Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ In the City at Night ❯ A Long Road ( Chapter 10 )

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

A Long Road

Chai moved slowly through the small house that had been appointed to her and Jordan, touching the walls in a sort of awe. The man who had taken them to the place had informed Jordan that the house was about six months old. It wasn't large, a bit bigger than the apartment, actually, but it was clean. The man had said the walls were insulated and that the heat and utilities were part of the package.

They didn't have to pay anything as long as Jordan worked for the government.

The girl moved slowly down the hall from the entry, touching the door to the coat closet in disbelief before looking to the living room. It had a television that was connected to satellite, but no other furniture. There was a vid-phone port as well, not that she expected to get one any time soon. She'd just never lived in a house with the capability.

The woman moved slowly down the hall further, passed a small and efficient guest bedroom to the kitchen—a clean kitchen with unmarred walls and countertops. The cupboards had main staples supplied, and a small selection of pots and pans. The room was larger than the kitchen in the apartment had been. Across from that was a small bathroom with a tub and shower. The hall ended in a back door, and the master bedroom extended beyond the back wall of the kitchen.

It had it's own bathroom.

The girl wiped the tears from her eyes as she thought of Jordan's smile when he'd asked her what she thought of the place. He'd rubbed her back lightly and told her it was her house...that this was her house, and he would live in it with her as long as she allowed.

As long as she allowed.

The front door clicked slightly before an electronic beep sounded. The door opened, and she looked down the hall as Jordan half-limped into the building and offered her a slight smile.

"What happened?" she asked, moving toward him as she noted his unhappy expression.

"Une said some shit that pissed me off," he returned darkly, pulling off the leather jacket Wufei had bought for him. He took a limping step to pull the coat-closet open and hung the thing easily before sighing and looking around. "We need to go shopping."

"Jon gave you the money?" she asked nervously.

"What?" he asked blankly, focusing on her, then offered her a smile and shook his head.

"Then...how are we going to..." she gestured toward the main of the building.

"I need to call the bank and activate my card," he explained, limping across the house to the kitchen and the pile of papers he'd set down when they'd first been shown into the place. "Then I'll have full access to my account."

"You have money?" she asked uncertainly.

He turned to give her a slightly impish grin, then shrugged, "Only a few thousand."

She stared at him.

"Oh, did I say thousand?" he asked her innocently, then laughed naughtily, "I mean that I can only take out a few thousand a day."

"What?"

He laughed more, pulling her to him and hugging her as he pressed his face into her ear and held her. He swallowed finally, pulling away just enough so he could see her, "As long as you love me," he informed her, "You will never want for anything."

"What?" she asked, smiling slightly at him.

"As long as you love me," he repeated seriously, "All that I have is yours...all that I am is yours."

The girl smiled slightly, kissing him, realizing he wanted reassurance. "I'll always love you, Jordan."

He swallowed, pressing his forehead to hers.

The electronic beep sounded again, and Jordan pulled away to focus on the front door as Heero led the group of five into the house. They were all looking around at it with interest.

"Can someone explain to me why we get shoved into an end wing of the main compound," Wufei asked, "and he gets his own house?"

"Because Une plays favorites," Heero reminded the guy. "You can't honestly tell me you don't remember him being brought up ten times every mission for the last four years. He's special, we're not; deal with it."

Chai sniggered at that, pulling away from Jor.

"If I'm so special," Jordan protested, "then why is my leg killing me?"

"Because the only prescription pain meds that the Remington hospital felt it safe to prescribe you were tranquilizers that no one would want to buy off you." He got a look for that, and the soldier pulled out a small orange bottle of something. "These won't knock you out or make you looped. They'll kill the pain, and you might have a harder time focusing, but they're nowhere near as unpleasant as those tranqs were."

Jordan straightened, taking the bottle from him to read the label.

"I took your other prescription to a pharmacist friend I have," Heero explained. "At least, the copy of my receipt. He demanded why those were ever prescribed, then explained the selling thing to me when he realized where you were living."

"Wow...thank...you," Jordan was slightly startled. "I...I wouldn't have even thought about getting new meds."

"I know, that's why I did it for you," Heero patted his shoulder, then winked at Chai.

She grinned slightly at him.

"So here's the plan," Trowa added, moving forward. "We get the crap out of my van, then go shopping for more crap."

"Can't we shop tomorrow?" Chai asked, frowning very slightly at them all.

"He has appointments galore tomorrow," Tro explained. "For the next week, Jor's gonna be put through testing to see what level of command he's at. He'll be expected by seven and probably won't get home until five for several days. Not all of that will be the return shit, though. We're gonna have to grill Shifton and the assassin. He'll probably need to talk to Zechs, too...not to mention Relena or the other girls." The man frowned slightly, studying the female, "I'm afraid this week isn't going to be so pleasant for you, because you won't have anywhere to go or anything to do."

"I'll be here," Jon reassured her with some resignation. "I'm here for the duration anyway. They let me come out at eight and as long as I check in every two hours or so, we can go explore the base."

Chai nodded, then looked around.

"You killed my buzz," Jordan noted to Trowa, lowering his head very slightly to look up at the man. "Now I have to kick your ass..."

"You have to catch me first, limpy," Trowa noted, backing away warily. "You can't run all that fast on that leg of yours."

"Actually," Heero rubbed at his brow a bit, "he can run as fast as ever. We made normal time with Jon."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jon demanded, wondering if it were an insult or a simple statement.

Trowa backed away a few more steps, his expression registering a sort of playful excitement. Jordan took a pointed step forward...and the pilot ran.

"He realizes I'm not gonna chase him, right?" Jordan asked the other four curiously, looking back to them.

Heero grinned, patting his back, then started for the door, "Let's get at it...limpy"

X x X x X

"What a day," Chai muttered as Jordan threw the bedspread across the other new blankets they'd picked up. The girl sighed, moving to drop across the mattress, "Who'd have thought I'd live anywhere but in Angels?"

"Me, for one," Jordan retorted, moving around the bed to sit down and kick his shoes off. "I knew as soon as I got my money, we could go anywhere. If it weren't for this shit with Jon, I'd be asking you where you wanted to go now."

"Can't you buy someone off?" she muttered, rubbing at her face. "That'd be the fastest means to the ends."

"And the most traceable, disrespectable, unfair mode of conveyance."

She blinked up at him.

"I have the same high and mighty morals as Heero, love. I just choose to ignore most of them."

Chai grinned at that, rolling her eyes.

"Tomorrow," he noted, "I'll wake up at six and set up that entertainment center...at least the tv, that way you and Jon can watch it." He pulled out his wallet and pulled out several bills, tossing them to her. "This way you can pick anything up at the canteen...be sure to take your name-tag, huh? We'll get cell phones the next time I can get away." He lay back on the newly made bed, "That way, we can talk whenever—meantime, I'll write down the rest of their numbers for you."

"They all have cell phones?" Chai asked, startled away from counting the money.

"Here-abouts, it's considered convenient," Jordan agreed. "There won't be any...any other," he corrected himself, "drug dealers on the entire base. I won't say everyone will be polite, but most will."

"I'll try not to spend this," Chai muttered, folding the money up.

"What? No!" he muttered, sitting up to look at her. "That's yours...to spend. I'll set you up your own savings account in case we go sour, but this money is just to play with."

She stared at him.

"Baby," he muttered, moving to lay across her, "I have money...I have a lot of money...we aren't going to live like we did in Angels ever again."

Chai realized that her eyes were full of tears, blinking at him several times.

"Once we get settled in," he added, shifting around on the mattress to lay more normally with her, "we can talk about if you want to work or not...and I don't mean brothel shit, either. I mean a real genuine job. You can get one around here...you don't have to, but you can if you want to."

Tears started trailing down her cheeks as she realized just how different her life was going to be.

He smiled, kissing her gently and wiping the tears. "I want to make you happy...above everything else...whatever you want."

"But why?" she breathed, raising her head to look at him properly. "I've never done anything for you...shit, Jordan, we haven't even had sex."

"Because I love you," he repeated, touching her cheek and smiling slightly. "You had no one, and at first I was just helping...but then I got to know you. I want you safe, I want you happy, and above all, I want you with me...just exist with me." He wiped her tears again, kissing her lightly, "Everything will get better," he reassured her. "Some day you'll wake up, and Angels will just be a dream. Some day you'll be driving some fancy little sports car to the salon while I pick up our boys from soccer, and you'll stop at some stop light and realize that I've loved you so much for so long that nothing else really matters..."

Chai had to giggle at that, "Now you're just getting romantic."

"Am I?" he muttered, kissing at her chin, "I thought girls liked that."

"I didn't say to stop," she noted, tilting her head slightly, "I just wanted to make sure you realized it."

"I was completely serious," he protested, kissing at her chin.

"Who said we'd only have boys?" she protested, meeting his eyes a moment.

"I didn't say who was going to the salon with you. The boys were just at soccer."

Chai started giggling, kissing him back, "So tell me, Mr. Sweet-talker, where are we living when our boys are at soccer and I'm taking our girls to the salon?"

"Mm..." he kissed at her ear as he thought, "That's a very good question..."

X x X x X

"Jordan!"

Jordan jumped hard, darting across the living room toward the garage-door. He slammed through it...and realized Chai was still squeaking.

"We have our own washer and dryer!" she squeaked, jumping at him. "Our own!"

The man took a moment to catch his breath as he looked the room over a bit wildly—there was no danger in it, and no car. There were storage shelves, a washer and dryer, and a lawn mower.

Well if that wasn't a hint or anything...

"It's ours, right?" she asked, pulling away from the hug to stare into his eyes. "It's here, so we get to keep it, right?"

Jordan started laughing weakly, pulling her into another hug, "Never scream for me like that if you're not in danger." He laughed even more, holding her tightly, "God I thought I was going to piss my pants..."

She laughed a bit, "What?"

"I think you need your hearing checked," he muttered, pulling away to meet her eyes. "You ask me that all the time."

She laughed more, "Sorry...I was just excited."

"I noticed," he retorted sardonically.

She giggled, looking to the set of machines again, shaking her head. "It's like...my wildest dreams come true..."

"A washer and dryer?" he muttered, "Your wildest dreams included a washer and dryer?"

Chai laughed, smacking his arm as she looked back to the set. "They match...they're brand new..." She ran loving hands over the things, pulling the top open on the washer to blink inside.

"Watch out or I might get jealous," he teased, moving across the floor to look in himself, then pull out the plastic that had been dropped inside of it. Whoever set the things up had half-assed the cleaning job.

"At least now I can get your attention," she muttered, sticking her tongue out and biting it slightly, "Just say I'm gonna do laundry."

"Oh, there are other ways of getting my attention..."

She laughed and smacked him before he kissed her, "You have to go to work."

He pouted at her a moment, then laughed, pulling the dryer open to look inside it. He pulled out that trash and threw it toward the center of the garage floor. "Be sure to check in the dishwasher before you run it," he muttered. "You don't have to do the dishes, but if you do...and don't be freaked out if people show up and start asking for me. Just tell them all that I'll be home around six. Some of'em might decide to hang around with you, okay?"

"You're expecting people?" she asked blankly.

He grinned at her, "I vanished without a trace five years ago. You saw how Heero clung to me—he's a slightly special case, but most of my friends from before are gonna show up." He stepped into the house, then smirked slightly at turned to look at her, "A couple guys, Wayne Miller and Logan Doll might show up. Those are the bi guys Heero was talking about. I'm not sure they've grown up, but I'm not sure how much. If they start doing anything to embarrass you, just let them know. They like to fuck with people, but if you ask them not to do something they usually listen. They might be frank with you," he added, smiling slightly, "I don't care what you tell them, but you can ask them to move on."

"Sounds amusing," she noted with a grin.

He winked, starting for the living room again, "You have no idea."

X x X x X

Jordan's attention wandered out the window as he looked toward his house and Chai. He wasn't sure if she'd be setting up the stuff they bought, or just messing around with Jon. He was wondering if Wayne and Logan had shown up or not, because they would probably insist on setting up the shelving...

"Jordan?"

Jordan turned his attention back on the man who'd been lecturing him.

"Did you hear me?" the guy demanded, slightly exasperated.

"Of course I heard you," Jordan retorted, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't listening, but I heard you."

He got a very level look.

"I got shot," Jor reminded the guy. "I'm on meds that make it incredibly hard to focus for more than an hour at a time. We've been sitting here for two hours with no break."

"Great, now he won't shut up," Heero muttered, looking to the ceiling.

"What's he gonna do?" Jordan asked curiously, "Stop me when I walk out? Come on, Chance, this is the exact bullshit we took off from."

Heero stopped, blinking at him with wide eyes.

"Are you threatening to run, Mr. Maxwell?"

"Hey, he didn't change his last name, did he?" Tro muttered, blinking around to Quatre.

"I made no promises, Sir," Jordan said quietly. "I'm here to help get my friend off the chopping block."

"Your guilty friend, you mean?" the guy asked.

Jordan rose to his feet as Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre ooed a bit theatrically.

"You know, I didn't think he was stupid," Heero noted to his comrades. "I knew he was a blow-hard, but I honestly didn't think he was stupid..."

The man was realizing that Jordan was about to fight, backing down slightly with narrowed eyes.

"I'm done talking to you," Jordan informed him, moving around the table he'd been sitting at. "I'll catch you later this week or something."

"Where do you think you're going?" the man demanded darkly.

Jordan, who was nearly to the door, stopped to look at him. They stared at each other a moment before the limping man turned slightly to focus on the man properly, "Do you really want to try me? Do you really want to test your authority? I don't know you, I don't care about you, and I really don't care about the so-called proper care of weaponry you're trying to preach about. That's fine for infantry, but I've been through two wars with a Gundam, if you think I can't upkeep a simple M.S. or even regular hand weaponry, you're sadly mistaken."

The guy blinked at him.

"You coming or what?" Jor added to the others. "I'm taking the heat for this one."

"Is that an order?" Heero noted pointedly.

"Yes," Jor agreed. "I believe that is."

Heero grinned, rising to his feet happily and collecting the paperwork they'd been given.

"No offense intended, of course," Tro told the now silent man. "But we have to follow orders."

"And if I ordered you to sit back down?" the guy demanded.

"Jordan outranks you," Heero explained, "And we do, too."

The man's eyes narrowed.

"Sorry," Heero almost sounded sincere as he followed Jordan from the room.

"They're sorry," Tro noted as Wufei and Quatre followed as well, then met the guy's eyes. "But I'm not...I just want to make that clear."

The five of them left the building.

X x X x X

"How much you wanna bet they're engaged, Wayne?" Logan asked his companion as the pair of men lounged in the front door of the house.

"Not too much," Wayne returned, looking to Chai's hands. "She's not wearing a ring."

"But according to Une he was living in Angels," Logan noted, also studying her hands. "If he was living like the rest of them, then he probably couldn't afford a proper ring."

"But according to Bass, they were shoppin' last night," Wayne pressed. "He'd have bought her one if they were."

Chai grinned at that.

"We could ask her," Logan suggested, looking her over with interest. "And she might also tell us where jack-ass major is."

"But she might just as well not know," Wayne countered.

"That's true," Logan considered it a moment.

"You could ask me my name," Chai suggested, looking between them. They had a charming sort of rudeness that was belied by their charisma.

"Yeah, but you might not tell us," Wayne returned, his face twisting into a frown. "Duo might have told you not to say anything."

"Jordan," she corrected, "Might have also told me that he didn't care what I said."

Wayne led Logan into the house around her, frowning at the entertainment center, pile of plastic and boxes, and pieces of couch scattered across the living room.

"You get the garbage, I'll get the boxes," Logan ordered, then turned to look at Chai. "He did say we'd show up, didn't he?"

"He wasn't sure if you would or not," she agreed.

The men met eyes and shrugged at each other, then started gathering up bits and pieces.

"You don't have to do that," she protested, feeling slightly bad.

"Oh, it's nothing," Wayne reassured her, carrying an armload through the front door.

"We're glad to help a pretty lady," Logan agreed, winking a bit suggestively at her before following.

Chai blinked after them.

"Where do you want the couch?" Wayne asked a moment later as he moved into the room. "We'll impress you with our muscles and you can make us something to eat...if you cook. You could order out if you'd prefer."

Chai giggled at that, not sure what to say to him.

"You could help us if you wanted," Logan agreed. "No offense, but I think you'd probably get in our way."

The girl laughed again, then pointed, "I was thinking the couch should be lined up around here. It has plates to hold it into one piece underneath, too."

"All right then, pretty lady," Logan offered her his charming smile, "You get out of our way, and we'll be all manly for you."

Chai started laughing again.

"Or for Duo," Wayne noted, looking to his friend.

"But Duo's never really appreciated it before," Logan protested. "She might."

"Good point...so let's aim for impressing her and have the secret agenda be him?"

"You're horrible!" Chai protested, though she was still laughing.

Logan winked at her mischievously, "Anything to make you smile, Pussycat."

X x X x X

Jordan pulled into the driveway, wondering whose car was parked in front of the house as he slid from the driver's seat. He could hear Chai's disbelieving laugh through the open front door and windows, and then a mild protest.

Well, at least she was getting along with whoever it was.

"You're embarrassing him!" the girl protested. "Jon, don't just take that!"

"Trust me, pretty-lovely," a familiar voice reassured her. "He wants to take it."

Chai squeaked a protest.

"That's just raw," Jordan protested, moving through the door to look between Wayne and Logan reprovingly. "Show some class already..."

"Duo!" Wayne squeaked, launching himself from the back of the couch at the newly returned male. "Oh my god! Your hair!" The ex-pilot was nearly knocked backwards a second time as Logan joined, and for a long moment all Jordan could do was attempt to hold his balance while the two men practically climbed him and yammered.

When the greeting had died down, Jordan focused on the living room and grinned slightly. The stereo, vid-phone, television and music discs had all been set up. The couch was set up across the living room. There were piles of paper plates on the coffee table, and a few cups scattered around the room.

"Wow, you set up my shit?"

"We wanted to impress you," Wayne agreed.

"Wayne!" Logan protested.

Jordan laughed happily, giving them both hugs before looking around to Jon, "They haven't given you too much shit, have they?"

Jon grinned at him, slightly embarrassed.

"If we had he wouldn't be here," Logan reassured him. "We were nice to him."

Chai giggled naughtily, moving between the two to kiss him happily.

"Now this has potential," Logan noted to Wayne, looking between the area below the pair's lips.

Wayne laughed evilly.

Moving to pull away, Chai was taken aback when Jordan turned her and backed her against the wall as the two males both started laughing, then pulled away from her with sparkling eyes to focus pointedly on Logan, "You mind?"

"Of course not," Logan reassured him sweetly, "I never mind."

Jordan laughed evilly himself, then shoved the guy off, stretching and looking around with a nod. "It worked, I'm impressed."

"Told you," Wayne muttered.

"One thing, though, gentlemen," he added to them both seriously. "Stop calling me Duo. My name is Jordan now."

"Are you hungry?" Chai muttered, grabbing one of his belt loops and pulling him toward the kitchen. "There's some pizza left if you want."

Jordan's mouth suddenly watered as the thought crossed his mind. "I haven't had pizza in years," he noted, studying her eyes.

She smiled, moving aside so he could move into the kitchen itself and gather up his cup and plate.

"So, Jon," Wayne muttered in a lowered voice, "What are the chances of you being into guys?"

Jordan sniggered as Jon guffawed loudly.

"Don't be so quick to judge, cowboy," Logan protested.

"He's bi, dandelion," Jordan noted loudly.

"I haven't heard that one in years!" Logan's tone was very pleased.

"So...you busy tonight?" Wayne muttered.

"You two are horrible," Chai noted, moving to kiss Jordan again. "They showed up earlier at about two," she explained. "They helped me set up the living room, then I ordered the pizza," she indicated the packages with a grin. "It was so weird to have plenty of money to pay for it, and not have to worry about someone shoving a gun in my face for doing it."

He smiled, kissing her again, "Think Jon can get'em out of here for a little bit?"

"Jordan," she muttered.

"I heard that," Wayne noted, moving around the wall to give them raised eyebrow looks.

Jordan laughed evilly, focusing on his pizza again with one hand wrapped around Chai.

"I'm just curious to know what her name is," Logan agreed.

Jordan snorted, not really surprised, "Her name is Chai."