A/N: So, this is the fourth story of my series and I'm happy that at least this part is out. I've decided to split this story into two chapters because I feel that this emotional pain is just as important as the sex. For the moment, this first chapter is rated T but the second I add the second chapter the rating will be M.

I know Marik is OOC but it can't be helped.

Just to explain the time line here:

Marik and Malik Bonded first, then Seto and Jou, then Bakura and Ryou and finally Yami and Yugi. Marik and Malik just have some problems that have to be worked out.

Please R&R.

The apartment was quiet and I hated it. But I knew it was all my own doing. Well, the reason it was like this was because I just couldn't take the way he was always there, demanding my time and love, trying to control me and every part of my life. So, it was both our doing.

I was sitting on my couch, staring at the TV, not that it was on, or even plugged into power or cable. I didn't watch TV anymore. It was a waste of time. Instead, I sat on the couch and thought about Marik. Or I'd call Yugi, Ryou or Jou to see if they knew how he'd been or if they knew where that had been holding him. I had stopped asking where he was when they always refused to answer it.

We'd completed the Bonds last year but I left him about six months ago. He was starting to control me too much. He wanted to know where I was every minute of the day and if I forgot to tell him where I had went, we had fights. And I mean fights, like we would throw things, punches included, and yell at each other into the early hours.

I finally couldn't take it anymore and moved away from him. I broke up with him, even though it almost killed me to do it. I did it in person, choking on the words the whole time.

"Marik, I-I can't do this anymore… we have to break up."

He didn't protest, or even talk. He just nodded his head and walked away from me, towards Yami, Bakura and Seto. He talked to them for a few minutes before Seto nodded to him and grabbed his arm, leading him away.

I didn't know what was going on but I didn't have a chance to ask before Jou came up to me and took my hand.

He took me to my new apartment, that was bare for the most part because I hadn't allowed myself to take anything from the apartment that we had shared. He sat down on the couch and pulled me down next to him.

"Malik, I want to understand why you just did what you did. I know you aren't the kind of person to play with people like that. I'm worried. About both of you." he looked at me, even though I was still pretty shocked at what I had just done to my life, and my lover's. "Why? What caused this to happen?"

I stared at the floor for a few minutes before looking up at Jou's concerned face. "He was trying to control me. Every moment of my life for the past six months has been how he wants me to live it. He has to know where I am, what I'm doing and who I'm with. And if he didn't know something, we would fight about it. How did you think I got the bruises? Most of them were from falling but the falling was caused by him. He didn't like not knowing. We would fight and fight long and loud. We'd yell and throw things and hit each other." I was starting to cry just thinking about all the bad things we did to one other. "I don't want that, Jou. I want what you and Seto have. Bakura and Ryou get along better then me and Marik."

Jou scooted forward and pulled me into a tight hug. "It's okay, Seto, Yami and Bakura are going to help him. And Yugi, Ryou and I will help you, okay?"

I nodded into his chest where I was hiding at the moment. "Can I came stay with you and Seto? Just for a little while. I don't think I can be alone tonight."

"Not with me, no. Marik is staying with us until you're ready to try this again, I can't tell you which house we'll be at with him but we'll have him. I'm sure Ryou and Bakura would love to have you over, let's give them a call, yeah?"

I ended up staying with them for a few days, Ryou wanting to watch me to make sure I didn't do anything that would hurt Marik too in the long run. As it is, I have to call Ryou every night and tell him how the day went and what I did and how I handled everything. It seemed as though Seto and the others had been able to block the Bonds because I could no longer reach for Marik's mind and I didn't feel him in mine.

As time went on, Marik floated away to the back of my mind until today.

I had just walked in my bedroom when I was suddenly falling to the floor in pain. I cried out and curled in on myself, trying to make myself as small as possible. I didn't understand what was happening but it finally stopped after what felt like forever as my body convulsed and my mind was taken over with enough blackness to thrust me towards the edge of consciousness.

Even after it was over, I just laid there, not wanting to move in case it started again. I had just given into the thought that I may as well just stay there for the night when my cell phone started to ring in my pocket.

I rolled onto my back and gently moved, testing to make sure it wouldn't come back before pulling the phone out and reading the caller ID, Ryou.

"Hello?"

"Malik? Thank god! Are you okay? his voice was worried.

"Umm, yeah, for the most part. I just fell down walking into my room and laid here for what felt like forever in pain. Do you know what that was about?"

"Sadly, yes. It was Marik. I don't want to explain over the phone so me and Bakura are coming to get you. We'll be there soon, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Just open the front door with the key I gave you. I'm not moving until you get here."

"Good idea. Stay there, we'll be about ten minutes." and then the phone line went died.

I must have dozed off in those few short minutes because the next thing I felt was someone picking me up. I opened my eyes a little to see Bakura's face.

"'Kura? What's going on?" I was sleepy and I didn't realize at the time that I had used the one nickname that he hated but I don't think he cared right then.

"Malik, we're going to Seto's Mansion. Marik has been staying there for the past six months and has been fine up until now. Something happened tonight but even we don't know what. Seto and Jou won't tell us. They just said to get you and bring you to the there." Ryou said softly as he closed and locked the door to my apartment behind us.

And that's where I am now, sitting in Jou's room while Yugi, Ryou and him talk about something in hushed whispers. I knew it was about me and Marik but I couldn't tell what they were saying.

Finally, Jou nodded his head sadly and started to walk over to me when the door opened and their Masters came in. Bakura hugged his Slaves while Seto closed the door and leaned against the wall next to them. He looked concerned. And that worried me because it took a lot to concern the seemly emotionless CEO.

"Malik, I'm sorry about this but…" Jou shook his head and looked back at Seto. He just walked toward him and wrapped his arms around him from behind. "I-I don't really know how to say this… I'm sorry. I know that I said we would wait until you're ready to try a relationship with him again but we can't wait anymore. We were pushing it three months ago because we knew you needed more time. But that time is no longer there."

I watched as his hands came up and gripped Seto's arms where they crossed over this chest. Jou turned his head and looked into Seto's eyes. Jou just shook his head and Seto looked back at me with sad eyes.

"Malik, he's dying without you by his side."

I sat on the bed, not sure what to do. I looked away from Seto and Jou, my eyes falling to my hands where they lay in my lap. I kind of felt Ryou sit down next to me and heard him talking to me but I didn't understand the sounds that were coming from his mouth.

He finally shook me by my shoulder. "Malik!"

"Yeah, I'm…" I lapsed into silence, knowing that I wasn't fine, like I was going to say. "Jou, I want… I want to see him."

I looked back at Jou and Seto, watching them. "Okay, Malik." Jou said softly as he removed Seto's arms from around himself.

He walked toward me slowly, waiting to see if I protested having someone close to me. Jou, I could care less who is next to me at this point in time. Just please, take me to my love. I can't be away from him anymore. He grabbed my hand in his and gently pulled me to my feet.

Yugi opened the door to the room and held it as Jou and I walked out, followed closely by the others.

We went downstairs, walking down a hallway only to go back upstairs. I looked over at Seto, questioning him with my eyes.

"The rooms we have Marik in are soundproof and totally cut off from the rest of the house, except these stairs. There are five locked doors between him and this staircase. He doesn't even know he's in the Mansion right now. We brought him here after you left him, took him to the medical room here and knocked him out. Then we took him up to this room." We had reached the first door and Seto pulled a key ring from his pants pocket. "He hasn't seen anything of the outside world for six months. His rooms have no windows, there is one heavy steal door that leads out and he knows not to touch it. "

While he had been explaining this to me, we had finally made it to the last door. Seto put the keys away and entered the key code to open this door.

"Malik," Jou's soft voice caught my attention. "He isn't… well, he isn't awake. He hasn't really been awake in three months."

I nodded and watched as the door opened. We all walked in, Jou and Seto leading me to another door, this one already open a crack. The others sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Seto pushed it open more and looked inside before moving out of Jou's and my way to let us in. Yami looked up towards the door, stood and, after nodding to us, left the room.

Jou took me to the bedside and let my hand go.

I stared down at the man resting on the bed. He was nothing like the man I had been fighting with. In the six month time that I hadn't seen him, he had lost weight and looked sick and ashen even with his Egyptian coloring.

I sat down on the bed and quickly grabbed his hand from the bedspread. I saw Jou sit down next to the bed on the chair there while Seto closed the door so it was once again cracked open. However, he stayed by the door.

"When he first got here, he didn't move from the bed for three weeks. Seto and I were the main caregivers during his stay here. Seto always has to be here or one of the other Masters when Yugi, Ryou, you or myself are in here. Seto doesn't know if having a Slave alone in the room with him would wake him up and he doesn't what to chance one of us being hurt. Anyway, he let me feed him, which tells you how much he changed without you." I looked at him but quickly looked back at Marik when he groaned in his sleep, if that's what it could be called. 'Malik…'

"He's sleeping, right?" I asked as I turned to glance at Seto before gently soothing Marik when he got restless.

"In a sense, yes. He is heavily sedated at this point in time. We let him come up once a week just to break it and allow his body time to move on it's own. That's what was going on a little bit ago, when you felt that pain. We were waking him up when his body started to shut down rapidly. We gave a quick dose to knock him back out and stabilized him enough to get you here." He walked away from the door and came to stand on the other side of the bed. "We want to wake him up again, but we want you here. I think that if you're here, his body and mind will sense it and allow him to come out of the sleep without shutting down."

I nodded and watch closely as his eyes fluttered open. "Umm, should he be waking up?" I asked when his eyes opened and stayed open, staring at me.

"No… he should still be sleeping but at this point in time, I'm just glad he's still alive."

"Kaiba, shut the fuck up." Marik said softly, never looking away from me. "Malik…"

I reached my hand, the one not holding his, up to his face and tenderly caressed his cheek. 'Oh, my love, how I've missed you.'

'I'm sorry… I never meant to hurt you. I was always so afraid that I'd lose you… and I did but it was caused by my fear and my need to control you so I wouldn't lose you.' He pulled his hand from mine and started to try to sit up.

"Marik, you almost died a few hours ago, maybe you should just lay there." Seto said but finally gave up and helped him sit back against the headboard. "Happy now?"

Marik nodded before reaching his hand out to me. I rolled my eyes but scooted closer to him.

"Seto, come on, I really doubt the Marik could, or would, hurt Malik." Jou said as he stood and started to walk out the door, his lover following like a little puppy.

"I'll leave the door cracked, yell if something happens."

He waited until the door closed for the most part and the foot steps faded before he grabbed me and pulled lightly on me. I got the message and moved around gently until I was in his lap, head laying on his chest while his arms wrapped around me. 'I don't want to hurt you any more. I never did in the first place. Please, Malik… My Heart, please… forgive me. I don't think I can continue to live without you. Please.' He buried his face into the back of my neck, breathing in my hair all the while whispering "please" into my skin over and over.

'If I didn't forgive you, I wouldn't be sitting in your lap, Marik.' I laughed at him, pushing his head up and looking at his face. "Marik, you're being silly."

He stared at me for a moment before smiling. "If you say so, love." He cupped my cheek in one hand, his other hand running over my back soothing. He leaned closer to me, looking from my lips to my eyes.

I grinned before wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him.

"How cute… now stop." I pulled away from Marik's lips to see Bakura standing in the doorway, smirking, with Ryou pulling on his arm.

"Dammit, 'Kura, why couldn't you just leave them alone. I'm sorry, Malik. Seto wants to talk to you both but it could have waited… If 'Kura wasn't as impatient as a small child." he grinned at his Master as he said this.

Then he blushed. "Bakura! I can't believe you brought that up!"

"Hush, my Love." Bakura wrapped his arms around his scandalized lover while grinning at me and Marik. "I'll have Seto come and talk to you."

He pulled Ryou out of the room and then I heard the big front door to the suit close before Seto walked in.

"Marik, I'm going to keep you here for another week." Marik opened his mouth to protest but Seto just continued to talk. "You've lost too much weight, I don't want to send you home only to have to bring you back in three days when you pass out. I know that Malik could take care of you but I can do it better, only in this sense."

Marik just nodded before hiding his face in my hair again. I smiled and cuddled closer to him.

'I missed you, please don't leave me. I can't be alone again, my Heart. I don't want to be in that pain again.' He kissed down the back of my neck as he said this into my mind.

'I wouldn't. I can't live without you by my side. I will continue to be your Heart for as long as you want me.' I grabbed his face and kissed him softly on the lips. "Thank you, Seto, Jou. Thank you for everything that you have done for me and Marik."

They nodded and left the room, closing the door fully this time.

'My Heart,' his voice was deep in my mind before he spoke aloud. "I love you."

"And I love you."

A/N 2: Sorry for anyone that got two alerts, I had to delete this the first time because I had to edit it.