The Art of Being Cool:

 

“You look quite pleased with yourself, Yuy.”

 

Heero gave a start from his mini daydream and had the grace to flush at being caught at such a vulnerable moment. He sat upright and managed a weak smile towards the brown-haired woman standing beside his cubicle.

 

“Lady Une,” he began quietly. “Is there something you needed me for?”

 

The Head of the Preventer organization waved a hand in dismissal. “Not really. Although, I would have really liked for you to follow Stevens to the dock for a final check up of the incoming cargo from Russia. The Inspector has… concerns over what may be coming in.”

 

“Illegal crates of gundanium,” Heero mumbled, already knowing that he was going to have to go whether he wanted to or not. He had known about the shipments long before this and being assigned to it had only been a matter of time.

 

“I had thought the government would have banned the use of such metals or alloys by now, but I guess the parliament decided not to sign the Act again. Damn beaucracy.”

 

Heero, respectfully, kept his mouth shut during the mini rant. It was rare that the private female was willing to share her thoughts on the government or politics in general with any of her employees, and Heero had the feeling there was more to this conversation than was let on.

 

“I know you have plans to make concerning your upcoming trip,” she continued. “But it would make me feel at ease if I had someone of your caliber helping Stevens who is just a second officer, if you know what I mean.”

 

He knew what she meant all right. Things might get nasty and she needed someone who could talk back to the brash Inspector without losing his wits about him.

 

He sighed inwardly.

 

“When do you need me to go?” he asked as he spared a quick glance at the small clock beside his computer. It was almost quitting time and all thoughts of running back home to Duo would have to be put on hold for now.

 

“Right away?” Lady Une suggested with a small nod. “Stevens was supposed to be going with Marco, but since you have so nicely agreed to do this, I’ll let him off the hook. Meet him in the garage in about half an hour.”

 

She spun on her heels to leave before stopping to give him a small smile of gratitude. “I really appreciate this, Yuy.”

 

And to this, he only gave a curt nod and wondered just how Duo would take the news that he was coming home late again tonight.

 

__

 

It was a damn shame that the store didn’t carry the exact type of noodles the brochure had mentioned, but then again, one couldn’t really expect them to have the authentic thing in stock. To get the real taste of Japan, you only had to be there in person and in less than four weeks, he and Heero would be right there in the heart of things.

 

Damn! But it was too exciting to think straight right now.

 

He reached for the large bag of cat litter and tossed it into the cart that was steadily filling to its capacity. The store was unusually busy today and Duo had to maneuver his way through aisles filled with people in order to get what he wanted.

 

He made a stop at the toy section to get a doll for Pagan. They were planning to visit her this weekend and perhaps this time the authorities there would allow them to bring Coco along. The last time they had visited, she had asked about the feline every other second and they had promised to bring him the next time they came around.

 

He held up the large chubby Cabbage Patch doll and eyed it warily before lifting the slender Barbie-like doll in his other hand.

 

Hmm…which one would she like?

 

Thinking about this was beginning to give him a headache and deciding that both couldn’t hurt; he dumped them into the cart and began to push it towards the checkout area. He passed an aisle that had a large sign with the words ‘Gifts’ blazoned above it and he screeched to a halt.

 

He would have to get gifts for Heero’s family. It was only customary, wasn’t it? But the tough part was that he had no idea of what each person would like. It wasn’t as if they were on speaking terms and since they had never met each other before, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to pick out the right gift.

 

Maybe we’ll come back later and shop together, he decided with a firm nod as he began to back out from the aisle. Heero would and should have an idea of what kinds of things were suitable for his family.

 

He was about to push the cart forward when he froze again as his skin prickled with awareness. It was a large shop, there were lots of customers, but still there was no denying the sensation of being watched. Duo’s eyes narrowed in wariness and he began to push the cart slowly down the wide walkway. He cautiously watched each customer, not really noticing anyone giving him an extra look or two.

 

He frowned and then stopped abruptly. With a show of falling to his knees to tie up his bootlaces, he continued to watch carefully and then he noticed them. One aisle behind him, amidst the snow boots and high heels, were the unmistakable flat sole shoes that could only belong to one person.

 

Rei!

 

Cursing beneath his breath, Duo rose to his feet, noticing that the other man had dashed behind another aisle again. What the fuck was this? He couldn’t even go grocery shopping without being tailed like a common thief? He continued to push his cart towards the checkout area, telling himself that he wasn’t going to pay the Japanese man any attention. But to his chagrin, he knew that being followed like this was grating on his nerves and it was taking all of his self-control not to run after Rei and to possibly choke the life out of him.

 

A bit harsh, but hey...

 

“Duo? Is that really you, Duo?”

 

He spun around in surprise at the feminine voice and barely had the time to register who the person was, as he was soon engulfed in a crushing embrace. Surprise and quick reflexes prevented him from falling to the floor as he held on to the slender waist before him. The female pulled back to reveal the grinning visage of his very good friend, Hilde Schbeiker.

 

“Surprise! Surprise!” she greeted with another hug.

 

“You said it!” Duo replied with laughter and genuine pleasure. “I haven’t seen you in like…”

 

“Nine months, three days, thirty minutes and…” she glanced at her watch. “…twenty-two seconds.” She tapped his nose gently with a finger before stepping back to spin around for him. “How do I look?”

 

She was dressed in a pair of rather tight jeans and a simple white sweater that hugged the curve of her relatively well-rounded bosom. Black boots and a matching wool hat over her short purple tresses completed the picture. And in spite of himself, Duo did have to agree that she looked quite good.

 

“Not bad, Hil,” he teased as he circled her in close inspection. “A bit top heavy but otherwise…”

 

“You pig!” she giggled and punched his shoulders playfully. “Is that all you have to say to me? I’ve been stationed at that godforsaken place for that long and this is all you can say to me?”

 

Duo’s peripheral vision had caught Rei walking away and he didn’t need a scientist to tell him that the other man must have come to his own conclusions about what had just transpired between he and Hilde.

 

Let him think what he likes, he thought with a light frown. I don’t give a shit anymore.

 

“What’s with the frown?” Hilde asked in bemusement as she tried to catch his gaze. “Whatcha looking at?”

 

Duo shook his head and forced a smile to come back to his features. “Nothing important,” he replied as he held out his arm for her to hold on to. “Just thought I recognized someone. Might just be my imagination.”

 

She didn’t look like she bought his explanation but she decided not to dwell on it. “We have so much to catch up on,” she enthused as she eyed his cart. “Goodness, Duo! Who are you shopping for? The entire city?”

 

He laughed and walked a bit faster. “I wish. Come on; let’s go eat lunch somewhere, okay? Then you can tell me what it’s like working for the moon dogs.”

 

They both laughed at the inside joke, but Duo’s was a bit forced because try as hard as he might, he just couldn’t get the image of Rei ‘stalking’ him out of his mind.

 

__

 

Truth be told, Stevens was a completely hopeless case. Heero groaned inwardly as he watched the man fumble with the catch on his gun for several more minutes before reaching for and snapping it in place with one firm move by himself.

 

“That’s what you do,” he remarked curtly. “You don’t hold it like it’s going to bite you. You own the damn thing, not the other way around.”

 

The younger man flushed in embarrassment and mumbled a quick apology before focusing his attention back to the unmoving scene before them. He would have loved to work with anyone else but the famous Heero Yuy. This was his first official assignment and the thought of screwing up in front of a man he had idolized, for a long time now, was nerve-wracking.

 

Since his employment in the Preventer organization, he had been left to do the tedious paperwork in the basement offices. But thanks to his big mouth and impatience, he had sent a letter to Lady Une urging her to place him in a mission for once. Two months of persistence later, he had been assigned to work with Marco – a relatively nice guy who worked in the Weapons department – and Stevens had been excited about the news. He had even bragged to his other workers in the ‘Basement’ that he was finally going to the top and that no one could stop him now.

 

But all his dreams of having a successful mission had come to a crashing halt, when the stoic officer Yuy had stormed into the office requesting his presence in the garage. He had felt the chill settle in the pit of his stomach and the fear that had come over him as he was led out of the room. Ignoring the snickers and pitying looks he got from his other co-workers, Stevens, who was seventeen and quite proud of it, felt like he had gotten a whole lot more than he bargained for.

 

If he was working with Heero Yuy, then there was no doubt that this mission was bound to be a dangerous one.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” Heero asked curtly as he noticed the boy who was trembling slightly. It was hard to imagine that he was just a year older than this kid.

 

“No…nothing, sir,” came the harsh whisper as Stevens swallowed and wiped the sweat that had gathered upon his forehead. “I’m just…you know…nervous.”

 

“Hn.” He turned his gaze back to the parking lot. “Just as long as you don’t pee in your pants, I am fine with it. We are just doing a routine inspection for God’s sake, there’s nothing for you to get scared about.”

 

He really didn’t mean to sound so cold towards the other man, but Heero was already irritated enough at being sent on a mission he really didn’t want to be a part of. And then there was Duo to worry about.

 

Stevens eyed their guns and swallowed tightly. “So…eh…why are we with guns, sir?”

 

The ex-pilot tapped his fingers against the dashboard gently and smirked coldly. “So we can put out anyone who decides to act like an asshole.”

 

Stevens felt the cold sweat break out on his skin again. “Oh…”

 

“Have you ever killed anyone before?” Heero asked with another side glance towards the pale teen.

 

The junior officer blushed darkly and lowered his gaze to the floor. “No…no, sir. I’ve just been in office duty for the past year, sir.”

 

Heero stared at the lowered head for a moment. “So what made you think you were ready for a mission?”

 

“Because I was sick and tired of sitting behind that desk writing up things I’m never even a part of!” He flushed in apology at his outburst. “I’m…I’m sorry, sir. It’s just that…I mean…you…take you for instance, sir. You were a gundam pilot at fifteen. Fifteen! Wanna know what I was doing when I was fifteen, sir? Getting drunk with a couple of buddies and checking out chicks to hang out with. But when I saw what you and the other pilots did out there during the war…man…I wanted to become like you guys. I wanted to be seen as a hero and that’s why I joined the Preventers.” He sighed softly. “I had no idea that they would stick me in the office. It wasn’t as if I didn’t pass my flying exams.”

 

He had failed to notice how tight Heero’s jaw had become or the whitened knuckles as the ex-pilot had tightened his fingers around the wheel.

 

“It must have been cool, huh?” Stevens continued relentlessly, an earnest look in his eyes now. “You were my idol, sir. All of you…but especially you…the Wing pilot…”

 

“You think it was cool being a pilot, huh?” Heero asked curtly, his gaze still pinned on the unmoving cars in the lot.

 

Stevens blinked at the harsh tone and decided to choose his words carefully. “I’m…I’m not saying it was all fun, sir. I mean, but I guess it was kind of…cool…”

 

“Cool.” Heero rolled the word off his tongue for a moment. To think that there had been nights when he had thought he would go insane from the constant cries of dying men haunting his dreams. All of his anguish and agony had been condensed into one meaningless word.

 

Cool.

 

What a fucking joke.

 

“Cool, huh?” he asked again as he smiled coldly. His fingers had picked up its tapping again on the dashboard and somehow that movement had Stevens really trying hard not to pee in his pants. There was a tension in the air that he didn’t like. Unconsciously, his fingers tightened around the trigger of his gun.

 

Heero pursed his lips and finally replied quietly. “Yeah…I guess it was cool.”

 

The teen gave a small inward sigh of relief, before freezing at the next words that came out from the older boy’s lips.

 

“Yeah, it was cool. Cool to be a mass murderer of thousands and to watch blood spill and know you were responsible for it. Heh…and let’s not forget the innocent people you get to blow to bits in the process, Stevens. Or knowing that your life was worth shit because if a mission failed, you were obligated to blow yourself to pieces. Yeah, Stevens, that was pretty cool.”

 

Somehow that thought was enough to get the hysterical laughter that had been building deep within him all this time, and much to the younger officer’s fear, to the surface. Heero Yuy threw back his head and laughed out loud at how ridiculous the whole situation had suddenly turned out to be.

 

Yeah, maybe Stevens was right. Things had definitely been …cool then.

 

And as for the poor officer, he was gradually beginning to get the feeling that he had been saddled with a mad man.

 

__

 

 

Hilde gave a very unladylike burp as she drained the rest of the soda out of the large cup. They were having lunch in front of a local bistro and the hungry couple had already finished the simple meal of chicken sandwiches and sodas.

 

“How come you were released so soon?” Duo asked casually as he waved for the waiter to refill his cup. “I thought you were going to be there for a year.”

 

The girl made a face. “Hey, we are entitled to a vacation every now and then, you know. And besides, I’ve been working my tail off there, I deserve the break.”

 

Duo held up his hands and laughed lightly. “Hey, hey. I’m not arguing with you, lady.” He placed his arm on the table and eyed her carefully. “So? What’s it like there?”

 

“You talk as if you haven’t been there before.” She sighed and leaned back on the chair. “It’s boring to be honest. We just get to fix up already broken stations and monitor incoming space shuttles here and there.”

 

“Technically… mechanic work, hmm?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“But at least it’s good money.”

 

Hilde eyed him. “It’s not about the money, Duo. Noin had said it would be a good thing for me to do, but…” She trailed off and stared morosely at her empty cup. “I wish I could be with you, Duo,” she finally mumbled. A light blush dusted her cheeks now. “I…we…we both had fun for that little while on L2, remember? I wish…I wish we could go back.”

 

Duo sat back on his own chair and stared at anything but the girl’s face. They remained silent for a long while both knowing that things could definitely not go back to the way it was before. Hilde knew he was with Heero. He didn’t need to reiterate that again.

 

“Anyway.” She shook her head rapidly with a warm smile. “What’s this about going to Japan, huh? You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”

 

He stared at her in confusion. How had she known…?

 

“Relena told me,” she explained around a laugh. “I called her up the other day and we talked for a while. I had planned this whole thing as a surprise, really. I had no idea I would meet you at the store today.”

 

“And did she tell you all the shit we’ve been through just to get to this trip?” Duo asked with a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

 

Hilde nodded softly. “She just said something about Heero’s cousin coming over, but she couldn’t tell me much else.” She leaned closer to him, eyes warm with encouragement. “Wanna tell me all about it?”

 

He bit his lower lip and thought over her question. There was really nothing to hide and perhaps talking about his troubles would help to ease his wariness about things now. And with an inward sigh, he muttered softly. “Yeah…why not?”

 

__

 

 

Just as expected, the Inspector was as cranky and as inhospitable as ever. He had always had a low opinion about Preventers butting into polices’ affairs and really did not appreciate that stuck-up bitch (aka Lady Une) sending her cockroaches down to spy on everything they did.

 

Heero bore the insults with his usual candor, otherwise ignoring him, which only did more to annoy the burly man. Stevens was practically Heero’s shadow as he followed the older teen towards the incoming crates that were currently being offloaded from the ship. There were about five police cars with two cops in each, Heero deduced with a light frown. Not nearly enough for the amount of stuff that was coming in. In fact, sending just he and Stevens was not enough either. Did Lady Une really think that this was just a routine checkup? From the way things were looking right now, Heero knew they would have to call for backup.

 

“Where’s the second one?” he suddenly asked curtly as his frown deepened. He eyed the large cargo ship with the words ‘Liberty’ written in Russian on its side, with skepticism and wariness.

 

The Inspector took out the cigar from his mouth and barked out coldly. “What the hell do you mean? There’s only one ship as you can clearly see!”

 

“There are two ships coming in from Moscow,” Heero explained slowly as if speaking to a child. “The Liberty which is here and the Emerald, a much smaller carrier. I do not see the Emerald anywhere…”

 

“Is…is that it, sir?” Stevens interrupted in a trembling voice as he looked through the binoculars and towards the ship that was making its way towards the dock at an alarmingly fast speed. It looked as if the ship had plans to crash right into the docking area and from the sounds of the alarms beginning to go off, Heero knew that it was the captain’s intention from the beginning.

 

Shit! So much for routine check ups. Duo was going to be pretty upset if he didn’t show up for dinner tonight.

 

“Everyone stay back!” Heero bellowed as he caught the Inspector and his team gaping like morons at the coming ship. “Get back into your cars and get moving!”

 

Too late. The sounds of gunshots filled the air and Heero was short of losing an ear as a bullet ricocheted off the metal pole beside him. He fell to the ground and pulled out his gun, cursing loudly as he noticed the men, who must have been hiding amongst the crates, opening fire on them.

 

“Stevens!” he cried out sharply as he noticed the teen cowering in fear in a corner. “Call for back-up now!”

 

Another rain of bullets went by them and Heero could hear the undeniable squeak of terror from the dark-haired boy. This was definitely not the time for showing panic and Heero realized he would have to do something to snap Stevens out of his daze or things were bound to get even worse.

 

“Stevens!” He cried out again and this time he caught the shimmering brown depths filled with fear and yet undeniable trust. Heero felt something lurch in his chest at the look. He was responsible for this kid whether he liked it or not. If anything was to happen to Stevens, Heero wasn’t sure of what he would do. He had never lost any officer under his supervision before and he wasn’t about to start now.

 

“Stevens! Listen to me! I want you to try to make your way back to the car and call for back-up, okay?! You wanted to be cool, right?!”

 

The boy nodded numbly. “Yes…yes, sir…”

 

Heero gave him a firm smile. “Then this is your chance, Stevens. Run like your life depended on it and call the office, got it?”

 

When he got no immediate answer, Heero lost the little patience he had left and snapped angrily. “Get a move on, Stevens or I swear I’ll shoot you myself!”

 

That seemed to do the trick as the teen began to half crawl and stumble towards their safe looking jeep which seemed to be miles away to Heero. He would have to cover Stevens, he deduced with a grimace as he began to follow the teen while firing back as accurately and as quickly as he could despite his limited visibility. He could hear the ship coming even closer and by this time, some of the coast guards – thank goodness - had joined in the fray.

 

This had somehow turned out to be an all out war.

 

__

 

Duo finished his tale and took another sip of his drink. Hilde remained silent, not really knowing what to say to such a story. She would have advised Duo to remain behind, but seeing that the American was set on going with Heero, she knew there was talking him out of this one.

 

But at least, she could try and taking a deep breath, she opened up her mouth. “Listen, Duo. I know I have no right to say this but…”

 

A light beep on the pager attached to his belt interrupted her words. She watched the ex-pilot’s lips curve into a frown and those beautiful violet depths narrow with concentration.

 

“What’s…what’s wrong, Duo?” she asked in a voice that trembled a little. She was still not over her worry and concern over the teen when it came to him being sent on missions. She had thought she would be over it by now, but it seemed like things had barely changed.

 

The Deathscythe pilot cursed softly and gave a curt nod to her. “Looks like my mini-vacation is over, Hil.” He rose to his feet and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Come visit me again some other time, okay? I’ll have dinner waiting.”

 

“What the fuck’s going on?” she shouted in frustration as she watched him begin to walk away. “Why won’t you tell me, Duo?”

 

“Because this is Preventer’s business, Hil,” he explained as calmly as he could, even though his heart was racing a mile-a-minute. He gave her a warm smile and another quick nod. “Don’t forget our dinner date, okay?”

 

And hardly giving her a chance to say anything, he jogged towards his car and sped off towards the port.

 

From the way Lady Une had sounded, things were beginning to look really bad for their latest mission.

 

__

 

 

Stevens placed the phone back in its place and sank back against the leather seat with a small sigh of relief. He had done it. He had called the office and had asked for back-up like Heero had asked him to. It was an accomplishment in itself. He was lucky he hadn’t been shot at or…

 

“Hehe…stinking Preventer!”

 

The shot narrowly escaped making a hole in his temple as he dodged on reflex and tried to scramble out of the other side of the door. He had been so focused on his damn victory that he had forgotten he was still in enemy territory.

 

Shit! Shit! Shit!

 

The skinny Russian with an orange-streaked Mohawk continued to taunt and call him names in Russian and had somehow successfully placed bullet holes all over the car. Stevens managed to scramble out of the car to reach for his gun with hands that were shaking so terribly, the weapon threatened to slip out of them. All he had to do was pull the trigger and he would have recorded his very first murder victim.

 

/Cool, huh?/

 

“Yeah,” he mumbled with a small smile as he steadied his hands. “Cool like that, sir.”

 

And with no hesitation whatsoever, he fired a few rounds into the grinning man’s torso. Blood splattered against his pristine uniform but he didn’t care. The trembling he had experienced earlier was slowly dissipating as he watched the body fall to the ground with a resounding thud. He had done it! He had actually killed…

 

“GET DOWN, STEVENS!”

 

“Huh?”

 

It was a minute too late. The teen barely had the time to understand what his mentor had said when he felt the sharp pain pierce through his lower back, sending him kneeling to the ground in disbelief. He stared at the spreading red wetness on his torso and lifted his gaze as if asking the older teen if this was really happening to him. He could see Heero’s horrified look and Stevens knew without a doubt that he had indeed been shot.

 

Another bullet went between his shoulder blades and for one blissful moment, he felt a soothing darkness wash over him.

 

My first mission…failed…

 

He began to fall forward and was caught within strong warm arms. He opened up his eyes weakly to stare into the panicked and desperate-looking visage of Heero Yuy above him. The older teen was saying something, but he couldn’t hear a thing.

 

“I was…I killed someone…” he gasped weakly as he felt his mouth fill with the metallic taste of blood. “I was pretty cool, wasn’t I…sir?”

 

The ex-pilot gave a small nod, knowing from the extent of the bullet wounds that trying to talk the teen out of dying was going to be a waste of time. He managed a weak smile before replying in a voice that sounded a bit too thick.

 

“Yeah, Stevens. You were pretty cool.”

He watched as a pleased smile came to the teen’s lips. At least, he will die happy, Heero thought ruefully as he held on tightly to the spasming body. One jerk. Two. One smaller one and it became still.

 

He barely registered the arrival of more Preventer vehicles and other law enforcement authorities as they began to round up the rebellious Russians. He had lost his very first ward. He had been entrusted with someone’s life and he had not been able to protect it.

 

He stiffened at the touch on his shoulder, lifting his gaze a little to notice the four pairs of boots that had formed a rough semi-circle around him. He didn’t need to look up to know who they were.

 

“Let’s go, Heero,” came the soft voice of the one person he had been thinking of all afternoon. “It’s all over now.”

 

Yeah, it was all over because sadly, things had definitely not been cool after all…

 

 

TBC…