They did, watched as the brown haired woman and Doc brought in the 
trays.

	To Hajime's surprise, it was an excellent meal. He was pleased to see 
Tsuzuku eat well and Amaru going for extra helpings.

	"Are you trying to take Owaru's place at the table, Amaru-kun?" 
Tsuzuku teased as he intercepted the piece of fish that his youngest 
brother was aiming for.

	"I'm hungry!" Amaru pouted back, then grinned. "Maybe I'm getting 
ready to grow some! I'm tired of being short!"

	They continued to quip back and forth, both Hajime and Tsuzuku 
struggling to keep the conversation light and fun for Amaru's sake.

	After the meal, they didn't have time to be bored. Doc and the woman 
came for the trays, then brought in changes of clothes, a tray full of 
toiletries, a large aluminum tub and stool and some plastic buckets.

	"It's primitive, but the best we can do." Doc shrugged as he 
addressed Hajime. "When you're done, call and we'll come and get it 
out of your way." He added, preserving the illusion that they had some 
privacy.

	"How come they're being so nice to us?" Amaru asked as he sat on the 
stool in the little tub and let Tsuzuku rinse the shampoo out of his 
hair.

	"Maybe they just can't resist our charming personalities." Tsuzuku 
answered.

	"I think they feel sorry for us. Will the Four Sister's let us stay 
together, do you think?"

	"I don't know, Amaru." Tsuzuku said softly as he handed his brother a 
towel as Amaru stepped out.

	"Are you scared, Tsuzuku?" Amaru asked in a whisper as he huddled in 
the towel, his brave front slipping for a second.

	Tsuzuku wanted to say no. "Yes, Amaru-kun. I'm scared too. But we'll 
figure a way out. You don't worry about it. O.K?" He whispered back as 
he knelt down and helped towel his brother off.

	"O.K." Amaru whispered back, but Tsuzuku could hear the uncertainty 
that colored his voice.

	"All done?" Hajime asked as he came from the sink, ready for his 
turn.

	"Take the bandages off for me?" He asked Tsuzuku as he settled on the 
stool.

	"They still haven't healed." Tsuzuku informed him.

	"I know. Yours or Amaru's any better?" He asked as he started to 
wash.

	"No." Tsuzuku said as he pulled on the gray sweats.

	Hajime could see unease his brother was trying so hard to hide. He 
shared it too. Surely the drugs were out of their bodies by now.

	When they had finished dressing, Hajime called. Doc came, his case in 
hand accompanied by a towering big boned red haired man who winked at 
Amaru as he lifted the tub of soapy water and discarded towels with 
ease and backed out.

	"Jonah?" Hajime asked Amaru softly, pegging this one as another 
Dragon.

	Amaru nodded.

	Doc waited until Jonah had cleared the doors before he spoke. 
"Everyone to their cots, please."

	Hajime relayed the order, gave Amaru a reassuring squeeze to his knee 
as he rose, kept his eye on Tsuzuku as they both headed for their 
respective beds.

	"Ask Tsuzuku if he wishes to get this over with now or wait." Doc 
asked as he faced Tsuzuku.

	"I'll go first this time, Doc." Hajime said as he saw Tsuzuku go pale 
and shrink back slightly, not needing the English to know what was 
coming.

	Doc looked at him, understanding passing between them as they locked 
eyes. "If I can get what I need from you, I won't, Hajime. But I need 
to know what's going on inside. Believe me, if I could take blood 
samples, I would. There are other options I could use, but they are 
much more unpleasant than this. If you are truly interested, I will 
explain them to you."

	"Please do." Hajime countered, he wanted to know what the Four 
Sister's might try to do to them.

	"O.K. Let's see to your back while I tell you." Hajime pulled up his 
shirt and turned. "The next easiest way would involve an incision into 
a vein and a tap. The problem with that is you are not healing at even 
a normal human rate. So we're talking cartarization, pressure bandages 
and immobilization." He told him as he replaced the bandages. "Done."

	"You said there where other methods?" Hajime asked as he pulled his 
shirt back down and turned.

	"Trust me. You don't want to know."

	"Sounds unpleasant. I think we'll opt for this." He offered his 
wrist.

	Doc gave him a smile. "Good choice. You might find the sensation a 
little strange. Don't fight me and we'll both be happy campers."

	He took Hajime's wrist into his hand. "Ready?"

	Hajime nodded, closed his eyes and stiffened as Doc's fingertips grew 
hot and pressed into his skin. It was an unnerving feeling and he 
studied it. As Tsuzuku had said, Doc was in him. Not in his mind, but 
a shared awareness of body. He understood why it upset Tsuzuku so 
much. It was...intimate.

	Doc's fingers were gone suddenly. Hajime opened his eyes to meet 
Doc's troubled hazel stare. The man had gone pale and was rubbing his 
fingers against the fabric of his pants. He raised his eyebrows.

	"What are you?" Doc whispered at him, narrowing his eyes.

	"A Dragon." Hajime answered with a shrug, his voice full of doubled 
meaning and a hint of compassion then added, "You know that."

	Doc dropped his eyes. *I think I'm the only one that does. Travis 
won't listen and the others think of them as equals. God help us if we 
screw up...* He took a deep breath, forced his fears back under the 
professional physician's front. "The drugs have cleared your system. I 
don't understand why you're healing abilities haven't kicked back in. 
They should have." *It's got to be the collars. But why the 
regenerative systems and not anything else?* 

	Hajime crossed his arms, trying to ignore the flutter of fear that 
had started in his chest. *Gods! Have they have somehow permanently 
damaged our healing abilities? Could that happen?*

	"Let's give it another twenty-four hours and see if it improves." Doc 
said as he rose and headed for Amaru. He really should do Tsuzuku 
next, but he was afraid that Tsuzuku's reaction would scare the boy 
out of his wits.

	"And if it doesn't?" Hajime asked, a little of the submerged anger 
that he'd been keeping so carefully at bay rising to surface in his 
voice.

	"I don't know, Hajime. For your sake, I hope it does." Doc answered 
with a shrug. "Now, will you translate for me?"

	Hajime forced his clenched jaw muscles to relax as he listened to Doc 
explain what he wanted to do. He needed to keep Amaru calm for this 
and any show of temper would upset him.

	"Amaru-kun. This Sensei is going to check your body with his special 
gift. It feels strange, but it will be over very quickly. I don't want 
you to be afraid, O.K.?"

	"O.K." Amaru answered, studying Doc with a serious expression.

	He watched as Doc took Amaru's wrist. Amaru shivered and gasped.

	"Just hold still Amaru." Hajime encouraged. *Gods, thirty seconds 
could seem an eternity...*

	"I am, Hajime-kun. It just feels...weird! Wow, that's cool!" And he 
giggled.

	Hajime found himself smiling in response. Only Amaru would see it as 
an adventure and not an invasion of self. He glanced at Tsuzuku out of 
the corner of his eye. His brother was staring at Amaru with shock. He 
saw him swallow hard and close his eyes, his hands clenching into 
tight fists on his knees. *Can you take courage from Amaru, 
Tsuzuku-kun? Please, try!* He wished.

	"Ask him if he can teach me how to do that!" Amaru asked as Doc 
released his wrist.

	Doc smiled as Hajime translated the request. He could see why Travis 
was so taken with the boy. He was charming.

	"If he can teach me how to become a Dragon." He growled back with a 
grin.

	Hajime translated and Doc was startled as all the animation and 
sweetness left the little boys face, leaving it hard and strangely 
adult for a second as a haunted look came into Amaru's eyes. He said 
something, then smiled again, once more the little boy. He waited for 
the translation, looked at Hajime when it wasn't forth coming.

	"What did he say?" He asked, wondering at the pain he saw flick 
across Hajime's face.

	"He said you wouldn't want too. You have to die, first. And it 
hurts."

	Doc forced himself to smile, wondered what Travis and the others 
would make of that enigmatic statement. "Tell him he's right. We'll 
just have to keep our own secrets, eh?" He winked at Amaru. Amaru 
nodded back with a half-hearted pout as Hajime passed along his 
answer. "O.K. I want to change the bandage on his throat, then the 
arm."

	Amaru sat docilely while Doc changed the bandage at his throat, held 
his arm still and bent as Doc showed him as the physician unwrapped 
the ace bandage, then took the blunt scissors and cut the heavy 
wrapped bandage under that. Doc carefully peeled the bandage away, 
lifted the pad covering the incision gently. They both paled as the 
half inch cut gaped and began to bleed.

	"Damn!" Doc growled, pressed the pad back on the cut and applied 
pressure. *That shouldn't have happened!* The other hand went to 
Amaru's wrist and he linked up, restricted the flow of blood to that 
arm.  Amaru let out an involuntary whimper as his arm started to 
tingle. "Travis! It's all right, Amaru." He tried to smile 
reassuringly.

	"Tsuzuku-san! Sit down!" He heard Travis yell.

	"Do it, Tsuzuku!" He heard Hajime back him up.

	"Everyone, just relax. Please." Travis continued in a calmer voice as 
he came into sight.

	"I need to take him out. Can't do what needs to be done here." Doc 
told him in a disjointed voice that wavered from his efforts to keep 
the wound from bleeding.

	"What's wrong?" Hajime couldn't keep the growl out of his voice as he 
hovered on the edge of the cot, quivering with tension, wanting to go 
to Amaru, praying that Tsuzuku would stay on his cot.

	The doors opened and a handsome man Hajime's own age with white/blond 
hair strode in followed by the brown haired woman, only there where 
two of them. *Twins...* Each had a gun that they trained on himself 
and Tsuzuku.

	"It's all right, Amaru-san!" Travis called as Lee gathered the boy 
into his arms, Doc rising with him, keeping his hands on the pad and 
his wrist. "Lee's just going to carry you to the infirmary. I'll be 
with you." He focused on Hajime. "It will be all right, Ryudo-sama. 
Trust us. As soon as I know, you will. Don't do anything stupid. For 
all our sakes." Then he was heading away from them.

	"Hajime-kun!" Amaru called in a frightened voice as Lee passed him.

	"Doc, please!" Hajime pleaded. Doc stopped, Lee muttered something at 
him.

	"Hurry up. Get him calm, if you can." Doc rasped.

	Hajime kept his movements slow so he wouldn't startle the women as he 
came to them.

	"Amaru-kun, it's O.K." He gave his brothers knee a squeeze, it was 
the only part of him he could touch. "Don't be afraid. They'll bring 
you right back, won't you, Doc?" He said to Amaru, then in English to 
Doc.

	Doc nodded. Hoped that was true.

	"Do what they say. We'll be here when you get back, O.K.?" He gave 
his brother a teasing smile.

	"O.K. Hajime-kun." Amaru gulped.

	Hajime stood aside as Doc and Lee started moving for the door, the 
women backing out after them. He continued to stand and stare at the 
closed doors for a moment, then sank to his knees and covered his face 
with his hands.

	Tsuzuku surged off his cot, full of worry for both Amaru and Hajime 
as he came and knelt at his brothers side, his hand hovering 
tentatively by his shoulder. He wasn't sure what to do. He'd never 
seen his brother like this. Hajime was always the controlled one, 
never lost his composure even in the middle of a crisis. Gods, he'd 
sat unmoving through that whole thing while he, himself had almost 
gotten them gassed.

	"Elder Brother?" He asked softly.

	"You have no reason to call me that, Tsuzuku-kun. I am not worthy of 
it." Hajime's voice was harsh and sharp behind his hands.

	"But that is what you are Hajime-kun. For all of us." Tsuzuku tried 
his best to reassure him.

	"I'm sorry, Tsuzuku-kun. I should have hidden us...but in my 
stupidity and arrogance I have gotten both you and Amaru Changed, and 
now caught and Amaru is hurt and in enemy hands and I..." he trailed 
off.

	"Elder Brother, you are doing the best you can for us under difficult 
circumstances. And with three brothers who are sharing a somewhat, how 
shall we say, noisy destiny, what more could we ask for? You are too 
hard on yourself." Tsuzuku said lightly.

	Hajime didn't answer. How could he explain his failure in his promise 
to Grandfather to keep them all safe until the Time? A Time that 
Grandfather had died before explaining but that he knew in some hidden 
part of his soul was nearing? He wished Matsuri was here, just hearing 
her voice would give him the strength he found himself so desperately 
lacking.

	"Come on, Hajime-kun." Tsuzuku put his hand under his brother's elbow 
and tugged gently. "Come and sit with me while we wait. Give me an 
English lesson."

	Hajime took a deep physical and mental breath as he followed his 
brothers urging, smiled woodenly in response to Tsuzuku's distraction 
attempt. But it would provide something to do while they waited.

*************************

	Amaru tried hard not to be frightened as he was hurried through the 
lab. He tried to look around the best he could, but didn't see much 
but computers against the wall and a control board of some kind, then 
they were through another set of doors and going down a fluorescent 
lit corridor carved out of rock. His arm had gone numb from the 
shoulder down, which was good, he guessed. At least it didn't hurt. 
Doc was silent, his face a concentrated scowl as he trotted to keep up 
with Lee's long strides.

	They went through another set of doors and the white/blond man put 
him down on a raised examination table, then moved out of the way as 
Doc gave brusque instructions to a dark skinned woman who had come 
over from another doorway. Travis finally caught up with them, moved 
his chair to the other side of the table and took Amaru's hand into 
his own.

	"How are you doing, Amaru-san?" He asked.

	"O.K." Amaru answered in a little voice. "Is my arm O.K.? What's the 
Sensei going to do?"

	"I don't know. Let me ask." Travis gave his hand a squeeze.

	Amaru tried to relax as Travis and Doc spoke in tense voices. "O.K. 
Amaru. Doc's going to put a patch on you with some medicine on it. 
It's going to make you sleepy, O.K? I just want you to relax and let 
the medicine work. When you wake up, you'll be fine."

	Amaru frowned over at him. "I don't want to go to sleep. It doesn't 
hurt now. Can't the Sensei do whatever he needs to with me awake?"

	"No, Amaru, he can't. Don't you want to go riding tomorrow?"

	"Yes." Amaru answered cautiously.

	"Well, Doc won't let me let you go unless your arm is better. I 
promise I'll stay right here and we'll take you back to your brothers 
as soon as Doc's finished. Deal?"

	"O.K. But you'll stay right here, Travis-kun?" Amaru's fingers 
tightened painfully around his own.

	"I swear it, Amaru." Travis promised. "Now, ease up on my poor 
fingers!" He said with a wink.

	"Sorry." Amaru loosened his grip, but didn't let go. The dark woman 
came and smiled at him.

	"Ready?" Travis asked.

	Amaru nodded, twitched a little as the woman put the patch against 
his skin.

	"So, tell me which horse you want to ride tomorrow. The black? She's 
a good horse."

	They continued to discuss horses as Amaru's speech got slower and 
then started to slur.

	"Amaru-san?" Travis questioned after the boy's eyes closed.

	"He's out." Doc growled. "Take it off, now."

	Travis looked at his lover with a scowl. "You're sure this is what's 
doing it?"

	"Yes. Hurry up. I'm getting tired." So far the other creature that 
was a part of Amaru had lurked in the background, but he knew it was 
there, watching. He could swear he heard it chuckle when he said that.

	Travis extracted his fingers from Amaru's so he could pull the 
slender transparent bar on the chain around his neck out of hiding. It 
glittered silver as the overheads reflected off the microscopic 
circuity that filled it. He turned the sleeping boys head with gentle 
hands so he could slide it into the recessed grove of the collar.

	Amaru sighed as the collar snapped apart on internal hinges. Travis 
pulled it all the way open but left it under his neck with the key 
still in place so that it would activate if closed, just in case. He 
looked expectantly at the boy, frowned as nothing happened. Doc was 
wrong. He looked up at his friend.

	"Doc?" He asked, his eyes narrowing as his lover's face filled with 
wonder, then terror.

	"Oh my God! Close it, Travis!" Doc yelled in body and mind as Amaru 
glowed like lightning.

	Travis moved fast, flipping the open collar up and over with a flick 
of his hand, but not fast enough to keep Amaru from striking out. 
There was a crackle and the smell of ozone. An incredible force 
squashed him down and back against his chair as raw power slammed into 
his mental shields. Doc flew across the room. Lee leapt to put himself 
between the physician's body and the wall. They still hit hard, Lee 
sliding down the wall with a groan, Doc's limp form on top of him.

	Amaru convulsed on the table as the collar's ends connected, 
scrambling the still forming neural pathways that enabled the Dragon 
to tap into his power and screamed with frustrated fury, the sound so 
low in the base register that they more felt it than heard it. Travis 
fought and squirmed his way against the mental attack as miniature 
bolts of lightning arced from Amaru's chest and danced across the 
ceiling and the walls, sparking as they came in contact with the metal 
cabinets and shelves. He slid out of his chair just before the 
lightning found it, cursed his body as he pulled himself around the 
base of the table as his chair spit sparks. From here he could see Lee 
and Doc, Tracee having leapt to take refuge in the deceptively fragile 
looking translucent bubble that Lee had formed around them to deflect 
this Dragons power. He suddenly realized that the only sounds he heard 
was his own pounding heart and ragged breathing.

	He reached out frantically for his lovers mind, sagged in relief when 
he heard Doc's mental grumble, winced at the exhaustion that filled 
it.

	*Still here, Trav. Should have known.*

	*Known what, Doc? Are you hurt?* Travis thought at him as he 
carefully rose to his knees to peek over the edge of the table. Amaru 
was curled up on his side, his arms pulled tight against his chest and 
his face angelic as he slept.

	*The Dragons. They want out. They're keeping themselves from healing, 
trying to get out. Put Œem out, Trav...please...*

	"Tracee?" Travis asked with a touch of panic as Doc's voice faded out 
in his head. He sank back down, turned to watch the nurse fuss over 
Doc.

	"He's O.K., Mr. Tremain. Nasty burn on his chest, but his stats are 
O.K. Lee?" She asked the dragon who was pushing himself to his feet.

	"Fine. Just my bloody ribs again. Travis? You O.K.?" He asked as he 
headed for his boss.

	Travis nodded, held out his hand for Lee to help him up as Tracee 
rose and headed for the cabinets. Lee lifted Travis to his feet, let 
Travis put his arm across his shoulders but still supported most of 
his weight with an arm around his waist.

	"Take me to Doc. But first..." He moved his arm from Lee's shoulders, 
trusting his dragon to keep him upright and steady as he straightened 
Amaru's injured arm, shook his head with a rueful look at the now 
unblemished skin. He lifted the edge of the bandage at the boy's 
throat, peeled it off. There was no need for it now. He checked the 
collar to make sure it was securely closed, then slid the key out.

*******************