Time for the next installment!

You already know who the bad guy is.

Now you guys get to watch while the others try to figure everything out.

Sorta like watching a horror film and you can see it coming.

"She's in the fugly pink limo, you idiots!"

Have fun yelling at the screen~

Enjoy

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Chapter 8

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Three weeks pass, and Quatre made a rather steady recovery. He was constantly visited by assorted family, including the maguanacs. Duo and Trowa were there almost the entire time to help him through anything he needed. All of them were very surprised by how well the blonde was handling the situation.

His eyes seemed brighter, and his spirits were higher than ever. The brilliant smile that he gave everyone seemed to be infectious. The entire hospital was brimming with good cheer as Quatre shared his get well gifts with everyone. In a weird way, it was as if the tragic experience made Quatre even more kind hearted, if that was possible.

Investigations were still being held into the incident, but everyone at the preventers still made time to visit the Arabian. Including Zechs.

Respecting his new found brother's wishes to keep it a secret, Zechs kept a distance during the day. At night Sally would run interference while the two blondes had time to talk. Their talks improved their overall relationship greatly. Zechs was quickly learning to let go of the animosity that he had harbored for is brother. In fact the more he talked with Quatre the more he realized how much they really had in common. Despite how they were separated, their paths became almost identical in the long run. Plus Quatre was easy to talk to, and had a very open mind.

Quatre was absolutely thrilled about everything Zechs told him about their mother. He knew that she had to be an amazingly kind woman just from the few things Zechs could tell him. He was still uneasy about their monster of a father, but if anything it only made him feel sympathy for what his brother had to endure. They were the same. They both grew up abused and ultimately isolated until they both decided to change their paths in life. It was amazing how well they could relate and see their bond building once a faint trust had formed.

It didn't seem like much time at all had passed before Quatre was finally released from the hospital. He was greeted by endless loving fanfare from associates and supporters. He even gave a brief little press statement thanking everyone for their concern. The incident seemed to boost Quatre's overall base of supporters by leaps and bounds. Not only were gifts pouring in from his normal territories, but now he was receiving well wishes from all across Europe, Asia, and Australia. However Quatre handled all the attention gracefully and made a point to turn attention to the press conference that Relena was finally able to reschedule. Not that it really had an effect.

The moment he returned to his office he was overwhelmed by the volume of cards and flowers that filled the normally large space. He had to ask for Duo and Trowa to help him yet again in distributing the flowers to all the employees of the Preventers organization.

Which led him to where he was now. He and the others spent the entire day delivering flowers until there was only one bouquet of red and white roses left.

"So you gonna keep those, Q?" Duo asked as he leaned against the door frame to Quatre's office.

Picking up the bouquet, Quatre smiled when he caught how fragrant they were. "I think I will..."

Trowa liked the smile that was on Quatre's face, but was curious. "Who are those from?"

Quatre searched for a card, and finally found a small one tucked inside the black ribbon that held the flowers together. He pulled it out and glanced over it. 'You'll always be our brother... Please forgive us someday...' When he read those words to himself Quatre's smile turned sad. "It's from Jade and Lana... They worry far too much. I'll need to talk with them soon." he said while slipping the card into his jacket pocket.

"Those two did kinda leave abruptly. Did something happen?" Duo asked in concern. The pair were rather fidgety the entire time Quatre was unconscious. It seemed odd that they would leave the moment they found their brother was okay.

He didn't want to lie to his closest friends, but Quatre truly didn't want anyone else to know. So he lied. "Those two never have handled situations like that easily. It's okay though." He sat the roses down and decided to change the subject. "So what are you two going to be doing tonight?"

"Dunno. I'm actually kinda tired. I'm thinkin just going straight home and to bed." Duo muttered as he rubbed at his eyes stubbornly.

"It's no wonder." Quatre chuckled. "You two have been my shadow the entire time. You're probably exhausted. Why don't you both go home and get some sleep?"

The thought of a night's rest now that Quatre was safe was appealing, but Trowa was still concerned. "What are you going to do?"

Quatre gestured to the stack of papers on his desk that he had been avoiding before he had gotten shot. "Try to catch up on paper work. Une has already been covering my portion of it. I want to start getting through it so things can get back to normal around here."

"Speaking of normal, I noticed that Zechs seems to have changed a lot... Did you two talk?" Duo suddenly asked. The question had been on his mind for a few weeks, so he figured it was a good time to spring it.

Expecting it, Quatre was ready with another half lie. "We did, actually. We worked through a lot of our differences, and I think we've reached an understanding." he stated quite happily.

"That's good. I think almost losing you placed things into perspective for him." Trowa commented while stuffing his hands in his pants pockets. "You would have been shocked at how badly it really affected him. I've never seen him look so frightened."

There was a faint glare behind Trowa's gaze that Quatre noticed. His friend knew something was up, but Trowa seemed to be willing to keep quiet about it. 'Heh.. Trowa always could tell when I'm lying..' Quatre mused silently. "I remember him picking me off the floor and trying to stop the bleeding... I was surprised, but I guess I was sort of relieved that he did care at some level... But anyway, all of that is in the past now. I think things will be better from now on between us." he added with that calm smile.

Trowa could tell that at least the last part had been true, so he decided to leave it at that. "Then all is well. Come on, Duo. You can give me a ride to my apartment." he stated rather than asked as he stepped out into the hall.

Duo was quick to quirk up an eyebrow. "Oh I can, huh? Gee, that would be really nice of me." His tone was oozing with sarcasm, which made Quatre snicker. "Call if you need anything, Q!" Duo said with a wave before he darted out after the Frenchman.

Chuckling softly, Quatre shook his head and let out a deep sigh. Everything had happened so quickly, but Quatre found himself at a better point in his life. He was still conflicted about his origins, but Zechs proved he was willing to help. The fact he wasn't a legit Winner didn't seem to sting as much. Now that he thought of it, most of his sisters didn't really look alike. It was very possible that they weren't related by blood either. However that was a puzzle that he had no intention of solving.

He turned his attention to the paperwork on his desk, but paused when he saw there was a small note on top of the stack. Picking up the piece of paper, he was surprised by the familiar writing he saw. "Don't worry about this, I've already finished everything for you.... Hope you feel better. Love, Lucrezia... Heh... I'm beginning to feel very spoiled..." He did like the loving attention. He wasn't about to deny that. The outpouring of support was very heart warming and humbling. "It's always good to know that so many believe in me..."

The scent of the roses on his desk made his thoughts drift back to his eldest sisters. He could easily say that he wasn't angry with them. Nor did he really blame them. "They could have kept up with the lies... But they spoke out because they were afraid for my life... They confessed for my sake... I can't be angry with them... I'll talk with them later..."

Taking the roses from his desk, Quatre decided that office work could wait. He quietly locked up everything and made his way to the stair well. Instead of going down, he started up the stairs. Climbing them was a bit more effort than he remembered with his still healing injuries, but after a few minutes he was pushing the roof access door open.

Like he expected, Zechs was standing at the small wall that bordered the roof looking out over the city that stretched around the preventers building. A smile twitched onto his lips as he stepped out onto the roof. "You would think that as often as we both like to go to the roof to think we would have caught one another before now." he called out on a chuckle.

Zechs found himself chuckling as well as he turned to face his brother. "It's probably best that we didn't. Two months ago we would have tried to shove each other off the edge."

"Heh, good point. So what brings you up here this time?" Quatre asked casually.

The older blonde was quiet for a moment as his younger brother approached him. Once Quatre was closer he decided to speak. "It still irritates me that those two were able to infiltrate my security detail..." A frustrated frown formed over his brow as he returned to looking over the city. "I've ran the entire day through my head a over and over since it happened... But I can't figure out how they were able to get past everyone... I mean I could readily admit that they slipped past me, but there were over 60 others there... None of them had ever seen those two before, and none of them thought anything suspicious about it..." He glanced to his left when Quatre stood beside him. "Don't you think that's a bit too coincidental...?"

That quickly sobered Quatre from his good mood. "Now that you put it into perspective, that is very disturbing..." he muttered.

"So I'm right in thinking that it's too strange to be a mere fluke?"

Quatre readily nodded. "It is too strange..." He placed his hand to his chin in thought. After a moment his gaze suddenly narrowed. "It makes me think that the only way they could have gotten in is if they had a contact already inside of the security detail..."

Zechs's expression darkened. "So there's the potential of a traitor within the preventers..."

"Either that or the local police..." He thought about it for a bit longer, but his eyes widened when a thought struck him. "Wait... Why did the sniper wait...?"

"Wait?" Zechs repeated curiously.

Quatre looked into his brother's pale eyes seriously. "The sniper waited until we were secluded back stage. There's no way that guy could have gotten past you or Trowa to get up to that catwalk. So he had to have been there the entire time."

Zechs quickly caught on. "The entire thing was a set up. The beta team found beaten was to force us to move into our contingency plan... And the missing woman must have taken out the rest of the beta team to serve as a distraction... But why...? Why wait for the two of us to have Relena back stage?"

That was the question that had both strategic minds puzzled. Quatre ran his free hand through his hair as he started to think out loud. "I suppose one reason could be that the goal wasn't for the audience to see her shot... That would prove her point of becoming a martyr... It doesn't make as deep of an impression if there aren't any witnesses..."

"Heh.. I don't know about that. From what I could tell everyone was worried sick about you when the press finally announced what happened." Zechs pointed out with a slight smirk.

Quatre hummed in amusement and lifted up the roses in his hand to look at them. "You have a point..." His smile returned as he pulled out one of the white roses and held it to his brother. "Here."

The confusion was apparent on Zechs' face as he took the rose. "What's this for?"

"You're the one that saved my life, Zechs. You deserve all the fanfare, not me."

The sentiment surprised him, but pleasantly so. It wasn't often he was given the credit for something good. "What about Sally?"

"I already gave her twelve bouquets and a kiss. I figured something simple would be better for you." Quatre stated smoothly.

Zechs chuckled and brought the rose close so he could smell the sweet scent. "Hm.. So far this whole brother thing hasn't been too bad... Do you really think we can keep it a secret from everyone...?"

The younger blonde shrugged carelessly. "My sisters did for 22 years.... I suppose it'll get out eventually... But we can worry about that later."

"True..." Zechs examined the white rose in his hand as he thought over everything. His mind kept drifting back to the irritating conundrum of the two infiltrators. "Quatre.... I think it would only be prudent of us if we considered both you and Relena as the potential targets for whatever those two had planned... At least until we've located the missing woman."

It made sense in a strategic stand point, but Quatre found himself frowning. "Really, if you think about it, all three of us could have been the target. It would explain why they waited until we were secluded back stage."

"That is a valid possibility. I guess we should all be on our guard then. Perhaps I should stay with Relena just in case..." Zechs muttered, not exactly thrilled by it.

Quatre laughed and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "You're far braver than I am if you do. I can barely tolerate her anymore."

Zechs smirked. "So the fact she's your sister doesn't change that?"

"Not really. It just gives me one more reason not to just hit her over the head with something." Quatre quipped with a wink. He then lightly swatted the broader shoulder and motioned for the roof access door. "Come on, I feel like indulging in an obscene amount of alcohol."

"You know you shouldn't be drinking this soon after getting out of the hospital." Zechs readily chided.

Which made Quatre smirk. "You haven't been my brother for a month, and already you're nagging me."

"Hey, making up for lost time." Zechs shot back while messing up his little brother's hair.

Laughing at the now habitual gesture, Quatre swatted the hand away. "Okay, okay... How 'bout a minute amount of alcohol and dinner? Anywhere you like. I'll buy." he offered with a smile.

That offer made Zechs smile in return. "Sounds good."

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TBC

Oh the frustration as they slowly put the pieces together...

Imma lil sadist.

Teehee

Later~