Chapter Text
17. We're All Idiots Here
Edward nodded and took the gun outstretched to him. Ling gave a look and asked them to look after Lan Fan. Aiden nodded and waved them off, they needed to go. Lan Fan cried out for Ling to wait but the trio were already headed into the woods. Aiden gently shushed the battle-worn teen and brushed sweaty hair from her face. She looked up at Riza and handed her a walkie-talkie before she jumped on her horse.
"Let's go," Roy commanded. When the car went nowhere he snapped out, "I said go!"
"Damn! What are they thinking?" Doctor Knox slammed his hand on the wheel and sped off. Aiden took up pace behind them. "Those three are gonna get themselves killed."
The radio crackled to life and Aiden's voice came over. Roy stared into the rearview mirror. "It's too dangerous to try getting back into Central at this time. If the Fuhrer really is a homunculus and he wants Gluttony back, he'll be looking for people sneaking around and he'll find us."
"Where do you suppose we go?" Riza asked.
Aiden's heart stopped at the thought but she knew the moment was drawing near. She kicked the horses side and sped up to go around them. The car slowed to allow the transition of leader. "I know a place. My own cabin will distance us and provide cover from Gluttony and the others."
"I hope you're right about that. Especially with your sense of direction," Roy added.
Roy stared ahead and Riza lifted her finger from the radio. She didn't want the rider in front of them to hear her. "Sir, are you sure we can trust her?"
"I don't think we have a choice Lieutenant."
"And if it's a trap?"
"We don't know if she told anyone else where she is or what she is doing, so we can't take her out without arousing suspicion. For now we'll have to wait for her to make the first move."
He ignored the clenching of his chest when he suggested killing Aiden. It hurt to even think of it and saying it aloud was no better. If the truth revealed her loyalty belonging to the homunculi then he'd have no choice but to get rid of her, regardless of how he felt about it.
Oblivious to the conversation behind her, Aiden ignored the jibe against her lack of direction sense - she only got them lost that one time four years ago - and instead focused on what her next words were going to be when she arrived at the cabin. Aside from the passphrase, Aiden didn't know what to do. These people, minus Lan Fan, were about to meet the one person they had thought was dead for the past few months. And after that then she was going to be questioned, not only about her involvement in protecting Maes, but her past in general.
There was no certainty Roy or any of them would take it well. Roy may stop trusting her altogether, if he hadn't already, and she couldn't blame the man for doing so. It would crush her nonetheless. Riza would defer to Roy's judgement until she could make her own conclusions which would sometimes take a while, so there went her one female friend left in the world. The more she thought about their possible reactions the more Aiden wanted to curl up into a ball. She remembered her nightmare in the East vividly; one couldn't easily forget something so traumatizing.
The cabin came into view and Aiden's emotions had shot past nervous to that moment when a person was so anxious they were calm. She slowly pulled the horse to a stop and dismounted. The animal immediately trotted to the stable to her left to feast on the grains waiting for him.
Knox turned the car off and the occupants of the car exited, Riza having to help Lan Fan stand on her feet. There wasn't even a stutter in her step as Aiden approached the steps to the porch. She paused as the door opened and a gun was held out in the moonlight by a man whose body could be seen, but his face was hidden by shadow. Riza gasped and reached for her weapon but Aiden stopped her by holding her hand out.
She took a deep breath. "Fear constant exile thatcher."
There was silence as the man lowered the gun. "Attached fruit printers differ."
Aiden grinned and rushed up the steps. "Nice to see you again. I wish it was under better circumstances but we need to crash for the night."
From where Roy, Riza, Lan Fan, and doctor Knox stood, they could see Aiden lean forward and whisper a few words. Roy narrowed his eyes as the man disappeared inside the two story cabin. Aiden stayed behind and waved them over which was rather efficient in getting the three to get closer to the cabin.
"What was that all about?" doctor Knox groused.
"Safety measures," Aiden replied curtly. "We have phrases to use on certain days, especially in person. Normally it wouldn't be necessary but with a homunculus around that can change shapes... well it's problematic. Especially for a guy who's in witness protection." Aiden turned around and stepped inside only to pause. Her eyes were shut tightly and her hands were clenched into fists. Something none of them could miss. "When you walk in this cabin and see him, don't... don't jump to any conclusions."
Aiden took up the teen in her arms, surprising the three with the strength she had, and grunted under the weight before walking the rest of the way in. Roy and Riza shared a look as the doctor went inside and then they followed him. The lights were on to the right, which was the kitchen, and to the left a small fire was lit in the fireplace in what Roy assumed was the living room. Lan Fan was resting on a couch next to a coffee table. Roy turned his attention from the girl to Aiden who was handing her a cup of water. The girl smiled gratefully and took a sip. Aiden met his gaze but immediately turned away.
Roy raised an eyebrow and dismissed the action. Behind him he heard Riza gasp and he turned around. The Lieutenant was in the kitchen staring at something out of view. Her hands covered her mouth and the reaction had Roy walking forward to see what had his Lieutenant so emotional. The first thing he noticed was Knox gaping at something to his left and he turned in that direction.
"What are you guys-" Roy stopped short as his breath left him.
There, leaning up against the counter with his arms folded, was the one and only Brigadier General Maes Hughes.
Maes smiled. "Hey Roy."
SKOMO
"Roy please I-"
"You lied to me! We've known each other for years and only now you come forward with this?"
"What was I supposed to say?" Aiden screamed back. "Would you have believed me if I told you earlier than this?"
"I don't know!"
"Then it can't be all my fault! I was ripped away from my son and daughter Roy, my own children. And then I was thrust into a new world with no past, no friends, and no remnant of hone aside from one stupid journal that told me everyone's future!"
Aiden chucked the book into a wall with a loud thud, a few papers falling out. Then her hands slammed into the wall and they tightened into fists, but there was nothing to grab hold of. A gasp escaped her as she shuddered, tears leaking from her eyes.
"I had people around me, but none of you knew the real me," she whispered. "I was all alone. I had no one."
"Why? Why do you bother with us? If everything here is set in stone then why change things?"
"Because I care."
A paper fluttered to the ground as the door slammed closed, thunder echoing the sound and lightning lighting up the room. Roy stared at the door in shock.
SKOMO
"Aiden has been doing this by herself for years, and it's taking its toll on her."
"What does that mean?"
"You can't tell me you haven't noticed," Maes said in disbelief. There was no reply. "There are bags under her eyes, Roy. She doesn't sleep very often and when she does it isn't for long. She doesn't eat much. That woman in there once passed out right in front of me because she is so focused on helping us. Aiden has been running herself ragged."
Roy's mind flashed back to the night he and the others had interrogated Barry. Aiden was the same then too, but now it was more prominent. Anyone passing by wouldn't notice unless they stared and compared her to what she used to be.
"Think about it Roy," Maes said. He left the other man to join Aiden and Riza inside.
Roy looked at Aiden and could see the way her eyes lit up as she talked to Riza and Maes about her world. It was the first time he had seen that look on her in a long while. She was happy. She was more open than she had ever been before all because they knew her completely. It hit Roy that the barrier Aiden had put up between them, that no one had noticed, was gone. She was free to tell stories and joke far more.
In the beginning he'd been angry that she'd kept the secret of her entire past and Maes being alive to herself. But he understood her reasons too well to be angry for long. She had been protecting Maes from Envy and the rest of the homunculi. And her past alone... Roy could see why Aiden was hesitant to bring it up at all. Anyone would be.
SKOMO
"All those times you asked me to stay... you were asking for help." Roy choked up a harsh laugh. "You were practically alone in this, and I did nothing."
"You couldn't have known."
"I should have."
"But you didn't."
35. Warehouse Thirteen
Without thinking she snapped the bone in two with ease. She glanced at one end and raised an eyebrow; it was hollow.
A scream made her look up. Kain was flailing as he, Breda, and Falman backed away. Even Roy was giving her a look of shock.
"Don't you know that defiling the bones of the dead is sure to bring a curse?" Kain screeched.
Of all the supernatural things she didn't believe in, it was curses. Aiden shook her head and held out one half of the snapped bone. "I don't believe in curses. And even if they did exist then it wouldn't come from a chicken bone."
The three paused in their panicking.
Dialogue in the form of a script a friend and I came up with at 3 in the morning!
Katy: I am a steaming cauldron of sexual needs and desires!
Aiden: Then go get a boyfriend.
Katy: I will.
Roy, being introduced to Katy for the second time: And who's this?
Aiden, sarcasm evident: Well I'm me -
Katy: Yes and I'm captain Levi.
*distant fangirl screams*
Roy: Uh, what was that?
Katy: Ignore that. My name's Katy Erwin.
Scar, sharing the same English V.A. as Erwin Smith from AOT: *sneezes*
Jean, about Katy: I feel like I've heard of her before...
Katy: *looks over and grins with sharp teeth*
Aiden, after a long day, still in the office: I hate this place.
Katy: Just another day for the Survey Corps.
Aiden, gesturing at team passed out on the floor: My entire team is dead!
Fanart and commissions!
Sleeping Roy and Aiden with malicious Maes! Artwork by laizy_boy04 on Instagram.
Scene from chapter 29: Here We Are . Artwork by laizy_boy 04.
Gift from a friend! Aiden and Katy Erwin! Artwork by laizy_boy04.
Aiden and Katy. Artwork by roymaes on Twitter.
Aiden, Tristan, and Jessica (a.k.a. Katy) for the 1 year anniversary! Along with a single one of Aiden! Artwork by 1233mooncat1233 on Instagram.