A/N: Don't own Gundam Wing, Just saying

Chapter 1

He walked into the room and looked around. The room was an atmosphere of sadness. Heero's gaze settled on the wooden casket and the pale, frail form that inhabited it. He approached the casket slowly and stopped. The inhabitant; his charge, the woman he loved, Relena Darlin, was laying there. He pressed his emotions down into his gut as he surveyed the room. He saw a bunch of politicians and his fellow former gundam pilots and preventer agents. Zechs and Noin were in the back of the room.

"Everyone's here," he said to himself.

His mind went back to the day that the shooting happened. She was speaking at a peace summit the ESUN was putting on. He was standing off to the side watching the crowd. The preventer sniper and every Preventer agent on site didn't spot the enemy shooter until it was too late. The shot rang out and Heero had just enough time to watch Relena take a round to the chest. He rushed to her as the medics were arriving to her side to help her. He didn't have time to say anything before they whisked her away to the hospital. Heero watched them go as his mind turned to finding the shooter.

"Target down, section 3-A" the sniper relayed.

Heero rushed to the location and found the man. He hadn't even heard the preventer sniper take the shot. He kneeled down next to the man and listened to his ragged breathing.

"Who sent you?" Heero questioned.

"No one, I just wanted her gone," the man sneered.

Heero leaned over and shoved the barrel of his pistol into his wound and twisted. Hard.

"I'll ask you again. Who sent you?"

"No one that you've ever heard of. We are the Brotherhood," he said with a jeer.

Heero just kept pressing the pistol into the wound until Wufei arrived and took the person into custody.

"Status?" Heero asked Wufei.

Wufei just looked at him.

"Status?!" He demanded.

"I don't know. She was flat-lined in the ambulance the last I heard. They were shocking her while en route to the Hospital."

Heero dashed out and ran to his vehicle, a Preventer-issued sedan, with some special modifications made to the engine and body that makes it faster than most standard issued cars and makes it capable of surviving any attack. He flew out of the parking garage before anyone could stop him. His radio crackled for a second before Duo came over the radio.

"Heero, we have an update on Relena, but you're not gonna like it."

"What?"

"She's revived, but they can't stabilize her. She's pretty roughed up. We're pulling into the hospital now."

"I'm 30 seconds behind you," he said in a monotone voice.

"Copy."

He pulled into the emergency room and left his car running at the front and ran inside.

'Please be ok' he thought to himself.

"Whoa partner, you can't go back there," Duo said as he grabbed his arm. "She's in surgery, and she's messed up pretty bad. Going up there isn't going to help."

Heero knew he was right, but he wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Let go of me Duo, unless you don't mind losing your arm."

"In this case, I'll take my chances." Duo said.

Heero yanked his arm out of Duo's grip, and walked over to a seat and sat down. Duo sat next to him and stared straight ahead.

"Don't worry man. She's strong. She'll pull through."

"Hn," was the only thing he heard.

Heero's mind snapped back to the present. He looked at the casket again and leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. He straightened and walked back to the others. He looked at Duo and nodded. Duo returned the nod and turned to follow Heero to the back of the funeral home, away from the politicians and few guests. Luckily, this was a private ceremony and there were only a select group of people invited. The other pilots followed the two. When they all were in a private room, Heero turned to the group and began.

"Is everything set?" he asked.

"Yes." Wufei said. "New identities, new paperwork, the works. Your flight leaves tonight."

"The package?"

"Safe for now." Trowa Commented.

"What exactly is going on?" Zechs commented.

'Damn, I forgot Zechs was still in the dark' Heero thought. He turned to him and began.

"Relena pulled through surgery. She's fine. Later that night, someone attempted to finish what the sniper failed to do. Luckily they didn't expect me to be there. I was able to stop him and get some info on the Brotherhood, but nothing major. Just that they are pretty much everywhere. They have even found a way into the Preventers. Luckily the information that she survived didn't get leaked out of the hospital and surgery team. We can thank Sally for that. We are planning on hiding her for now. If she decides, maybe start a new life."

"Then who is that in the…"

"A stand in. The young lady who took her place died of a coronary embolism. The ambulance that was transporting her wrecked and caught fire. The body just happen to be charred beyond recognition," Trowa commented.

"Let me guess, you were driving."

Trowa just nodded.

"A doctor was able to match Relena's facial structure enough to pass as a deceased body. It's the perfect cover. The only people that know about this are the people in this room. Commander Une was old friends with the doctor, so that's not a problem."

"Let me guess, the doctor was Sally," Zechs said with narrow eyes. Sally just smirked.

"Yes, so now we just have to go out there and play like the grieving friends and family," Duo said.

"Where you planning on disappearing?" Noin asked.

"On L4, with me. They will be safe there simply because the amount of people on the colony is so miniscule, and they will be staying with me, so they won't be found out," Quatre put in.

"What about the pilots that will be on the shuttle?" Zechs questioned.

"They are unaware of the cargo on the shuttle." Wufei commented. "She's safe."

Heero just nodded.

"Well, we better get out there and play the sad mourners," Duo said.

"I have only one other question," Zechs stated. "Why the kiss?"

Heero shrugged. "Most people in that room believe we are in a relationship. I figure why not mess with them a bit."

What he didn't say was that he also did that as a gesture to thank the young woman and hope she rested in some form of peace. As they finished their conversation, they heard the music start.

"Well, put on your sad faces guys, let's get this over with," Duo said sadly.

They filed out one by one, but as Heero was about to walk out, Duo pulled him back.

"Has she woken up yet?" he asked.

Heero just shook his head. The look he had was more solemn than everyone else.

"Sally said the bullet nicked a major artery and the left ventricle of her heart. That was why she went into arrest. The trauma has affected her body to the point that waking will do more damage. The biological sutures need a little more time to mend the damage. They have her chemically anesthetized, which will last for another day before they bring her out."

"Well, don't worry. She's a strong person. Do you really think she might want a new life if offered?"

"It's doubtful, but something like this might make her think about the possibility. Now stop asking questions and let's get out there."

"Alright, alright, let's go. But first… CHEESE!"

Duo walked over to the snack platter someone had brought and grabbed a few cubes of cheese and inhaled them. Then he and Heero walked into the funeral home. The service was short and the burial took place afterwards with the media present. All of the pilots were pall-bearers, and they had a Preventer escort. They laid 'Relena' to rest and left the cemetery. Heero made his way to his car and the spaceport, but not before he stopped by Relena's house to get some stuff for himself. Everything he owned was there, since he had moved into the house after becoming her live-in body guard. After he was done, he drove straight to the port. He boarded the shuttle to find Quatre and Sally tending to the unconscious vice minister. Heero simply nodded, knowing that they had beaten him there when he saw them leave the cemetery immediately following the burial, and went to tell the pilots they were ready to go. When he got to the cockpit, he got a surprise. The 'pilots' were none other than Rashid and Abdul. Heero was stumped.

"What happened to the Preventer pilots?" Heero questioned.

"We convinced Master Quatre and Agent Chang that we were the best option to pilot the shuttle home, simply because we know many different back ways in. We also have a private way in and out of Master Quatre's private hangar to his home on L4," Rashid explained.

"What about Sally? She's just taking care of Relena until we get to L4."

"She's flying the shuttle back. Agent Chang is already headed to the colony to ride back with her."

"Hn. Well, we're ready to go. Get us space-bound." Heero said.

"Roger that," Abdul said.

Heero walked out of the cockpit back into the passenger cabin and sat down next to the bed Relena laid in. They had removed a few seats to accommodate the bed and medical equipment.

"We will bring her out a little before we arrive at L4," Sally said as she was checking the heart rate monitor.

Heero simply nodded and stared straight ahead into the chair in front of him. Quatre motioned for Sally to follow him and give the former ZERO pilot some space and time to himself. She smiled, nodded to Heero, and followed Quatre to the cockpit. When the door hissed closed, Heero moved his hand to the bed and gently took Relena's hand and squeeze. His mind floated back to his last conversation he had with her.

"Heero, can I ask you a question?" Relena asked.

It was about ten minutes before the peace summit that nearly cost her life.

"Hn," Heero replied, nodding his head without looking up from his files that he brought to go over.

"What kind of relationship do we have? Is it a close friendship, or something more?" she questioned.

Heero looked at her with a confused look.

"I… I honestly do not know how to answer that," Heero stated bluntly. "I like to think that we have a close friendship, but…"

"But what?" Relena pressed with a small smile as she looked over from her speech.

"Nothing." Heero went back to his previous task.

"Well, I hope that never changes," she said with a smile.

In her mind, she was voicing a different opinion, but decided not to verbalize it to Heero. She was in love with him; there was no denying that, she just didn't know how to say it without fear of chasing Heero away. In Heero's mind, he was struggling with how to push his training down so that for once, he could truly let her know how he feels about her. He did want to be more, but had never been able to say anything. Then finally, he heard Duo's voice in his head from a few nights before in a small bar.

"You know that funny feeling you get? You know the one. The one where you miss her even if she just went to get something in the next room. That bro, is love."

It finally clicked, but before he could say anything, she was called to deliver her speech.

Heero looked down at Relena's soft, peaceful face and smiled a small smile to his self. He place a soft kiss on her cheek and laid his head down and fell asleep quickly, for it was the first time in almost 36 hours, and for the first time in many months, he dreamed. He dreamed of Relena and a life with her.