I may never have been more angry at anyone in my life than I was when I found that Zechs was missing. How dare he tell us to stay put, even sedate Heero to keep him from recklessly dashing into the storm to find Duo, and then do the same damn thing himself? Hypocrite! Fool! How dare he protect us, then risk his own skin without a thought?

Of course, not all of my anger stemmed from the fact that Zechs, apparently, believed that I and the rest of the slaves were weak. Mostly, and I was loathe to admit it, I was angry because I was worried. I knew the likelihood was high that Zechs would suffer the same fate as Duo, but I could not allow myself to even think of the repercussions that would have for the rest of us. But… more than that, Zechs was a good man, and a person that I could, without feeling ill, manage to call a friend, even a lover. More than worrying for our sake, I was worried for his sake.

But then, how mad could I be when he managed not only to come back, and not only to come back with Duo, but to come back with Duo still alive. Mostly frozen, I'll grant you, but alive and intact none the less.

It was a day of high emotions, for everyone but especially for me. I was the one Heero came to when he found that Duo was missing, and I was the one to realize that Duo had taken Bee. Once Heero was sedated, I was the one that discovered, heart wrenchingly, that Zechs had gone back into the storm after Duo. And I was the one, most of all, left to wait by the radio with the faint hope that Zechs, before he stumbled into a landslide or succumbed to hypothermia, might turn his radio back on and call for help. But I was also the one that first heard Zechs' voice, saying that they were both alive and coming back in. I was the first one Sally told that Duo would be fine, and I was the one who got to carry him into Zechs' worried arms. Emotionally, as well as physically, it was one of my most trying days, and I hadn't had the energy to be angry by the end, nor had I the will left.

I slept in the next morning and didn't wake up until nearly nine. When I did finally awaken, I immediately went to check on Heero. I found, unsurprisingly, that Heero was already awake, and I was fairly certain that I knew where he was. With a half-smile, I exited the room, checked on Quatre and Trowa, both still sound asleep, and descended the stairs.

Heero, as expected, was in the living room, clinging to Duo as though he would be snatched away at any moment. As I entered, the two seemed startled to see me, as though they had been in their own little world. Zechs, it seemed, had been sleeping until I entered, but I noticed, as he looked at me and smiled in an almost relieved fashion, that his eyes were far too alert for someone who had just awakened. Still, it seemed far more likely that Zechs had been afraid of disturbing Heero and Duo's reunion than that he was spying, so I didn't mention it to the enthusiastic pair. I'm not sure they would have listened at the time anyway.

"Feeling better?" I asked Duo politely.

"Well I couldn't possibly feel any worse than I did last night."

"On the contrary," I replied, "I'm sure you'd feel a lot worse if you were dead."

"Or a lot better, depending on how you look at it," Zechs interjected, then climbed to his feet and stretched. His cotton night clothes were wrinkled from sleep and his shirt slipped upward as he stretched his hands over his head, exposing a feast of well-muscled abs. It was a mouthwatering view, and I had to turn away to keep my blush from showing.

"Wufei? If you're up anyway, would you mind ordering breakfast? I don't think anyone will feel like cooking today," he said, yawning and flopping back to the couch. "Just get six servings of whatever they're having. The number is beside the phone. Thanks."

I nodded and padded off to the kitchen, glad for the excuse to get away.

It wasn't that I was a pervert, and it wasn't even that I was a prude, although I was probably closer to the latter than the former. It was just that I hadn't had sex since Zechs and I had gotten together several days ago, and, as a normal teenager, I was beginning to feel the stress. Not that we all weren't feeling the stress. Usually, slaves were asked to be intimate fairly often with fellow slaves, both for the viewing of their master and to keep their skills sharp. Zechs, though, had instilled no such program, and except for sporadic nights with the Master, all of us had been celibate for several weeks. Not that Zechs wasn't… masculine enough for us, for he actually had a normal or even vibrant sex life, simply that we had to split that sex life five ways, and one-fifth a normal sex life was certainly not what we were accustomed to.

But it wasn't only that either, because I was used to having a slim to non-existent sex life, for I only ever slept with the Owner or those he ordered me to bed with, both of which were considered rare by most slaves' standards. So perhaps, more than anything else, it was finally meeting someone that I might want to have sex with that was sparking this uncharacteristic lust within me. Or maybe puberty had finally taken its toll.

I managed to order breakfast without embarrassing myself, calling for five deluxe breakfasts, five sides of fruit, a box of donuts, a pitcher of orange juice and a pitcher of apple juice. At the end, I wasn't sure if I had ordered too much, or too little.

Once breakfast was ordered, I remembered the medicine Sally had left last night, so I grabbed a spoon and headed to the medical room. Duo hadn't seemed sick, of course, or Sally wouldn't have left, but she had said a good dose of antibiotics was in order, especially after being exposed to the elements for so long. She recommended the same for Zechs, but cautioned that he might be a little stubborn about it. I was pretty sure I knew how to handle him, though.

"Duo?" I called as I entered the room. "Sally left some medicine for you to take."

"Aw man," Duo complained loudly. "Look, I'm fine! I don't need any gross stuff!"

"Duo, take your medicine. I'm not going to have you getting sick because you're stubborn," Zechs said decisively.

"I'm glad you think that way, because Sally left a dose for you as well," I told Zechs as I gave Duo his dose.

"What!" Zechs sputtered.

"Serves you right!" Duo crowed, once he had finished his own spoonful of the thick purple liquid.

"Sally is such a worrier, Wufei. I'm absolutely fine."

"You know, she left suppositories of the same, just in case you decided to be stubborn," I warned, smirking at him. Zechs glared at me, but I could tell from his eyes that he'd been defeated. Behind me, Duo laughed and I thought I heard Heero snicker, but it could have been my imagination.

I refilled the spoon and offered it to Zechs, who glared as he accepted it into his mouth. Instead of merely clearing the spoon and letting it go, though, Zechs kept a firm hold on the spoon with his mouth, staring up at me as his lips hovered only a few millimeters from my hand. It was… extremely erotic, especially when he dragged his mouth down the length of the spoon before he finally pulled his head back and swallowed. I shivered, feeling all heat in my body pool in my cheeks… and my pants. Zechs gave me a knowing smile, and I had to suppress the urge to bolt from the room.

I was saved by the doorbell, at which point I finally gave in to the urge to bolt and ran for the door. I took several bags from the familiar deliver boy, set up breakfast, and woke up Quatre and Trowa.

Breakfast was a strangely quiet, sober affair. I think duo was just too tired to create a ruckus, he seemed to be barely staying awake at the table. The rest of us, meanwhile, were waiting for some sign of Zechs' intent toward Duo's punishment. Would he be sold? Beaten? Would Zechs lame him? Most masters would kill a slave who tried to run, and many would injure the slave's feet to keep them from trying to run again. I doubted that Zechs would do anything so brutal, but laming him might actually be kinder to Duo than selling him, which was a more likely option.

But… after all the effort Zechs had put into helping Duo and saving Duo, would he really waste all that effort by getting rid of Duo? Would he risk Heero's well-being by separating him from Duo? But what else could he do? This act couldn't go unpunished, but I couldn't see anything that Zechs could do that wouldn't set back everyone's progress.

When breakfast was finished, which was signaled by the disappearance of all the food, Zechs rose and asked everyone to meet in the den. With a sense of dread we all stood and followed, except for Duo, who seemed somewhat oblivious to the agreed-upon impending doom. Regardless, Heero was tense enough for the both of them and I felt sympathy for him as we entered the room.