Chapter Twenty Six: In the Trees

Distracting himself from thoughts of Heero would be easier if Une had any mission for him to leave town for a few days and focus on. Instead Duo was left filling in for an agent on leave in his old cyber security unit. Working from home on his laptop while listening to music wouldn't be such a bad gig if he didn't so desperately want to be anywhere else doing anything else.

Since he wasn't an actual Preventers agent Une gave him the cover of being on loan from another office overseas. Every time the internal chat asked him a question they addressed him as Mr Santiago Jackson. The name was not one he picked for himself and he had a hard time remembering to respond to it since he rarely paid attention to the intranet chat.

What happened to his unit while he was gone? They were annoyingly social now. Worse, he'd made the grave error of immediately fixing a troublesome bug and that put a target on his back. Everyone wanted him to do their work for them.

During breaks Duo continually sent out requests for a "real mission" and reminded Une that she had not given him any physically demanding field work since he was cleared for duty after getting shot nearly four weeks ago. Une threw him a bone with a little recon work but it was a short job and nothing exciting. He craved something more juicy because it was the only thing he thought might get Trowa's problems and Heero's sweetness out of his mind.

The music he was listening to cut out and he glanced to his phone to find it was vibrating with an actual call. Maybe the idiots in cyber security were tired of him ignoring their texts. He hit a button on his earpiece.

"Yo, this is Santiago. What can I do for ya?"

"Hello Santiago. Can you get a message to my favorite pain in the ass for me?"

Duo smiled and stopped typing. "Zechs! Tell me you need a mission partner."

"I need a mission partner."

Duo dramatically exclaimed "Oh thank fucking god!" as he leaned back to flop on his sofa and literally kicked away the coffee table with his laptop. The cyber security team was still messaging.

Zechs' voice betrayed his amusement. "You're not gonna like it."

Duo shot straight up. "Dude I'll do anything to get into the field again."

A woman's voice came through in the background to add "You'll regret those words, Maxwell!"

Gasping and once again playing the dramatic fool Duo exclaimed "Are you telling me I could've been speaking to your lovely wife this whole time? Put the woman who made me the greatest mouse ever on the line!" He reached to the other side of his sofa and grabbed the small object, gently running his thumb over the fabric of its ear. "I never got to directly thank her for little Pudding Cup."

"Pudding Cup?"

"I've recently discovered I love pudding cups."

"You're a child, Maxwell."

"Yeah but you like me anyway and I got the mouse to prove it." Duo held the little plush animal up as though Zechs was in the room and could see it.

Noin chimed in "He's got a point!" and Zechs merely groaned.

As Duo laid on his stomach 25 meters above the ground in freezing winds, pine branches brushing against him as they desperately tried to catch on his clothing, he couldn't help but think Zechs might've been right. He clenched his jaw against the cold and kept watch through a sniper scope as he cased Relena's estate. So far he definitely did not like this job. A quiet click in his ear was all the warning he had before Zech's voice came through on his earpiece and asked how the view was from the forest line.

"Oh it's just as clear as it was the last time you asked. But the drop down to the ground leaves a little somethin to be desired."

"Can you see the driveway?"

"Of fucking course I can we've been over this."

"And the formal dining hall?"

Duo adjusted his scope. "Yeah yeah. I see all those warm people eating food. Thanks for the thermos by the way it either definitely doesn't retain heat or this tea was cold when you poured it inside."

Zechs ignored his complaints. "The guy we're after is the one with the blue and white snowflake tie."

"You gotta be shitting me. Again with the snowflake tie... Zechs we've been over this you've had me staring at the man for the last two and a half hours. But he looks so…" Examining the middle aged man Duo wasn't really sure what he looked like. "Rich. And tacky."

"Give him a pass on the tackiness, Maxwell. The man's losing most of his fortune because of the environmental bill Relena's passing."

The wind picked up and Duo clenched his stomach muscles as the tree swayed. He didn't want to start to feel any motion sickness while on the job and the wind was relentless. "Are you sure" he ground out "that there was no other location for me to set up today? I see a large stone fence. Maybe I coulda just hidden in a van or something?"

"You'd be visible on the fence. And a van? Really?"

"It's still winter Zechs and it's dark early. No one would see me if I were closer."

"But a van?"

"It would work!"

"It would look infinitely suspicious."

"It would be warm and much closer to the target. A lot less variables to adjust for."

"Would you also black out the windows and paint the side with free candy?"

"Fine. No van. But how come you're not up here in the night on a platform that feels like a child started building the world's highest tree house and gave up halfway?" Duo waited but there was only silence on the line. He felt a grin coming on as he made adjustments again for the wind. "You can't say it, can you?"

"Keep your focus on the target, Maxwell."

"It's real simple, buddy. Just say Maxwell, you're better than me. It's not hard."

"Focus, Maxwell."

"Oh I'm focused all right, you sonofabitch. He's taking a sip of wine, not that he didn't enjoy his aperitif earlier. He's eating… is that bœuf à la Bourguignonne? I couldn't even get a sandwich from you people today. You literally threw a ration bar at me!"

"It was a breakfast bar."

"Great, a breakfast bar. Even less nutrition. And he's dabbing his napkin over his face all dainty. Why do you fancy people do that when there's no mess to be had? And don't tell me you all can feel it because trust me with this scope I can guarantee there's nothing on this man's face."

"Duo…"

"Just wait until the end. Don't be using your napkins after every bite."

Duo could hear the eye rolling from Zechs when the man spoke. "It's called manners."

"Listen if this guy was gonna make a move he'd have done it by now. Pretty Princess over there's got security standing right next to her so what am I even here for?"

Cocking his head to the side Duo ignored Zech's answer and started to think it through himself. What was he here for? Tacky Tie man was not about to pull any gun or do anything drastic. At least not himself. The threat was supposedly to kill Relena at tonight's political dinner with developers and the senate environmental committee. They were supposed to be agreeing to terms. It didn't make sense for Tacky Tie to end his entire career and go to jail over some development plans.

At least Heero wasn't inside. It took years for him to completely give up guarding Relena, and Duo was glad he didn't backslide into her personal security while he was away. The new guy looked like an asshole. He couldn't place it but there was just something about him.

He changed his position to check out the other guests again. Boring. Boring. Boring… All the people in attendance had nothing about them that made Duo suspicious which was exactly in line with their dossiers. They were just milk toast people with pets and families and too much to lose to assassinate a world leader. Maybe Zechs was right. Maybe Tacky Tie was unhinged enough to make a move. Only if he was, he wouldn't do it now in front of all these witnesses. More importantly there was obvious security detail at this event and no one inside had an opening to kill anyone. They'd been searched for weapons, which was protocol at any important meeting.

No one would have a chance to do anything. Not until after the dinner and dessert, once the guests took leave. If anyone was poised to be an assassin tonight it was Duo.

That thought lingered.

Duo was a skilled sniper hidden in the trees with the best tactical gear available and a clear shot of Relena. He could shoot anyone in the room and disappear into the night without a chance of getting caught. He could easily be mistaken for a hit-man. Silently he watched the occupants of the dining room. The perimeter Zechs established was excellent. They even deployed thermal imaging to make sure no one other than Duo was poised in a sniper's perch.

Finding his target should be as simple as finding the person with the best opportunity to be alone with Relena. If he was inside, warm and ready to murder, he'd do it in private with his bare hands, an improvised weapon, or a weapon already on his person.

Everything clicked in his head. Duo focused his attention on a new target and asked Zechs one more question.

"Am I cleared to take a shot?"

There was a pause before Zech's voice came back all business. "You know you are but-"

If anyone in the dining hall heard his gun go off it was the faintest pop given Duo's distance. When glass broke and a body dropped there was panic and chaos. Within seconds Zechs and his team were flooding into the room to secure the scene. Zech's yelling was too much for Duo and he took out his earpiece to watch things unfold in silence. Relena's shock as she realized what sprayed on her a moment earlier was blood warmed Duo to the cold night air. He never really liked her and if he could upset her while also doing his job that was fine by him. It was a veritable gift.

Maybe Zechs was wrong. The job was pretty enjoyable.

Grabbing a flashlight Duo signaled towards the estate in morse code "see ya" just in case anyone was looking out the window. With the safety on his weapon he carefully lifted himself onto his hands and knees. He'd been in the position so long and it was so cold he could hardly feel his limbs. It would be several minutes before he'd have the footing to attempt rappelling down the tree. Cold rarely bothered him. Growing up in the poorest of L2 clusters they didn't have a reliable climate system and cold was the year round default. But the wind was killer in January.

A few hours later he found himself in a closed debriefing getting a dressing down from Zechs and Une, neither of whom were happy with him for shooting Relena's body guard without warning. Duo saw no problem with his actions. The guard was a hired hit-man and the shot didn't kill him. If anything, he felt his actions were measured and restrained.

Zechs was beside himself.

"How could you possibly know that? I vetted every member of her security detail myself!"

Duo smiled. "Took a while but I recognized the guy from another job. He undercut me on a hit once." Zechs and Une shared a concerned glance between them. Duo casually raised his hands in the air as a gesture of surrender. "Don't worry, I wasn't freelancing. It was for a case."

Une looked angry. "Are you telling me this man killed someone you were protecting?"

It hadn't registered in Duo's head that Une might jump to such a conclusion, though when she brought it up her deduction made sense. He dropped his hands, defensively crossing his arms instead. "No. He undercut my fee but the strike team never intercepted him. Target's still securely in witness protection."

He watched as Une's features softened. "I'm sorry. I had to ask."

"Yeah I know."

"I don't care about some other case," Zechs interjected. "What about my sister? Is this over?"

As Une went over the case particulars, confirming that the hired gun was apprehended but the person doing the hiring was at large, Duo wondered how he managed to know so many people with credible death threats against them. He used to be a nobody with zero connections and now he was still officially a nobody, but with connections to some of the most influential people in the Earth Sphere.

Sometimes he wondered if any of it made a difference. No matter how much he worked the world would never really be safe. Everything he accomplished so far was largely anonymous. He wasn't in it for credit but he often thought, especially over the previous 4 years, that if he died no one would notice or miss him. He went through great lengths to make sure his biggest lasting legacy would never be connected to him in name.

These thoughts only served to bring back doubts about the friendships he was rekindling and the romance he was avoiding. It turned out that a mission could only distract him for so long. He used to be able to avoid thinking of Heero. He could go days on end solely focused on work, or manage weeks with only vague feelings that if analyzed would trace to him but if left alone provided nothing concretely tied to the man.

Now he couldn't go a full day without wondering what Heero was doing and what, if anything, was happening between them.

At least he'd always have the memory of Relena's terrified face.