Word Count: 60,700

Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 13x6x5, mention of past 1x5, 3x1, 6x1 & 3x4x5

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Heero, a magical were cat, decides to take home someone he found on a mission.

"Are you sure that this attack is necessary?"

Treize looked down at his companion. Behind his innocent blue eyes and court drilled impeccable manners, Quatre Winner was a brilliant tactician, but hated to fight, hated the killing. He was a prize that one of his weres had brought him. Trowa had just brought him back after one mission and Quatre had been here ever since. He was blond and slight, looking and sounding several years younger then he was. Treize was certain that this aura of innocence and harmlessness was the only reason that Quatre survived as long as he had in the Alliance court.

"We are not going to achieve our goal without bloodshed," he reminded him gently.

"But..." Quatre protested.

He hated killing, even if it was someone that deserved it. He felt that he had been wading in blood for years, since he met Treize Khushrenada and the rest of them. Treize was handsome, with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Talking to the man was dangerous, because he had enough charisma to convince you that his way was the right way. Quatre knew that it was a useful advantage for a man that was plotting to overthrow his government, but it was tiring. Quatre didn't even know if Treize believed in his cause anymore or was just going through the motions.

"They are making weapons, those damned Homunculi that the sorcerers create. Killing sorcerers now and destroying their work is the only option that we have now. You know that the only way that they can create those dolls is through a large amount expenditure of their power and human death."

Quatre shivered. "I know, human sacrifice. You should kill them for that reason alone. It doesn't mean that I have to like talking about killing people."

Homunculi or 'dolls' as they were called were created from the flesh of the dead and powered by a person's life energy. They were an atrocity that shouldn't be allowed. Sorcerers created them with the victims of their unnatural experiments. Dolls were tougher and faster then a man because of the magic that powered them. They were often twisted into a mockery of the human shape or had animal or mechanical parts grafted onto their bodies. Dolls thankfully were unintelligent and had to be control by either a sorcerer or someone that had their control words.

"Quatre," Treize told him gently, "we're almost at the end. I've been working towards this goal for years. You've been helping us for a long time and the end is near.

The Alliance will start to crumble when Sanq is restored and then all the nations that they have absorbed will rise up and break apart the Alliance. All they need is a symbol of success, of hope. Sanq and Relena are going to be that hope."

"Will it be worth it?" Wufei asked cynically. He had been listening to the briefing that Quatre had made to see if there were any flaws in the plan, not that he expected any. He just wanted to make sure that nothing had been overlooked.

"If I thought that the Alliance's rule was fair or just I would have done nothing," Treize retorted. "My family thought that they had enough power to protect Relena and her brother, the surviving members of the Sanqian royal family. But they didn't, as Zechs's predicament showed me and so I started this rebellion. It cost me my estates and my title. I don't even know if we will succeed or if this was all was a fool's dream. If it doesn't, maybe something can be built off our failure."

"But why does it have to be Trowa and the others?" Quatre demanded. "Why not..."

"Because they are the only troops that we have that are able to withstand the magic that permeates any of those places," Treize told him. "They're a small group and easy for Wufei to teleport to the target area and retrieve. I can't say the same for our human allies. I also am hesitant to send them into situations that will result in too much bloodshed, it's bad for moral. If they fail, it will give our enemies more material to work with, either turning them into a Doll or using their life essence to create one."

"You didn't call them people," Quatre told him sadly.

"That is because they aren't," Wufei retorted. "I know that most of the time they don't consider themselves human, so what problem are you having with it? Or do you protest it for another reason? The fact is that I can tell them apart from the sorcerers that they are killing for Treize when I scan the area. I won't bring one of those charlatans back by accident if we send them in. Think with your head on this, not your heart. We have this argument every time, do you not grow weary of it?"

Quatre stared at him. Wufei was someone that Treize had found and the man spoke very little about his past. The man was impolite at times, but he had grown used to that. Wufei was a magic user and they were considered eccentric at the best of times. That he didn't look like them, with his dark skin and black eyes and hair, didn't mean that he wasn't human.

Wufei was very different from the sorcerers that he had seen at court, very polite compared to them. Clean also and sensibly dressed. Quatre knew that they were 'hiding' on an estate of Wufei's and that he owed the man his freedom, but that didn't mean that Wufei didn't wear on his nerves at times. This was one of those times. But he was tired, it was late and Treize had been plotting this rebellion against the Alliance for years.

Quatre didn't know actually where Wufei's estate was, but after three years he felt safe here. The servants were polite, a bit odd though, and loyal to Wufei. They didn't feel 'right' to him, but he was used to that now. Feeling not human to him because of his small empathic talent, since the servants all look normal.

That he wasn't going to be sent back to the Alliance was all that he had cared about in the beginning. He knew that he couldn't be sent back to his family, he knew that they would be punished for his escape then. That he disappeared was better for them all. Wufei had been amused that he had been so unused to the independence that they had given him from the beginning. He occasionally left the manor to go into to the local village or be teleported with the others on a raid or just left the place for some time out alone with Trowa.

He had grown up as a hostage at the Alliance court for his family. He had been treated well, but had always known that he could be killed at any moment, when he realized why he had been sent away. He had had a child's logic that he had been sent away because he had been bad. He had been playing in his father's office and had destroyed some of work the day before he had been summoned to the Alliance court. He had cried for hours about that during his first year. When he had been freed, his first thought had been that he could no longer be used against his father and family. He was certain that they had been told that he had been killed, the Alliance wouldn't admit that he had escaped from them. He just hoped that someday he could tell them the truth.

"I will handle the briefing for them, then," Quatre murmured.

"Good," Treize told him. "I will coordinate this attack with some other acts of sabotage that we are planning. That is something that I have to handle." He smiled wryly. "This attempt at rebellion rests on my reputation at times."

"And you enjoy that greatly," Wufei told him acidly. "This is a product of your ego more than anything."

Treize opened his mouth to protest, but Wufei ignored him. "Not that it is not needed, the Alliance will be overthrown only by such means. A cult of personality will make the difference. Charm those that you have to while the weres take care of those inconvenient sorcerers."

"So you are to attack this building," Quatre said. "Wufei will teleport you in and you just have to get rid of everyone that is inside."

He was giving a briefing to Trowa and the others that Treize had chosen for the attack. He smiled at Trowa, trying not to show him how worried he was. Trowa snorted and rubbed his head against his hip. Get rid of, his lover couldn't even say the word killed it seemed. He had no illusions about what he was being sent to do; it was an assassination, pure and simple.

Quatre knew that logically that Trowa, Heero and Zechs were the correct choice for this attack. They were werecreatures, a magical blending of human and animal. They had been formed into werecats, created by an Alliance sorcerer. There were subtle differences between the three of them in coloring and Zechs was slightly larger then the other two, as he was taller than them in human form, but other than that, they looked alike.

All were black spotted on their bodies, with black banding on their legs. Their eyes were outlined in black strips, and other markings on their face. Zechs's fur was pale white, Trowa's a shade of brown that was close to his human hair color and Heero's fur was dark grey. The rare times that they were in human form, Trowa and Heero had hints that they weren't quite human still, the markings showing then too. Most people thought that it was just makeup. They couldn't overlook the fangs or their cat slitted pupil that easily and most people realized that they weren't human because of that.

Zechs was the only one that looked human, with his long, white-blond hair and athletic build. Since he spent so much time in his human shape, he only had small fangs to mark the fact that he wasn't purely human anymore. He was handsome enough for people to overlook that minor flaw.

Heero and Trowa had been orphans, chosen at random from the numbers that the Alliance had created in the grab for power. Zechs had been known as Mirialdo Peacecraft then, Relena's older brother and heir to the overturned throne of Sanq. He had been taken from the protection of Treize's family. Treize had been too young to do anything when Mirialdo had been taken, but he vowed that he would save his friend. He had found Mirialdo, now called Zechs, years later, much changed from the boy that he had known. Treize freed him, destroying the sorcerers that had imprisoned him and killing anyone else that he had found there. He had started his rebellion simply to free his childhood friend. In retaliation, the Alliance seized his lands. Treize thought that the only good thing about this was that his parents were dead and couldn't be used against him as hostages.

When Treize had found out what had happened to Zechs, he was furious. He knew why it had happened and while it was a prudent move on the part of the Alliance, it showed how corrupt it was. Zechs remembered to act human more then the other two. Trowa and Heero acted more like an animal than human beings now, staying with the rebellion because of Zechs, the leader of their pride. They had little tolerance or understanding of human manners and customs now, choosing to stay in their animal forms most of the time. Quatre was grateful that the people here were wiling to tolerate it.

"We will take care of this for Treize," Zechs assured him. "It is something that we like to do, killing sorcerers."

Quatre leaned over and kissed Trowa between his ears. "I know that, but it still doesn't stop me from worrying."

Heero snorted at his words. They were stronger and faster than the humans, there was nothing to worry about. He studied the drawing that Quatre was explaining to them carefully, knowing that it was important for him to do so. What he and his pride did for Treize wasn't much different than what they had done for their creators. Treize may treat them better, but he still used them as assassins.

Trowa purred louder at Quatre's kiss, knowing that his human was just worried about him and was amused by it. He was very hard to kill or hurt because of the magic that he had been created with. That Quatre worried about him was something that was nice and had been rare in his life. He looked forward to the time that he was going to spend with his mate before he left was on his mission. He nuzzled Quatre's groin, signaling that he wanted to mate with him.

"As soon as we're done here," Quatre assured him, flushing at his boldness. The other weres knew that they were intimate, but it was unusual for Trowa to be so bold with him. Trowa got like that before a mission though and Quatre did nothing to discourage that behavior. After his years here, he had gotten used to the fact that the pride was frank about their interest in sex and didn't bother to hide it, but it was still something that embarrassed him.

Zechs laughed. "I expected that. As soon as we are done, I don't expect to see the two of you before we have to leave." He petted Heero's hip. "You won't be the only ones occupied in that manner."

Heero purred and rubbed against Zechs. He knew that Zechs would be keeping Treize occupied, just like he was going to mount Wufei. Mating with Wufei would relax him. Heero looked forward to spending more time with him or one of the others when the mission was over. Wufei was ever fun to play with.

Heero sniffed. There was someone else here. Someone that was alive. Male. Two of them from the scents that he was picking up. He stalked through the rooms, determined to find the ones that had escaped him. That had not happened since he had been a cub. The punishment and ridicule that he had had suffered from those that created him had taught him a valuable lesson. He wouldn't let someone else slip away again.

This place was a rabbit warren of rooms and tunnels, made to confuse the attacker and to buy time for the inhabitants to escape. It had made his task slightly more challenging and more enjoyable. He hated it when the kill was too easy. It was better now that these people knew that they were being targeted. This hadn't been the first group of sorcerers that they had been order to kill. Treize was cleaning out what he thought was the rotten part on the Alliance. For the last few years he had killed for Treize a number of people that Treize thought had to die, for either revenge or politics. Human emotions and motivations, things that he had no interest in or understanding of now. Heero knew that if the kill was good, his pride would be protected because of it and that the reward for fighting was a full stomach and mating.

These sorcerers had fought back, casting all sorts of attack magic at them, desperate because they knew that they were their death. Treize wasn't going to ally himself with them or allow them to continue their twisted work, like the Alliance did. Most of the magic had been deadly, but they had dodged it easily, the humans slowed because of their fright. They had split up after the initial attack, Zechs taking the upper floors and Trowa the underground sections. Most of the defenses were gone now, along with the defenders. He had killed everyone that he had found. There were no innocents in this place, since most of these people had been trying to kill him. He was just better at it. All that was left in his section were the two males that he had scented.

Duo smelled blood in the outer rooms, from ones that had been killed. It was one that was too familiar to him, from when he was seven and the lone survivor of the massacre of the Maxwell monastery. Later on, from the laboratories and studies of all the sorcerers that he had been dragged to. Those places usually stank of old blood and fear from the amount of people that had been killed for their perverted magic. He hadn't escaped the smell since then. The sorcerer that had him tightened his grip on his neck, sweating heavily. It didn't make him smell any better, adding to pungent odor of decayed food and poor hygiene. Duo knew that the man was terrified and enjoyed it. Their death was out there and Duo was looking forward to the experience. These bastards had had him for years, using him for their perverted spells.

"I just want to watch you die," Duo whispered to him.

The sorcerer's name wasn't something that he knew, even if the man had been using him for a week as a power source. To these people he was an object, you don't tell things your name. Hell these people hadn't bothered to do more than give a corner to pass out in and scraps from their table.

"It'll kill you too," he muttered.

"It doesn't matter," Duo retorted before filling his lungs. "In here! In here!" he screamed.

Heero followed the sound of shouting, wondering why one of them as willing to be found by him. Humans were strange.

The sorcerer snarled and tightened his grip on his power source's neck. The boy was insane to do this and he regretted not following the impulse he had had earlier of cutting out his tongue. He drained all the energy that he could from him, instead, cursing that it was so little because he had been used to enchant items earlier in the day. He prepared a lightening attack for whatever was stalking him. He waited for it to burst through the door, attracted by the screams. He gaped in awe at the size of the were, impressed at the work that had been done on it. That was his undoing, because he mistimed his attack and cast the spell a fraction on a second too late. He screamed in frustration and then pain as the were pounced on him. There was death in the blood soaked cat and he felt a moment of pain before he felt nothing, releasing his grip on Duo's neck at the last second.

Duo collapsed into a ball, knowing that he was going to be next and welcoming death. He was so tired of being used, so tired of being exhausted all the time. He watched for a second, feeling the blood hit him and then closed his eyes, waiting for it to be over, hoping that he was killed next.

Heero finished savaging the sorcerer, taking pleasure in the feeling of flesh parting underneath his claws. He swiped one last time at the body and shifted to inspect the human that was curled up on the floor. Heero was certain that he had been the one that had been shouting to attract his attention and he wondered why for a second. This was the last one he was certain and he pounced on him, intent on the kill.

Heero snarled and bit down on the neck of the human, going for the kill. As his teeth pierced the skin, he realized several things. He was surprised that he had a mouthful of hair, it seemed that the male had a long braid, like a woman. That he smelled of magic and other things, all unclean. But the most important one was that he wanted to bite this one's neck for a different reason, even if he smelled bad. He rubbed his body against the human, his sex hardening. Killing this one didn't seem as important as it had a minute ago.

Heero wasn't surprised that the human squirmed underneath him, fighting to escape him. He was weak though and after a minute of thrashing wildly and screaming, he calmed down, his breath coming in sobs. Heero was careful not to harm him; he liked the way that this one felt underneath him. He was no stranger to sex, he and his fellow weres mated whenever the urge struck them, but this was the first time that he wanted to mount a strange human and in battle! He continued to rock against the human until he climaxed.

Duo shuddered when he was pinned to the floor. He had the breath knocked out of him as the heavy body of fur and muscled landed on him. So this was what killed everyone. There had been rumors that about these things, called weres. He had heard his captors talking about it when they thought that he was unconscious. But Duo had known that there was something that was killing sorcerers in the Alliance. He had secretly cheered every time that he had heard it happening.

A were creature was a human/animal hybrid, able to shapechange easily into animal, human and something inbetween those shapes. He knew that he was dead when it started to bite his neck, but he still fought back. He wasn't going to just lie there while it killed him. He knew that the beast was laughing at him as he exhausted himself trying to escape it.

Duo pamicked when he become aware of the harden flesh poking into his left thigh. He understood what it was, as the beast started rubbing against him and purring. He trembled underneath him, grateful for the thick pants that he was wearing as the beast continued to hump him, because he had tried to escape him and couldn't. He waited for the bite that would end his life as he felt something soak his pants, the beast shuddering above him. He knew about the mechanics of sex, even if he had never experienced it. Duo was mortified that he had been used by the were even if it hadn't physically hurt him. He passed out hating himself because he was so weak.

Heero loosened his grip on the magic user when he was done. He was satisfied and got off of him. He turned him over, smelling fear on him for the first time. The human was dirty too, he wasn't caring for himself for some reason.

Heero wasn't surprised that the male was unresponsive; this human was weak for some reason. He licked his face, purring roughly. He would keep this one; the way the Trowa kept Quatre. He regretted that he couldn't talk in this form; he wanted to tell him that he wasn't going to kill him. His new pet was cold and limp, unconscious. Heero didn't want to wait here until he was awake again. He grasped his shirt in his teeth, dragging him out. He would take him to the pride for safekeeping.

When Duo woke up again, he had been placed in a corner of a room. He tried not to move, wondering where he was. He remembered what had happened, the stiffness of his pants reminding him, feeling soiled. He hadn't been physically clean for a while, but now he felt more used by that monster than from what the sorcerers had been doing to him. Duo cracked open his eyes, not wanting the others in the room to know that he was awake. He felt lightheaded still and knew that he hadn't recovered from the power drains that had been done on him. The beast was nowhere to be seen, but he couldn't see the whole room and the room had a couple other people in it with him. They weren't anyone that he recognized and were dressed in normal clothing and not the smelly robes that his former captors had worn.

The room looked nothing that he had ever been in before. It was a plain room, but made of wood and paper instead of the stone rooms that he had been kept in. Warmer for some reason too and smelled clean and airy. It was very different from where he had been held before. Something deep down inside him relaxed, He still had to worry about the monster that had attacked him, but there was something about this place that made him feel almost safe.

Duo was surprised that the people that were here were all young, just a little older than he was, he guessed. The were all dressed in what he thought was fine clothing, but acted as if they were the military. He had seen Alliance military before however he was certain that these people weren't a part of it. Not with the length of one of the men's hair. It was as long as his was and a pale blond color. The other man had short cropped hair. Also, these people were more relaxed than anyone that he had seen in the last few years. Who had him now? Where was the monster that did that thing to him? Where was he?

He listened for a few minutes, identifying these people from the way that they talked to one another. The man with the long hair was called Zechs. The other man was Treize. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before.

The woman, who had long brown hair twisted into a pair of curled braids, was called Une and she was dressed severely, dowdily almost, with glasses making her look older then she was. She was talking to the others, but was the only one that was keeping an eye on him, like she was expecting him to do something.

Treize and Zechs were openly affectionate with each other, kissing each other and just touching a lot. The one called Treize didn't treat Une like that. In fact, Treize treated Zechs as if he was his wife, from what he knew about those things. It was strange.

He had heard about such things, 'unnamed vices' was how it had been described to him. It had been when he had first been captured, he vaguely remembered. All he knew was that someone wanted to do to him what the monster had done to him and the sorcerers wouldn't let him. It was the only kindness they had ever shown him. He had picked up hints about the act over the years and was certain that it should only happen between a man and a woman, not another man...monster and another man.

Duo shifted and wondered how he was going to get out of here, wherever here was. Nice feeling or not, he didn't want to be here when the monster came back. He stopped moving when he heard someone laughing at him. It was the man called Zechs.

"It seems that Heero's mouse is awake."

Duo looked up, shocked. His eyes darted about, seeking any type of escape route. There was no way that he was going to stay here! Not after what had happened, he wasn't going to tell these people anything! He wasn't going to be used again for either power or sex, he'd kill himself first.

"We should fetch Heero then," Treize drawled.

Heero must be the beast that attacked him. Duo's body ached and he felt his shirt sticking to the bite marks on his neck. He was certain that they all knew what had happened and were laughing at him because of that. He kept his mouth shut and hoped that they would just kill him or something. Anything was better then being a toy for a beast or for the man, Treize, since he didn't seem to interested in women, like normal men were.

"Before that, we should see what type of mouse he brought home," Une said.

"Mouse because of your long tail," Treize teased him. "Heero dragging you back here like a cat with a present for his pride leader."

"Treize, hush," Zechs told him. "I doubt that the boy wants to hear that."

"He's a sorcerer," Une said dryly. "We should just kill him."

"I'm not..." Duo involuntarily protested. It hurt to speak and his mouth felt that it was filled with cotton. He was frightened that the woman decided to kill him with no more emotion than ordering dinner. Maybe this Treize person was smart not to want to do those sorts of things with her. "I..."

He snapped his mouth shut, not wanting to give them any information. Duo knew that he was young, barely past the age of consent. He had been used as those perverts' power source for years and he hoped that he wasn't going to be used anymore. He knew that he could have learned what the others had done, the rituals and spells that they had drained him for, but he didn't want to. He wasn't like them and every time that they used him, part of his soul died. He didn't want to see them kill people and make them into soulless creatures that they controlled.

He wanted to use the power that was in him, be something more then a power source, he didn't want to use his power on the evil spells and charms like the sorcerers had. Duo doubted that would change with these people. Once they found out what he was. He would be treated like a possession, passed around to whoever wanted him, but not really cared for.

Duo barely heard the others' laughter. He had caught a glimpse of a large cat stalking into the room. It was huge grey beast with black spots and stripes and it had blue eyes. That cat was followed by a brownish cat of about the same size, with green eyes and the same markings. He wondered which one of them was Heero. He held very still as the first one came closer, sniffing him. The second cat stared at him unblinkingly, making him feel uneasy, like he was the mouse that the others had named him.

"It was nice of you to join us, Heero...Trowa," Treize said. "Where's Quatre?"

Duo wondered if the man had cracked if he expected the cats to answer him. He knew that they weren't dumb beasts; there was intelligence in their eyes. Heero must be the one that was sniffing at him. He hadn't gotten a good look at him when he was...doing what he did. Duo blushed bright red when Heero started sniffing his groin, trying to shrink away from the were, but trapped in the corner. He bit his tongue to stop from screaming at Heero not to touch him.

"Treize, I was had no idea that they were coming here to visit you," a soft voice exclaimed.

Duo looked at the slight blond man that entered the room. He was barely dressed in a soaking wet loincloth, showing his body off to everyone. That must be Quatre. There were scratches all over his body and Duo tried not to think about how he had gotten them. He wondered what had happened to make him a slave. He couldn't think of any other reason that he was walking around like that. Or why he would willingly consort with weres.

The spotted cat, Trowa went over to Quatre and rubbed his head against his waist. Quatre smiled and rubbed behind his ears, "Later," he murmured in an amused tone of voice.

Duo didn't want to guess what the two of them would be doing later. Or that Quatre seemed to be looking forward to it.

"I think that Heero was worried about his mouse," Treize told him.

"Just washed the both of them off," Quatre explained, as if his state undress didn't explain it. Duo couldn't think of why anyone would be comfortable like that. He had spent most of his captivity dressed in layers of rags, hiding what he looked like. "Neither of them are injured."

"Do tell Wufei about Heero's mouse," Treize ordered Quatre. "I think that the man will be happy about it."

"As you wish, Treize-sama," Quatre murmured. He was certain that Wufei would be annoyed that he lost a playmate. Or overjoyed that he had gained another one, depending on his mood. "May I at least take him to their quarters?"

"The mouse has a few questions that he has to answer before Heero can play with him," Une announced coldly.

Duo tried not to shiver when she said that. He didn't know enough about what the sorcerers had been working on to make him a valuable catch, but he knew enough. Heero turned and hissed at her, nuzzling his legs after that and generally acting like an overgrown housecat. If he hadn't seen the damage that Heero had caused, he would believe that Heero was harmless. The stiffness of his pants, the mixture of blood and semen, told him otherwise. Heero was a danger to him. This Une person wasn't too safe either, but she was a lot better then a monster. He tried to keep his eyes open, but they kept sagging shut. He was going to need a lot of rest and food before he could even think of escaping.

"My dear lady, I doubt if Heero is going to let him out of his sight," Treize said. "Besides the boy looks exhausted."

"And stubborn enough not to tell us anything," Zechs added with a laugh. "Let him be for now."

Une sighed, but said nothing. Duo felt himself flush and almost begged to be dragged off to be interrogated. He was being laughed at and that was worse to him...almost.

Quatre stooped down to see how he was after gently pushing Heero out of the way. The were moved reluctantly, but knowing that Quatre was just seeing if Duo was all right. He shifted enough so that Quatre could examine Duo, but still kept his head on Duo's lap.

Duo didn't say anything, he knew that it would be a waste of breath, because while Quatre may have pity for him, there wasn't anything that he could do. Also he was waiting for them to punish him for his attempted escape. Not that he had managed to get far, but that he had even thought of it...

Heero stared at his human, upset that he had tried to leave. He wasn't going to hurt him! He had only left him because he didn't want to be covered in blood when he saw him again. He submitted to Quatre 's scolding as he washed him, knowing that his human would do this for him soon. Quatre belonged to his fellow creation, Trowa and should only care for him.

Heero nuzzled his human, ignoring the rest of the humans. He obeyed Treize because Zechs told him that he was supposed to, that didn't mean that he had to listen to the man all the time!

"Heero," Quatre asked, "could you shift so that you can carry him back to your room? He seems too tired to move."

Heero rolled off of Duo's lap and shifted to his inbetween human and cat form. He didn't like his human one and he felt that it was too small to carry someone Duo's size. He didn't miss Duo's shudder when he picked him up. He felt like a child in his arms. He huffed and nuzzled him again, forcing his head on his shoulder.

Duo shuddered when he saw Heero shift. It looked like it hurt as muscle and bone shifted, so that the were was now a seven-foot tall catman. He supposed that it was easier to carry him this way. The head changed, the muzzle flattening out a little, but it seemed that this form was as mute as the other. But it had hands with fingers to touch him with and arms to carry him. His fur didn't cover the fact that Heero was very male, however. He bit his lip when he noticed that and then buried his head in Heero's shoulder like the beast wanted him to. He wasn't going to think about anything for now and let his eyes close as Heero carried him off. The purr that he was hearing and feeling was soothing in spite of his terror, so he dropped off to sleep again. Even terrified he couldn't keep is eyes open he was so exhausted.

Duo drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to move when Heero placed him on what seemed to be a bed. He didn't move when someone took off his sandals. So long as they weren't taking anything else off of him, he was happy. He hated the feel of his pants against his skin, but it was better than being naked.

"I'll get him to wash later," Quatre told Heero. "I don't think that he's hurt, he's just very tired. I can also feel his ribs, so I think that he hasn't been eating enough."

The boy was also filthy and in rags, clearly neglected at best and abused if one thought the worst. Quatre hoped that it was just simple neglect, if it was abuse then Heero would have a hard time getting this one to trust him.

Heero had been worried that his human was injured, that he had hurt him, but Quatre just seemed to think that he was tired. He was reassure that Quatre wasn't worried because he would tell him if there was something wrong.

Heero nuzzled his human, enjoying the feel of his body as he curled around him and waited for him to wake up again. Everything would be fine when that happened.

Heero snarled softly when he woke up again. His human was still sleeping. What had woken him was Quatre entering his room with a tray of food, a real meal for him and some sort of broth for his human. Quatre ignored his snarl and placed the tray down on his desk.

"You two have slept for hours!" Quatre exclaimed. "He needs something to eat now."

Heero grunted and nuzzled his human, wanting him to wake up. He supposed that he should find out what his name was sometime. He couldn't keep thinking of him just as his human. He knew that he shouldn't be surprised that he stiffened in terror when he was awoken, considering how he had acted before. He'd let Quatre handle this; he was so much better with the humans, being one himself.

Duo sighed and curled up tighter. He was comfortable and warm, covered by a thick fur throw it seemed. He wondered where he had gotten it, they didn't care that he was cold most of the time. He was worried when it moved on it own, because it wasn't supposed do that. He clung to sleep, knowing that he didn't want to wake up for some reason.

Duo truly woke up when his fur throw started to purr and stroke him gently. He kicked back, panicking and fell out of the bed, landing on the floor in a heap. He didn't bother to move when he remembered what happened. He was in the hands of people that were just going to use him again and a werecat that thought that he was his personal fuck toy.

Heero was too surprised to catch his human when he fell out of bed. He was angry that his human was so light. He knew that humans weren't as heavy as he was, but this was ridiculous! There was something wrong with his human and it was a good thing that he had claimed him.

Quatre put down his tray on the floor and went over to help Duo up. He knew that Heero was frightening and being a prisoner didn't help matters. He had been very frightened the first time that he had seen Trowa.

"My name is Quatre, what's yours?" Quatre asked Duo.

Duo looked at the slave from yesterday, surprised that he was wearing clothing. He was allowed to wear the rags that he had on because he was so cold all the time. He didn't think that Quatre would be allowed to wear clothing because he was a slave. He shivered, realizing that Heero was holding him.

"Duo," Duo muttered. He wasn't going to tell them anything else and he wasn't going to start screaming because Heero was holding him. He wanted to though, wanted to run as fast and as far away from the werecat as he could.

"I think that you and Heero need to eat," Quatre told him. "Soup for you. I think that it would be better if you have many small meals than large ones. You need to gain weight."

"I'm not going to tell you anything," Duo muttered. He felt a lot better, but still was exhausted. Hungry and he hated the fact that his stomach rumbled at the smell of food. He should be used to that by now, it wasn't like those people had fed him all that often. It was easier to control him when he was half starved. "I don't know anything."

"Heero, let Duo eat in peace and then we're going to the baths. I know that Treize wants you to report to him after you eat."

Duo wasn't surprised that his statements were being ignored, no one ever listened to him. They just hit him when he said something. That this Quatre person was fussing over him was amazing, no one had done that in years. He didn't seem to care if he had any information about his former keepers. If fact all that mattered to any of them was that Heero was interested in him. That was the only reason that he was alive or being treated nicely.

Heero snarled at Quatre, annoyed that he was ordering him about. He loomed over the smaller human, trying to intimate him.

Quatre snarled back softly, knowing that Heero was just irritated. The were usually was very even tempered. Finding his human mate was putting him out of sorts. Heero would be in a bad mood for the next few weeks he was certain, because Duo was too scared to mate with Heero just yet. But what did Heero expect, since he had dragged him back here unconscious.

Heero hissed back and went over to the table to eat his meal. He picked up his chopsticks and started to eat, occasionally dipping his meat in the sauces that Quatre had brought along. While he preferred his meat and fish raw, he wasn't an animal! Aside from that, he ate rice and vegetables like the humans did. He was hungry because of energy that he had spent shifting from one form to another and he had been foolish enough not to eat then. He had wanted to cuddle with Duo more. Duo was a nice name, if a strange one. He was looking forward to getting to know him a bit better.

Duo looked about the room in shock. It was another nice room, something that he hadn't noticed last night. It was plain, like the other one, but Duo felt that the lack of decoration was more comfortable for Heero. The richness of the room, the luxury the Heero enjoyed was shown in little ways. The overstuffed, clean and comfortable bed of pillows that they had slept in was about the only thing in the room besides the low table and some shelves. The shelves had a collection of statues and other pieces of art, all strange looking to him. The furniture looked well cared for and well made, even if there wasn't a lot of it.

The amount of food that Quatre had brought to them and the way that it smelled, told him that they were interesting in feeding him and didn't skimp on portions. He never saw food that good before in his life. His mouth watered at the thought of eating it, even thought his mind was screaming at him to run as far away as he could as fast as he could.

Quatre smiled at Duo and held out his hand to help him up. "Heero isn't always this difficult."

Duo stared at his hand for a second before taking it and using it to help get himself off the floor. He was stunned that a slave had argued with the were and survived. "Why didn't he...?"

"Hurt me?" Quatre asked with a smile. "Because Heero usually knows that what I am doing is for his own good. He thinks that I 'mother' him too much. "

"But you're a slave," Duo blurted out.

Quatre laughed, not offended. He knew that he was dealing with ignorance, rather than malice. He was pretty sure that Duo hadn't had much schooling from the way that he talked. Not that the boy was stupid. But he doubted that the life of a slave would have given him the advantages of education and good manners, especially with sorcerers!

"I am not a slave, Trowa is my spouse, for lack of a better term," Quatre told him.

He didn't miss the look of shock on Duo's face when he told him this. The horror that Duo felt when he looked at Heero and realized that was what he wanted him for.

Duo wasn't prepared for Quatre's announcement or the calm way that he explained to him that he was now the property of a monster. He bolted, he wasn't going to give in like that; he'd rather be dead first.

Quatre tackled him before he got three feet. Heero stood up and went over to help him. Quatre hissed at Heero, "Let me take care of this!"

He was grateful that Duo couldn't do more than try to run. That he didn't try to fight them. He didn't want to hurt him even by accident. It was disturbing to feel how thin he was and Quatre wondered again what had happened to Duo before Heero had found him.

"Treize freed me from the Alliance. I had been a hostage with them for my family's neutrality. I had been there years. There was no one that I could trust. They were moving me from one prison to another when Treize had the pride attack the stronghold that I was in. They freed me, just because they could, because they knew that I was a prisoner."

Duo shivered underneath him. Quatre continued to try and explain to him what was happening. Heero wouldn't hurt him. He knew that Duo shouldn't trust him and that he should expect that he was frightened. He didn't think that he had been treated well if he looked so dirty and thin.

"Trowa courted me, I suppose you can call it, for months after that. I had thought that they had been there to kill me and I fought him, which impressed him. I know that this seems strange to you, but Treize doesn't think of them as animals. He treats them very well. He will treat you very well too, because of that."

Duo looked at Quatre. "I am not going to give into that monster," he whispered.

"Heero isn't going to hurt you," Quatre said. "Off the battlefield he's very gentle."

Duo glared at him. He wasn't going to listen to a lecture given to him by a depraved lunatic. "I don't... I'm not a pervert. I'm not like you."

Quatre resisted the urge that he had to hit Duo. The boy was frightened and exhausted. No doubt he was expecting to be tortured for information or amusement. He got off of him and let him get up. Duo sat down at the table.

"Why were you with those people?" Quatre asked him.

Duo shrugged and grabbed the bowl of soup on the table and started to gulp it down. He was hungry and these people wouldn't expect him to talk with his mouth full. Quatre looked at Duo, amused at the way that he was using to avoid his questions.

Heero growled at Quatre for annoying his human. He stopped when Duo turned white and froze, thinking that he was irritated with him.

"I'll question him later," Quatre told Heero, annoyed that Duo was so skittish. He should expect it; he had been the same way before he realized that Trowa was a kind person under the claws and fur.

Duo looked at him, clutching his bowl, shivering in fear. He didn't like that he felt that way, but he also remembered how easily the were...Heero overpowered him. He would just take what he wanted from him. These people wouldn't stop him, they were perverted enough to think that this was normal.

"It is either me or Treize. I assure you that neither one of us will hurt you, but we do want to know what you were doing with those people and what you know about their work."

"I don't know anything..." Duo whispered, "They...they didn't tell me what they were doing most of the time."

He saw though, saw what they had been doing before he collapsed, exhausted and in pain from the power drain. He had been part of that obscenity, even if he had been unwilling, so he wasn't going to try and explain what they had been doing to these people.

Quatre frowned at Duo. The boy wasn't telling the entire truth. However, the weres had cleaned the place out yesterday and destroyed every unclean thing that they had found. There weren't as many bodies as he expected, which he was glad of. He thought that they had been a lot more powerful than they expected or that they had missed something. Since the sorcerers' defenses had crumpled easier and faster than they expected, he knew that they hadn't underestimated their power. In fact, they might have overestimated it from the easy way that they had folded. Duo was the only one that was left alive and he would tell them what they wanted to know eventually. Quatre wondered what had attracted Heero to him. That was something that he was going to enjoy finding out, he liked figuring out what other people were like. It was something that kept him alive when he was a 'guest' of the Alliance.

Quatre escorted Duo down to the bathing chambers. He could see that the other man was ready to bolt and if it weren't for knowledge that he wasn't able to, Duo would have tried to knock him out and flee someplace. He had been withdrawn throughout his meal, eyeing Heero like he expected him to throw him on the ground and rape him. Duo had only relaxed when Heero had left to meet with Treize and Trowa. He also finished any of the rice or vegetables that Heero hadn't eaten. Quatre made a mental note to increase the size of the portions that he brought them in the future if Duo was cleaning off Heero's plate because of hunger. It was sad also that Duo seemed used to eating the scrapes of other people's meals. It just confirmed his suspicions that Duo had been abused by those sorcerers, but it didn't answer his questions about who or what Duo had been doing with those fiends.

"Don't think that we're going to be alone," Quatre said, "or that I am helpless."

Duo looked at Quatre and shrugged. He knew that he wasn't going to get too far by himself, since he had no idea where he was. He had eaten everything that he was given for breakfast, filled his stomach to bursting by scavenging off of Heero's plate. Quatre hadn't said anything; just let him eat his fill, not commenting on his manners or how hungry he must be to do that. He was studying him though, trying to figure out the puzzle that he was.

He was surprised to see that Heero's room wasn't attached to the main house. He was shocked that he hadn't notice that they had taken him outside last night. But he had been so exhausted; he knew that he hadn't been very aware of his surroundings.

"The baths are communal, but they are usually empty, the servants have their own and not too many people live here, " Quatre continued. "I have arranged for clean clothing to be delivered to the baths. Heero's clothing. I think that they might be too big on you, but he will want you to wear it."

Duo didn't answer, he just shivered when he thought about what Quatre had just told him. Heero wasn't in human form too often if he didn't wear clothing that often. That meant that he was probably going to be a cat when he abused him. There was no way that he was going to let that happen. He was going to kill himself first.

Quatre looked over at Duo and bit back a sigh, feeling the fear that filled him. Duo wasn't in any mood to listen to him; Duo was expecting the worst from them because of the others that had had him. It wasn't unpleasant to be with Trowa in any of his shapes. He enjoyed all of them. He knew that he was thought to be twisted because of his bond with Trowa, but Duo was the first person to ever tell him that to his face. Une hadn't been too happy to find out that their allies were intimate with the pride. Quatre was certain because Une wasn't happy that Treize had chosen Zechs as a lover, as opposed to her.

"Zechs," Quatre called out when he saw the older man in the chamber as he entered it, "I didn't know that you were going to be here."

Zechs smiled and dumped a bucket of water over him, rinsing off the soap that he cleaned himself with. "I just left Treize. He's talking with Trowa and Heero now because they were too occupied with other things last night."

Quatre laughed, "Heero's most likely making Trowa do all the talking for the two of them with Treize-sama, because he refuses to shift into human form."

"I stay human most of the time because I don't want to remind Treize that he failed to protect me," Zechs said

Duo stared at Zechs. It figured that Zechs was another were. The place seemed to be crawling with them. He striped out his clothing slowly, wanting to be clean, but not wanting to be naked in front of the others. They would figure out how he was different then.

"Duo, you can't take a bath clothed," Quatre scolded him, "I assure you that neither one of us is going to hurt you."

Duo shuddered and dropped his pants, turning around to face them, naked at last.

Quatre stared at Duo. He was speechless for a couple of reasons. The first that Duo was so thin, emaciated really. His skin was stretched over his bones it seemed and he could count his ribs. Quatre had thought Duo had been starved before Heero found him from the way that he had eaten.

The second thing was that Duo was covered with lines. From his shoulders down to his elbows and spreading down to his knees, his skin was covered in an arcane, abstract pattern. The lines were thicker on his hips and waist and chest, thinning out as they spread out to his legs and arms. They were a silvery black color that shimmered as he moved. He had never seen anything like that before in his life.

"Those lines are lines of power, not pretty tattoos," Zechs told him, when he saw what he was staring at. "Heero's mouse has some powerful magic in him. Can't you feel it?"

Zechs didn't think that Duo was a trained magician or he would have tried something by now. How those sorcerers had gotten a hold of him? Why hadn't he use magic to escape or fight back? What had been done to him while those people had had him? Had he been just a tool for them? A slave that they could continually use because his magic could be drained again and again unlike a normal human being? Had he been broken by the experience? Duo should be grateful to Heero for rescuing him from that existence. It was obvious that Duo hadn't been treated well.

"He had to have been constantly used for power for years to look like that," Zechs continued. The magic ate at Duo's body to keep itself fed. If those bastards hadn't been feeding Duo as they drained him, then it would breakdown itself to create more magic.

"I can't feel such things," Quatre said. Zechs knew about his empathy, but that didn't allow him to feel such things as magic.

"I keep forgetting how limited humans are," Zechs said. "No decent sense of smell or the ability to sense things."

"Duo," Quatre said, noticing that he was very uncomfortable with him and Zechs staring at him and talking about him. "We aren't going to hurt you."

Duo just shivered. It was cold and he felt vulnerable without his clothing. It didn't matter that both Quatre and Zechs were naked too; he didn't want to be seen.

"Duo," Quatre said, "let me scrub you down and you can soak in the baths. They are really quite relaxing."

"I can do it myself," Duo protested. He didn't want other people touching him. Too many times being touched meant that he was going to be drained for power and nothing else. He couldn't remember the last time he wanted to be touched or seen. "I'm not...I can clean myself."

He hadn't felt clean in years though. To the ones that had him, he was just an object to be used. They had found him when he was a child and after that he hadn't know anything more then the series of rooms that he had been kept in as the ones that kept him went to various projects with different groups of sorcerers. The pain that he felt as the lines burned through his skin, heavier and hotter as he got older and they drained more and more from him, but also making him more powerful. The screaming sessions that he had when he felt that he was on fire from the new lines forming on his body. The disgust that he felt the rare times he saw himself unclothed or in a mirror, seeing what had happened to him. His life had been nothing but pain and he wanted it to end. He didn't want to be a plaything for monsters again. It wasn't looking like that was going to happen, because instead of killing him like he wanted, that were used him like everyone else had.

"I'm sorry," Quatre apologized to him. "I don't know much about magic, just what I've seen with Wufei. He doesn't look like this. He...he isn't from the Alliance and he doesn't practice the same kind of magic. It really is quite interesting to learn about the differences in different types of magic. Wufei explained it to me once."

"Wufei is going to want to examine you," Zechs said.

"Heero might have something to say about that," Quatre retorted. "Heero isn't going to like Duo being alone with Wufei"

Zechs walked over to Duo. "Wash you hair while I scrub you body."

"Don't touch me!" Duo snapped. He picked up the scrub brush and roughly cleaned his body, not caring that he scrubbed off layers of his skin with the dirt. He ignored the fact that he opened Heero's bite and that there was a thin stream of blood trickling from it. He couldn't believe that he wasn't being punished for talking back to these people. While they were as scary as the sorcerers that had him, they were a lot nicer.

Duo almost snorted at that thought. He was truly pitiful if he was able to like these people because they gave him the first decent meal that he had had in years and a bath. He was going to have to leave these people before Heero did that thing to him again.

"Leave us," Quatre ordered Zechs. Duo was frightened and he wasn't dangerous, he could handle him. Duo just needed some reassurances, which he wasn't going to be able to do with Zechs there. The taller man was just looming over Duo, glaring at him almost.

"I am not," Zechs started, then turned and then saw the look in his eyes. "I am going to stay with the two of you. You are part of my pride.eeYouY"

"I think that it would be better if we...Duo had some privacy," Quatre told him.

Duo ignored the two of them, not really listening to their argument. He washed his hair, wondering when he could get the clothing that Quatre mentioned. He knew that needed some more time and food before he could even think of escaping, but mostly he wanted clothing. It was strange to be clean for the first time in years and he could get used to the feeling. He was certain that it would come with too high a price though, being Heero's property. He slowly unbraided his hair, knowing that the dirt had been the only thing that had been keeping it together and washed it, not caring about how he was going to get it brushed and tied back, he just wanted it to be clean.

Quatre stopped glaring at Zechs and stared at Duo. He frowned, looking at his wasted body. "Just how old are you Duo?"

Duo ignored the question, pretending to rinse his hair as he thought furiously. He could tell them nothing, which was his first thought or he could tell them the truth. He decided on the truth.

"I really don't know," he said slowly, looking at Quatre. "But...someone once tried to figure it out. I think that I might be seventeen."

Zechs growled. "I'm bringing him to Wufei! He can have his soak and relaxation later. Whoever had done this to him should be drawn and quartered!"

"Why?" Quatre asked, confused.

"Because he's too young to look like that!" Zechs growled.

"Explain it to me," Quatre demanded.

Zechs sighed. "Magic...sorcerers funnel it from the natural world. They take what they need from the world around them, through the sacrifice of others for most of their powerful spells. You know that because that is how they make the homunculi dolls. Duo is a person that is able to control magic and store it in his body. That is why he looks like that. He's very powerful and he has been drained by sorcerers for years to make him look like that."

"Another hour is not going to matter," Quatre retorted. "So I am a not rushing Duo off to Wufei. He is tired and frightened."

"You will do..." Zechs started and then sighed. "I bow to you on this. I don't doubt that another hour won't matter."

"As for punishing those that had abused him...I don't doubt that they were part of the ones that you killed yesterday. Or any of the other sorcerers that you've killed over the years. "

Zechs frowned and reached for a towel. "I'm going to talk to Treize. He has a right to know. Wufei...Wufei tells him what he wants to hear."

Duo just looked at the two of them. They were deciding his future. He was something that they would deal with and not ask him what he wanted or needed. He was used to it and so tired of it at the same time. He didn't think that finding out about this would save him from Heero. The monster wanted him and that was it. He didn't have enough energy to fight them all about treating him like he was a possession.

"Wufei is very nice, just not very polite all the time," Quatre told Duo. "Don't be frightened by him, he isn't going to hurt you."

Duo just looked at him. The lot of them had talked about him like he wasn't there or treated him like an idiot and couldn't plan his own future, thinking that he would be happy to stay here as Heero's fuck toy. How rude was that?

He was glad that he had gotten clean clothing after he had bathed. That there had been a brush and hair ties and a number of little things done for him that made him feel a lot better. That was an improvement to how he felt. The top was a bit too big on him and had cat hairs on it. He felt odd wearing the were's...Heero's clothing, but the only other option was to be naked and he liked that one even less. But this clothing was still better then anything that he had worn before. What was this Wufei person like? What kind of name was Wufei?

"Wufei is another ally of Treize's, like the pride is, " Quatre continued, "I don't know why he's with Treize. He was with him before I was. He doesn't say anything about his past. We're staying at his estate. I don't know where it is exactly. The weather is always nice though and we're safe here."

"Where..." Duo started and stopped, waiting to be hit because he asked a question.

Quatre stopped and hugged Duo gently, ignoring the cringe and horror that he felt when he did so. Heero was going to have to be very gentle with Duo for a number of reasons. He wasn't surprised to see that washed and loose, Duo's hair was a lovely shade of brown and fell to about his thighs. He was sorry that he braided it back. Quatre didn't like how pale he was, but knew that Duo would be and look healthier after being here for a few weeks. He was fascinated by the color of his eyes though, he had never seen eyes that shade of blue before.

"You can ask questions," Quatre reassured him. "We aren't going to hurt you. Heero..." Quatre felt Duo stiffen in his arms at mention of the were's name, "Heero won't take advantage of you."

Duo shuddered, "He already..."

Quatre patted his back. "Sh..."

"I couldn't do anything," Duo whispered, "he was too strong and then he started...I wanted to die."

Quatre bit back the scathing comment that he wanted to make about Heero's intelligence. He had smelled the faint scent of semen on Duo's clothing, mixed with blood. He didn't doubt that Heero had marked Duo as soon as he had found him, the were had a possessive streak in him that was unbelievable. That wouldn't make Duo trust him if he had marked him as soon as he saw him. Even Trowa hadn't been that rude when he decided that he belonged to him.

"While I doubt that Heero isn't going to let you sleep anyplace but his room, he won't do that again," Quatre promised Duo. "I think that Heero just got lost in the moment. It happens."

"I'm not going to be his toy," Duo told him, pulling out of his arms. "I screamed so that he would find us...find me and kill me. I don't want to be used again."

Quatre's voice hardened. "Everyone uses," he told him cynically. "Treize uses me for the education that the Alliance gave me while it kept me from my family. Zechs is using Treize to make sure that his sister is safe. To protect his pride from the Alliance, while Treize uses it to kill his enemies."

Duo backed away from him. "Just kill me."

Quatre looked at Duo. He was terrified. He wondered how bad his life had been that he had wanted to be killed. Then he remembered what his body looked like. Duo knew all about being used and he shouldn't have let his bitterness show. It was just at times he had to say something. He wasn't filled with sweetness and light. That had been the persona that he had adopted to survive in the Alliance's stronghold.

"Just let's talk to Wufei..."

"Not another!" Duo screamed and turned to run.

He didn't get far. Quatre didn't stop him, he had run into someone that had just appeared out of thin air he swore. He started panicking when the person stopped his escape. Duo squirmed, trying to get away. He got a good look at the man that was holding him, stunning him into stillness. The man that was holding him was alien looking, with dark skin and deep black eyes, well built, even if he was a short as he was. He had jet back hair that was pulled back tightly and looked like it hurt. His skin and hair looked so dark because of the pure white of the pants and shirt that he was wearing. He was nice to look at and Duo was astonished to see that he didn't look any older then he was.

"We were just going to see you," Quatre started politely.

"The mouse just escaped from those that abused him and you thought that he would willingly walk into a magic user's lair? You usually are intelligent Quatre, no wonder he ran. I doubt that he thinks that we are any better then those filthy sorcerers."

"You," Duo squeaked.

The other man spoke with an odd accent and with a singsong tone of voice, so Duo was certain that this wasn't his native language. He didn't have the same, bland way of speaking that the rest of them had, Zechs and the others. He wondered if Heero sounded like them or if he talked differently. He doubted that he was going to find out if the were didn't change into his human shape all that often. He didn't know why he was even thinking about it.

Wufei looked down at him and loosened his grip. "I think that the library is a wonderful place this time of the day. We'll talk there."

"Wufei, how did you know?" Quatre started to ask him.

"Zechs told me," Wufei said. "I was there when he talked to Treize about this."

"Ah," Quatre murmured.

"I don't..." Duo protested.

"We are just going to talk, I assure you that I have no interest in tapping into your power. Your aura shows me that you have barely enough as it is," Wufei explained as he walked towards the library. "I doubt that I could take anything from you without killing you. I also don't care to discuss whatever perversions they had been practicing. I don't want to upset mine or Quatre's stomach."

Duo knew that the other man wasn't going to let him go, but he wasn't being cruel, just firm. He was reassured that this man wasn't going to hurt him for some reason. He didn't know why, but he trusted him.

Quatre followed the two of them, amused. He wasn't insulted by Wufei's comments; he had known for years that the other man had no tact. That he was being kind to Duo, which was what he needed. He was very willing to have Wufei deal with Duo. Duo was too tiring for him to deal with because he was nervous and frightened most of the time. Not that he didn't blame him; he just didn't want to be around Duo when he was like that.

"Isn't this a pleasant place?" Wufei asked as he led the other two into the small room. It was cluttered with piles of scroll, books and other odds and ends. Duo shivered when he saw that all the books that had been dumped in the place from the place that he had been held. It was a small pile compared to all the other books and scrolls that this place held. The sorcerers had thought that it was a great library and had been quite proud of it.

Wufei felt his shiver and said gently, "I have them here so that I know what they were planning. As soon as I find that out, you can help me burn them."

"I can burn them," Duo repeated dumbly.

Wufei waved at him and Quatre to sit down on the sofa that was in the room, before he gracefully sat on the floor. "Aside from that, they are of no use to me. My traditions are not theirs. They have a weak system..." he said before he looked at Duo. "But burning books is distasteful to me, but if it makes you feel better we will do it. I doubt that there will be anything useful in them."

Duo sat down because he didn't want this man to be angry with him. He knew that he was stronger then he was. But he felt safe because he hadn't tried to hurt him and causally dismissed the use that every sorcerer had had for him. What was an aura though and why did he have one? How could Wufei see it? Why was he willing to destroy books if he wanted it, but he didn't like burning books?

"How..." Duo started and then stopped. He wasn't going to be used and he wasn't going to let these people hurt him. They were being nice to him, but he was still waiting to be hit because he kept talking to them, asking them questions like he was a real person.

"It is something that I can do," Wufei told him with a smile, after he realized that Duo wasn't going to finish his question. "I find it simple, but it is not a talent that everyone can do. Did those sorcerers ever explain such things to you?"

Duo flushed and shook his head. "I...I...was just there to be used. They didn't talk to me. That's why...I wanted Heero to kill me."

"They taught you nothing?" Wufei demanded.

"No," Duo muttered, feeling stupid and small. They hadn't even bothered to feed him half the time, why would they teach him anything? "I...don't, can't even read."

"Good!" Wufei exclaimed.

Quatre and Duo just looked at him. "What are you planning?" Quatre asked him, not trusting the joy that he felt from the other man.

Wufei smirked. "I have need of an apprentice. Duo will do just fine."

"But..." Duo protested.

"I know that I should be more formal about it, but I doubt that there is a relative that I can bargain with about your apprenticeship."

"There is Heero," Quatre reminded him. "He has an interest in Duo. He will want to talk to you about this."

Wufei chuckled. "I will 'talk' at him about this and he will growl in the appropriate places, as usual."

"But..." Duo repeated. He was being ignored again. He didn't want to learn magic. He wasn't going to be a monster like the ones that had him. He'd like it if Wufei taught him to read and write. That was something that he thought was better then learning spells.

"It is hard and difficult, but I know that you can learn my tradition of magic," Wufei told Duo. "I just needed to know if you had been taught any sorcerer's magic, because if so, then you would have had to unlearn it."

"Do you think that...?" Duo asked.

Maybe if he knew something about magic he could control the pain, control the spread of those ugly lines on his body. He was overwhelmed by the calm way that this man insisted that he was going to be his apprentice. He'd just go along with him to gain time to escape from these people. Once he was rested and stronger he was going to run away so that Heero and the others never found him again. He wasn't going to stay with these people a minute longer then he had to.

"You are not stupid, uneducated, but not stupid," Wufei told him. "Being my apprentice will not be easy and I know that you will hate me at times. I know that I hated my own master when I was being trained."

"Aren't you a little young for this?" Duo asked him.

Wufei smiled at him sadly, "I am older then I look, mouse."

"I think that you should discuss this with Treize," Quatre suggested trying to buy Duo some time to think about the offer. Duo was confused and couldn't Wufei see how overwhelming this was for Duo?

Wufei looked at him haughtily, "Just because I sleep with him does not mean that he can dictate whether or not I take an apprentice or who it is."

Duo just stared at him. Wufei and Treize? But he had seen the way that Zechs and Treize had acted, he was certain, as far as he could figure these things out, that Zechs and Treize were intimate. What was going on here? Was that why Treize didn't mind that Heero had him? Why did everyone call him mouse? He had a name and they should use it!

"I shocked you mouse...Duo," Wufei told him, amused. "While Treize and I are having a sex, that doesn't mean that he is mine. I know about Zechs. We share Treize quite amiably."

Duo blushed bright red. He didn't need to know this! He didn't need to know that Treize was also a pervert that slept with animals or that Wufei and Zechs shared Treize like a pair of schoolboys shared a book.

"I don't know how having you here will change things. Heero was always welcome with any of us when he was lonely...though it will be nice to have Trowa to yourself, Quatre," Wufei smirked, "or at least restful."

Quatre laughed nervously. Duo appeared to be very sheltered and Wufei discussing intimate details of his life with him wasn't something that the boy needed to hear.

Duo blushed and wondered if running was better then learning. These people, even if all of them weren't really people, were crazy and talked about things that should be private. That was what he had been taught when he was a child, that you shared yourself with a special person, not a group of them! But these people were shameless, proud of their unnatural vices.

"But that is neither here nor there," Wufei continued. "You are welcomed into my home, Duo. I will not be teaching you any kind of magic right away. I doubt that those barbarians bothered to educate you if they didn't bother to clean or feed you. I will teach you to read and write in my native language, as well as a few others. In addition to that, you will learn how to fight with a sword and with your body. You will not be helpless when I am through with you."

"Why?" Duo asked flatly.

He was still expecting to be hit for questioning anyone, but it wasn't happening for some reason. He didn't allow himself to think that things would be better with these people. They were after something, he was certain. They were going to tell him what this cost later. He didn't expect anything but to be abused, not with their habits.

Wufei smiled at Duo, trying to keep his tone reassuring. Duo looked like the mouse that he had been called, frozen and fearful, wondering when he was going to be pounced on by a cat...by Heero. "Because it amuses me."

Quatre gasped in horror, quite certain that was the rudest thing that he had ever heard Wufei say. But he also noticed that Duo had relaxed when he said that.

"I believe you," Duo said quietly. Wufei was weird, but he was honest. He wanted to run from these people, but he also realized that he had no place to go. He didn't even know where he was now. Also he could leave, but where would he go, what would he do? He was an ignorant kid that had spent most of his life in dark rooms, being used by assholes.

"Then we will start as soon as possible," Wufei told him

Heero stalked into the library wondering what Wufei, Quatre and Duo were doing in there. He thought that Zechs said that Quatre was taking Duo to Wufei's workshop. He went over to where Duo was sitting and laid his head on his lap, ignoring the way that his human stiffened and started to smell of fear. He approved of the fact that Quatre had given Duo his clothing to wear, it marked Duo as his, even if the weak nosed humans couldn't smell it. Cleaned up, he liked the looks of his human. Duo's eyes were a nice color of blue and his long hair was a lot of different colors of brown. He looked and smelled a lot better after his bath.

"Get off his lap and pay attention to me," Wufei snarled at Heero.

Heero looked over at him, and yawned widely to show his contempt. He only moved because Duo was upset and settled on the floor, stretched out in front of him. He wasn't going to leave Duo alone if he didn't have to.

"Duo is my apprentice," Wufei said.

Heero stared at him. It was something stupid and human, so why should he care? Duo was his human and that was all that mattered to him.

Wufei rolled his eyes in exasperation. "That means that I have a large claim on his time. He will be trained to control the magic that is part of him. Duo also can chose not to be with you and I will back his choice."

Heero snarled at Wufei and lunged at him. Duo was his and Wufei was not taking him!

"Heero," Wufei said softly, "Duo has the right to say no. If his affection is not freely given, you can not force him."

Duo curled up in a ball, shivering. Heero was frightening him and Wufei's words had no meaning for him. He was going to run off from these people as soon as he was strong enough and knew enough to survive wherever he was now. He would pretend to go along with them, but he wasn't staying here to be molested again by Heero. He supposed that Wufei was different enough that he didn't practice sorcery, but it didn't mean that once Wufei found out that he was an almost limitless source of power, he wouldn't use him for that power.

Heero snarled softly, annoyed that Duo was frightened. He knew that he was the cause. Heero frantically tried to think of some sort of way that he could reassure Duo that he wasn't going to hurt him. He cursed the fact that he was voiceless in this form, but wasn't desperate enough to change into his human one. He was comfortable in his cat form, having spent most of his life in it. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that he had been a cat merged into a human's body and not the other way around.

Heero glared at Wufei for making him loose his temper and swallowed his dignity. He may not be able to speak in this shape, but he wasn't mute. He went over to Duo and did the only thing that he could think of to comfort Duo. He opened his mouth and made a sound that he hadn't made in years, "Meow."

Duo looked over at Heero, amazed at what had just happened. He would have sworn that he had heard the were meow, like a kitten.

Wufei laughed before he thought about it. He stopped when he realized that Heero was trying to reassure Duo because he was frightened of him. "I'm sorry, Heero," he apologized.

Heero looked at him and rubbed his head against Duo's legs, scenting him, trying to comfort him. Heero wasn't happy that his human was frightened of him and was going to have to ask Trowa what he had done to make Quatre like him. This was a lot more difficult then he thought it would be. Humans didn't act like the pride and he couldn't understand why Duo was upset most of the time.

"Heero is trying to be nice to you," Quatre told Duo impatiently. "What do you think that he is going to do with us in the room?"

"He just wants to...to...to do that thing with me again," Duo whispered. "I don't want him near me."

Quatre bit his tongue, realizing why Duo was frightened out of his mind. He hated that it was so plain to him because of his empathy. Heero had taken advantage of Duo once and he was terrified that it would happen again. "Heero, I will explain to him..."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Heero leave. Do not argue with me about this. I know that Duo will feel better once you are not in the same room as he is. Quatre, you go too. I have many things that I need to teach Duo and now seems like as good at time as any to start. Plus I have all these boring and dreadful books that I have to go through. Unless you want to help me, Quatre?"

Heero hissed at Wufei, annoyed that he thought that he could order him around like he was his pride leader. He would leave because Duo was frightened. He rubbed against Duo again before he left; trying to show his human that he wasn't going hurt him. He didn't miss the shiver that Duo made when he did this. But he wasn't going to stop trying to show Duo that he wanted him. He stalked out of the room, wondering what Wufei was up to.

Wufei played games, games that Heero didn't understand most of the time, because of their human nature. Quatre was someone that he trusted to watch out for Duo, but he didn't doubt that Trowa's human was going to be chased out too because of what Wufei just said. Wufei wanted Duo alone with him and it wasn't for the usual reasons that you were alone with Wufei. Heero growled softly in his throat, Wufei was not going to mate with his human! Wufei had let him mount him often, but the human shared his body with Treize and Zechs also. He wasn't going to add Duo to the circle of those that he mated with!

Quatre stared at Wufei, wondering why he was being chased out. He didn't want to read about human sacrifice or anything else that might be in those journals and Wufei knew that.

"I will be in the study," he announced. There were things that he could do to keep himself occupied. It wasn't like Treize was picking his targets at random, a lot of preparation and planning went into every operation. Now was as good a time as any to start researching the next scheme to erase more of the Alliance's power.

Duo looked at him. Wufei wanted him alone and that was when he was going to tell him that he was going to start using him. He expected it. Why should Wufei be nice to him? He knew that even if Wufei was teaching him on a whim, a concept that was as alien to him as a person being nice to him, there was going to be a price. Wufei was going to tell him what it was when he was alone with him. He just wanted to know what it would be.

Quatre walked out, wanting to stay for Duo but realizing that Wufei wouldn't let him interfere. Duo was going to have to learn to trust Wufei if the man if he was going to learn anything with him.

"I told you that you were too weak to be drained, why do you not believe me?" Wufei demanded with a sigh. "Those idiots had drained you too often and too far. You are barely alive. I might in the future have to bleed off your power for you, but I assure you that I will teach you to control the power within you as your first lessons in magic."

"Why do the lines keep spreading?" Duo demanded.

Wufei smiled at him. Duo was comfortable enough now to talk to him. Not that he trusted him; that would have to be earned. " Those lines are the power that is part of you, like your blood or your mind. Your body was forced to create more power and then was pushed beyond the limits, every time they drained you too much. The lines growing just show that. You were fed better for a little while before and ignored afterwards for a couple days when it was happening. The lines show that you are able to hold more power then before. They were greedy and tried to make your body hold too much too soon."

Duo thought for a second. "I think so. But I don't really remembered that, I remember the pain."

Wufei snarled. "It should not have hurt. Itched or some other minor annoyance, but not pain. They were fools that pushed you too far too fast. You should only have about a third of the lines that you have and they should be light, thin. Not what Zechs described to me. You should have just discovered your power a few years ago, Tell me the first time that you noticed that those lines started."

Duo frowned, but tried to remember. He didn't think that Wufei was being cruel asking him these questions. "I don't know, it was a long time ago," he started. "I think that I never didn't have them. But I really noticed that they did something when I...when the Alliance destroyed the monastery that I was living at."

"What did you do?" Wufei asked him gently. He would find out such things as why Duo was in a monastery later. It could have been or something as simple as an education or he could have been a foundling. He was going to have fun studying his apprentice.

"They were burning the place to the ground, killing the nuns and the children I don't know why. I just wanted them to stop. I don't know what happened, but when it was over, everyone was dead. I felt like I was burning...one of the men that was there just grabbed me and knocked me out. There was so much blood, so many dead. The next thing that I knew was that I was being sold to a group of smelly, old men in dirty robes. It never changed after that."

"Until Heero rescued you," Wufei told him. "There was something about you that attracted Heero to you. Before you dismiss that out of hand, Heero doesn't like humans. He has been abused as badly as you have been by the same kind of people."

"That..." Duo protested

"I know that does not mean much to you right now, but think about it," Wufei told him. "Well not now, since I want you to start studying."

Wufei walked over to a section of the library, which was filled with oddly shaped books. He studied the bindings for a minute before choosing one. "Here is a primer. I want you to start to learn to read and write before we go on to magical theory and training. You are going to need the basics before you can do any real work. Learning the kanji that you need to know is the beginning."

Duo took the book that was handed him. Wufei was a confusing person. But he would learn as much as he could from him before he left. Before Heero decided to do more then hump his leg like a badly trained dog.

Wufei hid his smile. He didn't doubt that Duo was planning something; the boy didn't survive so long by having a meek personality. He was obeying him because he thought that he had no choice but to do so. He was planning probably to escape as soon as possible. He was just going to have to make sure that Duo knew that it was better to stay here then to escape.

Trowa tracked Heero's scent down the hallway and into the area that he knew that Heero was sulking in. Trowa knew that Heero liked to think on the island that was filled with flowers, because he liked the smell of the place. He found Heero curled up in a patch of something and knew that the gardeners were going to have a fit when they saw the damage.

"Time to take a chunk out of your skull, Heero," Trowa announced.

Heero looked at him, his tail twitching furiously. Most of the weres' communication with each other was nonverbal. Tail twitches, looks, posture and scent made up the majority of it. With their humans, they had added a type of charades to the mix, because of the human's limitations understanding such things.

"How did you make Quatre like you...feel that he wanted to mate with you?" Heero asked Trowa.

Zechs was useless for this. Heero was quite certain that Treize would mate with him, because he had bothered to free him from the sorcerers that had them. He hadn't cared that Zechs wasn't human anymore when he found out, he just had been happy that he was alive. Treize was strange that way. But Treize decided that the humans that hurt them were going to be punished, so Heero was certain that Treize had been mad that it had happened. He didn't care why he was ordered to kill; he just liked killing the humans.

Trowa sighed and sat down in front of him, rubbing against his fellow were to comfort him. "Duo...your human, might never want that with you. The humans hurt him too much. He might never want that with anyone."

Heero wrinkled his nose. "It doesn't help that I mounted him when I tried to kill him," he admitted. "Even though he was clothed and smelled bad."

Trowa rolled his eyes. "No!"

Heero was an idiot! No human would enjoy that happening to them! Duo had every right to be frightened of Heero. No wondered he had smelled of sex and blood.

Heero rolled off the chair and onto his back, showing his belly, showing that he was submissive to Trowa for now. He knew that he had made a mistake because Duo was scared of him. That wasn't right. Quatre had feared them in the beginning, but this was much more then that.

"He felt right and I couldn't stop myself. I knew that he was frightened, even though he had been shouting so that I found them easier. He wanted the one that he was with to die more then he wanted to live. It was strange to me. I thought that he was insane to call attention to them."

"According to Quatre, they had been mistreating Duo for years," Trowa said. "It is all very strange."

"Magic," Heero told him. "It makes the humans crazy."

Magic was strange and he knew that it hurt people more then it helped them. It had created him and the others, but they had been survivors, there had been a lot more killed than created. He thought that was one of the reasons that the project that they had been part of had never gotten the patronage that their creators seemed to think was their due.

"He doesn't like to be touched," Trowa explained. "It is not the pleasure to him that it is to us."

Heero abased himself further. "Then I did that to him."

"Let Wufei take care of him," Trowa urged his friend. "He will help Duo and then you can court him the way that you should."

"He is not leaving my den," Heero snarled. "He is mine!"

Trowa reached out with a paw and smacked Heero on his nose. He had no sense at times. "That is what is scaring him. He in not prey to be stalked and killed. He will be your mate if you manage to befriend him. Time Heero, Duo needs time and you are going to give it to him!"

Wufei smirked at Treize and ignored Duo sleeping on the sofa. His apprentice had fallen asleep studying, tired and overwhelmed by all that had happened. He was quite sure that Duo was going to be spending the next few weeks sleeping and eating more then anything. He needed to rest and restore his body.

Wufei looked up when Treize entered the room. "Did I ever tell you how delightful you look?" he drawled.

Treize smiled at Wufei. He was friend, advisor and lover all wrapped into one body. He felt guilty that he looked so young; at times it made him feel like he was molesting a child. He knew that Wufei was older then he was, not exactly how old or why he looked so young.

"I think that I need a good fuck to relieve me of the boredom of going through all these tiresome journals," Wufei announced.

Treize's gaze strayed over to Duo. He was excited that Wufei was acting so crude, but wasn't sure about Duo.

"My young apprentice," Wufei drawled. "He will not wake."

The boy seemed deeply asleep, but...then Wufei got up and leisurely stripped out of his clothing. Suddenly Treize didn't care who was in the room with them, it wasn't like either of them were shy or hadn't even indulged in a ménage à trios before. He fumbled with his own clothing, mesmerized by Wufei's actions and let him do whatever he wanted with him. Which usually meant delightful and decadent sex, Wufei's very flexible body welcoming him into it.

Duo woke up to the sound of people moaning. He thought that it sounded like they were in pain. He cracked open an eye and blushed. Probably not pain. Treize and Wufei were naked on the other side of the room. Treize was bent over Wufei, who was on all fours, like a dog, and rocking behind him. Duo just stared, knowing that it was rude, but fascinated. He didn't think that Wufei would...so that was what...he shut his eyes again when Treize let out a strangled groan and Wufei arched his back, shuddering, his face twisted in pleasured pain. He didn't want to see this and how was he going to be able to look at either one of them again without blushing? He stayed curled up, faking sleep as the other two cuddled and talked. Finally Treize left the room.

"I know that you're awake," Wufei announced in an amused voice.

Duo opened his eyes again and sat up, both embarrassed that he had been caught and that Wufei was sprawled naked across the room from him. He noticed that Wufei seemed as comfortable with nudity as the weres were. He was certain that he would never be like that.

"Treize did not," Wufei continued. "I should not have tempted him, but then I did think that you would sleep through it, you seemed tired enough."

"I..."

Wufei stood up and walked over to Duo. He touched him gently, annoyed that he cringed, but understanding it. Duo had only been touched before to be hurt, to feel the life drain out of him. That was one of the things that he had to teach his apprentice, that touch could be pleasurable. He would make sure that he learned that lesson. Heero would thank him for it eventually, if he didn't try to kill him for corrupting Duo. Heero would not be happy with him when he heard of this incident, if he did. Wufei was certain that Duo was not going to mention it to Heero and he was not going to tell the were about this anytime soon. "Did you enjoy it?"

Duo blushed bright red, wondering how Wufei could ask such a question! He was embarrassed to have seen such a private moment and he didn't know exactly what the other two had been doing besides that they had both enjoyed it.

Wufei laughed, "I assure you that as my apprentice, I will not be having sex with you. I stand as your guardian and even for me that wouldn't be right. I am famished though and I think that we should get a snack from the kitchen. You slept through lunch."

"But..." Duo protested. He hadn't even thought that Wufei would do that with him. Heero would, even if he didn't want him too. So that was what unnatural vices looked like, he definitely didn't want to experience them then!

Wufei smiled and caressed Duo's arm. "I will get dressed, I assure you. I know that many would tell you that I am weak and corrupt for enjoying Treize taking me, but then I suspect none of them has ever done that in their lives. Idiots. I might have too much Yin in my system because I enjoy the woman's role in sex, but I never thought that it was a bad thing."

"Yin?" Duo asked, not understanding anything that Wufei had just said. All he knew was that he was touching him, not hurt him or drain his power, but because he wanted to. It felt...nice. "Woman's role?"

"I see that those sorcerers had not...I will explain later. Over tea and a snack. You are hungry, aren't you?"

Duo bit his lip. He was hungry, but he didn't want to admit it. His stomach growled though and Wufei nodded. " Ah. I see that I have much work ahead of me with you."

"I," Duo started.

"Tell me when you are hungry or tired or even later, injured. I..."

"Injured?" Duo squeaked.

"I will be teaching you to fight, injuries occur then," Wufei explained to him. "But I will not put up with whining or laziness. I don't expect you to master everything at once or know what I am talking about all the time because your education, actually you, have been terribly neglected. If Heero had not found you, I don't doubt that you would have been dead in a year or two."

"That...I wouldn't have minded that," Duo muttered.

Wufei shook his head. "That would have been a waste. You are a special person, a rare find. What they were doing to you was as criminal as destroying a work of art."

Duo looked confused wondering what Wufei was talking about. All he was someone that had been used as a thing all his life, he wasn't anyone special.

Wufei laughed. "I will explain later. I know that the cook makes the most delicious buns. You need some right now."

Duo wasn't surprised to discover that Wufei's estate was spread out over several acres. Comfortable and understated was the other two words that came to mind when he looked around. It wasn't colorful or gaudy, but he could tell that this place had had a lot of care and love in it. He wondered exactly what Wufei did to have a house this big, along with all other buildings that he saw scatter about the grounds though open doors. Simply built, they added to the understated wealth that the manor hinted at, but the place was also peaceful, something about it made him feel safe. He thought that it might be because he had never seen anyplace like this before.

It wasn't built like the stone buildings that he was used to. Wood made up most of the structure with thin paper doors to the private rooms. The place was filled with light and it was open, something that he hadn't experienced in ages. He knew that they were in the country, because the air was fresh and smelled of flowers rather then people's waste. He saw that a couple of other buildings dotted the landscape. There was a lazy river that meandered through the property, creating a dreamlike quality, the peacefulness making the place seem even more unreal to him. When he felt stronger he was going to walk all over the grounds, figuring out where all the paths he saw lead, just because he could.

There seemed to be a number of servants on the estate and they past in their walk to the kitchen. All of them bowed respectably to Wufei, but didn't seem afraid of him, unlike the servants that the sorcerers had had. They all looked alike too. Dark eyes and hair, with the same golden skin, dressed in simple, dark blue tunics and pants. The estate was clean and well cared for, the most welcoming place he had been since the Maxwell Monastery. He knew that he looked ridiculous staring at everything, but it was all so new and strange to him.

The servants smiled and bowed at him too, whenever Wufei introduced him to them. All he knew that there were a lot of people in this place. It was strange to see that most of the servants that were here were women. All of them now knew him as Duo, Wufei's apprentice. Duo was surprised to see that that these servants looked at him with awe because of that.

By the time they were halfway to the kitchen, Duo was feeling very strange. He bit his tongue to stop telling these people that it was all a mistake, that he was just an ignorant kid. He breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the kitchen. He was confused that there seemed to be a lot of women that worked here, even doing things that he thought were men's tasks, such as gardening.

"You handled that well," Wufei told him.

"What?" Duo asked.

"Meeting all the servants. They can be a bit overwhelming."

"There was a lot of them," Duo admitted, "but this is a big place. You probably need all of them to keep a head of the cat hair."

Wufei laughed. He was still laughing when the cook rushed up to them and bowed to him, excited, not upset to see that Wufei was visiting her. Duo didn't know what was going on, Wufei and his cook were discussing something on their own language, but eventually the cook disappeared and few minutes later came back with something that looked like biscuits, steamed and a pale white color, along with a teapot and some teacups.

"Stuffed buns and green tea, a very nice snack," Wufei said to Duo. "And this is Shu Fang, one of the cooks."

"Hello," Duo muttered, overloaded because he knew that that he wasn't going to remember any of these people. She just smiled at him before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Duo bit into a bun, surprised that it tasted good, warm and slightly sweet, filled with some reddish paste. The tea was plain, without sweetening or milk and different from anything that he had before. He ate and drank most of the food, finding out that the buns were filled with another sweet paste and custard also, while Wufei just nibbled a few buns. Shu Fang kept supplying him with buns until Duo signaled that he was full. It was strange to be able to eat everything that he wanted to and his food wasn't scraps that others had picked over. The woman was beaming at him like she was a long lost relative while she was watching him eat. She was overjoyed to feed him and he felt odd because of that.

Wufei sipped at his tea and watched Duo. While food was important to the boy it wasn't what would tie him here. Treating him with respect would, but Duo was suspicious. He would be even more so when he realized that there was something not quite right about his servants. Duo would be a challenge to deal with.

Duo was grateful that Wufei decided that this wasn't the time to explain to him about what he and Treize had been doing. He knew enough. Duo also didn't want Shu Feng to be with in listening distance while Wufei talked to him about something that was so embarrassing, even if she apparently didn't speak his language.

"Do you want to see the rest of the grounds?" Wufei asked him. "I assure you that the place is beautiful and I do not doubt that you want to walk off all the buns that Shu Fang stuffed you with."

"They were good," Duo said, gulping down the rest of his tea.

"There are many different kinds of food that I think that I want you to try," Wufei told him. "The servants enjoy taking care of people."

Duo looked at him, wondering if Wufei was pulling his leg. But all these people had been delighted to see Wufei and to meet him. A couple had clucked at him, shaking their heads. He had felt weird until Wufei had explained that the women thought that he was too skinny and needed someone to take care of him. Duo had just looked at him when he told him that. He didn't think that Heero should be the one that was looking after him, but he knew that he was stuck with the were as long as he stayed here.

"Now I will let Mei Quin and the other seamstresses take care of you," Wufei told him. "They will dress you in something other then Heero's clothing."

"You don't," Duo protested.

"I do not dare," Wufei told him. "You will be taken care of or they will go...never mind about that. I will clothe you and educate you. Besides, that shade of green looks terrible on you."

"But..."

"I am henpecked and that is the end of it!" Wufei announced. "The seamstresses will cloth you or they will nag me about my poor hospitality."

Duo would have been worried except that Shu Fang was giggling into her apron, enjoying Wufei's antics. Suddenly he felt better. Not that he didn't still have an interest in escaping anymore, but it wouldn't be because of Wufei. He was still worried about Heero and he might be the only thing that would drive him out of this place. He wasn't going to be his fuck toy if he had to slit his own throat. But Wufei said that he would allow him to say no. But which would be worse, putting up with Heero doing things to him or feeling Wufei drain the life out of him? He didn't know and wasn't going to make up his mind right now.

"A walk would be nice," Duo said cautiously, "but if you're so henpecked, can you walk around with just me?"

It seemed that Shu Fang understood what he had said because she started to laugh and then chased them out of her kitchen, like they were chickens or something. Whoever Wufei was in this place, the servants didn't fear him. That was strange. Almost everyone had been scared to deal with a sorcerer, no matter who they were. He had seen generals almost piss their pants because one of those assholes hadn't liked what they had told him.

"Woman!" Wufei scolded her for laughing at them, adding something in a language that Duo didn't understand but made Shu Feng laugh. He understood why Wufei sounded so odd at times, the language that every one spoke here relied upon the tone of the voice as well as what was being said. It sounded like singing half the time.

Duo was worried for a second before he realized that Wufei was laughing too. He didn't understand the other man; he wasn't like the other sorcerers that he had dealt with. But he wasn't a sorcerer, the man called himself a magic user, whatever that meant. To him right now it meant that Wufei seemed to be a decent person and sorcerers were bastards. He hoped that it stayed that way.

Duo followed Wufei down one of the paths that wandered away from the main building. He vaguely remembered from this morning when Quatre had taken him to the bathes. He wasn't surprised to see that Heero lived in a separate building from everyone else, he didn't think that anyone would want to live with him. He was surprised to see that Trowa and Quatre lived in another building like Heero did and that Zechs and Treize also had their own house too. He wondered if it was because the weres didn't like living together if they could avoid it or if they wanted privacy from stumbling across Wufei doing something weird.

"That is interesting," Wufei muttered.

Duo looked up and frowned. The hut that was Heero's seemed to be having some sort of work done to it with the amount of people that were wandering in and out of the place. Wufei walked up to the one that seemed to be in charge to find out what was happening.

"Oji-sama," one of them announced when she saw him, "Heero asked us to rearrange his rooms and add more sleeping cushions, enough for another bed."

"Chan Juan," Wufei told her calmly, "you know that I have given them the run of this place because I trust them. Unless the request is one that is distasteful or dangerous to you, then do so. If it is something that you don't like, explain it to me and I will tell them why. They are reasonable."

Chan Juan rolled her eyes. "Bah. They are impossible. One never knows what those foreigners will be doing in the garden."

Wufei laughed. "I have told them when to behavior themselves so that the gardeners won't be subjected to that. They are just very...affectionate."

The woman snorted, amused, before she turned around. "They are scandalous, that is what they are!"

"The second bed is for my apprentice, who is not as affectionate or scandalous as Heero would like him to be."

Duo blushed when Chan Juan turned around to stared at him. He really didn't need these women knowing that about him. "I didn't know that..." he started

"It is no trouble," she reassured him, with a smile. "We were curious about where you would be staying. You aren't causing any trouble."

"If you want also, there is a room for you in the main house. That will also be no trouble," Wufei started.

Duo sighed. "But...I don't want to be a bother. Heero will be really angry if I don't stay here and it won't mean that he won't move into that room."

Wufei frowned and drew Duo to one side. He didn't like the shiver that Duo made when he touched him, but knew that his fear of being touched wouldn't vanish immediately. "If you don't want Heero, then you just tell me. I will deal with any problems that he causes."

Duo hesitated. "Heero thinks that I... that I belong to him, according to Quatre, that is why he did what he did."

"Heero frightens you and that is enough for me! Or do you think that you will escape easier if you are in one of the outer buildings?"

Duo flushed, he had been thinking about that. Also he doubted that a lot of people went into Heero's house, so if he left one night they wouldn't find him for a while. He wouldn't have that freedom if he was staying in the main house.

"Heero scares me," Duo admitted, "but this is something that he is doing so that I'm more comfortable with him."

"If it doesn't work out, then I am moving you into the my home. Don't think that Heero will be allowed to take advantage of you!"

"He wouldn't be the first," Duo blurted out. "Everyone's taken from me. When it stops being amusing to you to teach me, what are you going to do with me?"

"You understand enough to make allies here, by giving Heero what he wants," Wufei told him cynically. "You are going to be a brilliant student. I will not be bored for years, believe it or not. So, do you still want to live with Heero?"

"I want to stop being frightened," Duo told him softly. "If he doesn't do that thing again, you told him not to, he listens to you, doesn't he?"

He knew that he was stupid thinking that Heero would listen to him saying no, but even if he was in another room, that didn't mean that it would stop Heero. If he was going to be raped, he wasn't going to have an audience. He doubted that any of the others would stop Heero. He had to trust that the were would leave him alone. If Heero wasn't going to, it didn't matter where he slept.

Wufei stared at him for a moment. "That is an admirable thought, but do you need to push yourself like this? You have just gained your freedom after years of a dreadful captivity."

"I spent my whole life just existing for others. I want to be able to be the person that I was supposed to be. I want to be able to be as normal as I can be."

Wufei bit back his laughter; he doubted that Duo would be able to learn about being normal here. "We will discuss it over dinner. While Zechs is aware of Heero's interest in you, it hasn't been discussed. They are all very possessive of their humans, as you will find out. Your being here, what you are, will make things interesting. I like that."

The afternoon had been occupied by visiting Mei Quin and the women that she worked with. It was strange and embarrassing to be standing in front of them in nothing but a loincloth and that they kept touching him to take his measurements. He had half expected to feel his life drain out him every time one of their hands brushed against him, but that hadn't happened. He still couldn't stop jumping, but Wufei told them something in his sing-song language that made them look at him with pity, even as they were steaming mad.

They had all scolded Wufei because he was so thin. He didn't know what they were saying, but they all had started laughing when he protested it wasn't Wufei's fault that he was so skinny. A couple of the women, he never caught their names, were fascinated by the color of his skin. They all acted as if it was normal to have lines all over his body and that had made him feel a lot better.

Mei Quin seemed to understand what he was saying even if she couldn't speak his language. They had argued about clothing, since she seemed to have wanted him to wear the same fancy dress that Zechs and Treize did, while he was content with wearing what the servants did. He felt really good when he thought that he had won that argument with her, with Wufei helping translate some of it for him. Duo knew that he was going to have to learn to speak this language soon, because he didn't want to be dependant on anyone to help translate something this simple.

Mei Quin promised that his clothing would be done by tomorrow and that he would like it. That was all that mattered to him and he thanked her and her staff for their efforts. He didn't like that Wufei seemed amused that he was being so nice to them. He had some manners, not that he had used them in years. They were slowly coming back to him, now that he was being treated like a human being and not a walking power source.

Duo was nervous when he sat down to his evening meal. He was hungry, which surprised him because of all the food that he had eaten earlier. He was silent as Heero and Trowa decided that eating dinner in their cat form was acceptable. He supposed that it could be worse, they could be eating in the cat-man shape, naked. He wondered when Heero had changed from one to the other, because he hadn't been that way after meeting with Treize. Did it hurt? Was there a reason that Heero liked this form over his other two? Why did he even care about such things?

Duo wasn't surprised to see this table was low also and he had to sit down on a cushion, cross-legged to eat. It was a comfortable height for both the weres and the humans. Most of the furniture was like this, low and simple.

Heero sat down next to him and Duo was thankful that he didn't try anything like rubbing against him again. Wufei was on the other side of him and Quatre was sitting across from him. Treize he was trying to avoid looking at, because if his did he was going to be very embarrassed because of this afternoon and then Treize would figure out that he was awake for part of what happened. He was silent as the women brought in the food. They served them quickly, not because they were frightened, but because Wufei dismissed them all with a smile when they were through delivering the food.

Duo didn't recognize any of it, but it all smelled good and he wasn't too proud to ask what he was eating, not that he cared, because he was still amazed at the amount of food that these people had. He wasn't surprised to see that dishes filled with raw meat and fish were place before Heero and Trowa. He remembered Heero had eaten that for breakfast. Zechs seemed to eat like the rest of them, being a human being. He looked around for a fork or something, when Wufei handed him a pair of round, wooden sticks.

"Chopsticks," Wufei told him. "Hold them like this and you should have no problems."

Wufei demonstrated to Duo how they worked and he awkwardly copied his moves. He felt like an idiot when he saw how easily everyone else used them. He wasn't going to get much to eat until he figured out these things.

"It took me ages too," Quatre told him with a smile. "All it takes is a little practice."

Duo remembered how he had eaten Heero's scraps with his fingers and wondered if it could get any worse when Wufei brought up the topic of his sleeping arrangements.

"Duo has agreed to the arrangements that you have made, without consulting him I might add." Wufei scolded Heero. "He is trusting that you will keep your word. Do not break that trust or you will have to deal with me."

Heero wrinkled his nose at Wufei, while Zechs answered for him. "Heero has claimed Duo as his human."

"And he knows that Duo is also my apprentice," Wufei informed him. "I informed him of it this afternoon."

"Did you know of this?" Zechs snarled at Treize. He didn't like being that last to know about these things. Also, what did they really know about Duo. He could be a trap, but he doubted it. Still it was suspicious how infatuated Heero was with this human.

Treize shrugged and replied calmly, "I was aware of it when I visited Wufei this afternoon. I was going to discuss it with all of you later. There are a number of issues with Duo. He is someone that Alliance might be searching for. We didn't burn the place to show them that we had done the attack. He is barely above the age of consent, but then Heero is only a year or so older than him. Wufei taking him on as his apprentice will ensure that Duo receives an education, since those bastards hadn't bothered to treat him with anything that resembled decency when they had him."

That was one of the reasons that he was fighting against the Alliance. They had no right to treat people like chattel or property, using them or experimenting with them. Zechs should know that, it was what had happened to him. Heero was now acting like he owned Duo and that was disturbing. He expected possessiveness of their mates with the weres, from what he had seen of Trowa and how Zechs treated him, but Heero was acting outrageously towards someone that he had just met. Duo needed to know that he had the freedom to say no to Heero. That they would not treat him like those sorcerers had, like he was property. He was surprised that someone as refined as Treize would use such a nasty word at dinner.

"The Alliance will not find this place," Wufei said confidently. "I will assure you of this."

"I'm here," Duo protested. "Stop talking about me like I wasn't or if I was the furniture or something."

Heero snorted in amusement and looked at Duo. He hesitated for a second and then slowly rubbed his head against his knee. He wasn't surprised that Duo shivered at his touch, but he had given him enough time to protest the move. He would eventually get his human to trust him. He knew that he should have talked to him about this, but he didn't want Duo to say no.

"I apologize," Treize said smoothly, "but I was trying to explain to Zechs and the others. Not that I am suggesting that we throw you out on the street or that you are going to be trouble. If you want to leave even, I will let you, but I don't recommend it. Here we can offer you shelter and an education."

"At what price?" Duo asked quietly. "Being Heero's pet? Wufei's amusement?"

"You are my apprentice because I know that I can teach you to control your power. The price for that is in turn you will train an apprentice when you are older. I have no interest in anything else. We also will not force you to accept Heero's company. I will tell you this as many times as you need to hear it."

"Then it is settled," Quatre said firmly, not wanting to hear the argument repeated. "Duo is staying in Heero's room, but not his bed. We will deal with the Alliance later. Due to some of the targets that we have attacked, we have managed to decimate the ranks of their sorcerers."

"What is the next phase?" Zechs asked.

He would let Quatre and Treize plan this. All that mattered to him was that Relena was safe. He hadn't the talent to plan such things, since he had no talent for this. He preferred short, quick hunts that he knew what the objective was, not that Byzantine plotting that Quatre and Treize reveled in. He knew that his sister would have three valuable advisors in his friends, if she would accept that they were tied to his pride.

Treize thought that gaining back the throne would be the difficult part of his plan; Zechs knew that having his sister accepting him for what he was would be. A sheltered girl finding out that her brother had been turned into a freak and an assassin for the people that had killed their parents. That was what was causing him nightmares.

Quatre and Treize looked at each other. "Something that isn't as...honorable. There are a number of the older generation of generals that we need to eliminate, the ones that have been leading the Alliance's expansion effort. There are moderates that we can maneuver into replacing them, men that will accept the dismantling of the Alliance as the next logical step because they aren't going to be able to keep it intact."

"While Quatre and the others are thinking of bloodshed as being more honorable, I am more inclined to think that a well place scandal or three will have the same results as an assassination attempt. Also, I doubt that a martyr would be created either," Wufei said.

"We can plot about this later," Treize announced, "I for one would like to be able to eat my meal without such unpleasantness."

Wufei laughed and shook his head, "Then let me tell you of the gossip that the servants have told me. One of the local landowners..."

Duo relaxed and ate, knowing that he was going to go to bed as soon as dinner was over. He was tired and even with the nap that he had this afternoon, he felt that he could sleep for hours. He'd sneak off whenever these people went and did whatever kept them occupied in the evening, because he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

Heero looked over at Duo and noticed that he wasn't that attentive, that he looked like he was going to fall asleep at the table. He thought that his human would go to sleep after the meal. He would escort him to their den to make sure that he didn't get lost. It would be dark soon and he knew that human's had poor night vision. He had seen Duo yawn a couple of times during the end of the meal.

"Duo do not feel that you must stay here!" Wufei exclaimed. "You are tired, I will be waking you up at dawn, so go to bed."

Duo got up and stumbled to the door. Heero shook his head and followed him. Duo would get lost between here and his den. He went to walk beside Duo, ignoring the annoyed look that he got. His human was going to get used to him and that was it!

Heero sniffed and nudged Duo's leg so that he was heading in the right direction. He accepted the shudders that Duo made each time he touched him as normal, but this was the easiest way that he could get Duo to where he belonged. The alternative was shifting into his catman form and he didn't want to waste the energy. Duo seemed to understand what he was doing and didn't protest. The shudder seemed to be an almost instinctive reaction to being touched, no matter who did it. What had those idiots done to his human? He should have killed them slower for the pain that they caused Duo.

Duo arrived at the small house that he and Heero would be sleeping in. Now that the moment had arrived, he didn't know if he could go through with it. He hesitated at the doorway before stepping into the hut. Heero had at least stopped pushing him. That had upset him until it dawned on him that the head nudges were Heero's only way of directing him where he was supposed to go. He wasn't surprised that the cat reminded him to take off his shoes at the door, he wasn't used to that custom yet. The lamps were lit with some sort of magic so that he could see a little of what was in here. It wasn't like there was a lot of furniture or rooms, so he wasn't going to get lost in here. He could figure out which was his bed and which was Heero's bed, Heero's would be the one with all the cat hair on it.

"I..." Duo started and then cleared his throat. " I can figure it out from here."

Heero snorted and leaped past him to show Duo the way to his sleeping area. He sat down beside the futon that had been prepared for him and then carefully drew back the cover with his teeth.

Dou stopped and looked at Heero. It was weird and he didn't know if he should feel liked or scared that Heero was trying to tuck him into bed. "Bathroom?"

Heero lifted a paw and pointed to where the small bath was. Duo walked in to use it, wondering why there were two sets of toiletries and how did Heero brush his teeth in this form? Did he bother to do such things? Duo just grabbed things at random, cleaning up before he went to sleep, just because he could. He'd worry if he snatched Heero's toothbrush by accident later. He walked back out into the room and curled up on the bed, not surprised that Heero tucked him into it, drawing the covers back over him. He hadn't bothered to get undressed and he wasn't going to be naked with Heero if he could avoid it. He wanted to avoid giving the were any ideas.

He listened to Heero pad softly away before calling out. "You still scare the shit out of me."

Heero stopped. This was the first time that Duo had talked to him, been honest with him since he had claimed him.

"I don't know that this is going to work and I'm scared that you are going to do that thing with me again. I hate being touched."

Heero turned around and went back to Duo's bed. He desperately wanted to say something to Duo to reassure him, to apologize for what he had done. Heero hesitated for a second and then rolled on his back.

"I guess that means something," Duo said. "I just don't know what. It's something else that I am going to have to learn."

Heero purred loudly when he heard that, trying to encourage Duo to talk to him. Duo understood that at least. It wasn't going to be easy, but he could teach his human about the ways of the pride. He knew that Duo thought that they were perverted for mating with humans, but they had all started out as humans.

"It's scary here," Duo continued. "It's all strange and I don't know what to do. My life sucked before this, but it was something that I knew, it was familiar."

Heero wrinkled his nose at that, frowning. He stopped purring and wondered what else he should do. He wanted to rub against Duo to reassure him, but that wasn't what Duo liked. He couldn't tell him what he needed to hear and actually didn't know if telling him what he thought of Wufei, not that he could, was a good idea either.

"You're a toucher," Duo said, looking over at him. "You keep rubbing against me for some reason. I'll have to ask about that tomorrow. You're not going to do that thing to me again, are you?"

Heero didn't know what he could say to that. He very much wanted to mount his human again, to feel his naked body underneath his and plunge into it. But that would have to wait until Duo asked him to mate with him. He had learned that lesson at least.

Duo laughed bitterly. "Doesn't matter, does it? You all will do whatever you damned well please with me."

Heero rolled over and got to his feet. He had gotten Duo into bed and that was what mattered. He would join his human in Wufei's training of him. That would help reassure Duo that he wanted him more then for just mating. He could understand Duo's bitterness, they haven't really let him have a say in what was happening to him. He felt that he was powerless still. It was just that there were so many confusing, human things that had to be figured out.

Duo bit his sigh of relief when Heero walked away from him. The were wasn't interested in him that way, at least not for now. He wrapped his coverings around himself and concentrated on what was important. He was warm and fed, he'd worry about the future when it happened.

Duo shivered when Wufei shook his shoulder. "Wake up."

Duo curled up tighter, not wanting to leave the cocoon he had made with his covers.

"It is time for us to practice now," Wufei told him.

"Practice what?" Duo asked sleepily.

"You need to train your body physically as well as mentally," Wufei told him. "This morning I will start your physical training."

Duo unrolled at that. He was still confused about where he was, why he was warm and comfy, but that confusion was fading rapidly as he woke up. Wufei was taking care of him and would protect him from Heero.

"Heero will also be joining us this morning," Wufei told him.

"Why?"

"Because while he looks like an animal, Heero knows the value of training and practice," Wufei told him. "He's disciplined, believe it or not."

Duo snorted at that and then shivered. He wasn't used to actually saying what he could and waited to be hit for that.

"Heero would not have survived what they all had gone through unless he had a lot of self-control."

Duo nodded. If Heero had been a sorcerer's experiment, he would have been treated like a thing also. Except for being better feed, he didn't doubt that Heero had been treated as shitty as he had been. That didn't make him like the were any better, but Heero didn't know better about a lot of things, just like he was ignorant of decent manners. He was starting to remember the lessons that the nuns had tried to teach him about that, but they were faint memories. He was as polite as he could be and would learn the rest later. He thought that they would be a little different anyways because of the different customs here, like taking off your shoes before entering a building and that they didn't use forks or knives here.

"Um...is Heero going to be a cat for this?" Duo asked. "I don't know that it will really help if he is."

"I have modified kata for both two and four footed beings," Wufei told him. "Right now I want to get you into better physical shape. Sparring can wait. That can be done with almost anyone of us."

Duo looked at him "What's a kata?"

"Exercises that have been designed to improve the strength and the flexibility of a person, used in many forms of martial arts," Wufei told him crisply.

"Oh," Duo muttered, feeling like an idiot.

"I assure you that this isn't something that I expect you to know. There isn't a great deal of it in your society. There are many things that I will teach you, this is just one of them. You aren't an idiot for asking me a question. That shows that you are smart enough to ask questions."

"I still..." Duo started, then stopping because he was scared for a moment.

"Think that you have no right to ask questions? That we are going to punish you for that?" Wufei asked him. Quatre had been bad, but that was impossible at times. It was hard for him to remember that Duo had been a slave, until he looked at his too thin face and haunted eyes. "Duo...we are not those people. We are not going to hurt you."

Heero purred, wanting to get near Duo this morning. He rolled off of his futon and padded over to scent his human. He might not be able to do anything with Duo, but he wasn't going to not mark him as his!

Wufei smiled when Heero stalked over to Duo and stood between the two of them. Heero and subtly wasn't something that happened and he expected this display of 'ownership' and was amused by it. Heero caressed Duo and then glared at Wufei for standing too close to him.

Duo shivered when Heero stood between him and Wufei and rubbed against him. "Why does he keep doing that?" Duo demanded.

"Cats have scent glands on parts of their bodies. Heero is just scenting you so that the rest of the pride know that you..."

"...are his fuck toy," Duo finished.

Wufei rolled his eyes. "I think that he considers you more than that. Heero has never shown this much interest in a human before."

"That doesn't mean that he don't want to do that thing with me again," Duo said. "And I don't want him to."

Wufei rolled his eyes, "It is pleasant. And Heero does have an inkling about how to treat a human lover. I have first hand knowledge of that."

Heero growled that Wufei was telling Duo that he had mounted him. He knew that Duo wouldn't understand. He couldn't explain to Duo that he mated with Trowa and Zechs in their human form, so he would be gentle with him. He knew that humans were fragile. Their skin wasn't tough, like a pelt, to withstand claws. He knew how to bite gently too, he had just gotten carried away with Duo earlier. Heero knew that it could be very good for the two of them, no matter what shape he took.

Duo blushed. He really didn't need to know that Wufei had had sex with Heero too. Was there anyone on this estate that he hadn't practiced his unnatural vices with? Why did he have to tell him this? He felt the heat rising on his cheeks and he wanted dive under the covers and never be seen again. He really didn't need to know about this!

Wufei rolled his eyes. He had never seen anyone so sheltered! He supposed that such innocence was refreshing, but now it was just annoying.

"There was not any time to go over this last night, so now is as good a time as any," Wufei started. "Sparring in the morning and training. Then breakfast. Studying after that and then lunch. More studying and then physical training before dinner. After dinner, you can amuse yourself. Your days will be very full."

Heero flicked his tail in annoyance, not liking the fact that Wufei was ordering his mate around. That was not acceptable to him!

"He is my apprentice," Wufei snapped at Heero. "I told you this yesterday. If you do not like this, it is not my problem. Duo needs training to control the magic in his body and an education, so that if he leaves us, he will be able to survive. I do not care if this is to your taste or not."

Heero hissed at Wufei, showing his displeasure.

"I am not a fucking piece of furniture for you two to argue over," Duo said.

This happened last night too. The rest of them agued about him like he wasn't there or if he had no brain or say in the matter. He wondered how long it was going to continue or would he run away to get away from it? This wasn't much better than being with the sorcerers, except for the food and that he was clean.

Wufei smiled at him. "But if I do, I get to see this lovely display of temper."

Duo felt the blood drain from his face. He was talking back and he expected a backhand for doing that. He had had enough sense for the last ten years to keep his mouth shut around people. What had happened to him that he forgot that his safety lied in keeping his mouth shut? That he shouldn't argue with these people because they were insane?

Wufei stopped smiling when he saw how upset Duo was. "You can say almost anything that you want around here. We are not going to punish you for having an opinion. I do recommend that you do keep to yourself any comments about how perverted we are. That is just tactless."

Heero looked at Duo and snorted. He was frightened. He understood Duo's fear. Right after Treize had brought him here, he didn't understand that there was no one that was going to punish him or drag him off someplace, because they could. That he could roll in the grass and run and mate with the others without fear. Duo was going to learn that lesson too. And he was going to find out that touch was pleasure and not something to be feared.

"Get dressed," Wufei told him, handing him a pile of clothing. "Mei Quin has finished practice clothing for you. You will wear this to practice in."

Duo looked at the clothing curiously. It wasn't something that he had seen before, a padded top with the ties in strange places and knee length pants. Both were lightly padded and he hoped that they would be warm. He crawled out of bed to get dressed in the bathroom. He wasn't going to be seen naked if he could help it.

"Mei Quin decided that she would like you dressed like that," Wufei called after him. He would let Duo indulge in his modesty. Wufei wasn't surprised to see that Duo had slept in his clothes. "She will have more clothing done later."

"That's nice of her," Duo called back, fumbling with the clothing for a second, before figuring it out. If the clothing was all like this, he would be happy. It was dark, warm and covering, all that he needed.

"She likes making things. I doubt that her women think of us of anything more then dress up dolls for them. Life sized dolls, however."

"Like homunculi?" Duo asked thoughtlessly.

Wufei shook his head, while Heero hissed at that word. "Mei Quin is just going to be happy that she has someone else to sew for. Let her and she will be happy."

Duo walked out of the bathroom, feeling very odd. It was weird to think that something had been made just for him. "I think that I'm ready."

Wufei beamed at him. "Then off to practice."

Duo was surprised to see that the rest of the group was out at the practice field too. It was chilly, with the fog rolling off the water in wisps. He was glad that his outfit was padded. He was cold most of the time, even if he was inside.

Quatre laughed at his shock and confusion of seeing other people there. "Both Wufei and Trowa insisted that I learned to defend myself."

"While we aren't his students," Treize added, "This is the best place for Zechs and I to fence."

Duo looked over at Trowa. He was cat shaped still or again and he looked like he was planning on pouncing on Heero. Duo almost grinned at the sight. He heard Quatre giggle and just looked over at him.

"It will do him the world of good to be chased about," Quatre said. "Heero usually is so serious."

Duo looked at him. "Umm, can I ask you something?"

Quatre looked at him and smiled. "Yes. We don't mind if you ask us questions. We aren't going to hurt you for that."

"Does...do you know if it hurts? When he changes? Is that why..."

Quatre frowned thoughtfully. "I don't think so. Trowa never said so, but then I haven't felt any pain from him when he changes."

"Felt?" Duo repeated dumbly. "Why would you feel his pain?"

Quatre smiled at him, "It's a gift that I have, being able to feel other people's emotions."

Duo stared at him. Wasn't anyone around here normal?

Quatre laughed and shook his head, he didn't have to be empathic to know was Duo was thinking. "We like to think that we're normal."

Duo opened his mouth to say something when Wufei interrupted him.

"I dragged you out of a warm bed to teach the two of you how to defend yourselves, not to gossip."

Duo looked up. While Wufei looked angry, his tone wasn't. Duo relaxed when he realized that Wufei wasn't angry with either of them.

"Now for the first kata," Wufei announced. "It is simple. You have to..."

Duo watched the other two men carefully and slowly followed what Wufei was doing and trying not to flinch when he touched him to correct his stand or the way that he was holding his hand or head.

Soon he was so absorbed in what he was doing, that he ignored the rest of the people that were there.

While Mei Quin had agreed to his request for simple clothing, she didn't make him the same kinds of clothing that the servants wore. She insisted that he wear something called a kimono that she made for him. Duo thought that they were just some sort of weird robes. He felt strange wearing them at first, but over time he got used to them and found them very comfortable.

He knew that it made them happy and he wanted that. He had over time, made friends with most of the women that were here. He had learned their language and then their jobs around the estate. Wufei had insisted that he know how the world functioned and how things worked around him and they had been the best teachers for that. From the gardeners to cooks, he had learned everything that he could from them, including the fact that all of them weren't quite human.

He had noticed that Treize and Zechs had a tendency to ignore the servants around them, since they had had them since childhood. He wasn't surprised that they hadn't figured out that something wasn't right here. Trowa and Heero didn't care and he was certain that Quatre was clinging to the illusion of normal for the sake of his sanity. Duo wasn't going to spoil the place that he thought of as home with stupid questions that he was sure that he didn't need to know the answers to.

He was happy and fed and no one hurt him. He spent his days studying and practicing the kata that Wufei had taught him. Duo had a hard time thinking about his life before this.

"Sorcerers work with just four elements, while my magic is based on five elements," Wufei told Duo.

Duo couldn't believe that the other man insisted that they study outdoors. Duo was comfortable in the small hut that Wufei chose to work in this afternoon. It felt right to him for some reason, even if he couldn't figure out why. It had three walls a view of the series of ponds and streams that wandered through the estate, along with a series of paths that connected the entire place. There were a couple of these huts scattered around the estate. He liked spending time outdoors, now that he could.

"Four Elements?" Duo repeated.

He knew what an element was. He had spent a lot of time in the library, studying kanji. Wufei had wanted him to learn kanji and the basics before Wufei would teach him about magic. What surprised him was the fact that Heero enjoyed being in the library with him. When he was studying with Wufei, Heero was usually in there with him, reading. Duo hadn't thought that the weres would be interested in such things. But he usually had Heero or one of the others with him in there while he studied. It was strange to see them pawing the pages in the books open to read. He could tell their favorite books or scrolls by how battered they were. He had studied a lot of things, like literature, history and science before Wufei decided that he was ready to learn magic.

"Sorcerers use fire, water, earth and air to weave their magic. My tradition uses fire, water, earth, wood and metal"

"Wouldn't it be better if I learned to control myself?" Duo asked him.

"Take this building," Wufei explained to him, seeing that he had Duo's full attention. "A master of Feng Shuei decided how it was going to be placed in the compound so that we would get the full effects of the power of the building and the beauty of the area. In fact, three masters built this entire estate. A gift to their lord."

"Is that you?" Duo asked.

Wufei looked at him, "This complex is ancient, built centuries ago."

Duo looked at him, feeling stupid. "I..."

"It is a valid question," Wufei said. "I haven't bother to take any of the others to this place."

"They don't seem interested," Duo told him.

"I keep Treize entertained in other ways," Wufei teased him. He was rewarded with a blush, because Duo knew exactly how he kept Treize entertained. "And he doesn't have the talent for magic either."

"That isn't it," Duo started. "Well they seemed to be involved in other things."

"They are," Wufei agreed with him. Treize was more interested in his political plotting and sex, than magic. "But I also support those interests or none of them would be here and my charming lover most likely would have been hung by now."

"Why?" Duo asked him. He really didn't know what was going on, just that they were hiding here.

"The Alliance overreached themselves over a decade ago," Wufei told him quietly. "They are an empire that is devoted to expansion and warfare. They ran out of enemies when Sanq fell. They have been hanging on to power, barely, since then. Most of their aristocrats know that the system is rotten, but are too stupid or too compliant to try and change things. Treize only did so to save his friend. The small things that he is doing, the attacks, the sabotage, might be enough to eventually push the Alliance elite enough so that someone will finally admit that it is dead and it will fall apart into the loose federation of monarchies that it evolved out of. Not that it will change things really or that people will care. I think that it will be another decade or so of work to even to start to repair the damage. It will not end with the end of the Alliance and the restoration of Sanq."

"So killing sorcerers and dealing with people like Lady Une..." Duo started.

"Are needed to make sure that when Treize is ready to install Relena on the restored throne of Sanq, it is as bloodless as possible and making sure her hands aren't stained in blood. Treize is playing a very deep game that he might not win. Some would say that he had already lost because his estates were confiscated. That maneuver just made sure that he had nothing left to loose. His family was dead and the Alliance had taken Relena away from him to be placed with one of their toadies. He went to search to see what had happened to Zechs when he was taken from them. Lady Une is guarding her for him...them. While you might not like her, she is willing to protect Relena. She should be about eighteen now."

"If this all blows up in their faces," Duo asked, unable to stop himself, "would you make sure that Relena has a place here so that she is still safe?"

Wufei looked at him with a small, amused smile on his face, "I am hoping that it doesn't come to that."

Duo knew that really wasn't an answer, but knew that he wasn't going to get one out of Wufei. Duo suddenly knew that in spite of his odd ways, Wufei wasn't going to tell him anything, not because he hadn't planned that far ahead, but because he had a number of options. He wasn't going to tell him because he didn't know him and didn't know if he could trust him.

Wufei traced a kanji in the sand and looked at Duo, "Tell me what this means."

Duo frowned, knowing that Wufei wanted him to learn more then to discuss politics, not that he knew much about that either. "It is the character Sei, for create."

"Very good!" Wufei beamed at him. "And this one?"

Duo looked at the next kanji that Wufei had drawn, hesitating a second before saying, "Ka, fire."

Wufei smiled at him, "I want you to think about these kanji and then will the fire into being. Like this."

Wufei turned his hand up and opened the palm of his hand. Duo was amazed to see a small flame dancing in Wufei's hand. He knew that it wasn't a natural flame because of the color, there was a bluish tinge to it.

Duo just stared at him and then concentrated. He pictured the kanji and then willed flame on it. It surprised him that it actually happened. When he opened his palm there was a small fire there. He could feel the heat, but it wasn't burning him. The color was strange, a blackish silver, like the lines that covered his body.

"Very good," Wufei told him. "Now dismiss it."

Duo looked at him. He thought about it for a second and then he realized how to do it. He dismissed the flame in his hand. It flickered out and he looked at Wufei.

"That...that felt wonderful!" Duo exclaimed. "I can't believe..."

"It is amazing, is it not?" Wufei asked him with a smile.

Duo looked at him. He couldn't believe the way that his power felt when he tapped into to it. it felt good, giddy almost. He called flame again with a small smile and then dismissed it again. He spent the next hour calling and dismissing fire.

"I think that is enough," Wufei said indulgently.

Duo looked up and smiled at him.

"But..."

Duo then realized how tired he was and how long he had been doing this. It felt wonderful, better then anything had before and it was something that couldn't be taken away from him.

"I am going to have you learn to call all the basic elements before I go on to teaching you how to shape them. Then we will go on to the other traditions of magic, healing and creation, divination."

"Other elements?" Duo repeated.

Then he remembered the conversation that they had had in the beginning. He grinned at Wufei and then decided to call water instead of fire. He thought about it, substituting the kanji for water for the one for fire. The basic theory was the same. Duo expected to get a small puddle of water in his the palm of his hand, like what had happened with fire. He was surprised that a larger amount of water that cascaded over his arm and the rest of his body. He yelped in shock, because it was like ice.

Wufei laughed at him. He knew that it was wrong, but the look on Duo's face was priceless. There was a reason that he had told him to stop. He should be upset, but he thought that Duo had learned his lesson.

"I told you..." Wufei started. "Now get changed and get something to eat. You don't know your limits. I am here to guide you and this should teach you that you should listen to me."

Duo nodded, starting to shiver. He was exhausted.

"You will meet me in the kitchen in ten minutes. You will then explain to me how foolish you have been and what else could have gone wrong because you did not listen to me."

Half a world away, the girl in question was attending yet another ball. It was the beginning of the 'Season', a time when the Alliance elite flocked to its capital to see and be seen. Not that she had had any choice in the matter. A carefully worded letter, addressed to her guardians, had informed her that she was to be there for the entire time, no excuses. Not that they thought that she would refuse them. What country girl would refuse to come to this? She was grateful that she had been allowed to arrange for her own house and servants. She knew that some of them were spies, but that was to be expected. This wasn't the exciting experience that most girls thought that it was. To her it was jail, the bars were just ignored. She knew that if she had refused, she would have been dragged here. She was grateful that she had been allowed her chosen companion to chaperone her season here. She actually didn't choose her either, Une just showed up and announced that Relena was going with her. Relena was just grateful that Lady Une was a stickler and a tarter and wealthy enough so that she couldn't be bribed by someone that wanted access to her person to compromise her

Une was a humorless woman that liked very few people. She had known the woman for years and swore that except for getting taller, she has changed very little from the too serious girl that she had been. Hence the nickname Lady, even if that was also her title. Slightly nearsighted, she insisted on wearing her glasses all the time, which made her look older and even more serious. While there was a lot of malicious gossip that Une was too odd to catch a husband, she didn't seem to care. All Relena knew was that this was her third Season and she didn't seem to be worried about the lack of a husband or prospects. She was comfortable enough with herself and wealthy enough not to be on the marriage mart because she needed to be. Relena was certain it was because she was in love with Treize Khushrenada.

Lady Une had grown up with her and her brother, along with Treize Khushrenada, spending hours together. But Treize was gone and her brother had been missing for years. She was certain that he wasn't dead, but something had been done to him. Treize had just been disgraced one day, his estates confiscated for some flimsy reason. Relena never found out what had exactly happened, because she had been in the schoolroom at the time. Une had told her earlier that Treize wasn't taking care of her anymore. That she couldn't come to live with her either because she was too young, she had to go with the family that had been chosen for her. The Darlians, had taken her in after that.

They were pleasant but indifferent to her needs. They weren't family and they wouldn't tell her anything about what had happened to Treize. She knew that asking about her brother wouldn't be any better. Whenever she mentioned his name, they quickly changed the subject.

Relena was aware of all the eyes that were on her. She was being eyed like a lamb in a wolf pack. The throne of Sanq was empty and she was the last known heir. The country might be gone, but there was still estates and income that she claimed. Actually her guardian controlled all that, but the man wasn't foolish enough to strip her completely of her assets. So long as she acted the innocent, she was allowed access to some of her income, to be spent on gowns and other frivolous things.

Relena knew that she was pretty, with long blonde hair and big blue eyes, but she also knew that her looks didn't matter to anyone. What was important to the fools that panted after her was her money and her bloodlines. The power that they thought that she could give them.

Relena looked up and smiled vacantly when she saw that her dance partner was approaching her. She was careful not to show too much attention on any one man and she really loathed having to go through this almost every night.

Relena stumbled, thinking of Treize's mother for a second. The woman had enjoyed watching her and Treize dance. Not that it meant anything, Treize thought of her as his little sister. She had been happy then. It was just her and Treize, who had tried his best to be the big brother that she was missing. Mirialdo had just been taken away one night and there had been nothing that anyone of them could do. He just had disappeared.

It wasn't until years later, when Treize and his family were gone and she lived with the Darlians, she had found out why it had happened. That she was heir to a kingdom that was in ruins, that she had to be watched carefully so that she didn't raise rebellion or didn't have one raised on her behalf. Relena was just grateful that there was no one that was claiming to be her brother. She didn't think that she could stand that. She knew that something bad had happened to him because no one would talk about it. That Treize had thrown away his life because he had done something noble and stupid when he found out what had happened.

She decided that it was better for the two of them that she changed the topic and launched into some mindless chatter about the museum outing that she and Une were going on tomorrow. Relena was grateful for the disgust that she saw in his eyes. She was quite certain that she cemented her reputation as an idiot with this one tonight.

Une stared at Relena and her partner on the dance floor, quite certain that it will be all over town tomorrow that she had a passion for the idiot that Relena was dancing with. She almost sniffed at the thought. She was just making sure that Relena wasn't compromised in any way before Treize played Kingmaker with her.

Une caught a glimpse of who she was actually looking for on the other side of the ballroom. Dorothy Catalonia was wearing almost the same demure, elegantly cut empire style gown that Relena was, the same shade of pastel pink that hinted that both girls were innocent flowers. Relena looked angelic in it. Dorothy definitely was devilish in it, like a masquerade that hinted at something dark in the wearer. It was hard to believe that the girls were the same age, Dorothy looked very world weary in Une's opinion. She wondered what insanity her grandfather the Duke was involving her in and why she was angry at that thought.

After signaling to Relena where she was going, Une started to slowly make her way over to Dorothy. Progress was slow because of the crush and the amount of people that wanted to talk to her. She was not well liked, but she was well connected and rich and that was all that mattered to these people. She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally made it to Dorothy.

"Did I hear that sound that meant that you were not enjoying yourself here?" Dorothy drawled.

She was ignoring all the young men that were trying to get her attention for a dance. She didn't care about them, they were something that came with the scenery, like the musicians or the servants. She also knew that to most of them, she was interchangeable with any number of young women. Une was actually interesting to deal with. She was playing at something and that was what was attractive to her.

"These things are tiresome after a while," Une remarked quietly. "You know that as well as I. I wager that half the women here just want to take off their shoes and stop being charming."

"Not that you have a problem with being charming," Dorothy teased her. Une couldn't be charming if her life depended on it. She found that refreshing after all the flattery she usually had to deal with.

One of the young men with her choked suddenly and Une stared at him coolly. "Well not all of us have your gift with words, what was that delightful saying of yours? Ah yes, 'if you don't have anything nice to say, come talk to me.'"

Dorothy laughed, not at all insulted. She knew that she had an acid wit that was wasted on most of the wastrels here. She was courted for her grandfather; Duke Dermal's power more then anything. Une was about the only person that bothered to remind her that she wasn't going to be pretty and popular for her entire life. She knew that, which was why she was sowing chaos while she could. Une was about the only one that could match her wits and keep her interested.

"But I do meet the most fascinating people that way," she simpered.

"And ruin a number of reputations also," Une retorted.

Dorothy fluttered her eyelashes, acting like she was the perfect, helpless maiden for a second and then chose one of her admirers for a dance and let him sweep her away.

Une went to follow her, annoyed that she had been outmaneuvered. Unfortunately she had hesitated a tad too long and she was swept up by one of Dorothy's other admirers for the waltz. She submitted with poor grace, knowing that her target was playing for time. Dorothy never pretended to be the innocent maiden in private with her. Her grandfather had been using her for his own political games since she was a toddler. Dorothy was starting to play her own games for her own protection. Une had felt her out for a year or so before subtly approaching her about sharing information on Dermal's movements. She would have worried about the ease that Dorothy was willing to betray her grandfather, except that she knew that the girl hated him.

These endless parties, salons and other idiotic pastimes that the Alliance elite indulged in had let them meet and exchange information freely. No one paid attention to two women gossiping during these things. Dorothy also had developed a friendship with Relena on her own, which Une welcomed. Relena needed more friends and she was certain that Dorothy would protect her and that it wouldn't go beyond friendship. She almost misstepped at that thought, ignoring the smirk that her partner gave her at that mistake and vowed to pay attention to what was happening and stop woolgathering. She wondered where the thought had come from and when did she start worrying about Dorothy?

There was a dreamlike quality to his life and Duo wasn't going to question it. He was well fed and happy for the first time that he could remember. He didn't know when it happened, but he thought of these people as his family. A strange family, but people that he knew that would protect him if he needed it. His studies with Wufei took up most of his time. He had learned all that he could about the simpler magics that he could control and went on to the more complex ones of creation and healing.

Duo felt that he was useful to the group. Heero, while insisting that he scent mark him all the time, didn't do anything else. Because of that, he relaxed around him. He wasn't flinching any more when someone touched him. He cleaned Heero up when he came back from missions covered in blood and healed him. He figured that was the least he could do for the were. It allowed Heero some contact with him and reassured him that he was still 'his' human, even if nothing else was happening between them.

They spared together every morning. Heero was a surprisingly good teacher for someone that was mute. Wufei supervised them all in their training, but it was Heero and sometimes Trowa that helped him understand what Wufei was trying to teach. Duo knew that he wasn't good enough fighter to be sent on some of their missions and frankly he was content with that. He didn't want to leave this place or risk getting caught by sorcerers again. He knew that he was just as valuable in his support role and that was shown to him when one of the weres' missions went terribly wrong.

Duo had been in the gardens, reading, when he heard Quatre scream for help. He jumped up and ran, wondering what would make the normally composed man scream like that. Treize and Wufei had also come running drawn in by the panicked shouts of help the Quatre was making. He ran to him, shocked at what he saw.

Heero was supporting Zechs and carrying Trowa at the same time. He was in his man-cat form, as was Zechs, while Trowa was in his cat form. They apparently had walked into an ambush and barely got out of it. Heero had hit the charm that signaled to Wufei that they were ready to leave and hoped that they would get out in time.

Heero stumbled forward and wasn't surprised to see that Treize and Quatre were there to take care of the others. What surprised him was that Duo was there, that his human also hurried forward to help him, letting him lean on him without a shudder. He was happy that his human had gotten better about such things over the months.

"Heero, are you hurt?" Duo asked.

Heero was pleased that Duo sounded worried about him. He snorted and shook his head. Most of the blood that was on him came from the stupid guards that had gotten too close to him, while he waited to be teleported back, the minor wounds that he had were healing on their own, slower then they usually did however. Nothing that was life threatening and so he was ignoring those wounds. The blood was also from his brothers too. He looked over at them worriedly while Duo eased him on to the floor.

"Then I'm going to help Wufei heal them," Duo said. "Then I can help you clean up."

Heero nodded his agreement, and then suddenly leaned forward to embrace his human. He knew that Duo wasn't that comfortable with him doing this, but he needed to touch and scent him. He purred in relief when Duo slowly put his arms around him to return his hug. He was uncertain still about how much he could presume with his human. It was an intricate dance that he didn't know the steps to and he was sure that Duo was just as clueless. There were times that he thought that he had made some sort of progress to then have Duo go back to the scared and not wanting to be touched human that he had had rescued

"I'm going to make sure that they're fine," Duo whispered in his ear.

Heero squeezed gently and let Duo go. His human was needed by his pride. He leaned back and watched him work.

"Wufei?" Quatre asked, hating the fact that his voice was becoming shrill. Trowa was badly injured though and he felt his lover's life leave him as fast as he was bleeding. There were too many wounds and he didn't know what to do.

Wufei looked up and snarled at him, "I know! Zechs is the same way."

Treize was hovering in the background. He wanted to be by Zechs's side, but knew that he could do nothing and would only get in Wufei's way. But he knew that it was bad. Both weres had huge gashes all over their body, that weren't healing. He had never seen them this badly injured before.

"Quatre, why don't you move a bit to the left and I'll see what I can do," Duo said soothingly,

He ran his hands¸ lightly over Trowa's body, appalled by the damage that he saw and sensed magically. He wished that someone was in their human shape so that they could tell them what had happened, but he knew that none of them had the energy to shapechange. He was certain that Heero was hurt too, but the idiot wouldn't tell him if he was. It was more important to him to take care of the others.

"It's bad," Duo told Quatre. He wasn't going to lie to him about that. "I think that I can heal him. Wufei can just concentrate on Zechs."

Wufei looked over at Duo, glad that he sounded calm, even if it wasn't the right thing to tell Quatre that things were as serious as they were. They had gotten overconfident and were now paying for it. The Alliance had set them up and had hit them hard, somehow knowing the vulnerabilities of the pride.

Treize moved over to comfort him. "You had no way of knowing," he murmured.

Wufei looked up at him. "I should have..."

"We got careless and the pride always thinks that it is invincible," Treize murmured. "We fell into a pattern and the Alliance reminded me...us the price of hubris."

Treize slowly stroked Zechs's head, relieved that he was unconscious. From the wounds that were on his body, Zechs took the brunt of the attack. Trowa was hit almost as bad, but Heero had been luckier and in a form that was able to take more punishment then the true cat shape could and seemed to have healed most of the damage that he had sustained, but Heero had always the strongest and the toughest of the three.

Wufei ignored Treize and concentrated on Zechs. The spells that covered his body were complicated, crafted for him almost. He supposed that they Alliance would figure out eventually what had happened to the Zechs and the others. If the sorcerers that had created them had left behind notes that Treize hadn't destroyed, then spells could be created that would harm them more than the normal ones did. He knew that the sorcerers that had created the weres were dead, killed by them when Treize had freed them. He knew that the place that they were at had been leveled also, but the pride had existed for years before Treize had rescued Zechs and the others. The information could have come from anywhere.

Duo took a deep breath and focused his mind. He didn't need to be a genius to know that Trowa was badly hurt. The other two weres seemed to have had taken the brunt of the attack. Most of it had been magical in nature and he could almost trace what had happened from the damage that he saw. He started out slowly, carefully trying to repair what had happened. He wasn't surprised to see that there were a lot of curses and other unclean magic mixed in with the physical damage. The trick was going to be keeping Trowa alive long enough to heal him, because he had to clean him up magically before he could heal him. The magic was preventing him from doing so and if they hadn't come back, he knew that they would have died from the damage, their natural healing abilities blocked.

"Just keep holding his hand and talking to him," Duo told Quatre. "It's doing him a lot of good."

Quatre nodded and continued to murmur to Trowa, ignoring the fear and tension that everyone was radiating.

Duo started to whisper the incantations to dispel the evil magic that permeated Trowa. He was worried that he might accidentally damage him because he affected the work that had originally been done on him. He removed the simplest ones first, seeing how they had been crafted, disgusted that someone could do this to another person. As he went deeper into the spells that had been woven, he carefully unraveled them, seeing the complexity that was involved. It took hours it seemed to him and Duo was afraid that he wasn't going to be able to save Trowa.

He was worn out when he finally had gotten rid of the last of the spells on Trowa. Duo then carefully coaxed his body to heal, pouring all the strength that he could into it.

Quatre was amazed to see the flesh heal under Duo's hands. He had seen the work that he had done before, small sparkles of light that popped and crackled when Duo dispelled them. This was different though, it was a steady stream of power that was healing Trowa, rebuilding the flesh as he watched.

Duo turned and looked at Wufei. He wasn't surprised to see that he was also exhausted, he had done a lot of magic in the last few hours. He knew that his mentor was powerful, but there was even a limit to Wufei's power.

"Drain me," Duo croaked. He felt like he had been awake for days without anything to eat or drink.

"I told you that I would never do that," Wufei snarled at him.

Duo almost grinned, Wufei still had enough energy to be pissy. "I don't have the delicate touch needed to finish with Zechs. You do, but you also are at the end of your power. Its better that you drain me and do the healing then have me ruin it."

"Damn it!" Wufei stated.

"Your pride is not killing my lover," Treize snarled at him. He didn't like what Duo was suggesting or the fact that he looked translucent right now. Duo wasn't in any better condition than Wufei was.

"We don't have time for this," Quatre said quietly.

Trowa was resting quietly, healed and he knew what it cost Duo. He also knew that Treize would never forgive himself if Zechs died. Wufei would be devastated. What Duo was suggesting was distasteful, but necessary.

Heero got up and stood behind Duo, supporting his choice. Not that it mattered to anyone but Duo, but he wasn't going to sit by while his human sacrificed himself for his brothers. Duo was offering himself for them and he would support his choice.

Wufei looked at the other two. Duo was insistent and Heero was supporting him in this. He was too tired to think right now it seemed and he knew that he needed the energy that Duo was offering. "I..."

"Just shut up and do it," Duo whispered.

"That is no way to talk to me," Wufei scolded him.

He walked over to Duo and gently placed his hands on his shoulders. "Thank you," Wufei whispered, kissing him on the forehead, before starting the process.

It was easy really, so simple that an apprentice could do it. All one had to do was tap into the magical energy that filled Duo's being and drain it out of him. He had learned how to do so ages ago, that he could do so did not mean that he should do so. He reached out magically, appalled that Duo felt so fragile to him and took what he needed. He felt physically better almost immediately; Duo's essence was intoxicating, like good sake and he fought not to take too much. He knew now why Duo had been so weak the first time that he met him. Duo was addicting in someway and those brainless sorcerers had indulged in draining him far too often because of that. Wufei drained Duo as far as he could, stopping reluctantly, hating himself for feeling that way.

Duo collapsed without a sound. Heero caught him and lifted him up to carry into their den. When they got there, he ignored Duo's bed and placed him in his own. He stripped his clothes from him, upset that he was shivering. Heero ignored the blood that was covering him and curled around Duo sharing his warmth with him. He purred when Duo started to whimper in his sleep, proud that the sound quieted him. He knew that he should leave and get cleaned up but he didn't want to. Duo was clinging to him in his sleep like he would never do when he was awake.

Duo snuggled up to the warmth that was surrounding him. He was exhausted and cold, but that wasn't unusual, that was his life. He was tired all the time with the damned sorcerers draining him like a mug of beer whenever they wanted to. He jerked at that thought, that hadn't happened in months! He was worn out because he had asked Wufei to use his energy to heal Zechs. He wasn't surprised to hear Heero start purring when he moved, the were probably stayed with him the entire time. Duo smelled blood, which had been the reason that he had thought that he was still a prisoner. He knew that he should move back to his own bed or check to see how the others were doing but he was too exhausted to move. He welcomed Heero's warmth and fell back to sleep, knowing that this was a bad idea, but too tired to figure out why.

Duo woke up hours later, Heero still wrapped around him and he realized that Heero was very glad to be with him from the erection that he felt at his back. He wanted to move, but was trapped in Heero's arms. He squirmed for second, stopping when Heero thrust against him, growling with pleasure. Heero was asleep still and that was the only reason that he wasn't panicking. This was why it was bad to sleep with Heero. But he had been so comfortable, his fur silky and pleasant against his skin. Warm and Duo had felt safe and treasured because of the way that Heero was wrapped around him. Now he was frightened that Heero wasn't going to let him go. He realized that he wasn't wearing any clothing, which was why Heero's fur felt so good against his skin.

Heero growled and rubbed against his human. He had been celibate far too long and he was going to roll Duo over and take his pleasure from him. He shifted in bed, so that Duo was beneath him. He rolled him on his back, wanting to explore him. They had been together for months and his human was so shy that he had never seen him naked!

Duo shivered in fear when he realized that Heero was a lot more awake then he thought. Awake and wanting what he thought was his right, his body.

"Heero?" he asked when the were loomed over him. He stiffened in fear when he knelt over him, knowing what was going to happen next. Sprawled on his back, Heero above him with a hard on, he was going to be raped and there wasn't a damned thing that he could do. He was weak from the power drain that Wufei had done earlier to cast any defensive spell and he had never been a physical match in a fight for Heero.

Heero purred at Duo, realizing that he had frightened his human again. He wanted him, but knew that if he did anything to him, Duo would leave him. That cooled his desire more than anything. He was filthy and he knew that Duo was expecting the worst from him. Heero leaned over and traced the lines that he saw on Duo's belly. He ignored the flinch that this caused, fascinated by the patterns that he saw. He was sad that Duo was scared of him again, he thought that Duo had gotten over that since it hadn't happened in a while. It had been that lack of fear that made him think that he could try and mate with Duo.

Heero knew that Duo was striped, like a proper being should be, but he had never seen them before, outside brief glimpses that he had in their practice fights. Duo wasn't comfortable with his nudity as the rest of them were. He insisted on privacy all the time and didn't show his body to the rest of them.

Duo debated if he should start screaming for help and then realized that there wasn't anyone to help him. The servants would get hurt if they tried to defend him and he didn't want that. The rest of the pride was injured, Wufei was exhausted and he doubted that Quatre and Treize cared about anything but their mates. That Heero was purring was a good sign, he did that when he knew that he was scaring the shit out of him and was trying to reassure him.

"What are you going to do Heero?" Duo asked, grateful that his voice was steady at least. He was shivering uncontrollably and he knew it wasn't from the predawn chill in the room. He knew that he couldn't hide his fear from the were's sense of smell, but he wasn't going to let himself think about it either.

Heero looked down at Duo. If he didn't smell his fear, he would have sworn the Duo was willing. Heero knew that his human was too weak to fight him off and he was taking advantage of Duo. Heero decided that maybe mating with Duo wasn't a good idea. He wanted to explore him though, smell and taste and feel him against his body. Heero leaned over and nuzzled Duo's face, the closest thing that he was going to get to a kiss. He moved his legs so that he was holding his body away from Duo, even though he wanted to rub against him relieve the ache in his groin.

Duo was confused a bit by the mixed signals that he was getting from Heero. He wanted him and he was expecting Heero to just take him, but the were seemed interested in more than just doing him. Nuzzling and purring, he was acting harmless, even though Duo knew that wasn't true. And it wasn't like Heero could tell him what he was doing. He played a guessing game every time the were weirded out on him and did something like this. He should get used to Heero's muteness, but he would like it if he would try and tell him what he was going to do once in a while.

"Are you going to..." Duo started, unable to even finish the thought.

Heero looked up. Duo had every right to be frightened of him, but he didn't like it. He shook his head. He knew what Duo was asking and hated that Duo thought that he cared for him so little that he would do something that unspeakable to him. He had learned his lesson from when he first saw him. Heero reached down slowly, caressing Duo's stomach gently.

Duo got an idea of what Heero was planning, just touching, for now. He forced his body to relax. He shouldn't have been so suspicious; Heero hadn't done anything bad to him since he moved in here. He had let him sleep in his own bed, alone. Aside from the fact that he scented him whenever he could, Heero had shown no sexual interest in him at all. He had started touching him back recently, so part of this was his fault, but it didn't mean that he had to like it. He wasn't surprised that Heero was unbraiding his hair, the were was fascinated by his braid and the length of it loose.

Now he was defenseless and naked in Heero's bed. Heero was being gentle, curious about him since he hadn't let him see him less then fully dressed. It wasn't something that he was comfortable with, especially since Heero usually looked like he was interested in much more then looking with him. But it tickled and Heero was purring like crazy, happy that he wasn't fighting him on this. After a while it felt good and he let out a little sigh of pleasure when Heero stroked one of his nipples. He didn't know that it could feel that good!

Heero was proud that he made Duo happy from the small sound that he had made. He knew that humans liked to be touched in certain places, he had found that with the others and would show Duo how good it could be for him. He wanted to have Duo touch him back, to enjoy this with him. Heero knew that Duo wasn't interested in anything more than caresses now. He would coax his human into enjoying a physical relationship with him if it killed the both of them.

After a while Duo felt odd just lying there and he reached out as stroked Heero's stomach and arms, enjoying the purr that he made. He avoided touching below the waist, but explored what he could. Heero was very muscled under all the fur and he was surprised to find out that the were had a few spots of his own that touching made him moan. After a while, Duo's world was just bliss and he let Heero do what he wanted, uncertain about how he had changed his mind about what was happening, but just wanting it not to stop.

Wufei walked into Heero's den with lunch for him and Duo. He didn't expect to see either of them at breakfast, Duo would have been too drained to more than sleep for the next few days and he didn't think that Heero would leave him. He placed the basket of food that he had carefully on a table in the outer room, before he went to investigate the noises that he was hearing from the bedroom. He would kill Heero if he decided to take advantage of Duo in his weakened state. Wufei stopped short, astonished, when he saw what was happening in the room.

Duo was moaning softly as Heero gave him a tongue bath. He could see that Heero was enjoying and very excited by the experience and he was amazed that Duo was letting Heero do such a thing to him. The sounds that Duo was making were very arousing and he was aware of the desire that he had of wanting to join the two of them.

Wufei smiled and cleared his throat softly. Duo's eyes flew open and his entire body blushed. Wufei was torn between amusement at the sight and appreciation at the fact that Duo had filled out nicely over the months that he had been with them. He was happy that Duo was letting people touch him. After yesterday he had feared that Duo would regress back to the frightened child that he had been when Heero had rescued him.

"I was just coming to check on you," Wufei said as Duo scrambled to hide under the covers, "and bring you something to eat."

"How are Trowa and Zechs doing?" Duo asked, his voice muffled by the cloth.

Heero glared at Wufei. He had gotten further then he thought with Duo, grooming him like he was one of his pride. He might have gone further if Wufei hadn't interrupted them!

"Stop glaring at me," Wufei scolded him softly, "Duo doesn't have the energy to play the games that you want to right now. Besides, you need a bath more then he does."

"What did you say?" Duo asked, rolling the blankets around him. It was stupid to be embarrassed being caught like this by Wufei, but he was.

"I was telling Heero that Zechs and Trowa are resting comfortably and it might be a good idea if he takes a bath, rather then giving one."

"I...it..." Duo stuttered,

Wufei rolled his eyes. "That you allowed it pleases me. If only for that fact that you are willing to have someone touch you after..."

"I told you to do that!" Duo exclaimed. "You didn't want to."

"But I found that I enjoyed it," Wufei confessed.

Duo shivered at that, it had been his greatest fear when he had gotten here, that Wufei would do that to him daily. Now, he trusted that other man enough to know that he wouldn't do something like that. "You going to make it a habit?"

"I am not that much of a degenerate!" Wufei exclaimed. "It is just disturbing that I liked doing something that disgusting."

"You aren't a degenerate," Duo told him. " A weirdo, but not bad. I know bad, trust me."

He got out of bed, trying not to trip over the covers that he had wrapped around him like a shroud. Duo didn't know who was more surprised, Heero or Wufei that he willingly gave Wufei a hug. He wrapped his arms around the other man, glad when Wufei hugged him back. "See...you controlled yourself," he teased him.

"You barely have the energy to stand," Wufei scolded him. "I...you pushed yourself too far yesterday."

Duo shrugged and then regretted doing so when his coverings slipped off his body to the floor. He didn't think that Wufei was in any better condition.

"I doubt that I will be able to control myself now," Wufei teased him, ignoring Heero's growl. "This is delightful."

Duo didn't know what to do and was grateful when he heard his stomach growl. "Food?" he asked in a small voice. Eating and sleeping restored his energy and he needed food more then sleep now.

Wufei laughed and let him go. Duo dashed to the pile of clothing the he had been wearing the night before and hurriedly put them on.

"I assure you that you don't have to get dressed on my account," Wufei teased him.

"I... I... it, " Duo stuttered.

"You have a beautiful body," Wufei told him seriously, "why hide it?"

"Because I hate what I look like," Duo told him simply.

Heero glared at Wufei for showing interest in his human. It was bad enough that he had interrupted them, even if he had brought them food. He couldn't understand why Duo didn't like his body. It was nicely muscled, very responsive and had very interesting patterns on it.

"Heero, while I like to look, I know that I can not do more than that," Wufei told him, walking into the other room. "Besides, Duo is so drained that he is unable to respond to the delightful stimulation that you provided."

"What do you mean?" Duo demanded.

Wufei looked at him thoughtfully. "I will explain more to you later, alone, but for now I will tell you that you wouldn't have climaxed if Heero continued what he was doing. It would have been enjoyable, but not sexually satisfying."

Duo blushed and wondered if he could just melt into the floor. He really didn't need to hear that! He had liked what Heero had been doing and relieved that he wasn't getting a hard on from it, so that Heero would think that he could go further. Not that he really wanted that, it had felt very nice doing what they had been doing.

Now that he thought of it, he really hadn't been like that before, when he was a prisoner. He had had barely enough energy to stumble from one place to another most of the time. He had heard things that led him to believe that he should have been doing more then getting taller now that he was free and being fed better. Once in a while he'd get an erection, but nothing like all the sexual activity that the others seemed to have. He hadn't thought about it before and suddenly was curious about the reason why. He had thought that it was normal, but it seems that it wasn't from what Wufei was hinting at.

Heero snarled at Wufei. Duo was fine the way that he was. Wufei didn't have to fill his head with nonsense.

"Heero, you are a mess," Wufei scolded him. "Do clean up before you eat. I will talk to Duo while you are gone."

Wufei looked over at Duo, who was staring at the basket of food in front of him as if his life depended on it. Heero had thankfully disappeared into the bathroom, he was in a form that could wash himself so Wufei insisted that he didn't need Duo's help and ignored the glare that caused.

"I feel that I have neglected part of your education, from what I just saw," Wufei told him, "but I am very glad to see that you and Heero are so...affectionate. Too bad that you will not be able to enjoy it to the fullest for the next couple of days. I fear that I drained you more than I should have."

Duo blushed and stopped hiding behind the basket of food, meeting Wufei's gaze. "Do we have to talk about it?"

Wufei sighed. "There is no shame if you desire Heero!"

"I don't know if it do," Duo said in a small voice.

"Did you enjoy his caresses?" Wufei asked him. That might be part of the problem. Duo since the beginning hadn't been accepting of a were/human relationship, never mind a homosexual one. Wufei had thought that Duo had become more comfortable with them over time and that he had accepted them.

Duo shifted in his seat, wondering if there was a way for him to avoid this entire discussion. He knew from past experience that if it didn't happen now, Wufei would pick an even more awkward place to have this talk, like at dinner in front of everyone, especially Heero.

"Not in the beginning, but..."

"When you knew that he was not going to press his advantage, you relaxed," Wufei said.

"I think so," Duo mumbled, his eyes on the table. Something had happened to make him trust Heero.

"Do you even know what Heero wants to do?" Wufei asked him suddenly.

Was Duo's problem that he didn't know what to expect? Duo had been so ignorant about everything when he first came here because of those sorcerers. If they hadn't cared for his basic needs or even educated him, he doubted that they had explained sex to him.

Duo thought for a second and then shook his head. Apart from the first day that he was here, he really hadn't seen those 'nameless vices' that he feared. He hadn't really seen what Treize and Wufei were doing. He had stumbled upon the other weres and their partners enough just afterwards to know that it was something that was very enjoyable, but he didn't really know the mechanics of the act. He looked up at Wufei to see the other man smiling at him.

"I thought not," Wufei said gently. "I doubt that Heero would be anything else but the dominant partner..."

"You got that right," Duo muttered. Heero wasn't going to rollover and show his belly to him.

"Not that it is a bad thing," Wufei continued, "I prefer the submissive's role, no matter who my partner is."

Duo buried his head in his hands. That was too much information. He wondered if he was going to get through this conversation, when he remembered something that Wufei had mentioned in passing once. He had hoped to focus on something else and not have to pay attention to what he was saying.

"Yin?" he involuntarily blurted out. "Too much female energy?"

"Something like that," Wufei replied with a small smirk. "I see that you've paid attention to some of what I have said. The one that is the submissive is usually thought to be like a woman."

"Well..." Duo started.

"Or are you just remembering how I shocked you by having Treize take me while you were asleep in the same room?" Wufei asked.

Duo squirmed. It took him weeks to get over that. He couldn't look at Treize without blushing and Quatre had guessed what had happened. That had been even more embarrassing. About the only one that didn't know about it was Heero.

"When two males make love, it is different from when a man and a woman make love, due to the physical differences between the two sexes."

"How different?" Duo asked, though he was starting to guess the answer. He wasn't going to tell Wufei that he was ignorant of the exact differences between men and women. There was probably a book in the library that he could look up the information. He really didn't want Wufei to be the one to tell him where babies came from.

Wufei smiled at him, "Think about how you saw Treize and I that day, there is only one opening in a man's body..."

"Heero wants...that...in there...are you insane!" Duo exclaimed, the pieces falling together. He knew what that opening was supposed to be used for and that didn't make him want to try to see if sticking something up there was pleasurable.

Wufei continued, " I know that you do not understand this, but it is very enjoyable. You..."

Heero at that moment walked in on the two of them. He hadn't bothered to listen to their conversation, giving Duo that much privacy at least.

Duo looked up at him, wild eyed. "I don't think that it's going to work and I'm not going to try."

He dashed out the door, just wanting to get away from those two. He was going to check on Zechs and Trowa and then take a walk. He didn't want to think about what he had just found out.

Heero growled at Wufei and loomed over him. The interfering human had no right to scare Duo like that!

"Before you decide to gut me," Wufei told him coolly, "I will remind you that Duo's education is something that I take seriously. The child had never had the mechanics of sex explained to him. He was kept ignorant by those that had him. While your captivity was equally unpleasant, you were not alone. You had the opportunity to explore your sexuality with the other members of the pride. You have experienced both the dominant and submissive role with them. Duo has had none of that experience! In fact, his introduction to sex was when you tried to mount him when you first saw him. He had not the energy or the interest before he came to us. I think that he has not even indulged in exploring such things on his own, because has had no privacy. I doubt that he had had the opportunity to do so since he came here, because he never even realized that he could or should."

Heero growled, uncomfortable at the memory of what he had done. Then he looked at Wufei. He couldn't believe that someone had been that sheltered, but it would explain the way that Duo had been acting this morning. He had been so surprised that certain places on his body felt good when touched. Duo's delight in his bath and the pleasure that he felt as Heero's raspy tongue licked him. The desire that he had known that Duo was feeling, but he couldn't smell on him. He was going to have to approach Duo cautiously in the future. He vaguely remembered the shock that he had felt when he discovered the pleasure of being mounted. He was going to have to make sure that Duo discovered that pleasure too.

"Do not think to use that against him!" Wufei warned him. "I will hurt you if you take advantage of Duo."

Heero hissed at him. He wouldn't do that! Now that he knew what the problem was, he could work on it. He just couldn't figure out why Duo didn't respond like he should. He had been soft the entire time he had been mewing under him in pleasure.

"Duo is still young and learning his power," Wufei explained. "The energy that he is channeling into studying will eventually be used for other things. When he is more comfortable with the idea, he will be a very responsive lover for you."

Heero hissed in frustration. He had had Duo right where he wanted him and Wufei had interrupted him. While he knew that the other man was good to mate with and would leave him sated, he had no interest in mounting him, because he wasn't Duo. He didn't understand that. He had always wanted the pleasure of mating before, no matter who his partner was. Heero looked down at Wufei and nuzzled him a little before he went to see what he had brought them for food.

Wufei laughed softly when Heero showed more interest in food than sex for once. Heero was very much taken with Duo if he wasn't fucking him in frustration of not having Duo. The nuzzle had been a surprise, but he liked it. It showed that Heero was learning the finer points of human behavior.

"Duo just needs time, Heero," Wufei told him. "Give it to him and you will make him very happy."

Duo walked to the main house, not caring that he hadn't had more then a bite of all the food the Wufei had brought him. He had lost his appetite when he figured out what Heero wanted to do with him. To give the were some credit, Heero hadn't been forcing him this morning and seemed to realize that he wasn't going to get much further than he had.

Duo wasn't surprised to see that Zechs and Treize were sitting on the porch, resting and enjoying the view.

"I wanted to thank you," Treize said when he approached them.

Duo looked at him. "I couldn't let him die and I trusted Wufei."

"I don't think that I have seen you with your hair loose before," Zechs asked slyly.

Duo smelled very strongly of Heero and he was quite certain that his idiot pride member had done something to make Duo flee without braiding his hair. He smelled Heero's arousal too, but not Duo's. What had Heero been doing?

Treize looked over at Zechs, knowing that something was going on from the tone of his voice. "I haven't either."

"I forgot this morning," Duo said, blushing. It wasn't quite a lie; he hadn't wanted to stick around to braid it after Heero showed up again.

"Duo, you are all right?" Zechs asked him.

"I'm fine," Duo said and then realized that Zechs probably was getting a noseful of information about what he and Heero had been doing this morning.

He felt his face get hot and was pretty certain that Treize was figuring out that something had happened from the way that he was acting. He wanted to sink into the ground when Treize smiled at his embarrassment. Why didn't he just get a sign that proclaimed that he was Heero's whatever. It wasn't fuck toy, because Heero wasn't doing that to him, yet, he was just acting like he was a plush toy to sleep with. He hoped that Heero didn't think that was going to happen every night from now on!

"I'm glad," Zechs told him gently. "You shouldn't worry about..."

"I don't think that Duo is really up to talking about this," Treize interrupted him. The boy was crimson and looked like he wanted to be anyplace but here.

Zechs looked at him, narrowing his eyes. "I..."

"I have to be going now," Duo blurted out. "I just wanted to see how you were doing and...and..."

"If you want to talk to someone," Treize told him. "I am here."

He didn't know exactly what was going on. He knew that Duo was very uncomfortable around them because they were intimate with the pride. Treize hadn't decided if he thought that they were perverted because they were all male or if he thought that it was the greater perversion of bestiality.

Duo nodded and walked away very fast. He knew that it wasn't going to be any easier with Trowa and Quatre, but they were closer to his age. Also he was conscious of the differences between Treize and Zechs and him. He knew from just looking at them that they were aristocrats or in Zechs's case, an aristocat.

Zechs frowned as Duo scurried away from the two of them. The boy had finally relaxed after being here for months and now was acting odd again. What was wrong with the fact that Heero had groomed him? He was his human and that was all that mattered to them. The outside world with their inane prejudices was something that they ignored.

"Wufei sometimes is too amused by these things to handle them correctly," Treize commented thoughtfully. "Duo isn't someone that thinks that sex is game, like Wufei does."

"Not that you complain all that often about it," Zechs hissed at him.

"Wufei is...captivating," Treize retorted after a pause to think of the right word, "and you have had no complaints about the games that he plays before this. I can remember a certain were that was reduce to a pile of fur from both of our attentions, more then once!"

Zechs blushed and relaxed. Wufei, for all his youth was very skillful and inventive. He had wondered exactly who Wufei had been to have that level of skill. But he didn't ask him, not wanting to jeopardize his patronage. He felt no shame that he was trading his body for Wufei's protection, to him it was a better deal than killing for it had been. He didn't want to know how Treize had met the man or what he had done to persuade him to protect them from the Alliance. All he knew that it didn't effect Treize's desire for him.

He supposed that he should be jealous of the other man, because Treize had been involved with him before they were reunited. However, if it hadn't been for Wufei's continued support, the pride would have never been freed from the Alliance. Besides, he had had the companionship of the pride and Wufei made Treize happy.

Duo knew that he was acting like an idiot, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't surprised to find that Trowa and Quatre were also sitting in their front room, curled around each other. Trowa was in human form and Quatre was resting his head on his chest with a silly smirk on his face. He was glad that Trowa and Zechs were healthy enough to make love with their partners. When did he realize that it was love and not a perversion? He slowed down and coughed softly, not wanting to sneak up on them.

"I know that you're there," Trowa called out. "The breeze is behind you."

Duo sighed, so Trowa also had figured out what Heero had been doing this morning. It was strange that even in human form, the weres had their animal senses.

"How are you doing?" Quatre asked, opening his eyes and looking at him.

Duo sat down next to the two of them. "I just wanted to see how you two are doing."

"Better than you are," Quatre said tartly. "You're upset and tired. What are you doing up and walking around?"

"What did Heero do to disturb you?" Trowa growled.

Duo shook his head. "Heero didn't..."

"His scent is all over you," Trowa told him flatly.

"He wasn't, well it was scary at first, but he just wanted to explore."

"Heero is very affectionate," Quatre said. "But if that wasn't the problem, why are you here?"

"I liked it," Duo muttered. "I didn't think that I would, but he just started touching me and it felt good. No one touching me felt good and after Wufei...I was afraid that I wouldn't like being touched. I did though."

"What did he do?" Quatre asked gently.

"He gave me a bath," Duo said, curling up his legs to hide his face in his knees. It was embarrassing to him now. How could he have just rolled over and let Heero do that?

"That was nice of him," Trowa said.

He couldn't understand why Duo was embarrassed. It was a sign of affection. Sometimes it went beyond that, but what was embarrassing about that?

"I think that Duo doesn't think so, love," Quatre said. "Do you remember how I was in the beginning?"

Trowa rolled his eyes. Quatre had been shy about any kind of public displays of affection between the two of them. Any hint that he was interested in him. Comments that Zechs had made about scenting and marking would make Quatre blush furiously. It had taken a long time before Quatre was comfortable with the teasing or the acceptance that the others had of their relationship.

"I explained it to you," Quatre continued. "Men that were interested in men that way were considered perverted and unnatural. That you were more than human didn't make it any easier for me. I had a lifetime of prejudices to overcome. Duo..."

"Was clueless until that morning about what 'unnatural vices' really meant, since I knew that they were wrong and that was about it," Duo said into his knees. "What actually sex is supposed to be like between two people, no matter what the sex of the ones involved."

"Oh dear," Quatre said. This was one time that ignorance was not bliss.

"What did those fucking people do to you?" Trowa demanded.

Duo lifted his head. Trowa was angry, but he realized it wasn't with him. "Why bother to tell a table about sex? I was a thing to those people. Something that they used and passed around. They fed me and that was about it. Before that, I was really young when they got me."

"Are you comfortable about talking about it?" Quatre asked him.

Duo shook his head.

"Then someplace in his library, I am certain that Wufei has a book about this. Probably several, knowing him, about all sorts of things," Quatre said. "Look at them if you want your questions answered, if you don't want to talk to any of us about it."

"You think?" Duo asked. "I really don't feel comfortable...I can't, I mean I really can't, ahh, do what Heero wants. Even if I wanted it, which I don't know if I do."

He ended his sentence with a squeak, not wanting to talk about it. But if he was confessing about being ignorant, he might as well tell them everything.

Quatre sensed his discomfiture. It went beyond his ignorance and prejudice against Heero because what he was and what he had done. "Duo?"

"You know why I was a thing to them?" Duo asked. "Because most of the time, sex was the last thing on their mind, because they couldn't, you know, have any."

"Considering how bad they smell," Quatre started before the facts became clear to him. He stared at Duo. "You mean that they're impotent?"

"If that means that you don't do more then lie there when something feels really good and you know that something is supposed to happen, then yes."

"Oh," Quatre breathed. Duo was starting to be interested, but he actually couldn't. How maddening.

"Wufei says that it's only because I was drained and that it isn't permanent, but I never had been before and just realized that was wrong. But I don't know why that doesn't make me mad or something. It's something that's important to people."

"If you never knew that something like that existed, then you don't know what you're missing," Trowa gently. "It's like never knowing all that you can do when you're in cat form until you shift."

"That's true," Duo said with a small frown. He didn't realize how good spell casting felt until he had cast his first one. It was probably something like that.

"But if I have questions, can I ask one of you? I feel really odd talking about this to Zechs or Treize and Wufei would just find this too funny and I don't want him laughing at me about this. He does it often enough about other things."

"Wufei isn't giving you any trouble?" Quatre asked. "I know that you're his apprentice, but that doesn't mean that..."

"Oh no," Duo hastily assured him. "It's just that some of my questions make him laugh. He's really good too me. A little strange, but he's about the first person that acted like I had a brain and feelings."

"Isn't it beautiful," Dorothy cooed at Relena. "Rotten to the core, but it is a lovely corpse. Pity that no one will admit that it's dead."

Relena looked sideways at her friend. She doubted that anyone else that was on the balcony near them could have heard what the other girl had said. Dorothy always said the most outrageous things with a straight face. She had found that she relied on her more and more to keep herself from going mad. She was starting to hate the endless round of parties that filled her life now. She hadn't had a moment to herself in the past month.

They were overlooking the ballroom, where the dancers made pretty patterns below them. She was tired and scared, Une acting oddly for the last few days. Rumors had been flying about an engagement, but she had no idea and she was one of the principals in the matter! She knew what her choices were and if she thought that she could manage it, she would flee to an abbey for sanctuary. Even if she made it to one, she doubted that those old men would respect either her wishes or their sanctity and she would be dragged out of there by her hair.

"If you want to, you can lead the next dance," Dorothy murmured slyly. "That is if you have the courage."

Relena was quite certain that she wasn't talking about the next set of dancing, but was confused about what exactly she was talking about. There had been hints in the past that Dorothy knew a lot more then she was letting on.

"It would be good to start with a new one and let this corpse rest in peace," Dorothy continued. "Soon people will have to admit that it isn't quite all there still."

"I'm not that good a dancer," Relena replied.

"But one can do wonders with a good partner," Dorothy told her, letting her eyes drift towards Une, who was standing on the edge of the dance floor, talking to Noin. "And if one also has the right music, anything is possible."

Relena had no idea what she was talking about, but didn't let it show on her face. "It all depends on planning as well those that are helping you plan the party. And if one had the wrong sorts of things, then the party would be a failure." She hesitated and added delicately, "And one would be ruined as a hostess."

Dorothy smiled at her, eyes bright. "But to try something outré and succeed, that would mark you as a someone that can manage. A hostess that there is no match for, a dancer that has nerves of steel."

Relena blinked. Dorothy was hinting at something that she had never even thought of. "And if I decided that I wanted to dance with you, what would be your reaction?"

"Would I be leading? Or following?" Dorothy asked, her face flush. It was so good that Relena was getting the hints that she was throwing at her. She wasn't the innocent miss that she pretended to be. She must have seen that the hunters were starting home in on their query and that she wasn't safe anymore.

"It depends on any number of things," Relena said, thinking furiously. She couldn't believe that Dorothy was talking to her like this out in the open. Granted there was no one around and the music would make it hard for anyone to overhear what they were saying, but still!

"Sometimes, because of obligations, one is forced to dance with those that aren't to their taste. Because it is demanded of them," Dorothy said. "One is not allowed to pass on that set."

Relena turned slowly, trying not to show the sudden stab of fear that she felt. "I try to avoid such awkward situations."

"But one..." Dorothy spread her hands gracefully with a shrug, "can be forced into accepting people that they don't want to dance with because it is expected of them."

Relena fluttered her eyelashes at Dorothy, "Perhaps you can tell me how to avoid such social awkwardness. I feel that I am going to have to face it soon."

Dorothy smiled wolfishly. Relena knew that she was in deep and was asking Dorothy for help. She didn't know what the price would be though. "I thought that you would never ask. I have heard that you might have to worry about such...awkwardness...in a few weeks time. At the end of the Season."

Relena felt the blood drain from her face and she felt faint. That soon? It was silly to think that they, whoever they were, would let her slip out of their grasp.

"Your sentinel is fearsome, but even she might be no match for what you have to deal with," Dorothy cooed at her.

Relena looked at her. She had no idea what game her friend was playing, but it was one that was not in her league. Dorothy was after something from her and she had no idea what it was. She wasn't naive enough to think that Dorothy was helping her out of friendship. The girl wanted something from her, even if it was only the ability to help her sow chaos.

"I fear that it isn't something that I feel comfortable discussing with you." Relena told her calmly.

Dorothy stepped closer to her and Relena noticed for the first time how tense she was. "To manage to slip the trap, you are going to need help."

"What do you want?" Relena asked her bluntly. She wasn't going to dance around the question all night. Dorothy loved playing games and now was not the time for them.

"How refreshing," Dorothy laughed softly.

Relena noticed that there was a bitter note to it and wondered what exactly Dorothy was doing to put her on the edge like this. She was beginning to look brittle.

"I want..." Dorothy started and then looked around quickly. "I want out. I don't want to be the consolation prize to the one that doesn't get you."

"I'm not promising you anything," Relena told her.

"By saying that, you are," Dorothy retorted. "Just remember that not every young maiden is dreaming about the joys of the marriage bed." She waited a beat. "At least not with a man."

Relena looked at her and widened her eyes when the implications of what Dorothy said dawned on her. She had heard rumors of such things, but to have it spoken openly!

"Any young maiden wouldn't want to be a 'consolation prize', no matter who she dreams of," Relena told her. "Dreams wouldn't matter then."

Dorothy smiled coolly, "You wouldn't believe who I dream of."

Duo returned to his rooms, feeling much better after a day away from Heero. He wondered when he started thinking of this place as his too. He had spent the rest of the day wandering around the main house. Shu Feng had welcomed him for lunch and supper and he helped her prepare both meals, eating more then he imagined he could. He had taken a nap in the library in the afternoon, falling asleep over a book that he had grabbed at random and generally spent the day not thinking about what had happened this morning. He was still tired and was ready to turn in for the night, even though the sun wasn't down yet. He had forgotten how much was taken out of him when someone drained him. Months of being treated like a normal human being had made him forget the bone numbing weariness that had been his life before.

He was surprised when he walked into the front room to see a man sitting there in one of his kimono, reading. He opened his mouth to demand what he was doing here and shut his mouth in shock when he looked up. It was Heero in his human form, the eyes told him that. Not because they were still slitted like a cat's, but because of their color. The kohl outlines on his face and the small fangs were also a hint, but it was his eyes that he noticed first. He had thought that he would never see Heero like this.

"Heero?" he squeaked out.

"I thought that this might be better," Heero told him.

Duo was surprised at how deep his voice was. Not as deep as Zechs's was, but deeper then his and everyone else's around here. There was a slight huskiness to it that told Duo that Heero didn't speak much, even when he had the means to. Staying silent so that your captors would ignore you was a childhood lesson for both of them.

"Better?" Duo asked him. "Everyone told me that you hate being human. It isn't better for you."

"That you might feel better about what Wufei talked about this morning if I was like this," Heero said.

He was surprised that Duo cared about what he felt. He wondered when that had happened and realized that for months Duo had been doing little thoughtful things like that. He didn't know that Duo even realized what he was doing.

Duo walked into the house and sat down next Heero. He wasn't surprised to see that Heero was handsome in his human form, but he was surprised to see that his hair was a dark brown color and the bangs kept falling over his eyes. He had thought that his fur was the same color as his hair. It was like that for the other two.

"Its not that thought of what form you're in that makes me not want to do it with you, its just that, the thought..."

Heero laughed. "I was pretty surprised to find out that it felt good. It wasn't something that I had expected. We all...well..."

Duo smiled. "I didn't think that you lived like a celibate Heero, not with the hints that I got from everyone the first day I was here. Wufei can be too frank at times about such things."

Heero blushed, relieved that Duo wasn't mentioning that he had tried to mount him when he first seen him. "It just felt good when we discovered it. So little in our life felt that way before we were here. When our keepers found out, I thought that they would be angry. They were amused and watched us at times. We were just grateful that they didn't join us."

"From what Wufei told me, usually sorcerers aren't interested in those things. I think that is one of the reasons that they didn't use me as a fuck toy as well as a power source when they had me," Duo said.

"He also said that you wouldn't be able to...respond..." Heero muttered.

Duo blushed bright red. "It felt good this morning and I liked sleeping with you, but I don't know if I can do more than that. I don't know if I can do what you're interested in."

Heero moved closer to Duo. "I don't expect...you just started liking me touching you. I want more, but it doesn't have to be right this minute."

"You don't have to be..." Duo started. "I can't talk about this now. I'm too tired to think. I never thought that I'd even want to have sex with anyone. You, I hated what you did to me that night. I just wanted to die. You did that instead of killing me."

Heero shifted, embarrassed by the memory. "I was going to kill you, you know. I didn't go in thinking that I was going to be doing that with someone there. Sorcerers smell bad. You smelled bad."

"Thanks a lot," Duo told him sarcastically. "I had no control over it."

"You smelled bad, but biting you, I wanted you. I didn't understand it, but you felt so good underneath me. I thought that you were crazy for screaming out like that."

Heero knew that Duo was angry with him because of the tone of his voice, he never expected Duo to talk to him like that. He was glad that Duo was comfortable enough with him still to be sarcastic with him. At least he thought that it was sarcasm, since he really didn't understand much of human behavior.

"I was crazy. I was so happy that you were there. I just wanted to die, to see them die first. You didn't know how long I hoped that you would attack someplace that I was at."

Heero sighed. He didn't like his human form. He thought that it was too vulnerable. But he liked the fact that he could wear Duo's clothing that smelled like him. He hadn't thought that seeing him in his human form would make Duo change his mind and want him. Duo was too wary about such things. That he had been ignorant of what it entitled shouldn't have surprised him, but it did. How couldn't he know about the pleasures of the flesh? Even if he had been isolated and ignored before, he had had plenty of examples during his stay here.

"I am willing to wait, even if there isn't anything to wait for," Heero told him softly.

Duo looked at him. "I can't make any promises because I'm too tired to think about it right now. I still don't know what I'd be agreeing to either."

Heero nodded, Duo was being honest. That was all that he could ask for from his human. "Can I help you to bed at least?"

Duo nodded. "Only if I get to sleep in my own bed."

"If that's what it takes to make you comfortable, that what it is."

Duo walked by him and grabbed his sleeping pants and top from the bed and went into the bathroom to change and prepare for bed. He wasn't surprised to see that when he came back out that Heero was kneeling by his bed. Duo crawled into bed when he was through and let Heero tuck him in like he had the first night.

"Can I ask you something?" Duo asked. "You don't have to tell anything if you don't want to."

"What Duo?" Heero replied. It was rare that his human asked him about anything, he was curious why he wanted an answer from him now.

"Why do you hate your human form?"

Heero hesitated, wondering how he could explain it to someone that only had one shape. Duo didn't like his body, so he might have some understanding of what he would be trying to explain to him.

"You know that Zechs is human most of the time for Treize," Heero started. "A lie for him. Trowa has figured out that there were advantages to his human form. He could play the flute. He likes doing that with Quatre. Most of the time he likes being a cat, like me. Zechs likes his catman shape as his alternative because it's strong. He shifts to his cat shape rarely, just when he needs it for stealth."

"But this is the first time that I've seen you as a human and I've been here," Duo tried to figure it out. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that he couldn't figure out how long he had been with Heero. He settled for being vague about it. "A long time."

Heero smiled. He knew that Duo had been trying to figure out the time that he had spent here and couldn't. He didn't understand why humans placed such importance on it.

"A long time is a good answer," Heero said. "More than that isn't important. You've been here long enough to heal. To learn. That it is all that is important."

"Zechs and Treize don't think so, they are on some sort of time table," Duo told him.

"That is to do with his sister and her age. Nothing that matters to us," Heero said, not caring about the argument. "Time and schedules are a human thing."

"You don't think that you're human, that's why you don't want to look like one," Duo whispered. That made some sort of sense to him.

"Part of it," Heero told him, amazed that Duo had picked up on it. "But every time I did something wrong, I was punished. Most of the time I was punished in my human shape. It was weaker than all of the others and so it was easier for them to control."

"I'm sorry," Duo murmured.

"I was stubborn too," Heero told him with a wry grin. "That made them hurt me more. Trowa and Zechs were always smart enough to roll over for them and then get their revenge later. I wasn't."

"Stubborn isn't a bad thing," Duo whispered. "Stubborn kept me alive longer then you would believe. It hurt so much at times, but I wasn't ready to give in. Later, I was just hanging on to see them get killed, when I heard them talking about your attacks. I wanted that so badly."

"I don't know why you don't like your body," Heero mused, "its got stripes and a tail, like a proper being should."

He reached out and pulled Duo's braid as he teased him. He wasn't happy that Duo was wearing clothing that covered him up, but he didn't think that Duo would lose his shyness about his body for a while. He thought that Duo was attractive and he would convince him of that eventually.

"If I thought that it was good to have these stripes," Duo said, "then I wouldn't hate them. But I was told for years that all I was good for was the amount of power that I could hold. Wufei only protected me from you because of them."

"Did you think that you needed protection from me?" Heero asked.

"You didn't listen to me say no the first time," Duo said bitterly. "And everyone kept telling me that I was yours. What was I supposed to think? I knew that no one would have said anything if you decided that you wanted me and I didn't want you. I'm still not certain now if you decided that you didn't want to wait and I couldn't defend myself if..."

"I'm sorry," Heero whispered. "You felt good. I just was...stupid."

He got up and tucked Duo in, leaning over to kiss him on the lips. It was a chaste kiss, he didn't want to start anything with Duo if he wasn't going to be able to enjoy it.

Duo hesitated and then let Heero kiss him, not surprised that Heero rubbed his face against his cheek afterwards, scenting him even if he didn't have the glands in this form.

"Good night Duo," Heero whispered.

"Night Heero," Duo said curling up in a ball and trying to relax. He fell asleep trying to decide what he should do about Heero and how he really felt about him.

Duo woke up the next morning, feeling warm and safe. Heero was spooned behind him, still asleep. He wondered what had happened, because he was naked. Heero must have thought that it was all right to sleep with him because he only told him that he wanted to sleep in his bed, not that he couldn't sleep with him. That Heero couldn't slip off his clothing so that he could snuggle into his body. Heero's arms were wrapped around his middle and he felt that he was trapped. He wasn't as worried at the thought as he should have been.

It wasn't that Heero was weaker in this form. He wasn't. He was shorter though, about the same size as he was. Warm too, as he was giving off enough heat to fuel an oven. It was nice though because he was still cold and tired. Wufei had told him that he would be like that for a couple of days.

Heero shifted and murmured in his sleep, his right hand wandering down to a very personal place. Duo wanted to squirm, but didn't dare. It felt good. Heero was plastered to his back and something hot and hard was pressed against his behind. He just wanted to think about what was happening without worrying about Heero's reactions.

"They were in front," Heero suddenly said. "I had circled around to attack from behind, that had been the plan. When I got there, the trap went off. After that, I kept the homunculi and the ones that were there controlling them, occupied until we could teleport back."

"Oh," Duo squeaked. He thought that Heero was asleep and groping him. It was scary now that he was awake.

Heero moved his hand and Duo sighed in relief. He nearly shrieked when Heero went back to groping him, stroking his stomach gently. This was going a bit too fast for him.

"You like this," Heero purred.

Duo was squirming as he petted him. He slowly stroked his balls, hoping to feel some response from his human. He knew that Duo liked that they were pressed together. He'd make his human moan some more this morning. He wasn't disappointed as Duo let out a soft moan at his touch, as he pressed into his body, rubbing against his valley.

"Ask Heero," Duo suddenly hissed and tried to roll out of bed. "I'm not a fucking toy."

He didn't care the Heero was grabbing him in a rather vulnerable place. He wasn't going to be used! Heero had the equipment to ask him if he wanted to do this.

Heero was upset that his human didn't want to play and let go of him so that he wasn't hurt. They might not be able to do much, but there was nothing wrong with spending an hour or so just petting one another. Duo was his human and why was he being difficult about this? He snuggled Duo closer to himself, wrapping his arm tight across this ribs and heard him gasp in pain. He loosened his grip a bit.

"You wonder why," Duo growled at him as he tried to escape, "I don't trust you."

"It feels good," Heero promised him. He wanted his human to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. It wasn't right that Duo was still so shy around him. "You'll like it."

Duo pressed at a couple of nerve bundles in Heero's arm. Heero hissed in pain and let go, shocked that Duo had hurt him. He was confused, angry and proud that Duo knew enough, even when he was upset to fight back. He was lucky that Duo didn't throw some sort of spell at him to make sure that he would let go.

Duo scrambled across the floor, wanting to get out of Heero's range. He made it to his feet, finally, on the opposite side of the room and turned around to glare at Heero. He tried not to notice the faint black spots that were across his stomach or what was jutting out of his body. Heero looked nice, but he wasn't going to roll over and show his belly to him.

"Sorry that I'm not willing to whatever with you," he snarled at him. "But I can say no and I am saying no. Ask. Do you know how? Its not hard and this is the same shit that you pulled the first time we met. Hump me or whatever you want. Don't ask me if I'm willing. You said that you were willing to wait. Was that a lie?"

Duo turned and half stumbled and half ran out of the house, grabbing his discarded pants from the floor. He'd find another place to sleep. For now he was going to hide in the library and maybe get around to reading something on what Heero was interested in with him. He wasn't going to ask anyone if he could help it. It was just too odd and embarrassing.

Wufei found Duo sleeping, curled up on one of the couches in the library. He noticed that one of his books of erotica opened in front of Duo. The boy apparently had fallen asleep looking at the pictures. He doubted that it was idle curiosity. Heero was entirely too bad tempered and in cat form, snarling at everyone that got near him. Shu Feng had chased him out of the kitchen with a broom several times. Something had gone wrong and he had an idea whose fault it was.

Wufei got a blanket that had been hidden in one of the corners of the room and draped it over Duo. He was half dressed, barefoot and his hair was messily braided. Heero had done something rash to drive Duo out of his room looking like this. He could guess what it had been, but he was willing to wait for Duo to tell him what had happened.

Duo stirred hours later, only waking because his book dropped onto the floor with a loud thump. He sat up, startled and flushed when Wufei smirked at him. It was bad enough that he had been caught looking at this stuff, but why did Wufei find it so funny? Because silly shit like this amused the hell out of him.

"I think that was the wisest choice," he said smoothly.

Duo gaped at him, still sleepy. "What?"

"A book. That way you don't have to face the other person's uncomfortableness and your own. You can absorb these things at your own pace."

"This is just so amusing to you," Duo said bitterly. He realized that he naked and that he had run from Heero like a scared rabbit.

"It isn't," Wufei said abruptly. "I...it reminds me of my past. I assure you that I wasn't always the hedonist that you see now."

Duo sat up, feeling oddly better. He thought that he would be upset with Wufei seeing him like this. He wasn't and was surprised that he didn't have an overwhelming urge to bundle up in the blanket, even as he twitched it to cover his lower body. He guessed that fleeing Heero naked cured him of some of his modesty issues. "You've been honest with me, that's what really matters."

"I take it that Heero is being his usual charming self?" Wufei asked wryly.

Duo sighed. "It wasn't that scary, but he could have asked instead of grabbing."

"He..."

"I made him let me go and ran. Not very brave of me," Duo said.

"You did well, Heero usually has a foot or two on you, discouraging him and fleeing is the best tactic. You are too drained to magically discourage him."

"He was human," Duo whispered.

"Ah," Wufei said. That explained a lot and none of it nice. Heero seemed to think that the issue was with him. It wasn't. Duo just needed time still and Heero's lust was clouding his thinking. He was going to have to explain to him, again, that Duo wasn't to be rushed.

Duo looked at him. "He didn't ask. I woke up with him in my bed. Naked and warm and then he had to get..."

"Aggressive?" Wufei asked.

"Stupid," Duo whispered. "I know that I shouldn't feel like that, but I was mad that he thought that he could just bully me into what he wanted."

"Heero lacks subtly," Wufei told him. "I think that he just wanted you to feel good. That said, he is rushing things for you and that is bad. I explained to him yesterday about this, but I don't think that he understands the problem."

"I still..." Duo started, embarrassed, "I still don't understand it."

Wufei raised his left eyebrow at Duo and took a look at one of the pages in the book that he had had on his lap. "I fear that you seemed to have started with somewhat of a more advanced book. This is aimed more at an audience with a lot of experience and curiosity." He glanced down again and flipped a couple of pages. "Flexibility too," Wufei added dryly. "In any number of ways."

"Oh..." Duo said, blushing furiously. "I thought so, but..."

"I know that this is not something that you want to talk about, but I do not think that I have what you are looking for here."

"Is it going to hurt?" Duo asked abruptly.

Wufei blinked and sat down. He didn't know if it was a good thing that Duo was talking to him about this. To tell the truth, he was hoping that a book or Quatre would be the one that explained to his apprentice about the facts of life, however, he was the boy's mentor and this was something that had to be done. He didn't want Heero's blunders to scar Duo. He was surprised to see that Duo wasn't trying to hide under the blanket, he seemed to have lost some of his modesty this morning.

"It is something that one gets used to," Wufei admitted, "like kata or spell casting. A skill, for lack of a better description, to be learned. You will need to be prepared for sex with sweet oil and your muscles, your entire body has to be relaxed."

"Oil?" Duo asked.

"Lubricant, since a man's body provides none, as a woman's does. The muscle needs to be stretched to accommodate your partner. The preparation itself is very pleasurable."

"But, shouldn't it..." Duo started.

"There is a spot, deep inside you, that when stroked, will make all the pain go away, make it pure pleasure. That is one of the reasons I chose the submissive role. That and no matter what the others want to think, submissive is not submitting. It is simply looking at the matter in a different way," Wufei explained to Duo with a smile. "I do not dare tell them that."

"That wasn't what was bothering me," Duo said, squirming a little. "It's just that, ah, what about..."

"Cleanliness is important," Wufei said, trying not to laugh at Duo's discomfiture. "So long as you bathe often and thoroughly, it is not an issue. Also there are some other ways of enjoying each other. Heero showed you that yesterday."

Duo frowned at him. Heero had licked him all over, which he wasn't going to do because he didn't want a mouthful of fur. Heero had spent a long time nuzzling his groin, confused or annoyed that he didn't respond to the attention. He had then realized that something was supposed to happen, but it wasn't like he had had a lot experience with it. The times that he could remember having an erection could be counted on one hand he swore. He felt like a freak because of that, so it wasn't something that he usually told people.

"I believe that the term is syakuhachi or fellatio," Wufei drawled. "When one tries to reduce your partner into a whimpering mess by sucking his brains and various bodily fluids out of his penis with you mouth. Also known vulgarly as a 'blow job'."

"But..." Duo started. Just as he thought that it couldn't get any weirder.

"Do not pooh-pooh the experience until you've either tried it or had it done to you. Heero has managed to overcome the limitations of his shape to be a very skillful and pleasing lover."

"How do you do that relax thing?" Duo asked, not wanting to think about that at all!

He knew that he was being stupid because he didn't want to think about such things, but it was his life. He was going to pretend that he didn't want to die of embarrassment that Wufei was explaining this to him. Why couldn't he have found a book that had all this information in it? He had been plenty relaxed the other morning with Heero's little tongue bath, but from what he had figured out, that didn't relax what he was going to be needed to be relaxed.

"Fingers and occasionally other thing," Wufei explained, swallowing his amusement. It was interesting to see Duo putting the pieces together and understanding what was needed. If it were anything else but Duo and sex, he would be proud of him. He was not, however, going to explain to him about dildos and anal plugs. He and Heero could figure that out on their own. "You can trying to experiment with what suits you."

"Fingers?" Duo squeaked. "Heero usually doesn't have any or they have claws!"

"Heero usually is very careful with them," Wufei told him with a slight smile. "He has never hurt me with them. As for the fact that Heero might be in his true cat form at times, you have fingers and can take care of the matter. He might find it quite entertaining."

Duo blushed. He had thought that he was quite worldly now, but even thinking about it, thinking about Heero watching him do that was embarrassing. He was certain that he had found the wrong book when the drawings showed more then a couple of people together. Men, women and things that he didn't want to think about had been shown. He had been fascinated by what was in that book, but kept meaning to get up and find the other one, but he was too comfortable and too tired. He didn't know when he fell asleep, but he had toyed briefly with the idea of him and Heero trying out a few of the things that he had seen in there. Heero just needed to give him some more time and learn to ask him about doing things with him. Deep down inside he liked Heero and was interested in exploring with him, but at his own pace.

"I hope that Heero will not be losing you as a roommate?" Wufei ask him.

Duo shook his head. "I know that I should be angry, but Heero's trying. I like sleeping with him, but I don't know if I can do more and he should have asked! I'm not a damn doll for him to play with."

"Then tell Heero that before his bad temper gets him into anymore trouble," Wufei told him. "Shu Feng had to chase him out of the kitchen, more then once. I think that he was there to try to find you and apologize."

"That was nice of him," Duo said. He was hungry, but he should get dressed before he went there. He just hoped that he didn't meet anyone before he got back. He didn't need everyone knowing about this little incident. "But he shouldn't make her angry. She..."

"She is what Duo?" Wufei asked calmly. He had tensed up, knowing that it was only about matters of the heart and his body that his apprentice was so ignorant about. Duo was very observant and was able to put together the clues that were in front of him. none of the others were interested in doing that.

"Shu Feng, all the women that are here, are more then they appear. I sensed it slowly over time when you taught me more and more magic."

"Why did you not say something?" Wufei demanded.

Duo looked at him. "This place is wonderful and I am grateful that I am here, but I also know that something odd is going on here. Not bad, just not normal. If they chose to be here and are happy, then I don't need to know anymore. If they wanted to tell me, they would."

"That is very wise of you," Wufei told him. "The ladies here all chose to be here and aren't human. They just wish to be here and to serve those that live here."

"They...they serve you, not anyone else," Duo said, "I can see it. They're here because of you. If the rest of us leave, they wouldn't care."

"I assure you that Mei Quin and Shu Feng are very fond of you," Wufei said. "They don't treat the rest of them like they do you and it is not because you are my apprentice."

"I like them too," Duo said. "I don't care what they are."

Wufei smiled at him. "I'm glad. Now I think that you should find Heero before he gets into any more trouble."

Duo glanced down at himself and frowned. "I don't think that I really should. I'm not wearing anything."

Wufei smiled. "Let me get you something to wear and then you and Heero can talk."

Duo found Heero brooding and staring at a clump of lilies. Duo was distracted for a second by realizing that the flowers here never really died. They stopped blooming, but the plant didn't die. A couple days later it bloomed again. He didn't think that was normal. There were different sections of the estate that bloomed at different times, but nothing that was a season, like he had read about.

Heero looked up as he approached him. Duo wasn't surprised to see that Heero was in cat form. He took that shape when he was angry. The cat form was the one that he used the most.

"I'm angry," Duo said and sat down beside him. There wasn't any reason to be subtle with Heero. That's what he liked about him.

Heero looked up at him.

Duo could see that he wasn't too happy either. "You know I don't want to give you a whole list of 'don'ts' because I can't trust you."

Heero nodded and moved over to scent Duo. He kept his head on Duo's knee, waiting for him to finish what he had to say. Duo would tell him what he thought was wrong and then they would work it out. The list of don'ts hurt because it was true.

Duo smiled at Heero's single-mindedness. Duo was his human and he wasn't going to let the others forget that. He wasn't going to let him forget that. It didn't matter that Duo didn't think like that or that his magic could reduce Heero into a small pile of fur.

"I like sleeping with you," Duo said.

Heero purred his agreement. Duo smelled good and was nice to hold. He also needed the warmth that he had been giving him. He just had wanted to do more.

"I know that I can't do more then that," Duo said. "Wufei just explained to me what you have to do when you're with another guy."

Heero hissed, wondering what idiocy Wufei had told him! And he didn't have to do anything that he didn't want to. He knew that he had been an idiot this morning trying to mate with Duo before he was ready, but he was so tempting. Maybe they shouldn't share a den, never mind a bed, if he couldn't control himself around him.

"Hey, I couldn't find a book to tell me about this and Wufei found me in the library. I fell asleep." Duo said as he started to absentmindedly stroke behind Heero's ears.

Heero nodded, when he couldn't find Duo in the kitchen he thought that he might be there, but he didn't want to bother him. He knew that Duo would have to go to the kitchen eventually and so waited for him there. How was he supposed to know that would anger every woman that was there? He didn't go near the food or bother them. He had just wanted to see Duo to apologize to him. Eventually he came out here, knowing that Duo would look for him when he wanted to talk to him. Duo knew that he liked to come here, they had spent several nights watching the fireflies together here.

"Wufei told me that you've been chased out of the kitchen a couple of times today," Duo said. "Care to come with me while I get something to eat? I'll protect you from the mean ladies."

Heero glared at him and then realized that Duo was shaking. He hadn't eaten all day it seemed and it was his fault. He nodded and rolled to his feet. Heero looked at Duo, wondering why his human wasn't still angry with him.

Shu Feng had welcomed Duo with open arms and started piling food in front of him between scoldings. Heero understood most of what she was saying, but not all of it because she was talking so fast. Duo knew what she was saying though. Heero had noticed that Duo seemed to be the only one of them that had bothered to learn the language. The others hadn't bothered and he had picked up what he knew by accident, because he spent time here with Duo. Duo had bothered though and he spent a lot of time with the servants, helping them, even if he didn't have to. That was strange.

"No, no," Duo protested as Shu Feng put another dumpling on his plate.

"You are too empty," she told him, her smile fading. "It wasn't...Oji..."

"I didn't mind and he shouldn't, it would be bad for you. I'm just wiped, but if he did something like that with you and took too much, you'd really be hurt."

"He..." Shu Feng frowned at Heero and decided not to say more. "He has the right."

Duo looked at her, there was a lot more going on then she was telling him, but she wasn't going to tell him because she didn't trust Heero. She didn't believe that he didn't understand what they were saying. Smart woman, Heero usually looked like he was half asleep and bored most of the time, but that didn't mean that he was dumb. Heero just cared very little about what he considered human issues. Duo was surprised that he hadn't been rolled on his back before this morning because Heero wanted him. Heero still considered him his property and that was all that mattered to him. That was unfair because the were had leaned about asking and other things, he just had trouble remembering that he should do so with him.

"Heero thinks that he has the right to do all sorts of things with me," Duo said. "It doesn't mean that he can or I'll let him."

Heero looked sheepish and rubbed his head against Duo's knee in apology. It wasn't the same as Wufei's relationship with all these strange women. They smelled off, not like humans did, but he didn't care. They were just there, like the flowers and the water, and the women didn't bother him with stupid human rules, so he was happy.

"Hey, I know that you're sorry," Duo said. "I didn't think that it was bad, just that you should ask."

Shu Feng snorted, "That one is impossible! I am glad that you don't let him bully you."

"Not like you do," Duo grinned at her. "But I must leave now. I think that it is nap time again."

Heero perked up when he heard that. He wanted to cuddle with Duo, but didn't know how to ask.

"My bed and I keep all my clothes on." Duo told Heero.

Heero nodded, grateful that Duo was willing to trust him. He had said that he had to keep his clothes on, not that he couldn't explore his body a little more. He was going to show Duo what tails were good for with a human.

"We have run out of time," Une announced.

"What happened?" Treize demanded.

He had never seen his friend so frantic, not even when his estates had been confiscated and his title taken from him. She had arrived just ahead of the authorities to warn him. She had coolly packed his family treasures to take with her and arranged for his escape. The last sight that he had had of her was Une making arrangements to cover his disappearance and delay the authorities, as he made sure that the weres got out with him. He had no idea what he would have done without her and Wufei.

Zechs looked at her, worried. What had happened for Une to go against established protocol and contact them like this? She had used the emergency charm that Wufei had given her. They didn't like her to use it, because the magic could be traced. Not that they could be harmed, but that wouldn't save Une from the attentions of the Alliance sorcerers. Something had gone very wrong.

Une looked at them. "Relena's marriage to one of the Alliance leaders, probably Dekim Barton, will happen in two days."

"What happened?" Zechs growled.

"The bastards outmaneuvered me. Relena is considered a ward of the state and they had been talking to Darlian, bribing him to let her go. Her income is one of the reasons that he took her in, he can dip into it all the he wants and she can't say a thing. I had hoped..."

Treize frowned. Une was very upset if she was swearing like one of the stable boys. "Barton is married."

"Not anymore," Une said coldly. "His wife had an unfortunate accident at the beginning of the Season. She was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their country manor."

"How convenient," Wufei said softly.

"How did you get this information?" Quatre demanded.

Une sighed. "Dorothy Catalonia. It seems that Relena has been the topic of conversation in any number of meetings that her grandfather has had recently. Septum was just one of the names mentions, Tsubarov the sorcerer was another."

"Is she a trustworthy source?" Wufei asked.

"She has little use for her grandfather and seems to like Relena. They have struck up an odd friendship over the course of the Season. I don't know if that is genuine or not. But any girl wouldn't like the choices that Relena is going to be presented with. One of them is her grandfather and the rest of them are all less than honorable men. Dorothy doesn't want her friend to become her step-grandmere."

"Dorothy is my cousin, not that it means much," Treize stated. " I am related to most of the Alliance aristocrats, most of us keep marrying the same families to keep the estates and the power intact."

"How many other wives had 'unfortunate accidents' in the last few weeks?" Quatre murmured. "Before Dekim Barton was decided on?"

They turned to look at him in horror. Quatre flushed, uncomfortable at the stares. He had been thinking aloud, but surely someone wouldn't do that to his wife?

"He's right though," Une stated coldly. "If I were married to any one of these men, I would have made sure that I didn't go near long staircases or anything else that I could be pushed down or in front of. I doubt that everyone will be happy with who gets Relena. This might happen more than once. I'm just surprised that it hadn't happened earlier."

Treize looked at her. "You don't believe that..."

"The stakes are high Treize," Wufei reminded him. "Relena is a very valuable and innocent playing piece in this game. If we can not step up our time table, she will become someone's wife. I doubt that they will not take steps to make sure that she goes through with this."

"You aren't implying that they would..." Zechs started.

"Drug her, rape her, forge her signature on the marriage license?" Wufei asked. "I do not doubt that they have that planned if Relena shows any reluctance with the choices presented to her."

"This is my sister that you are talking about," Zechs snarled at him.

"I am talking about the next queen of Sanq," Wufei reminded him. "That she is your sister is beside the point. The stakes of this game are higher then you would believe."

"It is not a game!" Zechs cried. "It is my sister's life."

"You really don't think that they would..." Quatre started.

"They would," Treize said sadly. "She isn't a person to them. These are the same people that kept you from your family."

"We need to get Relena crowned queen of Sanq, before she is married. Eliminating her husband would be a nuisance that I do not want to deal with," Wufei stated coolly. "Plus there might be no way of knowing the damage that was done to her before and after the wedding."

"What are you suggesting?" Zechs demanded.

Wufei smirked, "That we attack them when they think that they have won. The place that they are going to perform Relena's wedding ceremony at."

Zechs looked at his lovers as if they were insane. They certainly were acting it with the suggestion that the two of them had told him.

"You suggest that we attack at my sister's marriage ceremony? The cream of the Alliance leadership will be there. Men that know you, Treize. Men that can guess who I am. They will be expecting you to act. You are just going to walk in? This is in only two days. There isn't time to plan..."

"The reason that we don't have time to plan is because they wanted this to be done at the last minute," Treize told him. "I don't doubt that they knew about this before now, but by holding off like this, everyone is off balance, not just us."

"And how do you know that?" Zechs snarled.

"Because I was told that by Dorothy Catolonia," Une said coolly,

"And how does she know that?" Zechs asked.

"Because her idiot grandfather, Duke Dermal, told her," Une said. "He couldn't help boasting of his cleverness. He didn't tell her who Relena is to marry, he wasn't that stupid, but her told her where and when."

"And why is she telling you this information?" Zechs demanded.

"She allied herself with Relena for the vague promise of protection. She has been very helpful over the last few weeks," Une told him. "She is doing it because she doesn't have anything to lose. If Relena wins, she will be on the winning side. If we lose, Dorothy will deny any involvement with us."

"How noble of her," Wufei murmured sarcastically.

"She's been honest with me," Une reminded him. "She didn't have to tell Relena anything. She could have continued to be her grandfather's spy. She chose her side a long time ago, even if she is backpedaling to protect her interests. If we fail, it will be good to have an unknown ally. Dorothy would be that. She could at least help Relena if the rest of us are unable to."

"Your defense of her is admirable, my Lady, " Treize retorted, "but do you trust her?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't," Une told him.

Of course she trusted Dorothy! The girl was competent and loyal, a good source of information that she didn't have access to because of her relations with both Zechs and Treize. Even if they weren't around anymore, she wasn't trusted because no one knew exactly what had happened to them. She trusted Dorothy and worried about her because she was looking dreadful because of the stress that she was under. The sooner that Dorothy was free from her grandfather, the better.

"We can not arrive in full force," Wufei mused aloud. "I will need to get in there to scout out the place. I will also take Duo with me. You an arrive later."

"If not, you better be ready to teleport all of us, including my sister, out of there Wufei," Zechs told him. "Even if you have to leave someone else behind, you will take her."

There had always been one great party at end the season, something that would be talked about by the nobles until the end of the next Season. Traditionally it was held at an out of the way place. Part of the spectacle was to see the guests arrive. There wasn't going to be a dance to end the Season this year, but a wedding. A double wedding, since Dorothy was also to be married.

They were to be married at the cathedral at Sanq, which had been abandoned since her parents had been killed. She vaguely remembered it. It had been a jewel box of a building, with wonderful stained-glass windows that she had stared at for hours. It was considered small compared to some of the other cathedrals that she had seen, but none had been as beautiful. She didn't want to go back there and see what they had done to it.

It was tonight and she was supposed to be dressing for it. She was putting that off as long as possible because the outfit was heavy and hot. Darlian had arrived two days ago and announced that she was to be married. She hadn't been shown the marriage contract or even told who she was to marry. She and Une had argued with him all day yesterday about it during the carriage ride here. Darlian had locked her in her room after dinner last night, angry with her that she had rebelled at last against him.

She was glad that she was going to be veiled, so that no one could comment on how pale she was. She hadn't even had a choice about what she was supposed to wear. The outfit had arrived this morning, in a huge create so that it wouldn't be crushed. She had been informed that Dorothy was wearing almost the same thing. Relena wanted to scream. The dress was heavy, impossible to move in and she hated what it represented. When had she lost control of her life? Or was it that she had never had control, just the illusion on it?

The weeks since Dorothy openly, as least to her, had thrown in her lot with them, had been a blur. Her nerves were stretched to the breaking point, knowing that she was going to be married to some old man against her will. She knew that there wasn't a way of avoiding it, screaming 'NO' would be ignored. All that would get her was another groom. That she wanted no one was besides that point. She didn't need or want a man in her life.

Relena jumped when she heard the knock on her door. Une had disappeared into her room ages ago, with a headache. At least that was what she claimed. Relena had her suspicions about that. Her chaperone was up to something and if it involved working in her rooms for hours, then she would let Une claim illness.

"It's me, Relena," Une announced, unlocking the door.

Une had taken to announcing her presence to her, because Dorothy reminded them that not all dangers walked up to you on the dance floor and demanded that you marry them. Some of those idiots kidnapped you too, if they thought that they would succeed.

"I see that you aren't trusting anyone any more," Une told her. "You should be safe in here, I don't think that they want to be too bold about forcing you by attacking you in your room."

"Dorothy got me a knife," Relena said, "and she showed me how to use it."

"Dorothy would."

Relena couldn't help but hear the approval in Une's voice. She was glad that her two friends liked each other. Dorothy thought very highly of Une too. The three of them would be able to protect one another today.

"How do you know that I will be safe in the house?" Relena asked her.

Une frowned at her. "I suppose that there is no harm in telling you now. Nikol and the rest of my men are fighters. I wasn't going to take you here without protection, no matter what that fool Darlian told me. You don't have to worry about this farce going through."

"How?" Relena asked her.

Une smiled at her. "You do have some allies in unusual places, my dear. They have been helping me keep you safe in a number of different ways. I haven't told you before this because there wasn't a need for it."

"But now I do," Relena told her, "because I am to be married today."

"And you and Dorothy are going to be the center of attention. Don't trust anyone, unless I am with them. That is when the excitement will start."

Une couldn't say anymore because Lady Darlian and a gaggle of maids had arrived to bath her and dress her for her wedding. Relena toyed with the idea of pleading with Lady Darlian about what was happening, but her pride wouldn't let her, because she knew that it was useless.

Duo looked at Wufei, wondering if he was serious or not. "Is she going to agree to it?" Duo asked him. "I mean, has anyone really talked to her about this?"

Wufei stared. "Now that I think about it, I doubt that anyone has bothered. We all assumed that she would be willing to go along with what we had planned for her."

"That isn't right," Duo told him. "You have no right to make those decisions for her. You have no right to decide her future! You're as bad as those people."

"Then you will be the one that explains the plan to her then," Wufei said.

"And she's going to believe a total stranger that tells her that she's going to become a fairy tale princess," Duo snarled at him.

"A Queen," Wufei corrected him.

"Treize would be better. Or Zechs, he's her brother," Duo told him, desperate not to be involved in it. What did he know about talking to nice girls?

"Relena hasn't seen either of them for years, for her brother it's been at least ten. She had no idea what he looks like now," Wufei said. "Plus I don't want either of them there until the ceremony."

"Or what he is now," Duo whispered, understanding the sadness in Wufei's eyes. "She's going to do, I don't know, but she isn't going to be happy and in addition to what else is going to be happening..."

"That is why my apprentice, you are going to be the one that is guarding her tonight. She will need someone that can protect her both physically and magically. Someone that has a kind heart also, because this is going to be overwhelming. That is you."

"I'm..." Duo protested. He was someone that was so far out of the princess's social class, it wasn't to be believed. And he supposed to convince her that he was to be trusted and wanted to help her in the space of a few minutes?

"...a competent fighter and a deadly magician. That is all that is important," Wufei told him.

"I'll do it," Duo told him. He knew that it wasn't worth arguing with Wufei, he would wear him down eventually and he wasn't up to the verbal fencing that Wufei would employ to get his way.

"Wonderful!" Wufei exclaimed. "There is just the matter of our outfits now. Mei Quin said that it is all ready."

"You know that we have made one tactical error already," Wufei told Zechs and Treize. "We have failed to include Relena in the discussion. What if she doesn't want to become the next queen of Sanq?"

Zechs looked at Wufei. He couldn't think of a reason that she wouldn't want to be queen. He had expected to inherit. It had been drilled into him as soon as he understood what it meant.

Treize laughed weakly. "I haven't even thought of that complication. Let's just stop her from being married for now."

"Duo pointed it out to me, I had not even thought about it. But Duo had because he had been used too often not to think to of it."

"I had always thought that Une had taken care of that small detail," Quatre murmured.

"She might have, but she might not have," Wufei said briskly, "because that might have tipped her hand too soon by telling her that."

"Its too late now to worry about it," Treize said looking around at the group. Heero wasn't happy that Duo would be going into danger with only Wufei at his back. But Wufei and Duo had to arrive there early and mingle with the guests so that they would be in a position to help Relena when the time arrived. The rest of them had to wait until the last possible moment and save the day. Treize didn't like the fact that he had to leave it all up to timing. It was risky, unprofessional and probably the only way that they would get past those that were be expecting them.

Relena was uncomfortable, but she supposed it was because she had been in this outfit for the last three hours. She had been amazed at the amount of layers that she was wearing and dreaded getting undressed. Well since if the plan didn't succeed and she married one of those nasty old men, then she was going to be grateful for all these fabric. The man might die of old age before she had to consummate her marriage.

No talking so that they could ask someone for help. So that they could get out of this farce of a marriage. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of begging. She knew that they were expecting it from the not too subtle insults that she and Dorothy had been hearing. She wondered how Dorothy felt about being the object of the nasty gossip that she usually was the one spreading. To many thought that this was the exact comeuppance that she deserved.

Relena spent most of her time morning the changes that had take place in the church. Physically, the structure had survived intact. Most of the stained glass windows had been replaced, with scenes of war instead of the parables that had been there. The entire upper half of the walls of the cathedral were of glass and the place was flooded with sunlight, making this seem like a joyous occasion. She felt that this was her funeral.

She watched the jewel toned sunlight creep across the floor, the only pretty thing in the room. The pillars were gaudy and over guilded, the homunculi an insult and she wondered how the Alliance could be so arrogant as to twist a place of worship in this manner. She had spent the last few hours planning our escape routes and other things.

Her gaze was drawn to a couple that was slowly strolling around the cathedral. There were a number of foreign dignities that were here to witness this or because it was an excuse to spy and gossip with a number of other ambassadors. She had seen many strange and wonderful outfits in the last few hours, but these two were impressive in their understated elegance.

The woman was swathed in as many layers as she was, layers upon layers of the same odd outfit and wearing enough white makeup for three people, her hair worked into a very stiff coif on the top of her head. Relena had no idea who they were or how they had even managed to get an invitation. However, aside form Une, she doubted that anyone she knew had been invited to this mess. This was more of a show of power for the Alliance then anything else. She had never seen them before in her life. She was surprised to see that the woman was slightly taller then her escort.

Her escort was equally breathtaking, in odd, colorful brocade robes that were covered in dragons and other mythical creatures. His skin was the color of caramel and he stared at the guards haughtily for even addressing him. She didn't know what had happened to cause the guards to let them through without trouble. She followed their slow progress in the crowd, trying to figure out who or what they were supposed to be. It wasn't until they were coming near her that she told Dorothy that they had been watching them. Not that it mattered. Most of the other guests had been covertly staring at them all evening, two girls that had been reduced to the level of homunculi because of politics.

"Dorothy," she hissed, "who are they?"

Dorothy looked over, her eyes narrowing for a second, thinking. "I have no idea. We are supposed to stand here and not cause any trouble."

"Those two are heading over here, so I don't think that they no about the no talking rule that we are under," Relena whispered before she fell silent.

Wufei escorted Duo over to the princess. He felt sorry that she and her companion were swathed like that, but he knew that Duo was having the same problem. The formal garb of a Heian lady was stiffing. But it was the best disguise that Mei Quin could come up with, given the limitations that she was working with. They had to hide that Duo was a man, in an outfit that he had to be able to fight in and wouldn't look out of place at this gathering. Wufei thought that she had succeeded admirably.

He was wearing the traditional robes of a Han noble, not that any of these idiots would know that. The Alliance had a very limited view of history. Only their own mattered and what was recorded and told to the masses was usually lies.

They hadn't had much time to plan this and most of their energy had been devoted to other things. They spent an hour studying the cathedral by wandering about it, not stopping to talk to anyone until they made a complete circuit of the area. The two of them noted the positions of the homunculi dolls along the walls, armed and ready to attack. He wasn't surprised that they weren't set off by the magic that both he and Duo had. The Alliance thought that sorcery was the only acceptable form of magic and checked only for that. They didn't worry about the older and more dangerous magics that he and Duo had. They would suffer for their hubris soon and he was looking forward to crushing them.

Duo had found it nerve racking to be under the observation of so many people. He hadn't seen this many people in one place in his life, he swore. He expected one of them to point them out and claim that they were imposters and intruders. That Wufei was lecturing him as if this was just another lesson wasn't lost on him. He was doing that to calm both of them down.

Wufei had gotten them past the guard at the door with a smile, a small gesture and the announcement that 'You didn't need to see our invitations'.

The changes to the doorkeeper had been amazing, his eyes glazed over and he repeated in a wooden voice, "I don't need to see your invitations. Move along."

Wufei just smirked and walked by the man, escorting him as if he was the fine lady that he was made up to be.

Wufei and Duo both noted the sorcerers that were scattered throughout the crowd, there in case something happened. The homunculi and the sorcerers were more subtle that an army, but just as dangerous. He was expecting something like this and had prepared for it. The Alliance was filled with soulless cowards, but they not stupid. They had made preparations in case someone would try something tonight to rescue Relena. He doubted that it would be enough.

Wufei had managed to fill some of the time that they were waiting for the attack by explaining to Duo the differences between the sorcerers homunculi and his tradition of Ningyo, that may or may not come to life, unless the magic user also touched the dolls spirit or tsukumogami. They also both noted who in the crowd were sorcerers and who were guards.

"You are doing well," Wufei murmured to Duo. "The one on the left is Relena. The woman on the right is Dorothy Catalonia."

Duo inclined his head regally, keeping a vague smile on his face. He felt that his face was frozen under the heavy makeup and that if he stopped moving, the kimono that he was wearing would tangle about his ankles. He glided to a stop in front of his targets and felt sorry for them. He thought that he had a heavy costume!

Both girls had the same outfit on, if it could be called that. The crimson silk dresses had a small-hooped skirt, belling out three feet on either side, narrowing at the waist into what looked like a heavily armored corset top, with long sleeves that belled out over their hands.

His head ached just looking at them. They were both veiled, a waist length fall of saffron colored silk and gold threads, held in place by a tiara that looked like it weighed a lot, which covered their hair, from the forehead back. There was a small, thick half veil that covered the lower half of their face and a separate veil of saffron gauze that cover their entire outfit that made them both look like that had been caught in a spider's web. Wufei told him that this was the formal bridal outfit for an high born Alliance bride.

"Relena," Wufei bowed, he shifted slightly and bowed again. "Dorothy."

Both girls jumped at the mention of their names, but said nothing.

"It would be prudent if Relena escorts my companion to someplace that they can be alone. I assure you that you are in no danger and that neither one of us wants to be your husband."

Une was across the room, having been monopolized all evening by various Alliance nobles. Both of them knew that it was a feeble effort to keep them apart, but it had worked. Relena saw the faint look of relief that crossed Une's face briefly before resuming the neutral mask that she had been wearing the entire morning. Relena realized that this was what Une had been waiting for and that it was safe to go with these people. She knew that Une had something. She was surprised that no one else had noticed.

Relena looked at the strange couple that had boldly walked up to her. She was sick of standing and waiting, she wanted to do something for once! Relena nodded, even though the gesture couldn't be seen and stepped out to lead the woman out to the garden. She felt awkward next to her and wished that she knew what was going on. It was getting close to noon and she was no closer to finding that out than she was when this costume was built around her. She wanted to believe in Une's half made promise of protection, but couldn't.

Duo breathed a sigh of relief when the two of them made it into a secluded corner, unchallenged. The night was moonless and the weather was cool enough so that it was a relief to be out in the garden after the heat of the building.

"I'm here to rescue you, princess," Duo told Relena.

She jumped and looked at him, pulling back her veil to see him better. Duo pulled her further into the shadows. It wouldn't do to get caught now. Relena was amazed that the person she thought was a woman, was actually male. She was fooled until he had opened his mouth and then she realized that he was a man. She wondered what was going on and if her fear showed in her eyes. She reached for the knife that hidden at her waist, ready to defend her honor or her life if she needed it.

"Your brother knows that I am here," Duo told her quickly.

"Mirialdo!" Relena exclaimed.

Duo shook his head. "You can talk to him about that, but all I have to say is that he can't be the next king of Sanq.. Ever. That means that you inherit the crown. He's planning on your coronation tonight, not your wedding. I just have one question to ask you. Do you want to be crowned the next Queen of Sanq?"

"What happened to my brother?" Relena demanded.

Duo hesitated. He wasn't surprised that she had latched on to the first thing that he had told her. She hadn't seen her brother in years and this was the first information that she had about him. That was more important than anything else that he had to tell her to Relena now. He just didn't know how much he could tell her. Zechs didn't talk about that time of his life at all. All he knew was that Zechs had been taken by the Alliance and magically mutated into a werecat.

"Something unpleasant," Duo said softly. "Something that you have to talk to him about. It was done so that he would never be able to inherit your parents' throne."

"What?" Relena whispered.

"I can't tell you, that he has to. I ask you again, do you want to the next queen of Sanq? If you don't, I'm sure that something can be done so that you don't have to worry about getting married."

Relena stared at him. She couldn't believe that a total stranger would be making this offer to her. For one wild second she thought that it was a trap, but looking into this man's far too serious eyes.

"I will be able to flee if I chose not to take the throne?" Relena asked him. "You would also honor my promise of protection to Dorothy?"

"If you want to, I will get you two out of here right now if you want me to," Duo offered.

Relena looked at him, a small frown on her face. She didn't doubt that this person had an escape plan that would get them out of there. "It's so sudden."

"I'm sorry," Duo said. He really was. He cursed the rest of them for thinking that Relena would just do what they asked her and so they didn't bother to ask her for what she wanted.

"How is my brother?" Relena asked him. "Is he...is he happy?"

"I think so," Duo told her.

"I just remember the look on his face when they took him away," Relena said quietly. "Treize's mother...his father had been dead for years, she stood in front of me, making sure that I was protected. They took Mirialdo away, he looked so grown up and Treize looked shocked. Both of them did. When I think about it, I pretty sure that the Khushrenadas had bribed a number of people so that my brother and I would be safe with them. Treize was furious that it didn't work. After his mother died, that's when he talked about finding Mirialdo again. Then he left and I was sent to the Darlians. Thankfully, Une's been there for me."

Duo looked up when he sensed someone looking for them. He pushed Relena behind him when he saw a sour faced man walking towards them in the robes of a sorcerer. He hoped that this wasn't one of the men that was supposed to marry Relena. The man's scent, a mixture of bad perfume and rotten blood arrived before he did. The hulking homunculi that followed him was scarred and twisted, and again wondered how someone could do that to other people.

"Now is the time," he intoned.

Relena looked at him and shivered. "Another moment, Lord Tsubarov."

Duo was amazed that her voice was firm and steady, with the right amount of distain. Tsubarov's face twisted even more when he heard it.

"Your vows are to be finished by noon," he said sternly.

"Then the priest will have to cut short his sermon on a what a happy union this is going to be," Relena told him tartly. "I doubt that will be true for any of us involved."

Tsubarov laughed, an odd, hollow sound. Duo was certain that the man hadn't laughed in years from that sound.

"You sound more like my promised bride, Duchess Catalonia, then yourself. If your veil wasn't pulled back I would have sworn that you were her. I look forward to teaching her proper behavior after we are joined."

Duo leaned over and carefully helped Relena rearrange her veil. He was conscious to keep his hands covered because he knew that would give him away to the other man. He didn't like the sound of the threat that Tsubarov had just made. Hurting Dorothy was about the only thing that the man could do.

"Thank you," Relena told him warmly.

Duo knew that it wasn't for the help that he had just given her. She was depending on him and his friends to do something save her and Dorothy.

"I don't know you," Tsubarov said flatly, looking at Duo.

Duo managed to keep the vacant smile on his face with difficulty. He supposed that he might have met the man at one time or another, but that part of his life was a blur. The smell of blood was sickening and bringing back bad memories for him.

"She is a guest," Relena told him calmly. "She was feeling ill and I offered to bring her out here for a breath of fresh air. I didn't want to be inside any longer." Relena looked pointedly at Tsubarov. "The smells, the crowd, they were making her ill."

"That doesn't mean that..." Tsubarov started.

"You are neither my husband or my guardian, so you have no say in what I do. Unless you are to marry me, then..." Relena told him.

"That honor went to Dakim Barton," Tsubarov snarled at her.

Relena went white and stopped arguing with him. Barton had coolly killed his wife and she was quite certain that as soon as she produced her heir and a spare, she would trip down the same staircase one night.

She held out her arm to him, "Then let us get going."

Duo watched her go back into the ballroom, her back straight and confident. Duo watched her, wanting to do something to stop the two of them, but knew that he couldn't...yet. The homunculi that followed them set his teeth on edge and he was certain that he would destroy both of them before the night was over. He then realized that Relena had never given him her answer.

Duo waited a minute before following Relena and Tsuvbarov back into the cathedral. He felt the energy of the room and wondered when Heero and the others were going to arrive. A tingling sensation from Wufei's magic told him that the other group had just teleported in and he wondered when the attack was going to begin.

Relena felt herself 'escorted' to the alter that was nestled in the arches in the front of the cathedral. Dorothy was beside her and she wanted to start screaming. This was a mockery for both of them. She knew that Duke Dermal had stopped just short of force to get the two of them before the alter. He was glaring at Une, who was acting as maid for both her and Dorothy. Une was glaring right back at him and only an idiot would think that this was a joyous occasion. Lady Darlian was crying and Relena just wanted to slap her for that. The woman wasn't being married against her will, why was she crying?

Relena stared straight ahead, ignoring both her groom and the priest, focusing her attention on the beautiful rose shaped window that made up most of the wall in front of her. She wouldn't make this any easier on either of them. Barton was marrying her for the throne and they both knew it. The priest was a craven ass that was ignoring the fact that neither bride was willing and the whole thing was a vulgar spectacle. Dorothy was quivering with rage beside her and Relena was certain that Tsubarov wasn't going to survive his wedding night. She didn't think that she was brave enough to do the same to Barton.

Relena let the priest drone on with the ceremony, startled when he actually intoned "If for any reason, someone wishes to protest this union, now is the time to speak out."

Relena was certain that he was supposed to leave out that part, from the glare that Barton gave him as soon as the words were out of his mouth. There was silence for a heartbreaking moment, then she heard a strong male voice shout out, "I protest!"

Barton let out an incoherent shout and turned around. Relena swirled around slowly, trapped by her skirts. She didn't miss the fact that every eye in the place was on the man that has spoken. Her jaw dropped and she threw back her veils to get a better look at the speaker. She ignored everyone else in the room and just stared at him. He was older and his hair was almost as long as hers, but it was her brother.

"As Relena Peacecraft's older brother, I protest that she is to be married without my consent."

Tsubarov let out a strangled, "You're supposed to be dead!"

Barton snarled at the same time, "You said you killed him!"

Relena turned to glare at both of them.

Zechs stalked into the room, aware of every eye on him and the support of his pride at his back. He ignored the gasps that Heero and Trowa caused as they guarded his back, along with a visibly armed Treize and Quatre. He noted that Wufei was on one side of the room and that Duo was stealthy working his way over to Relena and Dorothy.

The room was silent as the elite of the Alliance were captivated by the display of rebellion in front of them. This was a better show than a forced marriage. He made his way to the front of the cathedral, the room abuzz with speculation about what was happening and why. He gave them plenty of time to gossip as he leisurely made his way to his sister.

"But I'm not," Zechs pointed out calmly, as he went forward. "You've failed to kill me...several times, starting when you had me dragged off to your laboratory for experimentation."

He heard the startled gasps from many in the audience. Not that Tsubarov was experimenting on human beings, but that he was using one of their class to do so. That was what the lower classes were for. There was a buzz in the background as people started to speculate exactly what Tsubarov had done to Zechs.

"What are you doing here?" Barton screamed and pointed at Treize. "Arrest that traitor!"

Several of the nobles surged forward, only to stop at the roars of anger that Trowa and Heero let out. They looked nervously at the two weres, knowing that unarmed and unarmored, they were no match for them. Zechs was uneasy that they were in the middle, tied up by the crowd.

"When is it traitorous to rescue a friend from captivity?" Treize's voice rang out over the buzz. "Am I a traitor to shelter someone from oppression?"

"Quatre Winner as a hostage was the only thing that kept him in line," Dermal stated coldly. "If the man wasn't a pacifistic fool, he would have overrun our borders when we lost the hold that we had over him."

"And if you had not demanded that of him, you would have had a trusted ally," Quatre stated, pitching his voice so that it carried to all the corners of the room. "What do you have now? A situation that is slowly draining you of resources, because you don't know when my father will use his influence against you and raise a revolt of the occupied countries. You wait for it to happen and fret when it doesn't, tightening your grip. The more that you do that, the more will slip through your fingers and escape."

"We were told that you were dead, Mirialdo, a hunting accident," someone said.

Zechs grinned wolfishly. "I've gotten very good at hunting."

"You!" screamed Tsubarov.

Relena didn't know who he was screaming at or about, but she grabbed Dorothy's arm and started to slide over to the right side of the church. She didn't want to be within arms reach of either man and be used as a hostage.

Tsubarov gestured wildly and a number of homunculi started to slowly stir. The rest of the sorcerers started to chant, awakening more homunculi. A number of the female guests screamed and scattered when they saw that and instead just adding to the confusion. It didn't help that the awakening dolls were slowly and single-mindedly making their way towards Zechs's group. Anyone that was in their way was walked over. It was chaos and Duo took advantage of the fact to make his move.

Duo drew the katana that had been sheathed on his back, hidden under the layers of kimono and his wig. He slashed at the sorcerer that was next to him, taking his head easily and started to work his way towards the front of the room. He was going to keep that hidden until that last moment the fact that he could use magic. That was something that he wanted to be a surprise. He ignored the scream of horror that an overdressed matron made when she was sprayed with blood, since he had taken the sorcerer's head off neatly and right next to her. The body fell one way and head rolled another. He stepped over the body and made his way to the front.

Duo slashed at anyone that got in his way. He didn't have time to be nice about this, he wasn't too sure that someone else would not take advantage of the confusion to kill or capture Relena. He ignored the screams of terror and just reacted to the situation. Endless practices in the morning with Heero and the others made him react automatically to any attack. His skin crawled with all the sorcery that was flying about. He checked once in a while to see what the others were doing, but he knew that they could take care of themselves.

Wufei cursed at all the people that were running about. They were creating more of a mess and hindering what he could do. "Get the bystanders out of here," he shouted at Quatre.

Quatre looked up, wondering what the magic user was going to do. He looked around wildly, knowing that the crowd was a hindrance for both sides, but mainly for them because they actually didn't want them to get hurt. He thought that they had been cruel and ghoulish to enjoy seeing Relena forced into marriage, but he didn't want them dead. Besides their panic was beginning to give him a headache and that was making him short tempered.

Quatre grabbed an elderly gentleman by the arm and snarled at him. "If you want to live, you will help me get these fools out of here. They might deserve it but I don't want them on my conscious."

The man stared at him, shocked, but the sword in his hand convinced him that he was serious. He looked around, stunned at how fast a wedding had degenerated into a battle.

"I am the Marquis Weridge," he stated calmly. He then raised his voice, bellowing to be heard over the noise. "Follow me!"

Quatre was amazed that the Marquis had a good set of lungs and turned to clear a path to the back of the building. He wasn't surprised that they managed to herd part of the crowd in the direction that they needed them to go. Thankfully, the homunculi were ignoring them, concentrating on the group in the front of the church. When he got these idiots out of here, he was coming back to help his lover. Quatre pulled up a woman that had fallen in the confusion and shoved her into a random man's arms. He spared a glance to see what Trowa was doing and was relieved that he seemed to be able to hold his own. They were outnumbered, but the fight wasn't lost yet.

Duo arrived where Relena was at, spattered in blood and overjoyed that she had a knife out and was trying to defend herself. Some ass had cornered her, probably trying to take advantage of the pandemonium that filled the place to get Relena for his own reasons. The priest had fled and Relena was pinned down in front of the alter. The only reason that she was still free was that the man didn't want to get too close to the blade. Knife fights were nasty. Une had tackled the man, but had been knocked back and was getting to her feet slowly.

Dorothy was no help; she had her hands full with Tsubarov's homunculi guard. She had managed to get a sword from someplace and was fencing with, hampered by her hooped skirts and veils, but obviously more talented with a sword then her opponent.

Duo had no time to waste, and he beheaded the ass in one smooth motion, kicking the body out of his way as it fell. He spared a moment to call metal and send spikes of iron into the homunculi that Dorothy was fighting. It would slow it down enough for the women to escape. He could deal with it later.

"What is going on?" Relena demanded. Her eyes widened when she saw what happened to the homunculi. She looked at Duo with new respect.

"As I told you before princess, this is a rescue," Duo said. He took off a necklace that he had hidden under his clothing. "Take this. It'll teleport up to three people to a safe place. Use it if you get trapped. The activation word is Katsura."

"What are you?" Dorothy demanded, after she made her way over to them.

"Mouse," Une said coolly, pushing her glasses back.

Duo rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He noticed that Une seemed happier to see Dorothy then Relena, the way she acted. Well he hadn't really seen her since that night and he doubted that she was up to remembering his name right now.

"Someone that is trying to help you," Duo told her.

"But what you just did..." Relena started.

"I don't have time to explain to you the differences between sorcery and magic," Duo told them. "I just need you all to stay out of the way."

"There is a side chapel in the front," Relena said. She was angry, but she also knew that she was a liability to them in a fight. She was trapped in her outfit and could barely defend herself. While he was rude, he was also correct.

"Then I need to get the three of you into that room," Duo said.

"Treize and Zechs were quite clear on how I was to protect Relena," Une told him coolly. "I hid a gun in the room, hopefully it is there."

Duo grimaced. He wasn't too found of the crude pistols that the Alliance used, but it was better then nothing. "I'd use it as a last resort," he told her.

"Mouse?" Dorothy drawled in an amused tone, "that sounds interesting."

Duo glared at her and started to herd the small group forward. He was glad that Une was taking point and he made sure that he kept his body between the women and the rest of the crowd. He didn't know what was happening behind him, but he knew that this group shouldn't see the fighting.

Wufei nodded his approval when he saw that Quatre was getting some of these fools out here. It would not do to start Relena's reign with bloodshed. At least, not the blood of the nobles, even though they deserved it for allowing the obscenity that was the Alliance to form. He had no qualms about shedding that of the sorcerers and their twisted work. Duo was doing his duty of keeping Relena safe.

The space around him was clearing out and he had room to maneuver. Dekim and the others were concentrating on Zechs and his pride and making the classic mistake of ignoring the enemy that was behind him. Wufei smirked and slipped out of his clothing, wanting to even the odds a bit. Wufei stretched and shifted, dropping the illusion that was human form.

Duo turned around when he heard the screams change in pitch. If he had thought that they were panicking before, they were hysterical now. What had happened?

"Dragon!" Dekim screamed. He saw his death in that monster and didn't like it.

Duo just stared, stunned. He knew that it was Wufei. That the dragon was who Wufei really was. He then blinked and grinned. He didn't know why Wufei had shifted, but it was a form that was truly impressive. He was going to decimate the Alliance forces. The weres were something that were real. Dragons were mythical beasts and no one wanted to know that the myths were real and about to kill them.

Wufei roared, stretching out to his full length of thirty feet. He was a bit cramped in the chapel, but this was the best way to fight homunculi. He reached out his claws and shredded the homunculi that had been fighting with Treize. He smirked, amazed that his lover actually looked astonished about what had just happened. He shook the remains of the doll off of his claws and breathed dragon fire on it to make sure that the blasted thing was gone. He then went on to get they rest of the damned dolls. They had boxed the rest of the group into a circle in the middle on the nave.

Treize recovered from his shock from seeing his lover transform and made a mental note to have a talk with Wufei about certain things, such as what he was exactly. He attacked the nearest sorcerer, amazed that the man actually had a sword and was trying to fight back. He must have run out of charms and stolen energy and there wasn't anyone around here that he could sacrifice to get some more or time enough to do so. The sorcerer had no training in the sword that he could tell and Treize felt almost sorry when he got under the man's feeble defense and ran him through.

Treize stepped over the body coolly and went forward to join Zechs in his quest for Dekim Barton. From what he had found out, Dekim had been the one that had been behind the proposal to turn Mirialdo into Zechs. The man wanted him out of the way. While straight out murder would have been easier, he wouldn't have been able to enjoy Zechs's pain over the years.

The cathedral had descended into chaos. Quatre had managed to get most of the crowd to the back of the church. The marquis and a few of the other gentlemen were organizing the evacuation, making sure that the guests didn't trample one another in their hysteria. He looked around and then ran back into the fighting, dodging homunculi and human guards to get back to Trowa's side. He ran in and skewered the sorcerer that Trowa had just pounced on.

"I am not leaving you!" Quatre snapped at him. He lunged and attacked around Trowa, striking a guard that was trying to back stab Trowa. The man shrieked and leapt back, unnerved by the glare that targeted him. He didn't think that a human could be scarier then a were, but the blond showed him that he was wrong. He was fighting like a man possessed.

Trowa hissed and kicked out at another homunculi. He didn't have time to argue with Quatre about it and his logic was sound. He was getting overwhelmed trying to fight off both the human soldiers and the dolls. It wasn't like there wasn't any skill involved, the dolls had a basic set of attacks that they used, which he easily countered. The soldiers weren't much better. In fact, they were easier to kill because they didn't have the magical toughness of the doll.

Heero surveyed the room. Treize and Zechs were occupied with trying to get to Dekim Barton. Trowa and Quatre were pinned down by the waves of men and dolls that were trying to get to them, but Wufei would be able to help them. Heero wasn't surprised to see that the man had been hiding what he truly was from them. He didn't care what Wufei was, except that he was an ally. That left him to get to rescue Duo, not that he really needed it, from the Tsubarov. The man had noticed what Duo had done to his creation and realized that he was a magic user.

Heero hated both Dekim Barton and Tsubrov. They had been present when he had been trained and had been the ones to punish him when he failed. They had hurt all of them because they enjoyed it. Enjoyed hurting him. That was something that he couldn't understand and one of the main reasons that he hated being human.

Duo managed to get his group into the side chapel. He shooed them into the room. "Bar the door. If this goes badly, the use the charm that I gave you."

"Badly?" Relena asked. They were fighting in the middle of a church and she was certain that Duo had killed someone to have that much blood on his clothing and his sword. "This..."

"This couldn't be avoided," Une reminded her. "The alternative is that you and Dorothy..."

"I'd rather die first," Dorothy snarled. She had no illusions about how Tsubarov would have treated her. Her grandfather had been overjoyed that there would be a 'strong man' to keep her in line.

"No dying," Duo promised her. "Get back there and take care of each other. I'll make sure that no one gets through."

Une nodded and closed the door. Duo was glad to see that it was heavy and would withstand a lot.

Relena turned around and demanded from Une, "What is going on? What happened to my brother?"

"So this is what you were planning," Dorothy said at the same time. She ripped off her veils and stripped off as much of the outfit as she could. The damned thing was impossible to fight in. " A coup."

Une looked at the both of them. "Do you really think that I would let that happen to either of you?"

Dorothy looked at her, her expression softening for a moment. "I knew that you would have something planned. You usually do."

Une looked back at her and blinked for a second, then smiled shyly. "I have been doing this for a while. I always was good at planning."

Relena stared at the both of them and wondered what was happening to make the two of them look like a pair of love struck schoolgirls now.

Duo turned back to the fight, knowing that Relena was as protected as she was going to be here. He dodged Tsubarov's homunculus as it attacked him, angered that he had hurt it earlier. Duo raised his katana in defense and slashed at the thing. He wasn't surprised to see his blade cut into the flesh, but nothing else happening. Homunculi didn't bleed and they didn't always react to pain. Duo bit back a curse when he realized that this one seemed to be a lot more advanced than the other ones and had some skill fighting.

Heero stalked up behind Tsubarov. Both Treize and Zechs would scold him that he was acting unchivalrously by attacking an opponent from behind. He didn't care and Tsubarov seemed to be more interested in the fight that Duo was having with his doll than anything else around him. Stupid prey deserved to die. Heero swiped at Tsubarov's back, wanting to crush his neck when he froze. He would have let out a howl of frustration if he could, since Tsubarov had cast some sort of spell on him. He should have known better. Tsubarov liked doing this to him when he was younger, before he punished him.

"You never learn," Tsubarov sneered at him.

Heero glared at him.

"I made you and I will unmake you," Tsubarov told him coolly. "I need the energy now."

Tsubarov started chanting and Heero felt a sharp stab of pain and the life draining out of him. It was a slow, cold trickle and he wondered if this was how it felt to Duo when this had happened to him. He could understand now the loathing that he had for being touched. Heero wanted to scream but he couldn't as he felt his body being torn apart, starting to separate his cat and his human side.

Duo wondered what was happening to have Heero still like that. Tsubarov's back was to him, so he couldn't see what he was doing, but it couldn't be good. He shifted his katana to a one handed grip and cast a spell. Metal spikes flew towards Tsubarov's back and then stopped suddenly, falling to the floor. Duo cursed. He should have known that the bastard would have some sort of spell shield up. He stabbed at the doll and then dodged around him, worried about what was happening to Heero. The homunculi grabbed wildly for him as he ducked past him. Duo felt the wig that he was wearing being snatched off his head kept on going. He was suddenly glad that Mei Quin insisted that he wear that wig, even though the thing had weighed a ton.

Duo charged forward, hoping the he was in time. The look of pain that was on Heero's face told him what was happening. Tsubarov was draining him for power, considering that Heero was a magical creature, that was a lot of power and he wouldn't survive it. He glanced behind to see what the doll was doing and was surprised to see that it was staring at the wig that it was holding in confusion. Wigs obviously weren't something that it had encountered before. Duo hoped that it kept the homunculi confused long enough to take care of its master.

Heero saw Duo charging to his rescue and wanted to scream at him to stay away. He couldn't though. All he could do was watch in agony. Something must have shown in his eyes because Tsubarov turned fractionally to see what was behind him.

"You," Tsubarov exclaimed. "I should have known."

Duo didn't say anything. He had to disrupt Tsubarov concentration so that he would stop hurting Heero, Killing him was the first thing that he thought of. Paying one of the bastards back for all the pain that he had be given from them over the years would be sweet. He just hoped that Tsubarov had been overconfident in setting up his protection spells. He knew that the man was protected from magic, probably from weapons too, but he doubted that he had thought of flesh.

Duo grinned, twirled and slashed out, attempting to take the bastard's head. He wasn't surprised to see Tsubarov throw up a hand and parry his strike with an invisible shield. Duo dropped his weapon on his follow through. He then kicked out, knowing that his opponent wasn't expecting it, striking him in the stomach.

Tsubarov sneered when the fool in front of him thought that he could hurt him with mere steel. He was surprised at the kick. He had never seen anyone fight like that. He felt the breath being knocked out of his body as he doubled over in pain and the power drain that spell that he was controlling slipping out of his control. He struggled wildly to hold onto it.

Duo snarled, shifted his balance and followed his kick to the stomach with a knee to the forehead. He heard, rather then felt Tsubarov's nose smash as his head was thrown back by the force of his attack.

Tsubarov wanted to scream in frustration when he lost control of his spell. All that lovely power wasted. The pain in his face was nothing to the pain in his brain when the spell exploded, out of control. He let out a breathless little noise from the pain and crumpled to the floor.

Heero collapsed, the backlash that he felt from the magic making him feel that he had been torn apart and put back together, badly. He lay panting on the floor, willing himself to get up and protect his human.

Duo leaned over and scooped up his katana. He had no qualms about striking a downed and helpless man, when that man was a sorcerer. He raised his katana and separated Tsubarov's head from the rest of his body. He wasn't surprised at how easily he cut through is neck, the tip of his katana hitting the floor with a musical and satisfying ching. What surprised him was the fact that the homunculi went berserk when that happened.

Duo heard a scream of mechanical anguish and looked over to see the doll tossing the wig that it had been staring at and charge him. Duo instinctively cast metal spikes at the doll, pouring most of his power into the spell so that he could stop it from the amount of damage that he caused it. The doll screamed as it was hit, but kept on coming forward, ignoring the injury that was done to him. Duo raised his katana, knowing that he was the only thing between it and Heero. When the thing got to him, he struck at its left leg, hoping to cripple it.

Duo knew that he severed the muscles in the thing's leg, when it buckled and fell to one knee. He still couldn't get out of its reach fast enough and the homunculi grabbed his arms, twisting them so that he dropped his weapon. Duo screamed in pain.

Heero heard that as struggled to his feet. He was grateful that the doll was ignoring him. It must have been programmed to kill the person that killed its master. How typical of a sorcerer.

Duo cast frantically as the doll shifted his grip to strangle him, trying to pry its hands off his neck the same time. Duo knew that damage spells weren't that answer, he had to unmake it. Duo hated doing it, because he had been a human being at one time, but now he was insane and trying to kill him. Duo chanted the spell that he needed, hoping that he didn't run out of air before it was through, and that wouldn't be good.

Heero snarled weakly bad stood up. He frantically slashed at the homunculi's arms, trying to get it to let go of Duo. He didn't think that he was making any progress with his struggles, but he knew that he was doing the right thing so long as kept hearing Duo's voice.

Duo was glad that Heero was all right and trying to save him. Not that he wouldn't, but from the way that he looked, Heero had been badly hurt by Tsubarov. Heero managed to get his enough time and air so that he could finish casting. When he said the last syllable, picturing the kanji that went with it, he felt a tremendous rush of energy leave him.

"Get away," Duo croaked at Heero. He realized that this might not be the best spell to cast around a werecreature, but he was desperate.

Heero snarled but dived off the side. His human was spell casting and didn't want him to get caught in the backlash. He had felt the power the Duo had been manipulating, but didn't care that he might be hurt from it. He knew that Duo wouldn't hurt him. Heero crawled to what he thought was a safe distance and hoped that Duo knew what he was doing.

In the end, the homunculi felt apart with a small whine. It wasn't impressive or showy and Duo stood over the collection of parts that once had been a person and rubbed his throat. He was sorry that he had to kill it. He looked up to see that the fighting and the noise were dying down.

Dekim Barton was the only Alliance leader or soldier that remained standing. There were a few stragglers at the back of the cathedral, watching to see who won. The rest of the crowd had gotten outside, out of the way. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei had managed between them to destroy the rest of the sorcerers, homunculi and soldiers that had been fighting.

Wufei was guarding the small force of soldiers that had finally surrendered, occasionally leering at them like they were one of Shu Feng's bean buns and he was hungry. They were crowded into the front left side aisle in the cathedral, looking frightened out of their wits.

Quatre was standing over Trowa, making sure that no one bothered him while he healed. From his stance, Duo doubted that anyone would bother them. The survivors seemed more afraid of Quatre then of Trowa or even Wufei the way they were looking at him.

Relena ignored Une's orders to stay put and peeked out of the room when the noise died down. She was shocked to see that in front of the door was one of the monsters, collapsed in a heap. He must have sensed her presence, because it turned its head around and hissed at her. Relena squeaked in fear, but ignore it when she heard her brother speak.

"You really think that you are fit to be the next ruler of Sanq?" Dekim demanded. "You covered one of its holy places in blood."

Zechs looked at him, very aware of the audience that they had. Dignitaries from places that he hoped to support Sanq when it broke away from the Alliance. Representatives of the client states that the Alliance controlled and might break away if they realized that it could be done. His sister. The entire world seemed to be waiting for his answer.

"I never came here with the intention of claiming the overturned throne of Sanq," Zechs told him. Both of their voices carried in the silence that had settled over the cathedral. "I came here to save my sister from an unwanted marriage."

"There would have been simpler ways to do so considering," Dekim looked around at the bodies. His jaw tightened when he noticed that Tsubarov was dead. "You could have simply made her disappear."

"And have her and her children exiles?" Treize asked. "To be forced to give up everything? Again?"

"And you do know about exile," Dekim snarled at him. "You and this collection of freaks that you brought here."

"Actually I brought them here," Wufei said in an amused tone of voice. "Simply to make sure that your dreams died."

Duo thought that it was weird that Wufei sounded the same in either form. It was eerie to hear his voice from that big body.

"What are you talking about?" Dekim demanded.

Wufei just laughed and shook his head and went back to eyeing the soldiers. Treize turned to look at him. He knew that Wufei hadn't told him many things about his life, but he could understand now why he was helping them.

"And why do you call my brother a freak?" Relena asked.

She had ignored the second hiss that rude creature made at her and went out to see her brother. It had been almost a decade since she had seen him. The fighting was over. Dorothy and Une trailed behind her. When she got to where Duo was standing, he put out a hand to stop her. The fighting might be over, but it wasn't safe and he didn't know if Relena putting herself in to danger would give someone besides Dekim stupid ideas and try to take her hostage. Letting her get too close to the drama that was happening in front of them would be unwise.

Zechs bit back a growl when he heard his sister's question. He had every intention of telling her why he wouldn't...couldn't take the throne of their parents. But not in the middle of a bloodstained church in front of all these witnesses and right now.

"She doesn't know," Dekim purred.

Heero snarled and struggled to his feet to stand next to Duo. All the blood and other things in the room didn't let him smell the fear that he knew Zechs was feeling. His leader wasn't an idiot, his sister was not going to take the news that he was like them in a good way. He had seen the look that Relena had given him and Trowa when she first saw them. Horror, fear and disgust. Zechs shouldn't see that in her eyes.

"I asked you a question," Relena said.

Dekim started to laugh. "My dear girl, they never told you. Your beloved brother is a monster and a killer. Like that thing that is standing behind you."

Relena stared at Dekim. "I don't believe you."

She did deep down inside. She had been told by Mouse or whatever his name was, that something bad had happened to her brother.

"She has a right to know," Treize told Zechs softly.

Zechs couldn't even turn to look at his lover, "I doubt that she will be as accepting as you are."

"I love you," Treize said. "I can't change that and I don't want to change you."

Heero snarled again and attacked Dekim. If the man was dead he would stop hurting all of them. He didn't give any of them time to react. Treize and even Zechs would want to do the stupid human thing and keep Dekim alive. He was the monster here, not them. Heero knew that he was thoughtless about Duo's feelings at times and ignored things that didn't matter to him, which was a lot of things, but he had never hurt anyone because he enjoyed it. He never smiled when someone was in pain. Dekim did that.

Dekim didn't even have time to scream. All he saw was a grayish blur and one of the weres was on him. He didn't even have a chance to struggle when it lifted him up and broke his neck like was a mouse. His last thought was of overwhelming rage that his plans were falling apart on him.

Duo opened his mouth to protest and then shut it again. It wasn't the right thing to do, but it had been the smart thing and Heero would have been the only one that would have done it. He didn't say anything when Heero tossed the body off to the side and stalked back to him.

"It's over Relena," Duo told her quietly. "And that bastard deserved a messier death then he got."

Relena drew in her breath, wanting to scream. She couldn't believe that monster had killed Dekim so quickly and so easily.

Duo reached out and hugged Heero when he came over to him. He didn't want him to feel that he had done something wrong by killing Dekim. No doubt he had he reasons for it that he would eventually explain to him.

"Decisions have to be made," Treize said. "And here is neither the time or the place for it."

Relena looked at him shocked. What decisions? What was going on?

Zechs walked over to her and embraced her, "I was so worried about you."

Relena buried her head in his chest, just wanting to be held and not caring about anything else for now.

Wufei shrugged and shapeshifted back into his human form. He doubted that the soldiers would do something stupid now that all their leaders were dead. He causally got dressed and went over to the group that was forming in on the side of the alter. He ignored the shocked looks that everyone was giving him. Quatre and Trowa followed him.

"I think that unless we come up with a plan," Wufei said, "that all this will have been a waste. Lady Une, who of the people here can be trusted?"

Une thought for a second. "A handful. The first one that I can think of is the Marquis Weridge. A few others."

Wufei nodded and gestured to Quatre and Duo. "Go with her to get them. Bring them back in here."

He looked at Heero and Trowa. They were tired and injured, but he still needed them to do a few things. "Find that idiot priest and bring him back here. Take Dorothy with you."

He turned to Treize with a smile, "I know that you no doubt have number of plans. Which one are you going to chose?"

Treize stared at him. For a wild moment he thought that the dragon had just been a clever illusion, but in his heart he knew that it was real. "That depends on Relena."

Relena looked up when her name was mentioned. "What does?"

"I can't take out parents' throne," Zechs told her softly. "Dekim was right. I am a monster."

"What are you talking about?" Relena asked. "You..."

"I am like Heero and Trowa," Zechs said.

"Who?" Relena asked.

"The two werecats that just left," Treize told her gently. "They and Zechs..."

"Who?" Relena repeated. She had no idea what was going on. Her brother was hard, not at all like she remembered. Treize too. There was a look in both of their eyes that told her that they had made terrible choices and had to live with them. This wasn't the happy occasion that she had dreamed about for years.

"Mirialdo Peacecraft was destroyed when I was turned into a were and an assassin for Tsubarov and Barton," Zechs told her bitterly. "I gave myself a new name for my new body. Zechs."

"You...you are like that thing that snapped Dekim's neck like it was nothing?" Relena demanded, wanting scream.

"Do you want me to show you?" Zechs asked her.

Relena screwed her eyes shut. She didn't want to hear this and she definitely didn't want to see it.

"Ignoring to isn't going to make it go away," Zechs told her sadly.

"I can't, not now. Later..." Relena said, opening her eyes reluctantly.

She was glad when she did that. Une was coming back with a group of people and she needed to appear calm and in control. She noticed that Dorothy and her group weren't too far behind and that they hadn't managed to find the priest yet. She was certain that the coward wouldn't stop running until he got over the boarder. Relena stared at the weres that were with Dorothy, fascinated by the way that they moved. She couldn't believe that her brother could ever be like that.

She knew that older man that was leading the group. He had been a friend of her parents and always had had a kind word for her whenever they met.

"Marquis," Relena greeted him with a nod.

The older man bowed to her. "I fear," he started, "that the Alliance was too powerful for us to do anything about."

"This changes that," Treize told him. "So...?"

Relena noticed that the Marquis froze at his tone, which she thought had been friendly. She heard the steel in it and knew that the other man had also.

The Marquise looked around, "I think that it does."

The cathedral was in shambles, the blood drying on the marble floor. He had never seen anything like this before, but he knew that when the capital fell and Relena lost her parents, there had been blood spilled here then too.

"Will you take the throne?" Zechs asked Relena softly.

She looked at him. She had never thought about the throne. All she had wanted was not to be controlled anymore. But if she refused, all of this would have been a waste. She was aware that almost every eye in the room was on her "I will," she whispered.

She swallowed and in a louder voice announced, "I claim the overturned throne of Sanq."

Relena had turned everyone's life upside down with her announcement. Duo had thought that he would do his part in the rescue and would return to Wufei's estate. That hadn't happened. He knew that Quatre and Treize really enjoyed dealing with the situation that they were all in now. Duo just couldn't get used to all the people that were here and that they were treating him like he was someone important, instead of just Wufei's apprentice. He had his own apartments in what was now the new royal palace in Sanq.

Wufei, Treize and Quatre had schemed and planned and done a number of things that lead to the Alliance falling in a matter of days after the incident in the cathedral. From its ashes rose a confederation of nations that looked to Sanq and its young queen lead them. She in turn, relied on Treize, Quatre and Wufei to advisor her. Zechs stayed in the background and lending her his silent support and encouraged her decisions.

Since Wufei had been recruited into the government, he insisted on taking him with him into the madness, because he could trust him. Heero stayed by his side. Duo was surprised at that, because he was certain that the were would have gone home to ignore all these stupid human customs.

Heero walked in and looked at Duo sleeping on their bed. He didn't like this place. The humans smelled bad and had a lot of stupid rules. He didn't mind that they treated him like a dumb animal, he didn't expect any better from them. The only that he liked around here was the featherbed that was in his and Duo's room. That was because Duo usually snuggled wonderfully with him in it.

They had both recovered from the battle that had taken place a couple of weeks ago. They just hadn't had time for themselves since then. Wufei's use of Duo as his delegate was causing him to spend most of his days speaking to the stupid humans. He only stayed with him because he didn't want him to suffer alone with them. He was certain that Duo wasn't interested in the politics and deal making that Quatre and Treize enjoyed. Also he noticed that many people weren't interested in arguing with Duo if he was next to him. But he was sick of dealing with humans and their stupid rules. Heero had raided the kitchen for enough food for him and Duo for the day and other supplies. He was finally going to claim his human.

Heero slipped back into bed next to Duo. He purred and nuzzled his neck, wanting him to wake up slowly. Now that he decided to do it, he wasn't in a hurry anymore.

Duo rolled over and threw an arm across Heero's chest. "Missed you," he murmured.

Heero stroked his back. Duo had given hints since they had been here that he was interested in trying to have a physical relationship with him, but they had had no time. He as making the time today and had informed the rest of the pride that they weren't to disturb them.

Duo smiled sleepily and lifted his head to give Heero a kiss. It had been awkward at first, kissing, but they had learned the best way for it. It was very different to kiss him his cat form then the inbetween one. Kissing had led to a few other things, fumbling explorations on his part with Heero, finding out what they both enjoyed. Duo had discovered that Heero did treat his lovers well and that a mouthful of fur wasn't always a bad thing. They had given each other quick moments of pleasure, but hadn't gone much further then kisses and caresses.

Duo was aware that he was getting aroused from the kiss and that Heero was the same way. He felt him against his thigh, as he unconsciously pressed against his body, enjoying the way that his fur felt against his naked skin.

"I have to," he muttered after rubbing against Heero for a few minutes.

Heero shook his head. 'You're with me, alone, today,' Heero signaled him. 'I...'

Duo shivered. He was amazed at the thrill that he felt when Heero told him that. He knew that he should be upset that Heero had decided that he wanted to take further, chose today as the day and didn't bother to tell him about it. But he also knew that if Heero had left it up to him, that it would be ages before he made that decision. He was still uneasy about taking that final step.

'You...' Heero continued, 'I would have asked...'

"But there never seems to be enough time," Duo finished for him. He grinned, "You're asking now and the answer is yes."

Heero rolled over and kissed Duo again. He then started to lick his neck, wanting to taste him all over. He worked his way down his smooth skin, tickling Duo with his whiskers.

Duo feverishly caressed Heero, letting him do whatever he wanted to him. He had found out that Heero preferred to be the aggressor, wanting him to follow his lead. He had no problem with that for now. Heero knew what he was doing and was still figuring out what do. He didn't care about anything when Heero's mouth finally reached his groin and swallowed him in one gulp.

Duo moaned and arched onto Heero's mouth. He clutched at the sheets, whimpering when he felt something growing in him.

"Ahhh..." he screamed as he felt Heero probe his opening and slip a finger inside there.

It was uncomfortable, but with all that other things that was happening he didn't mind, the finger was slick and Heero was being careful. He made himself relax and was rewarded by Heero's finger brushing something inside of him. That made him shudder and tense up again. He watched Heero through slitted eyes, seeing how much he enjoyed seeing him like this. Watching Heero watching his reactions. That was exciting to him for some reason.

Heero stopped sucking on Duo, knowing that his human was close. He slowly stretched him out, listening to the noises that he made. Duo whimpered lovely as he inserted another finger into him. Heero knew that he as going too fast, but he had waited far too long for this. He withdrew his fingers slowly, wanting to be able to tell Duo what to expect.

Duo groaned when he felt Heero leave him. "What?"

He opened his eyes wide when he saw Heero kneeling over him, smearing oil on his manhood. He shuddered at the size of it. He knew that Heero was big, but he was having second thoughts about this. He then remembered how good it felt to have his fingers in him and opened his legs wider.

Heero's eyes widened when he saw how eager Duo was for him. His human was nervous, but willing. He would show him how good his was with to a human. He guided his cock to Duo's opening, probing gently for a second before plunging into him.

Duo wasn't ready for the sudden pain that he felt as Heero entered him. He let out a small scream when he felt Heero's hard flesh pushed into him. Heero was in him before he could say anything however and buried deep in his body.

Heero purred and resisted the urge that he had to move for a few minutes. He leaned over to kiss Duo had started to rock in and out of him slowly. He was hot and tight and Heero doubted that he was going to be able to last long.

Duo whimpered and realized that the pain was a good thing. It showed him how good the pleasure was when Heero started to move. He was brushing that thing inside him and Duo wiggled to take Heero in deeper or make him move faster or something.

Duo thrust his tongue into Heero's mouth, moaning helplessly as Heero did what he wanted, his thrusts getting harder and faster. Duo wrapped his legs around his waist and arched into his strokes, clawing at his back and begging for more.

Heero groaned with joy when Duo started to move underneath him. He was worried that he had pushed him too far, too fast. But his human was as passionate as he hoped that he would be. He thrust harder, trying to go as deep as he could into him as Duo wrapped his legs around his body.

Their world was just the passion that they were aware of. Duo felt himself being stretched tighter and tighter by the feeling inside of him. He was screaming incoherently into Heero's mouth when he finally broke and released his passion. He was vaguely aware of the wetness of his stomach as he shuddered helplessly under Heero's body.

Heero growled when he felt Duo climax. He shoved hard as he could, coming with him filling him as he had dreamed about for months. He lolled over Duo, passion spent but careful not to put too much of his weight on him, resting on his elbows above Duo. He didn't want leave him and sighed when he felt himself soften.

Duo panted harshly, wondering what exactly had happened. Well he knew what, but how could it fell that good. He was certain that Wufei had been right about this. It felt good and he wondered why he had been nervous about it. He nuzzled Heero's throat as the were covered him, unwilling to move. He fell back to sleep with Heero purring above him.

Duo woke up a couple of hours later, aware of that he felt sticky and uncomfortable. Heero was sprawled out next to him, reading something.

"I..." Duo croaked.

Heero looked over and leaned over to nuzzle him. Duo blinked and realized that Heero had changed form his mancat form to his true cat one. Heero nudged him and pointed out the cup that was on the table next to the bed. Duo drank it greedily and sat up. He was hungry and noticed that there was a basket of food on the floor.

"You planned for this," Duo said.

He didn't know if he should be amused or angry. He moved, becoming conscious of the fact that he was sore. But it was a nice soreness. He rolled out of bed, feeling the semen that had dried on his stomach and between his thighs.

Heero managed to look sheepish for a moment and then smug. He leapt off the bed and went to join Duo for a snack. He had no idea how easy Shu Feng was to get along with until he had to deal with the servants in this place. Getting them to pack a basket for him consisted of him taking what he wanted while the cook cowered in the corner like he was going to eat her. Idiot woman.

Duo picked through the basket, seeing the selection that Heero had gotten. Mostly finger foods and things that both of them could eat.

"So why the change?" Duo asked him as they settled down on the floor with the basket between them.

Heero shrugged and wrinkled his nose. Duo thought for a second, realizing that Heero had been almost constantly in his mancat form. He usually wandered around the estate in his cat shape, which was his favorite one. Duo looked at him, knowing that there was some sort of reason that he hadn't really shifted before this. He just had to figure it out.

Duo unconsciously winced when he moved in a way that his body didn't like. Heero looked at him, worried that he had hurt him.

"Not to worry about it," Duo assured him with a grin. "I...it was wonderful. I can't believe that you were willing give that up for a while for me."

Heero moved closer and settled his head on Duo's lap. His human needed time and he had given it to him, reluctantly, but it had been worth the wait. He licked his groin, liking the way that Duo moaned when he did that.

Duo swallowed the tart that he had been nibbling on. "You keep on doing that and I'm not going to want you to stop."

Heero purred and shifted his attention to cleaning Duo's stomach, he wouldn't mind making his human scream again. Duo started petting Heero's head, encouraging him.

Duo didn't know how long Heero had been giving him a bath, when Heero left him. He lifted up his head to see Heero fetching the oil and bringing it back to him, dropping the bottle into his hand.

"How?" he asked huskily and then blushed.

Heero didn't have any fingers in this form. He was going to have to prepare himself for him. He was hard now and wanted Heero in him again. Heero growled in approval that Duo had figured out what he wanted him to do, when he poured oil on his fingers and then reached back to his entrance.

Heero looked at Duo crouching in front on him, fingers slowly probing his opening, making him ready for their pleasure. The sounds that he was making were maddening as he explored himself and needed to take Duo now. He nudged him so that he was kneeling. Duo had already oiled him, teasing him the entire time.

Duo shifted to knees, at the nudge, bracing his free hand on the floor. He removed his fingers slowly, quivering with excitement. He held his breath as Heero lunged at him, frantically humping him until he found his entrance. Duo gasped as Heero shoved into him. He had a brief flashback to how they had met and tilted his hips back to take him deeper. He was grateful that Heero was slightly smaller in this form, since he was still tender from the first time.

Heero growled and shoved in hard. He knew that Duo wanted him from the way that his body welcomed him. He dug into the floor with his claws and back legs, pumping enthusiastically. He wanted to take Duo again and again, seeing and hearing him come forever. Heero roared in ecstacy.

Duo felt that he was being pounded to death, but it would be worth it. It was different this way, rougher and more exciting. He reached down and pulled at his manhood, enjoying the way that it felt. All that mattered was that Heero was filling him and that it felt so good,

Heero bit down on Duo's neck carefully as he climaxed, filling him with his seed. He had been violent with Duo, but from the moans of pleasure that he was making, Duo was enjoying it. He felt Duo tighten around him as he orgasmed, triggered by his bite.

Duo let out a small scream when he orgasmed, feeling Heero's teeth on his skin. Heero was limp above him, shuddering in his own climax. Duo wanted to collapse he was so wiped out.

Heero pulled out of Duo when he was done, knowing that he was heavily and that it would be uncomfortable for Duo if he stayed here.

Duo groaned and turned around. "Bed," he croaked.

Heero agreed with him and crawled back into bed with him. He wanted to be back home where he could spend more time with Duo, just enjoying him. Heero knew that this would be over far too soon.

Quatre knocked on Duo's door when he hadn't seen either him or Heero all day. He didn't think that either one of them was sick, they would have been told about that. But he had heard from the kitchen staff that Heero had come down, threatened the cook and had taken food from the kitchen. He had spent a lot of time calming them down, wondering how they could be so silly. He knew from the way that those idiots were staring at Trowa, they were still frightened of him.

He wasn't surprised to see Duo open the door, clutching a kimono around him as he peered around the door. "Quatre?"

"I was worried," Quatre said as he slipped inside. He sniffed the air and grinned. "You and Heero..."

Duo blushed. "Ah...we...that's..."

Quatre laughed. "I didn't notice that the window was open when Trowa claimed me. Wufei informed me the next day that he thought we could have been heard the next town over. I thought that I was going to die of embarrassment."

Quatre hugged Duo and then went over to hug Heero, who was looking very satisfied.

"The reason that I am here is that Queen Relena had a few questions and wanted to talk to you."

"I was also worried that my favorite counselor was ill," she said, walking into the room.

Duo jumped back and wondered out of all of them, who was more embarrassed. Relena looked like she had just discovered something nasty in her soup. Quatre looked bad because he didn't know that she had been following him. He just wondered why she was so upset.

Quatre looked about and fled. He wasn't up to dealing with whatever problem Relena had. He had thought that she knew what was going on, but from her emotions and the expression on her face, she was clueless. He was just glad that none of her attendants were with her.

Duo waited to Quatre had left and gestured to Relena to sit. "What do you need, my lady?"

"Why? How?" Relena asked.

Duo rolled his eyes, remembering how ignorant he had been about these things. "Heero claimed me as his human."

"But isn't it..." Relena started, looking for the words.

She knew that something was going on between Une and Dorothy from the looks they gave each other and the fact that they were spending a lot of time in Une's room. Alone. She was ignoring the gossip about that.

She also couldn't control what was being said about her brother and the others. It wasn't like they were indiscrete, but people knew. People also weren't too happy about the fact that her advisors weren't human. The incident in the kitchen this morning was the last straw. She was going to have to explain to Duo couldn't wander around freely like that. It was too disturbing for the people here.

Duo took pity on her. He knew how it was to be that sheltered. "Heero was human. He just doesn't think like that anymore. I took me, probably Quatre too, a long time to be comfortable with it. Treize I think is the only one that doesn't care."

"He's...with my brother and Wufei?" Relena muttered.

Heero rolled off the bed and went over to sit with Duo, placing his head on his lap. He didn't like this screechy female, but she was Zechs's sister, so he tolerated her.

"I think that you talk to Treize about that. Not your brother and not Wufei because he just thinks that it's an amusement."

Relena blushed bright red even thinking about talking to someone about that.

"Look, I was with the sorcerers most of my life," Duo told her. "They used me a power source, occasionally feeding me. That's about it. Heero decided that he wanted me when he saw me on a raid. I wasn't too happy about that, but there wasn't much that I could do. Wufei taught me magic because I could learn it from him and then I got drawn into this."

Heero purred rubbed Duo, ignoring Relena. Duo started to stroke behind Heero's ears, knowing that he liked that. Duo felt bad that Heero hadn't told him that he wasn't happy here. He finally figured it out because he hadn't been in this form entire that they had been here. That he had to be on two legs all the time because that was the only way that these people would believe that he wasn't an animal. Duo didn't want to stay here any longer if both of them were unhappy.

"But he..."

"I love him, Relena. It me a long time to realize that shape didn't matter. He's happy and I'm happy. If you want us to leave, we will. It might be the best thing for us. I...I was waiting for someone to figure out that I don't belong here. Heero doesn't like it here. Your people aren't happy with us."

Relena looked at him. Duo was being honest with her, which she valued. "Where will you go?"

Duo shrugged. "Wufei told me once that I would always be welcome at his estate. I think that I would be happy there. I know that Heero would be happier there."

Relena smiled at him. "If you think that you will be happier away for here. It also doesn't mean that you can't come back."

"I know that," Duo told her, knowing that she didn't want Heero here for some reason. He wouldn't return without him though. "Now I just have to explain to Wufei that..."

"...that you are on your way back to my home?" Wufei finished for him.

Relena jumped, she hadn't heard Wufei come in the room.

Duo looked up at him. "I'm sorry that I disappointed you."

Wufei shrugged, "Not all of us swim in the ocean of politics well. You will be happier away from here, both of you." He smiled at Duo, "I know that you would make an excellent caretaker. Go back and tell Shu Feng and the rest that you are watching the place for me. They will be overjoyed that you are there. I think that they are lonely without a human there."

Relena stared at Wufei, wanting to ask him any number of questions about why he was still there. She hadn't forgotten that he was there for his own reasons. But that was something that she was going to worry about later. Right now, she had a number other problems that she had to take care of. She got up and left, ignoring Wufei's bow and Duo's nod, since couldn't do much more then that with Heero's head on his lap.

Wufei smirked. "She will be a good Queen, once she is seasoned a bit more. I am going to enjoy working with her."

Duo shrugged and leaned down to kiss Heero. "I just want to go back."

Wufei didn't say anything as he teleported both back to his estate. He knew that his apprentice would be happier alone with his lover, then in the excitement of court. Heero he knew had tolerated being here because of Duo. He wished the both of them a long and happy life away from here.

NOTES: Wufei's estate is based on the Japanese palace of Katsura, outside Kyoto, built in the 1600s. There are several books that can easily be found on it in English. The cathedral of Sanq was based on Ste. Chapelle, Paris, an early gothic cathedral. Pictures of it can be found on the web and in an gothic art book.