Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ In the City at Night ❯ Playing With Fire ( Chapter 30 )

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

Playing with Fire

Watching Doug and Xane talk was like watching a perfectly timed movie. Come-on, rebuttal, suggestion, and assessment flowed between them in turns as Trowa thoroughly allowed himself to enjoy the conversation. Even Quatre was reduced to laughter when Xane suggested that Doug do something that included closing his eyes. Jordan wasn't able to follow all of what was going on, because he was driving and focused on projecting that sensation Quatre always claimed to focus on for Paris, who was sitting somewhat nervously in the passenger seat of Quatre's SUV.

"Cuffs," Xane muttered, extending one hand toward Jordan.

Jordan noted that he didn't want to know and pulled the cuffs he wore on his belt out to hand to the man.

"Jordan!" Trowa protested as Doug squawked and tried to climb over the seat.

Xane laughed naughtily and the back of the vehicle bounced hard.

"Dear god, I have to pull this over, don't I?" Jordan asked Paris.

"Well, there was a comment made about a minute ago that if Xane could get Doug cuffed, he could have his way with him."

So that explained the commotion. "Oops."

Xane's laughter informed Jordan that something had happened, and he hazarded a glance to the back...where his second was cuffed with his face pressed into the window.

"You know, Xane," Jordan muttered, "You're getting the window all dirty."

"Oops, sorry, Q," Xane apologized to the owner as he shoved away from the window...and the commotion redoubled.

"What the...Doug!"

This time the cuffs were on Trowa, who was extremely confused as he hovered over the back seat and Quatre died laughing.

"Oops, sorry, Tro," Doug muttered, releasing them.

"I have a voice key on those," Jordan noted quietly to Paris. "Tell me when to cue it."

Paris died laughing, turning to watch the goings on more properly as Quatre managed to get cuffed. When things seemed about to get out of hand, Jordan took a corner a bit hard, which successfully reminded the lot that they were in a vehicle.

"And..." Paris sat up very slightly.

Since fifteen or twenty minutes had passed since Jordan had mentioned the voice key, it took him a moment to connect what the lanky man was muttering about.

"Not..." Doug started to Xane.

"Now!" Paris bounced slightly in his seat.

"Prism nine," Jordan announced in a loud and firm tone.

The cuffs clicked.

"What the..." Doug started as Paris crowed with delight.

"What did you just..."

"Voice key," Xane nearly purred in realization, starting to laugh evilly.

"Hm," Jordan glanced in the review mirror at Trowa's stunned expression. He could see Doug's absolute dismay beyond his comrade as the cuffed man looked at someone out of the mirror's line of vision—presumably Xane. "Paradime."

"What would the second code be?" Quatre breathed.

"Mouthy, wait," Tro started...and Xane cried out in absolute shock...

Literal shock.

Jordan started laughing evilly.

"Holy shit," Xane breathed, looking around to the back of Jordan's head in disbelief. He reached forward slowly, focused on the cuffs, and before he could touch the man again, the shock was delivered a second time.

"You have these on your belt?" Quatre demanded of Jordan, then noted Paris' continued snickering. "What's...what..."

"I told him to tell me when to cue them," Jordan explained. "About twenty minutes ago, actually."

"Paris!" Quatre protested.

"Mouthy's fun to sync with," Paris explained, bouncing slightly.

"That's...disturbing," Trowa noted.

"Sync?" Jordan muttered.

"You have his immediate person protected," Quatre muttered slowly, raising an eyebrow. "But he's got the range that he can focus beyond that."

"So he's...focusing on Xane?"

"Why are you the only one who calls me by name when you made up the damn nickname?" Xane asked curiously, then thought about what had been said and tilted his head.

Paris gasped, pulling away from the back of his seat as Quatre threw himself against the door and the back of the passenger seat, staring at the male.

Xane laughed evilly.

"You're fucked up!" Quatre breathed.

"Key down," Jordan noted loudly...and the small generator of his cuffs cut out, he repeated the phrase and the cuffs unlocked.

"What's the matter?" Trowa muttered, studying Quatre.

"Yeah, he's genuinely bi," the blond returned. "He's very genuinely bi."

"I just..." Xane laughed a bit evilly, teasing slightly at the back of Tro's hands, "put out an idea or two...don't worry, I know what I can do with them. I won't do it."

"I've never actually thought about it," Jordan noted, looking to Paris. "You into guys at all?"

"Why do you ask?" Paris' tone was a bit choked.

"I like to know who I have around me," Jordan shrugged.

"Considering the topic going on back here," Quatre noted, "I think I might mistrust your true intentions."

"I'm just asking" Jordan retorted, then reached back as Doug passed him the cuffs.

"You really want to play with me, little boy?" Trowa asked Xane, studying him seriously. "Do you really want to try me?"

Xane moved his hand away, blinking uncertainly at the male.

Trowa smirked.

X x X x X

"How was the drive?" Zachary asked Heero through a huge yawn as they started for the front of his house. "I'm glad to be home."

Heero shrugged a bit noncommittally. Mario and Morgan had eventually fallen asleep. That'd left Heero and Wufei free to talk normally. The topic of their training seemed to be coming to his mind more and more, if not only because he'd absolutely offended Jordan. He hadn't realized that his friend hadn't been beaten, and didn't want to ask Wufei if he had, though the man's martial-arts status indicated a negative.

There would be no way in hell that the Winner heir would have been beaten, so that dropped Quatre out of the loop, and the remaining bit would have been Trowa. Trowa'd been raised in more of a family group...so that meant that he himself had only been the one...of course, he'd been trained to be emotionless, too, hadn't he?

"What's the matter?" Zach pressed, studying his friend's face with some concern.

...Seems like the people who had him were a lot less moral than the others...but then again, how many of the others had been trained to assassinate by five?

"Shit's been coming up all week," Heero explained as the man moved in the front door. "We've been talking about our training in regards to Maxwell's team. It seems there were a few abnormalities in mine."

"You're the superman who resets his own leg," Zach noted with a slight smirk at the male.

"Good point, I guess," Heero returned the grin.

"They don't call you 'Master Baits' here, do they?" Morgan asked the man as he came in behind them.

Heero closed his eyes, remembering what about Wufei's friend had really annoyed the piss out of him.

"Fuck you," Zach retorted with a laugh, moving to one side. There was absolutely no offense in his manner. "Geeze, that's original...I haven't been hearing since I was eight."

Morgan snickered.

"Master Zachary!" a man was running from the back area of the house. "I'm sorry, sir! I thought you wouldn't be home for another twenty minutes!"

Zach smiled at the man, "It's fine, Regis. We didn't exactly follow the speed rules at a few spots."

"Oh," the man smiled at that, then shifted where he stood slightly uncomfortably. "I'm sorry...I called in your absence as soon as it'd been confirmed."

"It wasn't your fault, old man," Zachary muttered, patting his arm affectionately. "Did you get the rooms set up that I asked you to?"

"Some humble abode you got here," Morgan noted to the man, though it was more directed to Heero.

"It's bigger'n your barracks," Zach retorted. "And the carpet cost a fortune, so you better take your boots off or I'll get Yuy to kick your ass."

Morgan grinned easily, leaning over to untie his laces.

"Once we get shown to our rooms," Heero reassured his friend, "We'll change into civilian clothing. That way we can claim vacation."

"You are gonna let me make you be tourists, right?" Zach muttered. He'd stopped on his way with his butler to the area under the stairs that was generally a kitchen. "I mean, when I have visitors we usually run all over hell and creation."

Heero shrugged, gesturing a bit to indicate he'd go along with it. He didn't mind the idea of a genuine vacation, and even though he wouldn't be on one, they had to look legit.

Zach smiled at him a moment, then turned and disappeared.

"He hot for you?" Morgan asked Heero under his breath as he studied the former pilot's face.

"Excuse me?" Heero returned pointedly, giving him a look.

"Just askin', shit, I thought we were getting along," Morgan stepped back a pace or two, then grabbed his boots to set near a line of other shoes.

"What's up?" Wufei asked as he moved in with a pair of bags. He'd heard Morgan's comment and was watching Heero expectantly.

"Morgan," Heero muttered seriously as he took his own bag from Mario, "I'd really appreciate it if you don't overdue the bawdy jokes. Zach is easy-going enough that it won't phase him, but I'd appreciate it if you...showed some class."

For all that he didn't want to offend the man, he couldn't think of any other way to say it.

"You don't like my jokes?" Morgan asked, taking his and Wufei's bags as he met the man's eyes. "I'm just playing around...I mean, come on...Baits."

"What?" Wufei asked.

"Mater Baits?" Mario asked, trying not to snicker.

Wufei closed his eyes as Mario was leveled with a dirty look.

"I'll lay off," Morgan noted, "if you're not some complete asshole to me."

"I'm only an asshole when you annoy me."

"That's not true," Wufei protested, yanking his bag back from Morgan as he realized where it went, then blinked as his friend snatched it back again and indicated his boots.

Heero snorted, kicking Wufei's leg where his boot still was as Zach moved back into the hall with a case of Amber.

"Aww, he's a good host!" Morgan noted.

Zachary laughed, then indicated the stairs, "Come on, I'll show you your rooms." He stopped, looking to Heero's boots pointedly, then rolled his eyes. Mario was slipping his feet out of his own. "Fine. You can pay for anything you damage, jackass."

Heero grinned slightly at him, starting to follow, "When I'm playing body-guard, no matter how much a farce we've got going on, I don't take my shoes off."

"No, you mean boots," Wufei corrected, looking to Morgan. "He'll have those on the entire time," he fingered the area where the man had kicked him. "Steel-toe and all that shit."

"You're lucky I was just using the side, then," Heero noted.

"You think you can take me, fucker?" Wufei challenged happily as they moved up the stairs. "I bet I'd have you on your back or knees in about five minutes."

"Wufei, we're not alone..." Heero muttered as Zach snickered evilly.

"You walked into that one," Morgan noted as Mario maintained the semblance of a straight face.

Wufei flashed his second an evil look, "He's worried about not being alone when he's the one who does the orgy thing."

Mario stopped as Zachary's laughter turned delighted.

"Okay, Master Baits," Morgan muttered, studying the man, "I'm straight, Fei is straight, and I got the impression Mario there is straight. Any entertainment for you is with Yuy."

Heero smacked him as Zachary's expression turned almost serious.

"I somehow get the feeling this will be a lot more fun than I initially expected," Wufei noted in Mandarin, studying Heero. "Why didn't you tell me he was normal?"

"Define normal," Zachary retorted...in English.

Wufei blinked at him.

Heero snickered, "Because I don't know which languages he knows and my natural flow with you would be the Mandarin."

...and Zachary started laughing again.

X x X x X

"It's too bad we couldn't pull the same stunt Heero is," Jordan muttered as he and Xane moved into Tirone Beedus' house with Paris and Quatre in tow. "I'd like to play at vacation."

"But you don't have the long-standing friendship with Beedus that Yuy does with Baits," Xane reminded him. "Besides, it makes more sense for him to beg bodyguards out of you since you're the ones who saved him."

Jordan nodded as Quatre moved tiredly through the doors and Trowa followed him with Doug a step behind.

On an amusing note, Doug was an absolute ball of energy...until he ran out, at which point he would drop almost instantly into sleep. He was more trudging behind Trowa than following him, and Jordan wasn't entirely sure the man could be considered awake.

"I don't have any servants," Tirone noted. He'd led the way and was moving around his place flicking lights on. "Go ahead and set your stuff anywhere for now, then we can go about picking your rooms. I usually have more advanced notice than this, so I didn't have time to figure out the internal rank shit that goes on between you."

Trowa offered him a grin at the comment and indicated that he'd be the top-most man.

"Were you taken from here?" Jordan asked, ignoring Tro's pretended subtlety.

Tirone looked the area over and shook his head, "No...I'd been meeting with the mayor of a city about a half hour away from here." He gestured vaguely toward the wall of windows that faced the cliffs. "I don't generally travel with an entourage, so all it took was getting me off main roads."

"Damn," Jordan muttered, looking the area over as he noted plausible entrances aside from just going through the windows...for all that it was a very large issue...and with the right sort of helicopter all you had to do was jump off the cliff-side...

The bottom floor was entirely open, and up the center of the building was a set of stairs. The wall along the cliff-side of the house was completely glass from sunken floor to vaulted ceiling, and the furniture was all low, white, and somewhat overstuffed.

"I see why you needed six of us," Trowa noted, also looking the area over. "Two of us sleep down here. One on either side...Jordan."

"I know," Jordan retorted.

"What about me?" Quatre retorted.

"You need your beauty sleep," Xane quipped, moving around the guy to look to their left and a kitchen.

Quatre snorted.

"Ooh, nice," Paris moved to their right and a large entertainment center. The metal-pipe shelving of it all took up a large portion of the wall. It was lined with cases.

"You don't have to sleep," Xane suggested, smirking slightly, "I'm usually game for entertainment when the sun goes down."

"Xane," Jordan muttered.

Xane laughed happily, though Quatre was giving him a vaguely wary look. "Oh come on, it's a joke," Xane pouted at him.

"You're an emotional ball of pure fuckin' light, jackass," Quatre retorted. "It'd be easy to fall into any trap you set for us."

"Is that why you jumped around like that in the car?" Xane asked, tilting his head. "I didn't mean anything by it, just fucking around."

"Come on, I'll show you the rooms," Tirone muttered in amusement.

"I like how Doug gets him all riled up," Jor muttered sidelong to Trowa, "then leaves him for us to deal with."

"I heard that," Xane protested.

Jordan grinned.

"Call Chai," Quatre muttered, "she's probably waiting for a word from us."

"Doug has that fun metabolism thing where he burns through it quickly," Tro explained, getting aback to Jordan's topic. "If we feed him, he'll perk back up."

"I'm not hungry," Doug muttered tiredly. "I just want to sleep."

"So we'll give you some protein." Trowa shrugged.

"Perimeter searches every four hours," Jordan noted, looking toward the glass walls again. "Before we go, we should get him some of the local garrison."

"I'm assuming you ran here, didn't you?" Trowa asked their host. "This is your voter-base?"

Tirone nodded, "Why?"

"We'll just let it be known that you are a target on some hit-list and inflame your fan-base. As pilots, we'll talk to your garrison about your safety...maybe even let it be hinted at that there's an alternate list for the power that you're on...you know. Sneakily getting the public on our side so when this all breaks into the news...yeah."

"I'll do as you suggest," Tirone shrugged slightly, indicating a room. "This is the smallest."

"I'll take it," Xane, Doug, and Paris chimed in unison, then blinked at each other.

Trowa grinned at the trio, then looked to Jordan, "That's just cute."

"Are they going to bicker?" Tirone asked, then indicated the next door, "This is the next size larger."

"I'll take that one," the three repeated.

"Who gets the smallest?" Jordan asked Quatre and Trowa with a sigh.

"You do," Trowa retorted. "I'll take the next one. We're sleeping downstairs, remember?"

"I thought as much," Jordan sighed again, moving toward the room...then blinking as Xane tried to beat him to it.

"That's a respect, you realize?" Quatre asked.

"Xane," Jordan said quietly, "You get the largest room."

"Hey, now," Quatre muttered in amusement.

"Second largest," Jordan corrected.

"If you could put your bags in here," Tirone muttered to Doug, realizing the room situation would be an issue. He hadn't realized that the boys would argue over who go the smallest room...the humble side of things was sort of nice, really...

"Come on," Xane protested. "You're the superior..."

"Young man," Tirone muttered, which distracted Paris from the argument. He nodded respectfully to their host as he moved into a room assigned to himself. "Quatre," Tirone raised his voice slightly, moving around a slight corner. "This is the largest room."

"Just take the offer," Jordan persisted to Xane. "I appreciate that you want to respect me, but I'm sleeping downstairs anyway, so there's no reason I need decadence."

"I'll sleep down there, then," Xane insisted as Trowa moved into the second smallest of the rooms.

"No you won't," Jordan snapped. "If Corringer's assholes come in, they aren't snatching you up."

Xane stopped, blinking at him.

"Depending on how personal this gets," Jor added, "they might come after you. I don't want to freak you out or anything, but everyone on base, including Corringer, associates you with me, and it's not like I'm not affectionate. I'm sleeping downstairs, I take the smallest room, you sleep upstairs in whatever other room..."

That caused Xane to deflate very slightly.

"Now, Featihl," Jordan added in a quiet command.

The guy sighed, looking away as Tirone moved back into sight with a slight smile.

Jordan tossed his bags on the bed, looking the room over. It was smaller than his back on base, but it was far from seeming it. There was floor room, and none of that wall-decorative clutter that always made a house feel feminine. The single piece of art in the room somehow stated that it was a bachelor's place of residence...if only because the picture depicted the silhouette of a naked lady.

Jordan grinned...it was a nice house. He pulled out his phone, wondering again if he should have left his girlfriend at the behest of the two most promiscuous bastards he'd ever met. He knew Wayne and Logan better than that, of course, but hey...what fun was life without a moment or two of jealousy?