I do not own Gundam Wing and I make no profit from this story. Now, with that out of the way, sit back and enjoy! Oh, and I don't really think Solo lived but it made for an interesting plot bunny (I've always loved that phrase!).
Duo Maxwell was sleeping on the job. Literally. Not that it came as a big surprise to find the cheerful braided boy asleep at his desk in Preventor Headquarters. Everyone that worked there knew Duo and his strange habits. As long as he got everything done, no one minded and the boy was nothing if not efficient.
The young man smiled at the innocent looking sleeping boy. "Hey there kid." He said softly. He knew enough, or remembered enough, to know that's all it would take to wake the other.
Between one heartbeat and the next the speaker was pinned to the wall, an arm to the throat and a cold gun barrel to the head. It was crazy! He hadn't even seen Duo move! Nobody normal had reflexes like that.
"This isn't damn funny. Who are you? What do you want?" The owner of the violet eyes growled dangerously.
The victim blinked. "Nice to see ya too kid."
The eyes narrowed. "You're dead."
"Only if ya keep crushin' my throat. Nice to see ya still got your skills but I thought I tole you never to practice them on me?"
The arm dropped and the gun went back to its holster. The danger went out of the face and instead a million megawatt grin took over. "Solo? But I saw you die."
Solo waved that off negligently. "Nuthin gets me kid, member? Ya got me the serum in time. Don't know why ya bothered since ya thought I was already gone but it did the trick."
"You deserved it-the serum. Even if you didn't have a pulse."
Solo shrugged. "Deep coma or sumpin. This nice lady doc found me and patched me up. She took me in after that."
"That's great! Watcha been doin'? How are you? How'd you find me?" The other was clearly bouncing with happiness and joy. It was a full turn around from the focused danger holding the gun a few moments ago.
"I been working with a shelter. Can you believe it? Me, the great Solo, working? Went back to the old haunts lookin' for people and saw the monument. Knew it had to be you kid. None of the others had quite your way with words. A giant? I liked that part."
The monument, a tribute to a supposed fallen friend, was a simple slab of concrete in the heart of the L2 slums that Duo had put up after the war. It said "Once a giant named Solo lived here." It had been a gesture, an honor for a boy no one had ever cared for and no one would ever remember. There was a plaque on the site of the Maxwell church too, for people to see and wonder about. A way to immortalize the important people in Duo's life for eternity.
"Took me forever to find you. Nice name by the way."
"Thanks. You finally get respectable and pick up a last name?"
"Naw. That stuff's for fancy shmucks."
"Fancy? I'm not fancy."
"You got a last name, doncha?"
The braided boy answered with the patented Duo grin. "Wouldn't let me pilot a gundam without one."
Solo had heard about that. He'd had trouble believing the boy he had known had risen so far, had done so much. "See? Time was we didn't have enough scrap metal to piece together a roof, let alone a battle suit. Life's sumthin' ain't it?"
"Not so cheap as we thought." Duo said seriously.
A young Solo had once told him that their lives were cheap, that they could not change the universe, that the best they could do is live to spite everyone. How wrong he had been, he thought now.
"Hey, you gotta meet the guys! They'll love you!" Duo bounded over and pulled the other man behind him, a one-man whirlwind.
"Oh, there you guys are! I want you to meet Solo. We were kids together."
A dark haired Chinese man looked up from his cup of tea. "You're still a kid Maxwell." The tone was dry but without rancor. It was clearly a jest between friends.
"You're just jealous Wu-man. Solo, this is Wufei."
The blonde sitting beside Wufei spoke up. "It's very nice to meet you Solo. I am Quatre Raberba Winner."
"No way!" Solo turned to his old friend. "You rubbin' shoulders with like the richest guy ever and you say you ain't fancy?"
"Quat's not fancy. He's pretty normal. Well, as normal as we get." Duo said casually.
Quatre smiled sweetly. "Thank you Duo. That was a very nice thing to say."
Another boy entered the room, his movements just as graceful and controlled as the others'.
"Hey Trowa. Ya know where Heero is?"
"He's with Lady Une. He should be done in three minutes."
Quatre slid the extra cup of tea he'd made across the table to the other boy. Trowa nodded his head in thanks and took the cup.
"Trowa, this is Solo. Solo, Trowa."
Heero came out, ever-present laptop in tow, and more introductions were made. Heero was his usual vocal self and responding with a "Hn" while he downloaded blue prints on his laptop for the next mission.
Solo glanced at his watch. "Oh man. I'm sorry kid but I gotta shuttle to catch. I'm meetin' this guy for funding on the shelter."
"That's ok. We can catch up more some other time. You know where to find me."
A tall blonde woman came around the corner. "Duo, can I see you for a second? I have some questions about the project."
"Sure thing. See ya round Solo!"
Solo grinned and headed back to the elevator and the front door. He'd learned something today. The monument that Duo had put up back on L2 was wrong about one thing. It had gotten locations mixed up.
Here there be giants.
Just a note: this definitely is a one-shot deal, so I hope I don't get any reviews asking for more. Those always make me feel really guilty. However, I would LOVE reviews telling me what you liked and what you didn't. I want to be a professional writer some day and constructive criticism helps me improve. Thanks!