This is for the Strange Days contest. This
pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it
would be an interesting combination. Okay - and somewhere
along writing this chapter there was a complete plot shift and
now things are heading away from where I originally intended
- its no longer so light and fluffy. Hmmmm... guess that's
what happens when you let those pesky characters make choices!
Title: Two Become One 2/?
Author: Rhina
Pairings: You should get a hint this time! Possibly....Maybe....
*******
WARNING: Angst
*******
Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts
otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the
school board. I don't own
the song "Two Become One" by the
Spice Girls either - thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to
them?!
lyrics
~~~ scene change ~~~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Say you believe it, Say you believe it
Free your mind of doubt and danger
Be for real don't be a stranger
We can achieve it, we can achieve it
With a stretch of cramped legs and arms, Duo exited the
transport terminal and took a deep breath. "Ah, good ole
Earth," he commented with a smile.
Hoisting his bags further onto his shoulder, he leaned out and
hailed a passing cab. Directing it to the nearest hotel, he
watched the scenery pass by as he accustomed himself to the
sights of the new city he would call home.
After quickly settling in at the hotel, his temporary abode until
he had a chance to find more permanent accommodations, he
decided that there was no time like the present to check in at
HQ. The flight had been
long and boring, but it had dropped
him off in the middle of the Earth day, so at least he should
attempt to get something accomplished during these daylight
hours, despite his body's clamoring for some much needed rest.
Catching a cab once more, he headed across town toward the
massive Preventer Headquarters just outside of the official
city limits in a quiet secured office district. In fact, it looked
so blatantly normal, Duo was pretty sure that most people never
even realized what they were working next to.
With a lithe movement, he swung his six-foot frame from the
cab and paid the driver. Striding carelessly up the stairs to the
main entrance, his deep violet eyes lit with pleasure and his
braid swung merrily behind him. He could feel how good a
move this had been just by the simple act of climbing these
stairs. The fresh Earth
air surrounded him and the bright sun
promised a good life here.
Entering the building by the front door, opposed to his normal
routine of finding the most obscure access point and entering
there, seemed almost out of character for him. He looked
around at the impressive foyer of the place before spotting the
pert redhead receptionist behind the long sleek black desk.
Standing next to her, her back facing him, was a very shapely
blond, with long hair streaming down her back and a nicely
fitted uniform. He
definitely hoped that the face fit the
gorgeous creature's visible assets for it would certainly be an
acquaintance worth making in that case.
Disappointed that the blonde moved away before he could
even see her face, he went about making eye contact with a
pair of blatant green eyes. Duo smirked with pleasure and
strode over to her side. "Things are definitely looking up,"
he purred under his breath. "Beautiful women always did like
a man about to don a uniform after all."
Leaning flirtatiously against the desk, he inquired about the
whereabouts of Commander Une, whom he was due to report
to today. With a warm
smile and a slight come hither look in
her eyes, the receptionist agreed to take him wherever he
needed to go.
"Oh baby," he whispered down near her ear as she
stood.
"You don't have any idea where I want to go."
As they flirted throughout the trip up to Une's office, Duo
paid attention with only part of his mind, while the other half
was busy memorizing the layout and noticing who was
working in the building. The secretary was nice and it was
always good to have someone to flirt with, but he was here to
do a job so he wasn't going to be totally distracted from
that.
But he kept the old adage of all work and no play makes Duo
a dull boy firmly in his mind as he encouraged some
familiarity with an arm around the pretty girl's shoulders.
Just outside of Une's office, the pair nearly ran into a Chinese
man, striding purposefully from the room.
"Wu-man!!" crowed Duo with delight, immediately leaving
the secretary behind to impulsively hug the dark haired
glowering man. "I
wondered when I'd get to see you!"
"What brought you here _Duo_?" asked Wufei, purposefully
delineating Duo's name, reminding Duo how much he detested
the shortened nominclature he had been awarded by the braided
pilot of Deathscythe. "One had hoped you were staying on L2
for good now."
"Nah," said Duo, brashly ignoring Wufei's stiff posture
and
delightedly hugging him again. "I missed you too much to
stay away."
"How....special," drawled Wufei with sarcasm, his glare
daring the other man to touch him again as his body shifted
to provide more space between them. "One hopes then that
you are making only a brief visit."
"You're gaining a sense of humor Wu-man, as caustic as it
is!" cheered Duo with enthusiasm. He smiled broadly at
Wufei's deepening scowl. "And good news for you, I'm here
to stay for a bit. Une
gave me a job!"
"More's the pity," grumbled Wufei, turning on his
heel.
"Now if you'll excuse me, _I_ have work to do."
Giving the secretary a pointed look, Wufei hurried on his
way.
Noticing at that moment that Commander Une had appeared
in the doorway to investigate the commotion, the secretary
also decided that it was time to vacate. Duo watched her go
with some pleasure and certain in the knowledge that he'd
work on building their relationship later.
Une stood quietly in the doorway for a moment, her eyes
appraising the figure before her. His lean youthful form had
filled out into that of a lithe young man. Unconscious grace
seeped through him making his movements subtle and
tantalizing to the senses. His long chocolate colored hair was
woven into the familiar braid and the black clothing encased
and displayed his fine form and muscles gained doing heavy
Sweeper work. Those
startling violet eyes peeked into his soul
and radiated the life that he loved. It had been a long time
since she had seen such a fine specimum of a man.
"Trust you to stir things up the minute you walk in a
building,"
commented Une dryly, ushering Duo in to the polished space.
Entering the quiet space, Duo regarded his new superior
officer careful. Her long
chestnut colored hair brushed her
shoulders and cheeks gently as she moved. Her blue eyes had
softened with age and experience. Long fingered elegant hands
punctuated her gestures and her slender form had that delicate
turn a woman's should. Careful examination though brought
to light the dark circles beneath her eyes and the slight tremble
to her hands. Something
was upsetting Une and that startled
Duo deeply.
"Hey, at least I walked in," retorted Duo, settling
himself in a
chair in front of the desk. "There were probably about a million
other ways to choose to get here."
Une shook her head and silky hair brushed against smooth
cheeks as she smiled ruefully. "For the headache hiring you
is likely to cause me, I hope the pay off is worth it."
"Hey, what more do you want than to have my charming self
around?" asked Duo with a disarming grin, large hands
spread in an innocent gesture.
Une smiled in response and then sobered slightly. "Actually
that would be nice, but the reason that I called you here is a
little more important than that."
Duo instantly came to attention and looked directly at Une's
serious expression as he leaned forward to meet her steady
gaze. "This is
something more than the fancy dancy job title
you gave me, isn't it?"
Thoughtfully Une nodded and looked Duo over carefully,
those blue eyes looked concern yet somehow hopeful at the
same time. "The job
offer is real and I would like you to
accept it. There's just a
little something extra that comes as
part of the package."
Intrigued, Duo raised an eyebrow in her direction. It was
unlike Une to be all mysterious and classified with her
information. This must be
something really big for her to be
playing her cards so close to her chest. Spotting the shaking
of her hands as they picked up a pen, it made her more than
a little nervous in Duo's mind. He decided it was definitely
the key to those dark circles under her eyes he had spotted
earlier.
Standing and gesturing Duo to follow her, Une led the way
to a concealed alcove in corner, hidden away by some potted
plants. There she pressed
a small key and a slender door
swung open. She led Duo
into what seemed to be a second
office with only a small desk, several cabinets of files and a
computer. It was an
impersonal space, meant to conceal and
never reveal its secrets.
The door clicked shut behind him as Duo stepped into the
room. Une clicked a few of
the keys on the small computer
console atop the desk and a white noise generator began
whirring, hiding those secrets a little further.
Duo looked around at the room in amazement. Duo always
knew she had more than a few secrets, but he never suspected
anything this involved. "Never would have guessed this room
existed myself."
"I know," said Une, leaning against the desk, arms
folded
across her chest in a concealing gesture. "Working with Treize
made me paranoid and I had this room built for my own
benefit when the headquarters were being designed. Only
myself and one other gentleman know of its existence."
"So what's with all the secrecy, Une," queried Duo,
leaning
against the file cabinet to his right, violet eyes awash with
curiousity. "It's
rather unlike your ice queen reputation."
Une smirked. "Thank
you for considering me at least partly
human. It has to do with
the Preventers."
"Being that we're in Preventer Headquarters, this would seem
to be the perfect place to bring up such an issue," teased
Duo,
his eyes sparkling merrily attempting to lighten the serious
attitude.
With a weak smile, Une shook her head. "It's not that easy.
It has to do with someone betraying Preventer agents from
the inside - one of our own has been selling us out."
Shocked into silence, Duo's violet eyes grew hard and
deepened in color, shining with the light of a dangerous sense
of protection. "Who?"
he demanded.
Pushing a hand through her silky brown hair, Une sighed.
"That's the problem. I can't tell, so I started out having to
suspect everyone in our organization. Until recently I was
literally doing that! I
didn't want to tip my hand that I knew
it was someone on the inside, but yet, I had to do
something."
Duo nodded in agreement, his own countenance thoughtful as
he considered the possibilities. He desperately wished to
soothe the older woman across from him. "With so many
employees, are there any you can rule out just by the fact that
they wouldn't handle such sensitive information?"
Une shook her head in the affirmative. "I've done that, weeding
down through the candidates until I actually have a section
where the leak must work."
"Where?" demanded Duo roughly, sensing that it had
something
to do with his new job assignment.
"Development," stated Une, concurring Duo's
suspicion. "I
know you've worked on and off for us for years, and when the
head of the department resigned, I thought it would be a good
time to bring in someone on my side."
Duo stared blankly into space, his thoughts busy with the
complications and implications of what had been happening.
"And you're sure it wasn't the director?"
With a sigh, Une nodded. "He was nearly 75 when he retired
and was loyal to the Preventers because I backed Relena and
that was what he wanted. He couldn't have hurt a soul. All he
wanted was a place to putter and test his experiements. There
wasn't a deceptive bone in his body."
Riding the train of his thoughts, Duo continued to question
Une, garnering more and more information about the
sabotaging of Preventer agents. Some times it was undercover
agents that were blatantly exposed by underhanded means or
devices that did not work the way that they were supposed to
or the agent was prepared to use it incorrectly, sometimes
resulting in fatal accidents. Une had managed to keep the
information under raps at the moment, but it was fast becoming
out of her control. The
press were closing in, sensing a story in
the many deaths or 'accidents' surrounding the work of the
Preventers.
"I want to get to the bottom of this," growled Une,
pacing
along the small space. "I want it stopped and stopped right now.
No one hurts my agents and gets away with it."
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Duo smiled slightly at her words,
but it never quite reached his eyes. Somewhere deep inside, the
soul of the Shinigami peered out once more and Une shivered
slightly. The glow faded
slightly and the laughing, smiling Duo
returned once more.
"Well, first things first," said Duo, rubbing his hands
together
determinedly. He had never
been one to back down from a
mission of any kind. "I need a tour of this establishment and
one of those snazzy uniforms."
Une nodded and caught the wink Duo threw her way.
"Uniforms really attract the ladies after all," he
added, making
Une's smile broaden.
With a laugh, the two emerged from the inner office. Une
immediately picked up the telephone and summoned Wufei
back to her office. "I want him to give you the tour because he
knows why you're really here. You and he are the only ones
privileged to know this information."
Duo smirked. "Trusting the two of us together Une? Not
perhaps your wisest move."
"Perhaps not," laughed Une, tossing her hair back over
her
shoulder. "But this
way I figure you'll either get along or kill
each other, thereby saving me the trouble of dealing with it
either way."
Duo laughed heartily as Wufei knocked smartly on the office
door and slipped in on silent feet. With a nod, Wufei
understood that Duo was now fully aware of the situation and
his role in the operation. A long look passed between the two
men and boundaries were set and partnership - even friendship -
was reaffirmed in a glance.
Une rolled her eyes at the masculine peacock preening and
settled for getting down to business. She handed Duo several
files and a security card, coded for the highest security level
possible, and a small laser disc. "That's the information you
will need to do your job. Keep with you at all times. We
will
provide you with any other equipment that you need through
the standard requisitions - I believe you're aware how that
works."
Duo simply nodded, accepting the items and immediately
clipping the badge to the front of his shirt.
Une then continued with her instructions. "Wufei, I want you
to take Duo around and show him the facility and where things
are. Make sure and get him
fitted for a uniform and into his
office to begin his duties. There's still a workday left here boys."
Knowing that they had been dismissed, Wufei and Duo turned
as one and quietly left the office behind. After they had shut
the door behind them, Wufei briskly led Duo down to the main
floor and down a side hallway to a small supply room that was
lined with pressed uniforms.
Snickering to himself slightly, Duo selected one of the short
feminine skirts that functioned as part of the dress uniform.
"What do you think?" he asked Wufei. "Does wonders for
my figure, doesn't it?"
Wufei only snorted in response, taking the offending item
away from Duo and dragging him over to a selection of more
appropriate clothing choices. "Try these." He
smirked slightly
then. "Unless you're
more of a ladies man that we previously
realized."
Duo immediately looked indignant and without another word
but a scowl for Wufei, who was immensely pleased at having
scored a point against the brunette, he grabbed the appropriate
uniform and headed for the small bathroom to change.
While Duo was busy doning the uniform that represented his
new career, Wufei collected extras of the items for him and
stuffed them into a regulation bag.
"How do I look - dashing?" asked Duo as he came out with
his 'civilian' clothes in a lumpy tangle. He posed flashily for
an unimpressed Wufei, preening deliberately.
Rolling his eyes in disgust, Wufei held the bag open to accept
the clothing and then thrust it at Duo. "If you mean the ladies
shall go dashing away, then you look presentable."
Laughing at the joke, Duo slung an arm around Wufei's
shoulders compainably. For
a moment his dark violet eyes
darken and he spoke quietly. "Let's rock and roll."
Silently nodding in agreement, Wufei led the thoughtful Duo
from the room. In relative
peace, except for Wufei's quiet
explanations or Duo's joking commentary, the pair worked
their way back to the development section of the Preventer
Headquarters.
Located a slight distance from the offices and main work areas,
they walked down several flights of stairs and through a series
of concrete tunnels before reaching the main entrance.
"Une wanted this area to have privacy, security and the
ability
to run the needed tests without having it located in another city
entirely," commented Wufei as the entered through the main
security doors, displaying their ids and palm prints for the
guards on duty.
Duo scanned the area as he entered through the checkpoint.
He was looking for anything and anyone who was a security
risk. His nerves were
taunt and his senses fine tuned as the
Shinigami prowled through his skin, staring out through dull
colored eyes. Information
was sorted, classified and stored
until needed. He wasn't
sure what could possibly lead to a clue
now, but he was looking for any lead to help Une.
Wufei noticed the increase in the intensity of Duo's gaze and
nodded in thoughtful agreement with Une's choice. Whenever
there had been something wrong with any of them, it has
always been Duo to rush in to pick up the pieces. His pure
passion for LIFE not death was what made him an ideal protector
of others and defender of the right to live. Wufei admired the grit
and determination that Duo had always possessed and it was what
made him such a good friend.
Leading without a spoken word, Wufei guided Duo through the
main testing areas. He
quietly introduced staff members as they
came across them. Each
greeted the new comer eagerly and
launched quickly into a prompted discussion on the work they
were doing. They were an
enthusiastic bunch, mostly geeks and
scientists busy with their projects and experiments, their minds
solving complex electrical problems even as they carried on a
distracted conversation.
Finally reaching the office area, Wufei introduced Duo to the
department's director's assistant. He was a good-natured brash
young man, working in here for his first year. Duo immediately
like short dark haired man and knew that he was a source to be
cultivated. The man
introduced himself as Kyle Norseman and
looked very relieved to meet his new director and seemed quite
eager to please.
Duo pulled open the door to his office then, eager to inspect
'his' space. "My
own.... what are you doing in here?"
demanded Duo, startled to see a pale haired young man searching
through the files in his cabinet. "I thought this was the
Director's office."
The man across from Duo swallowed nervously. His naturally
flushed cheeks, turned a deeper shade of red, showing through
the roots of pale hair. Limpid blue eyes played hide and seek
behind the thick lenses of his glasses. Nervously a hand pushed
up the glasses at the nose piece and he cleared his throat.
"I'm Carver Fultz," said the man in a hesitant
voice. "I'm the
assistant director of this section. Since there's no director at
the moment, I've been managing things for Commander Une.
In order to do that, I needed a couple of reports from this
cabinet."
With a nod of understanding, Duo smiled reassuringly at the
man, relaxing his guard slightly. "Didn't mean to scare you,
I just didn't think there'd be anyone in my office,"
commented
Duo, holding out his hand in greeting. "I'm Duo Maxwell, the
new director. Une hired me
this afternoon."
Carver quickly excepted the hand offered to him and shook
it vigorously. "Glad
to have you here! I was getting a
little
sick of doing all that paperwork anyway! I wish I the
Commander had informed me sooner of your arrival and I
would have made sure that we were prepared."
Duo waved off the concern with a flick of his hand. "Not
important in the slightest. She briefed me on a couple of
things and then you and I can sit down and bring me up to
speed tomorrow morning. Right now I'm just going to get
settled in."
"Certainly sir," said Carver respectfully, nodding to
both
Duo and Wufei. "I'll
just get back to my own office and
begin working up a list of information that you'll be sure to
need."
With the click of the shut door signaling his departure, Duo
moved closer to Wufei and lowered his voice. "Make sure
that I get a copy of all the employee records. I want to go
over them tonight."
"That should be in the stack that Une gave you," noted
Wufei,
gesturing at the files Duo carried. "But I'll make sure."
Duo nodded. "I'll
bring in some of my own stuff and sweep
this office for anything out of the ordinary. I'll let you know
in the morning if there's anything that I need."
"Certainly," agreed Wufei, raising the level of his
voice.
"Being that there is still part of the day left, I'll leave
you to
get to work. I'm sure that
there is something for you to do
here."
Duo laughed and escorted Wufei to the door. "You could
say that."
Wufei scowled his good-bye and took his leave then, heading
back to report briefly to Une and then to his own work.
Immediately Duo turned to Kyle and began his own work,
referring to his assistant for advice and help in locating needed
files and information.
For nearly a solid week, Duo worked hard. Late into the night
he searched files and databases, cross-referencing sources,
searching for the illusive key to the sabetour. Each day he
pried a little more at the secret, uncovering a new facet or idea
he had previously overlooked. The employees under his
direct supervision became wary of his presence at times and
others rejoiced in his quick wit and ready laugh. Carver and
Kyle became indespensible with their aid and helping him dig
for needed information. Even all day every day was never
enough and his research then lasted late into the night. The
Shinigami fed on the work in the late night hours, driving his
burning desire to find this person.
At the end of that week, there was another 'accident'. Duo
personally investigated this one. He came away disgusted
with the ingenuity of the traitor and more determined than
ever to stop the madman, as he had come to be thought of by
Duo. His conclusions were
frighteningly cold and calculated
and his time for making deductions was running out.
He came to share his information with Une that evening and
found her crying in her office over the loss of 'her'
soldiers.
Nothing haunted him more than the sadness in her eyes and
the helplessness that he felt at seeing her pain. Tenderly he
folded her in his strong arms and gathered her close to his
warmth.
"I will get him Une," vowed Duo in a growl. "I will."
"And I'll help him," stated Wufei, having entered the
room
on silent feet. He moved
to stand next to Une, laying a hand
against her strong arm. "Don't worry. His weakness
will be
revealed."
Duo nodded in agreement and Une smiled weakly at the two
men. "I'll believe
you guys, but get me some results soon!"
"Done," said Duo firmly and Wufei smiled, relaxing the
tenseness from his body. Une's pain disturbed Wufei for some
reason. There was
something about seeing her cry that affected
him deeply, but it was nothing that he could put a finger on.
Noticing the dark circles beneath the eyes of both Duo and
Une, Wufei promptly came to a decision. "I don't think we're
going to get anything done tonight though."
"Too weak to work?" teased Duo, a smile on his lips but
never
lighting his eyes.
"As if, but you soon will be without a little
relaxation," scowled
Wufei. "So I propose
a little relaxation for all of us. After all
Sally...."
"Sally!" cried Une, interrupting Wufei as an expression
of
dismay crossed her features. "I forgot all about Sally!"
"Sally?" asked Duo, puzzled slightly. "Is she here? I haven't
seen her around at all."
Wufei nodded. "She
works as the head of the Medical
Division so I doubt you'd have much contact with her at
this time. She's throwing
a party tonight."
"She's heading out on a mission and just wanted an excuse
to see people before she left," said Une with pursed
lips.
"Perhaps I should cancel the mission."
With a shake of his head, Wufei negated the thought. "You
know her, she'd just go anyway. But we can at least head out
to the party. Besides, all
work and no play...."
"Makes Duo a dull boy!" laughed Duo and Une and together
the trio left the office, heading for Sally's and the party.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
C&C ?! I've never
written ANYTHING this plot intensive before
so I am really interesting in hearing what ya'll think!
