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 Nine
By SilverLady
Quatre moved quickly down the hallway, alert for any sign of Duo's passing. Luckily, his choices so far had been right. The people that he passed gave indication, either by action or word, that Duo had already been by. More fortunately, Duo seemed only intent on escaping.
When Quatre burst out of the house onto the side street, he paused, looking right and left. There was nothing that he could see that would give him any indication of which direction Duo might have taken.
Think. Where would Duo go? He's scared and confused. He's going to want to go somewhere he feels safe. But where would that be in this city? I doubt if he really has many good memories of any place around here. Just the ones with Heero. And most of those are still not very close by. Quatre closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember if Duo had ever mentioned a special place here in the city. Suddenly a flash of a memory came, of him and Duo talking about places to go in the city. Duo had admitted that there was a small park not far from the house that he liked to go to. That Heero had taken him there a lot, especially early in their relationship. Duo had spoken fondly of the place. Maybe that's where he is.
Hoping he was right, Quatre turned left and headed in the direction of the small park.
***
Trowa carefully guided Heero to a seat, pressing the piece of shirt he'd ripped off tightly against the wound. Though it was bleeding badly he didn't think that it was anything too serious.
"Heero?"
Heero heard the question behind the softly spoken word, but he didn't know if he really wanted to answer it. It would mean bringing up things that he had promised himself never to talk about. He didn't want Duo reminded of the things that had happened and so he didn't talk about much about the beginning of his ownership and relationship with the long haired slave.
Slowly he leaned back, closing his eyes and focusing on ignoring the pain. Maybe Trowa's worry for him would put the question aside.
"What happened here?" a voice demanded as the doctor walked into the room.
"Heero's been stabbed," Trowa replied. "Right shoulder."
Doc moved over to Heero's side and promptly began examining the wound. "Lot of stabbing going on around here lately. Maybe you'd best start hiding the knives."
Heero opened his eyes and glared at Doc. "It was an accident."
"Of course. Now hold still so I can see how bad it is."
Heero sighed but remained silent as Doc probed the wound. "Not too bad, but it looks like it might have nicked an artery. I'm going to pack the wound and see if we can't get the bleeding stopped before I do anything else."
"Fine."
Trowa moved to Heero's side. "Heero?"
"We'll talk about it later."
Trowa frowned but knew he'd get nothing else out of Heero right now. But he would have his answers. Soon.
***
It took Quatre nearly fifteen minutes to reach the park and another five to find out that he had been correct in his guess. Curled up in a small ball under a tree in the back of the park was Duo.
Quatre approached slowly, not wanting to scare him and make him flee again.
Finally he was within a few feet of Duo. "Duo?" he whispered softly.
"Go away," came the choked reply, though Duo didn't lift his head. "Go away and leave me alone. Why won't you just leave me alone?"
"Duo. I'm not who you think I am. That man is gone. He's been dead for several years now."
Duo's body started to rock. "He hurts me."
"Who?"
"My master."
"What is his name?"
"Kendall. Master Kendall. He sticks needles in me and makes me hurt. But I hurt him this time. I stuck a needle in him instead." Slowly Duo's head came up and he looked at his hands, which were stained with blood. "The red won't go away though. It's always there. So many. So much blood. But now it's his too. So he won't hurt me."
He looked at Quatre. "It was all right, right? To make the hurt go away. To make him go away so he won't hurt me no more. The stuff in the needles really hurt bad. And it made me do things I didn't want to do. It made my head feel funny."
Slowly he blinked and studied Quatre more closely. "Are you my angel?" he suddenly asked.
Quatre was surprised. "What?"
"Have you come to take me away? Angels do that right? Take people so they won't hurt no more. You're pretty and golden like an angel."
"No, Duo, I'm no angel. I'm a man like you. I'm Quatre, your friend."
Duo frowned. "Quatre?"
"Yes. Heero sent me to get you."
"Heero?"
"Yes, your..... friend. He was worried when you ran away. You remember Heero?"
Duo frowned again. "Heero?"
"Yes, Heero. The one who takes care of you now. The one you love. He's very special to you, isn't he? You know he'd never do those things to you. That he would anyone who would try and hurt you. He loves you very much. Even though others still see him as your master, he doesn't. He only sees you as his life mate. His true love." Quatre held his breath, hoping that his words had penetrated the fog that seemed to have enveloped Duo's mind.
"Heero?" Duo's voice was puzzled.
Slowly Quatre saw Duo's eyes clear. After several minutes, Duo blinked and looked at Quatre with a different look in his eyes. "Quatre?" His voice was less frightened and childish than it had been.
Quatre moved slightly forward. "Yes?"
"Where am I? Why am I here? What happened?"
Quatre sighed in relief. "It's all right."
Duo looked down at his hands then back at Quatre. "What happened?" His voice was firm now, demanding answers.
Quatre looked away. He really didn't want to tell Duo what he had done. "Nothing much. You got upset and ran. Trowa had me come and get you."
"Why is there blood on my hands?"
Quatre rose to his feet. "We need to get back."
Duo also rose to his feet. "Quatre. What did I do? I don't remember anything much after leaving the palace."
Quatre sighed, knowing that Duo would press for answers. "You went to bed. You said you had a headache. When you woke up you thought you were still in the possession of your last master, Kendall. You ran to get away from him and I came after you."
"Who's blood is this?" He shoved his hand at Quatre.
Quatre looked downward. "Heero's," he whispered.
"What?"
"You thought Heero was Kendall and you attacked him. You caught him in the shoulder. Trowa stayed with him and called for the doctor even though he was more concerned for you. He was afraid you would hurt yourself."
Duo's shoulders slumped. "I hurt Heero."
"By accident."
Duo looked at Quatre, a sad look stealing across his face. "I swore I would never let that part on me touch him. But it doesn't matter. Things will never change. I...."
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." A harsh voice suddenly cut across the park. "Two little slaves all alone."
Quatre turned to find several men dressed in uniforms standing behind him.
"Bet they've run away, heh Jordin," another one commented.
The man at the front of the group smirked. "Sure looks that way. You two got your papers?"
Quatre blinked as he heard Duo curse quietly behind him. "Papers?"
"That's what I thought. Come on you two. You know what happens to runaway slaves in this city. March."
"But...."
One guard moved forward. "Don't you do no back talking. Start walking. Or I'll make you move."
Quatre glanced back at Duo. Duo only shrugged and started following the men. With a sigh Quatre trailed behind. What have we gotten ourselves into now?