Aiden Blaire

(( Takes place shortly after the events in Hana's post ))

Thank the programmers that Aunt Lisa had taken a strong hand in getting things situated. After Aunt Nika's insistence that Hana stay in her room, Aiden's twin eventually told those gathered what had happened to her in Alex's bathroom. Aiden himself went through several shades of white as he listened. There was still an enormous amount of anger inside of him, but it was blanketed under fear and sadness. His sister and best friend had been attacked like that. He held Hana until she finally fell asleep.

Then Aunt Lisa stepped in. She and Nika would alternate between the recliner in the front room and the chair at Hana's bedside. Aiden got the couch. Angel was given Lisa's bed to sleep in. The teen Mojoworlder would have protested, but he was too drained after listening to what Hana said to try. He kissed Angel on the cheek and settled on the couch. He couldn't relax. His mind kept going over how he must have missed chances to help Hana. She was supposed to look after him, and he her. Dad had told him as much when they first started school at Xavier's.

Aiden kept tossing and turning, never quite falling asleep. After Nika had finished her turn for vigil at Hana's bedside, he watched through half-lidded eyes as she went right past the recliner to the front closet. She seemed to dig some things out and go out the front door. He had never been very good at time-telling, but it was still dark out.

It was lonely and cold in the front room without somebody over there in the recliner. He sat up with a soft sigh. His stomach roiled at the change in position. He puffed out a breath to try to keep dinner down. Every time he'd close his eyes, he'd see his sister backed into a corner and scared out of her mind. When he felt his stomach heave again, he decided a bathroom might be in order. He avoided the main one in case Hana or Lisa needed it.

He quietly crept into Lisa's room. Aiden paused to look at the dark shape on his aunt's bed. He longed to lay beside Angel and just hold her. She was warm and rock steady. Everything he needed right at the moment. Except if he did that, he might get sick all over her. His stomach was letting him know in no uncertain terms that he had never been this worried and it did not like it one bit. So, instead of climbing onto the bed with Angel, he quietly padded into the master bathroom.

Aiden did his best to close the door as silently as he could. If he did hurl, he hoped the mighty wood of the door would protect his girlfriend's ears. He slowly groped his way through the darkness to find the toilet. He might have knocked over Lisa's toothbrush cup and toothpaste and... Za's Vid, he didn't want to know what his aunt kept in here. Why couldn't he just find the... ah. There it was.

The tile felt a little cool as he slowly sank down. He swallowed and stared at the dark spot that was probably the toilet. He felt terrible. He could probably feel better if he threw up. Or at least drained enough to try to fall into a numb sleep. Except his body was not cooperating. After a few minutes of kneeling in front of the porcelain bowl, he shifted and sat down with his back against the bathtub. He willed himself to puke. Anything. Release of something.

Nothing.

Instead, he drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Why Hana? Of the two of them, why her? He was supposed to protect her. He thought he had been doing okay. Except in the span of months, he had been given two outstanding examples that he couldn't. He wondered if this was part of growing up. Being shown that you were a complete failure on the most important things. With the Hand, he couldn't have done much. He knew that much. But with Alex, he should have seen something. Stopped it somehow.

It had been too much of a relief then. Had to be it. He had been seeing Hana smile again after Misha left with Becky. He thought maybe she had listened to him. Now, he was thinking he knew nothing. That he had somehow stopped paying attention and thinking everything was fine when it wasn't. He bit his lower lip and put his forehead down on his knees.

He wanted to shrink. Disappear down to a size where he could hide in one of Hana's pockets and pop out to punch noses before things got out of hand. Instead, he got hot tears sliding down his cheeks and his shoulders shaking. He tried to choke down the sounds that wanted to come out.

Aiden had been doing this for a little while. Finding time to slip out by himself. Lots of assumptions were made that he was out supporting his sister at her play. He didn't really disabuse anybody of that notion. He still was trying to figure out if he liked what he was doing. It had started early in Hana's rehearsal schedule, after talking to her about what he termed the 'Becky incident.' He took his sister out to her rehearsals and had time to kill. At first, he checked the local music stores and looked into if any bands needed a drummer. Nothing really caught his attention. So, he started to drive around on his bike.

He was just sort of exploring when he drove right into the middle of one. It really ticked off the guys racing. There were heated words, hands raised to try to appear like he wasn't ready to punch anybody, confusion, and eventually Aiden ending up on the starting line while somebody checked the police scanners again. Aiden wasn't sure what was going on, but if it required his bike to go fast, he figured what the heck.
( I feel my hearts beating heavy / Telling me I gotta have more )

It had taken sending his aunt after his father for Aiden to finally get the chance to talk to Longshot alone. And even then, he still had to wait for it to happen. Aiden assumed Dad was really not happy with him after hearing about his phone call with Mom. Due to some twists of luck, Longshot was either in the room when Aiden was asleep or he had company. Never a chance alone. Aiden couldn't tell if that luck was on purpose or not, but he hoped it wasn't because Dad wanted nothing more to do with him and the presence was just that Japanese form of politeness. So, the teen fiddled with his bed sheet as his father came into the room and closed the door behind him.

"I've been told you wanted to talk to me," Longshot said as he turned around. Aiden couldn't really pick up any emotional tone to his words.

"I..." He sighed and looked up at his Dad. "I'm sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have ever told you to forget anything. I didn't handle our last con-argument right. And if I made you think I don't love you anymore, I was more wrong than the last test I missed. Which hasn't happened in awhile! But..."

He scratched the back of his neck. He waited for a reaction. Except his Dad was being as cool as the stream that ran not far from their home. Aiden dropped his hand down to the bed with a hollow flump. The silence lingered, and Aiden wanted to squirm under his father's steady gaze.

"So," he tried to break the silence, "I'm sorry. I still love you. And, uhm, I'm ready for any punishment."

"A month," Longshot replied quietly. "Which is down from the rest of your life."

There was a sinking feeling in Aiden's stomach, but he was not going to argue the punishment. He could take it. He nodded. "Okay."

That got a reaction from Longshot. He stepped closer and looked confused. "No arguments? You're not allowed to leave the grounds for a month."

"I knew I was going to be punished when I left. I don't regret leaving. If I didn't, Misha wouldn't be alive. I might not have went the right way about it, but I'm not going to fight what I don't need to." He started to tug his top sheet between his hands. It took a minute for Aiden to catch the nervous gesture and stop himself. "So, I'm grounded for a month. What else?"

That made Longshot squint. He seemed to be looking his son over like he was a pod person. "Since you're determined to go out and get in over your head in duels, you have early morning lessons. You will attend them and not even be a minute late. Logan was kindly willing to teach those lessons to you."

Aiden nodded again. The lessons part by itself wouldn't be bad. The early morning portion would be torture. Especially since Logan was teaching it. There would be no dozing or charming his way out of it. "Alright. Then what do I have to do to make everything up to you?"

"Aiden..."

"C'mon. There has to be something. I said I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem to be enough. You probably think I hate you or something, and you probably don't like me anymore because you've been avoiding being alone with me. Err. Being with me when I can talk to you alone. So, what do I need to do?" There had to be something. He didn't want to see the worry and hurt in his Dad's eyes. Longshot might have thought he was covering it up well, and he was to a point. But sometimes he let his guard down and his son picked up on it.

Longshot sighed and rubbed his chin. "I.. don't know, son. You hurt me and disappeared. So the hurt's been around awhile."

"Oh." Well, if he couldn't get things back to square one with his father, Aiden had no chance in hell of getting any of the other family things fixed. He couldn't look at his Dad anymore. He was too ashamed. Instead, he stared at a spot right next to his knee. He blinked a couple times. He sighed and shook his head. "I didn't mean to make you hate me..."

There was some sort of sigh from Longshot. Aiden couldn't place it and didn't try to. His mind was racing on how he could still make things right. He almost jumped when his father gently grabbed his hand. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you, Aiden. I love you more than life itself. And you know me. I'm a pretty life-loving guy."

Well, the spot by his knee wasn't interesting anymore. Though he couldn't quite look up. Maybe looking at his father's hand on his should count. "So, what do I need to do to make this right? If I can't make it right with you, I'll never be able to make things right with Mom."

"You already did what you needed to make this right." His hand disappeared from on top of Aiden's. The side railing disappeared and Longshot was sitting on the very edge of the bed. Two strong arms wrapped around the teen. "I'm just built for drama. Sometimes, I have a hard time letting it go. I see you're sorry. I see you still love me. That's all I need, Super Frog."

The laugh couldn't be stopped. It was relief in its best form. Dad was stilling calling him Super Frog. It wasn't irreparable.

"You're still on thin ice, Aiden. But I know you can work us back to where we need to be. I am proud of you for saving Misha. That was some quick thinking. And luck with your girlfriend there. For a brief second, when there wasn't an explosion going off around me, I knew that you were my son without a doubt." Longshot gave a gentle squeeze. "And I almost died on the spot when I saw you standing there with a sword through your chest. You might be closer to an adult in age, but that was my baby boy over there. The one who looked up at me when he was six months old and told me Ecuador was the top exporter of bananas in one word."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Has anybody told you you're weird lately?"

This time, it was Longshot's turn to laugh.

Aiden was sure classes were over this time. There was no Hana trailing behind him and clearing her throat. He had honestly thought classes were done for the day at noon! He walked into his dorm room and walked past the empty part. It would be for a roommate when he got one. The boys dorms seem to be filling up slower than the girls were. While half of the room was bare and waiting, Aiden's half was crammed and lived in. His half of the room was plastered with posters. Except the windows. He needed to let some light in.

There were laminated posters brought from home. Keith Moon. John Bonham. Roger Taylor. Rick Allen. Tommy Lee. Mick Fleetwood and Ringo Starr to appease his mother.

Where there was supposed to be a desk was Aiden's drum kit instead. Hana wasn't the only one who got musical talent from their mother. Hers just happened to be able to be done quieter. Aiden tossed his backpack next to his bed and went digging under the sheets for his drum sticks. He figured he wouldn't get in trouble for playing now. It wasn't during class. It also wasn't midnight.

Aiden's hand closed around his drum sticks after a minute of rifling. He grinned at them as he pulled them out. "Ready, steady?"

So what if he talked to them? They talked back when used properly. He pulled his drum stool out and seated himself. He rolled his shoulders and went through his mental inventory of songs. He shoved the gymnastics moves out of the forefront. That was another means of thumping he got into trouble for doing at midnight.

He could hear the synth and vocals going 'Ohhhh'. Then came the crowd cheering and clapping. The power chords. And then Aiden was up. His sticks hitting the skins. Hitting them like a jackhammer. There was a girl's laugh and then he was completely lost in playing the song. He would stay that way through song after song until somebody got him for dinner.