Wufei left the morning after we returned Duo, and returned the evening after we bought him. It was unexpected, as none of us had ever expected to see him again outside of the Collar games. Master, especially, had been upset, though he had tried not to show it. He moped around the apartment most of the day, pretending that he was reading while he never turned a page. We hadn't known Wufei that long, but Master had formed a special bond with him, a warriors bond, and was having trouble breaking it. I think Wufei was the only one of us that considered himself equal with Master, and somehow that had appealed to our leader. Like he wanted to be challenged and questioned. Like he liked the rage and the attitude, the curses and the smart remarks. Or maybe he was simply sad to see one of his group leave. Master had, after all, never sold a slave before or parted with one for more than a few days. Maybe he just couldn't stand seeing something that was his taken away.
Perhaps I would never really understand Master, but I did understand the way the shadows disappeared from his face when we found Wufei at the door. It was early morning, though by Collar time it was actually very late, and we had all been getting ready to go to bed. But all that was forgotten when we saw Wufei, and Master and Quatre began to ask questions as though he had been gone a month, and Trowa and I pulled him into the house and got him to sit down at the table.
"I... ah, thank you, Trowa," he said as Trowa deposited an iced tea in front of him. He sipped at it, then shook his head, as though trying to bring himself back to purpose. When he continued, his voice was deep and determined. "I actually have a message to relay, and a question to ask of you, Master Zechs," Wufei said, ever polite and diplomatic. "The Owner would like to congratulate you on defeating me. He also said that... since you have proven yourself strong enough to take care of me... and because he will be away on business most of the summer... he would ask you to care for me for the entirety of the recess period between the Collar banquet and the Collar games. I would... I would be your slave, without any rules to what you can or cannot due to me. There would be no contract other than that you will not kill me."
"I see," Master said, his eyes filled with thoughts as his brain processed everything he had just heard. He deliberated for what seemed like a very long time before asking, "Would you like to stay with me for the summer?"
Wufei, likewise, deliberated for a moment, then seemed to have great difficulty finding the right words. "I... It would not be... the worst possible outcome... from my given options," he said, ever proud. Master smiled indulgently.
"I'll assume that's the closest I'm going to get to a yes," he replied, making Wufei smile as well. "In that case, I have only one more thing I must ask. Will the Owner allow you to compete for me in the Collar competition?"
Wufei looked startled, as I'm sure the rest of us did. Wufei was probably the best lone player at Collar. To ask the Owner to let him play for us was like asking the Owner to give us half the space station.
"I-... I'll see what I can do," Wufei answered hesitantly.
"My answer is still a yes," Master replied, smiling gently, "but it would make my life a lot easier if I had one reliable slave who had been through Collar, if only to help get the others ready."
"Ah... yes," Wufei said, looking relieved and somewhat embarrassed, "but you must know that I have never won at Collar, and I never placed or participated in most of the events."
"But you did place in several."
"Yes."
"Then you've done better than us. You have to remember, this is my first year, and as dedicated as the rest of the boys are, they've never competed before. You'll be a big help, no matter what."
"Then I will take my leave. I have much to discuss with my master."
"Surely you can stay a little longer."
"No. My master... ah... requires my services as of this evening," he said, blushing fiercely.
"I understand," Master said, giving him a sympathetic look. "Take care of yourself, then. I will see you tomorrow?"
"Yes, but probably only a few hours before the flight. I have a few things I must pack."
"I'll see you tomorrow. Be safe."
"Tomorrow. And thank you."
Wufei bowed, then departed quickly. Master sighed and rubbed his eyes, then took the three of us to bed. I took a moment to reflect on how lucky I was, how lucky we were, to be owned by Master. I didn't want to think of what was happening to Wufei with the Owner, but he was strong, and I was confident that he could hold up long enough to get back to us.
The next day was filled with a suppressed excitement as we ate and then began to pack. It didn't take much, because we only had three sets of casual clothes a piece, and only two or three costumes. Quatre only had one. Master, on the other hand, had two suitcases full of delicate clothes, though this was still less than most masters.
It was almost lunch when everything was packed and sent ahead of us to the plane. We kept only the essentials, some clothes and hygienic products that we would carry with us on the plane. Master also bought several doses of medication, which I was pretty sure was the same drug he had dosed me with on my first trip. I was glad, although I didn't envy Master babysitting me and the others while on those drugs. Perhaps Trowa or Wufei could stay sober and help him.
As the day progressed, I became more and more tense, worrying about Duo. By late afternoon, I was almost hopping in place, and Master finally got fed up enough to send me on ahead.
"Go get him ready, alright? Fill out the paperwork for me and I'll be down in a little while to sign it. Go on!"
So I trotted off to find Duo and managed, just barely, to keep myself from running. I was a little worried that he'd behave badly, but mainly I was excited about getting Duo back with the group. For some reason, I felt that our group could only be complete once Duo and then Wufei were returned. It felt shattered now, divided. We needed to get everyone back together for our... family to be complete.
I arrived at the warehouse and, in common slave treatment, I was harshly given a cage number and then ignored, left wander the halls in search of the right number. I could have been wandering for hours, but a pair of passing guards were muttering about "babysitting duty with the demon" and I was able to follow them.
I wasn't too surprised that Duo was being yelled at. He was... well... Duo. But when I got closer and found his nose bleeding my hackles began to rise. There was trouble in the air, and Duo was right in the middle of it.
"Take off!" one of the attacking guards yelled to the others. "We've got some business to attend to with a certain little demon. We'll take your shift."
"Alright, but you damage the goods and you're taking the hit, y'hear!" one of the two new guards yelled, then they both headed on their way, muttering something about getting a beer.
Well, obviously I would not receive a great amount of help from the local authority figures. Assessing the situation, I would have to hope I could either diffuse it myself or stall until Master arrived. Of course, my instincts screamed at me to rush in and diffuse the situation using force, but I had been trained for years to ignore my instincts and think logically, and tonight was no different. As always, my first concern was Master's well-being, for only through Master could Duo and myself be well. But perhaps that only makes sense to a slave, one who has had to depend on another for everything, always. Perhaps only a slave can understand that kind of total dependency, the feeling of having one's life drastically altered by a shift of the mood of another person. Can anyone else truly understand that?
Regardless, I was able to assess that Duo was in danger, but not in a critical sense. My physical intervention could be detrimental to the situation, but I could not stand idly by. I hoped that the guards would not forget that Duo was owned. A nosebleed could easily be dismissed by a master, but any further damage and Master could actually sue the guards for damaging his property and lessening his value. Unfortunately it did not look like the guards would let up any time soon, despite what damage was done to Duo.
And Duo... Duo looked more irate than anything, glaring at the guard even as he was being pinned up against the wall by the larger of the two guards. The guard yelled something unintelligible, and Duo actually spat in his face. Spat in his face! That would certainly make my job of protecting him easier. Yes, lets just make them more angry.
I sighed. What to do? If I intervened, I could very well make the guards more angry, but if I didn't it looked like Duo would be seriously injured. But could I really keep the guards from doing any damage? Could I even stall them? And what of Master? Would this new spat be enough for him to finally get rid of Duo, and maybe even myself? He wasn't happy with taking Duo anyway, what would he think of this new catastrophe?
The guard lifted Duo, still pinned against the wall, off his feet and threw him to the floor. He grunted in pain, but the guard wasn't done. He went after Duo. And that was it. I knew there was no hope for Duo if I didn't intervene. For whatever Duo had done, the guards were mad enough not to let it go. They were going to beat Duo within an inch of his life, and I simply couldn't allow that.
"Sirs," I said loudly, trying to get their attention and bring them away from Duo. "I'm here to receive the Shinigami for transport into a private facility."
"We're not done yet. Come back in an hour," one said, sneering at me as he kicked Duo in the ribs. "You wanna mouth off now?" he spat at Duo, who had curled into a protective ball.
I spared myself a moment for the first time to look critically at these two as adversaries. The first, the one who had pinned Duo against the wall and was now standing over him ready to aim another kick, was roughly 6'8" and well over 250 pounds. He was, obviously, a big guy, more muscle than fat, with a blonde buzz cut, a sour face, and cold blue eyes. He didn't strike me as extremely intelligent, but he wasn't an idiot either. The second one was of slight stature, probably around 6'2". He seemed young, mid-twenties, and of pretty average weight. There seemed to be a sharp wit in his blue eyes, but again it was nothing above normal. His hair was black, a bit longer that usual for a male, with a slightly messy look to it that could have been on purpose.
And, of course, I had to factor in Duo. Chances were that he would either serve as a hostage or an antagonizing factor for the other side. I doubted he'd be much help to me as he'd already been injured. With that in mind, I decided my best chance at success, and survival, was to stall for Master and hope he could diffuse the situation.
"Excuse me, sir, but I am here to retrieve my Master's property."
"Scat!" the smaller on spat at me, shoving me back a few paces.
"If you damage my Master property there will be consequences," I replied, keeping my face impassive.
"Damage, huh?" the larger one sneered. "I'll show you some damage!" he yelled, then lifted Duo off the ground by one wrist and flung him into the wall, cracking his head against the metal. "This'll show you to listen to your elders!"
Duo gave a moan of pain, his head lolling, but stubbornly refused to give up. "Screw you!" he yelled, then spat, again, on the guard's face.
Yes, Duo. Make him more angry. That's just what we need.
"I'll show you some respect!" the guard yelled and slammed Duo against the wall again.
"Leave him alone!" I yelled, moving to engage the larger goon, but the smaller guard intercepted me.
"Heh, I wouldn't mess with him," he said, sneering at me. "You don't want to be in the same position as your friend, do you?" he asked. Duo, meanwhile, was dropped to the floor, and the guard began to kick him again. A particularly nasty kick to the face sent him sprawling to his stomach, and another to his gut turned him onto his back. The guard then began to stomp on Duo's stomach, the blows making Duo's entire body jump and convulse. If I didn't get him to stop soon, Duo might die.
Meanwhile, the smaller guard had engaged me as I tried get by him to help Duo.
"I warned you," he said before shoving me into a wall and aiming a punch at my head. I dodged, but wasn't fast enough to completely get out of the way, and the struck the side of my head, throwing me off balance. Using my disorientation to his advantage, the guard grabbed my head and slammed it against the wall.
After that, I was done playing around. Initially, I had hoped not to attack the guards and cause more problems for Master. Unfortunately, with the blows delivered to Duo becoming more serious by the second, it looked like I would not be able to wait for Master to come. I went into mission mode, where I knew that by sheer force of will I would be able to put my own pain aside and focus on saving Duo.
I struck quickly, placing my back against the wall and jumping, then shoved both feet into the diaphragm of the guard. He grunted and flew against the opposite wall, striking it with enough force to render him unconscious. Then I turned my attention to the larger guard, who I had managed to distract from Duo by my attack on his partner. Duo took the momentary lapse to push himself off the ground, but could only get to his elbows. The side of his face was swollen and bloody, with more blood spirting from his nose. Still, he managed to give me a look that clearly said, "What the hell are you thinking?" I, of course, was thinking of saving his ass, and my own.
The large guard charged me, grabbing me around the middle and slamming me into a wall. I could only minimize the damage by curling around him, so that only my back struck the wall, and not my head. Once against the wall, I launched my own attack, slamming my fist down onto his head. Unfortunately, I was smaller than he was, so most of my blows glanced off of him.
In the next moment, both the guard and I were tossed to the side as Duo plowed into the guard and took us both down. We became a chaotic pile of limbs, each person trying to get out from underneath the other and to the top of the pile. We eventually managed to separated, each of us going our own way to form a triangular standoff.
We faced each other, the guard looking for weakness, Duo trying to signal for me to run, and me trying to figure out just how bad of shape Duo was in. The face-off only lasted a second, though, because in the next instant the guard had rushed me, throwing me into a wall where I hit my head again and saw stars. When my vision cleared, I saw that he had abandoned me in favor of Duo, and was now strangling him a devious intent that I doubted would be swayed. I tried to get up only to have a boot connect with my stomach. Apparently, the smaller guard had come to, and was severely pissed off at me. But, with Duo turning blue, I didn't have time to deal with him. Unfortunately, he wasn't giving me much of an option, for every time I rose to help Duo he kicked me down or kicked my legs out from under me. Duo was struggling harder now, sinking his nails into his assailant and thrashing like a dying animal, but to no avail. And with all my effort to get to him, it seemed that every time I gained an inch the guard knocked me back a foot. I was losing Duo, and I had just found him.
"Get the hell away from my slaves!"