Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nicky hadn’t realized just how much everything would have to change when she left Chicago. At that moment, she’d just been focused on driving. On trying to figure out who she was going to go to for help.

The first night was just about getting away though. Luckily there had been some cash in the car, Nicky not having time to withdraw any or even carry her wallet out. When she’d stopped at a gas station for some food, it had made her realize that she really did have nothing. She’d been kidnapped and hadn’t had time to prepare. What she had in her hands was it.

She’d put aside some for gas later, just in case they needed it depending on wherever they were going. The rest she either saved for a room or spent on food for Jacks. Even though he said he wasn’t hungry, she got him to eat. There was a lot she couldn’t do for him, but at least she could keep him from starving.

They drove a little longer before she found a motel where they could hunker down for the night. She ended up getting into bed with her son, both snuggling close as Nicky tried to find something mindless on TV. Instead, she found the news.

Hundreds upon hundreds of video, text, emails, and pictures had been released to the public. Some kind of blackmail with many believing Aiden had something to do with it. And then, a few hours ago, the city had gone dark, just like New York a few years ago.

“He did all that?” whispered Jacks.

Nicky couldn’t lie to him. He probably already knew in his heart it was him. So she just silently nodded, hoping upon hope that whatever was happening would end soon and Aiden would make it out alive.

Jackson fell asleep not long after that, somehow. It gave Nicky a moment to start planning, to think of where they would go. They had enough money to fill up on gas but they needed a destination that they could conceivably get to sometime tomorrow. Now where to?

Nicky of course had friends. They were the first ones to come to mind, but they all lived in the Chicago area. Even if they hadn’t, were they the kind of friends to house a mother and son on the run? Were they the kind of friends to house a murderer—

No! She couldn’t think about that. She had to focus on Jackson first and foremost. She had to focus on keeping him safe. So where…where…

Ah. Her.

Some might have thought the decision should have been obvious. It wasn’t for Nicky though. She didn’t have any other family in America. The rest were in Ireland, not that it mattered. Even if she could have gotten over there, she hadn’t really kept in touch with them when they’d moved to America. A few required phone calls in her childhood and then nothing as they’d just grown apart. That left one person.

“Mom.”

The word had come out a hushed whisper in the dark motel room. Obviously she couldn’t stick around for long. Hers and Aiden’s mother would be the first place people would look once they realized Aiden had family. But for the moment, she just needed somewhere to lay her head. Somewhere to properly plan ahead and figure out where Jacks’ future went from here.

But god that entire conversation wasn’t going to be easy.

When Aiden had started to really get involved in…whatever he was fully involved in, that was when their relationship with their mother had grown strained. Though Aiden had never said much about his life back then, it was obvious he had gotten money from somewhere and well…

At the time, Mom had accused him of falling in line with their dad. Nicky had of course defended Aiden at the time, but maybe he…was? And what about her? She’d killed a man. How much was she like—

No. She couldn’t think of it now. The point was that the whole conversation had started the wedge between Nicky and Mom. Then when Lena had died, well Nicky had never blamed Aiden. She’d meant that. But Mom? Nicky had never cried harder than when at her daughter’s funeral, Mom had grabbed Aiden by his collar and yelled, “You did this! You!” He’d left because of her. He’d missed his own niece’s funeral and that had been the last straw.

Nicky hadn’t talked to her since then.

But now…

It really was the only option, even though Nicky mentally told herself she’d sleep on it. She fully laid down next to her son, went to sleep, and—

She woke up the next morning. She’d half expected to be drenched in sweat, to wake up screaming, for some horrible nightmare to not have left her. She’d expected to see that man’s face as the bullet went through his neck.

But she hadn’t. She felt…ok. Considering the circumstances. She didn’t know what to make of that feeling and instead simply felt grateful that she hadn’t woken up Jacks. She let him rest for as long as she could, refreshing herself in the shower first and then rationing out their measly food for Jacks’ breakfast.

After he woke up, she washed his hair in the sink since he said he didn’t want a full shower, and then they were back in the car and gone. As Jacks was eating his breakfast, Nicky popped the question that she’d come to last night.

“How does seeing Nanna sound? Hmm Jackson?” She tried her hardest not to show how strained her voice was at the idea.

A quick look back showed that Jacks was looking at her in confusion. When he didn’t respond right away, she was forced to look back at the road. They drove a few minutes longer until Jackson suddenly said, “I thought we weren’t talking to Nanna?”

“I…what happened between me and your grandmother shouldn’t influence your relationship with her. And besides, sometimes you have to be the bigger man in situations like this. We need…help. So…”

“So I didn’t have an option. Unlike how you phrased it,” murmured Jackson.

Nicky let out a tired sigh. “No. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” he mumbled.

Nicky nodded. She looked back and saw Jacks’ nose was buried in the tablet again. She wanted to say more, to ask if he was ok. She wanted to know what had exactly happened to him while she’d been…gone. But not now. She’d ask when she could properly sit with him, and not look him in the eyes only five seconds at a time.

So with a route in mind, Nicky focused on the road instead. She let her mind go blank, just looking at the concrete and making sure she didn’t take the turns too hard. The only stop she made was at a gas station. She told Jackson, “Alright. We’ll be at Nanna’s in about three more hours. Ok? Do you need anything?”

But Jackson had just nodded, not having said anything since that morning. Nicky hugged him tight, but was forced to get into the car so they could hurry up and finish the drive today, hopefully making it to her mom’s house by nighttime. She drove and drove through the remaining few hours. All the while she mentally begged God that she’d have time to just talk to Jackson. Begged that Mom wouldn’t start anything. Not tonight.

And when they arrived, it at first seemed like her prayers had been answered. Right away Nanna had held Jackson tight. She’d sat him down at her little dinner table and had begun cooking. Nicky used that as an opportunity to sit down and talk to Jacks a little. She was grateful for that, even if a lot of progress wasn’t made. Jackson definitely understood what was going on. He was old enough to get the seriousness of everything and that he couldn’t go back to his old life. For the first time, Nicky was actually thankful that Jacks had pushed his friends away after Lena’s death. It was a horrible thought, but it was already making this transition far easier. He’d break eventually. He was just a kid. He had to. But Nicky hoped she could make it as gentle as possible and she would hug him and kiss him all the way through it.

But that breakdown didn’t happen that night. No, because as Nicky was trying to have a tender moment with her son, Mom pulled her away from him, forcing them to be alone instead after she’d set a plate full of food in front of Jackson.

“I told you!” The hushed anger was piercing and unexpected.

“Told me—”

“I’ve been watching the news for days,” Mom hissed. “The data leaks? The city wide blackout? And the latest report? There’s a lot of shit about ctOS but that one about the man half starved and stuck in an empty garage? The bullet hole in his head? That was Aiden, wasn’t it? I know it was!”

Nicky took in a deep breath. She had no way to know for sure but…was it him? The man who killed Lena? Was it over? Nicky wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She’d wanted Aiden to walk away but now…

“And now you! My beautiful baby girl! On the run because-because of that monster? We need to go to the police—”

“No! No that’s not possible.”

“Not possible? It is perfectly possible!” Mom yelled, her voice finally rising as she clearly didn’t care if Jackson heard this bit. “The precinct is only fifteen minutes away. And that nice Dr. Yolanda will surely vouch for—”

“Yolanda? How do you know her?” Nicky had never told Mom about the therapist or vice versa.

“Oh, she’s been on the news too this afternoon. She’s writing a book about your no good brother apparently. Obviously your names won’t be in it but she did mention you on—”

The rest of the words trailed off into the back of Nicky’s mind. Though she hadn’t planned to stay long, she now realized she really had to leave everything behind. Even here wouldn’t be safe. If people knew Aiden had a sister, a nephew, then they were at risk no matter what Aiden had already done to keep them safe. They needed a new identity. A completely new life.

“We can’t stay.” Though she’d blocked out most of what Mom was saying, she knew she was assuming they’d stay. It just wasn’t possible though.

“Well once you get back on your feet, you could get somewhere nearby of course. I don’t see a—”

“No. We can’t stay. At all.”

The silence felt choking. Right up until the explosion. “What do you mean?! You are staying! My perfect girl just like I always knew you were! That awful husband of yours is gone, Aiden is gone, we’ll finally be a perfect family! The police will help us and—”

“They can’t help me! They can’t!”

“Yes they can! You’ll see. I’ll call them now.”

Mom launched towards the landline. She had already pressed the ‘one’ button before Nicky knocked the receiver out of her hands. Nicky stood and watched as her Mom’s expression went from shocked to disgusted. Nicky hadn’t told her. She hadn’t said a word about what she’d done yet somehow Mom—

“What did you do?”

The words weren’t kind. They weren’t gentle and worried and motherly like they should have been. They didn’t make Nicky want to fall against her chest and sob out all her worries.

They made her want to run.

Nicky didn’t have Aiden’s knowledge of tech, but thankfully Mom had never been a fan of handheld phones period. And, though she was old, she didn’t have any kind of emergency button around her neck for falls or anything. As long as Nicky was quick, she could do this.

Before Mom could say another word, Nicky ripped the phone off the wall.

“What do you think—”

She shouted towards the kitchen. “Jackson! Get in the car! Lock the doors!”

“Nicole what are you doing!? Stop! Stop this now!”

Nicky ran into the next room, pulling that phone off the wall too. She did that in every room as she ran upstairs towards Mom’s bedroom. Considering how little the house had changed since last she’d been there, she would bet…

Yes! After diving under the bed, she found the wad of cash she’d been expecting. She started to run back out, only to realize that the reason Mom hadn’t followed her was because she was now guarding the bottom of the stairs.

“No! You are not taking another grandchild from me!”

“Another—”

“I see it now! You were never an innocent victim. It’s your fault Lena died. Just as much as it is Aiden’s! I bet you were working together all along. And you put your children at risk because of it? Only a monster would do something so horrible! I won’t have you destroying our name any longer! I won’t let you take Jackson!”

Maybe Nicky should have been more upset, but she was running off adrenaline at the moment. The words washed over her like water hitting oil. The mean spirited bile just didn’t stick. And, if she was honest with herself, Mom’s hatred didn’t come that much as a surprise. Not anymore.

“You’re both just like your father! You’re wrong and I won’t have my only grandchild raised by the likes of you!”

She stood there, with her slightly hunched back. Like she was actually threatening or something. And in that moment, Nicky realized something. She’d watched from protective cover as Aiden had picked off each of those guards, as he’d drawn them to possible explosives or hit them with a silenced pistol or gone up behind them and broken their necks. At the time, she’d wondered if all this death was really Aiden, but now she understood. He had done everything in his power to keep her safe. If murder was on that list of precautions, he really had no problem ticking it off.

And now it was a small box on Nicky’s list too.

She’d murdered a man in order to get back to Jackson. And if someone came trying to hurt her son? She realized with a terrifying calm that she’d do it again.

Nicky took the stairs slowly, calmly. She was half way down when she murmured, “I’m not afraid Mom, and I’m not letting anyone take my son away. Not criminals and hit men, not the police, and certainly. Not. You.”

At that half way mark, Mom finally realized that physically stopping her daughter was impossible. She ran out of the house, screaming at the top of her lungs for someone to call the police. Nicky shoved the money in her pocket and then ran to the kitchen again. She grabbed what she could from cabinets, shoved them in a bag, and rushed out the door. People were coming out of their houses. There was a good chance someone had already picked up their phone.

Mom was yanking on the door handle as Jackson hid in the corner of the car. Thankfully he had locked it, just like she’d yelled. Nicky rushed to the other side and Jackson undid that lock. She shoved what food she could into it. Some of it fell on the ground but it didn’t matter. Mom had run around the side just as Nicky closed the door again, finally grabbing her daughter by her own shirt.

It was just like with Aiden at the funeral. All Mom was seeing was their father and all Nicky saw was hatred staring back.

 Considering she’d cut her off before simply for saying those things to Aiden, it somehow didn’t feel as big of a deal to do the same thing again.

Nicky pushed her off. Mom stumbled back, hitting the ground with a pained oof. Nicky didn’t pay it any mind though. She unlocked the car and got in. She hit the gas and peeled out of the driveway. Thankfully this town didn’t have any kind of ctOS scan though. Once she was out of the neighborhood, she quickly followed the speed limit, wanting to blend in as best she could with the other drivers as she headed out of town. It was doubtful Mom had memorized the license plate or type of car. Hopefully none of the neighbors had either.

Nicky looked around, double checking for cops once more before finally focusing back on Jackson. He’d picked open a bag of chips and was nibbling on them. Nicky let out a shaky breath. All that had just happened was less impactful than doing this.

“Jacks, you…you’re ok?”

“Yeah mom.”

It felt good to hear him speak rather than just nod this time. She continued. “You know…you know why I had to do it? Right? And that…that you should never push people around like that but…but we didn’t—”

“I heard what you were saying. When Nanna started screaming,” Jackson murmured, interrupting Nicky’s train of thought. “We already had to leave Uncle Aiden. I don’t want to leave you too.”

“Even though that means we can’t go back? We can’t see Nanna or go home or use the name Pearce—”

“I’m ten. Not five. I get what’s going on mom.”

His tone was just a little sulky and yet it had Nicky breathing a sigh of relief. She hated that he understood. She wished he wasn’t going through any of this. But it felt good to hear him sound like an actual, whiny pre-teen. Even if only for a second. He hadn’t sounded that childish in a while actually.

“You mean you’re not my little boy anymore?”

Jacks shook his head and wrinkled his nose at the thought.

They were at a stoplight so Nicky reached back and tickled him a bit. “Are you sure? You still look really little to me,” Nicky said. She somehow managed a half giggled, “Stop!” from her son and it was just the boost of energy Nicky needed to keep going. She’d lost her daughter. She’d left her life behind. She’d lost her Mom long ago, even if she was just now coming to terms with it. And finally she’d lost the second most important person in her life now, her brother. She wanted to believe she’d see him again but she doubted it. She doubted it so very much. And with that doubt, she knew she couldn’t lose Jackson. She wouldn’t.

“I’m pretty grown up. I think,” Jackson said.

“But not completely though.”

“I guess not.”

“Then how about you’re my little man. Hmm? I’m going to need help, starting over. Are you up for the task?”

Jacks nodded and for the first time since all this had gone down, Nicky saw some passion in her boy’s eyes. He looked happy at the prospect of helping, at finally having something to do.

As the light turned green, Nicky was forced to turn back in her seat. However, Jackson apparently had one last thing to say.

“And Mom?”

“Yeah honey?”

“I don’t mind not seeing Nanna again. She always was kind of a bitch.”

“Language Jackson!”

“Sorry.” She watched him whisper that out with a wince in the rear view mirror.

“You can’t just throw that word around,” Nicky pointedly said. “But…yes. I think I agree.”

She looked back again, one quick glance, and saw the small smile on Jack’s lips before he hid it behind the tablet. She smiled back. They could do this. They’d figure it out.

In retrospect, all those video games and crime shows seemed to come in handy. It was Jackson’s idea to put black duct tape on the license plate so as to change it without just switching to a whole new car. It was Jackson’s idea for her to cut her hair and for him to dye his so that their appearance would change, if only a little.

The ideas made sense even if they had worried Nicky a little. She’d made it a point that this all was temporary. That they’d find a way to live a normal life soon, but of course her son had to go and get super smart, responding with, “But what if someone ever does show up? We should always be ready for having to run again.”

And he was right. But Nicky would be damned if she didn’t at least try and make her next home as normal as possible.

They ended up choosing a random space to go to. They hadn’t been to that town, much less the state, but that meant less people would look for them there, if they ever did. So to South Carolina they went, and with it, a new life.

A story was formed. There own little cover up. A fake, abusive ex-boyfriend was created that they were running from. A new name was made. They were Nicole and Jackson Baker. A nice, normal name with no Irish heritage. Jackson was growing, already shedding the image that police might have had of him. And Nicky was growing her brown hair out again, keeping it a little shorter, and had added unnecessary glasses to her features.

The small town they’d chosen all knew about their fake past. They’d taken them in quickly because of it, only too happy to help a runaway mother and her son. JD let her work under the table at his gas station, she paid minimal rent with the widower Mrs. Jenkins, and there was an old teacher who homeschooled the five other children in the town, everyone else having long since grown up or moved out. It wasn’t exactly the schooling Nicky would have liked for Jackson, but all in all, they were incredibly lucky with their find.

They had a place to live, got a new car and sold the stolen one for scraps, had multiple cloths again, food. It was all looking on the up after the first few weeks.

It was then that she finally got to really have the heart to heart with Jackson that she’d wanted. However, he hadn’t broken down like she’d expected. Not once had she had to go into his room at night because she’d heard him crying.

And she asked him about that, once they felt comfortable and it seemed like they’d be staying for a while.

“You know it’s ok to feel sad. Right? That you can cry about everything that’s happened?”

“Yeah,” Jackson mumbled. He’d started to act a bit more like a kid again and sounded like one now. He clearly just wanted to get the conversation over with so he could go out and play with one of the neighborhood’s kids. If that was one good thing about all this, Jackson wasn’t on his tablet as often anymore.

“I just want to make sure you’re ok.

Jackson shrugged. “It hasn’t been that hard.”

“Really now? Is it because it’s like we’re undercover? We’re spies?”

“No.” The deadpanned remark and Jackson’s face had Nicky suddenly being reminded of Aiden. It hurt a lot but it also made her smile a little.

“No?”

“It’s just how it is,” he murmured with another shrug. “I’m just happy I’m with you. Besides, after seeing Uncle Aiden take down a bunch of bad guys, changing our names and stuff isn’t that bad.”

Nicky froze. “Is that…is that what happened while I was gone?” she whispered.

Jacks looked a little shameful at that. “It wasn’t Uncle’s fault!” he quickly said. “I just wanted to help. I went looking and…and got in trouble. I saw it happen on some monitors.”

Nicky took in a deep breath. She couldn’t find it in herself to be angry at Jackson, even if the idea of him putting himself in danger terrified her even now. “That’s so sweet that you wanted to help, but I never want you to do anything like that again. Understand?”

Jackson gave a tiny nod.

Nicky also found she couldn’t be mad at Aiden either. He’d probably been horrified upon realizing Jacks had seen it all, but it had been necessary. No matter how awful it had been. “And you’re ok? After all that?”

“Yeah.” He sniffed a little. “I was a bit scared of Uncle but he just wanted me safe. And, I mean they were bad guys. They hurt you. Wanted to hurt me.” He sniffed again. “It wasn’t like with Lena.”

“Oh sweetheart.”

He resisted at first, but eventually let her hug him. “I’m ok.”

“I know. I know. My big strong, little man,” she murmured.

Jacks nodded in agreement. “Uncle Aiden just wanted to help us. I get it. Just like you.”

“Just like…me?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t…I don’t understand honey. What do you mean like me?”

“Well you killed someone. Right?”

God Nicky hated how natural that came out of Jackson’s mouth. She hated how much she couldn’t bring herself to lie and say she’d hated it. Because the easy, restful nights had only proven that it really hadn’t bothered her. For Jacks, she’d do anything. All she could say was, “How did you know?”

“You had blood on your shirt,” he replied. “And I saw it on your hands before you washed them. I just…kind of figured.”

“Sweetheart, I’m so—”

“I don’t think different of you.”

“It’s ok if you do.”

“I know. But I don’t. I still love you. Still love Uncle Aiden.” Then as if to make the point, he quickly hugged her. The former reluctance was gone as he buried his head against her shoulder. “You came back. That’s all that matters.”

And Nicky had kissed the top of his head and murmured, “I did.”

She didn’t know if his responses were ok. She didn’t know if her responses were ok. There had never been anything like this in any of the parenting books she’d read. All she could do was her best and hope it was enough.

So outside of her own parenting and getting accustomed to their new life, the next biggest issue was trying to secure proper documentation. Though they were surviving after a few weeks, they needed them if Nicky ever wanted to get a better job and start properly saving for Jackson’s future. Jackson would also need them if he went to college and for whenever he got a job. However, not only did no one in town exactly deal with those kinds of things, but after four months of living there, Nicky found a new reason to desperately need proper documentation and possibly sooner rather than later.

Despite Blume’s stance, everyone had thought ctOS would be done for good. But only four months later and not only were they announcing ctOS 2.0 but cities were already talking about implementing the program in just about every aspect of life. Though it was doubtful any such systems would find their way to their small town, it still brought a massive amount of anxiety for Nicky. How would she and her son show up on their system? What about what little, fake documents they had? They clearly weren’t official. How could she make sure she and Jacks stayed hidden if they ever went into a nearby city without having to wear masks all the time and stand in the shadows?

She’d told Aiden she was done following him. Yet now she kind of wished she had. She had no idea who to get in contact with, how much it would cost, how to tell the trust worthy people from the real con men. She was going in blind but she couldn’t risk never getting official documentation. Even if it wasn’t for ctOS 2.0, she would have needed it in order to get a better job and for Jackson.

With that in mind, Nicky took a weekend to go to Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a much bigger city than any in South Carolina. Hopefully that meant she’d find what she was looking for. It also was farther away, meaning she likely wouldn’t have to worry about seeing any of the locals from the town she’d settled in.

Other than a small over the night suitcase, Nicky took a lot of cash in a zipped pocket, and a gun. She’d gotten it from a neighbor and thankfully the request hadn’t been so crazy. As he’d said, everyone around there had at least two or three guns. She still hadn’t gone out and practiced with it though. Despite the lack of nightmares, holding the gun was a much more present reminder of what she’d done. However, taking it with her brought some small amount of comfort as she'd headed north.

She’d looked up what she could online. She knew most of the information was obviously limited. Aiden had once rambled at her for hours when he’d been going to school about all the tech stuff he needed to learn. Because of that, she knew there was a lot more underneath the publicly accessible internet. She just didn’t know how to get to it.

So with what information she had, early Saturday morning she went into the parts of town that weren’t so welcoming and started to look for help.

The first night ended with almost nothing and a lot of creepy stares that she’d sooner forget. The next night gave her a little more though. Apparently word had gotten moved around and a man she hadn’t seen before showed up next to her. She was at a bar that she’d seen recommended in a forum she’d looked through. She hadn’t thought anything would really come of it but after she figured out the man wasn’t trying to be a creep and buy her a drink, she listened to what he had to say.

They moved to a back corner so they could talk more discretely. At first he tried to sell her on some things but she quickly put her foot down and said, “I don’t need a fake ID. I need a whole new identity. For two people!” she hurriedly whispered.

“Jesus lady. What kind of shit did you get into?”

“Nothing good,” she simply said. “Please, I’m willing to pay but I can’t go halfway with any of this.”

The man’s mouth stayed in a very thin line for a while before he finally muttered, “Ah shit. You got a number?”

Nicky wasn’t sure if the guy was always so soft hearted or if it was because she was the client. Still, she hesitated. “I mean…yes but um…”

“Ok, listen. If you’re doing this, you need to get you a burner phone. Give me your hand.”

She hesitantly did. She flinched when he pulled something out of a pocket but it was only a pen. It didn’t seem to write at all though. “Invisible?”

“Damn right. All you need is a black light and make sure you don’t shower tonight. Call me at that number so we can establish the number of your burner phone. And after three exchanges, you should throw it away and get a new one. Doesn’t matter if you still have minutes on it.”

“And then you’ll call me when it’s done?”

“I need some compensation up front. I’m going to have to chat with a few friends about this. It ain’t going to be easy.”

Was he swindling her? She honestly couldn’t tell. A small part of her said to back out now, but then what? She didn’t have a second plan and she had to drive back to Jackson tomorrow morning. It was this or nothing. “Alright, how much?”

“Five hundred.”

Nicky balked.

“Like you said. This ain’t some false ID shit. I’m going to need five hundred now and I’ll give you an estimate in about a week or two.”

She hesitated again.

“I’ll tell you now, this ain’t New York or some shit. You’re not gonna find a lot more options around here unless you really go outside your comfort zone. And let me tell you, most will probably charge you more.”

He was probably right, and she couldn’t afford to risk not meeting someone else who would help her out. “Fine. Fine, here it is.”

Nicky reluctantly handed it over.

“Remember. Don’t shower or that number’s gone. Only call from a burner phone. Only use that phone three times if necessary. Got it?”

“I got it.”

“Alright. Get in contact with me soon so I know what number to call back to when I get an estimate.”

Nicky nodded. God, she hoped this turned out to be real and not some sort of scam.

She ended up getting a burner phone in a city on the way back. She called the guy back and was grateful when he actually picked up. They went over the agreement again and everything seemed to be in order. At least as much as an illegal agreement could be.

And then she got home, got back to what had become her usual routine, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She’d told Jackson what she’d been doing when she left that day. Again, she wasn’t sure if that was good or bad parenting. However, after everything had happened, she never wanted Jackson to not know where she was or what she was doing. But because of that, Jackson could easily tell she was worried and about what.

One day when they were having dinner, Jacks asked, “Is it taking longer? About the uh…subject of your trip?”

“Yeah…yeah it seems it is.”

“Couldn’t you just call?”

“It doesn’t really work like that sweetie,” sighed Nicky. However, the thought had crossed her mind. She’d even thought about driving all the way up to Raleigh again and trying to find the guy. What if he wasn’t there? What if it was all a con and he just took desperate people’s money and left the area? Should she have asked for examples? Asked around about the guy? Would anyone have told her anything if she had?

If she had to, she could get a new burner phone. But if she did actually call, then she’d only be confirming she’d been in for the long con. She would have wasted all that money for nothing. She couldn’t quite confirm that yet so she waited a little longer.

And a little longer.

And just a little longer…

It had been twice as long as the guy had estimated he’d get in contact with her. A month had passed.  Nicky was on the edge of finally calling back, of finally accepting she’d have to start back at square one, when an odd thing happened.

Nicky was working at the gas station as usual. Jackson was doing his schoolwork with the other kids in their small town. It was normal, up until JD came out and said, “So, I don’t want to step on anything personal with you…”

“Did I do something wrong?” Nicky couldn’t think of what it could be, or how it could be personal, but it was the only guess that she could come up with.

“What? No, no! It’s uh…about that awful ex. The one that drove you here.”

Nicky tried not to show relief at that. She was supposed to be traumatized from that after all. “Right. I mean, I guess depending on what it’s about,” she said, purposefully mumbling that last bit.

“It’s just that, you never said anything about him being Chinese. Right?”

“Um, no?”

“Well that’s good. Did he have a friend though? Black hair? Goatee? I just want to make sure he didn’t send anyone looking for you.”

“Not that I can remember. He’s coming around town?”

“Yeah. Asking after you and saying he knows you through a mutual friend called Aiden?”

On the one hand, the last friend of Aiden’s Nicky had met had kidnapped her. But it was surprisingly quick that someone had found them considering they had stayed really under the radar. And though she didn’t actively search for news on Aiden, knowing that doing it would only make the time away hurt more, she could at least say there was no major fiasco that had occurred in the lasts months that screamed Aiden’s name. Or the Fox. Or really any vigilante type thing.

So the chance that somebody was looking for them as leverage against Aiden was unlikely. And Dr. Yolanda hadn’t published her book yet so interest in Aiden Pearce had continued to go down for the moment.

Nicky liked the little town. It seemed like a good place for Jackson, at least until he was a little older, and it provided the kind of security they needed until they had new identities. She couldn’t risk running from it and if this man was bad news, better to face it head on. The fact that the stranger had simply said mutual friend and not specifically said brother, also possibly signaled that the man knew they were in hiding and wanted to keep it that way.

The thought was promising and Nicky somehow managed to show off an easy smile. “Oh yeah, I know…him.” She’d almost forgotten she didn’t actually know this guy’s name. “Where is he now?”

“Bridget just told me he’s currently in the diner complaining about the food.”

“Well, he always was picky.” She had no idea if he was always picky. She was literally just guessing.

“Less picky and more just a prick from how his suit looks,” JD muttered. “Sorry, shouldn’t say that. He’s your friend.”

“And he’s still at the diner?”

“Was two minutes ago when Bridget called me. If you want to go catch up it’s fine. I’ll cover here. It sounded like he was getting ready to leave since no one wanted to give him any information.”

“Well I’ll have to tell everyone that, that was very sweet of them. Thank you. And I promise I’ll be back soon.”

“No rush. I bet it’ll be refreshing meeting up with an old friend after all you’ve been through. Take your time.”

Nicky just nodded, forced a smile, and quickly left. The town was so small that she just walked down the street rather than taking the car. This stranger must not have been in town for very long considering he probably would have run into Nicky anyways. The walk itself only took about thirteen minutes and the gas station never disappeared from view from behind.

As she came up to the diner, considering that she now knew everyone in town, it wasn’t hard spotting the stranger. The white, designer suit stood out like a sore thumb and she was pretty positive she could spot his car in the parking lot too. It was the only one that somehow didn’t have one mud splatter or rusty piece of metal on it. At the moment, the guy was apparently talking to the waitress, Bridget, though it looked more like talking at than having a real conversation. Nicky didn’t get a chance to hear what he was saying though because the moment she walked in the man spun around.

“Nicky! What’s up?”

“N-nothing much.” So was this how they were playing it? Just two old pals hanging out? She slowly approached.

“I must say I’m surprised. Here? Really? I drove through this place twice by accident. Just sneezed and zoom! Pretty sure if you can sneeze and miss it, it doesn’t count as an actual town.  This is pretty low layin though. I give you that. I bet you read books here, huh? Certainly don’t have any night clubs. It’s like this is the lost colony or something.”

Nicky didn’t follow everything that the man was saying but thankfully Bridget came to the rescue. “Jordi here was just telling me about all the fun you guys had in college.”

“Yeah, college.” At least she had a name now. “Thanks for keeping him company. I uh…know how easily you get bored,” Nicky lied. “Want to go for a walk? Catch up?” They probably could have just sat in the diner but the people here definitely fell into the category of small town nosiness even with how helpful they’d been. Better to get out and away from earshot just to be safe.

“I could stretch my legs.” Jordi jumped up and slapped some money on the counter. From the look on Bridget’s face, Nicky could guess it was exact change. Still, Bridget just looked thankful that the guy was finally leaving and didn’t give them a second glance as she put the money in the cash register.

The moment they were outside, Nicky tried to speak but Jordi was already talking again.

“Jesus, I think I just lost a year off my life. If I wanted to eat a meal straight from Castaway I would have just stranded myself on an island. But I guess it makes sense. Aiden would totally put his body through that shit so now I’m seeing you do it too. Of course you do! Not like you can fly out to a place of quality. Only he doesn’t like cherries so he couldn’t stay here for long. I mean only cherries. Really? You’d think it would be apples. You like cherries?”

Nicky blinked. The only information that she’d managed to obtain was that this guy knew Aiden more personally than most because he knew they were related, but again was smart enough not to mention it. And he knew Aiden hated cherries. Weird fact but ok… “You were…talking about the pie?”

“What else? Listen, I’m typically not one for this area unless I’m dropping in on Atlanta or getting rid of a government operative but I did hear there’s this great fine dining place in Charleston—”

“Is Jordi your real name?” Nicky had gotten a feeling that interrupting was the only way to actually stop the guy from talking so she quickly blurted that out with a huff.

The guy seemed to take it well though, grinning from ear to ear. “Wow, I’d say you’d have to be twins if I didn’t know you were the little sister. Though that glower really works better on Aiden sweetheart. He’s a professional at it.”

“I said—”

“Jordi Chin, professional fixer and I believe the solution to your current problems.”

“My problems?”

“Well you would be the King Cake baby for some pissed off guy or a fixer who would work for that many zeros.”

“I’m a what—”

“But lucky for you I am plucking the baby out of the cake before anyone even realizes to look at the cake. Or that it is a King Cake. Honestly, makes it a lot easier than most of my other jobs, let me tell you. There was this one time—”

“What does this have to do with Aiden?” Nicky all but growled out.

Jordi just laughed though. It was impossible to say if he was like this with everyone or just her because she was Aiden’s sister. “Nothing.”

“No-then what the hell are you doing here?”

“To fix your problems.”

“What—”

“Listen, Aiden’s been keeping an ear out. Wanted to make sure no one tried to track down his baby sister for revenge or leverage or whatever other shit they might think up. And voila! He found out that you were needing a new identity. To be fair, figured you’d need help with that sooner or later so in comes me.”

“My white knight?” Nicky sarcastically said.

“Did the white suit give it away?”

Nicky rolled her eyes.

“Oh you are so your brother! Lips aren’t as kissable though.”

“What—”

“So obviously you’ve got Jackson here because mama bear isn’t going to let go of that little kiddo. It about killed papa bear to let go of him. Partially my fault that one.”

“I’m not following—”

“Papa bear!” Jordi said as he threw his hands up in the air. He quickly dropped them. “Well, technically uncle bear. He’s fine by the way. I wasn’t going to really kill him. Well, kind of was. Half heartedly. If I was really going to kill him I would have just pulled the trigger and not given him time to mess with his phone. I’m not stupid. I know that’s his personal magic wand. Well, his other magic one.”

Nicky had frozen on the side of the street through the middle of Jordi’s little rant, and not because of the sexual innuendos. Well, maybe a little because of that. But no, had he— “You tried to kill my brother?!”

“Jesus! You’re just as quick to anger as him too,” Jordi laughed. “Don’t worry. He tried to kill me too and we’ve both done it before. Besides, that contract on his head is gone and the zeros he’s paying me to help you is never going to be topped. Unless he wants to.”

Nicky started walking again. She let out a frustrated groan. “So are you his friend or not?”

“I’m the closest thing to a friend that Aiden can have in our world. And with that friendship, I’m getting you and your son a new identity and prepping you for the big leagues.”

“If that’s true, then you know that Aiden—”

“Doesn’t want you to follow in his footsteps? That you don’t want to because you have a kid to protect? That’s exactly why you need to learn the ins and outs. At least the bare basics. As much as Aiden tried, ctOS isn’t going anywhere any time soon and with it, you’ll always be a double dipped chip. You have layers that you need to hide and I can teach you how to.”

“And Aiden asked you to do this?”

“To be fair, he actually just asked me to get the new identities for you and not even make contact. Just go through that subpar piece of shit that you met in Raleigh again so you would be none the wiser.”

“But?”

“But Aiden’s Aiden and I’m me. He knows that or else he would have had someone else do this job and for all the zeros it’s worth, I think you deserve a little extra protection too. That and it’ll be a fun side job in between others.”

“I can’t—”

“Say yes? Well it’s up to you. I’m definitely not going to force you. It’s no fun if it’s forced. Unless it’s murder. Things get weird if that’s willing.”

“Listen. I just want the new identities. That’s all,” murmured Nicky. She almost wanted to add, and to talk to her brother. If half the things Jordi was saying were true then he had to have a way to get in contact with Aiden but—

No. It would only put them all at more risk. She bowed her head and simply reiterated what she’d just said. “That’s all I need Jordi, though I thank you for your help all the same.”

“No juice huh? Well here’s my number anyways.”

Jordi held a card out to her. Nicky took it partially because she expected Jordi wouldn’t take no for an answer. But also just because there was a small part of her that didn’t fully mean no. Staying safe in the digital age would be difficult and though Aiden was laying low now, she doubted he’d lay low forever. That meant more targets on his back, and more targets on hers. No matter what her name was. No matter where she was or if Aiden even knew the location.

But even with that thought, she couldn’t feel certain in saying yes. Not yet.

“You’ll think about it. I know you will. You’re definitely your brother’s sister,” grinned Jordi, like he somehow knew what was going through her head. “I’ll check you out later.” Jordi turned and started to leave.

“Hey! What about my—”

“You’ll have everything in the mail by next Thursday! Nice meeting you Nicky Baker!” Jordi said with a final wave as he headed back to his car.

Nicky just shook her head, honestly not knowing how to take this Jordi character. She wondered if he’d really deliver. If Aiden was actually trusting him with this, then he probably would, but that was the real question. Was Jordi actually being backed by Aiden, even with what he already knew?

For the moment, Nicky had to assume yes. It was the only thing that even slightly made sense what with all that Jordi knew and all that he claimed he could do. For the moment, Nicky just headed back to work. She wasn’t even at the gas station by the time she saw the shiny car speed by, expertly swerving around a slow moving truck before disappearing in the distance.

“I wonder if he got the driving thing from Aiden or vice versa,” Nicky sarcastically muttered to no one in particular. Or maybe they were both just terrifying drivers. Nicky could see that too.

She got back behind the counter in the gas station with a quick smile at JD. She just tried to focus and decided she’d figure out what to tell Jackson about the encounter later. Along with the rest of the town. They would try to be gentle about it but no doubt questions would start coming her way.

And one last thing! If Jordi was for real…then really Aiden? That guy? She’d only known him for five minutes but could tell he was a bigger asshole than her ex-husband—

No! No, she wasn’t thinking about this anymore. And she most definitely wasn’t taking Jordi up on his offer.

Maybe.

Probably.

Chapter Text

A broken leg was a pain in the ass to deal with. Jordi personally felt Aiden had overreacted but that wasn’t too surprising. The man was so wound up all the time that even a slight barb his way risked retaliation at times. Of course, that’s what made dancing around him the fun part.

Jordi had left Chicago for a few months while healing up. It had left a lot of time to think. After all, he wasn’t able to take any contracts and had handed the work of the vehicle business down. Well, to be fair he was almost never involved in the everyday work of that anyways. It was just a thing on the side that kept the cash coming when contracts were low. He’d just made sure if Aiden ever needed anything Jordi was connected with him. For one, it was fun to fuck with the guy and at the time Aiden had hired him too. It just made sense to multitask, helping Aiden if he needed a car and getting an update if the guy needed back up of any kind.

But for far too many weeks that had all been gone and it had just been thinking.

Setting up a fake suicide? Infiltrating a high security facility? Disposing of bodies at the bottom of the ocean or blowing them up with some personal cocktails? That was second nature to Jordi. It meant he didn’t have to think most of the time.

But as he’d healed from the fight on the lighthouse, thoughts had filtered through his head despite how much he’d tried to avoid them.

Well when stuck in bed and with nothing fun to read, he’d decided he might as well succumb. Jordi hadn’t spent those weeks going over contract information or reading his target’s intel. Instead he’d spent those weeks planning something else, something more personal which ironically wasn’t for himself.

Good old Pearce really didn’t know how much Jordi took care of him. The thought made him laugh.

So a couple of months passed and Jordi healed and planned. There was a part of him that had been getting antsy due to his limited movement. However, unlike Aiden, Jordi actually cared about his physical form and wasn’t going to risk further damaging himself before he knew he was completely healed for good.

But once he was healthy, well it was time to get back to work! He of course still had that little passion project to worry about but he didn’t mind multitasking. While the documents were getting made, Jordi took up a quick contract in DC. Though he wasn’t a massive fan of the East Coast besides New York or Atlanta, there was never a shortage of contracts in the DC area.

It had been a while since he’d taken up one that required a more close quarter’s style. The contractor had been very specific about how he wanted the death to look and besides, the target apparently never left work anyways.

In this case, the contractor had done a lot of the work for Jordi as to how he was getting in. Getting out would be his prerogative depending on how things went, but as of now, he at least knew he was walking in through the front doors. The contractor had tried to explain that this was all for some big promotion that he wanted or whatever, but Jordi had shut him up. He didn’t give two shits why. As long as the money was wired, they were all good. If it wasn’t though…

His reputation could now answer that what-if scenario pretty well. If Jordi backed out for whatever reason, if the contract went up in smokes before the job happened, fair game. But if he did the job and didn’t get paid as promised? Well, then he’d be damned sure that he’d get his compensation.

Thankfully this contractor followed that line of thought and gave him a signing bonus just for taking the contract. How sweet.

Jordi spent the next couple of days getting set up. He wouldn’t be taking his rifle in. Way to obvious and not necessary for this contract’s requirements. Instead, he obtained a military issued pistol that was necessary to make this whole thing look realistic. The target would be dead before she even realized it was missing anyways. He next got a new jacket. One that looked exactly like his usual white ones but with a special, heavier lining. As for the badge that would allow him to walk right in, it was provided by the contractor. With that pinned to his lapel, it was time for the fun.

He waltzed into the government compound as a special visitor. The cameras identified him as that. He would have had to do a little extra trickery if ctOS had been implemented but for now, the American government hadn’t made a deal with Blume. That would likely change soon but Jordi would cross that bridge when he had to.

For the moment, he strutted past the metal detectors. Not a single, irregular sound went off. Jordi smiled at the guard with ease and the man nodded back. He was probably just thankful he didn’t have to do another pat down to some moron who’d forgotten his phone was in his pocket or some shit.

There was a woman in the front lobby who asked if he needed help after seeing the visitor badge. However, Jordi just needed to throw on the charm, not that it ever actually went off, and he went on his merry way. The only slightly challenging part was that there were no blueprints of the place. It meant Jordi just had some instructions like left, right, right again. He wasn’t really following them though. They were pretty poorly written and if there hadn’t been so many zeros on his paycheck, Jordi probably would have dropped the job for the guy’s horrid grammar and spelling alone.

So instead of heading straight to his destination, he took his time. He listened in on conversations, mentally marking anything that might be interesting later on, and tried to decide what he’d have for dinner. He didn’t really interact with anyone though. Not until he caught sight of a familiar, low positioned cap and slightly ratty jacket.

Jordi’s smile widened and he went straight for him. He hadn’t planned this meeting. Doing something like that would have been a little insane, even for him. However, he sure as hell was going to take advantage of it. Jordi came up from behind, but before he could say anything, Aiden said, “I thought that contract had gotten cancelled.”

“Let me guess,” Jordi replied as he spotted the phone that was almost always in Aiden’s hand. “You spied me through one of their little cameras.”

“Your cologne actually,” Aiden dryly muttered as he turned around.

“Well it is the one you said you liked.”

Aiden’s eyes rolled harder than a bowling ball hitting a strike. “I said the one I could tolerate.”

Jordi let out a low whistle. “So alike.”

“Like who?” Aiden said it in such an accusatory manner that Jordi just grinned harder.

“Oh, just an old friend.”

Aiden knew it was a lie. Jordi could tell, but Aiden also clearly didn’t give two shits. Jordi didn’t mind though. It honestly just made the whole situation more hilarious.

“What the hell are you even doing here?”

“Same as you. Just better.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense. I’m—”

“What you’re doing is lying low and trying to sneak your way through here. And doing a terrible job about it. I mean you don’t even have a badge.”

“I don’t need one. I hacked my way through—”

But before Aiden could finish the thought, Jordi carefully slipped a badge from an employee who was walking by. He pinned it to Aiden before he could argue.

Aiden snatched the badge from Jordi but didn’t actually detach it. He looked at the name upside down. “Mariana Cortez?”

“Anyone ever tell you, you look like a Mariana?”

Aiden let out a large groan and tried to walk past. Jordi just fell in step with him.

“I’m trying to do a fucking job here.”

“What a coincidence! So am I.”

Aiden gave him a, “No shit,” kind of look, before turning away and quickening his pace. “Well unless it involves Jacquelyn Smith, go do your own shit.”

Jordi didn’t say anything. Not because he was that shocked. Of course they would have this kind of chance encounter. No, he stayed silent because it was more amusing to watch Aiden flounder when he realized Jordi had no intention of leaving his side.

“Wait, you—” Aiden stopped talking, eyes darting to an official group of people that were hogging up the entire hallway. They looked like they sat at the top of the hierarchy here unlike the cannon fonder they’d been walking by. Someone amongst them probably had most of their employees memorized and would definitely take note of them. Thankfully, Aiden acted quickly, though if he hadn’t, Jordi would have. It was just more fun letting Aiden lead every now and again.

Aiden dragged them both around the corner and took out his phone. He hit a few buttons and the keycard lock suddenly glowed green. They both slipped into what looked like a board room of some type as the people outside walked by, none the wiser.

“Not bad. I think—”

“Are you still trying to kill me? You never did answer me.”

“Well technically you didn’t ask a question. But yes, the contract was cancelled.”

“Then how the hell do you know who I’m going after?”

“I honestly didn’t. I’m going after them for a contract of my own. Are you, or is this part of your little crusade?” asked Jordi.

“This woman has been using her military and government positions to sell off armed weapons to anyone who can afford her price. She’s who Lucky Quinn used to work with and who Iraq got all his weapons from.”

“Personal it is. Heard you’ve been taking on plenty of contracts though. I always knew you’d be good at it.”

Jordi noted that Aiden didn’t actually grimace at that. Certainly not like the last time Jordi had suggested it to him. Aiden knew he was good at it now. He wasn’t denying that. Sure, there were probably some contracts that Aiden wouldn’t take because of his moral compass. To be fair, there were a select few Jordi wouldn’t either. Though his moral compass was likely too complex for anyone to figure which contracts that would be. Either way, it made Jordi pretty happy and he said, “But you wouldn’t mind me killing her then.”

“I need information from her Jordi!”

“That’s surprising. Couldn’t hack your way through?”

“She kept all transactions on paper or through words alone.” Aiden actually looked a little sulky at that. It was hard not to laugh. “Do you realize how few people keep their shit on paper these days!?”

“You weren’t prepared for that, were you?”

Aiden just glared.

“Well don’t you worry. I’ll let you question her and then I can kill her. Fine with you?”

“Working together again? Really?”

“What? That last time was just business! Besides, it was a half hearted attempt.”

The funny part was that Jordi could tell Aiden had already figured that out. Jordi did enjoy a little flair but he never put that over his work. He hadn’t even needed to reveal himself at the lighthouse. He could have just killed Aiden and gone. Because of that, Aiden’s shoulders just slumped a little and he let out a long sigh. “Ok, fine. I guess we’re working together.”

“Great! So obviously you’re hacked into everything. Do you know if she’s in her office?”

Aiden glanced at his phone for a few seconds. “She’s still there.”

“Let’s hurry up then before someone really does notice you’re not a Mariana.”

Aiden rolled his eyes again and Jordi followed him out of the room. It didn’t take long to actually get to the office now that they were making a beeline towards it. When they got there, Aiden raised his phone up but Jordi grabbed his hand and forced it down.

“We can’t leave a trace that anyone entered this room besides her.”

“It’s just an all access key.”

“Which means anyone could have used it to get in.”

Aiden let out a grumble, something along the lines of, “Making things too complicated.” However, he turned away and waited. He’d been turning the cameras expertly so that way neither of them were ever captured on video. None of the cameras in this hallway could see them and when there was no one there, Jordi finally went up to the door and knocked.

Smith answered after a moment, Aiden carefully out of her line of sight.

“Corker sent me,” Jordi said, saying the line that his contractor had said should get him in. In retrospect, it might have something to do with her illegal arms dealing, but Jordi didn’t actually care to find out.

“Of course. Please, come in.”

She moved aside and Jordi walked in. Before the door automatically closed though, Aiden slipped in and both of their weapons were drawn. It didn’t give her time to fight, which was good because a fight would have been hard to clean up in the short timeframe they had. Jordi pushed his gun to the front of her skull and started forcing her back until she was sat in her chair. “We have a couple of questions and would be oh so grateful if you answered them.”

“I have the questions,” grumbled Aiden. He didn’t take long though, launching into what he wanted to know. Clearly Jacquelyn Smith was taking this as a good sign though. She probably thought they had bought her product and were unhappy with some middleman. She thought she was still in control.

Jordi let Aiden continue taking the lead. Annoying him now would just make this whole thing take longer and they were on a limited time frame if they didn’t want to be noticed.

“You get what you need?” Jordi asked when the conversation between Smith and Aiden finally slowed.

“Yes.”

“Terrific. Then I guess we’re all done here.”

Smith relaxed in her chair. That was when Jordi pounced. Before she could get up or grab at anything, he wrapped his arms around her, using that to pin her to the chair. The slight struggle she did manage though knocked the gun from Jordi’s hands so he quickly changed to using his free hand to cover her mouth and keep her scream from getting out.

“A little help?”

Aiden looked at Jordi holding a woman trapped against her chair with a hand on her mouth as her muffled screams started to come. The look Aiden gave was exasperated and for a split second, it honestly looked like he might just leave. Which if that happened, oh well. Jordi would figure it out. He’d been in worse situations.

But Aiden didn’t leave. Instead, he sarcastically asked, “Am I getting a cut then?”

“Think of it as a favor for old time’s sakes.”

“Old time’s sake would be me coming after you with a gun, and then you throwing me over the edge of a lighthouse.”

“It’s a date then. We can set a time later. Same place though?”

Aiden rolled his eyes but at least went and picked up the gun in his gloved hand. He could tell what Jordi was doing and forced the gun into the woman’s right hand, leaving her prints there. Jordi then let go of the woman’s mouth so he could force her to keep her hand on the gun. The split second that Jordi wasn’t covering her mouth, Smith screamed, “I have connec—”

But before she could finish the sentence, Jordi had her blow out her own brains. Almost all the spatter hit the wall above Jordi. He stood up and let Smith naturally fall forward, the gun hitting the ground.

“You’ve got blood in your hair.”

Jordi stood up and sauntered on over as he ran a hand through his hair. A small bit of blood got on his fingers and he immediately wiped it on Aiden’s cheek.

“What the fuck Jordi!?”

“Guess we’re both going to have to shower.”

“Oh, I forgot. Body disposals get you horny.”

“Do you have anywhere to be?”

“Yeah. Atlantic City so I can kill a bunch of arms dealers.”

“Who won’t be there until the end of the week. You have time,” smirked Jordi. He wrapped his arm around Aiden and dragged him out of the room. Thankfully it looked like the woman’s office had been pretty soundproof. No one noticed anything as Jordi started to walk back towards the front door with Aiden forced right beside him. Aiden looked a little comfortable at the idea, clearly wanting to go down whatever route he’d planned as he quickly wiped the blood from his cheek. He didn’t bolt though and Jordi was able to say, “I’ll pay for dinner. My second apology for trying to kill you.”

“Second?”

“I gave you Maurice, didn’t I?”

“That was an apology?”

“Well it helped you move on. Didn’t it? No better apology than that!”

Aiden let out a tired sigh that said it totally had.

“I’m glad since I’m guessing you couldn’t get it from Lucky Quinn with him dying from a heart attack and all.”

“Oh, no. That was…eye opening,” Aiden admitted. “I caused the heart attack.”

“Jesus, what a fucking way to go. I like the symbolism though. He took your heart. You took his. A beautiful ending really. Besides the fact that the geriatric man totally pissed himself afterwards.”

“He was behind glass. Couldn’t smell it. Now can we please stop talking about this? You said dinner and I’m not letting you ruin my appetite so you can get out of that promise.”

“I would never!” Jordi said with mock offense.

Aiden just threw him another glare. “So where are we going? You realize I’d just settle for pizza.”

“And do you realize how much you disgust me sometimes? No! There’s this great Ethiopian place. Stays up pretty late. We’ll go there after we shower.”

“What even is Ethiopian food?”

“Aiden, I am going to blow your mind.”

“Is that a promise?”

Now he was getting into the spirit of things. “Only if you return the favor.”

“Yeah, we’ll fucking see about it.”

“Oh, we sure fucking will.”

“That is not how I meant it.”

“Oh don’t deny it. We both know it was.”

And then they easily walked out of the building with the night planned out ahead of them.

Just as promised, Thursday came with the documents Jordi had promised. Only something had come with it.

Nicky walked out her front door at hearing a car screech to a stop. She could see Jordi had already jumped out of his car, a different one from before, and was leaning against the side of it. He was even in the same, or at least a really similar, white suit. Only the shirt underneath it was really different.

“I thought you said they’d arrive in the mail.”

“They are.”

“Everyone ever tell you, you’re a bit full of yourself?”

“Only all the time.”

Nicky let out a little groan and walked by him to get to the mailbox. She grabbed the stacks inside. The mail hadn’t officially come yet which meant Jordi had shoved them in before she’d walked out. What a show off. She pulled out the envelopes and glanced back at Jordi. Being closer now, her eyes couldn’t help but focus to a spot on top of Jordi’s collar that definitely hadn’t been there just a week ago.

“Want to know how I got it?”

“Not even a little,” Nicky grumbled.

“What a shame. It’s a pretty fun story. Involves a suicide, arms dealing, and Ethiopian food.”

Nicky had no idea whether or not to take him seriously. She started to walk back towards her home and Jordi followed.

“Is there something else?” she asked without turning around.

“Oh, nothing specific. I’m just curious what you told the others.”

“The others?” Nicky walked into her house, not bothering to hold the door open. She thought of trying to keep Jordi out but she clearly didn’t have the strength to do so. Better to deal with him and get him out quickly. Thankfully, Jacks had slept over at the house of one of his new friends. They walked into the kitchen.

“Food, just for me? You shouldn’t have!”

The guy had to know that she hadn’t actually made it for him. Right? It wasn’t like she could have known he was coming. Still, she decided not to waste time explaining that it had been for Jackson, only for his friend’s mom to call and ask if he could stay until lunch that day.

“Wow, it’s like walking back ten years. Jesus, how do you live like this? The decorum is horrendous.” Jordi sat down. He kicked the chair to the right of him out from under the table and put his feet up. Nicky didn’t hesitate to kick the chair out farther causing Jordi’s legs to hit the ground with a thud. “I see you learned your manners from your brother.”

Nicky just let out another tired sigh. She could tell whatever this was, was probably going to take a while. “Would you like something to drink?”

“I take it you can’t make a daiquiri. Water will do.”

“Water will do,” Nicky mumbled in a horrible impression. She went to the fridge to grab it and said louder, “So the others?”

“Other who? Who’s here?”

“You asked who I asked? Which I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh! That! Yes, I was referring to the town. Since there apparently hasn’t been a woman dumped in plastic wrap on some gravel shore with dopy cops crying over her, I’m assuming you’re still the talk of the town.”

“If that happened, I’d assume it was you.”

“I was actually referencing a TV show but I will take the compliment,” Jordi smirked. He took the glass of water Nicky offered before scooting the chair back and putting his feet up again. “Though that does make me curious. You certainly know what I’m capable of and yet you let me in here.”

“Well trying to stop you wouldn’t have worked. You’re stronger than me. And apparently you’re doing this on behalf of my brother so I doubt in whatever contract you guys have it includes wrapping us in plastic,” sighed Nicky. God she couldn’t believe that she was having this conversation and acting like it was a normal one at that. “But as for the town, I reiterated that we knew each other in college. And I told them you were a lawyer helping me get official paperwork.”

“Not a bad lie. And Jackson?”

“The truth,” Nicky slowly said. She finished making herself a plate. She didn’t bother to make Jordi one. If he really wanted to, he could make it himself. She walked back over, kicked the chair out from under his legs again, and sat down. “I don’t hide anything from him. Considering we really have no idea what could happen tomorrow, he needs to be ready for anything.”

“Can’t argue with that. I started earlier myself.”

Nicky frowned. “Earlier—”

“So are you satisfied with the results?”

Nicky quickly picked up the envelopes again. Anything to get this conversation over with. She opened the first one up and started to pull out the papers. New social security cards, a driver’s license for Nicky, passports, credit cards, and…

“A diploma?”

“Congratulations. You graduated with Masters in Literacy Studies from the University of Nevada. All of little Jackson Baker’s school records are in there too. Last places of employment. Few other little knickknacks to help prove that Nicole Baker was always a real person.”

“Jordi, this is…it’s too…”

“Actually it’s the right amount if we’re talking starting over. Trust me. I’ve done it a couple of times. Though it will change when ctOS 2.0 really gets going.”

“It will?”

“I imagine that your missing images will be put into the system as wanted fugitives. Obviously by the time that happens, you’ll have changed appearances a bit but there’s no telling if the system will be able to detect if it’s you or not. You’ll probably need to hire someone else to completely scratch any record of you from ctOS but that’s still at least a year down the road. For now, what you have will do.”

“You really mean that?”

“I do.”

“It’s just still…” Nicky stopped. She took a deep breath. Suddenly everything that she’d hoped to be able to do for Jackson, it was suddenly possible again. “Thank you.”

She finally looked up and was surprised she didn’t catch a smirk, a grin. Jordi looked thoughtful, like he was remembering something else other than what was in front of him. “It’s what Aiden wanted. You’ll be safer from here on out.” Now the smirk came back. “But I can still teach you some tools of the trade if you like.”

“I don’t know…”

He held up his hands. “Well, the offer still stands. Until next time.”

And then suddenly Jordi was standing up again and Nicky was blinking in shock. “You didn’t just come here for this. Did you?”

“Why not?”

“Be…because you don’t know us? Because this shouldn’t even matter to you.”

“Well you’re right. It doesn’t. But you’re a fun distraction.”

“Glad to know our destroyed lives bring you so much joy,” grumbled Nicky.

“Not destroyed. New ones. I just gave them to you,” grinned Jordi. “I’ll see you around.”

Nicky’s mouth dropped open again. She quickly jumped up, still not fully believing Jordi was just leaving now. And he actually didn’t. But that was only because Jackson had just run right into him. Nicky tensed and Jacks froze. She had told him about Jordi and it was clear he recognized the man from her descriptions right away.

“Hey kiddo. Your transcripts are on the table right over there. I’d suggest giving them a good look over so you remember which schools you went to and where you lived.”

Jacks’ face wrinkled up as he frowned at Jordi.

“Huh, not much of a talker this one. Jordi Chin,” he added, holding out his hand.

Jacks slowly took it and gave it a little shake. “So…you know my uncle?”

“I help him out from time to time. Get him new cars. Annoy the hell out of him. The usual,” Jordi said with a large grin.

Jacks didn’t show any sign of being impressed by Jordi’s theatrical way of talking though. Instead he simply asked, “And do you know…if he misses us?”

Nicky’s heart broke at the way Jackson asked that. Her eyes also darted towards Jordi. Professional fixer, assassin, murderer, whatever he was, it didn’t matter. If he said anything cruel at all to Jackson then so help her God—

“He doesn’t ever talk about you.”

Nicky’s hands curled up into fists, anger immediately filling her up because of what Jordi had said. But it also mixed with a horrible feeling of doubt and pain at the possibility that Jordi meant it. However, before she could grab him and yell at him for being so cruel, Jordi added, “If he did, I’m pretty sure he’d start bawling and he is not one for tears! I’m sure you know that.”

“So he doesn’t talk about us…because it hurts?”

Jordi nodded. “The more he thinks about you, the more he’s going to want to see you again. But he wants you both safe and safe means him being as far away as possible.”

Jacks gave a small nod. “I get it,” he mumbled. “But could you…could you tell him I love him? That I’ll always miss him?”

“I don’t know when I’ll see him next. Schedules can be really busy at times. Especially since politician season is coming up—”

Nicky made a small noise in the back of her throat and Jordi seemed to finally look down and notice Jackson’s downcast face.

Jordi reigned it in, something which Nicky was grateful for. Even if she was also surprised that Jordi had that ability at all. “But I’ll see what I can do. I know he’d like to hear from you.”

“Thanks,” Jacks murmured, perking up just a little. He glanced back at Nicky. “I was just um…coming to grab one of the comic books Max borrowed. I forgot to bring it over last night…”

“Go ahead sweetheart. I didn’t mean to keep you.” Nicky kissed him on the head as he hurried on by. Her eyes then found Jordi’s again.

“Giving me that classic Pearce glare? I get it.”

“Do you?”

“I get I’m not exactly the most comforting. But don’t worry. I’m not going to break the heart of my best friend’s nephew.”

“Ah. Has Aiden upgraded to best friend now?”

“Best friend, target, pain in my ass in all meanings of the word. That’s what he is,” smirked Jordi. “Either way, I help him out. Even if he doesn’t realize he needs it.”

Nicky unexpectedly laughed at that. At Jordi’s curious look, she explained, “You could say that’s what you did for us. Helped me in a way that I didn’t know I fully needed. Or could possibly ever get on my own.”

“Maybe I should put that on a new business card then. Chemicals expert, body disposal, and full time Pearce Family babysitter.”

“Funny.”

“I know right? I’m such a riot.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“No. You completely did. And you’re welcome for this wonderful little chat. Call me when you need my help again.”

“Who says I will?”

“I do. And I’m always right. Say bye to the kid for me Nicky.”

And like that, Jordi Chin was gone again. Somehow he was even more of an enigma than when Nicky had last seen him. She could hear the sound of his tires pealing out of her drive way as Jackson finally poked his head back in to see if the guy was gone.

“Is he really Uncle Aiden’s friend?”

Nicky let out a small sigh. “I know. It’s hard to believe Aiden can be in a room with him without throwing a punch.”

Jackson nodded in agreement. He walked over to the table, comic in hand. He paused to look at the documents, picking up his new birth certificate. “He’s really strange. But I think he’s ok.”

“Yeah?” Nicky walked over and put her hand on his shoulder, pulling him into a half hug.

“He seems genuine. He did a lot of work with all this too.”

Nicky nodded. “He did. Didn’t he? Still, I’d like you to tell me if he ever shows up when I’m not around. He’s exactly the kind of type that probably has his own secret agendas, no matter how helpful he seems.”

“Yes Mom.”

Nicky kissed him on his head again. “Have fun over at Max’s house. I’ll see you for lunch. Ok?”

Jacks nodded and quickly headed out the door. Nicky sat down, ready to finish breakfast and planning to put their new life in some semblance of order.

A few weeks had passed and Aiden had effectively taken out the arms dealers. He wasn’t naïve of course. Others would filter in eventually. Guns would find their way onto the streets and into children’s hands and some new group would organize. But if his work left places a little safer for a few weeks? A couple of months? It was still worth it in Aiden’s mind.

He’d left Chicago because of this particular job, but now that he was done with it, he really felt free. He could go wherever he wanted to now. The old memories finally could be pushed to the back of his mind.

There had been reminders of too many things in Chicago after everything that had gone down. Nicky and Jacks, fucking Damien, Clara…

With Clara, he wished he’d had the chance to talk to her. So much felt like it had been left unsaid. The guilt she must have felt up until the end? The anger and confusion of the entire thing that Aiden hadn’t fully dealt with until it was too late? It was frustrating that the relationship had ended before Aiden and her could hash things out.

He wasn’t naïve of course. Even now he doubted they could have stayed partners for long. She’d been part of DedSec after all and Aiden had pretty effectively thrown his middle finger to them. He didn’t really question that decision though. Even if he’d known ctOS 2.0 would be built, he probably would have done it again. One small shadow group? Basically in charge of the entire system? It didn’t matter how good the intentions were. Power and greed could corrupt anyone. Aiden had seen it.

Which brought Aiden’s mind to Damien. Why hadn’t he pushed him away sooner? Why hadn’t he realized his attitude and greed would become a problem down the line? If he was being honest with himself, it was because he’d kept believing that Damien would listen to him. That he trusted him. That they were partners. Damien had mentored him. That had to have mattered for something.

Until it just didn’t.

Why couldn’t Aiden have just dealt with a normal nine to five job like everyone else? Why couldn’t he have fit into society? Why had he let Damien pull him into the work and why had Aiden only allowed himself to fall down farther?

Mom would have said it was because of his Dad. God, he hadn’t thought on that in a while. He wasn’t sick like him though. Aiden was fully aware of what he was doing. His choices were rational ones, whether it was taking a contract or tracking down illegal dealings.

But then, he supposed Dad had thought himself rational too.

For the first time in well over two years now, Aiden thought about calling Mom. Had she really expected this life for him? How much did she hate him for what he’d done to Nicky? To Jacks? God, to Lena? He could ask her if she knew where Nicky was—

No. That was too risky. And anyways, there was a chance that Nicky had never gone to Mom anyways. She’d also cut her off pretty harshly and if Aiden was being honest, he’d gotten over any anger or disappointment as to how he’d ended things with their Mom. He had no reason to bring up that part of his past. But Nicky…

He couldn’t be near her. He’d chosen a life that had pushed away everything. She had Jacks to raise and take care of. If Aiden ever entered her life again, then they’d both be in danger. All he had were their memories. Just like how he only had memories of Lena now. At least those memories made the goodbyes a little easier.

And then suddenly Aiden’s phone rang. He let out a small groan. So much for thinking through his personal problems and then drifting off to sleep. He rolled over and picked it up. It was pretty hard to get in touch with him directly which meant there was a very limited list of who the caller could be.

“So how did the arms dealers go.”

Aiden rolled his eyes. Well, he almost had no one. Apparently a near assassination attempt was only reason enough to become closer friends. “With a bang,” Aiden sarcastically replied. “Why are you calling?”

“Just checking in.”

“Checking in? I’m not your ward Jordi.”

“You don’t realize how much I do for you Pearce.”

“Like what? Complicating my job? Putting blood on my God damn cheek?”

“Like reminding you that you’re allowed to have some fun,” Jordi said with a laugh. “If you ever need someone to watch your back, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Who else would I call?”

“Exactly. Who else?”

And like that, the call was over. Aiden just stared blankly at the phone for a hard few seconds before bursting into laughter. Jesus, Jordi was kind of right? Wasn’t he? Aiden would likely call him rather than risking working with some stranger. Hopefully any needed partnerships though were far away in the future. With another roll of his eyes, Aiden put his phone to the side and rolled over again to go to sleep.

Nicky was planning things so that way Jackson and her would likely leave the little town by the end of the year. She was thankful that her son had gotten a little schooling here, that he had friends, but he needed to be enrolled in a real school and she needed a real job that could support him.

Thanks to the documents, she’d been able to work towards that. She’d gotten phone plans in her new name, and all her credit card information and banking items was sorted. Now she could focus on looking at possible places to live. For the moment, she was trying to keep the possibilities in state, not wanting to go too far from the small town. Jacks had already been uprooted so much and he’d really taken a liking to their current home. Nicky especially liked how much he played outside now rather than pressing his nose to some screen. She didn’t want to take that away from him.

Some of the places she had in mind she visited with Jackson. Since he hadn’t had a choice before, she wanted to give him as much of a choice now. However, she also didn’t want to put him on the road all the time. Like in this instance, Jacks was on a fishing trip with JD and two of the other kids in the town while Nicky drove through Charleston. She’d just make sure to take lots of pictures to show him later.

As the street signs flew by, Nicky briefly remembered Jordi’s comment about a fine dining place in the area, not that Nicky would ever want to go to a place like that for lunch. She hadn’t heard from Jordi since he dropped off the documents. It seemed that if he ever entered her life again, then it would have to be Nicky who initiated the call. Personally, she was still dead set on never needing to call and at this point, only the worst case scenario could cause that.

Her whole day was planned in Charleston and she likely wouldn’t be back until sometime after ten that night. Once she got there, she drove around for a bit to just get used to the area. She went to an appointment for one of the schools in the area at eleven and then even went to an open house. Nothing was definite at the moment, but she’d looked up a couple of jobs. It was highly unlikely most of those jobs would be open by the time they moved here, if they did at all. However, it was good to get her name out there either way.

She’d been doing some research into the degree that Jordi had gotten her. She hadn’t been awful at writing in high school or the few times she’d been required to in college. She enjoyed writing and hopefully would be able to keep up in a job that required it constantly. Thankfully just having a degree, and a Masters nonetheless, made her more likely to be chosen in most interviews, even if her degree ended up not perfectly lining up with the possible job.

Nicky enjoyed her time being in the city. It obviously wasn’t any Chicago but now that she had the opportunity to move to this kind of area again, she couldn’t help but be excited for the prospects. The noises and smells and bustles of people. Not all of it was great, but it was familiar and helped Nicky to relax.

She ended up having dinner before one late job meeting and one late house appointment that she’d made. After she finished eating, Nicky made sure her instructions were right for the next several stops. She cleaned up her table, pocketed her phone, and headed to the restroom. She went in, freshened up, and started to head out again.

The restaurant that she was in had two entrances. There was the front door and then the one for behind the strip of buildings. It was through that back door that a figure walked in behind Nicky. Before she could walk back into the main lobby, the figure grabbed her and dragged her back.

The momentary shock quickly disappeared. Fear and adrenaline took over as Nicky attempted to scream and kick as much as she could. But no one was in the back alley to hear. She struggled harder, only for a painful punch to make her almost completely immobile. She wasn’t out though. She could still feel herself getting pulled into a car. She heard a door slamming hard.

Lights flashed by.

Her head was spinning.

She tried to talk, but only felt another painful hit to her head. Someone was talking to her but who?

She shifted and moved and tried to open her eyes. They were moving quickly. Moving somewhere.

As her vision started to come back, she noted a sudden change in the lights around her. They’d driven inside something. A different kind of motor started. A large door moved down. A garage then? She felt herself being dragged out of the car, thrown to the side. What was this about? It could only really be one thing.

“A-Aiden?”

“Oh don’t worry. You’ll see your brother soon and then it’ll all be over.”

Whatever this guy had planned, she needed to somehow buy time. What did he want? Nicky tried to take a guess. “The…the money. I can—”

“What? Pay off the contract yourself?” The figure laughed. “Doubtful. And even if you could? Bagging the Fox is going to make my reputation sky rocket.”

Nicky was slowly starting to understand what this was all about. Clearly this person was after Aiden. Somehow he’d found her and was planning on using her for leverage. Probably to get Aiden out of hiding, push him into a trap. And if this person had found her, then Jacks—

Her head lolled around. She needed a weapon. The guy hadn’t tied her down. Either he thought he’d hit her hard enough, or he just didn’t think much of her ability to fight back. Maybe both. But to his credit, there wasn’t just some gun lying around. She needed something else. What-there! A flashlight. She tried to push off the chair she’d been thrown in. She hit the ground hard.

“Oh really? The Fox will be pissed enough I have you. Don’t go doing anything stupid like giving yourself a black eye.” The guy came closer. He roughly grabbed her and pulled her back to her feet.

And then she swung the flashlight into his head.

“Oh you bitch!”

Nicky hit him again. Then she tried to run but he grabbed her leg. She hit the ground hard, her face smacking the concrete. She could feel blood and tears welling up from the likely broken nose.

“I can’t kill you. He’ll be harder to catch if he has no reason to be careful. But don’t think you can get away with anything!”

“Ahh!”

Nicky screamed as she got dragged back. She kicked hard, momentarily getting reprieve from the hands on her. Then she felt cold metal touch her neck.

“Shut up and stay still damn it. Once I’ve got the Fox, I honestly have no interest in you. You can even go back to your son if you just stop struggling!”

He knew about Jackson. He had to know where he was too if he’d tracked her down. Nicky could play along, but there was no guarantee the man had meant what he said. But the thing about needing her alive? That she could believe, for now. If he wanted Aiden, he’d keep her breathing. That meant he couldn’t kill her. That meant the gun on the back of her neck was an empty threat.

She hit him hard. He cursed loud and the gun skittered across the floor. She darted for it as quickly as she could. She felt the guy grab her just as her hand wrapped around the gun.

“Fine! You don’t want to play along?! Then I’ll bring your fucking kid here! Will you finally fucking listen when I—”

That was all Nicky needed to hear as she fired the gun. The first shot missed.

“You bi—”

And then she unloaded the clip into him.

She desperately breathed in. Again and again and again and—

She was fine. And because she was fine, Jackson would be fine too. There was so much more blood than last time. There was even a hole in the guy’s cheek that she could see all the blood bubbling out. Yet it wasn’t anywhere near as shocking as the first one.

Jackson would be fine. That’s what mattered. That’s what kept her calm despite how she felt like she should be screaming. But she wasn’t. She felt…ok.

She looked around. She couldn’t hear any immediate sounds of people screaming. Of sirens. So what to do? Just leave? No. Eventually someone would find this along with her hair and fingerprints everywhere. So what to—

Oh god.

It worried her how easy it was to pull out her phone. But even with her new identity, the fear of the cops was still there. And if this happened once…if it happened again…

She hit the saved number. She wiped at the tears on her face. Tears that were there because of her nose, not because of the body on the floor. The second body. A second life that she’d taken. Her throat closed up—

But a second time that Jackson was safe, that she knew she could get back to him. She was ok.

“Hello?”

Finally he answered. Nicky opened her mouth, knowing that she was going to have to eat her own words from before. But then a thought came to her. A horrible thought that she definitely couldn’t put above Jordi.

“Listen, I haven’t got all day so if—”

“Did you send him?”

“Nicky! What a pleasant surprise. You sound a little stuffy though. Got a cold? What are you—”

“Did. You. Send. Him.” Each word stilted, harsh. It made her sound like Aiden had when she’d overheard him threatening Damien all those months ago.

There was a moment of silence and honestly, that was more comforting than immediate denial. She stayed silent until Jordi finally said, “I did not. Where is he now?”

“D-dead.”

“And any partners?”

“Not that I know of.”

“That’s good. Now where are you?”

Where was she? That was a good question. “Um…hold on.” She pulled her phone back and quickly checked her GPS location. Still no sounds of anyone coming. No sirens. It was looking more and more like she was in the clear.

She read the address out to Jordi. At least she was still in Charleston.

“Alright. It’ll take me about six hours to get there. I’m heading to the airport now.”

“What should I do?”

“Well we need to make sure that no one else is using the residence you’re in. We also need to make sure no one finds the body. Scope out the place as best you can. Call me if anything seems off. Otherwise, I’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you,” Nicky whispered.

“Of course. I promised I’d help and I’m here to help. I’ll see you soon.”

Nicky nodded. She hung up and then carefully breathed in a few more times. She wished she could call Aiden. It wasn’t even that she needed a shoulder to cry on. She honestly wanted his advice. What was it like for him? Did he cry? Freeze? Or was he so sure in his purpose that the action didn’t matter? She wished she knew, but for the moment, all she had was Jordi. He’d be here soon to help her, but until then…

She called Jackson.

“Mom, is something going on?”

Nicky wiped at her eyes. She wished that every unexpected phone call didn’t fill Jacks with anxiety. Or her for that matter. But that was the world they lived in now. She cleared her nose a bit before speaking. “Hey sweetie. I’m probably not going to get back until tomorrow. Is that ok.”

“Yeah. I can just stay over at Max’s house.”

“Yes, yes that works perfectly.”

“But Mom. Are you—”

“I’ll explain it when I get home. But…it looks like I needed to ask for his help after all.”

Jacks caught on immediately. “Are you ok?” He whispered it. So afraid. So careful.

Nicky looked to the body again. The blood was still spreading. “I am. Honest. I’ll see you tomorrow. Alright? Night Jacks.”

“Night Mom.”

Nicky made a kissing sound before hanging up the phone. She then carefully picked up the gun and started to do what Jordi had told her to.

Chapter Text

Nicky had already walked around the house multiple times, just to make sure. She also tried checking for any hidden cameras. There weren’t any that she could find, so either none had been set up or this guy was an expert and had properly hidden them. The latter one was the worse option, but Nicky felt she wouldn’t have gotten the upper hand so easily if that was true.

After searching the house again, closing any blinds, and turning off most of the lights to make it seem like no one was home, she went back to the garage. She hated how the body was splayed out. The limbs remained in the awkward positions he’d fallen in. Would his body get stuck like that? From rigor mortis? She wasn’t sure if that was how it worked or not. She just knew tampering with the body would probably cause Jordi more problems despite how she wanted to help.

Her breathing shook as she slowly drew her eyes away. Nicky should be breaking down right now. But all she could think about was how Jacks would sleep soundly tonight because of what she’d done.

She couldn’t even feel awful about it.

Was that how Aiden had felt when he’d been hunting down her daughter’s killer? She hadn’t lied about moving on. She hadn’t, despite how hard it had been. At the time, she hadn’t had a choice, raising Jacks on her own. But if she had hunted down the killer next to Aiden? What would that have been like?

With that thought in her head, Nicky moved out of the garage. She carefully sat down in the living room. She wanted to get away from the steadily increasing smell, but again, she didn’t want to make Jordi’s job harder. He’d have to dust the house right? That was a thing? She wasn’t sure, just that she shouldn’t move too much. She stayed carefully poised, ringing her hands together as she waited. It was difficult to tell how much time had passed.

She eventually took out her phone. She’d charged it before going to get that bite to eat. Since it would last her, she started flipping through the places she hadn’t gotten a chance to visit. Let’s see. There was still another house she wanted to have a tour at and that other public-school area—

Her hand froze over her phone. She’d almost gotten kidnapped. She’d just killed a man. Another man. Was she really going to continue to consider this place as a future home for her and her son?

The answer came quickly.

Yes.

Anywhere could be harboring a criminal that was trying to track her down. Any city was dangerous now because of her connection to her brother. But she couldn’t just stay in that little town just because it was safer. It was a nice stop, but it didn’t hold a future for Nicky, and more importantly Jacks. What had just happened didn’t matter here. If it ended up being the best option for Jacks, they would live here. She wouldn’t let this event drive her away.

Nicky continued looking through her phone. A small part of her was scared just how easy this was getting. The rest of her ignored that part.

After going through some of the other locations in Charleston and then looking at another city, she got a call. She’d been browsing the web for a few hours and had barely noticed the time passing. Nicky looked at the number and quickly answered. Only now did a hint of worry enter her voice.

“Is everything ok?”

Jordi’s voice came in smooth and casual. “Unless there’s trouble on your end, I’m just enjoying the last ten minutes before our descent into Charleston Airport.”

Nicky let out a sigh of relief.

“Is there trouble?” At least he sounded a bit concerned, even if his voice was still all honey and charm.

“Fine. The um…house was empty. I didn’t see any cameras either.”

“Good thinking.”

“Why are you calling?”

“Figured I’d just check to make sure you were breathing. Don’t want Aiden to skin me alive you know?”

Nicky snorted at that. Considering what her brother had done to keep her safe last time, being skinned alive would have been the least of Jordi’s worries if things went sideways. “I’m sure he would. By the way, how did you even get a flight so last minute?”

“Connections and money.”

“Of course.”

“The house you’re in, is it furbished? Does it look lived in?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, need a quick favor Nicky. Look for any plastic bins in the basement. Preferably big ones. If they’ve got a two in the triangle, empty them out and put them to the side.”

Nicky frowned. “Wait…are you…” She covered her mouth at the thought. It took her a moment before she could swallow properly. “Are you doing Breaking Bad?”

Jordi snorted on the other end. It was easy to imagine the large smile he had on. “Are you kidding? That was all TV theatrics. They did hydrofluoric acid which only partially breaks down organic material and they didn’t have the proper equipment to protect themselves from that shit either. We’ll be using something stronger. To be honest though, I would have preferred to freeze him, maybe blow him up or dump him in the ocean, but you wouldn’t believe how difficult procuring an ice cream truck is last minute.”

“Yet you can get highly dangerous chemicals at the drop of a hat?”

“That’s the business.”

It was hard not to roll her eyes at that.

“Also check for bleach. It won’t completely clear away the blood that’s surely soaked into the concrete, but it’ll destroy any chance of DNA evidence being retrieved. Honestly, letting the cops think a little trouble went down isn’t that big of an issue. We just need to control their ability to collect the evidence.”

“Got it.”

There was silence for a moment. Nicky almost thought she was supposed to hang up and hurry on with Jordi’s tasks. However, before she could end the call, Jordi finally spoke up.

“You are surprisingly good at this. You know that?”

“I-I wouldn’t say good.”

“Half the challenge is being able to handle yourself. You seem to be doing a damn good job.”

“Did Aiden always handle himself?”

“Wouldn’t know. First worked with him when he was still working with Damien, but he was no spring chicken by that time. If he did have a hard time, then he managed to fucking launch himself across that hurdle. He’s definitely not bothered by it now. Unless it’s ruining his clothes or a bit excessive, but that’s another story,” Jordi said with a laugh. “You need new clothes?”

“I don’t think so—”

“I’ll get you some anyways. We’ll burn those just in case. What size are you?”

“U-um—”

“Naw, I can guess well enough. I’ll just ask someone to get what I need and meet me when I purchase the chemicals. This’ll take a while but should be easy as pie. And speaking of pie, you’re paying for food after this.”

“Are you serious—”

“I’m helping you dispose of a guy you straight up killed. In self-defense! But still dead as dead can be. At least manslaughter in the eyes of the law, you know? Besides, I paid for Aiden last time, only fair his family pays me back.”

Nicky thought about arguing that it didn’t work that way. However, now wasn’t the time to complain. Instead, she simply said, “Fine. I’ll see you soon?”

“Yep. In about an hour or two.”

“Because of the supplies?”

“You got it! See you soon.”

Nicky and Jordi hung up at the same time. She quickly went around the garage and started doing what Jordi had asked. She managed to find some bins filled with miscellaneous things that you’d probably find stored away in any house. It made her wonder exactly whose place this was as it clearly wasn’t just a throwaway in between place. Maybe Jordi would know.

She emptied them out, set the bins aside, and then went through the rest of the house in search of bleach. She managed to find two partially filled bottles. Had someone been here recently? Just living here? It honestly confused her more.

The two bottles were set next to the bins. Nicky sat in the living room again, the smell in the garage really being quite awful. She didn’t realize that part happened so quickly.

It didn’t take long before she saw lights pulling into the driveway. It had to be Jordi. Yet she still held her breath, right up until a figure came to the front door and knocked. The voice that came through eased all her fears even with how much it simultaneously annoyed her.

“Come on Nicky. We’ll be here until next week if you don’t hurry up.”

Nicky jumped and quickly opened the door. Jordi still had the white suit, just a different color shirt underneath. How many of those did he own?

“Well don’t you look like shit,” Jordi said with a grin.

Nicky glared at him.

“Hey, I’m not holding it against you. Not everyone can remain perfectly composed while taking out a hit.” Jordi walked in and Nicky quickly closed the door. He wasn’t carrying anything with him. A quick glance through the blinds showed a truck. It wasn’t Jordi’s style, but it had the room to carry everything he probably needed.

“Now, first things first,” Jordi said. “Do you want me to kill your mom?”

Nicky stumbled before stopping in her tracks. She’d worked herself up for whatever insane plan Jordi would throw her way. However, that was the last thing she’d expected to hear. “I’m sorry?”

“Did a little digging for you while I was on the plane. Figured why not, you know? Anyway, a lot of the hits against Aiden died off when Lucky Quinn and Damien did. It meant figuring out the big guy behind this wasn’t hard at all. He sent the dead guy in the basement after you and he used your dear old mom to track you down. Not directly, obviously. It’s not like she knows where you live. But he did have someone see her-posing as a cop as you do-and got any information he could on you which helped to track you here.”

Nicky couldn’t believe-no. She thought about it, and she could. She’d run from her mother’s place, tires screeching and stolen cash in her pockets. Nicky had taken her grandson from her, and apparently she’d been as much at fault for her daughter’s death as Aiden had been. At least in the way their mother saw it. She’d probably been working with the police extensively trying to get Jacks back. Then a supposed cop showed up, made some promises about returning her grandson for her or something of that nature? Yeah, Nicky could see her mother doing that.

It suddenly made her even more thankful for what she’d done. If she had cooperated with him, the man probably would have done the job involving Aiden and then could have gone back to Jacks. He would have dropped Nicky’s body on the side of the road, if he didn’t kill her, and then would have taken Jacks back to her mother’s. Her shoulders relaxed just a little.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes.”

Nicky’s gaze snapped back up. “Hang on!”

“Oh? So that’s a no?”

“Yes, it’s a no!”

Jordi made a little pout with his lips. “What a shame. She seems like a real bitch.”

“Well she is. But I’m not stooping to her level or worse.”

“You and Aiden and your little codes of conduct,” laughed Jordi. “Ok, no killing. Promise. But I will say, threatening her could help a lot. She’ll at least keep her trap shut next time a guy goes up to her, asking her to help him find her missing daughter and grandson.”

Now that might not be a terrible idea… God! Nicky couldn’t believe she was thinking this. And yet… “You promise not to kill her?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Then…if you think it could prevent an incident like this happening…yes. Go scare her a bit. Or have someone do it anyways.” If it meant a situation like this was less likely to happen, then Nicky was ok with that.

Jordi grinned. He took her words farther than she’d meant them. Or maybe he saw something in her she still didn’t want to admit. “Such a little masochist.”

Nicky grimaced. “Please don’t call me that.”

“What? Just showing you how alike you are to your brother. I’m guessing you’ve always been alike. You just needed to open up a bit more,” smirked Jordi. “Now let’s see. I’m guessing the door to the garage is…there!”

He was right and Nicky silently followed him. He barely even batted an eye at the body. He went straight to the bins and started looking over them.

“So, this is hilarious. I did some more digging. In this area. You wanna know why no one came running on hearing that gunshot? It’s because this is gang territory. Apparently, this place gets used as a safe house, a place to stash the drugs when the other houses are hot, some dumbass needs to hide from the cops, shit like that. They basically rent it out for other criminals to temporarily use. I talked to them and after a small fee was stated, I agreed to clean up the mess.”

Nicky wasn’t surprised by that in the slightest. “And you want me to buy you a meal?”

“Hey, I’m getting paid by them. I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart for you. Or Aiden’s heart technically.”

She rolled her eyes again. “So, in other words, we don’t’ have to worry about cops showing up?”

“Nope. The gangs here have plenty of informants on the inside, and this house is untouchable. We could actually take all week with this, but I’d rather get this done quick. Left a job half finished by coming down here and I do not like to leave strings dangling for too long.”

“Oh, then thank you,” murmured Nicky.

“Now that is one thing you and Aiden don’t have in common. He rarely ever thanks me,” Jordi said with an overexaggerated sigh. “But to work! First, we’ll grab the supplies and then I’ll let you do the less gory jobs. Back upstairs we go.”

Nicky followed again. She helped bring in the supplies and was honestly surprised that Jordi did equal the work. She could easily see him sitting back in his white suit, full on grin and hands behind his head as he watched her drag everything in herself. At one point, Jordi caught her looking, that smirk came back, and somehow he seemed to read her mind.

“You’re wondering if this is normal, or if I would rather be sitting back watching you do all the heavy lifting huh?”

Nicky hesitated. She almost lied but then an exasperated sigh fell from her lips. “Yes.”

“Straight to the point huh? Well if you were Aiden, I one hundred percent would make him do it.”

“But I get a free pass because I’m his sister?” sighed Nicky.

“You just killed a man,” Jordi replied. His voice actually grew a little softer, proving that he at least knew how to emulate having a heart. “I already said you’re handling everything great, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to drop everything on you. Don’t want you to break on me either.”

“I already killed a man.”

“From when you had to escape those guys. I know.” Jordi paused to give her a careful once over. “You really aren’t going to break though. Are you?”

“I didn’t cry over that man. I won’t cry over this one. I’d do anything to protect my son.”

Jordi thought on that for a second. “And if someone killed your son, would you kill them.”

The very thought had Nicky’s heart growing cold and her throat closing up. “No one is going to hurt my son.”

“But say they did. Say you got the same opportunity that Aiden got. Would you?”

“I…I don’t know.”

The room turned quiet as they stared at each other. Then Jordi’s smile grew just a little. “So alike.”

“I said I don’t know,” Nicky defended.

“But your eyes said the truth.” Jordi clapped his hands together and the bubbly personality came back. “Now let’s get this show on the road!”

Nicky didn’t have the energy to argue so she just continued to follow Jordi’s lead. They finished with the materials and then Jordi gave her some instructions for upstairs. Though he’d said he was getting paid by the gang to clean the place up, he still wanted her to wipe everything down and clean anything where her DNA or hair might have gotten on. There really was no honor amongst thieves it seemed, and no need to leave good black mail material around.

Because of that, Nicky wrapped her hair up in a bathroom cap, put some gloves on, and then cleaned more than she ever had in her life. She went over everything and did her best to remember everything she’d touched. Even then, she went over some other areas just in case. It took over an hour and once completely done, she finally went back downstairs. What she saw had her stomach turning. She thought she could handle it-no. Oh god no.

Her entire body heaved, but she couldn’t just throw up on the concrete! Yet she couldn’t keep it at bay. The vomit filled her mouth. Some of it came out her nose and leaked into her hand as she tried to hold it back.

“Oh, quick. This way.”

Jordi was up in a second. He grabbed her shoulders and guided her to a bathroom. He pulled up the cover and seat and she finally stopped holding it back. Her body continued to heave, even as it turned from chunks to clear liquid. She could feel Jordi pat her on the back.

“Maybe I should have warned you. Figured you’d already known what to expect when you made the analogy to Breaking Bad.”

Nicky shook her head. She spit what was left in her mouth after a second. “No. I…I did know. Just wasn’t…wasn’t expecting it.”

He nodded. “Upstairs at least done?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Take your time here. Actually, I’ll go ahead and get those new clothes so you can change. And just stay in here. Yeah? Don’t need you getting sick and dying once I open up the chemicals.”

She nodded, only to suddenly feel her stomach heave again. She heard Jordi leave and then come back fairly quickly. He closed the door when he left for the second time.

Just in case, she stayed by the toilet. When it seemed like her stomach was finally ok though, she pushed herself up on shaking arms. She wiped her face and blew her nose, tossing the tissue into the toilet and finally flushing it. She washed her hands, face, and mouth, and then changed. She pulled the toilet seat down and sat there, head in her hands as she waited on Jordi.

Those cut up limbs…

She wasn’t sure she’d ever get those images out of her head.

Time didn’t seem to exist as she stayed in her bubble. She couldn’t focus on anything but her breathing. Then she was broken out of her head by a knock and Jordi yelling, “It’s ok to come out now!”

Nicky slowly got up. When she opened the door, she avoided looking at the area at first. However, she felt compelled to slowly see. The body was of course gone and the containers full and closed. She was surprised that it actually smelled better than before. The stench of death was gone and almost completely covered up by the lingering smell of chemicals.

Some tarp that had been put under Jordi’s working space had a few splashes of blood and gooey bits that must have once been human muscle.

Jordi caught her looking at that. “Hey, no need to force yourself. This concrete is porous as shit, and I do not want to clean up vomit off it.”

“I’m ok,” she whispered.

“Are you?”

She nodded. She took a step forward. Her eyes roamed over the containers again—

Her eyes turned away, but she still managed to keep her stomach under control.

A short laugh came from Jordi. “You know, just because I keep saying you’re like him doesn’t mean you have to prove anything.”

“I’m not.”

“Sure about that?”

“Yes! Can we please finish up now?”

“Ok, ok. First give me the clothes you changed out of. Got all your keys and wallet and anything else out of the pockets?”

Nicky nodded. She turned around, grabbed the bunched up mess, and passed it on. Jordi put it all in a garbage bag. With his back turned, Nicky noted not a single drop of blood had gotten on his suit. It was honestly a bit impressive.

“Now,” he said, “Clean up the bathroom and then I’m going to need your help getting these containers in the back of the truck. You all good with that?”

“I can do that.”

“You sure?”

She snapped without meaning to. “I killed a man Jordi! Yes I’m sure I can help you carry his liquified body to the truck!”

“Testy! Jeeze, just a question,” Jordi sighed. He gave her a quick once over. Then he somehow managed to surprise her again. “Do you want a hug?”

“A-a hug? From you?”

“Well don’t sound too honored,” Jordi said with a light laugh. “I’m serious though. And it’s free of charge.”

She almost said no as if out of principle. But after everything she’d seen today, she couldn’t help but murmur, “Well…if it’s free of charge…”

“Knew you couldn’t say no. Come here.”

He hugged her. The grip was surprisingly warm as his broad shoulders easily enveloped her. Nicky didn’t immediately hug him back. However, after letting out a shuddering sigh, she reciprocated it. Then she rested her head against his shoulder and just…she hugged him a little tighter.

“I did say it was ok to crack—”

“I’m not cracking,” Nicky interrupted. And she wasn’t. In all honesty, it was the fact that she wasn’t breaking down that was somehow worse. Had all of this come naturally to Aiden too? Had he ever panicked over seeing too much blood? Thrown up at the sight of it and cried? Or had he managed to handle himself, relatively speaking.

She’d thrown up, but otherwise had handled herself too. All of it was necessary after all. She had to keep herself safe to keep Jacks safe and that meant cleaning up the crime scene. And she was just…ok with that.

Part of her wished there was someone else there. Someone to tell her how wrong this was or that she should be crying. Someone to correct her moral compass. But she didn’t have that. She just had Jordi who definitely wouldn’t say anything like that. But he was being supportive. He was at least trying to be careful with her, though probably more for Aiden’s benefit than just being naturally nice. But the comfort still felt good as she was finally honest with someone, for the first time in a long time.

Jordi seemed to pick up on that too. “You really are a person to be reckoned with. Too bad you and your brother never went into business together.”

Nicky pulled back and let out a tired sigh. “He’s a good big brother. He never would have asked me to do that.”

“Suppose you’re right,” Jordi replied. He almost sounded mournful that his suggestion was shot down so quickly. Nevertheless, he jumped right back to it, adding, “Now let’s finish this quick. I’m starting to get hungry.”

“I can’t believe you want to eat after all that.”

“Of course I’m hungry! I just dismembered a guy. Do you realize how much energy that takes?” Jordi shook his head. “Help me get this into the truck. We’ll dump it and then go to this great little—”

“Absolutely not. If I’m buying, I’m picking.”

“Shouldn’t the guest get to pick where we go?”

“Guest of what?” grumbled Nicky. “Just because you helped with the identities doesn’t mean I’m suddenly made of money. It’s my choice. Unless you want to pay for your own food.”

“Fine, your choice,” agreed Jordi. “Now, can we hurry?”

She rolled her eyes but finally went to get the cleaning supplies. She took care of the bathroom before turning to the containers.

With a bit of a struggle, she gripped the other side and they managed to walk the container out a side door and around the house. They put both containers in the back plus all other supplies that Jordi had brought and anything else that would need to be disposed of. Once done, the house was locked-probably with a key courtesy of the people who’d hired Jordi-and Nicky finally got into the passenger’s seat.

“Tell me where you were when you got kidnapped. I’ll drop you off to get your car, I’ll dispose of these, and then we can meet up for—” He paused to look at the time. “—dinner.”

“There’s a body in the back!”

“And?”

“You’re just…you’re just going to drive through the city with it?”

“Well yeah.”

Nicky shook her head at the thought. “Isn’t that risky though?”

“Not even a little. No one’s looking for me. I don’t even technically exist. No cop is going to randomly pull us over and even if they did, one call-in for a favor would have those cops profusely apologizing and backing off. We’ll be fine. And I promise not to speed.”

“Well if you don’t speed,” she sarcastically mumbled.

“See? That’s the spirit!”

Nicky just let out a tired groan as Jordi drove off. Technically he did speed, though only five over than whatever ridiculous mileage he’d made the two times Nicky had previously seen him drive off. They made good time with Nicky being able to provide directions once they were out of the residential areas. Thankfully, they found her car still in the little parking lot. As Nicky got out, Jordi leaned over and stopped her from closing the door.

“I’m serious about that food. You better not stand me up and drive straight home.”

“I won’t,” sighed Nicky.

“Ah, I think you actually meant that.”

“Well, you are helping because of my brother, and you did help. I’d hate to not pay that back in some way.”

“Hey, I’ll gladly take the free meal,” Jordi laughed like he hadn’t originally demanded it from her. “I’ll see you in a few.”

He leaned back and Nicky was finally able to close the door. He pealed out of the parking lot, suggesting he actually had been driving at a lower speed for her, as Nicky got into her car. She took a deep breath, just closing her eyes and leaning her head against the wheel.

She was already past the part of asking ‘how was this her life?’. She’d accepted this was her life for a while now. She was just a little shocked about how far it had come. Did that mean she’d have to see a body being cut up and disintegrated every week now? No, but she could at least say if she saw it happen again, she wouldn’t be as shocked—

Jesus! She really was just dealing with this like this was normal. What did that say about what she’d become? What would that do to Jackson?

Because that was honestly her biggest worry. She didn’t care about what happened to her. But if this started to effect Jacks, if all this somehow ruined him… She’d do anything to keep him safe. She had done anything to keep him safe. But she didn’t want to protect him only to harm him. She’d told him the truth so far. She’d told him she would always explain the truth. But how the hell was she supposed to tell her pre-teen child that she had just cleaned down a house and moved a body in a container of acid?

She didn’t know. But at least for the moment, she knew she should call her son and just let him know she was still breathing.

He answered right away. “Mom! Are you ok?”

“Yes, I am.”

“When are you coming home?” He sounded like he was trying to be so strong, but she could still hear the fear and doubt in his voice.

“Soon honey. Should be tonight actually. I would never leave you.”

“I-I know. Just…I was worried we might have to leave again.”

“Don’t worry Jacks. We’re still staying right there up until we move.”

“And we’ll still be the Bakers when we do?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. We don’t have to change anything. I’ll call you when I’m actually driving back. We’re almost done here.”

“We?”

Shit. She hadn’t meant to say that. Before she could explain, Jackson spoke first.

“Is…is Uncle Aiden’s friend helping?”

“Yes,” admitted Nicky. “I’ll explain more when I get home. Ok?”

“Ok.”

At least he trusted her enough to not push in the moment. “Ok sweetheart. Since I’ll probably be late, go ahead and eat dinner. If it’s ok, you can stay at your friend’s house too.”

“I’d rather be waiting home for you.”

“Alright. Whatever will make you feel better. I’ll see you soon Jacks. I love you.”

“Love you too,” murmured Jackson before they both hung up.

Nicky closed her eyes after that. She leaned her head back, slowly breathing in and out. She looked back at her phone. Time to find a place to eat.

She was shocked to find that she was at least a little hungry and very thirsty. After all that she’d seen, a part of her had thought she’d never be hungry again. Yet here she was, her body already getting back to a normal, functioning routine and wanting to eat. She let out another tired sigh as she searched for places before finally choosing one. She texted Jordi the address and then started to drive there herself.

It didn’t take too long, but once there, she was stuck waiting.

She eventually ordered herself something if only to have something to do. Then she started to eat. Slowly at first, then a little faster as her stomach adjusted more. The food and drink honestly made her feel a bit better. It grounded her. She couldn’t change anything. She knew that. If she had to see those grizzly details, so be it. As long as she could keep Jackson from it, keep him safe.

After finishing, she sat there and waited a little longer. She was honestly wondering if she should call Jordi or just leave. Should she be getting worried at all? He’d said he’d be alright. But what if he had been caught? What if someone looked in the containers? What if he told them about her—

The thought was abruptly stopped as she spotted a flashy car pulling into the parking lot.

Her worry quickly changed to annoyance. So that was why. He’d wanted to grab a nicer car.

Nicky let out a tired groan, covering her face as she heard Jordi entering. She only looked up again when she knew he’d slid into her booth. “Jordi—”

“Did you choose this place just to get back at me for agreeing to buy me dinner? Because this is really a dingy little—”

Nicky interrupted him, face serious and fists tight. “Is it done?”

“Hey, they don’t call me a professional for nothing.”

She let out a sigh of relief.

“Ah worried for me?”

“No!”

“Just keep telling yourself that sweetheart. Now, let’s see what the hell this place has to offer.”

Nicky stayed silent as Jordi mostly mumbled to himself in disconnected, seemingly random comments that probably only made sense to him. He called the waiter over and ordered before immediately pulling out his phone and calling someone. It might have been the gang he’d just cleaned up for, telling them the job was successful. It could be some other employer though, or an associate. Nicky couldn’t tell from the one-sided information she was getting.

Jordi was still on the phone by the time his food came back, and when that was set down, he turned the conversation to Nicky.

It wasn’t exactly a conversation though and more Jordi just talking at her. Nicky got a refill and just let him badger her. She stayed silent, mostly stuck in her own head, until Jordi softly tapped the back of her hand. She jolted. The look Jordi was giving her was partially amused, partially curious, with maybe just a hint of concern behind the eyes.

She didn’t know if her analysis was realistic, or if what concern she was seeing was a lie. Or was there only concern because he was doing this for Aiden and didn’t want to upset him? He might not care at all what happened to Nicky and Jacks except for the fact that they were related to Aiden and he cared about Aiden.

But despite not knowing, the look was still appreciated. Whatever the reason.

Once Jordi knew he actually had her attention, he said, “You know, most people are a lot more grateful after surviving a kidnapping.”

“I’ve just…been thinking.”

“About my offer?”

“You’re-no not that,” Nicky admitted. Though now that he had mentioned it…well. She would think on that later. For the moment, she just said, “I was thinking about Jacks. What I’m going to tell him.”

“You know, you don’t have to tell him everything.”

“I can’t lie to him! I promised I wouldn’t, and he would know anyways. But…but who knows how much damage I’ve already caused him? I mean, he has a home now. He has friends again. He goes out and interacts with others more than he ever did back in Chicago after what happened to his sister. But…what kind of life is this for him?”

“You mean a cushy middle-class life with a mother who graduated from college and could easily get a well-paying job?”

Nicky leaned forward and whispered. “I mean a life as a fugitive. As a criminal. As…as the son of a woman who’s killed two people now.”

“Still doesn’t mean you have to tell him everything.”

“I told you. I can’t—”

“Telling the truth and telling everything doesn’t have to be the same thing. Listen, Nicky, ok? I’m going to give you a big piece of advice, all free of charge. Yeah?”

Nicky let out a small sigh.

Jordi just repeated himself. “Yeah?”

Considering it looked like Jordi wouldn’t continue without a response, she let out an exasperated groan and said, “Ok, what is it?”

“That there are some choices that are all on the damn person. You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“But I’m not talking about when Jacks is older! I’m talking about—”

“Let me finish?”

She groaned.

“But as for right now, the best you can do is show a good moral compass. Now personally, I’m not a fan of all that jazz, but I can also admit that I don’t want everyone to just end up like me. If we were all fixers, there wouldn’t be any normals to pay me or to kill.”

Nicky rolled her eyes.

“Point is, you don’t have to tell him the gory details. What he needs to know is someone was going to hurt you, hurt him, and you took care of it.”

“But I don’t want him to grow up thinking he should just take the law into his own hands! He won’t have Aiden to always protect him. He won’t always have you to come bail us out. He needs to know that though I can’t go back to a normal life, he needs to still grow up in one.”

“Then tell him that.”

The answer was so simple, yet it still threw Nicky for a second. “Wait…just that?”

“Why not? Have a damn conversation with him. If he’s half as smart as his uncle, he’ll catch on.”

Nicky let out another tired sigh. Maybe he was right. But… “I worry he’s too much like me. Like Aiden.”

“Maybe he his. Doesn’t mean he can’t use those talents in another way. Besides, he has something that I know for a fact that you two didn’t.”

“What’s that?”

“Caring parents. Which yeah, I know about your divorce and everything, but he’s got you and Aiden, even if Aiden’s off somewhere else, and any kid would be lucky to have you as a mom.”

“That’s…actually really nice of you to say.”

He laughed. “You sound surprised.”

“Just, isn’t this all fun and games to you?”

“Moderately yeah.”

“Well if you care, you only care about us because we’re connected to Aiden, right?”

“Do you want me to say that?”

“It’s the truth. Isn’t it?”

“Well if I’m being honest, it started out as curiosity and a way to help Aiden. But considering how much you’re alike your brother, I can’t help but like you too.” He showed off a suggestive smirk.

“Jordi, absolutely not! This may not-not be normal, but this is a professional relationship damn it.”

“You know, I think that’s what Aiden said to me the first time too.”

She let out a long groan. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And yet, where would you be without me?”

He was right, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of making her say it out loud.

“Welp, that about does it for me here. I will say, cheap shithole, but at least the desert wasn’t that bad,” he said as he slid out of the booth and stood up.

“H-hang on. You’re just leaving?”

He leaned down with a smirk. “Kill anyone else I should know of?”

“No!” She hit him in the chest for that. “Just…so we’re ok. And I don’t…I don’t have to pay you for anything?”

“You bought me dinner. Payment enough, remember? If I have to, I’ll make Aiden go shopping for me to compensate for some of the supplies. Otherwise, all fucking good. Until next time Nicky.” He winked at her before spinning on his heels and walking out.

Nicky let out another long groan and took a moment to just rest her head on the table. She really, really hoped there wouldn’t be a next time.

After the events of Charleston, life went back to normal surprisingly quickly.

Nicky had actually followed Jordi’s advice when she’d gotten back and talked to Jackson. She spoke about how she didn’t want Jacks to think that he could never trust the law because of what had happened to them. She didn’t want him to think that living outside the law was a good option. Had Aiden done it? Yes. She still loved him, but his choices had also broken her heart in many ways. He’d nearly been killed multiples times because of it. The ones he loved had gotten hurt because of them, and he could no longer see them because of his choices. She never wanted that to happen with her own son.

Thankfully Jackson was mostly receptive. He argued at a few points, but when Nicky reminded him of what they’d already gone through, he mostly quieted. She tried to be as kind as possible though. She didn’t want to completely scare or upset him. But she did remind him how he’d have to leave the friends he’d made behind if they couldn’t try to live a normal life now. She told him that he would never be able to have a real, consistent home if they didn’t fit in.

The message seemed to be heard. Nicky just made sure she’d talk to him about it again after some time had passed.

But after that, it was back to working. It was back to searching for a home, a proper job. She went to another city but ended up going back to Charleston. She liked the opportunities it had, and it was still close enough that Jacks would be able to visit his friends in the small town. It wouldn’t completely uproot him.

She half expected to be looking over her shoulder the entire time when she went to the city again.

What if someone else got her?

What if another hit had been put out?

Those thoughts did pass through her head, but not in the way she expected. They didn’t make her more fearful. They didn’t make her want to turn tail and run. Instead, she tried to think about how she could prevent another kidnapping from happening.

And with that thought, her mind finally went back to Jordi. To his offer.

She didn’t expect people to be coming after her left and right. She’d been able to live with Jacks rather peacefully for quite some time after all. But if it did happen again, would she be able to call Jordi right away? Would he be able to come down and help within twenty-four hours? Would she be able to successfully escape or kill her attacker?

She didn’t know.

Even with trying to live a good, normal life, she could inadvertently leave Jacks all alone.

It was that thought that had her finally calling Jordi three months after the events in Charleston. This time he didn’t answer. That actually caused Nicky’s resolve to strengthen. She called him the next day, and then another time. He finally answered right before the final ring sounded.

“Sorry dumpling, been a little busy. What’s up?”

“Dumpling?”

“New idea for a pet name. What do you think?”

“I think you’re full of yourself.”

“Right you are.” God, she could hear the grin in his voice. “So, off anyone else?”

“No Jordi!”

“Just making sure. So, what little problem can I fix for you?”

“It’s not exactly about fixing anything. I just…I was wondering if your offer was still on the table.”

There was silence on the other end. It seemed that Nicky had actually surprised him. When he finally spoke, she could hear it in his voice. “You actually want me to show you the ropes? Teach you how to tango?”

“I’m not saying make me your god damn business partner.”

Jordi let out a bark of laughter. “God, you and Aiden sound so much alike when you’re upset.”

“The point Jordi. Will you help me? Just so I’m not completely defenseless. So I know the warning signs that most people wouldn’t think of. Please?”

“Well when you say please, how could I possibly say no? You still in that little town?”

“Haven’t moved yet.”

“Well I can’t fucking wait until you do,” Jordi replied. “But works for now. I’m in the middle of a little business, but I’ll be down as soon as I can dumpling.”

“That is still not sticking.”

“Well if it doesn’t work on you, probably won’t work on Aiden,” Jordi said with an overly dramatic sigh that clearly showed he was just messing with her. “I’ll see you when I can. Bye!”

“Good-bye Jordi,” she chuckled, only to suddenly freeze up. Jordi had already hung up so she didn’t hear his reaction or even know if he had heard her. But for her, she couldn’t believe she’d given the man an honest laugh not tinged with sarcasm. She wasn’t—

No! Absolutely not! It was bad enough that one Pierce had fallen for that stupid charm, at least according to Jordi. They really didn’t need a second one doing the exact same thing.

She just groaned at herself and decided to focus on finding a new place to live. She realized she’d been putting off picking a place for Jackson, not wanting to remove him from his friends too soon. But she also needed to move for Jackson. He needed to go to a real school, and they both needed to return to society. Because of that, when Jordi finally showed up about a week late, Nicky planned to tell him about the move so he would know where they were going afterwards.

However, after Jordi sped into the neighborhood and Nicky let him in with a role of her eyes, he stopped her attempts at talking.

“Ah, you read this shit too? It makes Aiden sound like a god damn psychopath! I mean really, I’m the psychopath here if anyone needs someone to point fingers at. Any person who’s met Aiden for five seconds can tell he’s not even slightly like this.”

Jordi had found a book on the kitchen table. Nicky didn’t have to look to see what it was of. On her last trip to the city, she’d bought it on a whim. Dr. Yolanda’s book was already a best seller and Aiden’s presence in the media had skyrocketed again. She was a bit surprised by how vocal Jordi got, but she supposed it made sense. From the way he talked, Aiden was his only friend as he’d describe it. And he did seem like the kind of man to get upset about not being properly identified as a sociopath or psychopath or whatever.

“You read it?” Jordi asked.

“Skimmed. I…I know it really doesn’t contain much truth, but I thought…I thought maybe it would bring me closer to Aiden again.”

Jordi’s lips softened. “Missed him that much, huh?”

“Yes. Have you heard anything from him? Seen him? I know we’re supposed to stay away for our own good but…”

“Naw, haven’t done anything of late. I know he’s still up to his old vigilante ways though. Moved on from Lucky Quinn and taking out those connected to him. He pretty much got rid of that sect but there’s a lot of shitty people out there that fuck with his moral compass. I’m sure he’s very busy.”

That wasn’t exactly the answer Nicky had hoped he would give. But it was something. She let out a tired sigh and finally said what she’d first planned to. “We’re moving to Charleston by the way. So next time—”

“Oh, I know.”

“How?”

“I have an eye out for Nichole and Jackson Baker popping up anywhere. Trust me, I’ve been keeping an eye on you,” he said with a wink.

“That’s really creepy.”

“Just doing my job. And hey, you asked me here,” chuckled Jordi. “Or are you going to back out of the offer?”

“No. I…I do need to know these things. Hopefully it won’t happen too quickly, but Dr. Yolanda’s book has put Aiden in the spotlight again. Someone could try and find us, and I need to be able to handle myself. At least a little.”

“Well at least no one will try to find you through your mother.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“Sent someone, yeah.” Jordi laughed at her shocked expression. “You can look it up if you want. She isn’t dead. Cross my heart. Only had the shit scared out of her. She shouldn’t ever be a problem again.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Good. So…”

“Alright, here’s the deal. If I’m going to teach you these things, I need you to put in the effort too which means working when I’m not here. I do have other jobs and gotta keep making that money you understand.”

“Yes,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Good. Now, for our first trick.” He brought out a pair of handcuffs.

“Jordi.”

“What? Anyone slightly involved in the criminal underworld should know how to get out of handcuffs. Don’t worry, I won’t throw away the key,” he laughed. “And we’ll do zip ties too. In some ways, they’re easier to get out of, but you’re more likely to bruise your wrists and hurt yourself. Unless you’re getting out of handcuffs by dislocating your thumb—”

“Maybe leave that for another lesson?” suggested Nicky.

“Yeah, don’t want to go to quick to fast,” he laughed. “We’ll start with one hand too, just to see how quickly you can pick the lock. So, what do you want to be handcuffed to?”

Chapter Text

It was a seedy motel. Aiden usually tried to find better rooms, but the change in scenery had been kind of last minute. He wouldn’t waste all of his money on a nice hotel room-that was basically rule number one on how to get caught fucking fast. But he was pretty sure the walls were stained with old blood and he’d seen more than one cockroach. He liked to make sure the bed for the night had been washed at least once in the past year too, but it was all he had for now.

The goal was to lay low for a bit. He would only stick around long enough to cut some cash from the random passerby and then he was gone.

He had just grabbed some food so the plan was to go back to the ratty room, check to see if he could get some better equipment from anyone in the city, and then plan where he would go next. That was the idea. At least until he opened his door after grabbing some food from a nearby vending machine and found Jordi with a sniper rifle carefully positioned out the side of the window.

“What the shit Jordi!” Aiden hissed, slamming the door behind him.

Unsurprisingly, Jordi wasn’t affected by the sudden entrance. He simply adjusted his position. He glanced over at Aiden with a wicked grin before looking through his scope again. “Funny story. This guy’s office window can be perfectly seen from this room.”

A steady frown set into Aiden’s face. The chances of that being true were astronomical. Yet upon walking over, he noted the make and model of the gun. In the right hands, it could easily kill someone over two-thousand meters away. Maybe even three.

Aiden looked in the direction that it was pointed.

Sure enough, there was a small office building in that direction. Though without a scope, Aiden couldn’t tell if it was occupied. This could just be Jordi putting on a show.

Whatever. Aiden just let out a long, drawn out sigh. Now was not the time to draw attention to himself. If Jordi really was going to perform a hit, then Aiden was going to have to move tonight. Even if the police wouldn’t be able to trace it to Jordi, they would at least figure out the trajectory of the bullet. They would find the motel. Aiden couldn’t be here when they—

“So how was prison? I feel like orange doesn’t really suit you.”

Aiden’s thought process abruptly stopped. His eyes narrowed and he focused back on Jordi. “How the hell do you know about that!”

“Uh, just because I don’t have your hacking skills doesn’t mean I can’t buy them from someone else.”

“I feel insulted.”

“Ah don’t be. I’d have asked you to do it if it wasn’t you I was looking for. Not surprised they kept the arrest hush hush. I bet they were fucking worried you’d pull this shit and then all hell would rain down on them from the media. I bet they just didn’t expect it to be a young upstart-who doesn’t know what makes a good dessert for shit by the way-that freed you rather than you breaking free yourself.”

“I would have gotten out eventually. I just needed an opening—hey! How do you know about Marcus Holloway?”

“I’d ask you the same thing except I bet you tracked the signal that got you free the moment you had a phone in your hand,” chuckled Jordi.

“Of course. Wanted to make sure this wasn’t like some guy expecting a give and take scenario.”

“Of course,” agreed Jordi with another grin. “Guess it’s kind of surprising what DedSec became after you effectively killed off its Chicago unit. But hey, new age, new ideas. And they’ve been giving the new CtOS a run for its money. Gotta count for something.”

Kenney…shit. Clara…

Aiden still stood by his decision. He would have done the exact same thing again involving DedSec. He just didn’t trust any groups. It was too easy to start out with some kind of goal only to find yourself the villain by the end. Aiden didn’t want to deal with that shit again. He’d prefer to just cut all of Chicago loose, if he really could.

He didn’t want to be reminded of what happened with Clara, of leaving his sister and nephew behind. Damien… His niece… It hurt too much to remember it all.

Yet this man seemed intent on never letting him forget.

Jordi seemed to take note of his sour mood. “Ah, you were more cheerful last time.”

“Last time there was less talking,” grumbled Aiden. There had been less reminders of those he’d left behind too.

“You’ve just been alone too long. You’re supposed to be a fox, not a lone wolf.”

Aiden rolled his eyes at the analogy.

“You know? You really are just alike. And I can see that you need a bit of a push to join your social network again as well. Even if it’s a lot smaller.”

What the hell did Jordi mean by that? And just alike…Aiden barely remembered Jordi making some offhanded comment about that last time. Some friend or something? It almost sounded like Jordi was getting a plan in mind which was never a—

Jordi pulled the trigger.

“Jesus Christ Jordi!”

Jordi just continued to grin. “Another easy paycheck. Well, this was fun. I’ll let you know if I need a man of your skills.”

“Are you fucking serious right now?” Aiden was already moving around, grabbing what few things he had as it looked like he really would have to get moving. Jordi was also taking apart the sniper rifle, albeit moving at a much more lackadaisical pace. “I’m still trying to keep a god damn low profile while on the west coast! I don’t even have a car yet!”

“Need me to get you one?”

“Seriously?”

“What? I’ve still got my connections. It’ll just cost you a bit.”

Of course it would. Still, it was probably safer than stealing a car…

“I’ll take that brooding silence as a yes,” Jordi replied. He stole Aiden’s phone. “I’ll text you the drop off point. See you on the east coast.”

Aiden immediately latched onto the strange last line as Jordi tossed the phone back and then picked up his case. “What’s on the east coast?”

“Same shit that’s over here I expect. Cities, people, and fat paychecks.”

“Yeah, but why would you think we’d see each other on the east coast?”

“Call it a lucky guess.” Jordi blew him a kiss. “Catch you there dumpling.”

“What kind of fucking nickname is—” But Jordi was already gone. Aiden just let out another loud groan. He grabbed everything he could and then abruptly left. He thought about just trying to leave the city, partially to spite Jordi and to get on the move, but a non-stolen car that couldn’t be tracked back to him would be invaluable… Yes, best to just take the offer for now.

Aiden walked around the city, stealing bits of money from where he could when he finally got a text from an unknown number. He recognized the writing style as Jordi’s though. Aiden wired him the necessary funds and then followed the coordinates given. Everything was in order when he came across the inconspicuous car, though Aiden remained warry of his surroundings and did double check for bugs and tracking devices. It would be just like Jordi to be playing two sides again.

For the moment though, it seemed Aiden was in the clear.

Yet that didn’t exactly ease Aiden’s worry. The mention about the east coast seemed just a little to pointed. Urgh, what the hell was Jordi planning now?

***

Nicky was frowning at her living room when Jacks poked his head in.

“Mom, please tell me you’re not changing it again.”

“I just feel like it would be cozier if the couch was over there—”

“It’s been over a month,” begged Jackson. “Can we please leave it as is so I know where to walk when the lights are off and I’m trying to sneak into the kitchen to grab a cookie?”

“Oh, is that where all the cookies have been going?” Nicky asked with a light laugh.

“Just please. Ok? The couch looks fine where it is.”

“Ok, ok. I need to start grading a few papers anyways.” Nicky backed off for the moment. She headed up to her office where she knew for a fact that she’d be changing things around. For the moment, it felt like the stereotypical place an English major would have. She’d really just thrown it together on a whim but had slowly realized she could make it look how she wished. It was her office after all, and she didn’t have to completely camouflage herself into the roll Jordi had given her.

At least she could say she liked it. She liked her job and the people.

Despite living in Charleston for months though, she hadn’t quite made friends with anyone. She’d been over to their homes and had invited them to hers. But there was still a wall between them and her. Maybe they didn’t see it. Maybe they thought they were already friends, which was honestly just fine with Nicky. It would make her and Jacks blend in more. But she couldn’t help the internal disconnect from everything as she lived a life given to her, not one that she’d grown into.

She had Jacks though and he was flourishing. That was what was important.

He was going to school again. Talking more. He smiled more often than not, and he’d actually had friends come over when his birthday had passed. It was all Nicky could ask for. As long as he managed to get a normal life out of all of this, then she’d be happy living her own. She didn’t need friends anyways. Not close ones. She liked the peace after everything and in a way, she did have one friend—

No. Oh god, was she—

Did she actually think of Jordi as a friend now?

Urgh, she could never tell him. He’d be way too fucking smug about it.

But…she supposed the label wasn’t wrong. He’d helped her so much. And in the past months, she’d seen him a lot more as he stopped by when he could to teach her another thing or two. Nicky knew how to use a gun now, properly. She could probably hit a man in his neck on purpose now, not just random chance.

Hopefully it would never come to that again, but at least she knew what to do if it did.

She could get out of a variety of handcuffs too and was always trying to improve her lock picking skills.

More recently Jordi had been teaching her how to shift her weight so that she made barely any sound when she moved. It was difficult. She didn’t naturally have control over her body like that. However, if she could sneak out of a situation instead of shooting her way out, she would rather do so. She practiced that talent even just by walking around the house, purposefully walking over a creaky board to see if she could counterbalance her weight enough to hide the noise.

Other little tricks of the trade Jordi had been trying to teach her on and off too. Some came more naturally than others, but all would hopefully help in the end.

He’d only visited once since the move to Charleston though, finding them before Nicky even gave him the address. It was kind of weird how he did that. But almost comforting. She supposed she would have considered it comforting if she could completely trust Jordi, but she doubted she ever would no matter how grateful she was. Even if she was considering him a friend, he wasn’t a trustworthy one.

She’d told Jordi that the last time he’d been there, about her still not fully trusting him. He’d just smiled and said, “Knew you were a quick learner.”

For the moment though, it was time for grading papers. She’d get back to training after she finished up and then dropped Jacks at a friend’s house. Going to the shooting range as a pastime was something that the old her never would have done. She hadn’t even held a gun before she had killed that man in the warehouse. But here she was, doing it almost once a week just so some of the skills Jordi was imposing on her never got stale.

Ultimately, it was a good life if a bit complicated.

Nicky was completely used to responding to Baker now as her last name. Telling her faux backstory was easier than even thinking about her real one. She worked five days out of the week and spent time with Jacks on the weekend. His grades were up in school. He had joined a computer club. And Nicky still drove them both to the small town they’d first restarted in so he could visit his other friends.

So much she had left behind. From Aiden to her mother to her own name.

And the only person she felt she could be honest with was a slightly-possibly majorly-homicidal career criminal of a man who oozed the most annoying charm she’d ever seen.

By this point, she could only accept her completely wacky life.

She met with her class during the day. She had dinner with Jacks and graded papers at night. And every now and then Jordi started to show up at random on her front door. They’d usually have tea, go to the shooting range or try some insane escape experiment, and then Jordi would leave with another wink and a wave.

It was at least a pattern and considering how much work she’d done in order to get to this point, she was thankful for what stability she had.

However, that stability got off track during one of Jordi’s other visits. It had been months since she’d first left Chicago. Well over two years actually. Some of it had been a blur. Other moments she would never forget. Jordi was certainly one of those moments and when she heard the knock on her door, she swore she’d managed to remember exactly how his fist rapped against the wood.

Was that because Jordi really had visited that often? Or was it because of his training as she tried to be aware of the unique characteristics of all people? She didn’t know.

The only certainty was that she let out a long drawn out sigh as she went to the door in preparation for who she was expecting.

She was right too. As she pulled the door open, there Jordi stood with a large grin and an all-white suit as always.

“Ah, you look frazzled. All those late-night grading sessions getting you down? I might have a job with some more action for you.”

“Ha ha,” Nicky sarcastically mumbled. It wasn’t the first time he’d offered her a more illegal job, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. She let Jordi close the door behind him as she went to the kitchen. His suggestions of joining only ever seemed half serious though. More often it felt like Jordi was just asking cause he knew Nicky would groan and he would lightly laugh in response. The idea of dragging Nicky along on a hit got him grinning, but he was smart enough to know it would never happen.

She went ahead and started some tea, Jordi’s favorite—

Christ, she really knew his favorite now, huh? This friendship really was infuriating.

“No squirt around?”

“He’s at a friend’s house, working on a project for school.”

“Stay in school. That’s what I always say.”

“I thought your saying was evidence left behind equals jail time,” snorted Nicky.

“Hey, can’t a guy do both?”

“You went to school?”

“All the best criminals do.”

“Well that’s one way to look at things. You know, most people like to think going to school deters crime.”

“If the kid doesn’t want any fun in his life, I guess so.”

“Remind me to never invite you to my work as a public speaker.”

“Ah, and I was so looking forward to it.”

And they had jokes. Even inside jokes. Nicky couldn’t believe it. They were friends. Weren’t they?

“And what about your work?” asked Nicky. Part of her couldn’t believe she was about to ask it, yet it came naturally. “Everything going well?”

“For me or a target?”

Nicky shot him a deadpanned expression. “Yes. I wanted to know if the body you have in your trunk is alright. Does he want to come inside? Have a drink?”

“Well now that you mention it, I probably shouldn’t leave that guy in this heat—”

“Jordi, you did not bring some poor sod wrapped in duct tape to my house!”

“Well he’s actually dead, so—”

“Jordi—”

“I didn’t,” he relented, the large smile never leaving his face.

Nicky breathed a sigh of relief.

“I would never.”

Now that Nicky didn’t believe. She shot Jordi another look.

“Ok, not never. Depends on the situation you know?”

“Oh, I know,” sighed Nicky. She supposed she should just be happy that the conversation derailed a little. Normally Jordi would have latched onto the fact that she was even slightly worried about him and wouldn’t let it go the rest of the visit.

“But I am honored you’re worried about me.”

Never mind. He was still going to milk that.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Didn’t need to doll.”

“I really hate you sometimes.”

“Oh I know. It’s what I love about you.”

“Stop that right now!”

And Jordi just laughed hard as the tea finished brewing and they sat down to talk. The conversation was honestly pretty normal, at least for them. The mention of the occasional crime or dead body would have caused heads to swivel if they were in public. But being alone and in Nicky’s kitchen, it was just life.

Jordi asked how her aim was getting and Nicky responded with ever better. They talked on other things. Even Jackson came up a few times, and Jordi finally suggested he and Nicky go to the shooting range before they left. By this point, it felt less like he wanted to see how her practice was coming and it was all just an excuse for him to show off. Still, Nicky was already agreeing to it when she suddenly heard a knock at the door.

She tensed immediately.

Normally, she wasn’t so paranoid. But Jordi was over which could mean—

He just shrugged. “It’s not for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Nicky’s eyes stayed narrowed.

“First off, I’m ashamed that you think I would be that easily followed. Second, if you’re thinking I’m getting rid of you, don’t worry. I would be honest with you and wouldn’t try to surprise you with a hitman at your door.”

Nicky could only grown as she got up and went to answer the door as a second knock occurred. In a weird way, Jordi’s words did ease her mind. Still, she checked out the window to just make—

No.

No fucking way.

It couldn’t—

She quickly opened the door, but he didn’t see her at first. His back was turned, eyes quickly and carefully scanning the street.

“I don’t know why the hell you couldn’t call me or text me the information Jordi—”

As he turned around, Nicky immediately wrapped Aiden in her arms and held on as tightly as she could. He was-he was actually there. She didn’t understand why now or how, but at least for the moment she hugged him like it might be the last time again. For all she knew, it could be.

Aiden just stared, eyes open and wide. For once, she truly saw her brother speechless. Then he hadn’t known she was here. He’d said Jordi’s name meaning Jordi had-wait. What had Jordi exactly done—

“Hey, Aiden! You made it. We’re having tea. Want a cup?”

They both turned to see Jordi leaning against the doorframe, a grin wide on his lips. Nicky was still confused, but Aiden reacted quickly. He probably didn’t want to risk being seen from the street as he pushed them both in and closed the door. He grabbed Jordi’s collar and Nicky immediately saw the fire light up in Aiden’s eyes. It made her more confused, but she managed to act quickly before either man could attack the other.

She broke Aiden’s grip on Jordi and put a hand on either’s chest. Thankfully neither tried to go for the other. Jordi actually seemed extremely calm like he was enjoying himself. Aiden had looked furious, though he seemed surprised by how easily she had broken his grip and gotten between them.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on between you two, but I am not having Jacks come home to see his uncle for the first time in months in the middle of a fist fight.”

That seemed to bring Aiden’s attention back to her. His face softened at the mere mention of his nephew. However, his gaze narrowed as he looked at Jordi again. “Nicky, I don’t know what he’s done, but I promise I’m going to get you and Jacks out of here—”

“Done? We’re just having tea.”

Aiden looked shocked, like he hadn’t believed Jordi’s earlier statement. “Tea? Like…you know him?”

“Well yeah. You had him fix up our fake IDs and records.”

Aiden stared blankly back.

A sense of unease started to fill Nicky’s gut, but she quickly kept going. “And you told him not to make contact? But he did anyways to help protect us?”

His head whipped up to glare at Jordi. “What did you do?”

Nicky also spun around. Even after not seeing Aiden for ages, she trusted her brother first and foremost. If this was how he was reacting, then Jordi had never done what he’d done on behalf of Aiden. Nicky’s first thought spilled out of her mouth.

“Who the hell paid you to help us then?” Was it even really help? Or was it some kind of long con to get them to where they were now. To have Aiden out in the open and easy leverage right in front of him to get him to behave.

But Jordi didn’t prove her wrong or right. At least not immediately. That grin just firmly stayed in place. “You know, I’m proud of you Nicky. Even with our little friendship, you still don’t trust me.”

“I never said we were friends—”

“Didn’t have to. I’ve always known.”

Nicky and Aiden groaned in unison which just had Jordi’s grin widening.

“So alike.”

Nicky caught a look from her brother. It looked like he’d heard those words before but was only now putting together their meaning. She honestly wasn’t surprised. Of course Jordi would have been dropping hints and saying cryptic things about what he was doing with her, only in a way that Aiden hadn’t understood until now. For the moment though, she focused back on the conversation. In a weird way, Jordi being proud that she still didn’t completely trust him gave her a sense of comfort. She asked, “So who did you do it for?”

“Mostly myself. A little bit for Aiden.”

“Yourself?” asked Nicky.

“What the hell do you mean this was for me?” Aiden said.

“I mean that as much as I like your grumpy, sarcastic self, you never would have come back from this,” replied Jordi. “You would have grown a little harder and a little colder, which just wouldn’t have been much fun and just made you like the rest of the schmucks I work with. No, that wasn’t an option. So how to reunite you with your family and fix all this? Just show you how wrong you were. And I of course took a liking to you too Nicky.”

“How wrong-Jordi, just me being here puts her and Jacks in danger! I left for a god damn reason. I don’t want what happened in Chicago to happen—”

“They’re already in danger,” interrupted Jordi. Aiden stiffened, immediately moving to step in front of Nicky. However, Jordi just rolled his eyes. “Not from me. I mean from anyone who can pay enough to track them down. It’s already happened once.”

Aiden looked like he might not believe him, but Nicky gently touched her brother’s arm and nodded. “I think…I think maybe we should all sit down. You should hear the truth, but explaining everything may take a while.”

“Tea?” Jordi asked again, like it was his own house and he was the kind host.

Aiden just shot him a glare. He gave Nicky a look. “You got beer?”

“I think I can do that.”

Normally Nicky didn’t drink beer, but she’d gotten a six pack for some co-workers she’d had over for dinner a few days ago. There were thankfully two left. Nicky dumped the rest of her cup of tea into the sink and pulled out the two beers for her and her brother.

As Aiden took his first swig, he reluctantly sat down on Nicky’s side of the table and stared at Jordi. “What the hell do you mean I was wrong?”

“You sent them away. That was a wrong move.”

“Chicago wasn’t safe! I didn’t know what was going to happen! Sure as shit didn’t know you were going to betray me either—”

“Guess you’re not alike in that respect. Nicky, you’re officially the smarter sibling.”

Nicky had to resist the urge to snort. It would have made Aiden upset and though normally that kind of sibling rivalry would have been funny, now wasn’t the time.

Aiden snapped his fingers, directing Jordi’s attention back to him. “I’m not done damn it! Damien would have gotten to her and Jacks if she stayed a second more in Chicago, and who the hell knows who else could have gone after her because of how I killed Lucky Quinn. He had business partners. Some I’ve dealt with, but others could have gone after her if she had stayed. I did the best thing out of a shitty situation!”

“And you sent her off with no money? No security?” smirked Jordi. “Ask me this Aiden. How the hell is Nicky here living in such a nice house?”

That at least made Aiden pause. The wheels in his head were turning, but he looked like he was just going to fight with Jordi again. Nicky put up her hand and said, “You did do your best. And I tried my best too.” She shot Jordi a quick glare, hoping he would stay quiet before focusing on her brother again. “I missed you. The moment we were driving away, I did, but at that time, it was the best option. But Jacks and I wouldn’t have gotten far. Not without Jordi’s help and that has to be acknowledged too.”

For a second, it looked like Aiden might start arguing again. Not with her but with Jordi of course. However, he visibly forced his muscles to relax. He looked back to Nicky and murmured, “So what happened after you left?”

Nicky told him everything. She started with the decision to go to their mother’s house. How hard it had been. How it hadn’t even been a temporary haven for her and Jacks. But she’d been smart. She’d grabbed everything she could when their mother had made it clear she wasn’t welcomed. She and Jacks had changed the license plate to the car, reducing the risk of being caught. And then she’d found that little backwater town and had created the first part of her sob story.

She’d only just gotten to retelling those first few days in the little town when Aiden murmured, “I should have gotten in contact with you again. I should have thought about how difficult it would have been to start over. Especially considering you don’t-or I guess didn’t know anything about this life. And going back to mom only for that shit to happen…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You just wanted to keep us safe.” Nicky took his hand and squeezed. “Don’t get me wrong. I wanted you there too. I wished you’d come with us. But at least at the time, you made the best choice you could.”

“And after?” asked Aiden. “Clearly you haven’t stayed in that small town.”

“Well, I basically did some searching on the web and I…well I tracked down a person who supposedly could do fakes.”

“Wait, by yourself!” exclaimed Aiden. “Do you realize how much danger you could have put yourself in? What if you hadn’t come home? What if Jackson had been left all alone—”

“You think I didn’t realize that when I left? I knew what I was risking Aiden! But if we wanted a normal life, if I wanted to get Jacks in school again and around kids his own age, I had to do this. I know I just said I understood your choices, so please understand mine! Please.”

Aiden let out a long, tired sigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I never should have said anything. If anything, I should be upset I didn’t think to help you with that. What happened next?”

Nicky went into the man she’d tracked down. She explained how it had all gone down, how she’d gone back to the temporary home and had then worried about what would come of the man and the faked documents. How she’d wondered if she’d just been scammed or done the right thing.

And then Jordi had appeared.

“How did you know?” asked Aiden.

It was a fair question. Nicky had originally been told that Aiden had been keeping an eye on her through any tech or word of mouth. Then he’d had Jordi intervene with the purchase of the documents. Now though…

“I was bored,” Jordi honestly replied. “I was actually planning on trying to find Aiden and fuck with him a bit. By that point, I’d healed up from when you tossed me over the railing. But then I started thinking about just how grumpy you were going to be without a little sister and nephew to take care of. It doesn’t matter how many people you’ve killed. You’re a massive softy and that’s part of the fun.”

Aiden let out a tired groan but didn’t interrupt as Jordi kept talking.

“It was painfully easy finding her, and I figured that if I could find her, others with far more nefarious ideas would come looking too. Sure, you managed to beat Damien at his own game, but using Nicky as bait definitely drew you out before you were ready.”

“And then you concocted a lie about Aiden wanting to help,” sighed Nicky. “Because you knew that any mention of my brother would make me more willing to cooperate, especially if I thought you were doing everything because of him.”

“Exactly,” grinned Jordi.

“You’re a real asshole,” sighed Nicky.

“You kept coming back to me.”

She made a face. “Yeah, well it was necessary.”

“Wait, why?” asked Aiden. “If he got you all the documents, why would you ever contact him again?”

“Why do you?” Jordi asked, directing the conversation back to Aiden.

“I don’t! You contact me.”

“You willingly respond.”

Aiden glared at him again and Nicky quickly said, “Anyways…I wasn’t planning to contact him at first. He wanted to train me to fight and defend myself or however he put it—”

“Jordi!”

Nicky cleared her throat and her brother thankfully quieted. “The point is, I wasn’t going to take him up on it. I was completely ready to put everything behind me and start a real life with Jacks but then…well…”

She went over the incident that had led to another death by her hands. Surprisingly, she realized it wasn’t difficult retelling everything. She didn’t suddenly feel a wave of guilt wash over her or anything like that. If she’d just been explaining the details to Jordi, or really anyone, it wouldn’t have bothered her. What made it hard was watching Aiden’s expressions. He looked like he’d failed her somehow. She wanted to reassure him that it hadn’t been his fault, but she didn’t want to get sidetracked again.

After explaining the death, she explained how she came to reconsider Jordi’s offer. She then told some details about what happened after that, the beginning lessons, the move, the new job, expanding on her fake backstory and putting the false documents to good use.

Soon, Aiden was completely caught up.

“And that’s everything?” asked Aiden.

“More or less.”

“So as you can see, if anything I did you a favor—”

“Shut up Jordi.”

Jordi made a noise in the back of his throat like a wounded cat.

Aiden ignored him though and took Nicky’s hands in his. He squeezed them and she mimicked the gesture. He whispered, “I left you because I didn’t want this shit following you.”

“I know.”

“I never wanted any of this for you and Jacks.”

“Aiden, it’s—”

“I never should have tried to figure it out. I should have let it go. Like you said to,” whispered Aiden.

“No, you didn’t,” Nicky murmured. Aiden seemed surprised by that. “The past would have caught up with us at some point. I don’t know what kind of man Damien was, not as well as I’m sure you did. But something would have happened. Some kind of information would have come to the surface and everything would have gone to hell even if you hadn’t been actively searching for her killer. Besides, you did what you had to do. You felt guilty, and though I never did nor will ever blame you, you had to do what you did to finally heal.”

For a moment, brother and sister sat in silence, Aiden’s brow scrunched up and Nicky rubbing his hand in an attempt at being calming.

And then Jordi broke the moment.

“Yep, you would not believe the kind of shit your sister has done. Only you don’t have to believe it because she already told you, and she definitely helped me dispose of a body—”

“Jordi!” yelled Aiden. He started to stand but Nicky quickly pushed him down.

“Jordi,” she softly said, “can you please give us a moment?”

“Sure thing doll face,” grinned Jordi. “I’ll be outside making a call.”

He smoothly got up and left, finally leaving the Pearce siblings alone. Aiden let out a shuddering sigh. He looked at her again. “Last time we talked about it, you chastised me for obsessing over her death,” he murmured.

“Call it growing up if you want,” she replied. “I just…I managed to move on. I had Jacks to focus on, which helped a lot. But I’ve realized I would do anything-that I have done anything-to keep him safe. It’s different but…I can’t really blame you for what you’ve done after the things I’ve done.”

“It was self-defense—”

“Maybe. But it doesn’t really matter. I would do it again in a heartbeat to protect Jacks. Just as I know you’ve done while protecting me and Jacks from what happened in Chicago.”

Aiden let out another tired sigh. It made him seem even older than he was. One hand remained in hers, squeezing tight. The other reached up and brushed some of her hair back. They remained silent until Nicky could feel the slight pull and she quickly followed through with the hug. Aiden squeezed her tight. He murmured, “Part of me is still sorry. Part of me is kicking myself for not following up with you and helping you instead of Jordi.”

“And let me guess,” Nicky said with a tired chuckle as they pulled back a bit. “You aren’t sure if you want to thank Jordi for this or punch him in the face. Right?”

“Something like that,” Aiden replied with a half-smile.

“Well if it’s the latter, wait until after you leave. I do not need Jacks seeing that kind of violence. He would get very upset seeing you two fighting, especially after how Jordi has talked about you to him.”

“He talks about me?”

It was hard not to laugh at Aiden’s surprised face. Nicky felt like she could finally relax again. This didn’t seem like it was some weird, overly convoluted way to catch Aiden. Jordi was dramatic, but he still liked an easy, clean job, and all this wouldn’t make any sense if Jordi had done it all only to capture or kill Aiden. It seemed they were both in the clear as far as Jordi was concerned.

“He does. He finally managed to tell some stories to Jacks that I hadn’t heard. Don’t worry though. I always made sure Jordi didn’t say anything inappropriate.”

“Well glad to see you never completely trusted him,” chuckled Aiden.

“Definitely not. But there is admittedly just something about him—”

“Ah, talking about me?” grinned Jordi as he came around the corner.

“Fuck off Jordi,” groaned Aiden, though this time most of the anger seemed to have left him.

Nicky just said, “So what’s this? Your big finale? You coming out from behind the curtains and laughing at how easily you forced us back together?”

“Basically.”

“Hang on,” Aiden said. “I don’t know if I should stay—”

“Aiden, we have already established that you staying away didn’t keep the bad guys at bay. I’m not saying move in. We all know that wouldn’t end well, but now that I have you back, I am not letting you go again. Understand? And you absolutely can’t leave without seeing Jacks. It would break his heart.”

She watched her brother make a pained noise. He wanted to stay, but he was also afraid—

“Well, since it’s too late to go the shooting range,” said Jordi, “I say it’s time for a nice family dinner. Jacks should be over in…what? Fifteen more minutes from his friend’s house, right?”

Nicky nodded.

“Hold on. You come over here enough that you know their schedules?” asked Aiden.

“I told you, we’re friends.”

“Absolutely not,” groaned Nicky.

“Just keeping telling yourself that.”

“Is he always this infuriating?” she asked her brother.

“Always.”

“And you still willingly slept with him?”

Aiden’s face went red. He actually seemed embarrassed. It reminded Nicky of the kinds of embarrassing conversations they would throw at each other when they’d been younger and Nicky was still in high school.

She snorted and Aiden quickly glared at Jordi again.

“What the hell Jordi!”

“I never said anything.”

“Only possibly the most suggestive comments imaginable,” Nicky said with a shake of her head. “He’s impossible.”

“Oh, I fucking know it.”

“And yet you both still love me. Amazing how that works,” laughed Jordi. “So, dinner?”

Nicky turned back to Aiden. She took his hand again. Before he could argue, she said, “Please. We can figure out safer ways of meeting after this, plan ahead, but don’t leave without seeing Jacks. And don’t leave like you’re never coming back. It didn’t work before. It won’t work again. Even if it did, it’s not worth it. I’ve missed you so damn much Aiden. I can’t say goodbye again.”

She watched as her brother’s shoulders dropped. He hugged her again and then pulled back to kiss her on top of her head, just like he’d done when they were little. “Alright,” he murmured. “I’ll stay.”

“Thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him again. They stayed like that for a while before Jordi interrupted as only Jordi could.

“And where’s my thank you kiss?”

“Ew,” Nicky automatically said.

“Absolutely not,” glared Aiden. “I’m still pissed at you.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” grinned Jordi as he walked around the table and kissed Aiden without permission. Aiden swatted at him, but Jordi easily moved back. “So, dinner. I was thinking something classy. I’ll even pay—”

“We’re going to do a homecooked meal,” interrupted Nicky. She smiled at her brother. “It’s been too long since we’ve done that.”

He nodded in agreement.

“Urgh, so boring,” Jordi said with a roll of his eyes. “But fine. You both can just pay me back with dinner of my choosing another time.”

“Pay you back? For us making dinner?” snorted Nicky.

“For me putting up with it,” Jordi replied. “Obviously.”

“Obviously,” groaned Aiden. He stood up and walked to the fridge, making it a point to ignore Jordi. “So, what do you have that we can make that would fill two grown adults, a child, and an asshole.”

Nicky snorted. “I’m sure I can find something.”

The Pearce siblings quickly went through the cupboards and fridge to start putting together a meal. Unsurprisingly, Jordi just lounged around and made the process go more slowly with his regular interruptions. However, Nicky had to admit it was interesting getting to watch Jordi and Aiden actually interact. She knew her brother. She had come to know Jordi and how he talked of Aiden.

Now, she could see just how easily Jordi annoyed Aiden. And yet, he kept going back to the man. Since Aiden knew what had happened and now knew Jordi hadn’t been out to hurt Nicky, she could see that all the anger and irritation he currently showed wasn’t that real either. It would have been extremely amusing except Nicky could see that it was eerily similar to how she interacted with Jordi. What was it about the man that just drew in the Pearce family?

No matter, at least it seemed he’d proved himself an ally today. And he had reunited her with her brother. Whatever happened in the future, she would always be thankful for that.

She just knew that if he tried any of that kissing shit with her, she would kick him in the balls without hesitation too.

They continued to put together a potluck kind of meal with Jordi berating every idea they had. Then, just a little earlier than usual, Nicky heard a key unlocking the front door and it opening.

“Mom, why is Jordi here!” She heard Jacks call out from the front of the house as he made his way to the back and froze.

Aiden had stopped moving too, his eyes on the doorway and then Jacks when he was in view. Aiden slowly swallowed. His hands clenched and unclenched. He got out only a few words in a raspy voice that was clearly trying to hold back all the emotions he was feeling. “You’ve gotten taller—”

But Aiden was stopped as Jacks ran into his uncle and hugged him tight. Aiden did the same and Nicky gave them both a moment before she joined in. Their little family was whole again. She had her brother back. After everything, he was really here with her and Jacks.

Nicky glanced over Aiden’s shoulder to see Jordi still sitting down with his feet propped up in a chair. He winked at her and mouthed, “You’re welcome.”

She of course rolled her eyes, but after a moment, she went ahead and mouthed back, “Thank you.” Even with him having his own weird reasons for it, Nicky was honestly grateful. She smiled at Jordi and he actually smiled back, though she was sure he would hold that over her head later on. For the moment though, she just buried her face against Aiden’s shoulder and hugged him and her son back for the first time for the rest of their lives.