DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

Second Nature

I was knee-deep in paperwork when Agent Sanders ambled into the office.

"Heya rookie!" the heavy-set agent greeted me, "Maxwell's got you hard at work I see!" He picked up one of the documents I was working on and read from the top sheet. "Requisition order for… more pens!" he laughed heartily.

I glared at him but couldn't stay irritated for long. Agent Sanders was a jovial middle-aged man, port and greying at the temples but an expert at reading body language. He reminded me of the crazy but lovable uncle, or at least what I imagined one would be like.

"Aww, don't glare at me rookie! I heard you've been up to some exciting stuff. The buzz says that Maxwell let you sit in on his interview with Maxine Lestelle."

"He did," I nodded. "But ever since then, all I've been doing is paperwork…"

"Don't complain kid!" Sanders slapped me on the back, "we've all got to pay our dues. And Maxwell has a thing about keeping greenhorns out of the field until they've proven their mettle. In fact, you've been the first rookie he's accepted in a while… maybe 3 years or so now."

"Really?"

Sanders nodded. "Mmmhmmm. He's been refusing to take on rookies since the Linder incident."

"Linder incident?"

"Yeah, the last rookie we had. Maxwell took her on a mock surveillance job to test out the rookie's powers of observation. Well, as luck would have it, they stumbled across a drug deal, total amateurs too. Just a bunch of rick kids with too much time on their hands. Maxwell had the situation under control but Linder completely panicked when one of the kids tried to attack Maxwell, ran straight into the knife."

"Was Linder ok?"

"Yeah, Linder pulled through. But Maxwell had her transferred out of the division before the girl was even out of surgery. Didn't even go visit her at the hospital and he wouldn't even hear of taking another rookie."

"He did?" I was shocked. I had thought of my superior as the forgiving type. He never got mad when I messed up the paperwork, never got irritated when I took too long to find a file.

"Yeah, we were real surprised. He got along real well with the rookie."

"So where is Agent Linder now?"

"Ex-agent. Linder quit soon after she'd been transferred. Poor girl was devastated. She practically worshipped the ground Maxwell walked on. Couldn't take the fact that Maxwell had cut all ties with her. If I were a betting man, I'd wager a thousand credits that the girl was in love with Maxwell."

"Oh." I didn't know how to respond to Sanders' last comment.

"We're goin' out," Agent Maxwell announced when appeared on my doorstep once again.

"We are?" I had just gotten home and I still hadn't changed out of my uniform. Self-consciously, I straightened my tie.

"Yep, let's go blow off some steam!" my mentor commanded as he pushed past me into my apartment and headed straight to my bedroom.

"Uh where to sir?" I scrambled after him. This was strange; first the invitation to a late lunch and now this. It couldn't be dinner, we'd already eaten at the office.

"Geez kid, don't get out much do ya?" my superior completely ignored the question as he rifled through the meagre contents of my closet. "This will have to do," he commented as he threw a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt on the bed. "Get changed quick!"

Dumbly, I rushed to get changed but took the time to hang up my uniform to prevent wrinkles. When I emerged from my bedroom, I found Agent Maxwell standing in the middle of my living room, casually surveying the room, his head cocked to the side.

"Ready?" he asked, turning around to face me. "Hmm…" he muttered to himself he studied me from head to toe. "Nope. This isn't gonna work…" He stepped up and ruffled my hair, messing up my side part. "Better… but still…" he shrugged out of his battered leather coat and held it out to me. "Careful with this, an' don't spill anything on it!"

I carefully eased my arms into the black jacket, pulling it up over my shoulders. The jacket was warm, still lingering with the warmth of my mentor.

"Ok, let's goin'"

I wasn't too surprised when my mentor headed straight towards the entertainment district. I was shocked however, when we pulled into the parking lot of a seedy strip club.

"Sir?"

"Drop the sir, you an' me, we're just two guys out on the town." My mentor quickly glanced at his reflection in the rear-view mirror before grabbing a wide wristband from behind the sun visor. He slipped it onto his left wrist, covering his '02' tattoo. "Attracts too much attention," he told me when he noticed my gaze.

At a loss I followed him into the club, instantly assaulted by the stench of smoke and sweat. I stood in the doorway blinking for several moments until my eyes adjusted to the darkness interspersed with flashing strobe-lights. Once my eyes had adjusted, I hurried after my mentor as he strode purposely towards the back, as though he was familiar with the place. I finally caught up with him as he slid into a corner booth. I hesitated for a moment but slid in across from him when beckoned me with a tilt of his head.

"Umm…" I ventured after several long minutes. My mentor didn't respond. He leaned back in his seat, an arm slung across the back of his seat as he surveyed the club with a small smirk playing across his lips. When one of the scantily clad waitresses strutted by, he grabbed her arm to get her attention.

"Hey sugar!" he practically purred at he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a roll of cash. "Can you get us started on some drinks?" With deliberate care, he pulled two hundred-credit bills from the roll and held them out to her. "Keep the first one for yourself sugar."

"Sure," the waitresses' eyes widened for a moment before stuffing the bills into her low cut – I was hesitant to call it – 'shirt'. "What do you want?" she smacked her gum loudly as gave both of us a onceover.

"I'll leave it up to you," my mentor winked at her. "How long until the show starts?"

The waitress shrugged. "Soon," she replied before sauntering off. I was surprised when she returned so quickly with two drinks on her tray. She set down what looked like a tumbler of whisky in front of my mentor and some sort of orange and pink drink adorned with orange slices and maraschino cherries. I picked up the straw and poked at the drink with uncertainty. I had no idea what it was.

"She got ya good kid!" My mentor had thrown back his head and was laughing heartily. "Pegged ya as first-timer and I'm bettin' she's right!" He turned to look back towards the bar where our waitress was leaning against the bar with a bored expression, waiting for her order to be filled. "I like her," he commented. "She knows how to read people."

I was saved from replying when loud music began blaring and a bevy of half-dressed women sauntered out from the back and up to the various poles dotted around the club. They didn't say dressed for long. Uncomfortable but amazed at the same time with the display of gymnastics in front of me, I gulped down my drink, not even noticing its syrupy sweetness. Summoned by catcalls and waved bills, the women soon slid away from their poles and dispersed into the crowd.

Another fruity drink appeared in front of me and I latched onto it. "Thank you," I said automatically.

"How cute," the waitress regarded me with amusement. "You're gonna get eaten alive hun. Oh, big surprise, Candy's hogging the loaded ones again."

"Huh?" I mumbled around my straw. The waitress shot a disapproving look to the seat across from me where a buxom blonde was straddling my mentor's lap. Distracted by all the half-naked bodies around me, I hadn't even noticed her arrival. My mentor seemed completely at ease, his eyes half-lidded as he watched her gyrate on his lap. Unsure of where to look, I fixed my attention on my drink, carefully peeling off the peels of my orange slices.

"What?" I looked up at the Candy's harsh screech.

"I said, I want her," my superior responded calmly, nodding his head towards a brunette that was slowly making her way towards my superior's beckoning hand.

"What do want with an old hag like her?" Candy pouted.

"Experience hun," the brunette replied as she reached our booth. Looking at her, I could tell that she had been in the profession for a while. Underneath her caked on make-up I could see the creases around her eyes and mouth and her body spoke of the numb detachment of someone who'd seen and done too much.

"Thanks for the dance babe, how about you keep my friend company for a while?" Duo casually slid a few bills into cleft between Candy's bouncing breasts. "It's his first time here."

"Fine," Candy tossed her hair and climbed off his lap. "Hag-chasing freaks like you aren't worth my time."

My mentor didn't seem the least bit affected by Candy's rudeness. In fact, it was almost as though he'd already forgotten about her, his attention fixed solely on the brunette standing right outside our booth. "How about you an' me go somewhere more quiet?" he asked her bluntly.

"Sure hun," the brunette replied. "But it's gonna cost you."

"No problem," my mentor slid out of the booth and draped an arm around her waist as they slinked off into one of the back rooms.

I stared after them, dumbfounded until my vision was blocked when Candy proceeding to climb onto my lap.

"What's your name baby?" she asked me, her attention clearly fixed on the retreating figure of my mentor.

"Umm… I umm…" I stuttered but she didn't seem to notice.

"What about your friend, hmmm? What's his name?" she murmured in my ear as she lightly ran a finger down my chest. I squirmed, my body reacting to her touch.

"Umm… look, I really don't want a dance," I tried to reason with her.

"You don't want one? Oh but I think you do," she gave a meaningful glance at my jean covered crotch. Feeling uncomfortably hot, I pushed her off me and stumbled off towards the bathroom, followed by a chorus of jeers and laughter.

I locked myself in a stall, taking deep gulping breaths as I struggled to calm myself down.

A soft knock on the stall door woke me from my stupor. "You ok hun?"

I opened the stall door to find the waitress standing on the other side.

"Come on out, I'll fix you a drink."

I followed her back out to the bar. Thankfully the other patrons had already forgotten about me, their attention fixed on a fresh flock of strippers currently sliding up and down their poles. Numbly, I sat down the bar stool and gripped glass the waitress had slid across to me.

"You know someone in the business?" she asked me. "Someone close to you?"

I glanced up at her in shock. My mentor was right, as usual, the waitress was an expert at reading people. "Yeah," I responded around a lump in my throat. "I used to."

The waitress nodded sympathetically. "Looks like your friend's done," she remarked as she nodded towards the back. I swiveled around on my stool to see my mentor making a beeline for me, concern etched on his features.

"You ok kid?" he asked, griping my arm.

"You should know better," the waitress chided him, smacking her gum loudly in disapproval.

"Yeah. Thanks." He slid another note across the bar to her. "Let's go kid, I'll take you home."

Still shaken and starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, I stumbled out the club and into the parking lot. The cool night air help calm my shaky nerves and I gratefully inhaled a few deep lungfuls.

"Asshole!" I was shoved aside as a large burly man shoved my mentor up against the wall. "You insulted my Candy!"

I stumbled a few steps to regain my balance, my hand reaching for my Preventers ID in my back pocket. I pulled it free, ready to announce my status as an agent but stopped short when Agent Maxwell fixed me with a steely look and a firm shake of his head.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" the man roared. "Normally I'd offer a rich guy like you a more… private," he leered, "date with my Candy but not when you insult my Candy. Picking some old hag like Linda over Candy. But I'll overlook it just this once if you fork over that wad of cash you're carrying around." He shoved his bearded face forward until he was almost nose to nose with my superior but Agent Maxwell didn't even flinch.

"Let me guess," my mentor drawled with a smirk. I could tell he was drawing out his words deliberately. "Candy identifies the target, you offer a more personal experience and you either rob or blackmail your target. Am I right?"

His answer was an inarticulate growl as the man shoved my mentor harder against the back wall of the club. Instinctively my hand reached for my gun, only to find it wasn't there. With dawning horror, I realized that we had come as civilians, not as agents.

"So," my mentor continued to taunt the larger man. "What's the plan this time… ya gonna mug me?"

"Yeah," the man sneered. "I think I'll do that." He stepped back and pulled out a gun from inside his jacket. "Fork it over!" he demanded, gun pointed straight at my mentor's head.

I scrambled for my phone, my fingers trembling as I tried to dial 9-1-1. I froze when my mentor, without looking at me, motioned for me to stop using Preventers hand signals.

"What the hell?" the burly man's head swiveled towards me as though noticing my presence for the first time. "Drop the phone! I'll shoot, him!" he threated, barrel of the gun pressed firmly against my mentor's forehead. "Don't mess with me, I'll shoot him!"

"Stop yappin' an' just shoot me then!" Agent Maxwell goaded. "'S not the first time someone's pointed a gun at my head, an' it sure as hell won't be the last!"

"You think this is funny asshole?" The man pushed the gun harder against my mentor's forehead.

"You don't have the balls. Come on! Shoot me! Shoot me!" he practically screamed at the man.

My phone fell from my nerveless fingers. I couldn't understand what my mentor was doing. He'd had plenty of opportunities to disable the man, to wrest the gun from his control. I couldn't comprehend what he was thinking, provoking the clearly angry man like that. I started to step towards them, mind racing through the possible ways to disarm the man, even distract him but my mind kept coming up blank. I stopped breathing when I saw the man's finger squeeze the trigger.

Click.

I don't know who was more surprised when the gun didn't fire.

"Huh?" the man stared at his gun in shock as though he'd never seen it before.

"I think yer looking for this," my mentor informed him cheerily, holding up the gun's clip. "Ya clearly don't know how to use that thing. Ya didn' even notice that the gun was lighter, amateur!"

With lightning fast reflexes, my mentor kneed the man hard in the groin, sending him crumbling to the ground. Picking up the dropped gun, he delivered another sharp kick to the gut of the moaning man. "I'm keepin' this. An idiot like you might end up killin' yourself with this… although that wouldn't really be a bad thing…"

I couldn't help it. All the stress and tension of the night suddenly slid away and I found myself laughing hysterically. I didn't even realize that I'd fallen to my knees until my mentor hauled me up and dragged me towards the car. My hysterical laughter lasted throughout the short drive and didn't stop until my mentor pulled the SUV into an underground parking complex.

"Huh?" I gasped, winded from my long bout of laughter. "Where are we?"

"My place." He pulled the keys out of the ignition and opened the car door.

"What? But sir!" I protested as I slid out after him.

My mentor headed straight for the elevator and waited until I joined him before pushing the button for the second floor: 02. He didn't speak but stared blankly ahead, his silence continuing as we exited the elevator and he unlocked the door to room 202.

"Are you mad sir?" I ventured at last when he closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking distracted. "Huh, no. Just thinkin', that's all. I put ya through too much kid. Not a good idea to send ya off home on your own. Plus… it's no fun drinkin' alone."

"Drinking?" I blinked before remembering that despite ordering, my mentor hadn't touched his drink at all tonight. I followed him into the living room which was surprisingly sparse and minimalistic considering that although not messy, my mentor's desk at work was… cluttered to put it nicely.

I took a seat on the couch while my mentor disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to get something to drink. He returned with a chilled six-pack of beer which he set on the low-lying coffee table. Grabbing a bottle for himself and tossing another bottle to me, he leaned back in his armchair, propped his socked feet up on the table and took a long swig from his bottle.

"Ah," he sighed. "Nothin' like a cold one after a long day's work."

"Umm… sir?"

"Yeah kid?" he lifted a brow at me before taking another swig.

"Are you ok sir?" I asked, taking a small sip of my own beer.

"Why do ya ask?"

"Well… you had many chances to disable that man before you took him down but… you baited him instead."

"Ah well. Force o' habit I guess. My mouth tends to get away from me. Plus, if I'd taken him down right away, he wouldn't have learned anything. He'd just come after me to get even or whatever."

"Oh," his logic made sense. No doubt that man last night would think twice before picking up another gun.

"How did you do it?"

"Oh, ya mean the magazine? Yeah, I picked it when he grabbed me. I'm so used to doin' it that it's practically second nature."

"But why did you stop me from showing my badge? I'm sure he would have thought twice about trying to mug you or pulling the gun on you…"

My mentor shrugged. "I didn't really want to advertise the fact that we were there."

"You mean you didn't want Agent Yuy to find out?" I don't know if it was the alcohol or just pure stupidity but the words tumbled unheeded from my mouth. Immediately recognizing my mistake, I felt a cold sweat cover my entire body.

Agent Maxwell's gaze chilled me to the bone. "You don't have a very high tolerance for alcohol, do you?" His switch to a suddenly cool and polished tone sent a shiver down my spine.

"I'm so sorry sir! I was completely out of line. Your personal life is your personal life and it's none of my business! I-" I hurriedly babbled out an apology.

"Cool it kid," my mentor interrupted me, his tone back to normal. "Heero won't care. He's half a million miles away anyways. Which reminds me, I told him I'd call him tonight." My mentor's tone was flat and lifeless as he spoke those words.

"I should get going then," I rose from my seat on the couch.

"Didn't I already say you bein' on your own tonight isn't a good idea? You can crash in the spare bedroom."

"I'm fine, really," I tried to protest. "I'm sorry about panicking outside the club, but I'm fine now sir! And I hope you won't hold it against me sir, because I'd really like to get out in the field sometime and…" I realized I was babbling aimlessly and stopped. "Anyways, I should be going." I headed towards the door.

"I know about your mother," my mentor told me quietly, his tone turning serious again. "In hindsight, I really shouldn't have brought you to the club."

His words stopped me dead in my tracks. "How do you know?"

"Well, it was more of a suspicion but it was confirmed when I saw how you reacted in the club."

"Oh."

"So come on, ya need some sleep kid!" My mentor returned to his friendly tone.

I followed him down the hall, noting the location of the bathroom as he pointed it out to me. He opened the second to last door in the hall and gestured me in. "Let me go grab you somethin' to sleep in." He entered the bedroom at the end of the hall and emerged with a Preventers T-shirt and a pair of sweats. "There should be an unused toothbrush in the top drawer of the bathroom," he informed me before disappearing back into the living room.

On autopilot, I changed into the clothes provided and found the unused toothbrush still in its packaging. After I finished brushing my teeth, I placed my toothbrush into the cup out of habit and blinked in surprise. There was only one other cup in the bathroom and it only held one toothbrush. Curious, I opened the medicine cabinet but found no other toothbrush. I found several bottles of prescription drugs, mostly painkillers, but they all bore the name of Agent Maxwell. I frowned in puzzlement. I knew that my superior always went home with Agent Yuy when he was in the office and I was under the impression that the two were living together.

I made my way back into the living room, just as my mentor hung up the phone with a muted 'talk to you later'.

"Did ya find everything?"

"Yes, thank you sir. Umm…"

"Yeah?"

"Agent Yuy won't mind me staying here?"

"Woah kid! I don't know what kind of impression I gave ya but I'm not expecting anythin' to happen between you an' me."

"No no no!" I waved my hands frantically, my cheeks heating up. "That's not what I meant. It's just… I'd heard that Agent Yuy is very particular about his space and I don't want to intrude or cause any trouble or…"

My mentor frowned in genuine puzzlement before barking out a laugh. "Stop worryin' so much kid. Besides, Heero doesn't live here, he's got a house in the 'burbs."

"Oh." I could only respond dumbly.

"Well, I'm gonna go get some shut-eye. Ya good kid?"

"Yes sir. Good night sir." I entered the spare bedroom and sat down on the bed, my mind racing from all the events of the past few hours. Office gossip said that the two agents were living together but the suburbs were on the opposite side of town while my mentor's apartment was only about a 15 minute drive from the recreation district. And then there was my mentor's surprise visit to the strip club, his going to a private room and then his behaviour in the parking lot.

I just didn't know what to believe anymore.

AN: Hey y'all. So... completely blown away by all the feedback this story has been generating. Thank you for all your comments! It really means a lot to me if you take a few seconds to review. :) Also, thank you for all your patience! I realize I'm a slow writer/updater but well, this is a hobby and sadly I don't have too much free time.

See you next chapter!

(On the side note, I'm not the first to write from a different POV so I can't take credit for that but... I do hope that I can put my own spin on this with my 'unnamed' POV)