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Cages	By : Ryoko21 Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 14164 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Wufei 199

For a long time, we thought he would die.

In the ship, he went into convulsions. I held him while his body shook, while Heero and Trowa tried to restrain his flailing limbs, and while Quatre tried restrain a panicking Duo.

“He can’t die!” Duo shouted, like denying it would somehow make it true. “He can’t die! Not now! Not when we’ve finally won!”

“You’re not helping!” I yelled back at him, flinching as Zechs’ arm came free of Heero’s grip and smashed me across the face. There was a tear on my lip from my fight with Treize and it easily came open again, the salty tang of blood flooding my mouth. But I ignored it, holding tighter to Zechs torso as Heero grasped the wayward limb.

“Fuck you, Wufei!” Duo snarled, and it didn’t help much that I knew he was half delirious from the pain of his injuries. “He’s going to die and you’re not even doing anything about it!”

“He’s not…” I started, but stopped myself. I wanted to assure him that Zechs would not die, that he would recover and everything would be fine. But my lips wouldn’t form the words, because I didn’t know if I believed it myself. And this time, the lie would simply be too painful. “We’re doing everything we can,” I said in a calmer tone, but it wasn’t enough for Duo. Instead, he rounded on our self-proclaimed saviors.

“And you fucks! You rescued him, so fucking save him!” Duo yelled.

“There isn’t anything we can do until we touch down on earth,” their leader explained. “We don’t know what he’s been on, so there’s nothing we can give him. We don’t know how our drugs might interact with the one already in his system.”

“So we just have to watch him die?”

“He’s stabilized as much as possible for now,” Saiya denied. “There’s a medical team set to meet us as soon as we touch down. Now just calm down and try to let the pain meds kick in.”

“Fuck you and your pain meds,” Duo growled, but it lacked the venom it had only moments before, and I could tell that the pain from his arm was numbing as the drugs Saiya had administered kicked in. Quatre shushed him, leaning over to pull Duo into an embrace as he settled. The spasms in Zechs seemed to be abating as well, and while I wasn’t sure if I could take that as a good sign, I allowed myself to relax my hold incrementally.

Silence fell then, over the five of us and Saiya and his six slaves, all of us scattered on the floor of an old transport ship. It was so basic that it didn’t even have seats for more than the pilot and copilot, which Saiya and one of his slaves occupied. The rest of it was bare steel walls and riveted floors, meant only to transport cargo or, in some cases, human cattle. But it seemed sturdy enough, and it flew quickly and silently. In the front window, I could see other, military-looking ships passing by, headed presumably for the unprotected satellite. But we were headed away from the battle, and inside the ship it was practically still.

The only noise was Zechs’ labored breathing, wet and wheezy from the blood running down his nasal passages. He’d gone pale, his skin nearly translucent and his hair looking waxen and white. His face was drawn and pained, his body rigid. He was fighting his last battle, valiantly, but unlike mine he fought his alone.

A tear slipped down my shoulder, but I wiped it away before the others could see. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if they gave up hope. Because that was pretty much all that was left.

Had I made another wrong decision? Doubting myself now was pointless, but the thought kept creeping into my mind. Would it have been better to leave him with Treize? Certainly it would have been a nightmarish hell for us, but was it truly worse than a world without him? If he would sacrifice himself for us in that manner, what did it say that we had not done the same?

“It would have killed him anyway,” came Quatre’s voice from across the ship. I looked up to find him staring at me, and I realized with a start that he had been off his meds for several days now, and was strongly empathic.

“You don’t know that,” I denied, but it was Quatre who shook his head.

“He was failing even before Treize gave him this drug. Maybe he would have lived under that monster, but he would not have been the master we knew, and he would not have wanted to be alive.”

“But he wouldn’t be…” and then I stopped myself, because the word “dying” was too painful to even utter, and I almost sobbed at the thought of it. But Quatre could sense my distress and tried to comfort me.

“Be happy, Wufei. You’ve destroyed the monster that enslave us all.”

“Yes, but did I sacrifice my prince to do it?”

“No,” and this denial came from Heero, who had curled himself at Zechs’ side now that the spasms had abated, and had laced his fingers with Zechs’ unresponsive ones. “He will live. Your doubt and self-pity will not change that.”

“I wasn’t…” I started, then colored when I realized how self-serving I must have sounded. Of course I wouldn’t leave Zechs with Treize. I knew from experience that it would be better to be dead than at the mercy of that bastard. “I’m sorry. I’m just… worried.”

“We all are,” Heero said, taking his other hand and lacing his fingers with mine, which instinctively tightened and clutched at his. “But you have to believe that he will be alright. That he’ll pull through, for us.”

Trowa, curled on the other side in a similar fashion, nodded his head sagely.

I allowed myself to relax for a moment, feeling a spark of hope, but it wasn’t to be. In the next instant, Zechs couch and another spasm took him, and it was all I could do to hold on and ride it out with him. By the end he was gasping again, his heartbeat weak and unsteady.

“Bring him up here,” Saiya called, and motioned for his slave to vacate the copilot seat. “There are oxygen masks built into the overhead in case of a hull breach. It might help him breathe more easily,” Sayia offered, and then rose to help us, but Heero stood and blocked his way.

"We can handle it,” Heero said, and I thought for a moment that Saiya might protest, but eventually he nodded and sat back down. Gently, almost reverently, Heero and Trowa lifted Zechs, one on either side, and carried him to the copilot’s chair and strapped him in. Saiya pulled the oxygen mask out of the overhead, but I took it from him before he could place it on Zechs’ face. With a quick breath to make sure it was working, I placed it over Zechs’ face.

He hardly looked alive, then. Strapped into the chair so well that even a seizure wouldn’t pull him free, it was hard to even see his chest moving as he breathed. And with his ashen skin and his face and chest covered in his own blood, the rest of him hardly looked living. Like a corpse we’d decided to dress up like a marionette, and I bent to kiss his cheek because I couldn’t stand to look any longer.

“You should sit down,” Saiya cautioned, motioning for me to return to the floor with the others. “We’ll be landing soon and you might fall on him.”

And the implication that I could hurt him again had me returning to the floor against my instincts. I still didn’t trust Saiya, didn’t like the way Zechs had reacted to him, didn’t know if he was truly going to help us. Zechs had gone with him willingly, and so we wouldn’t try to escape from him, but I didn’t feel right about him. But perhaps it was simply that he had saved Zechs, where I had nearly killed him.

I settled beside Heero and Trowa, pulling my knees to my chest and trying to replace Zechs’ warmth. Duo had passed out from the stress and the meds, and Quatre was nodding off above him. Even Saiya’s team was succumbing to the quiet, and I saw the group of three across from me slowly slip into sleep. So it wasn’t until Heero fell into my lap, unconscious, that I began to suspect something was amiss. My eyes went to Saiya to find that he had donned the second oxygen mask, fully alert and awake. It was only then that I realized he had lowered the oxygen content in the cabin. I had only a moment to feel a sharp stab of fear, and then I was succumbing to the darkness myself.

I awoke in a small white room, lying on a padded cot. I rose immediately, my eyes searching for the others and finding them lying on identical cots, three lined up against each wall and one empty. Nothing had changed since we’d fallen unconscious in the plane except that Duo’s shirt had been removed and his arm had been set in a cast. Still, it set my teeth on edge, that these people had knocked us out and maneuvered us against our will.

And Zechs was conspicuously absent.

There was a chair at the front of the room, and seated in it was Sally, looking over a palm computer in her hands. There was nothing else in the room except for the imposing brown door and the stark, overhead lighting.

“Where’s Zechs?” I said, and it reverberated in the nearly empty room. Sally’s eyes snapped up to meet mine, but they were tired and strained.

“He’s stable. We have him in an intensive care unit and he’s in bad shape, but he’s stabilized and is not in immediate danger.”

“Your agent knocked us out,” I accused, and she hesitated.

“Agent Sai felt that it would be better if you were not awake when we came to transport Zechs. He felt that you would be confused and agitated, and try to prevent us from taking Zechs for treatment. He made the right call, Wufei. Any longer, and we might not have been able to save him.”

I wanted to deny that, but Heero was awake now, and had gone to Duo to rouse him.

“Duo was sedated more heavily than the rest of you so that we could mend his arm,” Sally cautioned, “He might not wake yet, or he might be groggy.”

“Tell ‘er to fuck off.”

“Or he might be his usual self,” she commented quietly, but there was a flicker of a smile.

“’Ro? Was goin’ on?”

“We’re safe. Sally fixed your arm, that’s why you feel weird.”

“Where’s Zechs?”

“He’s safe,” Heero said, perching himself on Duo’s cot and helping the braided boy to sit up. “Sally was just telling us that he’s in stable condition,” Heero explained, and attention, including the attention of recently awakened Quatre and Trowa, turned back to Sally. She composed herself quickly and began to speak.

“So, let me go over some things before you begin to ask questions. Firstly, Zechs, myself, and Agent Sai are all members of a government organization that was sent to infiltrate and disband Collar. You are all officially free men.”

And that notice should have held something for me, some joy or excitement. But with Zechs’ state of health looming in my mind, there was nothing but a hollow resonance that I was, perhaps, alone in this now. Without our leader, would we all be separated?

“Your records will be returned, your families will be notified, and your identities will be verified in cases of faked deaths.”

“What if we don’t want our families notified?” Quatre blurted, covering his mouth when it was too late to take back. Sally contemplated him for a moment, and I could see that the question had taken her off guard. It was possible that the process of notifying kin had already begun.

“We… will have to discuss that at length. The organization was under the assumption that many of you were kidnapped, and your families would be happy to take you back.”

“Your organization has been taking a lot of liberties with us lately,” I chided. “Almost as many as Treize’s did.” And she flinched as if she’d been slapped, but then grew angry, flicking her computer onto the empty bed to her left.

“Look, Wufei, I know you’re not happy about how this organization has been treating you, and I know some of that stems from the fact that we kept Zechs in the dark about the other team. But let me tell you something; he volunteered for this mission. We didn’t force him to go into it, and we didn’t agree to tell him everything before he went. He would have gladly died for you to be free, and he almost did. Now I have my own feelings of guilt about everything that Zechs was put through, and when he gets better I’ll deal with him on my own. But I don’t need you or anyone else giving attitude and making things worse. I’ve already got my hands full trying to figure out how to talk to over a thousand terrified slaves who think this is all some big mind fuck. Not to mention finding the ones who weren’t on the satellite. So you want to blame me? Fine. But I’m doing my best, and I don’t need your attitude.”

That silenced me. Perhaps not the part about my attitude, but somehow her honest admission of guilt did more to silence my feelings of unease than anything else. The way Zechs had been treated was not behavior I expected from Sally, and her admittance that she regretted it helped to quell my fear that perhaps I did not know her well enough.

“Now,” she continued, picking her computer back up. “I know this is a big change for everyone, and I know there will be issues,” she said, and her eyes slipped to Quatre. “But we will do our best to respect your wishes. I’ve verified all of your ages and filed for new or replacement citizenship documentation. But the point is, you are all adults, capable of making your own decisions. Whatever path this organization tries to set you on, it’s all your decision.”

“All of us?” and this was Quatre again, looking shaken since his family had been mentioned.

“I know it’s impossible to keep track of these things in your circumstances, but you have all lost a few years somewhere. Quatre, you’re the youngest, but you’ll turn 19 this year. So, yes, you’re all adults, and no one can force you into anything.”

“And the ones that are younger?” Trowa asked, his quiet voice piercing the room.

“We’re… not entirely sure yet. Technically they should all be returned to their families, but we’re not sure their families will be able to cope with the level of abuse they’ve suffered. Many of them are orphans or runaways, right on the cusp of adulthood anyway. We’ve been thinking of boarding the ones without homes or with the worst of abuse somewhere until they are stable.”

“And us?” I questioned.

“You five are fairly well rehabilitated already because of Zechs. Until he awakens, or until you decide to leave, we were going to return you to his property and allow you to stay with the other slaves in his possession. Because none of you are in immediate danger, we did not want to move you until we’ve rescued the more critical cases.”

“And what of Zechs?” I found myself asking, my mouth going dry. “When will he awaken? Will he awaken at all?”

There was silence in the room, and Sally contemplated the bed to her left sadly. I didn’t know what could be so fascinating about the empty white sheets until she said, “This room was set up for the six of you. You five boys, and Zechs. It wasn’t until he arrived here that I realized how cruel Treize had been to him.”

She turned to me then, her eyes watery.

“I never thought Treize was that sort of person. Never thought he’d do those things to a person he loved. No one was prepared for just how horrible Collar was. We all thought… It doesn’t matter. Let me tell you about Zechs. The drugs that he was on… It’s… It’s a nasty cocktail in Zechs’ system. This kind of toxin attacks the central nervous system. It pools in the extremities and slowly progresses to the torso, causing paralysis in first the limbs and then organs. Treize was feeding him both the poison and the neutralizing agent, probably hoping to use him as a bargaining chip. When he was finally taken out, it looks from the report like he decided he’d rather Zechs die with him. Without access to the neutralizing agent, Zechs’ systems began to shut down. We’ve halted the progression, so he’s stabilized now, but there’s no way to tell how bad the damage is until he wakes up. He might be completely fine. But you need to be prepared for the worst. He might never walk again.”

There was silence, then, as we all absorbed the fact that Zechs might not walk away from this unscarred. He had always seemed so strong to us, almost superhuman in his ability to control and overcome obstacles. The thought of him never waking or never walking was almost impossible to contemplate.

“Do you have any questions?” Sally asked.

I could think of only one.

“Can we see him?

Zechs 200

The world I woke up to was not the least bit the same.

It took me a long time to come back, that much I knew. There was a time, while I hovered on the edge of… something, that I wasn’t sure I would be able. But I could feel Wufei by my side, holding me tight, and I couldn’t leave that behind. More than anything, I wanted to awaken and kiss those lips one last time.

And the others. Duo’s laughter. Quatre’s kindness. Heero’s strength. Trowa’s beauty. I missed them all, but nothing more than Wufei’s passion.

I heard snippets, eventually. Fighting. Not physical fights, but lots of yelling. And cursing, in Duo’s case. I would have smiled, had I any control of the muscles of my face.

“…you can’t stay here.”

“We’re not leaving him, Sally.”

“My supervisors will have my head if they find you all sleeping in his room.”

“Just give us a couple days. Not to offend, but we don’t trust your men to bring us back. And Zechs does better when we’re here.”

“Fine. Fine. Do whatever you want. Never stopped any of you before anyway. But you only have a week!”

Darkness. Hours. Days. A television played. Meals came and went. I had confidence that Sally would keep my boys fed, even if it was hospital food. Sometimes my eyes were open and I could get a glimmer of the room or a face. More often they were closed and refused to open. There was a pounding in my head that grew when I was more aware, and dulled when I slept. I came to understand that I was being drugged with pain medicine for my recovery, and that the reduction of said meds might have made me more lucid, but probably would have made the aching in my head intolerable.

There was another fight, but this time the boys were more upset. Their anger hummed through me like a vibration in the room, and my eyes were open enough for me to catch a glimpse of hulking forms in the doorway.

“…here for Master Quatre! We will be taking him home!”

“Quatre does not wish to speak with you. When he does, he will contact you. As we have said multiple times before.”

“Yeah, fuck off!”

“Duo! Quiet!”

“I do not believe Master Quatre would refuse to speak with us! You are holding him against his will!”

I felt pressure on my hand, and it was only then that I realized someone was squeezing it very hard.

“I’m going to have to be brave, aren’t I?” came Quatre’s quiet voice from beside me. “I’m going to have to face them before they attack Wufei.”

I wished that I could encourage him, to tell him that he was braver and stronger than he thought and he could definitely tell the men off, or at least to reassure him that Wufei could handle his own if they attacked him. But I was silent, continuing to lie still as a corpse as the pressure on my hand eased and Quatre rose.

“I will not be going anywhere with you.”

And was that my Quatre, sounding so confident and decisive? The hulking forms fell back a step from his presence, and I heard Trowa and Heero move to flank him.

“But Master Quatre, the family has been so worried.”

“The family sold me! Or didn’t my sister tell you that?” Quatre yelled, and I heard the large man fall back another step. There was quiet again, and I worried for a moment that I had fallen unconscious again and was missing the argument. But then Quatre’s voice returned, calm once again. “I won’t go back to my family until I know that everyone there is loyal to me. This man rescued me from the hell I was sold into, but I won’t be so lucky again. This has been my family for the last year, and I am closer to them than to any of my blood relatives.”

“I… understand, Master Quatre. I can see that you are not abused and afraid, as we were led to believe. We will leave you in peace, with the open invitation to return once you feel secure. And we will look into these… issues you have brought to our attention, and they will be brought to justice. I know you have been told of your father’s passing, but I want you to know that the lion’s share of your father’s estate has been held in trust for you. When you feel capable, I hope you will return to claim it. Until then, may Allah watch over your friend’s recovery.”

And then the hulking forms retreated, and I was left with a blurry view of the empty doorway and no real way to tell how Quatre was doing. I needn’t have worried, though, because Trowa guided Quatre to sit down beside me, and the fingers he laced with mine were shaky, but his grasp was firm. And as the sounds began to fade, I heard Trowa lean in and ask, “Who’s Allah?”

The next time I opened my eyes there was no sound. Only the vision, perfectly clear, of Trowa in a woman’s arms. And I knew from her clothing and from the way Trowa held her that this was the sister from the circus that he had told me of. It was obvious that she was ecstatic to see him, and I could tell from Quatre’s stance that he felt threatened by her. But there was nothing I could do to intervene, and as my sight faded I saw Trowa introduce his sister to his lover. And my last vision was of the sister pulling Quatre into a hug, and Quatre finally relaxing.

Doctor’s and nurse’s voices became a constant drone in the background. I remember hearing Sally say, “His neuro-pathways are trying to rewire themselves around the damage. That’s why he’s having trouble coming around, why he fades in and out.” But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t remember when she’d said it, or who she’d been talking to.

I could remember Wufei talking on a vid with someone in low, angry tones in Mandarin, but this memory as well was out of sync with the others. It ended with Wufei throwing something, though whether it was the vid or something else I couldn’t tell.

When I woke, really woke, it was the dead of night. No one was around, and it was the first time I had awoken alone. I tried to sit up, but my torso wouldn’t cooperate. I managed to turn my head, and found that Wufei alone was sleeping next to my bed in one of the steel chairs. His hair was in disarray, matted and with several strands escaping his usual ponytail. His head was pillowed on his arms, but he roused when my head moved. There were deep bruises under his eyes, testament to how little sleep he’d been getting.

“Zechs?” he asked, rubbing at his eyes. “Are you awake?”

“I think so,” I said, my voice gravely with disuse and Wufei grabbed a glass of water and held it to my lips.

“Just a little,” he cautioned, pulling it away after I’d had a sip. “Sally said you might have trouble swallowing at first.”

“Did she say what else I might have trouble with?”

“She… I should probably let her explain.”

“It’s alright, I’ve heard bits and pieces,” I told him, trying to raise my hand. It moved, hovering only inches above the bed, but none of the fingers would close. Experimentally, I wiggled my toes. The feet themselves seemed stiff, but all the toes moved without hesitation. “Neurological damage, then? I suppose we’ll have to see how bad the damage is.”

“You’re not… I thought you’d be more upset. They said… you might not be able to be an agent anymore.”

“I would be, but I’ve had… a week?”

“Two weeks.”

“Two weeks, then, to think about it. And… after everything that’s happened… I’m not sure I want to do this anymore.”

“After the way they treated you,” Wufei snarled, but there was no anger left in me, and I managed to make my hand move on top of his.

“I wish they had told me I was going to be bait. It would have made things easier, and I would have agreed all the same, but I can understand that they didn’t want to take that risk. I volunteered to put my life on the line to rescue you boys, and that’s exactly what I did. It was worth the price, but… I don’t want do that any longer. I have something to live for now,” I told him, and then smiled and patted the bed beside me.

“Don’t let me hurt you,” Wufei cautioned, and it spoke of how desperate he was for my touch, that he didn’t protest crawling in beside me. “You’re still recovering.”

“Oh Wufei,” I chided, stroking his hair as he slid in beside me. “I’ll be recovering for a long time.” And then I slipped him a quick kiss. “The rest of my life, if you’ll be there with me.”

“I thought…”

“What?” I wondered, sensing his unease.

“I betrayed you,” he told me, and his voice was tight and pained. “I don’t deserve your love. When I was tested, I failed you.”

“Is that what you think? That just because you doubted me, I could never love you again? You rescued me when I was at my lowest, when I had failed all of you. How can I blame you for doubting me, when I was proved wrong so many times over? You expect me to censure you for doubting me, but I want you to. I have to trust you to tell me when I’m wrong, and in that I failed you as well.”

“I had thought you would be angry, at least, for my part with Treize.”

“We both made bad choices in a bad situation. Looking back on it, I came so close to losing all of you, I simply want to move on.”

It was quiet then, as Wufei worked through his thoughts.

“We almost lost you,” he said in a hushed whisper, holding me close. “On the plane, I truly didn’t know if you’d live.”

“I’m sorry I scared you,” I apologized, not knowing what else to say. He gave a pained laugh, but it was enough to change his mood.

“Only you would apologize for dying.”

“Perhaps. But talk to me about other things. It’s been two weeks, are the others alright? I remember Trowa’s sister and Quatre’s men.”

“Yes, families have been making contact now that our identities were released. I think Duo and Heero are the only two without living family. Even my old clan made contact.”

“Do they… Did you tell them about your wife?”

“Oddly enough, they already knew. She let slip what she’d done to the wrong person, and it got back to one of the elders, who banished her. But I’ve decided not to return to my family. I’m afraid that, after all I’ve been through, I couldn’t conform to their expectations any longer. Quatre has said that he will resume communication with his family when they’ve proven that they can be trusted, and Trowa’s sister has already come to see him. After seeing how happy and well cared for he is, she agreed to leave him with us.”

“And their plans? It’s been two weeks, so I’m sure the Preventers have begun to talk to you about options.”

“A bit, but nothing’s been decided. If Quatre returns to his family, he’ll have more money than he can manage, perhaps literally. Duo’s had a million ideas already, and I think his most recent is professional football player. Heero wants to work on a computer science degree, and I’ve filed paperwork to begin working Trowa and Duo toward a high school diploma. Trowa hasn’t said much about what he’ll do after he graduates, but I know his sister offered him a position with the circus if nothing else.” “And you? What are your plans.”

“I suppose the immediate plan is to get Trowa and Duo up to a basic level of schooling. From there, I haven’t really thought much further ahead. Not to be rude, but I didn’t think we needed to worry about contributing. I thought you’d have enough money to keep us.”

“I have enough money to keep you and at least three generations of your children without many problems, but I know you. You’ll want something to do soon enough.”

“I suppose, but I’ve been fighting for so long, the thought of relaxing and settling in to this peace is appealing. But I’ve also contemplated doing something with the other slaves. Many of them are like Trowa and Duo, adults who are suddenly alone in the world with no background and no education. Quatre has even mentioned using his father’s company to help get them jobs.”

“High aspirations, but take your time. I don’t want to see either of you worked like slaves in service to this project,” I teased, and he smiled.

“Is this what freedom feels like?” he asked me. “Like the whole world is laid out in front of you and you can do anything you want?”

“I don’t think so. Freedom makes you feel like the whole world is laid out for you. Love makes you feel like you can do anything you want.”

“Then I must have both.”

“I know you have both.”

“It won’t always be this easy, will it? Talking about it is great, but I didn’t expect it to be this frightening when the decisions need to be made. Trowa nearly had a panic attack when Quatre’s family came, and then beat himself up about it when Quatre decided to stay.”

“There will be… issues with adjusting to freedom. When you make choices, you have to live with the consequences. It can be more difficult than simply following the path laid out for you, but it’s always worth it in the end.”

“Speaking of issues, are you aware that Duo has managed to become a cocktease?”

“What?”

“Oh, apparently he’s decided that he likes to flirt, but he’s free now so no one can make him do anything. Which is all true, but he picks some poor, hapless victim, comes on like a harlot, and then as soon as the man is aroused, Duo leaves. It’s gotten Heero into three fistfights already, when Duo’s victims get violent. And he’s like a two-year-old with the word ‘no’ anymore.”

“We will… have to address this.”

“Oh, I think it’s been addressed. The last time Duo did it, Heero spanked him.”

“Ha!

“Where are the others, by the way?”

“Hm? Oh, I sent them back to the house. After a week in this room, everyone needed a shower and some rest. They’ve been visiting you on rotating shifts, but when Sally said you might wake soon… well, I wanted to be here. They’ve also been trying to help the slaves at the house adjust.”

“Preventers hasn’t taken them anywhere yet?”

“No, slaves that aren’t in immediate danger haven’t been reassigned yet. Everyone’s being dealt with on a worst cases first basis.”

“I suppose we’ll all just have to learn to live together for a while, then.”

We lapsed into silence for several minutes and I wanted to ask about the other former-slaves and how they were reacting to freedom, but I was too tired. Still, I felt that I needed to address something with Wufei now, while it was fresh in my mind.

“Wufei? I need to ask you something. I know everything’s moving fast and it’s easy to get caught up, but I want you to know that you don’t have to stay with me. I want you here, but only if you want to be here.”

“Are you… Are you asking me to leave?” he asked, and the fear in his voice was the last thing I wanted to hear.

“No! No, I’m making a mess of this. I’m trying to tell you that I love you, and I want you by my side, but only if it’s your choice.”

He chuckled then, and settled down.

“The pain meds must be kicking back in, you’re getting awfully romantic. If you need a poetic declaration of love, you’ll have to wait until morning. But I love you, too. And it has always been my choice.”

I smiled then, and kissed him gently. I was just starting to fade into sleep, the aches and pains in my body fading again, when Wufei raised his head again.

“Sally says you’ll never walk again,” he said worriedly, as though this was news to me. I chuckled this time, and kissed him again.

“Sally is a crackpot. We’ll show her better.”

THE END
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Cages