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'Til Death us do part	By : ClareSelley Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Crossovers Views: 896 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Highlander, and I make no money off this.

Chapter List
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The bar was already full of Preventers relaxing after a hard day of work. Ordering an orange juice and a beer, they made their way to a corner where a couple of seats were free and collapsed into them.

"So, what did you want to know?" Duo asked, relaxing into the armchair and taking a sip from the juice, marvelling at the freshness of it – there'd not been anything like it on L2, even with the biospheres, and that stuff just didn't have the taste the naturally sun-ripened fruit did. "I'm assuming you read my file after all, there ain't much more to tell."

Duncan shook his head, "I just wanted to chat Duo, I've got no plans to grill you." He took a sip of the beer and smiled, "So, you know Mr Winner?"

Nodding enthusiastically, the braided pilot lent forward. "Oh, yeah, Quatre, he's a friend of mine. I'm assuming you know he was one of us pilots?"

"Gundam Sandrock if I recall?"

"Yeah, although he was always a pacifist at heart, hated the death," Duo replied, recalling the obsession the blonde had with asking people to surrender before killing them, "well, 'cept when ZERO got a hold of him, then he was scary as all hell. Not surprised he's not joined the Preventers, he's not really suited for war other than in the boardroom, he's too damn nice."

"He seems pretty ruthless in business though."

Duo sniggered, he couldn't help himself. "You've not seen him around Trowa, have you? He ends up looking like a little blonde kitten whenever he's around him. Quat's worried his business enemies would go after Trowa, and isn't even sure Tro's interested in guys that way so doesn't want to make a move." He watched the other man's reaction carefully, wanting to gauge his new partner's reaction to what were still more alternative sexualities.

"Smart guys," Duncan raised his glass in a salute, "though there's always a way to make it work if they try. 'Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey.'" At Duo's curious look he smiled, "Lord Byron, early 19th century poet."

Well, that cleared that up somewhat, Mac didn't seem that opposed to same-sex relationships at least. Didn't mean he had a chance, but meant that he wouldn't constantly be on egg shells around the Scot once his own sexuality came to light. God knew he'd had enough flak from some of the guys on the yard, swiftly shut up by the boss, or, if he had a chance, a short and painful meeting with Shinigami explaining that long hair, a slim figure and an interest in guys really didn't equate to either female or wuss. After a few such encounters the rumours and comments had trailed off and he'd put the last few doubters to rest with his performance working in the scrap yard.

It also made Duncan MacLeod even more of an enigma, quoting an ancient poet that Duo was pretty sure he'd never heard of. Not surprisingly, poetry and ancient literature hadn't been an essential part of his early childhood on the streets, or the training to pilot a Gundam. He'd read a bit during his time at the Maxwell church, but nothing in the class of Duncan, who seemed to toss off random quotes with ease. "So, my turn. Where'd you learn to quote old poetry?"

"On my travels," MacLeod shrugged, dismissing the question with a twist of his shoulders, "You saw I collect old books, and I do occasionally read them. 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'" he quoted, smiling wryly, "Santayana, 20th century philosopher."

"And the sword fighting?" Now that really intrigued him. From everything he knew, it was best to start early to any weapons training, and he must have had years of training to be as good as 'Fei was and yet the accent spoke of being brought up in his Scottish group for a most of his life and he doubted that they taught Chinese martial arts on L4.

"Also on my travels. When I visited L5 I found a tutor who taught me a few things."

"You know, it's going to be hard to get to know you if that's the answer to everything," Duo grumbled, downing the remains of the orange juice. "Hey, you think it's possible for me to learn to fight like that? I saw what you and 'Fei were doing and it looked interesting. I mean, I'm good with daggers, but that was something else."

"Chang is very good for his age," the Scot said, leaning back in his chair and taking another gulp of beer. "It takes years of training to learn to fight as well as he does."

"And you've had that training I assume?" He was trying to figure out exactly how old the man was as he remembered the kata that Duncan had been doing to warm up. And he had to learn those too. "How old are you anyway?" he blurted out, unable to hold his curiosity back.

Duncan smiled, "How old do I look?"

"Well," Duo lent back, crossing his arms, "You look about thirty, I'd guess, but your training and skills..."

A Gaelic laugh stopped him, "Says the boy who was a master assassin, computer technician, skilled pilot and expert combatant at the age of 15."

He had the grace to blush, turning it into annoyance as he fiddled with his glass, "Yes, well, but you grew up on L4 - how the hell did you learn to fight like that there?"

"I moved from L4 to travel, I've picked up bits and pieces since then." Mac smiled, a teasing note appearing in his voice. "And I'm sure with your skills you're quite capable of hacking into the personnel database to find out all my background."

"Pal, I'll know everything about you by tomorrow morning," Duo shot back, hoping that Mr Security Himself, Mr Heero Yuy, hadn't put as much effort into that bloody server too. Grabbing his personal laptop out his bag where it had sat all day, he logged onto the local system before turning his attention to the personnel system with a vengeance.

Minutes later, he was into the system, scanning it for Mac's details. Name. Duncan MacLeod. Date of Birth. 117AC - yep, 30. Place of Birth. L4. He continued reading avidly, impressed at the schooling and training listed. The man was an honour student, had graduated from his business school with high scores, before going travelling where he'd picked up his fighting skills and interest in antiques, before joining the Preventers just after that mess with Dekim had ended. Which would've been fine, except something just didn't ring true. Why the hell would you go to school, get those kind of marks, and then travel? Where the fuck did he get the money for rare objects, and what on earth did business school teach you about antiques, let alone military procedures anyway?

"So, what the hell did business school teach you that made you eligible to join the Preventers? Especially as an active mission operative?"

Duncan shook his head in amusement, slightly bemused at his partner's complete disregard to privacy and general societal norms with his blatant reading of his file in front of him. The question, however, was not unexpected; his new partner wasn't the first to ask that - that had been Une - and he was certain the braided pilot wouldn't be the last. "You'd be surprised, business school teaches an analytical mind, the ability to forecast how actions will affect the future, and how to make split second decisions based on the information given. I already had the combative skills from my travels and after my probationary period, the Commander realised that I had the capability to be a field operative."

"Do I have to go through a fricking probation too?" Duo muttered, wishing he'd paid more attention to the hated folder that was still sitting on his desk, mostly unread.

"Everyone does - the details are all in your folder, if you can find the time to read it. Or most of the documents are on the intranet if you prefer reading on screen."

"I'll read it back at the hotel." He couldn't help the irritated tone that had crept into his voice and he sighed, suddenly feeling very tired, placing his glass back on the table. "Look, it's been great talking to you, but I'd best get going, it's been a long day and I could do with a nap, not to mention the time difference between here and L2. Can I order a taxi from the reception?"

Luckily Mac just nodded in understanding, "Yeah, they'll just charge it to the Preventers. I'll see you tomorrow, Duo."

"Not going to offer to drive me home?" he knew he was pushing it with the light flirting, but what the hell, nothing ventured nothing gained.

The Scot just ignored him, standing and heading towards the bar. "I'm planning on staying a while, have a few more drinks. Try to be on time tomorrow?"

"Yeah, yeah." Resigning himself to returning to the box-filled hotel room alone, he took a long look at Mac, deciding that at least he'd have a fantasy that didn't involve Heero to keep him warm. He didn't notice the Scot's own appraising look as he left the bar.

The next morning, Duo awoke with a start, the unfamiliar surroundings causing him to have a firm grip on the gun stashed under his pillow before he'd even blinked his eyes open. The ringing of the telephone which had woken him brought him back to full awareness, the memory of collapsing in the hotel bedroom rushing back. Man, it can't be morning already, he thought, reaching for the handset with a frown, trying to ignore the light streaming in the window that contradicted his hope.

"Good morning Mr. Maxwell. This is your seven o'clock wake up call. Your taxi will be arriving in at 8.30am in an hour and a half. Would you prefer your breakfast in your room, or will you be joining us in the restaurant?"

The bright cheery voice caused the pilot to bury his head in his pillow with a groan, holding the evil machine away from his face. It was morning, wasn't it? Where did the night go to all of a sudden?

"Mr. Maxwell?" The receptionist asked as he brought the receiver back to his ear reluctantly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"You're welcome, Mr. Maxwell. We look forward to seeing you shortly."

Definitely too damn chirpy, he decided as he crawled out of bed and towards the shower. He'd not had time to wash his hair properly the night before, just soaking the braid in the showers at the gym as it took far too long to wash and dry properly. If he gauged his time right, he could sort his hair out, throw clothes on and have just enough time for a quick breakfast before the car arrived.

The taxi was already waiting when Duo made his way out into the bright sunlight, allowing himself to revel in the unfamiliar warmth on his skin. He doubted he'd ever get tired of the beauty that Earth offered. Collapsing into the car seat after the correct paperwork was waved at him, he watched the world go by as they drove to the Preventer's building. Brussels was so different to the dusty grey abandoned streets of L2 and the never-ending dull high rises reaching up to the empty dome above. Here the sun shone down onto sparkling glass buildings, busy shops and tidy streets filled with people.

Suddenly a motion in an alleyway caught his eye through the window and he noticed a few children in rags, begging bowls in hand. He refused to look away, watching them out the back window until the car turned a corner. Some things never change, do they? He thought angrily. He'd thought, no, he'd hoped that the Earth would be free of the problems that plagued his home colony, but the sight of the children had kicked up memories that he didn't want to remember. The rough streets, the gnawing hunger, the constant fear that any street kid felt in the vicious, uncaring world.

He'd found his gang, he'd found Solo, and that had saved him, no doubt about that, and then G had picked him up and trained him. He wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse, but one thing he knew for certain, no one would be the saving angel, or demon, to that group of kids. Oh, there might be handouts and basic schooling, that was required by law now to support the homeless, but that didn't mean that they'd ever get it - some kids just were always on the wrong side of the law and didn't get the chance to escape poverty. Likely they'd die, victims of the drugs and violence that followed kids and adults alike on the street.

He barely noticed when the taxi pulled up next to the Preventer headquarters, his thoughts lost in the past until the driver gave a polite cough. "We're here, sir."

"Ah, thanks, pal," Duo replied, shaking his head to dismiss the memories, swearing as he did so that he'd find some way to help the children. There was no way in hell he'd let any kid grow up with the crap life he'd had on the streets if he could help it.

Waving his pass at the entrance pad, he allowed himself to marvel at the glass and gundanium-fortified steel columns. One thing he did know was that Solo would've laughed his arse off at his skinny, scrawny, weird looking self piloting one of the Gundams and wouldn't begrudge him his good fortune. He'd earned it after all.

Making his way up to his floor he stopped at the kitchen on the floor to make himself a cup of coffee from the can he'd dug out of his boxes in a rush before he'd left the hotel before storing the tin in a cupboard and wandering into the office. His office. He felt a little thrill go through him again at that thought. Noting that Duncan was already there studying his monitor intently, he moved quietly to his desk before the Scot looked up and lifted a hand in greeting.

"Good morning, Duo. Nice of you to finally join us."

"Hey, not my fault the car took so long," he replied defensively, moving to flop into the chair in front of his computer. "So, is anyone going to tell me what this job actually entails then, or do I just make it up as I go along?"

Duncan sighed, tilting his chair back and telling his body to stop aching. He'd drunk quite a bit the night before, even half a day with the Deathscythe pilot was hard work, and now he had an entire day of it to look forward to with a slight hangover. He'd even received an email from Une, the stony commander grateful that he hadn't already requested a new partner for Duo. The boy wasn't that bad, just young, impetuous and thought he was immortal like all young men. He couldn't help smiling inwardly to himself at his phrasing, it was probably a good thing that the pilot wasn't one of them - teaching an eternally seventeen year old Maxwell was not something he particularly wanted to consider.

"I assume you read the job description?"

"Yeah, basically we're ESUN's peace keepers, right?" Duo replied, sipping his coffee happily. "ESUN provides bodyguards to dignitaries and ministers, makes sure that everyone gets their voice heard and stops any plans that might threaten Earth or the colonies before they start. Well, they try to, kinda messed up with Mariemaia, but hey, can't win them all. At least I got to play in 'Scythe again."

The Scot nodded, "The section we're in primarily deals with the third part of that - the stopping anyone who's working against ESUN. We don't stop protests or people who dislike ESUN, only those who decide that the only way to get what they want is through force. You've already read our initial mission brief, correct? That's an example of what we'll mostly be doing, infiltrations that generally involve stealth or security issues, some information gathering, and some removals."

"You mean spying and assassinations, don't you?" The violet eyes flashed dark for a moment in feral excitement, and Duncan frowned, nodding.

"You could call them that, yes. Although those terms are strictly not used under any circumstances." He waited until Duo nodded in acknowledgement before continuing, "When you're not in the field, your time will be taken up with writing up your reports, prepping and researching your next mission, and possibly training other agents. There will possibly be other work depending on your skills - I help teach martial arts to new recruits for example, and I suspect you'll be roped into stealth and probably computer training as soon as someone from Training notices you on the list of new recruits."

"Great. So I'm going to be either spending all my time risking my neck, getting ready to risk my neck, writing stuff that'll get read once and then filed never to be seen again, or babysitting other people to go and risk their necks?"

Duncan winced inwardly at the mention of necks. "Well, you could put it like that," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "The missions generally aren't that dangerous though, especially ones in your specialisation. You'll probably spend a fair bit of time researching and studying new weapons and methods in your field and monitoring potential situations."

"Joy."

"It's better than it sounds, believe me." He could tell Duo didn't believe him for a second. "Anyway, I need to get on with this report on movements of potential weapons across colonies. Think you can find something to occupy yourself with? Reading your folder perhaps?"

Duo grinned, "Oh, I'm sure I can find something..."

Several hours later, and after several irate phone calls, Duo found himself with Heero peering over his shoulder in interest as he retraced the steps he'd taken to undo the spam filtering on the system, causing the mail servers to abruptly crash under the deluge. He'd also reversed everyone's mouse orientation so left was right and up was down, and hid his tracks well enough that only long exposure to the braided man meant that the dark haired pilot knew precisely who to blame.

Duncan lifted a hand in greeting as a familiar tall blonde woman entered with a faint smile on her lips as she watched Heero study his friend's movements. "I've been informed by Heero that a bored Duo is just as dangerous as a Duo in combat," Dree Winner said, smiling warmly at Duncan with something akin to pity. "I doubt this will be the last prank he tries, although I have to say, he managed to filter out any potential viruses in the mail so that HQ wasn't at any risk from external hackers. Other than himself that is."

"Gold's not happy, is she?" the Scot replied, glancing at his email every few seconds, expecting a summons to the Commander to arrive any moment. Her temper was legendary amongst the Preventers and he really didn't want to explain that he couldn't handle his partner's insanity after only a day.

The abrupt golden peel of laughter surprised him, "Oh, Duncan, dear, don't worry about it, she was aware that Night's a handful of trouble when she employed him, she expected this kind of thing to happen. There's been a sweepstake since he arrived yesterday on how long it would take until he did something like this, and I know for a fact that Gold had a bet of three hours. Heero knew full well that he'd cause chaos in the system if he could - in his opinion letting Night loose in it is a good way to check the security, he's one of the few people Heero acknowledges has decent computing skills and who won't cause any actual damage or risk to the system. Air and Dragon are the same, although not quite as," she looked at the ceiling, searching for the right word, "creative. Weren't you surprised he could get into the personnel system so quickly last night? And from a personal machine? Even accessing internally, that's encoded sufficiently that it should be near impossible to crack. Heero was surprised he didn't manage to get past the front log in code yesterday."

"You trust him that much?" Duncan looked at the violet eyed teenager, his estimation of Duo's skills rising rapidly. Ice's protection on the Preventer system was as legendary as Gold's temper and he'd assumed the pilot had given Duo access to the personnel system for some reason. Men twice his apparent age had been left almost in tears after a dressing down from the Wing pilot over minor computer misuse.

"Heero and the Commander do." Sea responded with a shrug, "That's enough for me, and should be enough for you. However this kind of behaviour is also the reason he needs to be out in the field as soon as possible - to work off the energy as it were."

Duncan nodded in resigned acceptance. He'd just have to hope that his partner didn't push the boundaries on missions or things could get difficult. "Who won the sweepstake anyway?"

"Dragon, actually. Nailed it almost to the minute. But then, he's an excellent tactician, so I'm not surprised."

Duo looked up then, frowning in annoyance, "You're saying Chang put money on how long it took me to get into the system? And he won?"

"Actually, it was how long until you caused some form of chaos in the system," Heero corrected with a rare half smile as he typed the last few commands to reset the filters, making a mental note to tighten the security further when he returned to his office. "I had one hour on you."

Crossing his arms across his chest, Duo felt an annoyed pout forming on his face before he could help it, his eyes rolling up towards the ceiling. "Hey, I was bored, OK? There's nothing else to do 'til I go on the damn mission."

"So maybe you should study the briefing and make sure you cover all eventualities instead of messing around. There. That should be back to normal. I can fix the rest from my office." His friend's voice was back to the mechanical calmness as he packed up his equipment. "I'll see you later, Duo."

"Yeah, yeah," He turned back to the computer, pulling the briefing back up with an irritated sigh as the pair left the room.

The mission briefing was just as boring as the last time he read it, a simple fetch and carry from an old OZ facility. A nice easy mission for a 'newbie', he supposed with a grimace. They probably had a whole raft of the things just waiting labelled My First Mission or something. There was some mention of old security and the like, but nothing he wasn't sure he could handle. Get in, grab the discs, get out. Not exactly a challenge. Especially after digging out the schematics from old files yesterday - it was built in exactly the same way every other OZ base was built. They’d not been known for their imagination after all. He gave himself ten minutes to complete the whole mission, that's if McGuard Dog on the opposite side of the room didn't hold him back out of some form of caution.

"So, what's your role in this mission going to be?" he asked, glancing up at his partner, "General lookout, coming in with me, or something else?"

"Coming in with you, of course," the accented reply was surprised, "you didn't think you were going to be going in alone, did you?"

Dammit. That was his ten minute estimate blown clear out the water. "Thanks, but no thanks. I can do this whole thing in ten minutes. I know the layout, I know the systems, and I damn well don't need someone getting in my way." The last was almost snarled.

"Regulations..." Duncan started to reply before Duo interrupted.

"Fuck them. You're trained in business for God's sake, you may be damn good in a fight, but you ain't no security expert. Not a single mention of security in your CV at all. You'd get in the way, Mac."

"Check the training I've done since I've been here."

Quickly opening the personnel system again and pulling up those records, Duo sighed. Surveillance and security was right at the top of the list. And he'd passed with top marks. "Look, Mac, buddy, I'm trained in the field in this, and if this is some kind of test to see just how good I am, tell me now so I can ignore the nagging feeling I've got in my gut." The surprise in the Scot's eyes told him he'd hit it right on the head. "Right. Thanks."

"No, Duo," He could see Duncan torn between his precious rules and regulations and the fact that he'd already figured out that it was a test. Finally a sigh told him that he'd won. "Yes, alright, it's a test, we all get them as our first mission. However," he held up one hand, forestalling Duo's squawk of annoyance, "It is a real mission, we do need to get those discs. Just, it could wait until we had someone to go out and get them. There. Are you happy now?"

"I suppose you're going to be marking me too?" the violet eyes sparked in annoyance, the words sarcastically bitten off. "Graded like a good little boy?"

He could just see Duncan's lips curl, the start of a smile or smirk beginning to form. Whirling out of the office, he slammed the door behind him, his braid just whipping through before it banged shut. He was starting to wonder if he'd get through an entire day with the Scot in the office without something pissing one of them off.

Duncan sighed, leaning back on his chair and staring at the closed door. How on earth was he ever going to get through an entire day with Duo Maxwell? And it wasn't even lunch time.

Duo pointedly ignored the Scot as he sat down next to him in the fifth floor restaurant, turning his body even further to continue his conversation with Trowa. And now he'd have to change the subject - couldn't let Mac overhear him discussing him could he? He could see the slender acrobat's green eyes coolly taking in and analysing the other man - the topic of their talk for the last half hour. Alright, his talk. Trowa had just eaten his food and listened, calmly interjecting once or twice to clarify a few points.

He'd just reached telling the other pilot about Duncan's fight with 'Fei the night before and speculating on how the guy was good enough with a sword to equal 'Fei, yet had lived long enough on L2 to have an accent like honeyed chocolate and a passion for a dead country, when the man in question had appeared. "I'll tell you later. But there's definitely something going on with this guy. Anyway," he allowed his voice to become rather pointed, "Did you have to be babysat through your first mission too?"

Trowa moved his head so his emerald eyes were hidden by his hair, Duo recognised it as the defence mechanism it was and crossed his arms over the uniform shirt that he'd thrown on this morning - leaving the tie off and top few buttons undone of course. "Trowa, you're hiding, pal. Come out from under all that hair of yours and tell me what you know."

"All of my hair?" The Heavyarms pilot raised a slender eyebrow at Duo's own mass of chestnut hair, trying to distract him from the line of questioning.

"Hey, I don't hide behind it, it's all nicely tied up and out the way. Now spill."

Dark amethyst eyes that had flooded with irritation pinned him down and the tall slender teen resisted the urge to squirm in his seat. "Fine. Every new recruit is given a mission. It's an easy one. You get scored on it." He noticed the dark eyes flash with irritation at that towards Cloud. "There's usually a twist - something your partner - or the colleague with you - throws in to give you a bit of a challenge." And there was the Scottish agent's annoyance as he opened his mouth to speak. Calmly, the calm that had made lions quiet, he ignored the man. "I just had a couple of minor explosions to deal with and an old mobile doll the Preventers had retrieved from somewhere to defeat."

Duncan blinked for a moment. His test had seemed to be easy - get into a base, steal a truck under heavy security, and leave, the 'twist' as Air called it being hot pursuit by enemies, of course the Preventers themselves, but nothing potentially deadly like that. He'd not received the notes on Duo's 'twist' yet - that was left until the last moment so friendships didn't interfere, but as the young man calmly stated what he'd been up against, Duncan was suddenly glad he'd not been told.

"Heero had a system to hack into to defuse a bomb in a few minutes. A small one, but it would have been enough to seriously injure him. He'd guessed there would be a complication before the test even began. I guessed there would be within a minute of starting. Chang's never told me what his was - I'm not even sure he had one as he was an early recruit, the practice came in slightly later."

The Scot's opinion of the ex-Gundam pilots sitting before him rose abruptly. He'd been the 'colleague' on a few of the training missions and none of them had been anywhere near as deadly as the ones that Air and Ice had been subjected to. And they were only teenagers, children, babies. He knew war, knew it like a mother knows her infant, knew that centuries ago, millennia ago, children younger than these two had picked up swords and gone to fight for their country, for their lives. He'd been there. But still, now, with all the so called progress, all the changes that had erupted in the last few hundred years, they sent children to die for their desires. He'd read the histories that were already being penned, the essays scholars were already typing furiously, analysing every last bit of the revolutions and wars - they'd never expected the pilots to survive either.

"Well, at least it'll be fun," he heard the Deathscythe pilot drawl. "Thought it'd be all boring and everything."

"Don't get too excited, it's not often you get missions like that." The visible green eye seemed almost disappointed as turned back to his meal, carefully cutting and eating the food with a surprising delicacy compared to Duo's somewhat more messy style.

"That's madness!" Duncan erupted, looking in disbelief at the two younger men. "How can you be so calm about this? How could the Commander give you those missions? You could well die!"

Duo finally turned to look at Mac, "Don't get your panties in a twist, Mac, as you said earlier, it's what I was trained to do, it'll be easy, and, hey, it's fun. Don't think Une would give us anything we aren't able to handle, we're far too valuable to the Preventers."

"Fun." the Scot said, shaking his head, "War’s not meant to be fun, and this test is meant to be a challenge to test your capabilities, not meant to kill you."

"And to Duo a challenge is always fun." Trowa replied, allowing a slight smile to curve along his lips. "And he's right, Une wouldn't give us something that would kill us, as he said, we're far too useful to her alive. When do you go out?"

"Friday afternoon, two days time, and already impatient."

Trowa's visible eye was almost laughing, almost, when he looked over at Duncan, neatening his tray before rising to dispose of the remainders in the bin. "Good luck, Cloud. I, myself, would not like to work with an impatient Duo."

Duo scowled after the slender, and admitted cute, retreating rear, "Thanks, buddy." He turned back to his food, muttering as he scooped up the last few pieces, ensuring every little particle of edible food made its way to his mouth. Growing up on L2 had made him value every iota of food, and the cafeteria food here was at least good quality, although he made a note to bring his own coffee to lunch the next day - the food was only just masking the bitterness.

So, they thought they could surprise him, did they? He smiled, feeling the mischievous light in his eyes. There was no way in hell he'd fail the mission, he knew that, he hadn't been boasting when he'd said it'd be easy, but he was kind of hoping they've throw in something to truly make it a challenge, and show Duncan exactly what a Gundam pilot could really do. The guy really seemed to have been surprised to hear Trowa and Heero's missions for some reason, it wasn't as if they'd been particularly testing. "Hey, Mac, what's so surprising about our missions?"

He lent his head to one side, leaning back and listening as the Scot explained what his test mission had been and how dangerous the ones Heero and Trowa had done were in comparison, ah, that was it then - either Mac was jealous that the pilots got to do the better missions, or annoyed Une had decided they more competent to do the harder stuff, or possibly he was slightly insane and didn't understand the concept of enjoying life while you had it.

"You know, Mac, I'm pretty good at surviving, so don't worry about it. Remind me to tell you about more of my escapades in the war - Heero almost shot me the first time we met, though I suppose I did shoot him first. Anyway, do I get bonus points for figuring it out early?"

"It'll go in the mission report and the Commander can decide what to from there," Duncan replied, deciding to change the subject before Duo told him he'd arm wrestled a mobile suit - without his Gundam.."Are you interested in learning a simple kata tonight? It's been a while since I taught anyone, but I'm sure I can start you on the basics."

"Sure," the violet eyes lit up. Since when the hell does a business student who travelled and learnt sword work teach as well? "Should probably get back in training anyway, didn't get my morning jog in either thanks to the god-awful start time in this place. So, what's the plan for the afternoon?" Opening the door to the office, Duo looked behind to where Duncan was starting at him, his head tilted as if listening, his brown eyes puzzled. "Er, pal, if you could stop looking at my arse?" Though if the tall Scot wanted to look he wasn't really complaining, just preferably with a more sensual expression than confusion.

Shaking his head, the ever so faint feeling fading away so fast he wasn't even sure it'd been there, Duncan smiled at his partner, quickly walking after him, although his mind was working furiously.
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'Til Death us do part