Disclaimer: the hell with the disclaimer, you all know…

Previous time:

'Could you help me out? I've got a bit of a problem here.'
'A problem?' asked Sally. 'What's wrong? Is something wrong with your slave?' she asked
'No, ex-slave. You remember Milliardo?'
'The blond you couldn't stop talking about? Of course I remember.' She teased. 'What's wrong with him?'
'Nothings wrong with him, his Master asked me to remove his collar, but I can't. I thought maybe you can. It's one of those special ones… Only twenty of them around the world and colonies.' Stated Imes dryly.
'That one? Has Dermail been his Master of something?'
'In fact, yes, he has.' Answered Imes.
'O, sorry about that. I'll come immediately. I'll be there in about half an hour.'
'Thanks Sally, I really appreciate it.'
'No prob. By the way, who's his Master now? Not someone like Dermail, I hope.'
'No, not at all. I think you might even know him.'
'Know him? Who is he?'
Imes lay his finger on his lips, making clear he didn't want Treize to tell. 'I'll tell you one thing, you once, indirectly, served under him. Thanks for coming over.' He said and hung up.
'Still the same tease as you were a few years ago.' Said Milliardo hugging his old Master from behind. 'You never change, do you?'
'Nope, should I?' he asked a bit too innocently.

Chapter 12 (not revised)

Treize and Lieutenant Imes filled the half hour of waiting with a talk about Milliardo, and his past, as far as they both knew. Milliardo, Trowa and Lucrezia were on the bed, playing, resting, talking, whatever they were in to on that moment.
Exactly half an hour later there was a knock on the door.
'Enter.' Called Imes.
Sally opened the door and was surprised to see so many people in the room. He had expected Milliardo and his Master, but nobody else.
'Hello…o…my….God…Colonel Treize Kushrenada?' she said looking at the part of the room where Treize and Imes were sitting. 'I thought you were kidding when you said I indirectly served under him Mike…My god…I never thought I would meet you your excellency.'
'I've had those reactions before.' He said smiling while giving the woman a handshake. 'I heard you probably can remove the collar?' he added.
'Yes. I've removed four other identical collars before.' Said Sally as she dropped her bag next to the desk.
'Milliardo? Come on over for a second.' Called Treize.
'Just a second Master…I've gotta get rid of these two first…' he said. He struggled to get off the bed, but Trowa and Lucrezia had pinned him down.
'Say the special words first.' Teased Trowa.
'Special words? Please?'
'Not that one.' Reacted Trowa smiling.
'Not that one? What one is it then?'
'I love you.' Said Trowa kissing the blond and got off him. 'That was all you had to say.' He teased.
'Okay…Love you.' He said returning the kiss.

Milliardo got out of bed and apologised. 'Sorry. I got a bit carried away.'
'No sweat.' Said Treize. 'Milliardo, this is Sally. She'll try and remove your collar.'
'You're a Neko-jin? Wow…' said Sally astonished. 'Sorry… I have a bad habit for saying what's on my mind. Let me take a look at the collar.' She said while approaching Milliardo.
The blond removed his hair and let Sally examine it.
'Yeah, it's definitely one made for Dermail…You got it during the process of making you a Neko, am I right?'
'Yes, I was unconscious at the time, but he told me.' Said Milliardo not really comfortable with the topic.
'Can you remove it?' asked Treize concerned about his slaves feeling. He knew Milliardo didn't like this sort of attention at all.
'Yes…Could you lay down on the bed? On your stomach.'
'Of course. Do I need to take out my shirt?'
'No, that won't be necessary.' She answered getting some tools out of her bag. Milliardo lay down on bed. His tail moved nervously. Trowa saw how uncomfortable his lover was and sat down beside the blond. He held his hand, and softly squeezed it.
'It's gonna be okay love. Once it's removed you'll never have to wear such a collar again.' He said.
'It might hurt.' Warned Sally. 'I don't know how active it still is. Mostly collars are made for ten years… How long do you have this one?'
'Two years I think.'
'Then it will hurt. Don't worry, it won't hurt much…it won't hurt too much…' Meanwhile Treize and Lieutenant Imes had gathered around the bed as well.
'Is it okay if I sit on your backside? It'll make it a lot easier for me, and it'll prevent for you making sudden movements.' She asked carefully, looking at Treize while she waited for the blonds answer.
'I don't mind.' Said Milliardo. He was surprised that his voice came out so well, seeing how nervous he really was. Treize nodded.
'Okay…here goes…'

It took Sally more than ten minutes to get the collar removed. The first few minutes were the most painful for Milliardo. Sally had tried to switch the collar off, but there was a second defence in it, which was harder to find.
'The worst is now over. It won't hurt anymore.' She said nicely. It's almost over. A few seconds later they heard a click and the collar could be removed. The blond sighed as the weight around his neck was gone. He was so relieved with the removal of the collar that he didn't even notice the stares of the persons around him. He felt Sally move, and he sat up. Once he saw everyone stare at him he asked: 'What's wrong?'
'Eh…Love…you never told me you had a chain tattoo beneath your collar…' said Trowa after a few seconds of silence.
'I don…o, yeah, right…I already forgot about it…' he said lowering his eyes down. 'I never thought about it anymore since that collar…' he said softly.
'How did you get it?' asked Lucrezia.
'……Dermail…' was the only thing he said.
'I think I should leave you alone.' Said Sally. She gathered her equipment and packed them in her bag.
'Thanks for removing the collar Sally. What do you want for it in return?' asked Treize.
'In return? Nothing.' She said smiling. 'I don't remove those things to gain money for it. Just make sure you keep him happy, that's all I ask.'
'I'll do that.' Said Treize. 'Once again, thanks.'
'No prob. Mike, we'll see each other some time soon, okay?'
'Sure, just give me a call.' He said. 'Should I leave you alone for a while, so you can talk?' he offered Treize and Milliardo.
'It doesn't matter to me…' said Milliardo. 'If you wanna hear the story, you may stay…'
'Only if you want me to stay Mil.'
'Please.' Said the blond. Treize sat down on the bed and Milliardo crawled on his lap. 'There's not really much to tell actually. When I arrived at Dermails place I had a normal collar, like anybody else. Once he decided to make me a Neko-jin my collar had to be removed during the operations, because I sometimes accidentally switched in my feline form. My old collar didn't grow with the transformations, so I almost suffocated once. Dermail wasn't happy, with me having no collar, so he called someone to do this.' He said while his finger trailed over the chain tattoo on his neck. 'He…' started Milliardo, but he started crying.
'Shh…' soothed Treize softly rubbing his slave's back. 'Take your time, and if you don't want to continue, we understand…'
'No…I…I'll continue…He had me tied to the bed.' He said sniffing. 'The process of brining the tattoo on was so painful I almost fainted…but I didn't…My whole body was still sore from the first few operations, and the tattoo wasn't making it better. It took the man three hours to complete it. And in those three hours Dermail just sat in the same room, enjoying seeing me in pain. Afterwards I couldn't eat or drink without being in pain. But that wasn't even the worst part. Dermail just continued the operations like nothing happened. The tattoo together with the operations made me very weak, and I got ill. He neglected my fever for too long, and on one moment it was that bad that he thought I would die. Lucrezia's father, who was in charge of the operations didn't want to loose me, because I was one of the few who survived the operations to that certain point, so he called Lucrezia in to take care of me. Just the day before I'd had another operation, and during it I got this collar.' He said having the collar which was removed by Sally in his hand.

'I always wondered why your neck was so sensitive back then…I thought it was part op the operations…' said Lucrezia. 'What awful…'
Treize hugged Milliardo, instead of saying anything. Milliardo curled his tail around Trowa's wrist when he felt his lover sit next to them.
'Master? Can we go home? I'm tired…' asked Milliardo carefully.
'Of course. We'll go right away.' Said Treize nicely.
Lieutenant Imes smiled sadly. 'I'll walk you out.'
'Thanks Mas…Lieutenant.' Said Milliardo. He took Trowa's hand and they left the STI.
'You can always call me if you need me.' Said Imes. 'Good bye Milliardo.'
Milliardo nodded, not wanting to try his voice.

The ride home went in an awful silence. Milliardo was leaning on Trowa, staring out the window, not wanting to look at anyone else in the car. The removal of the collar had stirred up bad memories from the time he was with Dermail. He felt his Masters and Lucrezia's eyes on him. He knew they were both staring at the tattoo on his neck.
'Master?' asked Milliardo not looking at the man. 'That collar you gave me for Christmas, do you have it with you?'
'Yes, it's somewhere in my coat…why do you ask? You want a collar around your neck so badly?'
'No, not really…I just want to hide my tattoo…I'm not proud of it. It reminds me too much about him.' He said. Trowa hugged his lover as he felt that Milliardo was about to cry again.
Treize searched his coat and found the collar. He gently clicked it around Milliardo's neck.
'You don't have to worry about it when you transform. I had it made so it would adapt in size if necessary.'
'Thanks.' Said Milliardo softly. He somehow found the weight of a collar somewhat relaxing. He was happy when the weight of his old collar was gone, that was until everyone noticed another thing that marked him as a slave.
'When we're home, may I transform and just take a walk? Alone?' asked Milliardo after another few minutes of silence.
'Of course you may. You don't have to ask Milliardo, you know I'll approve, as long as you make sure you don't get yourself into trouble.' Said the blonds Master nicely.

TBC

GOMEN! First of all, sorry for the late update, second of all, srry for the short chapter! I haven't really been in a Gundam Wing mood the last few days…weeks already :S I've had my exams, so now it's waiting for the results… I don't have to go to school anymore, so I thought I would update at least once a week, but looks like I can't even update once in…what is it…three weeks already? Gomen!

On the other hand, I've been thinking about what's going to happen in further chapters, and I've figured out a way for Quatre to appear…it'll probably be a long time from now, but that doesn't really matter… I also made up another name for one of the kittens, who should be appearing in a chapter or two, maybe three…One I already had, Frannin, the second I thought of today. It's not really a common name, but I thought Innocence would be a very nice name? If you don't agree, please say so, and if you know some good names, please tell me! I still need more names!

I'll try and update more often!

Next chapter

Ehhh…well….not really sure yet…I think I'll dedicate a whole chappy about Milliardo thinking about the time he was with Dermail, but I'm not sure yet…

Progress n Sidestory (save the tears for the right moment)

First of all i want to thank all of you who have already read and reviewed Part A of the side story. I'm busy with Part B, and i must admit, it isn't going as fast as i thought it would go. I haven't even reached the part when he's sold to Dermail, so it will take a VERY long time before part B will be posted. Sumimasen!