Sleeping Dogs Lie

Chapter Twenty

Right now, Aaron and I are tucked away in his bed in the video pit, snug as bugs in a rug.

At least, that's what we have oh-so cleverly deluded the imbecile clock in his room into believing. And so anyone watching "The Aaron and Alecto Show" tonight should be under that impression, too. Done, and done.

What we're really doing, though, is sneaking around over near Sector 61. Aaron has finally managed to hack the Comm's whole grid like a pro. Not only has he patched his clock into his underground surveillance system, but he's also doctored all the hallway feeds involved in our operation tonight as part of his brilliant superhero surveillance lair machinations. I don't know exactly what he does with his spare time, but I think he's got irons in some pretty hot fires that burn all the way to the top of the food chain here at the Hex.

So while Aaron and I are prancing around under the gaze of red indicator lights, whoever's running surveillance at the Comm tonight is just watching looped feeds of those empty hallways playing back on themselves. Aaron, in his brilliance, has even managed to record the Militia's patrols as part of those loops.

The Militia has a patrol that'll head through Sector 61 and its basement between three and four this morning, but if all goes as planned, we should be on our way back to Aaron's room well before then. Even if things go awry for some reason, that patrol is made up of guards Aaron has some sort of deal with. What exactly his deal with them is, I don't know. I may be curious, but I'm not even sure I want to know anymore.

Lately, I've decided it's best if Aaron and I just keep things on as professional a footing as possible.

I've had to do a little thinking about what went on between Aaron and me after the trauma of Rahm's attack. Sometimes, when I lie awake at night and stare up at my sterile, white ceiling, I remember the jewel bright radiance of his eyes and his solid assurance in the wake of that brutality. He returned to me a strength and a steadiness that had been scraped momentarily from the core of my soul. He was kind to me. I don't even think I'd realized before that he had that side to his personality. And he's been quiet and kind to me ever since it happened – that was four days ago. Doesn't raise any fuss over me or single me out in any way, either for good or bad. I've been over once in the evening to hang out and watch movies with him since. He was kind to me then, too. Careful. Gave me lots of space and asked if I was okay, but didn't make a big deal over me.

What disturbed me the most was the realization that I don't think he's treating me any differently now than he did before the attack. I think he gives me a bit more space, but other than that, nothing's changed... Has it? Has he always been kind and quiet like this to me, and I've never noticed it until now? When exactly was it that his behavior toward me changed? I can't seem to reach back into the well of my memories stored up during my time in this place to find a definitive switch in him, and it bothers me that I can't.

I need to remind myself of my priorities, and they're always that Freya comes first in this place. I'm thankful to have Aaron as my ally, which was the original term of our agreement, but I can't afford for him to become more than that. I am grateful to him for upholding his end of that bargain, and I'm glad he's on my side, but he was right when he said in the beginning that neither one of us needs a new friend. There are just too many other things to worry about in this dangerous place.

So it doesn't matter how exponentially my curiosity over Aaron has grown. He has his agenda; I have mine. It's probably best for everyone involved if those two things stay separate.

Down in the ochre-colored hallway underneath Sector 61, I lead Aaron to the broom closet. Somewhere, one of his minions found parkas and gloves for us and left them in a pile outside the closet door. We quickly don our winter gear and I wave us into the closet once, where we squeeze in together. I push Aaron against the back wall beside the shelves, just like I was when the faceless guards were coming for me, and press up against him, pressing against that back wall. Just like before, WHHOOOSSHH!! We get sucked right through that back wall.