Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the original characters from the series.

Enjoy the story!

Precious

Duo Maxwell sat in a bar waiting for his new best friend, Miles Taffert. It was slow tonight, not many people visiting this particular bar on a Monday night. He liked this place, it was quiet and no one asked questions. The door opened and he saw Taffert walk in and head towards him. This was their usual table and neither bothered to look for the other anywhere else.

Taffert, his reddish brown hair slicked back with hair gel, sat down signalling to the bartender that he wanted a drink. The man was wearing his usual garb, a suede zipper jacket, black dress pants and a red dress shirt. The dress shirt was never fully buttoned up revealing his smooth muscular chest. To say he was attractive was an understatement. Women fell all over this guy.

The waitress brought his usual drink – Guiness and left them alone. Taffert waited until she was well out of ear shot before he greeted his comrade.

"Max, seen anything interesting tonight?" It was Taffert's usual greeting to Duo. He was an overly cautious man and even kept Duo, who was considered the man's best friend under a microscope.

"Nah man, it's quiet," he drawled in his L2 street accent. Even after a few years of being off the street, the accent slipped easily in place and Duo found his former life served him well in such circumstances. Taffert knew Duo only as Max, a mysterious street kid who had special skills that he could use to his advantage. The pair had met when Duo bumped into him on the streets, lifting his wallet without the man even knowing. The London native hadn't even noticed until he was several blocks away. Duo had smirked when he saw the man come barrelling down the street yelling thief! Duo took off and the chase was on.

He had led the man throughout the back streets in the city and had conveniently led them into a dead end. He had pleaded with his target, who was pointing a gun at him, telling him that he was new to Earth and that he needed the money to survive. He was a street rat from L2 who, looking for something better, had hitched a ride on one of the freight shuttles bound for Earth and had wound up in London. Taffert had been intrigued by him, as Duo had known, and had offered the kid a job. Slowly Duo worked his way up dirtying his hands with minor tasks until he had managed to show Taffert his natural smarts and had won his affection. It had taken months to win the man's trust and there wasn't anything Duo was going to do to jeopardize it. He wouldn't get a second chance if he screwed up.

Miles Taffert was using Max, and Duo knew the man wouldn't hesitate to get rid of him if anything serious happened. Duo wasn't worried though. He had planned every possible outcome, every possible angle he could think of and had been satisfied that he was prepared. Even if something came up that he hadn't anticipated Duo was confident his street smarts would get him out safely.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yeah, man, everythin's ready ta go," Duo assured him, before taking a gulp of his Newcastle Brown Ale.

"Good. I knew I could count on you."

Duo, knowing that Taffert was indeed happy with his response, needed to confirm that everything was on track. It was important that their plan proceeded; he didn't want any unnecessary delays.

"Then we're on schedule?" Duo pressed taking another sip.

Taffert looked up at him suspiciously. Duo smiled. "I'm anxious s'all. We've been plannin fer months now. Time ta get what's owed t'us."

"Patience is a virtue, my friend," Taffert replied with a smile. "Rome wasn't built in a day."

"Rome?" Duo questioned, playing the uneducated street rat.

Taffert laughed at his ignorance. "Never mind." The man liked to keep Duo in the dark. He never explained his references and Duo never pressed, logging in his brain the references catching on to most of what Taffert was hinting at.

They stayed in the bar until well after midnight, stumbling out both drunk and supporting each other. Taffert called a cab and Duo wandered aimlessly in the street, heading in no particular direction. After an hour he wandered down an alley way and headed into a side door.

The lights were off and Duo made no move to turn them on. He closed the door and locked it before even turning around. He waited for a few moments and then opened his eyes, his violet orbs adjusting quickly to the darkness. Two figures waited at the back wall. Duo moved to the table in the middle of the room and lit the lamp that was standing on the table.

"Were you followed?" A male voice demanded as the lamp lit up. Light was cast about the room.

"Nah man, no one followed," he replied, still sporting his street accent.

"Maxwell," another voiced warned him.

"Relax Chang," he spat back in his normal voice, turning around to face his friend. "If anyone should be asking that questions it's me. Were you followed?"

"No." Duo looked to his partner, Heero Yuy standing next to Wufei Chang. The Japanese youth was wearing jeans and his green tank top with a jean jacket to keep out the chill. It was October and the temperature was dropping quickly. Winter was only a few weeks away. Chang was dressed in a leather jacket with black slacks and a blue dress shirt on.

"Good. Now tell me that you guys are ready."

"We are. Are you still on schedule?" Heero demanded.

"Yeah, we're right on track. Just keep to the plan. I can't have ya spookin Taffert too early. If he's spooked this whole mission could get wrecked and ain't no one getting close to him again. Not even me."

"We know Maxwell. That's why Une has assigned only top level agents to this case. We can't have any mistakes. Just keep to your part."

"We've planned this carefully Duo," Heero reminded his partner. "But if you feel you need to back out –"

"There ain't no going back, Heero!" he snapped. "Dun matter what I feel now. Dun matter," Duo whispered turning away from them. "If there ain't nuttin else I gotta get some shut eye."

"Duo," Heero began, he paused though and thought better of it. Instead he said, "Watch your back."

Duo woke up; sunshine streaming into the large windows of the warehouse he was sleeping in. Taffert had found this place for him, one of his many warehouses of stored goods. It wasn't bad, it kept out the rain and Duo had a mattress and blankets to use. It was a hell of a lot better than a lot of the places he had stayed in as a kid and he had told Taffert that much.

The deal he and Taffert had set up would go down today. Taffert was importing illegal weapons, many of which were already out on the streets killing kids and cops alike. Duo had volunteered for this mission, wanting more than anything to get the guns off the street. Too many innocents had died already in this so called peace time.

After the war Duo had returned to L2 to open the salvage business with Hilde. Things had been going so well at first. Hilde met someone to share her life with and they were engaged to be married. Business was booming and Duo was finally doing something he enjoyed. But good things never lasted. Business slowed down as the may salvage business cleaned out the mobile suits and good metal parts from space. Rent increased, and additional taxes were forced on business owners of L2. Duo and Hilde were up to their ears in debt and nothing would be able to save them. It wasn't that Duo was a bad business man. In fact their salvage yard was one of the few remaining on L2.

One day some punks came to the door, sent by the main gang boss of L2, a Japanese business man from L1 named Kozen. Kozen had started making several offers to buy the salvage yard, all of which Duo had refused to accept. Hilde had tried to convince Duo to sell and start over somewhere else, but the teen once determined rarely ever gave up anything.

Duo had been off-site with a client when the thugs had shown up and Hilde had been taking care of the shop. They threatened her and when she had told them off they had roughed her up. Hilde had been scared but Duo had convinced her everything would be ok, vowing to get back at Kozen for hurting her. They hired a few additional hands for the salvage yard and for a while Duo thought everything would be ok. But Kozen hadn't left them alone. He sent his thugs back again. This time Duo was there to meet them. A fight had broken out with Duo beating the men to a bloody pulp before the cops came and broke up the fight.

Duo had been taken down to the station and would have been put in jail, charged for assault, if Hilde and the other hired hands hadn't stuck up for him and posted bail. Kozen hadn't pressed charges, denying his knowledge of who the men were.

Hilde and her finance Dan were scared. They sold Duo their share of the business and moved to L3. Duo didn't blame them. Hilde may have been ex-Oz but Dan wasn't a soldier. He kept to the business, being wrapped into the yard almost 24-7. Things seemed to have settled after Hilde and Dan had left. Duo was lonely, but that hadn't been anything he hadn't faced before. He kept at it. He had to let one of the guys go not long after but he refused to sell the place. This had been his baby, his first real life since the war, since ever. He wouldn't go back to being a nobody. He wouldn't give up on a dream.

But that stubbornness that Duo possessed had very nearly gotten him killed. A fire had been set to the house. Duo had been in the scrap yard, his attention fully engaged in the search for a very rare part that a client had ordered. He hadn't heard the fire, being a few minutes out from the house. He hadn't heard the footsteps behind him, but long honed instincts had screamed at him. He whipped up and around suddenly, coming face to face with a swinging metal pipe.

Duo had woken tied up gagged and caught in the large utility shed with smoke all around him. The whole place was on fire, his house, the yard, and the shed he was currently trapped in.

Whether it had been sheer luck or fate working for Duo, Wufei Chang, Preventer agent and ex Gundam Pilot had decided to visit his old comrade while he was staying on L2. If it had not been for Wufei accepting the posting and deciding to visit his adopted brother, Duo would have died in that fire.

As it was Wufei had burst into the house looking for said friend and his business partner Hilde. Finding neither in the house he had run out to the junk yard to search for them. He had stumbled on Duo by chance and had rescued the almost unconscious American from the destructive flames. After confirming that no one else was on the property, Wufei had taken Duo to safety and called the fire fighters and paramedics.

The scarp yard, house and all had burned to the ground. Firefighters had fought to contain the fire but it had been apparent that the salvage yard could not be saved. And though Duo had suffered only minor burns and smoke inhalation, he had lost everything. There was no chance of Hilde and Dan ever coming back now. He had nothing left but the cloths he had been wearing that day. Duo had quickly fallen into a fit of depression, and though his job needed him to return to Earth, Wufei took a short leave and remained with his comrade.

Wufei had stayed; had picked up the pieces of his comrade's broken life. He had arranged for Duo to return to Earth with him, and offered to put the American up for a few months until he was able to secure his own place. He had convinced Duo to accept a position at Preventers Headquarters and had arranged the sale of the barren lot still tagged to Duo's name.

It had been apparent to the police, who investigated the fire, that it had been arson; deliberately set to destroy the building. But the police couldn't touch Kozen and refused to do anything about it. They wrote it up as unsolved and tossed the file with the many other unsolved cases. Duo wouldn't leave well enough alone. He wanted revenge for what the man had done to Hilde and to his life. Wufei, despite his current job, could not and would not stop the American from exacting his justice. Wufei put family and friendship before career and hadn't hesitated in helping Duo coordinate the effort. Wufei had been vital to the success of Duo's mission.

And a mission it was. Lady Une knew Duo well enough as well to know that the ex-pilot could not leave well enough alone. She had sanctioned Wufei to stay with him and had even assigned Preventers from the L2 office to accompany them as back up. Wufei refused to send them in unless Duo truly needed it. Kozen was dangerous and if Duo could get to them they would be able to lock him up for a long time. Duo succeeded in his mission with little difficulty and as a result Kozen was sentenced to jail for 25 years.

The mission had given Duo the drive he needed. He sold the yard to the first buyer, getting a decent price for the lot and had moved back with Wufei only a week later.

Duo's first day on the job found him standing in front of his old war buddy, Heero Yuy, the newest addition to the force. It seemed Heero had learned about the incident on L2 and had come out of hiding, joining the Preventers that very day and requesting he be assigned as Duo's partner. Things had been looking up since then. Duo counted his blessings for what they were. It seemed he was destined to be with Heero and Wufei for the rest of their lives – it seemed too much of a coincidence that Wufei had saved him and that Heero had returned from the void to work with him. Fate worked in strange ways and Duo wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

When Duo learned of this assignment he signed up immediately. He wanted thugs like this off the street. Gun smuggling wasn't normally the business of the Preventers – it was usually left up to the cops but this was a unique case involving not only guns but gundanium enhanced weapons and mobile suit parts. This wasn't a simple weapons smuggling case.

And Taffert was the brains behind it.

Duo slipped his communicator into his ear, a small device that was undetectable to all types of detectors. He heard a car pull up outside and heard the driver's door slam closed. "Show time," he announced out loud, adjusting his jacket and taking one last glance in the mirror. "Wish me luck."