Someday Maybe

A/N: I think I like this chapter. It's probably the longest one so far but that's in part because the day before yesterday I wrote squat and yesterday I wrote a bit less than the daily goal. I'm now slightly over 1,000 words behind but I should catch up again.

Apologies to anyone who started this before someone pointed out that it cut off mid-chapter! I have fixed it now.

Thank you to my readers and reviewers.

Lisa: Because hotels don't want you wandering around unless you've given them money? He got a room so they could go upstairs and break into the service stairs to get close enough to the penthouse to read the mind of whoever. I admit to breaking the rules of grammar that way. It just looks so much less awkward in books than when I do it in my word documents. I'll try to resist.



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“Take note that folders do not make very good weapons.” Ty said dryly. He internally sighed at the mess of papers all over the floor from where Aiden had tried to throw them at him in frustration. Ty had said he’d had to read the briefing, which was quite long before they went on the next mission. Aiden had read the top sheet and maybe flipped through the rest before he decided it was a waste of time. He’d put it on the coffee table and ignored it until the older male insisted he’d read it. And then he threw it at him.

“I don’t care if you don’t want to read them. If you want to work for them and not get yourself killed you have to read the briefings.” Aiden had been pretending to ignore him but finally looked over at him again. “The mission is that dangerous?” Ty nodded. “All missions have the potentiality to be dangerous, even the first one I took you on. That’s why you have to read the briefings and know where there might be cameras and the schedules of the people you might encounter and whether you need to be worried about encountering them or not.”

Ty knelt and gathered up the papers, shuffling them back into the correct order though they were no longer as pristine as they had been the first time he’d given them to Aiden to read but that had no bearing on their contents. He handed the papers back to the blue-haired boy and continued his preparations for their next mission. They had to go fairly far away which meant either driving or booking bus tickets because airports and airplanes were something Ty found were best when avoided.

He had to weigh whether driving would tire him more than riding on a bus and all the various cameras that would catch hold of him along the way and whether it would be easier to bring weapons with him or buy them once there and what were the odds of getting caught during their endeavors versus if it would be easier to be caught afterward if he choose one mode of travel over another.

Not that he expected to get caught. You see, he had no motive. That was the biggest beauty of how law enforcement worked and also the largest of their flaws. Of course usually thinking about the possible motives behind a crime and who might have motive to commit the crime were effective in finding out who might have done it. And then they weeded out people with possible motives by comparing them to the list of people with possible opportunity.

Ty had neither. He had no motive. No interest in the information they were supposed to be gathering beyond getting it and passing it on to them. He had no opportunity beyond the fact that he would be in the city at the time the crime was committed. But so were millions of other people. He didn’t have connections to the place and he wouldn’t be breaking in. It would be an internal investigation that would turn up nothing. If he was more skilled there might be no investigation at all but since he imagined they had something in mind to do with the information they were going to go steal it was likely the company would notice it had somehow been leaked.

He decided it would be much easier to bring his own weapons than buy them once more and that entailed smuggling them or driving. He chose to drive. It was really the most logical choice after all. He didn’t look forward to doing all that driving all by himself but- Well, they had gotten Aiden a license. Of course, they hadn’t made a fake one. They just made sure the boy was capable of driving and then they faked the necessary paperwork that allowed him to get one. He went and took the driving test and passed it with no problem. Ty had yet to trust him enough to let him drive his car.

They would need cash to buy food and gas and necessities. Fortunately that was easier than anything else to get. Other than weapons there was some other gear they would need to bring that they would have to use. They’d also need to bring some stuff that Ty hoped they wouldn’t have to use but if you didn’t have a dozen contingency plans going on in your head for everything that could go wrong while still assuming that nothing would- you weren’t prepared enough. Or at least that was his experience and he liked to think he had a lot of experience at this “spy stuff” enough so that he at least wouldn’t get killed at it even if he didn’t think he was as good as he could be.

He reminded himself again to make a list of the useful things he should teach Aiden. How to pick locks. How to break into cars. How to crack safe’s and security codes. How to hot wire cars. Where most people kept hide-a-key’s or spare keys. He’d asked on a couple of the things and was intrigued but not surprised to learn that Aiden wasn’t totally unfamiliar with breaking into places though his methods were more in line with the smash and grab approach than anything as refined as lock picks.

He told Aiden to keep reading as he took his car to collect some of the different things he’d need. Some of it was kept in storage under an assumed name. Some of it was almost permanently in his car anyway and some of it had to be collected from some of their less savory contacts and paid for up front.

He was ready on time according to his schedule and though he’d rather leave sooner than later he knew they couldn’t go right now. They’d wait until tomorrow and hit the road, spend an inordinate amount of time driving, arrive at their destination and rest and then go in. He stopped and got food for them to eat for dinner and headed back to his apartment to see if Aiden had actually read the briefing like he was supposed to.

Wonder of wonders that he actually had. It would have been astounding if not for the fact that since he’d done it meant that he’d actually taken seriously Ty’s warning that death could result from carelessness and not reading briefings even on the most mundane of missions. Aiden taking anything seriously was foreign. Even when he was cooking, something that Ty would view as an execution of science rather than art, he would throw things together or lose track of time and over cook something and end up having to turn it into something else or choose strange flavor combinations just to see what they would taste like together and generally not take the process very seriously.

He seemed to view everything as a game for his amusement and Ty often wondered if this was the real Aiden or if it was the startling glimpses of a grumpy realist that emerged most often when they were out in public and something irritated him that were the actual person beneath a veneer of over-casual behavior. He was generally inclined to believe it was the latter sheerly from the fact that he knew something about his past must be bad. His past had to have been bad for him to have resorted into breaking into places and getting himself emancipated but at the same time he had to have had a decent amount of intelligence and will to be able to get himself emancipated and that didn’t fit in with the Aiden who for some reason insisted he was a “fag” (though whether he meant homosexual or annoying or both or something else entirely was beyond him) and who’s logic concluded that since Ty couldn’t read his thoughts they should have sex.

If he was darker and more serious underneath how could he possibly stand acting so sickeningly happy and positively moronic and careless about everything all the time without going totally batshit insane? Ty couldn’t even begin to fathom that one and he knew from careful measurement that his armspan was almost exactly the right length to do so which made him more of a square than a rectangle. Through his knowledge of psychology he could recognize it as a defense mechanism against the world he found hard to handle normally it didn’t mean it made any sense to the rest of him.

They ate in silence as usual (it was hard to talk when you were stuffing your face after all and Ty preferred the reprieve from Aiden’s mouthy ways anyway) and after dinner they were both a bit subdued in contemplation of the coming assignment and ended up both turning in early to get some sleep for the no doubt tiring drive that was to come tomorrow.

It wasn’t fair! He wanted to scream. Another group home so soon and he hadn’t even done anything wrong in the last one. He felt like he was never going to have a home. Never going to get adopted or accepted anywhere. This place was no different than all the last. Dormitory style rooms that were maybe a little better than the ones before. He shared a room with two other boys and a bathroom with with five including his two roommates and the three boys in the next room over. There was a cafeteria that seemed alright and it was... quieter here in some intangible way he couldn’t quite explain.

Suddenly he was in a class, taking a test. He was writing down the answers to the math problems even before he read them and when he checked back over the work at the end he found it riddled with mistakes he never would have made. And then there was biology class and there was something about that that seemed strangely not right. And therapy. Almost everyone had to go to therapy so he wasn’t really being singled out there but the calming exercises and the things to repress his bad childhood memories and waking up one day and being overwhelmed with voices.

Everyone will notice that I gained two pounds. I didn’t finish my homework and the teacher is going to be mad. Shit. Shit. Shit. What an idiot he is. I don’t get how they can even- What if- how- apricots- the definition of- x squared. And a thousand thousand other words and thoughts crammed into his head that did not belong to him and should not be there and had arrived through no conscious volition of his own and did not want to go away no matter how he covered his ears and cried and begged for it to stop until finally there were adults and they were talking or maybe it was just all those voices and some kind of agreement was made and there was a sharp pinch in his upper arm and he felt like he was falling even though he’d been curled up on the floor and then- there was blessed silence and blackness.

He was breathing hard, disoriented, he was lying in a strange room that seemed oddly familiar except that he couldn’t place it. He threw off the thick covers, too hot and sweating and looked around. His clock read three in the morning. His clock. His room. He lived here now. There was no group home. Not anymore. And there were no thoughts threatening to crowd him out of his own mind, not when he could focus to drown them out.

He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He rested his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his hands. Deep breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Exhale. Breathe. Count. Repeat. Breathe. Count. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat until his heart was beating slowly and his head was no longer pounding and he was shivering with the chill of the sweat evaporating off his body in the cold apartment.

Three in the morning. It was a time he often went to bed but that didn’t mean it was too early to get up was it? No. No, of course not, some people wake up at three every morning he justified to himself. Aiden was supposed to wake in a few hours anyway. He went and turned the thermostat up several notches, still shivering then back-tracked to grab the clean clothes he had set out for himself to wear this morning and padded to the bathroom. He didn’t turn the light on until the door was fully closed to be considerate and not wake Aiden up early. Not that Aiden was going to wake up just because the bathroom light was on but still the consideration was there.

He stripped out of the sweaty lounge pants and long sleeved t-shirt he’d worn to bed. He shivered again and carefully avoided looking at himself in either of the mirrors as he started the water running in the shower and stepped in. The heater was the kind that heated water on demand so there was no more than a second or two of leftover cold water from what had been sitting in the pipes and he could shower for as long as he wanted and never run out of hot water.

He washed his hair, brushed his teeth, washed away all evidence of the nightmare and finally he sat down under the hot water and just let it wash over him for a long long time until he felt somewhat human once more even if only marginally. It was only then, his skin red from the heat of the water, fingers and toes wrinkled up that he could consider turning off the spray, drying himself and getting dressed for the day in the comfortable clothing he’d picked out. Feeling fully human would take some time and some caffeine he knew from experience. This was how he always felt after his nightmarish dream memories and part of the reason he didn’t sleep as much as he should have.

He gathered his dirty clothes, turned off the light and padded into the predawn kind of darkness of his apartment. It was never truly dark in the city where lights blazed all the time so there was enough light in the gloom coming through the shades to make his way to the kitchen and collect what he needed for peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Knife, banana, jar of peanut butter, and the whole loaf of bread because getting a few slices was too much effort and carried them back to his room to eat.

He concentrated on small motions. Putting the sandwiches together perfectly, taking a small bite and chewing it mechanically until he no longer felt so hungry. And then he mentally went over everything they would need and made sure it was all packed and set to go. And by the time that was done it was time to wake up Aiden which he did by turning on the lights and then shaking him by the shoulders until he actually opened his eyes and cursed at him sleepily with no real venom behind the words as there was when he was awake.

Aiden stumbled around, zombie-like but still managed to get himself dressed and obediently carried a bag down to the parking garage to Ty’d car. He didn’t protest Ty driving the first leg of the journey. Their first stop was driving through McDonald’s and ordering some food and coffee for both of them. Ty was careful to pay attention to his driving as he ate and drank his coffee and not get distracted by the food but Aiden just ate the food ravenously and sipped at the coffee and by the time they stopped again he was at a high enough level of functionality to drive.

The trip was generally uneventful and at the end Ty was grateful to check into a motel and crash hard enough that he anticipated no more dreams. He was only too grateful to wake in the morning rested and comfortable. He dressed and went to do a little reconnaissance. It didn’t require anything special, just getting close enough to one of the workers at the place they planned on breaking into to steal from him the door codes that would work that day. And that was all he needed.

Dressed in black on black on black on black they made their way into the lab. They had to scale a large fence topped with barbed wire but the climb wasn’t difficult for two young men and a piece of thick carpeting protected them from the ripping barbs. Their clothing, complete with black gloves and ski masks made them all but invisible on this moonless night. Once they were on the right side of the fence Ty led Aiden confidently toward the complex. There were guards here, of course, but they were content to sit and let the electronics do their jobs for them. Too bad they weren’t aware of all the easily exploited blind spots the cameras didn’t capture.

Ty walked through these areas to the front door. His fingers tapped out the code and he held his breath for a second as the light sluggishly turned green. He smoothly tugged the door open and both of them quickly slipped through. Ty was quick to check but wasn’t surprised to find that there were no cameras inside the building. After all, if you could get in you had to know the oft-changed passcodes and to have access to the research you needed a different passcode to enter a lab and another code to unlock the computer terminals. The owners weren’t worried about thieves breaking in and stealing anything so why bother with cameras?

Ty paused once they were inside and mentally consulted the layout he had memorized of the place and led Aiden to the right lab. It took two codes to open it one and then another entered fifteen seconds later. Ty breathed a sigh of relief when they were inside the lab. Next all it took was unlocking the computer terminals and hooking them up to the many empty hard drives that they’d brought. Aiden helped him work on this and they hooked up drives and started them copying in silence. Soon they were all going and though it seemed like it was taking an excessive amount of time they were all copied over within the parameters Ty had expected.

Unhook the drives, stow them, shut down the computers, exit the lab and wait a moment for the light to flicker to red indicating it was locked once more. Out the same way they’d come in. Take a different path to the fence to account for the movement of the cameras, back over the fence and drag their rug down with them and walk off into the night.

Ty imagined it was eerie, ghost like. They had not been seen or detected. They’d left no traces and yet they had stolen information that the people who employed them could use at their will. Maybe they’d reveal the lab’s work or use the research to their own endeavors or sell it or a thousand other things. And the lab would know but they wouldn’t be able to fathom how it was that the data was stolen unless by one of their own because there was no forced entry and no trace of... anything.

Ty smiled to himself. Tonight’s mission had proven that Aiden was apparently capable of shutting up for long periods of time. It was a good thing to keep in mind for future reference. And maybe rib him about a little. And that was a strange thought, so foreign that it had come from his own head that he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Ty didn’t mind conversation but he usually liked to talk about something. Aside from that he’d also been told he had no sense of humor so the idea of wanting to tease someone about something... it was strange.

When they were back in the motel Aiden turned toward him with a wicked grin. The masks and gloves had been removed some time ago to seem less suspicious as they walked so he could easily see his full expression. “That was actually a lot of fun.” The younger man admitted. “Really badass.” He bounced on his toes. “I feel great.” He added, still grinning. And that would be the adrenaline and endorphins, of course. Ty wasn’t surprised that Aiden enjoyed the feeling and found himself smiling a little as well because he too could still feel the lingering effects of adrenaline.

“I’ve learned two astounding things about you today. You’re capable of being serious and of shutting up for extended periods of time occasionally.” He said, giving in to the urge to tease him and wondering at how natural it felt. Aiden smirked at him in response to his statements.

“Well, you could have found out sooner if you’d have given me proper motivation.” Aiden responded, half his mouth curled up into its typical mocking smile as he spoke. Ty arched an eyebrow up at him as he briefly considered what he might mean by that. He decided that he wasn’t sure he could figure out what was going on in his head anyway.

“And what would that be?” He asked finally. Aiden’s smile widened into a full smirk and when the answer came it was one Ty had not expected. Aiden kissed him, immediately wrapping his arms around his shoulders and holding on tight to preemptively help keep Ty from getting away. The blond blinked green eyes at the closed gray ones so close to his own and spent a few moments being shocked before he carefully but obviously firmly pushed the younger boy away.

“You’re no fun.” Aiden pouted but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes looked amused. Apparently he enjoyed making Ty uncomfortable. But then, he already knew that. It was a strange moment but- ...well, Ty wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Maybe that it would make Aiden stop trying. Or maybe just because it was just once and kissing wasn’t so bad, really, it didn’t remind him of all the perverted things he had seen and make him want to hurl.

He stepped forward quickly, cupped Aiden’s head in his hands and kissed him. He seemed startled for a moment but recovered a lot more quickly than Ty himself had done and kissed him back for the moments that Ty allowed the kiss to go on before pulling away. “There.” Ty said with a bit of finality and decided he didn’t want to interpret the expression on Aiden’s face as he turned away to get his phone. “What kind of pizza do you want?” He asked but only got a mumbled “whatever” in response and the bathroom door shut. The shower started running shortly thereafter.

Ty decided not to think too much about it.



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A/N: Extra points for getting the fathom, armspan, square joke... lots of extra points if you can tell me what that says about Ty physically.
Uhm... give me lots of confused reviews and I'll explain it?