Disclaimer: I own nothing but this plot. All factual information comes from research I have done for this fic.

Chapter 4

Jou was lying still chained to the bed by his wrists. He was so out of it he didn't really know what was going on or care really. The highlight of his day came when Ushio bought him his latest fix and watched with greedy eyes as he shot up knowing that he could take his pleasures while Jou was on his high. Jou sometimes thrashed and moaned that he didn't want this but his reward for just behavior was a punch in the face and a warning to shut up or else.

It had been two weeks since Ushio had started keeping Jou prisoner and using him as a sex slave. Today he decided to have a few of his friends over to take their pleasures from his pet. Ushio had not let Jou off the bed for anything merely removing the sheets when they got dirty and spoon-feeding him. Jou's wrists were so cut up from the handcuffs that they often bled running down his arms and staining the bed. His face was battered and bruised and hardly recognizable. His hair was dirty and no longer looked blonde, it was plastered to his head with sweat and dried blood but Ushio didn't care he found it a turn on.

There was a buzz on the intercom and Ushio released the door to let in his friends. In walked six men all with lusty expectation in their eyes at the fun Ushio had promised them.

"He's in there. Have fun and punch him if he misbehaves." Ushio said with an evil grin.

The six men nodded and entered the bedroom. Jou was less out of it than usual and saw the men. Fear entered his clouded mind and his bloodshot eyes opened wide.

"Please, no…" he whispered.

"Shut up scum." The biggest of the men said and gestured to one of the others to shut Jou up properly. The punch knocked Jou out cold and one by one the men abused him while he was unconscious. All but one, who was shocked by the teen's appearance on the bed. He backed out the room and saw Ushio sitting in front of the TV.

"Hey man, I think I'll come and try him tomorrow." He said leering and not wanting to show his shock.

"Heh the others worn him out huh?" Ushio said chuckling.

"Yeah." He said and left the building.

What Ushio didn't know was that this man was part of an operation by the police set to trap Ushio…

A week ago Seto along with the rest of the gang, even Bakura who had agreed to help find Jou because even though he would never admit it, he liked the blonde, had started working with the police to find Jou.

They had searched the city with no results and were feeling that the situation was hopeless. Seto was almost beside himself with worry but only Yami and Yugi truly knew how he felt, as they were the ones he had confided in. It had been Malik who had made the breakthrough coming up with the idea of persuading some of the addicts to help them on the promise that they would get professional all expenses paid help with their addiction courtesy of Kaiba Corps. Some of them had refused saying that they didn't care but a few had agreed to help and eventually after three days, they had found someone who knew where Jou was and he would lead them to him providing he got a new identity and life somewhere else. Ushio was not one you would want to double cross!

Now the police were surrounding the building silently and under cover of darkness. It was early morning and hardly anyone was around. Those who did make an appearance quickly retreated and shut their doors knowing that there would be a raid on someone's apartment and praying it was not theirs.

Ushio was asleep in his chair in front of the TV, still out of it after drinking himself into a stupor. Jou was crying and begging for his next fix. Blood was dried to his many wounds and there was not one undamaged part of his body left. In his mind he registered pain in his arms but it was more of a niggle than real pain.

There was shouting, the sound of a door splintering and Ushio yelling as he was tackled to the floor and cuffed.

Jou barely registered that his cuffs were being cut and paramedics who had been standing by were placing him on a stretcher. The informant had told the police the state Jou was in so they had prepared. Jou was carried out and Seto who had been waiting in a nearby unmarked police car, rushed over when he saw the bloodied and battered Jou brought out covered in a blanket. He had given instructions that Jou was to receive private medical care at his expense. Nothing however could have prepared him for the mess that was Jou.

Seto climbed into the ambulance wanting to be close to the one he loved. He held Jou's hand as they raced to the hospital and a tear rolled down his cheek. If only he had admitted to Jou his feelings a long time ago this might never have happened.

"I'm so sorry puppy." He said and wiped the tear away before anyone saw it.

At the hospital Jou was rushed away to be taken care of and Seto was led to the waiting room where he was glad to see Yami, Yugi and the others waiting for him.

"How is he?" Yugi asked worry clear in his voice.

"I don't know. He's pretty messed up but the doctors here are great." Seto said and sat down heavily on a chair.

Knowing all they could do was wait, they all sat. Yami held Yugi's hand and squeezed it from time to time. Marik and Malik not knowing what to do or say disappeared outside to smoke, Ryou and Bakura just sat staring into space. Seto suddenly got up and started pacing.

"I wish they would tell us what was going on." He said in frustration.

"They'll come when they know Seto." Yami said his voice calm and reassuring but Seto continued to pace impatiently.

Marik and Malik returned and sat down. All of them were worried and hoped that Jou was going to be okay.

The door opened eventually and a doctor poked his head round.

"Mr Kaiba?"

"Yes?" Seto said ceasing his pacing and fixing the doctor with a piercing stare.

"Could I have a word in private please?"

Seto nodded briefly and left the room with the doctor. He followed him to a small side office.

"Mr Kaiba, I'm afraid Katsuya is in a bad way." He began looking grave. "Both his legs are broken. His left in two places and his pelvis is also broken along with two ribs and his right wrist. He also has a fractured skull and we are waiting on the results of a scan to see if he has any internal damage. We are also testing for any sexually transmitted diseases as he has been badly abused sexually by several males."

Seto heard it all but was having trouble absorbing the extent of Jou's injuries.

"Oh my god." He whispered and sank into the nearest chair. "Can I see him?"

"Not yet I'm afraid, our team of doctors is still working on him to make him comfortable and sedate him. It seems the one who kept him locked up was giving him a high dose of heroin and if he is not sedated, he will likely try to escape and obtain more."

"Thank you." Seto said quietly. "I need to tell the others now, they will be worried."

"Yes of course Mr Kaiba." The doctor said and led the way back to the waiting room.

Everyone stood as he entered and all knew by his face that it was not going to be good news.

Slowly and with pain in his voice, he repeated everything that the doctor had told him. There were gasps all round as Seto told them the list of Jou's horrific injuries.

Yugi collapsed into a chair and stared straight ahead of him. Yami tried to hug him, soothe him and tell him it would all be okay but Yugi pushed him away.

"If we had pushed Jou and found out he was on drugs or even realised what was going on we could have helped him!" he cried and a huge sob escaped him. With tears running down his face, he fled the room. Yami sat stunned for a few seconds before getting up and following his boyfriend.

/Aibou, we didn't know./ he said through the mind link.

/Well we should have known/ Yugi's mental voice came back angrily.

/Hai I know./ Yami said sadly wishing himself that they had known but now they had to concentrate on helping Jou to get better.

He found Yugi outside sitting on a bench and gazing across the grassy embankment in front of the hospital.

He gathered the small form into his arms and this time Yugi didn't push him away but allowed himself to be held while his tears fell.

Yami suddenly caught sight of someone hurrying towards the entrance and thought he recognized the person.

"Yugi look I think it's Jou's dad." Yami said and Yugi looked to where Yami was indicating.

They watched as the man hurried into the hospital and they could see him speaking to the girl behind the reception desk before setting off at speed in the direction of the waiting room.

"Come on Aibou." Yami said and Yugi dried his eyes.

When they got back to the room where everyone was waiting, they found Seto speaking to Jou's dad quietly informing him of what the doctor had said. Everyone else was sitting. Ryou's eyes were red where he had been crying and Bakura uncharacteristically had an arm round his shoulders. Marik and Malik were staring at nothing in particular and Yami turned his attention to Jou's dad and he could hear Seto telling him quietly that he would personally make sure that Jou received the best care that money could buy.

Quite suddenly Jou's dad broke down in tears and Seto helped him to a chair where he buried his head in his hands. Ryou started to cry again and Yugi fought back his own tears.

"It's all my own fault." He sobbed. "If I hadn't drunk so much so often Jounouchi wouldn't have needed an escape." Yugi's heart went out to him. "I'm not going to drink any more." His dad vowed and Yami hoped he meant it but he knew no amount of remorse or vows would stop him feeling guilty. That was something he was going to have to live with for the rest of his life.

The doctor returned and beckoned to Seto who followed him out along with Jou's father.

They returned to the small office room and the doctor gestured for them both to sit.

"I'm afraid it is not good news." The doctor began and Seto's heart sank like a stone and a painful lump rose in his throat. Jou's father just sat but all the colour drained from his face.

"It seems that Katsuya has suffered severe damage internally brought on by the repeated sexual abuse." The doctor continued gently. "We are still awaiting the blood test results but they will take a few weeks to come through. We need you to sign a consent form to operate and repair the damage internally." He handed a form to Seto who handed it to Jou's dad.

"You should sign it." He said still shocked at the doctor's words. "I want to see him before he goes to theatre." He said to the doctor who paused considering and then nodded.

"Yes that will be all right. Be warned he is hooked up to machines and drips so try and prepare yourselves. I will also warn you that he is in a bad way and there is a chance he may not survive the surgery."

"You mean he could die on the operating table?" Jou's dad said suddenly looking at the doctor fearfully.

"Yes there is a chance. Surgery is always risky but we will do our best to ensure it goes well."

"I want to see him too."

"I think that can be arranged." The doctor said. Jou's dad signed the form and handed it back to the doctor.

"Follow me I will take you to him but you can't stay for long we need to prepare him for surgery."

"Yes of course." Seto said and Jou's dad just nodded dumbly not quite sure he could trust himself to speak having just heard he might lose his son. His guilt grew worse as they walked down to the room Jou was now in.

He was in the intensive care section of the hospital and although the doctor had done his best to warn them both, nothing could really prepare them for the sight that met them when they saw Jou lying on the bed hooked up to two drips and countless machines that bleeped at them recording everything.

Seto walked to one side of the bed and his father to the other side. Both of them took a hand and gazed down at the bruised and battered face. Seto couldn't care less what he looked like, he just wanted him to get well so he could tell him properly how he felt.

"I love you Katsuya Jonouchi." He said. "Be strong and I'll be here when you wake up."

"You really love my son?" Jou's dad said not having realised that his son was even gay let alone the CEO of Kaiba Corps wanting to be his partner!

"Yes I do and I want to look after him always." Seto said thinking that Jou was the only person on this earth to ever bring out his softer side except maybe his little brother Mokuba but he was family.

"I hardly knew my own son." He said sadly and gently squeezed Jou's hand.

"Be strong son. I've given up the drink and from now on I'll always be here for you. You have a great future with someone who loves you. Don't give up son, get well for him even if you don't for me."

There was no response from Jou but both men hoped that somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind that he had heard them and that he would fight.

The doctor returned.

"I'm sorry but we need to prepare Katsuya for surgery now. I will come and find you when we are done."

"Thank you doctor. Take good care of him."

"We will Mr Kaiba."

Seto and Jou's father left the room, which was soon filled with other doctors and nurses and returned to the waiting room.

When they got back, Seto told the others about what had transpired. Marik, Malik, Ryou and Bakura left to go home and get some rest. Seto told them to, as there was nothing they could really do and he would let them know the outcome of the operation.

He told Yami and Yugi to go home too but Yugi had insisted that they stay and secretly Seto was glad thinking that it would be good to have some friends with him.

In another area of the hospital, Jou was prepared and was under anesthetic. The porters wheeled him down to theatre for the operation to save his life. The doctors knew that without it, he would eventually bleed to death.

TBC…

Oooh another chapter done! Evil I know sorry! See you next chappie!