A/N - Hey everyone, I've been wanting to release this fic for a while. It was my baby from years ago, the first ever one I finished! It's a deep murder mystery which will leave you with your mouth hanging open at the end. Well, thats what my mate said! Lol The first chap is really just a plot setter so bare with me.

Anyway I only had half of the story Betaed so for now i've posted up the first few chapters while i'm getting the rest sorted. In fact i'm looking for someone to beta this fic! So if anyone would like to help me email me, it would help me alot! Anyway, I hope you like it, it is however completely different to my other fic. Please read and review, I want to know what you think! Good and bad!

Warnings: Hmm…Fluff, OOC most properly, Angst, Action, Death (but not of main characters), Ermmm limeish…

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters sadly. Some Riddles and song lyrics I have also borrowed and do not own. Everything else is my own whayhey!

Pairings: You'll see

Ok so onto the story….

…. Footprints of an Assassin….

Chapter 1

Each clue is a footprint in a murder…

One by one they appear…

Each making their mark…

Altogether they make a trail…

A trail of the Past, Present and Future…

…………………

With potent, flowery words speak I,
Of something common, vulgar, dry;
I weave webs of pedantic prose,
In effort to befuddle those,
Who think I wile time away,
In lofty things, above all day
The common kind that linger where
Monadic beings live and fare;
Practical I may not be,
But life, it seems, is full of me…

Chang Wu Fei sat in silence and partially in sorrow as he stared at the report in front of him. The person sitting opposite from him had murdered over thirty people, and hospitalized one. The Preventer's right hand raked through his greasy locks, which he'd barely managed to wash since the chaos started. He felt physically drained, his tired eyelids were falling over his dark coal eyes as his long tanned finger reached out and pressed the record button on a tape player situated on the desk in front of him.

The Chief Preventer and murderer were both positioned in a small questioning room within the Preventers headquarters. The room was completely blank except for a few vital items such as the dark wooden table that separated the Preventer from the prisoner. They were both sitting on hard, old wooden chairs, which looked like they were about to break at any moment. The prisoner was tied to the chair, as many had feared the individual might escape.

Wu Fei stared squarely at the murderer who had caused him so many sleepless nights for the past few weeks. The old wooden chair groaned in protest as the prisoner shifted. Deadly eyes were trained onto the mirror on the other side of the room through which it knew people were watching.

"The date is…" Wu Fei started tiredly, "23rd of October, the time at the moment is 05:00:00" The dark eyes of the Preventer glanced down at the report before blinking up at the person in front of him. "This is Preventer Chang Wu Fei…Please state your name for the record." His words bounced off the chalk white walls of the motionless room. For almost a second the young Preventer didn't think the prisoner would reply.

"You know my name Wu Fei." Was the rumble that erupted from the figure in front.

Behind the inspectors window stood a few Preventers and Heero Yuy, a personal friend of Wu Fei's, a fellow Preventer and Relena Peacecraft's personal bodyguard. Their history went back to when they were just 15 years old, when they were both fighting as the obnoxious Gundam Pilots in the After Colony war. At the end of the war they'd only just let off from all their crimes because of their links to Relena Peacecraft the new Queen of the Sanq and Vice Forneign Minister of the world and colonies. Heero knew they were constantly being watched even though it had been nearly 5 years since the end of the war. Whenever he went out he could feel a prickle run down to the base of his spine, warning him that someone was watching him from afar. Both of them had joined the Preventers to get their lives back on track and in the 5 years since the end of the war they had both changed greatly in appearance and in mind.

They'd finally found that they weren't only brought into the world to kill but they could have a life and a family. Both found that they could be normal civilians just like everyone else. To Heero, Wu Fei had changed greatly in his beliefs. Still worshipping his Chinese Gods constantly, however he no longer thought he was responsible for his wife's death. He realised that he wouldn't be disobeying her to live his life to its full extent. Once he'd gotten over the fact that he could see different people he married Sally Po, another ex-soliders from the war and a fellow Preventer on the team, whom everyone knew he loved to a great extent and was very possessive over.

Even though this great change had happened within his friend, Heero could still feel the vibe the solider that used to subsist in the Chinese man. The vibe that was the Gundam Pilot everyone knew, the one who killed and respected Trieze Cushrinarder…the one who watched his colony blow to bits. Heero knew that he himself still had a vibe of the perfect solider within him. No matter what he did or how hard he tried, the solider would always be with him. It was a shame Relena Peacecraft would never understand this.

Wu Fei's appearance on the other hand had also changed greatly, his used to be shoulder length hair was now so long it reached to the bottom of his back. He was now a young man of 21 and had bulked out; there was not an inch of fat on him. The same was for Heero. The two of them trained constantly at the gym about 3 to 4 times a week and aimed to keep fit for the rest of their lives.

Like Wu Fei, Heero found that as the war finished that he could actually open up. That's if he wanted to, and if it was to the right person. He also found that he didn't have to live on rations and could eat as much as he liked, but he still kept it to a bear minimum to keep himself alive. He still had his shaggy dark chocolate hair, but he now kept it more maintained than during the war. He'd also grown a bit taller, but was pissed that he was the third tallest out of the five of the Gundam Pilots. Duo and Quatre being the smallest and WuFei and Trowa towering over him.

Heero's cobalt blue eyes glued onto the person sat in the chair opposite his friend. The criminals dead eyes looked like they were staring straight through the mirror and at him. He felt a shiver run down his spine. How did it ever come to this?

WuFei sighed in his seat. He lent back and rubbed his left hand over his forehead. "Lets start from the beginning…"

xXx

The conference room was chocker block; everyone who was anyone was there. With the amount of cameras flashing in the room, it looked like a firework display. People pushed and pulled at others to get to the front of the crowd to get a good picture for whatever magazine they were from. For at the front, sitting at the long white clothed table, placed on a small raised stage, sat the source of what would be on front of every newspaper and magazine, be on every news and radio channel and would be the talk of the century. The Vice Foreign Minister and Queen of the Sanq was finally getting married, and to an exceptionally hansom hero of the world.

Relena Peacecraft sat tall and proud in her red velvet chair; her hands laced together in her lap and a smile planted firmly on her glossy pink lips as a million and one questions were thrown at her. Her smile never wavered as her personal assistant picked out reporters at random to have their say. So far she'd answered everyone to her satisfactory and had acted like royalty she was seen as. She was getting married to her true love and she felt like the happiest person alive!

Since the end of the war she'd gone back to be the Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth and Colonies and being what she was born to be – The Queen of the Sanq. She'd then in fact retained a relationship with the love of her life. She was in a way glad that none of the questions had become personal, as some reporters liked to ask the most embarrassing things, just to put her and her fiancé on the spot. To her left sat her future husband. His dark, emotionless, cobalt blue eyes were fixed onto the mad crowd as cameras blindingly flashed their way. To everyone else it seamed as the great hero was bored out of his mind, but she could tell by the way he sat rigid in his chair that he was alert for any type of verbal or physical attack that could of come from the raving crowd. The boy had had a hard life of training since he was young, she knew it would take time but one day he would feel safe in the world, which she promised total peace to and maybe open up to her and let his guard down.

Behind them stood a pack of bodyguards, which her foster mother had ordered for the special event. For the past 2 weeks they had been planning this conference meeting to run smoothly so every reporter could have an answer to the question they wanted to ask about the soon to be married couple. How her heart had raced when she'd seen how many reporters had crammed into such a small space. Indeed outside in the boiling hot weather were more reporters waiting to snap a picture of them as they where ushered out of the building like a pack of dogs.

"Sir Yuy!" There was a call, stunning her for a moment as every question so far had been aimed at her. "Is it true you were in a relationship before you met Miss Peacecraft?!"

Zechs, Heero's right hand man turned to him with an emotionless face, waiting for him to give an answer or not, being careful not to give anything away. Relena turned to her future husband waiting for him to give her, and the rest of the crowd an answer. She'd never asked her hero if he'd been in a relationship before her. She felt her heart race; maybe there was someone else before her, who he loved more than her. The hero's blue eyes were fixed onto the brown haired boy on the front row. Everyone waited in anticipation for the boy to answer. For a moment Relena didn't think he would.

"No." He spoke into his microphone, his eyes flickering onto the large LCD screens around the room showing a live boardcast of the conference. At the moment the camera had closed in on his face. "Relena is my first, there has been no one else."

"One last question please, it's nearly midnight and the couple need their rest!" Dorothy, Relena's advisor spoke up from where she was sat at the woman's side dressed in a smart Louis Viton suit.

"Do you love her Sir Yuy?!" There was another call from the crowd, the room was silent as the young adult turned to his right hand man who started whispering something franticly. Relena sat watching silently, as he lent towards his microphone his hands resting on the white tablecloth. "Yes…yes I do."

A magnificent smile spread onto Relena's face as the crowd of reports grew even nosier throwing questions at the two lovebirds. Turning to her future husband she through her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for coming!" Heero's right hand man known to the world as Zechs Marques, and Millardo Peacecraft to Relena and Heero himself, called into his microphone, as the bodyguards started to surround the couple who slowly got out their seats. "I hope you got all that you needed, the engagement ceremony is going to take place tomorrow morning at the Peacecraft mansion, all who have invitations are invited, and others will not be allowed onto the premises." The statement seemed more as a threat to the room of manic reporters than a mere instruction.

There was an uproar in questions then as nearly every reporter pulled out their camera to get a quick snap shot as the couple dismounted the stage and exited down a long aisle down the left side of the room, which led to the front door.

As expected even more reporters were outside and as soon as the two doors opened a mad frenzy of flashes snapped their way. The couple were quickly ushered by their five bodyguards down the red-carpeted steps towards a white stretched limo as the noisy newspaper and TV reporters held out their arms holding microphones, the sea of arms looking a lot like an octopus's tentacles going in for an attack on it's prey. Relena stopped at the bottom of the red-carpeted steps for a moment and pulled Heero towards her as she posed for a few photographs. She hadn't noticed the way her future husbands eyes were franticly taking in the scenes around him, to make sure it was safe. The white doors to the limo were quickly opened and the couple jumped in. Before they knew it they were off down the street away from the noise and chaos of the conference building.

The car ride was soundless as the couple silently treasured it for the moment, for the last few hours had been so hectic and stressful. Relena let out a long tried sigh and lent her forehead against the tinted car window. Inside the conference room it was as hot as an oven, and she'd felt like she was the chicken being cooked inside. She smiled happily as she felt the cool breeze of the cars air conditioning spray into her face from a nozzle on the ceiling of the car. She let her tired eyes linger on her future husband sitting across the other side of the car as she thought over the last question the mad crowd had asked him.

'Do you love her Sir. Yuy?'

She could remember just sitting there a few moments ago, her heart going a mile a minute. Heero had never once said he loved her, even when they both came to the agreement of marriage just a few months back. She was starting to believe that the man didn't, she remembered the amount of times she'd told him she'd loved him over and over and it made her giddy inside to finally have her answer to the question she'd been asking herself since the end of the war. He loved her, and only her, there was no body else he'd loved in his whole life or even had a relationship with.

She remembered the first time they'd gotten together. It had been about a year since the end of the war between Mariemaia and the world. Heero at the time had brought a house in the Sanq and was sharing it with a pilot she recalled as Duo Maxwell. She never really knew the pilot 02 but she remembered how jealous she'd gotten when Heero would give the other boy all his attention when it should have been on her. She could remember the countless times; the boy had cancelled lunches with her to spend with his best friend. This happened so much in fact that she started to hate the braided pilot from L2 who liked to call her 'Princess'. In fact, she began to think that the braided boy actually fancied the 01 pilot but she could write that thought off as quickly as it came.

Duo Maxwell she had known from office gossip and friends was completely straight and was known as the playboy of the city. The amount of girlfriends he'd gone through since the end of the war were uncountable, and to think Heero had to put up with the boy bringing about 3 different girls home each week made her sick. To her luck Duo wasn't at home when she had gone round, the boy was out to lunch with his best friend/newest girlfriend Hilde. She smiled at the thought; when she'd finally gotten Heero into…well...his bed.

He'd just been on a long Preventers business trip up to the colonies and when he'd gotten back she went round to visit and well…to put it forward, she jumped on him and he never backed out. Now Heero was hers and only hers. Finally, and nobody on either the earth or the colonies could take him away from her now, but couldn't she hear him say it one more time?

"Heero?" She purred the name rolling off her tongue in a suggestive manner.

"Hn." /A typical answer from the hero of the world./ She snorted. The young adults head turned to her, his deep blue eyes staring intensely at her just the way she liked it. She felt a shiver run down her back to the base of her spin. She lifted the corners of her petite mouth as they gazed at each other as if having a silent conversation. Well that's what she liked to called it. She'd often seen Heero have them with his trusted friend Trowa. The two would stare/glare at each other for a few moments before one would nod their head and leave the room. Though Heero hadn't seen any of his good Gundam Pilot friends for over 3 years.

"Did you mean it?" She asked, of course he'd get the hint of what she was talking about. The boy's face stayed neutral as he turned to stare out his window again.

"What do you think?" He muttered quietly. She rolled her eyes, the boy could be awfully difficult sometimes especially if it was about his feelings. She settled back in her seat with a sigh knowing from past events that that would be the only answer she would get from him. At least he said it, but she longed for him to say it to her, even though at the conference meeting he only said 'I do'. She just wished for once he would say the proper words to her and mean it.

"Why won't you open up to me Heero?" She asked quietly. "I'm going to be your wife soon, do you even know what that means?" She flinched slightly at her harsh wording. The only answer she got was the roll of the boys shoulder for a second before he turned to her, his eyes burning into hers.

"Marriage is the joining of two people in holy matrimony." He stated more like a robot than a human being.

"And…"

Nothing moved in those eyes, "It's were the husband and wife, live and secure each other for the rest of their lives."

"And love each other Heero!" She snapped. "That's what marriage is about…" She shook her head as she bowed to stare down at her lap. "A marriage is nothing without love"

"I understand that."

"But Heero…" She started but stopped with another tried sigh. "It doesn't matter…"

"Hn."

"Sometimes, I just wish you would reassure me." She leaned her head against the tinted window again and stared at the darkened sky. She could feel his glaring stare on her but ignored it as she continued to gaze at the starry night sky. The last few days had been so hot that it felt like they were in Africa, not the Sanc Kingdom, which usually had frequent visits from storm and rain clouds each month. She was silently thankful that the weather was going to be so nice for her engagement party tomorrow.

Relena was silently grateful that the weather was going to be so nice for her engagement party tomorrow. They had been planning it for over half a year now and had top designers create the magical theme of her garden party. Today with all the hectic running round of getting ready for the press meeting, they also had to organise the setting up of the hundreds of marques in the back garden of her palace. Over twenty thousand people were expected to attend the celebration, and Relena knew her love felt nervous about the number. She knew Heero was not the best at meeting new people or being in an enclosed space with hundreds of people who could be potential threats. Relena knew all the people from business meetings etc…but Heero did not know one and he was sharing the title of the main hosts with her.

She had, in fact, arranged a surprise for him with the assistance of' WuFei: tracking down the rest of the Gundam Pilots bringing them to the party. First, they asked Quatre and Trowa, who were living on a new colony built by Quatre in the memory of the one he had destroyed while under the control of the Zero System.

Afterwards, Quatre and his tall boyfriend had been on the front of several Earth and Colony newspapers for months. Some said that the Winner heir done it out of the goodness of his heart, while others had stated the man did it just to win the public back. The pilots and Relena knew why the Sandrock pilot constructed the colony, to represent all of the people who had died during the war including his father. Quatre named the colony X29, which tied within the L4 cluster.

Since the end of the Eve War, the blonde's life had been very hectic, with all the time he spent on the colony, he also had to 'manage his 'father's business. This meant extra spend long hours socializing at business parties and dinners that did not include free time. His sisters often helped him with his duties and offered to run the business so that he could have a few weeks off to visit his old friends.

During this time, the blonde's silent boyfriend was enjoying himself, doing a tour of the L4 area. At the end of the war, the circus in which the 03 pilot was living with decided to only tour L4. Apparently, Trowa's appearance attracted most of their customers. The public came to see the ex-Gundam pilot put himself at risk as a hundred and one knives were thrown at him. They found it amazing how the boy never flinched, as a knife would come sailing a cm past his head and into the wooden board behind him. Of course the other amazing acts performed also astonished the public, and drew them back to see the show again and again every time it past through their town.

Trowa's foster sister Katherine had also been invited to the party because of her relation to the two and Relena had often had chats with her after the war at the final ceremony were each pilot was knighted to a sir for their great fighting and dedication during the war. Relena found it strange Duo did not turn up for the knighting ceremony, but still lived with Heero anyway.

Duo Maxwell. She had often heard his motto: I may run, I may hide, but I never tell a lie. One thing was for sure; he could hide so goddamn well. If he 'did not want to be found, then he could not. She knew he was alive somewhere. Every elite Preventer spy specialists in obtaining information were used to find Duo, but the ex-pilot remained elusive. It frustrated her that the man did not even register himself in any of the countries on Earth or on the colonies

It was ironic that just a few years ago she was tearing herself apart wanting him to just disappear, but then he did, an now she was spending all her time just trying to locate him. Finally when she happened to be with Dorothy on L2 for a peace meeting with the president she spotted him. Although the braid was longer and nearly a metre longer.

The boy was surprised when Relena had stopped the car in the middle of a busy street and had jumped out to race over to him. She could remember the way she'd darted over to him and his slightly deeper voice wondered out loud, "Hey, what brings you to L2, Princess?"

The boy had grown a bit taller, probably a few centimetres shorter than Heero, and still very thin. Instead of the priest outfit he insisted on wearing, even after the war, he was dressed in ripped jeans, a baggy, black top with ACDC written across, and a leather jacket. He was so stunned by her good news of the engagement and wedding that he dropped his paper bag full of junk food, saying he had always known the two would end up getting hitched one day. At which time, she took the opportunity to ask him to come to the ceremony. At first the boy seemed hesitant to accept, but she soon coached him into attending. Relena thought it strange that now knowing that the man in front of her was not the biggest threat to her life dream, since she was going to be married to Heero, she found him a very nice guy, which was why she asked him to accompany her to the local coffee shop.

The two chatted in the coffee shop, mostly about the plans for the wedding. Forgetting the time. Pagan (still her trusty servant) told her she would have to leave soon to get ready for the next meeting, not giving her the chance to ask him how he had been and what he had been up to.

Relena finally realized why the 01 pilot had been so attached to the 02 pilot: the boy never stopped talking. Relena found it extremely appealing. Duo was everything everyone said he was; a complete and utter charmer. He was the complete opposite yet same as her future husband. She could tell there was more to Duo Maxwell than that cheesy grin and babble that left his mouth. Duo Maxwell was just as hard to understand as Heero. No wonder they understood each other so well.

The limo came to a slow stop outside the large Peacecraft palace where there were over fifty vans parked, full of chairs, tables and other items. The sudden jolt of the car door opening brought her out of her thoughts of Duo. Gracefully, Relena Peacecraft stepped out of the car and attached herself to Heero's awaiting arm before the two strolled to the palace front doors, ready for a relaxing night of sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long, tiring day for both of them, and she could not wait.

xXx

"Shit."

WuFei glared at the homicide scene in front of him. On the bed of a very expensive apartment located in the busiest part of the Sanc lay the corpse of one of the most influential politicians of the Peacecraft Party. The man had been dead for over two hours and was found by a maid who had come up with his room service that he had ordered twenty minutes before. She found him limp on his bed, his red silk shirt ripped open and the letter S carved into his skin, jagged like a lightening fork. He had died from a stab wound in the neck, the blood from the wound staining the white sheets with a sickening brown-red. The room stank of sweat and blood, making him sick. WuFei knew very well who had done it; a woman who had already murdered several others in the Peacecraft Party's political positions.

From the scene's appearance, the woman seduced the older man of sixty and pulled him to the bed where she deliberately stabbed him before carving the letter s into the stomach. The murderer was known by the Preventer team as 'Snake', because of' the marking left on the victims bodies. It was a shame that the old man's family would be grieving tomorrow morning.

WuFei snarled at the thought of the older man and the woman getting it on in their posh, rented apartment when the man's family was at home. The politician, John Governor, was known for his great family life. He was married to a beautiful woman, whom he had met in his twenties, for over thirty years. They were role models to the public. They lived a happy life and had everything: four grown children, grandchildren, money and a happy, loving marriage.

Well, from what WuFei could detect from the scene, their marriage was not as perfect at it seemed. The man must have been desperate to possibly ruin his marriage and reputation just to sleep with someone. To him, the man had lost all his honour and deserved to die. WuFei knew that he would never dream of cheating on his wife Sally Po, who was pregnant at the moment.

WuFei looked at a smashed window from his place in the corner of the room. From what the investigators could tell, she had jumped out of the window, which was a few feet above the ground, and had landed in the hotel's large trash bin below.

Irritatingly, the girl had left no evidence of her true identity behind. The assassin had been exceptionally careful not to leave any fingerprints or strands of hair or fibres on the dead man. She had also wiped the surveillance cameras. The hotel staff said that they did notice a woman with the politician earlier that evening but a large coat covered her face.

"We've taken all the pictures we need, Sir WuFei," a fellow Preventer stated in a stiff voice. "I shall leave now to get these developed for the morning report."

"Yes, of course. Be on your way, Denver," WuFei answered with a slight bow of his head. The room was left in silence as the young man of nineteen watched as another Preventer examined the body for any clues the crime unit could have possibly missed. WuFei knew there were none because had he checked over the body earlier when the team first arrived. Now he was the only one left with the last few Preventers who were waiting to take the body to the nearest morgue.

"It's such a shame," he heard someone speak up from behind him. "He was such a nice man and did so much for peace. Why would anyone want to kill him?"

This was the same question WuFei had been asking himself from the beginning. WuFei turned tiredly towards the female Preventer behind him. The woman, known as Milly, was at least twenty-three and had short blonde hair, which was currently painfully pulled back away from her face and pretty blue eyes.

WuFei could remember when he liked to keep his hair tied tight in a ponytail during the war; but since then, he had let it grow and tied loosely with a brown band. His hair was so long that he knew Maxwell would be proud and he was excited to see his old friend's reaction to it tomorrow.

WuFei let his onyx eyes run over the Milly's perfect uniform for a second before he glanced back at the dead body. "I'm guessing whoever did this was ordered to; an assassin maybe," he remarked, before running a hand though his long locks, "Though, this is not the place to discuss the matter,"

"Yes, Sir," she answered quickly.

"It's getting late. Finish this off for me, Milly, I need some rest," he muttered tiredly, "I've got a long day tomorrow,"

"Of course, Sir," she answered, saluting as WuFei gave the woman a curt nod and marched out of the hotel room, bending under the 'Preventer assess only' tape on his way.

He glanced at his watch to see that it was currently one in the morning; Sally was probably asleep. He had received a call from the Preventer headquarters at eleven to report the discovery of the body. This particularly pissed Sally off because, at the time, the two had been sitting on their living room sofa discussing baby names.

He exited the posh hotel through the front doors where a couple of police cars were parked, along with his black BMW, as he thought over the past few months' events. Seven Peacecraft parliament members had been murdered, each one left with an S marking. It was strange to think that Relena Peacecraft was now the only original member of the party.

WuFei suddenly stopped in his tracks when inserting his keys into the ignition. A frown surfaced his handsome face; Relena was the last original member of the Peacecraft Party. The thought repeated over and over in his mind. Now that he thought the murders over, a pattern immerged. John was one of Relena's right hands in the party. If he was correct then Relena was next…She had to be. His heartbeat quickened.

Stop worrying over it, Chang, You could be wrong.

He settled to think over the case in the morning. He could leave it for now. Heero would protect her. The man was her personal bodyguard and just happened to share the same bedroom with her as well. Anyway he could be wrong.

"Tell them tomorrow, Chang, after you've had some proper rest and time to think it over," he muttered to himself, starting up the engine and driving down the street.

TBC...

xXx

So what do you think?...