Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ In the City at Night ❯ Ten for the Win ( Chapter 13 )

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

Ten For the Win

"Quatre?" Heero called down the hall as the group got ready for work.

"Yeah?" Quatre called back, glancing down the hall.

"Come here."

Quatre sighed obviously, tucking his wallet into his pocket before moving down the hall to where Heero was in the kitchen. "What's up?"

Heero glanced toward Trowa and Wufei's rooms before looking back to his friend, "You take your meds today?"

The blond lost his good humor. He stared at Heero a long moment in mild disbelief, then looked away and shrugged. If the guy were asking, there was a reason behind it. Quatre'd missed a few days of his meds. He'd thought he'd be fine, but his upset stomach and general feeling of shit suggested he'd been very wrong, if only because of the binge. "How did you know?"

"With Jor being back," Heero returned, "We were all initially excited about it." He studied the guy a long moment, "I don't want to...I just...I want you to be okay," Heero added, moving a little closer as he studied the guy's eyes. "I want you to be able to enjoy him here instead of..."

"I know, Heero," Quatre reassured him with a slight smile, punching his arm lightly. "I understand. I'll take it when I eat, all right?"

Heero nodded, then shrugged slightly.

Quatre smiled at him, then winked as he moved back into his room to finish getting ready. He was intending to spend as much time with Chai as he could without making her uncomfortable or worrying Duo. He didn't want his old friend to think he was moving in on the girl.

Actually, he needed to talk to her about that, because she seemed very normal on a daily basis. She'd been attempting to make him feel better, and it hard worked. Gina had vouched that she'd been normal, and then a quieting...

"I'm out the door," Trowa announced, which was followed by the door closing.

"Aren't you gonna..." Heero started, but the door closed before he could finish. "...eat? Right. I guess we'll see you at lunch."

Wufei laughed appreciatively.

"Hope you have a good day," Heero added for their amusement, moving back into the kitchen. "I hope you know Chai wants us to come over at lunch, I'm not sure if Jor mentioned it or not..."

"You realize how pathetic that sounds, right?" Wufei asked sweetly, moving down the hall. "So, mother-hen, what's for eatin'?"

"I made some breakfast burrito stuff," Heero returned through a mouth-full.

"If you have the stomach for it after seeing that," Quatre noted, moving down the hall himself. He moved to his bottle, pouring the pill into his hand and displaying it to Heero. He did feel like Heero was being a bit motherly, but he knew it to be a genuine worry on Heero's mind. He grinned and took it, then downed the cup of orange juice offered him. "Thanks," he added, noting that Wufei had his back turned and opening his mouth so Heero could see he'd really swallowed the thing.

The soldier grinned—he did look, but he also grinned.

Quatre winked and went to make up his burrito...then another as the first bite revealed it to be very tasty. He made up a third just in case, wrapping the extra two in a napkin. "I have to meet with mister Psycho," he noted. "Duty told more'n you that I came in plastered," he made a face. "Then I have to go talk to Une...I'll meet up with you guys at about ten. We're really expected for lunch?"

Heero nodded, "Chai has nothing better to do, so even if it's not all of us, we're supposed to stop by and eat whatever she makes us. Jor said it normally enough, but I got the definite impression that he was worried about her feelings being hurt. I think we're fine until she digs up a cook-book and starts experimenting."

Quatre snorted, scooping sugar into the mix of coffee and milk he'd already poured while his friend talked.

"That's not very nice," Wufei reprimanded him, then sniggered as he made his own extras. "You have a point, but you're not supposed to say it."

Heero laughed, then tilted his head and indicated the food without actually moving.

"It's good, have you tried it?" Quatre explained, starting for the door and sipping at the hot cup. "I have to go or Psycho'll get upset with me."

"Any particular story? You care?" Heero asked.

"Nah," Quatre shrugged as he moved toward the door. "Thanks for breakfast, see you later..."

"I'm glad he's eating again," Wufei noted, taking another large bite of his.

"Now if we can get you to stop smoking," Heero muttered, focusing on his friend pointedly.

"Hey," Wufei pointed at him, "When you stop going to your orgies, I'll stop smoking myself to death."

Heero laughed evilly, "At least mine doesn't make me stink." He started for the front door.

"Yeah, says you," Wufei retorted, rolling his eyes.

Heero turned to look the guy over, "But see, with mine, I get my fix about once a month. You need yours about once every four hours."

"But mine is a bit more socially acceptable," Wufei shrugged. "We could run it by Jordan, see what he has to say."

"Yeah, let's do that," Heero agreed, rolling his eyes again and moving out the door. He shook his head as he climbed into his car, then realized he hadn't grabbed any coffee. He hesitated, not sure if he wanted to go back in for it or not.

Wufei showed up before he could make his final decision and locked the door behind himself. Heero sighed slightly and settled back to start his engine, then realized that the Chinese man was heading toward his window. He blinked and hit the button to roll the window down, and realized Wufei was holding two cups.

"Oh, thanks," he muttered, accepting the one offered him.

"Two sugar and a shot of milk, right?" Wufei asked. "I hope so, because that's what you got."

Heero grinned at him, "That's what you drink. I do more milk, thanks anyway."

Wufei winked, "Thanks for breakfast."

X x X x X

Une set folders in front of the five men, then stepped back and pushed her hair out of her face. "These are confidential, gentlemen."

"Usually," Heero noted, opening the folder to glance down the first sheet of paper. He read it a moment, then turned to look to Jordan.

"His, the legal, the records," Jordan was flipping through himself, thinking the information over. "You've got the various testimonies of Asshole, right?" He looked up to Une.

"You mean Piet?"

"Who?" Jordan returned blankly.

"Jefferson Piet," Heero explained, grinning slightly. "Asshole, our assassin."

"Oh, yeah," Jordan grinned a bit and looked back to Une.

"We've got his stories, Breer's story...he has kept to one, by the way. We've got Shifton's story as well. I included the original suspect list in case you wanted to look into that, and several other things. I didn't draw these up, so I'm not completely sure what's in them."

"All right," Jordan rubbed at a temple as he read down the first sheet of paper, then set the file back on the table-top, comparing the first two sheets.

"According to Shifton," Une added, "He met up with Breer in a bar in Remington. I guess Breer put the moves on him and they ended up going back to Breer's together..." she was studying Jordan as she said it.

"I'm sure he noted that I was playing body-guard, then," Jor returned, not even looking up at the woman. "I can substantiate that he swept Shifton off his feet while I laughed my ass off," he made a mark on one sheet with his pen. "I can also verify that they had several other rendezvous before anything was even suggested about money."

"That helps us how?" Heero muttered, looking around the group.

"In that Jon is telling the truth," Jordan returned, looking up to him. "That Terry was easy and evidently fairly entertaining. I thought they were gonna start a real relationship before Jon stopped mentioning him."

"Jordan," Une said levelly, "If you have a personal relationship with the suspects, we may have to move you off the case."

He met her eyes, considering that, "And how are we gonna keep that to ourselves?"

"By not telling everyone," she snapped.

"Okay, fine, sorry," he focused back on the papers. "What do I have left to do today?"

"I've discussed it with a few people," Une explained, "And we've decided to put you in intensive."

Jordan stopped completely, looking up to her in disbelief.

"It's necessary to give you the Remalene," she added. "Your leg is keeping you from performing at your normal level. That's a dangerous flaw that would have to be worked into any strategy. If we can get you healed in a week instead of two, then there's that much less thought."

"We'll go eat lunch," Wufei muttered, closing his folder and looking up, "Then take you to the med tent."

"There's a tent on the grounds?" Jordan asked blankly.

"It's what we call the building," Quatre explained, rolling his eyes slightly. "It's like how I call my psychiatrist Mister Psycho and they call Eastland at the gate Duty."

"Oh, all right," Jordan nodded, then frowned. "What if I refuse?"

"It'll get you healed," Heero muttered. "Your wound would have taken upwards of a month to heal, and you've ripped it open twice now. This way, it'll only take you another week or something."

"I heal fast anyway," Jordan protested, frowning more. "I don't like the idea of my blood being tested when I've been wallowing in Angels for five years. God only knows what I might have gotten."

"You're the slut," Trowa muttered happily, looking back to his folder.

"What?" Une asked, blinking at them.

Jordan sighed, shoving his chair out and rising. "Nothing. I have to go talk to Chai. How long is intensive likely to take?"

"A couple hours," Une shrugged. "It depends on how fast they can run their tests. If all goes well, you can start on the Remalene by suppertime."

Jordan nodded, not quite looking at her as he disappeared into the hall.

"Is he really upset?" she asked uncertainly, looking to Quatre.

"Oh, me?" he muttered, blinking as he realized it was him she was asking. He thought over his impression of his friend's emotions a moment, then shrugged. "Uh...he's worried that he actually has something."

"But..." Une started, frowning slightly.

"He's your angel, Une," Tro noted, closing his own folder and rising to his feet. "Don't ask questions that might disillusion you to the reality of it all. We've all been invited to lunch at his place, so we should probably all go."

"Is that everything, Ma'am?" Heero asked in agreement before she could snap, focusing on her as if he'd beat Trowa to asking.

"I...yes," she nodded, the very slight flicker of irritation disappearing as fast as it had shown up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"We're done for today?" Quatre was startled.

"Well, Jordan has to go through intensive," she shrugged, "and I'd imagine you all want to look over this information."

"All right," Quatre nodded respectfully to her.

When he started for the door, Heero was a few steps behind and Wufei kept pace. Trowa hesitated before the door like he'd say something, then turned to flash the woman his most charming grin...and leave her standing alone.

Une sighed.

X x X x X

"No, it'll mark in my record that I've done vrit," Jordan muttered to Chai, looking highly irritated as Heero moved through the front door.

"You're joking, right?" Heero demanded, though he himself had given into curiosity before. He had no intentions of pointing out the fact that for the duration of one evening, he'd thought his friend was addicted to the drug...

"You don't know the half of it," Jordan sighed, rubbing his leg as he thought. "Intensive maps out blood immunities, right?" Jordan looked to Heero as Quatre and the others moved across the room.

"Uh-oh," Chai muttered as she remembered that Morgan didn't get along with Heero or Quatre.

"What?" Jordan asked, focusing on her.

Morgan moved from the bathroom almost on cue, wiping his hands on his jeans as he realized everyone had shown up, then stopped as he realized who everyone included.

"Oh," Wufei muttered, blinking several times.

"Oh dear lord, what are you doing here?" Heero muttered, giving the guy an almost repulsed disbelieving look.

"Don't even start," Chai snapped, though she couldn't even look at him. There was something about Heero that made her scared of even irritating him a little. It wasn't a kind of fear that made her want to avoid him, but she definitely didn't want to anger him or confront him in any way.

Heero blinked at her, then looked to Morgan.

"Hi, Heero," Morgan gave the guy a very fake smile. "Nice to see you again."

Heero nodded somewhat facetiously, then moved passed the group into the kitchen.

"You should probably go," Wufei suggested, moving up as Quatre followed the other.

"You okay?" Jordan muttered, noting Chai's distress. He moved up to touch her arm, studying her face curiously.

She nodded, then shrugged. "I'll go start lunch."

"I think I will," Morgan sighed, then offered a hand to Jordan.

"You should come over this evening," Jordan invited. He knew there had to be a valid reason for Heero's obvious rudeness, which made him want to get to know the man better.

Morgan nodded at him, bumped his shoulder against Wufei's, then headed for the door.

"I'll have lunch with you tomorrow," Wufei offered after the man, then hesitated and looked back to his host. "I'll be in in a few, okay?"

Jordan nodded, watching as Wufei dug into a pocket and disappeared out the door.

"He's smoking, you realize?" Trowa asked. "He and Morgan smoke together all the time."

"I could care, I suppose," Jordan returned, studying the guy, "But I don't know why I should."

Tro shrugged slightly, "I was just letting you know."

Jordan grinned at him, turning to limp toward the kitchen.

"I can't wait to see him stop limping," Trowa muttered to the group, shaking his head slightly as he followed. "It just hurts to watch."

X x X x X

Being poked and prodded had never been a very appealing situation for Jordan, who bore with his exam as patiently as he could. He didn't hurt the guy's hand too badly when he'd missed the vein with the needle, and really, the man performed much better when he'd gotten over the 'my-god, the Gundam pilot's gonna kill me' moment. Of course, Une had smacked Jor upside the head for it, since she'd long been accustomed to him terrorizing her med-staff.

"So where's my doctor?" Jordan snapped when the man was initiating the tests on the blood. "Why can't Morris do this?"

"He does take the shit better," Tro noted from where he was leaning against the wall. "He actually got to the point where he bit back."

Jordan snickered as he remembered the incident.

"What are they going on about?" Chai asked curiously, moving around Une to lean into Jordan's chest.

"I hate this shit," Jordan explained, gesturing to the needles sitting in their sterile packets. "I always hate getting needles shoved into me and crap. When I was little I was given a shit load of flu shots and stuff at the same time. It made me sick with about ten things until those kicked in fully. And it hurt," he indicated the spot about a the size of a baseball on his upper right arm, "It was bruised for days. They even took samples of my blood because I lived in a place like Angels, and had never been to the doctor in my life."

"So you're scared of shots?" she asked, smirking at him.

"Not so much scared as unhappy," he retorted.

She giggled, nuzzling at him, "It's okay, I'll hold your hand..."

Heero sniggered.

"I will hurt you," Jordan informed his friend, though he was amused.

"Your doctor's out until Monday," Une retorted. "I figured I'd give him a good laugh by sticking one he doesn't like with you so the guy can grumble about how insane you are."

"I'm still missing something," Chai noted, though she was amused.

"Jordan has never been able to just let himself get a shot," Trowa explained. "He has to be distracted when the needle goes in or he reaches to knock it out. Morris, who was his doctor for about three years way back when, figured a way so he could be alone in the exam room without worrying about getting his head smashed in."

"Jordan," Chai reprimanded.

"I'm not that bad..."

"Take a look at this guy's hand and say that again with a straight face," Heero muttered.

Jordan gave him a look.

"If Morris missed like this guy did," Tro continued easily, "Jor would do something like he just did, bending the fingers back or something. Morris realized he could get away with decking him."

"I almost had kittens when I first realized why he had a black eye after an exam," Une noted with a tolerantly amused smile. "That was until I realized the room was in shambles and Morris had a black eye and a broken finger."

"Jordan!"

Jordan started laughing.

"For childhood issues like this," Heero added, indicating the guy on the table, "Consistency is the best approach. For the last year or so, Jordan would sit quietly and let Morris do what he needed to without freaking out. It's a trust thing, boundaries were set and Jordan could relax because it wasn't a new situation."

"Hey," Jordan muttered, "I'm still sitting here."

Heero grinned and shrugged, looking to Chai. "That's why we're all here, by the way. We knew it wouldn't be Morris doing intensive, so we all just sorta...found our way into the exam room."

Chai grinned more, "I thought that was odd, and the guy was asking why you were all here."

"And that's why he missed," Jordan shot accusingly.

"And he was answered nigh on immediately, too," Wufei agreed, then laughed as he moved further into the corner. "I, personally, loved when Morris refused to let us enter."

"Come on, enough with the stories," Jordan protested, giving the guy a meaningful look.

"I'm not sure how biting came into play," Wufei shrugged at the girl. "We weren't in the room to see what led up to it, but they were both covered in teeth bruises by the time it was finished."

"Kinky," Chai noted impishly to her boyfriend.

"Hahaha," Jordan retorted sardonically, rolling his eyes. "He went to hold my hands behind my back so I bit him...and he bit me back."

Chai laughed delightedly.

"I find it amusing that he prefers Morris now," Quatre noted, climbing onto the counter and swinging his feet. "But like Heero was saying, consistency helps."

"I'd rather not have my trust issues laid out for display, thanks," Jordan's tone was pointed. "At one point Morris had an opening where he could have really hurt me, and he didn't do it. It made me realize that he was just trying to help, so I cooperated with him. Shit, he was as surprised as you all were."

Une rested a hand on his back to reassure him, smiling slightly at Chai.

Chai obviously loved Jordan, and he just as obviously loved her. Une was smart enough to realize that if they worked together the way they did, then maybe she wasn't just wrong for him. Maybe she was just what he needed, and the girl seemed sweet. She'd won over everyone Une had talked to so far about Jordan, so...she'd give her a chance. Maybe...just maybe, being a slums girl wasn't the death warrant she'd thought it was.

Maybe Chai was good enough for Duo—he certainly seemed to love her in return...

"Everything seems clear," the doctor muttered as he moved back into the room, holding papers and rubbing at his fingers. "I want to talk to him about a few things, but that will be confidential."

"All right," Une agreed sweetly, reaching forward to grab Chai's arm, "Come on, sweetie, we can get some lunch and chatter while the men-folk sit around looking tough."

Chai blinked at her uncertainly, then focused on Jordan when the guy offered her a slight smile, touching her hip. He gestured slightly with his head, and she raised her eyebrows at him, following the woman.

"Do you want me to stay?" Heero asked as Trowa and Wufei followed the girls. "Just in case?"

"It's up to Maxwell," the doctor shrugged. "There are some things on his records that seem to match what I remember seeing on yours, though."

Heero met Jordan's startled eyes and shrugged.

"I'm gonna go with the girls for coffee," Quatre muttered. "I need to talk to Chai when Une isn't looking, if you don't mind, Jor."

"Why?" Jordan asked.

"If she's a quieting," Quatre muttered, giving the doctor a pointed look that it was private information, "And Une finds out, she'll work her into the empath building. I don't think she's ready for that, but if she is a quieting, I really need one."

Jordan offered him a grin, "Just remember, she's mine."

Quatre blinked, then realized it was a tease and grinned back, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, Q?" Jordan called as they guy stepped out the door, "We do have an extra room in our house."

The offer startled the blond, and he turned to look at Jordan in amazement a long moment before nodding.

"And since I didn't hear any of that," the doctor muttered, opening his folder to look between the remaining two men, "I need to ask if he needs to leave." He indicated Heero.

"He's fine," Jordan reassured the man, biting his lip. "What does it say?"

X x X x X

"Well, now," Morgan muttered, shifting back where he was standing. "This frog, he tells Patti Wack to give the bank manager the figurine."

Chai nodded, raising an eyebrow at him as Une sighed and rolled her eyes.

"So Patti works her little thing back there to the manager's office and explains that there's this frog," he was speaking to Chai. "Says that he wants thirty-thousand for a loan to go on some fancy vacation."

"Can we get on with this?" Une muttered, giving him a pained look.

Morgan sniggered, then gestured for her to wait. "And Patti passes him that figurine, explaining the request. He studies it for a long moment, then looks up to the woman and tells her, okay, give him the loan."

Chai blinked.

"This is going to hurt, isn't it?" Une asked, her expression resigned.

"Patti's shocked," Morgan ignored Une. "So, she starts to protest and you know what the bank manager said then?"

"What?" Chai muttered, taking a drink from her cup.

"He says, 'knick-knack, Patti Wack, give the frog a loan.'"

Une dropped face-first against the table, groaning.

Chai half-choked, forcing herself to swallow before looking up to the man in disbelief.

Morgan smiled his sweetest smile, patted Une on the head, then turned and walked away.

"You just had to ask, didn't you?" Une demanded of the girl, raising her head to look at her companion. "You just had to ask what a shaggy-dog story was..."