Chapter Text
“A six year old girl, my niece, died because you went too far.”
The rain sneaked in beneath Aiden’s coat, running down the back of his neck and along his spine. The scent of wet concrete and metal filled up the air. Chicago could be beautiful in its own cold way on rainy evenings, but Aiden found it difficult to appreciate the beauty of it when he was in a situation as tense and unpleasant as this.
He turned his face to the other man, watching him as his self-pitying monologue continued. It baffled him how Damien Brenks could be genuinely convinced that he didn’t deserve what happened to him. Not even partially acknowledging the faults on his side. Damien held pride in radiating a special type of confidence that hasn’t changed at all despite the situation between them and despite his injury. Quite frankly, if Aiden didn’t hate it with a passion, then at least he found himself being deeply annoyed by it.
“What about me?”
“What about you?” Aiden snapped and pushed him away from himself, somehow feeling a spark of bitter satisfaction when Damien staggered back clumsily.
“You’re not the only one suffering. They made me a cripple! They took everything from me!”
At that point Aiden didn’t want to listen anymore. Just looking at Damien’s face felt like having a knife twisting in his chest. He wanted to hit him. He wanted to make him swallow his teeth, and break his bones, and he didn’t even know which one of the reasons he had for it awoke with those words. Maybe all of them.
“Don’t you see? That’s what binds us together,” Damien added, and Aiden’s hand twitched. He knew what Damien was doing. He was not as much trying to get him on his side as he was provoking him - something he’s gotten oddly good at over the years. Unfortunately for him, Aiden has grown to be much better at handling his impulses as well.
He looked him up and down and turned around, taking a shallow breath before starting to walk away.
“You got nothing I need,” he said with a hint of disinterest. He twitched and looked back to the side when he felt Damien’s hand clutching onto the wet sleeve of his coat. Stopping in his steps, he sighed and yanked himself out of his grip. “Take a hint.”
“Don’t go,” Damien let out, suddenly a bit softer. Aiden huffed through his nose. “There was another hacker. A second hacker.”
“That’s not news, Damien.”
“I know how to find him.”
Aiden looked back up and felt a mocking smirk curl his lips. He knew he could find anyone anywhere by himself, and he knew that Damien knew that he could. It was Damien who needed his help - not the other way around. Aiden’s slight smile slowly disappeared as he looked at Damien’s face longer, and noticed a desperate look in his eyes. He always had a hard time knowing when Damien was lying - he was stupidly skilled in that department.
“What makes you think I can’t do it without your help?” he finally asked dryly, too curious to not give in to whatever game Damien had in mind.
“My boy, I know you can do it without my help,” Damien chuckled and put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder. Aiden took a step back. “I thought we could give it a shot for old times’ sake, you know. I’ve missed you.”
“Damien…” Aiden started, and shook his head as he pushed his hands into his pockets. “You’ve ruined my life. Things aren’t as easy as ‘doing it for old times’ sake’, you know that.”
Damien blinked a few times and straightened up as Aiden started walking away again.
“History doesn’t just disappear, Aiden,” he raised his voice.
“That’s why I’m helping it,” Aiden answered offhandedly.
The rain has picked up, and the discomfort of water trapped in his clothes made a grimace appear on Aiden’s face. He took a few steps towards his car and away from the man that he wished was a stranger to him, but unfortunately it wasn’t as easy as he had hoped it to be.
Stopping in his tracks, he looked over his shoulder, seeing that Damien hadn't moved out of the spot. A deep sigh escaped his mouth again and he picked up his phone, lifting it up so that the other man would see it.
“I know you’re impatient, but I need a day or two to think. And it’s still not a promise,” he said in a flat tone, immediately seeing Damien smile in response. “We both want answers. Don’t mistake that for ‘forgiveness’.”
“I don’t want your forgiveness when you’re blaming me for your mistakes,” Damien snorted.
“Maybe you should,” Aiden said coldly. He didn't turn around a second time.