Chapter Text
“Oh, he’ll hate this.”
“I’ll hate what?”
Jesse froze, gripping the letter in their hands as they felt their blood run cold. Turning around horribly slowly, a small, nervous smile replacing the old contemplative expression they had just a few moments before, they turned to face him.
Lukas. Tall, lean, blonde haired, blue eyed, handsome Lukas who could never stay mad at Jesse for long, so maybe showing him this letter from the one person he was never able to truly forgive wouldn’t be too bad. Still, as they turned, Jesse hid the letter behind their back, wanting to test the waters.
“Tell me how your day was and maybe I’ll show you.” Jesse said, perhaps talking a bit too quickly and letting their nervousness show a bit too much, because Lukas raised a brow and gave them an amused smile. They smiled back at him, and as he always did, he caved.
“Okay,” Lukas chuckled. “Uh…Radar and I sorted through some of the building requests, we dropped by Romeo’s cabin to do a check in, he was fine, Romeo’s just…Romeo, you know?” He paused for a moment. “Then we came back here, and I checked on the treasure hall to make sure everything was still there while Radar went to break for lunch, and then I came down here to your office to see you, and now you’re trying to distract me from whatever that paper is by making me talk about myself.”
“Not really distracting,” Jesse shrugged. “Just stalling.”
“Well,” Lukas leaned forward a bit, then shot his arm forward and swiped the letter out from where Jesse held it. They yelped in surprise, and as they turned to look at Lukas, he quickly backed away so Jesse wouldn’t be able to swipe it back. Grinning at them, he waved the paper for a moment before turning it the right way to read it. “seems like you’re out of stalling time, Jess.”
Jesse’s gaze hopped between Lukas and the letter for a moment or two, then eventually settled on Lukas. They sighed, and fiddled with their green suspenders as a more concerned expression appeared on their face. “Just don’t be mad.”
“Uh,” Lukas frowned a bit. “I’ll…try not to be?”
Jesse watched as he began to read. Watched as with each word, Lukas’ expression began to drop, his eyebrows begin to furrow, his eyes begin to narrow, and they could almost feel the anger coming off of him. None of this rage was towards Jesse, but rather towards the letter and who had sent it—because to Lukas, how dare that person even suggest the idea of redemption after what he did to him? Jesse knew Lukas still hadn’t even halfway forgiven Romeo. He tolerated and checked on the older man, but Jesse knew Lukas was still cautious of him.
What was the hope that Lukas could ever possibly forgive Aiden?
“You’re not buying this, right?” Lukas looked at Jesse once he was done reading. “I know you’re all for redemption Jesse, but Aiden—“
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea.” Jesse crossed their arms, not looking at him. They didn’t need to look at him to know the face he was making. “I think it’d be good…for you.”
“For me?” Lukas scowled.
“Another letter came from Captain Reginald.” Jesse sighed. “Talked about how Aiden had a psychiatrist while he was in prison helping him out, how he passed an evaluation to be let go, how he’s still a bit rough around the edges, but that’s just Aiden. He’s…not violent. He’s not malicious. I guess.” They looked at Lukas. “I really think this could get you some closure, if he came here. He could stay in the Temple, help out around town a bit so he wouldn’t be in it often enough for you to see him before you’re ready. We’d put him to work. You don’t have to be best friends, Lu, but I think it’d be a good thing—“
“He just wants to come here to rub it in my face!” Lukas stared at Jesse, exasperated. “Jesse, you can’t seriously be believing this. He hated you. He tried to kill you! He tried to kill me!”
“So did Ivor. So did Romeo.” Jesse frowned a bit. “And Romeo hasn’t even gotten therapy. I really should try and set that up for him, maybe—“ They shook their head, stopping themselves from going off on a tangent. “My point is, Lukas, I’m not asking you to forgive him. You don’t even have to like him. I’m still not sure how I feel about him. But I think talking about this at some point while he’s staying with us could do you some good. If you don’t want to forgive him, at least you can get closure.” A pause, and Jesse’s gaze softened with concern. “…I don’t like watching this eat at you.”
Lukas’ scowl dialed back to a frown, and he gripped the letter in his hands as he looked away from Jesse. They watched him for a moment, easily able to see the gears turning and churning out thoughts in his head, wondering if he was going to say anything as he handed the letter back to them.
“As long as he doesn’t hurt anyone I don’t care what he does. I want nothing to do with him.” His tone was laced with quiet anger, though it wasn’t directed to Jesse. He understood what they were saying, what they were trying to do, and it made sense—but... “It’s up to you what happens. Just tell me what day he’d be coming so I can make sure I’m busy.”
Jesse sighed as they took the letter back. The moment he could, Lukas turned and began to walk towards the door. “Lukas.”
“I know what he’s capable of better than anyone.” He stopped in the doorway, looking back at Jesse. “I just hope you know what you’re getting us into.”
“When you say “he”,” Jesse looked at him, exhaustion causing their gaze to cloud. “Do you mean the Aiden from way back, or do you mean the Aiden that exists now?”
Lukas paused. “It’s the same Aiden.”
“…But is it?”
The two of them stood there staring for a moment longer, blue meeting brown, before Lukas broke the contact and turned to leave. Shutting the door behind him, Jesse was left alone, letter in hand and mind racing. They’d finally gotten to a sense of normalcy. They’d finally gotten comfortable in their routine. Then, Aiden swoops in to turn it all on its head and asks for a chance to redeem himself. Asks for a chance to make it all up to them.
Did Jesse have doubts? Yes, absolutely, as they were constantly plagued by paranoia due to the hectic events of the last several years and it was Aiden, for Universe’s sake. Maybe they needed therapy. But this, letting Aiden at least try, it was the right thing to do. It was the Hero Jesse thing to do.
“Aiden,” They mumbled. “I hope you’re worth it.”