Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ In the City at Night ❯ New Grounds ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

New Grounds

"How late are you working tonight?" Chai whispered quietly, leaning against the bathroom door as Jordan brushed his teeth.

"Seven," he replied, spitting into the sink. "I get my check today, too. I want to get you some new clothes, so keep that in mind so we can go shopping."

Heero stared into the bathroom, wondering about his old friend. All five of the former Gundam Pilots had broke and run at eighteen. It had taken Une until they were all nineteen to find any of them, but Duo had eluded her completely. Heero hadn't seen the other since that time. They'd all looked, no matter where they were. They'd all kept their eyes open for him, but Heero had finally given up. He'd assumed the pilot had either committed suicide or gotten killed. Finding him in the middle of low-class slums had not even crossed Heero's mind.

"I don't need new clothes," Chai muttered, her shoulders slumped, "I'm good. Just save the money."

"We're going to move," Jordan muttered, turning to cup her face, staring into her eyes. "We're getting out of this hell hole. I'm not paying rent this month, we'll take that money and catch a bus out of here."

"Why are we leaving?" she demanded, "If it's so easy, then why didn't we do it a long time ago?"

Jordan leaned in and kissed her, "Because this was the last place they'd look for me."

"So where will we go?"

Jordan's eyes raised and landed on Heero, though the pilot pretended to be asleep.

"Don't worry about that yet, we can talk about it later."

Chai pulled her head from his grasp, shaking it, "Why can't you tell me anything?"

"Because there's a fifty-fifty chance that neither of them is really asleep."

Heero grinned slightly, wondering if Wufei was also eavesdropping. Trowa and Quatre had basically been forced into Chai's bed when the girl insisted she would sleep with Duo...Jordan. As soon as the words had crossed her lips, that was the plan. Heero had woken up to hear the two talking, and wondered what the hell kind of life his old friend was living.

Jordan kissed Chai again, lingering a little, "I've got to go to work."

Chai clung to his hand as he started for the door, he ignored her until he reached the door, sliding his feet into dirty work-boots. His jeans were covered in stains and his shirt was torn several times.

"What are you going to do for lunch?" she demanded sharply.

"What I usually do," he returned easily, tying the boots before grabbing a ratty-looking jacket from the back of a chair.

"You need to eat," Chai protested.

"We'll go out tonight, all right? Just be ready when I get here...have them take you to the clinic and get you the pills."

"What?" she demanded blankly.

"You said you didn't have birth-control for three months. Get them to take you there, and they'll pay for it. They work for the government, they can afford it."

Heero frowned as Wufei shifted slightly.

"I couldn't ask that of them," she protested, staring at the guy in dismay.

"They'll do it for me," Jordan returned, "Just tell them that I told you to, all right? They owe me at least that."

"That has nothing to do with you," she muttered distantly.

Heero gave up, "Why not the shot?"

Chair froze completely, turning to look at him with huge eyes.

"Good idea," Jordan agreed, looking to Chai again, "You won't even have your period for three months."

"I couldn't," she started, looking between them.

"I've got to go, I'm going to be late," Jordan cut her off, leaning over to kiss her and waving a bit at Heero.

"How the hell do you get to work?" Heero demanded quickly, "Where do you work?"

"I do construction," he explained, "Uptown. I take the bus. I've got to go."

"But you need to eat lunch!" Chai tried again, "You think I don't notice you getting dizzy, but I do."

"What?" Heero demanded evenly, crossing the room to him. "You've been doing hard-labor and not eating?"

"I'm all sorts of talented," Jordan snapped, "We have to have that money for other things."

"How can you live like this?" Heero demanded, irritation and consternation rising inside of him, "How can you walk so calmly down the street, and when someone mugs you, just...just laugh!"

"Because there's not a lot else to do," Jordan snapped, "I don't have the money for anywhere else...not yet."

"But you have to eat!" Chai's voice raised to her squeak again.

"Take this money," Heero snapped, digging a twenty from his wallet, "Eat with it. Buy something for tomorrow's lunch as well."

Jordan stared at the bill without looking to the other two, weighing his options. On the one hand, the money was free to him and he could use it as he'd been told, or pocket it and add it to his bank account with his own check. He'd need every dollar he could get when he and Chai left. They'd only be able to carry what they could put into a bag, and he had no clue yet where they would go.

"And just to piss you off," Heero added, grabbing Jordan's wrist as he set the bill between his lips. Instead of finishing his sentence, he pulled out his key ring and flipped it around to a small instrument...and used it to poke Jordan's finger.

"Ouch!" Jordan protested instantly, yanking his hand away and staring at the drop of blood on his finger before looking to Heero in utter amazement.

Heero smirked, showing him the digital read-out, "Tests your blood sugar."

Jordan realized in an instant that no matter what he did, he'd have to eat lunch. Whether or not he took the money, if he showed up with less blood-sugar than Heero's readout said...they'd probably kick his ass.

Chai giggled, "That's cool."

Snatching the bill from Heero's hand, Jordan glared at his...roommate before turning and storming out the door.

"You could at least say thank you!" Chai protested after him.

Heero ducked his head out the door, watching the guy walk a bit, then grinned and looked back to the girl, "So where is the clinic, when does it open, and what will you let me buy for you?"

She stared at him.

"You're important to Jordan," Heero explained with a shrug, "He's doing as right by you as he can manage, and I want to do right by him."

"I don't know what to say," she muttered, studying his eyes.

"Say the name of one store you'd love to shop in."

She smirked, "Streak Red."

The choice amused Heero. The store was high-end pop-culture...a large portion of his own wardrobe had been bought at the place. "I like that store...are you going to put a limit on how much money we can spend on you?"

"What?" Chai asked blankly, not understanding that he meant he would take her there. She'd thought it was more than he would want to spend.

"As soon as I find out her size," Wufei muttered, rolling over to look at them, "I don't care what she says. Jordan will make her accept what we buy—the jackass."

Heero chuckled, studying the girl again, "Why don't you go back to sleep? I know that Streak Red doesn't open until ten, and don't imagine that clinic will open before nine." He returned to the couch as the girl stared at him, "Plus, I want to sleep in a little."

Chai smiled slightly, then moved to the bathroom and flicked the light off, disappearing into Jordan's room and closing the door behind herself.

"I think we're missing several somethings from the puzzle," Heero noted, lying back down.

"He's always been an odd one," Wufei noted. "Why the hell was he kissing on her if he refuses to fuck her?"

"He said he was out of condoms," Heero suggested.

"They've lived together for two years, though. If they'd had sex at all in that time, the lack of condom would only put him off for a short while. Besides, he's been fucking around. I don't get him at all."

"Like I said, we're missing something," Heero eyed the bedroom door a moment. "I think," he said finally, "That something happened to her...other than miscarrying."

"She's only twenty-one," Wufei agreed quietly, "That's so terrible for her."

"Just imagine the boat they'd be in now if she had the kid, and maybe you'll get why god did her a miss-favor."

"He could get a better job than construction," Wufei argued, "Why is he here living like this?"

"She's here," Heero said quietly, looking back to his partner.

"Not everything he said last night was true," the twenty-three year-old argued, "It's been five years. God only knows what he's been doing."

"You know," Heero muttered, snuggling into his blanket, "One valid point for him; I'd never have thought to look for him here."

"I know...he has money in his account."

"If he takes any of that money, Une will be all over him again. She's got it all marked, you know."

"We're going to have to make her give up. He's not coming back."

"But he should be with us," Heero argued, closing his eyes, "He needs to be near us. We've needed him a lot these last few years."

"I think he likes it here, though," Wufei muttered, "He seems to have a lot of perks. If their money-issue is so tense, why was he drinking at the bar last night? You know he's paying for her, too."

"We'll have to pump her for information, then. I'm paying his rent, whether or not I tell him."

"I was going to."

"He doesn't want charity."

"Who are you to talk?"

"I'm doing it to piss him off."

"Right. Set your watch, I don't want to have to keep time in my sleep."

"Fine."

-

Jordan moved slowly back into his apartment, noticing the Streak Red bags that littered the couch and smiling. If the amount of bags suggested anything, it was that his friends had bought Chai the entire feminine wardrobe from the store.

He tossed his jacket onto the back of the couch and kicked off his work-boots, wondering why Heero hadn't pounced him yet with the tester. He'd found the second half of his day immensely easier, and was trying to ignore the fact that it was because he'd eaten.

"I'm home!" he called, looking around the silent apartment in confusion.

"Sh," Chai appeared around the corner of the kitchen, placing her finger to her lips as she smiled at him. She bounced across the room and leaned up to kiss him. "They all fell asleep a while ago. Erin is in the kitchen, he was helping me make supper."

"Supper? You went food shopping?"

Chai giggled, helping him pull his shirt off, "We went everywhere. First to the clinic. They wouldn't let me tell them no. Daniel was picking things out that he thought would look cute on me and practically Shoving me into the changing rooms...oh, and I made them get you some new jeans."

Jordan smiled, following her around the chair as she started digging into bags. It didn't take her too long to find what she was looking for. It amused him that the waistband of the first pair was exactly the size he would have chosen. They were a little longer than he'd have picked, but at the same time, it was Streak Red. Jordan never worried much about fashion, but had a feeling that they did.

"Go shower," she added, pushing at him, "I want to show you everything I've got."

"I have to go back to the bar tonight," Heero added, moving around into the living room as Jordan stopped in front of the bathroom. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Depends on what you're going to ask of me," Jordan returned, studying the guy. "I usually go see Jon all the time, since he apologized, getting up to talk to him again won't matter. If you're going to start bringing the government down here, though, I'll have to resist."

Heero studied him a long moment, then looked to Chai, "We're going to have to go tonight."

"You coming back?" Jordan demanded, "What's your op?"

Erin shrugged, "We needed evidence for or against Breer. Two of us have to hear him say it, preferably all four of us. If you would come back to the fold, your word would work and we could free him of those charges. I can even work it around so he only has to serve community service."

"But since I'm not going back to the fold," Jordan noted a bit sarcastically, "You can't cut him any deals, and need me to get you back up there—and I'd imagine you want to hear the guy who he gave the cash to."

Heero nodded.

"You know, for all that I've commented that I don't want to know what's going on, you just told me it all." Chai glowered at Jordan.

He turned his amethyst eyes down to hers, raising one eyebrow, "What was the money used for? How much money? What do I know of it? How likely is it that any government officials will ever find me again?"

"Hahaha," Heero grumped.

"I'll be out in a bit," Jordan added, moving into the bathroom and closing the door.

"Must be the cash to Terry," Chai noted, looking back to Heero, "Jor was all pissed about it when he found out that Jon did it."

"Terry who?" Heero refrained from displaying an ounce of emotion.

"Terry Shifton, some guy Jon picked up a year ago," Chai shrugged, starting for the kitchen again. The information meant nothing to her.

Heero felt his entire world spin as all the ramifications of her simple statement sank in. He stared at the bathroom door blankly as Quatre appeared in the door to Jordan's room.

Terry Shifton was a high-ranking official in the E.C., or Earthsphere Council. He had been named tenth in the line of command two years before—not that anyone outside the officer's club of Preventer's knew it. He was currently fifth, after the death of three members and disappearance of two.

Quatre blinked, not sure what to think of his friend's vacant stare, "What's up?"

"She says its Shifton."

Quatre froze, "How would she know?"

"Because Duo's in tight with Breer, and it was Breer who paid for the attack...on Zechs."

Quatre caught his breath, looking to the bathroom door.

"Yeah," Heero agreed, "I think shit just hit the fan."

"We found Duo," Quatre returned, "We should have known when he took you right up to Breer. Do you think he's involved?"

"I hope not," Heero returned, meeting Quatre's eyes, "I really hope not."

-

"You're all tense," Jordan muttered, elbowing Heero lightly with a smirk as he took another pull from his beer, "Relax a little, we're here to enjoy ourselves."

"When are we seeing Breer?" Heero demanded, staring at his own bottle. He'd found that he couldn't make himself drink it. It was frustrating.

"When you can look me in the eyes again," Jordan said easily, eyeing the man. "Until then, there's no way I'd take you with me up there again. You have to understand my reputation here, Erin. My friends aren't going to be uncomfortable around me. They aren't going to be having odd-ass issues that came out of nowhere."

"I'm just kinda nervous," Heero admitted, feeling bad that he was being so obvious. "This is being too easy."

"You have your mic, right?"

Heero blinked at him in amazement.

"I'm not stupid, Erin. The toys have changed, but the game is the same. Chances are that one of the guys are listening to us back at the apartment. I don't care. I'm just your tie. I'm getting you where you need to go to get my buddy off the hook. And for the record," Jordan added, meeting Heero's eyes, "Jonathan Breer is a semi-upstanding citizen and has my utmost respect."

"No one knows who Jordan is," Heero snapped.

"My my my, but you're being touchy," Jordan returned, elbowing Heero slightly.

"Don't," Heero snapped, moving away a bit.

Jordan sat back slightly, eyeing the guy. He considered his options a long moment as Erin avoided his eyes, then rose slowly to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Heero demanded, trying to catch Jordan's pocket.

"I'm going to talk to Jon," Jordan replied easily, raising an eyebrow at Heero. "I don't know what your problem is, but shockingly, I have things to do."

Heero watched the guy walk to the door they'd moved through the night before, then disappear behind it.

Stephan was smirking slightly when he looked across the room, giving Heero a pointedly challenging look.

"He just left me here," Heero breathed, sitting back in his seat and staring at his bottle, "Oh my god, he just left me here..."

"He's not...Heero," Quatre's voice carried quietly over the ear-piece hidden in Heero's ear, "He wouldn't turn you into Breer, would he?"

"I don't think so," Heero muttered, taking a pull from his glass, "I hope not."

"Hope floats no one's boat," Trowa's tone was pointed.

"What do I do? Shit, I don't know how people down here act."

"See," Wufei muttered helpfully, "This is Duo's shtick. He'd be the one to go on this mission. He'd be able to work alone, and no one would question him."

"You still not over that?" Quatre demanded, "You were so anally challenged at that point...ow! Don't hit me!"

Heero smirked, swirling his beer in the bottle, glancing toward the door again. Stephan looked bored as he sat against the wall, staring at the ceiling, "I'm not being watched anymore."

"So wait for him," Tro announced.

"Obviously."

"You're the one begging help."

"What is he doing in there?" Wufei snapped, "What the hell would he do?"

"You know, Breer asked how much he wanted for me?" Heero leaned forward in his seat, propping his head against his hand and his elbow on the table. He reached across the thing and grabbed a sheet of paper and a small pencil for whatever gambling game the bar catered to. "Jordan's reply didn't exactly...encourage me."

"You just called him Jordan," Wufei noted.

"That would be his name," Heero muttered mildly, taking another drink of his beer. "I don't care what you lot think. He doesn't want to be Duo anymore. He's not."

"And you call me a romantic," Quatre muttered.

"Its called respect," Heero snapped, "And understanding. I've asked you guys to call me Chance and you don't seem to get why I want my name changed. Jor does. Jordan understands completely."

"We don't have issues calling you Chance because we don't know why you don't want to be Heero," Trowa muttered. "Our issues with calling you Chance is that it's chance. You're not a chance. You're a certainty, get it?"

"Haha," Heero muttered.

"What's going on now?" Quatre asked through a heaved sigh.

Heero raised his eyes to look around the room, "Nothing."

"Sounds fun."

"You have no idea."

"At least you're not fighting."

"I'd rather be."

Trowa replied to the statement with a snort, and silence moved across the headset again. Heero stared across the room, actually feeling uncomfortable. He didn't know if anyone was watching him or not, but the idea was bothering him.

By the time Jordan did finally reappear, many of the bar's patrons had disappeared. Stephan had also disappeared to be replaced with an evil looking Asian man that Jordan nodded at with a smile on his way past. The man smiled back slightly, nodding a greeting as Jordan turned to focus on Heero.

"Took you long enough," Heero muttered.

"Sorry," Jordan returned, grabbing the extra beer the waitress had set on the table for Heero, "Got caught up. Ready?"

"I thought we..."

"I told you," Jordan cut him off sharply, "I got caught up. Do you want to eat or not?"

Heero sighed, then realized that the Asian man was watching. He nodded finally, sliding out of the booth and following Jordan to the door.

"Sometimes I swear I'll hurt someone," Jor muttered, turning right instead of left as they stepped outside and leading Heero up the sidewalk.

"What's going on?" Heero demanded, moving to walk next to Jordan again.

"Nothing is," Jor snapped, narrowing his eyes at Heero, "It's just been a really long day, and I'd like to get this errand run before I hit the house and crash."

"What errand?"

"That's none of your damn business," the male returned.

"Heero?" Quatre asked, "Be really careful right now...we don't know him anymore."

"I don't know," Trowa muttered, "It's the same ol'Duo to me."

"What do you think he's doing?" Quatre demanded.

"Drug run, I'd imagine," Trowa replied mildly. "Don't get me wrong, I can tell Jordan isn't on the drugs, but that doesn't mean he's not a ferry-man."

"You're just all full of chipper cheer, aren't you?" Heero muttered darkly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I try," Trowa admitted.

"I just worked all day," Jordan snapped in aggravation. "I didn't want to hit the bar tonight, you know. I wanted to take Chai to supper. Instead I'm stuck running around with you when you are acting like...I don't even know what you're acting like. Can you just shut-up and keep pace? This won't take more than five minutes if you walk with me."

Heero stared at Jordan in amazement. He hadn't actually realized how tired his old friend was, and the amount of annoyance attached to taking his girl to supper had somehow slipped past all of them. "Sorry," he muttered.

Jordan rolled his eyes and sighed, glancing at Heero a moment, "Just...come on."