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 Thirty-Three
By SilverLady
Trowa sat quietly, watching Heero as he fussed over Duo. Of course, from the loud protests Duo was making, it didn't sound like the braided boy felt Heero was doing any fussing at all.
"Damn it, Heero, don't wrap the damn thing so tight. You're going to cut all the circulation to my foot off. Oww. That hurt."
Heero calmly finished wrapping the bandage around Duo's injured ankle. "Then next time you'll land better."
Duo glared, crossing his arms across his chest and pouting. "See who sleeps alone tonight."
"You," Heero calmly pointed out, rising to his feet. "Now sit there and rest." Giving Duo a pointed look, Heero turned and walked over to where Trowa was sitting.
"It's a good thing I wasn't planning on watching any wildlife," Trowa commented as Heero sat down beside him. "I think he scared it all away."
Heero smirked. "Probably," he replied. There were times when he was amazed at just how loud Duo could be. But the noise didn't bother him. It was the times when Duo was silent that bothered him. Those were the times when he knew Duo was lost in his memories, memories he'd rather not have his long haired lover remember. He often wished there was some way to make the bad things go away, for good. But they were a part of what made Duo what he was and without them, there was no telling what Duo would become.
"Actually, if you could find Wufei and Sally, we need to talk," Trowa said softly.
Heero nodded. "I think they went down to the river. I'll get them." With the swift silence that was Heero's way, he was on his feet and disappearing into the woods.
"Where's he going?" Duo called out.
Trowa rose to his feet and crossed the campsite to where Duo was sitting on a log. "I asked him to go and get Wufei and Sally. We need to have a meeting."
Duo glanced at the tent. "You going to wake him up?"
Trowa sighed. He'd really rather let the blonde sleep, but... "Yes."
Duo nodded. He was glad that the others had apparently come to their senses, finally.
***
"What do you want?" Wufei asked as he walked into camp. He looked disgruntled about something. Sally was following behind, a slight grin on her face
Trowa indicted that he wanted them to sit down. "We need to talk."
Wufei nodded and took a seat, glancing around. Duo was sitting on the log he'd been left on earlier, his injured leg stretched out in front of him. Quatre was sitting on the ground, propped up against the log and blinking sleepily at everyone.
Heero walked over and sat down at Duo's feet. "About?"
"What happened tonight and what we are going to do about it." Trowa sighed a little as he, too, sat down. He glanced around the group. "Who ever is after us upped the ante tonight. A lot more people were threatened tonight."
"And we're still not completely certain which one of us they are after, " Duo commented.
"I think it's whoever they get lucky enough to get," Quatre whispered quietly.
Trowa glanced at the blonde and nodded. "I agree. I don't think there is one set target. Not really. But at least now we have an idea what the person looks like."
"I didn't get that good a look. Just dark hair and a woman's face." Quatre was looking at the ground as he spoke.
"Do you think you would know her if you saw her again?"
"I think so."
"Then it's more than we had before."
"But what are we going to do?" Duo asked. "Just knowing what she looks like isn't enough. Especially since she proved she's not adverse to taking out a few innocent bystanders in the process."
"I'd guess that her orders are probably to make sure one of you, or all of you, doesn't return from this trip," Sally spoke up. "So if it looks like you're going to head home, she's going to make another move."
"So you're saying we should turn around and head back?" Wufei demanded.
Sally shook her head. "The port town of Marinia is about three days east of here. It would be faster to head there and catch a ship back. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't try something there."
"But that is putting a lot of people at risk. Marinia is also a big vacation area," Trowa pointed out.
"With a very big Guard presence. She wasn't really risking much last night by burning the inn. But that kind of a stunt won't work in Marinia."
Heero nodded. "She'll either have to go back to being subtle or...."
"Follow you on the ship and do something on the trip back, which would actually be less of a risk to her. She could make it look like and accident and there wouldn't be anyone to investigate what really happened."
"Especially since anything would be reported at the port of destination."
"And if Michal is really behind it, nothin' would be investigated," Duo finished. "And if she knows that Quatre actually saw her, she'll probably figure that none of the rest of us listened, figurin' he made it up or somethin'."
Trowa was quiet for a moment. He really didn't want to go into a big city and possibly risk even more people, but the logic of the argument was sound. Trying to kill them in Marinia and possibly hurting other people in the process would make the woman a target of the Guard, something she definitely wouldn't want. And everything she had done so far, if she was the one behind all of the attacks, indicated she didn't want to attract that kind of attention. The fire at the inn had been a calculated risk, but only a small one. There was little in the way of a police presence in the small town and thus little chance of being caught.
With a sigh, he nodded. "I do think it is time to go back and confront my cousin. I want to know what he hopes to accomplish by all this, besides getting back at Duo and Heero for the incident in the garden." He looked at each of them. "I just hope you're right."
"You're not the only one," Duo replied, looking grim.
"Then tomorrow we head for Marinia."
Every head in the group nodded in agreement. It was time to end this.