They took me home two days after Heero came to see me, and two days and six hours after that damnable pipe went down my throat. I say "home" loosely, and because that's what everyone else called it. Was it home? I doubted it. I'd had more "homes" than pimples, and I felt the same way about both of them. The less you had the happier you'd be. People always put all this sentiment and feeling into the word home, but the truth? It's just a house. Sometimes it's a nice house, sometimes it's a crappy house. What they don't know is that you don't need a house at all to have a home. People are home, not places.

So we went to the house, which was hugely massive, and I couldn't even explore the damn thing because of how busted up I was.

"You're lucky the original owner of this house was elderly," Sally pointed out as she wheeled me down the hall, past the kitchen and the room with the TV. "There's a bedroom downstairs, so you won't have to climb up and down the stairs, and it has a bathroom right inside," she said happily as she opened the door to the little room.

I could have cried. It looked just like a damn hospital room! Granted, a nicer room than the one I had been in, but a hospital room none the less. I would have protested, but my throat still hurt and I had been warned that talking might do some serious damage. I didn't usually listen, but this time the doctor and my body were telling me the same thing; talking bad.

So I huffed as the wheeled me into the room, then growled as Sally and Zechs dumped me in the bed, then pouted as they left. I should have stayed at the stupid hospital. This wasn't any different. There wasn't even a TV! I huffed, contemplated getting out of bed and walking around just to make Sally mad, and fell asleep thinking about it. Turns out that I was a lot more exhausted than I thought.

"Duo? Are you awake?" Heero's voice asked quietly from the doorway. I resisted the urge to say, "I am now," knowing that it probably wouldn't come out and it would cause a lot of hassle for me. "I wanted to come see how you were doing. Master says you still can't speak, but should be able to within a week. He also says I can take you into the den tomorrow for breakfast and to watch some TV," he said. I smiled. Score! "But you have to take a nap in here afterwards." Ah hell. "Sally says that if you eat well and rest a lot you might be able to walk in a day or two. I thought I'd come tell you because the Master has a tendency to forget to inform us about this kind of stuff, and I knew you'd want to know. The list of Collar events came today, so we'll probably get our assignments once Master has had time to look them over. But I should let you get back to sleep. Get some rest, and I'll see you in the morning."

What the hell? You just wake me up, say a couple of words, and then leave? Well fuck you too, buddy.

Of course, I wasn't really mad. And I was really glad Heero had told me all that junk, because I had thought I'd be on my but and silent for the next six months or something. But, and I hated to say it, I was lonely, and being in a house full of people without being near anyone wasn't helping.

But I was also still on some pretty heavy pain meds, so it wasn't long until I once again lost the battle with sleep and fell back under. Stupid pills.

The next couple of days went exactly according to plan. Unfortunately, it was Sally's plan, so I was bored out of my mind. Heero would come and get me late in the morning, fresh from the shower and blushing slightly from the heavy exercise he did. I was usually pretty groggy, so he'd shake me, then, instead of waiting for me to wake up fully, he'd carry me into the den and plop me on the couch. Then, while I actually woke up, he'd get a breakfast tray from the kitchen. By the time he came back I was usually awake enough to eat the oatmeal or jello he brought me and swallow the milk or juice that came with it. Then he'd take me to the bathroom where I'd swallow all of the nine billion pills Sally had left for me and gargle with the gross stuff she left to keep my trachea from swelling closed. Then he'd haul me back to my bed, whether I was tired or not, and in minutes I'd be out. Lunch and dinner were pretty much the same, except soup was substituted in for the oatmeal and I had to eat dinner in the kitchen with everyone else. It was kind of nice, though, cause the kitchen was really warm from the cooking Trowa and Quatre did and it was nice to see everyone and hear about their days. Even if I did fall asleep in my soup a couple of times.

Time flew, and I really wasn't clear enough to say exactly how many days passed, but it seemed like a surprisingly short time before Sally cleared me for walking. Of course, it really shouldn't have been that surprising, seeing that my legs hadn't been damaged at all.

Zechs wouldn't let me try to walk when Sally wasn't present. He snapped when I even stood up. Of course, I usually started to fall as soon as I got to my feet and had to be caught by someone, so he actually had a point in yelling at me. Not that I ever admitted it. So when the day rolled around that Sally said I could try walking, I had to wait until almost noon to try. And then I couldn't even make a smart remark about her lateness because I still wasn't allowed to talk.

And it was so hard not to talk! I mean, it wasn't hard to remember not to talk, because my throat was always hurting, and I was never over come by temptation because I knew how hard it was to eat and drink and I had been assured that talking would be worse. But it was just so hard to talk in my head without talking out loud. And Heero, while being a complete blessing on everything else, just wasn't a conversationalist. I know he tried, damn did he try, but it was hard for him to hold a one-sided conversation when he wasn't even used to holding regular conversations. And I think I mad him nervous, because I often fell asleep on him, and I know he worried about keeping me awake. He always told me to wave if I wanted him to go away, and I never signaled, but that was about all I was able to do to reassure him.

But one thing at a time, so we'll go back to the walking thing. When Sally did arrive she put me through the usual tests and actually seemed pretty pleased.

"You're healing very quickly, and there doesn't look like there will be any permanent damage. So, let's see if you can still walk," she said, smiling at me. I stuck out my tongue at her, and she laughed. I smiled. Until, that is, Heero grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the chair. My head spun and I found myself back on my butt just as quickly.

"Not so quick," Sally admonished. "He needs to adjust to standing again."

So Heero pulled me up again, and again my head spun, and again I landed on my ass, only a lot more slowly and this time my ass was on the floor.

"Well, that was better. Let's try one more time."

So, again, Heero pulled me up. Only this time my head didn't spin quite as much, and I managed to stay on my feet, though I leaned heavily on Heero.

"Excellent. We'll you seem to be progressing well on your own, so I'm going to head off. I'll take a couple of your pills with me, though, because I think you're well enough to do without them. I know how disappointed you are about it, though," she teased, "so I'm going to leave Heero here with a list of exercises for you to do," she said, and I groaned mentally. "I'll see you next week."

So we went another couple of days with basically the same routine, except now Heero got me up early with him, and then we both went to get showers, then had breakfast, and then I crashed on the couch. The reduction in drugs Sally had given me made it so that I wasn't quite so tired, but I was still pretty weak. So, although the drugs weren't making me drowsy, I still slept from the end of breakfast until the start of lunch. Then I could generally stay awake until lunch, but I'd usually just watch TV or play checkers with someone. Personally, I think they rotated turns of playing with me, because I never seemed to get the same person twice in a row, but it's just a hunch.

And then, finally, Sally released me to limited speaking. It was painful at first, and I had a weird accent because of the damage, but within a weak I could speak normally. The pain faded until it was no more than a bad sore throat. Slowly, too, I managed to stay awake for longer at a time, and do more work without having to take a break. I started to break routine to do things I wanted and, though I know Heero disproved breaking the routine, I could see he was happy that I was getting my strength and independence back.

But, sometimes, I almost wished I wasn't getting better. Because with more time awake and unable to do much, I had a lot of time to think. And eventually that led to the realization that Zechs had just paid a hell of a lot to save my ass. This was cash above and beyond my purchasing, and it was money he really didn't have to put into me. I mean, a lot of masters let their slaves tough it out, or only got them the most basic care needed. Zechs had taken me to not one but two different hospitals, at great risk to himself, and paid for me to get top notch care. If he had just wanted a piece of my ass he could have let me recover for months, hell, he could have taken me while I recovered. And he could have left me with problems that could have left me lame and mute for the rest of my life. But he didn't. He fixed me and I couldn't condemn it as part of him being a master. He had done a person favor to me, and I owed him.

But what, exactly, did I owe him? I hadn't asked to be saved, though I couldn't complain now. And I was still his slave, his property. So part of it was technically his responsibility. But, as I already said, I couldn't pin it all on his being a master. So how much would I owe him? And, more importantly, how much would I be willing to pay? I had been forced into so much with past masters that I wasn't sure I could willing surrender myself to him to any extent. And being nice certainly wouldn't be enough. But I wasn't sure I had any more to offer.

But the most important question I asked myself was, "What will he want from me?"