Summary: (1xR. Mentioned 3x4, 5xS, 2xHS) and other pairings. An assassination attempt on Relena brings Heero back to her side, but Relena is no longer a compliant young girl, if he wants to protect her he's going to have to fight the raging wars within himself and a very stubborn Relena.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters swoons over thoughts of owning Heero, Duo and Zechs So please don't sue.

Special thanks to Redaura for beta reading even though it was against her pairing principles. Enjoy...

The Assasination Party

Relena Peacecraft eyed the neat stack of files on her desk, resisting the urge to bang her head against the polished Cedar surface. "I hate paperwork!" She muttered dejectedly, sifting through the labelled folders. "Am I the only one who can authorise anything around here?!" She exclaimed, kneading the tension from her forehead, first with fingers and then knuckles. The Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth's Unified Nation frowned, turning cobalt blue eyes toward the windows.

It had taken a long and arduous two years to heal the damage done during Marimaea's revolt, it may have been a short uprising, grave damage not only to Earth and Colony relations, but to finical security. It felt like she'd spent the first year of peacetime discussing statutes with the Colony delegates and agreeing to trade agreements.

In reality, it was a small price to pay, especially when you considered what some people had been made to sacrifice to attain that lasting peace.

A memory sprang, unbidden, to mind. The audible click of an empty gun being fired in the underground bunker, a small sigh as Marimaea lost consciousness and an injured Heero announcing in an unsteady voice. "I won't kill anyone, ever again... I don't have to anymore." He had surrendered to injury and fatigue then, falling into Relenas' arms.

She closed her eyes, willing the pain of this particular recollection away and trying to swallow the sudden lump in her throat. It didn't matter that it had been two years since she'd seen him; Gundam Pilot, perfect soldier, the dark enigma that had stolen her heart, haunted her dreams and plagued most of her waking moments; the person she was irrevocably in love with. "Stupid, Stupid!" She told herself aloud. "It's obvious he didn't reciprocate your love. He disappeared for gods sake, probably to get away from you!" And who could blame him, a snide voice whispered from the depths of her psyche. Think of all the times he had to rescue you because you went off and made some foolhardy decision, and the way you chased him around like a love sick puppy when he had much more important things to worry about. Hardly the actions of the dignified Vice Foreign Minister. You were pathetic!

That was then, she thought, ignoring the festering voice of self-loathing. I'm not that girl anymore; I've grown and changed. She sighed, gaze returning to the documents still waiting for her on the desk. It's just a shame you aren't around to see how much, Heero. She settled into her seat, opening the first file. Brooding about the past wouldn't change it, better she do something to take her mind off it instead.

Sometime later a knock sounded, rousing Relena from the proposal she'd been reading through. She looked up just in time to see Dorothy Catalonia waltzed through the door and close it behind her. Still blonde, beautiful and obnoxious as ever, Dorothy had joined the Ministry shortly after the Marimaea situation, an 'unwanted position' of which she frequently bitched about, yet from the enthusiasm and dedication to her post Relena was left with little doubt that Dorothy enjoyed terrifying the department into submission. Dorothy raised curious eyebrows. "You've forgotten." She stated a moment later, scrutinising her superior's attire.

Relena grimaced, confusion clouding her face. "What?" She asked, returning the favour and inspecting her unofficial assistants choice of apparel.

Dorothy rolled her eyes. "You have forgotten!" She repeated, voice more emphatic than before.

Completely bewildered now, Relena only glared, awaiting the sardonic enlightenment that usually followed after Dorothy got tired of three word sentences, she just hoped it was sooner rather than later, she still had heap of progress reports to contend with. Surely enough, Dorothy grew weary of her dramatic statements not drawing sufficient response. "The Du Lac Benefit." Dorothy said, voiced laced with her usual condescending manor.

The Vice Foreign Ministor scrabbled to her feet, paper work forgotten completely in a rush of panic "That's not until till tonight!" She blurted.

Dorothy scoffed, shaking her head before pointing an elegant digit towards the clock on the wall . "It is tonight!"

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes," intoned Dorothy. "And if we don't go now, the guest of honour is going to be late."

Relena smacked a hand to her forehead, looking to her friend. "Where's my dress?"

"I took the liberty of calling by your house before I came to remind you." Dorothy informed her with a sly smile. "It's waiting for you in the car."

"You're a life saver." Relena replied, already halfway out the door. The blonde girl smiled wider, and with a swish of her platinum locks followed after her.

The Du Lac benefit was a function hosted by Pierre and Colette Du Lac, two very wealthy VIP's who liked to appear humanitarian to their voters by having a money raising banquet for War victims. Relena had been the guest of honour at every benefit since she had been re-instated as Vice Foreign Minister. It was a good cause after all, even though their host's motives for holding the reception were seriously questionable.

"Now, now Vice Foreign Minister, no maligning the hosts, " Dorothy began, reading Relenas' expression. "And do try and keep the snide comments to a minimum."

"Malign? Snide? Me?" Relena echoed, the picture of innocence. Dorothy only laughed, heading toward a rather attractive male across the room, who was self assuredly hailing her with insistent hand gestures.

In the days before the war she would have revelled at such a social occasion, she had been Relena Darlian then, popular schoolgirl with an undemanding life and a carefree future. Now she was Relena Peacecraft, Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth's Unified Nation, responsible for maintaining peace, and lumbered with a string of obligations that sometimes made her feel like she was drowning in the politics of it all. She didn't enjoy social events anymore; she just tried to survive them.

Stifling a yawn, it was amazing how exhausting sitting behind a desk all day could be, she waded into the crowd, murmuring polite hellos to nameless faces as she passed and searching the sidelines for familiar ones, she gave an audible sigh as she felt the presence of Darcy at her back. Somehow a six foot tall wall of muscle didn't instil the the Vice Foreign Minister with an air of approachablity , or should that be thankfully, Relena mused, shrugging the thought away. Her brother had insited she have a bodyguard with her at all times, well, her brother, Lucrezia and Lady Une had demended, actually, and since Relena had been too tired to argue the point, the decision had been made for her, and Darcy had materialised on her doorstep the day after the debate.

It didn't take long for her to near the Buffet table, she was just about to give up all hopes of finding a desirable aquiantance when she heard a blithe voice announce. "He looks like George Washington." Relena grinned, catching sight of a thigh length braid. She recognised the owner of voice and braid almost immediately, there was, after all, only one boy who could sport such a feminine weave and make it look so completely masculine.

"Who looks like Washington?" She asked, closing in on one of the only people who could make such gatherings bearable.

Duo nimbly turned to face her, spinning Hilde on his arm. Both were laughing. "Hey Peace Queen, how's politics?" The former Gundam Pilot replied, tone full of humour and good cheer.

"Just political." Relena rebuked, marvelling on how much better she felt by just being around her friends. "Who looks like Washington?" She repeated, searching the direction they'd been facing before she'd interrupted.

"Mrs Kensington," supplied Hilde, pointing to an overly tall, dark haired woman in a pink mink coat. "You know, General Chambers sister."

She did resemble the former President, Relena thought, trying to muffle strangled laughter. "I can't deny it." She gasped, when most of her chuckling had abated. "When did you arrive?" "About twenty minutes ago." Duo answered, casting an annoyed glance to his left. "And only because someone, found the car keys too early!"

Hilde glanced at him, unsympathetic. "Oh suck it up Maxwell, the sooner we got here the sooner we could leave." Relena chuckled, listening intently as they baited each other playfully.

Time seemed to fly by as she fell into an easy conversation with the couple. Duo and Hilde's Mechanical Maintenance and Repair business was flourishing, as was their blossoming relationship it appeared. Relena told them all about her new Labrador puppy, Kujo, and suffered through Duo laughing his ass off at the namesake. After they picked at the selection of foods the buffet offered, engaging in party pleasantries with anyone who stopped by, and gossiped about how Sally Po had been housetraining Wufei.

It was close to nine thirty when a purely flustered Quatre materialised beside the trio. He was dressed to conform to the dress code, a 'penguin suit', only with his own flair. His was a rich and vibrant blue. It clashed with his crimson cheeks and nervous hand jestures. Predictably it was Duo that called him on it. "Hey Q-man, what's with the fluch?"

It was a quiet, but amused voice from behind the blonde who answered. "He had a rather embarrassing run in with the Edward twins." Trowa Barton was not the most loquacious member of their group, but he could always be relied upon to make the constantly composed heir of the Winner family blush his way into oblivion.

"Let me get this straight." Hilde started, bemused. "You can handle a moody ex gundam pilot as a boyfriend, stare down a Boardroom full of heartless cut throats every week and be mothered by every one of your twenty nine sisters daily. But you can't fend off two gold digging sirens?"

"Well I... You know what..." He stuttered, face growing redder by the second. "And you didn't help." He retorted eventually, glaring at a grinning Trowa.

Relena smiled, sending a silent thank you out to whoever it was who had blessed her by giving her the opportunity to befriend these people. However her gratitude was cut short as one of the stewards from the benefit came to escort here to the stage, a hulking Darcy close at her side. It was time for her annual speech. Pointless words, she thought as she mounted the stage at the front of the hall and placated the audience with a smile. She opened her mouth to begin with a usual ice breaking joke and smiled as Duo waved a thumbs up in her direction.

It took only half a second for Relena to look down at the podium before she returned her eyes to her audience. It proved too be half-a-second too long as the echo of a familiar green grenade permeated the expectant silence of the crowd.

Relena barely had time to register exactly what had fallen from the rafters when a heavy weight collided with her body. She heard rather than saw the explosion lurch the room into chaos. She turned her head catching blurry images of politicians being sent sprawling to the floor from the force of the blast the debris of the stage cascading them in dust and wood.

She dragged her eyes from the panic and disorder back to the weight pining her to the parquet floor, expecting to see the familiar figure of Darcy.

She felt her breath catch as Prussian blue eyes stared back at her.

"H...Heero?" She stammered, voice barely louder than a whisper.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this is my first Gundam Wing fic EVER. Do me a favour and R N R please, I need to know if I can compose a decent story, or whether I need to be put out of my misery. Oh and if you don't review I'm so holding Heero hostage.

Heero: hn...

See, he's scared.

Heero: ...

Also there is a little problem with beta reading, although my frined Redaura has agreed to beta read for me she is a shameless 1x2 fan, not that there's anything wrong with it, hell I like a good 1x2 fic so long as it's well written, but this means she isn't thrilled to be reading a 1xR fic so if anyone is willing to beta read my scribble please send me an e-mail, thanks ;oD