The reviews that I've received for this fic have been amazingly encouraging

The reviews that I've received for this fic have been amazingly encouraging. Thank you so much for all of your kindness, and please continue to give me feedback.

*Disclaimer- not mine, no $ being made (damn)*

There's No Such Thing as a Happy Ending

(working title, tell me what u think)

"Will someone please explain to me how a PASIFIST princess managed to over power a TRAIND SOILDER and escape into a god damn forest!!" The officer smashed his gigantic fist onto a nearby desk, causing the wood to splinter and crack. This show of force only served to heighten the already immense aura of power and strength that surrounded him.

"Well sir, the uhhh, details surrounding the prisoner's, umm, escape are a bit, well, sketchy.

"Define 'sketchy'."

With a sigh the private continued, "We have absolutely no clue how Ms. Dorlin escaped. Agent Bottica, whom was in-charge of her capture, was found stabbed to death by one of our ground squadrons about 2,000 meters from the designate rendezvous point. The entire area is surrounded by dense forest - therefor it can only be assumed that after…..dispatching Bottica, the prisoner then proceeded find some sort of hiding place in the woods.

"It's lucky that our own men found that pathetic excuse of a soldier instead of those idiotic Preventers. At least this way, the public still sees Relena Dorlin as missing and possibly dead."

"So you're saying that all we have to do is locate and detain the princess before she is able to get out of the forest."

"Easier said then done. Have units 2, 4, and 13 given orders to search the area within a ten-kilometer radius of the original abduction point. This will be a covert operation, as the area is likely to be crawling with Preventers."

"Sir!"

*~*~*~*

Relena could feel the peaceful haze of unconsciousness lift off her body, and momentarily mourned the loss of comfort. Within seconds she was aware of her senses, one by one, being activated, as she unwillingly tumbled from the cocoon of darkness that had sheltered her for God only knew how long. Slowly, her eyelids parted, and after blinking several times, she began attempting to focus her blurred vision.

'Thing. In front. Big. Fluffy. Bush? Yes, bush. Larger thing. Tall. Thick. Black. No, brown. Hmmm. Tree! Many trees. Forest. Dark. Night time? Yes.'

This primitive thought process went on for fifteen minutes or so, until the princess had fully established that she was in a forest, at night, alone, cold, and had the head ache from hell. She also noted that she seemed to be dressed in formal attire, although what had possessed her to don a ball gown and go tromping about in the woods she was not sure. The three-inch pumps didn't seem to have helped her situation much either. Noticing the broken heel on her left shoe, and the rather large log at her feet, Relena correctly surmised that she had tripped and knocked herself out.

All of these conclusions lead to the obvious question of 'Why the hell am I here?'

~ Flash Back ~

Gunshots. Screams. Crimson Life that soaked all available surfaces until everything and everyone seemed to be drenched in scarlet. A man pulled her aside, and she could feel the cold metal of a gun being pressed to her throat. He then pushed her onto a nearby balcony, and after seizing her in his strong arms, jumped off and landed gracefully on the lawn below. He didn't even bothered to put her down as he sprinted off into the nearby woods. Luckily for Relena, she managed to keep some wits about her during the ordeal, and remembered the knife that was hidden in the bodice of her gown. The Preventers had insisted that she carry a concealed weapon at all times on her person, for just such an emergency. At the time she had reluctantly accepted the offer, but now she was deeply grateful to who ever came up with the brilliant idea.

It took her a while to get the knife free, because she had to make small and slow movements as to not alert her captor of her intentions. After the most tense ten minutes of her life, she finally managed to work the six inch blade out of it's sheath. The kidnapper was still carrying her maiden-style, so it didn't take much effort to drive the weapon into his stomach. After the initial attack, the man dropped her and clutched his gut with one hand, the other reaching for his gun. She didn't give him a chance to retaliate, slicing the knife across his chest and puncturing the heart. He fell to the ground, gasping and coughing. She stood, horrified, and watched him die. She had killed him. She then did the only rational thing she could think of - run.

~ End Flash Back ~

She could still smell the sickening stench of death that had clung to his corpse. The desperate look that distorted his features during his last moments was fresh in her mind. She might have been able to run away from his physical body, but she would never escape the scene mentally. His blood, his soul, would forever haunt her, until the day that Death mercifully decided to end her struggles.

'Then why aren't I crying? A man lies dead because of me, and all I can do is stare at my hands, the hands of a murderer. I should be mourning him - it would be the right thing to do, the human thing to do. But then again, I haven't felt human for a long time.'

*~*~*~*

Something was ringing in the background, jarring poor Quatre from a much-needed nap. After a second of delirium, he recognized the annoying sound as that of the vid-phone and reached out a hand to answer it.

"Hello?" the blond muttered, failing to keep the fatigue out of his voice.

"Hey man, did I wake you up?"

Quatre perked up a little at the sound of his old friend's voice. "Duo! Hi, how are you doing?"

"About as good as can be expected, well, considering…." The braided pilot made no attempt to infuse his tone with it's usual cheerfulness.

"Yeah"

"Listen, I've been talking to Trowa, and we both feel like we can't just sit on our asses and watch this thing play out. Can I assume that you feel the same way?"

"Of course I do Duo, but what can we do to help? It'd be pointless to try to locate and fight the terrorist organization by ourselves. We may be gundam pilots but we can't take down an entire army with just three men. My company has given the Preventers a $20 million donation to help fund the effort, but aside from financial, I see no other aide we can give."

"But these acts of violence could bring on another war, and I refuse to stand back and watch the call to arms go out once again. We worked so hard to get peace, there has to be something we can do to help maintain it."

Quatre closed his eyes and sighed. "If only Ms. Relena were still here." The words escaped his mouth before he had time to consider the consequences they might render.

"God help me, I'll be the last one to give up hope on her still being alive, but we have to assume the worst." For a second it looked like a tear might escape his violet eyes, but Duo managed to blink it back.

"Have you contacted Heero or Wufei yet?" It was a desperate attempt to steer the conversation off the tender subject of their possibly-fallen friend.

"Wufei is with the Preventers, so I'm sure he's doing all he can already. As for Heero, I have no idea what corner of the universe he's stashed himself into."

"Well, wherever he is, I think we can bet on the fact that that he's not laying down and taking this situation quietly."

"Naturally."

*~*~*~*

"Damn it!!!"

In a very rare display of emotion, Heero slammed his fist onto the ill-fated laptop, shattering it to pieces. It was just no good, he couldn't find any records of this new organization. No files, no data bases, no phone calls, not even a stupid email. He sat with his head in his hands, brooding over his next steps. If there was no info on the threat, there was no way to determine the threat's weak spot. With out a weak spot, he had no efficient way to penetrate them. If he couldn't penetrate them, he couldn't rescue Rele……retrieve the hostage. If he couldn't retrieve the hostage then…….? What would happen if Relena never returned to her position as Vice Foreign Minister? Well, that was simple: peace would crumble, wars would start, and he…..he would be forced to give up the little humanity he had left.

The direct approach didn't seem to be working too well, much to his dismay. 'If I'm gonna be of any use, it'll have to be as an agent with the Preventers.' Heero took a moment to swallow his ever-present pride, and then proceeded to contact Colonel Une.

*~*~*~*

"Noin, you'll get out of my way if you know what's best for you."

"And you'll put that suitcase down if you don't want to spend an eternity sleeping on the couch."

The threat hit it's mark, causing the 'unbendable' Zechs Marquees to relent in his desperate race to the shuttle hanger. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't get on the next flight to Earth."

"I'll give you two hot shot. First of all, were on Mars - by the time you get to the stupid planet, this whole ordeal will have probably been neutralized. And secondly, even if you do get there in time, what help can you offer that hasn't already been provided. The Preventers have five very pissed gundam pilots and a whole slew of highly trained soldiers that are all willing to lay down their lives to protect the Peace."

"It's not Peace that I'm worried about, it's Relena."

"So now you decide to step in and be the heroic big brother." Zechs didn't miss the venom in his wife's voice as she made this statement.

"What's that supposed to mean?" If he hadn't been such a skilled man with masks, hurt would have been openly displayed on his stony features.

"Ever since the Marie Maya incident, you've been hiding on this God forsaken rock with your tail between your legs, shifting the entire burden of ruling the Cinq Kingdom and protecting Peace onto Relena. You refuse to talk to her, write her, even send her a card on her birthday, but now that she's in actual physical danger, your more than ready to come galloping in on your white steed and save the day."

"It's more complicated than that, I thought you of all people would understand."

"UNDERSTAND?!?. I may not get whatever deep emotional meaning you have for ignoring your own flesh and blood, but I'll tell you what I do understand. I understand the hurt look that poor girl gets whenever she asks to speak with you, and I have to make up some lame excuse about how your busy with the terriformation project. I understand the long, heart felt letters that Relena takes time out of her day to write that you won't even glance at. I understand that she's begging for somebody to care, but you just duck behind the assumption that you're not 'pure enough to associate with her'. Bull Shit, she doesn't want purity, she wants love, and that's something you've been unwilling to offer."

For a second, pain flashed in the Lightning Count's eyes, but it was quickly and efficiently hidden. In a seemingly indifferent tone, he responded, "Well, now that we've gotten that little speech out of our way, would you be so kind as to step aside - I don't want to miss my flight."

"I don't know why I even bother."

"Neither do I."