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Chapter 3

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"Checkmate."

Staring blankly at the chessboard in front of him, Wufei let out a deep groan as he covered his face with his hand. "Ye gods, Quatre... You didn't even give me a sporting chance."

Quatre smiled sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Sorry, Wufei.. I really didn't think you'd go for the bishop I moved as a decoy. Are you sure all of you aren't letting me win?" he questioned while glancing around at the 6 familiar faces that were around the research library table with him.

"Quatre, you've won the past 7 games in a row. All of us have been trying to beat you since you sat down." Trowa pointed out with the slightest smile curling his lips.

The lively glow that was around his former partner was something he had dearly missed. From the way everyone else around the table seemed to be smiling, it was apparent that he wasn't the only one. He glanced towards the older blonde standing to Quatre's right, and couldn't help the downward twitch of his brow. 'I wonder what Zechs has offered that the rest of us couldn't...'

Duo grinned and playfully jabbed the Chinese man in the side. "You gonna demand another rematch, Wu?" he jeered while giving a sly wink towards Quatre.

Wufei seemed to balk at the idea, and slowly pushed the chessboard away from him. "Are you kidding? There's only so much bashing my ego can take. You don't persist to pick a fight with someone that's blatantly superior. That's just idiotic to the utmost degree." he snorted.

"Aww. Wufei's ego got dented." Sally chuckled, enjoying the faint blush that colored Wufei's dark cheeks. She was about to go on when she heard the chime her phone gave whenever she got a text message. After quickly pulling it from her Preventers jacket pocket, she glanced over the message. "Hm.. Une wants to have a word with Quatre. Something about getting his opinion on a new situation that's popped up."

Quatre blinked at the sudden information only to frown in concern. "Is it a serious matter?"

Sally could only shrug. "It doesn't say. Come on, I need to get back to my office anyway. I'll walk with you."

When his old comrades grew strangely silent, Quatre knew something was off. From the corner of his eye he could easily see the suspicion that narrowed Zechs' eyes as well. 'They're going to confront him..' He knew it would happen eventually once he started spending time with his former enemy.

When the scenario originally occurred to him he thought he would be a bundle of nerves. Now as he stood from the table he felt strangely calm. 'I trust Zechs. Things won't change.' He glanced back towards his roommate and gave a smile. "I'll be meeting with an old business associate this evening, so you'll probably have the apartment to yourself. Knowing her, she'll be talking my ear off well into the night."

Zechs nodded and glanced at his watch. "Alright. I'll see you in the morning."

Quatre simply smiled once more before turning to follow Sally out the library door.

Sally tried to be subtle about closing the door behind her, but Zechs took full notice of it. He looked at it when it clicked shut, then focused on the four pairs of eyes watching him. "Well, you finally did it. Now what?"

Heero's eyes narrowed slightly at the strange tone. "What did we finally do?"

The question had Zechs pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a deep breath. "Please don't patronize me. Ever since you discovered I was staying at Quatre's apartment you've made numerous attempts to corner me." He lowered his hand and placed a weary glare on all of them. "Just say whatever it is that's clearly displeased you about this so we can move on."

"Displeased us?" Wufei repeated on a snort. "You've got this completely wrong, Zechs."

A pale brow lofted high. "Do I?"

Duo gave a laugh and plopped down into one of the chairs at the table. "We're not displeased. We're fuckin thrilled. We couldn't be happier right now."

Zechs narrowed his eyes for a moment before he held his chin in thought. "Yeah.. I'm not really getting that from the way the four of you are looking at me right now. Mind explaining?"

The sarcastic tone went unnoticed as Heero and Trowa took a seat at the table as well. "Please sit, Zechs. There are a few things we need to discuss." Trowa stated quietly.

He felt heavy weight in the pit of his stomach as his suspicion grew, but Zechs remained standing. "I make it a point not to discuss personal matters without the subject's consent." he said with a disapproving frown.

"So you know what we want to talk about?" Heero questioned slowly.

A shrug tilted Zechs' shoulders. "I don't have a clue. I don't ask any questions of a personal nature. Quatre returns that courtesy."

"Wait.. So you haven't discussed anything personal at all?" Duo asked, a bit surprised.

The blonde head shook. "We rarely speak at all. We only discuss things that we know are of direct interest. Other than that, we don't say a word to one another." Zechs informed them sedately. It took a bit of effort not to show amusement towards their shocked reactions.

"Then.. How did you cheer him up so drastically?" Wufei asked, clearly confused.

Zechs bit back the urge to tell them it was none of their business, but he could tell how worried all of them were for the Arabian. "Nothing. I have no idea what is provoking his pain, but Quatre isn't a child. He doesn't need to be coddled or constantly monitored." He immediately noticed their alarm, and it only made his annoyance with them flare up slightly. "Yes, he knows. He has for some time now. I'm personally surprised he can put up with the weak excuses you give him for it." He saw that Duo was about to protest, but he quickly held up his hand to silence him. "I understand you're concerned for him, but you need to quit being so cautious around him."

His words seemed to sober all of them, and only convinced them further that he had to know. "So you have no intentions of asking him what happened?" Trowa asked once more.

"None."

The strong reply was all they needed. "Still, in order for you to understand why we're acting with such caution around him, we need to explain what happened, Zechs. It's too fresh for Quatre to bare repeating it." Heero started with a determined gleam in his eyes.

'Dammit.. Why are they forcing this on me?' Zechs wondered in frustration. "I don't have to understand anything. You said it yourselves that he's cheered up drastically."

"Yes, but he's no where near recovered from the incident." Wufei cut in. "It wouldn't take much to send him back into a spiraling depression. From what his youngest sisters told us, he almost didn't survive the last time."

That news made Zechs' heart clench tightly. "You mean he was suicidal?"

"He almost succeeded." Duo felt his eyes sting as he locked his gaze on the table. "His sisters found him after he downed half a bottle of whisky and fist full of pain meds. Nearly slipped into a coma, but they got him to a doctor in time."

"So you see, it's in Quatre's best interests that you do know." Trowa continued. "Since you live with him now, you'd be able to readily help him should he start slipping down that path again."

He didn't want to. Every shred of his mind was screaming at him to respect Quatre's wishes, but a different part of him silenced it. Suddenly Zechs found himself sitting down at the table, and he bowed his in what felt like defeat. "Fine... If it's that imperative to his well being."

It was like an epic victory for the four of them, but none of them pulled out of their grim stances. Duo was the one they had agreed with relay the story, so the others kept quiet as the American began. "A year and a half ago, Quatre met a guy. His name was Davin. He was really great. Kind, brilliant, and funny as hell. They had met at the theater when they wound up seated next to each other. A month later Q comes out and tells everyone that they're together. They were really in love too. I had never seen Q happier than when he was around Davin."

Zechs' eyes narrowed, but he couldn't stop the way his heart was suddenly beating faster. "You keep talking in the past tense..." he muttered, knowing that tragedy was looming in the American's words.

Duo looked away for a moment to gather himself. He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. "For over a year they were inseparable... But Q never allowed the relationship to interfere with his work. Davin knew this, and totally supported him.." He trailed off for a moment as a pained expression fell over his face. "However the majority of Quatre's sisters didn't approve of their relationship."

This made Zechs' frown deepen. "What do you mean?"

"Twelve of Quatre's sisters are the main shareholders of their family's company. Each one of them is a self righteous bigot. They hated Davin with a passion because they thought he was corrupting Quatre." Wufei explained with an angry scowl.

"They refused to admit that their brother was gay. They blamed it all on Davin. So they concocted this elaborate scheme to get Davin to leave Quatre." Trowa said, his own muted expression turning grim.

"Scheme..?" Zechs repeated slowly.

Heero nodded and locked his own gaze on the table. "They used a sophisticated sound program and took sound bites from various speeches and interviews Quatre has given in order to compile an exact match to his voice. They then called Davin and used the program of Quatre's voice to talk to him."

"None of us knows what they said to Davin..." Duo picked up. "The only thing we were told was that Davin was hit by a car after he walked out of bar close to his home. The collision broke his neck, so he was gone in an instant. The driver said that Davin willingly jumped in front of the car. Autopsy showed his blood alcohol level was through the roof..." He suddenly had to stop and bite hard at his knuckles to stop the tears that wanted to form.

Zechs blinked in alarm as he tried to process all of this. "He killed himself..." he whispered. Suddenly the pain lingering in Quatre's eyes made sense. "But.. Were his sister's charged? That's got to be considered manslaughter and premeditated assault."

Wufei shook his head and placed his hand on Duo's trembling shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "We have no proof. It was a fluke that Heero found the program when we did an independent investigation for Quatre. It was instantly erased the moment he was discovered in the company system." His head bowed when he thought of how all their efforts were in vain. "They literally got away with murder. The only thing Quatre could do was disown himself. He's refused to set foot on L-4 again. A very few of his sisters are doing what they can to help Quatre, but their efforts are constantly being thwarted by the ones that caused this. He's dead to them, so they're trying their damnedest to ensure he sees none of the family fortune." he concluded solemnly.

When a silence settled over them, Zechs wasn't sure what to think. What they had just explained was beyond cruel. It was evil. To think that Quatre's own family would put him through such torture and get away with it made him angry. Angrier than he had been a very long time. However anger wasn't going to mend the hole torn through Quatre's heart. 'Quatre's gotten better because I'm calm around him... Because I don't treat him differently..' He took a deep breath and raked his hands through his hair as he tried to defuse the rage that he used to be prone to.

Once he settled himself, he slowly let out the breath he had been holding and placed his focus on the grain patterns of the table top. "Is that why his youngest sisters insisted giving him that large apartment? So if he decided to leave he could sell it and keep the money to live off of?"

The four ex pilots were all stunned and impressed at how the former White Fang leader was able to calm himself. They had expected an all out fury to erupt from him, but it was clear the older blonde was going to keep himself composed for Quatre's sake. This encouraged all of them.

"That's about it. They were able to set him up with an account that he could live comfortably on for the next few years, but that's all they could do for him. Quatre hasn't had contact with any of them since he moved in three months ago. He's kept himself isolated from just about everyone." Heero stated while trying to gauge his former rival's reaction. He didn't want to place all his hopes on Zechs, but the results were obvious. Quatre was comfortable around him. 'So strange.. He's nothing like Davin.. I wonder why Quatre has taken to him so strongly..'

"I see.." Another short silence hovered over them before Zechs suddenly stood from the table. "I appreciate you explaining things to me." he stated before turning away and heading for the door.

"Zechs? Where are you going?" Duo asked quickly as he stood from the table as well.

Zechs didn't pause in his course or look back. "I'm going to spend some time in the gym so I won't punch a wall." With that the door to the library opened and he was gone.

The fact the blonde man closed the door quietly instead of slamming it was a surprise to all of them.

Duo stared at the door for a moment longer, then all but collapsed back into his chair. He folded his arms on the table and buried his face into them as he let out a long shuddering breath. "Well.. He took that better than I thought he would." he muttered loudly, voice muffled by his arms.

"Indeed. Hopefully Zechs will be able to help Quatre move on now that he knows." Trowa whispered, placing his hand on Duo's shoulder like Wufei had to calm him.

"Yeah... Hopefully."

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TBC

Sometimes hope is all it takes.

Later~