*Based on the song 'Animals', by Nickelback
Disclaimer: I don't own them and I don't make any money off of them.
Warnings: Male/Male sex, graphic, language, violence.
Duo didn't like to think about what he had to do to get to Preventer headquarters. He was certain that his application would have been denied, if anyone suspected that he had left a trail of lifted wallets, and that a few snack machines were minus their credit trays.
The bus had been hot and full of people that had been, while undesirable, at least familiar to someone who had been living on the street.Duo knew how to crack the wrist of the pervert who had wandering hands while he was sleeping, knew not to meet eyes with the stinking man who kept talking to himself, knew not to get involved with the down and out runaways, who would find out, all too quickly, that they had been better off at home,and not to leave himself open to attack in the many bus stops where the predators loved to hang out.
Hot turned to cold as the bus made the long drive, and there was a light snow by the time Duo stepped out for the last time and began the long walk downtown. In black boots, black pants ripped at the knees, and huddled in a jacket that was patched, and looked as if it had come through the war, people automatically stepped aside to let him pass, sensing someone dangerous.
Days without a bath, his hair a tangled braid, and weariness tugging at every fiber of his being, Duo could only hope that Preventers provided bunks for their agents.He didn't allow himself to doubt that he would be accepted. He had too many skills,and too much experience, for them to turn him away.
A man ahead of Duo tossed a half bottle of sports drink towards a garbage can, without breaking stride. Duo snagged it, before it could hit the trash, and took a long swig, without breaking stride either. He grinned, glad that it was still cold.
"That's disgusting!" he heard someone say behind him, but Duo had worked up an immunity to most things, thanks to good genetics and Doctor J, and he wasn't worried about the previous owner's germs.
Preventer Headquarters turned out to be a monstrously high building of glass and chrome towering above everything else around it. It said 'guardian' in every line; a watchful, protective presence at the heart of the city.
Striding through the front, automatic doors, Duo presented himself to the man at the wide half circle of the reception desk. There was a crowd there already, neat lines of the bored and impatient, waiting behind offical ropes, but Duo had stepped around them to reach his goal. He smiled wide, gave the man a nod, and waited until the man had taken a long, irritated look at him.
"Duo Maxwell, one time Gundam pilot,"Duo said."Une will want to see me."
The man looked behind him, as if expecting a parent of some sort, or at least someone in charge of him, but frowned when he saw that Duo was alone."I'm not accepting comedians today, son. Why don't you run along now and bother someone else?"
"Is stupid part of your job description?" a guard asked the receptionist as he stepped forward with a hand on his gun. "That's goddam Duo Maxwell! Call Commander Une!"
"He says he is," the receptionist drawled. "I'm not that gullible."
Duo and the guard exchanged looks. "He isn't very bright, is he?" Duo snickered.
The guard swore under his breath and yanked a cell phone out of his belt. He spoke to someone briefly and then, with a glare at the receptionist, he indicated that Duo should follow him.
Security was tight past the reception desk. Duo had to leave two knives and a small handgun behind, and they even found the garrot wrapped in his hair tie. He tipped it into a plastic bag and a man labeled it.
"Dangerous, aren't you?" the guard muttered and his hand unsnapped his gun safety. Two other guards flanked them as they moved into the bowels of Preventer Headquarters.
"I don't need weapons to be dangerous, you realize?" Duo replied as they stepped into an elevator."I'm not here to commit a crime. I'm here to get a job."
The man scratched his short hair, and frowned. "You should be still in school... no, change that, Juvenile. I heard you were sent there after stealing a car."
"And corrupting a minor," Duo added with a shrug.
The man didn't have anything to say to that and they were all quiet as the elevator reached the right floor and let them out.
"This way." The guard went down three doors and knocked.
"Come," a feminine voice called.
The guard opened the door and motioned Duo to proceed him. Duo entered a large office and found Une seated at a desk with a gun leveled at him.
"You're under arrest, Duo Maxwell," Une announced calmly, her eyes looking over the rim of her glasses at Duo.
Duo sat in a chair in front of her desk and put his feet up. "I want to make you an offer."
Une didn't lower her gun. "I don't bargain with the law. You escaped from juvenile prison, where you were serving time for theft and rape."
"Heero really is older than me," Duo pointed out. "A genetic scan will tell you that. He's the one who should have been put in jail, not me. It was convenient for the court to ignore that, though. It seemed smarter to jail the one who could do the most damage, especially when Heero was so glad to go back to the straight and narrow."
"Sounds like hard feelings," Une replied. "Are you here for some pay back?"
Duo frowned. "I'm pissed at Heero, yeah, but he's safe enough from me. I just want what he's got.I want to be a legal adult on the Preventer payroll."
"He has discipline,"Une replied, "Commitment to the law.He follows orders. He believes in what he's doing. Will I get the same from you?"
Duo pulled his feet back to the floor and leaned forward. "I went through a war, sacrificing for other people. Don't talk to me about commitment.I can give it, and more, as long as everyone backs off about how I run my life."
"Your statement is contradictory," Une told him. "Yuy has a mandated guardian, even though he is working for Preventers. He is not an independent adult."
"So, he's allowed to fight and die, but not to do what he wants?" Duo could hardly believe it. That part of his bargain with Preventers had not included autonomy was puzzling.
"I don't deal," Une said primly. "I follow the law. I can, however, allow you to serve your sentence in our organization, under tighter control that Yuy, but with, essentially the same conditions."
It wouldn't do any harm to agree, Duo thought, though he was more interested in talking to Heero than in joining Preventers just then. He wanted answers. He could always escape back to the streets, he was sure, when he wanted too.
TBC
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