Claire couldn't help but rub her temple. The headache that had recently started to appear when dealing with Adrien was making her head throb.
"Something you'd like to ask directly?" Adrien's voice was laced with irritation as he looked at Lucas. Obviously annoyed at his unexpected reaction.
"Ask you?" Lucas asked in return. Now focusing on the man, he continued. "I have absolutely nothing I want to ask you. I do however, feel the need to let you know something." His voice had now turned serious. And even though his eyes still seemed playful in a way, there was something ominous lurking inside them. Alarming enough to make everybody present understand his next words were no joke. "I seriously suggest you fix your need to outwardly insult us like you have. We may be here under friendly terms, but trust me when I say, I won't stand for any kind of disrespect. Especially when it's comes forth unprovoked. My brother may be patient, but sadly for you, you won't find me to be of the same nature. You see, it's not exactly a Villan family trait."
A long moment of silence followed his words as they all looked at the two. Some slightly alarmed, others on edge, but all with one thought in mind. Adrien was evidently trying to play with more than one source of fire at a time.
"You know the rules Alpha." Tildy began to say. All ears were tuned in on her voice, but everybody's gaze stayed still on the two men fighting an intense silent battle between them. "You have unnecessarily disrupted the meeting due to personal reasons. Meaning you are excused from further participation. Await further instructions to be delivered to your office in the next few hours."
"There was nothing personal about my argument. I rather-" Adrien had begun to begrudgingly reply when Colton intervened.
"You've been dismissed Alpha." He said without room for discussion. And thanks to that, Adrien hushed his tone and stood up.
"Of course Boss." He said towards Colton with a strained voice. "I'll await further instructions. Excuse me." Without saying another word, he looked up at Claire for a brief second. And whatever message she silently told him, crashed down on him. Hard. So hard, that he simply turned around and left.
"I apologize for the interruption." Claire spoke as if she seemed completely uninterested with the whatever just happened. "Since we have a lot of ground to cover, I suggest we get right to it."
"Let's begin then." Tildy didn't have to wait for anything else, as she once again, began to talk about the desired topics. Drawing everybody's attention with her briefing. Everybody's, with the exception of Aiden's.
Knowing his brother as well as he did, Aiden knew he wouldn't have to do anything about the now absent eye sore. His words were enough to ensure his position on Lucas' watch list. So instead of giving him any kind of attention, he had dedicated his time to study his little lady's reactions. Everything from the way her eyes narrowed at the man's words, to how she had started to rub her temple in silence. It was as if she were growing more and more tired with whatever drama brewed between them with each passing day. And Aiden couldn't help but feel a certain way about it. Whether it was conflicted or displeased, he didn't know. All he was sure of, was the fact that he wouldn't let the man be responsible for the tiredness that lingered in his little Angel's eyes any longer.
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The end of the meeting came, but only after hours of intense conversation. From resource listing and secret recon coordination, to how they would proceed as individual groups and also as a whole. And although not everything was planned in detail, they all left with a pretty good sense of how things would be moving forward with one another. They all left the room with an abundance of things to do, orders to give and people to see. Including the Villans.
Both brothers were overwhelmed with the amount of information they had been exposed to during the briefing. Claire had let them know it was okay to ask questions during or even after, yet they were stumped. The amount of it was indeed astonishing, but it was the severity of the things they shared with the duo that truly shocked them. Underground operation details, background checks on government officials, police rotation schedules, birth and death rates among clan members and every other intelligence counter measure a person could even dream of was being handed to them without a second thought. And the fact that nobody seemed surprised by the information being relayed, made both Aiden and Lucas slightly worry for their own secrets. The Collin's people were just too good at digging up dirt.
It was as if the heavens documented anything and everything happening beneath it, and Claire and her people were in charge of monitoring it. How they managed to accumulate such highly sought after information was beyond them.
Even as Aiden stood by the door while watching Lily giggle at whatever Jacob wasn't getting right, all his head was doing was processing everything he had just heard. Connecting even more dots. Planning even more people's ends.
"I know it's a lot." Claire's soft voice made it's way to his ears. They hadn't spoken all throughout the meeting, or even on their way over to the classroom. Since Lucas left right away, to what she understood was work or things related to it, they had been alone for a while now. And seeing as his silence was beginning to make her anxious, she decided to do try and figure out his thoughts.
"Hmm." Aiden hummed in reply. He wasn't intentionally avoiding conversation, but even so. His silence was making his little lady fidget. Like she always would when starting to get nervous.
"My team has already sent a transcript of the meeting to Jacob." She continued as she looked for ways to keep the conversation going. "It'll be encrypted, but I'll make sure he knows how to decipher it before he leaves the base." Receiving another hum in response, she decided to simple ask. "Can you please say something?"
At that Aiden's head snapped towards her. He was so wrapped up in his head, he had failed to notice his little Angel's worried state while standing right next to her. She looked beat. Something he didn't like at all. And what made it even worse, was that he knew he must've made it worse with his more or less distracted responses.
"I'm sorry Angel." He stepped as close as he could to her. Gently grabbing her chin, he lifted her face to look at her properly. "I was lost in thought. I didn't mean to sound dismissive." Taking a look inside the classroom, he could see they were finishing for the day. Not wanting to leave yet, especially not when he obviously had to have a conversation with his little lady, he looked back down at her. "Is there somewhere more private where we could talk for a while?"
Claire looked at him for a moment before nodding. And not a second after she did, the classroom door swung open. Followed by Jacob and Lily strolling out.
'Hi Mommy! Hi Aiden!' Lily happily signed at them before looking directly at Aiden. Who's name she still referred to with the sign for fire. The chance to organically ask her about it still hadn't come about. 'Uncle Jacob did a very good job!' She signed proudly as she described her very first student's progress.
"That's because he had the very best teacher helping him out." Aiden replied. As soon as he did, Jasmine walked out as well.
"JJ." Claire said as a way to call for her attention. It was a nickname very few used for her. "Do you mind taking Lily and Mr. Patterson to Colton? I forgot to show something to Mr. Villan."
"No problem." Jasmine responded before gesturing for the little red head to take her hand. She had always been one of the very few people Lily trusted and took to quickly. She didn't hesitate to take her hand after giving both Aiden and Claire a tight hug.
"I'll see you later Boss. Goodnight Miss Claire." Jacob said before turning around and following Jasmine's lead.
"After you Angel." Aiden softly said after losing sight of them.
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Claire guided him through a few halls, but from what he could recollect, they were fairly close to where her sleeping quarters was. But unlike the rest of the doors he had seen around, the one he stood in front of was opened as soon as she placed her palm on the knob. Making him conclude that it worked with some kind of hand print reading mechanism. After all, there was nothing in his little lady's life that wasn't safe guarded. That much he was sure of.
Once inside, he noticed it was a dual purpose room. Although extremely small, in comparison to the rooms and spaces he had seen throughout the base, it was still comfortable. It almost looked like another version of his bedroom's panic room. To one side, there was a single space bed dressed with simple white colored sheets. And on the other was a door, to which he assumed gave way to a bathroom, and a wall with a small desk aligned against it. Said desk, held a single computer monitor and a keyboard. Besides that, the traditional styled office chair in front of it, and the bed, the room was entirely empty. It had absolutely no signs of anything.
As Aiden studied it's layout, Claire made herself comfortable by sitting on the bed. Taking her shoes off, she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs. Causing all of his attention towards her silent, but meaningful actions. He had spent enough time with her to know that it was one of the many unconscious signs she gave when feeling anything other than well.
He made his way towards her and joined her. Now sitting by her side, he could finally give into his constant urge of touching her. Something he could never freely do when they were surrounded by her people. A rule he decided was important and was to be upheld all on his own. Even if just for now.
"I'm sorry." Claire said in a quiet voice. She had laid her head over her knees while looking up at him. Making her look as cute as ever in his eyes.
"What for?" Aiden could easily pick from any number of reasons for her to want to apologize, there had been enough situations that would merit one. Yet there hadn't been a single instant in which he truly desired one from her. Even so, he knew it was important for her to let it out of her system and for him to hear her out. A need he had no problem with taking care of.
"For everything." Her toes wiggled anxiously as she spoke. "Besides the fact that I'm evidently a really crappy girlfriend, I've dragged you into such a huge mess."
His eyebrows furrowed together at her words. "Who said you were a crappy girlfriend?" In reality, he was beyond elated at hearing her describe herself as his 'girlfriend', but his concern over her description was also great.
"I did." She replied with an apologetic smile. "I said that I should step up my game, but I have absolutely no idea how to because I've never done this before. Your house was attacked because of me, now your people and you are gonna have to work overtime, we might not even be able to see each other so frequently for a-" Her sudden rambling was cut short by his lips meeting hers.
He pulled her face towards his own with a swift, but gentle movement. It wasn't their ever so passionate and usual quick pace, but a tender and slow-moving moment. With very little effort, he lifted her up and placed her on top of him. And instead of staying seated, he laid back onto the bed while hugging her against his body. Lovingly caressing her face over his chest.
"We really have to work on that negative thinking of yours Angel." His voice was warm. And just like his body heat, comforting. "I knew all of those things going in. And you clearly warned me about the things you were dealing with too. It was my own mistake to not take more precautions when you did. So there is no need for you to apologize anymore."
Claire bunched up his expensive shirt in her hands. His words always found the way to not only sooth her, but strike her very heart. The very heart that pumped even harder each time she focused on his hand tenderly rubbing up and down her back. "I know but.....it's just not fair. You deserve better than this."
At that, Aiden's everything stopped. His hands, his thoughts, and even his heart for a fraction of a second. Deserve? Better? Him? Never in his life had he felt that the chances of him being able to fly were as high as he did now. Him? THE Blood Raven? Deserving better than he already had it? Unheard of. Hell! Unimaginable!
Shifting his hands, he gently pulled her up towards his face. Enough so that their eyesight's were directly on each other. Claire placed her hands over his chest, as he brought up his hands to her face. Ensuring that she was real. That he hadn't just imagined her words. And thanks to the slight feeling of guilt her eyes were holding, he almost forgot how he couldn't take her with him. How he couldn't lock her up on some remote island away from any and all eyes. How not to chain her to his side until his dying breath. He almost forgot, but he didn't.