Last revised: 09/05/99

Methos stared sourly at the braided teenager peering down at him and muttered, "Well, now I don't feel so bad about not noticing you sneaking up behind me."

Duo's only response was his familiar mischievous and slightly manic grin.

The older Immortal slowly sat up and stared down at the enormous bloodstain on the front of his new shirt. As he gingerly probed the three gaping bulletholes in his ruined clothes, Methos added with sour amusement, "But I see you're as homicidal as ever."

Duo shrugged with careless nonchalance and said, "Oh, but a guy with my particular handicaps needs to strike first and ask questions later."

Methos snorted in mild disbelief, but he could understand the other's point of view. For an Immortal forever trapped in the body of a teenager, survival for any length of time -- much less a millennium or possibly even more -- was a tremendous feat. And it wasn't just the size and strength disadvantages involved in fighting a sword duel with an immature body that was the worst problem for a teenage Immortal.

Perhaps even more difficult was the constant wandering, never being able to linger in a single place for any length of time. Unlike more mature Immortals who could settle down for a decade, perhaps more, before having to relocate, an Immortal with a child's or a teenager's body could not afford to remain in any one place for longer than two years -- or three years, if lucky -- before the lack of physical growth raised too many dangerous questions. It was an unrelenting and impossibly lonely sort of existence, especially for his young friend.

Methos said quietly, "How have you been?"

"I've survived so far, so I guess I can't complain, right?" Duo said with another shrug.

"So... what are you calling yourself these days?"

"Well now, a name like 'Eigneach MacFeichin' would stand out like a sore thumb in this day and age, wouldn't it? So you can just call me Duo Maxwell for now," he replied with a wicked grin.

Methos pondered the appropriateness of the other's real name, ('Eigneach' for violent fate or death. 'Feichin' for raven. Eigneach MacFeichin... Death, son of the Raven...,) as he gazed at the black-clad teenage Immortal squatting beside him, Duo's brilliant, blue-violet eyes gleaming in the darkness of the abandoned building.

"Duo, hm?"

Methos was suddenly interrupted by the squeal of tires and the tramp of boots on the street outside the derelict building. Both Duo and Methos edged over to the window and carefully peered out to see a group of OZ soldiers milling around some armored personnel carriers.

"Squad 1, take this side of the block. Squad 2, take the other side! I want you guys to sweep this entire area! Check every building! And break up that damn brawl in the street!"

"Shit!" muttered Duo.

"That's a bit of overkill if they're just looking for the source of the gunshots," Methos noted uneasily.

"Like anyone would notice a few measly gunshots in THIS area of town? HA! Nope, they're after another type of prey tonight." With a smirk, Duo added, "And doing a piss poor job of it, too," as he observed the raw-looking OZ troops struggling to get themselves organized while their officer screamed conflicting orders at them.

Duo then glanced at Methos and the conspicuous bloodstain down the entire front of the older Immortal's clothes. "Damn. Even those goons will be suspicious if they catch sight of that mess." He sighed, then said, "Aw, hell. Since it's pretty much my fault, I suppose I better do something about it. Come on, I'll take you someplace where you can clean up and get a change of clothes. Let's move before they get their act together."

The teenage Immortal grabbed Methos' sword off the floor and tossed it to him. "Here, stash this out of sight."

Methos didn't ask any questions. In less than thirty seconds, they were out the back door. Pausing briefly in the alleyway, Duo heard a tremendous commotion on the other side of the building and grinned nastily.

"I guess those street brawlers didn't like the idea of some uniformed goons messing up their fun. And if those OZ troopers are as inexperienced as they look, I expect...," Duo cocked his head and waited in anticipation. A few seconds later, there was the sound of automatic gunfire, followed by the roar of an outraged crowd.

"Bingo!"

Methos raised an eyebrow and commented dryly, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Duo chuckled softly. "Oh, it'll get even better. You see, this area's crawling with street gangs... REALLY heavily armed street gangs. They don't respond well to authority...."

"Sounds just like certain someone I know...," Methos murmured with a faint grin.

"Man, someone at OZ headquarters must have really hated that lieutenant's guts if they sent him down here with only two lightly armed squads. I bet he's screaming for reinforcements at this very moment."

"You don't think that his superiors will send more troops?"

"Oh, the guys in charge will send them, all right. They have to, because this riot won't stop by itself. But they won't send the additional troops in right away. They'll wait until the mess gets all ripe and bloody, THEN they'll step in." Duo snorted in annoyance. "OZ just loves shit like this. It gives them an excuse to crack down harder on everyone else, in the, quote, 'the interests of preventing further civil unrest', end quote."

Methos and Duo spent the next few minutes in silence, concentrating on putting a healthy distance between themselves and the growing riot. After they reached a more affluent and peaceful area, their pace slowed to avoid attracting attention. Methos took the opportunity to ask Duo a few questions.

"Have you run into other Immortals recently?"

"Actually, yeah. About fifty years ago, run-ins were pretty rare, but recently, they've picked up in frequency in the last decade or so. Then again, we both know these things tend to go in cycles."

"Then isn't it a bit risky for you run around without a sword?"

"What makes you think that I'm unarmed?" Duo said cheerfully.

Methos eyed the other's short black jacket and said, "You barely have room to hide that big pistol of yours, so where on earth would you put...?"

Duo winked a bright amethyst eye and said slyly, "Now *that's* a secret." He linked his fingers behind his head and grinned. "Don't worry. I've got it covered."

All Immortals had plenty of secrets and things to hide, but Methos always had the feeling that Duo had more secrets than most. There were times when his young friend was positively uncanny. There was that damnably weird luck of his and the way he could sneak around without people noticing. And last, but certainly not least, there was the lethal and unnerving elation -- joy almost -- that Duo often displayed in combat... and the more dangerous the fighting, the more elated he seemed to get.

(It's not that he has a deathwish -- he couldn't have survived this long if that was the case -- and it's not as simple as just being an adrenaline junkie. There's more to it than that. People -- mortals and Immortals both -- deal with death in lots of different ways. They fear death, defy death, run from death, embrace death....)

(But Duo... it's almost like he *dances* with death....)

As Methos puzzled over the mysterious aspects of his younger companion, Duo asked, "Have you had any run-ins with the Watchers?"

"You know about them?" Methos looked startled.

"Yeah. Not much, but enough to keep from getting tagged by them."

Duo spoke as if it was a trivial matter, but Methos knew just how hard it was to elude the notice of the ever-present Watchers, especially between the 17th through 20th centuries.

(You'd think that a teenage Immortal with violet eyes and waist-length brown hair would be almost impossible to miss, but apparently the Watchers did just that. It's that eerie stealthiness of his again....)

Methos shrugged, "When everything went to hell in the middle of the 21st century, the main Watcher organization pretty much collapsed and their records lost. There's a few isolated groups of Watchers still lurking around, but nothing like before."

"I know," Duo replied sourly, but said nothing more on the subject.

Additional conversation had to wait as the sidewalks grew more crowded. Finally, Duo led Methos to a quiet residential area. As they headed down the street, a teenager in a school uniform suddenly popped out of one of the shops and cheerful greeted Duo.

"Hey! You remember the intramural game we've got tomorrow, right?"

Duo clutched his chest and said, "Man, you nearly gave me a heart attack! What the hell are you doing out so late?"

The other teenager snickered and whispered, "Buying presents. My girlfriend's parents are away for the weekend, so... you know...," and gave Duo a happy leer.

The braided pilot grinned back. "Abiko, you lucky dog! Then why the hell are you worrying about a stupid basketball game if you've got her?"

Abiko wilted slightly, "She's a sports freak."

"Ooohhhh. Now I get it. You don't have her... yet." Duo waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Abiko grabbed the lapels of Duo's shirt and bleated, "Man, that's why our team's just gotta win tomorrow! And that's why you and the Icicle have GOT to be there!"

"The... Icicle?" Duo inquired with a slightly confused look.

"You know... Mr. Sooner-kill-you-than-talk-to-you Heero!"

"Oh... HIM." Duo choked on a snicker.

After checking to make sure that his bloodstained clothes was covered by his trenchcoat, Methos settled back to watch the conversation with a distinct air of amusement as Abiko continued to babble on.

"Our team needs you, especially since the Red team's got those two new players. The one with the really wild hair bang and the Chinese kid," Abiko continued, still gripping Duo's shirt and staring at the braided teenager with pathetic puppy-like eyes.

"All right! All right! Sheesh, take it easy, man!" Duo said as he gingerly pried the other teenager's fingers off his shirt.

Abiko finally became aware of Methos who was listening with a faint grin.

"Oh geez. So who's this guy?" the guileless teenager blurted.

Duo didn't miss a beat. He grinned cheerfully and casually said, "My uncle Adam Pierson."

Abiko blinked, stared at the two of them and commented, "You don't look much alike."

Duo leaned over and whispered loudly, "Shit, just yell it out for the entire world to hear, why don't you?"

The other teenager's eyes brightened at the possibility of some juicy tidbits of scandal.

"Actually, he's my step-uncle. You see after my parents divorced because of Mom's affair with her secretary, Dad decided to marry HIS secretary...." Duo spun out a few more lurid details and concluded with, "But don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Sure thing! My lips are sealed!" Abiko chirped, making a zipping motion across his lips before he dashed down the street.

"That story is going to be all over the neighborhood in less than two hours, you know," Methos said dryly.

"Of course. The idiot couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life. But I didn't tell him anything that wasn't in the school records anyway."

"I'd forgotten that someone your apparent age would still be in school."

Duo snorted in aggravation. "You grownups only have to worry someone taking your head! *I* have to worry about truant officers chasing after me! And do you have any idea how many friggin' times I've had to take chemistry and physics, calculus, history, and Earth literature in the last 400 years!? ARGH!!!" he yelled as he yanked on his hair in frustration. "And people wonder why I cut class so much!?"

When Methos started to chuckle, Duo glared at him and stalked off down the sidewalk. The older Immortal hastily caught up with his companion and said with a grin, "So, what else have you been doing besides going to school over and over again?"

Duo gestured vaguely. "Oh, you know me. A little this, a little that...."

"Well, considering that we're talking about YOU, let me guess. A little chaos? A little mayhem?" Methos retorted.

The teenage Immortal grinned ferociously before replying, "You could be right. Oh, and I've discovered two interesting bits of info in the last few decades, Methos."

"And what would those interesting bits of information be?"

"First, Immortals CAN survive hard vacuum."

Methos' eyebrows rose sharply.

"And...?"

"And second, explosive decompression hurts like hell."

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