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It was too damn cold. It always was this time of year, the entire city covered in a layer of ice and snow, coupled with frigid wind that bit at the barest inches of exposed skin. Aiden Pearce grimaced and turned up his collar, for all the meager protection it provided, and picked up his pace a little. The phone held in his numb fingers was dutifully spitting out the profiler information of each passerby, though at the moment he was more interested in finding somewhere warm to lay low for a while than in seeking out potential threats.
Then the profiler spit back an error message. Aiden paused and gave his phone more of his attention, frowning. The screen flickered and juddered a bit, but the text didn't change- labeling a nearby figure as 'not found' in the database. It was a girl, her age hard to determine, anywhere from her teens to her early twenties, curled up with her back against the wall in the mouth of the nearest alleyway. Homeless, obviously, judging by the grime on her clothes and the general air of hopeless exhaustion, but the profiler still kept track of all the homeless individuals in the area. Something about the whole scenario didn't sit right with him. Slowly, he began to approach the girl, and the closer he came the more the temperature seemed to drop around him.
The girl mumbled something, her voice heavy with exhaustion, and Aiden stopped dead. "Not now, Aiden," she said, her voice heavy with exhaustion. "I'm tired, okay?" There was a harsh gust of wind, and the girl sat up a bit. "I said leave me alone!" She lifted an arm as if to swat at empty air, and her eyes finally fell on Aiden, watching her with a confused and wary expression. "Shit, I—"
"...What was that name you said?" Aiden asked her quietly. He kept a tight grip on his phone, not really sure what he was expecting from this girl.
"Nothing," she said quickly. "I'm sorry, it was—it was nothing. I'm just...really tired. Look, I have to go—" She was struggling to get upright, putting most of her weight on the wall and hauling herself up.
"Hey, hang on," Aiden said, reaching out and taking her arm. He helped her to her feet, frowning slightly. "You look like you're about to freeze to death. Let me...buy you a coffee, or something."
She stared at him for a few moments, searching his face for some sign of dishonesty. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her expression was one Aiden knew well. It was the look of someone hunted. "...Yeah," she said quietly after some thought. "Coffee sounds...coffee sounds great right now."
They made their way to a small coffee shop just down the block; the girl declined his help in walking, though she was stiff and moved with a bad limp. They both gave their orders without making eye contact with one another or the barista, and sat down at an empty table away from the other patrons. A silence stretched between the two for a few minutes, neither one particularly wanting to speak first.
"...Thank you," she said quietly, briefly looking up at him.
"No problem." Aiden watched her drum her fingers on the side of her cup. "You're not...from Chicago, are you? And already on the streets..."
"No I...I drift. Don't like to stay in one place for too long." She paused before answering him, obviously choosing her words carefully.
"Mhm," was all he said in response. "...You have a name?"
"...Jodie," she said softly. She took a sip of her coffee. "...You?"
"Aiden." For some reason, Jodie choked on her drink, setting her drink back down a little harder than necessary. Aiden raised an eyebrow. "You alright?"
"Yeah—" she said, coughing. "I just—I know someone named Aiden, that's all." Nearby, an empty paper cup toppled rather violently off a table. Aiden turned towards the source of the noise, frowning in confusion, but dismissed it after a moment.
"You said the name earlier."
Jodie's gaze was directed upward, and for a moment she seemed frustrated, but turned her attention back to him after a moment. "You...heard that? Sorry, I must have...I'm more tired than I thought." She offered him a small smile that was an even weaker argument than her lie. Another empty cup flung itself off its table.
Aiden frowned, starting to say something, only to abruptly fall silent again. Outside, a police car was slowly making its way past, its lights flashing and washing the inside of the café in alternating reds and blues. "Shit," he muttered, and was rather surprised to hear Jodie's voice in chorus with his. They looked at each other, both understanding now was a bad time for questions. "Out the back?" he muttered.
"Out the back," she agreed. They stood up and moved as discreetly as they could, slipping out a side entrance most definitely not intended for customer use.
The police car had stopped outside, still close enough for the alleyway to be washed in its lights, but for a moment the two just stood, looking at one another. Without another word, Aiden clambered over the nearby fence, landing heavily on the other side. A gust of frigid air made him pause, and he turned to look back. Jodie had curled up behind a dumpster, out of sight of the police, her forehead resting on her knees. Aiden sighed, turned up his collar, and walked away.