Thicker than Blood

by: a psycho chibi named Wendy

Hey all! I suddenly started writing this a few days ago after this story line has been buzzing around in my head for several years now.

legal crap!

Disclaimer: GW isn't mine. It should be, but it's not.

Warnings: Language, graphic violence, angst and possible character death. I'm not sure yet of anything else at the moment since this is still a work in progress. Be patient pretty please.

Pairings: None! Ha!

It's actually not yaoi! :dies from shock:

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

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"This is ridiculous, I'm not discussing this further."

"Dammit, Zechs, you are an asinine self absorbed bastard!"

Pausing in his course for the door to the conference room, Zechs slowly turned and placed his attention on the young blonde man at the long table that had knocked his chair over in his haste to stand up. The defiance he saw in the heated aqua gaze man made a slight growl rumble in his throat. "And you are a paranoid whining little bitch. You're making a bigger deal of this than it needs to be, Quatre." he snorted in annoyance

His eyes narrowing, Quatre felt an ever increasing anger beating against his calm facade. "Have you not heard a single thing I've said?! This concert hall is a security nightmare!" He quickly snatch up the large print out of the concert hall's blueprints and held it up to show all the red circles that were scatted about the paper. "There are 32 points that are not going to be covered for Relena's speech tomorrow with your idiotic plan. 32! How the hell is that acceptable?!" Quatre all but yelled, thoroughly shocking people that were still seated at the table.

"Q! Calm down!" Duo called out with a slight frown. He then shot his attention to the older blonde near the door and his frown deepened. "Quatre has a point. You don't hafta cover all of those points, but there's gotta be a way that you can at least have the higher risk ones taken care of."

"I agree." Une stated from the head of the table. "It's not like your security detail is understaffed, Zechs. If Quatre's intelligence reports are true, then we have to take extra precaution with the possible threat of a new protest group gathering arms." she said calmly to her head of security.

A sneer almost formed on the man's normally passive face as he focused on only the Arabian. "I'm supposed to rely on the word of a group of test tube experiments? I highly doubt tha-" his words were cut off by the sound of fists slamming down on the table hard.

"That's going to far, Zechs!" Quatre shouted, his anger coming to front fully. Jerking away from where both Duo and Trowa tried to stop him, Quatre stormed straight to the former White fang leader. The years had passed by quickly, and now Quatre was only a few inches shorter than the older blonde. His build was also leaner, but the young Arabian was certainly no longer the delicate petite boy they all remembered.

However their height and build difference was the last thing on everyone's mind when Quatre reared back his fist and gave a sharp right hook straight to Zechs's jaw. Ignoring the gasps from Noin and Sally at the table, Quatre didn't give Zechs time to recover when he fisted his hands into the front of the man's preventers jacket. He brought their pale faces dangerously close and glared deep into the shocked ice blue eyes. "You can say whatever the hell you want to about me... But don't you dare mock the Maguanacs around me... They have more honor and integrity than you'll ever have in your entire miserable existence..." Quatre growled viciously.

Zechs' eyes widened slightly at the threat lacing the voice, but soon he was glaring right back. He roughly shoved Quatre away from him and wiped at the blood that was trailing from his lips. He looked at the red smear on his fist briefly, then glanced up at the way Quatre's chest was heaving in his rage. In his mind he wanted to march straight over there and ring that pale neck for daring to touch him. He could feel his hands clenching, ready to teach the Arabian a lesson in respect, but he found that he couldn't move towards him. The heated aqua eyes and that stare of total and utter defiance triggered a memory.

One that left him feeling his anger slipping away. "Hn... You're nothing but a waste of my time, Quatre... Just go back and play in the sand with the rest of those experiments. I don't need you telling me how to do my job." he snorted before turning away.

His blood boiling at his family being called experiments, Quatre grinded his teeth in a weak attempt to offset his anger. "You're nothing but a fuckin coward, Zechs!" he snapped as Zechs was leaving.

Zechs glanced over his shoulder in mild interest and gave a look of amusement. "Forgive me if I'm only a natural human... I wasn't genetically engineered to be perfect like some people.." he said with a smirk before he left quietly.

His comment left Quatre staring in shock for a moment before he felt his body shaking with a deep set rage. "That arrogant bastard! I'll fuckin kill him for that!" Before Quatre could take off after the older man Duo and Trowa were quick to stand in his way. "Back off! I'm going to rip that smug smile right off his face!" Quatre snapped at his two best friends.

"We're not moving, Quatre..." Trowa said quietly, placing his hands firmly on Quatre's shoulders.

Duo stood his ground next to Trowa and nodded. "You can't let Zechs rattle you that much, Q. He's an idiot. He doesn't know what it's like. You should feel sorry for a guy that's that stupid." he added with a teasing wink.

Quatre wanted to stay angry since he rarely got to be, but Duo's words and the reassuring smiles on his two closest friends faces made him let out a deep sigh and a soft chuckle. "I know.. I know... I just thought that I'd finally have all this damn prejudice behind me by now... But it still hurts.." he muttered as he bowed his head and pinched tightly at the bridge of his nose.

Trowa let a faint smile cross his lips as he moved to Quatre's side and wrapped an arm around his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "He only said it because he knew it would hurt you... The way I see it he probably feels that since his past efforts to defeat you failed so miserably then he has to settle for cheap emotional jabs like that. You shouldn't lower yourself to such childish tactics, Quatre."

"Damn straight. Zechs is just jealous. That prick will stop the moment he sees that it doesn't bother you anymore." Duo went to Quatre's other side and patted his back lightly. "Forget Zechs. Let's go hit the bar tonight and get plastered. If we go now we'll have enough time to sleep it off before the speech thing tomorrow." he added on a broad grin.

"I recommend we forgo the booze and just go to that little coffee house next door to my apartment. We'll hit the bar after the speech tomorrow." Trowa offered with a slight smirk as he looked to Quatre for approval.

Their expectant faces and encouraging words were impossible for Quatre to ignore. "I like Trowa's plan better." he admitted with an apologetic look towards Duo.

A slight pout formed over Duo's face. "You always like Trowa's plans better."

"That's because your plans always involve an obscene amount of alcohol." Trowa countered, his smirk growing.

Duo snorted as he began leading away the blonde. "Exactly. How can you not have a good time when an obscene amount of alcohol is involved? But fine. I guess this is what I get for having a bunch of sissy tea drinkers as my best friends. I expect one of you to buy me a triple espresso. Make that two triple espressos." he stated on a huff.

Quatre chuckled and easily went along with the pair. "I'll buy. If we go now you'll have time to burn off all that caffeine before the speech tomorrow." He looked back at the five still seated at the table. "We'll be back tomorrow morning to go over everything one last time. I think I need to gather myself before I can deal with this further.." he called out apologetically.

Une smiled in understanding and nodded. "Of course, Quatre.. You've been working very hard lately anyway.. Remind me to talk to you about scheduling you some vacation time after this assignment." she added in her normal soft tone.

Smiling gratefully, Quatre nodded. "Alright.. Thank you.. Come on, Trowa. You know how Duo gets cranky without his caffeine." he mused as he headed to the door with his two friends.

"Please don't reminded me. I'd like to keep my appetite." came Trowa's sedate reply.

"Oi, was that a crack? That was a crack! I swear, you people don't love me at all." Duo stated over dramatically as he and the other two left the conference room.

The moment the door close Une let out a weary sigh and rubbed slightly at her temples. "This is getting out of hand... The tension between Quatre and Zechs just keeps building..." she muttered to the four still at the table.

"Quatre's tried to be tolerant, but those comments Zechs keeps making about test tube children is really pushing him to his limit." Heero stated flatly.

"I don't understand what that has to do with anything, let alone why Quatre takes such offense to it." Wufei said with a lofted brow.

"I don't get it either." Noin admitted. "Every time Quatre gets brought up in a conversation he makes this really weird comment about experiments or something like that."

Sally frowned slightly and bowed her head as she folded her hands on the table. "You know how in the past that there have been prejudices against others due to skin color, ethnicity or even gender... Well these days even though those things are a faint shadow there's a new group that people have developed a distrust and near hatred of..." Sally glanced between Wufei and Noin before she continued. "Test tube children, or genetically engineered life if you wish to call it by that... The maguanacs and Quatre's entire family were all created in a colony laboratory..."

"I know that... What's the big deal?" Wufei asked, still not seeing the connection.

Une smiled faintly at the Chinese man's words. "You don't know because you were taught that even test tube children were still human beings... But there were many several years ago that saw it as an affront to God. They insisted that the scientists were creating humans with superior power and skills than ordinary ones. The Winner family was accused of this mercilessly because all the children seemed to possess skills that were beyond that of normal children. They wouldn't accept that they were merely gifted, they had to be made that way."

"The Maguanacs were also accused of being genetically engineered super soldiers... Their skills and strengths were thought to be beyond human... Then when Quatre came along and he proved to be a brilliant prodigy both with music and school it brought it to a head..." Heero continued, remembering the news reports well. "Quatre was forced to have private tutors because every private school refused to have an engineered child in their classes making them look like fools. He and his sisters were treated like trash for simply being alive. From what I know it left Quatre very resentful, and he ran away to earth at one point when he was thirteen. That's when he ran into the Maguanacs. After that encounter Quatre returned a completely different person and passively fought for the rights of test tube children by getting involved with the war. The Maguanacs rallied behind him easily." he explained to the pair.

Noin's eyes were wide as she finally understood. "Oh god... And Zechs has been shoving that prejudice in Quatre's face all this time...?"

"It's like Duo and Trowa said.." Sally muttered as she looked towards her friend. "Zechs knows that's the only way he can hurt Quatre. It's the only weak point he has, so he'll hack at it until Quatre blows up like he did a moment ago."

Wufei's eyes narrowed deeply. "That's despicable.. Does he derive some sadistic pleasure from torturing Quatre like that...?"

"I don't know, but he's becoming far more insulting and cruel as time passes." Une said as she stood from her chair. "Now that he knows that insulting the maguanacs will provoke such an explosive reaction , Zechs will more than likely increase his attacks until Quatre won't be able to hold back."

Heero frowned when he understood what Une was getting at. "And if Quatre is angered to that point he won't be thinking clearly enough to know what he's doing.. Leaving Zechs with the advantage should it come to physical blows."

Une nodded with a grim expression on her face. "Exactly... I shouldn't have let this progress.. I need to talk to Zechs now..."

"Wait..." Noin quickly stood and looked at her boss beseechingly. "Let me talk with him first.. Maybe I can figure out why he's doing this..."

She wanted to deal with this herself, but Une knew that Noin was the closest person to the antisocial man. "Alright... Find out what you can, but if this unprovoked prejudice continues I will not hesitate placing Zechs on probation and removing his entitlements as head of security. Make sure you inform him of this."

Noin nodded and moved quickly to the door. "I'll inform him of a lot more than that..." she muttered under her breath as she left the conference room.

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A warm breeze gently blew across the rooftop of the preventers HQ. With it carried the scent of fresh cut grass and something else that Zechs couldn't quite identify. It was sweet and musty, but somewhat pleasant. It settled his nerves slightly as he gazed out onto the city that spread out below him.

He had watched Duo and Trowa walking at either side of a happily laughing Quatre as they made their way to Quatre's convertible that was parked beside Duo's motorcycle in the parking lot. Trowa had hopped into the passenger seat and apparently said something incredibly witty that had both Quatre and Duo clinging desperately to one another barking with laughter. The French pilot barely spoke a single word most of the time, so Zechs was a bit curious what he could have said that would have provoked such a reaction.

To say that Quatre was close to the pair was a drastic understatement. The three did everything together. Worked closely together on missions, bar hopped, and when they found out that Duo could play the guitar they would hold impromptu concerts with Quatre on piano and Trowa on the flute during special events.

What baffled Zechs the most was that Duo and Trowa were polar opposites. Trowa was calm, silent, and calculating. Duo was loud, brazen, and impulsive. Quatre seemed to be the bridge in the massive social gap between them. Like it was through Quatre that they understood and liked one another.

Zechs found him envious of that. The fact that Quatre could easily befriend just about anyone, and those so-called 'friends' would follow him to the ends of the earth on only a smile and a promise things would be better. It infuriated him how the loyalty to the Winner heir was unshakable while people betrayed him at the drop of a hat.

"What the hell is it about him that makes him so damn important...? And why the hell does he have to look like her...?" Zechs asked the silence around him.

Those aqua eyes, that pale delicately featured face, the blonde hair that was merely one shade away from his own. "They made him to mock me... To mock my father..." he muttered bitterly.

"I knew I would find you up here!"

Wincing at the angered voice, Zechs stood rigidly and forced him not to look at the woman that was glaring at his back. "What do you want, Noin..?" he asked flatly.

Stopping a few feet behind him on the rooftop, Noin folded her arms over her chest as she snorted. "What I want is to know why you're being such an insensitive bastard to Quatre. The others told me about the old protests against test tube children. I hardly pictured you as the type to latch on to such bigoted hatred." she started strongly.

The accusation made Zechs let out a sarcastic bark of laughter. "My resentment towards him isn't something that childish, Noin. I have my reasons for hating him." he grunted flatly, still not turning to face her.

"What? Because he defeated your mobile dolls at Libra? Because it was his plan that destroyed the battle ship? Because he built WingZero? Because he led us through the battle with the Barton foundation?" Noin began listing off so she could pinpoint the problem quickly.

Being reminded of those accomplishments made Zechs' fists clench, but he forced himself to calm down. "Those are part of it, but this goes deeper than the war..."

Becoming frustrated herself, Noin closed the space between them and forced the man to face her. "Just tell me, Zechs! Why do you hate him?!"

"Because he was born! I hate the fact he was even created! His very existence drives me insane with an overwhelming rage!" Zechs snapped viciously.

The explosion of anger made the woman stumble back in alarm. "But why...?" she asked on a hesitant whisper.

A scowl formed over his pale brow as Zechs stiffly moved past the only person he considered a friend. "I don't have to tell you... Just stay out of this, Noin..." he grunted as he practically stomped his way to the door that led to the stairwell.

Noin winced when he wrenched the door open so hard that it crashed into the brick wall next to it. As he disappeared from sight she ran her hand through her dark hair. "So much for letting him have it... What the hell is wrong with him...?" She glanced over the edge of the building in time to see Duo riding his motorcycle out of the parking lot, Quatre following with Trowa in his blue convertible. Her expression fell further on seeing the Arabian laughing happily. "What has Quatre done to deserve that much hatred...?"

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Staring deeply into the deep brown liquid that filled his coffee mug, Quatre was mulling over what all had happened that day. The sharp words still stung at his heart, but there was something behind them that wouldn't go away. A nagging feeling that left him so utterly confused it almost hurt.

But above that one thing perplexed him over all else.

"Why does he hate me so much...? I've done everything I could to be civil... I've always listened to his ideas... I've even defended him when the press began persecuting him for being Milliardo... What did I do..?" he asked himself quietly.

Over at the counter waiting for their orders, Duo and Trowa were idly chatting when Duo glanced at the couch in the back of the coffee house that Quatre had perched himself on. On seeing the lost depressed expression on the pale face Duo frowned and lightly nudged Trowa's arm to get his attention. "Look, Tro... He's still dwelling over what that son of a bitch said to him... I'm glad he finally decked the bastard, but now he looks like he feels even worse than he did before.."

Trowa nodded slightly and gave a soft hum. "Hm.. Knowing Quatre he probably feels bad for resorting to such violence... He doesn't gain pleasure from harming others like Zechs obviously does... Probably thinking he did something wrong for Zechs to harbor that much resentment towards him." he added with a frown of his own forming.

Duo shook his head and let out a deep sigh. "Guy's too kind for his own good... But still, Zechs seems to grate on his nerves a lot more than usual. I've seen complete strangers say stuff ten times as worse and even abuse him, but he shakes it all off... It's like it's different when Zechs says it..." he stated, having thought about it for a while now.

"It may be, Duo.." Trowa took hold of the mugs that the barista sat on the counter top and held out the smaller one to the American. "Heero may have been Zechs' rival in a mobile suit, but in truth the entire war was him butting strategic minds with Quatre. Quatre's never told anyone else this, but he always admired Zechs' brutal tactics. The fact that Zechs was able to accomplish so much with raw power and brute force." His gaze settled on the slumped posture the Arabian was in as he held his mug close to him. "He was excited when Zechs joined us during the battle with the Barton foundation... He was looking forward to combining their skills, thinking that the two of them combine could come up with the ultimate defensive and offensive team."

"I get it... Quatre's upset that Zechs wants nothing to do with him... Poor guy... Zechs and Treize musta been like strategic gods to him back then... I noticed that he was sad when Treize died... Musta been because he never got a chance to meet him..." A sad smile crossed Duo's face as he looked back at Trowa. "I bet Quatre and Treize would have gotten along great together if they had the chance... Always calm and smiling... They seemed ta have a similar flair for theatrics too..." When he heard his own words Duo's eyes widened. "You think that may be the reason...? Cuz Quatre is like Treize...?"

Trowa gave the idea a great deal of thought, and found himself nodding slowly. "It may be at least one of the reasons..." After a moment he shook his head and motioned towards the blonde. "Either way, we shouldn't let him brood like that. Let's try to distract him from it for now at least. You know he's going to be worrying about Relena's public appearance tomorrow. He doesn't need this weighting him down too." he stated as he moved towards the back of the coffee shop.

"Seriously. I'm surprised he hasn't gone bald with how much he stresses over every detail." Duo chuckled, taking a sip of the pure caffeine he had in his smaller mug. "Hell yeah.. That's the good stuff.." he snickered, his left eye already twitching slightly. His habitual triple espresso always made him twitch, which was one of the reasons he loved them so.

At the black upholstered couch in back of the coffee house, Quatre felt himself slowly hurting inside the longer he thought of the strange feelings that were confusing him. However he was abruptly startled when Duo plopped down on the couch next to him. "Duo!" he yelped when he nearly spilt his decaf mochaccino on himself.

Duo grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Q. Had ta bust ya outta that gloomy pose somehow." he said on a chuckle.

Quatre smiled weakly as Trowa took up the armchair in front of the couch. "I know I've been less than my normal cheery self.. I'm sorry, it's just... It's just what happened today is really bothering me..." he muttered as he returned to staring at him coffee.

"You shouldn't let his prejudice comments affect you so much, Quatre." Trowa stated calmly before taking a sip of his chai tea.

The blonde sighed deeply and shook his head. "It's not really what he said that bothers me... Whenever Zechs and I fight... I.. I just get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach... Like I know I shouldn't be fighting him, but I can't stop myself... I've never felt that before... It's confusing me..." he mumbled softly.

His uncertainty made both Duo and Trowa share a brief concerned glance before they focused back on Quatre. "Is there something else that's buggin you, Q...?" Duo asked slowly.

Having to set his mug down on the glass coffee table that separated the arm chair from the couch, Quatre ran his trembling hands through his slightly longer hair. He wasn't sure why he was letting it grow out, but now it was about half halfway down to his shoulders and it actually had a natural wave to it. He clutched lightly to his longer locks and gave a frustrated groan. "That's just it.. I'm not sure... It's just... Something in Zechs' eyes... Right after I punched him... He.. He almost looked relieved.. Maybe even happy that I had done it..." he pieced together as best as he could.

The pair watching the blonde were silent for a moment as they let this information sink in. "Damn.. That's twisted... You think he wanted you to hit him...?" Duo asked in confusion.

"I don't know... All I know is when I saw the blood on his face I felt so horrible... Like I was going to be sick... And then when I saw him smirk... It just felt so wrong... But I wanted to hit him again... I wanted to hit him so badly before you two stopped me..." He gave his two closest friends imploring looks as he whispered "Is there something wrong with me...? Do you think I may be losing myself again...?" he asked, fear lacing his voice.

Trowa didn't hesitate to shake his head. "Of course not, Quatre. You're too strong to let yourself go that far again. Zechs is just purposely provoking you. All you need to do is learn to tune him out. Once he sees that he can't pull those reaction from you anymore he'll stop." he advised calmly.

"And if he doesn't take the hint then me an Tro will just hafta straighten him out manually, right Tro?" Duo asked the Frenchman with a sly wink towards Quatre.

"Indeed."

When he saw the faint smirk on Trowa's lips Quatre couldn't stop the soft laugh that escaped him. "Heh.. Thanks, guys... I really appreciate it, but I'm hoping there won't be anymore violence... Let's talk about something else. Were you still going to try for those concert tickets when they go on sale, Duo?" he asked to change the subject.

"Oh yeah! I'm gonna attempt it, but the last time these guys were touring every concert sold out in under an hour. I'm gonna hafta like camp out at the ticket box office and be first in line cuz there's no way I'd be able to get em on the phone or online." Duo muttered as he thought about it.

"You do know that we do have a few connections. We could probably call before they sell and just tell them who we are, and that they better give us reserved seats or we'll blow them up." Trowa stated calmly.

The fact he said it so impassively had both Duo and Quatre blinking in alarm. However when they saw that tiny smirk twitch onto Trowa's lips they looked towards one another before they promptly broke out into a fit of laughter. Pleased that his joke went over so well, Trowa hummed softly in amusement and returned to his tea. "I should really tone down my jokes.. I'm not sure if the two of you can handle it..."

The pair on the couch were trying hard to hold back their giggles, but when Trowa suddenly looked at them and stuck out his tongue with a blank expression on his face they both fell off the couch laughing until their eyes watered.

Trowa watched them cling to one another on the tiled floor as they tried to calm themselves. He then took another sip of his tea and let out a weary sigh. "It's such a curse to be this damn hilarious..." he muttered lightly.

Which earned another bout of hysterical laughter.

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TBC

Wow

Who know Trowa was so funny?

Hehe

Later!