Thank you all for your kind reviews. This will be one hell of a chapter I hope. LOL It should be a little more exciting than the previous chapters. Anyway let's get this one started and focus more on the story than chatting. I hope you like it.

WARNINGS! Violence, foul language (including words that I would never use, but the character would)

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Chapter Four

A loud crash slammed in the front of the apartment. I jerk up and attempted to stand, but my sore back refused to allow swift movement. "Katsuya!" a deep voice boomed, startling Jou from his sleep. Judging by the frightened look on his face, I figured it was his father, but how? How did he find out where I lived? He must have followed us here. There was no other way to him to know. But, if he did, why did he break in when we first arrived? I growled. Of course they wouldn't allow me to have a phone because I would call my brother, but for times like this it would be great to have a phone.

I turned to Jou. "Jou, do you have a cellphone? Jou?" I asked again, realizing that he wasn't answering me. He curled around his legs and hid his face. I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder, but he jerked away nearly colliding with the floor. He was too scared. I wouldn't be able to get anything out of him right now. I heard his father throwing things around in the other rooms. I had no choice. I would have to defend Jou here. I wouldn't be able to move Jou without his father noticing.

The door slammed opened. "Here you are, you little faggot. Hiding out with your boyfriend. This is why your mother left because she couldn't stand looking at a diseased individual like you" Every word he spoke angered me more and more. I glanced back, noticing that Jou was attempting to block the noise with his hands.

I stepped in front of him, guarding Jou. "Get out of my house."

"As if I'd take orders from a filthy fag like you." Jou's father swung his fist at me, but I ducked and kneed him in the gut. He coughed and heaved, falling to the floor. I stood above him for a few minutes, enjoying the suffering I caused him. I turned around to look at Jou.

"Look out!" Jou shouted as I felt something plunged into my side. Biting my lip, I moved away from Jou's father. "Seto!" Jou jumped off the bed and knelt down beside me as if he wasn't afraid to begin with. I moved my hand up so I could see what the moisture was that I was feeling at my side. Blood. Blood covered my hand. "Seto, stay with me."

My vision blurred, but I did manage to see Jou's father grab him and pull him close. He licked the side of his cheek before placing the blood from his hand on his cheek. "You like having your lover's blood all over you." He placed the knife in Jou's hand. "End his suffering. You know a wound like that will bleed slowly and draw out his death for several hours. Finish the job, and I won't beat you for running away. We'll pretend like none of this happened and move to another country like before."

Jou knelt before me with the knife gently in his grip. He was in some sort of trance. "Jou, I can protect you," I whispered, watching his every movement.

"What are you waiting for, Katsuya? You weren't this hesitant to the other man." The other man? His father made him do this before. Jou switched his grip and held the knife to my throat.

I blinked my eyes slowly and relaxed. I knew nothing I could say or do will make Jou stop. His mental state was damaged and it would take longer than a few seconds to snap him out of this trace. My two regrets were that I wouldn't be able to tell Mokuba goodbye or save Jou from all the suffering he'll received in the future. "I'm sorry, Katsuya. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Too quickly for my blurred eyes to register, Jou turned and slammed the knife into his father's chest. Shaking he collapsed in front of me. "Jou, do you have a cellphone?" I asked again, having difficulty breathing.

"I'll call an ambulance."

"No, let me use it." Jou handed it over without any further questions. I dialed a number that I could never forget. "Mokuba," I softly whispered when he picked up the phone.

"Seto! Are you alright? What happened ? I thought you were going to call me."

"Mokuba," I tried again. "I need your help."

"Seto? You don't sound so good."

"I need you to send Roland and the medical team to the location on this phone." I left the phone on so that Mokuba can track it better without saying anything more. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.

"Kaiba, keep your eyes open. Talk to me. Do something."

I looked up at Jou and lost all sense. I pulled him close and kissed him. "Is that doing something?" That's the last thing I remembered.

When I awoke again, the bed I lied on felt soft and comfortable. It felt familiar. I attempted to roll over, but my side unleashed an intense about of pain. I groaned and stared up at the light blue ceiling. "Mr. Kaiba! I'm so glad you're awake. You had us all worried."

"Roland," I said, though my voice was dry and strained. "Where's the mutt?"

"Resting in your guest bedroom. When we found you, he was passed out lying next to you."

"What about his father?"

"We turned him over to the police. He's going to live long enough to be tried. Mr. Jonouchi will have to go to trial and testify, but they gave him clearance to come home with us as long as I gave them this address. The doctors say he'll be fine. I've even set up a psychiatrist meeting if he chooses to go to one. As for you, sir, the doctor wishes you be bedridden for a few days until he knows the stitches will hold."

"Where's Mokuba?"

"Making a statement. Apparently word got out that you were stabbed in America."

"Great. When Mokuba gets back, can you tell him I wish to see him? And if the mutt wakes up sometime in this century, bring him into my room so we can talk. One more thing. Bring me my laptop and all the stats from the company, listing back to the day I left. If I'm not permitted to leave this bed, I'm going to get at least some catch up work down."

"Yes, sir." Roland left and I looked around the room. It felt oddly great being home. I looked at myself in the mirror attached to my dresser. I pulled at my dark stands. First order of business after I get out of this bed is to get rid of this black hair. I blinked, noticing that my green eyes changed back to blue. At least they took the contacts out. I felt a little like myself now.

Roland walked back in with my laptop, a large manila folder, and a glass of water. I smiled at the water and nodded to him. "Can you schedule a hair appointment for sometime next week. I need to get this black out of my hair and get it cut back to normal."

"I've already arranged for that. It's next Thursday at one o'clock."

"Thank you."

"If you need anything else, please contact me."

"I will." I opened the folder and laptop, glancing first at our sales history. Sales didn't decline too much. In fact, it kept steady as if I was there just not promoting anything. Reaching over and grabbing my glasses, I put them on to see some of the smaller figures. No layoff or extensive expenses were used. I opened up my folders, noticing that my newest interactive video game was ready and awaiting promotional work. I smiled as I opened up a new document and arranged for commercials on all forms of communications. I typed a generic letter up to send out to all television stations, radio channels, newspapers, internet ads, and retailing stores. I needed to make a large comeback to get the sales to be more profitable than they were. Sending the letter out to all the usual clients, I moved over to a different e-mail, sending a separate e-mail to my usual ad writers.

I was about to continue on when Mokuba quietly opened the door. "It's okay, Mokuba, I'm not sleeping."

"How are you, Seto?"

"Obviously drugged up so I don't feel any pain, but very pleased with you."

"With me?"

"The company looks great." Mokuba smiled and sat down on the bed. "I just sent out memos to the ad writers and all our usual clients premiering the new game."

"I was going to do that yesterday, but you gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry. Has any suspicious people been hanging around the company?"

"Oddly enough, yes. Who are those people?"

"Tell their description to our security and don't let them get close to this house. Until I get better, I want you to stay in the house."

"Seto, I don't understand."

"Please just do what I say for now. I'll tell you everything in a couple days."

Mokuba sighed and stood up. "Alright. Under one condition. Tell me how you and Jou found each other."

I smiled. "I have no idea. We just did." A quiet knock came. "Come in." Jou stuck his head in.

"How are you doing?"

"I should be asking the same thing of you, Mutt."

Jou growled and walked back to the door. "Well it's nice that you're fine, Rich Boy. I'll take my leave."

"Jou, stay. Mokuba, can you give us a few minutes?"

"Sure." Mokuba got up and left. As soon as the door closed, I continued.

"Jou, please come sit down. We need to talk." Jou didn't move for a few seconds before he walked over to a chair and sat down on it. I figured that was close enough. I didn't expect him to sit next to me. Why would someone who's been through so much want to come in contact with anyone. "I know you've been through a lot, and this is going to sound forward and rude, but I want to help you. I have plenty of doctors that could get you tested to make sure you're healthy, and I can get you in to see a psychiatrist. I want the best for you, Jou."

"Is that why you kissed me?"

I barely remembered the kiss, but I figured dishonesty will get us nowhere. I looked directly into his eyes. "I care about you, Jou."

"You care about me. Is that Seto Kaiba talk for something?"

He wanted me to say it. He was testing me. I sighed and put the laptop on the floor with the folder. "If you want me to say it I will. Jou, I've fallen in love with you. I've had a lot of respect for you in the past, and I can't forgive your father for taking away that fire you once had. I feel terrible for not looking for you when I realized you disappeared off the face of the Earth. You were suffering for two years, and I didn't even care to look for you." I didn't notice Jou move away from the chair and came over to me. I felt my chin being lifted and his lips touched mine.

"No one can ever take my fire away from me. They can dim it, but never take it away. If it will help your guilty conscious, I forgive you. There was no way for you to know. In the end, it was you that saved me. I will do whatever need be to get better." Jou ran his fingers along my cheek. "If you do one thing for me."

"Anything," I whispered.

"Give me time. Let me heal first. I don't want to hurt you just like you don't want to hurt me. Oh and one more thing. Get rid of that black hair. I've always loved your burnet hair and bright blue eyes."

I smiled and kissed him. "You can have as much time as you want. As for my hair, don't worry. I have an appointment next week to get rid of the black. Do you want to sleep in here? I know the house is huge. I don't want you getting scared."

Jou smiled. "I toss and turn a lot."

"It's a large bed. I barely take up a small section. If you don't want to get that close to me, I can turn that couch into a bed."

"I think that would be better." I got up slowly and walked over to the couch. As I passed the window, I saw a black figure ran away from the front gate and into the house across the way. "If you tell me how to do it, I can do it."

I blinked and looked back at Jou. "There's a lever under the middle. Pull on it and the bed will slide out." I got a pillow and a blanket from the closet. Once Jou settled in, I moved back to my bed and lied back down.

Jou quietly lied there for a few minutes while I decided that the medication was making me too drowsy to stay awake. "What did you notice out the window?"

"Nothing important. Go to sleep, Jou." He sighed, and I heard him flop over. I'm sorry, Jou. I wasn't too sure what I saw to begin with. I would need Roland to look into that house tomorrow.

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WOW! That is a long chapter. Took me all day. I know this is out earlier than I thought, but I didn't feel like moving today so I wrote this instead. I'll try to get the next chapter out by Tuesday night at the latest. As always thanks for reading please review.

Angel Dove