First of all, just a warning that there are spoilers for Stardust Crusaders here.

Otherwise, please enjoy this angsty, AU ending to Part 3 ^_^

Updates will be on Mondays and Fridays.

Price of Victory

A JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Fanfic

(AU for end of Part 3) Kakyoin survived the final battle with Dio, but at what cost? The Crusaders learn the hard lesson that victory is never without its price.

Chapter One

Polnareff hurried through the dark streets of Cairo as fast as he could, panting from exertion. He had no idea where Mr. Joestar and Kakyoin had disappeared to and Jotaro had run off as well, leaving him alone. He could only hope the kid was fine; he'd never forgive himself if something happened to Jotaro.

He had to pause for a minute, clutching at his ribs. The last thing he remembered was Dio slamming him into the side of a building, and somehow he wasn't dead so he hoped that was a sign that Jotaro had stopped Dio somehow. He still wished he could have been able to help the young man.

Though, in retrospect, maybe it was better that Polnareff stay away. After what had happened to Avdol and Iggy…

The Frenchman swallowed down the still fresh grief. There would be time for mourning later, when this was all over and they could give their friends a proper sendoff. Right now, he was heading toward where he'd seen bursts of what could only be Stand power earlier, figuring that was the most likely place to find Mr. Joestar and Kakyoin. He pushed himself upright again and continued on.

It was oddly quiet in this part of the city, and no wonder, the place was trashed. It looked like there had been one hell of a battle there.

His chest tightening with growing anxiety at the silence, Polnareff quickened his limping pace even more to a staggering run.

"Mr. Joestar?" he called out, hoping that maybe his friends would hear him and respond. "Kakyoin? Hey, can you guys hear me?"

He caught sight of a steady flow of water coming from one rooftop and frowned, glancing upward.

On the roof above, a figure sprawled on top of a crushed water tower. It was too dark for Polnareff to make out any features but he had a terrible feeling in his gut.

Ignoring the pain still radiating from his leg, foot, and now his ribs, he quickened his pace yet again and headed toward the building's fire escape, pounding upward with the last of his strength. He really hoped he wouldn't meet Dio or any other of his lackeys they might have missed at the top because he didn't think he'd have the energy to even call Silver Chariot out to the fight.

He staggered onto the roof, bent double, hands on his knees, panting. His leg and foot were numb from the pain which was almost better. He forced himself forward, shoes splashing in the water gathered on the roof.

"Hey, can you hear me?" he called to the figure. "It's me, Polnareff."

Light from a nearby building caught the figure as he got closer and he stopped with a gasp, pressing his hand to his mouth in horror as he saw the green coat and red hair.

"Mon Dieu," he choked out. "Kakyoin!"

He rushed the last few feet and reached out a hesitant hand toward the disturbingly still figure. The young redhead looked like he'd been torn apart. Blood seeped from his body, concentrated around his abdomen. Polnareff took a shuddering breath and steeled himself as he stepped forward and dragged the limp figure away from the destroyed water tower, pulling him into his arms.

He staggered back, even Kakyoin's slight figure too much for Polnareff's exhausted body, and he simply collapsed to his knees, cradling his friend in his arms.

"Kakyoin, please don't do this, please," he pleaded, tears already sliding down his cheeks. "You stupid, stupid idiot!"

He reached up with his unbandaged hand to press against the still-bleeding wound in Kakyoin's abdomen, trying to stop the last vestiges of blood flowing from his friend's body. With his other hand, he cradled Kakyoin's head, pressing his fingers against his throat to search for a pulse. He could not loose Kakyoin too. Not after Avdol and Iggy, and without knowing what had happened or what might yet happen to Mr. Joestar and Jotaro. Why did Polnareff's life always seem to be about losing people?

And then, like his prayers had been answered, Kakyoin twitched weakly and let out a soft moan, his head lolling against Polnareff's arm.

"Kakyoin?" he demanded, leaning close.

For a brief second, the violet eyes slitted open, then Kakyoin's body seized in Polnareff's arms and he choked, blood dribbling from his mouth.

"Merde," Polnareff breathed, pulling Kakyoin up and holding him tighter, propping his head against his shoulder as he rocked him back and forth, squeezing his eyes shut in relief. "You're gonna be fine, my friend, you will, I promise. Just hang in there."

Polnareff looked around, having no idea how he would get Kakyoin off this building. He didn't have the strength to stand, let alone carry another person.

And then another miracle came in the form of a Speedwagon helicopter, circling overhead. Polnareff looked up and rapidly waved an arm.

"Hey! Hey, down here!" he shouted.

He nearly screamed as they passed over, but they turned soon after and landed on the roof.

Men hurried out, carrying a stretcher with them and Polnareff urged them to hurry.

"Hurry! He's alive, but only barely! Please help him."

The Speedwagon agents gently extricated Kakyoin from Polnareff's arms and loaded him onto the stretcher before carrying him away. Another man helped the Frenchman to his feet and Polnareff staggered with his aid over to the helicopter.

Once inside, he sat next to Kakyoin's stretcher, reaching out to grasp the young man's pale hand as the doctors started to work on him even now, ripping open what was left of his prided school uniform to access his wounds. Polnareff felt sick as they were revealed fully.

"Do you know where Mr. Joestar and Jotaro are?" Polnareff asked the agents worriedly.

"Other operatives have been sent to pick them up," one man told him. "I'll let you know as soon as we do."

"Dio?" Polnareff croaked, feeling himself weighed down more and more.

The man shook his head. "We haven't heard anything confirmed yet."

"What isn't confirmed them?" Polnareff growled.

The man hesitated, but another spoke up from the front, turning around.

"Way they say it, sounds like Jotaro took him out," he said.

A small smile spread over Polnareff's lips. "That's our Jotaro," he murmured before he felt himself slipping.

He wanted to stay awake, keep an eye on Kakyoin, but his body had had enough and he had no more adrenaline left. Besides, it sounded like the fight was over. They all deserved to rest.

He closed his eyes and allowed unconsciousness to take him.

Jotaro tolerated the doctors tending to his wounds. Truth be told, he was exhausted. He'd never been more exhausted. He felt like he could lay down and sleep for a week. That's why he wished they'd stop bothering him and let him do just that.

But he'd be lying if he said Dio hadn't given him one hell of a beating. There wasn't really a part of Jotaro that didn't hurt. If the stab wounds weren't bad enough, the broken bones and contusions were almost worse. It wasn't every day someone threw a friggin' steamroller at you.

He glanced over to the side where Star Platinum was hovering protectively, invisible to the doctors as they bandaged him up. Jotaro suspected that it was the adrenaline still rushing through his body—the only thing still keeping him from falling unconscious—that was keeping his Stand manifested. That, and, he felt more comfortable with Star's presence at the moment since he felt so vulnerable otherwise.

It was going to take him a long time to process everything. He was still weighted down with the grief of losing Avdol and Iggy—he didn't think any of them had processed that yet, not having had the time. He was still getting over watching his grandfather die and reviving him with Star Platinum and a blood transfusion from Dio. Hell, he'd almost died too. There was more than one moment that he had been sure Dio was going to kill him.

Jotaro had never felt so acutely that he was only seventeen years old.

And then there was Polnareff and Kakyoin… Jotaro knew the Frenchman would make a full recovery, he was simply sleeping off the worst of it after the doctors had fixed him up but Kakyoin…

The old man had seemed shaken at the idea Kakyoin was even still alive. Jotaro hadn't seen his friend yet, but he knew it must be bad.

"There we go, Mr. Kujo, now we'll just give you something for the pain and leave you to rest."

"Leave it," Jotaro growled, pulling away from the doctors with a sigh. He didn't want to be doped up in some hospital so close to the place Dio had held reign only a few hours ago.

"Jotaro, you should take it."

He looked up to see the old man standing in the doorway, still looking a little pale, but not too bad for having been dead a couple hours ago.

"Get off it, old man," he muttered, glancing longingly at his ruined coat and hat sitting on a chair too far away to reach. He felt naked and vulnerable without them, covered in pretty much nothing but bandages.

Joseph sighed and came over, putting a hand on Jotaro's shoulder before turning to the doctors. "I've got him. Let us speak in private."

They filed out and the old man glanced up at Star Platinum, still hovering with a slightly worried expression. Joseph gave a small smile. "The doctors taking care of your mother called. They said her fever broke already."

Jotaro felt a little bit of the tension in his chest ease, and he loosened the fists he'd clenched in his lap. "So it worked."

"Seems like it," Joseph said, relief obvious in his voice as well.

"What about Polnareff and Kakyoin?"

"Polnareff is sleeping," Joseph told him. "Kakyoin…" He bit his lip and Jotaro glanced up at him sharply.

"What?" he demanded, chest tightening again.

Joseph inhaled slowly. "They patched him up in surgery, got some blood into him, but…his wounds were bad, they're not sure he'll recover without permanent damage."

"He'll be fine. He's stronger than that," Jotaro muttered, thinking of all the times his friend had surprised him, surprised them all, with his strength and determination on this journey. In fact, if it hadn't been for Kakyoin, they probably never would have been able to figure out what Dio's Stand power was in time. Without Kakyoin, Jotaro would probably have been killed. He owed the other student his life.

"That's not all," Joseph said grimly.

"What do you mean?" Jotaro demanded.

Joseph hesitated, shaking his head slowly. "When Kakyoin tried to trap Dio, Dio… tore Hierophant Green apart. Kakyoin was able to use his Stand to get off one more shot after that but…I just have a bad feeling that even though Kakyoin survived, Hierophant didn't."

Jotaro instinctively glanced toward Star Platinum whose head ducked slightly and Jotaro saw a look of grief in his Stand's eyes. He swallowed hard himself, remembering what Kakyoin had said once about losing a Stand. He heard what the old man wasn't saying too. That losing Hierophant like that might kill Kakyoin anyway. Jotaro hadn't even had his Stand for very long and he couldn't imagine having Star Platinum ripped away from him. Kakyoin had had his since he was a kid, it would be like losing a vital part of himself.

Jotaro bit his lip and looked down at his lap. "I'm sure he just needs time to recover, and we have plenty of that now," he said blankly.

Joseph stared at him for a long moment, then finally nodded, patting Jotaro on the shoulder gently. Jotaro still winced slightly but tried to hide it.

"You're right. We all need time to recover. You included, Jotaro. So you had best get some rest."

"Come off it, old man," Jotaro murmured, but he could feel his adrenaline finally wearing off. Star Platinum finally faded away and Jotaro sank back into the bed. His grandfather pulled the blankets up over him and he was too tired to care, and even too tired to protest when he felt the old man's fingers brush through his hair.

"Your mother would be really proud of you, kid," he heard Joseph whisper as he drifted off. "And I am too."

Polnareff limped down the hall on his crutches. He was still getting used to them, and they weren't easy to use with a couple missing fingers, but they were a necessary evil with his leg and foot both out of commission. And, well, it gave him a reason to seek aid from the hot nurses.

But right now, he wasn't thinking of potential romance. Now that he'd finally been allowed up and around, he decided he was going to pay a visit to his companions.

Mr. Joestar had told him everything that had happened but he hadn't gotten to see Jotaro and Kakyoin yet and felt he needed to in order to reassure himself that they were both okay.

He tried to force a grin onto his face as he knocked on the door of the room both the young men had been put into, before stepping inside.

"Knock, knock! How is everyone on this beautiful day?"

Jotaro was staring balefully at the tray of food he had been given, and Polnareff couldn't blame him. His own breakfast had been disgusting. He planned on sneaking out and finding something decent later.

"Not much to write home about, hm?" Polnareff said, as he lowered himself into a chair, stretching his bad leg out with a grunt. "I'll see if I can smuggle you in something later," he whispered loudly.

Jotaro sighed, dropping his fork before leaning back in his bed. "You doing okay?" he asked the Frenchman.

Polnareff gave another forced grin. "Me? I'm fantastic. Aside from the food, this place is great! It feels good to be able to relax a little." He studied his young friend carefully, noting all the bandages that covered his body under the hospital robe he was wearing, and the stiff way Jotaro was holding himself, jaw clenched in obvious pain. He looked like he'd taken one hell of a beating.

His eyes finally slid over to the other bed, his throat tightening slightly. Kakyoin was lying so still, his skin as white as the sheets he was lying on, red hair lank against the pillow. He almost looked worse than he had when Polnareff had scraped him off of the rooftop.

He clenched his fists against his knees, gritting his teeth against the fury of this whole thing, and how much it had cost them. "Has he woken up yet?" he asked Jotaro.

Jotaro glanced over at Kakyoin for a long moment before he seemed unable to look at their friend anymore and turned back to Polnareff. "No."

Polnareff bit his lip. He didn't know why he felt like this was his fault too. He knew he was already responsible for Avdol and Iggy's deaths so it only made sense that he was responsible for Kakyoin's condition too. After all, they never should have split up like that. He should have gone to help them. If they'd all gone after Dio together they might have gotten out without so many injuries. At the end of the day, Polnareff had barely even faced Dio in the final battle. He felt like anything that had happened to his friends was his fault for not pulling his weight.

Emotion overcame him and he couldn't help himself. He buried his face in his hand and gritted his teeth, trying to keep the sobs at bay.

"Hey," Jotaro said sternly, cutting through his grief. "You better not be blaming yourself for this."

Polnareff sniffed and glanced up. "I should have been there."

"It's in the past now, crying over it isn't gonna fix anything," Jotaro said firmly. "Kakyoin's stronger than that and he's gonna be fine."

It was almost a pronouncement, the way Jotaro said it, and yet Polnareff could still see some fear behind the steely aquamarine eyes. Jotaro may have won, but he also looked like he'd been beaten into the ground—physically and mentally. Polnareff was reminded that he was only a seventeen-year-old school boy, who'd nearly lost his mother, his grandfather, and his friend in one night. No one could blame him for being a little vulnerable, and yet he still seemed to be handling it better than Polnareff.

But that was Jotaro. Always cool and seemingly emotionally shut off, though Polnareff had come to see that was more a form of self-defense than anything. During the journey, he had seen through the very small cracks to the sensitive boy underneath that hard-boiled exterior. As a man who wore every emotion on his sleeve, Polnareff was almost jealous of Jotaro's ability to compartmentalize. Still, he wondered how long one could bottle everything up before the pressure became too much.

Trying his hardest, Polnareff fought to bottle everything up himself, trying to keep his lip from trembling. There was nothing they could do but wait anyway, and hope that Kakyoin still had the strength in him to pull through.

"You're right," he finally managed to say. "I'm sure he'll be fine." He pushed himself up on his crutches. "I'll let you rest."

He started out again, but Jotaro called him back.

"Hey, Polnareff. You better bring me something decent to eat later."

The Frenchman gave a very small, but this time genuine, smile over his shoulder as he left the room. And as he pushed himself along laboriously on his crutches, he forced himself to see the bright side of things.

Kakyoin had no idea what had happened. First, he'd been standing there facing down Dio amidst Hierophant's trap, and within less than a blink of an eye he'd been slammed backward into the water tower, choking on his own blood and feeling as if his entire being had been ripped apart.

Something was very wrong. He could feel it, blinking heavily in horror at Dio's sneering face as Hierophant's tentacles were torn to shreds. Kakyoin could hear and feel the wretched sound of his Stand screaming in pain as he was ripped apart and it stole the breath from his lungs, making it impossible to breathe. He felt like someone had ripped a good portion of his heart out—no, his soul—and shredded it beyond recognition. It was the worst feeling he'd ever experienced in his entire life.

This must be what death feels like, he thought to himself as he mustered the last of his strength to summon one more Emerald Splash, hitting the clock in the hopes that the others would understand his clue, before he let go, and felt himself falling, falling, falling…

Kakyoin woke with a strangled scream, thrashing.

Something was wrong. He knew it the instant consciousness began to creep back in. His hands reached out, grappling at nothing. For a second, he thought he was blind again, but then realized he just hadn't opened his eyes.

Kakyoin!

He heard someone calling him from far away, but he still struggled, terror overcoming him at the wrongness he couldn't explain that was currently coursing through him.

His whole abdomen was on fire and he felt like something was impaling him, holding him in place. The unease encompassing him was even stronger than what he had felt when he'd met Dio for the first time.

"H-Hierophant," he gasped. "Hierophant Green!"

Something ripped inside his chest and he cried out, hands clawing at his flesh. There was a grunt from someone else and hands encircled his wrists, trying to pull his hands away from his chest.

"Kakyoin!" the stern voice commanded.

Where was Hierophant? Kakyoin started to hyperventilate in panic, seeing nothing but a blurry shape above him, unable to place the features at the moment. More figures appeared soon after, pushing the first one away, but still none of them were his Stand, his constant companion since his childhood. Where was his Stand?

He fought against the hands holding him down, begging with them to let him go, when something cold flowed through his veins and he felt himself slipping away. He clawed at consciousness, fighting for one last chance to see Hierophant before darkness encroached upon him and he slipped, alone, into the cold nothingness.