Episode: 5.4

--- Aiden ---

(Well, she’s definitely Anna’s daughter.)

That was apparent from when he first saw the green-eyed girl with brown hair containing the faintest hints of red, a girl that for a split second he’d mistaken for the girl he’d met over fifteen years ago.

(She’s the spitting image of her mother…)

Which was a good thing, meant she didn’t have to worry about anyone figuring out who her father was and pinning his sins on her. Something he could appreciate since at least once a year, he had someone trying to kill him for something his own old man did back in the day be it mystical or mundane. (At least it taught me a career in cleaning up messes…)

He couldn’t help but sigh at that thought.

(Really wish I wasn’t the eldest sometimes.)

He shook his head, before he could be dragged any further down that rabbit hole of familial issues.

“So…” He turned back to Ember, who’d taken a seat at one of the bar booths and was hugging her backpack.

“Um,” he stalled for a fair number of reasons.

“Ember,” Amelia clapped, once more taking the lead to his relief. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I’m not hungry.” Was Ember’s blunt response.

“Oh, well how about something to drink?” Amelia tried again.

“I’m good.”

“Um…” Amelia glanced back at him, before shaking her head as she turned back to Ember with a fragile smile. “Well, what do you like to do for fun?”

Ember just shrugged, not even looking at the older woman.

(Well, this is going well.)

“Okay, I’m out of ideas…” Amelia sighed as she took a seat next to him at the bar counter, looking tempted to reach over the counter and grab a bottle of the good stuff.

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, you had an idea at least. So, you’re still doing better than me.”

“Not much better…” She glanced over her shoulder at Ember, before turning back to him. “Think Pet ‘ll have any ideas?”

He gave her a look, a very dry look.

Amelia sighed. “Right, we don’t need to mix her into this situation, just yet.”

(Not unless we want to deal with the cops today…)

“Shit.” He cursed, before answering Amelia’s curious look. “I still have to check in with Ash later, especially if we’re going to buy all the crap we’ll need to take care of a kid.”

“Yeah, looks like you’re getting a full day today.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Lucky me.” He cheered with no enthusiasm, as his hand began inching towards a bottle of bourbon.

Amelia swatted his hand and gestured towards Ember with her head.

He rolled his eyes. “She’s living in a bar now; I very much doubt we can keep her from seeing someone drink.”

“Maybe, but we can at least keep you half sober.” Amelia glared at him to make sure he understood she was serious.

(Yeah, good luck with that.) He thought sarcastically, making sure he still had his flask.

Very few people could do what he did and remain sober through it all.

He was not ashamed to admit he wasn’t one of them.

(At least it’s better than the alternatives…)

“So, any ideas on what we can actually do?” Amelia asked, cutting through his thoughts with another concerned glance towards Ember. “Because I don’t see us getting the kid to open up any time soon.”

(If she’s anything like her mother I don’t doubt it…)

He ran a hand through his hair, resisting the urge to light a cigarette where the smoke could reach the kid. “Alright, for now… Let’s just try and figure out where the kid is going to sleep.”

Amelia shrugged. “We could always move your stuff into mine and Pet’s room. She could take your room and you can bunk with us.”

He grimaced. “We can give her my room, but I think, I’ll be better off sleeping in a bar booth.”

The blonde gave him a salacious smile, before whispering so Ember wouldn’t hear. “Oh, don’t think you can control yourself around two beautiful women?”

He just snorted. “More concerned about Pet trying to cop a feel while I’m asleep than anything else.”

Amelia rolled her eyes with a grin. “Fine, we can get you a futon and you can sleep on the floor, it makes no real difference to me.”

“Sounds like a decent idea.” He nodded, before glancing at the girl he was now in charge of taking care of. “Still not sure what we’re supposed to do with her though…”

Amelia patted his shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, but for now why don’t you go see Ash?” She paused seeming to consider something. “In fact, why don’t you take Ember with you?”

“To Sanctuary?” He was legitimately curious if she’d finally sparked out on herself and had fucked up the operation. (It would explain a few things…)

Amy gave him a huff, seemingly reading his thoughts. “It may not be the best idea, but it’ll give me time to put away…” she glanced at Ember, who was quite obviously not trying to eavesdrop, “my tools.”

(Right, a kid shouldn’t be anywhere near a Stitcher’s station.)

“Besides it’ll give you time to bond with your new… daughter…” Amelia’s face twisted into some weird mix of sympathy and amusement.

That made him grimace, especially since he managed to catch Ember freezing out of the corner of his eye. “Please don’t call her that, I very much doubt she’s looking for another parent after whatever happened to Anna.”

Amelia hissed through her teeth, before glancing at Ember and back to him.

(“That Anna?!”) She mouthed, a sympathetic panic on her face.

He nodded.

(“Does she know?”)

He shook his head.

“Shit!” She cursed aloud, earning a curious glance from Ember.

Amelia waited until she was looking away before continuing. (“Are you going to tell her?”)

He gave a snort of dark amusement, before signing. (“That bastard’s dead, and she’s better off not knowing anything about him.”)

For a moment Amelia looked like she wanted to argue, before glancing at the girl who just lost her mother and nodding. (“Fine.”)

“Alright, then is there anything else I should take care of while we’re out.”

Amelia gnawed on her lip as she glanced at Ember, before turning back to him. “If you do get a job from Ash you mind running through the Market for a restock on everything.”

He glanced at Ember, weighing his options.

(On the one hand dragging a kid around the market isn’t going to be fun… on the other hand it should make a decent enough impression and I might be able to find something to cheer the kid up.)

“Yeah, sure.” He finally decided. “If I’m doing a proper job for Ash, I’m going to need more Spell Shots anyway, and there are a few other things I should probably get while I’m there.”

“Alright then.” Amelia nodded as she stood up before turning towards the staircase on the other side of the bar. “While you’re out, I’ll go get Pet up and make her take care of clearing out your room, while I deal with cleaning up the other stuff.”

He watched Amelia walk up to the second floor for a moment, before turning his attention to the moody kid that was trying (and failing) to look as apathetic as possible.

(Now then, how do I convince a kid I barely know to follow me around all day…?)

“Oi, kid want to go see how many cops we can piss off in an hour?”