Thank you all for your kind reviews. This chapter will be the rescue chapter. I hope you enjoy this.

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Chapter Eight

Jounouchi awoke again, still thinking he was a fool and fighting a killer headache. He vowed to save Kaiba and never turned his back on any suspicious person. He opened his eyes, taking in the first look of the room. The room was dark except for the light coming from a small window. He sat on a chair with his wrists and ankles chained to it and nearly nude. He sighed in relief seeing that he still had his boxers on. At least if the transmitter behind his ear malfunctioned he had the one in his boxers. His body shivered from the cold. He pulled at the chains, attempting to free himself. Not able to break free, he stopped struggling, hoping that Isono was on his way.

He didn't have long to wait until he heard a door open followed by several footsteps. Jounouchi's pulse picked up. "This was it," he thought, "If Kaiba was with them and Isono was close this should be the end of everything." Another door opened before he saw two hooded figures and Kaiba's small form. The one man pulled on the chain connected to his neck, causing him to stumble forward slightly. His body trembled from the cold and Jounouchi could see the redness on his shoulders from the burns.

"Jounouchi, you fool," Kaiba squeaked before the chain was pulled again, cutting his air off. He gasped and coughed, reaching for his neck with chained hands.

The blond growled. "Leave him alone."

The man holding the chain passed it to the other guy and walked up to Jounouchi. He punched him on the jaw. "You will not speak until I say."

Kaiba moved slightly, but the blond turned his gaze to him and glared, trying to get him not to do anything. He spat the blood out of his mouth. "What makes you think I'll do anything you say?"

"You saw what I did to your little child. I could do worse to the both of you." He leaned down and grabbed Jounouchi's hair. "I think I'll start with you." He turned to the brunet. "Kaiba, you can stop all of this if you agree to go out in public and do exactly what I say." Kaiba didn't move for a second before he move an inch.

Jounouchi glared at Kaiba. "Don't you dare."

The brunet bit his lip, giving the taller man an apologetic look. He stood taller and pressed his lips together. He wouldn't give them what they wanted, but he feared for his safety. He didn't want their captives unleashing their fury by doing what they promised. He took several breaths to calm his rapid heartbeat. He hoped that Jounouchi had a plan and that was the reason he disobeyed his warning.

The man closest to Jounouchi slammed his head on the back of the chair and walked back to Kaiba. "Do you want something to happen to him?"

Kaiba took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. Normally when it came to threats he didn't care what happened to him, but now he had Jounouchi's wellbeing to worry about. Hoping for the hundredth time that he was making the correct decision, the CEO looked up at the man. "I will not help you destroy me and my company no matter what you do to me or Jounouchi."

The man nodded to the one holding the chain. He knelt down, unhooking his chain hands and pulled Kaiba's arms behind his back, tying the chain around them and forcing him on his knees. "If that is how you feel, then let's see how long he lasts." He walked out of the room and up the stairs leading to the first floor of the building.

"I'm glad you decided to do things the hard way. It means I get to have my way with you after they have their way with him," the older man sneered, running his finger along Kaiba's jaw. "We'll become quick friends."

Jounouchi kept his eyes on the two, praying to the gods that Isono was only waiting for an opening. He thought the rescue operation would have already begun. His heart skipped a beat and sped up when he heard several footsteps coming down the stairway. He hoped that it was their rescue party. The man holding Kaiba didn't even budge. "Sounds like there are a lot of people coming to play with your friend."

Kaiba bowed his head, not wanting to watch what they would do to the blond. He wanted to save him, but he knew there was nothing he could do besides to agree to do what they wanted. Coming to a decision, he opened his mouth to tell them that they won, but the man behind him suddenly collapsed onto the floor. He blinked a few times. "Kaiba-sama," Isono shouted, unlocking the chains that held him in place. "Release Jounouchi-san," he told the other guards.

The brunet stared up at his friend and personal guard. "Isono? How?"

"Jounouchi was the bait. He has several transmitters attached to his clothes and the new one behind his ear. It was his plan," the older man explained, finally releasing him from the chain.

Jounouchi ran over to the smaller man and held him in his arms. "Are you okay? Do your burns still hurt? We need to get you to the hospital. No, maybe your private doctor would be enough."

"Jounouchi," Kaiba shouted, stopping his rants. "Please put me down. It does hurt when you squeeze me like that."

"I'm so sorry," he said, instantly placing him back down on his feet.

"My private doctor should be enough," he answered sitting down on the floor. He was exhausted and couldn't take much more of this. He wanted to be his normal age. "What happened to the other man?"

"We have him secured in the van."

"He's the woman's partner. They wanted to use this version of me to claim that I was my own son. They said that once I reached the age of ten, I won't grow anymore until they break the curse. Do what you can to get them to break the curse. I want to be normal again."

"Of course, Kaiba-sama, is there anything else he told you?"

The CEO pointed to the man at his feet. "He's a pedophile. Find out who else he hurt, offer them consolation that he has been caught at his own game and lock him away for life. No one should ever touch a child like that. Don't go easy on him either." He moved over to Jounouchi's lap and curled up into it. "If you don't squeeze me, you can carry me home."

The blond nodded before carefully placing his arms around the child. He wrapped the long jacket one of the guards gave him around both of them. He didn't want to tell him that he looked like he was ten or close to it. "I'll call Yugi when I get home to see if he has any information. Maybe he can break the curse, and we won't need those people."

"Do whatever. Just let me sleep." He leaned his head against Jounouchi's strong chest. "Thank you," he whispered. "But, you're still a fool."

Jounouchi chuckled, carrying him up the stairs and into the van that the guards instructed him to enter. The other hooded man was placed into the van behind them while Isono got into the passenger side of their vehicle. They drove slowly through the streets, not wanting to disturb the sleeping child in Jounouchi's arms. It didn't feel real to the blond. He couldn't believe that not only did the plan work, but he had Kaiba safe in his arms again. He brushed Kaiba's hair out of his closed eyes. Hopefully, the doctor will be able to help with the brunet's painful burns.

The doctor was waiting at Jounouchi's apartment for them to arrive. Guards stood outside of both the apartment and the complex. Isono didn't want to risk another person kidnapping Kaiba. The blond set the small child on his bed before moving aside for the doctor to help him.

The older man with gray hair sighed. "This is bringing back nightmares."

"What do you mean?" Jounouchi whispered, watching the man work.

"I was Kaiba-sama's doctor ever since Gozaburo-sama adopted him. I've seen numerous wounds like this on him."

"Are you saying that bastard hurt him?" The doctor nodded. "Why didn't you do anything to help him?" Jounouchi nearly shouted, shaking from anger. No wonder Kaiba didn't trust anyone. When the doctor still didn't answer, the blond became furious and on the verge of kicking him out.

"Don't, Jounouchi. I asked him not to report it," Kaiba mumbled, sitting up. "If it was reported Mokuba and I would have been shipped back to the orphanage where we could have been separated. I couldn't let that happen."

The blond sat on the edge of the bed. "Does Mokuba know?"

"Probably. We've never talked about it." Kaiba lied on his stomach, allowing the doctor to tend to his burns on his back.

"These don't look bad, Kaiba-sama. None of them have infections. Do you hurt anywhere?"

The brunet sighed, feeling the cool of the antibacterial cream and allowed the doctor to place loose fitting gaze around the burns on his shoulders and back. "Not anywhere else. Check Jounouchi's jaw."

"It's nothing," Jounouchi said quickly. "I've been hit harder than that."

The doctor rolled his eyes before examining his jaw. "Nothing is dislocated or broken, put some ice on it to take the swelling down and pain relievers when needed. If the swelling doesn't go down tomorrow or if the pain gets worst, I recommend going to the hospital and getting an x-ray. Kaiba-sama, I'll leave the cream for you to apply twice a day. Use lotion when the redness goes down and if it starts to peel. Continue to wrap loosely with the gaze every time you apply the cream. I don't know how your body would react to adult pain relievers. I would suggest using children's. If you need anything else, you know how to reach me."

Kaiba waved the man off, choosing to bury his face into the blond's soft pillow. He breathed in the subtly scent of Jounouchi. He knew he would drift off to sleep again, this time he didn't fight it. Even though he was used to stay awake for long periods of time, his smaller body could barely handle it. He sighed and allowed his body to fall asleep. All his stress slowly melted away.

Jounouchi walked with the doctor out of the room and watched him tell Isono everything he just told him. He sat down on the couch and waited for Isono to return after seeing the doctor out. "You can return to whatever you were doing before all this. I know you'll keep security tight now until Kaiba returns to normal."

"I'm only going to have one outside your door and one downstairs in the lobby. They'll alternate on different times. Don't worry about them or pay attention to them. They already know that Yugi-san will probably come over. I'm going to interview all three of them before returning to Kaiba Corp. If I find anything out, I'll call you right away or report it to Yugi-san. Maybe you should get some ice on that jaw. It's badly swelled."

"I will. I wanted to make sure everything was in order first. Thank you for trusting in me to save him."

"You risked more than I did. If you would have saw all the men we dragged out of there that were going to be unleashed on you, you would have felt like the one that drew the short straw."

"I don't want to think about that right now. All I want is to release Kaiba from this curse."

"I agree." Isono walked over to the table for a remote. "I'm going to remove that tracker and leave." He used the device to release the transmitter and packed everything up. He bowed to Jounouchi before leaving. He knew that he trusted his boss in the blond's hands. Now, all he had to accomplish was releasing the curse. He was determined more than ever to retrieve that information.

Jounouchi looked around at the now empty apartment, feeling slightly lost. He didn't know what to do with himself. The throbbing in his jaw knocked him free of his trance. He walked into the kitchen to get a bag of ice before returning to the bedroom. He was glad that his plan worked and that Kaiba was safe again. He hissed at the coldness he placed on his jaw.

He carefully sat on the bed, not wanting to disturb the brunet. He pulled himself up until he sat against the headboard and ran his fingers through Kaiba's hair. The small child mumbled something before turning and curling against his side. Jounouchi smiled and leaned his head back. He placed the bag on the nightstand and closed his eyes. With his hand resting against Kaiba's back, he fell asleep.

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I know this was another short chapter but the last two chapters are long. We are almost to the end. I should have the next chapter up on Friday. Thank you all for reading. Please review.

Angel Dove