Title: one-way road
Disclaimer: not my characters, except the ones who are
Warnings: pre-series; AU
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 220
Point of view: third
Prompt: Gundam Wing, Duo, an alternate origin story
He found the kid on the street, picking pockets and about to move up the chain to hustling. He figured the kid would be dead before the end of the year.
His mother collected beautiful things; it's how she got him.
So when the kid—brown hair, purple-blue eyes—reached into his pocket, he grabbed the thin wrist and offered him a choice.
Only time would tell if the kid chose wisely or not.
o0o
Seven years later, riots tore the neighborhood apart. His mother was planetside, and he sent all the staff home, thinking they might survive if they weren't near the affluent.
"C'mon, kid," he said. "We have to get out of here."
They ran together, him and the kid with the smart-mouth even his mother couldn't tame.
o0o
He knew he wouldn't make it. Maybe the kid would.
So he ducked into an alley and told the kid to find Professor G, because Ma had said he might know how to fix things.
"Don't forget your lessons," he murmured, hands sliding away from the wound in his side. "You're our second chance, kid."
o0o
Theodora Maxwell watched in horror and pride as the Oz soldiers dragged the boy with the braid towards the base.
She learned later that his name was Duo Maxwell, and she knew he'd chosen wisely.