Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ In the City at Night ❯ Damage Done ( Chapter 22 )

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

Damage Done

Tro let out a low whistle as Heero helped Shin from the passenger seat of his SUV. He'd come around the long way so the passenger side was to the grass when he parked on the street. The Chinese girl was long and slender, though she stood only to about Heero's shoulder. She had her long hair down and was wearing a skirt that Jordan had talked her into letting him buy.

"My god, she's gorgeous," Quatre muttered, moving closer to the window to get a better look.

"Is that a kid?" Trowa demanded as Heero pulled Chip from the back seat.

"That's her," Wufei noted quietly. "That's the one I told you about before...I thought they'd ended what they had...that was three years ago...she didn't have a kid then."

Jordan glanced to the line of them at the window. Jon was watching with quiet interest as Paris watched the four at the window with a slightly tilted head. The empath was sitting on the couch, lounged back in a fashion that seemed to be his norm. Chai grabbed Jor's hand and he led her onto the front porch with a slight smile, which she returned.

"Hey," Heero muttered proudly as he walked with Shin up the driveway with Chip on one hip and her hand in his. "We're not too late, are we?"

"Supper's almost ready," Chai reassured him, smiling at the woman.

"Hi, Jordan," Shin muttered quietly, smiling at him.

"He's mine, you know," Chai teased.

Shin giggled, "I have one that might just be better."

Heero's grin, somehow, got even larger.

"Jordan!" Chip squirmed from Heero's arms and bounced across the yard to jump into Jordan's arms. "We're eating dinner at you house!"

"Are you really?" Jordan asked him in mock amazement as the boy's small eyes sparkled in amusement. "That's...what the heck?" Zachary started giggling and hugged him before looking to Chai with interest.

"This is Chai," Jordan informed him. "She's my girlfriend."

"Best?" Chip returned uncertainly.

"My very best," Jordan agreed.

Chai laughed at that as Shin stopped in front of her, extending her hand. As the two women murmured to each other, Jor noted a sharp movement and focused on Heero, who'd pulled a tag off the back of the skirt and tucked it in his pocket while pretending nothing had happened.

Shin didn't realize he'd done it at all, moving into the house after the female as Jordan grinned at Heero.

"What?" Heero asked, blinking at him.

Jordan grinned and moved to follow the women...as he remembered the stunned shock the rest of the group'd had about the woman.

"I'm Jonathon Breer," Jon noted quickly, bouncing to shake her hand.

"It's nice to meet you," Shin noted, smiling slightly uncertainly at him, then looked around to Heero.

"This is Shinyue," Heero explained to the rest. "One of the two most amazing women on the planet."

"Your mother would appreciate that," Jon noted.

Heero smirked, "I doubt it. I meant Chai."

Chai giggled at him.

"This little one," he indicated the boy in Jordan's arms, "Is Zachary. We call him Chip."

"You have a lovely name," Trowa informed Shin quickly, moving up to shake her hand. "I'm Trowa."

"No, you're horrible," Chai retorted.

Trowa laughed as Quatre offered his hand with a smile, glancing at Chai a moment. Chai let her quieting slip and Paris really focused on his surroundings. "I'm Quatre Winner," the blond added. "It's a pleasure."

"How long have you two been together?" Wufei demanded evenly.

"A couple years," Heero returned, confused. He focused on his girlfriend again, "You remember Wufei, don't you, sweet?"

Shin nodded, shaking the Chinese man's hand.

"This is my friend Paris," Quatre added, indicating the man. "We don't make a big deal of it..."

"But you're in love?" Jon teased, then laughed evilly and darted into the other room as both men gave him looks that promised his demise.

Chai giggled, resting a hand on Shin's arm and moving to follow the wayward kingpin.

"Chai actually has some quieting ability," Quatre added to Shin. "Paris and I are both fairly strong empaths, so I yank him along for the ride whenever I get a chance."

Jon's laughter turned even more evil.

"Jon is bi," Heero noted to the female. "The only one of us, actually. He finds it easy to rile us from time to time."

"You like it and you know it," Shin informed him with her own little evil grin, kissing him quickly before smiling and moving forward to shake Paris' hand. "Nice meeting you, too."

"You didn't invite the asshole, did you?" Heero asked, thinking of the car in the driveway that he thought was Morgan's. He moved into the kitchen and meeting eyes with the man and sighed in exasperation, "Wufei..."

"Dude, don't even look at me," Wufei muttered. "I told him we were having a thing here," he gave the man in question a dirty look. "And he said he'd hang out at his apartment and we could go for drinks after. I'm not sure what happened after that."

"I got him to come to do some stuff for me," Jordan cut them off. "He won't be here long."

"Not that I want to be here with both of them," Morgan noted pointedly, nodding toward the living room where Quatre was at.

Jordan pointed at him warningly as Shin gave the guy a confused look.

A car pulled up out front and Trowa bounced to his feet, "That'll be Deb."

"Probably...not," Jordan spoke too late. He grinned at his friends a moment as he waited to hear the final outcome, then heard Trowa commenting in confusion.

"Master o' mine, I be no girl!" Xane called from the front door moments later.

"Oh god, you didn't," Heero protested, focusing on Jordan in disbelief.

"Oh spare me," Jordan muttered, moving to the hall. "We're in here."

Xane moved into the kitchen with Trowa behind him. The man looked the group of them over for a moment, then pointed at Morgan.

"You feel weird," Paris informed the new one, moving up behind him. "What are you thinking?"

Xane looked him over, blinking several times, then looked back to Morgan. "I know this is a dinner for Yuy," Xane added. "And I caught that Yuy and Robert just about come to blows over stupid shit."

Heero gave him a look.

"It's nice and annoying to us," Morgan agreed.

"This is a friend of mine," Wufei added, indicating Morgan. "He's my second in my swat team...as Mouthy noted, he and Yuy don't get along...or Winner."

"Nice meeting you," Shin noted with a grin, offering her hand to Morgan.

The man kissed her knuckles as he rose, then moved around to Xane. "Let's go...you're right."

"Casual observation," Jordan explained to the rest when they looked at him. "He gleaned his information from watching the way we all act together."

"So you had Morgan come here to...leave with Mouthy?"

"You know," Xane noted around Morgan from just inside the living room, "I only let Maxwell call me that."

Wufei smirked, "Sorry, sorry, my bad."

"Later," Xane called as the electronic beep sounded.

"Bye," Morgan agreed.

There was the sound of a car, and Trowa moved toward the front of the house again. After a moment, he returned with a brown haired woman with happy eyes.

"Hello," Jordan noted, blinking at her. "Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare? Your erotic fantasy?" Deb smiled at him.

Jordan blinked and shook his head, "My fantasy is there," he pointed toward Chai's general direction. "So that means you're my nightmare...huh...nice legs for a nightmare."

Deb started laughing delightedly as Trowa snorted.

"I'm Jordan," he added, offering his hand.

There was another brief exchange of formalities, then Chai ushered Jon and Jor from her kitchen. "We have a table set up out back," she explained. "The sun is down just enough now that it won't bother us. Go outside before something decides to happen to our cutlery."

"You need me for anything?" Jor muttered from where he was standing at the end of the bar.

"I'm thirsty," Zach noted to Jordan and Chai curiously.

"Hey, Shin?" Chai called. The woman poked her head into the room, "What can he drink?"

"Oh, I'll..." Shin started, moving toward them.

"No, it's fine. I just know that some parents like to limit a kid's intake of sugars or caffeine."

"I want milk, mom," Chip muttered earnestly to his mother, grabbing her skirt and wrapping it around his hands.

"What do you say?" Shin noted, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Please?" he asked, then looked to Chai with those huge eyes. "Please? I want some milk."

Shin grinned, looking to Jordan as the adults smiled at each other.

X x X x X

Zachary was giggling hard as Heero chased him around, darting around the small trees that had some sort of pattern in the backyard.

Jordan had never properly appreciated the fact that he had a backyard, and when Chai had informed him she and Jon were picking out patio furniture, he'd assumed she meant the plastic chairs. She had not, however, meant plastic chairs.

There was a wire-frame table with a glass-top and chairs that matched it with an umbrella. It was a large table, and there were a lot of chairs. Aside from that, he had also realized she'd told him she'd bought a barbeque grill for him.

"I got you!" Heero crowed, snatching the three-year-old up and tossing him into the air as the boy continued his deep-belly giggling. Zach clung to him as he caught his breath, though it was evidently a hard thing to do with as much laughter as he felt. "Okay, okay," the man added. "Time for a rest..." He moved to sit in his spot again as the little boy stayed against his chest.

Shin smiled at the man as he watched them, and a sort of fleeting sadness crossed her face. The smile, however, returned almost instantly.

"So who does dishes?" Chai asked sweetly. "Quatre and I cooked, so who cleans up?"

Heero blinked, looking to his watch, then looked around a moment before meeting Jordan's eyes.

"You forgot the deal?" Jor asked sweetly in Italian. "That's special."

Heero smirked at him.

"What language is that?" Shin asked, looking between them. "It sounds...familiar, but..."

"Italia, bella," Jordan returned, then laughed as he slid down where he sat. "I can do part of the cleaning, but I don't want to do it all."

"Do I have to move?" Paris grumbled. He'd been folded over on the table since he'd finished his food, and Quatre had noted he'd fallen asleep.

"Just into the guest room," Quatre reassured him.

His head lifted up.

Quatre considered things a moment, then looked to Jordan and Chai again. "Well...can I move in here?"

Trowa, Wufei, and Heero stared at him in amazement. Paris and Jon were both blinking, and Shin was looking around at them all with interest as Deb smirked slightly.

"I...uh..." Jordan looked to Chai uncertainly. He wouldn't rescind his word for the world, but it seemed like an odd time to ask...and he hadn't actually gotten to talk to Chai about it.

"I know...it's your first home," Quatre muttered, looking between them. "And it really is a home...but...in the barracks, there are people everywhere...I can't sleep half the time at night...and...well." Quatre bit his lip, "I'd be eternally grateful..."

Chai met Jordan's eyes as the group all studied them with interest. Jordan was feeling horrible because he couldn't remember if Chai had been around when he'd offered the room to Quatre, and he'd told her the house was hers...

Quatre laughed slightly, but Paris was moving to him before the sound even left his mouth. The taller empath engulfed the blond in a hug, and for a moment all you could see was back.

"It's up to you," Jordan informed Chai very quietly. "It's your house."

She smiled slightly at him, then looked around as Paris moved away from Quatre. She smiled larger, then nodded her head, "On one condition."

Quatre blinked at her, wiping at his slightly glossy eyes, "Anything."

She giggled a bit evilly, "Don't be so quick to concede. I like Morgan. I like him coming to visit me. If you live here, you have to be cordial to him."

That got her an uncertainly disbelieving look.

"The house is hers, Q," Jordan noted in mild amusement.

"Can't I just...avoid him?" Quatre pleaded.

Chai started giggling.

X x X x X

"Maxwell," Danielle Duvall whined at him, "It's four in the morning." She, along with Xane, Riley Mae, Judas Ifhera, and Raul Jaem were sitting together in a small briefing room.

Riley had her dark head in Raul's lap, and the dark-haired man had his eyes closed. Judas was sitting in the corner of a small couch with his knees at his chest and his head and arms against his knees. Xane was sitting near them in a chair with a very drained expression on his face. Danielle was sitting near Raul.

"Une said to meet her here at four-fifteen," Jordan shrugged, yawning again as he hoped Chip didn't wake up. "She told me that I had to have my team ready by today, and then she said we had to be in here." He yawned larger, feeling his jaw pop.

"And you call me mouthy," Xane noted, leaning over onto the tabletop.

Jordan gave him a look, moving to sit on the arm of the couch beside Judas. "You okay?" he asked, rubbing the man's back.

...what did he mean, man? Xane, Judas, and Danielle were twenty-one and Raul and Riley were just barely twenty-two.

There was the one note, though, where he himself was only twenty-three...almost twenty-four. The difference was that he'd grown up in wartimes and fought the wars. These five had grown up in the tail end of the wartimes and had not had to fight or survive...just hang on for the ride.

"I'm tired," Judas explained. "I went to bed at eight last night, but couldn't get to sleep."

"Eight is early," Jordan agreed with a grin. He moved around the male to sit on the couch as well. "I was up until three."

"So you took a nap? And you're awake?" Danielle blinked at him.

"I'll only be awake for so long," Jor shrugged.

"Good morning, sparrows," Une announced cheerfully as she moved into the room with folders. "I see you're all here."

"If you're going to be this up and cheery I'll help them light a bonfire for you," Jordan noted.

Une giggled, moving around with folders. She set two on Riley's head and the female giggled herself, catching them before they fell as she passed Danielle hers. She tossed one at Jordan's face, and tucked another between Judas' rear and feet before turning and offering the last to Xane.

"What's the objective?" Jordan muttered, flipping his open and reading down the list of names. "What's the time frame?"

"You and Yuy got the names," Une replied easily. "You passed them to me to get my specialty teams on it...and now I'm passing you the last five people to figure out what you can on them."

Jordan raised his eyes to hers, "This is a real mission?"

Une nodded at him, her expression curious. "I told you to have them ready, didn't I?"

"Okay..." he considered things a moment. "Time frame?"

"By Monday."

"So you called us here at four in the morning...for what?" Danielle muttered, sitting up to blink at her.

"That's my prerogative, Soldier," Une noted, moving from the room, then paused as she realized they were supposed to be intelligence. "My people," she noted, "Just finished compiling these last names. We didn't want to chance anyone else seeing them."

And with that, she left the room.

"We're the only ones who can see these?" Riley asked, sitting up to blink at her leader.

"I didn't train you for something to do in the odd hours," Jordan noted, closing his folder and tapping it on his lap. "Okay, who's coming to my house to crash on my couches without waking up a visiting three year old or two empaths?"

"Huh?" Danielle asked blankly.

"Winner and one of his friends crashed in my spare room," Jordan explained easily. "My girl is babysitting a three-year-old, and if you're coming to my place, you can spread over my living room until I decide to wake up, but you can't upset my empaths."

"I'm game," Xane yawned.

"What, precisely, does not upsetting your empaths entail?"

"Emotional control," Jordan shrugged. "You come in the house to crash and you focus your emotional shit on being tired or how comfy my nice new couch looks."

"Couch? Singular?" Danielle frowned at him.

"One long couch and two chairs," Xane supplied. "It's a newer place so even the floor is cushy."

"And if you don't come crash there," Jordan added, rising to his feet. "You have to read my fucking mind and meet me there no more than five minutes after I wake up."

"That doesn't suggest getting very good sleep," Raul noted, shifting Riley off his lap. "I'm game."

"I suppose," Riley agreed.

"Whatever," Judas noted.

"I'm leaving," Jordan informed them, starting for the door as Xane instantly moved to follow. Judas uncoiled himself from the couch, grabbing his folder and following as Danielle hesitated. She bounced after Riley as Raul disappeared out the door and wondered briefly if Maxwell would kick her out of the group. She seemed to be the only one who'd argue with him. She followed as well.

Matthew Corringer spotted them as they moved down the stairs, and followed them slowly through the front doors and down the breezeway. The five members of Jordan's special forces were walking along behind the man himself toward their cars. One was walking rather closer to Maxwell than the rest, and when the man stopped in front of his fancy new car, the flunky leaned against his arm to rest his head on his shoulder. Corringer couldn't quite hear them, and didn't want them to notice him...

"Park along the road if you don't fit in the drive," Maxwell noted to the lot, ruffling the hair of the one against him.

Matthew shifted back where he was standing, noting that the entire lot of them were holding folders almost negligently in their hands.

The one leaning against the devil's playmate moved away and into a nice piece of shit car as the others did the same. Jordan waited for them to be safely in their vehicles before he turned and unlocked his own, watching them pull out...before turning his focus on to Corringer.

Matthew stood frozen.

Jordan considered the man a long moment, then spit in his direction...and climbed into his car.

He squealed from the parking lot.

Matthew snorted, "Fuck you, too."

X x X x X

"What did he do?" Xane muttered to Jordan as the guy walked up his driveway. He'd noted someone following them, and had told his leader about it. He was almost disappointed that the male had already noticed it.

"That guy following us?" Raul asked, looking between the pair.

"Matthew Corringer," Judas agreed. "I saw his reflection in the doors on the way out."

"I don't know what he wanted," Jordan shrugged. "I turned and watched him for a minute, but he didn't move or say anything."

"That guy creeps me out," Riley noted, rubbing her arms.

"I like Mat," Danielle returned. "He's always really nice."

"Until he beats my friend illegally during an interrogation," the re-instated soldier looked the group of them over as he noted something in the back of his mind. Trowa had referred to Corringer as Mat before. Not only that, but Heero had noted repeated occasions where the pair of them had fought.

"So, you gonna unlock it?" Raul half-teased.

"Compose yourselves, first," Jordan retorted, taking a deep breath. "We're close enough for Paris to feel us, but Q shouldn't be able to yet."

"Paris?" Riley asked, blinking at him. "Paris Marks?"

Jordan considered it a moment and shrugged, "Sure, that works."

She smiled at him, "He's creepy," she noted, looking to her comrades. "I have a friend who's a quieting and she says that he's always sitting alone...and then he's fine when he starts talking to you, but...he can get..."

"Pure evil," Jordan teased, pulling out his keys to unlock the door. "I like Paris, thank you very much. He may be a bit eccentric, but when you're dealing with strong empaths, you can't expect normal personalities. Do you guys even know," he lowered his voice as he let them in, "What they do? Why they're surrounded by quietings?"

"They feel strong emotions," Raul noted.

"Oh, no," Judas shook his head as he closed the door behind himself and flicked the locks. "The weak ones only feel strong emotions, but the ones on the level of Winner or Marks...those fuckers can read minds."

"Not quite," Jordan made a gesture for them to quiet even more. "I know that Quatre can almost read minds if you ask him a question before his mind registers what he's seeing or feeling. But it's a sense of your emotions...that's why I said for us all to compose ourselves. I'm not sure how far Paris' reach extends." He pointed to the couch and chairs. "I'll go grab blankets."

By the time he'd returned, Raul had situated himself in one corner with Riley against his hip. Judas had situated himself at the other corner, and Danielle was laying against him. Jordan spread blankets out over the two sets, then focused on Xane in amusement as he dropped the extra two blankets on the floor.

Xane smirked at him in return, then moved to one of the recliners, situating himself before Jor draped a blanket over him and tucked a pillow under his head.

"You play favorites," Riley half-pouted at him. "Why can't I be the favorite? I'm prettier than mouthy."

Jordan snickered, winked at her, then headed for his bedroom, flicking out the living room light as he went.

X x X x X

Paris stared at the wall of the room he was in, startled. He had felt a burning curiosity, then a series of flickering emotions before most of it had died off...and then he'd felt...a friendliness that was directed at him. A pointed fuck-you friendliness...and a moment later he'd realized it was Jordan himself.

In a general way, Paris was used to being somewhat shunned. Growing up had been hell for him because he'd always known what the others were thinking or feeling and it made him different. When the wars had ended and the people came through the high schools, he'd been relieved to be taken into the empath building. Meeting with people like him and feeling their general happiness had helped for a while...until they'd all started treating him like he was different...and then came Quatre.

The blond had entered his life like a spark in the dark, zooming around the building and telling random people to meet him in a room. It wasn't until later that he'd realized that Quatre could see that same spark in the dark, and those sparks were some of the ones he chose for his special training sessions. There were many, like Gina and Varia that were just enough above the average person to be considered an empath...and he'd taken several of those too...there didn't seem to be a pattern or a common thread among his choices.

Now, the blond was excessively happy as he lay curled up on the edge of his mattress. He was also sound asleep. He was aware that Paris wasn't sleeping, and aware that a large group of people had entered the house, but he knew Jordan's emotional signature—Jordan's fingerprint, as it were—and he trusted Jordan implicitly.

Jordan had hurt him so badly...and Quatre still just trusted the man...and Jordan liked Paris.

The empath wondered what effect the re-instated soldier would have on his life in the long run...and wondered if he should be grateful...or scared.

X x X x X

E/N: Thanks for the reviews...