The tension did not dissipate with Heero out of the room, though I really hadn't expected it to. Instead, Trowa and I sat in the same tense silence together, until I finally asked him if he'd like to freshen up in the slave's bathroom.

"There should be a hairbrush in there somewhere, and I made sure that it had toothbrushes and toothpaste. Feel free to use any, they're all new."

Trowa nodded and rose, as eager to escape the feeling of foreboding as Heero was, I think. With him out of the room and nothing to occupy myself with, I suddenly remembered the tiny remote the Duke had given me. I had slipped it into a kitchen drawer after the party, too tired to really worry about it. Now, without any distractions, I rose and fetched the tiny plastic box, contemplating it as I waited for Trowa, so that I could ask him about it directly.

"What's that?" Heero asked, coming out of the bedroom fresh from the shower. His hair was still sopping wet as he toweled it dry, a thin pair of shorts covering his modesty as the rest of him was bare, damp, and wonderfully covered in a thin lair of moisture. I was forced to restrain my more base urges as I watched the play of water on muscle. Heero, typically, was unaffected.

"The Duke gave it to me, said to ask Trowa about it."

"Then be careful," he said as I twisted the knob down from where it had been in the middle.

"What's the worst that it could do?" I wondered, then decided to heed Heero's words just in case. I began to turn the knob back to its original place, but there was a sudden gasp from behind me, so loud and close that I jumped. My hand slipped, turning the knob all the way up as I turned to see what had happened behind me.

I turned just in time to see Trowa's eyes roll back into his head as his body dropped like a rock and begin to spasm wildly on the floor. Shocked, I dropped the remote and rushed to Trowa's side, Heero right beside me. I attempted to grab him to keep him from thrashing and hurting himself, but was hit with electricity the moment I touched him. Heero, who was still wet from the shower, was hit harder and knocked on his butt.

"There's got to be a live wire or something!" I hissed to Heero, beginning to panic. It looked as though Trowa was being electrocuted, and from the power of the shock I had received I knew we had only precious moments to turn it off before the boy's heart stopped.

"There's nothing near him!" Heero replied, repeating only what I already knew. Still, there had to be something hurting him.

"M-m-m-mas-s-ster-r-r, p-p-p-p-pleas-s-s-se," Trowa said, trying to speak around his spasming body, "t-t-t-t-turn-n-n it-t-t of-f-f-f-f-f-f!"

"Turn what off?" I asked, leaning close to him.

"Th-h-he r-r-r-re-e-m-m-mo-t-t-t-te!" he cried, then seemed to give up, allowing his eyes to roll back and giving his body free reign to flail.

It only took me a second to realize what he was talking about, and I jumped off the floor and dashed for the counter. Reaching it, I scrambled for the remote and wrenched the dial all the way to the bottom.

It was only when I saw that Trowa was still did I let myself once again drop the remote and collapse beside him, this time panicking for another reason. The boy was now far too still, his chest rising and falling only slightly. He was barely breathing.

"Trowa?" I called, shaking his shoulder, "Trowa!" I hissed, shaking harder with still no result. "Trowa, damnit! Open your eyes! Respond to me! I swear, I'll- I'll- I'll turn it back on, damn you! Open your eyes!"

This threat, though harsh, had the desired result. Trowa opened his eyes and gasped, focusing on me.

"Mas-..." Trowa said, only getting half of the word out before he began to cough. Relief flooded me as Heero helped me turn him on his side. "Masser," he said a moment later, "please, don't! I-..."

"Shh,"I told him, still recovering from the shock of the attack, "Save your strength. I would never do such a thing," I told him. He nodded, still on his side, and allowed his eyes to close. I asked Heero to help me turn him over and we helped the barely conscious boy to his back.

"I don't... I don't understand what could have happened," I said, turning what must have been a lost look on Heero.

"I-..." he hesitated, looking at Trowa with great intent. "I think I know what might have happened. I've seen it before, but never so many. Master's... they don't want to leave a mark on their slaves, so they hit them with an electric pulse. Usually the conductor is in the slave's collar, but sometimes... they put them in earrings."