Disclaimer: I own nothing. Or I wouldn't be here.

Thanks to Twilight684 for beta reading this story and fixing up all my many spelling and grammar mistakes. Hope you'll enjoy it.

Black out

Chapter 1

"Where the hell am I?" Joey wondered sleepily, looking around the bright room while he slowly raised his tired and sore body. He just started to move his body when he felt a familiar feeling, familiar but still strange, and groaned quietly in his annoyance. He let his head drop back onto silken and soft pillows, trying to see something that explained his feelings somewhere in his clouded memory from the previous night.

He knew that he must have been with some guy last night. It wasn't his first time with a man and he could easily recognize the sensation that always followed the intrusion of someone's cock. To his own surprise he hardly felt the usual soreness that came along with it though. He looked around the room again and noticed that he was the only one who was in the room at the moment. There was no clothing apart from his own, and it looked like it was just some random fancy hotel room.

He allowed himself to fall back onto the silken bed and wondered if the guy he had been with had at least paid for everything, because he was broke and there was no way that he could afford anything like this. With the way the room looked it had probably cost more then Joey earned in a month.

He turned around in the bed, noticing a piece of paper on the nightstand for the first time, and grabbed it. On it where two pills and next to it a glass filed with water. Joey eyed the drugs wondering what they're for since he didn't feel much pain. Joey looked at the paper and read:

-The drugs are for your sore head!
-The suite is paid for till tomorrow so take your time getting up.
-Breakfast will be delivered around noon and left in the living room, but you're free to take it into bed with you. Enjoy.

"What sore head?" he wondered and sat up again, looking around for the food. He grabbed the blanket and moved it around himself while he walked towards the door and looked out. It really wasn't a room like he assumed after waking up; it was a suite that looked even more expensive in the hall and the living room that was going from it than it had in the bedroom.

Joey walked around and found three trays on one of the tables in the living room. There was a cover over each of the three trays on the big table and Joey walked over to remove one cover after another to have a look. On one of the trays was a plate with a croissant, some bread, and some slices of toast-some made out of white and some out of brown bread. Next to it were some small pieces of packed butter, a small bowl with jam, and a few slices of cheese-ham and salami where placed on another small plate.

On the second tray were plates filled with fried sausages, bacon, and two bowls-one with a bit of scrambled eggs and one with some beans. All those where accompanied by more toast and two scones. On the third covered tray he found a bowl of rice, one with miso soup and lots of other stuff-like a bit of grilled fish, tamagoyaki, tsukemono pickles, natto, and so on.

Wow. Joey thought as his eyes got huge while he nearly started to drool by the sight of not only one breakfast, but three of them. "So much food for one person, but it would be a waist to just choose one wouldn't it?" And with that thought he sat down on the couch and started to eat one after the other until he was so full that he could nearly roll back to his bed before he took the drugs in the hope that they wouldn't only help his sore head and the faint soreness coming from a completely different area of his young body, but also his now overstuffed and sore stomach, which actually caused him the worst of the pain he felt right now.

After he had swallowed the drugs he laid down and tried to remember what had happened the previous night again. He started with what he remembered. He had been out for a drink with Mai, who wanted to leave the next day. He had a blast with her all week taking her out all the time and letting her go shopping with Téa, while he was at work.

Joey looked at his watch at that thought and growled, it was already too late to see her at the airport and so he stood up to look through his clothing, which was spread out on the floor, until he found his mobile phone to send her a message. 'Sorry I missed you today and couldn't see you off,' he wrote. 'And do you have any idea what happened last night? I hardly remember anything that happened past midnight I think.'

After that he laid back down again, trying to remember anything further, but all that he remembered was that he had lots of fun with Mai on the dance floor and that they had made lots of jokes and even flirted jokingly. Both of them knew that Joey was gay and so Mai knew as well as he did that it was just joking and laughed at his fruitless attempts. Joey remembered that she even said that the way he flirted, it wasn't a surprise that he was still single and that she would have to help him if he ever wanted to get laid.

Joey gave a sigh, shortly after that everything was blank. He didn't even know until what time exactly he still remembered the events of the previous night, never mind remembering anything about how Mai left or how he ended up with a guy. Hell he didn't even know if it hadn't been the other way around. Maybe he had just left her there alone, going away with a guy without remembering to even tell her. Joey definitely had been drunk enough for that considering that he had ended up in some random hotel. He just desperately hoped that he hadn't been that rude to Mai on her last night in town, she probably wouldn't talk to him for ages if he had done that.

After pondering about it for what felt like ages he finally fell back asleep. The drugs had helped against both his sore head, as well as his stomach pain. By the time he woke up again it was already dark and Joey decided that it might be better to leave before he ended up staying another night at this place, and hoped that someone down at the reception knew who had been with him, even though it probably wasn't very likely.

Joey got dressed again in his best black jeans and red shirt that he had been wearing the previous night and walked down to the reception to hand over the keycard and inform them that he was going to check out. He also asked on whose name the room had been booked. The woman behind the counter, who looked to be in her late 40s-and about as easy going as the queen herself-looked at him strangely when he asked but quickly looked it up on the computer anyway. "It's booked on the name of Joseph Wheeler sir. Anything else we can do for you?" she said, sounding polite. She had a polite, but clearly fake, smile; but the way she looked over Joey's clothing he knew that she didn't believe him to be up to the standards of this hotel.

"Maybe," Joey said with a blush. "Who was the other guy that was with me?"

Now the women behind the counter looked down on Joey like he was nothing but a whore and obviously got that he had been too drunk to remember anything and said, hardly able to keep a polite smile in place, "I'm sorry sir, but I wasn't working last night and the colleagues that where aren't working today and didn't mention anything to me either. They probably don't even know. We don't intrude on our paying customers' lives in such a way." It was clear that she had figured out that Joey wasn't such a paying customer himself and must be there by someone else's financial aid.

"Thanks anyway," Joey mumbled, slightly blushing, and left as fast as he could. That hadn't helped at all. The only thing he knew now was that the guy that had been with him had known his name during the previous night, at least for some time, and that he must be loaded with money. But he didn't know why said guy wasn't there when Joey woke up or who he was. Joey just knew that they had been very intimate while that guy had been in that room with him.

"Oh well," Joey thought, trying not to linger too much on a past that could be neither changed nor remembered, "he must be a niceguy, after all he organized such a great breakfast for me before he left and it obviously was just a one-night stand to him so who cares. Maybe he was just as drunk as I was."

Joey walked home slowly towards his empty apartment. He had moved out from his father's place when he was 18 because he wanted his father to see that he wouldn't pay for his booze forever and by now his dad was just about capable to stop his drinking when he got in trouble paying his rent and managed to just about survive on his own. Joey visited him at least once a week though. After all, he still loved his old man and knew that he only drank so badly because he missed his wife and daughter. He didn't hate his mother for it either though, his father had never been a great husband to her and always been watching TV or been out with some pals playing cards just for the fun of it.

The two of them had lived next to each other more then together for a long time before she left and Joey had noticed a long time before his mother had left that his father was the only one happy with the way they lived. Joey wasn't sure why his father hadn't spent more quality time with her when he loved her so much that her leaving him had been such a bad thing, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. Maybe he could have warned his father if he had been braver, but he always had hoped that his father would notice the sometimes sad look on his mother's face or that his mother would learn to cherish the rare but loving glances his father gave her enough to make her stay.

He hadn't dared to interfere and knew that it was much too late to do so now. He could just try to help his father find his strength and help him pull through as good as he could. The only thing that did bother Joey about his mother was that she had left without a second glance towards him. She never seemed to really care about him as much as she had Serenity, who was treated nearly like a dress up doll at times-and that's something that had bothered him all his life-but there wasn't much anyone could do about it. Joey hoped that it wasn't because she didn't love him but rather because she didn't know how to treat a boy, maybe even due to the fact that both of his parents had been very young when he had been born.

Once he was home Joey allowed himself to fall into his own bed, after setting his alarm for the next day. He was still completely dressed and too tired to do anything about it, staying in a huge and comfortable bed all day had left him feeling too sluggish to do anything right now. He would get up early, have a shower, and then go to work. "Maybe I try to call Mai before I go to work," Joey thought and wondered again if he did something to upset the blond woman that hadn't answered yet.

It was past midnight when a ring woke him up from a dreamless sleep. It took a moment for his sluggishly working brain to recognize the sound to be his phone that was waiting to be answered. He got it out of his pocket, happy that he had his pants on and the phone in it within easy reach. "Hey," he mumbled tiredly.

"Hey Joey," Mai's voice came cheerfully. "Sorry for calling so late, but I met someone at the airport and didn't get around to calling you sooner."

"Must have had a great someone to spend a great night with to be that late," Joey mumbled, eyes still closed and in great danger of falling back asleep.

"How's your head?" she asked with a chuckle. "You were totally wasted last night when I drove you home."

"You drove me where?" Joey asked, more alert in his surprise. How the hell did he get to a hotel when he had been home already?

"I drove you home," Mai answered. "Why are you asking? Did you pass out on the stairs, because I wouldn't be surprised. But you insisted that you'd make it up there on your own so I left you once you where inside of the door to your apartment building."

"No I didn't pass out on the stairs," Joey mumbled starting to feel the late hour again-his eyelids felt extremely heavy. "At least I don't think so."

"So you got inside of the apartment alright?" She asked still cheerful.

"Today I did," Joey answered. "After I woke up in a posh hotel suite with a great breakfast but all alone. Someone left a note though, telling me that the suite was paid and all so I was good."

"How did you do that?" Mai asked. "I brought you home to make sure that nothing would happen to you. I mean I got to look out for you since I'm older, so how the hell did you do that?"

"Hey," Joey complained in a slightly angry voice, suddenly sitting up in his bed, "I'm old enough to mind myself and I don't mind what happened. I was just wondering about it since I have no idea who the guy was."

"You sure it was a guy?" Mai asked.

"Considering the feeling I had this morning of being fucked, yeah it was a guy," Joey answered.

"Next time I bring you up." Mai sounded worried about the younger man. She didn't want him to catch anything by getting shagged by some random guy and Joey was way too careless.

"Hey!" Joey said again, and sounded even more upset. "I told ya already that I'm not a kid so don't worry. I can mind myself and nothing happened after all."

"Yeah nothing at all," Mai said ironically. "You just got screwed by some guy and don't even know who he was or if he had some disease. He could have been some psychopath and killed you and no one would ever know who he was."

"If it makes you feel better then I promise to get to a doctor for a check up on my next day off from work," Joey said, already half asleep again. Mai was just as careless as he was but babying him around about it nevertheless. How annoying.

"Fine," Mai simply said, knowing that it was the best she would get anyway. "But you call me when you need something, alright?"

"Sure," Joey answered with a smile. It could be slightly annoying when the slightly older woman behaved like an overprotective older sister, but he still loved her because of it. He loved to argue with her about what guy was the cutest and hottest and all kind of other stuff and really feet like she might be an older sister that cared for him. And she was there for him unlike his mother, who was far away, and his father, who was usually too drunk to care about anything other than how to get some liquor into his system. "But I gotta hit the hay now. I got to go back to work tomorrow morning."

"You mean today," Mai chuckled. "It's way past midnight in Domino isn't it?"

"Don't remind me," Joey mumbled and stifled a yawn. "Good night Mai, and take care."

"You too Joey," Mai answered and ended the call, certain that he would be all right. He was strong and brave and could get through everything. She was just babying a little because he was so cute when he got upset about it.

On the next day under the shower Joey was surprised to notice that there was a bandage on his back right between his shoulders and he could just about get it off but he didn't bother to check on it. There was no pain so the wound couldn't be that big, and a few days later Joey had already forgotten the whole incident. He was going to work on a regular basis and meeting with his friends whenever he had the time for it. Everything was back to normal, at least until he went to the beach with his friends and his little sister one Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks later.

It was a warm and sunny day and the whole gang, including even Serenity, had decided to meet on the beach. Once there Joey lay on the beach in the warm sand. His shirt lay right next to his right hand where he had it while letting himself fall into the warm sand. He enjoyed the feeling of the warm summer sun kiss his skin and he closed his eyes, listening to the laughter of his friends. He already decided to challenge Tristan and Duke to a wet swim later, but for now he was glad to have a chance to work on his tan.

Tristan and Duke where playing around and trying to attract the eyes of some good looking girls, while Serenity, Téa and Yugi where building a sand castle close to Joey. Everyone was enjoying their time, at least until Joey turned around to get the skin on his back tanned as well. No one had seen his back yet, since Joey had gotten out of his shirt just before lying down on the nice and warm sand, leaving the shirt right at his side.

Joey was surprised that everyone was getting so quiet and looked up at them in confusion. Everyone was staring at him, or rather his back, even Tristan and Duke had gotten closer to them to get a better look after noticing the sudden change in their friends' moods. "What's wrong?" Joey asked confused and surprised while he looked up into the shocked faces of his friends before trying to look over his own shoulder for the cause of their shock. He couldn't see anything that might cause such a reaction.

Instead of giving him an answer, Téa got out the little pocket mirror she always had with her, and opened it. She moved it around behind Joey, who still looked over his shoulder, wondering what Téa was doing. After a moment he knew what she was doing, and everyone else knew that he had seen why they stared since he paled considerably at the sight of his own back.

Joey had a tattoo right between his shoulder blades on his spine. Some might think that it wasn't too bad since it was very small and just black instead of something big and colorful. But it still was the worst to Joey. A big colorful butterfly or pixy would have been preferable. Hell, a big pink Hello Kitty tattoo with glitter couldn't have been worse no matter how embarrassing it might be. Nothing was worse than what was on Joey's back, which caused the blond to pale so much that the others worried he might faint after seeing it. Because on Joey's back was nothing else than the little KC of Kaiba Corp.-the trademark sign of his worst enemy.

"How the hell did I get THAT?" Joey asked after he managed to find his voice again.

"That's what I wanted to ask you," Tristan answered, still staring at it. "When and, more importantly, WHY did you get that?"

"I have no idea," Joey replied, shocked, and searched his memory until he reached the memory of the shower where he removed a bandage from the exact same spot. "Holy crap," he mumbled. "Please don't tell me that was Kaiba."

"What was Kaiba?" Tristan asked.

"Nothing!" Joey quickly said and blushed the darkest shade of red while he thought about a way out of this. "I had a black out after a night out and I don't know. I must have played truth or dare or some other stupid thing to end up like this; I have no idea. I don't remember getting that. How the hell could I get THAT wasted?"

"You where drinking with Kaiba?" Tristan asked looking worried towards his friend.

"Like hell," Joey rushed to say. "I was drinking with Mai, ya know the night she left, but I sort of woke up in a hotel."

"And what does that have to do with Kaiba?" Tristan asked, looking like he already feared the answer and was about to get sick. All of Joey's friends knew that he was gay, but they never thought it possible that he might like Kaiba.

"Are you dating Kaiba?" Yugi asked curiously, and looking a lot like a child that was handed a gigantic lollipop. "Why didn't you ask him to join us today?"

"I'm not dating Kaiba!" Joey nearly screamed at Yugi, even though he knew that it wasn't fair. Yugi just wanted to befriend the cold CEO and was worried that he was just so grumpy because he was all alone with so much responsibility, and Joey knew that Yugi might even have a point there. Kaiba probably could use some friends, but that didn't mean that he had to be that friend. He definitely wouldn't attempt to be something like that, considering that Kaiba always looked down on him and made fun of him. "And I sure as hell won't take him anywhere. This has nothing to do with him! It can't have anything to do with him, and I will get rid of that damned thing as soon as possible."

"And how are you going to afford that?" Serenity asked, worried for her brother and already making a mental note to ask Mai to take her brother home the next time she goes out with him. After all, Serenity had no idea that Joey somehow managed to get laid and a tattoo after being brought home.

"I don't know; I'll save up for it no matter how long it takes," Joey replied angrily and grabbed his shirt to put it on. He would have to get a bit more pale until he got rid of it since he didn't want to sunbath where anyone could see that ugly thing on his back. "I'm going to see a doctor tomorrow morning and see what it takes to get rid of it."

"We've got to work tomorrow," Tristan reminded his buddy, who was also a colleague of his by now.

"Then I'll ask if I can go a little sooner because of an appointment and make sure to really have one by then," Joey explained, upset. Why the hell did he have to get that stupid thing? How did he get it? And was that one-night stand he had really with Kaiba? It did seem most likely considering the tattoo he had. Joey tried to imagine Kaiba's face when he woke up with the street dog in his arm and suddenly had to laugh even in this kind of situation.

"Does anyone know a good mental institution?" Tristan asked worriedly. "I think he's really lost it now."

"Sorry guys," Joey forced out between laughs that were shaking his whole body in amusement of the mentle picture he had in front of his eyes. He pictured Kaiba's thunder shocked face after waking up, probably with a sore head of his own and staring down at the Mutt that was still sleeping in his arms. He probably ran for the hills as fast as he could. "But he wouldn't care about me," Joey assumed. "I just thought of something really funny."

"Please do tell me because I really could use something to laugh about right now," Tristan mumbled, still a little worried for his friend's mental wellbeing.

"I can't," Joey answered, slowly calming down, and grinned. "But don't worry. I bet it was just some random dare with some random guy. It can't have been Kaiba."

"Why not?" Yugi asked in curiosity.

"Easy," Joey answered. "Firstly, because I'm really sure that I had sex with that guy and I doubt that I could be drunk enough to do that with Kaiba."

"I hope your right there," Tristan answered, making a face that clearly showed his disgust for the mental image he just got, "especially since you where drunk enough to get a KC tattoo!"

"And secondly," Joey continued, ignoring the interruption, "the guy left me a note, something for a sore head, a great breakfast-or rather three of those to choose from-and everything. The room was even paid for and I could take my sweet time leaving the hotel suite since it was paid for an extra night. Kaiba would never do something nice like that."

"Maybe he would," Yugi mused, "if he loves you."

Now Tristan, Téa and Joey where laughing their heads off, and even Serenity was chuckling at the words.

"I doubt that, considering the fights they've had."

"Maybe it's just Seto's way of showing his affections," Yugi mumbled, slightly reddened by the laughter of his friends over his words. "You know, like a lovers' quarrel."

Everyone laughed even harder, but a tiny voice in the back of Joey's mind was still wondering, "What if Yugi is right?" Joey ignored that voice though and didn't want to imagine it. Unfortunately his imagination didn't ask him if he wanted that or not.

After everyone had calmed down and was having a bit of fun again, Joey lay in the sand again and was once more relaxing. At that moment some images came into his mind. He imagined lying in a huge white bed, soft and warm like the sand but with more of a silken feeling to it, like the fancy bed in the hotel he woke up in. In his mind he heard soft footsteps walking closer towards him.

Everything was dark, and in his mind he had his eyes closed just like they where in reality. The soft footsteps came closer until Joey heard a voice, Kaiba's voice, whisper huskily, "I'm home, and I brought you a treat."

"What treat?" a voice in the blond's head mumbled. It was his own voice answering his imaginative Kaiba without allowing the real world around him to notice his daydream.

"Some ice cream," the imaginary Kaiba answered while Joey still lay on the big white bed with his eyes closed and the blanket only up to his hip, exposing his naked body and showing the tattoo on his back.

"Tasty," Joey mumbled tiredly and half asleep in his relaxed state, and this time Tristan turned to look at Joey with a chuckle, believing Joey was asleep and dreaming of some food-it wouldn't be a first.

"Too bad that you're not going to eat it," the way out of character Kaiba from Joey's daydream whispered, still using that husky voice; and then Joey imagined something cold on his tattoo and then more of it going down along his spine. But it didn't stay there for long because a hot and wet tongue licked it from his heated skin and Joey gave a quiet moan.

He woke up from his daydream when he heard Tristan's loud laughter about him moaning in his dream of some tasty food and Joey blushed, happy that Tristan's assumption about the contents of his daydream were way off.