Dulcis Indoles [Aiden/Jeff/Deacon]

[Aiden]

His stay in Keystone thus far had been all fun and games. The snow was a change from the usual Oregon scene, hanging around the Keystone faction of three was amusing enough, and they could always use some down time to just feel like teenagers on winter break for once. Hunting kept them busy for what felt like every hour of every day, and just sitting around playing games had been a nice change of pace. No one could deny that.

But now that Jefferson had arrived, things suddenly became much more business-like, and that care-free mindset that had set in vanished. It had been nearly six months since Casey came into the picture, since the factions had been set up. And how many Hunters had they recruited in that time span? From what Aiden could see in the Wesson, five outside of the faction leaders, although there were apparently two more that were unaccounted for.

Now it would be like the top officials meeting before a battle--although there wasn't any real, high-stakes battle at the moment, just supernatural creatures lurking world-wide. The mental weight on the nineteen-year-old's mind suddenly increased as everything from the past six months came flooding back to him as the three faction leaders entered a different room; his last time in Keystone, training the girls, the mall, the demons, Ariel, his birthday, the shifter, Halloween, and the days leading up to their departure.

Aiden pulled a chair out from the table, and sank into it, letting his frame slide down slightly as he leaned back in it. What was important to tell, and what wasn't? Surely, he had to tell them about the future they were sent to...but then, who had sent them? That was a mystery still unsolved. And Jeff should probably know about Ariel...but he couldn't tell him that he was hunting her. And the demon blood? Did they need to know about it? They should... he thought with a sinking feeling.

...but then they'll hunt you. Just end it now, with them out of the way, you wouldn't have to worry about it.

His skin prickled, his eyes drilling into the table as he tried to figure out where that last thought came from. Kill Jefferson? As much as Aiden would like to at times, he wasn't sure he had it in him to kill the guy. He was the last remaining connection he had to Malcolm.

"Well, I guess we should get this thing going so we can talk to our factions," Aiden said, trying to distract both himself from his thoughts, and Deacon and Jeff from his reactions. "I guess the first notable thing from me, going chronologically, is that Yuki, Teagan and I were transported into the future by...I'm assuming a demon. And it wasn't pretty," Aiden said, looking more so at Deacon. "Basically future Art was there to greet us, and tell us how we all died. Everyone, including Simplicity. Or rather, dead or gone; I was..." he paused, mulling over his wording, "in a coma. Teagan, Yuki, dead. I know Simplicity was mentioned, but everyone else...I can't really tell you."

He paused, deciding on what to continue with. "Teagan and Yuki are good enough Hunters, they still need the experience, but they can hold their own. Teagan," he stopped, and decided that it was best for them to know, "well she tried leaving. Going to school. Obviously that didn't work out. Casey's been quiet, recently, although I'm still not sure I trust the guy. On my birthday, well, this demon showed up, and said that we don't know who he is, human, demon, what, and we might just all be his pawns in some evil game. The thing is, that's a possibility."

Aiden was serious through his whole monologue, different from his usual demeanor. He was weary, scarred, and apprehensive about mentioning the demon blood. Just let them talk, and bring it up later. Find a way to be tact about it, he told himself, falling silent and looking to his fellow Hunters.

[Jefferson]

One, two, three. Three faction leaders, three hunters, three humans kept in the dark by Casey. Starting off with being a faction leader, Jefferson was beginning to cope with that stress. He lived most of his life in solitude, even when he was surrounded by people, but now he had to take care of some inexperienced hunters? The good thing about them though was that teaching them was a piece of cake, and they were becoming experienced rather quickly. Jefferson would ignore the hunter thought, and jumped straight to being kept in the dark.

Casey. Who was he? How did he know about them? Was he watching them this very instant? If he knew where they were at all times, how come he didn't know where the Winchesters were? Too many questions, no answers at all. Jefferson began rubbing his temple area in order to calm down the miniscule pain that was beginning to increase. How could they trust Casey if they knew nothing about him? What Aiden had told them about Casey was probably true, but at the same time how could they trust a demon?

"You went to the future, Aiden? Strange, I never heard of this happening at all, and I never heard of any demon with that kind of power. About Casey, a demon told you this? The possibilty of what the demon said is high, but at the same time it's a demon that told you this. I'm not sure I would trust that demon, but trust isn't the question right now. The question is...I have no idea." Jefferson sat quiet for awhile. What was the question, the one they really needed to ask? There were too many at this point, at least that's how it seemed to him.

"Now to tell you about the exciting aspect of Austin. There was one woman that came up to me before I had ever met Sim and Adrian that told me about the demon Lilith. Her name was Ruby, and that's all I can tell you about her. I researched her all over the place, and that was difficult in itself. The only thing I can come up with is that there are no records of her at all. There was one person that told me Ruby fit the description of someone they knew, but that specific person is dead, so I dropped the search." Jefferson stopped for a breather.

"To continue, what should we do about Lilith? If what Ruby told me is correct, then Lilith disappeard at the exact same time as Sam and Dean. I don't know about you but I find this to be an extremly bad thing, because if we were to find Sam and Dean, then there is the chance that we will also find Lilith. I'm willing to take the risk, but not at the cost of my faction."

Jefferson became silent. There was nothing else for him to say, and if Deacon and Aiden wanted to know about Sim and Adrian, then they can ask them themselves. At this moment two things were worring Jeff, one was Lilith and the other was Aiden.

What's wrong with you Aiden? Did you find out about the demon blood, or was it something in the future? You know you can't hide anything from me, I can feel it.

[Casey]

Deacon rested his hand against an iced glass of cheap scotch. Faction leader meeting, if he didn’t suddenly have responsibilities before, now he had a pleasant reminder. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a total slacker. He had practically raised his brother and ran a business. You didn’t do that and be lazy. He was a business man but he was also usually much more relaxed. Hunting demons and monsters was not conducive to a relaxing mindset. Hence the alcohol.
He raised his eyebrows as Aiden started. Alright he could understand him dying but Art being the last man standing? As much as he loved his brother he would have never put money on that one.

“My little brother? Bookworm Art,” he gave Aiden a doubtful look. Then he looked at Jefferson, “Who’s Ruby?”

“Not sure I’d trust a demon about Casey,” he said calmly, “He may be acting all Charlie to our Angels but he was in the Wesson and when he was I didn’t get any bad vibes. My mom didn’t freak out when she came to visit after he was here.” Deacon paused for a second realizing the other leaders hadn’t met his parents yet. He scratched his head, “Uh, she fancies herself on reading for that kinda thing. Anyway, notice the new kid using my name as his sur? He’d be dead if it wasn’t for our mystery man. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get there fast enough to save his folks.”

He rubbed the side of his face. That would be something Deacon would regret to his grave. Sure life wouldn’t have been easy but at least Miles would have been able to work through it with his parents around. Kid was practically family to him, but he wasn’t sure Miles felt the same way.

“Other than that my life has tame compared to you guys-es,” he finished his drink.

He was going to need scotch. A lot more scotch.

[Aiden]

Now that his report of sorts was out in the open, it was up to one of the other two to go next. What he had just said would have to sink in, but neither of the older men asked any questions immediately regarding Aiden's words. There seemed to be a slight unease in the air around them, and that wasn't making working up to the whole admitting he had demon blood and turned into a monster speech any easier. Aiden usually spoke his mind, but this...how did it feel to tell someone that was like family that you were a monster?

Jefferson went next, and Aiden listened carefully to the tale. So some woman shows up knowing about Lilith disappearing? That wasn't suspicious at all. "Okay, so say this person--demon, more likely--is right, and Lilith is alive and kicking. What would the first demon disappearing have to due with anything?" Aiden asked. "Maybe some Hunter got to her."

Aiden turned to Deacon and shook his head. "No, not bookworm Art. This was thirty year old, biker thug, smoking, drinking Hunter Art," Aiden corrected, making sure he got the point across. "I don't remember correctly, but he might've even had a tattoo or four," he added.

"So Casey recruited us, knows about the Winchesters, hasn't sent us on any missions that were traps, and essentially recruited Miles. We still have nothing on him," Aiden said. "I mean, yeah, so far it seems like he's playing for our team, but demon or not, we still don't really know if we can trust him. And if he didn't switch numbers so damn often..." he trailed off, realizing something. "You know, he's been pretty quiet lately. Before it seemed like he was a stalker, but now...I don't think I've heard from him since...October maybe?"

He fell silent once more, and figured that he could work his way up to the whole demon blood thing by bringing Ariel into the picture. His body grew cold as he began to figure the best way to bring her in without confusing the heck out of Deacon...which was no way.

"Jeff, something else happened in Portland. Ariel showed up," he shot out. "It was around my birthday, just before. She's in Portland, she's there for me, but she hasn't killed me yet, not with all the opportunities she's had," he said. "Ariel is a demon I've dealt with from the start of my career as a Hunter," Aiden briefly explained to Deacon. "She killed my mentor, and then fell off of the map."

If Jefferson really knew Aiden, he would know that Aiden would be out for revenge. "I've tried finding her, but I can only find her when she comes to me," he said. Oh, that and I hunt her alone at night without the aid of my faction in order to fill an unquenchable blood lust because she was the one that killed Malcolm. Oh, and my parents too. "She was behind my parents' deaths, Jeff."

He closed his eyes, took in a breath, and decided it was now or never. He would just get it out, and wait for their reaction. "And it's because I have demon blood in me," he fumbled out quickly, the words blurring together. Now he would have to wait for the inevitable.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson sipped down a bit of his drink. He swirled the rest around in his glass before setting it down. He shrugged toward Deacon when asked about Ruby. All he knew was that she was, well, a she, but Aiden had a point. Ruby could easily be a demon, but it was impossible to tell at this point. She could just as well be following Casey for all Jefferson knew. Lilith was a different story, and Aiden's theory about another hunter getting rid of her was far off base.

"I'm sorry Aiden, but a hunter getting to Lilith is highly impossible; getting Adolf Hitler to not conquer all of Germany will be a much easier task than getting rid of Lilith. How Lilith applies to us, I don't know. There are too many questions, not enough answers, but I do know this-whatever is out there that can make Lilith disappear cannot be helpful to us."

Taking another sip, swirl around the glass, place it back down again. Everything was too formal for him, every action taken seemed predetermined. What was up with Lilith? If all the rumors were true (Jefferson hadn't told Aiden and Deacon his information all came from rumors) then Lilith could not be beaten.

Ariel. That name again, and coming from Aiden's lips. Jefferson tensed; the inevitable was approaching. He could feel his free hand tighten around his jeans as he held on tighter and tighter, till he had lost all feeling in that hand. So Ariel was in Portland, and Aiden went looking for her, but how many times did he go looking? Jefferson knew he would want revenge, especially since Ariel killed off both Malcolm and Aiden’s parents. He wasn’t going to ask; whatever Aiden did was his business and Jefferson wasn’t going to start worrying more about the kid. The other reason Jefferson didn’t go into detail about this was because of Aiden’s rushed words.

If he had heard correctly, and Jefferson did, Aiden had said the magic words. Not pretty please, but demon blood. Right when he said those words, Jefferson relaxed. This came as a shock to him, he was expecting to go off the handle, but he was calm. He did feel angry at himself, mostly because he didn’t keep his promise to Malcolm, but that was it. What could he say to Aiden though?

Turning to Aiden, Jefferson placed one hand on his shoulder and brought him in for a hug. “Forgive me Aiden, I couldn’t tell you because of Malcolm, but I didn’t want you to find out this way.” Separating from him, but with both hands still on Aiden’s shoulders, “Now that you know, what’s next? I knew from the beginning that you had demon blood in you, but I still left you to yourself because I trust you. Why else would I let you run a faction? But do you trust yourself? That’s all that matters now.

[Aiden]

[[Since Deacon never went, I'm just going to skip him.]]

After Jeff spoke, Aiden's natural-born cockiness bubbled up, and he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Come on, seriously Jeff. She's a demon, and sure she might be powerful, but if there were all of us against her, could she really win? Even if we had a plan that she didn't know?" Hitler not conquering Germany could only happen in another dimension at this point, since it was too late in history to do that, but nothing was impossible.

Jeff was right, though, about whatever else was out there. If it got the jump on Sam and Dean, and Lilith, then it was one bad mofo. Aiden didn't particularly want to run into it, but if they did, once more he was confident that he could take it down, at least with the help of Yuki and Teagan. The other factions might not have a clue as to what they were doing, but Portland did, and Portland could do anything.

A naive view on life, but it helped him get through the day.

Jefferson naturally tensed up at the mention of Ariel, since he had tangled with her before as well. Aiden didn't dwell too long on what he had to say, so once it was out there, he could only wait for reactions. And the reaction that came from the man he had known for so long was not what he expected.

Jeff knew?

This whole time?

Aiden shoved Jeff off of him, almost pushing him off of the chair in the process. "You dick! You frickin' knew?!" he yelled, his words would be clearly audible to anyone remaining in the room outside. "Even after he died, and you couldn't say a goddamn word about it?" he yelled, standing in the process and sweeping his hand out. "Didn't it ever occur to you that it might help me out in life? I can't fucking believe this!"

He kicked the chair away from him, and had the urge to shove the glasses and bottle of alcohol off of the table. "And I thought you were a friend," Aiden said in a low tone, his eyes piercing into Jefferson, the man whose first name he didn't even know. The man that had reservations about Aiden being a hunter. The man that could have prevented a lot of what happened to him.

And Malcolm knew. A chill ran down his spine at the thought, and suddenly his fist connected with the wall. This....it wasn't fair. How could they know, have his life in their hands, and not say a thing? Suddenly the sound of his engine sounded more like home than anything, and even though his hand had been through the trauma once already, odds were that he would smash his hand up once more again.

"I told you guys what I know. Do what you want with it, we're going to be gone by morning," Aiden said finally, walking through the door with such intention that anyone who tried to stop him would most likely be hit in the face.

[Casey]

Deacon held up his hand when Aiden laughed off the idea of Lilith being a threat. “Look I don’t know as much as you guys yet,” he sighed a little at that, “but I do have a brother who had advanced placement classes. He did this big report on the differences in myths. I got my ear talked off about a bunch of things, one time being her. If anything about her is true she’s old, and from what I gather age equals strength right?”

“Woah!” Deacon pushed his chair back when the yelling began. Not that demon blood sounded like nothing but, damn.

He carefully stood up and followed the boy with a few quick strides. Aiden was more pissed than usual and he found himself approaching him like he was a rabid animal. Placing a hand gently on his shoulder he kept his distance best he could.

“If it’s any conciliation kid, he didn’t tell me either,” Deacon joked, “If you cool your jets a bit I may even hold him down for ya.”

He paused before continuing in a more somber tone, “You’ve told us all you think you know, and maybe it is all you know. You need to stay here though, in case something get’s triggered or if we see that something that just happened to one of us isn’t as isolated as we thought. If we don’t talk it out we could miss something big and spend our days wishin’ for do overs. That’s if we’re alive to wish for them.”

[Jefferson]

Jefferson was pained more from the words spoken from Aiden then from the blow Aiden gave him. Aiden was pissed, and Jeff could tell, but the sadness that Jefferson felt was too strong to allow the anger to control him completely. If only he could make Aiden understand why he didn't tell him, but the problem was that Jefferson couldn't think of any reason at all to tell him. What could he say? That Malcolm made Jefferson promise not to tell him anything? Please, not even Jefferson believed that tale.

Jeff picked himself up from the floor and brushed himself off. He heard Deacon tell Aiden that "he didn't tell him either" but this only made Jefferson shake his head. He held up a hand in front of Deacon signaling him to be quiet for the moment.

"There is no need to hold me down. If Aiden wants to beat me to a pulp, if that's the only way for him to calm down, then I'll be glad to let him do it. I had no right to withhold this information from him, especially since it had to do with his life, but I did withhold it because I made a promise to a friend. And about there being time to wish for do-overs, there never is anytime at all. Once something goes wrong, then that's it and we are already thrown into the next chapter of our lives. That's the curse of being on of us, a hunter, there isn't enough time to forge a complete bond with anyone."

He looked over at Aiden walked closer to him, stretching his arms out in the process. "What are you waiting for Aiden, vent out your anger. Hit me until your satisfied, send me into a coma, kill me if your that angry, but remember that Malcolm only wanted for you to live a pleasant life, well as pleasant as we can possibly have."

Jefferson just stood there, waiting for Aiden to do something, to do anything, because the tension was killing him more on the inside than anything Aiden would do to him.

[Aiden]

Really? Deacon was really making jokes? If he knew what was good for him, he would keep his mouth shut. He paused at the door, staring into it with immense ferocity, a glare that would put Yuki's to shame. It was ridiculous; Malcolm, his mentor and caretaker, told Jeff not to tell Aiden about his demon blood, and never even told Aiden himself? Not even just a few short years ago when he was still around? It was something that was pretty significant, and while he understood not telling a child, there was a difference in not telling an adult.

Still he stood at the door, and he heard Jeff's voice, causing further anger to well up inside of him just at the sound. His hands balled into fists as Jeff went on, and finally Aiden lost it at the end and spun around. "Don't give me that crap about being hunters and how life is different for us!" he yelled, his hand flying off to the side. "You don't think I know that? I was raised into this shit, my family was murdered because some hellspawn wanted to make my life a personal Hell, before I could get to the real one.

"And that promise to a friend stuff? Don't even try it. I knew Malcolm better than you ever did. He might've been protecting me, but that protection ended that day that he died, and the day I started fending for myself. Almost four years, and you don't have the guts to tell me? You think its going to protect me when I'm already risking my life daily? When are you going to stop being so damn blunt of mindless, and learn when to use discretion, Jeff?!"

"The only thing keeping me here is the meeting, for the sake of some jackass keeping us in the dark and playing us like pawns. When was the last time either of you heard from Casey, huh? Not in months. Why trust him? And from what you told me, there was no time travel, no Ariel, and no hellgates opening in your cities, so no, there isn't anything in common." He glared at both of the men, and took a step back towards the door.

"I'm leaving, and this time if someone tries to stop me, they will get beat to a pulp." Deep down, he did feel a little guilty about including Deacon in his wrath, but at the moment, that wasn't even crossing his mind.

[Casey]

Deacon crossed his hands loosely in front of him and rested his chin against them. His attempt to lighten the mood, even slightly had failed. Aiden was aiming to be upset and nothing was going to stop it, no matter how much it disappointed Deacon was. Break downs in communication never ended well. They caused wars in the worst case. Hell, they demon blood blow up was the result of a communication problem.

He closed his eyes tight and let out a heavy sigh. As a hunter Aiden was better than him, at shooting, knowing what to do, and fighting creatures. He was a good hunter, he wouldn’t argue that. Aiden however was just a kid. Deacon didn’t care what the federal government or even what he himself said. He had too much forced upon him when he was too young and for too long. He was damaged, and jagged. Demon blood be damned that was just an excuse, Aiden’s anger came from being broken and robbed. Nothing was going to convince Deacon otherwise.

Standing slowly Deacon glanced at Jeff and shook his head. He picked up his drink and took a slow sip. “Well,” he said flatly, “That went well.”

He walked to the door and glanced back at Jefferson, “Call me when the kid decides to make contact.” Deacon kept his eyes on the man hopefully long enough to convey the silent, not before. If there was going to be a mess, and he hoped it was a small one, they need to learn that storming off and keeping secrets was no good. Until alliance is made, radio silence reigns.

[Jefferson]

You're an idiot. You're an idiot. You're an idiot. That same though kept resonating in his mind even after Aiden left. The anger in him had gone, all emotions in fact had left his body. Jefferson was numb, a broken doll had more feeling then him at this moment. Jefferson allowed himself to fall into the nearest chair, and buried his head into his arms. You're an idiot. You're an idiot. You're an idiot.

Since the first time he met Aiden, no, since the first time he heard about him, Jefferson felt that him and the kid were alike. Both had no parents, both were thrust into this world, and both had powers that a normal human shouldn't have, but now who was he kidding. Jefferson wasn't like Aiden, not in anyway whatsoever. The reason Jefferson had no parents was because they died in a car crash. The reason Jefferson was thrust into this world was because he chose to be in it. The reason Jefferson had his psychic powers was because, well that was a mystery, but how he got them couldn't be as bad as a demon bleeding into you.

Jefferson lifted his head at Deacon's remark. Of course it didn't go well, a blind person could have seen that. Jefferson tried to crack a smile, but as was said, a broken doll as of this moment had more emotions. At the "call when the kid makes contact" comment, Jefferson just nodded.

Watching Deacon leave was the last thing Jefferson remembered about that moment. Maybe it was the stress of worrying about Aiden, maybe it was the relief of never having to harbor that secret anymore, or maybe it was just the fact that he was getting older, but whatever it was Jefferson soon found himself asleep, in a nightmare of untold horrors.