Title: Foundations
Author: Shannon/Freelance
Summary: If you are lucky, you will have someone who is always there for you. Aiden Ford backstory.
Spoilers: None particularly. It's pre-series. Perhaps slightly for Rising.
Disclaimer: They are not mine! La!
A/N: Big thank you to Margaret, the lovely beta (and person), who seriously must have a reading speed that's quicker than light. And thank you to Annieohs who helped me out with an inquiry.
When Aiden Ford is seven-years-old, he spends the night at his grandparents' house.
Aiden loves visiting his grandparents. He and Lara run around the house, giggling and screaming, until Grandma shoos them outside. There, they roll around on the grass, still laughing. Grandpa, smiling in his chair on the porch, scolds them for staining their clothes. But then he jumps up and joins them.
They play hide and seek. They play cops and robbers. They play till they drop, and then they lie down on the grass and paint pictures from the clouds. Grandma brings them ice cream, exclaiming over their clothes, and they all sit happily, licking away.
Later, Aiden helps Grandma make her world-famous lasagna (his favourite) and they serve it for dinner. They talk about everything: about school, about sports, about Grandpa's tendency to pass his vegetables to the dog. Grandma just sighs while Grandpa grins broadly. Aiden and Lara exchange looks and giggle loudly in their seats.
After supper, Grandpa tells them stories about when he was a boy. Aiden sits, happily attentive, until mid-way through story four, he yawns. Grandma declares that it's time for bed and hurries them both upstairs. Lara disappears into her bedroom and Aiden disappears into the guest, waiting patiently for his turn.
His grandparents appear five minutes later. He gets kissed on both cheeks, a pat on the head, a lullaby sung and 'I love yous'. Content, he snuggles down into his blanket and sleeps a dream-filled night.
The next day, after lunch, he helps Grandpa out in the garden. They kneel in the soil and plant flower after flower after flower. His fingernails get covered in dirt and Aiden just knows Mom is going to be scrubbing them for days.
At the thought of his mother, he sighs. "Grandpa…" he starts, pushing another rosebush into a hole. "When are Mom and Dad going to pick me up? I love you guys but I kinda want to go home."
Grandpa laughs, a rich chocolate laugh that always reminds Aiden of hugs and musk, and shakes his head. "They'll be here soon enough, Aiden. Now help me with these yellow ones."
Aiden smiles and does.
But for the rest of the afternoon, he longs for home. He loves staying with Grandma and Grandpa – and when Mom and Dad arrive, he'll probably want to stay longer – but right now he misses his parents terribly.
Grandma tries to settle him with a board game and some cookies. She tells him his parents will be there soon, that he'll be home soon, but Aiden gets more and more antsy. He just wants to go home.
But then three hours later a policeman knocks at the front door, and Aiden realises he'll never be going home.
On his thirteenth birthday, Aiden's grandparents throw him a surprise party. There are streamers and balloons and a table piled with presents. Everyone from his class and his baseball team is there.
He takes two steps inside the house, before whirling around and tackling them both.
His grandfather laughs and pats him on the head. "Careful there. I'm getting to be an old man, you know."
Aiden beams brightly at them. "You said it was only going to be dinner! Me and Lara and Michael and you two!"
His grandparents smiled at each other. "We may have lied a little," Grandma says. She looks at him. "But it's not right to lie, unless it's for a good surprise. Remember that, Aiden."
Aiden smiles and nods dutifully. "I know, Grandma."
"Good. Now go have fun!" She taps him lightly on the butt and he dives into the fray.
Later that night, when everyone has gone and they're about to start on the clean up, Grandpa takes him out on the porch.
"You two better not take too long, Samuel! We're not doing the cleaning on our own," Grandma calls.
Grandpa grins. "Yes, Sara!" His grandfather leads him over to the porch chairs and they sit, staring at the moonlit road.
Aiden turns and stares up at him expectantly. "Why'd you bring me out here, Grandpa?"
Grandpa sighs and keeps gazing at the road. "You're a growing boy, Aiden. Each day I've seen you growing taller, getting older… You're a teenager now. And there are things…"
Aiden grins. "We learnt about this in school already, Grandpa."
His grandfather looks at him and smiles wryly. "I suppose you have. But that's not what I'm talking about."
He pulls a box out of his pocket and hands it to Aiden. Slowly, Aiden opens it.
"These are your father's medals." He sighs. "He was a brave man, your dad. He did his duty and he did it well. Would've been in there fifteen years, the year he died."
Aiden quietly gazes at the medals and ribbons, lightly running his fingers over them. He can remember his dad, all dressed up in his dress uniform, preparing to go to one ceremony or another. Or returning home after a time away.
"They're yours now, Aiden. Take care of them. And be proud." Slowly, his grandfather stands up and moves towards the door. "I better go help before your Grandma starts after me. Don't you worry about cleaning though. You'll have to do it for Lara's birthday."
Absently, Aiden nods - his focus is on the box. His grandpa disappears inside, and he sits there for another hour, the medals held tight in his hand.
Two weeks later, Aiden puts on his best dress clothes and marches in the local parade. And then he does the same each year, on every Memorial Day after.
Teenage boys are supposed to be obsessed with girls and cars. And three months after he turns sixteen, Aiden is too.
There's Simone Green on the soccer team: long and leggy, with the most beautiful brown eyes he's ever seen. There's Laura, his science lab partner, who always manages to confuse him. There's the girl whose name he doesn't know, but who smiles at him every time they pass in the halls.
There are girls.
But more importantly, there are cars.
He doesn't actually know or care much about the cars themselves; their makes or models. It's how fast they go; it's how well they manouevre. It's how they feel to drive. It's how they give him the power to win the races they run round the town lake.
He's sixteen-years-old and he thinks he's invincible. And it scares the hell out of his grandparents.
He strolls in late one night and they're sitting on the couch waiting for him. He slouches against the door jamb, and the interrogation begins.
"Where have you been?"
"Out."
"Doing what?"
"Stuff."
"What stuff?"
Aiden shrugs and his grandfather glares at him. "You been racing those cars again?"
Aiden doesn't respond. His grandfather leaps up. "Aiden Samuel Ford, you will answer me this second."
His grandmother places a soft hand on her husband's arm. "Sam…"
"No. He lives in our household. We have a right to know what's going on."
Grandma looks at him. "Aiden."
"Fine!" he shouts, angrily. "I was out racing! But it isn't any of your business. You're not my parents!"
There is a stunned silence.
When his grandfather speaks, his voice lacks all warmth and Aiden doesn't think he's ever heard a more chilling sound. "No. We're not. But we're the closest you've got. Because some stupid kid who was about your age ploughed into your parents' car. And we don't want to see the same thing happen to you because, dammit Aiden, we love you." He sighs and rubs his forehead. "Go to your room."
Silently Aiden strides out of the living room. He hesitates in the hallway and listens to the murmurs behind him.
"Dammit, why won't he listen?"
His grandmother speaks quietly. "It's the age, Sam. He's trying to be independent, to do what he wants. Maybe it's to prove he isn't scared." She sighs. "I just wish Lara was here. She could always get through to him."
But Lara isn't here. Lara's with her mother as she tries – again – to prove that she's a fit parent.
Aiden runs up the stairs before he hears anything else.
A month after and it's the big race. Kids from the next town are at the lake to watch and the excitement surges through the air. Aiden is pumped, adrenaline rushing through him, and he's prepared for his race. He's prepared to win.
He sits in the car – it's a friend's old junk and he still doesn't know the model – and waits at the starting line. He's signalled to go and he hits the pedal, slamming it to the floor.
Next thing he knows, he's staring at a white light and the tight, lined faces of his grandparents. They ply him with hugs and kisses and he slips back into sleep.
Three days later, he wakes to see Lara at the foot of his bed, glaring at him.
"Hey Lar-"
She strides forward. "Don't you 'Hey Lara' me. You are an asshole, Aiden Ford. I can't believe you did that! You go out there, risking your life, and give absolutely no thought for anyone else!"
He blinks mutely at her and she sinks into a chair. "Aiden… You didn't see them after your parents' deaths. They hid it from you because they thought they had to be strong. They were devastated; they lost a son and a woman they considered their daughter." She gazes at him. "They had a reason for not wanting you to race, Aiden. They didn't want to lose you too."
Shaking, he looks away from her. "I know…" he starts and then his voice breaks.
"Tell them that."
And seven week later when he's out of the hospital and they're there to pick him up, he does.
They stand, facing him, and softly he starts to speak. "I'm… sorry. About everything. About the racing, about not telling you anything. I just… It just…" He stares at the ground. "I'm sorry."
Four arms pull him to them and he falls into their hugs. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Shhhh," Grandma soothes, patting his cheeks. "We know."
Grandpa rubs his head. "We know. But there'll be no more racing."
Aiden nods and brushes his face free of tears. And then they head home.
When Aiden Ford is twenty-five, he spends his last night at his grandparents' – his – home.
Aunts and uncles and cousins pop in and out throughout the day, but that night it's only him and Lara and Grandma and Grandpa.
That night, Aiden helps Grandma make her world-famous lasagna (still his favourite) and they serve it for dinner. They talk about everything: about the world, about sports, about Grandpa's tendency to pass his vegetables and false teeth to the dog. Grandma still sighs while Grandpa grins broadly. Aiden and Lara exchange looks and smile softly in their seats.
They don't talk about where he's going. They don't talk about what he's doing. They don't talk about the fact that he might not be coming home again.
His grandparents and Lara survived college, training and two postings overseas. They'll survive this. So will he.
After supper, Grandpa tells them stories about when they were kids. They laugh at memories rekindled, about the practical jokes he and Lara used to pull. About the adventures their family went on and the trials they made it through.
Eleven o'clock and Grandma declares that it's time for bed. He and Lara just sigh at each other, before disappearing into their rooms. The rooms are still the way they were left, even though neither has lived permanently at home for a few years now.
Aiden tumbles into his bed and ducks beneath the sheets.
His grandparents appear five minutes later. He gets kissed on both cheeks, a pat on the head and 'I love yous'.
He stares at his grandparents. "You know, I really am too old for this."
"Well, we'd hate to break it to you, but you'll always be our little Aiden," Grandma grins.
"That scrawny little kid who never could legitimately beat me at basketball."
"Hey!" Aiden said. "I beat you last Friday!"
"Only because I let you." His grandpa groans. "Plus it's these knees. You have an unfair advantage with all that youth of yours."
"Sure, that's it," Aiden says, knowingly. He smiles. "I love you both."
"And we love you." Grandma pats him on the leg. "Now, get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."
"I will. Night."
"Night, sweetheart."
They leave and Aiden, content, sleeps.
The next morning, after breakfast, they stand outside the front of the house. His bags are packed and so now, they wait.
Lara pulls him into a hug. "You take care of yourself now, Aiden. Don't go being stupid and do your best. Or I'll be giving you a talking to when I next see you."
He smiles into her hair. "I will. Promise."
She nods and stands back. "Good. Love you, baby cousin."
"You too, mama cousin."
She ruffles his incredibly short hair, he tugs at her nose, and then she's in her car and gone, heading to her own work.
He takes a moment to just breathe and, next thing, the cab's there. His grandparents walk him to it.
"Be good."
"Be strong."
"Do your best."
"And makes us proud."
They pause and all three stare at each other. "Oh, come here," Grandpa says and he's pulled into a hug.
Grandma kisses and pats his cheeks. "Don't forget that we love you and we'll always be thinking of you."
"I'm so proud of you," Grandpa adds softly.
Aiden nods and swings himself and his duffle into the cab.
"We'll miss you."
He nods again and gazes up at them. "Me too."
They shut the door and, slowly, the cab begins to move. He turns and watches out through the back window. His grandparents wave and he waves back until they turn the corner.
He twists back around in his seat and gazes out at the street, at the neighbourhood he grew up in and will so sorely miss.
And then, settled, he smiles.