Chapter 10
Kaiba's car pulled up in front of an abandoned building in one of the worst sections of Domino. He opened the door of the car before it stopped. He checked his gun he kept tucked under his trench coat and screwed the silencer on it.
Roland raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Kaiba, I think it would be best if you and Mr. Valon waited out here. The team and I will go in to get Mr. Wheeler, Miss Valentine, and the twins."
"I don't pay you to think, Roland. I pay you to teach me weapons and to keep my family safe." Kaiba replaced the gun into the holster. "Let's go."
"Mr. Kaiba, you really should let us…" Roland was cut off by a scream that split the air. It was definitely from a man. He looked up in time to see both Kaiba and Valon running towards the building. He called for his team to take up their positions and followed them inside.
Mai was thrown onto a rickety table and Sugaru advanced on her slowly. He twisted his hand into her shirt and ripped it open. He licked his lips in anticipation. "Wake up, bitch. I want you to enjoy this." He unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down exposing his manhood. He ripped Mai's skirt and panties off. He positioned himself for his first thrust when suddenly, an arm tightened around his neck and he was dragged backwards. "Wha' the fu'," he began. He clawed at the arm and lifted his eyes to look at the owner of the arm.
Valon stood shaking with rage. "I've got Mai. Find the kids and Wheeler," he told Kaiba. He looked down at the man struggling to breathe in the crook of his arm and back to his beloved Mai. Valon was in a killing rage.
Sugaru looked around the warehouse for his men. They were scattered around the floor, taken out by Kaiba's security team. He tried to buy some time. He looked up at the man trying to choke the life out of him. "Let me go man, we'll share," Sugaru offered.
Valon's eyes darkened with fury. He twisted the neck in the crook of his arm and gave it a sharp jerk. He felt the man stop struggling. He tossed the lifeless body of the thug away from him and reached down to pick up Mai. Mai cried out in pain. Valon relaxed his grip when he realized he was holding her too tight. He covered her with a blanket and carried her battered body out of the building to where an ambulance that one of Kaiba's security team had called waited.
Kaiba reached the top of the stairs and opened the first door he came to. He felt weak with relief when he saw his children sitting on a thin blanket. The relief was quickly replaced with anger at the sight of the twin's wide fearful eyes. He stepped into the room and moved towards them. Roland followed and shut the door.
"Daddy!" the twins cried as they ran to Kaiba and threw their arms around his leg.
Kaiba fell to his knees and put his arms around his children. He felt the unfamiliar sting of tears in his eyes. He drew back to look at them again. When he saw Mizuki's face he was ready to kill. He brushed his hand gently across Mizuki's cheek. He pulled back when the boy flinched. "Who did this?" he asked as he tried to contain his anger.
Miyuki stepped forward crying and said, "The bad man did it, daddy. He hit Mizuki because Mizuki tried to help auntie Mai. Mizuki told the bad man you were going to save us."
Kaiba felt a surge of pride in his son. He turned to Roland and said, "Take them to safety."
"We gotta take the orpins too, daddy. The bad lady said we're all going to work in the brofel. The babies are too little to work, though."
Kaiba looked down and saw two little twins barely a year old crawling weakly to his twins. He wanted to kill someone because of his daughter's words. "Take them too, and find their parents." He said.
As they started for the door, it was suddenly opened. "Here you go brats. Eat up. Tomorrow you go to your new…" her words were choked off as Kaiba took hold of her neck in his hands.
"If you value your life, you won't finish that statement. Miyuki, is this the bad woman?" he asked his daughter.
"Yep, daddy, she sold us," Miyuki told him as the woman shook her head.
"Where's Joey?" he demanded. He tightened his grip on her. His eyes glittered like ice.
Suki clawed at his hand but couldn't dislodge it. She coughed and choked, trying to get some air. Her vision was getting dark around the edges. Suki pointed down the hall. "How many doors away?" he asked as he shook her. Suki held up three fingers. Kaiba threw her against the wall. He pointed to the babies that Roland held. "Where are their parents?" he asked dangerously.
"Drugs… Owed Sugaru" cough, "Couldn't pay," cough, gasp," Dead," she said quickly. She knew not to push the powerful man or he would kill her.
"Run," he said. "Run fast and run far but know this; I will find you and if you come near my family again I will kill you," Kaiba warned as two members of Roland's security team showed up to take the kids away.
Kaiba moved swiftly down the hall to the room Suki had specified followed by Roland. He kicked in the door and was shocked by the sight that met his eyes. His Joey was tied to a chair in the center of the room his arms and chest were held by thick straps. His left arm bone poked out at an odd angle and the two middle fingers on his right hand was dislocated. He had what looked like a gunshot wound to the right thigh with a scalpel stabbed into it, and a spike driven into each foot. A man stood over his love with a hammer clutched in his hand.
It took Kaiba a fraction of a second to take in this whole scene before he sprung into action. He kicked a chair that was sitting next to the door at Joey's tormentor. He ran into the room and tackled him to the ground when the psycho moved to deflect it. Kaiba straddled Yoshi and began to pound the man into the ground. Yoshi cried and begged Kaiba to let him go, but Kaiba continued to beat the man without mercy. He heard his nose break and felt his front teeth shatter, but he still continued to pummel him.
Meanwhile, Roland was trying to release Joey from the spikes that had him staked to the ground. He got the spikes out of Joey's feet and loosened the straps on his arms and chest. Joey was breathing shallowly and he was very pale. Roland looked over to where Kaiba was beating the man responsible for this to death. "Mr. Kaiba, we need to get Mr. Wheeler to the hospital," he said to his employer who continued to beat the man beneath him. Roland began to worry for Kaiba's sanity should something happen to Mr. Wheeler. Roland made sure Joey would stay in the chair before he moved away from him. He ran over to Kaiba and grabbed his hand before he could strike the man again.
Kaiba looked at his security chief with wild eyes. Roland looked down at the man who was not moving under his employer. "Mr. Kaiba, you need to see to Mr. Wheeler. He may die if we don't move soon."
Kaiba came to his senses when he heard from Roland that Joey was still alive. He spit on the gurgling man on the ground below him. "See to this piece of shit," Kaiba said as he went to Joey.
Roland nodded, "Right after you leave," he assured Kaiba. He watched as Kaiba gently lifted Joey out of the chair and left the room. Roland turned to the man lying on the floor.
Yoshi's eyes were opened and he was wheezing as he laughed. "Looks like he'll be my last," he gasped. "Ah, but he was my best. He took more punishment in thirty minutes than most of my toys took in days." He laughed at the look of disgust on Roland's face.
Roland pulled out his gun and flipped off the safety. "Rot in hell, you son of a bitch," he said then pulled the trigger. Yoshi's body stiffened for a moment then relaxed. He died with a mad smile affixed to his face. Roland put his gun back into his holster and walked out of the room. "Clean up," he said into his communicator as he walked out of the building and nodded to Kaiba who was getting into the ambulance with Joey. Kaiba nodded back before the doors closed.
At the hospital, Kaiba called Yuugi and Tea in America to get them up to speed on what was going on while Valon called Duke and Tristan.
"Tea has her last show tonight. We'll catch the red-eye and be there by the morning," Yuugi said. "Tell Joey to hang in there."
"Right," Kaiba said lifelessly. He flipped his phone closed and paced the length of the hospital waiting room.
A doctor came out of the double doors and walked up to Kaiba and Valon. "Miss. Valentine is doing well. Her bones have been set and she's been medicated for her pain. If you'll follow me, I can show you to her room."
Valon shook his head. "She's safe. That's all I need for now, doc. I'll wait here with him," he tossed his head in Kaiba's direction.
Kaiba shook his head, "Go on. I'll be fine. Roland will be here with Mokuba soon." He watched as Valon followed the doctor.
Five minutes later, Roland, Mokuba, Tristan and Duke walked into the hospital. Joey's friends and Mokuba looked shaken and Kaiba could only surmise that Roland had already told them everything. "How is he?" Tristan asked in a strained voice.
"I don't know yet. Still waiting for the doctor," said Kaiba as he continued to pace.
The pediatrician came out and approached Kaiba next. She smiled kindly at him as she saw his worried face. "Mr. Kaiba? The kids are fine. Mizuki has an ice pack to his cheek and some ibuprofen for pain. He's got all of the nurses oohing and ahing all over him. He's quite a boy, trying to protect his family. He has a lot of faith in you sir, you're his hero. If it's okay with you, I want to keep them both overnight for observation."
"Is there a problem, doctor?" Kaiba asked worry causing his face to strain.
"No, sir, it's just a precaution I want to take. Mizuki was hit pretty hard and I want to make sure there's no permanent damage done. Miyuki refuses to leave him. I figured you would be staying here with Mr. Wheeler. They should be able to leave with you in the morning," she said.
Kaiba felt a rush of relief. "Of course, doctor. What about the other set of twins we found there?" he asked.
The doctor shook her head sadly and said, "They're malnourished and dehydrated, but all in all they're healthy. I have to contact the authorities and inform them. Miyuki and Mizuki are calling them their brother and sister, they won't allow anyone to take them away from them."
Kaiba nodded his head thoughtfully, "How old are they doctor?"
"My best guess would be eight months old. They're crawling, but don't speak and judging by growth charts, it's the best estimate."
"I see," Kaiba said quietly. "I would appreciate it if you can arrange for them to stay in the room with my children for now. I think it would benefit all of them."
"Of course I'll arrange it. Would you like to go see them now, Mr. Kaiba?" the doctor asked
Kaiba struggled for a moment before Mokuba stepped up and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I'll go, Seto. You wait here for news about Joey," he said before he moved away.
"Thanks, Mokie," Kaiba said quietly.
"Take me to the hero," Mokuba said to the doctor. He laughed at her stories about the twins as she led him away.
Kaiba continued to pace until he thought he would go mad. Where was that fucking doctor? He became more anxious and testy as the time dragged on. Duke and Tristan held on to each other as they watched the door. Roland stood silently by.
The surgeon came out of the double doors. He pulled the surgery cap from his head and approached the water cooler to get a drink. Kaiba felt a cold numbing chill run down his spine. It wasn't good; he knew the doctor was stalling for time to think about how to console the friends and family. He stood motionless waiting for the doctor to come to him. If it was bad news, he refused to go to it. It would come to him.
The surgeon walked up to the wall of formidable men. "Mr. Kaiba," he said. Kaiba stepped forward and nodded for the doctor to continue. "The surgery was a success. Mr. Wheeler's arm was broken in two places, but it was able to be set. His fingers were set and taped up. The gunshot wound missed the femoral artery by mere millimeters. The wound was cleansed and sewn up. The wounds on his feet missed any nerves and tendons. They were cleansed and sewn as well. The person who did this to him had intimate knowledge of the human body, and was able to avoid doing permanent damage. Mr. Wheeler also lost a lot of blood. He received four units in the OR. All in all I would say Mr. Wheeler is very lucky to be alive right now."
"You mean he's gonna be ok?" Tristan asked as he held on to Duke.
"Yeah, he'll have to be in rehab for a few weeks, but he'll make a full recovery" the doctor said. "Follow me and I'll take you to the recovery room."
Kaiba was weak with relief. He was so happy, he even let Joey's friends hug him. He almost ran to the recovery room to Joey. "You can only stay for a few minutes," Kaiba heard the doctor say.
"Not bloody likely," Kaiba grumbled as he followed the doctor. "I'm his husband." The doctor pulled back the curtain and motioned Kaiba forward. He was unprepared for the emotions that threatened to choke him when he walked into the room. The sight of Joey in the hospital bed was one that Kaiba would remember until the day he died. His battered face was pale save for the briuses, and his eyes were swollen. He went to the bed and stroked his beloved's face, pushing his hair from his forehead. His blue eyes glittered with unshed tears. He sat down in the chair and gently took Joey's taped right hand in his needing to touch him, to make sure he was real. Duke and Tristan stood on the other side of the bed, Tristan holding his other hand.
"Joey, can you hear me?" Tristan asked. "Squeeze my hand if you can," he coaxed.
Kaiba felt Joey give a small squeeze against his hand and it was the sweetest feeling in the world. Tristan lifted tear soaked eyes to Duke and said, "He squeezed."
The three of them sat together in the room in silence until the orderly came to move Joey into a private room Kaiba had arranged for him. Kaiba left Joey's side long enough to kiss the twins goodnight and give Mokuba an update on Joey's progress.
By the time visiting hours were called, Kaiba had settled into a big recliner at Joey's bedside holding his hand and refusing to sleep just in case Joey woke up. Kaiba pulled out his phone to call Roland. "The babies Mizuki and Miyuki found," he began, "I want you to make a "generous donation" to whatever official and see that they are given my name," Kaiba said tiredly into the phone.
"It's already done, sir. Miss. Miyuki told me they were her brother and sister so I took it upon myself to see to the matter already. I thought that you would want her to have her wish. You should rest now, Mr. Kaiba," Roland said gruffly. "I'm glad to hear Mr. Wheeler will be all right."
"Thank you, Roland," Kaiba said to his man. He closed his phone and relaxed into the chair. As the night wore on, he asked the nurses who came in so many questions about Joey's treatments, they sent a private nurse to tend Joey. He asked the nurse for pain medication when she came in to hang Joey's antibiotic because he heard Joey whimper. She finally got Joey settled to satisfy Kaiba and practically ran from the room to escape the formidable man. Kaiba finally relaxed when he saw Joey was sleeping deeply.
"Seto," he heard Joey whisper. "Love you… Don't leave me." Joey was locked in a nightmare that only he could see.
Kaiba kissed Joey's forehead as a tear he had been holding in slipped past his defenses. "Have faith in me kitten, I love you," he whispered.
Joey clung to Kaiba's hand and refused to let go.
I know, short chapter. I still hope you like it. Please read and review. Love to all!