Seto was rather glad he'd dressed down for his search through the city. It hadn't changed much from what he remember, which meant the part of town where he was most likely to find Jou was still a shithole. He simply turned up the collar of his short leather jacket and quickened his pace. As long as he looked like he belonged, he wouldn't be bothered.

If someone bothered him, they'd regret it.

He had no idea what he was looking for. His memories of Jou were probably vastly different than the Jou he was searching for.

Hopefully he'll still have that big mouth of his... Seto shook his head a bit. Only Jounouchi would come out of this without being snapped in half... He paused, brooding a bit, glancing down a dark alley. Maybe that's why I found him attractive... he was strong, stronger than me in some ways. He felt slightly bitter at that thought, but forced it back. If he's still alive, he may still be that strong.

He sighed and leaned against the nearest sanitary wall. How am I going to find Jou in this city of bums? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack...

:The Rod has touched his mind before: Seth broke into his thoughts quietly. :It can be used to find him again...:

:Why are you helping me: Seto blinked. :I want to find someone who will take my attention away from you...:

:I want you to be happy.: Seth's voice was soft. :That is all that matters to me. I am more worried about your wife. She needs you more than anything and anyone now...:

:Jou might need me as much or more...: He argued quickly. It was the truth. The Rod was tugging him deeper into the bad part of town. :Especially where we're going... and he's been here for so long...:

:It is your life and your heart.: Seth said quietly. :I have no right to dictate it to you.:

Seto fell silent. :Just let me save him, yami... please...:

Seth nodded. :Of course.:

Seto nodded and followed the tug of the Rod to the darkest, dankest alley he'd seen yet. It stank like raw sewage, there were puddles of unidentifiable liquid everywhere, and he continually had to avoid them. Seth was horrified. :We're going to take someone who is living here

:I have to save him: Seto insisted. :It's my fault he's here, I have to get him out.:

:So you say: Seth murmured, and fell silent. Seto continued his way into the alley. The Rod "tugged" him right an he turned to see a very large, dirty box now in front of him.

:He's here...:

Seth "felt"disgusted. :And we have to touch whatever's in there:

"Yes, you ass..." Seto muttered. "Jou? Are you in there?"

The box moved a bit, and a slightly cracked, hoarse voice drifted out of it. "What's that, Red-eyes? You don't say..."

"..." Seto knelt down and looked in the box. Jounouchi Katsuya was petting his Red-Eyes Black Dragon card and talking to it. While he couldn't fault him- God knew he'd done the same thing to his Blue-Eyes more than once in the asylum- it was still rather unnerving. "Jounouchi?"

Glazed and bloodshot brown eyes met his. "Huh? How'd you know that?"

Seto sighed "I see you haven't gotten any better..." He studied him openly. His hair was filthy and matted, his clothes even dirtier and torn, and the smell was appalling. "Christ, Jounouchi, I've seen dead men better than you..."

Jou blinked dazedly up at him. "You have pretty blue eyes..."

Seto sighed. Dammit... He quickly pulled on a pair of leather gloves and grabbed Jou by the hair. "Get out of there..."

Jou yelped loudly and scrambled out. "Ok, ok, hold on a minute..." He grabbed his deck- which, amazingly, was in good condition- and stood up slowly, wavering a bit.

Seto made a note to disinfect all his clothing when they got back to the mansion. Ann burn his gloves. And Jou's clothing. "Come on, let's go home. We need to get you cleaned up..." His nose wrinkled. "In more ways than one..."

"Hol' on..." Jou stumbled over and kicked another bum, lying nearby. Slurred curses were exchanged, and Jou snatched several packets of something from the other man. Seto sighed mentally. Another problem to take care of.

"Ok..." the blonde stumbled back. "Where're we goin' again?"

"Home," Seto said shortly and hauled him off. He didn't dare take a limo. God knew what the driver would think. God knew how bad the smell would be in a small, confined area. Besides, it wasn't too far of a walk.

Only about ten miles.

Dammit.

Halfway there, he got a cab. They smelled foul anyway, this wasn't much of a change.

He dragged Jou, who still seemed blissfully out of it, into the mansion without alerting anyone to the fact that he was home, and shoved him into the nearest bathroom. "Strip. Now. To the skin."

Jou blinked at him, then realization dawned. "Ohhh... well, if you'd told me that's what you wanted we coulda done it back at th' alley... didn' have ta come here..." He started to undress, leaving his clothes in a little pile.

"No." Seto said firmly. "You're taking a bath, Jou. Get in the tub."

"Aw, you want me clean, huh?" Jou shrugged and got into the tub, slowly starting to come down off his high.

Seto sighed softly. In more ways than one... He itched to shower, but Jou was more important right now. He did, however, throw the gloves into a wastebasket and scrubbed his hands.

"Can't remember my last bath..." Jou mumbled, sinking into the water.

"I can tell," Seto muttered to himself, pulling on a pair of latex gloves and put Jou's clothing in the wastebasket with his gloves, placed his deck off to one side to be disinfected later, and rifled through the clothes, finding several interesting packets of drugs. He put a little aside to test to see what it was, then quickly flushed the rest down the toilet. Then he set the contents of the metal wastebasket on fire and watched them burn with an edge of glee. Jou seemed to be completely enthralled by the bath, however, and missed it completely.

Feeling smug and triumphant for no reason at all, Seto turned and looked at Jou. "Stay here," he commanded, and moved off into the other room to get some of his own clothing for Jou to wear. The dazed boy watched him leave, and blinked slowly, then went back to playing with the water.

Seto returned in moments and dumped fresh clothes to one side and approached Jou. "Time to scrub." He held out a brush, the kind used to curry horses.

Jou took one look at it and paled. At least he had that much sense about him still. "You- you're not touchin' me with that!"

Seto threw a washcloth and some sweetly-scented soap at him. "Then scrub. We can do this the hard way or the easy way." He tapped the Rod against his leg. "I am not adverse to either."

Jou went, if possible, even paler. "G-g-get that thing away from me!"

Seto raised an eyebrow, but put it aside. "Very well. Then scrub. I'll do your hair." He stalked over and made a face. "As best as I can..."

"Right..." Jou started to scrub himself off, making a face at how pale he was under all the grime.

Seto finally poured water over his hair and shook his head. "Get out, this water is too dirty..." He pulled the plug and let it drain while he pushed the other boy into the shower and stood with him, unmindful of the fact that he was getting soaked as well.

Jou was starting to tremble violently. Seto hurried him out and sat him down. "Get dressed."

Jou blinked and looked around. "Where's my stuff?"

"Your deck is in my office, I burned your clothes, and I flushed your drugs down the toilet." Seto responded crisply.

"You flushed my drugs!" Jou stood up quickly, eyes slightly panicked.

"Yes, I did. Sit down," Seto's voice was slightly harsh. Jou sat. "Listen to me. You don't need the drugs. You need to relax. You need to eat something. You need to rest. You do not need the drugs, understand?"

Jou nodded numbly, eyes vacant. Seto continued. "You will not be alone at any time. I will be with you, or Mokuba. Or my yami, Seth. If we cannot be with you, you will be sitting with my wife, Tasmin. Is that understood?"

"Yeah..." Jou nodded slowly.

"Good. Now let's get you something small to eat, and I need you to meet Tasmin.."

Jou nodded and let himself be steered off towards the kitchen. Seto crammed some food down his throat, not much, but some, then dragged him back to meet Tasmin. He actually felt a little nervous now. What was she going to think of him? A strung-out street punk her husband had once known...

He didn't have to worry about that. She was unconscious. She looked like shit too. Seto leaned close to him and murmured in his ear, as if he were afraid of waking her. "She's been through hell. My stepfather raped her repeatedly, beat her, tortured her, knocked her up, then made her miscarry four hours ago. So watch yourself."

Jou winced. "Oh, damn... Poor girl, no wonder she looks so bad... Hey, I won't lay a hand on her or anything, I swear..."

Mokuba glanced up. "Niichan? Jou!"

Seto smiled at Mokuba. "Hey, little brother... any change?" Jou simply waved a bit.

Mokuba shook his head sadly. "She stirred a little bit a while ago, but other than that, nothing..."

Seto sighed softly. "All right, thank you, Mokuba, I'll talk to you later, all right? And feel free to go to sleep, don't stay up all night looking at her."

Mokuba chuckled softly. "Ok, niichan, you sleep too."

Seto nodded. "I will..." He ushered Jou into a separate bedroom with two twin beds in it, right next to a bathroom. "I've been on every sort of drug known to man, Jou... I know what you're going to go through, and I know how hellish it's going to be..."

Jou gave a dry snort, sounding more like his old self than he had yet. "Joyous. Thanks for the encouragement, Kaib."

Seto snorted at him. "You're welcome. I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep. I suggest you do the same. But don't sneak out... Seth will be keeping an eye on you."

Jou sighed. "I'll only get up to go to the bathroom, ok? I promise."

Seto nodded. "Good. Goodnight." He fell into bed and was unconscious nearly instantly. Jou sighed. He really was exhausted.

For that matter, Jou wasn't in much better shape. He also lay down and curled up. He knew he had to sleep, because all too soon, he'd be in the bathroom throwing up everything he'd eaten today, and yesterday, and probably, it would feel like, for years.

At least he wasn't alone this time. It was some comfort. He smiled as he drifted of to sleep. It was the first time he had fallen asleep smiling for years.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

A/N: . Oy... life sucks... I'm gonna be posting less and less as school gets worse and worse... damn Organic Chem! I'm not sure how I did, but... er... I'd rather not think about it...

Dark Magician Girl/Hikaru: Oh, yes, a fivesome. : grins: It'll show up sooner or later... just need to decide when... Trust me, it'll be most interesting. : grins more: Be very jealous of Tasmin... I torture her a lot, but I always make it up to her... :; snickers:

nicole-purple: "Wrath of Khan"? Funny? What planet are you from? We are so debating this later, but you're at work now so I can't... . ...

leafzelindor: Gak! Finally got it out! Behold the Jou-torment! Bwaahahahahahaha!

Um... will... more people review? Please: chibi-eyes: