Duo POV

Sara knocked on the door gently then opened it without waiting for a reply. She looked nervous, she must have known I wouldn't want any disturbances after what had happened last night.

I pulled Heero closer to my chest, still feeding him peaceful feelings even though he had slipped into a deep, deep slumber. It was late, probably seven or eight o'clock in the morning. If Heero awoke, there would be no way he'd go back to sleep and he would probably want to get up and do something, even though his injuries wouldn't allow it.

Sara had better have a damn good reason for disturbing us.

"M-milord, another demon by the name of Zechs has arrived and wishes to see you."

I cursed under my breath. Of course Zechs had to pick the most inopportune time to show up. Slowly, carefully so as not to wake up Heero, I slipped away from the sleeping boy. He whimpered, which was actually just the tiniest bit of air moving over his vocal cords so light it could have been part of a snore, and frowned, the lines in his forehead compressing just the smallest bit. I ended up putting a pillow in my place and watching Heero clutch the thing gave me the weirdest sense of jealousy.

"Bring Zechs here, I would like to discuss things with him as soon as possible," I told Sara, keeping my voice low enough to let Heero sleep. Sara nodded and hastily left the room.

I would have preferred to meet Zechs somewhere else, but I didn't want to wake Heero and I knew that he had a heart-attack any time I disappeared without warning. I also needed to stay within range of the link, so I could keep Heero's dreams at bay.

Zechs showed up not ten minutes later, his long blond hair trailing behind him, loose, like a banner. His timing could have been better, but, man, was I glad to see him. It was like someone had finally sent me reinforcements in this scary, alternate universe where they starved angles. Zechs immediately pulled me into a strong hug, and damn if it didn't make me feel a hell of a lot better.

"Hello, Duo. You look..."

"Like shit?"

"I was going to say unhealthy, but yours is a rather apt description. And, by the way, who is that?" he ask, pointing to the bed, where Heero lay still asleep, "You haven't been taking strange men to your bed again, have you?" he teased, knowing damn well I had never taken a lover in all the time he'd known me and needing to rub it in.

"Promise not to get too loud and rambunctious and I'll tell you about him."

"Should we take this conversation somewhere else?" he asked and I could only shake my head.

"The hall should be empty, we can talk there."

Zechs frowned; his good humor had been fading ever since the conversation had started. I had the sinking feeling that I was going to be yelled at.

Twenty minutes and one long story later, I was proved right. And was I ever glad that the castle had thick walls. Once Zechs was on a rant, there was no way to stop him, even if it woke Heero up.

"Of all the reckless, stupid, moronic, foolish..."

"Idiotic," I put in helpfully.

"...idiotic things for you to do! You were supposed to look for the dragons, not attack them! You were a scout, not a mercenary! I told you to wait until I got there to try anything stupid. Didn't I tell you not to go on your own if you were going to try and take on the dragons? And linking your mind to someone you didn't even know! What the hell were you thinking? You could have had your mind stolen!"

"By a starved human slave?"

"That's not the point! You can't judge a person by the way they look, he could have been some kind of shape shifter! He could have drained away your blood and put your soul in a bottle for eternity!"

"He didn't even know I was a demon."

"Of course he did! What, the giant black wings didn't tip him off?"

"Zechs, enough," I warned. I wasn't going to stand for him putting down Heero, no matter how stupid I had been.

"Duo," he said, in a more calm manner, "this recklessness of your has to stop."

"I know. I swear, I've stopped. Doesn't the fact that I didn't go back out fighting the dragons again tell you that?"

Zechs heaved a sigh and leaned against the wall. "I was wondering about that. So what's the whole story?"

"I had only gotten to where I found Heero when you exploded. Geeze, I thought I'd at least get to finish. I tell ya, no courtesy at all!"

"Duo, just finish already."

"Well... Since you insist. Heero took me back to his room and took care of me for a few days. After that a couple of goons found me and reported it to their lord and, to make a long story short, I made him give me Heero and moved us both to a better room."

"So Heero is your slave?"

"No! Damn it, don't let Heero hear you say that! What kind of a person do you think I am?"

"Just making sure. Is that everything up to date?"

"If only. I had to leave to go find my scythe, I dropped it in my battle with the dragons and figured I'd better get it before you got here," I clenched my fists in anger, knowing these next words would be hard to get out, "I only left Heero alone for a couple of hours, but a pair of guards here got a hold of him and raped him. He tried to hide it, but I found out and flipped."

"If you care as much about this Heero as I think you do, I'm surprised the fort is still standing."

"Heero made me stop. Damned if I know why, but he didn't want me to kill the two guys that did that to him. Didn't help that I dragged him through the halls with only a sheet on and ran off on him after that."

I shut my eyes and turned around, banging my head against the wall.

"So stupid..."

"Stop it, this isn't helping anything. You did what you could for him."

"But it wasn't enough."

Zechs was silent for a moment, then said, in that dammed evasive tone of his, "I think it was," then changed the subject on me. "How soon do you think we can get rid of these dragons?"

"Subtle, aren't we?" I joked, "Guess you want to get back to that baby of yours, eh? What did you name her?"

"Her name is Mei. And I think getting you out of here is even more important than me."

"Not just me," I told him, jerking my head toward the door.

"Ah."

"From what I saw, we should be able to get the dragons out of here in about a week. All we have to do is get rid of the male, it's a fairly simple..." I stopped mid sentence and headed for the door to my room without another word. I had been so distracted that I hadn't felt the start of another of Heero's nightmares and now it was too late.

I threw the doors open and was at the bed in a matter of seconds. I don't even want to know what Zechs thought of the whole display, but at that time he was the last thing on my mind. I knelt next to the bed, not wanting to have an incident like last time, and called Heero, taking the hand that he had clutching a sheet so hard his knuckles were white. His jaw was clenched so hard the muscles in his neck stood out and his body was stiff as a board. His eyes came open as soon as I called to him and he looked around the room in confusion. Slowly, his confusion faded as I gently stroked his hair with my free hand, not daring to try and sooth him verbally, since I knew Zechs was close by and I wasn't sure how Heero would react. Eventually, he calmed and sat up.

"What time is it?" he asked as he reoriented himself.

"...Early," I evaded, but I could tell he wasn't fooled.

"Duo, the sun's up. It's after nine, why didn't you wake me?" he asked. I could hear Zechs moving around behind me. He closed the doors, then came within hearing distance of us both.

"You need to rest," I told him in a tone that booked no argument. Unfortunately, Heero didn't understand that he wasn't supposed to argue with that tone and I could see him getting ready to protest just as he noticed Zechs in the background. He took a small breath, the equivalent of a gasp, and pulled the blanket up to his chest, a little upset that he was naked in front of a strange man. A strange, very tall, very intimidating man. Right after he had been raped.

"Duo," he growled, "Who is that?"

I could feel that Heero was about to panic. Too many things were coming at him at once.

"Heero, calm down," I told him.

"Duo, move," he barked, ready to get up, "I have to get dressed."

Never mind that he was totally naked and the bathroom was on the other side of the room. Heero was too far gone to even notice that Zechs was between him and the bathroom.

"Heero, you have to stay in bed. You have a sprained ankle and several other injuries that need to heal."

"I am not useless. I am getting up," he told me and moved to do so. I saw him getting ready to stand and grabbed his shoulder, pushing him back to the bed. I realized I had made a mistake when scattered bits of betrayal and grief started coming from Heero.

I could see the conclusions his mind had jumped to. Zechs was a threat. Heero was in a disadvantaged position. Heero needed to get to a better position to defend against the enemy, Zechs. I stopped him, thus I was an enemy. I could understand it, but I didn't have to like it.

"Heero, stop. You need to rest, you're going to hurt yourself!" I told him as he started to struggle.

"Get out of my way," he growled at me, his level of panic rising as Zechs approached the bed. Me, he might be able to overcome if he could surprise me, but he couldn't get passed the two of us.

I think Heero was about to flip out and get violent when Zechs stopped in front of the bed and leaned down.

"Heero," he commanded, "Look at me."

Heero froze, like a rabbit under a hawk, and looked into Zechs' eyes. There was almost a tangible snap in the air and Heero's eyelids drooped and he fell forward in my arms.

I may be able to beat Zechs in a battle on a good day, but that man was a hell of a good psychic.

"Thanks," I whispered as I laid Heero back down, but Zechs wasn't paying attention to me. Slowly, he pulled the blanket down around Heero's torso and gently traced the bruise covered ribs it revealed. I quickly put aside any stabs of jealousy I had and focused on Zechs' face.

"I guess your right," he said at last, "he doesn't look like any threat at all. Come on, let's go get some breakfast. He'll be out until after lunch."

"And the dreams?"

"Gone," he said rubbing his forehead, "but don't ask me to do this again. It took a lot more power than I had expected."

I nodded and followed Zechs to the door. I knew that there would be more conversations and a bit of arguing over Heero's presence, but I had seen the look of protectiveness that had come over Zechs' face. Whether Zechs new it or not, he had already accepted Heero as part of our group. There was no going back, Heero was coming home with me.