Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ In the City at Night ❯ Plastic Cases ( Chapter 20 )

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

Plastic Cases

"Hey, pussycat," Heero greeted Chai, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "I'm here for your boy."

"He's getting out of the shower," Chai returned, smiling slightly at the man and standing. "You want something? Water? Pop? I have coffee on."

"Coffee would be lovely," he muttered, following her down the hall. "How are you? I haven't really gotten to talk to you in a while."

"I'm kinda annoyed," she returned truthfully. "He's hardly ever home, and when he his, he's really tired."

"We're almost done with our Remalene," Heero noted. "That should help."

She nodded, pulling out two cups from the cupboard. "We don't get any time to ourselves, either."

"I'm sorry," he offered. "I know it's hard, thanks," he accepted his filled cup from her and moved to get the milk from the fridge. "But, the sooner we can prove Jon didn't do it, the better it will be. You have to remember that he only came back so he could clear Jon."

"I know," she muttered, setting the sugar by him and taking the milk, "It's just...I don't know." She stirred at her cup a moment. "I thought things would be better here...but we had more quality time before he was my boyfriend."

Heero grinned at that, taking a drink from his cup, "I know a guy or two who'd love that honor...then you could have your quality time back."

She giggled and smacked him, pouring the milk into the cup she had and putting the jug away. "I'll be right back," she muttered, taking the cup and disappearing into the bedroom. He heard Jordan mutter a thanks, then Chai returned to sight without the cup.

Heero blinked at her.

"It's just..." she shrugged, pulling out another cup and starting the process over again.

That made sense...Heero moved out of her way.

"I guess I don't really need to complain," she noted. "I have as much money as I ever wanted...and it's not like he doesn't love me. I'm just irritated."

"I'll try to get him to take the weekend off," Heero offered. "The two of you can go do something together...maybe catch a movie and hit a park or something."

She smiled at that.

"Morning," Jordan muttered, moving from the room with the cup of coffee. "How are you?"

"I'm not sure yet," Heero returned with a grin. "You ready to meet my player's club?"

Jordan rolled his eyes and looked to his watch before shaking his head. "If we have time afterward, I'm gonna go pick up some phones."

"And you flick me shit," Heero noted, realizing that he'd done it the night before. "Here, just a second." He passed the man his cup and moved to his car, pulling out the boxes and paperwork.

He'd been irritated the previous day that not only had Jordan not been given an office, but he didn't have his own phone. Hell, the man hadn't even bought his own car; he was borrowing different ones from the base. Cars were a bit beyond the man's means, but phones were not.

"I wanted to call you yesterday and couldn't, so I did something about it." Heero passed a phone and box to Jordan, then one to Chai. "I programmed the five of our numbers in already," he told the woman. "Mine is one...his is two, so on for the first five. The house here is six."

"And so on?" Chai asked blankly, opening her fully charged phone to blink at it.

"One two three four..." Heero blinked at her, then snickered as he really thought about it. "Crap. I forgot. In the wars we all had these codes assigned to us. I'm always zero-one, Jor is zero-two, Tro is zero-three, and Quatre's zero-four. Then Fei at five...and the home number here is six. You can change'em around if you want, but that's our normal set-up."

She nodded, blinking as she hit the menu button. She'd never had a phone before.

"The book explains everything," Jordan noted, moving around Heero to kiss her cheek and wink. He turned back to the man, "I was starting to think you weren't going to get annoyed enough with me to buy'em."

Heero laughed and smacked him, then looked to his watch as he retrieved his coffee. "Looks like we have just enough time to finish our cups."

"Why do I have a phone?" Chai muttered, looking up to Jordan.

"So I can get ahold of you?" Jor offered, then winked. "Give the number to anyone you want. What company is this?" the guy added, starting to flip through the papers he'd also been handed.

"Same as ours," Heero agreed, opening his phone to look through it. "You need a car or two...you have your license, pussycat?"

"No," she returned, "But I know how to drive."

"So we'll set up a test for you," Heero noted, tapping the note into his phone. "Any particular type of car you want?"

"Something small...automatic," she shrugged a bit. "Why?"

"Because Jordan and I are going car shopping this evening, and he's going to get at least one vehicle so he's not stuck using the base pieces of gas-guzzling shit."

X x X x X

"I can see some perplexed expressions," Heero noted a bit loudly as he moved down the isle of a large room to the podium in the center of the front. "And I'm sure you're all dying to know why I called a meeting together."

Jordan studied the murmuring heads of state and secretaries of...whatever. There were four entrances to the room aside from the emergency exit behind Heero himself. They were all set to guard a door. Once Heero called the meeting to order, no one could be let in or out.

The room had a gentle angle of stadium style seating. From the center, it fanned out in a half-circle. Behind Heero was a large and very white wall, and in front of him a few isles was an empty desk with a machine of some sort on it. The walls of the place, otherwise, were mostly white, but the molding was all of a cherry colored wood with black grain...and lacquered. There were smaller desk-like areas for seating and red cushions.

It all just looked so official.

"I apologize to those of you who had to do some quick talking to make it, and I do notice that we're all here. Thank you." The crowd fell completely silent as Heero leaned against the podium as if considering something. He tapped the toe of one foot behind the other on the floor, then set the toe against his other heel and looked the group over. "I'm afraid we have a leak."

There was an instant of complete silence before everyone started looking around. There were many dismayed and confused expressions, and some slightly guilty, some calculating.

"Now, I know none of you would have violated the confidentiality of these meetings for the world...or the colonies, for that matter...so I'm sure you understand I'm quite confused."

"No one would have told anyone!" one of the men near the front protested. "Who would have said anything?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Heero noted, looking them all over. "I'm sure you all noted that Blunt, Rudd, and Kante died...and then Marquise was shot. It was just random chance that had Chang on that grassy knoll or we would have lost a strong leader..."

Jordan tried to remember if he'd known Wufei was the one who saved Zechs' life and decided the fact hadn't been mentioned to him as he looked down the wall at the Chinese man. Wufei grinned very slightly at him, then focused back to the front.

"And then Baits disappeared," Heero added, pushing up from where he'd been leaning. "You all know that I'm friends with Zach. You all know that he was my most ardent supporter in keeping me from heading into Angels...and you may all have noticed that we have a new member." He extended a hand toward Jordan.

Jordan stood straighter as the entire room turned to focus on him, noting that Heero gestured him to move down the stairs. He did so at a normal pace, hearing the sweep of whispers as he moved down the stairs.

"Ah yes, Maxwell," Heero muttered, draping his arm around the guy's shoulders as he smirked slightly at him. He looked back to the crowd, "He was in Angels."

Silence again.

"The asshole hid from us in Angels...of all the nerve," he shook his head, then grinned. "But we plucked him out...that's beside the point. My dear friends," he added a bit theatrically, "Please join me in welcoming the one and only Jordan Maxwell to our...club. I certainly hope he plays well with others."

Jordan gave Heero a look as the entire throng clapped for him, then nodded his excuse to head back up to his post.

Heero waited a moment, letting him ascend, then drummed his fingertips on the podium to regain attention. "So...Baits, right? I was heading to my trial...I had a fight with a man named Matthew Corringer."

Jordan noted a man flinch on Heero's right and focused on him.

"...we've never gotten along and...well..." he thought a moment. "Maxwell," he indicated Jordan again, "is a friend of Breer's..."

And he proceeded to recount finding Jordan in the club, a somewhat comical version of getting Jordan to return to the base, and how he still didn't understand why Jor had a house and he and the others were still in an end wing.

There was something different about him, standing in front of the crowd. He had a sort of self-assured calmness. Heero had never been anything but confident, but standing in front of the thirty some odd members of this officer's club, he looked like a leader. He looked capable of heading any organization or country that decided to have him. Everyone was listening to him, watching him...

He fell silent a long moment, then looked up toward Jordan, "Then I got the call." The old friends studied each other a long moment as Heero realized Jordan's expression had changed. Something in the other's manner had shifted very subtly. He looked around again. "Baits called my cell phone in a panic," he explained. "He told me that some men had grabbed him and he wasn't sure where he was. I hooked up to Barton's lap-top," he indicated Trowa. "And that's when the trouble became real."

Jordan wondered how long Heero'd been leading this officer's club and why they'd been the ones to choose the line of power...aside from the fact that it was the head of every major branch of government sans the President Wilkon himself or his vice president. The soldier summed up the rescue of Zachary Baits quietly, staring distantly at the wall between Wufei and Jordan, then looked around again.

"So what do we do?" a man asked from somewhere in the middle of the throng. He had the type of familiar face that meant he was in the news from time to time, and Jordan wondered who he was and what he did.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Heero returned. "Someone told someone about our top ten, and they're all being picked off one by one...or were. We've got Marquise, Baits, and Shifton here on-sight," he noted. "Beedus still hasn't checked in...and yes, I do assume he was grabbed. Fontinelle is on a base over in Cairo. I need to know who you've all told about the line of power. I won't blame any of you for it, it seems innocent enough to talk about it with friends, but...someone is trying to kill them all." He grinned at uncertain looks, then indicated a man sitting in the very front row on the furthest seat to his right. "If you'd pass out the papers and pens I'd be grateful...just take one and pass it down." The guy nodded and started moving instantly, passing a pile of papers down, then pens. "Anonymous as you want it to be," he explained. "Please make sure it's legible. Name any person you may have mentioned it to, even if you're not sure you did mention it."

There was a murmur as the sheets started going back and the people in the front row obviously started thinking...all but the man who'd flinched.

Jordan indicated him to Wufei, and Wufei nodded, looking around to Trowa, then Quatre. The pair looked at him and Quatre shook his head with a slight shrug. The man was too far away.

"Why aren't your toy-soldiers making a list?" someone demanded from the middle of the back row, turning to look at the four of them.

"Seeing as Maxwell only found out the list about a week ago," Heero returned, "He's exempt. The other three just haven't been given the paper yet."

Quatre rolled his eyes slightly, moving forward to take the remainder of the pile of paper and a pen, passing the stuff off to Trowa as he moved to a desk himself and thought. He looked around after a moment, then moved down the isle to an empty chair much nearer the man they were all trying to tell something about.

Trowa nodded his slight approval as Heero blinked at the blond, then looked up to the rest as Wufei passed the last of the paper off to Jordan. Jordan took the pile and scribbled 'toy soldiers my ass,' onto the top sheet, moving to the man who'd spoken. He set it happily in the man's lap, then moved down the isle toward Heero with the remainder of the pile.

The man crumpled the paper up, which caught several people's attention, then threw it to the floor.

"Is there a problem?" Heero asked, blinking at him in confusion.

"Nothing, sorry," the guy returned almost coldly before focusing on his piece of paper again.

Jordan noted what he'd written on another piece and set it in front of Heero, who gave him a look for it as he set the pile of paper into his briefcase, then organized the pens. Jor asked if Heero really thought the idea would work.

Heero took the pen from him and thonked him in the forehead with it before snickering slightly and dodging away. After another moment, he moved back to the podium and crumpled the sheet of paper up, tucking it into his pocket.

Jordan grinned at that.

"I think this is all," a man muttered from somewhere above, folding his sheet in half, then in quarters. Several people followed suit, passing them along the isles to the side Jordan was moving up to gather the first. A moment later, pens were passed as well.

"I can't believe I'm reduced to a lackey," Jor noted as Wufei came to take the papers from him.

"Shut-up," Wufei hissed, focusing passed Jordan on Heero. The guy had raised an eyebrow.

"I just thought I'd note it," Jordan reassured the man he'd taken several pens from with a wink. The guy grinned, and Jordan moved up the stairs to gather more utensils of mass destruction...because, he reasoned, the pencil is mightier than the sword...and pens are more permanent.

X x X x X

"Welcome to the most marvelous, mind dazzling, time guzzling training camp of them all!" Jordan noted expansively on Thursday as he moved down a hall to a group of some fifteen men and women. "I don't know if it's really all that great an idea to put me in charge of people, but it's been done all the same, so, my lovelies," he beamed at them. "Welcome to my cupboard."

"Said the spider to the fly," a man noted in amusement, studying Jordan with intense interest.

He had strikingly green eyes, and his hair was a rich sort of brown. Jordan looked him over a moment, then smirked and focused on the rest of the group. "I brought apples," he noted, offering up the bag of produce. "It's been about five years since I've had one and that struck me as very bad for some reason." He offered the bag around and people took them uncertainly.

"Sleeping Beauty," the one who'd spoken before noted, "Was offered an apple and it put her in a sleep of death."

"Actually," Jordan corrected, taking a bite, "that was Snow White. She was the one with the dwarves around her ankles." He made a gesture indicating his own ankles. "Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on a poisoned spinning needle."

The guy grinned, taking an apple and biting into it.

"Come on," Jordan added. "I had a conference room set up for us. We'll take some surveys and compare our results."

"Why?" the one who'd spoken demanded as everyone gave him looks.

"Because I'm in charge," Jordan reassured him, smiling. "What's your name, mouthy?"

That got him a toothy grin that somehow reminded him of a Cheshire cat. "Xane Featihl."

"Featihl?" Jordan repeated, making a slight face. "I think I'll stick with mouthy."

"As you see fit, oh wondrous leader."

Jordan snickered, clapping the man on the shoulder, "We'll get along fine."

X x X x X

"Chance?"

Jordan blinked at the semi-familiar voice on the phone, then grinned, "This is Jordan."

"Oh, hey, Jordan...this is Shin. Did I call the wrong number? I really need to talk to Chance."

"No," Jordan reassured her. "We all realized that Chance dies if he doesn't have his phone, so we're getting our kicks by taking it from him. I fairly sure he's chasing one of his roommates down right now to get it. Is there a problem?"

"Well..." she hesitated. "Chip is sick," she muttered finally, sadly. "I need to take him to the hospital, but I can't afford it..."

"It's not bad is it?" Jordan demanded instantly, looking around to find his car. Heero'd taken him to the dealership two days before, and he'd chosen a small luxury type vehicle. The kind that moves very fast and is very good on gas.

"Nothing overly bad...he's just got a fever and a sore throat."

"I'll be there in a half an hour," Jordan noted, looking to his watch as he realized it was Friday and his shift had ended, meaning he could leave the base.

"Well, I...Chance..."

"Chance is grounded, sweet-pea," Jordan noted, sliding into his car and pulling out his own phone. "He can't leave the base this weekend unless it's duty." He realized after a moment what he should do. "I have to call my girl and tell her what I'm doing," he added. "Then I'll have to make it into town. Don't worry, we'll get Chip taken care of."

"Uh...all right," her tone was confused as she hung up.

"Chai?" Jordan asked into his phone.

"Hey, baby," she returned happily. "You thinkin' of me?"

"Always, love...but that's not why I'm calling right now."

"What's up?"

"Chance's girl just called," he explained. "She has a son who is sick. She can't afford the hospital fees, so I'm gonna help. She wanted Chance to, but he wouldn't be able to anyway. Is Heero there?"

"Yeah, and his ears are back."

"I'm leaving his phone with Duty," Jordan noted, pulling up to the gate and putting his car in park. "I'll be back as soon as I can, and call to let you guys know what's going on."

"Okay, sweet, love you," Chai muttered, hanging her phone up after hearing his return.

"Duty?" Jordan asked as the man swung to the door, looking curious. "Can you do me a huge favor?"

"Depends on what it is, rich-boy," Eastland returned.

Jordan displayed Heero's phone. "Yuy'll be here in about ten seconds to collect this."

"Yuy can't leave the base."

"But I can," Jordan agreed. "I have to run into town. I may be gone a while. Can you give this to him?"

"Sure," Eastland took the thing from Jor.

"Thanks," Jor muttered with a grin, then realized someone was in the booth with the gate guard and looked around him to meet eyes with Matthew Corringer and smirked. Several things crossed his mind to say, but he figured he probably shouldn't say most of them.

There was a loud sound up the road and they all glanced toward the base as a car tires squealed.

Jordan laughed, noting Heero's SUV, "That's my cue to get off base," he noted to Eastland with a wink. "Thanks a bundle...I owe you. Need anything from town?"

"Twelve pack of Amber would be nice," Eastland smiled.

"Amber?" Jordan asked, making a face. "That shit's too sweet for me, but I'll try to remember to grab you some."

"Awesome," Eastland waved as he hit the button to let Jordan's car out...it left extremely quickly, then lowered the bar as Yuy slid out of his machine with an irritated expression. "Hello, Yuy. Not feeling too homicidal, I hope?"

"I don't kill the messenger, anyway," Heero agreed, extending his hand for his phone and opening it. "Can I get you anything?"

"I could use some cola, diet if you'd be so kind."

"Gotta watch your girlish figure?" Heero teased with a grin, looking the man over. He noted Corringer behind him and rolled his eyes slightly. "I'll be back in a few."

"You're such a nice boy," Eastland called after him.

Heero laughed and flipped him off, reversing.

"You get shit like that all the time, don't you?"

"There's a reason I do my duty well," Eastland retorted, turning back to Mat. "And it's not because it's my civic duty."

"Cute."

Eastland grinned, lowering into his chair. "People usually refuse to get me any Amber, let alone a case."

"You don't know that he'll come through," Mat protested. "He said he'd try to remember."

"That's rich boy speak for it'll be late tonight before he gets back."

Corringer started laughing.

X x X x X

Shin was standing on her front porch with Zachary in her arms as Jordan pulled into her driveway. She had a diaper-bag of sorts in one hand and her expression was somewhat worried.

"Come on," Jor muttered, opening the back passenger door before moving to take the boy from her. "Get his booster...I called the hospital on my way over so they'll be expecting us."

Shin hesitated, looking away from him, "Why are you doing this?"

"Your boy is sick," Jordan noted, frowning at the high heat he felt. "Get the booster...come on." Shin disappeared back into the house and Jordan smiled down slightly at the child. "Hey, Chip. How are you?" The boy muttered something as Jordan tried to figure out the temperature level. It wasn't a severe fever, at least.

Shin returned, moving to strap the seat into the back of the car before taking her son carefully and setting him in it. She tweaked his nose with a word of encouragement as Jordan moved around the car and slid in.

"Listen," Shin started, shutting the door. "If you need anything..."

Jordan shook his head, hitting reverse as he remembered Heero's comment about the girl being between an orgy chick and a girlfriend. "I'm good."

"I know...I don't usually," she hesitated again, not looking at him.

"I have a girlfriend," he noted calmly, moving down the road quickly. "And if you stopped fighting it, you'd have a boyfriend."

"You don't know him the way I do," she returned, looking away again.

"I probably know him better," Jordan stated, turning.

"This is...the clinic is..." Shin frowned, looking to Jordan uncertainly.

"How about you let me worry about that, huh? The clinic here isn't very good."

"But..." Shin was uncertain again.

"Shin," he muttered, looking to her face a moment. "Your son is the most important thing in your life, right?" She nodded. "So let people who care for him help you without trying to find the reasoning. I lived in Angels, I know what expectations would normally be tagged onto what I'm doing...and I'm not asking for anything in return...except that you give Heero another chance."

She smiled wryly at that.

"Don't tell him I said that...that just sounded bad," Jordan smiled slightly at her, shifting his shoulders slightly. "Like my new car?"

The visit to the pediatrician went smoothly as Jordan waited in the lobby of the area uncomfortably. He kept getting shy smiles from mothers-to-be or mothers with young children. They also continually asked him if he was waiting for his own child. On a brighter note, Shin was beaming as she exited the place with a bright-eyed three year old in her arms. He smiled happily at Jordan as the soldier joined his mother at the counter.

"If you can sign here," the receptionist, who didn't even look legal, added to Shin. "It's just for billing..."

Shin blanched.

Jordan took the paper from her. "Is there anyway I can do a lump-sum?" he asked, studying the numbers on the page. "I hate making payments. I always forget."

"Are you the father?" she asked, blinking.

"Are you a virgin?" he returned with a completely straight face.

The girl blushed.

"Debit, if you have the machine," he added, indicating the thing he saw in the back of the room. "Does he have a prescription?"

She was still red-faced, "The doctor is writing it up right now."

"Okay," Jordan muttered, filling in the appropriate blanks. His phone beeped at him and he read the caller I.D., opening it. "Yellow?"

"Red," Heero retorted. "What's going on?"

"Zach has a form of strep," Jordan explained. "They gave him something and he's already bright eyed and perky."

"Is Shin...is she okay?"

"She's a bit embarrassed, I think," Jordan returned, passing the receptionist his card.

"Why?" Heero asked almost dangerously.

"Because the receptionist asked if I was the father so I asked if she was a virgin."

"That's none of your business."

"Exactly," Jordan smirked as he accepted his card. "We need to fill the prescription. I'll see if she needs anything else since you're stuck there."

"I'd appreciate it," Heero sighed sadly. "Did she...offer?"

"She started to," Jor agreed, sliding into Italian. "But I reminded her I have a girlfriend. She never quite offered it."

"I...wonder how often she...does," Heero muttered slowly, sounding morose.

"I doubt ever," Jordan muttered, winking at the woman's confused face. "Does she speak this language?"

"She's got Chinese, Japanese, English, and some German."

"Ah," Jor nodded. "She said she didn't usually offer, and I take it to mean that she only does that shit for you."

"I wish she wouldn't," Heero muttered, then fell silent a moment. "I feel so dirty..."

"You're drinking, aren't you?" Jordan accused in English.

"I'm at your house and drinking even," Heero agreed, going quiet again. "I'm gonna go."

"Is Quatre there?"

"Yes."

"Give Chai the phone."

"Yes'm, lovey?" Chai asked sweetly.

"Let Quatre read Heero before he hurts himself, baby. I'm gonna fill the prescription," he signed the receipt put in front of him. "Then go get anything else she'll need for the next week or so. I shouldn't be gone more than an hour now."

"Okay, baby," she muttered, making a kissy noise, then ended the call.

Jordan smiled, looking back to Shin as the woman accepted the piece of paper the receptionist handed her, then took his copy of the receipt with a nod. "I hope you have a nice day," he muttered, starting for the doors.

"Bye," Chip muttered to the woman over his mother's shoulder...and the three of them left the room.