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 Eight
By SilverLady
Quatre awoke to a very strange sight. Duo was practically standing on his head in the chest at the end of his bed, muttering something under his breath.
They had moved Quatre back to his own room the day before. In some ways he was glad, it meant he didn't have to see the things that were no longer his to enjoy. Plus, he knew Trowa never came in here and he wouldn't have to see the person that was the cause of all of his problems. A small part of him knew that wasn't a fair thought, but it was how he felt.
"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice thick with pain and unshed tears. He seemed to cry a lot these days.
Duo glanced up. "Looking for something."
"I kind of figured that."
Duo smiled as he rose to his feet and walked over to the bed. Laying his hand on Quatre's forehead, he looked the other boy over. "How are you feeling?"
"Hurts."
Duo nodded. "That's not surprising. You're very lucky."
Quatre looked at him for a moment. "Am I?"
"Whether you know it or not, you are."
"How can you stand living this way?"
"It's the only life I know."
Just then the bell above Duo's bed rang, once but firmly. Duo sighed. "I'd best go tell him I can't find it. I really don't know what I did with it."
Quatre blinked. "Won't he be mad?"
"Probably."
"And that doesn't worry you?"
Duo smiled. "Don't worry. I know how to handle my Heero." He turned and headed out the door. Before leaving he paused and looked back. "Rest. You need to get your strength back. And know this, everything happens for a reason. You just haven't learned what that reason is yet." With a flip of his long braid, he was gone.
Quatre closed his eyes. He's wrong. There is no reason for this.
*****
The next time Quatre opened his eyes he was even more surprised than before. Sitting quietly on the other bed was Trowa.
"Duo said you'd been sleeping for a while." Trowa commented, deliberately keeping his voice pitched low.
Quatre turned his head away. "Is there something you need, Master?"
Trowa winced at the dull, flat tone in which the words were delivered. "I wanted to see how you are doing. And to talk."
"I don't believe we have anything to say."
Trowa watched him for a minute. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he had already come to like and admire the young blonde. He would do what was necessary to try and make the boy as happy as possible. "If you want, I can sell you to a friend of mine. He's a good man and a good master. He doesn't make to many demands or expect much from those who serve him. In fact, you'd probably be left to yourself most of the time."
Quatre turned back over to look at Trowa with hurt blue eyes. "Why can't you just let me go?" he choked out.
Slowly Trowa shook his head. "I can't do that."
"Why not? I just want to go home."
"To what? There is nothing there anymore."
"It's my home."
Trowa sighed. As much as he would like to do what the blonde asked, he couldn't. "I can't release you. It's the law. If I decided I don't want you I have to sell you to someone else."
"The law?"
Trowa nodded. "You are considered a prisoner of war. As such you cannot be released until after a duration of no less that five years. After that, it's up to the discretion of the owner."
Quatre could only stare at Trowa in disbelief. "Five years?" he finally whispered.
Trowa nodded again.
Quatre turned his head back to the wall. "What about slaves like Duo?"
"Since he was born a slave he can be released when he turns twenty one, if his owner decides to do so." Trowa knew that was the only reason why Duo was still considered Heero's slave. Heero had already promised to release Duo from his slavery the day after his twenty first birthday, which was in a little less that two years.
Trowa closed his eyes. "If I could release you, I would. I didn't think this would make you so unhappy. Do you want to be sent to my friend? The decision is yours."
Quatre struggled to hold back the tears that once again threatened. "It would be no different than it is now. I don't care what you do." Pain lanced through his chest as he drew in a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "If I may, I would like to sleep now. My chest hurts."
Trowa rose to his feet. He was no stranger to pain. "Do so. It will help you feel better." He stood watching as Quatre slipped into a quiet sleep. Moving across the room, he reached down to brush a stray lock of hair from Quatre's eyes. "Sleep, little one. I will try and make things as easy as possible for you. And I swear, the day you can be freed you will be."
With a soft sigh, Trowa turned and left the room.
*****
Duo didn't even look up when the door behind him opened. He kept his attention on the task before him, which was using a cool damp cloth to sponge down Quatre's fever racked body.
The fever had come up suddenly two days before and it took all of Duo's patience and skill to keep it from getting even worse then it was.
Quatre moaned and tossed, yet did not awaken. He had not regained consciousness since slipping into the fever-induced sleep.
"How is he?" Heero asked as he sat down on Duo's bed.
"No better, no worse."
"Has the doctor been by?"
"Yeah, earlier. He left some medicine that he hopes will help."
"Has he found the reason for the fever?"
"The wound was infected. Probably got something in it from the knife he used. He took out some of the stitches to let the area drain."
Heero watched the restlessly tossing boy. "Is that the only reason?"
Duo glanced back at Heero. "You know something I don't?"
"Trowa talked to him right before the fever came up. He told him the situation."
Duo nodded. "About not being able to release him?"
"Yes. Apparently, he also offered to sell him to Lenir."
"He's a good man. He would take good care of Quatre. But why?"
"I guess he thinks it's him that is making Quatre miserable."
Duo shook his head. "It's the situation, not Trowa."
"I know that and you know that and I think, deep in his heart, even Quatre knows that. But Trowa has gotten it into his head that this suicide attempt was all his fault."
Duo snorted. "If you want to blame anyone for it blame Gendar. That loud mouth fool is what set him off."
Heero nodded. He had suspected as much.
"So now what happens?"
"We wait and hope he gets better. I gather that Trowa has decided against selling Quatre. As to what else he plans, I don't know."
Duo turned his attention back to Quatre. "Maybe he's right after all," he murmured.
"About?"
"Maybe we've been calling the wrong people barbarians."
*****
Trowa was staring out into the garden when Heero walked in. "What's wrong?"
Trowa turned to look at him. "I was just talking to the doctor."
"What does he have to say?"
"That the infection that caused the fever is clearing up nicely."
"But the fever hasn't gone down."
"He thinks that the fever is more that just physically induced. He says Quatre isn't really trying to fight the fever off."
"A different form of suicide."
Trowa nodded.
"What does he suggest be done?"
"There isn't much we can do but wait." Trowa turned back to stare sadly out across the garden. "I don't know what to do."
Heero was quiet for a moment. "Maybe a change of scenery would help."
Trowa frowned. "How?"
Heero shrugged. "I think he hates this city as much as anything else. Get away from it and the people that live here. Show him the way you normally live. Maybe he will be able to accept the situation if he realizes that what he's seen isn't the whole picture. Give him a chance to know you better."
"You told me to show him who was in charge. Wouldn't that be like giving in to him?"
Heero looked at him pointedly. "You like him, right?"
Trowa was quiet for a minute. "Yes," he finally answered.
"Then you have to find the right balance. If you can find it, you will have someone who is totally loyal to you."
"What did you do with Duo?"
"Show him that I wouldn't put up with his shit. And then showed him that we could be a very good team if he'd let me in." Heero smiled slightly. "It was worth it."
"So, go beyond the normal master slave relation."
"He's a high strung, sensitive boy. I think he'll respond well. But don't go to far the other way, or he will think that all he has to do is turn on the tears and you'll give in. You don't want him to forget who is in charge."
Trowa sighed. "This is becoming a lot more difficult that I thought it would be."
"You didn't have to decide to have a personal slave. Things can get very complicated when things get as personal as they do in that situation."
"I know. I hope things work out, though. There is something about him that....."
Heero nodded. "You'll figure it out."
"I hope so."