The morning after my reunion with Duo should have been joyous, but instead it was frightening and filled with dread. I couldn't help wishing Master would just pass down his sentence, as much as I abhorred the verdict. But I didn't think anything could be worse than the limbo I was currently facing, even if I knew life without Duo would be hell.

I couldn't help imagining life after Duo, no matter how much I tried to stop myself. Perhaps it was a side effect of the drugs I had been given, this uncontrollable perversity of my mind. Would I hate Master, I wondered. How could I, when I so thoroughly understood his decision? Would I hate myself? It was, after all, my duty to keep Duo safe, and I had failed miserably. I had failed Master in letting him escape, failed Duo in hurting him so badly that he would need to escape, and failed myself in losing Duo, who was so precious to me.

Most of all, I feared I would come to hate Duo. And yet, how could he abandon me so easily? After everything I had done for him, he had left without a second thought. What of me? What of the rest of us, those who would be left behind to face the consequences of his actions? Did our friendship mean so little to him?

No emotion showed on my face during breakfast, and none of these thoughts were allowed past my lips, but I clung to Duo's hand despite myself, and several times he had to remind me not to hold so tightly. Perhaps that was the only proof I needed that I would not be able to hate Duo, for even as angry as I was with him, I was barely able to release him.

At the end of breakfast, Master instructed us all to meet him in the living room. As a group, we slaves rose and walked toward the living room, each of us walking as though the floor was made of mud and our feet were being stepped down. In the hall, for just a moment, I cast a glance at the front door and contemplated shoving Duo toward it and telling him to run. I could hold the others off long enough for him to reach the barn, I was sure of it. Once and horseback, and without the rain this time, he had a good chance of making it passed the edge of the property. From there he would have to leave Bee and rush for the city, where he could hide until his pursuers gave up by dressing as a drifter and staying in the sewers.

All this flashed through my mind in the span of a step, beginning at the lift of my foot and being dismissed as ludicrous by the time I set it back down. Wasn't that what had gotten us into this problem in the first place? How would Duo survive on his own in a strange city? What would possess me to think that Collar would ever stop looking for him? And how could I even dream of betraying Master, after all he had done for me?

Duo must have sensed my distress, because he paused in the hall and peered at my face. Looking at his trusting violet eyes, the urge to weep overcame me, and I was barely able to suppress it.

"What's the deal, 'Ro?" Duo wondered. I could only be amazed by his naivety. "Are you sick?"

"I'm fine," I replied, turning away from him because it hurt too much to see him. "Let's go. Master will be angry if we're late."

"Yeah," Duo sighed, falling in to step beside me. "I guess I've pissed him off enough already. I'd better be on my best behavior."

There wasn't much to say to that, so I merely grunted and led him into the room, where everyone else was already seated. With all the slaves on the couch and Master in the armchair, it seemed almost like a courtroom, complete with judge and jury. Only the tray of tea Quatre had laid out kept the room from seeming like some kind of prison, and even then it was barely able to soften the aura of repression. By leading Duo in, it seemed like I was bailiff, and Duo the accused. It was such a strong sense that I couldn't stifle the urge to put Duo behind me, inserting myself between Master and Duo once again.

Luckily, Master wasn't annoyed by this protective act. Instead, he chuckled in a half amused, half annoyed way. "Sit down, Heero," he commanded gently. I nodded once, putting aside my foolish instincts, and sat on the loveseat opposite Master, with Duo beside me.

Perhaps we were both on trial, my drug-induced sense of humor wondered perversely. I would have growled at it, but I was fairly certain such and action would make Master question my sanity and the level of stress I was under. Certainly my stress level was high enough to warrant me some erratic behavior?

Then again, Master was still acting normal, and his was certainly far higher than mine. As I watched him, waiting for a sign of what was to come, I couldn't help but notice the faint stress lines on his forehead, nor the exhausted slump of his shoulders. There was a faint pallor to his skin that was imperceptible to all but the closest scrutiny which made him look somewhat ill. His eyes, which were always full of gentle fire, looked somehow dim and burned out. There was a weakness about him, just for an instant, that made me wonder if I was trying to defend the right person. If I were protecting Duo, who would protect Zechs?

In the next moment, though, the weakness left him, and I once again had the urge to lunge in front of Duo as Master took a deep breath and turned to the task at hand.

"I think we all know just how serious this is," he began, his tone callous and his eyes like cold steel. "Duo, not only could your actions have hurt yourself or any of the others, your recklessness put everything we've worked so hard for in jeopardy. As such, your punishment will be severe, because such actions must never be repeated. Do you have anything to say that might excuse your actions?" Master asked. Duo sighed in response, then untangled his limbs from me and stood. Contrary to my expectations, he was neither nervous nor enraged. Had he given up so easily? I could only watch in confusion as he calmly, perhaps even abashedly, began to speak.

"Look, before you even say anything else, I want you to know that I'm sorry. I know what I did was stupid. I don't know what I was thinking. Well, actually I do know what I was thinking, but it was stupid. But, anyway, I'm really sorry. I'll never do it again, I promise," he finished. His tone was solemn, but did he really believe that Master could just excuse everything he had done because Duo was sorry? Because he promised not to do it again? Even Master seemed confused and annoyed by this, and he frowned before regaining his composure and replying in a even tone.

"Be that as it may, Duo, there still needs to be some kind of punishment for your actions."

"So… what? Like, should I wash your car or something? Do all the cleaning for a week? No TV for a month? What do you want? I said I was sorry," Duo replied, frowning even though his tone was that of a sulking child.

"Duo, I think you're underestimating the severity of this situation…"

"And I think you're making a big deal out of this," Duo responded.

"I'm sorry, Duo," Master growled as he rose to his feet, "but when one of my slaves attempts to run away I do think it's a big deal!"

It was the first time anyone had said those words out loud since Duo had been found. I had known hearing it put so bluntly would have had some kind of affect on Duo and I expected him to flinch and sit down. I didn't expect for his mouth to fall open and his eyes to go wide in a mixture of fury and shock.

"You think I tried to run away!" he shouted in a voice too loud to be a question and too shocked to be a statement.

It was Master's turn to look shocked and confused now. So shocked, in fact, that his usual eloquence failed him and he was only able to utter a startled, "Didn't you?"

At last the usual Shinigami appeared and Duo rained fire and brimstone upon our heads, spitting acid and glaring daggers all the while.

"You all thought I ran away?" Duo accused, looking both enraged and hurt. I realized, suddenly, that the idea that he hadn't tried to escape had never crossed my mind. All that time that I had been looking for him, it had been somewhere in the back of my head that I had to keep him from escaping for the sake of Master. That I had to bring back Duo to protect Master, Master's reputation, and Master's slaves, even as I worried for Duo's safety as well. But would I have tried so hard to save Duo if I hadn't been saving Master as well? After all, I felt that Duo had betrayed me when he ran, but did that add or detract from my resolve to find him? Uncertainty and guilt welled up inside me until I felt physically ill. And Duo's tirade continued, only adding to my guilt.

"What?" he spat, "The street-rat can't be trusted outside? The stupid sex-slave must have thought he could run off just as soon as our backs were turned? Ooh, who forgot to tie up Duo? We'd better put him in a gad damned cage or he'll just run off again! You think I don't have any loyalty at all? Or, baring that, any common sense? No, you assholes, I didn't run away! I got thrown off my damn horse and almost died!"

"Alright, alright, Duo, that's enough, calm down," Master interjected, trying to placate the irate slave.

"It's not alright!" Duo spat. "It's not alright that you don't trust me for even a day, you asshole!"

"Duo, Master's right," Quatre defended in a show of unusual boldness. His weekend trip with Master seemed to have added tremendously to his affection for Master. "Why don't you sit down and have some tea? It might help settle your nerves," Quatre added, but Duo would not be calmed. Instead, he turned his ire on Quatre.

"Oh! Are you sure you trust me not to gouge your eyes out with the spoon?" Duo hissed. "Can we let me so close to the table, I might break it and beat you to death with the pieces! After all, you all think I'm a wretch anyway! You…!"

At that point, Duo was unable to finish his sentence, as Wufei rose silently and knocked him to the floor.