The next morning Ayden was woken up to the sound of knocking on his cell door, followed by the guard telling him to get up.
Ayden sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his
eyes.
"I'm up," he called after a moment, standing up and looking towards the door.
"Stay back," the guard called, as the lock released.
The door opened, and the guard stepped in with a metal tray in his hands. On it was a bowl of what Ayden guessed was bland oatmeal. As disgusting as it looked, his stomach groaned at the sight of it. Next to it was a small metal cup of some unidentified liquid.
"You got fifteen minutes to scarf this down, and I'll be back to get the tray. Whatever you don't eat, well let's just say you're shit out of luck. So chop chop," the guard said, holding the tray out to Ayden.
"Thank you," Ayden said, as he took the tray.
He sat down, placing the tray on his lap, and began to eat the flavorless mush. He took a drink from the cup, finding it to be orange juice, which was nice surprise. The mush stuck in his throat, as thick and disgusting as it had looked. Yet he needed it, all the same. He hadn't eaten much in the few days before the incident that lead to him giving himself up.
By the time the guard came back again to collect the dishes, Ayden had been done with his meal for several minutes. He stood at the sound of the watchman entering, and handed him the dishes. Ayden began to sit down once more, when the guard gestured with his hand upwards. Ayden stopped and looked at him.
"I wouldn't get too comfortable. You attorney is here to see you," he said.
"What attorney?" Ayden asked.
"Apparently one was appointed to you," the guard answered, shrugging slightly.
Ayden felt one of his eyebrows raise uncontrollably, in confusion. He hadn't been told he had a right to any legal help. As far as he knew, he would be defending himself.
Unless this was the help James meant.
"I'm gonna have to cuff you while she's here. Protocol and all that," the guard said, as he set the dishes he held on the side of the bed.
Ayden nodded and held out his wrists once more. Once the restraints where in place, the guard picked up the dishes once again, before turning and calling in the woman waiting just outside.
"Miss Schultz, he's ready to see you."
"Thank you officer," Miss Schultz said, smiling as she walked in.
She wasn't much older than Ayden himself he noticed.
She wore a black business suit, with a pair of black high tops that barely added any height to her already short stature. Her dark brown hair was brought up into a bun, with what appeared to be a pencil impaling the the middle of it.
As she walked in, she held a clipboard in one hand, and with the other pushed the frame of her black plastic glasses back up to sit around her eyes that matched the color of her hair.
"We should be good here. I'll call when I'm done. Thank you again," she smiled at the officer.
He nodded and made his way out, leaving only her and Ayden in the cell. The attorney watched until the door was shut, before turning to Ayden.
"Hello Ayden, my name is Lylia Schultz and I'm here to defend you against the charges brought on by a Mr. Leonard Cross and a Mrs. Gwen Cross," she said.
"Nice to meet you. I'd shake your hand usually, but..." Ayden forced a smile as he shifted to show the cuffs.
He know he should be at least a bit more excited, but it felt damn impossible at the news that his own mother was behind trying to put him away. He had had a feeling she might be, but yet denial feels the safest routine most often.
"Mind if we sit?" Lylia asked, gesturing towards the bed.
Ayden shook his head, and waiting for her to take her place, before taking his own at the other end.
"Okay, so first things first, is your name Ayden James Alexander, correct?" she asked, preparing a pen and paper that were fastened to the clipboard.
"Yes ma'am," Ayden answered. He watched as she jotted down his answer, before turning her attention back to him.
"Born the 28th of December 2194, correct?" she inquired.
Ayden nodded in agreement then waited for her to take her notes, before throwing her next question at him.
"Good, now that we have the basics down," she said as she set the clipboard and pen down next to her.
"Ayden, can you tell me exactly what happened? I need to know your side of all this. Because they are claiming that you attacked Mr. Cross unprovoked."
"That's bullshit," Ayden said, his voice rising
uncontrollably. "My mother must still have the bruises he left on her."
"They claim they are from her falling," Lylia said.
"Falling? Really? Must have been a pretty bad fall, that just so happen the same night that I did what I did," Ayden said, shaking his head.
"So you admit that you did in fact attack Mr. Cross?"
"I had no other choice. Tell me, Miss Schultz, what would you have done if you came upon someone beating someone you loved to death? Would you just stand there and let it happen? Or would you have done what I did? It was him or her, and I chose her. And look where that's gotten me."
"So you're saying they're lying?" Lylia asked, as she wrote more upon the paper.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying," Ayden answered.
"Now does Mr. Cross have a history of violence towards your mother before that night?" she asked next.
"Towards her, no. Me on the other hand, I've been on the receiving end of his fits for years," Ayden said, lowering his eyes.
"And none of that had any influence on your actions that night?"
"Listen if you're asking if I tried to kill him because he beat on me over the years, no. If I had wanted him dead, believe me, I would have just been done with it long ago. Not like I didn't have ample opportunities, giving how often he passed out drunk," Ayden answered.
"And had he been drinking that night?"
"I'm sure you already know that answer, unless they found a way to get his blood to show zeroes."
Lylia jotted something more down. Ayden sat there silently for a moment before asking his own question.
"Is there a possibility that I can make it out of this? Truthfully?"
Lylia stopped writing and looked up at him.
"Honestly it's not looking too good. You did run from the scene of a crime. You used force, honestly frighteningly beyond what was necessary," she said somberly.
"Mr. Cross is never gonna be able to move on his own again, due to the damage done to his spinal cord. Let alone talk from the wound to this throat," she continued.
"The only hope is that your mother comes forward and tells the truth of what happened that night. If we can prove without a doubt that you had only been protecting her life, then maybe…just maybe there's a hope you will get out of this in one piece," Lylia finished, frowning.
"And if not? What am I looking at?" Ayden asked.
"That I can't answer, because it's up to the judge to decide."
"I see," Ayden whispered, lowering his head.
"All I can say is that no matter what, don't give up hope, okay?" Lylia smiled at him. "You seem like a good kid, Ayden. A good kid, who just got himself caught up in some bad shit. Pardon my language."
Ayden smiled and nodded. "I'll try."
"But for now, I think I have enough for today. It was nice to meet you Ayden. Like I said, keep your head up," Lylia said as she got up from the bed.
"It was nice to meet you as well Miss Schultz. Thank you, for at least trying," he smiled.
Lylia took his hand and shook it. "Don't mention it. Really it should be Mr. Mitchell you should be thanking. It was him who asked me to look into your case. But for now, I have another client I have to attend to. Have a good rest of your day, Ayden."
"You too."
Ayden watched as she made her way towards the door once more, knocked, and waited for the guard outside to open it.
Once she was out of the room, the guard entered and removed the cuffs, before leaving.
And once again was alone. He never thought he would reach a point where silence was unnerving. But after spending the past few weeks in the house with Marcus, who wasn't exactly the most quiet roommate, the sound of silence had become just that. It was the thing that brought his mind to its darkest places. And that was something he wasn't ready for, not yet at least.
Yet as unready as he was, he knew he would soon have to face the worst of it thus far. So he accepted where his mind would go, as he laid down once again and closed his eyes.
It was more of the same as he dreamt. The sound of more knocking snapped him from his restless slumber. Brought him back from the nightmare scape he found himself in each time he closed his eyes.
This time there was no voice from the other side, only the familiar sound of the lock, and the door opening. He sat up to see his godfather standing in the door way again. In his hand he held a bag, which gave off the pleasant aroma of the mixtures of hot food that steamed from within.
"Had a bit of time off, so I figured you might be hungry," James sat as the door shut behind him.
"Yeah I could eat," Ayden said, sitting up the rest of the way.
James sat down on the bed next to Ayden, causing it to sink towards the ground slightly from the weight of his heavily muscular frame. He set the bag he held on the floor at his feet, and began to pull out its contents. After a moment he handed Ayden a Styrofoam container, and took out a second one for himself.
"Hope you like burgers kiddo," he said as he opened his own container. The small of freshly cooked meat and cheese filled the room. Ayden couldn't help but swallow hard, as his mouth watered. He quickly open his own, and bite into the contents within.
"Thanks," he managed to say, his mouth full still. He quickly wiped the bit of juice that ran down his chin away.
He swallowed and said, "You didn't have to do this, you know?"
"I know, but I wanted to," James said, taking a bite of his own sandwich. "How you holding up anyways?" he asked.
"As well as I can be I guess. Met with the attorney you talked to. Thanks for that as well," Ayden said.
"Don't mention it, least I can do. Think of it as me making up for all those birthdays of yours I missed," he joked, hitting Ayden on the shoulder slightly. As he brought his hand back, Ayden watched as the smile faded once again, replaced by the same frown he had seen before.
"If anything, I should be apologizing to you," he said after a moment, avoiding eye contact with the boy next to him.
"For what?"
"Not being there, like I said before," James answered.
"I already told you, there is no need."
"But there is. I've been a coward all these years. I told myself I couldn't face you. Not after what I had done,"
James said, now turning his attention to Ayden. "I'm the reason that you had to grow up without a father. It was me that bullet was meant for, you know that don't you. It was me who should have been in the ground now. Not August. If he hadn't stepped in front of it, and saved my pathetic ass, none of this would have happened. None of it," he choked.
Ayden set down his burger and just looked at his godfather. It hurt him to see the tears welling in the eyes of someone he thought of as a superhero when he was younger.
Broken and vulnerable. After a few minutes of silence, Ayden placed his hand on James' shoulder.
"Listen, you can't blame yourself for what happened. I never did. I know if may seem hard to believe, but I do understand. I can't begin to understand the feelings that come along with what you have had to live with. But my dad made his choice, and I've learned to accept that. So don't you think its time you did the same?" Ayden said, patting James' shoulder.
James forced a smile as he looked down at the miniature version of his best friend. "When did you get so wise?" he asked, messing up the top of Ayden's hair playfully.
"Meh, I don't think I'd call it wisdom. If you haven't noticed, I've kinda fucked up royally," Ayden replied, gesturing his hands around the cell.
"Honestly, in your shoes, I think anyone would have done the same thing. Anyone with a soul at least," James said.
"Maybe…I don't know," Ayden said, looking away.
"Well I do. I also know that he would have been proud of you."
"Thanks," Ayden said, turning back towards James.
"Anyways, enough of this sappy shit. How'd the meeting go with Miss Schultz go?" James asked, returning his attention to his lunch.
"As well as I could have hoped. She seems to think there isn't much we can do. Unless we can prove my intentions were to only protect another life," Ayden answered, staring down at his own food.
"I see," James said, before taking a bite. He swallowed and looked at Ayden with a smile. "I may have one more thing up my sleeve. If you're willing to take a deal,"
"What deal is that?"
"Well as you may have figured out by now, I'm now head of training all the HARM pilots for the Coalition. And even though it may not appear so around here, we are in need of
new recruits. And I happen to be on good terms with the judge. So if you are willing to join up, they may be willing to work something out," James answered.
Ayden sat there, looking at his godfather once more. At the man who was now asking if he was willing to join the same unit that got his own father killed. To fight in a war that had taken endless lives thus far.
All his life he had never even began to think about joining up.
To him war was a plague, that ravaged through all that it came in contact with. There were no true victors, only ones who were willing to sacrifice more bodies until the other guy had had enough.
Yet, the alternative was him looking at spending perhaps years in this cell. And once he was tried, there would be no protection in place, keeping him away from the rest of the prison population. And that was bound to bring even more issues that he didn't wanna even start to think about.
Plus if he did join, maybe just maybe, he could make up for the wrongs he had done. He would be protecting what his father died for. And that alone may be worth it. Or maybe he would be killed himself, and that would be the end of it.
Either way, justice would be served, wouldn't it?
"I'll do it," he finally answered with a heavy sigh.
"If they are willing to let me, I'll go through the
training. Although aren't I a little young?"
"First of all, have you seen the world around us, shit like age isn't exactly on anyone's radar. Not when it comes to war, or even prison for that matter. Second, no you're really not. We typically start training around sixteen when it come to HARMs. It takes three years of intense training to be ready to fully operate one of those bad boys. So by the time you're of age, you'll be combat ready," James answered, his voice taking on a tone of seriousness.
"Why me exactly though?" Ayden asked.
"Well besides the obvious fact that I don't wanna see you rot in this cell. You have potential. You took out a man almost three times your size, who had been through combat training himself. To pull that off, you have to not only have raw talent when it comes to fucking things up, but strategy behind it. Like I said, kiddo, there's a wisdom there that can't be taught."
Ayden said nothing for a moment, before finally whispering, "I don't like that side of me. I don't like the feeling of having to hurt others."
"Neither do I. And I'd like to say it gets easier,
killing that is. But it really doesn't. Taking a human life is never easy, not for normal people. But sometimes it's needed, as you've come to learn. If you didn't know this already, you wouldn't have done what you did," James frowned.
"I guess."
"I do believe that you'll be a good pilot though, and god knows we could use them. Plus you'd get to see space.
And I can tell you the view from up there is unlike anything you can imagine," James smiled.
"That would be a nice bonus, I guess," Ayden smiled back.
The two of them finished their meal in silence. Once it was done, James took Ayden's container, stacked it on top of his own, and set them aside.
"It's getting late though kid, and I got a bunch of shit to take care of before the day's gone," James said finally. "I'll make sure to talk to the judge, and see what she has to say about your agreement to join the U.C.T.I." He stood and collected the trash from their meal.
Ayden stood and prepared for their goodbye. He was about to step forward to give his godfather a hug when he stopped.
"Any word on how the Marcus Young case is going?" he asked suddenly.
"Oh that, yeah, they released him earlier this morning. Turns out there was no evidence to pin on him, besides him being at the scene when the body was found. Not to mention there was another victim found. Whoever the sick son of a bitch is, they couldn't wait to get back on the hunt," James said.
"Really? So they dropped all the charges? Thank god," Ayden let out a sigh of relief.
There was a sudden knock on the door behind James.
"Be done in just a minute," he called.
Ayden rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the middle of his godfather. "Thanks again."
James smiled down at his adopted nephew, and placing his arm around him.
"Of course kid," he smiled.
He turned and stepped toward the metal door once more.
He knocked and waited for it to open. The guard on the other side unlocked it and opened it. James turned back towards Ayden and waved a quick goodbye with his large hand. Ayden gestured back, stopping mid way at the sight of Marcus, just behind him.
He watched as James turned to leave, only to stop in his own tracks. He stood there, looking at Marcus for a moment, looking
him up and down.
"You must be Marcus," he said finally. "You have her eyes," he whispered, more to himself than to Marcus himself.
"Excuse me?" Marcus said, looking up at the much bigger man.
"Sorry, it's just I didn't believe Ayden at first when he said that Dr. Young had a son, but looking at you now, I can definitely see the resemblance." James said.
"It's nice to meet you,James Mitchell," he said, holding his hand out to Marcus. "Thanks for looking after him," he gestured over his shoulder at Ayden.
"Don't mention it," Marcus said, taking James hand. "So you knew my mother?" he asked as he released his grip.
"Well yeah, I knew her. Trained beside that one's father in Gen One," James answered, once again motioning towards Ayden. "But it looks like you two need some catching up. So I'll get out of your hair. It was nice to meet you," James said, pushing his way past Marcus gently.
"Yeah you too," Marcus replied, stepping to the side.
As the door shut, Marcus turned back to his friend.
"How you holding up?" he asked, making his way across the room.
"Meh, same old I guess at this point. Feels like a lot longer than it has been, I'll tell you that much," Ayden replied.
"Know exactly what you mean. If I'm being honest, was starting to lose my shit a little myself. I don't think anyone gets used to being put in a cage," Marcus said, sitting down.
Ayden sat down and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I am glad to see you out of this place. Well free to come and go as you please at least," he chuckled.
"Yeah, lucky for me they had nothing besides me just being there. I did have to prove who I was to them though," Marcus sighed.
"They took some blood, and ran it against a record of my mom's DNA. Came back as I knew it would," he explained.
"They asked if I wanted them to run a test to try and find my father as well. Asked them what's the point, at this point?" he finished.
"Still would be nice to know, wouldn't it?" Ayden asked, sitting down next to his friend.
"Meh, made it this long," Marcus shrugged. He sat there a moment, staring blankly at nothing in particular.
"Anyways, as I was saying," he said, shaking his head. "I'm officially a real boy," he laughed, lifting up his sleeve to show his bandaged wrist, red spots barely seeping through.
"Itches like a motherfucker though."
"Well most of us get them before we can remember, so I really wouldn't know," Ayden smiled. "Did they say anything else? You know when they learned who you are exactly?"
"Not really. They changed their attitudes real quick, I'll tell you that much. Apparently, its frowned upon to be a bunch of dicks to the son of the woman who came up with the way to turn an entire war around. Who knew?" Marcus replied.
Ayden just shook his head and laughed. As quickly as it began though, he went silent. He stood up and began to pace the room.
"Making me kinda nervous, what's up?" Marcus asked, his eyes keeping pace with Ayden's steps.
Ayden took a few more steps before stopping. He turned and looked over at the only friend he had ever had, yet avoided eye contact. He didn't wanna have to say goodbye, but either way he knew he had to.
Ayden took and deep breath and let it out slowly. "So, things aren't looking so good for me, as you probably know.
No one's sure how this is going to play out, if I'm being honest. But James says he may have a solution. If the judge is willing to listen. And honestly, even if everything works out, I think I may still take him up on his offer," Ayden said.
"What solution is that?" Marcus asked, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees.
"Well, he wants me to join the HARM program. Be a pilot, like my dad and him were. He thinks I would be good at it, given the right training," Ayden answered.
"And you're okay with that? You know the amount of shit you'll be stepping into if you decide to do this right?"
"Yeah, I know. But the alternative isn't much better.
Least out there I can attempt to make up for the wrongs I've done. In here, well I'll just rot. Simple as that," Ayden shrugged. "Doesn't really seem like much of a choice."
"Not when you put it like that, no it really doesn't," Marcus said as he began to stand up himself. "If you're sure that is what you want to do, then let's do it,"
"What do you mean lets?" Ayden threw air quotes out at the last word.
"You just got a change at a normal life, so why would you give that up to join me?" Ayden asked, shaking his head.
"First of all, we both know there is no such thing as a normal life, not for us. Not for anyone. As long as we are at war, everyday could be the last day. So don't give me that bullshit," Marcus said. "Second, last I checked, not you're choice what I do. So if I decide that I can't let you go off and get yourself killed, on your own, well that's my choice. Plus just think of all the things I could do to Sun, with access to the world's best facilities."
Ayden stood there, his head shaking slightly in disbelief. Yet on his face lay a crooked little smile. He should have known that this was coming. And a part of him was glad to hear that it was the way it was.
"Guess I really don't have a choice then, do I?" he asked.
"Nah, brother, you don't," Marcus smiled, slapping Ayden on the shoulder.
They sat and talked a bit more, before Marcus decided it was time for him to get out of there. He had spent enough time behind bars, which Ayden fully understood.
With their goodbyes said, Ayden watched the door shut once more, leaving him alone with the silence and screaming thoughts in his head. The next few days passed with these being his only true companions, broken only by the visit of a guard bringing his meals.
During that time, wandering the oceans of his own mind, he came to see all that had happened over the last few weeks in a new light. And with that, came a new found peace of mind with the entire situation. He would face what came next, head on.