Aaron walked briskly, but cautiously keeping his head down towards the bus station. He kept an eye out for anybody at all, but especially the police. Danika had contacted him and they had talked for only a couple of minutes so that the call couldn't be traced, but in that time she had informed him that they had finally found the hotel he had been staying at, so got a warrant to search his room.
They'd probably been searching for his wallet since whoever had responded to the call had done that to his corpse and he was beyond grateful.
Aaron, now knew that the officer who answered the call had asked Dannika if she had found a wallet in the pocket of his pants and Dannika had denied it and said there had been no identification.
Aaron had heard how his mate had scolded the officers for not checking the corpse's pants pocket before allowing the paramedics to take him to the morgue.
Aaron was grateful that his mate was willing to lie for him, though he knew that normally she was very honest, but this was an unusual situation. He was also grateful that she actually knew how to lie well enough that the officer who had asked hadn't caught on she was lying.
Of course, the officer might not be able to tell she was lying like somebody with more experience for all he knew.
Not checking for identification, would not have happened in a bigger city unless the officer in question was as green as grass and probably not even then, but in a small town a lot of times the cops were incompetent though not always.
Aaron was sure that the sheriff's department here in Dupar Woods had a lot of competent officers, but they probably also had some that were incompetent. Being incompetent might be something as simple as lacking common sense, because a lot of humans didn't have enough to fill a thimble.
Dannika had brought him a bus schedule so he wouldn't have to wait for long for the bus to arrive. He was gonna have to use some of his cash for a ticket and things were so expensive now that it wasn't gonna be cheap so he was gonna have to be very careful with, what remained, as $1000 wouldn't go far, as even just a bus ticket could be at least $250-$300.
Aaron had timed it to a nicety and entered the bus station just in time to purchase a ticket. The next town was probably too close, Aaron decided. He needed somewhere that had a car dealership and so he was heading to Helsinki, Ohio.
There were several million people in Helsinki, and it was far enough away that the cops likely wouldn't look for him there and he could purchase a new car as well, so it had a lot of advantages.
He hated to give up his car as it wasn't that old, but it was necessary and he had Dannika couldn't stay in Dupar Woods and she would have to give up her job as the medical examiner, but only if she let him turn her immortal. He was sure she would know that they couldn't stay in a town where he had supposedly died.
Aaron was sure that his mate would come to the same conclusion that he had if giving time to think, as she was an intelligent woman. You didn't become a medical examiner if you weren't, not even in a small town, as you had to go to college and get your degree. She could always take up the profession again in a generation or two.
Aaron waited on the bench for the bus and it arrived in less than 10 minutes. The buses of the day looked nothing like the ones of the past as they were a lot slimmer for one thing, not so big and bulky.
Aaron boarded the bus and sat in the very back as he didn't want to be bothered until he could get somewhere that no one would recognize him. He really was going to have to dye his hair, change his eye color.
Aaron sighed silently. What a pain in the butt to have to change his appearance, even if that was only superficial changes.
He didn't want to wear a wig, especially the cheap ones, as they could also get displaced pretty easily to where they were crooked and it was obvious he was wearing one. He had also heard that they could itch, because of what they were made out of now that that mattered to him, but still, it probably wasn't a good idea, as they could also be hot. It was better to dye his hair and keep it that way for a few months until he was sure no one recognized him when he went back to Dupar Woods.
He could really strangle that guy whose name he had learned was Larry Watson as Dannika had told him what she had learned. He was apparently a visitor to town, not that made his situation any easier.
His friend was Rico Cotswold who Aaron had learned had been genuinely shocked when Larry had shot him dead as we had had no idea that he supposed friend had a modified stunner.
Aaron had darkly chuckled at the story, Dannika had told him and he still wasn't sure if Rico hadn't really hadn't known or if he was just a good liar. Dannika hadn't been sure either, but she had been told that piece of information from one of the people who worked in the sheriff's department, so it was probably better to take the information with a grain of salt.
He pretended to be asleep when somebody sat beside him, as he didn't want to talk to anyone, and he hadn't thought to ask Dannika to get him a book. Besides, books were really expensive in this century, and he wouldn't have asked his mate to shoulder the cost when e-books were so much cheaper and you can carry your whole library with you so long as you had your e-book reader. Not to mention an e-book reader was a lot lighter than a whole stack of books and only weighed a few ounces and yet it contained so much.
He had a whole library at his official place of residence of physical books, but he also had plenty that were on an e-book reader, but that was with his possessions in his suitcase, and he hadn't wanted to take too much, as he wanted his things to look undisturbed.
The driver called out their destination whenever they stopped somewhere, but Aaron stayed asleep or at least pretended to.
"Hey buddy," came a voice and also a nudge on his shoulder. "We're about to stop at JC's diner for dinner. You don't wanna miss out. Trust me."
Aaron pretended to blink slowly, as if waking up, even though he'd been awake the whole time and looked around as if confused as to where he was, but then he focused on the guy beside him.
"Glad to see you back in the land of the living," the guy said dryly.
"Oh sorry, I must've been tired," Aaron apologized.
"It happens to everyone I'm Garby," the man introduced himself. "Steve Garby."
"Aaron Hotchkiss," Aaron said fudging his last name a little just in case. It probably wasn't necessary, but better to be safe until he was absolutely sure that his body disappeared from the morgue didn't become a national story, which it still might, though that was less and less likely with each day that passed. Besides, all he knew this, Steven Garby could be law enforcement or at least have connections like relatives on the police or the FBI or even just the drug administration. There were countless law enforcement agencies of one type or another, though the odds were probably long that Garby had tentacles in such agencies, but you also never knew, so best be careful.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Hotchkiss," the now named Steve said shaken Aaron's hand cordially.
"Thank you. You said we're about to arrive at a diner?" Aaron asked.
"JC's diner and they do the best fried chicken you've likely ever tasted and the rest of the food is just as good. I've never had a bad meal here and they have specials every day and tonight's happens to be fried chicken," Steve said.
"Sounds good. You must ride this route a lot to know what the special is on any given day," Aaron agreed, even as his stomach growled hungrily, as he'd had no food at all today since Dannika had had to work and hadn't had time to bring him breakfast and here it was dinner time, so it was no wonder his stomach was growling. He didn't usually miss a meal, but in this case, it had been necessary. Oh, well, being a little hungry wouldn't kill him, though it looked like he was about to get himself a meal. He might as well take advantage of this diner they were apparently going to stop at in a few minutes. Maybe he could get himself a sandwich or something to eat later. He had bought a duffel bag at the gift shop at the hotel so he could certainly store his sandwich in there until he was ready to eat it. Going into the gift shop at the hotel had been risky, but the gain had been worth it, as he hadn't wanted to take his suitcase out of the hotel room and if he thought about it, he could've asked Dannika to loan him a bag whether a backpack or duffel bag it didn't matter, even if it was in girly colors, it wouldn't have mattered.
At that time his body being hadn't identified yet or been reported on the news so he had taken the chance and had picked up several things though the prices at the gift shop were ridiculous and he only had so much cash, so we had to be careful on what he spent. He hadn't wanted to use his credit cards just in case. Normally he wouldn't have minded spending the money, but in this case, he really had to watch every penny, he spent at least for a few days, possibly a week or two.
He still needed to buy hair dye and a color changing kit for his eyes and those necessary expenses would deplete his ready cash even more.
He was gonna have to start carrying more money on him just in case this ever happened again. He was lucky he had 1000 in his wallet and that he'd had a few expenditures, which required actual cash instead of credit. He had just gotten the money out of his bank account in the last few days as he knew he'd be traveling. Normally, he used credit for most things, but had wanted to have the cash on hand for small purchases. Now he was glad he had done so and would do the same thing in the future, hopefully, with his mate by his side.
"Hey Aaron, you OK? You look lost and thought there," Steve said as Aaron said nothing when he asked a question.
"I'm fine," Aaron finally answered, shaking his head to dispelling his thoughts of Dannika.
"You had to be thinking of a woman, as I've never known a man to be so lost in thought that he didn't hear when somebody was talking unless it was about a woman," Steve said dryly.
"Dannika," Aaron said simply smiling a little.
"Does this Dannika, even know you exist?" Steve teased him.
"She does, but she is a doctor and couldn't take this trip with me," Aaron said mostly truthfully. "I just had some obligations to deal with. She understood and we're supposed to go out on a date when I get back to town."
"So you're almost girlfriend is a doctor," Steve said impressed.
"That's right," Aaron agreed calmly hoping Steve wouldn't ask what kind of doctor, as he didn't want to explain that Dannika was a coroner, as that would lead the questions he didn't want to answer like how they had met.
He could spin a tale out of nothing if he had to, but he'd rather not.
"So why are you taking a bus instead of driving?" Steve asked finding that rather strange now that he thought about it.
"My car broke down and it's in the shop," Aaron said already having an explanation, as to why he wasn't driving to fulfill the obligations he claimed he had. "That's why I'm taking a bus. It's probably about time I get a new car. Unfortunately, my obligations couldn't wait until my car was fixed."
"Tough luck," Steve sympathized, just as they arrived at JC's Diner. "So you're headed to Helsinki or somewhere more distant?"
"That's right," Aaron agreed saying no more as he and Steve exited the bus together.
"You're free to join me for dinner if you like," Steve offered.
"Thanks, that sounds good," Aaron agreed, as he and Steve headed inside the diner, which was relatively busy, but Aaron had known that from all the cars in the parking lot.

~~~Aaron and Dannika~~~

Several weeks later, Aaron Hotchner drove into Dupar Woods, eager to see Dannika. It had been a nearly two months since he'd left, even though they kept in contact it was much too long to not see his mate, especially considering that their bond was at the moment uncompleted.
He had gone to Helsinki and checked into the five star nearest hotel, using his credit cards for the first time in a week.
He was far enough outside Dupar Woods and their law enforcements jurisdiction that he felt it was okay to use them. Dannika had kept him informed and said that the two men had been caught not long after he left on the bus, as apparently they hadn't gone far. It had been Larry Watson that had shot him and killed him, and he was going to be put on trial for having a stunner that had been modified to kill as that was illegal. Dannika had also heard that Larry had a long sheet with a lot of violence on it, so he was gonna go away for a long time and as for Rico he also had a sheet that was mostly for nonviolent crimes. Still, he was also going away, just not for having a modified stunner.
Aaron checked into a different hotel than the one he had occupied and strode confidently to the front desk. He was sure that no one would recognize him so long as he was careful, as he had dyed his hair to a kind of a blondish brown that looked natural, and his eyes were now green. He'd also grown a beard and it was pretty full considering. He had dyed it to match his hair, but he was going to have to keep it trimmed so that his natural black hair didn't start to show and the same with his hair. Still dying his beard and hair were only temporary, but Aaron had bought several boxes of both the beard dye and the hair dye so he wasn't about to run out in case he couldn't find the same color and he need to keep up the dye job for some reason. As for his eyes, he had also bought another kit to change the color if he had to. He was also dressed different from how he normally did so hopefully, these minor changes would help disguise him. He'd only been away from his mate for a few weeks, but those few weeks had been torture and had passed way to slowly.
He was dressed very casually, in jeans from a cheap brand name instead of designer, and also a cheap collared shirt in red and black. Half the shirt was red and the other half black and the colors were diagonal to each other. He also wore a cheap jacket, made a plain cotton instead of something more expensive, like cashmere or leather. Still, it kept him warm in the cool weather, as it had not yet turned really cold so the jacket would be fine for now.
He had bought other clothes once he was in Helsinki using his credit cards instead of his limited cash and he had also gotten more cash from the nearest bank machine, so he was all set.
He was going to take Dannika out for a nice dinner and had told her to suggest a nice place where they had to dress up when he had talked to her over his link. He had a nice shirt and a pair of nice slacks in his duffel bag.
Aaron had let Dannika recommend the place because he didn't know Dupar Woods, as he hadn't had much chance to learn the town considering what had happened.
He finished checking in and went to his room, Aaron unlocking and closing the door immediately heading for the bedroom to change his clothes as he was meeting Danika at her apartment and they were going immediately to dinner.
They were going to the Peacock Room at Dannika suggestion, which had excellent food according to her, but it was one of those places you had to dress up for, which was fine.
Dannika nearly threw open her door as soon as Aaron knocked and practically dragged him inside.
"Well, I see you're happy to see me," Aaron said smiling.
"Of course I am," Dannika told him bluntly, even as the two leaned down to kiss or rather Aaron leaned down, and Dannika stood on her tippy toes as she was several inches shorter.
The two kissed for quite awhile before they finally broke apart.
"I've missed you fiercely and I don't understand why considering we barely know each other," Dannika admitted. "I couldn't stop thinking of you, not even at work and I had dreams of you almost every night."
"Don't think the same thing hasn't happened to me as well. It's the bond," Aaron said simply. "Once we consummate it, it will become stronger and once your fully immortal you'll know exactly how I feel about you, because you'll feel the same way about me. We'll stop dreaming of each other, because we'll be together and not separated due to circumstances beyond either of our controls."
"It's hard for me to imagine my feelings getting even stronger," said Dannika, "but we can worry about that later, as we need to get going if we want to make our dinner reservation. You look really strange to me with a beard by the way, not to mention the color of your hair and eyes, but I know you didn't dare appear back here in your natural appearance considering what happened."
"So long as you recognize me, that's all that matters," Aaron stated being very sincere. "I hope you realize that due to what happened if we do get married, we can't do it here and we also can't live here after we do or raise our family here. If that idiot Larry Watson hadn't been so trigger happy and not shot me and killed me, then we could, but unfortunately, that's not the way things worked out."
"Well, that's for later," Dannika said.
"You can always become a medical examiner elsewhere in a few decades," Aaron said, but then dropped the subject.
The two headed for Aaron's car and Dannika took a minute to admire. it. "Really nice car and it's one of the newest models I bet, since you don't seem shy about spending money."
"Why? When you have plenty of it?" Aaron said simply. "I don't waste it, but I still don't see the point of buying a cheap car, just to save money when there is no need. I don't spend it for useless things that I only use for a short time and then give it away, even if its still nearly brand new. I don't see why I shouldn't have the best that life has to offer."
"Well, if you have it to spend, you can use it anyway you want," Dannika said. "You're right, why buy used or even something cheaper that's still new if you don't have to? I'm only sorry you had to give up your other car, as it didn't look that old from the looks of it, from the few times I saw it."
"It wasn't, just a year or so, but unfortunately, it was necessary," Aaron said.
Dannika got into the passenger seat once Aaron unlocked the door for her with the remote while the driver side was already open because the car was programmed to recognize its owner.
"You look lovely by the way, and I'm only sorry I didn't tell you that when you opened your apartment door," Aaron told her sincerely.
"Thank you," Dannika blushed. "You look very handsome yourself in you're slacks and shirt, which looks like it's made of high-quality silk. That color looks really good on you, even with your brown hair and green eyes, though, I think I prefer your natural hair and eye color, but I understand why you had to change your appearance."
"Thank you, the shirt is new since I had to leave most of my luggage behind and I didn't go all the way back to New York where I was living just to get more clothes," Aaron said accepting the compliment. "No, I didn't buy a whole new wardrobe just a few things since clothes can be washed. I probably didn't buy more than a dozen outfits and that just means I won't have to wash clothes every day or have them washed by the hotel I'm staying in since I'm not home. I'm also using cash for everything while I'm here just to be on the safe side and I made sure I withdrew quite a bit from one of my many accounts while I was gone so long as we're careful it should last for quite awhile."
"I hope you chose a different hotel," Dannika said. "They know you at the other hotel after all and you might not look the same, but you didn't change your name so somebody would be bound to recognize your name when you say it. At least your last name since it's so uncommon."
"Which is why I'm gonna tell anyone that asks that my name is Aaron Hotchkiss and so long as I don't have to show ID I should be fine," Aaron said. "It's one reason I went brought so much cash, because I don't need to be showing my ID around here because of what happened and while I didn't commit any crime, I'm supposed to be dead. It's just better, I use cash, until I leave again hopefully, taking you with me."
"Hotchkiss is certainly more common than Hotchner," Dannika said, "and I'll help you with any place you need to show ID, though that shouldn't be necessary."
"No, it shouldn't, but thank you in advance for your help if it becomes necessary," Aaron said. "We probably need to come up with a different story as to how we met since we can't tell anybody the real one."
"No, that wouldn't be wise," Dannika agreed smiling as she remembered how she met Aaron.
The two of them discussed what to tell people on how they'd met if anybody asked and finally decided they had met at a museum.
"There's a museum that shows inventions of the past. Things that were important to the development of our society," Dannika said and "I actually have been there with a former boyfriend, so it's somewhere I've frequented. Also, I've been by myself on occasion when I have some free time. They're always adding some new display, so I like to go see it whenever they do."
"You'll have to take me then, as it really sounds interesting," Aaron said.
Dannika smiled at Aaron sincerity as it was clear he was really interested in seeing the museum.
"I'll be happy to," Dannika promised. "You know what they say those that don't learn from history are bound to repeat it."
"Now, that's a very old chestnut," Aaron said, smiling as he drove following, Dannika's directions. "That saying has been around for a very long time, but the reason they have been is because there's a lot of truth to it. Do you know the original phrase was those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it and were credited to George Santayana. There are over 50 quotes that are credited to him and he lived in the late 1900s."
"That's rather interesting," Dannika said. "I didn't know that, but then, it's a very old piece of trivia, so that's not surprising. Apparently, the phrase changed over the centuries."
"Which isn't exactly uncommon. Language changes all the time so why should phases like that be any different? That it's still around just means that there is a lot of truth to it, which is why multiple generations of people keep saying it," Aaron said, as they arrived at the restaurant. Aaron gently lowered the car into the parking space from the sky. It was a perfect 10 point landing as Aaron landed directly in the center of the space
"I can see I'm gonna learn a lot about history from you more, than I ever have from the history books or from my teacher in school," Dannika said dryly, as she exited the car as soon as her door opened. "Very nice landing as the car's directly in the center. Not many people can land so neatly or so perfectly."
"Thank you, my lady. I've had a lot of practice," Aaron said smiling. "Shall we go?" Aaron added, as he walked around to her side and offered her hand."
"We shall," Dannika agreed, as she took Aaron's hand when he offered it. The two walked hand in hand, stepping up onto the sidewalk and then into the restaurant once Aaron had opened the door for her.
Unlike so many places, the door to the restaurant was unpowered and had to be opened by hand.
Aaron being the gentleman he was allowed his date to enter first before he followed her.

~~~Aaron and Dannika~~~