Impossible
A Gundam Wing Fan Fiction
Rambled Off by The Manwell
Book Two: PREVENTERS
Duo Maxwell
I'm going to kill him.
I swear to God, if I manage to find him still in one piece, I'll kill him myself.
Five days. No email. No phone call. Nothing. For his sake, he'd better be captured. Or incapacitated. Or... something.
I heft the carton I'd been appointed with a bit more gusto than necessary. Although the guy next to me gives me a funny look, I'm rather proud of my self-restraint thus far. Not that I think for one instant that either Une or Wufei is going to congratulate me for this.
I suppose I could blame Wufei. I mean, if he hadn't dragged my turbulent emotional state out for my wide-eyed perusal that night after dinner at his place then I might still be fidgeting in my squeaky office chair back at HQ. But he had and I'm obviously not.
Perhaps if I'd managed to sleep after that neat, little trip of introspection, I might not be where I am right now. Maybe. The next day at work had been hell, in any case. I'd had loads of shit to do but like I gave a damn about it while I was waiting for my asshole partner's email. The morning had come and gone. As had lunch. And dinner. And the janitorial staff. That had been the defining moment; that had been when I'd asked myself a very specific question: So, what are you gonna do about it?
Notice I hadn't asked myself what Une would want me to do, or what Wufei would want me to do, or even what I wanted to do. Perhaps I wouldn't be risking a highly satisfactory and very pensionable job over something that could turn out to be a false alarm. Or worse. I'm very aware that I could blow Heero's cover and fuck not only him and myself over, but the Preventers in general.
I'd already tried to make myself care during the twelve hour shuttle ride here. And I'd failed miserably. I'll care if I fuck up, I'm sure. But that hasn't happened yet and it's not a policy of mine to concern myself with nebulous probabilities.
In retrospect, it had been scarily easy to convince a harried space freighter captain to give me berth to the moon. Especially after I'd done my "I'm-just-a-harmless-dumb-idiot-trying-to-get-back-home act." I don't think Heero's seen that one.
And he won't get the chance to, either, once I get my hands on him.
Despite the visions of excruciatingly prolonged death frolicking through my mind, I manage to smile at the docking inspector. "Yo, man, where do you want this?"
The bastard doesn't even look up from his fancy digital clipboard. "Cool," I tell him, following his disinterested nod. As I carry my burden of something-or-other marked Fragile, I take note of a service door near the corner I'm headed for. Perfect.
Fifteen seconds after the carton in my hands touches the cold, worn flooring, I'm ghosting through a labyrinth of halls that look altogether too familiar for my peace of mind. It appears the new tenants haven't redecorated yet. I take in the specific shade of washed-out, moon-powder-dusted neosteel and marvel at how some things really don't change. Once more I'm voluntarily venturing into this beast and on the heels of the same guy I'd come to "rescue" on my previous visit. Not that I'd ever told him that. Not that he would have cared either way. Not that he's going to appreciate the gesture this time around, either.
But then, it doesn't really matter what he wants. Because once this Stealth Show gets underway, there's no stopping it. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, may I present the amazing Disappearing Duo Act. Please hold your applause until the end... No, no, wait for it... wait for it...
I draw in a deep breath and imagine myself blending into the walls like a semi-solid puddle of liquid steel. Everything that I am becomes cold, grey, and still. I smirk briefly in shadows. And I can't help but be amused by the words that echo through the dimming stage that is my headspace: "Now you see him... and now you don't."
Notes
: In the series, Duo infiltrates the Lunar Base in order to destroy it, or so he tells Hilde in episode 24.