Disclaimer: That's it! I'm rebelling from now on! No more disclaimers! You can read it in the other chapters!

Flashback

... The Ceo's eyes were like Pegasus's, so sharp Yugi was afraid he'd be cut, or even be shattered like a mirror, until he was gone, all gone, but Yami moved in front of him so fast Yugi only saw a blur.

"We are leaving, now." He said in a voice that could have frosted a window pane. "Yugi has had enough for one night." Yami scooped up his hikari and strode out quickly, so quickly that they were in the car before Yugi's sobs could start.

End Flashback

Marik's POV

Marik saw Yami hoist Yugi and leave, the look in Yami's eyes meaning death to anyone who tried to stop them.

This was not good. All of Jou's plans might be null if this meant what he thought. Marik shuddered, remembering back to his own time, millennia ago, where he had been as Yugi was, with no one to help him.

/ /Malik, could you ask Bakura to meet me in the bathroom?/ / He asked his hikari.

/Sure, but If I find out you're screwing him you're not getting any from me again.../ Said Malik mischievously.

/ /Only you, koi.../ / He sent back lovingly, already walking into the bathroom.

He could always trust Malik not to ask questions, trust him with anything. Bakura slipped in after him, but Kaiba was in tow. "What is it, Marik?" Asked Bakura semi-curiously.

"I'll tell you", he shot back, "When you get Kaiba out of here. I need your help with something."

"Not so fast, Spirit!" Said Kaiba harshly, surveying the cool green wallpaper and mirror to make sure Marik hadn't wrecked anything. "This is my house, and I doubt you need 'help' with a raging hard on or anything. No, I suspect this has to do with Yugi."

Marik groaned. Trust that damn fool to figure it out.

"Just-stay quiet then." He grumbled, turning to Bakura.

"If you channel your power into the Millinium Rod with me we can project an image onto a mirror, namely this one." He said, gesturing at the mirror in front of them. "But I have a hunch that the hikaris and Jou shouldn't see this..." He trailed off uncomfortably.

Yes, he might have some idea about what was wrong with Yugi but he wasn't about to say them aloud.

Why do the innocents always get hurt? He asked himself, a familiar pang in his stomach.

Bakura nodded in silent agreement and they both concentrated on flowing energy into the Rod. They needed to know what was wrong with Yugi... Yugi... Yami... Light flickered in the mirror and Seto absently turned the light off so they could see better.

Yugi sat crying on a bed, Yami next to him. The sobs were low and deep, a wound that wouldn't heal.

"Shhhhhh..... Its all right... I'm here, Yugi. I'll protect you. Just let it all out. He won't hurt you again..."

Yugi curled up into a ball, moaning through his tears. "Yami, he hurts me again and again and I want it to stop but it won't stop, oh God it hurts where are you, Yami?"

Yami flinched, tears beginning to spill down his cheeks as well. "Just tell me everything, Yugi..." He murmured.

"He's coming, I can feel his footsteps, I cant make a sound, not one, not even to breathe. He can here me, he's going to punish me, because ! I can see the blood, so bright, so salty. He makes me drink it, drink my own life, and then he takes the knife and does it all over again..."

Marik swallowed hard. He could remember the panic, remember the tears stinging at his own eyes. Back in the mirror Yugi was slowly falling asleep, gathered in Yami's arms.

"Is that you, Yami?" He asked sleepily, in a tiny thread of voice that Marik had to strain to hear.

"He said you would never love me. He said you hated me. He said-" Yugi yawned widely, then went on. "...He said I was broken, and he's right. I'm just a doll. You should go away now. I'm not worth it..."

Bakura and Seto were in shock, and the last image before Marik stopped the rod from eavesdropping was Yami running out of the bedroom, tears dripping unnoticed.

Marik slowly turned around the face Bakura, who looked devestated. "Come on, Bakura!" He snapped. "We have to talk to him!"

Kaiba nodded. "Let's go." He said grimly.

Bakura laughed, a harsh sound that rebounded against the walls.

"Not you. You know nothing of loss. Marik and I know what it is like to lose love to the sands of time, and we know the smell of blood as much as Yugi does; we have regained some of what we lost but the pharoah hasn't. Be glad you have Jou, who loves you. You must stay and entertain your guests."

The last words took on a mocking note, causing the president of Kaiba Corp to bristle, but he turned and stalked back to the party, leaving Marik and Bakura with their thoughts.

"I would not do this, you understand." Muttered Bakura abruptly. "But Yugi is Ryou's friend, and no angel deserves such pain as we have known." Marik nodded, for once in perfect accord with the Tomb Robber.

He better be here! Growled Marik to himself.

The park was lit by street lamps and the wind had picked up, not exactly the ideal place to spend a few hours, but this was the last place Yami might have gone. Suddenly Bakura crowed in triumph. "He's under that tree!" Marik and Bakura ran to Yami, whose red eyes glowed faintly in the night.

"Hello, Yami." Said Marik easily. "We want to talk to you." Yami didn't reply; he slumped forward, depression in every line of his body.

"Who did it, Yami? Who raped Yugi?" Asked Bakura softly, with a hint of a growl in his voice. If it was anyone they knew, or if he had gone unpunished... "And you know you can tell us. Not even our hikaris will find out if you wish."

"It's so ironic..." Sighed Yami. "That the vaunted creator of duel monsters, the very game that allowed us to gain a body, could kidnap an innocent child for an entire month..." His voice cracked. "Yes, that's right! Great and Wonderful Maxamillion Pegasus, a child molester."

Marik was shocked, but he had to keep Yami talking. "How did he do it, Yami?"

Yami's voice sounded broken and lost, but he started the story.

"Yugi was bored during the summer. What else could he be? Bakura and Ryou were going to Egypt, and the rest of you were always gone. I was spending most of my time with Kaiba, but I thought that it would be okay, that Yugi could take care of himself. One day Anzu came by right as I was leaving with Seto, and she wanted to come with us so I fobbed her off on Yugi. You see? It was my fault. I was in the middle of...you know...with Seto when I felt the Millennium Puzzle leave Yugi." Marik saw an effervescent tear fly down Yami's face as he continued.

"I tried to justify not going home to check. It had always seemed that Yugi liked Anzu, so I thought that Anzu might have gotten into his pants. It hurt so much to think about that I didn't go home until the next day, and by the time I realized that Yugi was really gone, it was too late. It took me a month to find him. A MONTH!!! I left him with that rapist for thirty-one days, 744 hours! I traced his scent until it got to Pegasus's mansion, and then I basically went berserk."

His voice went lower and lower, until Marik and Bakura could barely hear him. "Yugi was chained to a bed, so bruised and battered I couldn't even recognize him at first. All the blood... It smelt of it, reeked of it. He didn't realize it was me, at first. He thought it was Pegasus, and when I tried to get him out..."

Yami covered his face with his hands, as if to block out the images. "That bastard! The first time I saw Yugi's soul room after that the walls were all replaced with mirrors, all bloodstained. They reflected the scars he had. Ra, there are so many, inside and out!"

"What did you do to Pegasus, Yami?" Broke in Bakura.

"First I tied him up so tight that his bones popped. Then I cut off his arms, and then his legs, and then his tongue, until all he could do was scream in agony." A mirthless grin lit Yami's face as he recalled it.

TBC