Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Golgotha ❯ Golgotha ( One-Shot )

Title: Golgotha
Author: Aya
Rating: R
Warnings: AU, Bad Language, Adult Themes (wow that's lame), Yaoi
Pairings: 1+2

Notes: This is the first part in the Covenant Triolgy. I definitley plan on completing this, hopefully in a timely fashion ^^;

Covenant - A mutual agreement between 2 or more persons to do or refrain from doing certain acts.
Golgotha - One of the names for the hill where Jesus was crucified. It also means 'Skull'

The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other.
It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity,
but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich.
Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied...but written off as trash.
The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar
is a reminder of nothing.

~John Berger

I had always known that walking through the streets of L2 late at night was not the wisest of ideas. Whenever I was here for business, people told me the same thing. 'Stay off the streets at night! If you think the beggars are a hassle in the daytime, you'll never know what hit you in the dark.' I hadn't listened of course; I was a Preventer and a very skilled one at that. Why should I have been afraid of petty thieves and homeless people? I could take them out just as soon as they approached me.

Although I was confident in my skill I couldn't hide the fact that the ever-moving shadows gave me the chills. Unseen eyes and the whisper of footsteps seemed to echo around me, mocking me even as my hand itched to go to the gun that was kept at the small of my back. The shadows seemed to have eyes; the whites yellow and slanted like a cat´s eyes. They were dangerous and terrifying at the same time. I looked around and saw that each corner held the same huddle of shadows, all blending in with the dark, but their eyes standing out as they eyed me and my expensive clothes. They probably considered me an easy mark, and up against a group of them; I was. Nervousness began to set in and pretty soon my feet were moving quicker over the cracked streets.

I recalled a conversation I had had with my friend Wufei, when I had mocked the older men for warning me about the dangerous streets. His exact words had been: "A man who is cold, hungry and bitter is a lot more dangerous than a man who fights to protect others; it doesn't matter who wields the gun. A desperate man who lives in poverty feels that he has nothing to lose, so he'll do whatever it takes... because he feels as though nothing can be worse than the life he already has."

I couldn't help but replay those words in my mind as I visualized the things that these people would do to me if they got me cornered. Disarm me, of course. Maybe beat me to death. Stab me repeatedly? Shoot me in the head with my own gun? None of these choices were appealing and for the first time in a while I was scared. When on missions, I didn't fear getting hurt; because I was fighting for a reason... I had a purpose. However, dying this night on these dark, desolate streets seemed so pointless... it was frightening.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang and the sound of a car alarm going wild somewhere a few blocks away. The unexpected noise startled me and I actually jumped in surprise. My head snapped around, looking for the source of the sound but the only thing I saw was that the shadows seemed to be pressing closer to me. I had the sudden urge to scream at them and tell them to get on with it already, but instead my feet carried me farther away, boots crunching over the carcass of a monstrously large cockroach as I strode down the filthy street.

It was almost impossible to move without sound on these streets thanks to the broken bottles and garbage, so I had to give the thief credit.. because I hadn't even heard him coming.

Before I knew what was happening, someone was dragging me into a dark, narrow alley and pressing my face into the wall. "Empty your pockets and I won't hurt you," The young, male voice hissed.

I wanted nothing more than to turn around and beat the punk to a pulp just for being so arrogant, but I knew that part of that urge was because I was angry at myself for letting a street urchin get the drop on me. The feel of a gun pressed to the back of my head squashed the foolish desire. "You're wasting your time, I only have a few credits on me," I informed him flatly.

"Empty your pockets or I'll do it for you," He said coldly, nudging the back of my head harder with the pistol. He waited for a moment before swearing and sticking his thin hand into the pockets of my jacket and pants. "Rich guy like you doesn't have any credits? Bullshit."

"I'm far from rich." The words came out dry and steady, making it seem as though I wasn't affected at all by the heavy steel weapon. My mind was trying to think up ways that I could get the kid down without getting shot in the process, but none of them seemed likely to work. I couldn't afford to get robbed; I had a disc in my pocket that was laden with very important data, data that could be very harmful to top officials like Relena Peacecraft and her brother if it were to get out.

"Turn around!" The accented voice commanded.

I obeyed and got a good look at the young gamin. His hair was long and unruly, falling in a long tousled braid down to his hips. It looked like it hadn't been washed in months and his bangs stuck out unevenly all around his face. His skin was pale, gaunt and his cheekbones stood out sharply. He had large eyes that were a strange indigo color and a tiny button nose that sat in the middle of his face. He couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen years old and he looked terribly malnourished. "What are ya'? Gay or sumthin'? Quit lookin' at me," he snapped, looking irritated.

"I'm just surprised. I imagined all street thugs to be tough looking, but you don't look much older than a child."

Indignant outrage crossed his handsome face and the youth shoved the gun at my chest. "Fuck you! I ain't no child. I'm nearly twenty years old, ya prick. Now hold your hands out so I can search the pockets of that fancy coat of yours."

I sighed and did as I was told, hoping he chose to bypass the silver disc as he ransacked my deep pockets. After a few moments he pulled out a handful of credits and his face practically lit up in delight as he shoved them in his own thread bare jeans. It couldn't have been more than fifty, but it occurred to me that fifty credits was probably a fortune to him while it was barely pocket change to me. Suddenly I felt a little ashamed of myself even though he had a gun pointed at me. I doubted he would use it anyway, unless I actually attacked him first. The kid was obviously starving, ragged clothes were practically hanging off of his skinny form and here I was being stingy over a few credits. Why didn't I ever just donate money to charity? Orphanages? Why didn't the government help these people out? I made a mental note to tell my friend Quatre to bring this up at the next congressional meeting.

I heard a soft gasp and let my eyes focus once again on the thief. He had pulled out my Preventer's badge and was gaping at me in disbelief. "You're a fuckin' Preventer?" The hand that was holding the gun had begun to tremble.

"Yes." I met his gaze and was surprised to see that there was anger behind the indigo orbs instead of fear, as I had expected. I watched as he flung the badge into the street and nearly winced at the loss. I was going to have to scrounge around in the gutter for it later. Joy. The bo-- no, the man's lip curled in what appeared to be disgust and he shoved me against the wall.

"I oughta pop you right now, you filthy pig." Now he looked the part of a street thug. His eyes had gone cold and were gleaming with anger, face twisted in an angry scowl. He seemed to be seething at the sight of one of the elite Preventers. The Preventers who were a special unit of government officers, sworn to protect politicians and the people surrounding them. The time of district police officers had passed and now Preventers held all the cards. They had smaller offices stationed in each city all over the globe and on the colonies to protect the people; but the main force surrounded the big wigs in the government.

I stared at him in surprise, wondering what grudge he could have against the Preventers that could make him look so malicious. "If you kill me, you'll be executed. You realize that, don´t you?" The words came out cold and somewhat smug. I hadn't meant for it to sound that way, but for some reason my brain and my mouth always seemed to be on two different wavelengths.

A bitter smile crossed his face and I was so distracted by the sudden beauty of it that I didn't notice his quick hands emptying my pockets. "That's right. And if you kill me... you'd get a fuckin' medal." The fist that suddenly cocked back and stuck me was unexpected, so I didn't have nearly enough time to block it. My head snapped back, hitting the brick wall and I crumbled to the dirty ground with a groan. His denim covered leg reared back and he kicked me in the gut before spitting in my face with a sneer. "Thanks for the toys, Preventer Scumbag," He snarled and disappeared into the shadows.

I didn't even hear his footsteps echoing down the damp sidewalk as he left the alley but I knew within seconds that he was gone. I lay on the ground panting and holding my stomach until finally the searing pain passed and I was able to sit up. I didn't even want to know what the wet substance was that I had fallen in, but the stench of it gave me an idea. I wiped the blood from my lip and cursed myself once again for letting a street punk get the best of me. A quick inventory of my pockets showed that the fucking guy had completely cleaned me out. My wallet, credits, and keys were gone. My fucking *gun* was gone and so was the goddamned disc. The only thing the little prick hadn't taken was my handcuffs. "Fuck!"

This was completely unacceptable. If I went to Une and told her that an L2 street urchin had robbed me of important government data, she'd fire me on the spot just for being a moron. I had jurisdiction to put a bullet in anyone who threatened me because of my status as a Preventer and the fact that I hadn't exercised that right and had allowed the disc to be stolen; well... it's safe to say she wouldn't be pleased at all. I swore darkly and climbed to my feet, my mind already devising a plan to find the thief. My previous sympathetic thoughts were gone, replaced by anger and a hurt ego.

He had picked the wrong person to rob...

~----~

Golgotha tenement
city of sores
Give me your tired and your wicked
Give me your dollar whores
Down on the boulevard children are sold
To pave the way
For your streets of gold

- Golgotha Tenement, Machines of Loving Grace

It had taken me only ten minutes to find the badge that he had carelessly thrown in the street and now it was safely tucked in my pocket. I felt strangely vulnerable without my gun but I was confidant enough in my fighting abilities to continue to walk the streets and alleys unarmed. I wasn't being logical at all but my anger was driving me and causing me to ignore the sensible part of my brain. I was on my own personal mission and I didn't plan on going home until I had found the thief.

It was raining heavily by eleven o'clock and I cursed whoever was working the environmental controls for their bad timing. My dark hair was plastered to my face and my leather jacket was barely keeping me dry. As I walked around in the rain, I marveled at the dilapidated buildings and houses and wasn't able to take my eyes off of the pathetic excuses for parks. Everything appeared to be in ruins and it was quite a change from the other four colonies, which were extremely well kept. Street children ran around in the rain, appearing to be delighted about the sudden change in 'weather'. They were holding large pots and buckets, collecting the water and shouting happily as they did so.

I became so engrossed in the obvious decay that the whole colony was in, that I had almost forgotten why I was wondering around in the L2 ghetto to begin with. The shadows still seemed to follow me, but the look on my face kept them away. I saw whores on every street corner, both male and female calling out to me as the cold rain drenched them. I saw an entire family of beggars huddling under the awning of a corner store, looking at me pleadingly as I passed. The whole colony was like someone's bad dream, but the horrible thing was that it was too real. I felt very out of place in my expensive clothes and felt ashamed about rubbing their noses in the fact that I could actually leave the colony and go to my real home. By the time I reached South Street I was so horrified by the sheer amount of child prostitutes that I was about ready to hail a cab and run the fuck back to my hotel.

However, a familiar voice echoed out of one of the alleys and I knew I had found my target.

"....are you serious... ?!"

"...never knew what was coming!"

"...one hundred credits, and that's all."

"Are you fuckin' nuts?! This ain't no six shooter! It's a fuckin' *laser* pistol! I could get five times that in a shop!"

I crept into the alley silently, getting the tail end of the exchange as my eyes focused in the dark. I could make out my little ragamuffin thief standing with his hands on his hips, looking pissed off and an older man who was dressed rather oddly in a brightly colored shirt. The older man was holding my gun and looking at it critically.

"Then take it to one of them and sell it! This is some serious power here, Duo! You didn't just rob a rich banker! He's a fuckin' Preventer! I take this thing and next thing I know that bull dyke Lady Une will be bargin' in my house with a whole troop of them pigs!"

Duo? So, the little thief's name was Duo. Interesting...

"Shit, Howard.. I thought for sure that guy was going to kick my ass! I only risked it cos' I thought I'd get serious cash for this thing. Do you know how much money I could've given the orphanage?" Duo swore loudly and raked a hand through his wet hair.

My eyes widened and I had to stop and consider that one. I had thought for sure that he would want money for drugs or something equally illegal. The idea that he was going to give it to charity.. well that hadn't even crossed my mind.

"..Yeah I understand, it's okay." Duo forced a smile and the older man, 'Howard' clapped him on the back.

"Buy yourself some dinner with those credits before you give it all away, kid. You're skin an' bones already! And get off the damned streets before that cop comes lookin' for ya. Those Preventers are real hardheaded SOBs." The older man looked at Duo apologetically before he disappeared inside the side door to one of the buildings.

"Shit," The youth hissed and kicked the wall dejectedly.

I decided to make my move then. I was behind him before he could turn around and one strong arm was wrapped across his neck before he could scream. He cried out in surprise and I clapped a hand over his mouth. "Didn't think I would let you keep my stuff, did you?" I hissed in his ear. He stiffened in my arms before he began to struggle violently. I spun him around and slammed him against the wall, my grip on his collar tightening as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"I want my stuff, *now* or else."

"Fuck you!"

My palm cracked across his face hard but he barely flinched, instead opting to grin at me manically. "You gonna havta to do better than that, Preventer Dickhead!"

I growled angrily. "I don't want to hurt you kid, but I need my stuff back now."

His eyes narrowed at me. "You act like you can't spare a few stinking credits and a wallet! I know yer type, you come from Earth or one of them rich bitch colonies. Why don't you get fuckin' lost and leave me alone!"

"Screw the credits." I did a half-assed one handed search as I held him up with my left hand and relieved him of my gun, shoving it back in its proper place in my pants. "The disc. Where is the damned disc?" I stared at him intently, eyes blazing, but he lifted his chin defiantly.

"I don't know what yer talkin' about, man."

"Don't play games with me, you little asshole." My grip on him tightened and he yelped.

"What disc? What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's in a small case with a clasp on the side. Inside there is a small, round, unlabeled disc. I know you took it."

His large eyes took on a slightly calculating gleam and the full lips tilted in a smirk. In the light of the street lamp, I finally got a good look at his face and realized how attractive he was. "Oooh, *that* disc. I'll tell you if you give me... mmm... let's say, five hundred credits?"

"How about I snap your neck and search your rotting corpse?" I snarled, losing patience with him.

His face paled a bit but he kept the cocky smirk plastered across his lips. "If you kill me, you'll never get it back," he proclaimed brightly, grinning like a madman as the rain poured down on us.

"I don't have time for this shit!" I roared and slammed him against the wall again. "I don't even have five hundred credits; you took all the money I had!"

He made a face at me. "What kind of rich guy only has fifty credits in his pocket? What, did you spend all ya money on a whore or sumthin'?"

I eased up the pressure on his neck and he sagged against the wall in relief. "First of all, I'm not rich --"

"Well that's a bunch of bullshit. All Preventers are rich, even *I* know that."

I glared at him. "You know shit about the government and even less about the Preventers, so shut your mouth."

"And whose fault is it that I know nothin'?" he drawled.

I glared at him for a moment before speaking. "If you don't tell me, now, tonight... I will call in a squadron of Preventers and have them tear this pathetic excuse for a neighborhood to pieces until it's back in my hand." Okay, it was a bluff and a bad one at that. I didn't have the authority to authorize something like that and if Une found out I'd lost one of the few copies she'd probably just fire me on the spot instead of going through all the trouble. He, however did not know this and his eyes widened almost comically.

"Okay okay man! Don't get your tighty whities in a twist! I.. I *had* the disc but I gave it to someone." He stammered.

"Who?"

He hesitated before grinning at me nervously. "A friend of mine, Trowa. He uh.. he's a computer hacker and I wanted to know what was on the disc so I gave it to him and ..ow! Stop! That shit hurts, man!"

I hadn't realized that my hand had tightened around his neck once again and I let him go with a grunt. Fuck. This was not good. "Take me to him, now."

"I can't! I don't know where his place is, he's real secretive about that shit and I mean if I was him I'd be nervous about it too. He has all kinds of high tech shit in his pad and if half the street kids out here knew they'd --- okay! Ow! Ow fuck man, not the hair!"

I loosened the grip I had on his braid and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

He glared at me but continued. "*Anyway* I'm meeting up with him tomorrow night to get it back."

"There's no way to get it back from him before then?" I asked suspiciously.

He shook his head frantically. "I swear on a stack of ten bibles that there isn't! Look man, I've tried to find his place before and all that wound up happening was that I got beaten up a bunch of times by the street gang that runs that area!"

I sighed and wiped a hand across my face. "So then tomorrow when you see him, I'm going with you."

Duo nodded and started to inch away. "Okay! Sounds like a plan! So until then, I'll just be going on my merry way! Try not to get lost in the depths of Golgotha!" I yanked him back by the braid before he could get down the alley and wound the length of it around my wrist. He winced and yelped loudly. "Can you *stop* that!? I am very tender headed!"

I lifted his chin and stared him straight in the eyes. "You are not going anywhere, until that disc is back in my hands, got it?"

"Eheh... got it."

"And to make sure that you get it..." I let the sentence trail off and yanked a pair of handcuffs out of the inside of my jacket.

He stared at me incredulously. "You can't be serious..."

I smirked and clasped it on his wrist roughly before fastening the other cuff to my own. "How's this for serious?"

"This is fucking insane! You can't come here and just start bossing people around and acting like you can just do whatever the hell you want! If you didn't want to get fuckin' robbed you shouldn't have come to the freaking ghetto all fancied up in clothes that cost more than all of the fucking food supplies in this colony put together!" He began tugging at the handcuffs frantically. "Do you know what will happen to me if people see me waltzing around with a fucking Preventer? They'll have my ass!"

I grabbed his hand and squeezed until he winced and stopped tugging. "No one knows I'm a Preventer, and they won't unless you keep screaming like a moron."

"That's what *you* think, buddy. You stick out like a sore thumb on one of Relena Peacecraft's dainty little hands." he muttered angrily.

"You wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't tried to rob me. Where's your gun now, tough guy?" I mocked as I started to walk down the street, dragging him behind me.

"Well... it wasn't actually a *real* gun. But it sure looked authentic, din' it?" Duo smiled brightly and winked when I stopped in my tracks and gaped at him.

"This night just gets better and better." I grumbled darkly. Great. Not only had I let a little punk like this rob me and sucker punch me, but I hadn't even realized that the gun he was toting had been a fake. I was seriously off tonight.

He cackled at me insanely, obviously aware of what my train of thought was. I glared at him evilly and he shut up. "So Preventer Cock, do you have a name or should I keep coming up with my own?"

"Heero Yuy." I grunted shortly and once again began dragging him behind me as I walked... to nowhere in particular.

"Ooh, Heero. Isn't that special. I'm Duo Maxwell, resident thief and con artist extraordinaire." When he was met with my stony silence he made a face. "Are you seriously going to have this big attitude all night and expect me to stay handcuffed to you?" He complained.

"You robbed me at gunpoint, sucker punched me and gave away my stuff. We aren't exactly friends."

"It was a fake gun! And besides, that's all in the past. It's not like I knew that the disc was so goddamned important! All I wanted to do was to get some cash so I could have dinner, you can't fault me for wanting to eat. And besides, what kind of loser walks around with important government shit in his pocket anyways?"

My eyebrow twitched in annoyance and I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Can you shut up for two minutes so I can figure out where to go?"

Duo shrugged and leaned against the porch of a large brownstone. "Go right ahead and figure. Ain't much around here that we can go to except for a few motels and abandoned buildings. I live in an old church not too far from here, it's pretty cozy inside if you don't mind cobwebs."

I stared at him oddly for a moment. "Why are you telling me this? What if I come back and arrest you later?"

The expression on his face changed in a heartbeat and I almost regretted saying it. The cold, angry look found its way back into his eyes and his mouth hardened into a line. "Because I don't want to fucking stay out in the rain all night, okay? Some of us can't go to big, fancy hospitals so I can't afford to get sick. And if you want to go to one of the abandoned factories you better damn well go on your own because them places are full of rapists and drug dealers and all sorts of sickos."

As I looked at his angry face, I couldn't help but wonder how a guy like this had survived in the streets for as long as he obviously had. He was a pretty boy, obviously a good fighter but with a slender build. I would've bet money on the amount of times he had probably been sexually harassed and picked on just for his appearance alone. He seemed to have a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Fuji when it came to the government and the Preventers, but I could only guess why. "Fine. We'll go to your church."

He sighed and looked up at the 'sky' in a "why me" kind of way, before he looked at me resignedly and led me down the street.

~------~

Why are sex and violence always linked? I'm afraid they'll blur together in people's minds - sexandviolence - until we can't tell them apart. I expect to hear a newscaster say, "The mob became unruly and the police were forced to resort to sex."

~ Dick Cavett

Going to the church appeared to be an event in itself, because it meant that we had to pass through the territory of one of L2's many street gangs.

"Normally, they let me go where I want without a hassle cos' I'm pretty well known around here, but if they see a new face, they're gonna start askin' questions, ya get me?" Duo mumbled nervously as he practically clung to my arm in an attempt to hide the handcuffs that bound us together. "I'm tellin' ya man, if people see me hangin' around with a man of the law, my ass is serious grass. People around here hate the Preventers and they hate the new, pacifistic bullshit government. Relena Peacecraft is Miss Golden Girl everywhere else, but in L2, people's eyes are not covered with rose tinted glasses. We know fake when we see it."

I frowned at his words but couldn't help but be impressed at the same time. It was true that a lot of people were fooled by the pristine appearance that Peacecraft had, but people who were close to her knew what she was really like. The fact that people on this colony, people who were considered "trash" by everyone else, could see through that, was pretty damned interesting.

"Now if anyone stops us.. shit I don't know, I'll think of something. Gawd, you picked a fine time to take in the scenery of L2." The thief complained.

I made a face as we walked under the awnings of closed shops, trying to escape the rain. "You make it sound like this whole mess is my fault."

"You were askin' to be robbed, Heero. Seriously. You're lucky it was me and not someone with a real gun and a real thirst for upper middle class blood. You don't come to Golgotha dressed like you are, swaggering in the streets all arrogant and expect to come out unscathed."

"What's Golgotha?"

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "It's the name the people of the neighborhood gave L2 after awhile. Like a really morbid nickname. See, most people who are born in L2... we don't get out. We live here, we starve here, and we die here. It's as simple as that. It's a fucking birthing ground for the hopeless and for the walking dead. You're born a corpse."

I looked at him, startled by the words and by the bleak look in his eyes.

"Golgotha, well years ago on earth... Catholics believed in Jesus Christ. They believed that... he was the Son of God and that he died for our sins. Golgotha.. is the place where he died, the place where he was crucified. Now L2, the people here aren't bad. No one is born bad, but yet everyone who is born here are labeled that way cos' of what we havta do to survive. Rich folks in the suburbs and in the high-class colonies think of us as street trash, street rats... nothing but the left over shit that ain't worth their time or money. No one lifts a finger to improve shit around here and nothin' ever changes. We live, we suffer, we starve and we fuckin' die. This is the colony of the dead, so boom. Golgotha. That's how the colony got it's nickname." He shrugged and looked away, his voice laced with bitterness.

I didn't know what to say or how to respond to that. I hadn't expected anything so profound to come out of his mouth. I hadn't expected half of the shit that had happened tonight and the surprises kept on coming. It was obvious that he was intelligent for a man who had to steal to survive and I had to stop and wonder if he had been born somewhere else, what would he have been like? What would he be doing with his life? It was a pretty sad thing to do, always pondering about 'what ifs' and I'm sure he did it a lot.

He looked at me from the corner of his eyes and made a face. "Why you always lookin' at me? Are you gay or sumthin'? Seriously, this time."

"Yes."

He stopped in his tracks and gaped at me, obviously shocked at my bluntness. "O..oh."

I smirked at him and opened my mouth to respond but before I could, the shadows moved once again and I spun around to face whoever was coming. It was all terribly dramatic, like a scene out of some weird, gothic movie. The rain was still coming down pretty hard and a group of figures dressed all in tattered black clothes were coming towards us, all practically blending in with the shadows and making it almost impossible to see their faces.

"Fuck! I knew this was gonna happen!" Duo hissed and pressed himself closer to my side, hiding our cuffed hands in the folds of my jacket.

When the group was right up on us, finally I was able to see them and I realized that they were all teenagers, probably the oldest only being nineteen. "Who's the new guy?" One of them, obviously the leader, asked as he stepped forward. He was staring straight at me but I knew he was talking to Duo. He was tall and leanly muscled, with tattoos covering one arm and a black bandanna wrapped over unruly blonde curls.

"No one special. He's from another colony, but he came here to have some fun if you catch my drift." Duo raised an eyebrow and pressed himself to my side tighter, obviously insinuating that I was his john. I tried not to look at him in surprise, telling myself that I should just go with it.

The leader stared at me suspiciously before his eyes went up and down Duo and he smirked. He sauntered forward until he was only a couple of inches in front of the longhaired young man. "I din' know youse was a whore, Maxwell. I thought you was savin' yaself for me."

I watched the exchange quietly even as I felt Duo stiffen up beside me. "Heh, I'm not a hooker, Cappy... but when I reach rock bottom every so often, I have to do what I have to do to get by.. know what I'm sayin'? And tonight definitely ain't a big night for pick pocketin'."

Cappy turned his gaze back to me and I held the stare steadily. "He looks like a fuckin' flatfoot."

"I know.. I thought that too, but trust me on this one Caps... no cop would bend over in a alley an' then ask for a repeat performance," The words were spoken lightly but I could feel the tension in his slender body. I kept expecting him to tell them any moment that I was a Preventer... but he didn't.

The tall gang leader made a 'hmm' sound and looked at Duo again. "Either way he's in our territory and he has to pay the toll. A hundred credits or we bust his kneecaps."

My eyes narrowed and my right hand began to creep for my gun but Duo's surprisingly strong hand grabbed mine and squeezed. I looked at him and he shook his head, eyes once again possessing that bleak look. "He only got enough for me, and common.. I really need the cash Caps. Can't you just let it go, this one time?"

The blonde man looked from me to Duo and once again he leered at the shorter teenager. "Alright, I got me a better idea. We all know what *your* special toll is, Duo.. and since you can't give it to me now... next time I see you, you're mine all night."

Duo paled visibly, but managed to nod and offer a sickly smile. "Yeah.. I get you, Cappy. Now get out of here so I can handle my business."

Cappy nodded and graced Duo with one more smirk before he and his gang walked away; disappearing back into the shadows where they had come from. Once they were out of sight, Duo sagged against me and swore under his breath. "Damn! This is all your fuckin' fault man. You an' your stupid, *stupid* disc."

"You have sex with him?" I blurted it out before I could stop myself and once again cursed the non-existent thing that connected my brain to my mouth.

Indigo eyes glared at me and he started walking again, strides quick and angry. "No. I let him grope me and kiss me and that's fuckin' it. But I guess now, thanks to *you* he's gonna want more next time."

I frowned at him darkly. "If you wanted to, you could have just told them that I'm a Preventer and you would have been off the damn hook when they killed me."

He stopped again and glared at me with wild eyes. "Oh, that's a *great* idea! One Preventer gets killed today and before I fuckin' know it, the whole damned force will be here makin' life hell for every street kid on the colony." He turned his back on me and began walking again, forcing me to follow.

"What the hell do you have against the Preventers anyway? We keep the peace! We protect the people and the government."

"Bullshit! You protect the rich people. You protect the fucking hypocrite pacifistic pieces of shit government officials. Do you see anyone protecting *anything* here? Do you see Preventers patrolling the streets and makin' it safe for the little kids and women who get raped daily in the fuckin' alleys?"

"There has to be Preventer activity here. There are at least three stations assigned on each colony," I argued.

He let out a sharp bark of laughter. "There is one fuckin' station on this whole colony and they don't do jack shit to help anyone. They make their rounds every so often and once in awhile they will arrest tons of people at one time just to fill their quotas, even if the people they're arrestin' ain't criminals."

I stopped walking and stared at him in shock. "How is that possible? It's not even legal! Why doesn't anyone complain? You could contact the HQ in the Sanc kingdom on Earth and if Une found out, she would be the first to make a change."

Duo rolled his eyes as if I was one of the most naive people he'd ever met. "Don't you think we've tried that? There used to be a community center around here, and all the faculty and all the fuckin' members would send letters to Earth every month, but nothing ever happened and we never got a fuckin' reply."

I didn't know what to say or how to respond. I was in complete shock. I'd wondered when I had first arrived on L2, why it was so bad.. but I'd never considered the possibility that the people wanted it to change. I'd never considered that they had called for help but never got it. It was possible of course, that everything he was saying was complete bullshit and I had to remind myself of that before I went into a complete tailspin. "I don't know why, I thought --"

"That's right, you *thought*. Everyone *thinks* that the scum of L2 wallows in their own filth happily and doesn't want anything to be better, but you're all wrong. That same community center would send letters and petitions to that bitch, Peacecraft and her moron brother.. beggin' for them to help clean up this place. Beggin' them to send the colony supplies that weren't rotten or contaminated. Fuckin' begging *someone* to fix the environmental controls so that we got rain a little more often, so that we wouldn't have to ration water! No one ever lifted a fuckin' finger to help! They want to keep us down! They don't want the poor street trash to have better lives, because God forbid someone actually makes something of themselves! God forbid someone from L2 tries to become a congressman or senator! They don't want us to do better because they only want their own kind to get ahead. So fuckin' save whatever you was gonna say! We havta spend the whole night together, but we don't havta talk while we're doin' it, so leave me the hell alone!"

He turned on his heel and began to storm down the street angrily, leaving me to hurry after just so that the gundanium handcuffs wouldn't cut into my skin.

~-------~

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the
few who are rich.

~John F. Kennedy

Somewhere along the line as we had walked down the wet streets in silence, Duo had decided that he was hungry and that he was going to use *my* fifty credits to get a "decent" dinner. Soon after, I found myself at a small diner that was simply named "Nate's". It was somewhat of a dive but at least it looked clean, the tables were scratched and the booths were made of obnoxious orange rubber.. but Duo seemed to delight in just being able to sit down and order something.

"So.. I'll treat you to dinner if you're hungry." He suggested as we sat down across from each other in the small booth. Our cuffed hands were left under the table, linked together and making the arrangement rather uncomfortable. He seemed to have forgotten about his earlier outburst and I wasn't in a hurry to remind him.

"You can't 'treat' me to anything, because it's *my* money," I snapped, gracing him with a dark glare.

"Whatever you say man." He shrugged to himself and picked at the menu, squinting at it in the dim light.

"Don't tell me you can't read." It came out a little more disgusted sounding than I had planned but I decided that there was no reason to be nice to him or to bite my tongue. We weren't friends. The only reason I hadn't hauled his sorry ass in to the nearest station house was because I needed that disk.

Duo looked at me, surprisingly calm even though I had insulted him. "Just because I'm a street kid, don't mean I'm stupid. I went to school for awhile and then I stopped. Excuse me for not wanting to be told what a waste of space I was by the teachers who come from L4, richest fuckin' colony in space. So A-E-I-O fuck you too." He turned up his pert nose and actually looked haughty before he went right back to agonizing over the menu.

The corner of my mouth twitched and I actually had the urge to smile. He was a thief, he'd robbed me and sucker punched me.. and yeah I probably should have arrested him when I had the chance; but he certainly was a charming little fucker. "These aren't exactly prime delicacies, Maxwell." I drawled, glancing at my own menu and deciding on a hamburger and fries easily.

"Maybe not to *you*, it ain't." He nodded to himself and pushed the menu away from him, obviously coming to a conclusion. "I love this place. It's one of the only diners in this neighborhood that has *real* beef and fresh veggies." He grinned. "Nate is a nice guy, he's legit and one of the only business owners who still has contacts with the corporations on earth that sell the colonies fresh food." He whistled sharply to get the attention of a bored looking waiter.

"One of the only?" I asked doubtfully. "Then how do other places get meat and vegetables?"

"Well... the meat don't come from earth, man. And look around... there ain't exactly no cows on L2. Use yer imagination. The big wig corps on Earth got tired of dealing with most of their L2 customers cos' number one, a lot of times they was late with payments and number 2, the shuttles would get robbed a lot. That's why the government finally bowed down and started sendin' up supplies. Like food and rations and shit. L2 is like the fuckin' third world country of space." He shrugged casually and smiled up at the waiter, showing surprisingly white; even teeth. "Lemme get a salad with blue cheese dressing, steak well done and those sautéed veggie things that Nate makes with wild rice on the side. Oh and apple juice, a nice big cup."

My eyebrows shot up and I looked at him in surprise, before telling the waiter my own order.

He smirked at me and raised one eyebrow elegantly. I imagined that he would look like quite the little gentleman if he was cleaned up and wearing something besides raggedy jeans. "What did ya think I was gonna order ice cream and beer and shit?" When I shrugged in response he grinned. "I'd take a decent home cooked meal over greasy ass hamburgers and fries any day. This body o' mine needs nourishment, ya know."

We sat in silence for awhile and I let my eyes roam over to the window beside us, taking in the damp streets and the rain that still poured from the artificial sky. "Is all of L2 like this?" I murmured absently. Despite the fact that part of my brain was telling me that this whole situation was ridiculously unprofessional, I couldn't help but marvel at the things he was telling me.

He followed my gaze and stared out at the streets, focusing on a homeless man who was sitting under the awning of a closed store; seeking shelter from the rain. "The whole colony is poor, no one is really upper middle class... but there are people who are more well off than others. There are businesses that actually do good and neighborhoods that aren't full of derelicts." He shrugged and smiled bitterly. "No neighborhood is safe to walk at night, but the entire place ain't a cesspool. Just most of it."

I nodded and felt slightly better about that for some reason. "Why do you blame the government?"

Duo's face closed up and he seemed to remember that he was talking to someone who was actually a government worker. "Cos' there ain't no one else to blame."

I laughed shortly. "Why should anyone be to blame? People become what they are because they don't try to be anything else."

His eyes hardened and once again he got that jaded look. "So you think everyone in this colony is content to be scum?"

"I didn't say tha--"

"Let me tell you somethin' Preventer Yuy, let me tell you a somethin and for a minute just forget that you're a fuckin' slave to the government and gimme a chance." He stared at me until I nodded. "Five colonies, right? The closest to earth are L1 and L2. L3, L4 and L5 are fuckin' out there.. so you'd think that maybe the people who first settled the colonies would have focused on L1 and L2 first. Let me tell ya, they did. They used L2 as kinda a test colony, trying out the environmental controls on it first to see if it would work, testing the atmosphere.. seeing what could survive and what couldn't. When they were done gettin' their info, they took it and ran. They spiffed up the rest of the colonies real good, givin' them the best of everything, but they left L2 the way it was. They didn't bother to rework the EC the way they did the others, they left it all fucked up so it only rains once in a blue damn moon. They didn't bother to rebuild the buildings or plant decent trees. They used it as a test colony, left it that way after they was finished and then made shuttle rides to the other colonies so expensive, that the normal, lower middle class people from Earth couldn't afford to go there; so they ended up here.."

I stared at him and the disbelief must have been evident on my face because he leaned forward and said in a hushed urgent voice, "You think I just made that shit up? Please, man. It's all in the fuckin' old newspaper clippings from Earth when they first started puttin' people on the colonies. It's all in books written by people who was here when it all happened."

The waiter came and Duo sat up, backing away from me but the crease was still between his brows. When the food was placed in front of us, I watched as Duo did a quick prayer before digging into his salad. "Okay maybe you don't believe me about that, but go look it up for yourself. You got to read between the lines, Yuy." He pointed his fork at me and swallowed before continuing. "Another thing, did you ever notice how the only maximum-security prison in the colonies is here?"

I shook my head and bit into my own hamburger. "There is a maximum-security prison on L3 and one on L5." I countered.

"Yeah, but both of those only have about two hundred and fifty beds." His accent made two hundred and fifty sound like 'two hun-ed an' fiddy'.

I thought a moment and realized he was right. "That's true... and the prison here holds at least five thousand. For men and women.." My thoughts trailed off and my brow furrowed as I considered it.

"Five thousand, four hundred and sixty three." He recited with a toothy grin, obviously not caring that he had bits of lettuce stuck in his teeth. "I guess they decided to stick the trash with the trash, know what I mean?" I decided that I liked his accent, it was cute in a way. "This colony neva stood a chance. Was doomed from the start to be the dumping ground for the shit no one else wanted."

I nodded in agreement and shoved fries in my mouth; not knowing what else to say. It was wrong on a lot of different levels and it was pathetic to admit, but I had never seen it the way he was showing it to me before. Everyone said that the people of L2 never wanted to make anything better of themselves and that they chose to be the way they were. No one ever gave thought to how the colony came to be in such a state of deterioration in the first place. I was sad to say I had been one of those people, but this kid, no this man, he was showing me the light. Once again I thought about the disc and about the information that had been on it. What I suspected was on it, went hand in hand with what Maxwell was helping me to realize about the government and for the first time I was ashamed to be a part of it. "It's so wrong.." I didn't even realize that I had spoken out loud until Duo looked at me and smiled sadly.

"Heero, man.. I'm sorry about what I did. About.. robbin' you and hittin' you an' everything. I was just.. I don't know man, but I have bad history with Preventers and I got so mad. All the memories came rushin' back, know what I mean? You ain't a bad guy at all, I can see that. I'm really sorry.. And don't worry, we'll get the disc back. I promise."

I looked at him and knew by the earnest look on his face that he was serious and that he meant what he was saying. It caused a strange reaction in me and once again I was confused by it. I opted for nodding silently and we finished the rest of our meal in a somewhat comfortable silence. Towards the end he did splurge a bit and get an ice cream sundae and I couldn't help but smile at the childish gleam in his eyes as he savored each bite.

I decided that I needed time to think things through. What he had told me, the disc... everything. I needed time to analyze everything until I could get my head on straight.. All of the confusion and conflicting emotions of the day were starting to tire me. I needed to figure things out and especially, I needed to figure him out.

~-------~

Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.

~Alan Alda

On the way to church I noticed that the surrounding homes and buildings seemed to be much better looking in this area. There were still several beggars and the occasional whore; but this was obviously the 'good' side of town. We stopped in a 24-hour corner store and Duo purchased a pack of cheap toothbrushes for one credit. When we came out he emptied his pockets of soap, a bottle of shampoo and a small tube of toothpaste. I stared at him incredulously for several moments; unable to wrap my mind around the fact that I hadn't even realized he was stealing while I was *handcuffed* to him.

"You're unbelievable," I said with a shake of my head.

He grinned at me impishly and looked up at the artificial sky, opening his mouth to let rain fall in it. After a moment he sighed contentedly. "It's raining, man! Do you know what that means? No, of course ya don't. Well, it means that I can wash my hair and clean up and everything without worrying about wasting water! Lookit --" He showed me the bottle of shampoo. "I even got the kind with the conditioner mixed in!"

A wry smile crossed my lips and I put the bottle in the bag with the toothbrushes. Suddenly a thought occurred to me and I stared at him. "You're going to wash your hair and bathe..?

He looked at me as if I was incredibly dense. "Well that's the plan."

I raised our cuffed hands and jingled the chain as a reminder. "That might get a little awkward," I said flatly.

He frowned at me, obviously not liking the idea of having an audience. "Look man, I already told ya I was sorry and I told ya I was gonna help you get the disc back.. so can't you un-cuff me? I got nowhere to run! I'm going to be *naked* for God's sake! I'm gonna wash my clothes too! Common, Heero... I swear to *God* that I won't try to run off! Pl~ease!"

I glared at him for several moments but he just widened his eyes and pulled his face into an adorable pout. After a moment I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But if you try to run off I'll shoot you."

He raised an eyebrow but just shrugged casually, and we continued on our way.

The church itself was of an impressive size; the structure and design making it obvious that once it had been something nice to look at. It was at least three stories and around the broken, stained glass windows there were tell tale signs of a fire; the bricks blackened from it. The steeple on the top had obviously caved in and the rain poured inside of the large opening. The front steps were mostly broken and crumbling and I picked my way up them carefully as Duo tugged impatiently on my arm.

Once we were inside I decided that Duo had obviously cleaned up the place because instead of being filled with ashes and rubble as I had expected, it was fixed up in an almost homey fashion. A worn, plaid rug covered the scarred hardwood floor and there was an old, beat up mattress in one corner, draped with blankets and a couple of pillows. There was a fireplace with a pile of broken up pieces of wooden furniture and a container of kerosene beside it. I noted the decrepit looking trunk at the foot of the mattress, which had a heavy looking lock on it. "You fixed all of this up by yourself?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yup! I actually found a lot of this stuff in the church. It was surprising cos' I thought everything had been destroyed in the fire." He looked around almost proudly and I found myself thinking of my modern loft on L1. "So are you gonna un-cuff us or what? I don't want the rain to stop.."

It was against my better judgment but I undid the lock and watched as he rubbed his sore wrist. "I usually do this the hard way, but since you're here you can help. I keep these big buckets up in the third floor where the steeple had been, to catch the water whenever it actually rains. So you gotta help me bring 'em down here, in the kitchen where the tub is. It's one of those really old fashioned white ones... the plumbing obviously don't work.. so yeah." He looked almost embarrassed to be explaining this to me. "An' don't be thinkin' that I walk around dirty all the time, cos' I don't. I just don't often get too wash my hair or get a *real* bath. And you could use one yaself... you smell like piss." He wrinkled his nose at me and I couldn't help but flush in response.

"Well whose fault is that?" I snapped irritably.

His mouth turned up in a grin. "I scared ya so bad that you wet yourself? I know I can get scary an' all but damn."

I glared at him. "Don't be an idiot. You're about as scary as a damn kitten." Well *that* was a damned lie.

He stuck his tongue out at me. "I've heard otherwise."

We went about bringing the pails of water down to the kitchen and I worried about him taking a bath in ice cold water. He assured me that it was fine and said that I could take mine first since he took longer and that while I was washing; he would start a fire. His courteousness left me completely mystified and I found myself washing as quickly as possible, then afterwards I went up to the third floor without him knowing and refilled the water; thinking that he deserved a bath of clean water, instead of water I had already used.

When I came back into the main room dressed in the worn pants he had lent me, he was laying out both of our clothes in front of the fire to dry. He had obviously just washed them. When he went to bathe, I sat by the fire; staring into the flames and marveling at everything that had happened during the night. After he had robbed me, I had fully intended to find him, get my stuff back and possibly arrest him. Instead I had wound up traipsing all over the colony with him and basically getting all of my preconceived assumptions and notions about the people of L2, blown up into a million pieces.

Wufei had once told me that L2 was a breeding ground for criminals and at the time I hadn't given that statement much thought, but now I did. Why did everyone automatically assume that people who were poor, were that way because they didn't have the desire to be anything else? Why did they think that a colony that was in such a state of poverty was the fault of its citizens? Why didn't they realize that even if L2 was a breeding ground for criminals, it was because they were just trying to survive? Starvation would drive any man, no matter how noble, to stealing. In a war, people admire those who kill the enemy, but in a time of 'peace', men who have to rob in order to get money for food were considered trash. Why? Wasn't poverty a war? I think it is. It's a war that the people of L2 had to fight every day.

But the question was, why did they have to live this way anyway? Why didn't anyone try to change things? Why hadn't anyone answered the requests to send more Preventers or to help clean up the colony? There were so many questions and so few answers. Didn't anyone *want* to help these people? After the last war, Relena Peacecraft had declared that finally there was peace. But was there? Wasn't peace a time when everyone should be happy and satisfied with their lives? Just because there was no war... it didn't mean that there was peace. I don't think there could ever be peace as long as people were starving and as long as people were being murdered or raped in the streets every day. The more I thought about it, the more the notion of 'absolute peace' seemed childish and idealistic. God, where had my head been all of these years? Why hadn't I realized the things that were going on in the colonies that I had long ago, sworn to protect? It made me so angry..

This was the reason why I was able to forgive Duo for his earlier actions. I mean, could I really fault him for doing what he had done? Could I really say that if I was in that same situation I would have done something different?

I looked over at the kitchen and my mind supplied images of a naked, wet Duo Maxwell. I rolled my eyes at the thoughts and forced myself to stare at the fire again. With his slender body and handsome face, he probably attracted all kinds of people.. I was just another guy in the queue. My attraction for the younger man was ridiculous and it made me realize just how unprofessional this whole situation was. I supposed it was better than being fired though.

He was a rare character. He'd obviously lived this way for most of his life but somehow he was still charismatic and intelligent. He was strong, but anyone would have to be to survive on the street and he was generous as hell. Too generous, in my opinion, for someone who lived the way he did. It was strange, but it showed that just because someone was poor, didn't mean that they were a bad person. And it showed that someone who had led a hard life could have a warmer heart than people who had always lived in the lap of luxury. I guess the old saying was true that whatever didn't kill you; made you stronger.

When Duo came back from his bath, his hair was shining brilliantly and he looked even more handsome if it was at all possible. He smiled at me warmly and sprawled out in front of the fire. We spoke for awhile and then he went to sleep on his make shift bed while I stayed awake; still staring into the fire. I told myself that I was keeping vigil because of the bad neighborhood; but in truth.. it was because I didn't trust myself to sleep next to him.

~--------~

I've never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being
broke is only a temporary situation

~ Mike Todd

The next morning proved to be just as rainy and gloomy as the previous night. The rain seemed to come down harder and artificial dawn that always came with the day cycle; hadn't materialized at all. The day was just as dark as the previous night had been and it left me wondering if this kind of thing happened often.

Duo stared out the window; a frown creasing his eyebrows. "Nah, this never happened before.. whoever is working the controls is a real moron. The last few times it rained, it was darker than usual but not *this* dark."

We stood in the church, staring out at the sheets of rain and I couldn't help but wonder where that family of beggars was staying. "Is there a shelter around here somewhere?"

He shrugged and made a face. "Not any that I'd go to, let me tell ya that. They ain't exactly the safest places around and you would most likely get robbed. There's an orphanage not too from here though, in fact I was planning to go there today." He looked at me narrowly. "An' I don't plan on changing that just cos' you decided to play tag a long."

"I had planned to stay low profile today."

"*I* had planned to visit the orphanage and I'm not changin' it for *you*."

"Duo.." I growled in frustration and raked a hand through my hair. "Use your brain, walking around with me isn't a smart idea and you know it. We stay here."

"You can't tell me what to do, I don't care what kind of badge you have. If yer so worried about it, you stay here and I'll go alone. No sweat."

I glowered at him. "So you can run off? I don't think so."

"I already told you that I wouldn't!"

"Well excuse me for not taking the word of someone who robbed me."

Duo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest huffily. "I can't believe this, man."

We stood in silence and I could practically feel the frustration rolling off of him. "*If* we were to go... and I do mean *if*, we are only staying for a very short time."

His eyes lit up and he grinned. "Great! As long as I get to see my little buddies, I don't care. I don't know what Cappy's gonna do and I want to see them while I'm still in one piece, you know?" I looked at him sharply and started to say something but he waved it off. "Forget about it man, you have to expect to deal with some shit sooner or later around here." He shrugged and gave me a crooked grin. "But forget about that for now, let's go."

I frowned at him darkly but nodded. I was more concerned about him than I should have been and I felt guilty.. even though I knew it wasn't really my fault.

---------

When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the
politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them, they show us
the state of our decay.

~ Brian Aldiss

The orphanage itself wasn't very impressive looking, just a three story brick building with dingy front steps and large windows; the kind with blue tinted panes and stickers all over them. For some reason when I had always imagined orphanages, I'd picture run down shack looking houses with patched roofs. I wasn't fully expecting the orphanage to resemble a small elementary school; or for the front entrance to lead to a reception area. It was all so business like and impersonal, that I half expected the children to be walking around in uniforms with name tags on their shirts.

Duo led me up to the receptionist and it was obvious from the way they spoke that he visited often. After we were given permission to enter fully, he looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "You look surprised."

I shrugged and felt very out of place. "I.. wasn't expecting it to look like an office building."

The smile he flashed was almost melancholy. "The orphanage used to be at the church but it had ta' be moved.. for the obvious reasons." He looked around and shrugged. "Don't worry man, the kids are really sweet and most of the faculty is pretty nice. I think most of 'em treat me good just cos' I give donations so often. I just donated the last twenty credits I had, even though it won't do much... but it's the thought that counts."

I glanced over at him. "How often *do* you donate? For some reason I doubt you make a fortune picking pockets and robbing people with your rubber gun," I said dryly.

He blew a raspberry at me and his eyes twinkled with mirth. "For your information, Mr. Big Shot Preventer, it's made of genuine steel!"

I raised an eyebrow at that, still following him as we walked down the long corridor. "Where did you get your hands on something like that?"

He grinned mischievously and stopped walking once we reached a large set of double doors. "That, my dear Heero.. is a secret. And as for how much I make, well that's confidential." He winked at me and made his way into the large, red carpeted room; leaving me to stare after him in amusement.

When had we stopped acting like strangers and started talking like we were old friends? I tried to remind myself why I was still on this God forsaken colony and why I was even with him in the first place, but one look at his charming smile made me push all of it to the back of my mind. I could pretend we were friends.. just for this one-day. What would it hurt? I could make myself forget about the disc and the robbery and just enjoy the company of this charismatic street urchin, acting as though I didn't have a care in the world.

I looked around the room and realized that it was a playroom of sorts. A medium sized TV was set up in the corner and a couple of older kids were sitting in front of it, obviously not bothered by the flickering picture. Several younger kids were crowded around an ancient looking board game, while others sat in the middle of the room playing with building blocks. "This place doesn't look so bad," I muttered and stood against the wall awkwardly. Children had always made me uncomfortable.

"That's because the troublemakers aren't around right now. They're all on the boulevard makin' money," Duo piped up as he appeared by my side once again.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Why are they allowed to wander around freely? And what do they need money for if they are taken care of here?"

Duo rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. "This is an orphanage, Heero.. not a prison. They can go out during the day but there is a curfew -- which some of them break anyway. 'Sides, the government doesn't give this place enough funds so they have to struggle to keep the electricity on and feed the kids at the same time. It's worst when the knuckleheads controlling the EC make it all winter-like though. The director can't afford to turn on the heat."

I frowned as once again, the Peacecraft-Khushrenada Administration was brought up. "Trouble makers?"

His eyes were focused on a pair of twin toddlers who were wrestling over a doll. A smile crept over his features and he answered distractedly. "Yep, a lot of the kids have been recruited in the local gangs and they like to pick on the others. The ones in rival gangs fight a lot too, so it can get pretty tense." His gaze moved across the room and he gestured at a sullen looking teenage boy who was lounging on a tattered black sofa. "That kid cracks me up." He grinned. "All the gangs always try to recruit him because he fights like a damned hellcat, but he always tells 'em to shove it."

I raised my eyebrows and appraised the kid. He was tall, lanky and didn't appear to be much; but something about the look in his eyes made it obvious that he had some kind of fire about him. "I bet it makes him a walking target though."

Duo grinned at me crookedly. "You got that right. He's one of the few kids who actually plan to get off this damned colony one day, even though he don't know how it's gonna happen." He shrugged to himself. "He got one big attitude though and he can't stand me. I had to smack him around a few times when he got too fresh."

A surprised chuckle escaped my mouth and I stared at my companion in surprised amusement. "You smacked a kid?"

He made a face. "He's fifteen, old enough to be smacked in my opinion. The kid's got a major hair up his ass and he never explained why he hates me, but whatever. Every time he sees me he says --"

"Well looky, the longhaired pansy decided to grace us lowlifes with his presence."

Duo glared at the little upstart. "He says that."

My eyebrows shot up and so did my curiosity. "I want to talk to him."

The longhaired thief slanted a look at me. "Well.. you go do that. Prepare to be annoyed."

I shrugged and started to walk towards the younger boy, almost smirking as he began to eye me warily. "What are you supposed to be, the Po Po or sumthin'?"

I stopped when I was standing in front of him and stared blankly. "The what?"

He looked at me as if I was the stupidest person in the world. "The police, you dimwit. What are you.. a moron or sumthin'?"

I rolled my eyes and looked over to where Duo had gone to play with the same twin toddlers. "I'm not a cop," I lied easily.

"Riiight, and I'm Relena Peacecraft's little brother," He snorted sarcastically.

I ignored the comment and sat next to him, eyes still trained on where Duo was tickling one of the kids. He laughed merrily at something one of them said and I couldn't help but notice the way his entire face lit up when he smiled. It was such a big difference from the thuggish visage he had put on the previous night.

"Do you want sumthin' or are ya just gonna swoon over that pansy all day?"

I glared at the boy, watching in satisfaction as he squirmed under the heat of it. "What's your problem with Duo?"

"It ain't none of your business," He snapped.

"It's not any of my business," I corrected with a smirk.

"What are you? An English teacher?"

"I thought I was a cop."

"Jeezus man, tell me what you want or get lost."

"I told you, I want to know what your problem is with Duo."

He made a face and rolled his eyes. "Why do you care?"

I opened my mouth to respond but I found that I couldn't. Why *did* I care? I probably wouldn't ever see the guy again after tonight and I was acting like we were good friends. My brow wrinkled and I struggled to pull together a coherent answer. "I just met him and I'm curious as to why you dislike him when everyone else seems to think the world of him."

He frowned at me. "Because..."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him expectantly.

"He's too damned happy!" The kid blurted out. After a moment he appeared embarrassed and looked away, glaring at some far corner of the wall.

"And this is a character flaw?" I asked dubiously, disappointed despite myself. For the past fifteen or so hours Duo had come off as some kind of paragon of penurious hope, the stereotypical diamond in the rough. I had been hoping that if he wasn't all he was cracked up to be.. I could easily move on and get rid of the idiotic attraction. But no. He was 'too happy'.

"Well what the hell is there to be happy about? He lives in a abandoned building, he's dirt-poor and he gets fucking picked on all the time by Cappy an' them! What kind of moron is happy with any of that? Doesn't he wanna be sumthin' better?" The kid sounded outraged by the idea of anyone being satisfied with that kind of situation and I had to agree. "Everyone here treats him like he's some kinda God just because he donates every once in a blue moon but he's like.. this big damn moron who likes being poor!"

The corner of my mouth twitched and I tried not to smile. "I don't think anyone likes being poor.." I said slowly.

"Well then what's his problem?"

I looked over at Duo and saw that now he was engaged in conversation with the two older kids; a serious expression on his handsome face. "I don't know, like I said... I just met him. But did it ever occur to you that he is a different person when he isn't here?"

The kid wrinkled his nose at me. "What does that mean?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to pick my words carefully. "Maybe when he's here he pretends to be happy because... he wants to act like everything is okay for you kids."

He made a noise in the back of his throat and shrugged. "Whatever you say, man."

We sat in silence and I went back to watching Duo. After awhile I was aware of the fact that the kid was staring at me and I looked at him with a frown. "What?"

He continued to stare, appraising me silently. "Are you *sure* you ain't a cop?"

I glared at him and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. "Pretty damned sure."

He graced me with a sly smile. "We~ell it's just that you look an *awful* lot like Heero Yuy, is all." He shrugged casually and crossed his arms over his own chest, mimicking my position.

I nearly choked when he said that and my eyes widened. "Shit."

A triumphant grin spread across his face. "I knew it! I saw yer picture in the paper a while ago when you saved Relena Peacecraft's life or some jazz like that. Dude -- you got some balls to be walkin' 'round here like this, especially with Duo. I'm Jacky by the way, nice to meetcha! I always thought you was *so* cool."

My eyes narrowed at that. "Why 'especially Duo'?"

"Well... a couple of years ago some Preventers were makin' like.. their *yearly* rounds and they arrested a whole bunch of people at one time, even innocent ones." He shifted and looked uncomfortable to be talking about it with me. "Anyways so they arrested a whole bunch of kids from the street gangs and some that was just mindin' their business and they got Duo's brother Solo."

I frowned darkly. "Go on."

Jacky rubbed a hand against the back of his neck and looked in Duo's direction. "His brother was a nice guy, they both used to work at the church. He was like a big brother to me an' a lot of kids, yanno? Anyways, they arrested him and charged him with some bum rap an' then he got killed in jail cos' they put 'em in there with a bunch of animals."

I was unable to talk for a moment and my hands clenched into fists. I'm pretty sure my face was frozen in some horrified look but I did my best not to voice my outrage; it wouldn't do to scare the poor kid. "So that's why Duo hates Preventers."

His head bobbed up and down. "Yup. There's even rumors that he went on some kinda.. mission to kill a bunch of 'em but I don't know if that's true."

My heart clenched in my chest and dread settled over me. "I oughta pop you right now, you filthy pig." The words rang in my head and I recalled the murderous look on his face. Every instinct in my body was telling me to cuff him right now, arrest him for being a cop killer but I knew I couldn't. I didn't have proof and I needed the disc. A million thoughts were going through my head, one of them being that this whole nice act was just so that he could get me off guard.

For some reason that's what bothered me most of all.

---------

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.

~ George Seaton

"So what did you and Ja-- hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Duo stumbled backwards as I snapped the cuffs in place and stared at me in confusion. "I thought we were *over* this, man!"

I narrowed my eyes and turned around, half dragging him behind me as I walked away from the orphanage. His protests seemed to echo as we moved down the dark streets and I ignored him until we were finally back at the church. By then we were soaked from the rain and he looked incredibly pissed off, as well as betrayed.

"I can't believe this Heero, I thought you were just starting to loosen up," He complained as we entered the building.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" I asked bluntly. I watched as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, staring at me in shock.

"What kinda question is that?"

"A straightforward one," I said flatly. My eyes narrowed dangerously and gripped his thin shoulder tightly. "Answer the question."

Different emotions flickered across his face and for a moment I thought he was going to get angry, but instead he settled for cool defiance. The narrow chin jerked up and an eyebrow cocked. "What if I don't wanna answer the question?"

I frowned and studied his expression. The look wasn't foreign to me and in fact I had seen it many times on criminal suspects when I questioned them. "Duo," I started quietly, trying to get my thoughts together. "Just forget I'm a cop for a minute and answer the question honestly."

"Forget you're a cop? What are you? Fuckin' stupid?! You slap a pair of handcuffs on me and start demanding questions and I'm supposed to pretend everything is cool?!"

I grit my teeth and raked a hand through my hair. All I was used to acting like was a cop. My life was my job and I rarely had any other interaction with people outside of it. I took a deep breath and tried a different approach. "I believed you when you told me that you are sorry for what happened. I believed everything you have been telling me for the last twenty-four hours, but you have to understand that my safety comes first. If there is a chance that you are jerking me around, I'm not going to let it go."

He scowled at me. "Your safety? What the hell do you think I'm gonna do to you? Bash you over the head with my fake gun? Strangle you with my hair?"

I glared at him. "Don't give me that innocent act, I know damn well that you can defend yourself and that you can be a tough motherfucker when it comes down to it."

He grinned suddenly and had the nerve to preen. "Well, it's good that you noticed."

"Duo! I'm trying to be serious with you. I need answers and you have to give them to me, honestly. The last thing I want to do is arrest you, believe me."

The smile faded and he leaned against the wall. "Heero, I actually like you man. After the initial stuck up asshole attitude, you proved to be a pretty nice guy. I wouldn't hurt you, let alone kill you."

"Then who would you kill?"

He glared at me, indigo eyes blazing. "Christ, Heero where the hell is this coming from?!"

"Your hatred for Preventers and the fact that people say you kill cops."

His eyes widened and he paled visibly. "I.." His sentence trailed off and he looked away from me quickly. "I have my reasons for hatin' Preventers, I told ya that last night."

"I know. You blame them for your brother dying," I ignored the startled look he gave me and went on. "Even if they were indirectly involv--"

"Indirectly my ass," He sneered. "I *know* what happened, the other kids who were arrested with him told me. There was a fight among the inmates, the fuckin' pigs busted in the holding cell and started beatin' the hell out of anyone within range of the fight; even if they wasn't involved. They beat my brother to fuckin' death and he hadn't done a goddamn thing!"

I could tell by the anger in his voice, the sheen of unshed tears in his eyes.. that he was telling the truth. It left me speechless and for the umpteenth time I couldn't think of anything appropriate to say. "I'm sorry." The words seemed trivial in response to what he had just blurted out but I didn't know quite what to say. I looked at him from the corner of my eye and he seemed to be collecting himself so I proceeded with my questioning. "Have you ever killed a Preventer, Duo?"

His head jerked in my direction and he had a wild look in his eyes. "So what if I did? There's no other way I coulda gotten revenge for his death."

My heart plummeted to my feet and I stared at him in horror. "So it's true.."

"I killed the Preventers who killed my brother, I didn't go on some half cocked, fuckin' vigilante spree.. just killin' anyone with a badge! I found out who did it and I took em' out! What the fuck should I have done? Written worthless letters to Une again? Cried myself to sleep and wished he could come back?! I got them back for what they did to him, damn it! Now if you want to arrest me for that, go right afuckinhead. I ain't sorry for it."

I stared at him silently, wishing that I could read his thoughts. Wishing that I knew what the hell was going through his mind at that moment. I took in the way he was holding back his tears and the way his thin hands were clenched into white knuckled fists. "Would you kill me?"

He looked at me in shock. "No! I hated all cops for a long time.. but I know now, I know you all ain't bad. Just like now you know everyone on L2 ain't bad." He moved closer to me and I ignored my first instinct, which had been to back away. One of his hands reached for my shoulder and he clutched it. "I told you, I.. I thought we were beginning to be.. friends, you know? Even though I kicked your ass last night, but.." His sentence trailed off and he hung his head, with a sigh. "Just forget it. If you want to arrest me and drag me back to the station, just do it."

The disturbing thing was, that I believed him. I believed him and no matter what the cop in me was saying, I couldn't have arrested him if I wanted to. How the hell could I punish him for killing murderers? Especially when I did the same thing every time I went on a mission. The only difference was, that I had a badge. I moved slowly, trying not to startle him and pulled him into an awkward hug. "I'm not going to arrest you."

He sniffed and returned the hug, seeming to be glad for the contact. "Really?"

I patted his shoulder and couldn't help but feel like a clumsy idiot. I had never really hugged anyone before. "Yes, really. So you can stop crying now."

He pulled away from me and glared. "Fuck you! I ain't crying!"

I smirked. "Yeah, sure."

He stuck out his tongue and wiped his sleeve across his face. "I get kinda emotional talkin' about my brother.."

I shrugged and started to un-cuff our hands, rotating my wrist when it was free.

"I understand." I walked over to the fireplace, attempting to start the beginnings of a fire. After a moment he came over and helped me, starting it in only a few minutes. Afterwards we sat there quietly, letting the warm flames dry us.

"So what now?" He asked quietly.

I shrugged and pulled off my jacket, rolling my shoulders to work the kinks out of the muscles. "I don't know. What time are you supposed to be meeting your friend?"

He squinted at the cheap digital watch on his wrist. "In about five hours, over at Tildon Square, one of the nicer areas in Golgotha."

I nodded and studied the fire. Once again a comfortable silence settled over us and I found myself playing the conversation back in my mind. "So you like me, huh?"

Duo shot me an odd look and brushed the long bangs out of his face. "That's what I said, ain't it?"

I shrugged and leaned back, supporting myself with the palms of my hands. "The feeling is mutual."

He raised an eyebrow and peered at me curiously. "In a gay way or a 'I wanna be your buddy' way?"

I laughed out loud at that and it took a moment for me to collect myself. "Well, both I guess."

He looked at me oddly. "Oh.."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh please, don't pretend to be straight now."

He snickered and began to fiddle with the end of his braid. "I'm not.. I just think it's kinda weird. I'm all skinny and poor an' shit. You probably have a boyfriend at home anyways."

I shook my head. "You'd be surprised. Normally, I don't interact with anyone outside of the job. Antisocial I guess.."

Duo considered that for a moment. "So then what do you do after work? Just go home alone and clean guns or somethin'?"

"Actually, yes. Sometimes I watch TV or surf the internet too." I shrugged and realized how pathetic that sounded. "It's hard for me to find people who I can talk to.. people I feel comfortable around. I have a few friends but we aren't really close. I only really talk to them about politics or work."

He shook his head. "Well that sucks. If I was around you that much, shit, I'd be pestering you all the time! I'd definitely try to bring you outta your shell."

I offered him a small smile. "Well, in a way you have. Just think, I've had more casual conversation with you than I've had with anyone else in the past seven years. And all you had to do was mug me."

He laughed and shook his head, eyes crinkling at the sides. "You're crazy."

I studied the side of his face and couldn't seem to tear my eyes away. Why did he have to be so damned attractive? My hand reached out almost of its own accord and lightly slid down his cheek. He looked at me, startled.. but didn't try to pull away. "Since you like me so much, how about you give me a kiss?" The words were out of my mouth before I could reign them back in and I had the sudden urge to sink into the floor in embarrassment. I yanked my hand away from him and cleared my throat.

The silence was uncomfortable and I could feel his eyes on me, even as I studied the fire intently. After awhile he cleared his throat. "Why the hell not?" Then long fingers were curling around my collar and he jerked me against him, pressing his soft lips against mine. I was too shocked to respond at first and he pulled back, glaring at me. "Sorry.." I muttered sheepishly and leaned forward, kissing him again. The kiss was innocent at first, our lips rubbing together gently as we got the feel of each other. After a moment he leaned closer and I slipped my tongue in his mouth, savoring the surprised gasp and the soft moan that followed.

I slowly pushed him backwards, hovering over his slender body when his back was against the wooden floor. I settled against him, tangling one hand in his hair as we continued to kiss languidly, tongues massaging each other in a way that was incredibly sensual. As he explored my mouth with surprisingly innocent zeal, I felt my body begin to grow warm; the telltale signs of arousal tingling in my groin. My kisses became more heated and before I could stop myself, I was grinding my hips lightly against his.

"Heero --"

The rest of his sentence was lost as I drew his tongue back into my mouth; reaching down to run my hands down his thighs. He gasped and arched up against me, eyes falling closed as my fingers inched towards his growing erection.

"Heero.. I don't think.."

"Sshh," I murmured, letting my lips trail down his neck.

"This isn't a good idea," He managed to choke out and started pulling away, staring at me intently from under his damp bangs.

I stilled atop him and released a soft sigh, shifting away from him so that I was laying on my back. "Why not?"

Duo took several deep breaths before sitting up and pulling his clothes back into place. "Cos' A, your leavin' later on, B, I don't sleep around and C, I don't know much about you." He turned red and cleared his throat. "It's not that I don't wanna.. because I do. It's just that I don't want to get too attached to someone I may never see again."

I closed my eyes and willed my body to get control of itself. "I understand. I don't.. usually do things like this." I opened my eyes and looked over at him. "I haven't had many relationships.."

He smiled crookedly. "I guess that means I'm special, huh?"

I returned the smile even as I rolled my eyes. "Maybe."

He stretched out beside me on the floor and began toying with the unruly spikes that masqueraded as my hair. "You know, I don't want to get *too* physical with you.. but... I wouldn't mind some more kissing." His cheeks flushed an attractive rose color and I smirked at him. As I pulled him closer to me, I couldn't help but think it was going to be harder leaving him behind than I had originally thought. A part of me wished that he *was* a murderer, at least then I wouldn't have the insane idea that I was starting to fall for him.

~----------~

Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some people move our souls to dance.
They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom.
Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.
They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts,
and we are never, ever the same.

~Author Unknown

Tildon Square was a lot nicer than I had expected it to be. The architecture of the surrounding buildings gave it a neo-gothic appearance, but the large black gates around the 'square' only served to make it look foreboding and dark. As Duo and I walked towards the center of the fenced in area, I caught sight of a brass plaque that read: 'In memoriam to the ones who lived and died in Maxwell Church.' I shot Duo a questioning glance and he gave me a look that I read as 'I don't want to talk about it'.

The rain was still coming down hard and I pulled up the hood to the black sweater Duo had lent me. For a poor guy, he certainly had a variety of heavy sweaters and shirts. He had explained that shop lifting from local thrift shops was almost painfully easy and left it at that.

We had spent a couple of hours just talking in low tones by the fire, exchanging little tidbits of information about each other while kissing every now and then. It hadn't been uncomfortable or overly emotional and I had found myself wondering what my life would be like if I had someone like Duo around all the time. I was more open with him, more talkative and more wittier. Around my co-workers and 'friends' I felt awkward; like an outcast even though I had known most of those people for years. I couldn't connect with them even though they were all in the same social circle as I was supposed to be in. I felt out of place at their parties and the way they spoke easily to each other often left me feeling inept. I had always thought that obviously something was wrong with me. I was the one who didn't fit in and I was the odd ball. I could never seem to string enough interesting words together to hold anyone's attention with them, but with Duo.. it was different.

Every time that line of thought crossed my mind I forced it away and reminded myself that I would be leaving L2, and Duo very soon. I had to get in contact with Une or Wufei before the night was over or I would be in very big trouble. I was supposed to have delivered the disc this morning and I had only had it
for about two hours before I lost it; which hadn't allowed me to check out the data for myself before passing it on to Une's hands. All that I had been told was that it was very confidential and that if it were to get out, it could be damaging to Peacecraft's political career. Although I was a high-ranking agent, I was not 'allowed' to actually see any of this data for myself.

I shook my head, clearing away the thoughts and focused on the dark figure that was sitting slumped against one of the benches a few feet away. I could make out grungy green cargo pants, black combat boots and a dark jacket of some kind, but the figure's face seemed to be shaded by overly long bangs. After a moment he looked up and met my gaze evenly; as if he knew I had been watching him all along. Startlingly brilliant emerald eyes studied me and I couldn't help but reach back to touch the reassuring weight of my gun. Something about the way this guy was looking at me didn't sit well and I couldn't help but get the feeling that he was anything but pleased about my presence.

Duo stopped walking and muttered something before turning to me. "Listen, Trowa gets really antsy around strangers... so just chill out for a minute until I talk to him."

I looked over at Trowa again and saw that he was still staring me with a frown. "Fine. Don't take long. I'm going to go use the phone." I watched Duo saunter up to his friend and then turned to the row of vidphones that stood against the wall. Most of them appeared to be busted, but I found one at the far end that actually worked and quickly punched in the number to my credit account. The phone company logo rotated a few times before I dialed my number, accepted the hideously expensive long distance charge and waited for it to go through to Wufei's private line. It rang several times before he picked up and after a moment his flickering image appeared on the small cracked screen.

"Chang, here." He barked, sounding pissed off and looking even worse.

"I'll be in by tomorrow." I said flatly, not bothering to beat around the bush.

His dark eyes narrowed into slits and he glared up at me from the screen. "Where the hell have you been, Yuy?! Une has been on my ass demanding where you and the damned data --"

"It's a long story and I'm not going into it now." I could practically hear him grinding his teeth through the speakers.

"You should have checked in *hours* ago but you didn't even call. It was made clear to you how delicate this situation is and how important that disc is. While you were running around on L2 with whores, I was taking the flack for your irresponsibility," he hissed from between clenched teeth.

"Irresponsibility?!" I exploded. "I've been running around this shit hole for twenty four damn hours trying to get that disc back and you want to call me irresponsible?! I've had it with these little errands anyway! The next time Une wants someone to play gofer she can ask you, since you're so goddamned dedicated," I sneered angrily.

Wufei's stared at me for a moment, surprised at my outburst. I didn't normally lose my temper, and when I did I just stayed silent and glared. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it and then he frowned. "What the hell do you mean 'trying to get it back'?"

Shit. "We'll talk about this later," I said shortly. "Send a car for me in Tildon Square and arrange for the next flight back to L1. There should be plenty of vacancies, people on this colony don't seem to vacation a lot." I wondered if he picked up on the sarcasm I had allowed to ooze into the last sentence.

Wufei stared at me incredulously for a moment before he sighed and shook his head. "I'll have it done soon, the car should be there in no more than an hour. And you better have a damned good explanation when you get back."

I nodded. "Yuy, out."

~----------~

"I don't deal with cops," Trowa said flatly. He stood up and towered several inches over Duo; he was actually a little taller than me.

I shot Duo an annoyed glance and he shrugged at me helplessly. "He knew right off the bat! There was no point in lying about it."

The green eyed man glared at Duo. "I can't believe you wasted my time on this. I'm outta here." He turned to leave but my arm shot out and I grabbed him.

"Wait a goddamn minute!"

He spun around and dropped into a fighting stance. "Keep your hands to yourself, Preventer."

"Wait a second guys--" Two angry glances in his direction made Duo shut up instantly.

"I don't care what grudge you have against Preventers but I'm tired of the bull. That's government information and I will arrest your ass on the spot if you don't hand it over." The words came out flat and cold. I could feel Duo's gaze burning into the side of my face but I didn't allow myself to turn in his direction. I had put up with enough games and I wasn't about to let this punk jerk me around.

Trowa continued to glare at me. "Have you seen what's on the disc?"

My eyes narrowed. "Have you?"

His face remained expressionless except for the hostile look in his eyes. "The files are so heavily encrypted that I didn't have time to get far," he admitted and began to stand up straight, easing out of the slight crouch.

"I had the disc all of two hours before Duo stole it," I snapped. Why the hell was I explaining myself to him anyway?

He glared at me and I stared back coolly. After a moment he shrugged to himself and made a soft sound in the back of his throat. "Fine." One slender hand disappeared into the thick black coat and he whipped out the disc. I reached out to snatch it but he yanked it out of reach at the last minute. "One more thing." I glared at him impatiently but his fingers clenched around the disc. "If I were you, I would wonder long and hard as to why someone went through so much trouble to hide the contents of that disc." He shoved it at me and my hand closed around it automatically. Trowa glanced at Duo and frowned again. "Bring a cop to me again and I won't deal with you anymore."

Duo rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Whatever, man."

With one last glare in my direction, Trowa walked away; moving with the speed and grace of a panther.

"God, that dude has a serious fucking attitude problem," Duo grumbled.

I grunted and stared after Trowa; telling myself that I would figure out his cryptic comments when I was home, decently showered and in front of my own laptop. I tapped the disk against my palm a couple of times before shoving it in my pocket and looking at Duo. He was staring at me with an expression that was curious and irritated at the same time. I got the feeling that he didn't like being uninformed. "A car is picking me up in a little while."

He frowned slightly and turned around, walking out of the gates and towards the street. He stopped in front of an ancient looking jeep and hopped up on the hood. His long legs dangled down, allowing his booted feet to scrape against the damp ground. "So, you're leaving huh?" He leaned back against the windshield and sighed, obviously not bothered by the rain. "Kinda sucks, you was startin' to grow on me."

"You act like we'll never see each other again."

He rolled his eyes and pulled the hood of his sweater up. "You're kidding, right? No one comes back to L2 unless they have to."

I sat next to him and stared at one of the puddles that had formed on the rusted metal. My fingers skimmed the water and I shrugged. "Maybe I'm not like those people."

Duo face turned upwards and he opened his mouth to let the cold water fall in. After a moment he turned towards me again and there was a small smile playing around his lips although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Don't kid a kidder, Yuy. I stopped believin' in fairy tales a long time ago.. Actually I don't think I ever believed in 'em."

A ghost of a smile touched my own lips. "Neither did I."

We didn't speak for several moments and the only sounds were the rain splashing against the concrete and the swish of his pants as he swung his legs back and forth lazily. I cleared my throat after awhile and looked at him. "I can't stay. I have things to do, a job, people that need that disk..."

He shrugged. "It's not like I was askin' ya to stay.."

That stung. It shouldn't have, but it did. "Will you be okay? With Cappy and everything?"

He sighed and sat up. "I dunno. I doubt he'd do anything too stupid. There are a lot of people who would be very unhappy if he did and the last thing he needs is a real gang messing with that little rag tag band of his. 'Sides, I can take care of myself."

"I wasn't trying to imply that you can't."

There was another silence but this one was far from comfortable. After awhile he let out a long-suffering sigh and turned to face me. "Look Heero, we just met and you seem like a nice guy even though you're a Preventer.. but I don't mess with strangers; simple as that. I'm not that kinda guy. Don't get me wrong, I am startin' to like you and all and I did really like kissin' you.. but I don't wanna get attached to someone I ain't ever gonna see again. So don't be expectin' me to start bawlin' and beggin' you to stay."

I cocked an eyebrow at him and shoved my hands into the pockets of my worn leather jacket. "I didn't expect you to, Duo. I don't know what I expected. The last thing I thought would happen when I took this damned assignment was that I --" I stopped and stared at the ground, trying to gather my thoughts.

"That you what?"

I raked a hand through my tangled hair and sighed raggedly. "I don't even know... I'm not good at expressing myself."

He grinned at me and winked. "S'ok, I think I know what you're getting at."

I raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Do you?"

The longhaired youth nodded. "Yep. You was thinkin' that you never expected to meet a guy who was *so* charming, that he can rob ya and still make you want to get in his pants."

A laugh escaped my throat and I couldn't help but smile. "Something along those lines, yes."

Duo grinned and leaned forward until we were nose to nose. "Too bad we probably ain't gonna see each other again. You'll probably forget all about me."

"That's not very likely," I retorted with a snort.

Before he could respond, a sleek black car appeared from around the corner, the Preventer insignia was clearly visible on one of the doors. "That was fast," Duo muttered. "Guess they couldn't stand the thought of one of their own consortin' with the street trash."

The car slowed to a stop beside us and the driver's window slowly rolled down. A young looking guy stuck his head out of the window and eyed the two of us. "Mr. Yuy?" His eyes narrowed as he took in my scruffy appearance. "What happened to you?"

I grunted and stood up, straightening my jacket over Duo's sweater. I had met the driver a few times the day before and I had learned that he was a new agent with the bad luck to have been stationed on L2. He was nice enough if not a little arrogant but I couldn't remember his name for the life of me. "Nothing. When's my flight?"

The agent stared at me oddly and shot a suspicious glance at Duo. "Maybe we should talk about this in the car, sir."

Duo snorted loudly. "Yeah, cuz if I found out what shuttle he's on I might go sabotage it an' all." He rolled his eyes. The driver's eyes widened and he looked at me again, alarm clearly visible in his expression. Duo snickered. "Geez, you guys have no sense of humor. It was a *joke*, hot shot! Don't get your dungarees in a cinch."

I cleared my throat. "I'll be with you in a moment." It was an obvious dismissal and the rookie took his cue hurriedly, shoving his head back in the car after shooting Duo an uneasy glare. I couldn't help but pity the poor guy; he'd probably heard horror stories about the people of L2 and it must have been a surprise to see me with one. "It was nice meeting you, Maxwell." The words came out stiff and impersonal; the jibes and retorts no longer coming easily as I quickly fell into Preventer mode at the sight of another agent.

He smirked, usually expressive eyes showing nothing as he crossed his arms over his chest. "That's pretty cold, Yuy."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The longhaired teenager leaned back against the truck and shrugged. "You had your fun playing kissy face with the street kid and now it's back to 'Maxwell'. Tsk, and I was beginnin' ta think you was a cool guy. Shoulda known better."

I faltered and dropped the stoic facade for a moment. "I didn't -- That's not what --"

"Geez, you guys really don't have a sense of humor! It was a joke, Yuy. Lord.. and I thought you was just loosening up." He shook his head and threw me a lopsided grin. "Don't worry about it, Heero. No hard feelings."

My brows drew together and I stared at him in confusion. If he had been joking why would there be hard feelings? Something told me that he wasn't as okay with everything as he was pretending to be. The thought made something in my chest ache but there was nothing I could do to change the situation. I shifted uncomfortably, aware of the fact that we still had an audience in the black town car behind me. "I have to go."

"Yeah, yeah." The violet eyes rolled again and Duo stood up straight, leaning towards me with a mischievous smirk.

I leaned away from him nervously, eyes flitting to the side as I fought the urge to look over my shoulder at the rookie. "Uh, your sweater -- "

"Keep it, think of it as a souvenir from your adventure on L2." He continued to advance towards me and I resisted the urge to stumble backwards to escape him; part of me noting that I didn't really want to anyway. Before I could evade him, thin hands were pulling me forward by the collar and soft lips were pressing against mine. I stiffened, my mind whirling at the idea that a fellow agent was witnessing this spectacle. Duo grinned against my mouth and sucked my lower lip into his own; nibbling on it before he pulled away. He winked again. "Another souvenir to remember me by."

I knew I was gaping and his delighted laugh made my face burn. "Good-bye, Duo," I said, my tone clearly stating that I was really leaving this time. He hopped up onto the hood of the truck once again and smiled. I shook my head and turned, getting in the car and shutting the door resolutely behind me. The rookie was gaping at me through the rearview mirror and I scowled. "Just drive the damned car," I growled.

He nodded jerkily. "Yes, sir!"

"Is there a phone in here?" I asked testily. He fumbled around for a moment and handed me a tiny cellular phone; it was about the size of my index finger and only a little thicker. I glared at it until I heard his almost amused voice tell me that I had to orally tell the phone what numbers I wanted it to dial. I grunted a 'thank you' and muttered Quatre Winner's private number into the tiny speaker, which automatically processed the call. I glared at the back of his head; somehow annoyed by his little toy before looking over my shoulder; out the window.

Duo was still sitting on the truck, legs swinging as he waved jauntily. I couldn't help but smile at his antics, amused despite myself. A closer look might have clued me in to the wistful expression on his face; but I turned away just as Quatre picked up. "Quatre? Yuy, here. We need to talk about the situation on L2..." The rookie started the car and I looked behind me again, but the longhaired street urchin was already gone.

End x_x