Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Devil's Due ❯ - 24 - ( Chapter 24 )

— 24 —

December 23, A.C. 204. Base. 3:30am

Riley, Raul, and Danielle were waiting in Jordan's living room when the group arrived at the base, and the reunion of the five was very quiet. They didn't need to talk. A few hugs were exchanged before Judas sank to the floor between the blankets Riley and Danielle had set up for themselves. Raul was laying behind Riley, and after a few brief moments, Chai brought out the extra mattress things and more blankets so the group could just crash.

Jordan was quietly pleased by that. He hadn't been sure how well the group would meld together after such a long separation, but it was obvious that the others had just missed Judas.

"You like...delight in doing that to me, don't you?" Quatre asked him quietly in Japanese.

"Not really, but there was no way around it when they decided to stay over," Jordan returned, ruffling his hair. "It's not bad, is it?"

Quatre frowned, studying Judas. "I guess not, no...but...something's off."

"Maybe since they've been gone so long?" Jordan hazarded. "Getting back together and all?"

"Maybe," Quatre returned, noting that Xane was watching him. "I'm going back to bed."

"Sorry," Jordan said quickly. "I didn't put that much thought into it."

Quatre nodded at him and winked to the new arrivals, then closed his bedroom door and went to collapse again.

It was probably a good thing Paris hadn't stayed over again. Whatever was off probably would have bugged him all night, where Quatre could focus away from it...and drift back into sleep.

- -

December 23, A.C. 204. Base. 10am

"Chai, I love you..." Xane muttered, opening his eyes as the smell of French toast surrounded him.

"I love you, too, dear," Chai returned from her bedroom door with a toothbrush in her mouth and her hair wrapped in a towel...and her body, actually.

Xane sat up to blink at her as the others started mumbling about the food. "You're not cooking?"

"Sorry, I can't be in two places at once," she noted, then disappeared back into the bathroom...as Quatre's laughter came from the kitchen.

Xane climbed from the floor carefully, moving around the divide to look at the blond, who was happily flipping pieces of bread on a griddle. "I'll love you, if you want me to," he noted, studying the guy's bare back with interest.

"We can talk about it later," Quatre returned wickedly, then started laughing.

"Now now, don't talk about trysts with little ones present," Jordan reprimanded, moving from his bathroom in jeans, using his towel to dry his neck and arms.

"Yes, they woke me up," Quatre returned easily to Xane's unspoken question.

Jordan sniggered and closed the bedroom door.

"Isn't that weird?" Xane asked curiously, moving to sit at the breakfast bar. "When they're..."

"Not really," Quatre returned, shrugging. "They actually love each other, so it's more of that I feel than...lust or anything, you know? It's weird to wake up because the guy in the next room over is with someone that he doesn't love...which I got a lot of when we lived together," he gestured toward the old apartment.

"How have you been?"

Quatre shrugged, tossing some of the bread onto a plate beside him. "Work and play...not much else."

Xane grinned at him.

"Mm, General," Riley breathed, moving into the kitchen as she breathed in the air.

Quatre sniggered. "Watch it, girlie. I'm not above a one-night stand."

Riley laughed delightedly as she ran her hand from one of Xane's shoulders to the other–she was walking past him. She sat on his far side.

"Good morning, good morning," Danielle muttered, moving in to lean against Xane's back and study the shirtless blond. "You have quite the body, don't you?"

Quatre's eyes flashed wickedly at her and he nodded his head slightly at Xane.

"Oh, but it could be funny," Xane protested.

"Just do it," Quatre retorted.

Xane rolled his eyes and slid from his stool as Danielle blinked at him. Judas was sitting up on the mattress thing and Raul was standing as Xane went through the living room, muttering to each other. He grabbed a shirt from Quatre's dresser and gestured for the others to follow him as he returned.

"Thanks," Quatre muttered, pulling it on and flashing them all an amused look.

"You sleep well?" Riley asked.

"After I got used to the additions," he gestured at Judas and Xane. "Hey," he added to Jude.

"Hi, Quatre," Judas returned, moving to sit beside Xane. Danielle had taken his previous seat, so Raul leaned against the end of the counter.

"You okay?" Quatre asked, studying his eyes.

"You wouldn't ask that unless you had a reason," Judas noted, leaning forward and crossing his arms to rest his chin against them. "What is it?"

"You feel almost...turned off," Quatre returned. "Your emotions are...smothered."

"I've been pretending to be someone I'm not for a while now, huh?"

"I guess. Maybe by the time you get back you'll be all right."

"I'm not looking forward to the drive," Xane agreed with a sigh. "It needs to be another two hour flight."

They all looked at him curiously.

"My flight left at midnight...and got in at two," he noted. "It seemed to take a lot longer..."

They all gave him amused looks with rolled eyes.

He laughed slightly at that, rubbing at his eyes as he thought. "What's going on around here?"

"Not too much," Riley returned. "We all decided to put off our trips home until today so we could see you two."

"That explains why he said we were all abandoning him," Jude noted to Xane.

Xane nodded.

"Shit, his family is here anyway," Quatre retorted, then sighed tiredly. "He's not letting me steal Chai."

They all gave him curious looks.

"Every couple years I have to go home for Christmas myself," Quatre explained. "This happens to be one of those years. By the time I get back I'm gonna be a nut case."

"By the time you get back?" Raul and Riley asked at the same time, then grinned at each other.

"Hahaha," Quatre retorted, pointing at them with the spatula he was holding warningly. He blinked at the griddle, then shook his head and turned to pull down the pile of plates. It only took him a moment to have everything set on the counter and he started to move the plate of made food toward them, then hesitated when they all looked ready to pounce. "Judas gets first grabs."

Judas felt a rush of familiar amusement and laughed happily, using his stool to lean forward and grab a plate as the others complained about how that wasn't fair for obscure or nonsensical reasons.

He was home...he really was...

"That's better," Quatre noted to him with a smile as he turned back to his cooking.

Better...yeah.

Judas slathered an almost obscene amount of butter on his food as the others whined at him to hurry up, then laughed as he spread a light layer of syrup over that.

"Oh stop," Chai swatted his rear. "Don't be cruel."

Judas turned to give her a disbelieving look, which let the others dive in for their food.

Jordan was smirking from the bedroom door, still shirtless. He had his arms extended above his head so his hands were resting above the door.

"Oh get dressed already," Quatre grumbled at him. "We all know you got laid so stop shoving it in our faces."

Jordan laughed delightedly, then disappeared into the bedroom.

"He's horrible," Chai noted, moving around the counter to join Quatre. "Should I bother making eggs or sausage?"

They all stopped eating to stare at her with wide eyes.

"That'd be an ‘oh my god, yes,'" Quatre noted, giving them all amused looks.

Chai giggled slightly, then moved to the fridge.

- -

December 23, A.C. 204. Base. 11am

"Simone!"

Simone looked up happily at the greeting from Quatre, flashing him a smile.

"Good morning, Simone," Jordan greeted her. He'd opened the door at her knock.

"Morning, Sir," she returned sweetly, allowing him to shut the door behind her. "Max and Trent will be coming shortly."

"They still call him sir?" Judas asked Xane and Raul blankly. "Didn't we get over that damn quick?"

"They're over achievers," Raul dismissed it.

Simone, however, had focused on Judas with very wide eyes.

"Simone," Jordan noted, moving closer. "This is first lieutenant Judas Ifherra. Jude, this is Simone Moreau."

Judas stood and smiled, offering her his hand. "Nice to meet you."

She stared at him in amazement a moment longer before shaking his hand quickly.

"How are you?" Quatre muttered, sounding a bit less than pleased.

Jordan turned to look at him with interest, then smirked.

"I'm...fine," she noted, then looked back to Judas. "How long have you been gone?"

"I went to Germany back in September," Judas returned easily. "How long have you been around?"

She smiled slightly at that, brushing her hair from her face as she studied his. "They told me I'd be meeting with the general in early October. It wasn't until mid October that we started meeting, though."

"You can't be too bad if he's kept you, then," Judas noted. He wasn't trying to be mean or anything, but Quatre's chagrin at the girl's attention was kinda funny.

The blond stormed from the room as Riley covered her face with a hand.

Simone blinked at her, then looked around, noting that Quatre was gone and stopping.

"Excuse me," Judas muttered to her, then turned to follow the blond.

Quatre's arms were crossed as he glowered at the guy.

‘Hey,' Judas mouthed, shaking his head. ‘I'm not doing a damn thing.'

Quatre gave him a level look, turning back to the fridge.

"She knows French, and Spanish proper," Jordan noted, moving up behind. "Get me something, huh, Cat?"

"Leave me alone," Quatre grumbled, though the only place he had to storm to was the far corner.

"Come on," Jor wheedled in Japanese. "He's her superior and she's never seen him."

"She's all sorts of delighted," Quatre agreed grumpily.

Judas frowned between them, getting his superior a drink.

"Is she usually happy to see you?"

Quatre nodded, focusing on his can.

"And she wasn't?"

"She was all amazed at the wonder boy," Quatre retorted, gesturing toward Judas.

"So you're throwing a tantrum?"

Quatre glowered at him.

Jordan winked, taking the can he was offered. He started to turn away, then gestured toward the fridge with his head. "Get her something."

"I haven't gotten to talk to her for more than two minutes," Judas protested.

Jordan gave him a briefly confused look, then made a gesture at him. "I didn't say get something she likes, I said to get her something, sheesh."

"She likes Sprite," Quatre grumbled.

"I'm not doing anything," Judas protested at him.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Quatre asked all but flatly.

Judas gave him an upset look, then took the can back into the living-room...as he realized he should have grabbed stuff for the whole team.

"Thank you!" Simone said, all sorts of delighted when he passed it to her.

Xane, who was standing behind her, raised one hand to beside his head and let his head fall to one side with his tongue hanging out–like he was being hung, then bounced around the pair into the kitchen.

Judas...didn't actually appreciate that.

- -

December 23, A.C. 204. Base. 12pm

Quatre felt better about the whole ordeal when Trent and Max showed up, both about as excited to see Judas as Simone had been. Actually, as soon as they showed up, Simone found Quatre to talk to quietly. Unfortunately, she was asking a damn lot about Judas.

Quatre sighed as he moved back into his bedroom with the girl tailing him. He had his bag packed already, and just had some shower things to put into it, plus the other toiletries around the bedroom.

"You're leaving?" she asked blankly, studying the duffel.

"I have to go out to the L-4 cluster," he agreed. "I have family up there and they start muttering when I don't come back every couple years...I thought I told you that."

"I didn't realize you were going, though," she noted, sitting at the foot of his bed to frown at him. "I'm here for Christmas...I was...well, when are you leaving?"

"In about a half hour," he replied, glancing at his watch with a sigh.

Her eyes had gone dreamy again. "What's it like on the colonies?"

"Warmer," he returned dryly, turning to grab his small diamond stud. Getting his ear pierced twice had disgusted a few of his sisters, like Ainslie, so he was sure to wear his biggest gaudiest studs every time he went home.

"Are those diamonds?" she asked blankly, studying them.

"What do you think I'd buy? Cubic zirconium?" he retorted before he thought about it.

Simone was stung, but he wasn't done being annoyed about Judas yet.

"Oh..."

"Sorry," he muttered after a moment when she remained quiet, fitting the larger one in. "I don't want to go home." Actually, he didn't want to have to deal with Ainslie and Karen...or the other ones who disapproved of him, but it more or less amounted to the same in the end.

"You still call it home?"

"Only in the sense that it was where I grew up," he said with a sigh, digging through his jewelry box for a good bracelet.

"You said you were leaving in a half hour?" she asked quietly.

He nodded, hooking a bracelet around his wrist before sighing and turning to the top drawer of his dresser. He pulled out the present he'd gotten for her and offered it hesitantly.

"Oh, Quatre!" she protested. "You didn't have to..."

"I don't have to do anything," he noted, smiling slightly at her. "I do what I want."

She smiled at that, taking it from him before meeting his eyes. "Want me to open it now?"

"It's kinda hard to watch you do it from the colonies," he noted.

She smiled briefly at that before starting to carefully un-tape the ends.

Actually, he could have over the vid, but he preferred to do things like that in person. He liked the read for something like that.

It didn't take her too long to open the thing...and stare at it in wonder.

It was just a necklace...

"These...are real?" she half-whispered, looking up to him with wide eyes.

He nodded slightly with a smile. "I don't buy fake things."

He felt her slightly embarrassed chagrin at that, then she bit her lip and looked up to him. "I have you something...but I didn't realize you were leaving."

"You didn't have to," he shot at her, giving her a look.

She smiled slightly, blushing a bit.

"You want to wait until I get back?" he asked after a moment. It was harder to read her emotions because she was still embarrassed about the fake comment and pleased about the necklace.

"If you...want to," she noted, raising her head to study his eyes.

He smiled slightly at that, giving her a sort of flirty look...which made her giggle and jump up to hug him tightly.

"Put this on me," she added, pulling back to raise her hair.

She smelled good...

Quatre took the necklace carefully and slid the ends around her neck, meeting her eyes briefly before latching it there...and pulled her into another hug, nuzzling at her ear.

She made a cute little noise, then pulled away with another light blush. "Wait for me. I'll get it."

"All right," he returned, studying her eyes.

"I'll drive you," Jordan offered happily...which made them both jump hard.

"Cat is leaving in about ten minutes," Jordan noted happily. "So let's make this quick Suzie-Q."

Simone blushed even harder before darting from the room.

Quatre gave Jordan a look, which the man returned calmly. He was amused about whatever part he'd witnessed, and Quatre didn't really appreciate that.

Jordan laughed and half stuck his tongue out at his friend, then turned and followed the girl from the room.

- -

December 24, A.C. 204. Base. 10am

"We're getting a tree next year," Chai informed Jordan as they walked hand in hand down the street. Almost every house had its curtains opened and trees in the window. "And we're decorating."

"Trees are over-rated," Jordan returned.

"I've never had one," she shot back, stopping to look at him.

He stared at her in amazement. When they were in Angels, it hadn't been something that came up because Christmas was just another day that was too cold without money for presents. The tree they enjoyed was the one at the bar where Jon was, and the presents they got were from Jon.

Actually, Jor needed to call him to set up a time for them to meet. He'd meant to the day before, but getting everyone where they needed to be had been distracting.

"You don't like trees?" she added, frowning at him.

"I just...don't usually have one," he returned, blinking more at her. "We had them at the church...but after that was the wars...hell, I lost track of Christmas during the wars...and living here none of us ever got them."

"Are they really a hassle?" she asked, looking to one that was sparkling across the road from them.

"Not too bad," he admitted. "They can be if you forget to water them so the needles all fall off."

She looked back to the tree across the street from them as she moved into his arms. "We have a vacuum."

"I suppose," he admitted, thinking about it.

"Jordan?" she asked quietly, resting her cheek against his chest.

"Yeah?"

"Angels was bad, right? I lived there all my life. The wars only made it worse, and I was really little."

"I suppose," he agreed quietly.

"You didn't live there," she said quietly, pulling back to meet his eyes. "You know what it's like to live away from there and I'm still getting used to it. I know something like a tree isn't all that important to you...but sometimes...I want holidays to be like you see on tv, you know? The family getting together and unwrapping present after present, everything they wanted for Christmas...maybe some roses on Valentine's day...to hide eggs on Easter...to dye eggs on Easter."

He ran his hands down her face, leaning in to kiss her, then smiled slightly. "I want to give you everything you want."

She smiled back at that.

"I have to go do some run around stuff with Chance," he lied glumly, making it sound like an admittance. "You want to hang out with Shin and Chip?"

"I guess," she muttered, frowning more at him. "What do you have to do on Christmas Eve?"

"Last minute gift shopping," he shrugged as he started leading her back to the house, pulling out his phone and hitting the one.

"Hey, Jor," Chance greeted on the second ring. "What's up?"

"You ready to go?" Jordan asked.

Chance hesitated, and Jordan knew he was trying to figure out where they were supposed to be going. "I...guess," he said after a moment."

"Good, me'n Chai will get back to the house in about two minutes. Meet me at my car."

"All right," Chance said a little more certainly as he hung up.

He was at Jordan's car as they neared the house, and he smiled happily at Chai as she moved toward his place. They said a couple greetings across the yard, then she disappeared inside.

"Get in," Jordan ordered, sliding into the machine and turning it on.

"What's going on?" Chance pouted at him. "We were being all family-y."

"Chai only just told me she really wanted a tree...she's never had one before."

Chance blinked at that.

"So I need your help," Jordan added, frowning at him. "I didn't mean to interrupt and stuff, but..."

"Maybe we should get two, then," Chance suggested, thinking about it. "I don't know that Shin's ever had a tree, but I didn't even think about it this year."

"Same here," Jordan agreed, deciding the car was warmed up enough to back out. "I claimed last minute gift shopping."

"I figured you would," Chance reassured him. "It was my claim, too. Jor...I don't even know how to go about getting a tree."

"Considering how severely last moment this is," Jordan noted, meeting his eyes, "I don't think it honestly matters."

Chance grinned at him.

Jor shook his head, tossing his phone to his friend. "On February fourteenth, set the timer for ten and make the reminder say roses for me..."

"What were you two talking about?" Chance asked blankly, navigating through the menus.

"She informed me that we're having a tree next year, then reminded me that she wants the holidays like you see on tv."

"They make it cloying on tv," Chance protested, glancing at him as they pulled up to the gate and waved at Duty, who saluted in greeting and let them out.

"I think her holiday experiences are all the bad kinds that you see in movies," Jor noted, sliding up to the stop sign. "You don't know how it's like in Angels...it's bad. We never had a tree the entire time I was down there, and the only time we had presents...shit, give me that."

"What?" Chance asked blankly as the message saved.

"I have to call Jon," Jordan explained, hitting the seven. "He was the only person who could afford presents, and I want to have a supper with him or something."

"Oh, all right," Chance slid down in his seat and looked out the window. "Where the hell are we going to get two trees?"

"We're gods, Chance," Jordan reminded him with a brief grin. "We can do anything...even if it is finding an axe."