Soldier Keep On Marching On

Warehouse Thirteen

Aiden hummed and spun in the chair much like a child would when they were bored and had nothing better to do. She paused momentarily to let Black Hayate hop on her lap and continued to spin at a much slower pace. The canine was a welcome source of heat in the cool office and Aiden tilted her head back and rested it against the back of the chair, closing her eyes for a much-needed nap. The chair slowed to a stop facing the rest of the room.

"You could help you know," a voice sounded.

She opened her eyes and frowned at the two men in the doorway. Maes was grinning in his usual fanatical manner and Roy was to his right, smiling at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well I mean I could, I just don't want to." She shrugged and returned her own satisfied smirk. An object reflected the sun into her eyes and she winced before glaring at the camera in Maes's hands. "You didn't."

Roy lightly elbowed his friend. "We did."

Upon entering the office both men were drawn to her sleeping form. She had looked peaceful with Black Hayate in her lap, guarding her, ready to defend at a moment's notice. Hawkeye had trained the dog well. Without blinking Maes had raised his camera and snapped the shot in a well-practiced movement before Roy could react.

Aiden groaned and buried her face in her hands, swearing at them. She had never been one for candid photographs especially the ones from Maes. He had a way of getting her during the weirdest moments, yet the man always defended himself by saying that pictures taken without knowledge often showed who that person truly was. The man was an odd duck; one minute he was more hyper than a child on a sugar rush and the next he was as wise as a man twice his age.

Riza walked in then, followed by the rest of the team, Jean being the last person in. Aiden wrinkled her nose at the smell of smoke coming from the man's cigarette.

"I'm just saying Hawkeye," Kain said, "Warehouse Thirteen could exist."

The woman sighed and shook her head. She went to speak when she was interrupted by a series of loud, sharp barks. The team turned in surprise to stare at Black Hayate as he jumped from Aiden's lap and ran at Jean. Breda backed up quite a few steps to put distance between him and the dog and Jean too took a step back in surprise.

"Black Hayate!" Riza commanded. "Quiet!"

Much to the shock of the team, the dog ignored the command and continued barking. Jean backed a few more steps and stumbled over a box. His cigarette fell from his mouth as he went to catch himself and landed in front of Black Hayate who started growling at the cancer stick. Maes quickly walked over, picked up the cigarette, and put it out. Black Hayate fell silent and trotted back to Aiden's side feeling accomplished. 

The team watched him and sat in silence before Aiden broke it. "Wow Jean," she said. "Even Black Hayate thinks you should quit while you're ahead." She swiveled in her chair to stare at Riza. "Exactly how smart is your dog?"

The woman didn't reply and Maes burst out laughing which in turn sent everyone else into hysterics at Jean's expense. When the commotion died down the team set back to work. The Brigadier General - Roy not Maes - was switching offices for a reason unknown to Aiden and she had walked over to help, but when there was no one present she took up residence in the chair and waited for them to come back.

Work progressed and Aiden and Black Hayate stayed in the chair, watching the team work efficiently as they always did. She would have helped except she didn't feel like moving; her lazy streak had come around full force and she just wanted to crawl into bed and lay there until the next Millennia had passed. The conversation between Breda, Falman (who was visiting for a while), and Kain drew her attention and she shamelessly listened in. Not that it was hard - they were talking too loud.