The sight that greeted me when I turned around was brutal. Marcel, in rage, raised his whip again and hit the blonde slave mercilessly as the boy coward on the floor. There were red welts and cuts all over his back and arms. He was bleeding profusely. His breathing was ragged and had a wet sound to it, and I soon saw that his nose was bleeding, impairing his ability to breathe even more. Marcel raised the whip again and hit the boy with a sharp crack. The boy, terrified and wounded, assumed that he had hit a barrier, and was desperately trying to feel the way around it without the guidance of his master. He frantically felt the surface of the plastic material as he crawled along it on his knees, his hands tied behind his back, trying to find away around it so that he could get away from the pain. Marcel raised the whip again and prepared to bring it down.

My arm caught his in a vicelike grip. I couldn't remember moving, I was so filled with anger, but somehow I managed to get beside Marcel, towering over him in a rage that I had not often felt.

"That's enough," I growled, and Marcel was so stunned by my anger that his own drained away and he dropped the whip. He soon recovered himself and tried to cover his fear by roughly pulling his arm from mine.

"Take the whelp," he said, "he's more trouble than he's worth anyway." And with that, he went back to his slaves. I was glad, for I was mere inches from doing something I would not regret.

I turned back to the boy, who had curled into a ball on his side and was making the most piteous noises between his wheezes. I knelt beside him an touched his shoulder. He flinched hard, pulling himself into a tighter ball. I would have liked to coax him out of it, but I didn't have time to be gentle when he was having so much difficulty breathing. Instead I put a hand on his shoulder and one on his knee and forced him to uncurl. He struggled for a moment, but had neither the energy nor the air to fight me, and sagged in exhaustion a moment later.

With him uncurled I was able to reach up and pull the gag from his mouth. It had been tied too tight and had cut into his lips at the corners of his mouth. He gasped deeply as I pulled the gag out, his body contorting as he struggled to fill his lungs with air. He had been chocking and it was difficult for him to catch his breath, so I freed his hands and helped him to his knees. As hard as he had been driven, I was not surprised to see him throw up, his small body heaving as it tried to decide what it needed to do to regulate itself. He wavered and might have fallen over, but I steadied him.

Despite the extra air, the boy was still not getting enough oxygen, or, at least, he didn't think he was. His breathing came in small, quick gasps and he couldn't seem to wait long enough to get his lungs completely filled, but he didn't think the short gasps were enough, either. He was hyperventilating, and would faint if he kept it up, so I removed the earplugs and pulled him against my side.

"Listen to me," I said, my voice deep and commanding, "I want you to take a deep breath. Take it in. A little more. Good," I said as he struggled to listen to me. "Now, hold it. Hold. Hold. Now let it out. One, two, three. Now in," I instructed until he had finally gotten his breathing under control. He would still dissolve into bouts of gasps every once in a while, but I was certain that this was because he was crying harshly, and not because he couldn't breathe.

I tore the sleeve from my shirt, unmindful that it would be expensive to repair, and wiped his face, removing the blindfold as I did. I was glad he had been crying, as he had plowed his face into the sand somewhere on the race. There was sand all over his body, but specifically inside the blindfold, where it could have been pushed into his eyes had he not cried it out. I wiped the blood, sweat, and tears from his face, trying to stop the lethargic bleeding of his nose as I went.

I became aware of Heero sitting next to me on the ground, looking at us with concern.

"Come here," I told him, signaling for him to lean closer. He flinched a little, I think concerned that he had disobeyed my order to stay, but that was the least of my concerns at the moment. Instead I unsnapped his harness from behind his neck.

"Run and change your clothes," I ordered, "Go on."

Heero bolted up to change his clothes as I held the still sobbing boy on my lap. His eyes were open and he stared up at me, his eyes so clear and so blue as they watched me with a dreadful anxiousness.

"It's alright, little one," I coaxed as petted the hair away from his face, "You'll be alright," I told him, meaning to sooth him. He only lowered his eyes, tears slipping out once again.

Heero returned a moment later and I handed the light youth to him. It was awkward, because they were close in height and Heero had to hold him chest to chest. The blonde's chin laid on Heero's shoulder as he brought his legs up to circle Heero's waste. Any other position would have rubbed his back, which was a mess as it was. Heero, though tired from the race, held his burden carefully and I had no fear that he would drop him.

"Take him back to the room," I ordered, "Make him comfortable. I will be there momentarily."

Heero nodded and set off, taking the sobbing boy with him. I sighed. It would take a lot to make the boy well, and even more to get him over the trauma this scene had caused.

Manners dictated that I would have a parting word with Marcel and, though I would have rather bite my own thumb, I went over to speak with the man.

"I suppose I got a little... carried away with the pet, eh?" he asked, smiling as he capitulated. "Perhaps you would rather another of my pets?" he said, waving his hand toward the group again.

"No," I replied stonily, "I have the one I wanted."

"Eh," he said nervously. I think perhaps he thought I was angry that he had damaged my property, thus giving me a bad deal, and that I would no longer bet with him in the future. Hoping to put aside our conflict, he said, "Perhaps you don't like any of my pets, but what about the Duke's? He has some magnificent pets, and he owes me one from a card game. I'll give it to you. Friday, at the dinning hall. I'll send invitation. Introduce you to him. What you say?" he asked. I was hesitant to take another slave from this man, after the treatment the other had received. Also, I knew if he was offering the slave for free it would be useless, a toy instead of a tool, and I only needed slaves for Collar, not for pleasure. Still, I was so anxious to get back to the little blonde slave and I needed as many allies as I could get, so I nodded, hoping to speed up our parting and keep from having a feud with another master.

"Wonderful!" he shouted, clapping his hands. "I'll send the invitation soon."

"I really must be going now, then," I told him, and with a curt nod left the room, hastily making my way back to my room, hoping both my slaves were alright.