Chapter 55: Note on the Fridge

With pride in his heart and a smile on his face, Duo snatched a magnet off his fridge and hung the note he'd found at his door. Those were words to cherish, and he planned to display them for a long time to come. More importantly they'd bring him joy each time he saw them. It was a welcome homecoming present after a short but tedious mission. When he heard a knock at his door a few moments later he hoped it was the note's author so he could apologize. Instead he was shocked to see Une.

"May I come in?"

Moving aside, Duo gestured for her to enter. She took a few steps and found herself at his window looking down to the river below. The trees were on the cusp of blooming and soon the view would be spectacular. For a moment she was jealous of his cramped living conditions. No one could deny he had a fantastic view. Her much more spacious apartment in a relatively new building didn't look upon the river. From her grand floor to ceiling windows she barely caught a few trees, and none of them flowered in the spring. She sighed.

"We have a problem."

Her words caused Duo to unconsciously tense while she remained unfailingly casual. He was almost afraid to ask what the problem was but didn't need to.

"The others came to see me. They want you to join their division as Wufei's partner."

Duo could feel his heart pumping blood faster. Both of his hands curled into fists at his sides and he suddenly felt a little foolish standing in the middle of his living room with nothing to focus on. "All of them?"

"Yes."

"Even Trowa?"

"Yes."

"Those bastards!" In his anger, he finally focused on her. "This is my life, you know. I can do whatever job I want. Why are they butting in?"

His reaction was merited, but short sighted.

"They're just concerned about your safety. They like having you around."

"Well they could have talked directly to me!"

She sighed. "They claim they did already, and that you've largely ignored them. That's why they went over your head." His fury didn't diminish, not that she expected it to so easily. "Listen we both know in the long run that's better for you, but there's a lot in the works right now to make this move less than ideal in timing."

He snapped at her. "Who the hell says I would take it under ideal circumstances?"

"Duo, no one's forcing—"

"You know I can't. Especially now when I'm investigating them. It's one thing to keep them close to me so I can spy on them, which I hate, by the way. But if I work directly with the guys I'll be unable to separate them at all. They are all up in each other's business. It's hard enough as it is on a personal level without turning my work into something they're all mixed up with too."

She gave him a sympathetic look, her features softening. "I know that. That's why I opened our conversation with we have a problem, because that's what this is. A problem." She saw him relax a little and took it as a cue to keep talking. "I'm here to make sure you don't accidentally accept their proposition."

Duo rubbed a hand over his eyes and then flung it outward in a gesture of frustration. "Why in the Earth Sphere would I accept their proposition? Do you think I'm that dumb?"

She smiled. "No. But I think you've fallen for a man who is going to ask you to change your job, and he'll do it using all the charm he's got. I know Heero. I've seen hints of how charming he can be. You wouldn't be the first person to make a poor decision when someone he loves is doing the pleading."

"Never said I loved him."

Une smiled a knowing smile that made him uncomfortable. "You didn't have to."

He shook his head, and she continued. "Either way, it's technically a tempting offer so I wanted to make sure that for now we're on the same page."

At those words Duo dropped his anger. "Okay. I see your point. And I guess it's kind of nice why they are doing this even if it's over-stepping by a lot." He looked to her, wanting to make himself very clear. "I wouldn't, for the record. I'm a professional in the middle of a case. But I see your point and I appreciate that you're looking out for me as always."

The last part was not something she expected to hear, and it gave her life.

"Why are you here at my place, anyway? We only meeting in person now?"

She couldn't help smiling. "No. But I figured your place would be as secure as my office and my schedule was open. Sometimes I like to get out of HQ and see the world."

He accepted that answer, though he didn't fully buy her story. She was becoming more hands on with him in recent months and he knew it was part of her attempt to keep him in contact with people and on a path to changing his lifestyle. Une was doing her best to play him, and even though he saw through her it was still oddly effective.

"Have you received any more contact from Chevalier?"

His felt his shoulders and back stiffen, and his frown deepen. He knew she saw the frown but he hoped she didn't notice the tension. "Yes."

Une concluded it must be recent if he hadn't already informed her. "When?"

"Earlier today, but it doesn't rule anyone out yet. I might be able to narrow our suspects from five to four by this time tomorrow. Don't be fooled though, it's going to be difficult to weed people out prior to my deadline. You know, because they're all mixed up in each other's business like schoolkids. But getting back on track… What did you tell them when they asked about assigning me to a new job?"

Une wasn't keen on Duo brushing aside information related to their open case but she understood this was how he worked. Until there was some usable evidence, or he exhausted his own leads, he wouldn't rope her into his investigation. That meant their conversation would focus entirely on the initial topic: the others petitioning for Duo to have a new job working alongside Wufei.

"Offering. Not assigning. They never demanded I force you to take the position, only that I offer it to you because they'd love to have you." She was watching his reflection in the window, hoping for something in his posture or face to give away what he was thinking, but he remained fully neutral.

"Fine. What did you say when they demanded you offer me this position?"

"I told them the truth." Her breezy tone agitated him.

"Be a little more specific than that."

He'd practically growled his words, and she finally turned towards him, leaning against the window. Her hair was glowing, backlit by sunlight and lending her an angelic touch.

Duo marveled for a second at how unlike herself she looked. In that halo of light he could make out a faint scar above her left eye and wished not for the first time that Heero and Wufei would've allowed him to beat to death the man who hurt her, temporarily tossing his guilt to the wind. He joked often about the botched order to execute him, but they'd grown close since the wars, especially when she became one of the only consistent points of human contact in his life.

"I told them I could offer you the job but it would be a demotion. It seems they didn't realize you outrank them."

He frowned. "I don't have a rank."

Countering him with a demure smile she said in a firm tone "If we evaluate your contributions there's no doubt you are their superior. And that's without going into the pay—"

Duo interrupted with urgency. "You didn't tell them about that, did you?"

"Our wages are a matter of public record, Duo. Though you're not currently on that record, if you were you'd easily be the highest paid field agent. You earn more than I do as director." She chuckled. "No one can ever claim you're a poor negotiator."

He felt flustered, and worse he knew that she knew it. His wages were a source of discomfort from the start and she never hid from him how fascinating that was to her. He negotiated an obscenely high pay, which was agreed upon as fair given the danger he subjected himself to regularly without any promises of backup and the immeasurable value of his extra-legal work. To legally obtain the kind of information he procured was time consuming and costly. Duo's high salary was a fraction of the expenses he saved the Preventor's annual budget over the years, not to mention it shaved months if not years off investigative times.

And yet he was constantly embarrassed to be reminded of how much he earned. Years ago Une figured out that his childhood living penniless on the streets was the root of what she dubbed his "allergy to money." She found the quality endearing, especially when he shot her rueful looks whenever he was reminded of the size of his paycheck.

Une was most proud of how he downright swindled Preventers when he negotiated a per diem for his time traveling. He successfully pitched to her superiors a plan to pay him just 75% of the standard meals and incidentals rate for each location where he stayed. No receipts would be sent to accounting because it would be too difficult given his frequent travels and sometimes unplanned self-extractions. They took the deal thinking it would save them even more money. And they were right, it did save them. But what none of them realized was that Duo had no intention of staying in nicer places or eating 3 meals a day. For him, staying at the cheapest spots and eating ration bars and street food was perfectly acceptable. Being on the road all but a few days a month allowed him to pocket a sizeable bonus netted from coming under budget on his travel expense.

She wasn't about to rat him out. She loved the whole scenario. Almost as much as she loved how frustrated he looked.

Duo ran a hand through his bangs and then roughed up the hair at the back of his head. It caused his braid to twist askew. "It's not that I would hate it working with Wufei. And I know I can't keep up my current line of work forever. That's why I asked for, you know." He gestured with his hands to indicate there was more, but he would not elaborate, looking away.

Une crossed her arms and took in his clear discomfort. How such a shrewd negotiator and deadly operative could be so bashful was beyond her. She didn't hide her melancholy as she said, "I know you did that because you were putting a contingency plan in place. You were concerned if you died the people counting on you would be without." She caught his flinch. He never wanted her to know about that but knowing was her job. "The thing is... you were never suicidal. You're full of life, and yet you made your world incredibly small. It wasn't easy to see you do that. So when I tell you how much joy I've experienced watching you open your life up to people again, I want you to know just how much I mean it."

Duo felt his throat close as he looked back to her. She had tears in her eyes and her sincerity hit him like a punch to the gut. When it came to Une he spent a lot of time avoiding thinking about how much she'd grown to care for him. It was easier to deny those feelings than accept he had someone in his corner who fiercely wanted him to be happy. In his darkest times, when he cut everyone off and even ignored Howard, Une was keeping him close and working to bring him back into the fold. It started with those adjacent missions and eventually grew into directly involving him in the other's cases whenever possible.

The notion of someone caring that much flew in the face of his narrative of being alone, and then passed dangerously close to his fear of losing those he cared for.

When he found his voice it wasn't quite as steady as he hoped. "I dunno if—" He paused and got hit wits about him. "If I'm built for a standard Preventers position. And what I do is important. If I'm not working cases from the outside who will?"

The initial wobble in his voice as he began to speak instilled a confidence in her. She pulled away from the window, losing that glow, and took a stroll around his place.

"We've finally built reliable outside sources for contract work, in no small part thanks to you. We'll manage. We had a contingency plan if anything happened to you, anyway. Planning for your sudden departure, by your own choice or not, was just good strategy. And you must have noticed how your missions since last fall have tempted Death less. I've been phasing you out for your own good. I'd like to see you live a better life."

Duo watched her pick up and examine a book he kept on a small shelf. She didn't appear surprised to see it was the series Wufei recommended to him, written in Cantonese. Then she turned her eyes to his kitchen. He sensed she was waiting for him to respond, or at least that it was up to him to fill the small void in their conversation.

"I know how much the guys make. Like you said, it's public record. I don't know if I can afford that pay cut."

Without looking to him she wandered towards his refrigerator. "It's a significant cut. But your job would be even more significantly... safer. It's a better plan to make less over a long life than make a whole lot and die too soon. You'll have time to do more." Almost as an afterthought she added, "but it's still good pay, Duo. And you'd make more than the others, given your rank."

He was annoyed. "Not a rank."

"It's a rank even if you don't acknowledge it."

In the corner of her eye she saw him place both hands behind his neck as he leaned forward and hung his head low. This was his defeat, she was sure. He'd have some serious thinking to do once she left and returned to the office. Her entire goal was to force him into really considering his prospects and it looked like she'd succeeded. She hoped he'd make a healthy change and continue to share his life with others, including while at work.

Une was aware he avoided going to HQ as Mateo after The Incident because he wanted to avoid reminders of that night. Ravi mentioned to her that he expressed a want to keep a low profile, and confirmed that it was okay to continue to indulge him and grant him access into the building as needed. He was also very afraid of fallout from his compromised cover, even though it would no longer be an issue if he went legitimate. If he came back to Preventers as Wufei's partner it would be as Duo Maxwell, not as Mateo. The alias of Mateo McCormack would be erased for good.

With a voice so quiet she was surprised she could hear him, he asked with hesitation "How… how much more?"

She absolutely had him now. "Thirty percent more."

His head shot up. "Thirty percent? Above them?"

"I told you. You're very high ranking. We'd have you come in as the most decorated field agent to date in the organization." She knew he was staring at her so she purposefully reached up a hand to lightly touch the note fixed to his fridge. "You should take this advice, if you haven't already."

She turned to gift him a sweet smile. "I ought to be going. I retroactively denied Agent Yuy's request to take a personal day after he showed up at my office to make demands without so much as an appointment. He'll probably be headed straight here when he's released from duty in another hour. And I've still got some work to wrap up myself."

After she let herself out Duo sank into his armchair to decompress and think. A few minutes later his eyes gravitated to the note on his fridge.

Please forgive that handsome man. He looked so sad, and we don't want rats or ants in the hallway if he leaves more unattended gifts. -Your neighbors in 504B