Shadows of Yesterday

CHAPTER TWO: SOMETHING UNIQUE TO OFFER

"You...you...you're...Maxwell...Gundam pilot...god fucking damnit!...fuck...fuck, fuck."

Duo, who had at first been amused at Sam's pale face and incoherent stuttering, was now rather worried. He liked Sam quite a bit, and didn't want to lose him as a potential friend. What if he was one of those people who hated Gundam pilots?

Une took care of that for him. "Helix!" she barked, and Sam instantly snapped to attention out of reflex, before paling again, a horrified look on his face.

"Shit...Lady Une, I apologize most sincerely for my rude behavior—"

"Shut up, Tahary," she snapped, causing him to gape again. "Now, as you are aware, Mr. Maxwell here—"

"Duo," he cut in, causing her to look at him. "What? Mr. Maxwell makes me feel old."

She rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, Duo here is a Gundam pilot. Do you, Agent Helix, have any issues with this?"

He shook his head vehemently. "Of course not, Lady Une, it just came as a surprise because—"

"—ya expected a Gundam pilot ta be...older? Taller? Scarred? Bloodthirsty? A fuckin' monster? Dare I say it...less feminine?" Duo finished, a dark undertone in his voice. "Well, let's address that, shall we? We were all fifteen durin' the war, my growth is stunted from my childhood, I got plenty of scars, ya just can't see most of them, ya should have seen me durin' the war if ya want bloodthirsty, I don't think any of us were monsters, and if you fuckin' dare call me feminine, I will rip your fuckin' intestines out and shove them down your fuckin' throat!"

Sam stared at him, eyes wide. "Okay?" he squeaked—and something just broke inside of Duo. He doubled over in hysterical laughter, while Une simply buried her face in her hands. "I'm not paid nearly enough for this job," she muttered.

Eventually Duo gained control of his laughter, and reached up to clap Sam on the shoulder. "Sorry 'bout that, man, but I've just had way too many...unpleasant reactions...ta my Gundam pilotness."

"Sure..." Sam muttered, still looking dumbfounded. "Gundam pilotness?" he asked.

Lady Une finally decided that this would be a good time to cut in, before the situation became any more unsalvageable.

She coughed rather forcefully, causing both men to look up at her with deer-in-headlights expressions on their faces.

"Gentlemen," she said. "I'm sure you can settle this later, outside of my office. But for right now, I've called Mr. Max—Duo here for a reason. Agent Helix, you can—"

But she stopped there, a contemplative look suddenly coming into her eyes. They got along so well already, that could work to their advantage..."Actually, Tahary, you can stay. Sit, both of you."

They sat, Sam more nervously than the other, because Une never called agents by their real names, last or otherwise, unless it was personal or...off the books. This definitely wasn't personal.

"So, Duo, I presume you have some idea of why you're here?"

He snorted. "Fuckin' understatement of the century, ta quote my subconscious, Une. Honestly! Who the fuck puts an offer like that in a fuckin' letter?"

Both Une and Sam looked at him a bit strangely, before Une spoke again. "I do, Duo...and I assure you, before you ask, that I am completely serious in said offer."

Sam was looking lost, but wisely chose to just listen.

Duo, for his part, merely stared at Une, and she would never admit that that stare unnerved her quite a bit, for his eyes were completely unreadable at that moment. Just when she was about to speak again, he uttered one word.

"Why."

It was a statement, not a question, and she knew exactly what it implied. Duo and Sam thus bore witness to a rare phenomena—Lady Une struggling for words.

"I understand if you...dislike me, Duo—"

He snorted, muttering "Understatement," again. She sighed.

"Very well, I understand that you hate me, and I also understand your reasoning for it. We don't exactly have the best track record of cordial, peaceful meetings, do we?"

Seeing Sam's look, Duo told him, "The first time we met outside of war, I freaked, reached for a gun I didn't have, and ended up chuckin' a stapler at her and bein' detained by four really fuckin' big guards while they tried ta determine whether or not I was "a threat ta her Ladyship."

"Believe or not, when I finally got home that night, I laughed until I cried, Duo," Une said, causing him to stared at her. "Yes, really," she continued. "You are one of the few people who have ever treated me like a normal human being who wasn't anything special. But know this—if you ever call me "her Ladyship" again, yourself or in quote, I will...how do you say? Rip your intestines out and shove them down your throat?"

Deer-in-headlights—need I say more?

"Right. Anyways, as I was saying, I was completely and utterly serious in offering a semi-autonomous black-ops Preventer's division to you for leadership and running."

Now Sam was mostly alone in his gaping like a fish, though not completely. For Duo, it hadn't really sunk in until the Lady actually said it.

"So ya weren't jokin'," he finally said, weakly.

"No, I wasn't."

"And I reiterate—why me? Why not one of the other pilots? Why not one of your golden Preventer boys, Heero or Wufei? Why not Trowa, I hear he does some missions sometimes? I understand Quatre...but why me?"

She smiled, a shark smile that scared boy Duo and Sam more than they cared to admit, before letting it relax into something more gentle.

"Because as good as they are, they aren't you, Duo. I studied your profile extensively during the war, wanting to find out how someone...well, someone like you could have been a pilot."

Seeing him beginning to get angry, she held up her hand. "One of the things I have always prided myself on, Duo, was my ability to see through people, no matter the mask they wore. And after reading through your profile, your history, and looking at your picture, I realized that you wore a mask. I had no idea what it was, why you had it, or what it was hiding, only that it was there. But it made me understand you more. I assume you remember my...personality issues?"

He stopped gaping enough to nod. "Fuck yes. That was actually just what made ya so...scary, ta me. And before I knew what it was, what made me hate ya. One day ya were blowin' things up, next ya were talkin' peace."

She merely shook her head. "Yes, well, in any case, what I'm trying to say here Duo is, you possess something the others don't. Call it a...presence, if you will. But not only that, you have the skill to be what I need for this division. When I say black-ops I don't mean your usual undercover, hush-hush missions. I mean complete and utter secrecy. The missions this division will take will the deepest, the darkest, the most difficult. The top-secret, never breathe a word, no names and no faces type. The kind where no one lives through seeing one of you; I assume you understand that."

He nodded, remembering how during the war hardly anyone survived seeing a Gundam, or its pilot.

Sam was watching all of this with a growing sense of trepidation. Just where did he fit in all of this?

"That is you, Duo. If there is one thing I remember about you during the war, it was your ability to blend into the shadows, to go anywhere and everywhere unseen. You have the greatest stealth skills I have ever seen in anyone. You also have experience with the world—you know the way the world works, both in the shadows and in the light, cliché as it may sound. You can skillfully walk the line between them, no matter how blurred it may become sometimes. You can work with anyone, no matter what walk of life they come from, talk to someone for five minutes and have a new best friend—" Here she smiled wryly at Sam. "—In short, you have the ability to take this division and make it grow, make it far greater than anything I could imagine—and the outside world would never know a thing."

She stopped to breathe, analyzing the expression on his face. She saw confusion, trepidation, disbelief...but determination and a strange sort of hope, as well.

"Lady Une," Sam began, seeing Duo still caught in a war with himself. "If you don't mind me asking...what does this have to do with me?"

"I don't mind at all, Tahary, you have every right to ask. In answer to your question...well you heard me when I talked about Duo's ability to work with people, and you've experienced it first-hand, haven't you?"

He nodded.

"I had never intended for Duo to start this alone...and I was having difficulty finding someone else with the ability to do this; so, if you'll do it, you will be the co-commander of this new division, however it works out."

Sam gaped, again, his brain barely processing what he was being told. He was just a desk jockey, with hardly any field experience, barely out of college and with no real knowledge of the world. How on Earth could he offer anything?

Seeing his expression, Une merely said. "He brings experience and weariness. You bring innocence."

She didn't need to elaborate.

While all of this was going on, however, Duo was fighting a war in his head. He honestly didn't know what to say to Une. The large part of him...wanted to say yes. He had nothing waiting for him, nothing at all. No friends, no family, no lover, no home. Hilde was married, and what would he do if he went to her? Sit on his but all day at some 9 to 5 job?

If he was honest with himself...something like this is what he had been waiting for, the last year. He just wasn't cut out for peace. All his life he'd been fighting, in one way or another, and now that there was nothing left to fight for, now that there was peace, he had nothing to live for. He was restless, useless—his only real friend until a few hours ago was a mailboy.

A smaller part wanted to say no. That was the part that still hoped beyond hope that the others would remember, would care enough to remember. But that part grew smaller with each day that passed...and he knew it would not win, not this fight.

Finally, he spoke.

"You really think I can do this," he said.

"Yes," Une replied, firmly.

"You really think I should do this."

"Yes."

"You really want me ta do this, along with Sam."

"Yes."

"It is our choice who is brought into this division."

"Yes."

"The division is ours ta shape as we see fit—trainin', agents, mission, etc. "

"Yes...though I'd like to be informed, and have some say."

"Sure. It will be completely secret from the outside world, and if necessary, the only information given to normal Preventer's will be that we exist, and ta politicians and such, our existence and basic purpose."

"Yes."

"And...the other pilots will not have any part of this, and if they ever ask...no one knows where I am."

"...yes."

"Sam?"

The other looked up, seeing the question in Duo's eyes. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Yes. I want to do this. I've only ever been a desk jockey, a nobody...but somehow, I think this is what I'm supposed to do."

Duo gave him one last measuring look, before standing and reaching his hand out towards Une. She grasped it, giving it a firm shake.

"You've got yourself a deal, Lady Une."

Sam too shook her hand, echoing Duo.

She grinned that shark smile again, sharper than before—and this time, they did it too.

"Very well. Welcome aboard...Commander Maxwell, Commander Tahary."

Three chapters in one day. Something must be seriously wrong—or seriously right—with me.

Well, the big plot has been revealed, and I hope you enjoyed it. Now you know Sam's part in the story, and don't worry, his character will develop more as the story goes on. Please tell me if you think I'm going too fast. I'm trying to pace it, but this story is far too much fun. I think the pacing is going well, though—prologue, you know something is going down, first chapter a little more insight on history and bit more of what's actually going on, second chapter the big point.

I also received a good question from a reviewer—what about the other pilots?

My answer went a bit like this—they are part of the story, a big part, but later. A major plot point in this story is the distance between Duo and the other pilots. There will likely be an interlude in a few chapters going to them for a bit, but their actual presence in the story, as in interaction with Duo, Sam, and the as of yet unformed division, won't be for a while yet. Never fear, though—they will appear!

Next chapter I will officially inform you of warnings, any possible pairings, etc. In the meantime, since I will be trying to slow down updates just a bit, read and review! I really need some critique on this—my email informs me every time one of you favorites, alerts, and reviews, so I know exactly how many people are not reviewing! Mostly.

I disclaim anything you recognize as not belonging to me.

Ciao!