Authors Notes: Ok, I've changed the point of view from third person to Duo first person. I think this will help the story a lot, but I may not change the first chapter, seeing as I have a lot to write. I had written this chapter in third and the time it took to change it, it's not worth doing the first chapter again, nothing would be added.
Dedication: To Naomi Clark, my grammar nazi and the reason this story is readable.
Warnings: aggressive swearing
Watching You
Chapter 2: Wider Field of Interest
By butterflyshurricane
Deciding that there is such a concept as too much of a good thing, I determined that when working on schematics or other non-mechanical duties, I would use my office. This was so that I could be kept up to date on office gossip, and what missions were going on. I'm tired of having to rely on Heero for any sort of news; he's pretty useless when it comes to sniffing out gossip.
Plus, I have to admit; I miss my partner when we aren't assigned together. That's a bit of understatement. I miss him a lot. He's my friend, my buddy, my partner. The one who watched my back all those years. He's the one I talk to openly, the one who I trust the most. The fact that Heero is the best eye candy in the whole building does help as well. But that is not the only reason I am attracted to the man. There is his personality.
Who would have thought that buried under all the crap he had been trained into him, Heero Yuy had a personality? His sense of humour has always been there, but he was so driven back then, he could not allow himself to think of much else. Neither had I. We'd had a war to fight, but that hadn't stopped me from trying to make friendships along the way.
No, there is something about Heero that I have always been drawn to. Somewhere, below those crystal blue depths, lies something that I so desperately want to see. I'd had a glimpse of it one night a little over seven months ago, but fate and gravity had conspired to keep me in the dark. I ran my hand through the mess on my head I now consider my hairstyle.
Heero isn't not the only one who's changed. A few weeks after the end of the second war, I had decided to unceremoniously cut my braid off. It was a tie to a past that I did not want to forget, but I was now living in a world where revenge did not rule my life. My hair had been there from when I was with Solo, to the Maxwell church and throughout my short life. The past and the families I had made and lost would stay with me forever, but it was time to move on.
I had been living with Hilde at the time, and she almost had kittens when I walked into the living room, braid in one hand and scissors in the other. The hair was longer at the front than at the back as I had cut it off in one go. By the time Quatre had called a few days later, I had visited a hairdresser for the first time ever and had it cut into a style that, I was told, would look great when it grew a bit more. Quatre, though shocked, was quite supportive and even went as far to tell me that I looked better with my hair short.
The most shocked was Heero, who randomly turned up on my doorstep a month afterwards. I had to repress a smirk as he turned me around and around, demanding to know who had done this 'vile act' and if I wanted them dead, I just had to say and they would be gone, with no traces. Half an hour after the initial shock, we finally had Heero calmed down and the two of us had talked, more than we had done in the whole war. We talked so long that the night cycle finished and it was only when an angry Hilde broke the door down did I realise what time it was.
"Happy memories." I mutter as I stare at Heero's desk.
"That's the first sign, you know." The voice of Sally Po stirs me from my daydreaming. She sat down on the black leather sofa that I had used as a bed on more than a few occasions.
"Well doc, what do you suggest for a certifiable loon?" I ask, grinning at my guest. She was wearing her uniform, minus the jacket today. I had gone for uniform option 3 - dark brown or black turtleneck long-sleeved jumper - for the third time this week. It's a good shirt, warm and durable, and that's why I like it. Not because of who had given it to me. My physique remained slim yet masculine, with good broad shoulders and thin waist, giving me an almost straight line down my body.
"You're not crazy enough to be locked away… yet," she tells me, looking around the office. "Where's your bitter half?"
"He's still working on those hack jobs. The poor guy's really been on edge lately. He's down to monosyllabic answers and 'shut up Maxwell' if I try to crack a joke. It's just not like him," I say.
Sally laughs at that statement. "Some would disagree with that."
I shrug at her. "Can't blame him, if I was cooped up with Bartle all day I'd be pretty pissed off all the time," I explain.
"Even the people who like Bartle hate Bartle." Sally chimes in, one of the members of the Bartle hate club. Most of the office was in our little club and if we had the time, we would have even made little buttons for official membership.
"I hate the people who love me and they hate me," came Wufei's voice from the door as he walked in with a tray of coffee cups.
"Afternoon, is that a latte for little old me?" I greet him, taking a proffered cup. He gives one to Sally, smiles warmly at her, and then deposits one on Heero's desk.
"Where's Yuy? I want to ask him something about his case?"
I shrug. Wufei took his seat next to Sally. They had gotten together at Quatre and Trowa's engagement party, and had fallen into an easy relationship. The closeness and small smiles they exchanged were a sign that they were still very much in the first stages of love. I could not help the small twinge of jealousy deep in my gut. It did not matter though, I was really happy for them.
"Aw, aren't you two adorable? I wish I had someone to play cosy with." I tease, leaning on the desk with my hand under my chin.
"I would, but Sally may get jealous," Wufei says pleasantly, earning a scowl and a smile. Wufei has also left the scars of his past behind him. He's even returned to the books and we all know that when the time was right, he would become a scholar again.
"You've got your own bitch, rice queen," Sally replies, chuckling slightly.
"I don't have a preference to Eastern guys!" I shout, knowing anyone on the corridor could hear me. And you know what? I like the idea that I am considered a little kooky; even if it did start rumours I would rather not have flying around.
"Well, you have a preference for a particular Asian guy, right?" Sally insinuates.
How does everybody know about this? I don't even really know if there is anything to 'this' at all.
"Oh no, I'm not talking about this." I say, swivelling around in my chair to face the back wall. I can imagine the look the other two are giving each other. They, Quatre, Hilde and even Relena have all had a chat with me about the subject I was unwilling to discuss, and I am sick of repeating myself about my feelings and hearing their clichéd solutions. I am quite frankly sick of everything and just want to handle the situation my own way.
"Duo, you can't-," Sally begins, but is cut off.
"Yes I can, see? I'm ignoring it now. What is it? I don't know, I'm ignoring it!" I say to myself, still facing the wall.
"We'll talk about in another day, okay?"
"Fine. We'll talk about it the day after the world ends." I say, swivelling back around to face them in my chair. The others just roll their eyes at my childish nature, but I can see them deciding to let the subject be dropped.
Just as one of them is about to say something, Heero storms into the office, slamming the door behind him, startling all in the room, and causing me to stand up. He walks over to the window, and paces backwards and forwards, before reaching the wall behind his desk and thumping it, causing a fist-sized dent in the drywall. All of us just stare at him. His breathing is ragged, his face hidden from me as he stares at the wall.
"Heero."
"What!" The other man shouts, turning on me. There is a fire in those eyes that I have not seen for years. Back then it was a contained rage, one that he bottled up, along with all other things.
I think about all the things I could say. 'How are you?' maybe. 'Calm down' was out of the question. "What happened?" I ask, looking straight into the deep blue eyes that had transfixed me all those years ago.
He seems to calm a bit, his breathing settling into a steadier rhythm, his hands unclenching from an instinctive ball. "It's that… wanker!" he seethes through his teeth.
I sigh when I realise who he is talking about, but still, I don't approach him. Not yet.
"What did he do?" Wufei asks, also getting up.
Heero honestly looks startled at the other two's presence. After that brief second with his guard down, he calms his physical stress down, but his eyes still have a fire in them. "He doesn't know when to stop insulting people. He was looking for a fight," he tells us in a dispassionate, clinical voice.
"Did you give him that fight?" I ask, eyeing my partner with a weary glance. Heero, looks down for a second in a bashful and ashamed display, before returning his gaze, the submissive posture gone and a ready stance set, showing that he was perfectly justified in what he was about to say.
"How could I not, when he insulted…" He falters, looking towards the window and breathing deeply. "He said some things about you," he finishes.
I sigh. I should have guessed this was down to me. Heero tends to be overprotective of the people he cares about, but most of the time he knows when to back away and let it go. It is one of the sweeter aspects of Heero that only a select few have chance to see, and one that endears him to me.
"You need to remember that he's a prick and should ignore him and his insults," I say in a gentle voice, not caring that the others are there at all. Heero turns to face me. He has obviously forgotten they are there as well.
"I don't care when it's about me, but when he says those things about you, it really gets me wound up. It makes me wish that I had got more than one punch in."
"You hit him?" I cry in disbelief, eyes widening. I expected there to be a verbal barrage, but to actually attack another officer? Not to mention a senior agent. This situation is not going to blow over before any time soon.
"He called you a-," Heero cuts himself off. I know at that moment what I had been called, but the hurt is chased away by concern for Heero.
"This is serious. You could get a written warning. We only get one before we are thrown out." Wufei breaks the silence he has kept while we talked.
Heero's shoulders slump, showing that the aggression and adrenalin is running out of his system. He pulls his chair out and flops into it, closing his eyes.
"Surely he was justified? Maybe if Une knows the situation, she'll forgo the caution and keep it off record. If anyone needs kicking off the force, it's a homophobic prick like Bartle." I say, taking a seat on Heero's desk. "Did you get any work done today?"
Heero looks up at me. In his eyes, I can see silent gratitude for the subject change.
"A bit. A few more places have reported hackings. Prisoner surveillance tapes on L3, Lunar base archives as well, from the war. Mostly CCTV footage," he says, glancing at me. For a second he looks hesitant, but continues on. "And adoption records from L2."
I sit up a little straighter, looking with undisguised shock. The other two also wear startled looks.
"Adoption records? How far back are they dated?" Wufei asks, just one of the hundreds of questions whirling through my brain. A dark feeling settles on my stomach.
"They go back to 162," Heero replies, looking at Wufei, and purposely avoiding my eyes.
"Well, even if they had them, surly you would not be on them, you were never adopted, right? They would need the orphanage records," Sally says as gently as she can.
I look at them all before finally getting my voice back. "Well, I was in the system. While at the orphanage, they had placed me in a few homes, but I was too wild for them to handle," I tell them in a flat voice. "I was sent back on more than one occasion." I try to sound emotionless, hiding the torrent of feelings inside.
"Well, it may be the case that there are multiple hackers out there. Someone has seen that one person is hacking, so they want to mess with us and throw us off, it's happened before." Wufei throws his opinion in, settling back on the settee and picking up his untouched coffee.
Heero shakes his head at the statement. "They all have the same message pop up in place of what was stolen, like a calling card. This guy is toying with us," he murmurs.
Before anyone can say another word, Heero's phone starts ringing. He sits up in his chair and answers it with a slight hesitation. He speaks his name, is silent for a few seconds, then puts the phone down and stands up.
"Une?" I ask, looking up at my partner. The other man simply nods and leaves the room without a word. Silence reigns for a number of minutes. I sit in Heero's chair, looking intently into empty space, barely acknowledging Sally and Wufei's departure.
I sigh and lean back in the chair. I cannot believe Heero had flown off the handle and actually hit another officer. Then my mood changes and I become angry with Bartle for making Heero hit him.
That thought makes me laugh at how childish it all is. Heero is a fully-grown man, in complete control of all his faculties; a man who's every action is meticulously planned. He is not an angry man. He rarely loses his temper. Hell, he had even lightened up a bit, I think.
A voice in the back of my mind calls out: If his actions are always premeditated, then explain the kiss.
The party had been to celebrate Quatre and Trowa getting engaged. They had finally decided to apply for a marriage license and make it official. It was the best excuse I had heard for getting absolutely plastered and causing hell in someone else's home in a long time. The party had supposed to be small, family and friends, but with Quatre's horde of sisters and Trowa's circus friends being his family, the whole event had become, well, a circus.
Throughout the night, I caused havoc, played drinking games and plotted plans to get Sally and Wufei together. Soon after that, my partner in crime and I, Heero, had retreated to the roof in fear of bodily harm from the two soon-to-be-lovers.
While gazing at the stars, we swilled a further bottle of Champaign and huddled close together for warmth.
"It's a good thing they're getting together. I mean, at Christmas, we can buy one present and address it to both of them!" I declared.
"Doesn't that only work when they live together?" Heero asked, passing the bottle to me.
I took a swig. "They live in the fridge now that we locked them in there!" I shouted gleefully. As I laughed, I dropped the bottle and it rolled down the shingles and off the side. A distant smash could be heard, but no other noise.
"No casualties!" I declared, turning to Heero.
"For a master of stealth, you really are clumsy," Heero told me. His eyes were drooping and bloodshot, and he'd had a constant smirk on his lips for the past three hours.
"Aw, but you love me anyway." I laughed, sitting on a less sloped part of the large expanse of roof owned by the Winner estate.
"I do." Heero replied, sitting next to me.
This sobered me immediately. I looked into the bloodshot eyes, full of mixed emotions and liquor. If we had not been drunk, we would have talked it over. But we were slaughtered and gave that up for making out.
Our lips came together in a deep, sloppy and ill-tasting kiss. Stale alcohol and whatever we had eaten mixed with each other, but I did not care, it was still the best feeling I had felt. I leaned back, pulling the part-Japanese man down as well. In one fluid motion Heero rolled on top of me… but he had misjudged and continued rolling, clean over me and partway down the roof.
"Heero!" I cried as he flung his hand out. Flailing for a moment, we managed to grab onto each other and froze, both breathing heavily. We looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Heero? Duo?" Quatre's voice rang out. "They're not angry now, you can come down."
Five minutes later saw us return to the party. We spent the rest of the night avoiding each other's eyes and once on the ground floor, we made thin excuses of fatigue and both ran to our own bedrooms, locking the door and sobering up.
"Duo." A deep voice calls me back to reality. I find myself staring at the same face I have just been thinking about. I shake my head and throw off the fantasy of what could have happened back on the roof had we not been disturbed. I try to recall what is happening in the present. Heero, Bartle, bodily harm.
"How'd the meeting go?" I ask, standing up to get a better look at Heero. His reactions, as always, are unreadable. It always pisses me off that even after all these years; I still can't tell what he's feeling. His eyes give nothing away.
"I have to clear out my desk," he says solemnly.
"Really?" All brain function stopped in the shock of his words. He's been fired. He's… laughing? Has he lost his mind in all this?
"No," he snorts, "rapped knuckles and I still have to work with him," he manages between guffaws. That pisses me off.
"You bastard. You had me scared!" I yell, throwing the first thing that came to hand, which happens to be a thick, hardback book on the intricacies of databases that Heero constantly reads and re-reads all day. It hits the arm Heero has raised in defence and falls flat to the floor.
"You threw the book," he says seriously. "You threw a book, Duo."
"It's not like it's the Bible." I say, crossing my arms. Although, to Heero, it might as well be. He picks it up and straightens it out in an exaggerated way, glancing at me like I had just pissed on his kids. I roll my eyes, step around the desk and walk past him.
"C'mon, it's just a book," I say as I turn my computer off and gather my things. He is almost holding the damn thing like a child. With the same reverence a holy scripture would receive. I guess it is his Bible in some ways.
"It is a sin to damage a book. There are laws," he tells me, placing the book on the table so that its edges line up with the edge of the desk. Definitely an OCD case.
"There are no such laws," I tell him, watching as he just stands there.
"In this office there are," he states with crossed arms. Considering he is supposed to be the mature one, he can be really bad-tempered sometimes. Cute when he pouts as well.
"C'mon misery, I'll treat you to dinner tonight," I say, gesturing to the door.
"I'm not going anywhere with a defiler such as you," he snaps, but follows me out anyway, closing the door behind him. He does not quicken his pace to catch up with me. I can almost feel the lasers he's trying to shoot from his eyes into the back of my skull. I've always had a keen ability to sense when Heero is staring at me.
"Ok, I'm sorry I threw your book. Next time I'll throw the stapler," I tell him, turning to look at him. That earns me a glare, which loses intensity a few seconds later. I smile, and he returns his own in kind. His eyes are still a mystery, but I can see a little deeper in this moment.
I'll never fathom that mystery.
End of Chapter Two
AN: Ok, this is the second chapter to set the scene for the story. It is a bit slow and not much to do with overall plot, but it'll get better. Next one WILL be a month before being published.
