Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ You Mercenary, You! ❯ Phase 1 of Jane Blue's Descent to Hell ( Chapter 1 )

Date: May 29, 2011

Disclaimer: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is property of Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. Undercover Blues is property of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. No profit was made from this story, it just had to be written because it won't leave my brain in peace. I blame Muerte! Damn you, Muerte! Damn you!

Author notes: Gundam Wing: AU. The year is right around now-ish and Preventers is a privately-owned government-endorsed group operating with the cooperation of the globe's top intelligence agencies. Undercover Blues: Jane Blue is Jane-Louise, the daughter of Jeff and Jane. If you have never seen Undercover Blues, go Netflix it or rent it or something. I don't care that it's old, it's one of the best action comedies ever made. Both: Despite what it might seem like, I have no intention of making these two a couple, so for anyone who is concerned, you don't have to worry about that. I just like the idea of them working together and the whole story is being written for one stupid scene that I can't get out of my head. I've been mentally working on this story since before I started On a Pale Horse. That's how much of a grip this little bastard has had on my brain. I don't love the title, so it may change in the future.

You Mercenary, You!
- Phase 1 of Jane Blue's Descent to Hell -

Pressing the End Call button, Jane Blue snapped her cellphone shut and resisted the urge to sigh dramatically. It wouldn't do to have onlookers thinking she was a crazy and she was much too exhausted to waste the energy it would require. She took another glance at her phone's display before slipping it into her pocket and then resumed her trek through the crowd. It was two A.M. and this part of the airport was still swarming with people. She shook her head, sidestepping a speeding traveler who had his arms full of brightly wrapped packages and wasn't watching where he was going. That's right! It's Christmas Eve. Of course the airport would be backed up with anxious passengers.

She pulled the front gap of her blazer closed before stepping out into the brisk air of Chantilly, Virginia. It wasn't cold enough for snow this far south, so early in the season, but there was a distinct bite to the wind and she had just spent the last month basking in the steamy tropics. If, by basking, you could mean skulking about at night, finding concealed lookouts to stuff herself into during the daytime, generally nosing around and running her ass off when the situation called for it. Too bad she couldn't add, guns blazing all the way, to that sentence. It would have made her job all that more enjoyable, but, alas, there was no gunfire to speak of.

"Ms. Blue?" came a voice from out of seemingly nowhere.

Preventing herself from visually starting, Jane turned to the source, finding the speaker standing off to her left on the edge of the sidewalk. It was a young man, fresh out of high-school, if she were to guess, dressed in a standard Preventers uniform of black slacks and a black jacket with brown patches on the shoulders. She let her gaze brush over his bright features again. Enormous eyes of some shade she couldn't make out in the dark dominated his hairless face. On second thought, maybe he wasn't out of high school yet. He looked to be about fifteen. Damn, Preventers was training them young, not that she really had much room to talk, but still. She squinted past the twilight to get a look at his badge, but it was impossible to make out at that distance under the yellow lights of the parking lot.

She must have been taking too long to respond because he took a couple of steps forward, holding out a hand. "You are Jane Blue, correct? I'm Duo Maxwell. Director Une sent me down to pick you up."

Jane reached out to grasp his offered hand. He gave an appropriately firm shake without being too enthusiastic or squeezing her hand in an intimidating way that so many men preferred. She smiled. "Call me Jane, Agent Maxwell." Maybe she should have used "Mister" instead of "Agent." He certainly didn't look like an agent but if he was, Jane wasn't about to insult him.

The smile he returned was brilliant. "Since you are so gracious, Jane, how could I not return the gesture? Just Duo is fine." She gave him a nod. "The car is this way. Need help with your bag? It's a bit of a hike. With it being a holiday and all, the lot's full up."

Her eyes were drawn down to the single duffel she had slung over one shoulder. She gave it a pat. "Thanks, but I prefer to handle it myself." He gave her a grin that practically screamed, "I know the feeling," and turned to lead her off into the massive lot of Dulles International Airport. She rolled her lips together. Now, why would a boy so young give her such a grown up look?

From behind, the enigma of Duo Maxwell, possibly Agent Duo Maxwell, just continued to grow. The kid had a massive length of hair hanging down his back in a thick braid. Now, she'd admit, she didn't know a whole lot about Preventers, but it was a paramilitary organization which would usually suggest adhering to at least minor military regulations. Hair length possibly being one of them. And age restrictions. Shit, why was she thinking so hard about this? He was probably an intern or something.

She could just imagine that recruitment commercial... With bawdy rock music in the background, an overly excited announcer yells at the screen, "Too much time on your hands? Why not join the peacekeeping army of the new millennium? PREVENTERS!" She shook her head and increased her pace since Duo had gotten a bit further ahead as she let her mind wander.

After about five more minutes of heels clicking on blacktop and airplanes screeching overhead, Duo veered off to the right and the trunk of a silver Crown Victoria popped open. The plain blue and white Virginia plates bore the Preventers insignia off to the left. Jane dropped her bag in the otherwise empty trunk, slammed the lid and hopped in the passenger side.

Clicking her seat belt, she observed Duo doing likewise. It was such a rarity that people used the things in this day and age that it was slightly surprising. Not even the seat belt laws enacted in some of the states really increased the use of the safety devices.

"You hungry?" asked Duo, starting up the engine and putting the car in reverse. "I know you just got off of a long flight so, I could stop somewhere if you want to pick up a bite to eat."

She had eaten on the plane, so she wasn't especially in need of food, but the sentiment was nice anyway. "Thanks but I'm fine. I'd just like to get this meeting with the Director over with."

He frowned. "Tired?" Chatty little thing, wasn't he? Normally, the people she interacted with on these jobs were the embodiment of the silent type. Duo's attitude was kind of refreshing.

"A bit," she admitted waving a hand negligently, "But I'll live."

The car turned onto the Dulles Toll Road and rolled up to a toll booth. Fare deposited in basket and gate lifted, Duo eased the car through the checkpoint and into traffic. He reached over and flicked off the radio. "Y'know, we've got about an hour's drive. You can take a nap. Despite the ungodly traffic in this town, I'm not an angry driver. I'll be as quiet as a church mouse, cross my heart." He accented the statement by tracing and invisible X over his left breast and then holding up two fingers in a Boy Scout salute.

A nap would have been welcome but she never was able to fall asleep without knowing she was in a secure location. Call her paranoid, but the passenger seat of a Preventers vehicle with someone she'd met only minutes previously was not what she considered a secure location. She could rest, she supposed, even if she knew it wouldn't involve sleep. Nodding, she thanked Duo, propped one elbow on the bottom of the window and leaned her head on her palm. Her left hand snaked inside the blazer, fingers curling around the cool hilt of her favorite knife. Now that she was feeling a little bit more secure, she allowed her lids to close and she let out the last of her tension in a slow exhale.

A moment later she heard Duo's voice. "Jane?" The tone was apologetic.

Jane's nose crumpled up. So, much for that "quiet as a church mouse" promise. "Huh?" she managed, trying to sit up. Hey, if he wasn't going to shut up, there was no use in even pretending to sleep.

"We've got about five minutes," he replied. "Thought you'd want to be alert before heading in."

"What?" Her eyes finally opened enough to catch sight of tall buildings outside the window. She pushed herself up even straighter, stiff muscles of her neck and back protesting. Holy shit. She rubbed her face hard with both hands. "I fell asleep?" she muttered incredulously, not really expecting an answer.

Her escort chucked. "Almost right away, you were out like a light." He glanced at her for a second, smiling warmly and then turned back to the road. "It's alright. You must have needed it."

"I guess." She wasn't convinced. What the hell were you thinking, Blue? Falling asleep in enemy territory like that? Shit, if dad ever... Okay, dad would probably find it hilarious, but if mom found out... She shivered.

Jane spent the last few minutes in the car organizing her thoughts, which was what she had intended to do when she was supposed to be resting. Whatever she'd been called in on was desperate. Director Une surely didn't make a habit of holding meetings in the middle of the night. Whoever had given Une Jane's personal cell number, mind you, only a couple of possibilities sprang to mind, certainly didn't make a habit of passing it around freely. Her frown was cut off by Duo pulling the car into a parking garage and slipping the vehicle in a slot near the entrance of the building.

The lobby was still in the dead hours of night. She followed Duo to a security desk manned by a gray-haired man with only one arm. "Jane Blue to see the Director." The guard nodded at Duo's statement, scribbling what she assumed to be her name on a clipboard and then waved them through to the elevators.

Security was lax. Very lax. She frowned. The guard hadn't even checked Duo's badge. She was really reassessing both her opinion of Preventers and her decision to attend the meeting. They had a reputation for being professional. Hell, they had a reputation for being impenetrable! That was one of the reasons she'd agreed to meet with Director Une. Jane Blue wasn't dumb enough to work for a half-assed agency.

Duo led her to the elevator at the end of the corridor. He plucked his badge from his jacket pocket and swiped it in a reader next to the door. There was a soft ping and the doors swooshed open. They stepped onto the box at the same time.

Jane turned forward and noticed that there weren't any buttons on the control board. There was a palm scanner, which was currently reading Duo's hand print. "Duo Maxwell," he spoke clearly, "and Jane Blue to see Director Une."

"That was fast, Maxwell," responded a snide voice from a high-quality speaker hidden somewhere on the control panel. "How many traffic laws did you break to get there and back so quickly?"

"Can it, clown and get this tin can moving!" Duo spat back, but the grin splitting his face nearly in two betrayed his tone. "Or I will let the Lady know that you're the reason she was kept waiting."

"Ch'! You would." The control officer, must have decided that the threat of being blamed was more dire than picking on his co-worker because the elevator started its ascent.

"Sorry about that," Duo began, facing Jane. "I know we must look like a bunch of undisciplined morons, but we're not. That one," he jerked his thumb toward the hidden speaker, "Just likes to argue. With me. As much as possible. Ignore him." He rolled his eyes and turned back to the door which obliged, giving off that soft ping again and opening onto a sparse, tidy office.

In front of a large panel window at the far edge of the room was a wooden desk. From behind the desk, Director Une waved Jane into the room and gestured for her to take a seat.

To say that Jane was puzzled when Duo plopped down in the chair next to hers would have been an understatement but she kept her mouth shut and waited for the Director to speak.

"Ms. Blue, thank you for coming on such short notice." Despite the hour, the Director didn't show any signs of fatigue. Her uniform was immaculate as if it were freshly pressed, her tasteful makeup without so much as a smear and not a single strand of warm brown hair out of place.

"Anything for the Preventers, ma'am." Well, not really, but we must be polite to potential employers.

Almost as if she could read that particular thought, Une fixed a cold stare on Jane before continuing. "Now, I assume Maxwell has informed you of the circumstances under which we contacted you and that you-"

"About that," interrupted Duo holding a hand up, a sheepish look on his face, "I never got a chance to explain."

That cold gaze shifted to Jane's left. "And why not?" The tone was almost as cold as the gaze and Jane thanked her lucky stars that both were now aimed at somebody else. And then she felt guilty when she realized that the reason Duo didn't have that opportunity was because she had conked out.

She cleared her throat loudly to get the attention back off of Duo. "I fell asleep in the car. It was a long flight and I didn't know that I'd be called into an impromptu meeting with the head of Preventers as soon as I disembarked."

"Very well." The Director folded her hands on the desk. "We need you to help in a mission to retrieve a certain item from a group calling themselves The White Fang."

Jane felt as if the floor fell out from under her. Fucking hell!

To be continued...

Chapter notes: This is an unfathomably long chapter for me so please don't expect the same length in the future. Also, I've never been to Dulles or any other large airport, so all descriptions are a creation of my imagination. Research provides that there are parking garages and bus transport to the different parking areas (which makes perfect sense), but I'm too lazy to devise the proper logistics to work them into the story, so, an open lot it is.