I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this. I also do not own the quote below…and don't know who to contribute it to - other than perhaps the creators of Xena (don't ask).

You could miss your true path by the width of a hair, but that is the same thing as missing by a mile.

Chapter 4

"What are you doing here?" Heero asked a yawning Duo as he arrived at the Peacecraft Mansion early Tuesday morning. Their steps echoed, tapping out a precise tune on the marble tile in the entryway. The two Preventers walked through the dwelling towards the security advisor's office for this irregular meeting. Maxwell paused to open the door, and it was then that Heero realized his friend didn't have the usual grin plastered on his face.

"Zechs called me in," he said as they filed into the elder Peacecraft's office. Heero got the distinct feeling he had already been tried and convicted...of something. He narrowed his eyes at the ice-cold room. He had fought, gave everything he had to ensure peace would survive. He was not going to let anyone take that away, no matter what the cost.

History had more than suggested that a leader – whether in actuality or symbolically – was needed to win the hearts of the people. Relena had done that. She kept the Earth Sphere in a mostly peaceful co-existence just with her presence. And so it was his mission to make sure she continued to be present, and that all efforts to hurt her, and in the process, all of mankind, would fail.

Zechs looked up and glared at Heero. Noin stood behind him, and placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Yuy, I have no choice but to reassign you," Zechs began.

"I don't understand," Heero cut him off, glowering at the figure across the desk. His heart thumped wildly in his chest.

"To put it simply, you make her unhappy."

"This has nothing to do with feelings. This is a matter of her life and protection. There is no room for emotions. I thought you of all people, Zechs, would understand. I am still the best man for the job."

"Yuy. I agree with you. But this isn't just one of your missions, this is Relena. Women are…" he glanced up at Noin, "emotional. They can't turn it on and off like you do."

Heero's head bobbed slowly, as if he understood, but his hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides in an effort to stay his temper. "I'm sorry, I forgot what a cold, heartless bastard you all think I am," he growled at the room's occupants, anger lighting the depths of his dark sapphire eyes.

Zechs was stunned. Duo choked and almost fell over.

"Excuse me?" Milliardo asked, blinking away the shock. "You're certainly not telling me that you actually care for my sister?"

Heero shrugged and looked away. "Probably not the same way she cares for me, but I do care. I care enough to protect her and to want her happiness, however that can be achieved."

Zechs' mouth turned up into a half-smile. "Then you understand why I have to reassign you."

"No. I don't. I want to talk with her. Don't reassign my post yet. Give me…a couple of weeks."

The elder Peacecraft shook his head. "I don't see what you hope to accomplish, but, fine. If that's what you want. I'll let you and Duo pull shifts. Do you want day or night, Yuy?"

Remembering Duo's story about their late night conversations, Heero responded, "Night."

Zechs nodded.

"Oh-ho! Didn't know you meant that kind of talking," Duo said and burst out laughing.

"Shut-up, Maxwell!" Heero shot him a cold glare.

Zechs, in his turn, scowled at Heero.

Relena was pleased, but not surprised, to have Duo accompany her to the office Tuesday morning. She was in a good mood, and they chatted the whole way like old friends. 'Today is going to be a good day', she thought and smiled at Duo again. 'Perhaps I can get over that cold, callous, incredibly handsome,' she frowned and tried to put her thoughts back on course. 'Jerk, no - man….the most noble man I've ever known.' Relena sighed. 'Perhaps not,' her shoulders slumped.

Duo watched her smile disappear and had a pretty good idea what she was thinking about – or rather whom. He shook his head, sorrow filling his own heart for her sake. He didn't think Heero would ever be able to love someone, but he was sure that if Pilot 01 could figure out how to love, he would only have eyes for Relena. Duo silently wished his friend would wake up and see the happiness standing right in front of him.

The day went by quickly and without incident. At around four o'clock, Relena received a phone call from Zechs reminding her about a diplomatic function that evening. She eyed her small mountain of paperwork, cursing it for absorbing her thoughts so completely, she had forgotten the engagement. She groaned and promised to wrap up her work and head home to change.

Just before they arrived back at the mansion, Duo let it slip that Heero would be her guard detail for the evening. Relena felt her heart lurch in her chest.

"What? No, you can't do this to me! Remember what happened last time?"

Her bodyguard snickered. "Yeah," he said smiling. "But that guy really was acting suspicious."

"Okay, I'll give him that, but I didn't think it was necessary for him to frisk every man that came within five feet of me!"

"Relena, it's his job to be protective of you. And if I remember correctly, at the time you weren't too upset about it. You even asked him to dance," Duo replied, trying to smother a grin.

A distinct blush stole over her features. "Yes, that's because I mistakenly thought he cared. But he wouldn't dance with me, remember? Instead he jumped the guy with the laser pointer, and later claimed he thought it was a detonator."

"And that man was arrested for having an illegal firearm, and eventually tried for spying. Heero was right. And Relena, he does care about you," Duo said, remembering the events from that morning.

"But why does he always have to be so….so…diligent, so single-minded about everything? Why can't he ever have time for something more personal?"

"Like love, Relena?"

Relena looked down at her hands. "Yes, like love - even friendship. I'd take friendship over…over," she shook her head. "He won't ever love me, will he, Duo?"

"I don't know, Relena. I wish I knew."

There was a short pause while Relena appeared to be considering something. Then she glanced up and met his gaze, light blue eyes sparkled with a light of their own.

"Could you do me a favor, Duo?"

Heero stood outside the door to her room in his formal attire as Relena entered, presumably to change for the evening. She paused in the doorway; "I won't be going this evening. I'm sorry you got dressed up for no reason."

"Hn."

Relena closed the door and greeted the shadowy figure on her balcony with a smile.

About a half-hour later, a tuxedo-clad Zechs and his formally-dressed wife traipsed by the stairs to Relena's room on their way out of the house. Zechs nodded up at Heero as they passed by.

The bodyguard frowned and checked his watch, then opened the door to his charge's room. In the darkness, he could see the long hair flowing over her satin sheets, and hear the rhythmic sound of breathing.

"Duo. Get up and tell me how long she's been gone before I shoot you."

Duo sat up in Relena's bed, his long brown hair loosely falling around his shoulders - instead of tied back in its usual braid. "How'd you know it was me?"

Heero glared at him.

"Come on, Yuy. We're late as it is," Zechs barked from the bottom of the staircase.

"We're going, Duo. Now." Heero said and moved quickly down the hallway.

As he passed Zechs on his way to the car, the older man addressed him in a low voice: "You're slipping, Yuy."

Heero nodded and kept going. Zechs looked up at the top of the stairway to see Duo, hair flying everywhere as he rushed to catch up with the rest.

"And you," he began in a warning tone.

Duo flashed him a wide grin, "Hey, I'm just making sure he's on his toes!" He said and ran past Relena's brother to the car.

"Hn." Zechs growled and followed.

Relena smiled across the back seat of the limo at her sister-in-law, her fingers lacing and un-lacing in her lap. Doors flew open on either side of the car admitting the two young men serving as Relena's guard detail for the evening. She swallowed a breath at seeing Heero climb in on her left and take the seat next to her. Duo entered from the right and sat on the other side of Relena on the long bench seat. Heero glared at her out of the corner of his eye. Zechs ducked in to sit across from Relena, and next to his wife. She sighed, knowing she had been caught, again, and prepared herself for a long night (and even longer lecture).

The evening, despite its start, went fairly well. Relena charmed and delighted the hosts and other guests as usual. Heero stayed in the shadows, observing everything and everyone. He especially focused on Zechs. He watched the man that was once as dedicated a soldier as himself interacting with a woman he'd claimed as a wife. Noin had been a very capable Lieutenant and instructor of other soldiers, and yet to look at them now, one might never have guessed their pasts.

'Why can't I have that?' He wondered for not the first time in his life. The thought of having someone beside him - touching him, offering words of comfort and support - had been plaguing his mind since leaving Duo's the night before. He turned his attention back to Relena and admired the view.

She was beautiful in a silver-blue dress; hair shining in its upswept style. She had more than one admiring glance turned in her direction. He'd have to be blind not to see that. But she had always seemed to be more of an annoyance than anything else. It was his mission to protect her, and yet that mission was becoming increasingly difficult. She was refusing him - his protection, his love.

'Love?' he questioned, unsure of where the word had come from. It was not one he had been taught, nor one he had experienced in his lifetime of training as a soldier. 'No, I don't love her.' He said, knowing that it was truth itself. It wasn't her, it was just something he had decided he was incapable of – after all, how does someone love when he had never known his mother, or his father. He didn't even know something as basic as his own name. Loving someone was impossible. Heero couldn't, didn't know how to love Relena. 'But something has to be done.'

In his mind, he went over the instructions once given to him by Dr. J.

"You must eliminate all obstacles."

How? His brow furrowed in concentration. If his mission was to protect her, killing the young Vice Foreign Minister was definitely out of the question. So, how could he accomplish his mission, when she was the one standing in the way?

As he watched the dancing couples swirl around the dance floor, the beginnings of an idea inched into his mind. The plan he sketched out…the mission details:

'Artillery - minimal; monetary funds - likely to be higher than usual. No need for transport, at least not at first...'

His chest burned as his mind worked through the details; determination settled, weaving threads of steel into his spine. His lips twitched into a smirk.

Heero once again focused on the striking young woman he was protecting:

"Mission accepted."