Author's Notes:

Timeline: This is set about 3 years after Endless Waltz. The boys are 19-20 and Heero, Duo, Trowa and Wufei have been in the Preventers since the end of that war.

Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, Wufei/Sally

Summary: A Preventer mission goes wrong and Heero is killed while the other pilots watch. Will the new emotional trauma destroy Duo's sanity completely or will he use it to become Commander Une's new perfect soldier?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Gundam Wing.

Life partners were not allowed to work on the same missions. It was one of the most prominent rules in the Preventer handbook. It was a good rule -- one that was supposed to make situations like this just not happen. Wufei's glanced over at Duo then over at Trowa, then finally down towards the floor where their captors were trying to get the information they wanted out of Heero. The former Wing-Zero pilot had been restrained inches above the floor by cuffs around his wrists and he had officially passed the point where he was capable of retaliating some time ago. He was lucky he was still alive at all and Wufei wondered which of them their captors would torture next if they did manage to kill him, and he also wondered how Duo would handle losing his lover.

In all fairness it wasn't Duo or Heero's fault that they had both ended up here at the same time. Duo and Trowa had been tracking a narcotics ring and he and Heero had been put on an assignment to eliminate a group of sex traffickers. The two missions had collided in this warehouse. They had been tracking two arms of the same organization without realizing it. Trowa and Duo had investigated the building first but their captors had been ready for them and had used the drugs at their disposal to incapacitate the two former pilots. Their capture had complicated matters significantly when he and Heero had shown up a day later and they had found themselves captured as well without being able to put up much of a fight.

Wufei shifted in discomfort and hung his head for a moment. His back ached but the restraints he had woken up afforded him very little flexibility and he silently cursed their captors for having used a spreader bar with wrist restraints instead of something more traditional. The three of them might have been capable of escaping something more traditional. He looked back at Duo and mentally cursed again. The braided ex-pilot looked terrible, not that Wufei could blame him, if he was watching them do to Sally what Duo was watching them do to Heero then he suspected that he wouldn't look well either. He wanted to do something, anything to make it end but they were restrained and well guarded.

A sickening crack resonated through the air and Wufei saw Duo flinch as a tiny, though quickly silenced, cry escaped Heero's lips. Wufei closed his eyes and tried to keep his emotions under control as he repeatedly told himself that he had to admire Heero's resolve. They had just broken his knee and he hadn't screamed. He forced his gaze back to the floor and his stomach rolled as he saw the blood streaming down Heero's leg and the hint of white where the bone had ripped through the skin.

"Tell us how much the Preventers know about our operations!" Wufei closed his eyes and shook his head a little as the question was once again shouted in Heero's face. Did these imbeciles know nothing? Did they not realize that an agent like Yuy wasn't going to tell them what they wanted just because they broke a few of his bones? Wasn't it obvious that the Preventors knew enough already if four of their agents had ended up in the same location? It would only be a matter of time before Quatre and Une knew that something was wrong and the whole building filled with backup agents. Heero spat in the man's face and Wufei almost smiled. A soft pained laugh, tinged with the slightest edge of hysteria made him look back at Duo.

"He's a goddamn idiot." He heard the young man whisper. Wufei was pretty sure he was talking about Heero.

"You fool! I can get what I want out of the others. I don't need you." The baseball bat that had broken Heero's knee connected with Heero's side and Wufei watched as Duo turned his face against his shoulder and closed his eyes. He whispered something to himself and a couple rogue tears raced down his cheeks before the brunette forced his gaze back up. He appeared determined to watch even if it was killing him inside. Wufei forced his gaze back as well and momentarily closed his eyes at the sight. Why was he being so weak? Heero was his partner. He should be honoring his sacrifice and admiring his strength instead of looking away. The baseball bat was thrown across the room and Wufei winced as he heard the metallic clang it made as it hit the grimy cement floor. The sound of a gun being cocked forced his gaze back to Heero and his mouth went dry as he found his partner's interrogator holding a pistol inches from Heero's forehead. "Any last words Kid?"

"Ai shiteru. I'm sorry." Heero's head was held high and he was glaring down the gun barrel but his words were undeniably meant for the the young man he had chosen to spend his life with. Duo stiffened beside him and Wufei glanced worriedly at the other Preventer as he prayed that it wasn't the first time that Duo had heard Heero say he loved him. The American hung his head and whispered something that neither Wufei or Trowa could hear. Every muscle in his body was tense and he jerked when the pistol fired, then jerked again when a second shot pierced the air.. Wufei forced himself to look and wished he hadn't. Bile rolled in his stomach and it took all his control to not vomit. He would have continued staring had soft laughter not forced his gaze back to Duo.

The former Deathscythe pilot's face was buried against his knees and he was laughing. It was an eerie broken sound and Wufei realized that he would rather hear him screaming. He looked helplessly at Trowa. His gaze asking silently if losing Heero meant that they had just lost Duo too. The other young man was staring intently at Duo with an ashen look on his face.

"Make him stop." The bravest of the four guards that had been positioned around them were getting uncomfortable and Wufei scooted closer to his friend and leaned his shoulder down to nudge Duo's.

"Stop it Maxwell! Have you lost your goddamn mind?" He glanced back at the guards, at the machine guns in their hands. "DUO!" He hissed angrily. The idiot was going to get all of them killed.

"I'll shoot him if he doesn't stop."

"Du..."

"Go ahead. You'll be doing yourself a favor." Duo's head didn't leave his knees and Wufei swallowed hard, wondering what the hell Duo was talking about.

"Go ahead if you're going to do it." Duo twisted to look at the man and he grinned a little when the guy took a step back. "I would kill me before I get the chance to kill you." His voice wasn't right. It was low and raspy and hollow, almost completely devoid of emotion save for the hint of something that said 'not only will I kill you but I will take pleasure in it.' Wufei also noted that his friend's eyes weren't right. Something was gone from them. There was no spark of warmth and their vibrant violet color now seemed empty and lifeless. The guard was clearly shaken by the force of Duo's glare and Wufei could see the end of the man's gun shaking slightly. "Do it!" Duo taunted quietly. "Or are you too damn chicken to shoot a sitting duck?"

"That's enough." The guard seemed to have regained some of his sense and he took a threatening step forward, then as his courage increased he took another -- which put him in Duo's range.

"Stupid fool." Duo whispered softly, then he moved and pulled his hands hard against the metal restraints. Double jointed fingers flexed and his slim hands slipped free of the cuffs. In one fluid motion that was somehow the perfect mixture of Heero's emotionless precision and Trowa's agility he dropped his now free hands to the floor and braced himself before swinging his legs up. The heavy metal bar binding his ankles collided with the guard's jaw and Wufei heard the man's neck break as the blow was carried through with all the force Duo could put behind it. The gun slipped from dead lifeless fingers and Duo didn't miss a beat as he scooped it out of the air and aimed. A short quick burst of bullets took the second guard down and both he and Trowa were forced to duck as best they could as Duo swung around and aimed for the other two. They were so shocked by the sudden turn of events that they didn't even get a shot off before they were dead.

"Duo?" There was a slight hint of awe and a healthy dose of fear in Trowa's voice and they could hear shouts and the pounding of feet on the metal stairs as reinforcements raced towards them. Wufei swallowed his own fear. They were going to be in trouble in a couple moments, and most likely dead.

The unexpected sound of glass breaking above them and wood splintering below made him look up and he almost grinned as the first agents poured in through the windows and lower floor doors. Duo tossed the gun aside and rolled close enough to grab the keys from the first guard he had downed. The bar binding his ankles came free a moment later and he had just enough time to scoop the gun back up. He didn't have to use it again though. Une and Quatre had pulled every available agent for this mission and almost immediately the building was secure. The Preventers rounded up their captors quickly and Duo retrieved the keys from where he had dropped them and set to work on releasing he and Trowa from their restraints.

"Maxwell?" The braided agent wouldn't meet his eyes when he tried to speak to him and Wufei started to rub circulation back into his wrists when they were finally freed. He wanted to reach out and touch his friend's shoulder, to try offer some measure of comfort but before he could get the chance Duo had finished freeing his ankles and moved to help Trowa. He didn't speak to either of them. He wouldn't look either of them in the eye. He didn't even look up when they heard Quatre calling them.

"Trowa! Duo! Wufei" The small blond was racing up the stairs towards them, a frantic expression on his face and Wufei could tell just from the look in his eyes that already knew about Heero, not that he could have really missed the display below them. The little blond had felt it, just like he felt everything that was related to their emotions. Wufei wondered what the small blond was feeling from Duo. The former Deathscythe pilot stood as Quatre got closer and side stepped the blond when Quatre tried to hug him. His hand tightened into a fist at his side and Wufei saw the light flash off the gleaming black metal band around his finger.

"Don't touch me." He whispered desperately. He brought the hand that wasn't clenched in a fist up and wrapped the fingers of that hand tight around his arm. He almost looked like he was hugging himself. He took a step back from Quatre and looked down towards the floor of the warehouse where a group of Preventers were working on getting Heero's body down. He hung his head and his bangs shadowed his eyes. "I did it again." He whispered softly to himself. The young man shivered violently and his fingers tightened around his arm, his nails digging painfully into the soft flesh. "I never should have let you love me. I should have known I would take you too – should have known that no one can love Shinigami and survive."

"Duo don't say that!" Quatre tried to step into Duo's space but the brunette simply took another step back.

"I said not to touch me!." He took another step back and found himself pressed against the railing of the catwalk. "I never should have stayed at all. I should have kept going, shouldn't have let anybody get close. I knew it was only a matter of time." Wufei realized Duo was talking to himself again and he watched wordlessly as Duo dropped his arm back to his side. The young man was shivering as he reached for the rail behind him and he didn't give a hint of warning before his body twisted and he jumped over it. His body fell gracefully and he dropped to the ground ten feet below them without barely making a sound. He didn't look in Heero's direction again before he made a beeline for the nearest door.

"DUO WAIT!" Wufei watched as Quatre turned to head for the stairs. He was determined to follow there friend and a dissatisfied cry escaped his lips as Trowa stopped him and pulled him close. "Trowa let me go!" The blond pounded weakly on his lover's chest in an attempt to force the taller young man to let him go. "I have to go after Duo!" He cried softly. "I can't feel him!" He almost sobbed. Trowa hugged him tight and Quatre stopped resisting so he could tremble and cry in is lover's arms.

Wufei watched them in silence as his mind reeled and he struggled to understand how things had fallen apart so easily. His gaze shifted towards the warehouse floor and the young man couldn't help but shiver as he saw the white sheet that had been draped over Heero's body and on the red stain that had slowly spread across it. His hand tightened into a fist and he tried to banish the sound of Duo's laughter from his mind. He prayed that Duo hadn't snapped. The last thing he wanted was to hunt down a friend. It would only serve to break them more.

So what did you all think? Reviews would be wonderful, constructive criticism will be readily welcomed and appreciated. I really want to know what everyone thinks of the setup. I'm also curious to see what direction you guys think/hope I will take with this story.