Ambivalence
Chapter 25: Angel
By: Knowledge Eater
Disclaimer: Ubisoft owns Far Cry 5, I just like to play with their world and characters.
Aiden wanted to waste no more time now that there was no reason to remain at the county jail any longer. He couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that lingered in his gut, he had to check in on Jess and Sharky as soon as possible.
As usual, he took Faith to her cell so she could retrieve her hoodie so she could hide her face and if there was anything else that she needed. Of course, since all of the things she kept in her crate were given to her she didn't take anything with her. If she had any more drugs he didn't see if she snuck any in her possession.
Honestly it worried him when he saw the marks on her arm. At first he was angry and he suspected Tracey was the one supplying her with drugs. With their history no doubt the woman would be aware of Faith's drug history.
Then the anger faded and he was surprised that Faith would revert back to her drug usage, he was aware that the cult was strictly against drugs and alcohol. But they both shared a bottle of whiskey a few days ago, he was surprised then too that she drank. A part of Aiden felt relieved that the Bliss herald was becoming less Faith and Rachel was fighting back to the surface, but the other part of him was saddened to see the woman falling back on drugs. He remembered all too well her reasons why she turned to them for comfort.
I was happy, she had told him. Was it really so surprising that she would succumb to depression she had to turn to the needle again, despite her devotion to the cult? For all the hypocrisy of the cults teachings, Faith found a family with the community. Hell, she was worshiped by the followers and spoiled by the Father, so long as she appeased him. To lose it all he couldn't imagine what she must be feeling.
Question was, did Tracey give her the drugs to comfort an old friend or did she have other motives? Then he remembered that Faith had told Tracey about Joseph's location before she told him.
"Ready," Faith's sudden voice jarred him from his thoughts. "Do you want to take this or should I?"
Aiden looked towards the small satchel she referred to. It was Faith's idea that they take the anti-Bliss batch she made for Jess and Sharky.
"You take it," he told her, "if we have to run I don't want my rifle to jar the contents in that bag."
She nodded and shouldered the satchel. He gave her one final look over before they left the privacy of the third floor. Her bruises mostly faded save for a few yellow spots on her right cheek and her face still looked gaunt. However, one look at her she could easily be recognized. They would have to be quick with picking up Jess and Sharky. Her hood only covered so much of her face.
Faith looked surprised when he didn't slap handcuffs on her. With the recent attack there were plenty of people running about. Not wanting to separate from her, Aiden grabbed hold of her wrist and led her around to look for Adelaide. She wasn't inside the jail so he immediately headed outside where he found her tending to her helicopter Tulip.
"Is she ready to give us a lift?" Aiden asked her.
The older woman looked at him with a grin and beckoned him over. "She's always ready, deputy. She was untouched in that last scuffle. You ready?"
The junior deputy nodded despite the apprehension that grew. Now that he was looking at the small attack chopper he was unsure how he and Faith would fit.
Adelaide seemed to know what he was thinking. "I told you it was going to be a tight squeeze for you both, sweetheart. Climb on in."
There was no other choice but for Faith to sit on his lap. Thankfully the two seats in the small chopper were fully enclosed. And the ride should take no more than a few minutes.
Aiden still tried to squeeze in as much as possible to see if he and Faith could share the seat. But there was no way it could be achieved unless she was half hanging out of the door. Reluctantly, he sat and motioned Faith over. Her cheeks were already pink tinted. Once she sat on his lap they had some small difficulties trying to squeeze their legs in the small space together. While her legs were short Aiden's were long and took up most of the space. Thankfully the door latched closed.
Aidelaide climbed into her seat, not without giving Aiden a wink, and started up the chopper. When the machine roared to life Aiden felt Faith stiffen and she looked unsure of what to grab. When they lifted off the ground she muffled a gasp.
The spinning blades were loud, but not as loud as other helicopters due to Tulips enclosed seats. Aiden leaned towards Faith.
"You okay?" He asked her.
She replied with a stiff nod. Then Aiden realized she was breathing a little too quickly.
"We'll be there soon," he assured her.
"Where we headin'?" Adelaide asked.
"Whistling Beaver Brewery," Aiden answered. "Jess and Sharky were going to check out a stash located nearby the place so I'm hoping to find them there."
"You hope?"
Aiden shrugged. "With the amount of time they've been gone I expect them to either be there or passed through recently. I'll find them."
The remainder of the trip went by in silence. But Faith's nerves hadn't seem to settle, she continuously squirmed about. Aiden was grateful she wasn't exactly bony in a certain part of her which would have made her squirming a bit painful for him, but her continuous movement was beginning to have an embarrassing effect on him.
He leaned towards her again. "Flying nerves? I would think you'd be used to being flown everywhere in the Henbane."
Faith shook her head and finally spoke, her voice quivered. "I…don't like flying. I avoided it if I could."
Discussing her fear of flying seemed to have heightened her nerves and she went back to squirming. Aiden tried to ignore it but it was downright impossible, not with how…well cushioned Faith's rear end was.
"Faith?" He finally said. "Are you, err, uncomfortable? I know our sitting arrangement isn't exactly ideal. Any chance you can, ah, stop moving so much?"
Faith peered over her shoulder to look at him, a wrinkle between her brows. "Why? Will it tip the helicopter? Open the door?"
Aiden struggled to think of a way to explain how her squirming was affecting him.
Adelaide burst out laughing. "Sweetheart, Aiden may be a gentleman, but he's still a man. Keep givin' him that lap dance and it won't be his gun you're feelin'."
Faith quickly diverted her attention back to her feet and Aiden glared at Adelaide. His face, ears and neck burned. Thankfully, Faith remained absolutely still the remainder of the trip.
It wasn't long until they arrived at the brewery. Adelaide landed in the empty parking lot to drop them off. Faith all but jumped out the moment Tulip touched the ground.
"You sure you don't need me to hang around a bit, deputy? What if they're not here?"
"We'll get a ride. You'll be needed more to help the others deliver the anti-Bliss concoction in case any more of the Chosen show up."
"Well, good luck. I expect to see you there to arrest that son of a bitch."
Tulip took to the air quickly and vanished beyond the treetops. Aiden was relieved to see that Faith hadn't run off when his back was turned. Though she had a point earlier, at this point where would she go? He noticed she would walk a few steps and then shake her head.
"You okay?" He asked as he approached.
She nodded. "I just keep feeling like we're still flying."
"That'll wear off in a few minutes. You don't feel sick do you?"
"No."
"Good." He almost touched her back to lead her towards the building, but he remembered the pain it caused her the last time he did that. "Let's go then."
They were immediately greeted by the few resistance that occupied the building. They must have recently taken control of the place from the cult, Aiden could see the telltale signs of a recent shootout. Some walls were littered with bullet holes, there were puddles of dried blood on the pavement, and he could recognize the alarms the Peggies were fond of using in case of an attack. Faith looked dismayed at the signs of the violence.
As Aiden asked around for Jess and Sharky, Faith kept her hood up and avoided eye contact with anyone. Thankfully no one seemed to recognize her, but he didn't like the way she caught the attention of some of the men. Aiden found himself standing between the men and Faith.
"You just missed them, deputy," one of the men explained. He nodded his head towards the mountains. "They helped us liberate this place so we're still sorting out through most of the stuff the Peggies had stashed here."
"It's mostly the goddamn Bliss though," one of the men that was gawking at Faith retorted before he spat on the ground. "The bastards dumped out all of the alcohol."
"Which way did they head?" Aiden asked even though he knew they should have headed to the East of the brewery, he still wanted to confirm his friends headed to the stash Faith told him about.
"That way," the first man pointed to the East. "We thought we heard gunfire though. We lost some men to take over this place so we don't exactly have the numbers to check it out. Your people seem capable of handling themselves though."
Aiden nodded, "you have no idea. Anyway, thanks."
The unsettling feeling in his gut worsened. Aiden was confident Jess and Sharky could take care of themselves, and they were accompanied by a few Cougars so they weren't alone. Still he couldn't shake the bad feeling.
He grabbed Faith and led her towards the woods, his eye still lingering on the men that were staring at her earlier. He grew anxious when he noticed two men whisper to each other and then both turned to look at Faith. They walked a little faster.
"So where is this stash?" Aiden asked her once they got to the cluster of trees.
"There's a cave nearby. We should come across a small dirt path that'll lead us right to it," Faith explained.
They found the path and followed it. A few minutes into the hike Aiden noticed Faith's slight limp became much more pronounced. When the path kept taking them uphill she paused to lean against a tree.
"Are you okay?" Aiden asked. He approached her while still keeping an eye around their surroundings. If Jess and the others were shooting earlier there was a chance their attackers may still be about.
"I just need a breather," Faith replied. She had her injured leg slightly raised and massaged it with her free hand.
"Can you keep going? If not I can carry you on my back."
It had been about two weeks since he shot Faith, something he still felt guilty about since she had been unarmed, despite the Bliss at her advantage. Her wound should have been healed by now. The guilt grew when he realized she didn't exactly have much time to rest and with the weight she lost she obviously didn't have the nutrition to help her body heal.
"No, I can keep going. It just hurts. We can't risk slowing you down in case we're attacked." To show her point, Faith stood straight and continued to follow the path.
"You can at least lean on me," Aiden unslung his rifle and looped Faith's arm around his shoulders.
Thankfully they didn't have to walk much further. If it weren't for Faith to point out they arrived Aiden would have missed it. The cave was hidden by two uprooted trees leaning against it.
"Is the cave deep?"
"It's not as deep as the Radon health mine, but it is very spacious. Other than food and ammo we have a lot of Bliss in it as well," Faith explained.
Aiden inhaled deeply before they went into the darkness. He switched on the flashlight that was attached beneath the barrel of his rifle. There were two distinguished green barrels inside the chamber. It was a good thing Faith thought to bring her anti Bliss concoction.
"Jess! Sharky!"
His voice bounced around the entrance chamber and continued to echo through the tunnel that led farther into more darkness. He didn't hear a response until they followed the tunnel into the much larger, huge chamber. There were beams of light easily noticeable towards the bottom at a distance. He called out again and all of the light beams were flashed towards his direction.
"Aiden?"
"You guys okay?" He shouted back. Then he looked towards Faith, she stopped leaning against him and used the wall as support. "What are we up against in here?"
"Only the Bliss at the entrance and a few Angels at the bottom."
They continued to descend until they were a few feet away from the others. It was difficult to see everyone clearly with the little light at their disposal, but no one looked hurt. At the bottom the smell of damp dirt became overpowered by the scent of unwashed bodies, Angel's, and blood.
"What are you doing here?" Jess asked. She moved her flashlight until it shone on Faith.
"Is it the Bliss or is that who I think-" Sharkys question resulted in a yelp. "What the hell, Jess? You can't just stomp on an injured person."
"I'll explain why I'm here once we're out in fresh air," Aiden replied. Then what Sharky said registered. "You're hurt?"
"This moron let an Angel get the jump on him, but he's fine. Just a few scratches," explained Jess. "The rest of us are okay."
Aiden checked over the remainder of the group. The other Cougars were still with them, two men and a woman. True to Jess' word they all appeared dirty but unharmed. "Great. So change of plans. Let's head out and I'll explain everything."
The junior deputy never liked being confined in caves, they made him nervous. And all of his previous experiences in them were worsened with the Bliss.
Once they were outside in the sun he was able to take a good look at everyone. The cougars and Jess were dirty with dirt and flecks of blood on their clothes, but appeared uninjured. Sharky looked fine other than numerous scratches on his face and bruises around his neck.
Aiden opened his mouth to start explaining, but now that he saw everyone in the sun he could make out the signs that they were in the Bliss a little too long. Their pupils were much smaller than they should be, especially now that they were outside, and they kept looking around themselves.
The junior deputy waved his hand. "Can you guys see me?"
Jess immediately turned in his direction but didn't look directly at him. "Passing by the barrels in the entrance was a mistake. It wasn't bad at the bottom but now you kinda keep fading in and out."
Aiden cursed and then he remembered the bag Faith brought. He looked at her with a smile, she was already pulling the satchel off her shoulder. "You all are in luck. We have something that can remove the Bliss effects."
"Say what? How did you find something like that?" Sharky exclaimed.
"Why don't you all have a seat? It'll be easier to inject it."
"Inject it? Why does it have to be needles," Sharky complained, but still sat on the ground a little too harshly.
Everyone complied, but Jess crossed her arms and remained standing.
Faith didn't need to be told to inject the solution. She acted fast by pulling out the syringes and injecting them into everyone's arms, all the while she avoided eye contact. When Jess remained she was hesitant to approach her. Aiden stuck his hand out to accept the syringe so he could give it to Jess himself.
"Wow," one of the Cougars sighed, "this really works. Where was this a few months ago?"
"We got it in our possession just today, in fact." Aiden explained while he gave a dose to Jess.
The solution worked fast. A few blinks later and Jess openly glared at Faith. "I wonder how," she muttered.
Aiden stepped in front of Jess and shook his head. With his voice as low as possible he whispered, "please, Jess. Don't make me regret coming back for you."
There was a flash of hurt in her eyes but then they hardened with anger.
"So why are you here?" Jess asked, the anger evident in her tone.
"We know where the Father is."
Everyone's eyes quickly homed in on him and widened.
Sharky and the others jumped to their feet. "What are we doing scavenging for supplies then? Let's get that sumbitch," Sharky whooped.
"It's why I came for you guys," Aiden grinned. Then he turned to look at Jess, "I keep my promises."
The anger melted from her face and was replaced with a small smile. The small tension between them was gone and forgotten.
"Let's get going then," Jess announced.
Sharky and the other cougars marched up front while Jess, Aiden and Faith slowed to remain in the back.
"Funny how you got Joseph's location and that anti Bliss stuff so soon, huh?" Jess muttered. "You sure that source can be trusted?"
Aiden looked at her with a frown. "The stuff worked, didn't it? It was tested before we started giving it to the others." Then Aiden explained why the solution was created in the first place. Jess paused for a second when he mentioned the county's water supply had been dosed with Bliss for years.
"So if we had confronted Joseph it would have all gone to hell," she thought aloud and then cursed. "How do we know this won't make it worse somehow?"
Aiden shrugged. "It wouldn't have been needed. Once we had his location we were all ready to set out then and there. It would have been more beneficial if we didn't know those details."
"This would have been a lot easier if you guys kept a radio, you know." Aiden pointed out. "We could have met there instead of having to come all this way to fetch you."
"Radios ruin stealth," Jess argued, "and thanks to it we captured this place relatively easily."
"Until someone triggered the alarm when they were trying to disable it," one of the cougars glared at Sharky.
The accused man was just starting to defend himself when gunfire clapped nearby.
Jess cursed. "Looks like the Peggies are back for more."
They all broke into a jog towards the brewery, though Aiden lagged behind with Faith still needing some help.
The building was being attacked, a few white trucks, including one with a machinegun equipped in the trucks bed, parked around the front and sides.
Jess cursed and then looked to Aiden. "What's the plan?"
"I put you in charge of this group. It's your call."
With a nod Jess observed the attack. "They're focused on attacking the front. We can come in through the back and get them by surprise. We don't have any snipers so we won't have cover fire."
Everyone nodded and began tracking forward. Aiden noticed Faith's hesitance and grabbed her wrist. He couldn't bring himself to trust that she wouldn't run off or go with the Peggies. He had no idea if being so close to her people would tempt her to return to them. She could still have them drive her to the Father where she could warn him. They were too close to finishing this and he didn't want to risk ruining it.
"Stay as close to me as you can, always keep behind cover." He told her before rushing forward with the others.
Any Peggies that tried to sneak around the back were immediately taken out by Jess. The others were none the wiser that they pushed in from the rear of the building.
Sharky and the cougars charged into the building through a backdoor while Aiden and Jess stayed outside to take out the gunner in the truck.
"I can't get a shot on him from here," Jess whispered to him. "He's got the other trucks covering his blind spot. We'll have to go around."
The huntress peeked around the corner of the building and quickly pulled back with a curse. "They spotted me, we need to get to cover. There's too many heading this way." What made their situation worse was that the Peggie in the truck began firing at their direction.
The only problem was that there was no other cover other than the building itself. They would be helpless if they didn't gun down the Peggies that turned the corner.
"Into the building!" Aiden pulled Faith towards the back where Sharky and the others went into.
Immediately upon entering the building bullets showered them, they quickly ducked behind crates and metal barrels. They took the entrance into the garage and it was filled with Peggies.
Aiden didnt have any time to peek over cover before he was immediately shot at, Jess had no better luck and she needed extra time to use her bow. There was no sign of Sharky and the others with him, but their gunfire could be heard from the other part of the building.
The junior deputy had to resort to exposing only his gun and blind firing. He got lucky with hitting a Peggie or two but there were so many of them. Worse, the truck from the outside was circling the building, they were trapped.
"Aiden!" Faith called him over the gunfire. He looked to her with wide eyes, afraid she had been hit. She was fine but she kept motioning to the barrel she hid behind.
He shook his head. "What?" He asked.
"These barrels have Bliss in them," she explained.
Aiden grunted. He knew that but the cases were metallic, the bullets bounced off instead of penetrating them.
"Open this one and roll it towards them."
Aiden nearly dismissed the plan, but at this point they had nothing else. And with the anti-Bliss stuff in their system they wouldn't be affected by knocking the barrel over.
Once he nodded Faith reached up to open the barrel. Aiden was faster and pulled her arm down just as a wave of bullets hurled in her direction.
"Jess!" He called before he slid his rifle to her. "We need a minute."
The huntress quickly scooped up his rifle and began to shoot at the Peggies to pull their attention. Aiden quickly took advantage and pulled the barrel until it fell on its side. There was enough room for Faith to take cover next to him while he worked on removing the small cap from the barrel. He had to resort to pulling out his knife to pull out the metallic cap.
Green liquid poured out of the barrel once the cap was removed and got all over Aiden's hands and shirt sleeves. He quickly positioned himself behind the barrel and gave it a kick.
The barrel rolled to the edge of the cover the Peggies hid behind, but the Bliss inside was quick to pour out. Just being near the stuff was enough to affect them.
Their reactions became slow and they didn't focus their fire together. Aiden felt something thump against his thigh, Jess slide his rifle back. With his gun in hand, he and Jess made quick work of the Peggies in the garage and moved into the rest of the building to help the others.
"We still have to take care of the truck outside," Jess reminded them.
There were more Peggies outside near the vehicles, but Jess and two others climbed to the roof of the building to provide cover fire. It was a slow and grueling fight especially when they ran out of ammo and had to resort to using the fallen Peggies weapons. Jess took out the gunner from the truck with her bow and had that smug grin on her face when Aiden whistled to express his impression on the difficulty of the shot.
Aiden rallied up the survivors. They lost more men, a few of the cougars that stayed in the brewery and one from Jess' group was injured. Once they were clustered together Aiden caught everyone up about the location of Joseph Seed and the injection they would need to take before heading out.
One of the men spoke up. "So that's why the Bliss didn't affect you?" He motioned towards the barrel that was rolled towards the Peggies. It was still leaking Bliss onto the floor and Aiden hadn't realized he was standing close to it.
"Oh, yeah." Aiden replied. "So line up! The faster we get you all Bliss proof the faster we can go get Joseph."
The men and women hollered their approval. Faith gave a nervous glance to Aiden before she made sure her hood covered her face as much as possible before she opened her satchel and got to injecting her solution to everyone.
One of the men that had been gawking at Faith earlier was saying something to her when it was his turn. Aiden frowned and stepped closer but it was too late, the idiot was flirting and tried to lift Faith's hood.
"Why's a pretty girl like you trying to hide under this?"
Faith was too busy injecting the solution to pull away before the man pushed the hood off her head. Aiden felt ice burn through his veins as he watched the recognition and shock register on the man's face. He stepped away from Faith and lifted his rifle and aimed it at her. With the distance he created between them the others in the room were free to see Faith's face. Everyone immediately recognized her.
"What the hell?" The woman from Jess' group said. "We thought you were dead."
Aiden slowly walked forward until he was standing in front of Faith. When he lightly pushed her behind him he could feel that she was trembling.
After the woman's comment, the man that had his rifle aimed at Faith glared at Aiden and then moved his aim towards his chest. Jess stepped towards the man and aimed her bow at him, an arrow knocked and pulled back.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sharky exclaimed. "How 'bout we all settle down, huh?"
The other resistance members appeared confused and unsure who they should aim their own weapons at, Aiden, Faith, or Jess.
"Why is she still alive?" The man pointing the gun at Aiden asked. Then he glared at the junior deputy. "You said she was dead."
"I said we didn't have to worry about her anymore," Aiden explained softly. He kept his arms up but still kept Faith shielded.
"What gives?" One of the other men nearby Sharky asked. "Are you on their side? Huh?"
Aiden fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I've arrested Faith, she's my prisoner."
"I don't see any handcuffs on her," another grumbled. "She shouldn't be trusted to roam about freely. What if we were attacked because of her! We lost Theo because of the damn Peggies."
Another urge to roll his eyes, Aiden took a deep breath. "She's not in cuffs because I didn't want to announce her presence for this very reason. Faith has been with me since her arrest, she's had no means to get in contact with anyone. She's had opportunities to run away but she's remained with me. Hell, it's because of her we know where Joseph is. She gave us the anti-Bliss so we wouldn't fall for his trap either."
The man looked unconvinced and kept his gun aimed at Aiden. Jess was struggling to keep her arrow pulled back on the bow, her arm shook ever so slightly.
"It's a mistake to trust her! For all we know she's setting us up," he meant to glare at Faith but Aiden's tall frame completely shielded her. "I had a friend that complained to her about the noise from the construction when they made that statue. She lied to her and sent Peggies instead to kill her."
Aiden felt disappointment burrow deep in his chest and he fought the impulse to look at Faith. He felt the moment he moved the man before him would take the shot.
"I didn't order her death," Faith defended, she spoke softly but Aiden could hear the confidence in her voice. "I sent people to apologize and convince her of the necessity of the construction. The men I sent were to offer her compensation for the inconvenience."
"Bullshit," the man aiming the rifle spat. "Did you seriously send armed psychophants to silence someone? What did you think they were going to do!" The man glared at Aiden and lifted his rifle so it was leveled with his face. "Step aside, deputy."
Jess stepped towards the man, her arrow still aimed at his head. Sharky muttered something to the others to keep them from bringing up their own weapons and was barely succeeding.
"I'm not just letting Faith go," Aiden reminded him, "she's my prisoner. After we're done with this war she'll be at the mercy of the justice system. It's not our place to execute her. She's unarmed and means no harm to anyone right now."
It took all Aiden's courage to take a step forward so the barrel of the rifle was nearly touching him. Even though he's been on the opposing end of plenty of firearm barrels in the recent months, it was still terrifying to be so close to one.
"If you kill her, an unarmed prisoner, that'll be considered murder. You just called me deputy, right? If you commit a murder I'll be required to arrest you. After everything you've done to survive do you really want to end up in jail? Do you want to rob your family of your presence because you had to stoop down to a Peggies level and murder a harmless person?"
Fury flashed in the man's eyes and he twitched, whether it was to shoot or hit Aiden he didn't know, Jess reacted upon his movement.
"Don't think about it," she cursed at him, "put it down or this arrow goes right through that pretty head." After a moment she continued, "it's getting awfully hard to keep this arrow pulled back. I may not be able to hold it much longer."
A long tense moment passed until the man finally cursed and lowered his gun. "Keep that bitch outta my sight if you don't want any problems."
Aiden nodded. "We're leaving now." He looked to Jess and Sharky and nodded his head towards the exit.
He didn't trust to give his back to the angry man, he walked backwards and pulled his arms back to ensure Faith remained behind him. Jess and Sharky were slow to follow them, they too wanted to be sure no one opened fire once their backs were turned.
"Wait," one of the others called out to them. "We want to be there to see Joseph Seed go down. Where is he?"
Aiden never had the chance to answer. The moment he had stepped out of the building a sudden force shoved at him from the side and knocked him to the ground. A man with the Projects cross symbol tattooed to his forehead held him down with one arm and he held a handgun in the other.
"Get out of here, Faith!" He shouted to the Bliss Herald that stood stunned nearby.
Aiden couldn't see if she followed his command, the Peggies frame was all he could see. The tackle robbed his lungs of all oxygen and he struggled to inhale more. it was difficult to keep the gun from pointing right at him.
"Stop!" Faith screamed, but the Peggie ignored her.
There was a sudden blur of green and the Peggie was lifted off of Aiden. While he struggled to climb to his feet he was helpless to watch as Jess tried to push the Peggie away and then his heart stopped upon hearing the loud bang of the gun going off. When Jess collapsed onto the concrete Aiden felt like he lost himself to Jacob's conditioning. It felt like he only blinked before his handgun was in his hand and aimed at the Peggie, he didn't hesitate to shoot the man in the head.
Aiden didn't bother to wait for the Peggie to hit the floor, he ran and slid on his knees to get to Jess. He turned her over and felt his heart tighten at the sight of blood spreading on her shirt. She was conscious with her eyes shut tight and her breathing was labored. Aiden shrugged out of his shirt, balled it up and pressed it hard against the growing bloodstain.
Jess cursed.
Aiden wasn't sure where she was shot, but seeing all of the blood terrified him.
"No, no, no," he muttered. He hadn't realized his vision swam from unwashed tears. "Please stay with me, Jess."
She struggled to voice how much it was hurting and it broke his heart. Not like this, Aiden thought. He would never forgive himself if Jess died. She was protecting him.
He twitched when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Turning, Aiden had to blink hard to clear his vision. The tears were warm as they slid down his cheeks. It was Faith.
"I can save her," she told him gently.
"She'll make it," Aiden grunted. There was so much blood, it was much worse than when he shot Faith in the leg. And Jess was beginning to wheeze. "She's tough," he said it more like an accusation and he said it towards Jess as if to remind her. "She'll be fine."
Faith kneeled next to him and rested her hand on his arm. "Can you hear that whistling when she breathes?"
Aiden was only able to hear the thunderous pounding of his heartbeat.
"She was shot in the lung. She won't have much time," Faith explained gently. "I can save her if you trust me."
Logic was slow to register in Aiden's head. "How?"
Faith hesitated for a moment and she bit her lower lip. "She'll survive the wound if she becomes an Angel."
"NO!" Aiden shouted and shook his head furiously. "She may as well be dead if you turn her into an Angel."
Jesse's lips were beginning to turn a light shade of blue and Aiden felt helpless and terrified. He didn't want her to die in his arms. It would break him beyond repair. They went through too much together, they survived everything the cult threw at them because of each other. He vowed to see her through the end, alive.
"Aiden, please, listen to me," Faith pleaded. The junior deputy finally looked at her, her blue eyes were filled with sorrow. "As an Angel she'll survive the wound. And then I can reverse it. I'll bring her back. You just have to trust me."
The junior deputy shook his head again. "You can't reverse that."
"Yes I can," there was a hardness in Faith's eyes. "It's...it's something I was working on before you and the marshal arrived." She paused to look down at Jess and then back to Aiden. "Give me time and I'll finish the cure for it. I promise."
Aiden watched her, he was not of the best state of mind to determine if she was lying or being truthful. He looked at Jess again. If what Faith said was true about her injury then she wouldn't last until they got her to back to the jail, to Charles. Whether Faith was telling the truth Jess would either die or remain an Angel, a fate no better than death.
He held Jess tightly and looked at Faith again. Time would tell if he'd grow to regret trusting her. "Okay. I trust you."
A/N: Yay for finally meeting a deadline, and a little early to boot. Wanted to get this chapter out before the holidays.