Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or it's characters. I just love them so much:)

Pain.

That was the only thing that Jounouchi was aware of at the moment. Both his eyes were swollen shut, and he felt as though someone had pushed his eye balls into his brain. The rest of his body was, thankfully, still numb from all it's punishment, so he couldn't feel the pain that he knew would sear through his body when he woke up again.

Jou didn't even attempt to sit up. He just lifted his head slightly, finding himself in one of his favorite alleys. Providing plenty of comfortable hiding spots, and a fence which was incredibly easy to jump, once you got the hang of it, the alley was a perfect haven. Until now.

Jou wasn't sure what had gotten him here, laying in a contorted position, on the floor, with enough injuries to make his father want to care for him. He only could guess it had been a gang fight, which Jou for some reason always seemed to get into, even though he usually had no idea who or what the fight was about. Or even who the people involved were.

A rain drop fell on Jou's nose, and he fell into unconciousness, his only hope was that he would drown before he could wake and feel the pain he knew was coming to him.

The rain drops came down hard, but seemed soft on Jou's skin. He eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

-----

"Is he dead?"

"How should I know?"

"Check his pulse."

"Where in hell is that? You're the one taking health!"

Jounouchi's eyes fluttered open, his lids still sore, but his body was used to this type of punishment. And he was about to get up, and tell the two kids hovering above him that he was okay, until he felt the pain he knew was coming to him when he fell into unconciousness. It was pain like he had never experienced before. Between his father's beatings, and the many fights he had gotten into, and lost, over his lifetime, he knew pain. He had experienced so much of it, that he thought that he would never be surprised by it again. But what he was feeling right then, blew away everything that he had once thought was pain. It redefined pain.

The pain started in his upper neck. The only thing keeping him from believeing that someone had chopped off his head, was that he was breathing. His shoulders and upper back felt as though someone had beat them against the wall until his bones cracked. Inside his chest, quite a few ribs were broken. His arms were covered with bruises, and his wrists were swollen so large, it looked as though he was holding a bowling ball.

But compared to the pain that he felt in his lower back and legs, his upper body pains were like a day at the faire. His knees were bent, his lower legs tucked under his buttocks, he hadn't even noticed the position before. His kneecaps were probably cracked, or at least fractured in some way. His feet didn't want to move, he had probably broken his ankles. Both his legs were broken, most likely in muliple spots. But, even though his legs gave him so much pain, he wished to cut them off, his lower back was worse. His tailbone was definately broken, but he wasn't even sure what was the cause of most of his pain. It started in the small of his back, and down to about the center of his buttox, ripping through him.

Blind pain was all he could feel. No, it wasn't even pain. What he was feeling was the sensation version of hell. No, it was worse than hell. What he felt was unexplainable.

It took Jou around five minutes just to get over the surprise of the pain enough to whimper, and once again fall into unconciousness.

-----

"Kaiba!"

Yami's voice was full of anger, but oh so calm. The mixture was so frightening, that the devil himself probably shuddered at the sound of it.

"Jounouchi's insurance will not cover the care he needs. All I'm asking is for you to call in one of your hundreds of speed-dial doctors to take care of him. I refuse to allow Jou to suffer these injuries, and then have to worry about the consequences of getting the care he needs!"

Kaiba's answer made Yami's breath start to get shaky, not because he was upset, but because at the moment, he was resisting the urge to drive over to the Kaiba mansion, murder Kaiba, and enjoy the sight of Kaiba's eyes rolling back into his head.

Yami sighed deeply, sorry that he had to resort to such measures. "I have Mokuba's new cell phone number on speed dial Kaiba. What will he say?" Yami replied, in near whisper.

Yami smiled, after giving Kaiba time to reply. "Your emergency doctor is on the way? He'll be at the shop in a few minutes in his helicopter? That's wonderful Kaiba. You're such a pal."

Jou had heard the conversation, but he hadn't been able to open his mouth to protest getting charity work from Kaiba. He wasn't sure how he had ended up in Yami and Yugi's room, but he was glad he was there, with Yugi fretting about his bruises, and Yami fighting for him, rather than being in the hands of those two kids in the alley.

And another plus, was that Grampa must have given him some pretty strong asprin, because he couldn't feel anything. He probably wouldn't even be able to feel anything if an elephant trampled over him. It felt nice. Like he was floating... almost like that one time he smoked crack with Honda...

Nope. The floating feeling probably came from the soft bed and pillows. But, only thing that mattered was that he was numb, and couldn't feel a thing. And for once in over twenty-four hours, his brain shut off peacefully, letting him drift into a restful sleep.

-----

The first thing that Jounouchi saw when he opened his eyes, was blue. That soon became blue eyes. Icy blue eyes, that for had something in them that Jou had never seen in this particular pair of eyes before. Compassion, sympathy, more than a touch of regret, and ... sadness?

"He's awake," said that mouth, that was attached to face, that held the eyes that Jou couldn't take his attention away from, but soon had to when a poof of tricolored hair consumed his face. Somehow, Yugi knew just how to hug him, without touching a single bruise. Jou wondered if Yugi had practiced hugging him while he was sleeping. The visionary made him giggle, putting his body in a world of hurt. Yami pulled the smaller version of himself off Jou, and held the small teen close to his body.

"How are you Jounouchi? Are you very sore?" Yami asked, attempting to restrain his hikari from attacking Jou with another hug.

"Don't answer that."

Kaiba was hovering over the edge of Jou's bed. Taking a small look around the room, Jou could tell that he was in the Kaiba mansion. Kaiba looked at Jou and said, "Close your mouth, you're gaping, and allow me to explain."

Jou sighed. Same old Kaiba. No compassion in that voice.

In a softer voice Kaiba said,"My doctors had to do extensive surgery on you to put your ribs, shoulders, wrists, knees, hips, ankles, and neck bones and muscles back in their correct places. You are not permenately injured, you will heal, but it will take many months, possible over a year to fully recover. Your tail bone was also put back where it belongs, and attached there, but that area will still be sore for quite a while. Now, about the talking. Your lungs are not ready to fill with enough air for talking yet, and may not be for a month or two. The severity of your condition has made me decide to allow you to stay in here while you heal, so you will recive proper care." Kaiba's eyeswere now very,very soft. But hisvoice still came out strong. "I have supplied you with a bell, to alarm someone when you need something, and I have hired someone to teach you sign language, which all my maids, and butlers are fluent in. As are Mokuba and I. The bell is under your hand. I'll give you some time with Yami and Yugi before I send the doctor in to speak, with you, or to you, rather."

And with that, Kaiba left the room, histrench coatswooshing behind him.

Yami smiled down at Jou, and squeezed his hand for a moment, before sitting down on a leather couch on the far side of the room, to wait for Yugi.

Yugi, being Jou's friend for a long time, had a system for being there for Jou when he was hurt. He puffed up Jou's pillow, and laid down beside Jou on the bed. Many of Jou's fingers were broken, but Yugi took told of a thumb that wasn't, and wrapped his small fingers around Jou's larger finger. And within seconds, Yugi fell asleep, determined to be there for Jou, even if to stay with him, he would have to sleep.

Yami chuckled, and walked over to the bed once more, and kissed hiskoi lightly on the forehead. Speaking to Jou, he said, "You're lucky to have him Jou, he refused to leave you, even during surgery, he bit the doctor when they wouldn't let him stay with you."

With his eyes, Jou replied, " E's your's, 'member? I jus' ge' ta borra 'em when I'm hurt'in, and 'alf my body is brok'n."

Yami chuckled, and left the room, wondering how Jou communicated in that accent of his with only his eyes.

-----

Dr. Leshier was around fourty years old, with eleven years of medical care on his belt. He's known worldwide for his amazing surgent hands, and his quick 'healing' skills, which he called proper use of modern medicine. But, he'd never before dealt with this type of case before. The client had amnesia, and couldn't remember how he had gotten into the condition he was in. But after an tedious exsamination, which the doctor was glad Jounouchi hadn't been awake for, he'd figured out what had really happened to Jou. He had been gang raped, the doctor had found around ten samples of semen in Jou. His attackers must have taken him over fifty times, and by obvious force, by Jou's condition. He'd only told Seto about the rape, and he'd actually seen sympathy in the teen's face, but Seto didn't actually say what to do. Standing outside in the hallway, waiting for Jou's visitors to leave, the doctor wondered if he should tell the teen what had happened to him. The cat-scan showed that he wasn't going to remember anything, anytime soon, unless he got a serious flashback.

The doctor rested his head in his hands. He had no idea what to say to the boy. It was only a few months after Jounouchi's sixteenth birthday, he was so young. He had called the boy's apartment, expecting Jou's father to be worried about him, but he had only gotten, "So the little piece of shit finally screwed himself up good, eh? I'm not paying for noth'in, and you if would be so kind, tell the bastard that I'll see him a few months. I ain't getting dressed and running over to the Kaiba mansion for his damn sake!" Then the drunken man slammed the phone down, missing the reciever. The doctor wouldn't be able to contact him again.

Dr. Leshier stood up straight when the door opened, and one of Jounouchi's visitors appeared. It was the taller one, the other, who the doctor couldn't decide was the taller visitor's boyfriend or son, was still in the room. The doctor decided that asking this tall one would be best before making any rash decisions. He and the small one seemed to be very close with the patient, but this one, the doctor guessed, would take the news better.

"Sir," Doctor Leshier started as Yami padded softly tward him, the ex-pharoh planning on telling the doctor about Yugi's sleeping, and how he best not try to wake him, or he may find himself severely bitten.

"Call me Yami. My companion in there is a very close friend of Jou's, and he has fallen asleep on the bed next to Jou, I hope his presence will not be a problem. The little one loves his friends very much, as do I, but I can only sit with someone for so long." Yami smiled, showing a full mouth of pearly whites.

The doctor relaxed, knowing that he had picked the right person to talk to about Jou's condition.

"Okay, Yami, we have found what happened to Jou, not the details, of course, that's the authority's job, but we know how Jou became so injured." Dr. Leshier took a deep breath, thinking hard about how to tell the teen about Jou.

Yami nodded, waiting for more.

"I know this is personal, and if you aren't sure, that's fine, but would you happen to know if Jou is involved with someone? Male or female?"

All the blood drained from Yami's face. "It couldn't be an STD could-"

Then, the teen seemed to understand. "Jounouchi, from my understanding, Yugi would know better, prefers males. He goes to a "The Eye", it's a gay night club, on Friday nights, because they give free refills of beer. I don't know if he ever... went home with anyone, but it's definately possible. Jou, being so young, I would think, is greatly affected by alcohol. Yet he feels he needs it. Um, I don't think he's ever been in a relationship with anyone, male or female, before, but... I haven't known him as long as Yugi, and Yugi and Jou haven't been friends from childhood."

"Could there be any grudges against the boy?" Dr. Leshier was hoping for Yami to guess what happened. "Someone with a grudge against Jounouchi that could get multiple people to... um... punish him?"

Yami's eyes flared. "Doctor, please, tell me what happened to Jou. Because from the question you just asked me, I might say that you think..."

"He was raped. Many, many times." Doctor Leshier whispered.

Yami could see tears in the man's eyes.

"I needed to ask you," the Doctor asked in a voice with a small amount of renewed confidence, "if you think I should tell him. He might not ever remember... and I do have the right to hold back information if the case is one... well... like this. The patient has amnesia... Please, don't take me for a coward... but I just don't think a boy his age, your age... should have to hear this from a man he's never met before. I don't want him to... know something that he might never have to."

Now there were tears in Yami's eyes, and he couldn't answer. Yami despised crying, but thinking about what happened to Jou, forced water to pour out of his eyes.

If you had walked down that hallway, just then, you would have two men, one around fourty, and the other a teenager, crying like there was no tomorrow. You would have seen the teen opening and closing his mouth like a fish, trying to say something that wouldn't come out. You would have seen the teen lift his head to stare at the older man, and finally whisper, "I don't know."

-----

(A/N) More chapters to come... please review and tell me what you think... I loved writing this, and I hope you enjoy! And BTW, I know it's cliche', but I couldn't figure out how else to do this chapter.

Me: Poor Jou. -cries-

Yami: -Throws house at writer- Me, cry!

Jou: Idiot. What were you thinking? Spend a YEAR at Kaiba's? What are you?NUTS?

Kaiba: That's not what you said last night.

Jou: -blushes-

Yugi: -soft snores-

Me & Yami & Jou & Kaiba & Doctor Leshier: Awwwww!

Yami: Grr! Stay away from my Aibou!

Yugi: Shut up.

Yami: -Pouts-