Kyle blinked blearily when the hood was removed from his head. He coughed, but upon his self-assessment found himself relatively unharmed. He started to slowly rise from the familiar carpet of the home he and Cartman shared but the cold barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head. He relaxed in a sitting position on the floor, brows knitting together. "How the fuck did you find out where we live?" he snarled, and wasn't surprised to receive a sharp tap on the skull from said gun barrel.

He looked up when Jadyn crouched in front of him. The aged, patient eyes looked at his face and the man lifted a hand to examine the healing nose. Kyle's head lunged forward and his teeth clicked shut on empty air. Jadyn had quick reflexes despite his middle age. "Listen kid. You're a feisty little shit but you really need to learn some manners." The guard sighed. "The boss has your boyfriend working for him. He was going to kill the both of you but seeing as how the fat shithead has a talent for chemistry we're going to let him live. He works for us, you work for us, no fussing. You hustle your rear out here, he makes his drugs in Denver, boss releases you when he feels like Cartman's finished off his blood debt."

Kyle glared. "Because hustling me worked so well last time." He sneered.

"This is a smaller town kid. Easier to control. You can't just run off in a car with someone and lose us. I can name the streets in this place without letting go of my gun." Jadyn answered tiredly, clearly sick of the antics.

"You also forget I have friends here." Kyle snapped.

"We're not pimping to your friends, unless they feel like taking you for some cash you're not talking to them." Jadyn said, flicking his hand to the guard behind Kyle. Kyle heard the slight skitter of claws on carpet and Jutte was bathing his face with her tongue. The teenager wrapped his arms around the pit bull, who seemed very taken with the adventure her life was turning out to be. "I convinced them to let you have the dog. Affectionate thing like that's going to be no harm to anyone, she's not even lost her milk teeth."

Kyle kissed the top of Jutte's head and released her, pushing her toward the kitchen. The puppy wiggled her way to her food bowl and began devouring her dinner. "We're going to be your house guests for a little bit." Jadyn said. "Three of us. You don't fuss with us, we don't mess with you. You don't have to fuck the boys, or me, and we don't have to shoot you unless you try something stupid. Just like a little family. Got it?"

Kyle was shaking with frustration. His family lived here, Stan lived here! Stan. His thoughts turned to his best friend. He had to get to Stan. He nodded curtly and Jadyn indicated to the other two guards that Kyle was to be let to his feet. The teenager rose and lifted his chin haughtily, glaring at the other men. "Cartman's going to find some way to kill you. All of you." He growled.

"There's another problem, kid." Jadyn sighed and steered Kyle with a powerful hand on his shoulder toward the couch. He pressed him into a sitting position and another guard dropped a tiny bag on the table. Kyle stared at the powder for a moment as Jadyn picked it up and took a mirror out of the pocket of his leather jacket, setting it on the table.

He also withdrew a blank credit card and a small straw. He neatly cut the white powder into three lines and held the straw towards Kyle. "Boss says you have to take a taste of every batch. He thinks your boyfriend might get ideas from that poison lab in the basement of this house. Just in case you get any ideas, we locked and barred it." Jadyn added.

"You're kidding me." Kyle stared incredulously at the straw, then at the cocaine.

"We broke your nose once. Don't make me take out a tooth." Jadyn's voice steeled, withdrawing his gun from the back of his pants and settling it on the table. Kyle gingerly took the straw, and placed it to his mouth. With a great puff of air he blew the lines of cocaine in a great puff all over the coffee table and the carpet.

Jadyn gave a heavy sigh, grabbed the back of Kyle's neck, and slammed his head to the table. Kyle felt his face ground against the sharp edges of the mirror and he hissed. "Bring out the heroin, that's one we don't need his cooperation for." Jadyn grumbled, and Kyle felt his sleeve being rolled up.

·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·

Stan walked down the street with his hands shoved in his pockets. He was ruminating on what to do with the sunny Colorado day. There was a bite to the air, as always in the small mountain town, but it was as pleasant a day as one could get. Kyle had been unavailable the past few days, so Stan had started developing a closer relationship with Kenny. He'd always felt a little strange around Kyle and Cartman after the two had become lovers. It was very uncharacteristic to see Cartman giving Kyle lecherous grins and Kyle's acidic retorts having a hint of loving mockery.

He sighed deeply. Things were definitely changing. Butters and the goth kid, Cartman and Kyle. Ah well, he still loved Kyle as a friend all the same and he hadn't really changed much. He still enjoyed basketball and videogames. The only thing that still made him a bit queasy was when Cartman's affections went a little too far in his presence.

Stan turned the corner into a harsher part of town, heading for Kenny's shack of a house. He saw the blonde settled on the steps of his house, a cigarette between his teeth and tossing a softball back and forth in his skinny hands. "Mphready phu phlay?" he asked from behind the massive hood that usually muffled his voice.

Stan shook his head and settled down next to Kenny. "Phude, phou phear phout Kyle?" Kenny snickered behind his hood. The other teenager blinked.

"What about Kyle?" he asked slowly. Kenny pulled down his hood and gave Stan a serious look, though the stronger teen could see mischief behind Kenny's eyes.

"Cartman's pimping him out." Kenny proclaimed as if he'd just predicted the end of the world.

"…What?" Stan said, a bit taken aback.

"No joke. My brother said he was coming back from the gas station and saw him sucking off Mr. Wong."

"From City Wok?" Stan said in disbelief.

"Yeah. Cartman's pimping him out." Kenny repeated, standing up and tossing the ball to Stan, who caught it without changing the stunned expression on his face. "So, you ready to play or what?"

"Hold on. You've got to be kidding me. There's no way that Kyle's being turned into a whore and you just ignore it and go on with life." Stan scowled.

"Dude, I die an average of once every three days. You really think our cute Jew boy turning into a hooker at the hands of Cartman is shocking after giant guinea pigs invaded when we were twelve?" Kenny smirked. "It'll work out. Trust me. Give it a few days and everything will work out."

"What the hell dude?" Stan snarled and stood up. "We've got to go get him right now!"

"Stan. Listen to me. You mess with it and it's going to get worse. If we ignore it, wait a few days, it's going to work out. It always does." Kenny sighed.

Stan threw the ball back and got up, walking down the street toward the gas station. His poor companion followed him out to the street in order to watch him, shaking his head. Kenny sighed and rolled his eyes, pulling his hood back up. "Nobody phlearns anyfing..." Kenny muttered and looked at the car rapidly approaching him. "Oh phuck." He groaned as the station wagon ploughed into him.

·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·

"This…is…bullcrap." Cartman snarled under his breath, the mask over his face muffling his voice slightly. He'd been at this for hours, under armed guard, without any word as to what would happen to him next. What would happen to Kyle if he was forced to take a bit of every batch. The meth he could easily fake, he could make sugar crystals all day long while these assholes marveled at the size of them. The cocaine was a bit harder but easier to inactivate. Heroin was almost impossible to fake, the black tar substance was volatile enough on its own. Additionally, Cartman had to keep making a slight amount of real drugs to keep the fake ones passable. If he faked all of them, the customers would catch on as would the sellers, and goodbye Kyle.

But, if he produced an equal or slightly greater amount of fake drugs to real, the probability that Kyle would receive actual heroin, cocaine or meth was lowered. He had to protect his lover, even if it meant he knew he would get punished for passing off candy as a federally-outlawed drug.

The thought of Kyle being forced to prostitute himself just like Eric had done was enough to give him smug pleasure in the thought he was cheating them. "Just hold on, and don't do anything fucking dumb you stupid Jew." He growled under his breath as he prepared yet another batch of sugar syrup. His mind was buzzing. What did Kyle think of him…what would he think of him, if he saw the lab in the basement? Of course Kyle had been down there before and had royally flipped shit when he'd seen marijuana drying in racks from the ceiling. What would be his reaction when he saw his batches of meth or some of the more serious poisons?

That gave him a thought. He had to figure out some way to get Kyle a message.

No, not Kyle. Kyle was being watched. Not Kenny, Kenny was a poor piece of shit and even Cartman had trouble intimidating him into doing anything that wasn't hilarious. Stan could work, but the stupid bastard's strong ethical code barely put him above hippies on the Shit That Annoyed Cartman scale. It was the only chance he had, though. "I'm pinning my hopes on a fucking jock." Cartman growled. "Fucking Stan."