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.

Words in //italics// are internal thoughts

'GWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWG' That line represents a perspective switch. When you see that line of text that is what it means.

"I'm sorry Vice Foreign Minister but I'll need to see your credentials and security pass before I can grant you access to the upper floor offices. It's regulation."

"But I already explained to you that I left them at home." Relena insisted softly and reasonably. She was trying to be diplomatic about the situation despite her mood but the security agent preventing her from going beyond the lobby of the Preventer's Headquarters was making things especially difficult. "Get Commander Une on the phone." She suddenly demanded. Lady Une would deal with this annoyance in a heart beat.

"As you wish." Relena crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot in irritated annoyance as the woman placed the call and tried desperately not to think about Heero. He couldn't be dead but then Quatre would never lie to her, at least not about something so important. Regardless, she couldn't completely believe it until she saw his body for herself. "I am sorry Vice Foreign Minister. The commander is in a meeting at the moment."

"Then tell them to get her out of it." Relena snapped. The woman relayed her message and shook her head a moment later then hung up the phone.

"I'm sorry ma'am. There is nothing they can do."

"You have got to be kidding me! Since when does the Commander of the Preventers not have time for the Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth Sphere United Nation!" Relena cried indignantly. She felt her eyes water and rubbed at them for a long moment. This was beyond frustrating. She wiped at her eyes a final time and glared at the woman, a woman who apparently didn't care who she was or about what she could do if she decided to bring her influence to bear. "I have clearance to be here!" She continued angrily.

"I believe that you do but without proof of that clearance I am not allowed to let you go past this point."

"Then try and get either Wufei Chang or Trowa Barton to come down here and vouch for me." The security agent sighed in frustration but obediently dialed an extension and waited for a response.

GWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWG

The phone on his desk trilled annoyingly and Wufei sighed in irritation before plucking it off its cradle and settling it between his cheek and shoulder. "Chang." He growled in irritation. He listened to the woman on the other end and his normally calm face twisted in a disapproving scowl. "I'll be down in a few moments." He muttered icily. The phone was returned to its cradle with more force then was absolutely necessary and for a long moment Wufei remained seated and simply stared at it. He did not want to deal with an emotional Relena Darlian so soon after Heero's death. The woman had to be in an absolute state of despair if she had been stupid enough to forget her security passes.

//Who even told her?// Wufei asked himself silently. The news of Heero's death hadn't yet been broken to the media … Quatre. It had to have been Quatre. Wufei pushed his chair back and winced as it scrapped loudly against the floor and echoed through his now half-empty office. Yuy might never have said much but his presence had always been welcome and in its own way comforting. He marched out of the room and across the hall and pounded briefly on the door to Trowa's office before turning the knob and pushing it open anyway.

"Wufei?" Trowa's ever soft voice only served to ignite Wufei's slowly building anger

"Quatre told Darlian didn't he?" Wufei demanded immediately.

"She deserved to find out from one of us instead of hearing about it from another source." Trowa said quietly. His gaze darted around the office he shared with Duo and he sighed. "He was trying to wait for Duo to come back but then decided that Lady Une might not be able to keep what happened a secret much longer.

"She is going to find out about them now." Wufei growled. Trowa glanced at Duo's desk and then reached across it to pick up one of the framed pictures that sat precariously at the edge of the clutter. He looked at it for a moment and Wufei had the chance to glance at it as well before Trowa laid it face down. It was one he recognized immediately as one of the pictures taken at Duo and Heero's wedding.

The ceremony had been held at Quatre's smallest estate and there had been less then a dozen people people in attendance. His friends had convinced Commander Une to officiate and the wedding had consisted of little more then an exchange of rings, a champagne toast, and a few pictures. Duo and Heero had slipped away almost immediately afterward for their honeymoon and it had been heavily implied by the size of the ceremony that they did not want a big deal made about their union. They had not released a statement of any kind and Heero had gone out of his way to personally ask everyone who had been in attendance to not relay the news of it to Relena – a gesture that had absolutely delighted Duo.

"I know." Trowa sighed and lifted the picture to look at it again and Wufei could briefly see sadness flicker across his normally emotionless face. "They should have made it official years ago." He said finally. "Like Quatre and I did." He went back to contemplating the picture. "They wouldn't have regretted it."

"They had too many things standing in their way to do it sooner." Wufei reached for the picture and examined the happy couple that stared back at him. "If Yuy hadn't wasted so much time trailing Darlian around like a puppy it would have happened sooner. She's down in the lobby now by the way." He muttered bitterly. "She forgot her security pass and needs someone to act as her escort.

"If you would like I can..."

"No." Wufei did not even let the other young man finish. "I'm just going to escort her to the Commander's office and let Une deal with her." Trowa nodded in silent acceptance and Wufei replaced the photo before leaving the office. He adjusted his uniform on the way to the elevator and a few moments later was stepping into the lobby.

"Finally. It took you long enough Chang." He heard Darlian's exaggerated cry from all the way across the lobby and gave the poor guard a sympathetic look before turning narrowed eyes in Relena's direction.

"I will take responsibility for her." He muttered as he motioned for Relena to follow him. He jabbed the elevator button furiously and ushered the emotional woman into it before following her and jabbing the button to close the doors before anyone else could follow them. He punched the button for Lady Une's floor and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his head down. To anyone else it was quite clear that he was not in a mood to speak but Relena had never been good at reading any of them.

"So Heero is really dead?"

"Yes." He refused to look at her, hoping she would take the hint and not ask any more questions.

"How?" She demanded.

"He was tortured then shot." Wufei was not in the mood to be gentle with her, not when Duo was hiding from the world and undoubtedly letting his grief destroy him. He had known since their imprisonment on the moon base that Duo was in love with Heero and he had learned when they were working together on Peace-Million that Heero felt the same for Duo. In his mind he saw Relena as the main obstacle that had held them apart after the war's end. She had tried very hard to keep Heero close to her in hopes that he would fall for her and had apparently never realized that Heero's heart belonged to someone else.

"Did he... did he say anything about me before he died?" Wufei could hear tears building behind Relena's words and his gaze shot up in disbelief. How deep did this woman's delusion run exactly?

"I can guarantee that you were the last person Heero was thinking about." He hissed icily. His eyes were narrowed slits of barely repressed fury and it took every ounce of self control to keep from screaming at her.

"How would you know that?" Relena cried in disbelief.

"Because I knew Heero better then you did." Wufei snapped. The bell chimed as the elevator door slid open and Wufei said nothing more to her as he stormed out into the hall in the direction of Commander Une's secretary. "Is the Commander in?" He growled at the young man behind the desk.

"She left a little bit ago and is in a meeting."

"The Vice Foreign Minister is going to wait in her office then." Wufei growled. The secretary tried to stop him but Wufei swept past him and ushered Relena into the office. He waited in the door till the woman was seated. "I'm sure the Commander will find time for you soon enough." He told her as he stepped back out and closed the door behind him.

GWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWG

Relena sat in her chair in stunned silence for a long moment then looked around the empty office. She did not understand why Wufei had been so hostile towards her then reminded herself that Wufei had never been the most social of the five pilots. He was also probably upset about Heero, something she could not blame him for. She fidgeted in her chair and huffed in annoyance. Where was Lady Une? There were so many things that needed to be done so Heero could be given the funeral he deserved.

The young man was a symbol of the peace that the Earth and colonies now shared and had chosen to remain a preserver of that peace when he could have given up on fighting and settled down. It was only fair that he be honored in a grand fashion. The news of his death should have been made public immediately so dignitaries representing both the Earth Sphere United Nation and the Colonies could gather and mourn.

Relena wiped at her eyes tiredly and tried to resist the urge to cry again. Heero had been so busy with his job since he had resigned as her bodyguard that he barely ever made time for her and on the few occasions she had managed to get him to visit he had always been in the company of the other pilots. There had been a single occasion where they had been alone long enough for her to express to him how she truly felt for him – to explain that what she felt was more then just some wayward crush or wrongly placed gratitude. A few desperate tears raced down her cheeks as she thought about how she would never get to tell him she loved him.

The young woman shot out of her chair in frustration and paced to the window like a caged cat. There was no use focusing on what she had failed to do. Heero was dead and she had to accept that. She would show him how deeply she cared for him by focusing on his funeral and making sure it was worthy of the life he had lived. Her fingers pushed a couple of the window blinds apart and she stared out over the city and let herself hate how the bright sunlight seemed oblivious to the pain in her heart. The sky should be crying and the whole of the earth should be mourning. Heero Yuy, it's savior, was dead.

Her hand tightened into a fist at her side and she let the blinds fall back into place with a metallic crinkle. There was no point in waiting for Lady Une. She knew where the morgue was and security pass in hand or not she did have permission to be in the Preventers Headquarters. She could say goodbye to Heero while she waited then once Lady Une was finished with her meeting they could make plans for Heero's funeral together. Relena stalked back across the office and pulled the door open.

"Do you need something Vice Foreign Minister?" Lady Une's secretary was looking at her curiously as she came out and Relena pasted a fake smile on her face.

"I'm just going to the restroom. I'll return shortly." She told him calmly. He nodded curtly and focused on his work and Relena headed on her way. A moment later she was slipping into the elevator and pressing the button labeled M1. The ride was silent, felt too long, and she was surprised when it ended without being interrupted. Her heels clicked loudly on the spotless tile and she resisted the urge to run in the direction of the morgue.

//It won't be unlocked.// The reasonable part of her brain told you. //You will have come down here for nothing.// Relena pushed the thought aside and glanced at the closed door to Sally Chang's office as she passed it. Sally would let her in if it wasn't. A moment later she reached the morgue and steeled herself as she reached for the latch. The handle turned under her hand and she pushed the door inward with a silent sigh. Her goodbye would be now or never she supposed.

I love comments. They encourage me to write more so please tell me what you think.

The next chapter is written! I was going to make everything one big long chapter but it was almost 4000 words and I like the 2000-2500 word chapter structure I have going. I should get around to posting part 5 in the next few days so keep an eye out for it.

Chapter Preview: Relena walks in on Duo and the two argue until Lady Une steps in to separate them.

Congrats to WingedAngelGuardian for figuring out where I took the title for the last chapter from. I don't actually have a prize in mind. I wish I did.