likesthestooges | For Rachel, 5-23-2012

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For Rachel, 5-23-2012

With Henry far more stable, Aidan was able to get a bit more sleep than he had the last few days, which he badly needed. Seeing Henry for the first time in 80 years had brought back a flood of emotions and memories that he hadn't had to deal with for a long time. With Henry came thoughts of Suren and all that relationship had entailed. For some reason, thoughts of Suren made him think of Rachel.

The relationship they had was odd at best, although not unenjoyable. She had her issues but he didn't mind that. If he was honest, he would say he even liked that, it made him feel less like he was ruining someone because of his own issues just by being close to them. Not only that, but it gave him another person to look after, which is something that he knew he desperately needed. Not exactly the most healthy reasons to be with someone, but real ones all the same.

He figured that he owed her an explanation of where he had been the last few days. Maybe she had tried to find him and maybe she hadn't. He hoped she would have come looking though and found that he would feel a bit hurt if she hadn't. She didn't owe him anything, but still...

Aidan knew she taught on Wednesdays, and showed up just as her class was ending to ensure that he caught her. When he saw her, he gave a broader smile than he had in several days and gave her a wave. When she was done finishing everything up, he could talk to her about Henry.

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She was still in class mode, mentally going over what she wanted for the next class, what she wanted to go over with Zell. There was a great deal, more than she'd really anticipated when she took the job, but she was finding she liked it. It made her focus on things outside of herself, made her focus on the well-being of others.

And she took a certain amount of guilty glee when she got to show a student just how much they didn't know before she helped them back up off the ground.

She was sweaty and a little tired, but she still felt a rush when she saw Aidan smile at her. He had the worst (or the best) affect on her. She didn't get it, she was drawn to him, she couldn't explain exactly why but she was getting used to having him around. Having him in her life and even her bed. Except for the last few days. She'd gone to his hut to check on him the day before and he hadn't been there, she'd been planning on spending the rest of the day looking for him.

Looked like she'd found him.

"Hey, Houdini, where did you disappear off to?" She wasn't sure she had the right to ask. Yeah, they were sleeping together and they were in a kind of more-than-friends place, but she hadn't asked him to be exclusive and if he'd gone off to shack up with someone else for a few days... was it her place to ask? To even care?

So she had noticed. That was good, or at least it felt good to him that she had missed him. Now he felt bad for not leaving some sort of note or something for her though. It wouldn't have been too hard, he was just too preoccupied with Henry and everything involved in that to think about it.

"The clinic," he said, stepping a bit closer to her. Should he hug her? Probably not considering how sweaty she was, but a handshake would seem too awkwardly formal. Maybe no physical greeting beyond a nod and smile was best.

"My, ah, my son arrived on the island a few days ago and he was hurt badly, so I've been in there with him the last few days."

Rachel had to pause and rewind what Aidan had said in her head before it she could get it past the sudden vapor-lock her brain went into. Family - she remembered him saying something about having a family once, didn't she? If so, it had to be from a very long time ago and suddenly Aidan disappearing wasn't so surprising. Let's face it, if your kid from your pre-vampire past showed up, you'd disappear for a few days, too, wouldn't you?

Reaching out, she took his hand. "Oh, God, Aidan is he going to be okay?" Because that would be terrible. Brought to the island to die? Not cool.

"He's going to be fine," Aidan said, giving her a half-smile and a quick squeeze of her hand before letting go. The physical comfort was nice though. Grounding.

"He showed up in my room. He just fell right on the floor. I hadn't seen him in 80 years and he was... very confused."

That had been an understatement. Henry was half-delirious with pain at best, let alone in a frame of mind to understand where he was.

"Fortunately, suddenly finding yourself human gives a lot of... credibility to the explanation of this place."

Yeah, okay, that made her pause again because she knew Aidan had a few hundred years on her and if the kid was... oh, shit.

So, not a kid then. Rachel was an idiot.

"So... not your kid-son, but your, like, your..." Rachel suddenly realized that she was so used to Aidan just being Aidan that she'd forgotten the whole vampire-bit. "You made him? He was like you?" Which cast his arrival on the island in a completely different light.

Aidan gave a small smile as he realized the confusion he had caused. He held on to that amusement so he didn't have to consider the fact that his real son might one day show up on the island. That was something he couldn't handle thinking about.

"Yes, I turned him during World War I. When a vampire turns someone, when they do it right and take responsibility for them like they should, it's a familial bond."

"I can see that." It was a little creepy, but there was a certain kind of sense to it. One of those accept it and don't dwell on it kind of facts.

The important thing was that he was here and Aidan had been worried and as a friend (more?), Rachel was worried, too. "He's gonna be okay, right? You said he was in the clinic, is there anything I can do?"

"He was hurt badly before coming here, but a week or so in the clinic and he should be doing a lot better," Aidan said. There was no need to explain that Henry had been tortured, that wasn't just Aidan's secret to tell.

"That's good, I guess since you've been staying there - do you need me to bring you guys anything?" Not that she wanted to intrude, it was probably pretty important that Aidan get his family settled before too many people started butting their heads in, but she thought she should ask. It was the least she could do as a friend, if not... whatever she and Aidan were now.

"No, we're fine," he said, shaking his head. The offer was nice, but even after being on the island, he wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable with accepting help instead of offering it.

"But keep an evening open for a picnic in the next week or two? We can make up for lost time once he's out of the clinic."

Lost time of what, he wasn't sure, but he had missed Rachel while looking after Henry.

"A picnic?" Rachel found herself brightening quite a bit at the idea, although she tried to keep from smiling too crazily at him. Jeez, what was with her? She should not be this fluttery over someone yet.

"I like that idea, gonna bring me another surprise?"

Aidan liked it when Rachel smiled. She didn't do it nearly enough, at least not a genuine smile like she was doing now. He hoped that he could help her smile like that a bit more often.

"I think I can do that," he said, giving her a smile in return before reaching out to brush a stray lock of hair away from her face. It didn't really need to be brushed aside, but he wanted an excuse to touch her.

The light touch made her shiver a little, even in the heat and she met his eyes evenly for a moment before rising lightly to brush her lips against his. "I was worried, you know. Kinda surprised me, but you're good at that." She stayed close to him again, not touching, but close, she liked being close to him.

"Sorry, it happened suddenly and I didn't have time to do anything but get the hook out of him and get him to the clinic," he said. He hadn't meant to give her that information about the hook, but her closeness was very distracting.

"Then I was just... I was worried about him."

She took his hand, giving it a squeeze of reassurance as she filed the word 'hook' away for later worrying. "The docs here are good, real good, I bet he'll be up and running again in no time."

A hook. It should surprise her, not with what she knew about him. His life had been as violent as hers once, but the idea that someone close to him had been hung on a hook sent a shiver down her spine.

"They're very good," he said with a nod. "And once he's better... a picnic. I promise."

It would be a nice reward to look forward to, something to take his mind off of Henry. As much as he loved his son, Aidan could be a bit obsessive at times. It was also important for Henry to explore the island on his own.

"Is there anything I can do for this one? You shouldn't have to do all the work." She felt a little guilty, after everything he'd done, the cowboy picnic, taking her home after her little shock, the last thing she wanted was to put more pressure on him. Especially now, he deserved better. She needed to do better for him.

"I mean it, anything."

"I think we can figure out a way for you to pay me back," he said with a grin. Letting him help her was more than payment enough, but that was something he was keeping to himself.

Pulling her close, he gave her a quick kiss that lingered a bit longer than he had intended.

"You can plan the next date. I promise."

She didn't mind the kiss, or the length of it. It felt... nice. Comfortable. Enough so that she wrapped her arms around him, humming lightly as they broke. "I'll plan something special. And make sure that I definitely pay you back appropriately."

"I look forward to it then."

He definitely would be looking forward to it, more than he thought he should, more than if it was just hanging out with a friend. Was he stumbling his way into another relationship? Apparently he had forgotten how to do anything like formal courtship.

Still grinning like a fool, Rachel broke off so she could pick up he bag and her water bottle. "So you have time to grab a late breakfast? Or do you need to get back to the clinic?"

She didn't want to monopolize his time if his family still needed him, but she wouldn't mind the company. "I'm heading back to the compound for a shower anyway, we could see what was in the kitchen?"

"I- I should really get back."

Aidan wanted to stay. Going for breakfast would be nice. Normal. Healthy. But his son who had been tortured was in the infirmary and he was worried about what would happen if Henry woke up and he wasn't there. It was unlikely that anything bad would happen but Aidan had made the mistake before of taken the normal path instead of the cautious one.

"Picnic soon though. I promise."

"Aidan, don't worry about it. It's totally cool. Do you want me to bring you something after my shower, or should I keep my distance until he's settled?"

She didn't mind either. She could imagine waking up here, hurt, confused (hooked), and if Aidan wanted her to give the guy space, not a problem. But she wanted to meet him. Sooner or later. If they were going to be... whatever they were, that was what happened, right?

"That... I would like that."

It was a good way to balance the normal and whatever it was that his life regularly was. Maybe this would work out after all. Whatever 'this' was, which he should think about some time.

Rachel gave him a kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hand again. "Then it's settled. I'll shower and bring you something to snack on before I go home. That way you have something to snack on while he sleeps and I can work on a few things."

"Sounds perfect," Aidan said, squeezing her hand and realizing it was something he was definitely going to look forward to. It was worth noting that even in the midst of Henry arriving, Rachel could give him something to look forward to.

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For Rachel, 5-23-2012

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