Mastery and Servitude;
Part Six ~Decisions~
By Lady AngelFiren

Heero was curled up in the very center of the large, comfortable bed, laden with silk sheets and a heavy white duvet. He shivered slightly at the absence of any warm body beside him, but it felt good to have the real Heero's calm, aloof presence sleeping with him in his mind. When the black-clad shape dropped lightly to the balcony outside the bedroom and began to search for a way inside, Heero never heard a thing.

After a few minutes of minute, nearly undetectable noises, Heero awoke to the blunt edge of a knife blade singing over the bare flesh of his exposed back. Sleepily, Heero thought he was back in the lab with Master J, then he opened his eyes and saw Master Duo looking rather cheerful.

With a watery chuckle Duo shifted from his spot on the bed as the half-asleep boy watched him in confusion. Heero was feeling a bit lost. He had thought that the real Heero had taken him away from Master Duowhat was going on?

"Master Duo?" Heero inquired. At the words, the real Heero awoke in his mind.

~What are you doing? Run away from him! He's crazy, get away from him!~

// Its just Master Duohe hasn't hurt me yetI think it'll be ok when he realizes who I am. //

Heero thought for sure that Master Duo would be at the very least pleased to have him back. After all, he had had sex with him.of course he wanted to keep his slave. Duo had leaned forward, a very feline, very sly grin on his lips. His breath was against Heero's cheeks, and the knifethe knife was against his throat.

"Where's Heero."

"Master? I am Heero"

"You know what I mean, where is he! Let me talk to him, dammit!"

"Forgive me Master Duo, but Heero isn't in a very good moodI don't think he wants to talk to you.it would be better to give him some time. Why don't you let me do something for you, and Heero can get himself composedI could-"

"Shut up! I don't care what he has to say, I want to talk to him!"

Heero was feeling scared now. Master Duo was gripping his shoulder crushingly, and the knife was making his skin quiver. Hot, angry eyes bore into him, searing the trust he had placed in his Master. Duo was going to hurt himhe had already been very disobedientand the real Heero was screaming at him. Everyone was mad at him!

Feeling for all the world like he had been a very bad slave, tears worked their way from Heero's eyes and he began to shake, slowly melting back into the subconscious part of his mind, and letting the real Heero take over. He couldn't handle this anymore.

~o0O0o0O0o~

Duo had the slave on his back now, with the knife pressed easily to his throat. He could see the plain fear in those stunning blue eyes. Confused, the slave didn't understand. Fool! How could he even think for a moment that Heero's existence alongside him would justify his ownwas he really that plainly stupid? Duo didn't want to start cutting, he knew if he did then he would probably never stop until Heero was dead, but if the slave didn't relinquish control and let him talk to the real Heero soon, then Duo saw no other options.

A few tears were squeezed out of the big blue eyes, and then everything about the thin face hardened, and Duo saw his old friend surface. Before Heero could move or speak, Duo pulled his gun and pressed it to Heero's throat, giving his other hand a chance to run the knife blade down the man's bare chest, just lightly enough to tease. He didn't cutyet.

"You know, if you kill us, then you can't ever have what you want. I don't expect I can talk you out of it if you've made up your mind, but I would like to know just what you think justifies your actions Maxwell. Maybe if I see things from your point of view then this will make more sense to me. Because right now, I see a coward."

Calm blue eyes betrayed nothing of what Heero was thinking. Duo's face twisted, the grin changed to a scowl, and the knife cleanly sliced into the skin of Heero's stomach, tracing a long shallow cut that began to bleed instantly. Heero didn't move, Duo's actions were fruitless.

But Duo wasn't stupid enough to believe that a little slice could coax his Soldier into submission. That really wouldn't be Heero at all, now would it? Naw, Duo needed something much more drastic than a little cut, but he though that maybe he had just the right thing.

"Heero," Duo's voice was strained, like he was having trouble controlling both his speech and the knife that made such beautiful scarlet trenches in the Perfect flesh a the same time. "I'm afraid I can't believe what you tell me. The slave has warped your mindI have to get rid of you both now. It's the only way. I'm sorry Hee-chan. But you know, I still have all your memories If I wanted I could make a whole bunch of you, but I only want the original. And he's dead. You aren't even real. You're made up of some information that I got off of a disc. You're just as bad as the slave, and I don't think I want either of you around anymore, I'll just have to make you into something that I like better."

Duo leered at Heero and tried to stop himself from plunging the knife deep into the firm, but yielding belly and twisting it. He ended up finding his self-control, but Heero's skin was looking raw and it had many slices, marring the smooth perfection that had originally been. Spatters of sticky, drying blood were caked here and there, some places forming scabs while others still oozed thick red trails that ran thin down Heero's sides, and onto the clean white bed sheets beneath him.

Heero didn't move, he was making it impossible for Duo to stop himself from doing this. He didn't say a word, didn't fight back at all. Most likely, Duo hypothesized, he was waiting for an opening. Duo would be sure never to give him one. He was moving lower now. The skin on the insides of Heero's naked thighs was softer than anywhere else, it gave him virgin appeal and was innocently pale, without any scars from war or otherwise. Duo ran a calloused hand over the smooth skin, not currently interested in Heero's manhood, he wanted his flesh.

The knife lowered slowly, the pointed tip poking into the thin, lean muscle, creating curves of light as the lamplight from the bedside table filtered over the blade and reflected onto Heero's skin. Licking his lips, Duo jerked his wrist and sank the knife into Heero's leg. He went only deep enough to draw a fairly steady flow of crimson, which leaked out over the virgin skin, and soaked quickly into the soft silken sheets under Heero's unmoving body. Duo looked at the man's eyes, and saw that they were half-lidded, almost shut.

The drug he had applied to the blade of the knife was slow to kick in. It had already been almost fifteen minutes of light play, but Heero was clearly under it's influence now, and consequentially would lose all inhibition, and become open to suggestion. It was one thing to have a slave with no will at all, but it was quite another to temporarily turn such a strong person into a slave, and know that they would remember everything laterunless Duo decided to erase all of his memories forever, which he had decided wouldn't be so bad.

It was time to wake up, time to realize that the Heero Yuy he had known in the war was unattainable. Duo knew would never be content with something made by Dr. J's controlling lies, nor could he accept the possibility that he would have to live with a Heero Yuy made of data from some disc. The only option left now was to mold Heero's blank mind into what Duo wanted it to be, and make sure that he did a good job of teaching the new slave who was master, and what obedience really was.

If that's what seemed to work well for Heero, then, Duo had convinced himself, he was simply bringing out the most prominent qualities in his obsession, he was helping. If service was what made Heero tick, then by all means Duo was ready and willing to make him serve, to make him feel success because he made someone else happy.

Duo lowered his face to the gash he had scored in the smooth flesh of Heero's inner thigh. He inhaled the scent of blood from the wound, as well as the heady musk that was naturally Heero's, no matter what his personality was. Duo could see the organ between his legs had begun to get hard, most likely due to the pain lust that the drug Heero was on caused. Duo lapped at the bleeding cut and heard an incoherent moan escape his captives lips, then a soft sigh as one of Heero's hands absently went to his cock and began to stroke it up.

Duo grinned at the picture of the bleeding boy getting himself off on pain that Duo himself had caused. He wanted to hurt Heero more, he wanted to make him come without touching himself.

Heero's eyes were open just a crack and Duo saw only whites; they were rolled up in his head, most likely sightless. If he did see something, it would be blurry and foggy, not making any sense at all. The only thing that mattered was feelings, touch. Duo watched Heero and slipped the knife into his boot, but he yanked it out again at the slice of pain that he felt. Pulling his boot off, he saw one gash about six inches long going down the side of his leg from where he had missed the holster.

There was his own blood over the tiny serrated edged near the knife handle, nowhere near the place he had cut Heero with. The drug was still on the blade, lots of it. Duo tried to feel concerned, but he couldn't stop the sly grin from overcoming his features. He felt warm fire tingling up his leg from the cut, and he anticipated the heat that he would soon feel. It wasn't a big cut, he probably would just get a little buzz, nothing too bad, but worth taking time out to enjoy.

~o0O0o0O0o~

Fifteen minutes later found Duo lying on his back beside a sleeping Heero on the bed, grinning drunkenly up at the ceiling with his eyes drooping shut. His hand was on his cock and he had the knife in the other hand, slowly dragging it over his torso and leaving thin bloody gashes in its wake. Duo groaned at the sharp hurt, the lust drug heightening his fondness for pain and making him toss his head back against the silken sheets that were stained with his and Heero's blood in sporadic red patches.

He heard the man beside him snoring softly, but did not acknowledge the sound, all he wanted was to hurt, because it felt so very good. Chuckling, Duo began to stroke his cock, forgetting momentarily about pain and turning towards pleasure.

Duo brought himself off in less than a minute, stabbing the knife deeply into the mattress beside him as he went, his arms falling limp but a moment later. His hoarse, thick cry woke up the slumbering man beside him, who cracked his eyes drowsily and looked around at the bleary room

// What happened Heero? //

~I think we were drugged. You have to get out of here. Now.~

// Imy head feels funny, I'm soooo sleepy. //

~Wake up dammit! Get out of here!~

// I can'tI'm soo dizzy and tired, I think I'm going to pass out again, I'm sorry Heeromaybe you can do itI'm too weak. //

Slave Heero sank back, letting the original Heero take his place in control of their body. As soon as he came into control, Heero felt a wave of grogginess hit him. His eyes drooped and he fought to control his own body.

Heero managed to get to his feet. He staggered off the side of the bed, the room dancing waveringly around him. He got to the washroom, and turned on the tap to cold. Taking a seat on the toilet, Heero leaned his head into his hands and tried not to pass out again. It was hard. His Other was murmuring quiet encouragement, clearly frightened that he would be left alone with the unstable, dangerous Master Duo. He didn't want to be around when Duo woke. Neither of them did.

From his position, Heero could see the rather deep slice in his thigh. It wasn't really bleeding anymore, mostly just oozing gleefully, but it would have to be taken care of. That was minor. His main priority right now was to get away from Duo. Butwhere would he go? What could he possibly do? Duo would hunt him down, he was psychotic, intensely obsessed and focussed on his goal. Heero didn't want to be a goal, he didn't want to be a prize for a loony. He wanted to be free and have his life backrather, he wanted to see what it was like to actually lead a life in peacetime. His Other could teach him that, he knew.

The Other Heero was scared, and he was naïve, and rather pathetic, but he had every right to life, as far as Heero was concerned. He was getting a plan, and sobering up, and he suspected that he might actually be successful.

Splashing his face with cold water and drinking some with cracked, parched lips, Heero felt a little better. The pasty texture of his saliva liquefied more, and his eyes didn't feel so itchy an watery. He wet his hair and decided that he was in a good enough condition to carry out his plan.

First thing was first, he had to get rid of Duo's weapons and secure him. Heero crawled onto the bed and poked Duo, who snored at him and moaned, then was silent again. Heero searched him, pulling knives from his boots and the gun from its holster. He felt in unconscious Duo's hair for the ever-present lock-picks, and set all of these items out of reach of Duo.

Heero looked at the clip in the gun. Very misleading, this was just a tranq gun, crafted to look like a regular firearm. The bullets were really small darts, loaded with enough tranquilizer to knock a grown man out for about six hours. Heero nodded to himself, this would be useful. He shot Duo in the arm, and checked his pupils a minute later. Out cold. Heero calmed down, he would have plenty of time to take care of the situation now.

His Other was scared, panicky. It was making Heero's knees weak and his stomach felt fluttery. He sat down in the comfortable armchair in front of the television, and turned his attention inwards, to the other Heero.

// Are you alright? //

~I'm sorry, am I bothering you Heero? I don't try to, but I can't seem to help being scared right nowwe are being so disobedientMaster J would have really hurt me for something like this.I can't shake the feeling that Master Duo will do the same. I don't want to hurt him. He is already so dissatisfied with meI feel as if I am doing everything that could make him angrier.~

// You have to stop thinking like that. I have a plan, everything will be fine, and you don'' have to worry about Duo at all anymore, Maxwell deserves to hurt. He isn't sane. I doubt that there was anything he could do to prevent what has happened to himbut he has never really been intact to begin with. Not that I have ever been truly sane.but I am not going around needlessly hurting people like he is. He has to be stopped. //

~But Heero-~

// No. He either dies, or learns to change. //

The slave wept, terrified at the prospect of doing something like this. He had wept at something as minor as Duo feeding him peacheshe really was completely and totally paralyzed by fear. Heero felt like he was being a bastard, making his Other so upset, but he would not stand for the injustice of what Duo had become.

Heero took a few breaths and got up, feeling a lot more sober now that the drug had worked its way through him. He tied Duo's unconscious form up, and checked his vitals and pupils to make sure he would be alright. Duo was not going to wake up for a very long while. Heero estimated he would need roughly two hours until he could be back, but if complications arose as they are always bound to, then he had as much as six or seven hours to get back.

Duo had various cuts all over his skin. Heero pulled the knife from the bed. He wasn't sure what had drugged him. He didn't want to take a chance of it happening again, so he did not take any of Duo's blades with him. Armed with Duo's tranq gun, Heero left the hotel room through the window and crept through the night towards J's lab. He took a cab to the place, because it would have taken him a few hours of walking.

The only problem was getting inside. G was like Jhe wouldn't just let anyone in. Terrorist tactics fresh in his mind, Heero knew that the only entrance would be the front door now, as he had already been caught on whatever surveillance G had. He simply knocked, and waited.

~o0O0o0O0o~

Feeling sick and terrified and helpless, slave Heero watched as the original Heero waited at the door. He wanted to know the planbut he was afraid. Heero was probably keeping him in the dark in case something happenedin case there was torture, or he ended up failing. Shivering at the possibilities, Heero jumped in fear when the front door to the house that was really a lab opened, and G himself pointed a gun at them, and ushered them inside.

~What's going on? Is he going to shoot us? Heero, what's happening?~

// Calm down, he's a paranoid old man, he probably thinks we're here running an errand for Duo or something, but I am not taking any chances. He's going down the first chance I get. //

The slave told himself that he would not distract the other Heero anymore, and he melted quietly backwards, into the recesses of their mind, content, if frightened, to watch the events around him unfold with their respective sluggishness. He felt on edge, as if there was constantly someone standing behind them with a raised weapon, ready to smash it down and beat them for disobedience.

The real Heero walked into the lab, following G, who kept the gun trained on them. What Heero was thinking, the way he watched everything that happened with intense focus, it boggled the slave's mind. He had never thought it possible for one person to be so focused. Every slight movement that the comically short little scientist made was caught, assessed, and either further evaluated for an opening, or discarded as just a motion, nothing that would give Heero the upper hand.

They were led into a lab, and G was speaking, asking Heero what he was here for. Heero didn't answer. G moved in a particular way to reach the door release for the lab, and Heero was on him in a flash, twisting his neck until there was an audible 'snap' and then nothing.

Slave Heero stared, taking momentary control over their eyes. He was holding a dead man in his armsdead. He had killed him. Well, it was the real Heero who killed him, but that didn't really make a difference. He was dead.

// Are you alright? He's dead, we're not.. //

~Butwe murdered him!~

// Yes. But it was necessary for our survival. We have work to do, can I have my eyes back now? //

~Sorry-~

// Drop it. He's dead. //

Relinquishing control, Slave Heero watched the real Heero drop the body unceremoniously on the cold steel floor. He went into the main lab, where the memory machine was sitting, looking less than glamorous, on a metal work bench.

// Is this it? //

~Yeswhat are you going to do?~

// You'll see, I need the thing that can replace memories toowhere is it? Find it. Look around. //

Taking control, Heero carefully navigated through the junk in the room until he found the thing that had put the real Heero into his head, and he picked it up. Sliding back into the less active part of their shared mind, Heero heard something that sounded like 'thank you,' but wasn't loud enough of a thought for the slave to pick up.

It all seemed very interesting at first, moving about the dead scientist's lab and examining this or that, watching the real Heero take a few more things with him for whatever he planned to do, but it quickly grew mundane, and boring. The slave watched, but he didn't know what any of this stuff was, and Heero seemed to be ignoring him. He was glad when they finally left, exiting the building through the front door and carrying a heavy bag full of various contraptions in one hand, his gun in the other.

The gun was slipped into its well-hidden holster, and they got back into the cab that had been paid to wait for them. Real Heero directed the cab to return him to the hotel he'd come from, and the little car sped off through the colony, towards the place where Duo was.

~o0O0o0O0o~

Heero frowned and looked at the floor of the car. He was thinking over his plan, trying to hide the details from his Other, who seemed to finally be calming down some. The bag of trinkets and equipment was heavier than it looked; he let it sag to the seat beside him, mindful that everything would be safe. The ride seemed to take longer than it should have, he wanted to be there now. He felt paranoid, like the cabby was looking at him funny and Duo would be gone when he returned, although technically that would be impossible.

Eventually they arrived back at the hotel. Heero paid the driver and threw in a generous tip, then exited the vehicle and looked around himself casually, trying to assess if it would be wise or safe to enter his room through a window. In the end he decided that maybe he should go through the front, because there were so many people around.

Looking as low-profile as he possibly could, Heero felt like some punk teen in his worn jeans and black hoodie, but He knew that he was supposed to be older now, he was twenty-one. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he hadn't grown at all and was still sixteen. He would have to get used to this, along with peace. He had tipped the driver because that's what you did in wartime, in exchange for silence of where you were going. He didn't need to do that now, technically they had peace.

Taking the stairs out of habit, Heero hiked up to his room and keyed himself in. He immediately saw Duo lying unconscious on the bed, in the exact same position as he had been left. Heero checked his pulse and breathing. Duo was fine, just really unconscious. This was perfect, it gave lots of time to set things up. He looked through the things he'd brought, one of them being a laptop that was very advanced; he actually had to take a few minutes to teach himself the new, unfamiliar programs. Even then, Heero wasn't terribly confident in his ability to use the system effectively, but it would have to do.

He looked through G's files. There was something labeled 'yuy.' Curiously, Heero opened the file. It was encrypted, but he recognized the encryption and broke it immediately. Heero's Other became somewhat excited, noticing what Heero had just unlocked. It was all the information that Duo had stolen from J, most of it concerning both Heero's, or the machine that could eat memories.

This was very useful, now Heero had full instructions on how to use the machine, and he learned an awful lot about himself, things that he had simply never thought about before were traced in these documents, everything about him, his personality, his reactions to different situations, everything had been input by J. Heero felt a wave of self-revulsionhe wasn't real. He had been so thoroughly manipulated for the entirety of his life that he was really just a being of calculated movement and thoughthe had to prove to himself that he wasn't like that. J was dead now, he could take his time and learn to exist on his own, he just had to get past this situation and do it.

The Other Heero was feeling similarly, having received Heero's personal impression. He expressed a desire to prove to himself that he could be an independent, but that desire was deeply shrouded in fear an lack of confidence.

~Heerowhat are you going to do? Master Duo is stirring I thinkI'm scared of him. He's bigger than ushe'll hurt us again. Don't let him, I don't want him to hurt us. II won't do what he tells me to anymore. Not even if he tries to make me.~

Heero felt his Other trembling fearfully inside. It was a deep sort of fear, something that twisted them both with its weight. Rebellion. Independence. Each of them wanted to be free of their respective binds and hindrancesthey had to do this.

// Don't worry. We have a plan. //

Heero got up, taking with him the gundanium, electronic cuffs he had, and slapping them onto a groggy Duo, who frowned and looked at Heero angrily.

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up. I didn't tell you you could speak Maxwell. I'm in charge here, so don't try anything. Nice job of drugging me."

Heero began to hook Duo up to the memory eating machine, after giving him the same injection that he could faintly remember receiving five years ago. It seemed like only a few hours ago, but he knew it wasn't. Duo looked for a minute like he would protest Heero's actions, but fear began to creep into his eyes as Heero flipped the switch and Duo's life started to play itself out on the machine. Everyone watched, even Duo, with fascination.

The human mind is complex. Duo's subconscious was recalling things that he had never known, things about his childhood, how his parents had been very loving, but they'd ended up being killed by an attack on their colony. Little Duo had survived, and been taken in by a band of little street kids, all of them small and dirty, but each and every one of them accepting the lost little boy with open arms. It showed Duo's relationship with one of the little boy's, his confusion over the way he felt about that little boy, and then the boy's death. Heero bit his lip, as Duo's thoughts of how he is constantly abandoned played out, and the part f his life where he was taken into the Maxwell church orphanage began. For an hour, Hero watched Duo's life slowly drain away.

He witnessed Duo starting to lose his mind. That's when everything began to get disturbing. Duo's thoughts simplified and evened out, until everything surrounded an intense obsession, and the reasons behind it faded away to nothing.

Heero represented someone strong, immovable. Duo latched onto this strength and convinced himself that Heero was someone who would never leave him, because he always escaped Death, and Duo felt that he really was Death. If he could attain Heero, then everything would work out favourably. Heero sat down, this was scary, because in a way, it was true. He saw within himself the potential to feel something for Duo, if he could soothe the confused, twisted warp that had run through the ex-Deathscythe pilot. Duo could make him laugh inside, and maybe teach him to laugh on the outside. Heero wanted to be near Duo

Shaking his head, the memories and thoughts turned and slowed, going over what had happened tonight, what had prompted each slice with the poisoned knife, what made it feel good to destroy the abomination that had taken him over. Heero's Other was shivering fearfully at the complete hatred that Duo felt for him, but he also understood where it came from, he understood that it was like an instinct to hate the thing that got in the way of happiness and safety.

Then the stream of memories and ideas and thoughts ended, replaced by a blank whiteness, and Heero shook himself. Duo was gone. He was dead. Heero was having trouble moving, now that the regret over what he had just done was setting in, and he could understand exactly where Duo was coming from with his actions and reactions.

But he wasn't sorry enough to give Duo his life back, instead he copied the man's memories onto a disk and put it in a safe place, and prepared the machines for their next use. Heero hooked himself up to the memory machine after he made sure that Duo's body was indeed limp and devoid of consciousness, and he turned his attentions inward and wrapped himself around the other Heero.

// I want you to take control, inject yourself, and turn the machine on. //

~Thenyou are erasing me?~

// Yes. //

There was a feeling of sadness, but the Other Heero did as he was told. This was the dangerous part, because Heero had no idea if he would end up erasing himself, but it seemed to work. He got the idea when he woke up and only the consciousness in control of their shared body felt dizzy and tired from Duo's drug

Heero watched every memory that came from his Other's short five years with interest, wincing as he saw his own body do things with and for Dr. J that he really didn't want to think about. He saw the repeated mornings, waking up to do the same thing. He saw repeated beatings, especially in the beginning, and watched the fear and obedience grow into a consciousness that was Heero's other.

For the first year or so, the slave had not had a sense of self, or an active consciousness. It had been a collection of orders and words and random thoughts, operating as a bee is part of a hive. But slowly, the sense of self had imprinted itself in the mind, and Heero had evolved into his own person, feeling real fear of Master J, but also respect and obedience. It was sickening.

Now came the part that had evaded Heero's careful planning, his Other's consciousness and memories were erased, and he could feel himself coming back into control, the option of hiding in the recesses of a shared mind being completely erased with his Other. Heero hoped that he didn't get erased again, then everything he had done would be useless.

Fortunately, the machine shut off at the white nothingness of its first subject, and Heero was spared the loss of his thoughts. He took a breath, his head feeling fuzzy from the drug that made the memories surface.

Heero sat up and unhooked himself. He was alone. There was a body with no mind breathing slowly on the bed beside him. He had Duo's life on a disc, and the other Heero's life on a separate disc, one in each hand. The machine that input memories and information into a living body lay on the bed in front of him. He had originally planned to put his Other into Duo's body, but now he wasn't so sure. Yes, Duo was insane, homicidal, and obsessed, but he somehow deserved a second chance at having the strong soldier beside him. However, Heero's Other was completely innocent, and he deserved a chance to grow into a whole person.

Heero didn't know what to do. He had no soldierly skills to help him decide between two lives, and he argued several points in each life's favour. However, his Other won out in the end, because that was his original plan, and he was going to stick with it. Heero put the disc into the small handheld machine, and hooked it up to Duo with a single wire. He hit the button, and watched as the little screen on the machine gave a report of the results. Everything had gone fine.

The weight of what he had just done hit Heero then. Duo was now without a body or a consciousness. He would forever exist on a disc, frozen from moving ahead until he was freed and given a body to live in. His rightful body was now inhabited by a person created from nothing, a person who was the personification of innocence and needed to be taught how to live.

Heero released the cuffs from the slack hands of his Other. From what he'd read in files on the laptop, it had taken him a few hours to wake up after he had gone through this, so the other Heero would need some time.

Frustrated with the nagging feeling that he kept getting over Duo, Heero cleaned up his materials and checked the unconscious man's vitals. The memory input machine lay, with the "duo" disc beside it on the bed. Maybe he could do something about this

Heero picked up the machine in his hands and tried to decide if he should do something about Duo, but he was interrupted by a groan as the man on the bed began to awaken. There was a startled jolt, and Duo's body sat up, indigo eyes wide with plain fear.

"Heero?"

"Yes, are you alright?"

"I'm alive?"

"Ah."

The slave looked down at his own broad chest and strong hands. He touched his face and pulled the end of his braid around to examine before he looked at Heero fearfully.

"I'm Master Duo?"

"Ah."