Ambivalence

Chapter 10: Spelunking

By: Knowledge Eater

Disclaimer: Ubisoft owns Far Cry 5, I just like to play with their world and characters.

Even though Jess was conflicted about going with Aiden, she at least kept up with him They stocked up on weapons and ammunition before they left, and Aiden made a quick trip to the mess hall to inhale a few cups of coffee. He made Jess drive, she knew the location of their destination and he was hoping to take a power nap. Unfortunately, Jess had no intention of letting him sleep with the numerous questions she had for him.

They had just gotten into the pickup truck when she glared at him. "So why in the hell did you spare Joseph's whore?"

Aiden took a moment to rub the bridge of his nose. The pressure that built right between his eyes was starting to become unbearable. He just wanted to sleep for a few minutes. But he knew not to make Jess angrier by remaining silent.

"There was no reason to kill her," Aiden began to explain, but Jess was quick to immediately cut him off.

"Of course there's a reason to kill her! Just being a Peggie is a good enough reason. Not to mention she's one of the important ones," Jess countered.

Aiden shook his head. "This is different, Jess."

"How is this different? Because she's a woman? If you tell me you think she's hot I'm gonna punch you. Hard."

A heavy sigh escaped the deputy. "I don't know if I should feel offended that you think so lowly of me."

Jess continued to glare at him.

Another sigh. "For one thing, I've only killed to survive. We both have. And when I confronted Faith I was in no danger. She didn't have a weapon, she didn't have backup."

Jess had just started up the pickup, but she paused to cast Aiden a brief confused expression. "Well she doesn't need any of that with the Bliss. She could have turned you into a zombie, or Angel, whatever the hell she calls them."

"Exactly, she could have. But she chose not to. And I was able to fight off the effects of the Bliss. So without that she was no threat to me. I couldn't just kill her."

Although in reality he could have left her for dead. But he couldn't. Not when she reached for him and looked so hurt when he pulled away from her grasp. He felt Faith and Rachel were in conflict with each other, and it was Rachel that was reaching out for him. Rachel that accepted her fate for everything she did for the sake of acceptance. He chose to save Rachel, not Faith. But Jess didn't need to know that small detail. No one, in fact, had to know.

Jess was quiet for a moment while she drove them out of the jail's parking lot and onto the road.

Aiden chose to continue speaking. While he and Jess fought and hunted together quite frequently in the past few months, she had been absent in his confrontations with the other Seed brothers, Jacob and John.

"When I faced Jacob it was…frightening. He practically had an entire army on me. A dozen men and wolves hunted me down while he was perched up on a hill with a sniper rifle. I did try to arrest him, but with all of the chaos it came down to kill or be killed." Aiden unconsciously rubbed at his chest, right over his Wrath tattoo. "And John, well it came down to an aerial standoff. John's plane went down and I tracked him down. I did try to arrest him until he pulled a gun on me and in panic I shot and killed him."

Jess' face was pulled into its usual frown, but she listened. When he finished talking she nodded with grunt. "Yeah, Nick told me about what went down with John. But you didn't tell me about Jacob."

Aiden looked out his passenger window. "I try to forget a lot of what happened in Whitetail. And there wasn't really a need to talk about what happened."

"I still don't buy that Faith didn't try to kill you. She probably wanted you to think she wouldn't kill you."

Aiden shook his head. "Let me tell you something that I haven't told anyone else."

Jess shrugged. "All right."

"After I arrested Faith we ran into some Peggies. They took me to one of their outposts. She could have killed me, she could have tortured me. There was a lot of things she could have done to me. Instead, she kept me alive. Kept me comfortable, too. Sure she had questions for me, but she didn't force the information out of me. She's very different from her brothers."

"So that's why you chose not to kill her? Because she's not a psychopathic killer like the rest of her brothers?"

"Yes. And that's the thing, Jess. You call the Seed brothers killers. Why? Because they've killed innocent people, right?"

Jess shook her head. "Faith ain't innocent. A lot of people have died because of her."

"That's true," Aiden agreed. "But at that moment when it was just me and her. She had no intention of killing me. So if I were to just kill her simply because she's on the other team, isn't that being a hypocrite? I'd be no different than the Seeds and their followers for killing people that don't want to join them."

He looked over at Jess and found her frown deepening. "It's still not the same," she argued.

"Look," Aiden leaned back and rested his head against the car seat, "Faith is still under arrest. It's not like she gets to walk home free after all of this is done. She will see jail time. She will pay for everything that she's done."

"What, you don't think she'll get life or the needle?"

"Now I'm just a simple deputy, Jess." He waited until she glanced at him and he winked at her. "I arrest people that break the law. It's above my pay grade to know how long exactly people will be incarcerated depending on their crimes."

"You mean you're a basic bitch," Jess grinned for a moment, but then she shook her head and her expression became serious again. "After everything she's done? A U.S. Marshal died because of her. That bitch is not going to see the light of day again."

"That's the thing I'm not so sure about. Faith didn't directly kill people. Which is why I say she'll get jail time, that's for sure, but how long exactly I don't know."

"You know that she isn't a real Seed. She's a local. So when all this is over and done with and if she does walk free one day she better not show her face in Hope County."

"I know. That's also the reason why no one can find out she's at the jail." Aiden kept his gaze on Jess until she turned and looked at him. "I'm asking you as a friend to please keep Faith's survival between us."

Jess looked conflicted as she pulled her eyes back onto the road. "And if I don't?"

"She's my prisoner, my responsibility. I'd hope you don't put me in a position to arrest others for trying to take justice into their own hands. There's a fine line between being a vigilante and self-defense."

The hooded woman shook her head in response. "Fine, I won't try to kill the flower bitch. For now. But I'm calling it now, you will regret letting her live. And when that time comes I'm shoving an arrow through her throat."

This was as close to a truce he and Jess would get. "I wouldn't expect anything different."

They rode on in a comfortable silence. The short conversation and the caffeine from earlier helped awaken Aiden a bit. Still, he wanted to close his eyes just for a few minutes. He leaned back on his seat again and had just let his eyelids shut.

"I really don't get you, Aiden."

He kept his eyes closed. "What do you mean?"

"You must be the only cop that actually cares for the well being of a prisoner."

Aiden opened his eyes at that. "That's not true. I worked at a prison before I became a deputy. Not in Hope County of course, in another state. I'm not the only one that remembers that prisoners are still people."

Jess scoffed at that. "Yeah, people that hurt others. They don't deserve any mercy."

"Not everyone are sociopathic. You'd be surprised of how many people just…fall into the wrong crowd. I met a lot of decent folks. They became desperate for money, some did things just to be accepted by friends or even family. You sold drugs to help out your folks, which is illegal. If you were caught and imprisoned, would you say you didn't deserve to be treated like a person?"

Jess looked like she wanted to argue. After a silent moment she finally replied with, "I sold drugs, I wasn't hurting anyone."

"And not everyone reacts to drugs the same way. Some become violent and hurt people. So you were indirectly helping someone get hurt."

"Damnit, Aiden!" Jess slammed a fist down onto the steering wheel. "Why do you have to make everything so complicated?"

He chuckled in response. "You sound like my father. He had a very black and white perspective when it came to the law. He believed you either obeyed the laws or you didn't. If you didn't, you were lower than dirt. So we often argued about this very subject."

One of Jess' eyebrows arched upward and she peeked over at him before returning her eyes in front of her. "Your father was a cop?"
"He's retired now, but yeah he was a sheriff. It's why I'm here. He pulled some strings. Personally I wanted to pursue a different career."

"Really?" Jess glanced at him again. "I can't really picture you as anything else other than a rookie deputy."

Aiden laughed. "Yeah. I always had an interest in what made people tick, you know? Why people did the things they did."

"What like a shrink?"

"Something like that, yeah. And when I worked at that prison it made me all the more interested in the human mind. A lot of those prisoners they were just trying to survive. They weren't vindictive or cruel, they just wanted to survive. And…I think that's the same case with Faith. To survive she joined the Peggies."

Jess shook her head. "Sure. She was just trying to survive when she made the Bliss. The Peggies use that shit to brainwash people. Where's the survival in that?"

Aiden inhaled deeply. He had often wondered the same thing. "It started as survival to submit to Joseph Seed. After that, I think she just wanted to be belong, be accepted. Unfortunately to do that she literally had to become someone else. And do horrible things. I'm not trying to come up with excuses for her, I'm just trying to point out she isn't the heartless monster the Cougars make her out to be."

"Whatever," Jess sighed. "Still too complicated. I'll stick to keeping an eye on her."

"That's fine with me," Aiden replied. "Thank you though."

Jess waved a hand lazily at him. The truck slowed, Aiden turned to look out the window and watched as they pulled up in front of a small shed. After Jess killed the engine he stepped out of the truck with his new shotgun in hand. Faith said there would be Angels. They were fast and very durable, the best weapon to take them out was with any type of shotgun.

"There's the mine," Jess pointed just to the right of the shed.

The entrance was a lot smaller than Aiden imagined. From their distance he could already make out a green mist seeping at the foot of the entrance. "This won't be easy."

"No shit," Jess responded. She still preferred to use her bow, but she was thankfully effective with it against Angels. "It looks small on the outside, but Charles mentioned it has a few tunnels that run pretty deep."

"Yeah, and I bet you ten bucks that the generator that turns on the power to get into the supply room is at the very end."

"Ten bucks? You still owe me from the last bet!"

Aiden grinned as they both walked towards the health mine. "It's been a busy few weeks. Whenever we're back in Falls End I'll be sure to get you those drinks."

In truth he had forgotten about their bet. A few weeks ago, when Aiden was new to the Henbane River region, he and Jess hunted down a small group of particularly nasty Peggies that took to guerrilla tactics against the Cougars. When they found their camp Jess bet him a few drinks that she could take out a Peggie with an arrow to the head at the same distance as he could with a sniper rifle. Confident in his own shooting skills, Aiden took Jess up on the bet and lost. To add insult to injury she added a few more drinks to his tab when she saved him from a stray Peggie that snuck up behind him.

"So what's the plan?" Jess asked.

Aiden pulled out a small flashlight from his belt and stepped into the mine. Immediately to his right there was a large metallic door that practically resembled a vault. There was no doorknob, no window. Even though he knew it was locked he couldn't help but push against it.

The door didn't budge.

To the right was a tunnel that led further into the mine. The Bliss looked to remain at ground level, but each step Aiden took sent the Bliss upwards. He didn't spot any Angels. Didn't hear them either, but that didn't mean they weren't nearby. He learned the hard way they could be extremely quiet until they became violent.

"It's clear so far," he whispered towards Jess. "Avoid lifting your feet. Kinda drag your steps. The Bliss lifts up when we disturb it. It shouldn't affect us too much so long as we don't inhale it."

"Flower bitch said there were traps. I wouldn't doubt if there are pits about, can't see the ground for shit with all of this Bliss," Jess warned.

Aiden had been so focused on keeping his steps slow and looking out for Angels that he didn't expect for the ground to just end on his next step. He failed to keep his balance and promptly fell a few feet. His vision plunged into darkness and a hard surface pressed against his injured shoulder. He cried out from the sudden impact and realized that his flashlight and shotgun were absent from his grip.

Jess cursed. "Aiden!"

"I'm okay," he muttered. He tried to avoid breathing all of the Bliss that swirled about him by holding his breath, but his lungs were already hurting and begging for more oxygen. He climbed to his feet and cursed when a sharp pain bloomed in left ankle. He took another deep breath and could already begin to feel light headed from the Bliss. The light illuminating from his flashlight helped lead him to his lost items. A quick scan of the pit he fell in revealed a cannister of leaking Bliss, but thankfully there was no Angel lurking about.

By the time Aiden climbed out of the pit he was seeing small lights dancing about the edge of his vision. He couldn't afford to inhale anymore Bliss. He grasped for the edge of tunnel and tried to focus on the feeling of the rough rock wall against his fingertips. Jess grabbed his arm as he climbed out so he also tried to focus on the power of her grip, tried to focus on the smell of her. For all the hunting Jess did she had a natural earthy smell. It wasn't a bad smell, it was just Jess. Focusing on his actual surroundings helped keep the Bliss out of his senses.

For now.

"I'm okay," Aiden repeated to reassure Jess. The tunnel was so dark he couldn't see her expressions unless he directly aimed his flashlight at her.

"How wide was that drop?" She asked him.

"I'm not sure. There was a cannister of Bliss down there. I didn't want to stay long."

"Hold up." Her grip on his arm slipped away and he could vaguely see her silhouette bend at the mouth of the pit. "It's not wide. Just take a big step over it."

They were lucky that the tunnel didn't split. They continued to walk slowly and carefully. The pain in Aiden's ankle wasn't too bad, it was most likely just a sprain. Still, it was hard for him to walk without hopping and disturbing the Bliss.

He stopped when he suddenly heard a feminine giggle.

"Welcome to the Bliss."

Aiden turned and found a squinting Jess glaring at him. "Would you get that light outta my face?"

Aiden lowered the light and looked around the tunnel. He noticed a door, but it led into a small, empty room. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

The deputy shook his head. Maybe it was the Bliss already messing with his senses. He shifted his weight onto his ankle and focused on the pain of the sprain. "Nothing."

They continued on and still hadn't come across any Angels. But the ground was definitely getting crowded. Often times they both almost tripped over rocks, barrels and other things that Aiden didn't really want to think about. The Bliss had no smell so there was nothing to mask the smell of unwashed bodies. There were definitely Angels somewhere and they were alive due to the lack of the smell of decay.

The tunnel curved and that was when Aiden spotted a humanoid shadow sprint just out of sight. He quickly lifted up his shotgun, his movement spooked Jess into lifting her bow and ready to shoot.

"What is it," she asked him.

"I saw something."

They both waited a few moments, but nothing else moved. They continued following the tunnel and eventually came into a huge chamber. There seemed to be a rock path that went just above the green mist of the Bliss at the very bottom of the ground. The end of the chamber led into another tunnel, but much smaller and more narrow than the previous one they came from.

Once inside the smaller tunnel, Aiden saw the shadow again. He knew it wasn't Jess, she was just behind him. He readied his shotgun and continued after the shadow with a little faster pace that his injured ankle would allow.

The tunnel didn't stretch out too far, they were quick to reach the end. Then Aiden noticed the shadow standing right before him. He knew he had to be hallucinating, the shadow shouldn't even be there with the flashlight pointed right at it. But the longer he focused on the shadow the more he recognized the shape of it. The shadow strongly resembled Faith, dress and all. He reached to touch the shadow, but then it vanished.

Aiden blinked and looked about the area. He was standing in front of what looked like some sort of large ventilation. Next to it was a generator.

"Finally," Jess muttered behind him. "This Bliss was starting to get to me."

The deputy grunted in agreeance and promptly activated the generator. The ventilation shaft whirred to life and sucked in the Bliss. Both Aiden and Jess winced when lights suddenly illuminated the tunnel.

"Well, let's go see if the flower bitch was telling the truth about those supplies," Jess said.

The mine was well lit and without the Bliss hugging the ground they could see the mess of rocks, trash, and barrels that littered the ground every few feet. On their way back Jess took the lead. They returned to the chamber and had to climb back down to the ground level to get to the other tunnel. Jess had just jumped down when Aiden heard a growl. He wanted to dismiss it as the Bliss that was probably still in his system, but the sinking feeling in his stomach told him to get his shotgun ready.

There was movement from the ground where some Bliss still lingered, and Jess was suddenly yanked off her feet and pulled into the Bliss mist.

Aiden cursed, "Jess!"

He heard her cry of surprise and then the growl he heard earlier turned into a scream of anger. The adrenaline and worry for Jess snuffed out the pain in his ankle and he was quick to jump down onto the ground level. He could see a struggle of movement disrupting the Bliss just below the rock walkway, but he couldn't shoot unless he knew for sure he wouldn't hit Jess.

As quick as the screaming started, it suddenly turned into a wet gargle and then ceased.

"Get this shit off me!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Aiden noticed more movement and reached into the Bliss. Once he felt a set of shoulders he wrapped his arms under them and lifted. He pulled up a now dead body of an Angel with an arrow stuck into its eye. He tossed the body aside and reached under the Bliss again. A smaller hand gripped his own and he pulled, this time it was Jess that rose up. Her hood was down, her hair disheveled, and a mess of scratches littered her face and neck. Thanks to the lights in the chamber, he quickly noticed her wide pupils. They were much bigger than they should considering the brightness of the lights. She inhaled too much Bliss.

Aiden barely had time to curse before the look of fear registered on Jess' face. She pulled away from him and looked conflicted for a brief moment. Then she pulled up her bow. Swearing again, Aiden reached for her free hand and held it from reaching for her quiver. Jess swore and swung her bow at him. He managed to dodge most of it, but the edge of the metal caught him on a rib.

"Damnit, Jess, it's me!"

The frenzied woman didn't respond. She continued to swear at him and tried to pull an arrow free again. In their struggle they almost fell down into the Bliss, but Aiden pulled Jess against him and twisted his legs so they both fell on top of the rock path, safe away from the hallucinogen. The last thing they both needed was for him to fully fall under the effects of the Bliss as well.

Aiden hit the ground, his breath was forcibly pushed out of his lungs when Jess fell on him. His heart jumped up to his throat when he noticed the gleam of the knife in her hand. She swung the blade down and he just managed to grab her wrist before the blade got too close to his chest. There was a brief moment of pain in his right hand and he felt a rush of a warm liquid in his palm.

Jess was quick to realize she couldn't beat him with raw strength. She lifted herself slightly and kneed him in the ribs. The blow caused his grip on her wrists to falter, but then he felt her knee strike him again that finally made him let go of her. She swung the knife down at him again, but instead of grabbing for her he rolled out of its path, which threw her fully off of him.

Their struggle attracted more Angels from the tunnel, three in total. Aiden quickly searched for his shotgun and found it several feet away. Two Angels rushed for Jess and only one pursued him. Jess didn't have her bow and being under the influence of the Bliss he wasn't sure if she could even notice them. He rushed for his shotgun and quickly shot the one pursuing him. His heart dropped when he heard Jess cry out, he looked and found her knife in hand and sliding it across one Angel's throat. The other one tackled her to the ground and lifted his arms. Aiden noticed much too late that the Angel held a rock in his hands when he brought it down onto Jess' chest.

Aiden sprinted for a closer shot, he didn't want to risk one of the buck shots striking Jess. When he got close enough he kicked the Angel back. When he landed on his back Aiden aimed his shotgun at him and pulled the trigger. The battle wasn't over, he heard Jess cry out in rage and felt himself being shoved against the wall. He couldn't fully halt his momentum and felt a flash of pain as his temple struck the rocky wall.

He didn't want to hurt Jess, but the longer he held back the sooner she'd kill him. He turned and saw her with her bow already in hand, his heart dropped, but thankfully the Bliss had her seeing enemies that weren't there. She nocked an arrow and aimed away from him and fired, the arrow harmlessly bounced off the wall.

The deputy quickly took advantage of her distraction and ran up behind her. Before she could turn to face him he swung the butt of his shotgun and struck her jaw. He had hoped to stun her, but the stress and adrenaline of their situation had him use too much of his strength and she was knocked unconscious.

Aiden swore. Jess was going to kill him.

For now, he had to bind her hands in case she woke up and was still under the influence of the Bliss. He didn't have to search long, with the lights on he spotted a small scaffold against one of the walls and there was plenty of rope on the top level. It was rough with age, but still thick and sturdy. He used Jess' knife to cut a portion of the rope and tied her wrists together. It was then that he finally noticed his right hand was bloodied, a large gash opened the center of his palm.

Thankfully he remembered to pack up some bandages and wrapped his hand sloppily. With a heavy sigh, he inserted a few shells into his shotgun before he lifted Jess onto his shoulder. Due to her short, skinny frame she was light, but the abuse his body has taken over the course of the last few days drained him of most of his strength. He was already sweating by the time he walked into the tunnel.

It was awkward to hold his shotgun properly with Jess' body draped over his shoulder, but with her head resting against his back he didn't have to worry about harming her hearing each time he fired his shotgun at the rest of the Angels that lingered in the tunnel.

When he returned to the mine's entrance he wanted to cry out in relief and collapse on the grass. Instead, he limped towards the truck. The adrenaline long since faded away and each step on his injured ankle brought a wave of hot agony. Thankfully Jess was still unconscious so he set her gently into the passenger seat before he limped back to the mine.

Now that the power was on, there was a green light next to the metal door. A gentle push was all that was needed to open the door. The room was much smaller than what Aiden was expecting, but there were still a lot of metallic shelves against three walls and a lot of boxes of what Aiden was hoping was the medicine that Faith and the Cougars would need.

It took him a few minutes to pack every box and crate to the truck and Jess was still unconscious when he finished. By everything that was holy in the universe Aiden sorely wished he could finally rest when he returned to the jail.

He was on the road a few minutes when a weak groan signaled Jess coming to.

"What the hell?"

To be safe, Aiden slowed down and pulled the truck over the side of the road. If Jess still wasn't herself he didn't want to be driving if she tried to attack him. The road wasn't too far away from the river and he didn't want to lose the supplies they both struggled so hard to acquire.

Jess' slim fingers immediately went to her now bruising jaw and she winced at the soft touch.

"My head," she whispered.

"Jess?"

She winced at the sound of his voice before she looked at him. Aiden exhaled in relief upon seeing her pupils at a normal size. "You really scared me back there."
"What?" She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. "What happened? Where's my bow?"

"Right here," he grabbed her hand and brought it over her beloved compound bow that he placed next to her legs. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Jess groaned again. "We turned on the generator. The Bliss was cleared out and the power turned on the lights. Then," she paused and she quickly sat up and looked at him. Her eyes hardened as she looked him over.

"What?" Aiden asked.

The woman continued to study him for a moment longer and then she looked about the truck. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?"

Jess let out a string of curses. "Nathan! It was him, the one that pulled me."

"Oh, the Angel that grabbed you? He's dead."

It was quick, but Jess' hard eyes softened in sorrow. As quickly as it came, her eyes hardened and she cursed again. She probably would have punched something if her jaw didn't ignite in pain. She winced and rubbed her jaw. "Did I kill him?"

"No," Aiden assured her, "I did. A quick death."

She remained silent, but her head bobbed in a quick nod.

"Did you know him?"

Jess looked away. "Yeah. We grew up together. He was…he was a smart little shit. College type, you know?" She paused and sighed. "But he wanted to stay here a few years, work to help out his family. His grandmother raised him and his little sister. He was finally leaving for college when shit started going down with the cult. I thought he made it out, but…I guess not."

Aiden was at a loss of what to say. He couldn't imagine having to see any of his friends as an Angel. It would break him. He jumped at the sudden sound of something striking glass. Jess swore as she cradled her right hand to her chest, the passenger window next to her was cracked.

Due to Jess refusing comfort in the past, Aiden was hesitant to say or do anything. They just sat in silence. Then Jess looked at him.

"I thought," she paused and licked her lips. "I saw you as one of them, an Angel. It…I never want to see that."

Aiden was stunned. But he could still see the sadness in her eyes. He reached for her shoulder and rested his hand on it. He half expected her to stiffen as the contact, but she didn't. Instead, he could feel her body tremble. He always had a great deal of respect for her. She went through a lot but always hid behind a stoic mask. Sure she channeled everything into anger and hate for the Peggies, but she still stood strong.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze before he pulled away and turned back to the wheel, he started the truck back up and drove back onto the road. They were silent for the rest of the trip back to the jail. Charles or the sheriff must have spread the news that he and Jess would return with supplies because there was a small group of people that were quick to help them unload the truck when they arrived.

There were a lot more people at the jail than he ever remembered seeing. But then he remembered Tracey saying one of their outposts was attacked and they had a few survivors retreat to the jail, but there were way too many people lurking about. His pulse quickened and his stomach twisted in worry when he saw that there were numerous people in the once abandoned East wing. He and Jess looked at each other in shock and confusion before Grace approached them.

"Where did all these people come from?" Aiden asked. He looked at the cell that Faith occupied but found a different set of people occupied it.

"More outposts were attacked, the hotel was one of them which held the bulk of these people," Grace explained. She motioned for Jess and Aiden to follow her. "They came without warning. We moved her to the top level as quickly as we could. Thankfully with the commotion no one seemed to have noticed anything. So we've been keeping people from going to the top floor."

Aiden swore. Things just kept getting worse and worse. "Were many people injured?"

Grace nodded. "Yes. The doctor has been tending to them the best he could. Did you find the supplies?"

"Yes," Aiden answered, "she told the truth. The mine held boxes upon boxes of all sorts of medical supplies, medicine, bandages, everything."

Grace smiled. "Good. There are a lot of people that need them."

Aiden nodded and looked around. He could only imagine how many returned with injuries. But Charles was their only doctor. How long would it take him to treat Faith? He didn't doubt that Charles would prioritize the Cougars before Faith, so he was worried if she could last long enough before her infection got worse.

"Where is the doctor?"

Grace looked up towards the top floor. "You just missed him. He went up to her cell. If you'll excuse me. But you both look like you could have the doctor check over you as well. And I hope to hear the story of what happened in that mine."

Aiden exhaled deeply in relief. Just when he thought things were turning for the worst there was still that small spark of hope. "Thanks, Grace. We'll go over the details over pizza later. If we'll have any left."

The veteran offered a small smile before she nodded and left, leaving Aiden and Jess among a cluster of strangers.

Sure enough the top floor was empty and guarded by Nick. One of his eyebrows lifted upon seeing their appearance, but he stepped aside and let them pass without a word. With each step Aiden felt like his head got heavier and heavier. If he didn't sleep soon he feared he would pass out.

They quickly found Charles tending to Faith in one of the cells. He had just placed a clear bag on a metallic stand next to Faith, the Bliss Herald was silent and unconscious.

Charles started to smile at their appearance, but then he grew concerned.

"Did you find what you needed? There were a lot of boxes to go through," Aiden asked.

The older male nodded. "The supplies you brought were everything that we needed and more. Thank you." He nodded towards Faith. "Her wound has been kept clean and now with the antibiotics she should recover in time. I have new patients to tend to, so I'll stop by when I can. Don't expect her to waken any time soon. Her fever should break soon enough, until then try to keep her cool." His eyes remained on Jess' jaw. "Do you want me to…"

Aiden answered before Jess could refuse the help. "Yeah, if you could check if she has a concussion, that'd be great. We had some problems with the Bliss and I kinda had to knock her out."

Jess swore at him. "You did this?!" Before Aiden could explain he felt Jess' fist connect to his gut. He doubled over and struggled to suck oxygen back into his starving lungs.

After a moment, Aiden recovered and straightened. "It was for the sake of survival, Jess." He looked back to the doctor and could see humor twinkling in his eyes. "She was unconscious for a few minutes."

"I'll kill you! Do you have any idea how much this hurts?"

Charles struggled to keep a straight face, but the corner of his mouth curled up into a small smile every now and then. He ushered Jess out of the cell. "Let me have a look, and thanks to you I have something for the pain."

Finally, alone, Aiden looked over Faith. Her cheeks were still flushed and her skin shiny with sweat. The doctor advised to keep her cool, so while he was still barely conscious Aiden found a clean towel next to the small sink that connected to the toilet in the cell and soaked it in cold water. He wiped off the sweat from Faith's face before he folded the towel and placed it on her forehead. He had no idea how else to keep a fevered person cool, so he did the only thing he could think of. It was something his mother did when he was sick with a fever when he was a kid.

Aiden was much too tired to even walk into one of the neighbor cells. So he all but threw himself on the cot opposite of Faith, and immediately slept before his head touched the thin mattress. He didn't even bother to take off his boots.

He'd sleep first and then he could worry about all the problems that would come of more people being in the same wing as Faith. Word traveled fast and it would only take one person to recognize her.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I know some people are looking forward to more interactions between Faith and Aiden. Patience, that will come soon. Very soon. Some things have to be put into place first. For those that leave feedback anonymously, since I can't reply privately I'll say here: thank you for your thoughts.