sympathy was just right and she had a sudden overwhelming desire for him to hug her tightly, to hold her close and tell her that everything would be okay. From him, she decided, she might just believe it. She looked away quickly, lowering her eyes to try and shrug off the sudden, unexpected feeling.

Seto noticed her change of expression and mistook it for another wave of sadness. He realised that he was beginning to feel... not sorry for her, Mia simply wasn't the type of woman to be pitied, but he certainly recognised in himself a strong sense of protectiveness towards this woman. It was the same feeling he had whenever Mokuba became upset or was in any way threatened. He found himself struggling to find some way to shield her now from her own demons.

'Poker, huh?' he asked in an up beat voice.

'Yeah,' she said looking up again, 'do you play?'

'A bit. As you know, it's not my main game but I'm pretty good,' he shrugged casually.

'Pretty good huh? Let's see what 'pretty good' means in Kaiba talk,' she twisted her good arm up trying to get into the inside pocket of her jacket but the angle just wasn't working. 'Damn,' she said, giving up 'Kaiba, would you mind?'

She held her jacket open and he crawled across to her to reach up and pluck out the set of playing cards that she had been trying to extract. He was painfully aware of the closeness of her body and the heat that was rising from it and he backed away quickly.

'Do you carry a pack of playing cards everywhere you go or just when you think you're going to get stuck in a lift for several hours?' he asked wryly.

'I do believe that you weren't due to be playing Duel Monsters today and yet I see you've still managed to squeeze your duelling deck into those impossibly tight trousers of yours,' she shot back, smiling.

'That's different,' he said defensively although he knew he would struggle to say why if she challenged him. Fortunately she just smiled a little wider and let it go.

'Pass the cards - I'll shuffle.'

'I'll do it. You only have one hand.'

'Kaiba...'

'What, I'm just trying to be a gentleman.'

'It doesn't suit you,' said Mai holding out her hands and smiling as Seto moved to pass them back to her.

Just at the last moment though, he pulled the cards away from her grasp. She looked at him, startled. He was giving her a steady look with only the hint of a smile. He tapped his fingers on the ground impatiently.

Mai grinned as she realised what he was up to.

'Please,' she said as sweetly as she could.

Seto smiled and passed over the cards.

'Thank you,' Mai laughed as she deftly opened the pack one handed and began to cut and shuffle the cards with an amazing dexterity.

'Wow,' Seto marvelled, genuinely impressed, 'you're - well you're okay at this aren't you?' he teased.

'Yeah right, 'okay' - in future Kaiba I'm going to take your 'okays' to mean mind blowingly brilliant.'

'So what else are you okay at?' Seto asked playfully.

'Beat me at Poker sometime and you might find out,' Mai replied steadily although her stomach suddenly gave a quick turn as she realised that they were flirting. She arched her eyebrow at him, 'Although you probably shouldn't hold your breath.'

'Oh?'

'Well, let's just say that I'm 'okay' at poker too.'

'Okay?' Seto inquired.

'In this instance read 'practically unbeatable','

'Not again?' challenged sceptically.

'Trust me - the 'practically' makes a whole lot of difference.' Mai smiled sadly and then began to deal.