A/N: Once again, thanks to WavesOver for reviewing! This chapter was influenced by too many episodes of Law and Order SVU court scenes... thank you for reading!
Two days later, Joey was sitting at the courthouse, watching as Yami testified to the horrors they had suffered. He tried to not let his eyes drift over to his father, feeling his heart twist into knots every time he looked at the man.
The years had not been kind to the elder Wheeler, his blond hair fading away to a dirty color, peppered with silver. He had lost a ton of weight, his face looked drawn and gaunt. Yet there was still a spark there, a remembrance of the man who had bashed him in the face with a beer bottle, and who had broken several of his bones over the years.
The pain in his shoulder was still there from all the times he had been forced to pop it back in, the scars that he carefully hid with his shaggy blond hair still burned, but he was here, a survivor. He was startled out of his thoughts by Yugi, who was mouthing something at him. He cocked his head, not sure what the shorter man was saying. Yugi leaned over, whispering into Joey's ear
"They are calling for a break before Mai's testimony." Joey nodded, standing up and looking over at the door. There was his husband, standing in the back and staring at him. Joey quickly stood up, walking back over to him.
"I didn't know you were coming today."
"I wasn't going too, but I know how hard this testimony will be for you, and I wanted to show my support." Joey smiled sadly, hugging his husband before pulling him towards where Serenity and Yugi were. Yugi moved down, letting the two sit next to him.
Yami appeared next, sighing as he scooted into the pew also. "That was awful. I hope this will be over soon." He muttered, wrapping an arm around Yugi's shoulder and sighing.
Serenity shook her head, standing up. "I'm going to go check on Mai, and give her our support before she testifies." She announced, disappearing through the doors.
Joey watched her, sighing. "Mai's the last one before the defense gets there chance. It doesn't seem that they are calling many people to defend my father, so hopefully this will be over soon." Joey commented, squeezing his husband's arm.
Seto frowned, casting his eyes around before catching them with his father-in-law. The elder Wheeler was watching them, a sneer on his face. Seto kept his gaze, warning the man with his eyes. Finally, the judge hit the gravel, bringing them back to order.
The prosecutor called Mai forward, having her sit in front of everyone. The smile the elder Wheeler's face grew during the questioning as Mai was forced to go over everything that he had done to her, the kidnapping, abuse, and rape. Finally, the defense was given the chance to talk to her, and the lawyer walked over, smiling at Mai charmingly.
"Hello Mai. I know you've been through a terrible ordeal. I can't even imagine how you've survived all this, and yet here you are, ready to testify against my client, a poor, defenseless man who suffers from paranoid delusions and doesn't even know where he is." Mai's eyes cut over to her former captor, feeling herself tense up.
"Now then, I don't have many questions for you, so let's get to it. When you were found, you were 7 months pregnant with my client's granddaughter, is that correct?"
Mai nodded, clearing her throat. "That's correct."
"Not to mention the fact that you had been in a relationship with a barely legal teenager when you yourself were much older than that, am I correct?"
Mai blinked before nodding again, quietly agreeing with the statement.
"Now, from what you've told us, the place you were kept in was pretty dark. You didn't really see anybody in there, but you recognized Mr. Wheeler from his voice is that correct?"
Mai nodded a third time, not really understanding where he was going.
"You also testified that you had never met Mr. Wheeler before your abduction when in fact you have. Mr. Wheeler has sworn to me that you met before, several days before his son had disappeared, and you showed up to his house looking for Joseph. You two had a brief conversation, then you left. Do you remember this day?" Mai blinked, trying to remember.
"Not really. I do remember meeting someone on the stairwell, but he didn't introduce himself as Joey's father." Joey's father sat at the table, smirking at Mai while his lawyer leaned forward towards her.
"We all know your reputation Ms. Valentine. We read the papers, we saw the magazines linking you with various older men over the years, mostly one night stands. You started a relationship with Mr. Wheeler's son soon after this meeting is that correct?" Mai nodded again, unable to speak as tears filled her eyes.
"Perhaps he wasn't the first Wheeler that you had intimate time with?" The prosecutor was already shouting out his objections when Mai finally broke.
"No! I never agreed to any of this! I never wanted him to touch me! I never-"Mai sobbed on the stand while the prosecutor demanded a recess. "Don't bother, I'm done with this witness. Thank you for your testimony Ms. Valentine."
Mai hurried off the stand, pausing only to link eyes once with her former capture, who slowly winked at her and smiled. She disappeared out the doors, ignoring the cries of her friends. Joey sat frozen, not knowing what to do. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned and looked at his husband. Seto leaned in, whispering into the blond's ear "Go. She needs you."
Joey barely gave it another thought, kissing his husband on the cheek before running out the doors after Mai. Seto watched him go, pushing a button on his phone with a small smile, enjoying the chaos that had broken out around him.
XXXXXX
Ryou folded his arms, looking over the CEO in annoyance. "She's pretty worked up, said you're trying to smoke her out. Apparently Yugi's darker half talked to her, told her some crazy story about you not really being Kaiba, about this being some fictional world that got made up because of his shadow magic. Sounds like something my other half would have done, to be honest." Ryou stepped around the bed, peering into Kaiba's eyes.
He then looked at Jou, who hadn't moved. He looked at Kaiba's hand, still holding Jou's. "I'm beginning to think that Atemu might not be as crazy as I thought." He muttered, straightening up.
"Kaiba, I can't tell you anything about why Jou woke up. All I can do is tell you if I tell Mai to come here and talk to you, I'm putting my trust in you that nothing will happen to her or Lisbeth." Kaiba reached into his wallet, pulling out his family photo and handing it over to the white haired man. Ryou studied it for a minute, his face paling even more than it usually was.
"I'll tell her to come immediately." He said, handing back the photo and backing out of the room. Kaiba leaned back, closing his eyes and sighing to himself.
"So, what's your story?" A voice asked, and he snapped to attention, looking over at the blonde in the doorway.
"How did you get here so fast?" Kaiba asked, looking down at his watch. "It really wasn't that fast. Ryou called me almost an hour ago, I couldn't find a babysitter." Mai said, settling into the chair on Jou's other side and taking his hand.
Kaiba resisted the urge to slap her hand away, choosing instead to take a deep breath to relax himself. Mai watched, seemingly amused by him. "I can tell you're telling the truth. The Kaiba I know would never let anyone get away with touching his Jou." Mai let go of Jou's hand, patting him on the shoulder. "I keep hoping he'll wake up so he can meet his daughter. She's two, and she keeps wondering where her daddy is." Mai told him, tears in her eyes.
"My Joey loves his daughter very much. She's the center of our whole household. You should see how smart she is, sometimes I swear she inherited my genes somehow." Mai chuckled at that thought, her whole face brightening.
"I'm glad to hear that. I'd love to hear the story about how you and Joey ended up together. I still can't believe that this Kaiba was able to pull that one off."
"I don't want to get into all that. Let's just say you had some very horrible things happen to you and you were unable to take care of Lisbeth, so I stepped in." Kaiba said softly, adverting his eyes.
Mai's eyes widened, and she nodded slowly in acceptance. Tears filled her eyes, and she leaned forward, softly crying into Jou's sheets. Fingers caressed her hair and she started, looking up at Kaiba. "You don't have to be nice to me." She informed him, pausing when she realized that he hadn't moved. Following his gaze, she looked into familiar honey-colored eyes. "Jou!"
He smiled at both of them, coughing once weakly. "You know, the last time I did this, there was a lot more people in here." He said. Kaiba snapped out of his shock and went to go find a nurse, when one walked in.
"Is everything alright in here? We got a beep out at the station." She looked over at Jou, blinking several times before leaving the room and coming back with lightning speed. "The doctor is on his way. We are going to need to examine him, please go to the waiting room and we will get you as soon as possible." She herded them out, heading over to Jou's bed and talking to him in whispered tones.
Ryou approached them, looking into the room with a smile. "Hopefully he stays awake this time. Go sit down, the doctor will be with you guys shortly." He said, pointing them towards a small room. Kaiba followed Mai, still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.
XXXXXX
Hours went by, and no one was able to find Mai. She had disappeared outside the courtroom, and no one had seen her since. Joey was in a panic, calling hospitals, police stations, cabs, anything he could think of to find her. Seto watched in silence, enjoying this show even more.
"She's out there on the streets somewhere, alone, after that animal attacked her. What if she goes to a dealer? What if she's dying right now from an overdose?" Joey yelled at him for the 10th time that evening.
"Calm down Joey. We have plenty of people out looking for her, you just have to have faith that she will be found." Seto said smoothly, stroking the blond's arm.
"I'm going to go out looking again. If anyone calls here, let me know if they have seen anything." Joey said, jerking away from his husband before grabbing a coat and marching out the door.
Seto watched him go, picking up his own phone and calling a number. "It's me. Dump her, now."
XXXXXX
Mai and Kaiba sat in the waiting room, counting down the minutes to when they could see Jou. Finally, Dr. Haynes came in, smiling in relief at them. "Jou's awake, and what's more, it appears he's going to stay that way. You two can go in and see him, but be gentle. Stress could cause him to relapse again. He's pretty tired, so 15 minutes and then you'll have to leave. Understood?"
Both of them nodded, standing up to follow the doctor out. "I'll leave you alone, once you're done Mr. Kaiba, please meet me in my office." Kaiba nodded, entering the room with Mai right behind him.
Jou was sitting up, scratching his head gently and looking like the 17 year-old boy he used to be. Kaiba and Mai took their seats next to him, and Jou snorted, looking back and forth between the two. "Looks like I'm not crazy. You two are getting along just fine."
He looked over at Kaiba with a raised eyebrow. "You don't need to explain anything to me. I know who you are, and I need you to listen carefully to me. He's after Mai, and if he kills her, you will be stuck here, and he will destroy the family that you have been fighting so hard for. You need to get back, drag him back here, and let this place die. That's the only way you'll be safe."
Jou coughed again, reaching for Mai's hand. "You need to go back the same way you got here, through the mirror, and hurry. He's going to destroy all of us if you don't." Jou closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before drifting back off to sleep.
Kaiba growled, wanting to talk more to him, but Mai shook her head, pointing at her watch and nodding towards the door. The two left, quickly talking to the doctor about what the next steps were before leaving the hospital, heading for Yugi's. Kaiba entered the shop with Mai right on his heels, much to the shock of Atemu, who was sorting materials behind the register. "What's going on?" He demanded, looking at the two of them.
"Where's Yugi? I need to talk to both of you." Kaiba told him, marching over to look the former Pharaoh dead in the eye.
"He's upstairs cleaning. What's going on?" Atemu asked again, looking over at Mai. She smiled at him, winking.
"Jou woke up while we were at the hospital."
Atemu's eyes lit up, and he ran out of the shop, yelling into the house the good news. Yugi ran into the shop, wrapping Kaiba up in a hug and almost knocking the taller man over.
"Is it true? Did he really wake up?" He asked breathlessly, and Kaiba nodded. Yami dragged Marik into the room, the Egyptian bouncing up and down in excitement. The group began talking, sharing their excitement and wondering when they would be able to see their friend. Kaiba tried to calm them down, but no one listened. Finally, he jumped up on the counter and whistled loudly, causing everyone to look at him.
"One at a time people. We don't have time for this. I need to get back to save my family, and I need your help. Jou told me he's after Mai, and if he kills her, then I'll be stuck her forever, and he will destroy everything we have all worked for. Any ideas?"
They were all silent, looking at each other. Finally Miho, who had shown up in all the excitement, spoke up sheepishly. "Well, from what I gather, he feed off of your anger and your insecurities. He was able to cross over the first time when you were jealous of Jou beating Atemu in a game, the second time was when you were jealous of Mai coming back."
"As your darker half, he feeds off of your anger and distrust, much like my other half once did. You need to accept the fact that you can't control everything. He uses the mirror as a way to force you to look into your soul and hate what you see." Marik said, mulling over his thoughts out loud.
"So what, I have to look at a mirror and admit my faults and accept them? Is this some kind of weird Ancient Egyptian magic I haven't heard about before?" Marik shook his head, looking over at the brunet kindly.
"Think about it. You've said yourself that ever since that first duel, you've been different. Maybe the change came gradually, but it happened. You two are the same age, but our Kaiba never made the emotional growth you have. Something was different, and that has to be your darkness being dragged out enough that you were able to have a normal life with someone who cared about you. Your darkness comes from the man who raised you, much like mine did." Marik looked around The Game Shop, pondering.
"We just need a mirror that you can go through, one that is a replica of one you have at your home. Are there any that you can think of?" Kaiba thought over the mansion he had been staying in and shook his head slowly.
"Joey and I got rid of so much throughout the years and remodeled to get rid of the memories. The only mirrors I can think of are in the hallway, and those were smashed when I came over."
"Well, it's a start. Let's go to your house, maybe we can find something that we can use." Yugi suggested, and they all hurried out the door, locking The Game Shop up behind them.
XXXXXX
Seto stood in the Mansion, not knowing what to do. His plan had been coming together flawlessly, until the idiots he had hired to kidnap Mai let her escape. Things were starting to unravel, and he was unsure of what his next step should be.
He had taken the money out of the hospital fund the same day Mai had called, funneling it through channels to pay off the same gang that Joey's dad had dealt with years ago. The idea was to make it look like another junkie overdose. The cops would assume that Mai had relapsed after her testimony, and she would finally be out of his life forever.
If they didn't finish off Mai now, he would get caught, and he would never be able to get his revenge on the woman who had destroyed everything for him. Seto tapped his phone against his lips, realizing at once what he must do. Run.
XXXXXX
After what seemed like hours of searching, the gang finally stood in front of a mirror. Hidden on the third floor, Kaiba had recognized it as the one in the dining room, smiling in relief. He turned towards Marik, figuring the Egyptian would be the best to ask, since he had experience beating a darker half.
"So, what do I do now?" Marik smiled, reaching forward and touching the mirror gently.
"Think about where you came from. Your past, the things that were done to hurt you. You need to admit who you are, the things that you have held on to that have allowed your darker self to exist. Once you admit them, you can let them go." Kaiba rolled his eyes, wondering if he was really going to go through with this. A glance at Atemu, and he was ready, reaching forward and touching the mirror himself.
"My parents were killed when my brother was a baby, and my family who was supposed to take care of me abandoned us and took all of our money. I manipulated my adopted father into taking both of us home, and spent the next few years of my life being abused. Gozaburo didn't met a discipline tactic he didn't like, and I suffered for Mokuba's sake until the day I killed that bastard." Kaiba paused here, surprised to feel a sharp pang in his heart. Marik smiled at him, convincing him to continue.
"I took over Kaiba Corp. I worked hard, sacrificed everything that I had, and I was the best, until the day I fought a battle with Yugi Muto. I couldn't get him out of my head, I became obsessed even to the point of hurting my little brother. I was so angry when I couldn't beat him, I could have lost everything I worked for because of him, and the board was ready to hand over my company to someone else just because I lost one game. Then Pegasus took Mokuba, and I almost lost him because I wasn't strong enough, smart enough to win."
Kaiba leaned his head forward, simply wanting a moment to collect himself, not prepared when he fell through the mirror onto his dining room floor.