Chapter Nine
The look on T-bone's face told Aiden all he needed to know. This wasn't some trick. This wasn't some fabrication from Archie. T-bone had sent those messages, had handed Aiden over to the Viceroys.
Somehow Aiden still couldn't believe it. "All this time…and you…" he sputtered. He was angry, furious. So much so that he could hardly speak. But hurt, betrayal—that's what festered deep in Aiden's gut. "It was you."
T-bone didn't bother denying it. "I, I didn't want to—"
"Then tell me what that is!" Aiden yelled, pointing at the screen, his emotions channeling into a fury that erupted from him at T-bone's words, at his confirmation.
"It's not what you think."
Aiden didn't care about T-bone's excuses. "So, that's not you setting me up?" he asked facetiously, taking a few steps toward T-bone. "That's not you selling me out?!"
"I…"
This time the hurt in Aiden's voice came through more than the anger. "Do you know what they did to me?" His voice got even quieter. "What Niall would have done?"
Guilt bled from T-bone. He almost looked more distraught than Aiden himself. "I know, Aiden. I… I never would have…" He paused, looking everywhere but Aiden. "I thought maybe they wouldn't have caught you. Maybe you could have gotten free."
Aiden had heard enough. He marched up to T-bone and punched him, hard, across the face, a feral snarl ripping past his teeth. "Fuck you, T-bone." Stirred up by his actions, Aiden went to punch T-bone again, but T-bone dodged it.
That only enraged Aiden further.
Aiden went after T-bone, a full-on brawl breaking out between them. Too incensed to think better of it, Aiden flung wild punch after wild punch at T-bone, T-bone batting Aiden's hands away or ducking to the side to avoid them. It was easy to forget how adept a fighter T-bone was when he was normally running overwatch from the Bunker.
Thwarted, Aiden pulled back a moment, his sides heaving.
T-bone held out his hands placatingly. "Let's talk about this, alright?"
The bloodlust in Aiden rebuffed the statement. He came at T-bone again, shouting, "There's nothing to talk about!" Outmaneuvering T-bone, Aiden grappled him, pounded into his ribs. "You thought you'd just come back here and pretend to be my friend again? After what you did?!"
He couldn't believe it. All this time, T-bone had been lying to him. Had been acting like nothing had happened.
Planting his feet, T-bone grabbed Aiden around the middle and shoved back against him. Forced on the defensive, Aiden grabbed ahold of T-bone to keep his feet as he retreated. They hadn't gone far when T-bone gave a final shunt to propel Aiden backwards a few steps.
With distance between them and regret in his eyes, T-bone drew his gun from his waistband and pointed it at Aiden. "Aiden, stop!" he commanded, still trying to mollify Aiden. "Just stop. Please."
As shocked as he was that T-bone had pulled a gun on him, Aiden didn't flinch, didn't miss a beat. He wasn't sure if he knew T-bone wouldn't shoot him or if he was too outraged to care. Either way, he steamed up to T-bone and snatched at the gun.
By the look on T-bone's face, he couldn't believe that Aiden hadn't even hesitated.
T-bone pulled away as Aiden reached for the gun, making Aiden's hand land on T-bone's wrist instead. Tugging back and forth, they both added their off-hands to the struggle. Realizing that he couldn't get the gun from this position, Aiden opted for a different tactic.
He reached over the top of the gun and released the slide, slinging it out to the side. It skittered away while Aiden dropped the magazine from the gun as well. Jutting his palm into what remained of the gun, Aiden jabbed it from T-bone's hand.
Aiden couldn't believe what T-bone had just done. He'd pulled a gun on him. Actually pulled a gun on him.
If that's how he wanted to play it…
Aiden's eyes strayed to the gun on the desk he had left there earlier.
T-bone noticed the focus of his gaze. "No, Aiden, wait!"
Ducking around T-bone, Aiden pelted for the gun, but T-bone snatched a fistful of Aiden's jacket and yanked Aiden back around. Using the momentum, Aiden swung his knee up into T-bone's middle. The blow forced the air from T-bone's lungs, loosened his grip on Aiden. Aiden slipped his jacket from T-bone's grasp and made for the pistol once again.
Aiden's hand closed around the grip and he spun, his arm extending. T-bone caught up at that moment and did what Aiden had done to him earlier. He grabbed Aiden's arm with both of his hands, trying to gain control over the weapon.
But Aiden was ready for him.
Bending and twisting his arm suddenly, Aiden broke T-bone's grip on his forearm. Immediately after, Aiden pivoted on the spot and slung his other elbow behind his back, popping it into T-bone's head. Thrown off balance, T-bone fell forward. Aiden followed up on his motion and, using his gun hand, slammed T-bone's face into the desk.
T-bone fell back to the floor, clutching at his face, too stunned to fight back anymore.
Aiden didn't care.
Fire lit his eyes, his breath seething from him. Aiden whipped the pistol across T-bone's face, then followed it with a left hook. He kept at it, kicking T-bone in between blows.
T-bone could do nothing but cower as Aiden beat him into submission.
Finally, Aiden let up, but his bloodlust wasn't sated. Not even close.
He'd been betrayed too many times by those close to him. By those he called friend.
He wouldn't stand for it again.
With T-bone bloodied and beaten on the ground, Aiden brought the gun up, pointed it at T-bone's head.
"Aiden, wait! Please!" T-bone cried out, a shaking hand extended toward Aiden.
Aiden didn't bother replying. There was nothing left to say. He steadied his stance, dialed in his aim.
His finger tightened on the trigger.
"They had Rebecca!" T-bone called out hastily.
Aiden blenched, his trigger-finger pausing.
T-bone shook his head sullenly, his eyes pleading. "I'm so sorry, Aiden. I didn't have a choice."
T-bone was so nervous. He was meeting Rebecca in an hour and he had no idea what he was going to say, how he was going to convince her to drop the story she was working on.
Their relationship was good right now. Or, at least, as good as it could be considering he'd only met his 25-year-old daughter a month ago after she'd tracked him down and shown up out of the blue. As shocked as he had been initially, T-bone had discovered he was happy that she had found her way into his life.
He didn't want to ruin that. Not with the warnings and hard truths he'd have to deliver.
He'd picked up some flowers as a kind of peace offering, to soften the blow. As if that would change how she'd react. If she was anything like T-bone (and, even in a month, T-bone could tell she was), some petty gift wouldn't distract her in the slightest.
Aiden teasing T-bone about the sunflowers wasn't helping his anxiety either. Though, he had to admit, he was glad Aiden knew now. The sneaking around was starting to be a lot of work.
There was nothing for it. T-bone just had to bite the bullet and get Rebecca out of here. Even if he had to physically do it himself. Like he'd told Aiden, he'd rather Rebecca hate him than get tangled up with the Quinns. She wouldn't stand a chance against them.
The only thing going for her was that, as far as T-bone could tell, she had nothing on them. Nothing more than anyone else had guessed already anyway. She'd shown T-bone the pieces she had put together and, while impressive, it was all circumstantial. None of it proved much of anything. T-bone hoped that even if Niall found out about her, he wouldn't worry enough to do anything about it.
But that hope dwindled every minute Rebecca remained in Chicago. She had no idea the danger she was in. And T-bone couldn't tell her without revealing who he really was, what he was working to do.
That all changed tonight.
He didn't have to tell her the whole truth, just that he was trying to stop Niall and the South Club. Just enough that she would believe him, heed his warnings.
He couldn't let her get hurt. Or worse.
With that grim thought, T-bone snatched up the bouquet of sunflowers and headed for his truck.
Parking his truck, T-bone took a deep breath and stepped from it, heading toward the door of the dive bar they had chosen to meet at in Parker Square, the neon lights illuminating his path. He'd gotten there a little early so he chose a booth inside and waited, setting the sunflowers down on the table.
Trying in vain to rehearse in his head what he was going to say.
Fifteen minutes later, a man walked up to T-bone's table and plunked himself down across from T-bone. Distracted as he was, T-bone couldn't stop him before he had settled in.
"I think you're in the wrong place, buddy," T-bone told him, sizing him up. He didn't like the look of him. Didn't like the look he was giving T-bone. Like he knew something T-bone didn't.
The man grinned. "I think I'm right where I need to be."
His tone unnerved T-bone. Something definitely wasn't right. T-bone glanced to the side, searching the bar around him. He saw three men scattered around the place, all staring at him intently. His hackles rising, T-bone returned his gaze to the man in front of him. "What is this about?"
"It's about your daughter, Raymond," the man started, saying T-bone's real name sarcastically. "Or is it T-bone now?"
T-bone's nostrils flared at the mention of Rebecca. "What have you done?" he shot at him.
The man's voice was calm. "Nothing irreparable. Yet," he added with a smirk.
Heart shooting into his throat, blood boiling in his ears, T-bone place his hands on the table, making to rise, but the man stopped him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I don't want my boys to have to cause a scene."
Eyes darting back to the others around the room, T-bone clocked the guns they had hidden under their jackets, the malicious resolve in their eyes. T-bone sunk back into his seat.
He would play along. For now.
Trying to keep his voice steady, T-bone asked, "Where is she?"
"Somewhere safe."
T-bone didn't know why he bothered asking. He knew this man wouldn't have told him where she was. He tried something else. "What do you want with her?"
Still with that nonchalant tone, the man answered, "As it turns out, nothing. Not with her anyway. We had a word with her because we thought she had some information she shouldn't have." The man studied the sunflowers on the table, rubbing one of the petals with his thumb. "Luckily for her, after a thorough questioning, we figured out she knew nothing of import. Except for one thing." That confident smile returned as the man locked in on T-bone. "Her father, Raymond Kenney, was in town."
T-bone should have known this would happen, that his past would catch up with him. And now Rebecca was caught in the middle of it. "Who sent you? Blume?"
The man huffed a laugh. "You're not understanding the bigger picture here. We're not here for you." A feral light flickered in his eyes. "We want Aiden."
Inwardly recoiling, T-bone kept his face impassive.
How did they know?
He couldn't do anything but deny the connection. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you do. We know you've been working closely with him. Close enough that you can deliver him to us."
Struggling to keep his voice quiet to avoid drawing attention, T-bone spat out, "Why the fuck would I do that?" There was no point in denying his involvement with Aiden anymore. He could tell by the man's countenance that he knew what he was talking about.
The man pulled out his phone and fiddled with the screen. "Forgetting Rebecca already, are you? I know you haven't known her long, but still." He flipped the phone around to show T-bone. It was a picture of Rebecca, bound to a chair in the middle of a small room. Blood splattered the floor where it dripped from her fingernails and bruises mounded on her face. She looked terrified.
T-bone couldn't stop himself from gasping at the image, rage and worry bubbling up inside him. His fists clenched so hard that his nails dug into his palms. He ground his teeth. "Let her go."
"Once we have Aiden, we will." The man slid a flash drive across the table. "Send him here, down at the docks."
"I won't do it." T-bone didn't know what he was going to do, but he couldn't do that to Aiden. Aiden was his friend, his brother.
By the look on the man's face, he didn't believe T-bone. He seemed so unconcerned. Probably because he knew he was holding all the cards here.
T-bone knew it too, damn him.
"I think you know what will happen if you don't."
Just the thought of it stole T-bone's breath away. He shook his head. "It won't work anyway. He'll know it's a trap."
"Not if you're the one that gives this to him. He trusts you. I'm sure you'll know exactly what to say to convince him. It'll be easy. Show him that," he gestured to the flash drive, "and he'll come running." He let that sink in for a moment. "We'll play our part. Just get him to the docks. You have 24 hours."
"I want to see Rebecca," T-bone blurted out, trying to wrest some kind of control away from this man. "How do I know she's even alive?"
The man shrugged. "Believe me or don't. You'll find out tomorrow how it went for her."
T-bone didn't have an answer for that.
Leaving T-bone reeling, the man scooted out of the booth and stood. Before he left, he leaned closer to T-bone and added quietly, "I'm sure I don't need to say this, but if you warn Aiden, if you speak a word about this to anyone... well," he finished meaningfully. "And don't try to follow us either. It won't end well."
He strode out then, his cronies trailing him.
T-bone was left speechless. What in the world was he supposed to do?
His eyes strayed to the flash drive on the table. Maybe he could figure something out from that? Who knew what unwitting information it had on it? First, he had to figure out who this man was. Then he would go from there.
Scooping up the drive, T-bone went to his truck and sped back to the Bunker.
Aiden was nowhere to be found when T-bone got back for which T-bone was grateful. He needed some time to think. To figure things out.
Now that the shock had worn off, T-bone was left fuming, terrified. That little shit thought he could bully T-bone into turning over Aiden? He would never do it. Never. Yet T-bone had no idea how he was going to get Rebecca back. When he'd seen that picture of her beaten, tortured—T-bone hadn't known what real fear felt like until that moment.
He had to get her out of there. He had no choice.
Worried that Aiden might walk in at any moment and find what he was up to, T-bone snatched his laptop off the desk and went to his room. It wouldn't do for him to be caught in the middle of all of this.
Plopping himself onto the chair, T-bone double checked the security on his laptop and plugged in the flash drive. There was only one file, named with an address. A quick internet search showed that address down at the docks, as the man had said. What was more interesting was that the file was a video.
A new window popped up when T-bone clicked on it revealing an aisle of shipping containers. Pressing play, T-bone watched as a black SUV pulled up, that man and his men emerging and making their way to a particular container. The man disappeared inside and came out with a box full of papers. Then they locked up and left.
That was it. That was all there was. But T-bone knew immediately what the man was going for, what Aiden would think. Somehow, this man knew Aiden was looking for information on the trafficking ring.
Which begged the question, who was this guy?
T-bone zoomed in on the man's face from the video and started running it through his facial rec program before he pulled up the footage from outside the bar earlier. Selecting the right time, T-bone found when he himself had arrived and then fast-forwarded. A little bit later, an SUV pulled up and four men stepped out. The angle wasn't very good to get a plate number so T-bone wound ahead again to when they left. The angle still didn't allow T-bone to grab a plate, so he hacked across the city cameras to follow the SUV as it drove away.
A few blocks over, he was able to pull a plate and run it. What came back was useless. The vehicle was registered under a Samuel Parry who, at first glance, seemed utterly normal. Boring, even. Yet with a little investigating, T-bone determined the name to be a false identity. Unfortunately, it was not one associated with anyone in the criminal databases.
T-bone wasn't going to get any further with the plates.
He kept following the SUV south and then east, into The Wards, which was strange. That was Viceroy territory.
The car became harder and harder to follow with less cameras in that area. T-bone finally lost them, but he had a sneaking suspicion he knew where they were going.
He pulled up a feed overlooking the entrance to Rossi-Fremont and waited. Sure enough, that SUV pulled into view a short while later and those four men stepped from the vehicle and made their way inside.
Though the suspicion had been rising, the confirmation that these men were Viceroys confused T-bone.
What was a Viceroy doing kidnapping Rebecca? She had information on the Quinns, the South Club, not the Viceroys. Were they in league again? And what about Aiden? Other than a general grudge, T-bone couldn't see what they would want with him. What was this guy playing at?
T-bone needed more information. He needed to know exactly who this man was.
Narrowing the facial rec search to known Viceroy affiliates didn't help. Whoever this man was, he had never been caught in association with the Viceroys before. T-bone had no doubt he had a rap sheet, though. Anyone in that gang would. T-bone would just have to wait for the full database search.
In the meantime, T-bone was left wondering where they were keeping Rebecca, although, only one place made any sense.
They had to be keeping her in Rossi-Fremont. Why would they keep her anywhere else but their stronghold? Sadly, there was no way T-bone could confirm it. He didn't have the computer power to hack into that place remotely. And going there would be a suicide mission. T-bone was willing to risk it, but getting himself killed would do nothing to help Rebecca.
What the fuck was he going to do?
Try as he might, T-bone couldn't think of any way forward, any alternative option. He was left with two impossible choices.
Betray his best friend? Or let his daughter die?
It took two hours for the facial rec to come back with a match. Two hours in which T-bone could hardly think for the fear ratcheting up inside him.
When the notification popped up, T-bone jumped on it immediately.
The name came up as Archie Mason.
That meant nothing to T-bone so he did some digging. All of the data on him was to be expected. His history read like any other criminal's. It wasn't until T-bone looked into Archie's personal background that he found anything significant. Archie Mason was Rowan Hughes' half-brother. And Rowan Hughes was the man Aiden had killed to get the information on the trafficking ring.
Was that what Archie wanted? Revenge for his brother's death?
At least that explained how Archie knew about the trafficking information. Though none of it helped T-bone with his plight.
He thought he'd have been one step closer to finding a solution if only he could find out who this man was, had some insight into his motives. Now that T-bone knew, he didn't see why he'd thought it would have made any difference. Because it didn't.
Archie still had Rebecca, would kill her unless T-bone handed over Aiden. Would kill her if he tried to make a move. Or warned Aiden. Or did anything.
T-bone felt so trapped.
He shoved his laptop aside and paced his room, his mind racing.
Two hours went by. Four. With T-bone doing anything he could think of to find Rebecca. Maybe she was somewhere else. If so, T-bone might stand a chance at getting her out.
He pulled her photo from the DMV database and ran a search through live ctOS cameras. He got nothing.
He could run her photo through ctOS archive footage to find where they had taken her, but, considering he had no idea when exactly she was taken, that would take too much time. Time he didn't have. And that was assuming they kidnapped her in front of a camera anyway.
He tracked her phone, hoping that either she or Archie had it, but he came up with nothing. Archie must have taken the battery out.
T-bone needed help on this. He desperately needed help on this.
Tossing aside his laptop again, T-bone buried his head between his knees. He ran his fingers through his hair, scrunched them into fists.
That was it. T-bone was going to tell Aiden everything. As soon as he got back, he would tell him. How could he not? They would figure something out. He had no idea how, but they would figure something out.
T-bone sat back up, running his hands down his face, tenting them over his mouth.
But what if Archie found out? What if their plan went south?
Archie would kill Rebecca. That's what would happen. T-bone had no doubt about that.
He couldn't let that happen to her. He couldn't risk it? Could he?
Fretting away the hours, T-bone warred with himself to the point where he thought he was going to be sick.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't do this.
And where the hell was Aiden? It was after noon and he still hadn't come back yet.
T-bone wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not, but he couldn't help thinking at least it would force his hand one way or the other. This constant second-guessing was eating T-bone alive.
Before he knew it, it was almost five o'clock, the day speeding by in a frantic blur. He was strung up so tight that when a text message dinged on his phone, T-bone practically jumped out of his skin.
It was from an unknown number, but T-bone knew exactly who had sent it. Tick tock, it read.
There wasn't much time left.
T-bone's thoughts flashed to Rebecca. Of her being tortured in that place. Of her life ending there in a matter of hours.
He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let his daughter suffer.
Bile rising to his throat and self-hatred welling in his eyes, T-bone started concocting a plan. Archie was right. He'd given T-bone everything he needed. All T-bone had to do was flesh out the details.
When T-bone was done, he pulled out his phone, brought up his texts to Aiden. Quickly, he typed: Need you back here. NOW.
T-bone went to press Send and his finger froze, trembling over the button.
There was no coming back from this.
But T-bone had to do it. He had to do it for Rebecca.
Grinding his teeth, T-bone pressed Send.
God forgive him.
With great difficulty, T-bone had regained his composure by the time Aiden had shown up a little while later.
He had to make this believable or the whole thing would fall apart.
The sad thing was, it was easy to feed Aiden the information he so desperately wanted to hear. Easy for T-bone to lie to him.
Still, when Aiden headed down to the armory, T-bone felt like he was going to have a heart attack.
He was disgusted with himself that Aiden had trusted him so faithfully. That he'd lied so well Aiden hadn't questioned a word T-bone had said. How could he be so good at stabbing Aiden in the back?
Was that who he was? A liar? A traitor?
T-bone felt bile coating his tongue. He didn't know how he could ever live with himself.
He just had to focus on Rebecca. That and nothing else.
He was so distracted that he hadn't heard Aiden come back, hadn't noticed he had approached.
"T-bone?"
Aiden's words snapped T-bone out of it.
"What's up?"
Oh, God. What was T-bone going to say now? He supposed to had to tell Aiden something about Rebecca. Aiden would be expecting T-bone to back him up on this venture. Rebecca was the only valid excuse he had not to. T-bone stood. "It—it's Rebecca. I, uh. I just got off the phone with her," he lied.
"Is she ok?"
T-bone chose his words carefully. "For now. But she's in trouble. I have to go get her. Take her out of the city." Even though they were the truth, the words left a foul taste in T-bone's mouth.
Concern was Aiden's only reaction. "Do you need help?"
Why did he have to be so kind right now? T-bone wished Aiden was rolling his eyes, hating T-bone for leaving him hanging. "No. No I can handle it. You go to the docks." T-bone couldn't bear to keep eye contact as he said it.
"Hey," Aiden offered sympathetically, "Rebecca's going to be fine. Alright?"
"Yeah." T-bone's brain couldn't come up with anything else to say.
"Go. Take care of Rebecca," Aiden bade T-bone. "I got this."
His voice even smaller, T-bone answered, "Yeah." He backed away, grabbing for his jacket, his pistol. He couldn't stand this anymore. He had to get out of there.
Then Aiden was climbing the stairs and T-bone looked up at him. In a flash of panic, he called out to him, stopped him. "Aiden?"
Just tell him, he fought with himself. Just tell him. You can't do this to him. You can't do this!
But this was Rebecca. This was his daughter. He had to protect her.
He didn't have a choice.
"Just be careful, alright?"
With that pitiful warning, Aiden left, and shame crushed T-bone into dust.
Having texted Archie that Aiden was on his way, T-bone was hoping to have Rebecca back within the hour. He'd done what he'd asked. He'd gotten Aiden to the docks.
But Archie threw a curveball that T-bone should have seen coming. He wouldn't let Rebecca go until they had their hands on Aiden. He'd said to meet at the bar they'd met at before so T-bone packed up and left.
It's not like he had any other choice.
They were waiting for him in the parking lot, two SUVs parked side by side. As T-bone pulled in, Archie approached his window and told him to follow them, reiterating that if he tried anything, Rebecca would pay the price.
As if T-bone was going to try anything now. He had already sold his soul to the devil. What was one more step into Hell?
So, T-bone followed them across Parker Square, to an unremarkable house on the lower west side. They all got out of their vehicles and T-bone mimicked them, taking his place in the middle of them as they ushered him into the house. They didn't have guns out, seeing as how they were in the middle of a neighborhood, but T-bone knew they had them concealed under their jackets.
T-bone had one as well.
Unfortunately, that security blanket didn't last long. The second they had him inside, they frisked him and confiscated his pistol and the knife he had hidden in his boot. The fact that they took his weapons didn't matter much to T-bone. He'd doubted he would have kept them anyway. He just hoped they weren't currently going through the whole armory he had packed in his truck as well.
Those were for getting Rebecca out of the city. Those, he did not want to lose.
After they frisked T-bone, Archie and the other Viceroys led T-bone further into the house to a living room complete with couch, chair, coffee table, and a large TV on the wall. They forced T-bone onto the couch and Archie plopped down onto the armchair to the side. One of the Viceroys already in the room sat with a laptop open near the TV while the others surrounded them all menacingly. It felt odd to be in such a normal space in such an abnormal circumstance.
Refusing to be intimidated, T-bone acted as casual as he could, waiting for a moment, searching with his eyes, his ears. As far as he could tell, the only people in the house were in this room: T-bone, Archie, the four Viceroys that had driven here, and two more that had been waiting in the house. "Where's Rebecca?" he asked when it was clear she wasn't in the immediate vicinity.
A wicked smile curved Archie's mouth. "You didn't think I'd have her here, did you?"
Anger flickered within T-bone, but he did his best to rein it in. He had to hold it together a little longer. For Rebecca.
It was like Archie knew the exact struggle that was warring inside T-bone and his smug look did nothing to temper T-bone's ire. Archie continued in a nonchalant tone, "Someone will bring her once we have Aiden. Then she's all yours." Behind him, one of the Viceroys pointed the remote at the TV, clicked on a multiscreen feed of security camera footage. Archie swept an arm toward the TV. "In the meantime, let's enjoy the show."
Studying the footage, T-bone soon recognized a couple of the camera angles.
His heart dropped, his face paling.
It was of the docks, where he had sent Aiden. T-bone was going to have to watch as Aiden wandered blindly into their trap.
This is for Rebecca, T-bone kept reminding himself, his teeth grinding involuntarily. They're hurting her. They're going to kill her.
T-bone refused to look back over to Archie, though he could feel his gaze boring into him.
That intensity that started out as malice soon morphed into something closer to annoyance as the minutes dragged on without any sign of Aiden. Fifteen minutes went by. Then half an hour. Nearly an hour had gone by and T-bone could feel that Archie was about to make some comment when he leaned forward all of a sudden, eyes intent on the screen.
He pointed to the corner. "What was that?"
T-bone had seen it too, though he schooled his face into disinterest. A flock of birds had taken flight from one of the shipping containers, done a loop, and then settled back down. It was nothing extraordinary except for the fact that it had already happened. Not just the birds reacting—that exact same footage.
"What?" the man at the laptop asked, glancing at the screen as if he would see something there.
Archie stood, examining the screen. "Those birds." He took a step closer and then looked back to one of his men. "Check in with Porter."
A man to T-bone's left whipped out his phone and dialed a number, placing the phone to his ear. In the silence of the room, they could all hear the line ringing. It went to voicemail and the man reported, "He's not answering."
Where complacent boredom had suffused the room before, now there was a buzz of restlessness beginning to grow. None of the others seemed to understand what exactly was happening. Only that something was.
Archie glanced to T-bone with what seemed an accusatory look. T-bone met his eyes, letting a polite interest color his face. They both knew exactly what was going on, though T-bone wasn't going to confirm it.
Aiden was there.
This time Archie pulled out his own phone and dialed someone up, sliding the phone to his ear as he scrutinized the footage on the screen. "Check on Porter, but don't be obvious about it. Not until we know for sure Aiden's there. We don't want to scare him off."
Archie left the line open, all of them, T-bone included, waiting in tense silence for a few minutes until, all of a sudden, muffled shouting came spouting from the speaker.
"There he is! He's here!" T-bone could hear clearly enough. Then the pitter patter of gunfire popped through and T-bone's heart started pounding.
Archie was livid at the sound. "What the fuck are you doing?! Stop shooting, we need him ali—" Cringing, Archie yanked the phone away from his ear as a great crash blew out the speakers.
It had to have been an explosion. And if it was that close to a Viceroy, that meant Aiden had set it off.
"Fix those goddamn cameras!" Archie bellowed at the Viceroy on the laptop.
If there was any question before, it was obvious now—Aiden had looped the cameras, had tricked them all.
T-bone would have smiled at Aiden thwarting these men if he hadn't felt so sick.
The man at the computer typed frantically, his eyes darting around the screen. In front of the TV, Archie paced furiously, the sound of gunfire resuming over the phone. Archie tried to get through to them to cease fire, but it seemed the heat of battle had consumed his associates at the docks. They kept firing and, as much as he didn't want Archie to have any more information, T-bone found himself wishing the cameras would be fixed as well. Imagining what was happening from sound alone was killing him.
Then the footage blinked and everyone in the room was dumbstruck by the violent change to what was actually happening.
T-bone was wrong. Seeing it was worse. So much worse.
The docks were dark save for the muzzle flashes lighting one aisle and the crumpled wreckage of a car ablaze at the end of it. From the other side, headlights bore down the aisleway and T-bone just caught the outline of someone scrambling up over a shipping container.
His breath catching, T-bone shot forward.
That was Aiden.
More headlights were swarming the place now, actively hunting Aiden on all the other camera views. T-bone found himself silently cheering Aiden on, hoping he would get out of there. Forgetting for a moment what might happen if he did.
Another explosion lit the night, showed Aiden hopping down into another aisleway. It was hard to tell what was happening from this angle; the only angle that now gave them any view a much wider one than the one of the container Aiden was after. T-bone could see a car barreling toward Aiden through the explosion and then Aiden was up over the container on the far side. Only, something was wrong.
Aiden was stumbling, almost like he was drunk. He barely made it to the other side of the container before he collapsed and fell over the edge, dropping from sight.
T-bone desperately searched the feeds for any sign of Aiden, but none of the other cameras offered any view of him. Coming back to the wide angle, T-bone watched three sets of headlights close in on Aiden and stop short. The lights flickered a few times as, T-bone assumed, several men shot past.
Archie's ringtone split the air and he quickly answered it.
Again, what was said was clear enough for everyone in the room to hear.
"We have him."
No.
At those words, T-bone couldn't keep the devastation from reaching his face. His guts turned to liquid, his heart imploding.
T-bone knew a long time ago that he was going to Hell, but this? God, what had he done?
In contrast, Archie's face lit up. "Bring him. I'm on my way." He hung up and swung toward T-bone. "You held up your end of the deal and now I'll hold up mine. Rebecca will be returned to you shortly."
The words barely reached T-bone. He was too much in shock to say anything in return anyway. He just kept staring at the TV, numb. The lights had flickered back on at the docks. T-bone watched as dark shapes obscured the headlights and then, a minute later, those lights pulled out of the aisle.
Off to the side, Archie called another man to tell him to bring Rebecca. When he hung up, he circled behind the couch, heading for the exit, though he had one last message for T-bone. "I appreciate your help in all this. I couldn't have done it without you."
Those words got through just fine.
Anger erupted from T-bone and he shoved himself to his feet, made for Archie.
Six guns were trained on him immediately, freezing T-bone in his tracks. Wrath poured from him, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists.
"Ah, ah," Archie chided, holding up a finger that T-bone wanted to rip off and shove down his throat. "It's a little late for all that. The deed's already done. Take Rebecca and go. Or have you changed your mind?"
T-bone ground his jaw, hatred coursing through his veins. He wanted nothing more than to gouge out Archie's eyes, rip his head from his body. But T-bone was trapped and he knew it. Archie knew it.
Rebecca was all he had left now. Getting her to safety would be the only good thing to come of any of this. He couldn't compromise that.
With monumental effort, T-bone calmed himself, unfurled his fists.
At a nod from Archie, the men around T-bone relaxed, lowering their guns. Archie stared T-bone down for a moment, then said to the others, "Don't let him leave until she gets here, then see them on their way. They're both to leave unharmed." He returned his gaze to T-bone. "I always keep my word."
With that, Archie swept from the room and T-bone was left standing there, shattered.
What had he done?
He didn't deserve to have Rebecca returned to him. He deserved death. Worse.
What had he done?
T-bone drove as fast as he could, Rebecca, distraught, but relatively unharmed, beside him.
He'd clutched her to him when they'd let her go, his relief so profound he could barely breathe. She'd bawled her eyes out into his shoulder and held onto him like he was a life preserver in stormy waters. Loathe as he was to break apart from her, T-bone hadn't wanted to linger and ushered her quickly into his truck and sped away.
Away from the city. Away from his guilt.
They drove in silence for a long while, both of them too disturbed to say much. It wasn't until they neared New York City that Rebecca opened up and told T-bone what had happened, how they had captured her.
It turned out that Archie had gotten wind of someone gathering information on Niall Quinn. In the hopes that it would win him favor with Niall, Archie had found Rebecca and put a stop to her inquiries, found out what she knew. As T-bone had surmised beforehand, Rebecca hadn't known much. Nothing condemning anyway. Then Archie figured out her connection to T-bone and, by extension, her connection to Aiden.
From there, it was T-bone's turn to explain what had happened, who he was, really. Rebecca didn't seem surprised, but then, she had just been kidnapped. Finding out her father had some connection to it couldn't have been that big of a shock by comparison. Not when she barely knew anything about him to begin with.
The candid conversation should have been making T-bone feel better, but all he could feel was his guilt compounding. He hadn't told Rebecca what he'd done to get her back, just that he'd made a trade. Normally, she wouldn't have let something like that go, but she must have read the look on his face and let the matter drop.
Mirroring T-bone's mood, the weather got worse and worse the closer they got to New York. By the time T-bone drove into the big city, a full-blown blizzard was raging, the conditions white-out. They barely made it back to Rebecca's apartment.
T-bone should have turned around right then and there. Should have headed back to Chicago and done everything he could have to get Aiden back.
But Rebecca was still in shock from her ordeal and begged T-bone to stay with her.
T-bone didn't have the heart to turn her down. Nor could he have abandoned his daughter when she needed him most.
He spent the next three days with her. Holding her, bandaging her wounds. Being the shoulder for her to cry on. All the while his thoughts straying back to Aiden, to what he had done.
When Rebecca had calmed down enough for T-bone to feel comfortable leaving her, the snows had blocked him in. They'd closed all the roads, shut down all the trains. Nobody was coming into or leaving the city for a while.
An entire week, it turned out.
By that time, getting back didn't matter anymore. T-bone knew Aiden was dead. Knew he had failed him in every way possible.
The thought crushed T-bone.
How had it come to this? When had T-bone turned into someone who would betray his best friend? His only friend.
After that, T-bone didn't eat, forgot how to smile. He didn't deserve any of those things.
Now it was Rebecca's turn to be worried about him. She fretted over him, forced him to eat whenever she could. She kept asking him what was wrong, but T-bone couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. To reveal what a monster he was.
He almost stayed there.
How could he ever go back?
But the devastation inside T-bone festered into an anger toward Archie that spurred him into action.
He'd go back to Chicago. To kill Archie Mason if nothing else.
It still took him a few more days to summon the courage to return. He kept imagining walking into the Bunker knowing Aiden wouldn't be there. Knowing he wouldn't ever be there again.
It didn't matter. He had to go back. He'd never atone for what he did, but he owed this to Aiden at least. The very least.
With the snows clearing, T-bone struck out for Chicago, promising Rebecca he'd return when he could.
But the closer he got to Chicago, the more T-bone's nerves shredded. On the outskirts of the city, he had to pull over to puke his guts up.
He couldn't walk into that Bunker. He couldn't face what he had done.
When there was nothing left in T-bone's stomach to purge, he got back in his truck and started driving again. Regardless of his feelings, he had to go back. He knew he'd hate himself even more if he didn't.
He had to focus on Archie. Archie had caused this.
Archie would pay.
Despite his newfound conviction, T-bone was fighting down bile when he pulled into the Bunker. With shaking hands, he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button.
Just on the other side of that door was where he had last seen Aiden. The last place he would ever see him.
Then the doors slid open and instead of devastation, T-bone was hit with sudden confusion.
There was a beeping noise coming from down the stairs.
"What the hell?" T-bone muttered. Forgetting his anguish for a moment, T-bone followed the sound down the stairs and to the left. To Aiden's room.
And there, lying in his own bed, hooked up to several IVs, was Aiden.
Alive.
He looked like he had been hit by a bus, but he was alive, his heart driving every beep of the monitor.
T-bone couldn't believe his eyes, had never dreamed this could happen. He felt like he had been punched in the chest, all breath stolen from him. He nearly went to the floor.
"Aiden," he whispered, dumbstruck.
A whole slew of questions flooded T-bone's mind.
What had happened? How had he gotten back here? Had Archie told Aiden what T-bone had done? Had Aiden figured it out? Where did they go from here?
How could he ever look Aiden in the eye again?
Yet, with all these questions swirling inside T-bone, only one thing mattered—Aiden was alive.
He could hate T-bone for the rest of his life (and by all rights, he should), but he was alive.
But then, maybe Aiden never needed to know. What was done was done. Telling Aiden the truth wouldn't change any of it. Wouldn't make anything better. In fact, it would only make things worse.
If T-bone kept his cool, then all of this could go away. Everything could go back to normal.
It could be like it had never happened.
Aiden shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Couldn't believe what T-bone had done. He understood T-bone's concern for Rebecca. Completely. But what he had done? That was unforgivable.
"Why didn't you come to me?" Aiden asked, heartbroken. "I would have helped you. You know I would have helped you."
"I wanted to. I meant to, I did," T-bone pleaded. "But then, when you didn't come back, and Archie texted me… I panicked. All I could think of was what they would do to Rebecca."
"I would have played their game for you. For her," Aiden offered all too quietly. "I would have put my life on the line if you had just come to me."
"I tried, Aiden. I tried to tell you—"
Aiden's anger shot up. "You tried?" he scoffed incredulously. "You tried?!" Aiden jabbed the gun at T-bone. "You should have fucking tried harder!"
T-bone cringed.
He had tried? Unbelievable. "They had me for ten days. Ten days! While you were what? Feeling sorry for yourself?"
"I…"
Aiden wasn't going to let him answer. Didn't need one anyway. "I was there, waiting to die. Hoping to die." Aiden paused, grinding his teeth. T-bone wouldn't even look at him, the coward. "You put me there and then did nothing. If not for Jay and DedSec…" Though no response would satisfy Aiden, he was in such a state that T-bone's lack of one still set Aiden off. "Jay got me out. Jay! And she knew nothing about me! How hard did you try, T-bone?" Aiden sneered.
T-bone shrunk before Aiden, diminished with every word.
"Then, after everything, you covered it all up, didn't you?" Aiden questioned, putting another piece of the puzzle into place. "You deleted those tapes right in front of me."
"I couldn't risk you finding out it had been a setup," T-bone answered candidly, his voice small.
Aiden huffed. "And even when I did, I never suspected you. Not for a moment. I trusted you."
"I just… I didn't think there was any point in you knowing. By then, it wouldn't have done any good for you to know the truth."
That sparked a fire in Aiden. Unwillingly or not, T-bone had set him up, sentenced him to the worst ordeal he'd ever endured, then lied to him for months on end, acting like he was his friend. Acting like everything was ok.
"Fuck you, T-bone!" Livid, Aiden advanced on T-bone, his intent clear. T-bone wouldn't get away with this.
At that point, a clear voice rang out across the room accompanied by light footsteps coming up the stairs. "Is everything ok up here? I thought I heard shout—"
Aiden and T-bone both looked over to Jay who stopped short, her face screwing up into astonishment and consternation at the scene before her.
"Aiden?!" She closed the gap on them, parking herself a few yards away. Her head whipped back and forth between the two men. "What are you doing? What the fuck is going on?!"
"Go ahead, T-bone," Aiden bade with a tilt of his head, his eyes flitting back to his former friend. "Tell her how you betrayed me. How you sent me to be tortured and killed."
With eyes full of shock, Jay swiveled to T-bone. "What is he talking about?" she breathed.
T-bone had trouble meeting her eyes as well. He was nothing short of pitiful. "They had my daughter. And I didn't know… I, I didn't think…"
"What the fuck did you think was going to happen?!" Aiden bellowed, the words erupting from him before T-bone could offer anything more.
Jay was speechless, her mouth working while her eyes pleaded with T-bone and then Aiden for this to be untrue. For this to be some nightmare.
Aiden wished it was. But the truth was on display before her, from Aiden's wrath to T-bone's defeated bearing. Frankly, the tension saturating the air was enough on its own.
Tears crowded Jay's eyes as Aiden returned his attention to T-bone. "How could you do this?" he asked quietly once more, the anguish in his chest stealing his voice. When T-bone merely shook his head, Aiden roared at him. "How could you do this?!"
"What if it had been Jay?" T-bone burst out, shaken into finding his voice.
"Don't you dare," Aiden snarled, his lip curling. "Don't you dare bring her into this!"
But T-bone wasn't giving up. "What if it had?!" His eyes locked onto Aiden's, begged him. "They had her, Aiden. You know what it's like. What if they'd wanted me instead?"
Aiden set his jaw, his answer resolute. "I never would have betrayed you."
"You don't know that." T-bone studied Aiden's face, gave him a significant look. A desperate one. He repeated, his voice nearly a whisper, "You don't know that."
T-bone's words were meaningless to Aiden, his emotions too strong to be swayed now. It was too late for explanations or apologies.
A coldness settled into Aiden's heart, his eyes. "It doesn't matter now," he said, raising his gun. "You made your choice."
Jay darted forward, placing herself between Aiden and T-bone. She held her hands up toward Aiden. "No, Aiden, you can't!"
"Stay out of this, Jay," Aiden warned.
Jay didn't budge, her eyes boring into Aiden.
Aiden was so furious he was shaking. "Jay. Move," he ground through his teeth.
"You know you don't want to do this."
Her voice was so calm. Too calm. Which, ironically, did nothing to pacify Aiden. He wanted to fume and rage at T-bone. Wanted to put an end to this farce of a friendship.
"It's what he deserves," Aiden spat out, looking through Jay to T-bone, who remained cowering on the floor.
"Maybe," Jay conceded. "But you still have a choice. Just like he did."
T-bone shriveled at Jay's words.
"Don't repeat his mistakes."
Aiden's eyes drilled into Jay's. "I can't let him get away with this. Not after everything that's happened."
Evenly, Jay replied, "This isn't the answer. You know it's not." She shook her head. "Let him go."
The last three words ate at Aiden. How could he let him go? T-bone deserved this. Deserved worse for what he'd put Aiden through.
Aiden tightened his grip on his gun, ground his teeth.
All he had to do was step to the side and shoot. That's all he had to do. One bullet and it would be done.
Yet, somehow, he was frozen in place.
His eyes quavered with uncertainty, his lip curling to bare his teeth in time with his hand clenching and unclenching around the gun. Breaths juddered from his lips.
In a final attempt to put an end to all this, Aiden thrust the gun forward, his jaw so tight it was starting to hurt. But T-bone raised his eyes to Aiden in that moment and Aiden saw nothing but sorrow there, and guilt.
Aiden would never forgive T-bone for what he'd done. But he couldn't kill him. He just couldn't do it.
Aiden lowered the gun, releasing a stilted sigh.
Jay, sensing the change in Aiden, cautiously turned to the side, giving Aiden full view of T-bone once more.
There was something else in T-bone's eyes now—hope.
That, Aiden couldn't abide. "Get out," he growled deep in his throat.
"Aiden," T-bone pleaded.
There was nothing left to say. Trembling, Aiden repeated, "Get. Out."
Aiden could see the hope shatter in T-bone's eyes, but he didn't care. He never wanted to see him again.
Sheepishly, T-bone pushed himself to his feet, lingering only for a moment before he shuffled past Jay and Aiden without another word, eyes downcast.
Aiden didn't say anything either, didn't watch him go. He and Jay didn't even move until the elevator door slid closed to mark T-bone's exit.
Then they were left in a silence that pierced Aiden to his bones.
He staggered to the desk, set his hands down on it, and hung his head, trying in vain to process what had just happened. All that came of it was an anger that overtook Aiden. In a fit of rage, he released his gun and swept it and everything else from the desk top, the contents scattering on the floor, a primal roar emitting from his mouth. He grabbed the chair and flung it forward where it smashed two of the bottom screens in the wall of them before him. His body unsure what to do next, but needing a release, Aiden reeled in a circle, clutching at his hair. He let out another bellow of frustration and collapsed against the desk, sliding to the ground.
His anger spent, Aiden was left numb, hollow.
Vaguely, he noticed Jay approach.
She stopped in front of him. "You did the right thing, Aiden," she offered sympathetically.
He didn't answer. Couldn't answer.
She took another step toward him. "Aiden?" she asked tentatively.
Aiden didn't look up at her. "I can't. I just…I can't." Those were the only words he could force from his mouth.
Jay hesitated, then left, though Aiden barely noticed her leaving.
He stared ahead at nothing, his mind both swarming with thoughts and entirely empty.
He couldn't feel anything, hear anything. Could hardly see the floor in front of him.
For the first time in a long time, he couldn't think of Jay, or the Vigilante, or the South Club, or the Viceroys, or any of that. He had no direction, no guiding light. He was left adrift in a sea of darkness.
Completely and utterly lost.
Jay didn't know what to do, barely understood what was going on.
When she'd climbed those stairs, she had never expected to find what she had—Aiden ready to kill T-bone. On the verge of doing it.
The only thing she knew for sure was that Aiden would never recover if he had. Whatever T-bone had done, their bond went too deep to be undone so readily.
She was glad she had come up when she had. It had barely been in time.
Then, after Aiden had kicked T-bone out, Aiden had been so distraught he could hardly speak. It had killed Jay to see him that way. She'd wanted to comfort him, but it had seemed like Aiden hadn't even known she was there.
So she let him be.
Jay checked on him every hour or so, poking her head around the corner to make sure he was all right. He hadn't moved a muscle. He remained staring, absentmindedly, at the floor, his thoughts obviously a million miles away.
Jay was worried about him. He hadn't even been this bad when he had escaped from Rossi-Fremont. He'd hardly batted an eye at that. Though, she supposed, it was anger that had driven him then. And relief. Not the grief she saw in him now.
Archie may have hurt him physically, but this was worse. Deeper.
The last time she had seen him like this was the first time he had called her, on the anniversary of Lena's death. She'd somehow had the words to get through to him then, but she had no idea what to say to him now. She had no idea how to get him through this.
That scared her more than anything.
Aiden stayed there for hours, unmoving, his thoughts swirling like a whirlpool, threatening to pull him under.
He didn't sleep that night. How could he possibly sleep? Even if he had, he doubted his dreams would have allowed him any rest.
Before he knew it, it was dawn and he still couldn't summon the will to get up. Why bother anyway? He expected this kind of treachery from his enemies, but T-bone? His mind stuttered trying to understand it.
For the first time since Lena had died, Aiden questioned what he was doing here. He didn't know how he could keep doing this.
He had to get out of here. And not just the Bunker. Chicago. He couldn't take it anymore, all the things that had happened here. There were too many.
Way too fucking many.
Suddenly, the walls were closing in on him. He had to move. He had to do something. He felt like he couldn't breathe.
Aiden pushed himself to his feet and strode for the stairs.
Jay called out to him before he had taken two steps, her voice startling him, jolting him out of his panic. He'd honestly forgotten she was there.
"Aiden?" There was such deep worry in her voice that Aiden couldn't help but respond to it. He stopped and faced her, read the concern in her demeanor.
Had she been watching him?
He shouldn't have been surprised. He would have done the same. He had done the same.
Aiden willed levity into his voice, but he was unsuccessful. "I'm going out. I need some fresh air."
Jay took a step toward him. "I'll come with you," she offered, though it came out more as a plea.
His eyes falling, Aiden shook his head. "I need to be alone for a while."
Jay fought back tears. "Aiden," she started, though words seemed to fail her after that.
Aiden didn't need any other words to know what she meant. In saying his name, she'd conveyed all that she needed to. Her concern, her compassion, was enough.
"I'll be back later. I promise," Aiden reassured her.
Jay settled at that, though the worry didn't leave her face.
Unable to give her any more than that, Aiden left.
He drove mindlessly for a good while until he found himself parking and wandering the streets of The Loop on foot. His mind kept reeling, his thoughts circling endlessly, but the movement helped to soothe his nerves.
He didn't bother fighting it, the turmoil. He wasn't going to stop the thoughts from coming, wasn't going to reach any conclusion any time in the near future.
So he just kept walking, heedless of the world around him, letting the thoughts surge and recede as they pleased. He was dead to the world but for the damp pavement beneath his feet, the crisp air in his lungs. It took him a few times of nearly being run over for him to bother paying attention.
At the next intersection, Aiden was mindful enough to stop and check for traffic. Woken out of his stupor, Aiden's eyes dazedly caught on a screen beside him in a shop window. It flashed, Answer your phone, for a second before returning to the normal BOGO ad it had been displaying. Before Aiden could give it much consideration, the people around him were crossing the street and Aiden hurried to move with them, not wanting to stay put for too long.
Along the next sidewalk, the message followed Aiden, darting onto TV screens and message boards. Taking the hint, Aiden pulled out his phone and found he had three missed calls from a blocked number. He must have put his phone on silent, though he didn't remember doing it. The phone came to life in his hand, the screen displaying an incoming call.
Aiden considered dismissing it, but he knew who it was. Knew they wouldn't give up until they reached him so he accepted the call and placed the phone to his ear.
Aiden spoke first, annoyed. "Five months and now you decide to call?"
As expected, a digitized voice warbled over the line. "We've had a lot going on. But now we need you."
"It's not a good time," Aiden rejoined, his capacity for generosity depleted.
They must have noted the tone of Aiden's voice because they paused, then asked, "What happened?"
Aiden didn't know why he offered anything to them, but he couldn't stop himself from venting. "Nothing new. Just another stab in the back," he answered in anger. "I'm starting to run out of room."
There was another pause. "I'm sorry," came the reply. And it sounded like they meant it, too.
How strange. Aiden had never heard DedSec break out of the collective we before. Nor had he ever known them to give one fuck about anyone but themselves.
He squinted. "Who is this, really?"
"We told you, we aren't the DedSec you know."
"You didn't answer my question."
"We're not from Chicago. We're from much further away. San Francisco, actually. We'd like you to pay a visit."
San Francisco? Aiden hadn't given much thought to DedSec, to how their organization operated. Even if he had, he wouldn't have expected a separate chapter to be so… different.
Nevertheless, he still didn't trust them. "I'm not about to join DedSec, if that's what you think."
"It's not and you don't have to. We had more of a partnership in mind."
Aiden hesitated, thinking about it, despite himself. The timing of this call was both dreadful and perfect. As much as Aiden didn't have the capacity to care about much else right now, an excuse to leave Chicago was exactly what he needed.
DedSec broke into Aiden's musings. "Our goals are the same, Aiden. We could use your help. And we think you could use ours. We know what you're trying to do."
Realization dawned on Aiden. He stopped. "It was you. You found those trafficked women, didn't you? You called in the tip on that shipment."
"Yes," they answered directly. "But there are more out there. We've reached a dead end. Our leads have dried up. We were hoping you might have information we don't."
Aiden glanced to the nearest camera, figuring they were watching him as well. He heaved a sigh.
Could he trust them? They'd provably done the right thing with whatever information they already had so that was a point in their favor. Still, trust was a difficult word for Aiden right now. Especially with clandestine organizations he knew very little about.
He needed to meet them in person. A garbled voice over the phone would never be able to assuage his doubt. He needed to see them, get a read on them. If he decided they were trustworthy, he would go from there.
Which meant he had to agree to go to San Francisco. On any other day, travelling to the other side of the country would have seemed like an inconvenience. Today, it felt like an escape. A relief.
If nothing else, it would give Aiden something to do. He needed something else to focus on. Meeting with DedSec might not be the worst thing either. He knew he needed help decrypting the files on Archie's phone and he knew enough about DedSec to know that they had much more computing power than he did. They'd have those files sorted out in a fraction of the time it would take him.
And he did owe them. He owed them big, though they hadn't mentioned it. That alone set them apart in Aiden's mind. The DedSec he had dealt with years ago would have held that over him for the rest of his life.
Maybe they could work together on this. For a time, at least.
Besides, what did he have to lose?
He nodded. "Alright, we'll work together on this one. I have some things I need to take care of before I leave, though," he added, thoughts straying back to Jay.
"Good. Just don't take too long. Call this number when you're in San Francisco." They didn't wait for a reply before hanging up.
Aiden pulled the phone from his ear and, when the call ended, the number displayed on screen where previously it hadn't.
He tucked the phone back into his pocket and took a deep breath, took in the city around him. This city had been his home for a long time, but right now he felt like a stranger in it. Felt like it had chewed him up and spit him out one too many times.
He didn't even know if he had made any difference here. Then again, had he been trying to? Thinking back, he couldn't say that he had. It had been revenge driving him. Even after Lucky Quinn's death, it had always been about revenge—on the Quinns, on the South Club.
On himself.
He couldn't do it anymore. This vendetta was eating him alive. Had consumed so many others as well.
Guilt zinged through Aiden as he thought of Jay. He'd clung to her like a drowning man desperate for anything to hold onto. He'd never realized that all he'd done is pull her under with him. Not until it was too late.
Now all she had was him in that dark water and he'd left her to worry alone.
He had to get back to the Bunker.
Then, whether he sank or swam, he had to let her go.
When Aiden returned, Jay was exactly where he expected her to be, pacing worriedly at the base of the stairs. Her face sought him out the second he entered and the relief there was obvious, though she didn't say anything as he descended towards her, just searched his eyes.
Once at the bottom of the stairs, Aiden offered the only words he could think of for letting her worry like that. "I'm sorry."
He'd barely finished saying the words before Jay pulled him into a crushing hug.
Aiden stiffened. He didn't deserve her sympathy.
Then the devastation of everything that had happened flooded back and Aiden found himself wrapping his arms around Jay in return, needing that compassion regardless of what he deserved. He pulled her close to him, nestled his cheek in her blazing hair, the tension in his heart unwinding at her nearness.
She held him in silence until he gently pulled away and met her gaze.
"Aiden," she started, her eyes sparkling, "I'm so sorry about what happened."
Aiden nodded weakly, his eyes falling. "I know. I…" He trailed off, breathing out a sigh. "Thank you. For what you did," he continued when he found his voice, his eyes flitting to hers. "You were right." He was still more angry and hurt than he could fathom, but Aiden was glad that Jay had stopped him from doing something rash. Something irreversible.
"Are you…" she hesitated, "are you ok?"
"No," he responded bluntly. "But…" His mouth worked, trying to find the words. He wasn't ok. But, unlike last night, he felt like he could be.
Jay saved him the trouble of saying anything more. "I get it. I do." She nodded encouragingly and reached out, grabbing his hands. "I'm here for you. Whatever you need."
A grateful smile tugged at Aiden's lips despite the fact that he knew he couldn't let her stay. "I know."
She pulled him in for another hug and Aiden didn't fight it this time. He clutched her to him, breathed her in for what could be one of the last times.
He wasn't going to waste his last moments with Jay thinking about T-bone. He wasn't worth it.
And Aiden's time with Jay would swiftly come to an end. The fake ID he'd commissioned for her when he'd rescued her from Archie would be ready any day now. Once it was, he would send her on her way, to her new life.
Her new life free from him.
He was almost at peace with it, the fact that they would have to go their own separate ways. It was what was best for the both of them.
Still, it was with a heavy heart that Aiden started making plans.
He held her close that night as they slept, the Bunker feeling somehow strange, empty. He was glad he would be out of there soon. Those walls that had promised shelter and security for the last couple years now only held silence. As much as he wanted more time with Jay, Aiden couldn't bear to linger.
Jay could sense it too, the shift in the atmosphere. Granted, she had no reason to like the Bunker in the first place, especially not now that she was trapped there for fear of stepping outside the walls, but even she was eager to leave when Aiden had made all the necessary arrangements.
Three days was all Aiden had with her. Three days to memorize her face, her laugh. As if he hadn't memorized them already. As if he might forget them. Forget her.
That was Aiden's real fear. That one day he would wake up and Jay would be some distant memory. A blurry face with a muddled voice, all but buried in the sands of time.
The thought terrified him. Yet, if that was what happened, if that was the only way to keep her safe, then so be it.
He could live with that.
On that third day, Aiden took Jay to the train station where they would part ways. Where he'd be with her for the last time.
He'd bought her a ticket to Washington, D.C., packed her a bag full of money and pre-paid credit cards, anything she needed to start over. There would be plenty of work there for her as a nurse. And it was far enough away from him and Chicago that she would be safe. It wouldn't be easy for her, but he knew she would be all right.
"Here," Aiden said, extending a new phone to her as they waited for their trains on the platform. His would be there shortly as well, heading the other direction. "Set up a new number when you get there."
Hesitantly, Jay took the phone. "But—"
"You'll still know mine," he cut her off. "In case you're ever in trouble." Aiden couldn't know her number, wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to call her. This had to be the last time they would see each other, the last time they would speak.
She read the implication on his face, seemed to accept it with an understanding disappointment.
"I'm sorry, Jay," he went on. "I wish things could have been different." For her sake, he wished that with all his heart.
Jay shook her head, her eyes pulling into a sad smile. "No."
Aiden looked into her hope-filled eyes.
"No, if things had been different, then you wouldn't be who you are. I wouldn't be who I am now. Things are exactly as they should have been. I think, what we both needed them to be." She shook her head again. "I don't regret any of it."
She smiled at him then and Aiden couldn't help but smile back. He leaned in and she mirrored him, their lips meeting in one last, desperate kiss.
They pulled apart when their trains clattered in from either direction, the squeaking brakes wrenching them back to reality.
This was it. This was really it.
Aiden knew all along that their relationship couldn't have lasted. That his lifestyle, his choices, would have eventually torn them apart. Still, this day had come too soon. It could have been fifty years and it would have been too soon.
The time they had spent together seemed both an eternity and a blink of the eye. Regardless of what they had been through, Aiden cherished every moment.
He didn't regret any of it either, damn his misgivings.
His gaze bore into Jay and he saw his thoughts reflected in her.
"I love you, Aiden," Jay tendered.
Her eyes glittered in the morning light, her hair ablaze with the sun's rays. Aiden had never seen anything more beautiful.
He pulled her into his arms, placed a kiss on her forehead, then held her as he answered, "I love you too, Jay."
The doors hissed open around them and a tinny voice announced the arrival of the westbound and eastbound trains.
Aiden released Jay and heaved a final sigh. Leaning down, he picked up Jay's bag and handed it to her, hefting his own onto his shoulder. He leveled one last glance at her.
There was nothing left to say except, "Goodbye."
Jay merely smiled in return.
Aiden watched as Jay boarded her train then, before he lost the will, turned and boarded his own. He found a seat to himself on the other side of the train, plopped himself down into it.
He couldn't bear to watch her go.
He expected to feel devastated, and, in a way, he was. But it also eased his heart to know she would be safe. He only prayed she could be happy in her new life.
In a few minutes, the train lurched to life and Aiden's heart lurched with it, the finality of that movement coursing through him. He took a deep breath and let it go, forcing himself to accept this new existence without Jay.
It was better this way, he told himself, desperately wanting to believe it. Deep down, he knew it was.
But that didn't make it any easier.
He watched as the city sped past, ready to leave it all behind. He'd come back someday, when all of this was a faded memory. When there wasn't so much darkness blinding him.
Or maybe he'd just start over. It wasn't like Chicago was the only place that needed help.
First, he needed to see about DedSec—what they knew, how he could help. How they could help him.
One step at a time.
Laying his head back, Aiden let go another sigh, let his eyes wander out the window and take in their last view of Chicago.
"Is this seat taken?" asked someone in the aisle.
Aiden jumped at the voice, his body swiveling to it before his mind could catch up.
There, standing next to him, was Jay, the most mischievous grin stretched over her face.
Aiden couldn't believe his eyes. "J—Jay? What… what are you doing?" He could hardly get the words out, his brain slow to comprehend the situation.
Jay was unfazed by his blundering and sat down across from him. "You really thought I was going to D.C.? Do you know me at all?"
Apparently not. "You snuck on?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, you're too damn stubborn for me to have done it honestly. Though I did buy a ticket in case you were worried," she replied, brandishing said ticket.
Aiden couldn't have been more torn. Of course he wanted her to come with him. More than anything. But it was too dangerous. There was a reason he was sending her far away.
"Jay, you can't…" he struggled. "You can't do this. You can't be here."
"This is my choice," she stated unwaveringly. "I know I'm not the best at all this, but I want to help save people. Like you do."
"That's just it, Jay. You've got it all wrong, you always have." Jay looked at him confusedly. "I never corrected you because I didn't want you to see me that way. Like this nutjob on a personal vendetta." Aiden shook his head, his eyes lowering in shame. "But that's all I was. That's all I ever was." He found the courage to look at her again. "I wasn't saving anyone. I was punishing them. Whoever I could." He let that sink in. "You can't be a part of this, Jay. Because it's not what you think it is. It never was."
Jay smiled in that way that only she could. In that way that made everything seem like it would be all right. "I think you were doing something worthwhile." She reached for his hand. "Look at me. You saved me. And I know there are plenty of others that would say the same."
Aiden searched her eyes, found simple truth radiating from them.
"It may not have been your intent," Jay went on, "but you've done so much good for this city and its people."
He didn't know what to say, didn't know if he could let himself believe her words.
"Why are you going to San Francisco?" she asked directly.
Aiden squinted, confused. "What are you talking about? You know why."
"You said you were punishing them. You were on a personal vendetta," she elaborated. "So why are you going to San Francisco now?"
In opening his mouth to answer, Aiden found that he didn't have one. He struggled for words for a moment, then gave up, turning his thoughts inward.
Why was he doing this?
Jay waited expectantly across from him. "Is it for revenge?" she pushed.
No.
"To punish someone?"
"No," he finally voiced. "I, I don't think so. I…"
"Then why?"
Then it hit him. "Because I'm afraid."
Jay seemed taken aback by that answer.
Aiden looked out the window again, though he stared, unseeing, at the world zipping by. "Ever since Archie threatened it when he had you, I see you there. In that world. Bought and sold like…" He couldn't even finish the sentence, his throat catching on the words. "I see their faces too, those women at the auction. And I can't…" He shook his head, returning his gaze to Jay. "There's no difference in why I'm doing this. I'm doing this for someone I love. Because I'm terrified I'll see your face on one of those auction boards."
"What I'm hearing is that you're doing this to save me. To save them." Jay squeezed Aiden's hand. "Don't you see that?"
Aiden considered her words.
She waited until Aiden looked up at her again before going on. "Just because you have a personal stake in something doesn't make its purpose disgraceful." She leaned closer. "It just gives you more reason to fight for it."
Maybe she was right. Aiden sincerely hoped so. Although, "None of this changes the fact that you can't live this life with me, Jay. We both saw how that ended."
"I know. Which is why I'm joining DedSec."
Aiden nearly choked. "What?!" He lowered his voice. "You can't possibly think that's a good idea."
What in the world was she thinking?
"I know you have mixed feelings about them, but my mind is made up." Aiden went to argue, but Jay forestalled him. "They're trying to make a real difference. Just like you. And that's what I want too. That's what I've always wanted. I feel like this is my chance to."
"Jay…" Aiden started, shaking his head, though he knew he wouldn't change her mind.
"They saved your life, Aiden. From across the country, they saved your life when they had no reason to. They can't be as cold-hearted as you think."
Aiden clenched his jaw, fighting down his retorts. He could go on all day about how untrustworthy DedSec was, separate chapter or not. But there was no point in arguing. And, honestly, he had to start letting Jay make her own decisions.
Not that he had ever "let" her do anything, he laughed to himself.
Besides, if Jay ingratiated herself to DedSec (and he knew she would in a heartbeat), that was that many more people looking out for her. If she wanted to be embroiled in this world, then maybe it was better that she have a team, a family, around her.
Aiden gave in, sighing. After all, no matter how he felt about it, this was her choice in the end. He would never be done worrying about her, but it was time he stopped fighting against her presence in this world.
"This is really what you want?"
She nodded. "I want to help. However I can."
Aiden smiled despite himself. He couldn't deny that his heart soared at the thought of her being so near, that they didn't have to part ways.
He shook his head in astonishment. "I can't believe you snuck on this train."
When it was clear that Aiden wasn't going to argue, that smirk returned to Jay's face. "I can't believe you didn't see it coming."
Aiden chuckled at that while Jay rose and sidled up to Aiden. He stood to let her in to the window seat next to him, then reclaimed his seat beside her, wrapping his arm around her.
In peaceful silence, they watched the city fly by and then the countryside after that, the sun journeying across the sky and tucking itself away to wide swaths of purple and orange, the train rocking and swaying on its unending path to a new life.
Their new life.
By the time the moon silvered the landscape and stars dotted the sky, Jay was fast asleep, her head balanced on Aiden's shoulder. He pulled the blanket up over her shoulder, a smile creeping up his cheeks as he listened to her steady breathing.
Suddenly, the task in front of him didn't feel so daunting. Not only taking down the trafficking ring, but life itself.
He didn't have to face that alone. He didn't realize how much he'd been dreading it until now, that solitude, that emptiness.
That darkness.
It had consumed too much of his life.
He wouldn't let it take any more.
No matter what happened, Aiden couldn't go back to that place. He wouldn't.
Breathing a contented sigh, Aiden let his head loll against Jay's.
And felt at peace.
Epilogue
Aiden's breath plumed in front of him as he stepped from his car into the chilly night air, the graveyard silent save for the rustling of leaves dancing with the wind. It was nearly midnight, the auburn landscape bleached into a pale imitation of its sunlit splendor. Only the amber light of the lamps dotting the paths offered any relief from the colorless scene.
"Want me to come with you?" Jay asked gently from the passenger seat.
Aiden leaned back down, his hand hooked on the door. "Thanks, but…"
Jay nodded her understanding, then settled herself back into her seat.
Swinging the door shut, Aiden strode past the car, aiming for a spot he knew all too well.
It had been a year and a half since Aiden had set foot in Chicago. Even longer since he had visited the graveyard itself.
He'd been too busy to even think about coming back.
He and Jay had gone to San Francisco and met with DedSec and, despite his previous reservations, Aiden had found himself trusting them. More so than the chapter in Chicago anyway. Which was a relief, considering Jay had done what she'd said she was going to and joined up with them. DedSec had seemed all too happy to have someone like her in their ranks. Much like Aiden, they were always needing medical care after their various "dubious activities."
While Jay had worked with DedSec from within, Aiden had formed an alliance with them from without. They had gotten to work straight away on Archie's phone and uncovered an abundance of information on the trafficking ring. It had taken over a year to get there, but, with that data, Aiden had led a venture to stop one of the largest auctions on the West Coast which significantly hindered the trafficking operation in the area.
Aiden had heard that Niall Quinn himself had flown in to oversee the trafficking ring for the near future, they'd become such a nuisance. Luckily, Aiden hadn't run into him, though he knew it would only be a matter of time.
Things had been too hectic before the auction for Aiden to think about anything other than the trafficking ring, but after their success at the auction, things had died down a bit.
And, if Aiden was honest with himself, it had been good to get away from Chicago. He had needed it more than he realized.
But, when the anniversary of Lena's death rolled around, Aiden had felt the need to return.
One last time.
Aiden walked up the bricked path through the graveyard, his hands tucked into his coat pockets. It didn't take him long to reach Lena's grave. It was hardly out of sight of the car.
When he reached her headstone, he brushed the leaves off the top and knelt down in front of it, his knee dampening in the grass.
He hadn't brought anything this time. Hadn't thought to. He just stared at Lena's name, searching for words.
After a few minutes, those words found Aiden.
"I'm sorry, Lena," he offered, clouds of breath accompanying the apology, the acceptance of his guilt. "I would give anything to change what happened, but I can't." Aiden lowered his eyes. "I never could," he concluded, shaking his head, reflecting on the futility of the rage that had consumed him.
He let out a heavy sigh and went on. "You don't need me anymore." He knew that now. "But there are plenty of others who do. People who don't have anyone to help them." Aiden raised his eyes to Lena's carved name. "I'm going to do everything I can to protect them, to keep them safe. No matter what."
Aiden reached up to Lena's name, let his hand slide down the letters. A solemn smile touched his lips. "Goodbye, Lena."
He lingered only for a moment before he let his hand fall and swipe away a few leaves that had gathered at the base. Aiden traced them around to the side, determined to clear Lena's final resting place. This was the last time he would do it. However, Aiden jerked to a halt when he rounded the backside.
A bouquet of sunflowers had been placed there, a little card poking out of the top.
Aiden's brow squinted.
Since Nicky and Jacks had left Chicago, Aiden had been the only one to ever leave anything at Lena's grave. And Aiden couldn't place why, but the sunflowers tugged at his memory.
He plucked the card from its holder. As he brought it into the light, Aiden's heart jumped.
I'm sorry. For everything, the card read. It had been a while, but Aiden knew that handwriting.
It was T-bone's.
Aiden's gaze flicked back to the flowers. No leaves had fallen on top of them and there wasn't a drop on them either, despite the rain that had come through earlier. They couldn't have been there very long.
Aiden's eyes shot up and he swiveled, hastily scanning the graveyard around him. He couldn't see anyone, couldn't hear anyone. Not that he could see very far into the darkness anyway. He gave the periphery another skim before giving up the search and returning his attention to the card.
He flipped it over and found more written there: If you ever need help. Below that was written a phone number Aiden didn't recognize.
Aiden was frozen, staring at that card. He was torn, and that fact alone surprised him.
He'd thought if he ever saw T-bone again, ever heard from him again…well, he hadn't expected to feel anything short of fury, let alone this…melancholy, this longing.
That anger was still there, but… Aiden found he didn't want it to be.
It started to drizzle then and the icy water snapped Aiden out of his stupor. He tucked the card into his pocket without thinking, pulled his collar up around his neck. Lovingly, he cleared the rest of the leaves around Lena's gravestone and moved the flowers to the front of it.
Once finished, he backed a few steps and stopped, sparing it one last glance. "Goodbye, Lena," he tendered again.
Then turned and left.
Jay quietly watched Aiden as he entered the car and plunked into the seat with a heavy sigh. It wasn't until he looked over at her that she asked, "You ok?"
Aiden's hand unknowingly crept to the card seated in his pocket, his thumb flicking back and forth across the edge of it.
He didn't answer right away, but it wasn't because he didn't have one. It was because he couldn't believe what the answer was.
He looked into Jay's clear, blue eyes and felt hope filling him, love surrounding him. She had no idea how she had changed his life. How she had saved him.
After a moment, Aiden reached over to Jay's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her hopeful smile beamed at him, beckoning him to return it.
He couldn't refuse.
A grin stole up his face. "Yeah," he said just as much to himself as to Jay. "I am."
THE END
Well, this was supposed to be a short one, believe it or not. Yet somehow it grew into this monster. This is my first time writing any kind of relationship stuff and I definitely struggled a bit with it. Especially the pacing. But, ultimately, I'm happy with the end product. I think Aiden deserves a little love in his life and I had a blast writing the interactions between him and Jay. What did you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story! And, of course, thanks for reading!
