Disclaimer: OF COURSE, I don't own Gundam Wing or instead of you guys suing me, I'd be suing you. I also don't the song "Bed of Roses" by Mindless Self Indulgence.

AN: Catherine is abroad, traveling with her husband in this story because frankly she always ends up being an extra character to me.

I'd really like to thank the following reviewers!

crystal-gundam! I'd like to thank you sooo much for being my first reviewer and taking the time out to review! I agree, Noin isn't a stalker, but just as Relena's actions of chasing Heero can be considered stalkerish or obsessive Noin's little collage of Zechs and following him too sometimes can be considered stalkerish too, ne? Don't worry! I love both Relena and Noin, it's just thoughts that would fit Doro-chan.

ChristalSteele! Thank you for following crystal-gundam's excellent example! I'll be sure to update as much as I can!

Duchess D! As you wish! As many chapters as I can dish out and thank you for the compliment. I am but a slave to the reader; you're all my master's.

Well I am off this Thursday, Friday, and Monday (Five day weekend baby!) So expect more than one chapter this closing week! Thank you all for the motivation and putting a smile on my face! I was so nervous. OK on with the story!

' ' are Thoughts

Italics are Past events

Italics in bold are Song lyrics

Bed of Roses

Chapter 2: "Debate, Wait, Heartache"

"Hey it's alright my life has never been a bed of roses
This way's better for me I don't care to live the life I've chosen

Anyway...
Anyway...

Yeah..."

"I'm worried about Dorothy," Relena murmured, as she walked back to her and Heero's mansion, the two lovers' hands intertwined in the garden pathway up to another side entrance into the large home. The smell of red and white roses and allspice filled the air as a gentle summer breeze continued its unmarked path.

Relena had not been able to shake her feeling of deep dread and worry from the pits of her stomach ever since the outburst earlier that day between her brother Milliardo and Dorothy.

It was difficult enough for her to read her brother's feelings as they had never been that close. In the brief moments she'd been able to witness Dorothy's face she seemed more exasperated and frustrated than depressed over the situation. Relena hoped that Dorothy's trend of quickly passing fury would hold tonight and she would not hold onto her burning anger on her ride home.

"She's big girl. She can take of herself. She's showed us time and again, remember?"

Relena nodded her gaze still downward, her eyes still misted over with distress and worry.

Heero had become friends surprisingly with the vivacious companion of Relena. They were similar in more ways than they were different, however the girl loved war while Heero thought of it more as a necessary evil into achieving a bigger goal of peace. They'd had discussions over this philosophy many times and sometimes she'd even come to Heero when she needed a "man's opinion" on something. Dorothy had always thought girls a little too petty and calculating for her own tastes, as she jokingly liked to use herself as an example.

However she'd never come to him with any dilemma involving Milliardo. He sometimes caught the two of them in heated discussions over something but had always dismissed it as being in Dorothy's nature to rile up anyone. Perhaps he'd missed something and should have made her release whatever pent of feelings she might have had, it would have done them all some good, especially tonight.

Relena was still thinking about Dorothy as she lay in Heero's arms that night, her face conveying all of her feelings of deep concern.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked gruffly, his embrace momentarily tightening around her; Relena's emotions were always very readable most of the time through her body movements if not her politician's veteran countenance. "You've seemed a little distracted and tense ever since we came in," he murmured against her neck, brushing his lips downward and across one shoulder lightly.

Relena shivered in spite of herself. "Heero...I'm still worried about Dorothy. Shouldn't someone at least call her?"

"Relena...its 11 P.M."

"I know."

Heero sighed in exasperation. "OK, I'll make you a deal. If I go check on her at her house tonight you'll finally get some sleep?"

Relena smiled, turning to face him. "Yes, I will; promise." She leaned forward and kissed him fully on the lips.

He kissed her back, pulling her to him for a moment then quickly got up to get dressed, leaving her warmth with an inaudible groan.

All of the pilots were sleeping in at Relena's and Heero's home. Duo was of course with Hilde, Relena with Heero, Trowa content with himself, and no one was quite sure if Wufei and Sally were in the same room or just next to one another.

All were assumed to be peacefully asleep, lost in their own thoughts about the day's events. The entire house was dark except for the outer courtyard lights and a few softer shades of golden radiance within a few rooms of the Peacecraft and Yuy mansion.

Moonlight streamed in through the picturesque French windows, bathing the pitch black rooms in a cold, gray light that seemed to deaden the room further in its gauzy glow. Stars seemed to simply gush out of the night sky overhead and a few more isolated guests were reflecting into the starry void.

Relena was not the only one whose mind was on Dorothy and her well-being. A certain lone platinum blond haired pilot's mind was filled with concern too about the stubborn girl.

Unlike Trowa, he was not content in his solitude and he wished for a certain long haired blond to be in his arms at the moment, so he could be positively sure of her safety.

'Oh Dorothy...why must you be so headstrong,' Quatre sighed to himself.

He was worried she might do something unwise in her unsettled state, and he just knew that he should have listened to his heart and his gut and gone after her.

"Screw Sally's logic," he murmured to himself.

For some reason he just knew he regretted his choice even though he was not exactly sure why.

He threw his silk sheets off of him, hot now with from his twist and turns throughout the night for the past couple hours. His toned chest and stomach were exposed to the cool breeze blowing into his room from his slightly ajar balcony door.

He welcomed the cooling caresses to his hot skin. Closing his eyes once again, he lost himself in the gentle kisses of the breeze through the doorway, finally falling into a troubled sleep.

Quatre had been right to worry.

Dorothy had tried to control the vehicle, she really had.

She made the right decision to swerve, avoiding the car that had zoomed out in front of her, but she should have gone left instead of right.

To her right, was a large oak tree, much wider and larger from age that the others next to it, only added to the intersection to give it some much needed scenery.

To her left had been an empty road, free of traffic, with the entrance to a large parking lot branching off of it.

As she swerved right, Dorothy realized her mistake. She screamed as the vision of the tree's trunk barreled upon her and she slammed into it at 50 MPH (her speed only slowed somewhat because of her braking and turn), her ears enveloped in her own screams and the screech of her tires.

Heero arrived at the Dermail Mansion within an hour. He looked at the gloomy structure with a frown.

'How anyone can stand to live in that mansion is beyond me; it looks like something out of a horror movie,' he thought grimly.

Indeed the Dermail Mansion looked like anything but cheerful. It was made of stone, the large front doors a dark mahogany. The size of it made it seem even more foreboding; it's Victorian design only bringing a greater Gothic, and depressing feel. The windows of the higher floors were narrow and the bottom floor's wider and longer windows completely shut out the moonlight with its heavy, dark velvet red drapes.

Instead of being windows into the soul of a cozy home or beautiful mansion, they were only gaping holes of abyss-like darkness.

A few bottom floor lights were on filling the home with some illumination, but the entire top floor was devoid of any warm blaze.

Heero frowned once again. 'She's obviously asleep...goddamit Relena.' He sighed in resignation knowing he'd always go to any lengths to please the love of his life.

Heero buzzed in from the gate, and was greeted by a tense voice. "I'm sorry, but Miss Catalonia is not in. She's been in a terrible accident and I and the rest of the staff only remain to inform anyone who may call upon her of her unfortunate state."

Heero's face broke out into obvious surprise and anyone who could see him now would be surprised to see an emotion on his face shown so nakedly.

"S-she's been in an accident?" Heero fumbled for words, for one of the few times in his life in true shock.

"Mr. Yuy? Is that you? Come inside sir! We'll explain all; so sorry to have kept you out like this!"

The gates of the mansion immediately began to open and Heero jogged up to the door, the shock upon his features having finally been erased, but he couldn't quite erase it all from his eyes or his now much paler visage.

Dorothy's doorman opened the door, taking Heero's coat and leading him into the large living room. All the servants were wandering about the mansion in a few bottom floor rooms, all in close proximity of one another. Many of the women's eyes were red and puffy from crying, the men wringing their hands in worry and constantly glancing at their wrists and the mansion's clocks.

Without a word, a cup of coffee was placed in front of Heero where he sat on the plush couch, and he automatically began to gulp the hot liquid down. "Tell me everything, even the worst of it. We'll need to make some calls."

Relena openly wept outside of Dorothy's hospital room. Heero held her face against his chest, allowing her tears to soak his blue long-sleeved shirt.

Relena, Heero, Hilde, Duo, Wufei, Sally, Noin, Milliardo, Lady Une, Mariemaia, and Quatre all sat out of Dorothy's hospital room in a row.

The chaos of the evening into the wee hours of the morning had been unbelievable. Heero held Relena, gently rubbing her back, her distress allowing him to keep his mind off his own. His gaze remained on some imaginary stain on the wall, his face grim but blank with only a slight frown upon it.

Hilde had slid fully into Duo's arms, her face as pale as a ghost as she stared at the doorway to Dorothy's room. Tears silently escaped her eyes every few moments and Duo brushed them away gently with his thumbs each time. His own face looked very grim and he busied himself with every so often kissing Hilde's hair and murmuring comforting words to her, most likely doing anything to kill at least some of the silence.

Duo had never really liked or trusted the girl Dorothy, but there had been a civil air between them both his belief that if Relena could trust and care for her then there had to be some good deep down inside of the complex girl.

He wasn't sure what to think now. She had always been a party starter and an amusing contribution to any social event Relena held (even if she unsettled many guests more times than none), but he'd never thought of her as more than a friend of his friends. As he lifted his own gaze from his girlfriend's dark hair, he snuck in a glance at all around the room.

He briefly looked at Relena and Heero, having witnessed the young princess's distress earlier and had no wish to dwell upon her form with his gaze as it only made him more distressed. Sally's face was unreadable but seemed to be pinched as if she were holding back her own tears. The young woman felt responsible to a point for what had come to pass; it had been her advice that had kept many of the others from acting upon their first impulses.

'I should have known better, I deal with distress and patients every day, I should have know she was in no state to be by herself,' she thought, a soft sob escaping her lips. Wufei looked up to her face, and his arm already around her shoulders tightened and he gently brought her head to rest in the crook of his neck. He reached around and brought Sally's cooler hand into his own, squeezing it reassuringly, idly drawing invisible hearts into her palm. She still felt gripped in sadness but she relaxed at least a little in the knowledge that Wufei was there with her.

Lady Une had the young Mariemaia in her lap, cradling the young girl in her arms as if she were a baby. Mariemaia had fallen asleep and Lady Une was careful not to move as to not wake her up in their long wait, the former Colonel sitting ramrod straight as if at attention for any news that may come since she had entered the hospital. She looked stiff and as she absently stroked Mariemaia's titian hair, lost in her own thoughts and seeming to need direction for once rather than giving it.

Milliardo sat opposite Noin, his arms crossed and head slightly bowed. His eyes were closed and his brow was deeply creased as if under his own strain. Out of anyone he felt the most responsible and regretted many things he had said to the girl of his childhood. He hadn't muttered a word all evening and looked inapproachable.

Noin had wanted to cross the few steps between them and embrace him tightly, telling him it couldn't be his fault and it was the woman in that little car's if anyone's. She wanted to softly kiss across his worried brow and caress his face, pull his head to rest against her chest, and continue to play with his fair-haired lochs, but she would have shot herself in the foot first before crossing that dangerous ground. She thought a bit in embarrassment, it would be unfair to Dorothy even if they both seemed to openly not get along and in obvious competition.

Quatre looked as white as Hilde which was odd for the usually very tan Arabian. His arms were crossed tightly in front of him as he stared forward seemingly seeing nothing, his gaze unfocused and distracted. Duo swore he had not blinked in the hours they'd been sitting here. He lips were tightly pursed and he would only blink as one hand unconsciously reached up to brush away his own tears.

Trowa's expression was unreadable, but in his eyes it was easy to see he was worried about how Quatre would function without Dorothy and how all of them were going to get through this. Whether he liked the blond woman on the other side of the wall or not, she was important to his friends, especially Quatre, and if not for just his sake but all of theirs, she needed to pull through this; it just wouldn't be the same. He felt responsible to some degree himself but was able to see in the end everyone could be held responsible or no one. It was really the fault of that old woman in her little red hell wagon.

The smell of burnt rubber filled the air after the crash. Smoke billowed out in blankets from the hood of the vehicle, the little sports car completely totaled. The driver of vehicle that had darted out in front of Dorothy had been an old woman in rush to make it to her hair appointment on time.

She continued her path away from the scene, completely unaware of the chaos behind her. Many viewers from the small plaza to the left had witnessed or just seen the state of the vehicle and rushed out to it in waves. People were pointing and screaming, some speculating the car may even blow up.

Many had already taken the quick action of dialing medical assistance and some were trying to call into the vehicle to see if anyone who answer. Anyone else advancing on the road had crept past or come to a full stop to see what they could do to help.

"Hey! I see something!" a young man exclaimed, eyeing the pale blond lochs that were Dorothy's calling card. A few of the wiser Samaritans had prudently declared they should all back up just in case something was in the danger of exploding and they shouldn't move her; that could paralyze her or make any wounds she may have abstained worse.

It had taken a few hours for the fire department to pry open the vehicle with their jaws of life and an ambulance was whirring in the background. The medical workers immediately sprung into action, working to carefully disengage the pretty young blond from the totaled vehicle.

It had deemed to be difficult and the medical professionals knew they had a serious case on their hands. They rushed her to the nearest hospital knowing she would probably have to be flown out to a more renowned location especially when they realized from the signature eyebrows it had to be a descendant of the infamous Dermail and Catalonia families.

After what seemed to be forever to the couples and young men and women outside of the ICU (AN: Intensive Care Unit), two doctors followed by a train of nurses finally emerged.

Red and White Roses (Together): Unity

Allspice: Compassion

Those flowers seemed most fitting to Relena and those are their meanings (Yes, flowers had meanings as they were used many times to convey a message in olden times). I decided to continue the hospital scene in another chapter. I was so delighted with the reviews I decided to at least release this part to the readers! Thank you so much to those mentioned above! See yah soon! Oh yes, REVIEW!

Angel of Mirth