Chapter Two

"Aiden? What the fuck are you doing here? When did you get out-" Jerry began as he caught sight of Aiden down the alleyway. He stopped short when he saw the way his old shadow was walking. He knew that walk. He knew Aiden and what Aiden had done and could do. He put his hands up and started backing off. “I thought we went over this, kid. It wasn’t my fault-”
“I don't care, Jerry,” Aiden spat. He knocked him down to the ground as soon as he got close enough.
"Shit! Aiden! What the fuck?!" Jerry exclaimed. A girl looking down from a fire escape of a nearby building screamed as Aiden continued to kick Jerry. She yelled at him to stop as blood spilled onto the pavement. Another group of dealers from down the alley looked up. Some started shouting as they sprinted over.
"Rarefeld? What the hell do you think you're doing?" one guy growled. Aiden paused for the briefest moment before punching the guy in the gut. His once-friends stepped in and started punching back. Jerry crawled out of the mob only to jump up and get back in again. The girl started to scream continuously as one dealer's head split open on the pavement.

Jason followed Brian at a slower pace but fast enough to keep the teenager in view. He was still hurting and the adrenaline didn't seem to be doing its job in numbing his aches from the beating he'd received not more than an hour ago.
Brian turned around an alley corner and stopped short. He wasn't immediately sure if this was what he was looking for, but then he saw a glimpse of Aiden as he took on eight dealers. The shock made his feet freeze for a moment before Jason caught up to him.
The man took one look at the action, let out a string of vicious curses and punched the nearest dealer in the kidney. The guy dropped to the ground and Jason kicked him in the stomach, before moving further into the alley.
That pulled Brian out of the shock and he jumped into the fray as well, going for another dealer.
Jason turned to the screaming girl who had come down to the street and grabbed her arm, throwing her out of the alley with a yelled, "Shut up!" When he turned back around it was just in time to see a punch landing in his stomach right on a recent injury. Jason doubled over, letting out another string of choice words and then pulled out his gun. He shot the guy through his lower torso, his gun cracking loudly through the air and bouncing off the surrounding walls.

Aiden didn't notice Jason and Brian until the shot echoed around the alley. The dealers stopped dead before they backed off slowly. The eighteen-year-old clenched his jaw and whirled around, stepping over the fallen dealer without a glance before continuing to storm back towards the sea wall. His fists quivered at his side as he struggled to get a grip. But his temper hadn't diminished. The sound of the gun had only strengthened it. Claire.
"Fuck!" he screamed halfway down the alley, kicking a trash can into a car. The alarm sounded, screeching in the growing dusk. "Fuck me!"
Jason rolled his eyes as he and Brian followed at a quick pace. He put the gun away where it had been hidden and then jogged to catch up. He wasn't sure why he was doing it; he should just leave the kid to his own devices. The kid would probably be better off that way anyway; his steps faltered. But then he stepped up and blocked Aiden's path. "Shit, kid! How stupid could you be?!" he snarled more aggressively than he felt.
"Pretty fucking stupid, to come to you!" Aiden roared, trying to get around him. "I‘m fucked up right now. Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do. You're not one to talk! I'll fucking lose it! I swear! I have lost it! She's gone! Do you understand that? And it's all my fault! MINE!"
"Anyone would be fucked up right now!" Jason snapped back, stepping sideways to block Aiden's path. He glared hard at the kid, trying to get Aiden to look him in the face. "Yeah, you were stupid to come to me! But shit, if the keycard is real I am the only one that can get you to my time! You want to kill those bastards? You have to tell me what happened!" Jason was responding to the anger in Aiden's voice, his own temper rising, but he pushed it back down. He wished he wasn't in this situation, but he was and now he was going to deal with it.
"What happened? What happened?!" Aiden shouted. "This guy shot at me! But he missed! He fucking missed! So what does he do? He tries again! But the fucker misses again. And then there’s Claire. She's lying on the floor with a bullet in her chest. So he shoots again. And again. She's dead! And he was aiming at me! Just shoot me, Jason. It'll end both of our problems." Aiden turned and began to pace, an angry tear sliding down his cheek. He wiped it away furiously.
Jason listened to Aiden, trying to understand all that was being said. He clenched his jaw as he mulled over shooting the teenager. He could do that. It would end this particular problem if Aiden died. But they were his only link to the hacker's card at the moment.
Then again, he wouldn't have to deal with Aiden's barrage of uncontrollable emotions.
He forced his voice to go calm and low again, like when he had talked to Brian. Something that wasn't exactly easy for him. "Look kid, if you really want me to kill you I will. But people from my time don't go back in time to try to kill someone for no reason." He didn't know how to deal with this. He thought about just knocking Aiden unconscious, possibly tying him up, and dealing with everything when the kid woke up.
His green eyes rose to look at Brian. He was going through the same thing. Maybe they could... work it out or something. He really wasn't good with these situations. Or with kids. Calm and strategic thinking weren't his strong points.
Aiden glared at him and paced in a circle. He had to find some way of getting rid of all the emotions that were raging around inside of him. He shouted a string of curses again before he leaned against an alley wall, his head in his hands. He slid to the ground and rested his elbows on his knees.
"Fuck it. I don't care if people try to kill me for no reason or not. But they did."
Brian sat down next to Aiden on the sidewalk. He looked at him blankly, thinking for a few minutes; the silence filled with thoughts went by unnoticed until he broke it. "We can't bring them back," Brian said lowly, staring distantly at the yellow line in the middle of the road in front of them. He took a deep breath to steady himself. "We aren't going to get anywhere if you're gonna rip at everyone's throats. What we could do is take it easy a few days, then go into Jason's time and see what we can do; because we are going to find those motherfuckers who did this." Brian's gaze turned into a steely one.
Jason was glad that Brian took over. He nodded agreeing with what the teenager said. "A break sounds good. You kids do that. Brian, I need that keycard," he said holding out his hand. He was going to go back to his time and let Kalim look at it. He had to find out who the hell had the balls to steal his numbers.
"You'd better come back, Jason. There's no way I'm leaving you out of this. It's your fucking card." Brian locked him with a burning gaze. He didn't care if Aiden connected the dots now; he wasn't going to let him get up.
Jason glared at the kid. "It's not my fucking card," he snapped, snatching it from him. "Is this the only one you have?" he asked. He had to make sure. He had to have all the evidence he could get. It would make finding the bastards easier.
"That's the only one I have; Aiden took the rest." He wanted to trust Jason, but for some reason... He wished he had hung on to two, and kept one. Damn it, he thought to himself, stupid hindsight.
Jason’s dark green gaze landed on Aiden. "I need the cards kid," he demanded. He saw the distrust in Brian's eyes and he already knew that Aiden's expression wasn't much better. That wasn't his problem though. They had a right to revenge. But his impatience and irritation at being hacked got the better of him. "Give me the cards Aiden," he reiterated in the same harsh voice.
Aiden's hands fell to rest on his knees as he glared at Jason. "They're your cards? You better have nothing to do with this because I promise that if you do, you'll have to kill me," his voice was low, trembling with anger and threats. Reluctantly, he pulled out the cards from his pocket and tossed them at Jason. He stood up.
"If you're going back to your time, I'm going back to Calgary. I'll meet you at the bar in two days." He started to leave, his eyes hard and shimmering. He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood.
Jason caught the cards and walked away without looking back.
It was decided that Aiden and Brian would return home and they would all meet back at the bar in two days.
“How did you get down here? I could give you a ride someplace,” Brian offered.
“My uncle flew us down,” Aiden growled. “But I have my pilot's license. Get me to the airport and I'll be in Calgary in an hour.”
Brian started making his way back to the hospital parking lot before getting into his small truck. He didn't look at the tall cold building as he unlocked the vehicle and started it up. Aiden had followed and was waiting on the passenger side. The teenagers drove in near silence the whole way to the private airstrip.
“I'm sorry about Hannah,” Aiden muttered as he got out of the truck, slamming the door and crossing the tarmac with long strides. “I have anger issues.”

Jason sat in the bar, his thumb running over and over the numbers. Most people didn't mess with him this way. Too many people knew about his connection to Kalim and no one messed with Kalim. If the people were smart enough to hack his numbers, then they should have been smart enough to know what would happen to them if they did. Kalim didn't tolerate things like this because it left too many open ended situations; too many loose ends. The hackers were going to die, one way or another. Jason knew this with absolute certainty.
First he had to face telling Kalim about this. He winced slightly. He really didn't want to risk Kalim's anger again. Maybe he could just go to Benny...
Sighing, he finished off his drink and stood up. Pulling out his small curved phone, he opened the screen that slid out of the thicker end. “Save numbers...” he spoke to the phone, it responding with a beep, then he read the numbers off the hackers card as a backup. He closed the small screen and hooked the phone to his ear. “Call Kalim,” he said, and the phone rang in his ear.

Idler on the Roof

January 22, 2011 at 12:22 AM PST

You got two posts-different and awesome writing. Imageries with your words-excellent. Love your writing. You're good. Got me hooked and kept reading.