The Harder They Fall
By Missa
Pairings: Implied 1x2, 3x4x5 - Eventual 1x3? and 2x4x5
Warnings: Slightly dark, yaoi.
Part 1?
DisclaimerStandard disclaimers apply. In other words, I don't own squat.
Key: Italics Thoughts.
Author Notes: Please be very aware that I have no intention of bastardizing anyone in this fic. Everyone deals with death in different ways and this is a study in how some may react. You'll see later in the story.

Chapter One:

"I swear it was him," Wufei said glaring at the group of boys who all had looks disbelief written on their faces.

"Come on Wufei, be logical," Heero started, "You saw the reports. There was nothing left of his body except a tooth. That's how they identified his remains."

Trowa jumped into the conversation. "You're probably just imagining things. Being here, remembering Quatre, perhaps you're just wishing he was here and seeing things where they are not." He placed an arm around Wufei's shoulders and was surprised to find that they were shaking.

"Imagining things?" Wufei whispered harshly. "I am not imagining things! I have mourned not having Quatre around every single day! I never forgot who he was! I remember him during the day and I see him in my dreams at night." He shrugged Trowa's arm off his shoulders and looked at the boys in front of him. "You don't even think it's a little odd that they only found a tooth? That tooth was in perfect condition! Not charred, broken or anything like that. You don't think that is a little bit strange?"

Heero shrugged. "Stranger things have happened. I remember in the war the only thing left of a body would be a single hair. I think that you probably just need to rest."

Duo chewed on his lower lip obviously deep in thought. When they had been presented with Quatre's death he never even assumed it was falsified. If he had, it would make it seem like Quatre had abandoned them on purpose instead of him being gone through a cruel twist of fate. But what Wufei had said was compelling, he didn't want to believe it, but it was always possible. Besides, that person had moved just like a Gundam Pilot. Finally, he looked up staring at Heero and Trowa with stormy violet eyes, "Leave Wufei alone. If he thinks it was Quatre, who are we to decide that it's not? He probably has the deepest connection to Quatre right now anyway. Let's just leave it be."

Heero nodded, not wanting Duo to become upset too because he and Duo were on unsteady terms as it was. Trowa merely shrugged deciding that the best place to talk sense into Wufei was in the privacy of their room. Wufei looked up at Trowa, who still had a look of disbelief on his face. "I'll find a way to prove it you. I swear I will."

Flash back

The call had come as a complete shock. It had been Wufei who had been the one unfortunate enough to pick up the phone. Une had been the one unfortunate enough to have to deliver the hardest message of her life to people she loved and respected.

Quatre had been on a simple reconnaissance mission for the Preventers. In fact, it was a mission right up his alley as a business man. He was investigating missing funds from one corporation that were believed to be going to a small group of terrorists – the remaining members of the White Fang. Everything had gone as planned, until the room Quatre was in exploded.

Uncharacteristically for Une, her hands were shaking as she called the vid-phone to Quatre's house. She knew that all the former pilots would be there, because they tended to never be separated for more than a few weeks at a time. She waited for the call to connect, trying to school her features. A moment later, Wufei pressed the button on his end, enabling the screen.

"Good afternoon, Chang." Une said with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Is there something I can help you with Lady Une? We're expecting Quatre's call." Wufei said staring pointedly at her.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Une said. She paused briefly before continuing on. "There has been a... development in the mission."

Wufei raised an eyebrow and kept his heart at a steady pace. "Nothing is wrong with Quatre. He probably just needs to stay there longer than we thought and can't contact us." Wufei knew immediately that his logic was wrong. "Une would never call for something as trivial as that. He's probably hurt and needs one of us to go pick him up. But why didn't he call himself...?" Snapping out of his reverie Wufei licked his lips. "How badly is he hurt, and where can we pick him up?"

"He's not hurt, Chang…" Une hedged and her eyes stared passed Wufei looking at a painting on the wall instead of into his eyes.

"Then why did you call?" Wufei asked clearly confused. "If he's not hurt…"

Une cut him off abruptly with her next words. Softly, she delivered the news as gently, yet as abruptly as she could. "He's not hurt. He's dead."

Wufei stared dumbly at the vid-phone. Obviously his ears had to be playing tricks on him. Taking a deep breath he shook his head to clear it. "What did you say?"

"I said that he is dead. The room he was in exploded. The only thing that we could find was a tooth. No one has seen or heard from him since, and the agents in the surrounding area said that they did not see him exit the room before the blast. I'm sorry Wufei." Une reached out and turned off the vid-phone before Wufei could see her cry.

Sometimes, she really, really hated her job. She hated having to be so harsh, but she didn't know what else to do. There was a reason she tried to separate herself from her employees and this was that reason. It didn't help that she had become their friend before she became their boss.

Wufei stayed in a state of shock for all of five minutes. Then he got up, made his way slowly to his room and began packing. "There's no way he can be dead. There just isn't. There has to be a mistake, maybe he was captured or maybe hurt. Quatre cannot be dead." He ignored the tears stinging his eyes, the trembling of his hands as they packed a couple changes of clothes and a first aid kit. He closed the first bag, not feeling one of his fingers being snagged by the zipper. He moved onto the second bag where he packed some explosives, guns and most importantly, his sword. He grabbed both of the bags and though his eyes were clouded with tears there was a new look of determination and more than a bit of madness.

End Flashback

As soon as they got back to the house Wufei headed up to his room to be alone. He and Trowa used to share a room with Quatre and their own rooms were more like a place to get away from it all. Then Quatre had died. Wufei took solace in his room on a constant basis. He and Trowa kept getting more and more distant, while he and Duo had become better friends. Wufei believed it was because he and Duo showed their grief on a constant basis, while Heero and Trowa chose to bury it deep within them and try to forget about the past, as it was the only way they had of coping. Or it could have been that he and Duo just were not ready to let go, even after 3 years.

Wufei was anticipating a conversation with Trowa, as over the years Trowa seemed to want his way more and more often. It wasn't that he was mean or cruel about it, but Wufei knew that Trowa was going to try and convince him that he was imagining things. Wufei knew it was because Trowa wanted to preserve his sanity, but Wufei was willing to risk insanity for the chance to have Quatre back in his life.

When the knock came at the door, Wufei raised his head expectantly, but the person that greeted his eyes wasn't the one he was preparing to see.

"Hey Wu-man," Duo said leaning against the doorframe, "Wanna talk?" Without waiting for an answer Duo walked in, closed and locked the door.

End Chapter 1.