The Shadow
Warnings: nothing really, Heero's POV
Pairing: 1+2
Summary: Detecting him had always been impossible
Authors note: This is a little piece of... nothing really ^^;; A fleeting thought I had which I thought I could write out (since anything else I want to write on doesn't seem to work right now... -.-)
Beta: anime_gal22 Thank you so much ^________^ *hugs*
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me
Word Count: 2128
The Shadow
Detecting him had always been impossible. Back in the war, the stealth cloak on his Gundam had helped him many times, but even if he wouldn't have had it, I'm sure he would have found a way to stay invisible to whomever he didn't want to find. He would just show up whenever it worked for him and vanish just as fast. Getting a hold of him had been like holding quicksilver.
Maybe that is why in the end, that I had resigned myself to waiting until after the war ended to tell him how I feel. I always had this strange attraction to him, but there was no way of doing something about it while we were still fighting.
It took me nearly a year to find him after he had done his disappearing act at the end of the war. And I'm still sure of the fact that he had intended to find me when I finally found him.
No-one finds the shadow of death when he doesn't want to be found.
After I had found him, we had to go into battle again. I started to believe that I just wasn'tmeant to tell him about my feelings for him at that point. But when I woke up in that hospital bed after we had managed to stop Mariemeia, he had been there, I still can't describe how I felt back then.
Relieved.
Happy.
Endlessly grateful.
While I had always known that he was one of the best, there had been a part of me that believed he could have gotten hurt. Or worse. Even if hehadn't been, then there was still the fear of believing that I would have to track him down again.
But he had been there. Waiting. Understanding.
Seems like he had known all the while what I had been feeling. He had always been observant. When I confronted him about it he just told me that he hadn't been able to deal with this during times of war. That he had wanted to wait until we had peace so that we could make this work.
To my great joy, he returned my feelings.
While he didn't come out and say so, now that he wasn't hiding them any longer I could see it as if it had always been there. And maybe it had been.
That glimmer in his eyes whenever he looked at me.
That curve of his smile.
His relaxed guard whenever I was around.
His feelings had always been there, but only after I started to accept them did I start to see the signs.
As soon as I had been discharged from the hospital, we vanished together. We wanted some time just for us, to look at us and our feelings, wanting to know if we could make this work.
One year passed.
We had stayed in contact with the other pilots, and I had even started to write Relena an e-mail or two during that time. Thankfully she had outgrown her crush on me by that time and by thenwe had started to develop a good friendship.
We had discussed what we wanted to do with our futures and while neither of us were thrilled about fighting again, we both agreed that we wouldn't be able to rest, that no matter which job we tried, we probably would always feel the need to protect the world. Coming to that realization had shown us clearly that it would be best to follow Wufei's example by joining the Preventers.
It had taken us nearly two months to actually go through with our decision.
Not because we were frightened, no, we had seen much more horrible things then it was possible for most to even imagine, and we also knew that Une would take us in without even considering.
No, what caused us to hesitate was that we had come to depend on each other, watching each others'back. We both knew that it wouldn't be possible when we joined up. Preventers had a policy that forbids life-partners from working together as partners. And while we both agreed that this rule had some merit, it made it all the harder for us.
We knew that Wufei would be there and that he was still searching for a partner that he could work with. So one of us probably would end up with him.
But what would happen to the other? Would he change partners for every new mission that came in like Wufei had done for the last year? Or would he be partnered with someone who would fail to protect him when he needed it?
Eventually we decided that we couldn't let it matter. There were only so many people we trusted with watching our back and seeing that Quatre was bound up with Winner Enterprises and Trowa worked as his bodyguard, there was just no way around it. Sally worked in the medical unit of Preventers and Noin was a trainer, not a field agent. Even Zechs would have been better than most others, but he held a special agent position, managing public statements and only working as a field agent for special missions.
Therefore, the day we joined, we both hoped that the other would get partnered with Wufei, just so that we wouldn't have to worry.
I still remember the relieved smile on Duo's face as Une announced that it would be me.
We hadn't been prepared for what came next. Instead of giving Duo another field agent position, she offered making him the organization's shadow. To be her shadow.
Essentially she asked him to become invisible.
He had done it before, during the war and in between, but what she wanted was more.
She wanted him to follow her and Zechs to public functions, but without anyone knowing or realizing. She wanted him to watch and observe the people around them. She wanted him to see what people didn't say. She wanted him to become their spy.
She also wanted him to be the organization's only solo agent, whom no-one but our friends could know about. And even then, only Wufei and I knew what position he really holds.
My first thought was to not allow it. The thought of Duo going out into the field without anyone watching his back was... terrifying. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
He was unmatched in what he did. No-one could detect him when he didn't want them to. Even I had my share of problems locatinghis exact location when he was just wandering through our house and didn't think about making any extra noise.
Stealth had always been his second name and to do so had become his nature.
Back in the war when I first met him I used to believe that with his loud appearance, it wouldn't take long for OZ to find him. He had extraordinary looks, and I couldn't imagine that there was someone who wouldn't remember his braid and his big, sparkling eyes once they had seen them.
I stood to be corrected.
Even after OZ had managed to capture him and plastered his picture all over the Earthsphere... he still managed to stay undetected.
Later I learned it was because no-one could image it really could be him. His easy going nature made them believe that he was just another teenager. One with an amazing affinity to that one terrorist, yes, but most didn't even make that leap, and those who did never thought it could be true.
Because he wasn't only the master of stealth – he was also the master of deception.
That was what Une wanted. She wanted someone who could go anywhere and who wouldn't be detected, who could go in and out of any place without anyone thinking about him ever again. She needed him to be able to work his way around doors that wouldn't open for an usual agent and opening those doors for us.
In a way we had gotten partnered together after all, because nearly all the time, those special cases that proved to be more complicated than others were handed to Wufei and me. I'm still not sure if Une did it on purpose, handing us those missions, but then, she always had been more perceptive than others too. She knew how good we were together, and with Duo at her side they make a fearsome team.
Of course, no-one knew about Duo being there. When we walked through the main entrance every morning, no-one other than Wufei and me know what exactly his job was. There had been – and still were – some wild speculations around the organization what job my partner really held. But there never was a slip. Him obviously working in the head of Preventers office had alsoroused some questions. Especially since many have seen him go in there in the morning and come out in the evening – but no-one had actually seen him in there whenever they had a meeting with Une.
That was because the office wasn't what it seemed to be. No-one other than Une and Duo had access to the complete floor prints of Headquarters that would show his office was behind a wall and only accessible through Une's office itself. That plan would show that Headquarters was built with many more of those hidden places that no-one would ever know about. And even Duo and Unehad to rely entirely on their seemingly impeccable memory to remember them all. At least that is what I think. As far as I know they burnt the only existing copy of the blueprints after memorizing it, but I could be mistaken.
Duo isn't at liberty to discuss some details of his job even with me, and that is one part of it. But that is ok. While it had taken some getting used to it on my part, I understand the necessity of it. Une had told us back in that first meeting that she would have prefered it if Duo had stayed single. Then he wouldn't have any problems just vanishing all together from the world.
And while it was cruel to say something like that, I understood the necessity of that as well. I know that if I had been anyone other than who I am, there was no way I would have ever even learned of that position. If Duo would have been seeing anyone else, he would never have been chosen. Maybe the other pilots would be an expection, but no-one else. This job demands a level of secrecy that many people simply can't obtain. Une only trusts us because she knows that we understand the importance of secrecy in some matters.
Surprisingly, after accepting our new positions, our lives didn't change all that much. I had feared that taking on jobs, especially ones that would remind us so much on what we had done, would create a slight rift between us, but it never happened. While we had less time together than we were used to, Duo made a point out of ushaving at least one day a week completely for ourselves. And we still saw each other nearly every evening, went to bed together and woke up together in the morning.
Looking back now, I'm glad that he got that position. Duo had been even more reluctant than me to pick up his weapons again, possiblyhaving to kill again. But while he wore a gun and a few of his old knifes when he went on a mission, he nearly never made any use of them. Since his job was to gather information, to talk to and observe people, to worm his way behind their defense, he rarely got into a direct confrontation. Sure, he had been in quite a few dangerous situations himself over the years since then, but usually no-one thought of him as an enemy.
I have to hide my grin every time when we arrest someone with Duo right beside them. Seeing their faces the second they realize that my partner had led them into a trap usually are quite amusing.
There is no-one that could be prouder than me when I think about him now.
His skill are just as extraordinary as his looks. His talent to blend in in plain sight is incredible. His mind is sharp and fast, as is his tongue. His observation skills are unmatched. And his hacking skill left me behind a few years back. He is elusive as a panther and just as dangerous.
And he is mine.
When we are together, he doesn't have to stay in the shadows.
Together with me he can shine.
End