"Now tell me Jordi, how did you meet my sister? The truth," Aiden said looking Jordi in the eye. It had been a week since the Roach got crushed and Aiden had to put some of the pieces of this puzzle together. Now, he and Jordi were sitting in a seedy bar just outside of the city. The barkeep gave them a strange look as they walked in. It must have been the red shirt Jordi had on under his suit jacket. They, Aiden and Jordi, ignored it. Jordi was used to it. Aiden just didn't care. He'd seen tougher before.

"Fine, the truth," Jordi said as he was sweating bullets into his martini, "You really are a drag on Friday night. When Lucky Quinn was taken care of and I told you about the contracts on your head, I knew that they'd be out for me too. So I figured I'd made enough in my life, from my savings to your pay, I'd be fine. So I sent out the word saying I was out of the game. I traveled around. I saw all the things I wanted to see, the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate. After all of that I figured I would settle in my hometown, St. Louis, see the arch. I did just that I bought a place downtown, paid the guy in cash, no taxes for him. I just pay the property taxes every month."

Aiden shot him annoyed look.

"Okay, okay, one day I was in the supermarket, which for some reason was prematurely air-conditioned in December for crying out loud. So I was at the register when I notice this girl staring at me-"

"She told me you were staring at her," Aiden said with a smirk.

"It doesn't matter who was staring," he said flustered. Jordi continued with his story, "Anyway, I walked to her cool and said, 'You look like the kind of girl I want to get to know.' Then, she gave me her number."

"That's funny Jordi, because she said that you said, and I quote," Aiden reached into his trench coat and retrieved a many-times-folded piece of paper. He read it. "You're cute. Do you want to go out with me because I like how you look. Unquote."

"Well, if you already talked to her why are you here interrogating me?"

"What can I say? I like to see you squirm," Aiden replied truthfully, grinning. His smirk turned into turned into an almost-grimace as he formulated his next few words.

"Well it ain't cool. What kind of dude wants to see another dude squirm?" Jordi was on the verge of hysterics.

"Me." That was a matter of fact.

"Well, whatever. Anyway, she accepted and we went and got some Italian. Are you happy now?"

"Yes, I am," Aiden said grinning. The grinning turned into a sinister smirk, "Oh, and another thing. If you break my sister's heart, I'll have to kill you. And trust me they won't find any proof of your existence. Understood?"

"Understood," he almost passed out.

"Now let's get some more booze."

"Your uncle's coming over while I go out, okay," Nicole said wearing a sparkling blue evening gown, the next Tuesday night. She was holding on to her white clutch.

"Okay," he said as his back was turned, When he made the 180, he continued, "Wow, Mom, you look really, nice. Really fancy." He knew his mom was a pretty woman, several of the boys in the class, much to his displeasure, had said so, sometimes crudely, but he had never seen her that stunning. He turned back around toward the table, as he continued his thoughts. He didn't remember her ever dressing like that for a date. It's not like his father was around. She didn't date back in Chicago. She just worked and took care of him and his sister. The doorbell rang, snapping Jackson out of his thoughts. He lifted his eyes from the schoolwork on the table. He, in his regular blue hoodie and a pair of black jeans, however did not turn around as he heard the clickity-clack of high hells across a wood floor.

"It's probably your uncle," the now dolled up and made up Nicole answered the door. It was, as said, her brother.

"Woah, Nicky, is he taking you to Paris now?" He inquired jokingly.

"No, it's Tuesday night and it's none of your business where I'm going. Just know that I'll be back by two." She had a straight face. She always liked to see her brother fall victim to a prank. She watched as his face contorted into something fierce as he walked into the door.

"What?!" He was about to kill a certain Asian guy. It would be discreet too.

"I'm kidding, I'll be back by 10." She said this, walking out of the door. Aiden wasn't amused. NOT. AT. ALL.

Jackson was snickering at the exchange and his uncle's octave ascension at the table where he was sitting. He was sitting quietly as his uncle was approaching stealthily from behind, "I can hear you Uncle Aiden," He said, matter of fact. He inherited a thing or two from his uncle.

"Darn I thought that I had you," Aiden said as started to walk normally, taking a seat next to Jackson's at the table, "Have you eaten?"

"Nope."

"How 'bout we order a pizza?" He said waiting for Jackson's face to light up as would any child's at the prospect of pizza.

"Really," he said with excitement, "What are we going to put on it?"

"How about we order pepperoni and sausage? It's my favorite."

"Me too," he was excited to have something in common with his uncle.

"Okay I go and order it right now."

Aiden ordered a pizza, and as per the usual guarantee he had a half an hour to kill before it arrived. "So are done with all of your homework Jacks."

"Yeah, but I've got a spelling test tomorrow and I can use some help. Could you quiz me?"

"Sure," he said grabbing the list of words. It reminded him of being in school. Some things didn't change. "Augment," he said wanting him to spell it.

"A-U-G-M-E-N-T"

"Correct. Bicameral."

"B-I-C-A-M-E-R-A-L, but what does that word mean?"

"It's from social studies. It means having two houses. You learned about the legislative branch in history. Well, Congress has two houses the Senate and the House of Representatives. Therefore, it is bicameral." Somehow he remembered that from school. Checks and balances, all that stuff. "Now, the next word is casualty."

"C-A-S-U-A-L-T-Y"

"You're better at spelling than I am. Esoteric"

"E-S-O-T-E-R-I-C"

Aiden was impressed by his nephew even when they got to the last word, "This one is hard alright, mortgage."

"Um… M-O-R- uh, T! G-A-G-E,"

"Yes, that's right. You're ready for that test tomorrow. High five," he said extending his hand. The moment their hands made contact, the doorbell rang.

"Pizza," the deliveryman shouted from outside.

Aiden got back to his apartment at 12:05 AM. The lights were out, but the television was on. It was on some terrible action flick. He stepped towards the comfy coach and found a familiar warm body sleeping on it. She was beautiful. She'd dyed her hair back to black but kept it in the same normal. The piercings came out long ago, making her cheeks look fuller, pleasantly. Her body was still lithe and toned after all this time faking a death and all. He always wondered how she kept fit sitting at a computer all day. Well whatever she did to keep her body toned, he appreciated it. Yes, he did, He looked at the clothes that covered that body. It was something unusual for her. Nothing she was wearing was black. A cream colored cashmere sweater and tight blue jeans were, indeed, a new sight for Aiden. No slippers of socks on. He came closer to woman resting on the black sofa. He whispered, murmured, "Who are you and what did you do with Clara?" He was smirking.

"Huh, oh, you're home," she said voice groggy. "How did it go with Jackson," her accent coming through.

"It was fine we practiced for a spelling test in the morning and got a pizza and watched some cartoons. It was a kid's dream." He this said, almost dreamily.

"It sound like that's your dream too."

"Maybe, one day." His eyes were still focused on some indistinct part of the popcorn ceiling.

"Yes, one day, you'll have children of your own to love."

"Mmhmm." He changed the subject, "Who would have ever pictured you in cashmere, white cashmere?"

"Don't sound so surprised," she exclaimed with vehemence, "Okay," she started calming down, "your sister came over today to basically, I guess, interrogate me," her accent strong on the word 'interrogate'.

"Wh-" He was flummoxed.

"She said she wanted to make sure I was treating you right. She's a good sister. Anyway when she walked into my closet and saw my wardrobe she dragged me to the mall."

"I'm sure that she didn-"

"Yes, she did, by the arm. I probably still have the mark. We went to Paulette's Boutique and I got some new clothes." She paused and grinned and spoke again, "And we might have used your credit card."

"Of course, you did. No matter where a woman's from, or what language she spoke first, she knows how to spend a man's money," He said faking annoyance. He had money to spare.

"I realized since you bought me this you might deserve a reward," That accent was now enticing. Aiden was attracted to it.

"I think I might deserve a reward," he spoke, his heart was pounding as he removed his coat, hat and gloves.

"No," she said, starting to rise from the couch, "I know you deserve something for your trouble," Her voice was sultry.

"Well, what kind of reward I am going to get?"

"What kind of reward do you want?"

"Do your best." He liked this cat and mouse, or fox and rabbit.

"I'll do my worst to you," she said this as she aggressively closed to distance between her lips and his. The bussing was fervent, and it was accompanied by the sound of clothes being taken off sloppily.

In the afterglow, Aiden sat up in his bed awake. Clara was laying a little lower in the bed with an arm wrapped around his torso, asleep. She before falling asleep wondered how she would walk for the next few days, but that was a good kind of worry. Aiden, wide awake, was concerned with what was going to happen with their relationship. He fucked up a lot of stuff in the past. He sure as hell wasn't gonna fuck this up. He would let it go with the flow. He wasn't good at it but he'd try. He'd try his best to hold on to this. His love for this woman was special.

The moonlight came through the window and created new shapes in the shadow of the lattice. The light and shadows landed on them. In the crisp light of the moon, now full, he felt the love that he had left his heart when Lena died.

Something was transforming in him. There was a peace that enveloped him that was indescribable. His shoulders straightened, his breathing relaxed, and the perpetual knot that had formed in his gut was gone. He let out, all at once a sigh that told a story. A few tears followed they told the same tale, Agony, grief, guilt, greed, selfishness, disgust, loathing, lamenting, loneliness, envy. They were all gone. This was real catharsis. No 'pseudo I'll fell better' bullshit, but something palpable, tangible.

It was the Aiden he once knew.

Thank you everyone for reading this! I enjoyed writing it and I thank those who reviewed. Might be a sequel?

Thank you glenarvon for 'stalking' it lol

Merci Lufaaaaaa, I hope that you think this is a happy ending

Thank you CD for being excited for the next chapter. Believe you me I wrestled with it for a while

and Thanks Miko for laughing I did put a few jokes in.

P.S. If you got the reference about the prematurely air-conditioned supermarket we are now automatically friends, for life lol. If you didn't get it, look it up. You might like what you hear.