Dear readers,

As you can see, this is the new fan fiction that you voted for I have the final standings right here:

The winner is:

In first place: #8 with twelve votes.

Second place: #7 with ten votes.

Third place: #6 with seven votes.

Fourth place: Tie with Five votes for #1, #14, #4, and #11.

Fifth place: Tie with Four votes each for #9 and #10.

Sixth Place: Tie with #13 and #16 with three votes.

Seventh Place: Another tie, this one with two votes for #12 and #2.

Dead list (anything less then two votes): #3, #15.

I will, due to lack of interest, be dropping #3 and #15 from the "Idea list" as few people voted for them (no votes for #3 and only one vote for #15), if you want me to keep these please state so in your reviews. However, I will still be trying to come up with at least one Yoai idea that will make the grade, for those of you who are interested.

Thank you, and now on with "Never, Ever, After"!

~Prinder

Warnings: Slight swearing, nothing serious.

Rating: PG-13 just to be safe.

Summery: Relena really should be more careful about what she wishes for…

Disclaimer: *Grumble, grumble* *sigh* …I do not own Gundam Wing, nor will I ever own it. I am just a poor, pitiful wannabe-author that isn't worth suing, so, if you please, just don't.

"Denotes speech."
'Denotes thought.'

Denotes writing.

"Denotes over a phone or any other form of com-system"

(Denotes my interruptions.)

Never, ever, after

By: Prinder

Chapter one: Just a normal day at the office.

As she sat in her brown, high backed, leather office chair she worked on her next speech for a conference in Italy, concerning the Mars Transformation project when her office door was pushed open and an old, plump, woman waltzed in carrying a thick folder in her wrinkly old hands. "Oh god! Not an other one!" Relena whimpered as her secretary, Mrs. Jones, set the file on her boss' desk.

"I'm rightfully s'rry Miss Darlin', but the Prime Min'ster of Russia ins'sted that I have 'u gi'e it a once-o'er." Mrs. Jones replied in her thick, American, southern drawl.

"No, it's okay. Let me know when it's lunch time; I've been so busy lately I haven't had time to check myself!" Relena said laughingly.

"Oh 'u per' dear! Now don't you w'rry, I'll c'me and get you something nice and home-cooked when it's time ta eat, that'll be sure to put some meat on 'ur bones!" The old lady said as she playfully poked the younger woman in the ribs.

"Elena! Stop that! There really is no need to, honestly, I do eat whenever I can, and in fact I could stand to lose some weight!" Relena chided as she batted Elena Jones' hand away.

"Sweetheart, if 'u lose anym're weight, we'll start bein' able tar see right through 'u! Now no com-plants, y'ung lady, you'll eat whate'er I bring ta 'u an' that's that! Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am! You're the boss." Relena said jokingly as she saluted the other woman playfully.

"Good an 'u had bet'er not fer-get that!" Elena laughed as she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her on the way out before adding to herself, "…Oh Miss Darlin', 'u really can't see what 'u're doing to 'urself can 'u…?"

If Relena had heard her, she gave no indication of it. While she was reading over the file that Prime Minister Hawking from Russia sent her, the light on her videophone blinked, signaling that someone from Preventer was calling, without stopping to look up at the screen, she reached over and pressed the 'call' button and the face of Preventer Water, also known as Sally Po, appeared on the screen.

"A little busy, Vice-Foreign Minister?" Sally asked wryly.

"Never busier, just another day at the office for me. So, what is it? You don't usually call me unless you have a reason to." Relena said as she signed her name at the bottom of the last page, mildly noting the date at on the top of the page was read august twenty-first, AC one-nine-nine before looking up at woman on the screen.

"You know, you never cease to amaze me. Preventer Five and I have stumbled on evidence to support corruption in some of the upper circles in the universal government." Sally replied, her eyes narrowed and her lips tight, a sign that she was being her most serious.

"What… Who…? Who are they, Sally? I want names!" Relena demanded as she pushed her work aside and gave her undivided attention to the screen.

"We don't know who they all are, as of yet, but we're working nonstop until we do. Relena, Une is sending some men to act as bodyguards to protect you and some of the other pacifists--"

"I'm not a total pacifist anymore Sally, you know that--"

"Yes, but you still symbolize everything that the people associate with the total pacifistic ways." Sally explained.

"I don't believe in bodyguards." Relena said slowly, trying to make every word count.

"Too bad for you, you're still getting them."

"I don't see how me having half a dozen extra shadows is going to change anything."

"It can't make things any worse." Sally said optimistically.

'That's what you think…' Relena thought sullenly, her lower lip pouting out sourly as she leaned back in her chair, her arms over her chest, making Sally at the other end of the line laugh. "I'm glad that at least one of us is amused." Relena snapped.

"Forgive me, but Relena, you know that it's what's best for you. At least try not to give them too much of a hard time when they arrive." Sally chuckled.

"Alright, but only if you come and visit me more; I'm getting tired of only hearing from you and Chang when you only have bad news." Relena smiled.

"Will do! Tell Noin, the next time that you hear from her, that I said hello, okay?"

"I will. Take care Sally, and Wufei…Yes; I can see you in the background Mister Chang…HEY! No use trying to run off now, at least come and say goodbye first!" Relena said to Sally and the strange fuzzy blob in the background behind her.

"…You seem to be getting better at your detection skills, I'm impressed." Wufei said when he leaned over Sally's shoulder to speak.

"When I have friends like you around I have to; otherwise I never get a chance to talk to you all." Relena beamed.

"We really have to get going now Relena, we'll see you around, okay?" Sally said as she waved goodbye.

"I'll hold you to that promise Sally! Goodbye you two take care." Relena replied.

"Of course. Bye." came Wufei's brisk replied as they disconnected the link.

"Miss Darlin' 'u okay in thar'? I thought I heard 'u talkin' to someone…" Mrs. Jones asked as she knocked on the door.

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm fine; I was just thinking out loud to myself." Relena said, quickly making up the lie, and going back to work. 'Why do these things always happen just when everything starts going right again?' Relena's mind thought as her hands busied themselves with their work.

*****

"Hey Jessie! I got a call for you on line three!" a short fellow with blonde hair and brown eyes said, yelling across the busy assembly-line floor at the a young man with dyed green hair and matching green eyes who was just getting ready to shut the factory down for the night.

"Thanks." Jessie replied as he walked into his office and turned on the videophone on his desk.

"Hey, hey! 'Bout time you picked up, what's new?" a man of about the same age as him with a long chestnut braid and cobalt blue eyes said as his face popped onto the screen.

"What do you want, Duo?" Jessie asked as he removed his color-tinted contacts and ran his fingers through his unkempt hair.

"Always straight to the point, so like you Heero. Turn on the TV to channel five and find out." Duo replied before hanging up.

"…What have you been up to…?" Jessie, AKA Heero Yuy, wondered aloud as he stood up and did as he was asked.

"…Today on world news: sixteen top-ranking government officials were arrested by Preventer today--" Heero glanced at the date at the bottom right of the screen august twenty-fourth, AC one-nine-nine (AN: not a typo, really three days after Relena got the call from Sally), "--when we questioned Preventer Earth, this was only what she had to say:" the scene cut to Une dressed in a dusty lavender dress suit, "We have reason to believe that these individuals were responsible for the attack on the dome three settlement on Mars and we are currently questioning them at this time. Now if you excuse me, I have a lot of work to do." The scene cut again, this time to the Vice-foreign Minister, Relena Dorlain, as she walked out of the senate as the reporter said, "Miss Dorlain, who played a key role in apprehending the suspects, had this to say:" Scene cut again, this time to Relena standing in front of a podium saying, "I know what you must have been told, that I played an influential role in bringing these men and women in for questioning--" she paused in her speech and raised her hand to quiet the crowd's questions before continuing, "--But, let me assure you that, though I did help Preventer make its arrests, I still believe in the term: Innocent until proven guilty. I fully intend to stand by my fellow men in anyway--" screams were heard as guns started to go off and Relena was tackled to the ground by a man in Preventer uniform before the screen cut back to the face of the reporter as she said, "Apparently one man that was originally going to be arrested managed to escape Preventer and attempted to end Miss Relena's life, they finally caught the man about two blocks away after he had made his second getaway and he is now being held custody in Preventer head quarters. No injuries were report--"

Heero turned off the TV and walked back over to the Videophone and was about to call Duo back when the phone rang, Heero quickly replaced his contacts and answered it on the third ring.

"Well, did you watch it?" Duo asked his face appeared on the screen.

"Yeah." Was all Heero said as he sat down in the chair behind his desk.

"…And…? Well, what did you think?" Duo demanded after a moment of silence.

"They aren't finished with her… they'll get her back."

"I already got that covered…" Duo replied with a smirk as a Shuttle ticket began printing off of Heero's desktop computer.

Heero raised an eyebrow at his braided friend before getting up and going over to it, vaguely wondering how Duo managed to hack in.

Duo, almost as if he read Heero's mind more then his look said, "I have my ways…later!" he hung up once again just as Heero picked the ticket up.

Heero snorted softly as he read the destination on it before opening his office door and leaving the building. If one listened closely, one could almost hear the faint echo of his voice saying: "okay."

*****

"I want them gone, Anne, do you hear me, GONE!" Relena said as she stormed into Une's office with both of their secretaries, ten off-duty Preventers, not to mention the twenty Preventer bodyguards that tagged along behind her.

Absentmindedly, Une smiled at the thought of how much her office was starting to look like a sardine can before she stood up and calmly ordered everyone out of her office except for Relena, who she motioned to sit down in the green leather armchair in front on her carry-wood desk. "Care to tell me what seems to be the matter?" Une asked as she seated herself and looks at the infuriated diplomat.

"You have to ask? You saw what happened when I came in here! When Sally said a few men, I thought two or three obviously a few means half a fleet here! Une, I can't go anywhere without creating a ruckus! I did what I had to do, now call off your blasted dogs!" Relena seethed.

"Relena, by helping us you, unknowingly, made some bitter enemies. I would feel better if they stayed with you--"

"It doesn't matter how you feel! This is my life we're talking about! I would rather have these men focusing their efforts on protecting the Mars colony domes at the moment then wasting their time protecting me!" Relena said before letting out a whoosh of air in an attempt to calm herself before adding, "Une, you try to hide it, but, you and I both know that Preventer is a severely under-manned defiance force, you are already spread too thin! I don't need so many guards, in fact I don't think that I need any; the world doesn't need me to be its idol, its symbol of perfection. Please, tell me that you at least understand what I'm trying to say here!"

Une got a curious twinkle in her eye as she stood up from her seat and began pacing the room, stopping just in front of the younger woman with her hands resting firmly on the desk behind her as she said, in a hushed tone, "I think that you misunderstand me, Vice-foreign Minister; I am only trying to ensure that Relena Dorlain, a close friend of mine, is not harmed in anyway because she chose to assist me in bringing five members of the Universal Government to justice. And, due to the attempt on her life today, I do not think that such protection is what one would deem overkill. I think you for bringing your troubles to my attention but, for now, I will not reassign any of my men. Good day to you Miss Relena!"

"Well, it's nice to know your true reasons why you're doing this to me, though I might not like it, I now know where I stand with you." Relena said with a smile as she stood up to shake Une's hand. "Thank you Anne, for trying to be a friend."

"I will drop your guards to five, that should be enough for now, as there have been no more attempts on your life for a while now." Une said, returning the favor as she caught the subtle blinking of the red light on her videophone out of the corner of her eye.

"I have to get back to the paperwork waiting for me at my desk. Drop by my office sometime, okay Anne? I hardly get to see you or the others outside of an attempt on my life and whatnot." Relena said as she slipped out Une's door as Preventer Earth returned to her seat and nodded as Relena shut the door behind her.

"Preventer Two, report." Une said after she had pressed the 'call' button on the phone.

Hey, hey Earth, how're ya doin'? He took it, hook, line, and sinker! If my calculations are right, which I'm sure they are, he should be on space-flight seven-seven-one, destination: Cinq Kingdom, Earth. I've got a picture of his latest disguise, if you're interested in seeing it." Duo replied as he leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head in his usual, casual, manner.

"Send it to Preventer Water and Five; they will be in charge of picking him up. The fewer people that know what he looks like now, the better."

"Roger that and will do! Say… uh… Lady Une, how's she holdin' up?" Duo asked as he sat up straighter and dropped the happy-go-lucky look on his face, switching into a serious frown and grimly set eyes.

"While it has never been any secret that she has always been too willing to lay down her life, she's been getting worse, the news reports never mentioned it, but, when Preventer Stingray knocked her down, she pushed him away and dared the hit-man to, and I quote: 'try not to miss this time' end quote. We're losing her Maxwell, we're losing her."

Duo sighed on the other end of the line as he replied, "I was afraid you were gonna say something like that. Well, I've got some non-Preventer work to take care of still so I'll check in later, bye." and with that, he hung up.

"Unfortunately, I fear that we might be too late to help either one of them this time…" Une said as she turned her chair around to take full advantage of the view from the large window that covered the whole wall behind her as she contemplated the situation at hand.

*****

"Yes Josh, I'm sure…"

"How sure, Relena? You aren't lying to me, are you?" came the voice of a tall, handsome, young man with blue eyes and black hair on the videophone's screen.

" No I'm not!" Came Relena's tart reply as she busied herself with getting ready for a ball that was going to start in two hours and was going to be meeting Joshua Muller there as his three-month-long girlfriend and date.

"Must you be so headstrong? That is really no way for a lady to act." Joshua said as he tried to watch her run around in her bathroom in her magenta colored robe.

"Now listen here, who are you to--"

"Calm down! We can't be having you lose your temper before the party, now can we?" He said, cutting her rant short.

"Yes, yes…uh hum…" she said as she rolled her eyes in irritation; he was starting to wear her thin.

"You seem so stressed out lately, care to tell me about it?"

" It doesn't matter…"

"It most certainly does!"

"But--"

"Don't talk back to me, Relena! …We'll talk about this later, got that?"

"Yes, okay. So, will I see you later tonight?"

"Yes, but of course, I'll just sneak up the drain pipe to your window and--"

"Oh go pull you mind out of the gutter!" Relena cut in.

"Well I thought that was what you meant!" Joshua said, playing innocent.

"You know exactly what I meant!" Relena snapped.

"Darling, are you having your period by chance?"

"I beg your pardon?" Relena gasped as she glared at the man on the screen, "No, I'm not!"

"Okay, okay, no need to shout. Oh, are you going to wear that piece you wore last week? I really loved how wonderful you looked in that; it's so different to what you normally wear, most of the time you look like you just drove in straight from the office."

"…I'm not going to wear that…" Relena said after a moment; she had to conjure up the image of the outfit that he had spoken of.

"But you looked simply ravaging in it!"

"The last time you told me to wear that you flaunted me to every-man, every-where, we went!" She yelled as she slammed the walk-in closet door shut so she could change in there.

"Please, love, would you?" Josh asked loudly enough so that she could hear him.

"NO!" Was her muffled reply.

"You vain, tight-assed, little bitch…" He said coldly, as he always did when he wasn't getting his way.

"Josh…" Relena cried from the closet; she always hated it when he did this to her, it was a sign that he was losing his temper and when that happened… she shuddered just thinking about it.

"I think you've just been using me. Yes, that has to be it! You've always been power hungry, just like every other little SLUT in the word! With my father's high ranking and my finances… You were out to rule, weren't you? WEREN'T YOU?" He screamed.

"Joshua please, don't be like that…"

"Be like what? You little money grubbing whore!"

"Look, I'm sorry! Whatever it is, I didn't mean it!" She sobbed.

"PROVE IT! Prove that you're loyal to me!"

"…Yes, yes okay…" She mumbled as she got up from the floor, as she had curled up into a ball there when he had started yelling, and reached for the dress.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"I said okay! …I'll wear the gold sequin, off the shoulder, scoop front, dip in the back with slit up the leg--"

"Don't be cheeky with me!"

"I am not being cheeky!"

"You're lying! You won't wear it I can see right through your--"

"I said that I'll wear it and I will!" She cut him off before he could insult her pride again.

"…Do you promise?" He asked, now much more at ease with himself, now that he was sure that he had gotten his way again.

"Yes, I promise…" Relena said as she opened the closet door to show him that she was, indeed, wearing it, though the tearstains on her face had ruined the affect.

"Oh good. Now get some makeup on, you look a fright right now, and I'll see you at the ball. I love you, darling." He said sweetly, a mere shadow of the monster that he had been a moment before.

"Okay, yeah, uh hum, you too… bye." She said quickly as she disconnected the line before allowing herself to sit on the edge of her bed and begin crying once again while chanting mentally to herself, 'It's okay, it's okay, you can cry, nobody is here to see you fall apart…"

________________________________________________________________________ This looks like a good place to start, what do you think? I hope I didn't make Joshua too much of an ass… well, actually, yes I do hope that I did but that's besides the point! Tell me what you think in your reviews!