Author: Arithion/Arithkenshin

Email: arithkenshin@yahoo.co.uk

Title: Delusions of Normalcy

Rating: R

Warnings: Continuation, language, introspective mild Angst,

Disclaimer: I don't own them; I don't get any money from this… just a time-sink

Set: End of GW

Summary: "If you use a tool in the wrong way, you can end up breaking more than you fix."

Notes: If you wish to Archive, please ask. Thanks to Sol for betaing. /salute War Room

I'd really like to thank all the people who responded to the last chapter. Gave me the guts to slog through this chapter and make the minute changes I needed to… for future fluidity. Delusions of Normalcy

Hamstrung

It was early. Duo sighed as he rolled over in bed, and gave up on going back to sleep. Rolling himself out of bed completely, he dropped silently to his knees. He grabbed his usual garb, felt that the material was getting a little thin with age, and realised that he would have to replace his three outfits in a little while. It was sad, because they had been through so much with him.

Making his way silently downstairs, he made himself the cup of tea that he would never let anyone know that he drank, and made his way out to the dew drenched backyard. Looking around, he found a perfect spot to sit in, just below the only excuse for a tree that was in the partially landscaped back yard. He knew that the guys working on the house wouldn't be there until about eight am, so he had around two and a half hours, though less time before the household started waking up.

Putting his mug out of reach, he settled himself on the grass, legs pressed to either side of him, and began running through his breathing and control excercises, heightening his senses. It made him aware of almost everything. After some time had passed, he felt relatively warmed up and moved, beginning to stretch. As he hadn't done so for at least a week, he was feeling a little stiff, but he would fix that soon.

#*#

Wufei woke a little earlier than usual and got out of bed. Glancing out of the window he thought he saw something strange but dismissed it, considering how cluttered the backyard was due to the construction still being undertaken on the other half of the house. After getting dressed he headed downstairs, feeling desperately like a mug of tea to start his day off.

When he got to the kitchen he picked up the kettle and frowned. It was already warm, and as he looked over, he realised that the coffee pot was brewing merrily. Frowning, he wondered who had woken up before him, as he had come through the living room and noticed that Maxwell was not there, he thought the American might be sleeping in for once. Still frowning, Wufei made his way out to the living room and walked to the window to look out, sipping the cup of tea he had made as he did so. His eyes scanned the yard, and he did a double take, rubbing at his eyes before looking out again.

#*#

Someone was awake. Duo knew it. Breaking the position he was currently holding, he picked up his mug, and made his way back to the house. Pushing passed Wufei, he entered the house. "Morning, Chang. Nice to see someone else up before the day is old."

Wufei was curious, he hadn't had a good enough look. "What were you doing out there Maxwell?"

"Me? Why, whatever do you mean?" Duo feigned innocence. He was hoping to get into the kitchen, and rinse out his mug, before the Chinese man's attention shifted and realised that Duo had been drinking tea instead of coffee. It was just something that Wufei would notice.

"Out there… what were you doing? You weren't sitting, at least…" His voice tapered off, as he tried to think exactly what it was that he had seen. It just didn't seem to fit the American.

"Oh that?" Duo grinned. "Why didn't you say that? I was practicing sleeping with my eyes open!" With a laugh Duo walked into the kitchen, successfully hiding the fact that he had just drunk tea, and leaving a rather perturbed Wufei behind him.

#*#

Wufei had counted. It was the 37th position that Duo had switched to in the last hour and a half. The Chinese man felt like he was going insane, and was just glad that he could feel the household stirring around him. If he wasn't mistaken, the Japanese youth had been awake for a while, but was only just making his way downstairs.

White t-shirt, tucked into blue jeans, Heero felt decidedly uncomfortable. Nodding his head as he walked though the main room, he absently greeted the two occupants before heading into the kitchen to get himself a drink of water.

Duo, noticing the next member of the household to venture out of bed, rolled off the couch and followed him. "So Heero, how'd you sleep? I know I…"

Someone was at the door again, and Duo's focus changed. "Oooo, I'll get that shall I?" And he headed quickly for the door.

Trowa was standing at the base of the stairs, nodded to Wufei on the couch, and Heero who was leaning against the kitchen doorframe. "New meaning to saved by the bell, really."

Heero's eyes were piercing, before he let out a tight-lipped smile. "You sure you were a mercenary before you became a pilot, Trowa?"

"Careful Heero, Duo might be proven right if you keep that up." A small smile tugged at both their lips, when the object of discussion entered the living room, holding a package in his left hand.

Ripping it open, Duo barely glanced at the letter, mumbling out loud what it said. "Please distribute these letters amongst your comrades. Assignments are attached."

"Well, guess we find out just what we're allowed to do with our lives now, don't we?" Not expecting an answer to his rhetorical question, Duo idly handed out the letters, opening his, and holding Quatre's out over the stair banister waiting for the few seconds it took before Quatre was down far enough to take it out of his hands. "Morning, Quatre." he murmured absently, a slight frown creasing his face as he read.

Mr D. Maxwell

Please find attached the details for your enrolment in the Preventers. This will include the classes that you will be required to attend for normal, fieldwork agent training, as well as your personal schedule, and your living arrangements. You will be required to attend a meeting with myself and Mr Malcolm Gray in 12 days from the above date, in room 1403, on the fourteenth floor of the Preventer Headquarters with your fellow comrades.

Please note that your special classes will include, but not be limited to: Computer intelligence systems, Infiltration and Networking.

There will also be a briefing that you will have to attend. After the gathering with your comrades, please make sure that they will take care of any belongings that you bring with you whilst you are required at this briefing.

Each student is permitted to have outside contact, holidays and weekends away, as long as permission is first sought from the head of the school and institute. Please note that we are also aware that your skills may outstrip many of the current students, however due to your special circumstances you are required to go through the training and gain yourself qualifications. Please do your best not to cause undue unrest, as you will have to be dealt with the way all students would be.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to welcoming you in twelve days' time.

Lady Une

Director

Duo glared at his piece of paper after having read it a second time and realising that there was no way that the words were going to change. He chanced a look up at his comrades to see what their reactions to their letters were. And he could safely say that each of them had a scowl on their faces. Including Quatre.

"Well, bet you I take the cake!" Something had to break the ice. Duo figured it may as well be him, as usual.

"How so?" Quatre looked like he was trying to contain his temper.

"I have to make sure that you guys can take care of my stuff and moving me in, before we go, because I get to go to a second 'audience' with the lovely people… after we have already been 'briefed'."

"Why?" Heero crossed his arms again, obviously not caring if he squashed the paper he was holding.

"I don't know Heero, they'll tell me when I get there. And since we're stuck with this crap and I want a decent room, I'm going to put that there laptop we have to good use, and freaking find out where we're going to be staying. Need to stay in shape now don't we… or at least my, how did they put it? Ahhh yes," he glanced back down at what was written in his letter, "my ability with computer intelligence systems." He snorted. "I think I'll just stick to hacker… it sounds so much more poetic."

Heero looked at him and nodded. "Considering I apparently need to keep the same thing in practice, I'll help you."

#*#

No one was impressed. The information that Duo and Heero had managed to garner information about the complex, the way the type of university was run, and what was entailed. Reading it left none of them in a good mood. They were all getting ready to leave for the college, each of them trying to think of something else they could do to get out of it. Apart from just fleeing, none of them could think of anything. Frankly after almost eighteen months on the run, no one really felt like running again.

#*#

The face grinned back at him, violet eyes shining with something other than mirth. There was a sense of finality in his eyes. Perhaps it was about the triumph, perhaps about something else, but then no one would ever really know. Something else was in those eyes as well though, a tinge of resolve, contained barely by a trace of sadness. The latter disappeared so fast; one would think it their imagination.

Sixteen days ago the wars had ended, sixteen days ago the Gundam Pilots had lost their purpose, and twelve days ago five youths had been given the chance to gain their reprieve, and change their bloodthirsty destiny. There were options opened to them by the government, who was reluctant to turn the hero's of the war over to juvenile detention; who knew that there was a lot to thank the Gundam pilots for. Options opened that would have otherwise been closed to five seventeen year old boys. Though seventeen years in, their minds were a different story. Any government that does not use those resources that are open to them, is a government begging to be destroyed.

"Tools." The word dripped from the mouth looking at him, a sneer spread itself over the usual countenance. "We'll see." Idly he reached down to his pocket and pulled out a printout that he had not deigned to show anyone. He knew what was in store for him, and he didn't know how he felt about it. Eyeing the piece of paper, a slightly cunning smile spread across his face. "If you use a tool in the wrong way, you can end up breaking more than you fix."

Turning away from the mirror, Duo Maxwell's smile never reached his eyes. He made his way down the stairs to the transport waiting for him, his braid bobbing in his wake.

#*#

Arriving at the Preventers Headquarters, Duo smirked up at the building as he got out of the car. Having kept up a constant stream of chatter in it, he fell silent as they stopped. The smirk spread over his face, his thoughts wandering a little. He wondered just what the briefing would contain; he was curious as to just what it was that Colonel Une would have to say to them that he had not been able to find out for himself by using his own skills. He was fairly certain that the others would not receive the assignment that he himself had. Duo was torn out of his momentary lapse by a query next to him.

"What do you think of it?" Trowa was looking at Duo, his face marred by a slight frown.

"Of what might that be?" It was a typical avoidance maneuver whilst trying to bring his thoughts back to the present. It had never failed to aid Duo in a cause.

"Everything. The end. The offers. The circumstances." Not much deterred Trowa when he had a bone in his teeth.

"Everything would take too long. Every end is just the beginning of something new. Time will tell. Same shit, different day!" And Duo closed it off with a wink, wringing a dry chuckle from someone he now considered some sort of friend.

"And I almost thought you were being poetic, Duo."

Duo's laugh was throaty as he bounded up the stairs to the entrance behind the others. He called out behind, twirling to look down at Trowa, throwing his arms dramatically to either side. "Today is the first day of the rest of our lives, Trowa." And he disappeared from view, leaving Trowa to follow in his wake, a thoughtful look on his face.

#*#

If he had to admit it, Trowa was confused by Duo. A few days beforehand the American had become a little subdued, or perhaps it was just less obviously loud. In any case, Trowa thought it might have something to do with the up and coming briefing. He hoped he would find out.

Following the rest of them into the elevator, Trowa watched as the chestnut-haired boy fidgeted a little nervously. Then, a rather evil grin crossed his face, and he reached up, pulling the tie out of Wufei's hair so quickly that had Trowa not been watching, he would have missed it.

Clamping the hand not holding the tie over his mouth, Duo suppressed laughter, while Wufei slowly turned and glared at the American.

"Awww, come on Chang! Don't try to kill me with a glare. You should know by now, I'm immune!"

Raising an eyebrow Wufei looked at the other youth. "Give. Me. The. Tie. Now. Maxwell."

A pout spread across Duo's face as he reluctantly handed the Chinese youth the hair tie back. Violet eyes sparkled briefly.

The elevator bell clinged and let them out on the 14th floor. Wufei didn't break a stride, reaching behind his head to tie his hair into place; in the same style he always wore it, his glare on Duo not lessening at all.

Braid in hand, probably a self-preservation technique, Duo walked ahead of them, full of energy and burst into the room without knocking.

"Hi there, Une! Here we all are then!" Sitting himself comfortably on the arm of the couch that was there, he leaned forward, clasping his fingers. "Ok, so we're a little early, but you should be happy to have such punctual and loveable students such as us, shouldn't you?"

Une took the entrance in stride, aware of Duo's tenacious nature from their brief encounters during the war. Malcom Gray had no such luck, but no one was paying attention to him.

Suddenly Duo twirled and glared at Wufei, holding the Chinese man's hand in his own, eyes blazing. "No, Chang! No one touches my hair. My hair belongs to me."

Wufei's eyes blazed in response. "Didn't seem to bother you about mine when you pulled it out."

Duo laughed, releasing the tension in the room, but sadly not the look in Wufei's eyes. "You're comparing your hair to mine! Please, Chang! My hair is much more work to put into a style once its been let out."

"You should have thought about that before you decided it would be fun to rip mine out." The black eyes were not lessening in intensity.

"And you should up your reflexes so that either, you catch me before I take your hair out, or I don't catch you before you take out mine!" Duo was standing on his feet again, hands on his hips and his mouth in a crooked smile.

"Touché, Duo." Wufei gave his head a slight bow. "I will make sure I do not get caught next time."

The brief glare that passed over the American's face disappeared almost immediately. "Try it, Chang, just try it…"

"Boys…Boys!" Malcolm clapped his hands impatiently. Five pairs of eyes stared at him with looked that could have killed, if that were possible.

Pushing himself away from the wall he was leaning on, Trowa approached the desk. "We are not boys." His voice was, as usual, quiet and soft, but holding such conviction and threat that the meaning was not lost. "And considering what it is that you are wanting us to do, you might want to consider other people for the positions, if you think we are… boys…"

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room, until Duo grew bored and starting singing a rendition of amazing grace. The lyrics …were different.

"Open up my mouth and insert foot, I've done it once before…"

Quatre looked at Duo quizzically and almost laughed. "Duo, that tune really isn't very appropriate."

An exaggerated exasperated expression crossed Duo's face, as he threw up his hands. "Well, you try to come up with something on the spur of the moment. Sheesh." He was trying, unsuccessfully, to ignore the fact that Quatre and Trowa were laughing, and Heero and Chang were smiling, but managed to finish off what he wanted to say before dissolving into laughter himself. "I mean talk about disturbing creative genius at work…"

Une watched them for a couple of minutes, trying very hard not to laugh herself and only just managing to resist the temptation. When she noticed the incredulous look that Gray was giving her, she spoke softly under her breath. "Yes, I am sure. Trust me on this one." Although the look he gave her was sceptical, he didn't say anything to her. Instead, he watched the former pilots as they struggled to stop laughing.

"That will do now." Une's voice cut into the room, stopping them all from laughing, at least for a minute.

"Yes, sir. Um… ma'am… um, what the hell should I call you?" Duo was fighting the laughter that was bubbling up inside him again.

A level stare at Duo, stopped the laughter, but he continued to grin as she answered his question. "Ma'am will do."

"Not Lady? Though, you're right. Ma'am will have to do. I refuse to give my reasons on the grounds that they might offend you." Winking with the statement, Duo finally managed to calm down enough to stop laughing and concentrate a little better.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…" Quatre was trying to keep a straight face as he intoned the classic lines, but failed miserably. His words made the longhaired youth start laughing again. Even Trowa and Heero were laughing and Wufei was, obviously having a very bad time controlling it himself.

.

Standing up, Une brought her hand down on the desk causing a loud bang. "That is enough."

Barely sobering up, Duo leaned over and whispered to Quatre. "Yeah, Quatre. Why can't you do as you're told?"

"Stop it, Maxwell." Une glared.

"Yes, Ma'am." Meek was a tone that did not suit the American pilot, and Quatre found himself fighting laughter again. One glance at the director's face told him he really should try harder in fighting it, and so he reined it in.

"Now!" She sat down, once she was sure that she had their attention. "Today you are here so we can explain exactly what will be expected from each of you. You received the letters, I presume?" She glanced over her notes upon receiving five nods, and then continued to brief the former pilots on what it was that would be expected of them, and exactly what type of school they would be attending.

"Now as you are aware, the Preventers is a peace-keeping Agency. We are charged with maintaining this peace that you have fought to obtain. The principle is pretty much the same as what you are used to. People who attend this school will be taken on as Preventer cadets. Training will include but not be limited to: Justice studies, Ethics, Diplomacy and Hostage negotiations, Weapon deployment, Marksmanship, Engineering, Maintenance, Piloting, Physical Training, Arrest and Detainment procedures, Computer Intelligence, Networking, Espionage, Infiltration, Under-Cover Operations, Demolition, Psychopathology, Forensic Pathology, Psychology, Sabotage and Project Analyses. She took a breath and flipped through some pages, before continuing.

"These are, of course, the main areas that everyone has to cover. These are the basic subjects that you will need to study before you narrow down your choices in your second year. Concentration will then be focused on the varied aspects that branch off from the basic subjects." Her tone of voice implied that their choices would largely be made for them. "Every student is expected to complete at least two majors and two minors. Every student choosing a major requires final approval of the choice. As you will be able to tell some of the areas are not suitable to every type of person. You five will be expected to complete at least three majors and five minors. I know it sounds like a lot, but your field experience will qualify you for minor's in several of these already. Your specialisations will require less work, therefore we ask that you accomplish more than students who have not had your backgrounds."

"Are you with me so far?" She scanned the room, noticing that even Duo was nodding silently in response. "Okay, then I will carry on. As a general rule cadets will only be called upon in a case of emergency. However, considering the extent of your experience, it is entirely possible that we could call on you at any stage, considering the extent of your experience. The general age for attending here has been placed at around twenty-one. Normally it is required that trainees have a high school certificate and at least a diploma or degree in something relevant. In your cases, exceptions have been made.

"How many do you already have?" Trowa was frowning, trying to think while still taking in the information and processing it.

Une blinked. "How many do we have of?"

Heero moved, uncrossing his arms. "How many agents do you already have?"

"Oh, around one hundred and ninety-three actual agents, not including administrative staff and officer of course."

"No wonder Mariemaia wasn't detected beforehand." Trowa wasn't being offensive, he was simply stating a fact. "That's really a pitiful amount Une, considering the size of earth and the colonies. They're made up of ex-soldiers mostly, yes?"

"Partially. Volunteers with the correct background. Former police officers, former rebels, even one or two you may know."

The Japanese teen was getting impatient. "So this school can take approximately two hundred and eighty-eight students 'on campus'?"

"How did you…" Une's eyes narrowed. "Guess I couldn't expect you to actually wait for the briefing now, could I?" Her gaze wavered to Duo, who just grinned at her, his eyes cold.

"Yes two hundred and eighty-eight students can technically fit, at this point in time. Although, there should be two more buildings up by midyear which will enlarge the intake. It will not be an easy school to attend, if you can call it a school at all."

Wufei snorted slightly. "It feels like a boarding school. Do we have a curfew?" His tone was mocking.

"Really, Chang. That's a little juvenile."

"I'm only just seventeen. You'll have to excuse me if I sometimes act my age, Ma'am"

Trowa was suppressing a smile, barely. "So basically the chances of us being called into duty while we are studying are quite large, yes?"

"Very likely." Une stretched her hands out in front of her. "Extremely likely, in fact."

"Good!" Duo had moved across the room to stand in between Heero and Trowa, crossing his arms, eyes never leaving Une's face. "Because I hate being bored, and classes always bore me." He grinned, ferally.

"Well, now that we have settled that, might I continue?"

"Oh, don't let our inquisitiveness put you off. It's only natural after all. We are teenagers. Carry on, please." Quatre's tone was diplomatic, with an underlying current of impatience.

Only slightly miffed, Lady Une continued. "Each unit consists of …"

"Two bathrooms, a kitchen section, a large living section, and eight sleeping quarters which have room for a double bed, desk, wardrobe and a…" Heero glanced at Duo. "…teensy, I believe the word was, bit of room to move." Duo chuckled as Heero continued. " On the ground floor is a cafeteria and a games or recreation room of sorts. Though as far as I can tell, nothing educational is contained therein. On the first floor of each building is a large gymnasium, fully equipped, for fitness purposes. On each of the following nine floors are two apartments, giving each building a total of one hundred and forty-four possible occupants. You have, for some reason, placed us on the top floor of the first building, in the left apartment."

Une sighed. "Do you want the briefing or have you already found out everything on your own?"

Heero shrugged. Wufei thought that the window was offering a magnificent view. Quatre was worrying at a loose thread that he found on his shirt. Trowa was studying his fingernails. They were all bored.

Duo piped up. "We probably know more than you do, but go ahead. Maybe we actually missed something." His voice was lightly mocking.

"Fine. Point made. It's Friday. You have three days to settle into your accommodations. Your class schedules are quite tight and will need to be strictly adhered to. There are repercussions if you do not have an excellent reason for missing them. And no, Duo, being temporarily dead doesn't count."

Duo put his hand down and muttered under his breath. "Damn."

Eyeing the teen warily, Une continued. "Your orientation will begin on Monday morning, although I have no doubt that you will already have reconned your position and know exactly where everything is. I do ask you to please bear with it, and not make too much fun of your lecturers."

She paused to study their faces before continuing. "Once a week you will have to attend a therapy session with Dr Mathews. Once a fortnight you have to attend a physical with the head doctor on the premises. I am fairly sure that you will not have a problem with that, considering who she is. And once a week each of you will be required to spend an hour with me, going over your 'progress' and exactly what it is that you will be majoring in. I do realise that you all have a much broader spectrum than most of our students, but I am hoping that it will make your heavy schedules a little easier."

Taking another breath, she was rather surprised that they had let her get this far without interrupting yet again. "Although I realise that you have probably all brought bits of your own technology with you, you also have computers in your rooms. Please try not to fiddle too much with what you have. I know its very likely unavoidable in your cases, but I have to tell you that anyway."

"Now. In your schedules you have three classes a week. That will hopefully help you integrate yourselves into tasks that before now have just been something that you have either ignored or not necessarily needed to accomplish. Included in these will be how to make 'non-nukable' food," She smiled at Quatre's embaressed face, "as well as how to not react in public, and how to prevent yourselves from letting you harm others without intending to. They are things you haven't had to do before, and as such, are things that you need to learn."

Une paused, to let that sink in, before continuing.

"It is for these reasons that for at least the start of your stay here, we will only have you in an apartment to yourselves. There will, for the time being, be three rooms that are not occupied in your apartment. Although you will be sharing the floor with others, you will not have to share the apartment, because I seriously do not think that any other cadets at this point in time would survive unscathed. Other cadets will be arriving on Sunday evening, so you have a few days of rest before all hell breaks loose. Oh, and these people are not lacking in normal experience. They have come from the police force, from what used to be secret services, as well as from martial arts backgrounds, computer degrees, and so on and so forth. These people are older than you, so please try not to ridicule them too much, or show them up too greatly. Any questions?"

"Not at the moment. Though I'm fairly sure I can find out anything I have forgotten to ask you."

"I am aware of this, Mr. Yuy."

A simple nod was all the acknowledgement that she received before Heero spoke again. "Then we may leave?"

"Yes, you may go," She saw Duo getting ready to leave too. "Except for you, Mr. Maxwell!"

"Shit… I thought you'd forget."

"Not a chance."

Sighing, Duo looked at the others. "And don't forget… left corner room is mine."

"Yes, Maxwell," Wufei looked at him as he left the room, as if to say, 'be careful with them.'

Duo just nodded. The exchange, although lost on Mr Gray, was not lost on Une.

As the door closed behind his friends, Duo took a deep breath and turned to look at Une. Approaching the desk, he stood in front of it. "Well, I'm here. Talk."

"I think that you already know why I wanted to talk to you alone. I'm sure not even my protections could keep you out."

A smirk crossed the former thief's face. "And how right you are, Une. I can call you Lady in private now, cant I? Just like I can call you Malcolm. Isn't that right, old man?" It wasn't really a question.

"Duo, behave."

A laugh rumbled from somewhere in Duo, it wasn't really a pleasant sound. "Awww, come off it, Une. That's a paradox." He was still laughing.

Malcolm looked a little doubtful and leaned towards Une, his voice low. He didn't see Duo's eyes narrow. "Are you sure you are correct in this, Une? He seems…" But he didn't get any further.

Duo took two steps forward until he was leaning over the table, eyes flashing, intolerance obvious. Every word he spoke was bitten and sharp. "Do. Not. Talk. As. If. I. Am. Not. Here."

Straightening, he crossed his arms, still looking down at the white haired man he had already come to dislike. "You have no idea just what I am capable of. Do not judge what you do not know."

Une tried rather unsuccessfully to suppress a laugh, but managed to get herself under control after muttering a barely audible, "I told you so."

"Ok then Duo, how do you feel about being our marksman?"

"Assassin." There was a glint in Duo's eyes.

"Sniper." Une countered.

"Assassin." Duo was a little more adamant, the playfulness completely gone from his voice. "Don't try to sugar coat it Une, we both know what it is you are asking me to do. You are asking me to kill those people who would get in the way of this peace, and who cannot be convinced by any other means that they should not get in our way. You are asking me to be that person, who is the last in the line of keeping this peace, when needed. Go on. Tell me I'm wrong." His body language issued the challenge, even more so than his voice.

Une wondered how the teenager could sound so much older than he was, but knew that the answer wasn't pretty. "Yes, Duo. You're right. Assassin it is."

"See, told you so." He winked. "So, give me the low down."

"One of your majors will need to be marksmanship, although we realise this will not be difficult for you. It is still necessary to give you access to the weapons and shooting ranges so that you may practice and keep on top of it. You can not, and I repeat can not tell your comrades about this."

A frown crossed Duo's face. "I do not lie, Une. I never have and I never will. If they ever ask me directly, I will have to tell them."

"Then see to it that they do not ask." Malcolm wasn't too sure about the youth in front of him. He was getting impatient.

"And when I want a civilian's perspective, I'll ask for it." Duo's voice was scathing, he was obviously not in a good mood anymore. "I was talking to Lady Une. She is more familiar with my capabilities than you are, so you should probably listen to her."

"Enough, Duo." Une noticed the momentary rebellion that appeared in Duo's eyes, but pushed on ahead hoping that he would listen. "When required for such duties you will be given a plausible excuse for not being there. In total, myself, Mr Gray here and only one other person are aware of your true status. You will be listed as being trained for the special unit branch. Any questions?"

"Why me? Heero is a marginally better marksman."

"Because you are the only one who shows no compunctions at having to kill again Duo. You are the only one whose character should be able to handle this. You are only marginally less a better shot than Heero, which with training, I am sure, will shortly become moot."

Barely nodding, Duo ran over the situation in his head. It was a challenge, he liked challenges… he would see where the path took him. Perhaps there would be no use for his skills, perhaps no one would be stupid enough to try and disturb the peace. Of course if they were that stupid, there was no way that Duo was going to let their hard work go to waste. No one was going to disturb the peace, as long as Duo could do something about it.

"I'll do it. But there is a condition. If I do not think that you are right in your selection of my targets… I will not take the shot. Trust me I can find out more information that you will give me. I will deem what is an appropriate level of knowledge. Believe me, anything less than complete knowledge of the situation, and I will know."

"Understood." Une looked at her notes and smiled grimly. "Just one more thing, Duo."

"Yes?"

"You are not allowed to laugh at your teachers, poke fun at their lesser knowledge, or blow up their classrooms. I realise that you might get bored, but that is no way to behave in this environment. I also wish to remind you that any insolence will be dealt with by me, and that I will be keeping a close eye on you. Although I do not expect it to be a problem, your marks must also be exceptional. All five of you are something that a lot of the other students will look up to despite your age. If you lead by bad example, then I am sure the rest will follow, and I do not wish to have to discipline too many of my cadets at once."

Duo was pouting.

"Don't try that look with me, Duo. Also, try not to intimidate people too much, and see if you can make sure that Yuy and Chang do not do it either. I know with those two it is almost inbred, but I am sure there is something you can do that will convince them to go easy on other people. You also need to try not to divert attention in the basic classes. You will only really be in those classes for a little while. Many of the cadets we are getting are on different levels, and so there will be some intermediate classes already in progress. You need to let the others learn please, despite the fact that I know you will get extremely bored."

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Duo.

"Fine!." He sounded exasperated. "Just ruin all of my fun, why don't you. I'll try, but I'm not promising anything else."

"That's all I'm asking, Duo, all I'm asking." She was watching the teenager closely.

"Of course, I notice you failed to mention the students who won't take kindly to our presence." He knew he'd hit a sore spot when Une blanched, but he barrelled on. "Well if that's all, I'm going before someone decides I don't get the room I wanted." In the blink of an eye he was gone, door snapping shut behind him.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." Malcolm managed to speak, after being silent for so long.

Une got up and glared slightly at him. "Yes, it did. No thanks to you." And she too left the room, door swinging shut behind her.

Malcolm's eyes narrowed. The nature of the people they were recruiting, or had recruited for the Preventers, made him uneasy. But he knew beyond doubt this new peaceful era needed exactly those sort of people to maintain it. Perhaps they were needed even more than before.

#*#

Chapter Four

Reaching the top floor of their apartment building, Duo frowned, and reached into his pocket to pull out a lockpick. A couple of seconds later, and a small click, he was rewarded by the door opening and letting him into the place he was going to call home for a long while to come. Closing the door behind him, he looked up to see Heero standing not far away, arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"What did they want, Duo?" That expression wasn't friendly and Duo gulped.

~~**~~