AC 205 April | Copenhagen

"-yeah it was insane. The whole thing. The guy jumped out of the window. Busted through the fuckin' glass and everythin', right Heero? Seriously, we were like fifteen floors up at least!" Duo exclaimed loudly to Agent Noin, who smiled cheerfully throughout Heero's partner's wild retelling of how they lost their suspect earlier that afternoon. The elevator door opened with a faint, musical beep to reveal the sleek, modern third floor of the Preventer headquarters. Duo hooked his arm casually through Noin's and led her out of the elevator and down the polished, dark wood hall in the direction of their shared office pod. Heero fell into step behind them.

"Twelve," Heero corrected flatly as he trailed along behind them with a thick file folder in hand. "It was twelve floors."

"That's what I said. Twelve," Duo replied dismissively as he turned a right corner with Noin, who stifled a laugh behind a fisted hand.

"Anyway, you know that guy was toast. Squashed like a damn bug on the hood of some rich guy's red Tesla. You shoulda seen the look on the guy's face when he came out to get in his car!" His partner said with a chuckle. He unhooked his arm from Noin, sighed loudly and dropped down into his swivel chair at his sloppy workspace beside Heero's. "Anyway what are you doin' tonight, Noin? Want to hit the bar with me and some friends? They're having movie trivia night, and I could use a film noir expert on my team!"

Heero shrugged off his Preventer uniform jacket, draped it over the back of his chair and sat at his tidy workstation. He set the thick file folder on the desktop beside his keyboard and tapped the space key. The monitor came to life. He keyed in his passcode and opened the virtual memo system to begin writing up their incident report.

"That sounds like fun. When are you going?" He heard Noin say from behind him.

"Eh, five or sixish? You know that place by the fountain square? Boscoes?"

"Yes, I've been there. Can Sally come too?"

"Hell, yeah! The more the merrier, I say. Hey, if you've got some hot single friends have them tag along too, right Heero?" Duo chuckled. He felt the other man's hand smack against his upper arm. Heero flinched, shook his head, and continued to typed up their report.

"I can't tonight," he replied. He heard Duo scoff.

"What? Come on man, why the hell not?"

"I need to file this report," Heero explained. His fingers froze against his keyboard and he glanced to his left at Duo, who was lounging with his legs splayed out in front of him in his chair with a disappointed look on his face. "And I have to correct your errors on your last report before we submit it."

Duo frowned and crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "There were no errors. I wrote what I fuckin' saw."

"You can't submit a report with phrases like 'the suspect's eyes popped open like rotten grapes'. It's unprofessional." Heero said firmly. Duo rolled his eyes and threw up his hands.

"Fine. Whatever. You stay here and make love to your computer, ya workaholic. I'm goin' out. Noin, you think you can give me a ride to my apartment?" Duo asked as he pushed himself to a stand. "It's rainin' out there, I think I will just leave my motorcycle in the parking garage tonight."

"Sure," Noin said. "Don't work too hard, Heero. Those reports can be a little late, I'm sure Wufei won't mind." Heero looked over his right shoulder and nodded to her as she waved goodbye, turned and vanished down the hall. He heard Duo rummaging around his desk and before he could continue typing the American had somehow managed to sneak up behind him and grabbed both of his shoulders tightly. He saw a flash of chestnut-colored hair as Duo's braid fell over his shoulder to thump to a rest against his white t-shirt. His partner's face apparated beside his own.

"You sure you won't come? I promise I'll change it in the morning. You don't gotta do it for me," Duo murmured softly, his voice filled with apology. Heero shook his head.

"It's fine. It's raining, I don't want to go out anyway. Have fun." He replied plainly. Duo sighed. His warm breath blasted against Heero's neck and forced his chest and fingers to fill with an uncomfortable tingle.

"Okay, then. If you change your mind…" Duo's voice was almost inaudible. "You call me, yeah?"

Heero felt the American's left hand slip across the top of his shoulder. It came to rest at the back of his neck and his thin, calloused fingers dug into his hair at the nape. Heero tried his best to continue typing but found his fingers tripping over themselves. Typos began to litter the screen.

"Okay. Goodnight, Duo." He said as steadily as he could, despite the fact his entire body was rapidly growing warmer. His blood pounded deafeningly in his ears.

" 'Night," Duo replied. He abruptly pushed away from him. As Duo retreated so too did his braid, which snaked up and over Heero's shoulder to follow its owner. Heero stared straight ahead and took a deep breath before tapping the backspace button on his keyboard to make adjustments to the incomprehensible sentence he had written while Duo had teased him.

It had been nearly three weeks since Heero had sex with his partner. He felt the heavy weight of his recent celibacy become more pronounced after having turned down Duo's offer. Heero knew that if he had went with Duo to the bar tonight they would have ended up messing around. Especially after Duo had touched the back of his neck. It was his quiet, covert signal that he wanted him. Heero raised his hand to the back of his neck and cupped the spot the other man had touched only a minute before and began to regret his decision.

The sound of laughter vibrated off the glass walls of Wufei's office as Duo and Noin passed by on their way out. Trowa's focus momentarily swayed, dark green eyes gazing over just in time to see a playful wave and wink from the braided man.

"…just think it over. You don't have to give an answer now." Wufei stated as he pushed an envelope with papers across the desk towards Trowa. "Une's eager to get you onboard full-time, especially after the completion of your last assignment. And I really think Preventer has a lot to offer a guy like you. Give it some thought and let me know."

You have so much talent, Trowa. Why waste it on the circus? Wufei wanted to say that last part, but thought better of it. His dark eyes watched as the other man took the envelope with his usual default stoic expression. The paper made a soft crinkling sound as it was grasped.

"Thanks, Fei." It wasn't the first time Preventer had tried recruiting him full-time, but it might be the last if he passed the opportunity up again. Truth be told, Trowa was starting to get bored with life at the circus. Traveling the world and colonies had its thrill. The young man was a natural nomad, but he missed the rush of adrenaline that accompanied the thrill of a more risky lifestyle.

"I'll check in with you when I have an answer." He wasn't sure when that would be. Could be a day or two, or it could be a month. With that Trowa stood up and excused himself from the glass office. He glided a hand through his hair, tucked the envelope into his bag and made his way over to the desk he was currently calling his own while 'freelancing' at Preventer.

Heero was still there, typing away at something that seemed important. The last time Heero and Trowa had been alone was at an Eve War Armistice Anniversary party Relena had thrown approximately four years before in the Cinq Kingdom. Their last personal interaction had included conversation topics that were deeply personal and their parting had been awkward and uncomfortable. They had seen one another in passing a few times, but hadn't had any real one-on-one conversation since then.

"Hey…" Trowa took a seat at the space to the right of agent 01. He reached for his mouse and made sure that there weren't any pressing last minute emails waiting for his response. "Headed home soon?" He asked without looking over at the other man.

Duo's text sat unanswered on Trowa's phone. He'd been invited to go out to some bar after work, but wasn't sure he was interested. Drinking at 5pm seemed a bit early, plus he owed his sister Cathy a call at some point that evening.

No new emails. Trowa powered his laptop off.

Heero dropped the last period down onto the final sentence of his report. He sent it and then closed out the window before deactivating his console. The screen went black as he swiveled to his right in his chair to face Trowa. He crossed his arms over his chest and casually shrugged a shoulder.

"I will be soon. I'm surprised you're still here," Heero replied. He turned his right wrist over and glanced down at his analogue watch. "It's Friday. Didn't Duo invite you out?"

Heero knew that his partner had. Duo never excluded Trowa from anything. He sighed, grabbed his plain white coffee mug from his desk and frowned down at the cold, milky remnants left at the bottom.

"He did. Maybe I'll catch up with him later." Trowa slid his laptop into his bag. He was sleeping on Duo's couch while he was in town, so it wasn't like he didn't see the braided man often.

"I had a meeting with Wufei, which is why I'm still here. What about you?" Trowa smoothed out the flap of his bag and looked up at Heero, noticing the slight frown on the other's brow. He could tell Heero had a lot on his mind. "Aren't you going out tonight with the others?"

Heero did have quite a bit on his mind. He had exams coming up and he wasn't as far into his neurology studies as he wanted to be. The mission with Duo today had set him back some time, too. Losing a subject in the field required nearly double the filing and paperwork, as well as a separate incident report, coroner's statement of time of death and a report from the local authorities in the principality the event took place.

Heero set his cup down and rubbed the tension from the back of his head with his hand. The mention of Wufei also brought to mind that he had to arrange a meeting with the Chinese agent to discuss changing his responsibilities for Preventer. He just couldn't find the time to run the field and come back and process. Duo was good about helping with the paperwork. He didn't shirk his duties, but he also wasn't suited for it. He was more of a 'run in with guns blazing' kind of person. Heero didn't mind picking up the slack for him.

"Not tonight. I'm just not feeling it." He refolded his arms. "If you don't mind, may I ask you something? I heard Wufei say he was going to offer you a full-time position here. What are your thoughts on that?"

Trowa wasn't surprised by the change of direction in their conversation, and even though he wasn't completely sure of his own thoughts on the situation, he found himself answering Heero's question anyway. "I'm still not certain whether I'll accept or not." He gave a light shrug of the shoulders.

The envelope Wufei had given him sat unopened in his bag, but Trowa was pretty sure he knew what was inside. A job offer with a good paying salary, some great benefits (better than any the circus provided), job security, and a chance to move up in rank if everything worked out. Since Preventers were sent all over, he'd still be able to fulfill the need for travel. Sounded like a damn good deal. So why was Trowa still hesitating?

"Before the war I had nothing. No family, no home, no name… After the war I got all three of those. I know it's not much, but it would still be hard to leave Cathy and everyone back at the circus…" But the opportunity to progress elsewhere weighed heavily on Trowa's mind, tugging him in a new direction. Maybe it was time to start a new chapter in life.

Heero nodded in understanding. "At the end of the day you have to do what makes you happiest. There is no point in living your life unless you're driven by something you're passionate about. If you like the life of a performer, then you should continue that path."

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "I can't say that we couldn't use you, though. It seems like I never leave this place anymore..."

He hadn't spent any time in his own apartment aside from coming home to sleep and shower in over four months.

"The underground arms dealing in Asia has exploded with recent activity. Wufei may have mentioned this to you. It has exhausted our resources, and as a part-time agent you will more than likely be roped into full-time assignment during the course of this investigation anyway. It may behoove you to just accept the full benefits that come with being a full-time field agent."

Heero felt like he was lecturing him. He reached down under his desk and grabbed his leather messenger bag and began packing his things. "Would you stay with Duo if you took the job, or get your own place?"

A faint smirk spread across Trowa's lips as Heero lectured him. It was clear the other man cared about him, and he wondered if Heero wanted him to stay not just because the assignment in Asia was getting out of hand, but because of something else, too. That residual tension left over from their last encounter at Relena's party in Cinq had definitely forced an awkward wedge between them.

Heero seemed slightly different. Trowa wasn't sure if he was reading the other man correctly, but there seemed to be some hints of flirtatious behavior. Very subtle. You'd miss them if you blinked. Heero seemed more confident, and Trowa began to wonder whether Heero had come to terms with his sexuality. He certainly seemed more comfortable this time around.

"I think I'd get my own place. Duo's couch isn't that comfortable, and he's up at odd hours at night. He enjoys having a roommate, but his current apartment is way too small for two people." Every time Trowa was in Copenhagen he ended up crashing at Duo's place, but if he was going to sign on to Preventer full time, it would probably be better for both of them to have their own space.

Trowa wondered if his colleagues had been discussing his potential full time position amongst each other, or if Heero even knew why Wufei had been trying to recruit Trowa for years now.

"He never sleeps. I don't get him," Heero said as he shoved the file folder into his bag. He didn't elaborate any further, but he had spent the night quite often at Duo's place ever since his partner had decided to 'experiment' with him. Heero was still self-conscious about his realization that he was gay. He had thought that he was attracted to men and women. He had always felt a strong attraction to Relena Peacecraft, then Darlian. He loved her, but he could never connect with her when it came to sex. Duo had helped him realize that he needed male companionship to be fully satisfied sexually. His partner was the only person who knew this, aside from Trowa, who he had confided his doubts to nearly four years before.

He hadn't seen Trowa since he had come to fully accept himself, and now he felt uncomfortable around him. He had fought alongside Trowa during the wars without batting an eye at him, and now he felt suddenly very aware of the other man's presence and how he was watching him. The memory of the other man gently caressing his face that night in Cinq had resurfaced and now plagued his thoughts.

"If you decide to take the position you are more than welcome to stay at my place until you find a place of your own. I have three bedrooms, you're more than welcome to one of them." Heero explained coolly. "Relena picked that apartment. It's more than I could ever need."

"I always wondered why you had such a big place." Trowa laughed softly. "Thanks… I might take you up on that offer. If I decide to take the job… You heading out now? Mind if I walk with you?" He stood up and stretched his arms out, grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Trowa zipped up his Preventer jacket and moved his phone from his pants to his jacket pocket. It looked like Duo had been bombarding him with texts wondering if he'd be joining them tonight.

Luckily Duo's place wasn't that far from Heero's. Trowa wouldn't admit it, but he actually welcomed the company while walking. It'd be nice to catch up some more, seeing as it had been 6 months since he was last in Copenhagen.

Heero nodded, stood from his chair and grabbed his jacket from the back of it to slide it over his arms and shoulders and didn't bother zipping it. He shouldered his own bag and led the way down the hall to the elevator. As they passed by Wufei's glass-walled office he paused and leaned inside. The stern looking Chinese man was seated at his desk reading something on his laptop with his reading glasses on.

"Yuy," Wufei acknowledged him with a glance before resuming his reading. "I got your submission. I also noticed you finished Maxwell's report for him. There is no way that man would use 'nervus opticus' when describing someone's eyeballs coming out of their head."

Heero frowned and sighed. He hadn't realized that he was using medical terminology when finishing off Duo's reports. It had become a bad habit of lately and he couldn't separate one work from the another. Especially when he was tired. "I'm sorry. Did you get a chance to look at the itemized list of the weapons we collected?"

"I'm looking at it right now," Wufei replied. "This was a good haul. Lots of assault weapons, and military grade items. Good job. Have a good weekend you two. Conference in the morning on Monday. Conference room at 8:30 am, I'll send a reminder text."

Heero nodded and pulled back into the hallway to resume his trek with Trowa to the elevator. He stepped inside, waited for his companion to do the same and then jammed the first floor button. The elevator lurched downward and opened with a loud 'ding' to an empty lobby. Beyond the glass front wall near the entrance the deepening pink dusk of Copenhagen's springtime evening was being washed out by a steady rain. Heero reached into his bag and pulled out his compact black umbrella. When they got outside beneath the narrow front awning he snapped it open and held it aloft, glanced at Trowa and lifted the umbrella higher to compensate for Trowa's slightly taller height. "Do you want to share with me, or would you rather call a ride?"

"Sharing is fine… I could use a walk. It felt like I was sitting all day between meetings and turning in paperwork." Trowa ducked under the umbrella and huddled close to Heero as they walked. He tried his best not to bump into the other agent but their arms brushed a few times while they made their way down the sidewalk. Despite the rain, it looked lovely outside with the sun setting. Having spent the last few months in space, Trowa was glad to be on Earth again.

"How's school going?" Trowa was a little envious that Heero was attending college. Part of him would have loved the option to seek higher education, but it wasn't really in the cards at the moment. "Duo tells me you are enjoying it so far, but that it's a lot of work?"

Heero nodded and took a wide step over a deep puddle. He ducked his own body out from beneath the umbrella as he did but kept his arm extended to provide uninterrupted shelter for Trowa. Once around the puddle he resumed his walk beside the other agent and allowed his shoulder to casually press into Trowa's as he did.

"It's more difficult than I thought it would be. Time consuming, mostly. The material is challenging but not too difficult, it's the case study work that takes time. That and I'm beginning clinical rotations, which means I have to use what little free time I have to shadow practicing neurosurgeons. Some of the surgeries are time intensive and can last up to twelve hours..."

Heero felt his phone buzz in his right pocket. He continued to hold the umbrella for them with his left hand and fished his phone out with his right and pressed his thumb against the recognition sensor to unlock it. A text message automatically illuminated the screen with an attachment. The attachment opened to display a picture of Noin and Duo taking a selfie. Duo was flashing his usual goofy grin with a peace sign, while Noin was holding a foamy beer glass to her lips with her eyes wide as if she hadn't expected Duo to take the picture. Heero swiped the image away and read the text below it.

- You should come, stop being a loser, there are a bunch of hot guys here. I am workin' one for you now, 22, twink. You like twinks? I never asked. - The text read.

Heero sighed. He looked over at Trowa and frowned. "What is a 'twink'?"

"A skinny, young gay man usually with a bubbly personality and not a lot of brains." Trowa spouted out like a dictionary. "Why? Is Duo texting you about something?" He glanced down but the screen on Heero's phone had already gone dark. "Please don't tell me Duo's bringing someone home tonight." Everyone knew the American was into men, so it was no surprise when he met up with them frequently at the bar.

Trowa shook his head and decided to dig his own phone out and check his text messages. "He really wants us to stop by the bar." Duo had sent a handful of texts asking where he was. "Maybe I should go… If I don't, I have a feeling he'll come home drunk and will refuse to leave me alone all night. Or he'll bring someone home. Either way, Duo will be keeping me up all night." Trowa shoved the phone back in his pocket and looked over at his friend, eyes questioning.

Heero frowned at the description of a 'twink' and quickly typed 'no twinks' as a reply with his thumb, sent it and shoved the phone into his jacket pocket.

"Duo's on a personal mission to find me a boyfriend," Heero said with a sigh. "He thinks it will help me get over Relena. I don't know if I want that right now. I don't think I am ready for another relationship..."

Heero's break-up with Relena had been no secret. They had parted cordially enough, but it had been the favorite subject of office gossip for months now. He had taken it pretty hard, mostly because he felt like he had let her down by telling her he was gay. Nobody in the office knew why they had broken up except for Duo. Heero wasn't going to say, and luckily the American had enough tact not to spread his business. As far as the rumor went, all anyone knew was that Heero had fucked up badly and hurt Relena somehow. He had made no attempt to correct that.

He stopped at the corner and waited for the crosswalk to signal they could cross. "And you're right, he will probably bring someone home." Saying that fact aloud made Heero feel strangely jealous. He shrugged his shoulder to force the feeling away. He hadn't wanted to go to the bar tonight. He was tired, and he had a mountain of studying to finish this weekend but he knew he should try harder to be more sociable. Trowa appeared eager to have his company, and he didn't want to leave him alone with a drunk Duo. Duo Maxwell was a handful enough sober.

"I'll go with you."

"Wait, Duo is trying to find you a boyfriend?" Trowa asked as he changed their course for the bar. After sidestepping a puddle Trowa looked over at Heero and his eyes searched the other man's face. He didn't want to intrude on his privacy, so he bit his tongue and held back on outright asking if Heero had finally decided that he was gay. Instead he waited for his friend to explain what was going on.

Heero nodded and stared down at the wet cement sidewalk as they walked. "Yes. I... " his Prussian blue eyes narrowed with intensity. The last time he had spoken to Trowa about his sexuality things had gotten rather intense. Whenever he and had Duo discussed it his partner would fill in the gaps for him. He would be the one to make comments exploring his sexual preference, and Heero would reply with an affirmative or no. Heero had let Duo take control for him in the same way he had let Trowa take control back in Cinq.

Trowa had confided in him before that he was bisexual, as were many of the people that they knew. Heero had always assumed that perhaps he was the same way, until Duo pointed out after the break-up that his experience was only limited to Relena, and that what he felt for her wasn't exactly the same brand of attraction. For as obnoxious as Duo Maxwell could sometimes be, he was particularly profound about things like this.

"I have come to realize that I exclusively like men," Heero forced the words out. They sounded colder than he intended them to be. He didn't look up as they walked. "Duo's been ... helping me figure this out." He cut a sideways glance at Trowa to gauge his reaction.

Trowa's face was calm, his expression not showing any surprise. It didn't shock him to find out Heero was interested in men. He'd always thought that might be the case, especially after Heero's reaction to him when he had touched him in Cinq. He had seen the shift of the other pilot's expression from shock to clear recognition. He had liked his touch and had even admitted to wanting his kiss. They hadn't done anything at the time, but it was clear that Heero desired the touch of another man, whether he knew that at the time or not.

Heero was a handsome young man, and Trowa had seen him get hit on several times in the past when they'd hit up some of the bars and clubs in the Copenhagen. Duo was always awfully flirtatious with his partner, too, though for the most part Heero just put up with it or brushed it off, especially during the time he'd been dating Relena. That entire relationship started to make a lot more sense to Trowa now that he knew the brunette was into men.

"I'm glad to hear that Duo's been helping you." Trowa offered softly, giving Heero an encouraging smile. "Have you been dating anyone?"

"Duo's been helpful enough, though sometimes I think he tries too hard," Heero explained casually. The corner bar materialized in the distance. He could see a small group of people smoking cigarettes by the front door and hear the distinct, unrestrained laughter of that particular mutual friend echo from the surrounding buildings of the narrow cobblestone street. The rain had slowed to a light sprinkle.

"He arranged two blind dates for me. I went to both. They didn't end well..." Heero said flatly. "They seemed to only want one-night stands anyway."

It was a problem Heero kept encountering in the gay community. Duo had explained that there were plenty of gay men seeking committed relationships, but Heero hadn't found one yet. Not that he was actively looking for anything serious.

"He made me a GRINDR account without telling me," he confided. "I don't know how that works."

"If you aren't looking for one night stands, I would suggest staying off GRINDR." Trowa advised. He wasn't terribly fond of the app either. Some of the guys at the circus used it to pick up cheap thrills whenever they toured in new cities. Trowa found it off-putting. He wasn't really into that kind of thing, and often heard 'horror stories' after people returned from their dates. "I think online dating is overrated, anyway."