Duo Maxwell

**Duo Maxwell** is a character from *Mobile Suit Gundam Wing* and one of the main characters in Winnermart.

## Duo Maxwell

### Occupation

Front End Zone Manager at Winnermart 6969

## Data and Profile Basics

* Previous Occupations: Pilot of Gundam Deathscythe, Preventers agent, private courier, member of Sweepers. Former occupations at Winnermart include HBA sales associate, HBA department manager, and CSM
* Family: No known blood relatives. Recently married to Heero Yuy and Quatre Winner, and now expecting two children. “Father-in-law” to two dogs, Peanut and Cocoa.
* Medical History: Is the only living human being with a natural resistance to the virus that decimated the population of an L2 colony in AC187.

## Backstory

If you’ve read Episode Zero, watched the series and OVAs, and read the manga that happened between the two, that stuff is all accurate. Immediately following the second war, The first month after the war, Duo went back to Sweepers, working alongside Hilde Schbeiker in assisting Winner Enterprises in cleaning up the mess that had been left after the Wars. Hilde and Duo grew close, but Duo felt things weren’t exactly… right. Something in the back of his mind told him that this wasn’t where he was meant to be. On the night that Hilde was going to ask if there was something more than just friendship between them, Duo abruptly packed up and left, trying to search for his place.

On his way to L1, Duo was trying to relax with a drink in the spaceport before his flight. (He gets a little jittery when he’s not the one at the controls.) Being a lot lighter then than he is now, it only took a couple of drinks to get him feeling good. He met a total stranger in the bar -- some guy just passing through L1 on his way dirtside who happened to be on the same flight. This guy was dressed in a shirt with Elmo from Sesame Street on it, and looked the part of “skeevy airport bar predator.” He didn’t hesitate to take advantage of Duo’s tipsy state.  Duo ended up involuntarily joining whatever the space equivalent of the mile-high club is, the kicker being when Elmo Guy cleaned himself up with Duo’s braid. It was messy, dehumanizing, terrifying, and painful. Duo spent his first night on L1 hugging the toilet in his new apartment.

After that debacle, Duo ended up signing on as a Preventers agent in the L1 cluster. It felt better but not completely right. Duo and Commander Une never really got along, at least as boss and employee. Duo probably spent more time than most in Une’s office getting read the riot act. When he was on missions they were varied. Sometimes he hacked into computer systems; other times he would plot with Quatre Winner and Chang Wufei about how to get in and get out quickly. Most of the time, however, he was paired up with his best friend, Heero Yuy. During his stint in Preventers, Duo ended up moving in with Heero. After all, it saved on living expenses and cut the commute down a ton. At first it was a little awkward, but soon they grew closer and closer. Duo became aware of how much of a monster post-traumatic stress disorder can be. Heero suffered from it badly. Duo wasn’t immune either. They supported each other during the first part of living together, which helped them both cope with the demons much more effectively. They made quite a team at Preventers, taking on some of the most dangerous missions with a 100% success rate. They earned commendations, but for Duo they stayed on his dress whites only. He never brought them up. Getting recognized wasn’t exactly Duo’s thing. When the pair were split up at work, they worried about each other quite a bit when one was on a mission - often top-secret - and was completely out of contact with the other.

After a nasty undercover operation in which Duo was banged up pretty badly (broken leg, a few knife wounds, and a bullet grazing his side) where Heero has rescued him in a last-minute maneuver,  Duo came to a realization. There may be something more than just camaraderie between him and Heero. After recovering, Duo took Heero to their usual pizza joint. It started out like any other roomie outing. But the fact that Duo was so comfortable with Heero urged him to bring up the subject. It was a little awkward but it just felt right when Duo kissed Heero. It felt even better for Duo to confess that he thought he was falling in love with Heero. That “feeling that might be love” continued from then on -- even after Heero left Duo.

When that happened, it hit Duo like a ton of bricks. Things were going so well. Duo’d even daydreamed that one day they’d maybe even completely settle down, talking about marriage and adopting kids or having a bunch of dogs or something. When Heero walked out the door, Duo tried to stop him, but Heero was on his bike and zooming away from Duo faster than Duo could realize what was going on. He wanted to follow Heero that night, but instead he’d hoped that maybe it was just an episode. Maybe Heero could snap out of it. It took a long time for that to happen.

Heero didn’t come back that night. Or the next day. Or the next. Duo was about to tell Une to piss off, that his partner, best friend, and now boyfriend was out somewhere and in who knows what kind of trouble, until he got a call from Trowa. Trowa mentioned to Duo that Heero was now staying with him, but Duo couldn’t bring himself to visit Heero right away. He’d wondered what he’d done, or not done, to drive Heero away. In his mind, Duo figured it was best if he stayed away, pinning it on the “Maxwell Curse,” where anyone that Duo cares deeply about will suffer hardships and eventually die because of it. Duo’s theory was based mainly on the facts surrounding the L2 Virus and Maxwell Church massacre. Duo was so distraught, he couldn’t even bring himself to put up a mask to hide his sadness. He stopped going to work and eventually Une had no choice but to discharge him. He spent a month in a numb stupor. He did the bare minimum he had to do to keep himself alive, surviving on the money he’d hacked away from OZ during the war. There were some weeks he did nothing but wake up at noon, veg on the couch, and go to bed by 5pm. He’d even forgone shaving and ended up with a scraggly, unkempt beard. He looked unrecognizable to most people, used to what they’d seen on the news networks during the damned recognition ceremonies that Duo hated and Une forced him to participate in.

Quatre visited him during one of these episodes. “Oh my God, Duo, you look like hell,” were the first words out of Quatre’s mouth. The then-CEO of WE took it upon himself to help Duo at least be able to function as a person again. After taking Duo to spend some time with the Magunacs, Quatre set him up with a job as a courier - delivering contracts and such between clients and the home office. It kept Duo busy, though he never completely forgot about how life used to be.

Duo was thankful for the second chance and did good work for Quatre, though the renewed closeness reminded Duo of their days during the war when they hid out with the Magunacs. During that layover with Rasid and company, Quatre was realizing why the idea of taking a wife disgusted him, and why this other guy awakened unfamiliar feelings within. There was some experimentation back then, and that only served as a reminder when Duo came back into Quatre’s life. This time around, though, there was barely time for anything between the two -- just two brief romps that felt good but not completely right. Quatre was so busy with his life as CEO that there was no way he had the time for any kind of true relationship.

On one dispatch, Duo found himself back on L1, and before heading back to the home office, decided to stop for a drink. By sheer dumb bad luck, Heero had chosen that same bar to drown himself in that night. Duo was scared that Heero hated him, but thankfully the liquid courage that both had consumed was enough to overcome that fear. The sex that night somewhat reminded him of happier days, but something was missing. Duo couldn’t really figure it out, but he thought that maybe it would come back one day.

Duo convinced Quatre that he was ready to be on his own again. He resigned from WE and took the first shuttle back to L1. In his haste, he hadn’t really secured a new job. He ended up relying again on the OZ money to fuel his regular trips to whatever bar Heero was at. Duo was thankful that at least Heero wasn’t ready to kill him, but in the back of his mind was worried that one day Heero would leave him again. That’s the main reason Duo never could bring himself to stay the night after he’d romped with Heero.

The OZ money ran out eventually, and Duo had to get some kind of job. Which was difficult when most places frowned upon hiring war veterans. Duo begged with Une for his old job back at Preventers, but that only lasted for about a month. Duo went through rookie partners like a hungry man at Big Rico’s Pizza buffet. Duo resigned from Preventers and resumed his job search. He finally ended up at the local Winnermart, first hired on in HBA under Al Albertson’s tenure as Store Manager. He would come to the front and ring when he could to help the lines, and Kate, the Front End ZM at the time, noticed he was better than the actual cashiers and offered him a promotion to CSM. When Quatre came into the store and cleaned house, Duo wasn’t even aware Heero also worked here. (Apparel and HBA people didn’t really talk to one another, apparently…)

## Trivia

* Duo is a gearhead. He LOVES to tinker on anything mechanical, and given enough time and materials, he will engineer new tools to make life easier, or more fun and exciting.
	+ He especially enjoys that Kat trusts him enough to let him work on his sportbike.
	+ He’s had the occasional idea to use his skill with machinery in the bedroom, but he considers it more of a far-away fantasy.
* On first glimpse Duo may come off as childish or foolish, but those that know him well have seen just how intelligent he is - not just with book knowledge, but with street smarts.
* Duo is unfailingly honest - sometimes to a fault.
* While Duo is usually quite fidgety, the best way to calm him down is to brush, braid, or play with his hair. It calms him down instantly, relaxing him as much as a deep tissue back massage would.
* Speaking of massages, Duo is very, very good at them - just ask Trowa.
* Is not musically talented in the least; nevertheless he loves to jam with his iPod
* Duo is not a disaster in the kitchen like Kat, but Heero cooks better. Duo is a pro at making omelets and grilled cheese sandwiches, however.
* He loves Pokemon and is glad that his job at a retail store allows him to get the latest games on release day, for the most part.
* Guilty Pleasure TV: Top Gear, America’s Next Top Model
* He also loves Super Smash Bros., and his favorite character is Marth.
* Absolutely adores kids, and is beyond ecstatic that he’ll soon have child(ren) of his own with Heero and Kat.
* Because technically he should not be the Front End ZS since he’s married to the Operations Manager, Duo feels the need to prove that he didn’t get the job just because he spent a night on the proverbial casting couch. He works his ass off almost constantly while on the clock, and occasionally has to be reminded to take his fifteen minute breaks. If it weren’t for operator lockout, he’d be tempted to skip his lunch to make sure the lines up front were managed and that all his associates were taken care of. Duo comes into work regardless of how he feels. He’s worked while sick and while hungover, and unless Heero or Kate tell him to go home, he will keep working.
* In the bedroom, he loves pretty much anything Heero does, but Heero talking dirty to him gets him weak at the knees. Bonus points if the dirty talk isn’t in Standard English. He talks back just as dirty, with a low, purring Irish brogue that becomes more pronounced the more aroused he is.