Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Idle Hands ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

Three

Rabid watched the men fighting below the ship, feeling almost distant. For one, he still didn't understand why the force was so small. The ESA had acknowledged him as a threat to their order, so why was it such a mild display?

He shook his head irritably as the soldiers chased more of the civilians from the ship. They were ushering them into the boat-house on the far side of the thing, which they were guarding so the men didn't try to come back on the ship. It was going to be hard enough with just the supplies on board, they didn't need any hostages to feed.

There was a sound, a commotion off to his left, and he focused that way in disbelief. Men were running around Wing...and some were...

...

"Retreat!" Rab screamed, raising his radio to his mouth. "Retreat!"

There was a mass of disbelief as the enemy soldiers almost broke at once. They almost seemed to be reacting to him.

...the bastard!

"Get on the ship!" he knew he had to be screaming but couldn't help it as he turned toward the interior. "Damn you, Yuy!" Rab snarled as men started almost uncertainly for him. He had to figure they wouldn't have bothered if the enemies weren't running, too.

He turned and ran for the control room, feeling his heart screaming in his chest.

Yuy couldn't destruct it could he? He wouldn't do that would he? What about the people around?

Rab slid into the control room, looking out the window...as his heart slid into his throat.

Deathscythe and Heavyarms, moving forward...and there.

Yuy.

Rab screamed for his men to move...they only had moments before...

- -

Heero snarled as he was thrown, an odd silence to the world around him as his ears rang...fuck that. They were singing. His ears were...well, fucked.

...this was going to hurt.

The world around him finished going utterly white. He was pretty sure he got far enough away that the explosion wouldn't just kill him right off...but that did still leave him flying through the air...

Pain...his nerves were screaming and singing with pain...

Well...Wing was gone...Wing was...everything was fine.

- -

The explosion wasn't half as epic as Duo'd thought it would be. He was almost disappointed by that...or would have been, if he hadn't seen the men being thrown by it.

So...where was Heero?

The ground shook around him, and he was grateful their men had fled without argument. He'd seen a fair amount of Rab's men follow him into that damned ship, but the fallout of a gundam exploding basically meant the fighting was done. Whatever happened now happened...

Unless...

"Trowa?"

"You know how many men are on it?" Trowa asked instantly.

"No," Duo returned.

"We don't have a real choice here, though, do we?" Trowa asked...and before Duo could even start to answer, one of Heavyarm's arms rose into the air...

Destroying a civilian craft...that was an all time low for Duo.

The space-ship—a black beauty named Obsidian—started putting out smoke and exhaust.

They hadn't even cleared the launch pad!

Duo shouted as Trowa's shots obliterated any sound that might have happened around those engines...he watched as a hole appeared in the side of the ship...but it was already rising into the air.

"The flank!" Quatre shouted. "We have to get those men before they can run!"

Duo turned instantly at the order, something inside him feeling cold.

But...Heero...

"Heero!" Wufei shouted, panic in his voice. "We have to find Heero!"

"Get him!" Quatre ordered. "Now!"

Duo could see Wufei streaking through the now empty battle-area...as Obsidian jetted off over the ocean.

That's right, Rab. No space travel for you...just the entire fucking earth and not even enough weaponry to create a mercenary group.

What was Timorre doing?

God...where was Heero?

Duo took off toward the men who'd been flanking them.

This was going to get messy.

- -

Jaden and his men were holding their line, watching the surrounding area...that explosion had been scary enough from a distance, and how many men had been fighting there?

Had that been Wing?

Hearing the fighting off to the left made Jaden nervous, because his men didn't have any sort of distinguishing uniform. If the fighting got this far it'd be hard to tell friend from foe...at least until they got the roster.

He could just see himself calling for a pause in the fighting—maybe he'd give red ribbons to the enemies...

"Timorre?"

"Maxwell?" Jaden returned instantly.

"Keep your line tucked in," the man ordered. "Ready area so we can set up our E.R."

"Maxwell?" Jaden asked levelly, "what just went boom?"

"Wing," the man noted sharply—Jaden could see Deathscythe now, moving above the tree line, but a goodly ways off. "We've got runners. Keep it tight."

"Right," he agreed...and wondered if that was where his men had gotten it. He did say it all the time didn't he?

"Supreme?" Armend asked, moving up to his side.

"Evidently our dearly beloved brigadier pains in the ass just made Wing explode," Jaden returned, watching the gundam as it set down almost out of sight. "Ready a first aid!" he shouted, to his men. "Keep the line tight and ready a field!"

Men started moving instantly, the line starting to move in.

"Wing?" Armend asked quietly, watching Deathscythe. "You mean that seriously?"

"You heard the explosion," Jaden agreed, glancing toward the area the battle'd been in.

"I guess," the man agreed, then started away. "I'll go get our line in close."

Jaden nodded, watching him stride away, then turned and headed out to find a good flat area to set up a field-hospital.

It'd be interesting to see what the ESA's booker had to say...maybe Qing'd have gotten a wild hair to look up other mercenaries online—that'd make discussing price a helluva lot easier.

- -

Wufei was panting as he moved through the trees and bushes. The heat hadn't properly abated for this...but he'd been hoping his friend would show up before the gundam exploded.

He heard groaning, darting around a few trees...to see an unfamiliar man curled on the ground.

"Medic!" he shouted, realizing vaguely that men had followed him into the mess. He'd expected it, known it'd happen...but he hadn't consciously thought it.

He moved on, looking around again. His heart was hammering in his chest as he moved through the trees. He doubted any spider or snake would still be alive or feeling feisty after a blast like that, so he didn't bother watching where he was going. Another man...two more...a woman...he kept finding bodies—mostly living...but not the one body he wanted to see.

He stopped, realizing he was outright gasping. His lungs were healed, he wasn't sick...but...this probably wasn't good for them.

If Wing was there...Yuy would have taken a straight...

"Heero!" Wufei nearly stumbled over the man as he moved to correct his angle.

Heero groaned.

"Oh god...medic!" he shouted again, louder this time. "I found him," he added into his phone. Heero was on his side...and bloody. Most of his clothing was in tatters, but he was still bleeding.

So...how bad off was he?

"You did?" Duo demanded. "Fei..."

"I'm looking!" Wufei snapped back as men started for him...and the shout came that it was Brigadier Yuy. "I see blood...he's half conscious...I don't know...I think he's okay..."

"Fuck you," Heero returned, groaning again. "I think I just made an entire species of tree go extinct."

Wufei laughed at that, realizing that the front of the man's shirt was all ripped up as well. "You can hear me, at least."

"Oh, my head is ringing nicely," Heero opened his eyes to blink blankly up at him—for about a twitch. He closed his eyes tightly. "Ow..."

"He's talking to me," he added into his phone, realizing relief had swept through him. "He's...oh god," he let the phone lower, leaning forward to rest his head against his friend's shoulder.

"What sort of friend would I be to die so close to your birthday?" Heero muttered. "Don't touch me, but cover that light...I hurt so bad that I don't hurt..."

"You coulda set it to delay exploding like...a minute or something."

"No...the most delay on Wing was thirty seconds."

Wufei started laughing weakly.

"Sir!" several men were moving up to him with a stretcher between them.

"Let's go," Wufei ordered, picking himself up and looking around the battlefield. He sighed, then gestured for the rest of the men on the field to carry-on and started to follow the stretcher.

"Illicit's unit secured an area for red-cross," one of the higher ranking men noted to Wufei. "We got an advanced team there scurrying to get things set up..."

"Good," Wufei muttered, looking down to Heero.

"Oh fuck you," Heero grumbled.

"Sir?" the man was confused.

"He has a personal grief against Timorre...the president of Illicit," Wufei explained. "He fully intended to mop the street with Timorre's face the next chance he got—that won't be happening any time soon."

Heero grunted sourly.

"Well...I'd almost apologize," the man flashed Wufei a slight grin. "But I think that'd be in bad humor."

- -

"Hello?" Matty asked nervously, opening his phone. They'd all told him that not hearing anything was the best...but if they were calling...

If Fian was calling.

"Hey, Matty," Wufei said tiredly. "I don't want you to freak out."

"Oh that is the most reassuring thing you can say, isn't it?" Matty snapped irritably, realizing his heart was hammering in his chest.

"Well he's hurt," Wufei snapped back. "We gave him the Remalene already, but he hit the self-destruct on Wing. He was still pretty close when it blew."

Matty lost hold of any emotion at all...and on his sore muscles as he dropped onto the mattress he'd been standing by. He swallowed as Blake gave him a concerned look, and Jinli was reading the face of his phone.

"He's torn up and his head was ringing, but nothing fatal. We have a field-hospital set up and he's currently passed out on a bed there. We're gonna hang out here until we get the whole situation stabilized, then we'll transport him back to base. We're going to set up a wing as ours, too. The big communal sleeping area is fine for five or six, but there are too many of us, and with him like this he's going to have a hard time getting to sleep. Uh...someone...else...is telling Jinli I think...I have to call him in a minute...but can you pack our stuff up please? He's fine, really. Sleeping now."

Matty started rubbing at his face, then sighed. "How's Trowa?"

"He's fine. Him and Duo are off trying to stop the retreat."

"Jaden?"

"He's out here with us helping set up the hospital and checking soldiers. He wasn't in the fighting at all."

Matty nodded. "All...all right...I'll start our end."

"Thanks," Wufei muttered...and ended the call.

"Well?" Blake asked, moving to his side.

"Trowa's fine, he's out routing the escapees...but Heero's been given Remalene. I guess...he...he self-destructed Wing...so..."

The man's eyes went wide.

"Wufei said he's fine," Matty reassured him quickly, looking around to Jin as his phone started to ring. "He's torn up and stuff, but not...really...injured..."

"Oh...shit," Blake returned, looking around.

"We're moving," Matty added, pushing himself up. "We're getting our own rooms—I assume it'll be an end hall somewhere so they can set up a secure perimeter. Let's get packed up...all of the stuff in here...I think Wufei is having Jinli give the orders."

"You're astute," Jin noted as he moved close to them and looked between them a moment. "I won't send anyone at all to you," he noted. "And if I do, I'll tell them to say...um...fack-ass," he decided, meeting eyes. "So unless a soldier comes up and says fack-ass, I didn't send him. I'll leave the door-guard that Quatre picked...and be back as soon as I can."

Matty nodded, watching him move across the room, glance back at them, then disappear.

"That's...kinda scary," Blake said quietly. "We aren't really in danger, are we?"

"I couldn't say for sure," Matty returned, moving toward his and Heero's stuff. "Let's not dwell and get this packed up. I have a feeling they won't be back until dawn," he looked out at the dark night. "Come on," he added, then focused on his task.

- -

Duo watched as the last of Gerrange's guys folded...and wished they had the men Quatre was supposed to be getting them. Quatre's space-hearts had been sent for, but there was some paperwork holding them up.

They'd have to get on that. As soon as they could clear the Brazilian bases in the area, they would stop having to flounder through the muck. Timorre's men were good and all, but they didn't have enough of anything they needed...or enough of them.

It wasn't like these were all of the men that had fled Lateour anyway. The problem with the jungle was that it was all around them, and the lead up to that blasted city was empty...and all sorts of such nonsense that meant that the roaches had scattered again.

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing heavily as he sat back in his seat.

"You okay?" Trowa asked, his eyes on the men below them.

"All we gained here today was wounded men," Duo returned. "Heero's in god-knows what state of health, Wing is gone-johnson, Gerrange's men got Obsidian, and the ones who didn't make it are out in the jungles...and we don't have enough men to round them up until someone gets their ass on clearing those space-hearts."

Trowa ran a hand across his face a moment, then looked properly to Duo's screen. "I'm tired of waiting, you seem to be...Quatre's too out of it emotionally to pull his shit together, so we'll take his vote..."

"I heard that," Quatre noted dryly.

"Wufei is emotionally exhausted, and Heero is unconscious."

"Okay?" Duo asked curiously.

Trowa shrugged, starting to hit buttons on his console.

"What are you..."

Trowa held up a silencing finger, focused on the screen in front of himself.

"Hello?" Duo blinked at the woman's voice. "How can I help you, Brigadier?"

"Brigadier Winner has some space-hearts waiting for clearance."

"Yes, sir," she agreed.

"I give them clearance."

"Um...sir..."

"I give them clearance," Trowa stated firmly. "With the full approval of Brigadiers Maxwell, Yuy, Chang, and Winner."

The woman didn't respond a long moment.

"Do it, do it now, and get them to Earth."

"But, sir..."

Duo noted with some interest that the look was still eerie from a side-angle on a camera.

"I said to do it," Trowa growled at the woman. "Are you disobeying a direct order, soldier?"

Duo grinned slightly as the woman started stuttering, watching his friend disconnect.

"So, I say this evening some time," Trowa noted, pulling a pack of cigarettes from...somewhere. "And so help me, if you start bitching at me," he tapped one out and set it to his lips, "I'll kick your ass."

"Don't be stupid," Duo retorted, hitting the release on his hatch, too. "Toss me one."

- -

For some reason, Trowa wasn't surprised that Quatre punched him in the arm after kissing Duo. The blue-eyed male glowered up at the slightly taller man a long moment, then spun his attention back to Duo.

"What?" Duo asked blankly.

"You didn't even argue against him," Quatre retorted.

"Is he wrong?" Duo gave his lover a look. "You haven't even gotten men to guard Matty yet. You're still reading me all the damn time, too, so don't even look at me like that."

Quatre blinked at him, his cheeks starting to flush.

Trowa laughed wickedly, dancing back from the partial-blond as he tried not to laugh more. If Quatre'd been reading...he wasn't even trying to control his emotions—and had they even warned Blake? With some of the shit Blake would do that'd get Duo's full and complete attention...

Quatre's cheeks flared into his first blush in ages, turning on Trowa.

Trowa half-giggled, moving even further back as he tried to sort through his emotions. "Just a second...just a second..."

Duo sniggered, watching as Trowa...rearranged himself.

"Better?" Trowa hazarded, taking a slow breath. "Is that?"

"It's...a bit," Quatre admitted, not meeting his eyes as he looked around. "I didn't know you could tell."

"You get a look in your eyes," Duo muttered, touching Quatre's temple briefly. "A distant focus. It's been there since I got back—at first I thought it was just the stress, but..."

Quatre nodded, ducking his head.

Duo considered him a long moment, then looked around to Trowa. "Not to say I haven't enjoyed it...but some of Blake's...notions...seem to go a little far afield."

Trowa smirked back at him, deciding not to respond to that.

"You might want to warn him that he's not alone in his...um..." Duo licked his lips as he considered what to call that.

"I fully intend to," Trowa pursed his lips, looking back to Quatre with a grin.

Quatre sighed, rolling his eyes as he started away. "Let's go find Wufei and Heero."

- -

Chang looked like a train wreck.

Jaden moved hesitantly closer to the pair of brigadier generals, considering the comatose male a moment. "You okay?"

"I'm just...having a long-ass day," Chang explained, shifting back to look up at the guy. "You need something? I'm not above pissing off your union."

"You're...Wufei?" Jaden muttered, tilting his head slightly. "Matt talks about you."

"Did he really?" Chang asked dryly. "So you won't be too surprised when I down your ass?"

Jaden held his hands up palms out. "I'm sorry, okay? I know I fucked up—Maxwell sort of rubbed my nose in it when he was with me...but you look...like you could use a drink."

Chang's eyes narrowed.

Jaden remembered Matt talking about Chang needing to watch his drinking. "Uh...coffee?"

"You have coffee?"

Jaden turned and signaled to one of his men.

"Supreme?" the man asked, moving closer to him.

Jaden gave him a level look—which got a grin. "Chang wants some coffee."

"I'll see if there's any made," the guy noted, grinning more. "Right?" he turned and bounced away.

"Supreme?" Chang asked. "I thought you preferred to be called captain."

"It's all going beyond what I prefer," Jaden noted dryly, moving around to lift the blanket on Yuy. "He looks like shit."

"He was trying to fly," Chang's tone was still dry. "You bothering me for a reason?"

"I said I was sorry," Jaden glowered at him. "You look a little wiped."

"We were training...I was showing Matty how to do some self-defense and stuff...last night." He looked toward the dark sky. "What time is it?"

"One," Jaden returned, glancing at his watch.

"Damn," he rubbed at his face. "The training turned into a sparring match with Heero," he indicated the passed-out man on the cot next to his chair. "Then with Trowa...we'd barely got showered before we went into the meeting...and Trowa found Wing."

"Busy day," Jaden noted, considering him.

"And this," the man indicated his friend again.

Jaden nodded as the soldier he'd sent running came up with a styrofoam cup in one hand, and a stir-stick in the other.

"Here you go, sir," the guy passed the stuff over to the officer, then hesitated as he realized what he'd said.

"Thanks," Chang sighed, eyeing the man. "You hate me or something?"

"You personally fucked me over in a fight or two."

The general gave him an amused look. "You're still alive, aren't you?"

The man gave him an almost exasperated look.

"Respect is respect," Chang added as he started away. "Doesn't matter what side of the camp you're on—you helped us and we appreciate it. All my men are calling me sir and saluting, old habits die hard."

The man nodded without looking back at him, then wandered off.

Jaden considered him as he tried to figure out where to set things, then offered his hand. The man gave him a grateful look, setting the cup in his hand and starting to tear the sugars open.

He was tired, exhausted.

"Why don't you time out?" Jaden hazarded. "Take a moment to rest your eyes. You look like you could use three nights under sedatives."

"You and sedatives," Chang gave him a sour look. "You can overdo that you know."

That made the captain flinch, and he shrugged at the other, passing the cup back when he was done pouring things into it.

Chang sighed heavily, pulling a chair from the next station over. "Take a weight off," he suggested. "I'm too damn tired to try and kick your ass."

Jaden smiled slightly at that, taking the offered seat. "So how you holding up?"

Chang gave him an interested look, sipping at the cup.

"Matt was saying you were...having a hard time about...your past," Jaden explained, shrugging a little. "I suppose it's none of my business, but you look like hell warmed over and tossed to the dogs."

"Thanks," Chang noted dryly. "Always good to hear my good traits..." he flicked his head slightly so the loose strands of his hair moved from in front of his eyes. "And your ass looks fine—which is amazing since you're within ten feet of Yuy."

Jaden glanced at the man almost nervously, shifting where he sat. "I'm glad my plan of staying away until he was out worked."

Chang smirked.

"I actually did decide to stay away, not that it was hard," he focused around the red-cross area. There was a loose ring of mercenaries and soldiers surrounding the area. The city had been swept through for Rab's guys, so the citizens had been allowed to return home. Some had stayed to help with the wounded, and some had gone to help clear up the mess the explosion had made. "It's been busy lately."

"Damn busy year," Chang agreed tiredly. "When we met Matty, I really hadn't expected anything to come of him. He was just some cute kid Heero picked up...but he like, throws Heero around." The man smiled slightly. "Likes to grab handfuls of Trowa's hair...damn impetuous. We were just about to do another sweep of the colonies." He chuckled deep in his throat. "He tell you that his first sight was Maxwell was his white-ass?"

Jaden raised an eyebrow. "That one escaped me somehow."

"Well...the day we met him...you know our apartment, huh?"

"In theory. Large room, high ceiling...half carpeted, something like that, huh?"

Chang nodded, taking another sip of his cup and shifting back where he sat to rest one booted foot on the edge of Yuy's cot. "I think we'll be working with you some, and I want you to understand..."

"I said Maxwell rubbed my face in..."

Chang made a sharp gesture for silence, and Jaden stumbled over his words as his voice cut.

Trained true, he noted bitterly to himself, glowering glumly at the brigadier.

"I know Duo rammed home what you did to Matty. I'm not going to belabor it."

Jaden looked away, glad no one had been near enough to see or hear that.

"What I am saying," Chang moved on, "is that Heero's a special case. He's got some short comings in his humanity that we've been ripping and tearing at for years now. He mimics us when he doesn't know what to do...so most people don't notice it in him without knowing him...but we have taught him pleasure."

Jaden looked away at that, his mind flashing briefly to an expression he'd seen on Matt's face a few times—a naughty one, knowing and eager.

"Since last fall...I think, around now, actually, he noted that the floor temperature in the room we were all sharing was cool. As winter set in he started making helpful suggestions—logical ones. The floor was cold so we should all have slippers by our beds or sleep in socks. Maybe get throw rugs so we could stand up beside our beds...little things, but persistent. He went so far as to buy me a pair of slippers," the man smiled fondly, looking to the comatose man beside him as he took another drink of his cup. "He wouldn't react to the elements unless they could cause physical danger before. He ignored them, tuned them out. It was damn hard to get him to admit that he felt discomfort at all, and I didn't want to lose that progress by just ignoring his feet being cold."

Jaden considered the man, catching a hint of the youthfulness in his features—it wasn't as strong in him as it as in Maxwell, but that was probably because he was dead-dog tired. Matt had said he'd pick and poke and laugh all the time...Jaden sort of wanted to see that.

"So I talked the others into getting the carpet installed in the bed area, we were going out of town anyway. We could pile the beds off to one side, get the carpet in...and by the time we got back it'd be aired out, right? So that was our plan—that's what we did. It was just a bit more...chaotic than we expected. My first sight of Matty was him standing talking to Heero. My approach annoyed Heero and I realized that he was attracted to the kid—I'm straight..."

"And...espoused?" Jaden gave him a blank look.

The man smirked at him again, taking another drink. "Is it legal if it hasn't been consummated? Can't we like, get it annulled?"

Jaden blinked at him several times. "Uh...this isn't...the medieval era..."

Chang laughed, his eyes bursting into that same sparkle he could get out of Maxwell if he said the right thing—the unexpected thing.

Seeing the youth in Chang was both reassuring and disturbing. There was something aloof about the one-time lord, at least...if you didn't know him. The man had been married, selected to be the leader of his generation of his clan. Looking at him, exhausted and worn, he looked a lot less dangerous than the mythical gundam pilot.

"Who is he?" Jaden asked quietly, studying the man curiously.

"He? Oh, Jin," Chang flicked his hair out of his eyes again. The sparkle faded almost instantly to be replaced with that same brooding power. "My...best friend."

Jaden couldn't help but glance at Yuy.

"From childhood," Chang's tone took on that dry cast it'd had previously. "We had sleep overs, child-wars, birthday parties...and trained together."

"I thought...they'd all...died," Jaden had thought the man would have come randomly into their group like Matt himself had, not that...that he'd be talking about that colony...he had not wanted to talk about that.

The man smiled slightly, meeting his eyes as he took another drink from the cup—it had to nearly be empty. "Not everyone," he looked back to his boot on the ground a moment, then dropped the cup on the ground near it as he changed how he was sitting again. "Funny thing...it was because of Matt that I know that."

Jaden blinked.

The man studied him intently. "Matty is a little brother to me. He's the kid brother to pick and poke at...but no one else can fuck with him."

Jaden blinked again, starting to open his mouth.

"The moment he looks upset, I will tear you down," the man promised.

"You all threaten like that, don't you?" Jaden snapped petulantly, crossing his arms as he sat back. "Is it fun?"

"I'm not threatening, Supreme," the man purred, sounding dangerous. Hell, he looked dangerous. "I'm promising."

Jaden narrowed his eyes, ignoring the annoyance at Armend's nickname coming from someone else. "Cliché."

"Ah, but oh so true," the man smiled toothily at him a moment, his eyes sparkling that brief moment. "I was going to beat Maxwell when I found out he was directing you to this," he indicated the camp. "Allying you with us meant that neither Heero nor I could beat the living shit out of you like the pair of us want to oh so badly."

"You're a pleasant conversational companion," Jaden grumped, starting to gather himself. He did have other things to do than listen to this.

Chang snorted. "Think what you will, but listen a minute more. Heero was eager to keep Matty, brought him into our home where sex-toys weren't brought. He talked damn fast and hard to get us to buy the penthouse next to ours so the kid could move in with us, and he's offered actual marriage. His entire world revolves around the teenager you took from our very home. As if Hanager running around like a psycho wasn't enough, you waltzed in and got us to do your dirty work. What you've realized since is entirely moot. Matty's working damn hard to make Yuy back off of you, but he hasn't realized is that me or Quatre might just step in and do it for him. When we're back around Matty, and we will be...and by we, I mean us and you...you better watch your ass. Your lover has befriended Maxell, but that just makes the pot sticky for all of us."

Jaden glared at him a moment longer, then turned and walked away.

The gundam pilots were assholes...young assholes...damn young assholes.

He ran a hand through his hair, wondering if they even knew who they were yet.

"Supreme?" Armend asked, moving closer to him. "What's up?"

"I just talked to Chang," Jaden returned dryly. "I thought he was pulling shit, but I think he just really is too tired to kick my ass right now."

"Feed him Rin," Armend suggested.

Jaden turned to stare at him, realizing he wasn't actually surprised. Armend was; he had a shocked look like he couldn't believe he'd said it.

"Sorry," the man ducked his head.

"I think I'm taking ten," Jaden said in a low voice, reaching for his phone. "Watch things for me, will you?"

"Right."