Category: Angst, Adventure, AU, Slave/Master

Pairings: 1x2, 4x3 (eventually), 5x?

Rating: R (?)

Disclaimer: Standard. You know them all by now so I won't bore you with a repeat.

Warnings: This story does show how a lot of people felt about the owning of slaves, a feeling that was very alive in this country not that long ago, as well as in many civilizations down through the ages. There are some good owners and some bad owners, like in everything. If someone owning another person bothers you, you might not like this fic. But then I'm not forcing anyone to read it. There are also M/M relationships in this fic (I'm very much a 1x2/3x4 fan.) so if boys being together (and I do mean together) bothers you don't read.

Golden Lights Part Seven

By SilverLady

Trowa frowned as he rang the bell again. It had been more than five minutes since he had first called for Quatre and there was still no response. He thought the boy had been getting better at understanding where his duties lay.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked as he walked into the room, followed by Duo. "I know you're not upset the others left so soon."

"No. I've been ringing for Quatre for more than five minutes." He glanced over at Duo. "Could you go and see what's keeping him? It had better be damn good."

Duo nodded and went out through the side door.

Heero watched as Trowa limped over to the sofa. "I thought he was doing well about things."

"He was."

"I don't think he likes Lord Gendar."

"No one with half a mind likes Lord Gendar."

"Then why do you let him come here?"

"He is amusing, in his own loud way. Besides, he makes just about anyone look smart next to him. And Wufei likes to laugh behind his back at him."

"Always the thoughtful host." There was a hint of sarcasm in Heero's voice.

"Of course."

Just then the side door slammed open and Duo burst in, carrying Quatre in his arms. The young blond was limp and still. His delicate face was devoid of color and Duo's hands were stained red with blood. "You need to get a doctor. Now!" he exclaimed.

Heero was on his feet in a flash. "What's wrong?" he demanded already heading for the outside door.

"It looks like he tried to kill himself."

Trowa looked stunned. "Take him into the bedroom."

Duo nodded as he moved across the room. Trowa got to his feet and followed him. "Just put him on the bed."

Duo yanked the bed covers off the bed and carefully laid Quatre on it. "I found a steak knife on the floor next to him, with blood on it. He must have gotten it when he took the dinner dishes back to the kitchen."

Trowa nodded slightly as he stared at the sight in front of him. Quatre's chest and side were covered with dark red blood.  His skin was starkly white in contrast and there didn't seem to be any movement at all coming from the boy. "Is he...alive?"

"Barely." Duo had ripped off a piece of his shirt and was pressing the folded up cloth firmly against the wound in Quatre's chest. "It's hard to tell how deep the knife went."

Trowa was shaken to the core. He couldn't believe that this gentle young man would try and take his own life. He'd begun to enjoy having the softly spoken boy around. He'd even started to wonder if maybe they could become friends. "I don't understand."

Duo looked up. "He's been miserable since he got here. He's just gotten good at hiding it. I'd say that he knew that nomad a lot more than he was letting on."

"Miserable? Why? He has a good place to live, plenty to eat, and I dare say I'm not that harsh a master, am I?"

"No. But the deserts breeds those who are more wild than most. You've collared a wild animal and he's still fighting those bonds."

Trowa blinked. Duo was the second person to compare the owning of a slave to owning a wild animal.

Before he could say anything more, Heero returned with the doctor in tow.

The doctor took one look at the still form on the bed and immediately shooed both Heero and Trowa out of the room. "Let me tend to my patient. This one can stay and help. As long as he stays out of the way."

Trowa started to protest, but Heero drew him from the room "There isn't anything we can do right now, expect be in the way. Let the man do his work."

Trowa let Heero guide him over to the sofa, where he sat down with a deep sigh. "I can't believe...."

Heero sat down next to him. He was equally stunned by what had happened. Duo, even at his worst, had never tried anything like this. "You can't always predict what some people will do."

"I'm not being too hard on him, am I? I'm not asking him to do more than he's capable of, right? What did I do wrong?"

Heero sighed. "It wasn't anything you did."

"Then why?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him when he wakes up."

"If he wakes up." Trowa shuddered. To loose such a golden ray of light would make the world that much duller and dimmer.

"The doctor is doing everything he can."

"It still might not be enough." Trowa came to his feet and began to pace across the floor, his limp growing worse with each step. "It would be my fault."

"No, it wouldn't."

"If I hadn't bought him...."

"He would have been in a much worse situation right now and you know it. Someone was going to buy him. There is nothing you or anyone could do to change that. At least here he has a chance at a half decent life."

"But what kind of a life is this? Being the property of someone else. Having to do what you're told, when you are told."

"It's the only one for him. You know that as well as I do."

Trowa shook his head as he continued to pace. It had seemed so simple, before. He'd wanted someone to perform certain tasks specifically for him. A personal manservant, in a capacity similar to the one Duo performed for Heero. Thought not entirely the same. There were certain aspects of that relationship he didn't want. Since the slave force in the city did all the menial jobs, the easiest thing to do would be to go out and buy one himself.

Now things were far from simple.

*****

It was nearly an hour before the doctor finally came out of the bedroom to confront the two waiting men.

"Well?" Heero demanded. Trowa only looked up from where he'd finally settled when his leg had nearly given out on him.

"We'll have to wait and see. The next twenty-four hours will be the most critical. I've done everything I can, but he lost a lot of blood. Fortunately the knife glanced off one of his ribs and didn't go as deep as it could have. He would have done a better job if he'd simply slit his throat."

Trowa blinked at the doctor's clinical comment. "What should we do with him?"

"If you don't mind, I'd rather leave him where he is for now. You can move him tomorrow after I'm sure he's stable."

"Is there anything we need to be watching for?" Heero asked.

"I explained everything to the young man I left with him. He's perfectly capable of keeping an eye on him for the night."

Heero looked calmly at the doctor. "I don't think even Duo could stay awake all night. What should we be watching for?"

The doctor sighed. "Fever, erratic breathing, bleeding and too much movement that could tear out the stitches."

Heero nodded slightly. "If there is any problem, we'll send for you immediately."

The doctor smiled. He knew Heero very well. "I'm sure you will." He picked up his bag and started out.

"Doctor," Trowa said softly, staring at his hands.

"Yes, Lord Trowa?"

"Don't say anything about this to anyone."

"As you wish."

Trowa looked up, a far away sadness in his dark green eyes. "Thank you."

With a slight nod the doctor turned and left the room

Heero looked at Trowa. "You know you could have...."

Trowa lifted a hand into the air, halting what he knew Heero was about to say. "That is not even a consideration. I don't want you to even mention it."

"It is an option."

"No, it's not." Trowa looked at him. "I will figure out what to do when the time comes. Right now, what is important is to see that Quatre heals."

Heero sighed. "He's your slave."

"Precisely."

*****

Pain. It was the first thing to register to Quatre. A deep, burning pain in his chest that grew worse with every breath he drew.

Why does it hurt so much? Is dying so very painful?

"Quatre," a voice whispered at the edge of his consciousness

"Father," he said in a choked voice. Even that made him hurt.

"Wake up Quatre."

Slowly Quatre opened his eyes, hoping to see his father and the others hovering around him. Please let me be with them. Or let it all have been some horrible nightmare.

But the person he found himself staring at wasn't his father. A pair of familiar violet eyes looked worriedly back at him.

"No," he moaned, rolling away from the view and gasping at the pain it caused. Tears began to trickle down his face. "Why?" he choked out. "Why couldn't you have just let me die? I want to be with my father."

Duo reached out to touch the sobbing boy's shoulder. "Quatre..."

Quatre jerked away. "Don't touch me. Go away and leave me alone. I just want out of this horrible nightmare. I want to go with my father."

"Trowa....."

Quatre rolled over and sat up, slideing back against the wall. "Don't say his name. I hate him. I hate all of you! Go away and leave me alone!" Quatre wrapped his arms and began crying in earnest, trying to ignore how much it made his chest hurt. "I just wanted to be with my father again. After you hateful people murdered him." Quatre glared up at Duo. "You murdered him and then laughed about it. He, everyone I ever knew, was just a big joke to you. You call us uncivilized and then go and hunt down innocent people for no reason." Quatre began gasping as his tears came faster. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."

Duo gathered the now unresisting boy into his arms. "The nomad, Kadir. He was your father, wasn't he?"

"He.....he just wanted to.......to  live as our ancestors have always done. He...he never bothered anyone."

Neither Quatre nor Duo noticed Trowa standing in the doorway, listening to the heartbroken cries of the blonde. Slowly he turned and walked back down the hall.

Heero looked up as Trowa walked into the room, moving as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "Trowa?"

Trowa looked at him. "I've come to a decision."

"About?"

"Quatre."