Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ In the City at Night ❯ Name Games ( Chapter 1 )

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

Name Games

"You gotta be shittin' me," Jordan breathed as he lowered the half-full bottle of beer from his lips, watching in complete shock as he saw Heero...for the first time in years. Heero hadn't changed much that he could notice, other than the fact that he was obviously flirting with a girl at the bar.

"What's up?" Chai asked, her amethyst eyes flashing in the light as she followed his gaze to a man at the bar, "I thought you liked girls?" she wouldn't have questioned it if his focus hadn't been on the guy. "If you think that's impressive..."

Jordan focused on her instantly with his own amethyst eyes, blinking in amazement, "Impressive? Dude, he's a god!" Jordan laughed at the thought and slid from his seat, crossing the room slowly as his heart pounded. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous about seeing Heero or approaching him, but a sick fear was resting deep in his stomach. "Uh...hey, O," he muttered lamely as he moved closer to the guy, not sure what name he was going by anymore.

Heero focused on him, brief irritation moving through his eyes as he looked from the girl he'd been talking to, then stared at Jordan as he actually saw him.

"Uh...long time...um, long time no see, eh?" Jordan muttered, a sick nausea of certainty resting hard in his throat. He hadn't missed the irritation.

The girl who'd had Heero's attention was now glaring at the braided male, "I think you've got the wrong person, right, Erin?" she asked, scootching over to be closer to Heero.

"How have you been?" Heero asked, ignoring the other completely as his own emotions caught up with him, "Oh my god, it's been an age!" he laughed, throwing his arms around Jordan's shoulders.

"Erin?" the girl asked blankly.

Jordan was just about as shocked himself.

"Dude, I'm sorry," Heero muttered to her, indicating the purple-eyed American, "Old friends, man...gotta fly," he flashed the chick a grin. "I'll have to catch you around some other time. Come on..." he flicked his eyes at Jordan.

"Jordan," he whispered instantly, wondering when he'd started thinking of himself by the name.

"Jordan," Heero added without missing a beat, grinning at his old friend. "You've got some nice jewelry," he added, indicating the bracelet on the braided one's wrist, "It'd look good on my nightstand."

Jordan choked back a laugh of sheer disbelief as he was shoved and pushed away from the glowering woman at the bar. "I like your shirt," he muttered in keeping with the old exchange of random pick-up lines, "You should show it to the dust bunnies under my bed...they won't let you join them, but I'll keep you warm."

Heero laughed, making a slight face, "That was bad...are you even trying?"

"Um..." the braided male swallowed hard, "You're here. I think I can get a break."

Heero chuckled, studying Jordan a long moment, "Dude, you're really alive?" He cupped Jordan's chin, turning his face from one side to the other as he studied for stress-lines, "Life's been good to you."

"Yeah," Jordan agreed, numb with shock. He'd really thought that Heero had been angry with him, but that was gone. Jor could tell that Heero was just happy to see him again.

"Well lead on," Heero muttered slightly peevishly. "I didn't see you, you saw me," he grabbed the end of the braid, which hung lower than Jordan's waist and fiddled with the ends the way he'd always done before.

Jordan laughed nervously, looking around to get his bearings, finally spotting Chai. She had sat up and was blinking at him with a vaguely curious expression.

"How are you a god?" she demanded abruptly of Heero as they approached.

Without missing a beat, Heero recalled the old joke and smirked at the woman. "I'd do things to you you'd never dreamed of before," he explained promptly, grinning slightly and narrowing his eyes at her, "And that doesn't even begin to touch what Jordan'd be doing at the same time."

Jordan sniggered, ducking down slightly as Chai broke into naughty giggles and gave Jor a completely disbelieving look. The guy shrugged at her, not knowing how to explain the old game, or really wanting to. Chai needed her cup of tea stirred up once and a while, after all.

Looking back to Heero, Chai raised one elegant eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"And then," Heero added in a low voice, focusing his eyes on Jordan as he leaned forward slightly, "I could just...sit back...and watch him go."

Jordan slid into his seat and laughed helplessly. This was, but was not the same Heero he'd known before. The guy had been a shy introvert, though Jor had managed to bring out of his shell around friends. Hence the jokes.

"Or maybe," Heero added with a smirk, "he could watch me go...whichever you prefer."

"I don't get a choice?" Jordan demanded, laughing a little more.

Chai's eyes were huge as she focused on her roommate, "What the hell?"

Jordan and Heero sniggered, meeting eyes a moment as the guy slid down into the booth as well. He turned an absolutely beatific smile on the woman, presenting her with a completely innocent expression.

Starting to laugh, Jordan leaned over and smacked his friend lightly in the stomach, which caused Heero to laugh his own evil laugh as they met eyes and stared at each other in silence. Five years had changed them, but not horribly...

"What's...what's going on?" Jordan managed finally, looking around the room as he spotted a few more familiar faces. The other three were casting sidelong looks in Heero's direction, but the lighting of the bar was just bad enough to elude them.

"How the hell did you get here?" Heero muttered in return, "Une said you fell off the face of the planet."

"What did you think I was trying to do?" Jordan returned, frowning slightly. "I wasn't going to be her guinea pig, and I wasn't going to live under her thumb. That may be fine for you lot, but I was raised so that I didn't have someone shoving a tissue in my face every time I sneezed."

Heero sat back, frowning at him, "It wasn't that bad."

"Uh..." Chai sat back in her seat as she studied them.

"You, pussycat," Heero muttered, pointing at her, "Should probably make yourself scarce. Things around here may get pretty ugly here shortly, and I have a feeling Jordan'd prefer it if you weren't in the vicinity."

Jordan narrowed his eyes, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"You packing?" Heero demanded instead, meeting his eyes again, "Armor?"

The braided one raised an eyebrow, "I don't need armor around here."

"But you're armed?" Heero snapped.

"Of course I am," Jor snapped in return, "Don't be offensive."

Heero gave him a disgusted look, then focused pointedly on the woman.

Chai rose to her feet slowly, grabbing her purse—then her beer, meeting Jordan's eyes for his final call.

Jordan considered the ramifications of Heero's questions a moment before nodding at the girl. She frowned, then started for the door, "Don't take too long."

"I won't," he called in annoyance, "Just don't go far."

"No shit!" she snapped, moving out of earshot.

Heero blinked.

"What's going on?" Jordan demanded. The idea of Chai alone in the streets was enough to set his blood cold.

"Erin, what...are...you..." Wufei's voice had gone from cocky to confused in one-point-seven seconds. A new record.

"What's it look like, Daniel?" Heero asked, smirking up at the guy. "Amazing what you find when you're looking for something else, huh?"

Wufei grinned largely, gesturing across the bar and raising his voice, "Cody, Toby!"

"We're close enough we can smell him," Heero muttered quietly, "Don't give us away."

"Duo's a bit more important," Wufei replied, his eyes sweeping the bar.

"I'm Jordan now," Jordan snapped, sitting up again. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Chance dictates," Heero muttered happily, "That you find yourself in the middle of rebel head-quarters of a few jackasses intent on killing certain...precious items. What do you do?"

"Blow them to hell and back," Jordan replied, promptly, his odd colored eyes flashing before he frowned at Heero.

Heero laughed a naughty laugh, "That's what you'd do...and as such would have been the case, I would have been assigned to tail you and keep you from killing people."

"That doesn't answer my question, though," Jordan muttered, darkly, glaring at Heero. He didn't want a general mission outline.

"Fuck," Trowa hissed as he joined Wufei, staring down at the braided pilot in disbelief.

"Toby, put your eyes back in," Wufei muttered—Jordan realized that they were giving him names to call them by without blowing their cover...or maybe, like himself, they'd just assumed new names.

"Holy shit," Quatre breathed, stopping behind Trowa, "Holy shit."

Heero laughed as Quatre leaned over him to hug Jordan briefly. "You're still alive!"

"I'm not completely stupid," Jordan muttered happily, accepting the hug. He couldn't help his own excitement, even with the vague irritant of no explanation for their presence. The idea that maybe they'd come for him crossed his mind, but was dismissed. They wouldn't be fucking around with hugs and discussion. They would have swooped in like swat and taken him before Chai even got a good look at them.

"Obviously, if you disappeared so completely and were here all along," Trowa agreed, his tone assuming it's normally sarcastic note.

"What is going on?" Jordan asked them carefully, looking from face to face. He'd have been ecstatic that they were there if Heero hadn't prefaced the entire situation by asking him if he were armed.

"I told you what's going on," Heero replied darkly.

"You told me generic details," Jordan replied acidly. "You chased my girl away, and I have this feeling that my cover is completely blown."

"Well...we found you," Quatre muttered, his blue eyes looking worried, "I mean...we can't just..."

"Oi, Jor!"

Jordan shifted instantly at Stephan's voice so he could see the man's face, "Wha'd'ya want?" he demanded in irritation, "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Jon wants to talk to you, Fucker," Stephan replied, completely nonplussed, "Get your ass up there."

"I'm not fuckin' going up there alone, genius," Jordan snapped back.

"It's not my fault you fucked his sister, moron. He wants to talk to you, go see him or he'll get testy."

Heero was staring at Jordan, his eyes considerate, "Bring me with you," he ordered.

Jordan's eyes flashed with amusement and he focused on Stephan again, "What did the asshole tell you specifically?"

"He said that Jordan was here and he wanted to talk to him. Told me to arrange it."

"Good," Jordan muttered, shoving at Heero.

"Um...he didn't say you could bring anyone," Stephan muttered, barring Heero's path.

"But he didn't say I couldn't," Jordan replied. "You really want to fuck with me, Stephie?" He moved so he was in Stephan's face, "You really want to see what I can do to you?"

Stephan's eyes narrowed, "Try me, jack-ass. I'm not helpless. You intimidate everyone you meet, but obviously you don't really act on it."

Jordan shoved him hard against the door, leaning in so they were eye to eye, "What I do with people I've fucked over is my business, isn't it?" he purred. "When I decide to take blame, it's my business. You know as well as I do that Jon would kick my ass if he could. I don't trust him to not have some goons up there waiting for me."

Stephan didn't want to back down, but he couldn't stay up. He avoided Jordan's eyes, "He's not like that...and you're full of shit."

Heero moved instantly, though not instantly enough. Jordan had downed the man and knocked him out in about two-seconds time. People were watching curiously all over the bar and the rest of the security in the area didn't seem too inclined to interfere.

Jordan spat at the unconscious man, his eyes scanning the crowd dangerously before he grabbed Heero by the front of the shirt and pulled him after him into the hallway.

"You never change," Heero noted, trying not to be amused. "You could have killed that man," he added, gesturing at the door toward the floor.

"I should have killed that man," Jordan agreed, irritated. "I also should have known that Jon wasn't going to let it slide."

"Um...do I want to know?" Heero asked, looking the hall over.

"Maybe," Jordan conceded, shrugging and starting for a set of stairs, "But I'm not planning on telling you, so I suggest you quell your curiosity."

"Jon..." Heero muttered, following that last instruction and moving on, "Jonathan Breer?"

Jordan turned and met his eyes, pausing on the stairs.

"You're not...involved with him, are you?" Heero breathed, trying not to imagine the ex-pilot in close with a traitor.

Jordan looked away from his eyes, then started up the stairs.

"Duo," Heero started, "We have to do this, we have to..."

"I'm Jordan now."

Heero frowned as he paused on the stairs.

"I don't suggest you linger," Jordan added over his shoulder as he neared the top. "Security sweeps these halls every five or ten minutes. The rooms at the top of these stairs belong to Jon and that means there's only one reason for you to be on them."

Heero moved quickly to catch up as Jordan flung the door open.

"Don't you ever knock?" a tall man demanded of him. The guy was so normal that there was nothing really to describe about him...physically, his jeans and shoes were nothing special, but he was wearing an expensive looking button-up long-sleeve shirt, un-tucked.

"Have I ever knocked?" Jordan returned sweetly, "If you're expecting me, why should I bother?"

"And of the times I'm not expecting you?"

Jordan snorted, "That's your problem. What do you want?"

The man, however, had noticed Heero.

"You can't have him," Jordan muttered easily, "He's mine."

"And why is he here?"

"Because I brought him with me."

"Is he packing?"

Jordan pulled his own gun from his waist and studied it lovingly a moment before meeting Jon's eyes again, "Does it really matter?"

"I like to know who around me has weapons," Jon muttered, studying Jordan a moment, "I know you always have something on you, so I don't let it bother me."

"Hm," Jordan looked to Heero, then moved across the room and frisked him before Heero could even react, pulling a gun from one pocket and tucking it back. He ignored the other three guns and the handful of knives that Heero knew he wouldn't miss. "Happy?"

Jon studied Heero a moment longer, then met Jordan's eyes, "How much you want for him?"

Heero felt his entire belief system with the man he'd known as "Duo" starting to collapse.

"As if," Jordan dismissed the question, "You make me sick sometimes, do you know that?"

"I'm just saying...I mean, shit, he looks..." Jon gestured at Heero pointedly with both hands, "I know so many people who would..."

"He wouldn't submit to anyone," Jordan replied, rolling his eyes, "And I wouldn't put him in a position to test that."

"Can you stop acting like I'm not here, please?" Heero snapped.

Jon blinked at him.

Jordan laughed, moving into the room and dropping comfortably onto one couch, "What do you want?"

"To apologize," Jon replied promptly, sitting across from Jordan with sincere eyes, "I overreacted. You have to understand that my sister is my baby sister."

Jordan laughed an evil laugh, "She's not much of a baby."

Jon's eyes narrowed.

Jordan tilted his head slightly as he lay out across the couch, gesturing Heero to him with his hand, "I gave something of an object lesson downstairs. You'll have to get Stephan some worker's comp."

"What did you do this time?" Jon demanded in exasperation as Heero sat near Jordan.

"I only knocked him out a little," Jordan replied, rolling his eyes and sitting up slightly so Heero could move in to be a pillow. He had his legs over the arm of the couch. Heero did so thoughtlessly. It wasn't like Jordan was the only person who'd ever done it. It was something of a tradition with the five of them.

"How do you only knock someone out a little?" Jon demanded in aggravation, rising to his feet and half-starting for the doors.

"It's simple. You don't bash their brains in." The answer was thoughtless, and the manner more than stated to Heero that Jordan was frequently in the rooms. Jordan tilted his head very slightly, waiting curiously to see what would be said to that.

"You don't have that chick with you," Jon noted instead.

"She got a bit upset when I started paying attention to Erin," Jordan shrugged, "She's the touchiest bitch I ever met."

"That happens when they decide they want you."

"Hm," Jordan muttered, considering that as he looked back to Heero, "Her loss."

Jon heaved a sigh, "Can we talk, please? In confidence?" he gave Heero a pointed look.

Heero nodded.

"About what?" Jordan muttered, shifting to sit properly and tilt his head across the table at the man.

"I told you!" Jon snapped at him, "I want you on my team. We need a good man behind my lines. This shit is going to explode in our faces."

"I told you that if you gave that fucker money, I would never join you. You gave him money. That's the end of it."

"I wouldn't need you if I hadn't given him money!" Jon muttered petulantly, sitting back in his seat as he pouted at the far wall, "I've got the government breathing down my neck, trying to pin something on me...and all I'm asking is for you to be my relay if they do or my general if they don't."

"I told you no," Jordan replied easily, "I will not be an accessory. I have my own reasons for avoiding government notice."

Jon let out an exasperated breath, looking to Heero, "Erin?" he demanded, waiting for Heero to nod, then gestured at Jordan. "I offered him a salary that would make Sally Poe weep, to pay for any room or board, health care, or fuckin' bribery. I offered to set him up a retirement fund that would roll out in the end with him able to buy any fuckin' colony of his choice, and he's acting like this! Can you believe that? Would you take that offer? I mean...the bastard could do this job in his sleep."

"He's more the type to do the actual fighting," Heero noted, realizing suddenly that he should probably act like he didn't know...Jordan's past.

Jon rolled his eyes, "You're impossible. Okay, let's get blunt," he looked to Jordan a moment, then met Heero's eyes again, "I'll give you anything you want if you get him to agree."

Heero blinked in amazement.

"I don't mean instantly," Jon added in a quieter tone, acting as if Jordan weren't in the room, "But within the next week or two...you should stick around that long...you look interesting. Okay? Can you do that for me?"

"No," Jordan replied levelly.

Heero winked a the guy, focusing on Jordan again, "Don't worry, it's not like I know how to do it. What the hell does he mean, I should stick around that long?"

Jordan flashed him an evil look before focusing on Jon and rising to his feet, "I accept your apology, and apologize as well. Kalli started it, though."

Jon's eyes narrowed.

Jordan studied him a long moment, then indicated that Heero should leave the room. He paused in the door before following his friend down the stairs, "And if you touch my friends, I'll kill you."

"You couldn't kill anyone, Jor. You talk big, but it's all..."

Jordan pulled his pistol and aimed at a vase the man had bought at a price that was just ridiculous...and pulled the trigger.

"No!" Jon shouted, staring at the small hole in the wall and the shards of clay on the floor, "Fuck! Jordan!"

"I talk like I think and I think like I act," Jordan informed him, meeting his eyes, "Don't fuck with me. Do you understand? You don't want to find out if I would kill you or not."

Jonathan was staring at the thing in disbelief as Heero moved back to the top of the stairs with huge eyes.

"Thanks for the silencer, though," Jordan added with a mischievous smirk, patting the thing, "You have no idea how convenient I find it."

Jon turned to stare at him helplessly, "I didn't think you could really put it on," he muttered.

Jordan snorted, showing the weapon to Heero, "A monkey could put that shit on in his sleep."

"But not well," Heero muttered, staring at the military-grade silencer tagged onto the end of the pistol, "It would probably end up killing them."

"Hm," Jordan muttered, studying the thing and laughing as he started to pull the door shut, "Thank the gods that I've had training in it, huh?" he laughed, meeting Jon's eyes a moment longer before pulling the door shut firmly.