Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Devil's Due ❯ - 08 - ( Chapter 8 )

— 08 —

October 18, A.C. 204. Base. 7am

"Good morning," Jordan greeted the ten people waiting around the bench outside the office building. He set the bag of apples he was carrying on the wall behind the bench and gave them all curious looks.

"Good morning, Sir," was the general response with a salute attached, and one or two did it with gusto...

"Apple?" he offered.

That got him curious and confused looks before a small blond girl hesitantly offered a hand.

"They're fresh from the market just last night," Jordan informed her, grinning at her as he passed one over. "Straight from the bag on the stand to my cart, to my car, to my house."

She smiled at that, wiping the thing on her shirt as the others looked around to each other and hesitantly accepted.

"I count ten," he noted, looking them all over. He mentally associated the names on the list he'd gotten with the faces around him. "Anyone who's here who shouldn't be? No? Good. I call that attendance," he added to one of the guys who hadn't taken an apple. "You don't like apples?"

"They upset my stomach," the man explained, looking away.

"Aww, that's too bad," Jordan noted...and offered him a banana. He had a couple in his pockets, just in case.

The guy flashed him a grin and took it.

"I'm not some breakfast fanatic, really," he added, turning and starting for the building. "If you'll follow me, please..."

They separated into two lines to do it...

"That's scary," Jordan noted, considering them. "How many of you are just out of basic?"

Actually, he knew they were, but he wanted to get an idea of personality and get them over the notion that the rank ‘lieutenant general' meant ‘fear your god.'

He was a kindly god...he didn't require fear, just obedience...and intelligence.

- -

October 18, A.C. 204. Base. 12pm

Xane realized he couldn't walk anymore when he was near the end-hall area that the four pilots had called home before. He stood for a long moment, wondering if anyone would see him fall, then stumbled up toward the front door of the place, trying to hold himself erect.

He'd taken his first dose of Remalene about twenty minutes before and thought he'd walk over to Jor's before the tiredness set it. It'd been a good plan before...it had been. He liked Chai, she was comforting to be around, and then when Jor was there it was that much better...but...

The soldier fell against the door, wondering if his shoulder would hurt him when he woke up or if the medication would heal that wound...and then he fell as the door moved.

"Mouthy?" Wufei asked in alarm, catching him.

Xane smiled slightly at the man, trying to keep his eyes open. "Hit sooner than...I thought..."

"Is he all right?" an unfamiliar voice asked, slightly alarmed.

"What's he on?" Morgan demanded.

"Remalene," Wufei noted, hoisting the guy onto his shoulder unceremoniously as he moaned in protest. "What are you doing here?"

"Was going...to Chai's," Xane explained, considering the sensation of the discomfort.

"And you took your dose when?"

"'bout...twenty," the guy returned. "Took me...five..."

Wufei snorted, grinning slightly at Calvin, who was blinking at him. "I'm gonna deliver this to Chai and let her deal with it," he noted to the pair. "It shouldn't take me but a few minutes."

"No car?" Morgan asked, grinning.

"He's not that heavy, but it looks a bit awkward," Wufei retorted. "I'm not some cave-man."

Xane started to laugh, even as he felt himself pulled even more into the tiredness.

"Hurry up," Morgan suggested. "And don't forget to call Maxwell."

"I might have wrinkled his shirt," Wufei agreed, moving out the door. "Jor might attack."

"What?" Calvin asked, mildly alarmed.

Morgan sniggered slightly and nodded at Wufei. When the door had closed he looked back to the empath. "About...a year ago, I suppose, Featihl there said some shit he shouldn't have to Yuy and got decked for it...but Yuy and Maxwell go head-to-head every six months or so...and that was about timed right for it...Jor and Yuy got into a serious brawl in the middle of the foyer at the Rest."

"The Rest?" the guy asked blankly.

"The mission?" the guy offered. "Bringing Christmas to Angels? We all just call it ‘the Rest', so I don't know what it's really called."

That got him a grin.

"Anyway," Morgan looked back to his notebook and scribbled the note about Xane's interruption quickly. "What could you read off him? Featihl, I mean."

"He wasn't mentally tired," the guy returned, "but physically exhausted...felt kinda stupid, I think...it wasn't entirely clear...but he also thought it was funny."

Morgan nodded, starting to scribble that down.

"You know, some day we're gonna have a conversation where you meet my eyes the entire time," Cal noted, "and I'm gonna be all flustered and abashed because I'll have no idea how to handle it."

Morgan looked up at him quickly, then gave him a look.

The empath grinned.

- -

October 18, A.C. 204. Berlin, Germany. 8pm

"You, boy..."

Judas looked up to Brantley, not sure who was being addressed. Everyone in the group seemed to equate a boy in the man's eyes. He was startled to realize that it was himself in question. "Yes?"

"Are you busy?" the man asked, studying him with interest.

"I can be, I suppose," Judas returned, shrugging.

"I seem to lack reliable men," the man noted in a mildly acerbic tone...it made most of the men around the leader flinch. "I'm willing to try anything once. I say again, are you busy?"

"I seem to have a beer that's not quite empty," Judas noted, considering his bottle.

Brantley wasn't disrespected very often, and the fact that Judas didn't seem to give a shit made him give the younger male a very long and level look.

Judas wanted to react with guilt or embarrassment...or fear...but he just couldn't manage it.

Brantley snorted...and tossed a small notebook at him. "It's eight pm now," he noted, looking to his watch. "By ten, I'll be in a bad mood. By eleven I'll be pissed. By the first minute of the new day, I'll be murderous. Cash only, no I.O.U.s."

Judas considered him a moment, then passed his beer off to Igor, who was blinking at the leader in confusion. The spy moved away from the table with the notebook in hand, considering the alteration of the alcohol in his system.

"Oi, boy," Brantley called before he could leave. "You're leaving this mess with me?" he indicated the two foot-pads that Judas had been with.

"My name is Dedreck," Judas informed him. "Let's go," he added to the others.

Igor scampered after him as Orson's eyes flashed murderously. Orson was no fool, though. He wordlessly followed the others from the room.

"Make your own name," Orson spat at Judas as they stopped outside the building. "I'm not playing your puppy...but you better watch your damn back come dawn. If you fuck up, Brantley will get rid of you, and if you make yourself a new shining star, his cronies will pull you aside in some back alley and you probably won't come out alive on the other side."

"Are you coming or not?" Judas demanded of Igor.

Igor considered him, then Orson–the other man was waiting. He rubbed his hands together, then moved after his long-time friend.

Orson raised his eyebrows very slightly at Judas–a calm acceptance that he'd won–looked Judas up and down...then turned and walked away.

Judas turned himself, opening the notebook to see a list of checked names. He flipped through it toward the end, wondering at the open stupidity of keeping a written record...then found a list of ten names at the end.

He stared at them, then the numbers attached to them, and ran a hand down his face.

He wanted to get in with Brantley to get a leg up to Bauer. He'd known it'd take some fancy footwork and a bit of an effort...but this was outright annoying.

Judas started down the sidewalk, wondering how he was supposed to get hundreds or thousands of dollars from ten people in an hour. He had no doubt that's what Brantley had meant. He'd moved through his list in increments of full hours.

Well...at least he had something to report to Jor, either way. Succeeding and becoming that shining star Orson had mentioned would be the leg up he'd needed; failing and pissing off Brantley would lead to a test of Jor's resources.

Either way he looked at it...he was in for one damn long night.

- -

October 18, A.C. 204. Base. 2pm

Jordan moved back into his house tiredly, wondering if he'd be able to turn off like he wanted to.

"Jor?" Chai called from the kitchen, moving into the hall to smile at him.

"Hi, Baby...Xane?" Jordan blinked at the male on the couch...who was very much asleep.

"You know, I'm standing right here," Chai teased.

Jordan snorted, moving up to kiss her. "What's going on? Why's he here?"

"I haven't been able to get that out of him," she noted, starting to unbutton his jacket. "Wufei showed up an hour or two ago with him, said that he'd been about to pass out at his place...didn't he call you?"

Jordan wondered about that as he dug out his phone, flipping it open.

Two missed calls. Damn...

"Wufei...and...Wufei...that's good, I'm expecting a call from Raul and really shouldn't have this turned off."

"You're like...one of the highest authorities on the planet," Chai reminded him, flicking his rank tag. "You can have your phone on...I promise."

Jor gave her an amused look, then hit the five.

"Hey, I didn't do it," Wufei noted pleasantly.

"Like I've ever outright attacked you," Jordan retorted, kissing his wife again and moving toward his bedroom. "I was talking to my new recruits, sorry I missed your calls."

"No big," Wufei reassured him. "He'd taken his first dose of Remalene at...eleven forty-five or something...was walking over to your place. He didn't tell me why, something about Chai...but by the time he got here he was about to fall over."

"Wonderful...did you see him go down or something?" Jordan hung his jacket on it's hanger and back in the closet. He hit the speakerphone button on the phone and set it on the end of his bed as he started to undo his belt.

"No...he came up to the door...I heard a thud and opened it...caught him. He could make four-word sentences, but they were shaky."

Jor snorted, toeing off his shoes. He hated wearing the dress-shoes, but he wanted to break them in before he had to do some conference or something.

"I took him over to your place and left him with your wife. When I left, he was curled against the edge of the couch, trying to keep his eyes open."

"He's on it, now," Jor muttered, pulling off the slacks and tossing them toward the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Wufei asked blankly.

"I just got back from the recruits. I'm getting out of my uniform."

"You need some help or something?" the Chinese man demanded. "You don't sound capable."

"Fuck you," Jordan returned through a laugh, digging out jeans and dropping onto the mattress. "How was your day?"

"I've been talking more with Calvin. He's getting a couple of his friends right now. Morgan's being a good bitch and mixing up some dip or something...one of those woman-y domestic things."

Jordan laughed more as he heard Morgan very clearly in the background.

Wufei snickered. "Anyway, I think your boy should be waking up soon...how did it go? Any gems? You got Mouthy the first day, didn't you?"

"Yeah, fine...one or two...and yes, in that order," Jordan returned.

"You had to do that, didn't you?" Wufei asked dryly.

"Of course I did," Jordan started unbuttoning the dress-shirt. "You coming over for supper tonight?"

"Depends on what happens here. You're gonna have to help me, you know. I'm not entirely sure what tests we should try."

"Aren't you supposed to have the game-plan worked up before the game?" Jordan asked blankly as he heard a knock on the door over the line.

"Shit," Wufei sounded amused, "fuck no, are you kidding me?"

...and the line went dead.

Jordan laughed, turning off the speaker phone and closing the thing before pulling off his socks and stretching his toes–the shoes were too damn hot. He needed to figure out a way to aerate them without losing the visual of shiny-perfection...and it probably wouldn't hurt to look up other tests on the laptop.

"You hungry?" Chai asked, looking into the room curiously.

"Not really," Jordan returned, running his hands through his hair before pulling socks on. "How was your day?"

"I cleaned up the kitchen, since you and Quatre seem unable to...and I looked at the bills, which is the first step to getting them paid..."

"I'll set that up to go automatically," Jor mused, sliding off the bed and pocketing his phone. "There's no way in hell I'd ever remember on time. It's the cars, right?"

"And the phones," she agreed, heading back into the kitchen. "...and that movie thing you started."

"We can probably drop that," he noted. "It seems like such a good idea when I have a vacation..."

She laughed a bit. "Actually, I use it."

"Oh...all right," he moved after her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his cheek against the side of her face with a happy sigh. "You have no idea how much I love coming home to you." He kissed below her ear lightly, smiling at her. "I love you."

She turned to kiss him properly, then rested her head against his shoulder.

"There's one kid...completely eager," he muttered. "He's got that spark, you know? He wants to please. Once he relaxes he should be fun."

"You're replacing Mouthy?" she asked with wide innocent eyes as she pulled back to look at him.

He gave her a look, which made her giggle, resting against him again.

"What?" Xane asked, leaning against the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, trying to focus on Jordan.

"I found a new lover," Jordan explained.

Xane groaned and moved to sit at the breakfast bar, pillowing his head on his arms. "I can't play right now, Jor..."

Jordan laughed a bit, leaning against the counter. "There's a new kid in the group that has some serious promise," he explained. "Once he realizes that I won't have one of you throw him down a well, he should be somewhat like you. You two will either love each other or despise each other."

"Well?" Xane asked, raising his eyes to blink at his superior. "What?"

"Well what?" Jordan repeated, thinking about it.

"No, well," Chai...clarified.

Jordan blinked at her.

She started laughing.

"Why would you have someone throw him down a well?" Xane asked, pressing his eyes back against his arm.

"Oh..." Jor smirked a bit. "Chaac, the Mayan god of rain, lightning, and water...he required human sacrifice. They'd either gut their victims or tie them up and throw them down a sacred well."

Xane snorted.

"You don't look ready to be awake," Jor noted. "Why don't you go lay back down?"

"I heard you," the guy explained.

"Mm...go back to sleep," Jor ordered gently, moving away from his wife to pull the guy by the arm.

Xane only offered slight resistance, yawning largely as he followed his superior back into the main room...then stopped short of the couch.

"What?" Jor asked blankly as Chai moved from their bedroom with a slightly naughty grin and a pillow.

"I don't wanna...take up the couch," Xane noted, studying the thing before focusing on the strip of carpet under the window.

"You wanna get the...thing?" Jor asked his wife, taking...his pillow...from her.

She flashed him the naughty grin again and disappeared into the garage.

"No," Xane protested. "It's not..."

"Here," Jor shoved the pillow against the guy's chest.

Xane settled, snuggling the thing slightly.

Chai bounced back into the living area with the cushion. It was a long and narrow mattress that they used when they had too many people sleeping over. She'd grabbed one of the sheets for it while she was at it, and had the top of that tucked around the thing as she dropped it under the window. It took her about two seconds to have it properly covered, and she turned to pick up the blanket she'd covered the soldier with earlier in the day.

"Why are you always so happy to have people mooching off you?" Xane asked her blankly.

"Because I spent a long time alone," she noted, smiling slightly at him. "Lay down."

"But..."

"No one wanted to be around me when I was with Traumer," she said. "And back then I wasn't entirely sure when my next meal would be...I don't have to be afraid anymore. Lay down."

Xane frowned at her, but complied, moving the pillow around before sighing. Chai dropped the blanket over him, then turned to her husband.

He smiled at her, then gestured for her to follow him back into the kitchen.