Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Devil's Due ❯ - 22 - ( Chapter 22 )

— 22 —

December 6, A.C. 204. Base. 8am

"Ah, General," the ambassador from Mozambique greeted Chance happily, shaking his hand with a smile. "It's so wonderful to see you again!"

"It's nice to see you, too, Ambassador," Chance returned cordially. "I hope you've been well."

"As well as I can be," the man noted, moving happily to shake hands with Jordan.

Jordan returned the man's happy greetings quietly, still tired from his weekend. He'd arrived home on Sunday afternoon; it was Monday, but he hadn't fully adjusted to the time change. He hadn't been ready to wake up when his alarm sounded, but he'd drug his own sorry ass out of bed and dropped it in the shower with a vague hope of drowning so he could sleep more.

Unfortunately, it hadn't worked.

He followed Chance almost zombie-like to the seating, wondering when sleep had become such a hard thing for him to work around. He figured it really had something to do with the lack of life-threatening dangers, but considering that Chance'd managed to get shot, that theory didn't really work well either.

"You should have made your excuses," Quatre noted quietly to him as they sat. "I doubt anyone would really notice you weren't here."

"No, I want to know what's going on," Jordan refused quietly. "Leave me be, I'm fine."

"Except the lack of anything resembling focus," Quatre agreed.

"I was just talking with home," the ambassador added, focusing back on Chance. "And they noted to me that the Tanzanian government had contacted them. They're entirely pleased with me for that much, but nothing is being accomplished yet. I really must thank you."

They all nodded respectfully at him, appreciating the sentiment.

"I need to get to my spot," he added, smiling and offering his hand to Chance again before nodding to the rest and turning to scurry across the arena.

"They praised him? For that?" Trowa asked blankly, looking around to them all.

"Whoever dumped it in his lap didn't think he could do it," Quatre noted. "For all that I thought Mozambique and Tanzania had general contact with each other."

"Maybe it's more of an acknowledging the problem," Jor suggested.

"Or maybe you can't talk straight," Trowa returned.

"Maybe I can still kick your ass, let's try it," he muttered, rising to his feet.

Trowa laughed and moved back, raising his arms to shield himself.

"Pussy," Quatre noted quietly.

Trowa laughed even more...and punched him in the arm.

"Stop it, you two," Chance admonished before a tussle could break out. "Wufei, sit between them."

"Me?" Wufei demanded in disbelief. "So Trowa can annoy me? Sorry, I'm not interested.

"You're a baby," Raul noted, moving around him to salute Jordan properly.

"You wanna keep the lovebirds separated?" Jordan asked him curiously.

"Sure, I don't want to be here anyway and Trowa might keep me entertained," Raul noted, dropping into the seat next to Quatre.

Trowa flashed Jordan a very appreciative smile and sat himself.

"Are we sure he's straight?" Chance half muttered to Jor.

"I never bothered asking," Jordan returned in kind.

"Why is your toy here?" Chance added.

"He asked me all eager-like if they were supposed to come to this meeting, so I let him come." He smirked slightly. "There's a chance it was sarcasm, but I'm not so sure."

"Eager?" Chance asked blankly. "What does he expect will happen?"

Jordan turned his head to give the guy a curious look. "I never bothered asking."

Chance grinned at him and moved his leg up the back of the chair in front of him, massaging at it.

"Tcch," Raul muttered. "Feet off the benches, come on..."

Chance lowered his leg before he thought about it, then directed a dirty look to Raul...who seemed to find something very interesting in the front of the arena.

Jordan grinned.

"So let's see...Judas is the chameleon, Xane is the run boy, Raul is the politician, and Danielle is the office girl...so what's that leave Riley at?"

"What?" Wufei asked, moving to sit on the other side of Chance.

Jordan leaned over to Chance's ear and whispered a bunch of nonsense before throwing ‘Danielle' in for good measure.

"No, really," Wufei protested, trying to lean in to hear. "What?"

Chance had the good grace not to laugh and elbowed Jor instead.

"Riley is the go-to girl, I think," he muttered. "From what they told me, they weren't in too serious danger...to...um," he blinked as he lost his train of thought. People had moved from the far door and it had caught his eye.

"Wow," Chance noted, looking at him. "If you start snoring in here, I am not going to wake you up."

Jor gave him a look, then shook his head. "From what they told me, they were chased close but not...they got away," he looked back up to Wufei. "That says to me that Riley is resourceful, but Riley was also telling me that she had to pull Danielle along with her. I think I'm setting Danielle up as my mainstay. That'll free me up to do more at the Rest or around here. Actually, I have to start the active training for my three soon. How's Simone?"

"I'm worried I'll hurt her feelings," Chance admitted glumly, looking toward the center of the arena.

"Simone?" Jordan asked blankly. "How would you hurt her feelings?"

Chance met his eyes, noting the tone of voice. There was complete disbelief there.

"She has like...four brothers...it's damn hard to hurt her feelings," Jordan added.

"She was upset the other night," Wufei argued. "She was all upset."

"I felt like an ass," Chance agreed.

Jordan frowned slightly at that. He couldn't imagine anything any of them could have done that would have really upset her. He shrugged at them, not sure what else to say. The uncomfortable moment extended until Quatre smacked Jor's arm.

"Stop!" Raul was trying to say, though he was laughing somewhat nervously. Trowa had his hand between Raul's legs. "Damn it...Trowa!" Raul was trying to move but didn't really have anywhere to go.

"Trowa," Jordan said before he could help it.

Trowa gave him a look, which wasn't naughty or amused or anything. It was rather concentrated...before Raul yelped and tried to jump up, then made himself freeze half standing, still laughing.

Trowa did laugh a naughty laugh then...pulling a phone from under the guy.

"What are you two doing?" Chance demanded.

"He took my phone," Trowa retorted. "Tried to sit on it or something." The guy returned to his seat properly, giving Raul a look.

"I feel violated," Raul retorted, dropping down again.

"How was that violating?" Trowa retorted.

"Are they...friends?" Jordan asked blankly as Raul gave Tro a put-upon look.

Quatre actually focused on the pair, blinking himself as he noted that they were both pleased to be sitting near each other. There was a promise of entertainment in it, and a curiousness about the other.

"I thought they were friends with all of us," Wufei suggested, looking to Jordan.

"I mean...real friends, like us," Jordan returned, looking back to him. "Screwing Danielle doesn't count."

Wufei gave him a dirty look, sitting back.

"They are," Quatre added, looking back to Jordan.

"So why don't you tell him how you were all over reassuring Simone," Chance suggested happily.

Quatre cast him a very briefly dirty look before making his expression confused.

Chance snorted.

"What, now?" Jordan asked, looking back to his friend. Actually, Simone had already told him how helpful Quatre was and how much she liked him. It was the serious kind of glowing praise that meant more than the fact that he was a commanding officer she could rely on. Actually, it was somewhat like Danielle had been with Wufei before they'd started dating. "You're aware that she's nineteen, right?"

"It's like...five years," Quatre retorted. "There's nothing wrong with that..."

Jor raised his eyebrows almost skeptically, then focused on a man who was nearing them with a curious expression.

Actually, he didn't care if Quatre and Simone got together. He didn't see anything wrong with it, he just wanted to keep Quatre from getting complacent.

"General," the man greeted Chance happily. "Generals," he corrected, flashing them all grins. "Excuse me...what do you think?" he added to them all in general. "The state of affairs seems pretty calm."

Calm?

Jordan wondered if the mafia bullshit even hit onto the man's radar. It definitely didn't seem calm to him, but then again he had more specialized access to the complaints of the governments. Aside from the normal drug problems, though, the planet was relatively calm. The economy was growing a bit...and there didn't seem to be a huge debt for the governing parties...

"I guess we'll see if we're missing anything after the address, huh?" Chance returned happily. "Wilkon is fairly consistent as far as information goes, but there might be a thing or two that didn't rate CNN."

"Ah, I'm overlooking something," the man smiled and offered his hand to Chance. "I'll retire before I make any more an ass of myself."

Chance returned the grin, shaking his hand and watching the man walk away.

"Is he actually missing something?" Wufei asked, looking back to Jordan.

"Depends on if you call Judas and Xane anything," Jordan noted, unconsciously making the gestures for their names.

"Do that again," Chance muttered, blinking at him. "I got Xane's, but..."

"What?" Jordan blinked at him, then lowered his right ring-finger. "Judas?" he asked.

"What's Riley, then?" Chance muttered, still watching his hand.

Jordan lowered his middle finger.

"That's amazingly simple," Wufei noted. "How the hell is it supposed to work for code?"

"It's not the most secretive," Jor shrugged. "But I talk with my hands anyway, so unless you're looking for it you don't see the consistencies."

"You do not talk with your hands," Wufei protested.

"Not to you, maybe," Jordan returned, spreading his hands very slightly in front of his chest. "But then again, I don't only talk to you, do I?" he flipped his right hand palm up.

Chance sniggered.

"Right," Wufei rolled his eyes, sitting back. "Sure."

Jordan grinned and shrugged innocently at Chance. He'd had his fun and gotten under Wufei's skin a bit...it was all good.

- -

December 6, A.C. 204. Base. 12pm

"Daddy!"

"Hey, son," Chance greeted the boy, catching him up and tossing him into the air. "Were you naughty for your mother?"

"Mm-hmm," the boy replied with perfect aplomb, his eyes sparkling.

"Good boy, I'll get you ice cream before dinner!"

"Like hell you will," Shin retorted, moving in to kiss him. "Was it properly boring?"

Chance kissed her again for good measure, starting to talk, but her focus went just beyond him with wide eyes. He turned, noting that his brethren were standing at attention...and focused on President Wilkon himself. He moved instantly to attention as well, slightly hindered by the four year old on his hip, and saluted the man as properly as he could manage.

"Such formality," the man half teased, extending his hand. He tilted his head slightly, focusing on Chip. "I didn't realize you had a son."

"I didn't bring it into public attention," the man returned with a shrug. "This is Zachary."

"Hello, Zachary," the man muttered, offering his hand.

Since the boy had just watched his father shake, he copied the gesture, wondering about the reaction of the people around him. He could tell by the way his uncles were standing that this guy was important, because his dad was important and everyone did that to him. He tilted his head at the man. "You're special, aren't you?"

Wilkon's eyes sparkled at that as he smiled and shook his head. "I'm just a man," he denied.

"My dad is just a man...and he's special," the boy argued. "You can't be just a man if my uncles are doing that," he mimicked the salute.

The man gave the child an appreciative look and shrugged. "I can...tell your dad what to do."

"Oh!" the boy understood then. "You're one of the three or four people, huh?"

They all blinked at him for that.

"Uncle Jordan said only three or four people can tell them what to do," he explained, somewhat understanding the confusion. "And there's that lady...um...Une," he shrugged. "So you're one of the other ones."

"Yes, I am," he agreed, smiling slightly before looking to Shin with interest. "Very intelligent son you have here, ma'am...unless I'm horribly mistaken and you're the mistress."

Chance laughed wickedly at that, passing Chip to Jordan and taking his wife's arm. "This is Shinyue Yuy," he noted happily. "My wife."

"I must apologize for missing the wedding," the man noted, offering her a hand. "I tried to make it, but there was a conflict with a visiting ambassador."

"It's perfectly fine, Mr. President," Shin replied, shaking it. "I'd like to thank you for the gift."

"It was the least I could do," he returned, smiling at her. He nodded respectfully at Chance before turning to Jordan with interest.

"Hello, sir," Jordan greeted him happily. He'd pulled Chai up to his side and was firmly holding her hand as he held the little boy. She'd talked to the president several times in the past, but she still tried to slide away before the man spotted her.

"Hello, Mrs. Maxwell," the man added, extending his hand to her. "You look lovely as usual."

"You're too kind," she returned, shaking his hand in response. "You look quite dashing yourself."

For some reason, the man seemed extremely at ease with the female, not that half the continent didn't, and turned to half pose for her entertainment. "My wife sets my clothes out in the morning."

She laughed at that, resting a hand on his shoulder.

He grinned more at her, moving on to Quatre.

"You're in a remarkably good mood," Quatre noted, studying his eyes.

The man smiled again and shrugged. "A well made speech, a receptive crowd...my job isn't overly stressful for now. I enjoy it when I get the chance."

Quatre grinned.

"Just salute," Trowa hissed...to Raul, who was trying desperately to get out of the line of the generals.

Jordan groaned to himself, covering his eyes with his left hand as Chai sniggered.

"General?" Wilkon asked curiously, looking to Trowa.

"It's not what it looks like," Trowa returned, starting to snigger a bit. "It really isn't."

Raul was standing perfectly at attention, and his cheeks were perfectly red.

Wilkon gave Trowa a look.

"Maxwell had him come to the speech," Trowa explained. "He was trying to make his excuses before, but I knew you'd show up and thought you might like to meet him. This is first lieutenant Raul Jaem. He's part of Maxwell's specials unit."

"Oh!" Wilkon looked incredibly pleased, extending his hand to the man. "It's an honor to meet you!"

Raul regained himself somewhat and shook the man's hand in return, nodding at him. "I'm honored, Mr. President," he noted, ducking his head.

"So do I get to meet the rest of your team?" he added, turning to look at Jordan again.

"It can be arranged, if you'd like," Jordan returned. "I have two men in the field, though."

"Aww," the man actually looked crestfallen. "Well...I'd like to meet the ones that are here...hopefully some time I'll get a chance to meet them all."

"I've added three new," Jordan warned. "I'm not intending to stop growing my ranks, so you may want to watch your phrasing."

The guy grinned. "Are you available at three?"

"Let's see," he muttered, looking to Chai. "The governing president wants to know if I'm free at..."

"Oh stop," the man muttered, making a gesture at him. "Hello, Chang," he added happily, turning back to the man. "If you're free now I'd like to drag you off and talk about your research."

Wufei looked startled, but nodded. "Of course, sir...we can...well, head back to my apartment. I have all my notes there, and I'll call Roberts."

"Wonderful," the man noted, turning back to the others. "Gentlemen, ladies," he nodded at the women before winking at Chip. "Zachary...please, excuse me."

Chip smiled at him as the former pilots saluted.

"I still say he's on crack," Quatre muttered without quite moving his lips to his friends.

"Quatre," Chai admonished, swatting at him.

He laughed, moving away from her. "He used to treat us like we were time bombs, what do you expect?" Quatre retorted.

"I think you grew up," she argued, then frowned slightly. "Well, they did."

He gave her a look...and it was her turn to laugh and dart out of arm's reach.

Jordan grinned, then pulled out his cell phone.

"I swear I'm going to skin you," Raul noted to Trowa grumpily. "Not only for making me stand here like an ass, but he's greeting you and your partners..."

"If he asked that man back at the airport," Trowa returned happily, "that'd be the story he'd get...what'd'ya say? Shall we play it for all it's worth?" ...and, before Raul could react, Trowa darted behind Quatre.