Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Usually, Aaron can rely on village gossip to quickly shift focus after two or three days, but for almost a fortnight, he’s been hearing practically nothing but how Robert Sugden is going to return home (hopefully not for long, most of the whispers from humans and shifters alike add).

His mum and Diane have been fussing over Katie and Andy, and if Paddy makes him promise one more time he’ll never hunt rabbits down by the quarry alone so long as Sugden is in Emmerdale-

He gets it, really. Robert Sugden is an even more skilled hunter than Jack Sugden was, he once tried to kill Andy, and yes, Aaron has flipping blue-wolf eyes. Somehow, he always manages to remember this well enough on his own every time he looks at a picture of Jackson or goes to visit his grave.

Now, Adam is practically cuddled against him in the bar, and he’d object, but Adam has a hand on the back of his neck.

Crushes can disappear completely, he’s learned, but the soft feel of calloused palm and fingers on the back of his neck will always make him settle and infuse him with safety.

“I’ve heard he uses wolfs bane and mountain ash, mate,” Adam says. “You can’t go around challenging him.”

“Why does everyone think I’d even want to,” he grumbles. “And Paddy uses wolfs bane and mountain ash.”

“For vaccines and to protect the animals down at the clinic. He’s never used either on-”

He pauses, and Aaron knows he doesn’t need to bring up the time Paddy did use mountain ash on a werewolf.

“Yeah, well, you deserved that,” Adam barrels on. “If he hadn’t- anyway, the point is, Vic’s thrilled her big brother is coming back, but even she’s worried, mate, about what he might do. Um, look, swear to me you aren’t going to bring up the time you and her- Because, I swear, Aaron, if he says or does anything to her, I’ll kill him. I don’t care that he’s a hunter, I’d find a way.”

“Yeah, I know,” Aaron quietly tells him. “C’mon, Adam, mate, have I ever thrown that in any hunter’s face?”

Adam relaxes but only slightly. “Don’t throw anything in his face, yeah? ‘Cause, if anything happened ta ya-”

“I know, you’d be all heartbroken and stuff, right, cry yourself to sleep-”

Pinching his neck, Adam digs his dirt-covered fingers into Aaron’s pint.

“Oi!” Flashing his eyes, Aaron chases Adam outside.

…

When he and Adam get back, they see DS Wise is chatting with his mum.

Rolling his eyes, he lets Adam drag him back to their booth. “You’re human, and even you can tell-”

“Your mum is worried about you, mate,” Adam says.

“Why? What have I done recently?”

“I mean, she’s worried how getting involved with someone else, especially a human, and a copper on top of all that-”

“Yeah, I got it,” he grumbles. “But here’s what I really don’t get: No one’s driving Cain mental over the fact this Sugden bloke is coming to town. Cain and Jack Sugden, they once almost killed one another, right? And it’s not like Cain’s ever gonna let go of that time Robert tried to kill Andy, either.”

As far as he can remember, he’s never even met Robert despite seeing him around the village a few times, but privately, he’s always going to- he wouldn’t go so far as to say he takes a strange hunter’s side, but he can’t quite condemn him, either. No one knew a telepath was messing with Andy’s mind and taking control, but everyone knew a werecoyote was hurting his human wife. The police weren’t doing much (he’ll always believe it was because they felt any human who married a shifter deserved it), and no one else could do much of anything. Once it became clear what was going on and the telepath had been arrested, Robert left almost as quickly as he appeared.

Memories of Paddy and the lack of telepath involved swirl in his head, and he takes a long drink of his warm, rank-tasting pint to chase them away.

“Well, for me personally, you matter more than Cain,” Adam bluntly says. “For the others, it’s not that you matter more, it’s that, they aren’t ready to resign themselves to losing ya too early. They resigned themselves to that with him a long time ago, mate.”

He can’t argue the point, even though, part of him would really like to.

…

After Adam goes home, he and his mum fix dinner and settle in front of the TV.

“Mum, ask DS Wise out, or say yes if he’s already asked you out,” he orders.

Looking over, she raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

He’s tempted just to leave it, but steeling his resolve, he continues, “Everybody knows how much you want him, and the shifters, at least, know how much he wants you. He seems decent.” Quietly, he adds, “And I don’t want to be the reason you aren’t going for something that makes you happy.”

“Oh, love.” She wraps her arms around him and kisses his cheek.

“Ugh.” He squirms away.

Laughing, she says, “It’s not that- it’s complicated, baby.”

“Eh, it really isn’t. You dress up a bit, you and him go somewhere, you talk, and if things are good, you go back to his place so your son doesn’t have to-”

Smacking at him with a pillow, she says, “Alright, smart arse!”

Once she puts the pillow down, he reaches over and swipes one of her biscuits.

“His grandmum was a hunter,” she quietly tells him.

He pauses in the middle of stuffing the biscuit in his mouth.

“He’s one of those who thinks hunters should be classified as vigilantes. He’s always been fair to all suspects and victims, no matter what they are. But-” She sighs. “He’s a human copper, sweetheart, who had a hunter in the family. I just don’t want to risk somehow being wrong and putting our pack in danger. Especially you, love.”

Not much of a pack to begin with, are we, he almost says.

However, he does have a sense where she’s coming from.

He often wishes his dad and mum had listened to societal disapproval and never gotten together and had him, but Victoria, Holly, and Ed are all humans, and he’s forever annoyed and defensive at insinuations there was something wrong with those relationships just because it was a shifter and a human. He never thought he was putting anyone in any danger by dating Vic; her father was dead, and though much healthier, she’ll always have a weak heart.

Even with all this and all the self-destructive things he’s done, he’d never, ever get involved with a hunter. Doing so wouldn’t just hurt him, it’d put everyone in his pack in actual, serious jeopardy.

“I understand,” he tells her. “But try thinking of it like this: Even if he is, no human copper could ever hope to bring the Dingle pack down. We might be a messed up, scattered out lot, but after 113 years, the pack still lives on.”

Smiling brightly, she pulls him into another hug.

This time, he stays.

“Will do,” she agrees.

He settles against her on the couch and finds himself hoping Robert Sugden will leave soon after he arrives. He’s tired of the repetitive gossip and the uneasy, sharpened focus on hunters as of late, and he’s confused and irritated by the fact some boy who was more-or-less driven out when he was nineteen is somehow managing to influence the feelings and actions of so many people, including Aaron’s own pack and loved ones, before he’s even arrived back.

Chapter Text

It’s three p.m. on a cloudy, muggy day when Robert Sugden walks into the Woolpack.

Victoria sees him as soon as he does, practically trips when she rushes around the bar, and hugs him tightly. “Robert!”

“Hey, Vic,” he greets. Running one hand through her hair, he presses her closer with the other. “Sorry I’m a bit late. Had to take a slight detour.”

Pulling away, she looks him up and down and starts carefully running her hands over him. “A detour? Rob, tell me you didn’t-”

Catching her hands, he says, “Not that kind. Is Diane about?”

Coming over, Diane answers, “Here, love.” Kissing his cheek, she inquires, “Have you eaten recently?”

“No,” he answers. “I wouldn’t say no to a burger.”

Laughing, she strokes his cheek. “Of course. I’ll ring Andy. Sit down.”

“You don’t have to ring-”

Vic smacks him.

Rubbing his head, he mutters, “Ow.”

She leads him to the bar. “How long are you planning to stay? Please, tell me you’re going to stay for the wedding, at least. C’mon, Rob, I know-”

Suddenly, she tenses and grabs hold of his arm. “Robert, I need you to promise-”

“Val’s gone and blown up the oven,” Finn announces. “Is Aaron around? And don’t start with any of your jokes, please. I’m convinced rabbit stew acts an alcohol inhibitor, and since they’ll be around soon- oh.” He looks Robert up and down. “Who’s this?”

“A hunter,” Vic quickly answers. “Actually, I think Adam and Aaron are both at Cain and Moira’s, why don’t you-”

“Let me guess, you’re Finn,” Robert says. He offers his hand. “Nice to meet you. Well, it would be if you weren’t part of the problem with D.C.’s comics newest characterisation of Hawkeye. By the way, in addition to being a hunter, I’m actually Vic’s brother, but then, I suppose-”

She smacks him again.

“Hawkeye’s new characterisation is more in line with his- Wait, how do you even know my opinion on that?”

“Well, Vic told me about your letter writing campaign. And yeah, it’s more in line with his original backstory, but given the newest arc focusing on-”

“Oh, geeks!” Vic huffs out. “Um, look, Finn’s a werecheetah. And gay. If I leave you two alone-”

“We’ll all be much happier,” Robert supplies. Turning back to Finn, he asks, “So, d’ya ever think that the original character meant to come out was supposed to be-”

“The newest incarnation of Robin?”

Robert nods.

Finn answers, “Of course! But then, they went and did Amanda Waller, and personally, I’ve always thought she’s shown clear signs of being…”

Vic wanders off.

…

When Andy, Sarah, and Jack walk into the pub, Robert looks up from where he and Finn are looking down at Finn’s phone. Taking his arm off Finn’s shoulder, Robert stands up. “Andy.”

“Robert,” Andy greets.

Kneeling down, Robert says, “Hey. I’m Robert. I know me and you never met, buddy, but,” he looks at Sarah, “do you remember me, sweetheart?”

Sarah nods, tugs Jack over, and hugs Robert. “Uncle Robert. You used to give me jelly babies.”

“What? When,” Andy demands.

“Yeah, that was supposed to be a secret, but no harm, huh? Your dad and I can talk about it later.” Starting to dig around in his pockets, he continues, “Well, I don’t have any jelly babies, but what sort of uncle would I be if I didn’t bring presents for my niece and nephew?”

“There’s no-” Andy starts.

“I’ve heard you’ve started to come into your abilities,” Robert says to Sarah. “You were only two or three when it happened, but have you ever heard about a major lunar meter shower in York?”

She nods. “We learned about that in history class.”

“Listen to my heart and breathing, yeah?”

Cocking her head, her eyes take on a yellow glimmer.

“I was there, and one of them, I swear to God, landed right near me. For years, I carried it in a paper bag, but last month, I took it to a jeweller and had her make this.” He reveals a white, somewhat bumpy orb hanging from a gold chain. “This way, you’ll always be able to draw strength from the moon.”

“Thank you, Uncle Robert!”

She hugs him, but before she can take it, Andy grabs it. “We’ll show it to Paddy, first. And if he says it’s safe, you can wear it.”

Narrowing his eyes, Robert says, “Well, anyway, Jack, maybe when you’re older, you can have some of the moon rock, too, but for now, when me and your dad were kids, I gave this to him.” He digs out a toy lorry. “I told him, someday, me and him would get a real one when we were all grownup and drive until we found the perfect place to go camping. Maybe, someday, you and him can do that, yeah?”

Andy grabs it, too. “You can play with it later, Jack, when Sarah gets her necklace.”

Vic comes out. “Oh, hey." Looking between Robert and Andy, she says to Jack and Sarah, “Come on, you two, let’s your daddy and uncle talk. Maybe they can do it outside.”

…

“When you came back for Dad’s funeral and- Jo, I didn’t know you’d-”

“I didn’t see her, then,” Robert says. “Either time. I’ve popped around a few times before and after those two times, Andy. Just to see how everything and everyone was. During her first year of school, she used to hide in a tree during lunch and cry. It doesn’t say much for her teachers, does it, that none of them ever noticed. I showed her a picture of me and Vic, said you didn’t like to hear about me, so, don’t tell, and gave her jelly babies. Also gave her tips on how to handle things.”

“As opposed to telling me. Her father. Or if you couldn’t stand to deal with me, anyone else for that matter, like Vic or-”

“That would still require dealing with you. Even with Vic, we’d get to talking about you, and I didn’t fancy seeing her always take your side on everything.”

Andy sighs. “Are you in trouble, Rob? Or are you here to cause trouble?”

Shaking his head, Robert is quiet for a moment. “The Argents have made me an offer. I’ll be leaving in a month’s time. Look, Andy- we’re never going to be mates, again, and I don’t consider you my brother. But all I want is to spend some time with Vic, make some things right, and have some fun. So, could we call a truce?”

“I’ve been willing to do that for a long time. It’s you who’s always refused.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not right now, okay?”

“Okay,” Andy agrees. He offers his hand.

Letting out a breath, Robert shakes it. “Good. Now, give my presents to Jack and Sarah soon. Them, I’ll claim. I’d never hurt ‘em.”

“I will. So, America, then? France?”

Robert looks over. “What?”

“Where ya going for this assignment? I know the Argents don’t have much of a hold in Britain.”

“Oh, uh, that hasn’t been completely worked out, yet. But I have plenty of choices.”

“Dad would be proud.”

“Yeah, but not as proud as he would be of you. Really: Congratulations on you and Katie marrying. I’ve come to accept, even with all that went down between the three of us, she’s a good woman. And based on what Sarah told me, she’s a fantastic stepmum.”

“Yeah, she is,” Andy says. “She makes me a better man. I’m so lucky to have her.”

“I imagine others would say she’s lucky to have you, too. Well,” he stands, “I’m going to go see if Finn’s still around. I can’t have him screwing up the character arcs of anymore of my favourite childhood characters with his flipping letter writing campaigns.”

“Alright,” Andy says. He jumps up. “Uh, you do know that-”

“He’s a werecheetah? A gay one?” At Andy’s nod, he answers, “Vic’s already covered that. And with the way he’s been flirting, he’d’ve already covered the second one well enough on his own.”

“I’m not sure this town is going to survive you being back for a whole month,” Andy comments.

Robert shrugs, reaches over, and placing a hand on the back of Andy's shoulder, begins leading him.

…

When Finn leaves, Vic sits next to Robert, and he puts an arm around her.

“I’m not up to cooking tonight, but me and Adam can take you out to-”

“Actually, if it’s all the same, I’m going to go over to the inn and-”

“The inn?”

“Well, I thought the local police might object to me taking residence under that bridge on-”

“Don’t be daft, of course, you’re staying at mine!”

“Staying with a newly engaged couple?” He makes a face. “Thanks, but no, really, I’ll take the inn. I checked in when I first arrived.”

“Robert,” she scolds.

“Tell you what, I’ll come around for breakfast or lunch, eh?”

She frowns. “If you’re- I’d rather you stay at mine.”

“Well, sorry, but that isn’t happening.”

“Okay,” she sighs.

“Hey, what’s the story with Finn? Is he adopted or summat?”

“Adopt- Oh, uh, no.” She hesitates. “When he was a baby, he and one of his older brothers, Ross, were bitten. Dad actually took care of the one who did it. Ross is a werewolf, but Finn- well, no one has any real idea of what made him into a cheetah. But he’s always had amazing control.”

“Good,” Robert says. “Look, I can’t promise I won’t end up killing him, but I can promise, if I do, it’ll be over comic books, not over him being a cheetah.”

“I suppose I can’t ask for more than that,” she comments with a dramatic sigh. “If he kills you, though, no one’s going to care. They’ll say you deserved it, arguing over comics like a little kid.”

“Noted.”

“But for dinner,” she persists, “you can come for that, can’t you?”

“I’m tired, Vic, and I’m ready to crash. I don’t know when I’ll be waking up. It could be midnight or later.”

“Right, then, I’ll wrap up some leftovers for you.”

…

At the inn, Robert takes a shower before digging out the mobile in his jacket pocket and dialling.

“Hey,” he greets in French. “Yeah, I’m sure you know I’m in Emmerdale. One month, I know. No, they don’t need to know. I wouldn’t do that. Look, you stick to your end of the bargain, alright? So far, I’ve kept to mine.”

He hangs up, tosses the mobile aside, turns out the lights, and crawls into bed.

Outside the window, the moon is full, and he stares at it.

Chapter Text

Sipping his brew, Aaron pets Paddy’s newest Rottweiler patient, Jackie.

“I can’t just give him a car, Vic,” Adam says.

“And I really don’t have the money to buy or rent one,” Robert interjects. “Vic, come on. Leave it. We both know I only came, because, you said-”

“I don’t see how or why you seeing Debbie after what you did to her could ever be considered to be a good idea,” she snaps. “Babe, everyone knows Cain’d love to get rid of that old Buick that American dealer fobbed off on him. Rob’s only going to be here for a month. He can drive it until he leaves.”

“Hang on,” Adam says. “Why are you trying to see Debbie?”

“How exactly is that any of your business?”

Aaron has the feeling he’s going to have to step in soon and reluctantly sets his cup aside.

“Don’t you two dare start fighting,” Vic orders, and- Aaron has a tendency to forget how her frown can make people, even people it’s not directed at, fall in line.

He settles back into his chair.

“Look, I appreciate it, Vic, but I don’t need a car to get around.”

“After you promised you’d take Sarah up to the quarry at night? You know that Andy’s going to insist you take his, if-”

“We don’t need a car. It’s not a far walk for either of us, and if she does get tired, I can always carry her.”

“And what if Jack insists on tagging along?”

Robert’s vitals dramatically change at this, and Aaron watches him with newfound interest.

Aaron will give him this, Robert Sugden is a fit, handsome man, but until now, this was the only thing Aaron thought Robert really had going for him. Sarah and Jack have been trotting after their uncle at the pub and crawling all over him, but one look at the necklace Sarah obviously works to show off around her neck and the little lorry Jack totes everywhere explains them. Finn is star-struck, but again, a fit, handsome lad who pays him attention, it isn’t hard to work out why.

Everyone else, including Vic, seems to be waiting for Robert to do or say something wrong, and after the weeks and weeks of everyone listing Robert’s sins in detail, Aaron can’t blame them, although, he’s curious what was done to Debbie. Either he managed to tune this particular piece of gossip out, or Debbie’s made sure no outright says anything.

Now, though, the mention of Jack has Robert- caring, might be the right word.

He’s right, he and Sarah can easily hike up to the quarry on foot, and physically, he’s strong enough he could probably carry her without getting too exhausted. But Jack is barely out of toddlerhood, hasn’t come into any of his abilities, yet, and the quarry can be a dangerous place for normal, adult humans at night.

“I do have some money saved up,” Robert says. “How much does Cain think would be fair for it being rented? I won’t need it once I leave town, but Vic’s right. I want to spend some quality time with my niece and nephew, and a car could come in handy.”

Adam nods. “Well, look, I’m sure we can all work something out. Cain’ll be…”

Irritated at Adam’s sudden change, Aaron considers nudging Jackie over to knock him down and slather him in slobber. All Robert did was change his tone and posture slightly, and yeah, the words were good, but otherwise, he didn’t do anything to earn Adam’s change in vitals and opinion.

“Aaron, mate, can you get the Buick,” Adam asks.

He’s about to protest, but Vic stares, and he knows it can easily turn into a glare.

As he does, he hears, “Aaron? That was Chas Dingle’s boy? Huh, I thought he would have been taller. Not very personable, is he?”

Assuming Debbie does end up tearing Robert to shreds, Aaron decides he will help her destroy the evidence without any questions.

…

He’s closing up for the day when he hears, “Hey, uh, Aaron right?”

Glancing over, he sees Robert has somehow appeared without him hearing anything.

“Sorry, the Buick’s at the inn,” Robert says. “I don’t want to fall out of the habit of mostly walking.”

A bit unnerved Robert managed to read what he was thinking so easily, Aaron nods. “If you’re looking for Debbie, she mentioned something about going on a month long holiday, and Adam and Vic are at the pub.”

“Yeah, I know. Well, I know about Vic and Adam. I wasn’t sure what your plans were, but I thought I could buy you a pint. As thanks for helping with the Buick.”

Utterly confused, Aaron scoffs. “I drove it around, and I made a copy of the keys. No need for thanks.”

Robert sighs. “Did- did I do something to you at some point?”

For reasons he doesn’t properly understand, Aaron feels his blood boiling. Half the people in the village cross the street, pull their kids away, and whisper about Aaron Livesy, thug, and the other half- well, this is the first time in ages he’s ended up closing the garage all by himself. Here Robert Sugden, a person who played with numerous people’s feelings, is, and it seems he’s going around and trying to make everything right, but-

There’s an air of oh, great, I might have try to make this stranger feel better about how I once did him wrong, even though I don’t recognise him and would rather be focusing on other things.

“Mate, you and I have never even spoken,” he says. “And also, we’re not mates. I don’t care about what you did or didn’t do to everyone else, including my pack, but I’m not going to be having a drink with a hunter.”

“Alright,” Robert says, and to further Aaron’s irritation, he’s clearly relieved. “Well, no harm in offering. Take care of yourself, yeah?”

He walks away before Aaron can respond.

…

In the motel room, Robert dials his mobile and says in French, “I’m still here. Listen, on Saturday, I’m taking my niece and possibly my nephew up to the quarry. We might camp out there. Don’t show up. Because she’s growing into her abilities, and I want- yes, she’s a coywolf. Probably. No.”

He groans. “Look, I understand you don’t trust me. I wouldn’t, either. But I have one month. If I don’t hold up my end, I know what to expect. If you involve my brother before then, however, you won’t know what to expect, but trust me, it won’t be pleasant.”

Hanging up, he tosses the mobile aside, grabs a beer, opens it, and takes a long swig.

Chapter Text

Coming into the Woolpack, Aaron finds Robert working behind the bar.

“Hey,” Robert easily greets. “Here for lunch or your mum? She and my sister are close to killing one another. Normally, I’d feel a duty to protect Vic, but this involves dresses for the wedding.”

“Ugh. They’re still going on about that?”

“All morning,” Robert confirms. “And Diane’s close to killing them both over it, although, I’m not sure why exactly. I used to think, if I ever got married, I’d like a wedding, but what’s the point if there’s always a chance my fiancée, sister, or some other woman I care about could end up dead before it happened?”

“Just here for lunch, then,” Aaron says. “Are you taking orders, or-?”

Withdrawing a pad and pen from his apron, Robert grins, and Aaron feels uncomfortably warm. “I can. What’ll it be?”

…

Robert sets the food and drink down, and Aaron mutters, “Thanks.”

Nodding, Robert leans against a nearby wall, and Aaron regrets not sitting at the bar. “What about you? Got any girlfriend who might soon be in danger of death by close female friends and family?”

Aaron scoffs. “Not likely.”

“Not one for marriage, eh?”

“Not at all,” Aaron agrees. “Are you just going to stand here, or are you going to get back to work? ‘Cause, hate to tell you, but my werewolf pack has a bigger share in this pub than your human family does, and aside from Vic, none of the adults think much of you, do they?”

There’s a brief spike of frustration, grief, and raw ire, but Robert takes a breath, and to Aaron’s puzzlement, most of it simply dissipates.

“Fine,” Robert says. “You know, I know more about all of Vic’s other friends than I do you. I’m going to go somewhere very dangerous in a month, and I wanted to make sure my little sister is taken care of. But that isn’t your problem, right? So, I’ll leave you be. Just do me a favour, and the next time hunters come through town and they’re blowing off steam by saying less-than-flattering things about werecreatures, don’t pretend you’re any better. When it comes to Andy- yeah. But other than him, the one thing I’ve never screwed up in my life is keeping to the spirit of the code. It isn’t my fault none of the other adults can see that.”

Robert heads back over to the bar.

…

Aaron tries to ignore the thoughts Robert’s words caused.

Mostly, the little sister he’s successfully avoided thinking about for years keeps popping up.

Other than this-

Sitting down at the bar, he says, “Hey, uh, what I said about drinking with a hunter- well, really, I have before. So, if you wanted, when you got off, I could buy you a pint. Marriage might not be for me, but uh, either you or your brother would be sent to kill me if I wasn’t part of Adam and Vic’s.”

There's confusion stirring underneath Robert's general good mood. “Okay. I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, but sure, a drink sounds good.”

“Well, you’re going to be in the wedding, aren’t you? Or at least, be sitting in the first row.”

“Probably not, no,” Robert answers. “I’d like to, I really would, but this opportunity I’ve been given- it’s literally once in a lifetime. At the end of the month, hell or high water, I have to leave, and I have no idea if I’ll even be able to come back.”

Death, Aaron abruptly realises. Robert’s afraid of death. Whatever assignment or ascension through the ranks he’s being offered, danger greater than what the average hunter faces is part of it.

Aaron still doesn’t have a high opinion of Robert choosing hunting over his sister’s wedding, but this makes him realise all the stuff Robert is doing is genuine. Andy and the others might not be able to see it, because, they’ve all been hurt so badly by him, but as an, at least, somewhat objective party, Aaron can.

If he ever wants people to be able to see fully past his past, he reckons it might be a good idea to not automatically dismiss someone else who’s hoping for the same thing.

“In any case, the offer for that pint stands.”

Robert grins. “I’ll be off in twenty minutes.”

Appearing from the kitchen, Vic says, “You can be off, now. Diane is insisting I cut my break short.”

“Vic, tell me there isn’t a dead werewolf in the kitchen. Everyone will blame me, including her son, even though, he’s been sitting right here with me.”

“Charity sent her down to the station to deliver to DS Wise. Apparently, we’re doing deliveries, now.”

“Well, let’s hope it works,” Aaron mutters.

Robert looks between them. “Sorry. Who’s DS Wise?”

Pushing over a pint and handing another to Robert, Vic says, “Someone you two can talk about away from the bar.”

…

“So, fair warning: This is going to be an awkward question, and it doesn’t matter whose family or pack has a greater share in the pub, if you punch me, your mum’s sort-of boyfriend will probably arrest us both. And if I punch you, I’ll have a sore hand and probably be permanently banned.”

“Alright.” Aaron sets his package of peanuts down.

“Did you ever date Vic, and if the answer’s yes, you’re not still- Sometimes, people just can’t help how they feel. So, even though Adam’s a mate of yours-”

“First,” Aaron interrupts, “Adam’s my best mate. After my mum and Paddy, he’s the most important person to me. Second, there are two parts to your question. Yeah, Vic and I briefly dated when we were teenagers. But I’m gay. If you want to punch me over that, trust me, hate crimes for that are taken seriously around here. It’d be a waste of a punch doing it over your sister, though, because, even if Adam weren’t my best mate, I’m never going to want her like that.”

Robert is- other than surprise, Aaron’s not sure how he’s taking this information, but there’s no clear anger or disgust.

“Good to know,” Robert says. “Want another pint?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

…

After the pub’s closed up, Robert and Vic sit together in a booth, and he puts his arm around her.

“I’m proud of you for not opening your mouth and saying something stupid earlier with Aaron,” she says.

“This is the twenty-first century. Was dating you what made him realise?”

“No,” she answers. “That was short and practically over before it started.”

“I was surprised, though,” he says. “Not that he likes men, but aren’t most werecreatures naturally bisexual or pansexual? They were way ahead of us in recognising and accepting non-straight people.”

She hesitates. “This doesn’t go past us, right?”

“Right, promise,” he says.

“Aaron’s dad is human, and they had a complicated relationship. Or Aaron’s feelings about it are complicated. Aaron was always pushing limits and getting into trouble, real trouble, when he was younger, and eventually, stuff happened, and his dad kicked ‘im out. I dunno when Aaron started to realise he liked blokes, but with his dad being straight and human and the one who took care of Aaron growing up, Aaron couldn’t take not being straight, too. If he were bi, he would have stuck exclusively with girls, but he’s not, and he didn’t handle that well for a long time.”

“As long as he never hurt you, that’s the only thing I care about,” he says.

“Rob,” she scolds.

Taking a breath, he says, “I’m serious, Vic. Look, I know I had my own drama with dad, and aside from the occasional phone call and postcard, I’ve never really been part of your life, but you, Sarah, and Jack are the most important people in my life. I love you, and I worry about you.”

She snuggles closer. “I love you, too. And don’t worry, Aaron is my mate. He might drive me mental and accuse me of doing the same to him, but he’d never let anyone hurt me, not if there’s anything at all he could do.”

“Good. Then, hopefully, me and him can get on despite our rocky start.”

Chapter Text

On Friday, Robert brings the Buick in.

Aaron is half-glad Debbie and Cain aren’t around. He knows Robert finally managed to corner her yesterday, and from what he could gather from Debbie herself, she no longer hates Robert’s guts, although, it’s clear she might still attack him if given the right provocation.

“If you want another inspection, you’re going to have to wait until later,” he says. Waving at the cars he, Adam, and the new hire are stuck dealing with, he continues, “It might be better for ya to bring it in, in the morning.”

“Right, well, I don’t need it until tomorrow night. I’ll just leave it here for, now, and if I do end up needing it before then, I’ll come get it.”

Catching the keys, Aaron nods.

…

After the garage is closed, Aaron gets to work on the Buick.

He’s just about finished when he hears, “Hello? I saw the light on-”

And decided to bring whoever was in a bag of jelly doughnuts and cup of coffee, by the looks of it.

“Just me,” Aaron says. “I really hope you were planning to give those to your future brother-in-law and not Debbie. Because, she still isn’t happy about you being in town.”

“Actually, I was hoping it was you,” Robert says.

Aaron knows he isn’t supposed to –it’s a sign of a skilled hunter-, but he really doesn’t like the way Robert so easily says certain things. If there’s deceit, it’s properly hidden, but even if there isn’t any, pinpointing exactly what motivates the words is proving to be fruitless.

“Why?”

“Adam and Finn’ve told me you hunt rabbits down on the quarry. Sarah hates hunting, I mean, hunting animals, but I thought it’d be a good idea if she learned to capture, at least. I know how to capture as a human, but I was wondering if you could give me tips on how a werecreature would do it.”

“You do know that your brother, her father, is-”

“He thinks it’s a waste of time, and furthermore, us getting along is contingent on us saying as few words as possible to one another and spending as little time in the same room together as we can manage.”

“But you don’t,” Aaron finds himself saying. “Think it’s a waste of time.”

Robert shrugs. “He hasn’t outright said it, but I get the feeling he’s worried that it might get her on hunter radar. Do you know how some parents never have their daughter learn how to change a tire because they’d rather them lock themselves in the car and call for help on the mobile?”

“Yeah.”

“A version of that,” Robert says. “And he and Debbie can raise their kids however they want, but Sarah’s outgrown tea parties, finds football boring, and thanks to Vic, has pretty much learned how to cook. So, unless I can come up with money I don’t have to take her to see some boyband playing in Leeds, this is one of the few ways I have of potentially bonding with my niece.”

“I think you could probably get the money for those concert tickets, mate,” Aaron jokes. “If you-”

“And I could also lock whoever gave me the money into a room and play one of their hour long albums on high volume, but then, people might decide that I haven’t changed.”

“Right, because, that’s something the old Robert would never do.”

“The old Robert wouldn’t have been bothered to spend a Saturday night with his niece and nephew.”

Aaron feels a pang at the self-disgust and sadness radiating off Robert. “Look, I’ll be finished soon. There’s drinks in the mini-fridge, and I prefer the orange jellies. Sit down, and we can talk.”

Robert smiles, and it’s a mixture of self-assured and softly genuine.

At least, he’s straight, Aaron thinks.

…

“Aside from the fact that’s child abuse and could get me killed by the first adult to come across me, that makes no sense.”

“To a human, it takes some wrapping the head around, but trust me, for a werewolf-”

“She’s not- Is werecoywolf a recognised word?”

“You’d know better than me. Look it up in a bestiary, if it matters that much. The point is, for her, it’ll give her a boost.”

“You’re winding me up,” Robert half-accuses.

Laughing, Aaron shakes his head. “I swear, I’m not, mate. Look, the moon’s full, and that makes us stronger. But gradual exposure doesn’t- if you blindfold her and put the boot of the car for about an hour, when you get her out at the quarry, the moon hitting her will cause a sudden surge in her abilities. And it’s not child abuse, or at least, it wouldn’t be in this case.”

“When I was little, one time, Cain locked me in the boot of a car. This was before they started making it standard for boots to have emergency release levers. Me and him talked, I agreed to do it, and he picked me up and got me settled inside. He stood out there the whole time with the set of keys in his hands and talked me through every step of the way.”

“Right, well, whatever, Andy would never agree to that, and even if she wasn’t scared, after five or ten minutes, she’d be going mental from boredom.”

“Not if she had her IPod.”

Roberts shakes his head. “Back to landing positions. About how high up a tree is good?”

“There’s one near- Right, you can’t smell that, and she won’t know what to sniff for. Find a tree about the height of the primary school, yeah?”

“What are the dimensions of the primary school?”

“You’re wanting numbers, mate, and unless it’s balancing an account book, which Cain still always insists someone else double-checks when I do it, I can’t help you.”

“Do you happen to have a measuring tape around here I could borrow?”

Aaron stares. “You’re not seriously going to go measure the primary school, are ya?”

“Yes,” is Robert’s simple response. “It’s a public building, and since I won’t be there during school hours-”

“I can take an early lunchbreak tomorrow and go out to the quarry with you.” Realising what he just said and managing to remind himself the right way to handle this is not to act out on the rapidly consuming embarrassment and confusion, he takes a quick breath. “I mean, if ya fancied it.”

Never mind the hunter sitting across from him, if he does damage to the garage, Cain will be after his head.

“Really? That’d be great. Thanks,” Robert says with a soft smile.

“Yeah, well, if you were caught measuring the primary school at night or tomorrow with one of our measuring tapes, I’d probably be blamed.”

Standing, Robert asks, “In that case, is it alright if I leave the Buick here until tomorrow?”

“You’re going to walk to the inn at this time of night?”

“Yeah, why not?” Robert grabs his jacket and slips it on. “I’m a hunter, remember. And I’ve walked through places far more dangerous than Emmerdale ever could be on even darker nights with extreme weather.”

Aaron wants to protest, but he knows there’s no reason to. “Thanks for the coffee and doughnuts.”

“Thanks for the chat,” Robert says. “Take care, eh?”

Chapter Text

Robert jumps down from the tree. “Yeah, this should work.”

Aaron winces. “Your ankle has a crack in it.”

Shrugging, Robert says, “When I get too old and damaged, I just do. Hunters never retire.”

“Yeah, but most of them, especially ones with special, dangerous assignments coming up, tend to try to avoid damage before they can even start,” he points out.

Sighing, Robert reaches over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Then, help me walk off it. I promise, tomorrow, I’ll go to A&E and see if they can do anything.”

Wishing he’d kept his mouth shut, Aaron deliberately hones onto a whistling bird.

He helps Robert adjust position, and even with most of his senses focused on the bird, he’s still acutely aware of the warm, solid presence of Robert against him and the scent of him. No cologne or aftershave, standard, soap-scented inn soap, and underneath is a smell Aaron can’t fully process.

It makes him want to run his nose over Robert’s body and focus solely on taking it in.

“Why don’t you go today?”

“The library isn’t open tomorrow, and I want to try to get a library card and some books. Andy and Katie have let me take some of the ones I left behind, but I’ve already read all of them.”

“Without a permanent address, the librarian isn’t going to issue you one."

Unhappiness floods Robert, but he simply says, “Then, I’ll get some reading done in there.”

“You have your smartphone, don’t you, and Finn could lend you some.”

“I’ve read most of what he has, too,” Robert says. “And yeah, I’d’ve died of boredom if it weren’t for ebooks and audios, but now that I have a comfortable, relatively safe place and some time on my hands, I want to properly enjoy some physical books.”

Aaron almost considers offering some of his own books, but he doesn’t have many, and he knows they probably won’t be to Robert’s taste, anyways. Despite what others seem to think, he doesn’t dislike reading or see it as pointless. He likes learning new things, but he’s never been much of a dreamer. Some people like getting lost in fantasy, and some people are so creative they can connect to characters and appreciate the world the characters live in.

For him, he tries not to imagine things -it always hurts so much when they don’t end up happening-, and once he’s read something useful, he tends to remember it, and therefore, doesn’t need to re-read it.

“You wouldn’t happen to still have your old library card, would you? You might be able to get it renewed.”

“No, I imagine it was thrown out or got lost shortly after I left.”

Aaron manages not to sigh.

He knows what he’s about to do, and he refuses to think about why.

“I’ll drive you to the library, then.”

“There’s no-”

“I’m not being blamed when you end up-”

“Oh, yeah, I end up tumbling on a bad ankle during a hunting trip, I’ll definitely be sending everyone around to Emmerdale, looking for one Aaron Livesy, who works with the mother of my niece and nephew and lives above where my sister and stepmum work.”

“Look, just let me drop you off at the library. I have to settle something with the librarian, anyways.”

“Well, that’s lucky,” Robert comments. “You could have just said.”

“It’s not really your business, is it?”

…

Once Robert is happily settled in a corner on a beanbag with a pile of books surrounding him, Aaron greets, “Alright, Maxine?”

She peers suspiciously at him over the rims of her glasses. Given this and her habit of taking them off when she reads, he’s not sure why exactly she wears them and how they work, but he’s afraid, if he asked, she’d pile him with books and call his mum.

Maxine has never forgotten the time he threw a book across the room, but she does seem to forget he isn’t twelve-years-old, anymore, and she tends to get twitchy when people stay in the library for a significant amount of time and don’t have a book or ten in their possession.

“Look, you know Robert Sugden?” He gestures with his thumb.

“We lost fifty pounds because of him.”

“What?”

“He killed that Murphy fellow, and Murphy had outstanding fees with us.”

“Wasn’t Murphy a serial killer?”

She gives him a look making it clear she doesn’t think he has his priorities straight. “Well, I don’t think it would have been too unreasonable for him to throw him in a cell for a bit while his financials were sorted. We really could have used those fifty pounds, you know. And I’m not convinced some of those books couldn’t have been retrieved if-”

“Wait, hold on. From what I’ve heard, there was an order for Murphy to be charged in human court, but Robert killed him in self-defence.”

“And if he hadn’t, we might have had the fifty pounds and possibly some of the books.”

Aaron pushes down his indignation and disbelief. By her logic, Robert being dead would be preferable if it meant a serial killer was forced to relinquish some books and pay a fine, but he’s more-or-less used to the fact Maxine is going to operate under logic and morality most humans and werecreatures alike don’t share, and having a go over this will only end in his mum being called and a local little werefox who is inexplicably mad over Maxine scattering the pub’s garbage all over the street.

“Anyway, Robert needs a library card, but he’s only in town for the month. Could you and I work something out so he could get one?”

“Sorry, no. Even setting aside him causing us to lose revenue and books, we don’t do anonymous library cards, and he doesn’t fit the criteria for a visitor’s card.”

“His family lives here, and he has a mobile.”

“Jack Sugden was even worse than he was. We lost over-”

“Yeah, but Jack Sugden, his dad, is dead, isn’t he? And the rest of his family-”

“I like his sister, but I’m not so sure about their brother, and I’m not going to issue a visitor’s card based on how well-behaved his prepubescent niece and nephew are.”

Maxine is convinced Andy was responsible for the library’s garden being destroyed, although, it’s really not up for to debate by any sane person that an actual ferret did it.

Normally, Aaron would label her as prejudiced, but well, Andy made the mistake about joking about how it was him in her presence, and this apparently trumps CCTV of said ferret doing it in her head. He’s pretty sure anyone making such a joke would be deemed guilty by her.

“Did I mention he likes audio and ebooks? Thinks they’re just as good as regular.”

She glances over at where Robert is reading. “All right, if you and one of his kin will sign, I’ll issue him a library card on the condition he surrenders it before he leaves, and if it’s not surrendered and/or there’s fines, one of you will be legally liable.”

He almost asks how exactly she plans to enforce this -the local police think she’s a joke and don’t appreciate her trying to sic them on little eleven-year-olds and cheeky teenagers-, but aside from the fact Robert won’t get his library card if he does, he knows the answer: she has the patience to endlessly ring people until they comply with what she wants just to get her to stop, and as an extra bonus, a wee love-struck fox in her corner.

“Cheers,” he says when she hands him the paperwork.

…

When he gets back with the signed papers, Robert is in the same spot Aaron left him.

Kneeling down, Aaron puts them on the book Robert’s reading. “While I was talking to Maxine, you came up. So, uh, here. By the way, if you don’t give the card back at the end of the month, or if you leave behind fees, I’ll be hunting you, mate.”

Confusion goes through Robert until realisation hits, and then, he smiles brightly. “Thanks.”

Aaron refuses to dwell on the fact, the last time he dealt with Maxine, it was for Belle’s sake.

…

On Monday night, Robert shows up again.

“How’s Jack’s new bunny doing?”

“According to Paddy, he should be ready to go home in another day or two,” Robert answers. “I was, uh, wondering: Fancy having dinner with me at the pub? I’ve never particularly liked eating alone, and Vic and Adam are over at Andy’s.”

“You weren’t invited?”

“I was,” Robert answers. “But I prefer eating alone to dealing with my brother and her.”

“Yeah, sure. Just give me about five minutes.”

Robert grins. “Thanks."

…

When they’re ordering, Aaron realises he left his wallet at the garage.

“Actually, wait. Sorry, but I need to go back. Left my wallet.”

“That’s alright, I can pay,” Robert says.

“No. Look, I’ll be back in-”

Reaching over, Robert wraps his hand around Aaron’s arm and, either not noticing or caring at how Aaron tenses, says, “No, really. You can always pay me back, later. Stay.”

Reluctantly, Aaron nods and is relieved when Robert lets go.

“Careful, mate,” he says. “People might start thinking this is a date.”

Glancing over, Robert responds, “Could do worse, I suppose.”

Then, he winks, and Aaron seriously considers bolting.

…

After dinner, Aaron insists they go back to the garage.

When he hands the money over, Robert says, “Cheers.”

“Want a lift back to the inn?”

“No, thanks.”

Aaron must have made a noise or a face, because, Robert looks over with amusement. “It’s good for me to do some walking, you know. I promise, tomorrow, I’ll have Vic or Diane pick up me up in the morning and drive me to the pub.”

“Whatever,” Aaron responds.

“Don’t be like that,” Robert says. “Thanks, by the way. For tonight.”

“No worries.”

Robert starts to leave, stops, and leans down. “Must have dropped this."

Aaron’s heart clenches, and he prays it’s not- Seeing the picture Ed took of them together in bed with Ed in some ridiculous fuzzy jammy top and him in an undershirt, Aaron relaxes and quickly scans the floor for any other pictures.

“Handsome bloke,” Robert comments. “I respect the clear love he has for his grandmum. Boyfriend?”

“Ex,” Aaron answers. “Still a good mate. And he found that in a shop and bought it. And wore it. Because we’re still good mates, I can say he’s a bit of a moppet.”

Robert laughs. “I haven’t seen him around here. The village, I mean.”

“He’s in France.”

Nodding, Robert hands the picture back. “Seeing anyone currently?”

“Are you asking as a hunter or someone trying to make absolutely sure I’m not going to go do my best mate wrong with your little sister?” He slips his wallet back into his jeans.

Robert moves closer, and everything from his scent to the air surrounding them changes. “Neither.”

Part of Aaron wants to step closer, and part of him is screaming to take a step back.

He forces himself to stay and meet Robert’s eyes. “No. I’m not.”

They both just stand there, and if Robert makes a move, even knowing he should, Aaron isn’t going to stop him or protest, but the one thing Aaron will never do is make the first move on a hunter.

Suddenly, some of the tension eases, and a sense of frustrated resignation takes its place.

“Right, well, night, then,” Robert says.

“Night,” he echoes.

Robert turns to walk away, and Aaron starts to turn, too, when there’s another change, and Robert is spinning him around and placing warm hands on his cheeks.

The kiss is almost frightening in its intensity and the thought it’s never been like this grapples through him, but he’s not going to back down.

Kissing Jackson felt like what he imagined heaven on earth might be like, and kisses with Ed were soft, sweet, sometimes playful and fun, and always nice, but this, this is making his body thrum close to how it did when he was coming into his abilities and was out in the moonlight, this is sharpening his senses and making him even greedier after every new sensation and smell and touch is experienced.

They’re near a car, and he opens the backdoor before abruptly remembering Kelly Nelson is a werecoyote.

Groaning, he tries to drag Robert over to old man Thompson’s car without breaking the kissing.

…

Afterwards, Robert isn’t freaking out, but Aaron doubts he’d need his werewolf senses to know this was obviously something of a mistake in Robert’s book.

“You alright?”

Struggling with his shirt, Robert answers, “Yeah, yeah."

There’s no doubt Robert’s been with men before, but whether he’s ever been with a werecreature or not, Aaron can’t tell.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to go around telling anyone I shagged a hunter. That’d be bad for both of us.”

“Good,” Robert says.

“Does your family know? About you being-”

“I’m bisexual,” Robert interrupts. “No, they don’t know. And I don’t want them, too.”

“Even if you weren’t a hunter, I wouldn’t say anything,” Aaron promises.

Finally, Robert relaxes a tiny bit.

It was good, but Aaron finds himself almost craving more. He wants to properly explore Robert’s whole body. There were the expected scars on Robert’s torso and legs, but he hadn’t really gotten to fully trace them, and at one point, he had touched somewhere on Robert’s lower back, and despite there being no evidence of any injury, past or present, Robert had instinctively flinched, tugged at Aaron’s arm, and redirected the hand, all without ever halting what they’d been doing.

Robert takes a deep breath. “I’m leaving at the end of the month, and I won’t be able to do long-distance. If this was a one-off, good with me. But as long as you understand this has an expiration date and needs to stay between us, if you want more, ring me, yeah? Or just find me out there.” He starts to leave before Aaron can respond.

Then, he comes back and surprises Aaron with another kiss. “Oh, and if we do, next time, let me actually buy dinner, yeah?”

“I’m not a girl,” Aaron feels compelled to say. “And you don’t have hardly any money to your name right now.”

“Well, then, we can switch. You can buy me tea the time after. But I’m human and maybe have some antiquated ideas even by those standards, but I try to always, at least, buy someone a drink if I’m going to be sleeping with them. Anyway, take care.”

He leaves.

Aaron’s torn between laughing and groaning, and when he realises he might not be able to properly clean old man Thompson’s car well enough to hide what happened from Cain and Debbie, and it’d be just his luck for Ross to show up, too, he goes with the latter.

Chapter Text

Vic and Robert are having breakfast when Aaron comes down to the pub.

“I’m just saying, usually, by now, you’d have started something with some girl,” Vic says.

Robert shrugs. “I must be getting old, because, dating doesn’t have much appeal, anymore.”

“Oi, I’m married! Or I will be.”

“Which has what to do with what?” Robert looks over at Aaron. “Morning.”

Aaron mutters a reply.

“Yeah, our Aaron isn’t a morning person. By the way, that’s decaf.”

Glaring, Aaron demands, “Why in the flipping heck is there decaf out?”

“Oh, I don’t know, there are other people around besides of you? And don’t you dare steal my brother’s Americano. Last thing we need is a brawl in the middle of the pub. There’s regular over there.”

Going over to it, Aaron focuses on Robert’s amusement and hears, “I’ve always said whoever got it into their head that caffeine doesn’t affect werecreatures was wrong.”

“Only because we grew up with Andy.”

“Don’t start.”

“What? What’s happened between you two, now?”

Robert sighs. “Nothing.”

Usually, once Aaron gets a cup of coffee in him, he’ll head back upstairs and crawl back into bed until he hears his mum in the kitchen and goes out to help her make some eggs and toast and pour some cereal for himself, but he finds himself slowing his sips so he can listen. As far as he knows, after Robert left the garage last night, he went straight back to the inn. Though, telephones and computers do exist, he also knows, and the Sugden brothers could definitely decide they were going to resume being bitter enemies over one of them.

“Robert-”

“Nothing, Vic,” he repeats. “He’s your brother, but he’s not mine. Whether it matters to you or not, there’s no blood, and I’m just- so tired of everyone giving him a pass for all the bad things he’s done.”

And you haven’t, is Aaron’s sarcastic thought.

But then, he realises, this might be the point. Almost a month before Robert came, no one could shut up with speculating about what trouble he might cause, and even now, there’s no secret there are people who distrust or hold things against him. Normally, he’d think Maxine can’t really be counted, but just yesterday, she was holding Robert doing something good against him just because it personally somewhat inconvenienced her.

Andy, though, he’s accepted in the village.

Aaron isn’t going to protest this, not after all Andy did for Jackson and some of the things he did for Aaron afterwards, but he can feel a bit of sympathy for Robert.

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be so in love with Sarah and Jack. There’s no blood there, either.”

“I chose them,” Robert says. “Me. Dad didn’t choose them and insist I just accept it.”

“What about Mum, then,” Vic quietly asks.

“She chose me. Name one time as adults that Andy’s ever been in my corner. Risked anything for me, defended me, even just cared how I was doing.”

“When have you,” she angrily challenges. “And he might not have done any of that, but he sure as hell didn’t deliberately set out to ruin your life. He didn’t try to kill you, and don’t you dare say anything about the code. For all you claim to keep to the spirit of it, that was you trying to flimsily justify skirting around the very edge of the letter of it.”

I just want to go back to bed, Aaron grumpily thinks as he goes over, knocks into the table, and pulls the chair of each sibling out so the Americano doesn’t get on either of them.  

“Sorry,” he says. “So there’s a not a brawl, I’ll buy you another one, yeah?”

…

After Bob gives Robert his Americano, Aaron and Robert start to walk back to the pub.

“Why do I get the feeling you did that on purpose?” Robert sips his coffee and looks over with suspicious eyes.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you were obviously listening into our private conversation.”

Aaron shrugs. “Since I just bought you coffee, d’ya want to buy me dinner tonight?”

“You bought me coffee-” Robert pauses when realisation hits, and Aaron is surprised how Robert immediately changes from grumpily indignant to bright, hopeful, and a bit tentative. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Aaron answers. “You can find out everything important about my pack just by being in the village, and if you did ever manage to take us down, half the village would be after your blood. But still, with what Kate Argent did, I’d never make the mistake of getting too close to a hunter. So, don’t worry. When it’s time for you to go, I’ll buy you a pint, but until then, no harm in us having some fun, eh?”

Robert grins, and briefly nudging against Aaron, he says, “Sounds good.”

…

After dinner, Aaron takes Robert to an abandoned barn he used to stash nicked stuff in.

Later, he carefully traces the scars on Robert’s body. For his part, Robert lies still and watches him with almost sleepy eyes. Occasionally, Robert will chime in with a story, but most of them, he simply lets Aaron explore.

“I saved a kid’s life. Only three years old. There was a fire…”

“A rapist who went after banshees. I made sure none of them would ever have to hear or see him again. A sort of mate in Jersey helped me…”

“That one was a sparring accident. I accidentally got knocked against a window, and it broke. Ellie Dixon, a hunter from…”

“I- honestly, I don’t remember how I got that one. I’m not sure I even knew I had it ‘til now.”

When Aaron is done, Robert gives a small tug at the bottom of his shirt, and he irritably bats the hand away.

“Why,” Robert asks.

He’s not getting into it.

Everyone knows werewolves don’t have scars, but this is only usually true. He only has one, and compared to some of the darkly-healed, raised ones on Robert, his is relatively thin and pale to the point, in the right light, it can’t even be seen, but of course, he has to be one of those rare exceptions of werewolves who can never completely, fully heal.

Letting anyone, human or other, hunter or not, know this is something he’ll always be incredibly careful and selective about doing.

“Alright,” Robert says. Reaching up, he kisses Aaron and reverses their positions.

…

Robert is trying to get the hay out of his hair and largely resembling a cat in the process, and stifling a laugh, Aaron reaches over. “Here.”

Picking the hay out, he says, “Remember, try to avoid going anywhere your family might be or go in the next few days, and take a shower as soon as you get to the inn.”

He really wishes he’d thought of what he was going to do before now. Last night, he’d let himself into Adam’s when Adam and Vic were still at Andy’s, taken a shower, and sprayed the place with white vinegar. Now, though, they’re both going to be home, and if he goes into the pub like this, every Dingle and likely a good number of other regular werecreatures will soon smell it.

 …

Letting himself into the clinic, he ignores the hissing cats and calls, “It’s me, Paddy! I’m using your shower.”

Jackie runs in, and they have a quick game of tug-of-war.

Paddy appears. “Aaron? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, uh-” I really should have planned this better, he thinks in exasperation. “Look, I was- with someone earlier, and I don’t want the others to know.”

“With- Oh!” Curiosity and brightness flood Paddy. “Who was it? I mean- do you have a new boyfriend? Is he a good lad? Does he have family around-”

“Paddy, shut up,” he mumbles. Taking a breath, he shakes his head. “It was- it was causal, alright? He was here on business, yeah, and he’ll be gone soon.”

“Okay,” Paddy says. “As long as you had a nice time and were safe.”

“I did, and we were.”

Patting Jackie, he heads to the shower.

…

When he’s done, he goes to where Paddy is medicating a squirming opossum.

“Paddy, I don’t want anyone else to know.”

“I understand,” Paddy tells him. “Everyone has a right to privacy. Just- when you do find someone and start to get serious, you need to let us all in, yeah?”

“I will do."

“Good. Do you think, if this bloke wasn’t just here on business, you might like him as more?”

“I don’t know,” Aaron admits. “Maybe, but-” He hesitates.

“I’m not pushing, but I am reminding you that you can tell me anything.”

“He has ties to hunters. He’s- he’s done some hunting himself.”

“Do you think he might be town with Robert Sugden?”

Thankful Paddy isn’t looking at him, Aaron replies, “Who knows?”

“Kate Argent wasn’t a true hunter,” Paddy declares. Looking over, he gives a small smile. “If you did ever get seriously involved with a hunter, I’d be worried, of course, I would be, but providing he actually stuck to the code and was a good man besides, looking out for you and making you happy, I’d help bring the others around, if you two needed me to. I know Cain and Jack had their issues, and things have sometimes been rocky between your pack and the Sugdens, but he really was a good man. Most of them do more good than non-humans will admit to, but who can blame them when the ones like Argent strike, they strike hard and usually leave nothing behind. It truly is a miracle the Hale pack is still standing.”

“I’ve heard some of them are in England, now,” Aaron says.

Nodding, Paddy carefully puts the opossum back in a cage. “Yeah, and the ones in America, some of them and the Argents have actually joined together. One of the young hunters, I think an Argent and Calavera both, married a werecoyote from the Hale pack. Just goes to show, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess it does,” Aaron answers. “Anyways, cheers, Paddy.”

Chapter Text

By Friday, Aaron realises he might be in over his head.

Earlier, Adam had asked why he was having dinner with Robert every night, and Aaron had only been saved from trying to come up with a decent answer by Adam getting a call about an emergency down at the Barton farm.

Also, Paddy’s starting to cotton on to the fact this extended one-night stand might be less of an extended one-night stand and more of a causal sex arrangement with someone who isn’t just in the village for a few nights.

He’d been successfully suppressing all these worries and thoughts while dealing with the busy workload at the garage, but now, Robert has shown up.

“I’d come to see if we could have lunch together, but,” Robert looks around, “that obviously won’t be happening. You do have a snack or summat you can cram in, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Aaron answers. “Sorry, mate. Maybe some other day.”

Because, Adam definitely won’t find that anything worth questioning, he thinks.

“No worries.” Robert digs out his mobile. “Well, actually, could I use the garage’s landline? The last time I tried calling from here, the reception was-”

“Yeah, whatever,” Aaron answers before rushing over to pry a little kid off the suspended school bus.

This is how he finds out the kids have a crap teacher and bus driver (and he, Cain, and all the others aren’t much better as mechanics or even just adults) who somehow missed the fact one of the students is actually still sleeping inside the bus.

Once the still-sleeping kid is safely placed on nearby shaded picnic table with her little protector classmate happily munching on some peanuts and sipping a fizzy drink from the mini-fridge, Aaron abruptly stops and tries to figure out if Robert in a jumpsuit and working on Ashley Thomas’s car is a sign Aaron’s either suddenly gotten sick in the brain or has died. 

Carrying the necessary parts for the Jensen family car past, Cain snaps, “Stop gawking. I don’t know how we’re going to pay him, but he’s right, he was a decent little greasemonkey back in the day, and we need all the help we can get. Get back to the bus.”

…

Amid the terrifying instance where everyone thinks the sleeping child has disappeared

(“She’s still right there,” her protector said with a point at the empty picnic table and proceeded to lift up part of the picnic table, only for the sprawled out student to suddenly appear, “she’s just a lizard like her dad, and she might grow a tail like her mummy, someday.”)

And the fact idiot people who don’t know how to take care of their cars think it’s okay to be rude to people trying to fix said ill-cared for cars, Aaron tries to control his reaction to Robert’s presence.

Robert is a decent mechanic, he has a good head for numbers, and more than this, he’s calm and friendly with the rude idiots. Almost all of them walk away happy without Robert himself looking the chump.

 …

At the pub, Aaron insists, “I’m buying you dinner tonight. Don’t argue.”

Coming over, Adam briefly squeezes Aaron’s shoulder before slinging an arm over Robert’s. “I couldn’t believe it when Vic called and told me, mate, but you really worked at the garage today?”

“Saved our bacon,” Aaron can’t help but interject.

Grinning, Robert shakes his head, wraps an arm around Adam, and squeezes. “I’d forgotten how fun it could be.”

Vic appears and kisses Robert’s cheek. “We’ll let you and Aaron have dinner, but afterwards, I need to talk to you about something, yeah? It’s nothing bad,” she quickly adds. “It’s about our wedding.”

Smiling, Adam gives her a quick kiss. “Yeah, mate, find us later.” He squeezes Aaron’s shoulder, and he and Vic go into the back.

…

Once they get their food, Aaron asks, “So, uh, was this the first time since you’ve left that you’ve done mechanic work? I mean, I know you probably fixed a car or something along the way, but I mean, like, in a garage and stuff? As a job?”

This is one of those rare instances where a hunter killing him would actually be preferable, he decides.

“No. When I was twenty-three, I spent almost eight months working in a garage in Manchester.”

Fondness and regret both radiate off Robert, and tentatively, Aaron asks, “Not for hunting, then?”

“No. I mean, at first. There was a banshee torturing people in a psychiatric facility, but uh, there was someone there. I thought, if I stuck around long enough-” Scoffing, Robert takes a long drink. “Well, I probably wouldn’t be here, now, would I?”

Aaron’s saved from the awkwardness by Cain coming over. “Alright, lads?”

They nod.

“Listen, thanks for what you did today,” Cain continues. “And I know you aren’t in town for much longer, but if you’d prefer us to the pub while you are, you have a place at the garage. Since Adam and I are both probably going to be spending as much time as possible down at the farm for the next week or two, we could definitely need another hand.”

“Okay, thanks,” Robert says. “I’ll think about it.”

Clasping Robert’s shoulder, Cain nods and wanders off.

…

When he gets to the barn, Robert quietly sits down.

“You alright, mate?”

Nodding, Robert says a bit hoarsely, “Adam will probably call or text you soon, if he hasn’t already. Vic and him are moving the wedding up. They’re getting married next Sunday.”

Digging his mobile out, Aaron sees he’s missed a text from Adam. “Wow. That’s good, innit?”

Laughing slightly, Robert rubs his face. “Yeah. I get to see my little sister get married after all. That- that was one of my biggest regrets, the fact that I wouldn’t be able to.”

Aaron puts an arm over his shoulder.

Pressing closer against him, Robert asks, “Would you mind if I took your uncle up on his offer?”

Aaron would be thrilled, is the truth, but if he can possibly help it, he’s not going to let on. “’Course not,” he answers. “Like he said, we definitely could use some more help. Wasn’t sure if you’d be interested or not, though.”

“I think I’d prefer it to the pub,” Robert says. He tugs Aaron closer. “Especially since it has you all day.”

Unsure how to respond, Aaron kisses him.

Chapter Text

On Monday, they’re eating breakfast with Vic when Andy appears, puts his hand on Robert’s shoulder, and orders, “Just give it back, Rob.”

“What?” Robert asks.

“Oh, God, Robert, what did you do this time,” Vic demands.

Downing some more coffee, Aaron looks between the three.

“Well, so far, I’ve argued with Diane over having a burger for breakfast. Which, seeing as how she won that argument- Are Sarah and Jack okay?”

“They’re fine,” Andy snaps. “Don’t bring my kids into this. Just give me my ring back, and this’ll be the end of it.”

Abruptly, Aaron realises Andy is missing his wedding ring.

“What ring?”

The grip on Robert’s shoulder tightens, and Andy pulls him up.

Aaron and Vic jump up, too.

“My wedding ring. Dad’s ring. The one you’ve never made any secret you don’t think me and Katie should have.”

Aaron remembers when Andy and Katie were remarried, there was about a week of Vic being sad and angry and Adam being helpless in the face of this. He ranted Aaron’s head off about ‘Vic’s pillock, wanker of a brother’. She’d called to see about him attending, and he’d flipped his lid about Diane letting Andy and Katie have Jack Sugden’s ring melted down into two wedding bands.

“I don’t have the ring,” Robert says, and Aaron can tell he’s telling the truth.

“Where is it, then?”

“Andy,” Vic says, “he just said-”

“That doesn’t mean you did take it.”

Taking a breath, Vic orders, “Andy, let go of Rob.”

Andy does.

“Now, tell us what happened, yeah?”

“When I got out of the shower last night, my ring was missing. I spent all night looking for it, and it isn’t anywhere in the house.”

“Okay,” Robert says. “I haven’t been near your house, Andy. Whenever I pick up Sarah and Jack, it’s always been from here or school, yeah? If you’ve smelt me there, it was probably just from them or their clothes.”

“I know the difference between scent clinging to people and items and someone leaving it themselves!”

“Wait, so, you smelled Robert at the house,” Vic inquires with a glare at Robert.

Aaron is about to leave the three to their family drama when it hits him: Vic’s question makes Andy hesitate.

“No,” Andy quietly answers.

Robert looks distinctly unimpressed. “Well, okay, I somehow managed to do what only a very select number of creatures can do and completely hide my scent. I’d really appreciate it if you could tell me how I did this and where I picked up the ability. But surely, with these accusations you’re throwing, you heard me, or you found something I left behind.”

Andy is quiet.

Scoffing, Robert continues, “I take it that’s a no? Alright, look.” He digs his wallet out, hands it to Vic, steps out of his shoes, and turns out his pockets. “We all know Aaron here is still half-asleep,” he dodges Aaron’s attempt to smack his head, “and you’re obviously too biased to trust your own flipping senses, so, any other werecreature who’s been invading on this conversation want to pay attention to my vitals and step up? I’ll say it again: I haven’t been near your house, and I don’t have the ring.”

“As if you can’t manipulate those just as easily as you can manipulate other humans,” Andy retorts.

“Andy, his wallet’s clean. No ring, no keys to your house or any of your vehicles,” Vic says. Leaning down, she turns his shoes over and shakes them. After running her hand over his socked feet, she stands back up. “If it accidentally went down a drain or an animal got in and ran off with it, I’m sorry. I’m sure Katie will understand, and we can all help you pick out a new one, but blaming Robert-”

“I called the inn,” Andy announces.

Unease quickly settles into Aaron.

“They told me you left at seven in the morning and didn’t get back until after midnight. I took my shower at eight. That was after you had dinner here, wasn’t it?”

“Good to know privacy and security are such high priorities at the place I’m sleeping,” Robert mutters.

“We all know Rob’s been walking around the town and village at all hours,” Vic points out.

“Yeah, but that won’t satisfy him,” Robert says. “One question: Was Katie home all night?”

“What? Of course, she was, and if you’re suggesting my own wife would-”

“I’m not,” Robert says. “You know, you could have just asked for my alibi before accusing me. I was with someone, alright?”

Vic picks up Robert’s wallet, but before Aaron can stop her from reopening it, Andy scoffs, “Oh, but let me guess, conveniently, you’re going to be a gentleman and not say who.”

“Well, since we’ve established it wasn’t your wife, I don’t see why you should care.”

“Robert!” Vic smacks him, and Aaron feels slightly appeased.

She sighs. “Andy- there’s one condom in here, and Rob mentioned needing to go to the chemist after work. We’re all adults, we can all make the reasonable inferences from that, now, let’s move on before people start bringing their kids in.”

They all look around to see if someone already has, and aside from a human with a baby, Aaron can feel the relief pouring off Vic and Andy at the realisation no one has.

He just hopes she doesn’t form any questions about the lube Robert also has in his wallet. Maybe, with it largely resembling lip balm, her eyes glossed over it and she thinks this is what is.

Then, remembering lots of women use this with either men or other women, and men and women both use it just for alone time, he lets this worry go and focuses on the uncomfortable, curious, suddenly ashamed Andy.

Shifting his weight, Andy takes a deep breath. “Maybe- I suppose it is possible that I laid it somewhere other than inside my nightstand and something happened to it. But if I’m right, and you are somehow responsible, I swear, I’ll make you regret it, Robert.”

“Noted,” Robert says. He slips his shoes back on, puts his wallet back in his pocket, and sits back down.

…

After dinner, they go to the barn, and Aaron wants to get lost in the kiss.

Instead, he breaks it. “Are you responsible for Andy’s missing ring?”

“I’m not answering that.” Robert tries to kiss him again.

Aaron moves back a bit. “Meaning you were. Or- you’d just say no, if you weren’t, wouldn’t ya? But what, you’re afraid, if you lie or say yes, I might tell Andy that I asked and you did?”

Disappointment, hurt, and worry settle in. He knows he shouldn’t feel like this. Robert earned his reputation back in the day, and expecting him to be better- why should I, he wonders. Good sex doesn’t automatically make a good person, and aside from this being not a relationship, there’s plenty who’d say Aaron has no room to talk.

There are times he completely agrees.

Being polite doesn’t come naturally to him, and even with him getting better at controlling his anger, there are still times it’s quick to come and times when not acting on it just goes against too much of who he is.

Sighing, Robert adjusts his jacket. “It’s bad enough having to deal with family. I don’t need to deal with this from you, too. And I don’t have to. See ya around, Aaron.”

Robert walks out, and humiliation and anger sting at Aaron.

Trying his best to swallow them down, he goes out. “Robert!”

Catching him, he says, “Alright. Look, I’m sorry. Do whatever you want. If it lands you in trouble, that’ll be your mess to clean up. And if you hurt Vic or Adam in the process, I’ll definitely be taking everyone else’s side over yours. But,” he kisses him, “let’s not let it ruin our fun right now, yeah?”

Giving an annoying smirk, Robert nods, steals another kiss, and leads him back inside.

…

We need to get a mattress, flits through his mind.

He won’t be saying this, or: Before you, I had one one-night stand. With the person you’re all buddy-buddy with, to really add it on. Somehow, I just sort of assumed I’d only be with boyfriends. Even your sister, we weren’t exactly a proper couple, but neither of us saw anyone else while we doing what we were doing.

Instead, he blurts out, “Besides me, have you ever been with another werecreature? Or some other type of non-human?”

“I dunno,” Robert answers in a soft, easy voice. “Uh,” he blinks, and alertness starts to come back to him. “Realising how that might sound: I’ve never been with anyone I knew wasn’t human, but aside from them being willing and, hopefully, it being good, I’ve never cared enough to establish much else about whoever I slept with.”

He stretches out. “What about you? What was your ex? Any one-offs with humans?”

“My first boyfriend was a wendigo,” Aaron quietly answers. “Ed’s human.” He hesitates. “Before I came to terms with what I was, being gay, I dated Holly, Adam’s sister, for a bit.”

He expects Robert to laugh or make a smart comment, but Robert simply nods.  

“Otherwise, it’s pretty much the same, as long as they’re willing, I don’t care what someone is. ‘Course, I usually know.”

“Is Ed the one in the picture?”

“Yeah.” He smiles. “We were together for a little over two years. He’s a rugby player. That’s what he’s doing in France. Signed before he passed through here, and I went with him.”

“The Argents didn’t give you any trouble, did they?”

“Nah. I did meet one of them, but they were sound. Just happened to be in the same hotel as me and Ed on her honeymoon. She’s the one I had that drink I told you about with.”

“Good,” Robert says. Reaching over, he kisses Aaron.

…

The wedding comes, and Aaron stands beside Adam.

You’re dad would be so proud, mate, he thinks, and realises how proud he himself is of Adam.

Victoria looks beautiful, and Aaron’s been privately worried how her heart might take such a big occasion, but it beats a strong, steady, happy beat throughout.

There’s shimmering tension between Andy and Katie and Robert, but all three of them stay civil and focus on showering Vic and Adam with their happiness for them.

…

After the celebrations die down, Aaron and Robert end up back in the barn. Robert’s a bit tipsy from the champagne or wine at the wedding, and Aaron’s getting there with the specially made for werewolves vodka he nicked from the pub.

Curling around Aaron, Robert nuzzles against him. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, mate. Doesn’t mean I’ll answer, though.” Except, Robert’s so warm against him and smells so good, Aaron might not be able to help himself, but hopefully, he’ll cut himself off before he gets to a point where he starts revealing such things.

“It’s a promise,” Robert says.

Confused, he looks over. “What is?”

“When I leave, I may not be able to contact my family for a long time. Worse, if anything happens- I might not even be able to come back. You’re the only person around who- I know you love Adam, but for me, will you promise to always look out for Vic? I- I hurt her when she was little, and I’ve never been around since she’s grown. I just- I know, if you promise, it’ll be a load off, having someone who’ll do what I should be doing but aren’t.”

It feels like a punch to the gut, and Aaron sets the bottle down.

Carefully, he untangles Robert from around him and moves away.

Once they’re out of easy reaching distance from one another, he tries to ignore the hurt, confusion coming off Robert and wills his eyes to change.

Tilting his head, Robert studies them. “Okay. Are you trying to tell me something?”

“I didn’t get these from killing rabbits,” Aaron says.

Slowly, this sinks in.

“Alright, well, do you wanna tell me how you did?”

“Not really,” Aaron sighs. “But I will.”

Going back over to the bottle, he pushes Robert away when Robert tries to re-establish contact.

“My first boyfriend- Jackson, he was called. I killed him.”

“I’m listening.”

Taking another large swig, Aaron shudders. “Jackson was a wendigo. He and his mum were real close, and they were the gentlest people you could ever meet. She’s still alive, she just left town after- Hazel. That’s her name, and she was loud and annoying and had an annoying tendency of talking about herself in the third person, but I’ll always love her because of him. They only ever ate donated bodies. People who specifically said they were okay with their corpse being eaten.”

He swipes at his eyes. “Wendigos, they’re stronger and healthier than humans, and they have some advanced healing, but not like werecreatures. One night, me and him got into an argument, and he drove off and got into an accident. Paralysed from the neck down. An alpha bit him, but usually, a non-human, non-shifter can’t be changed into a shifter.”

Robert is watching him, and there’s feelings of discomfort and sympathy coming from him.

Refusing to look over, Aaron focuses on his breathing until the tears are under control. “We all tried. But Jackson just couldn’t take it. I would have done anything to make him change his mind, but I couldn’t give his legs or even just his arms or fingers back.”

Shakily, he says, “You know about taking pain. Usually, we suck a bit of life force or whatever along with it when we do it, but some of us, usually experienced alphas, can take the pain and put some of our spark or whatever in the person we’re taking it from.”

“Hazel bought the drugs and mixed them in his drink, but when he insisted it was time, her hands were shaking so bad, she dropped the cup all over him, and I knew, I knew, that her death would be on me if I didn’t- Once he was cleaned up, I got into bed with him, and I put my hand on his face and under his shirt, over his heart, and- it took about an hour. A few times, she touched him, held his hand, and I might have taken some from her, too.”

He strips his shirt off. “Before me and him became proper boyfriends, I tried to kill myself. That didn’t leave any marks, but,” reaching over, he puts Robert’s hand over his heart. “After he died, I started cutting myself. Then, I started doing it with wolfs bane on the blade. One day, I cut too deep, nicked my heart, and the wolfs bane got in. I wasn’t trying to kill myself, but I almost died. The doctors and one of my therapists said that, someday, it might fully heal, but I know it never will.”

Robert’s hand is firm but unpunishing, and his calloused fingers gently tracing the scar cause Aaron to break into wracking sobs.

Moving the bottle, Robert eases him onto the hay, pulls the blanket over them, and simply holds him.

Time passes, and Aaron finds his tears dried and his breathing steady.

“Alright,” Robert asks.

“Yeah.”

“I wish you hadn’t gone through all that,” Robert simply tells him.

“Thanks,” he manages to get out.

“If it’s too much, I understand, but if it’s not, I’d still like your promise.”

Nodding, he kisses Robert. “I’ll always look out for Vic for you.”

“Thank you.” Robert yawns. “Fair warning: I kick in my sleep. Do you want me to move over a bit?”

“No.”

He isn’t sure what to think of the fact they’re apparently going to sleep, actually sleep, just sleep, in the barn.

Rolling over onto his side, he tries to process everything.

Then, Robert’s warm, strong arm drapes loosely around him, and safety settles over and into him.

Chapter Text

“You didn’t come home at all last night,” his mum comments.

“Yeah, well, celebration and all that,” he says.

“Love-”

He looks over.

Sighing, she reaches over and kisses his cheek. “I’m not daft. I’ve been seeing less and less of you as the time goes by. Just, whoever this boy is, try not to let him break your heart, and if he does, promise you’ll come to me or Paddy or Adam, anyone, instead of taking it out on yourself.”

“I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“Haven’t seen much of you, lately, either,” he comments.

“Jason and I have been seeing each other,” she admits. “He’s been wanting to meet you. I mean- he’s been wanting for us to all get together soon.”

“Just try not to mess this up, eh? ‘Cause, if you don’t, I’m not going to get help him slag off on you like I did Paddy.”

“Oh, thanks for your support!” She tosses a dishrag at him. “Wait. I think.”

He laughs.

…

Two days after the wedding, Andy walks into the bar, puts a hand on Robert’s shoulder, and looks down at the wedding ring. “Thanks. I’m not sure how I feel about you involving my daughter, but thank you. Buy you a drink?”

“Sounds good,” Robert agrees.

Sitting down, Andy signals for it. “Why’d you do it?”

Once Marlon walks away, Robert takes a drink. “Because, I don’t like you, Andy. I don’t consider you family. In fact, I wish Dad and Mum had never taken you in. I wish I’d never looked out you. But whether I like it or not, Dad and Mum choose you, and well, I know you’ll always look out for Vic and Diane. I can’t change those facts. So, I thought I’d try to take care of you, too.” He finishes his drink. “Thanks for the pint.”

Getting up, he goes over to a booth and sits.

A few minutes later, Aaron comes down, and lighting up, Robert bounds over. “Hey, so, I looked it up, and…”

Watching them go, Andy sighs.

…

“What was Andy doing in there,” Aaron asks.

“Family stuff.”

“I noticed he had his wedding ring.”

“And yet, I’ll still probably never get an apology for him accusing me in the middle of the pub of somehow stealing it.”

“How did you steal it, anyways? And why did you give it back?”

Ignoring this, Robert says, “It’ll be interesting working at the garage along with Adam.”

“Eh, I imagine everything will pretty quickly fall into place. It’s been brilliant of you to help us out while he was dealing with stuff on the farm, though.”

Robert grins. “Like I said, it has some definite incentives over the pub.” He brushes his arm against Aaron’s.

Laughing, Aaron shakes his head and doesn’t dare risk looking fully over.

…

In the garage, Adam says, “You know, you’re breaking Vic’s heart, mate.”

“We both know my sister better than that,” Robert says. “It’s nice of her to want to do something, but a family dinner? No.”

“What, you and our Aaron are going to spend your last night on the bleeding quarry, terrorising the rabbit population?”

Glancing over, Robert replies, “If it sounds good to him, it sounds good to me."

Aaron shrugs. “I’m not taking any sides, but he already wants to kill Andy. Forcing them into some awkward family dinner, there could be blood on the walls, mate.”

Adam exhales. “Suppose that’s true enough.”

…

He and Robert are having dinner at the pub when Andy comes over.

“Hey, Aaron. Alright?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Good. Listen, I’m sorry to interrupt, but could I speak to Rob for a minute?”

“No,” Robert answers.

Aaron kicks him.

“Oh, what happened to you not taking sides?”

“I’m not, mate,” Aaron answers. “But I am pointing out, if you don’t, Vic and Adam are both going to be on your case and possibly mine.”

“Fine,” Robert grumbles.

…

Outside, Andy leans against the wall. “Sometimes, I wish the same thing. Dad and Mum hadn’t taken me in, you hadn’t been my mate, Vic hadn’t always looked at me as her big brother. Mostly though, after Jo was safe and you’d left, again, I wish you’d never come back. Sarah, Vic, Diane, they’re already trying to prepare themselves for missing you.”

Robert shrugs. “I was a kid, Andy, and yeah, I did some stupid things. More than stupid. But it was Dad who threw me out, and it was you who never tried to find me. Don’t pretend you ever wanted me back, and don’t pretend you wouldn’t have made my life hell if I’d tried to come back, back then. The only reason you’ve made nice now is, because, you know my presence has a concrete time limit.”

“I did miss you,” Andy quietly tells him. “But- I’m a murderer and a man who’d hit a woman. A wife beater, a domestic abuser. It doesn’t matter that the first was an accident and the second was literal mind control, I have to live with those things, with being them, for the rest of my life. Somehow, though, I never got anywhere near as cruel as you did.”

“Sleeping with Katie, cheating on her, terrifying Victoria, refusing to come grieve with us when Dad died, all the taunts and insults you’ve thrown at all of us. I wish I knew what happened. Did Mum’s death really make you like that? Or was it something else? Because I remember, you used to tell me everything. Made me sleep on the floor in Vic’s room, but I didn’t mind, because, we were a team, looking out for her. That time that Calavera goon trapped me in that warehouse for three days, you literally would have killed him if Dad hadn’t managed to stop you.”

Robert is quiet for a long moment. “Things change. People change,” he finally says. “Is our little brotherly chat done? I think my curry is getting cold.”

“You’ve always liked your curry cool.”

“Lukewarm, more like, not actually cold.”

“Fine.” Andy withdraws a chain from his pocket. Hanging from it is a ring. “Here. It was your- Pat Sugden’s. Her wedding ring. No one else has any right to it. Katie and me are saving Mum’s for if Jack ever finds a girl he wants to settle down with.”

Taking a shaky breath, Robert reaches over and slips the chain over his neck. “Thanks.”

“Enjoy your curry.” Andy walks away.

…

After dinner between Aaron, his mum, and DS Wise, his mum leaves to take the latter home, and Aaron switches on the telly.

Tomorrow morning, Robert’s leaving, and part of Aaron desperately hopes he’ll get to see him in the morning. The rest of him knows it’s probably best if he doesn’t.

There’s a knock on the door, and going to answer it, he’s surprised to find Robert.

“Hey, is your mum around?”

“No, why-”

He’s against the wall, and Robert is kissing him.

When it breaks, Robert tugs at him. “Upstairs.”

“Wait,” Aaron says. “She could be back, later, not to mention it’s always possible someone else could show up in the middle of the night.”

“Do you care?”

“No,” Aaron answers. “But you-”

“Leaving in the morning. If someone finds out, I’ll definitely have some time away to figure out how to best deal with it.”

“Second door on the left,” Aaron tells him.

Once they get upstairs, for a long while, they simply trade kisses.

“Thought we’d said our goodbyes last night,” Aaron comments.

“Turns out, it wasn’t enough." Robert digs his wallet out, and then, hesitates. “Could we do it without?”

Aaron’s heart jumps.

Werecreatures can’t contract or spread STDs, but Aaron has never protested a bloke wanting to use condoms with him. It was never a question they’d be used when it was him and Vic, and despite Holly’s protests about the lack of need due to her being on the pill, he outright insisted on in it. At first, with Jackson, when everything was still new to Aaron, they used them, and then, they decided to stop. He and Ed did it a few times without, but Ed simply preferred using them.

“If that’s what you want, yeah.”

Robert tosses the wallet aside and tugs Aaron’s shirt off.

 …

I’ve gone and completely fallen for a hunter who is leaving in the next few hours, he muggily realises.

Taking a breath, he tightens his grip on Robert. “Stay. Be here in the morning. Please. When I wake up, yeah?”

“Okay, I will,” Robert answers. He gently kisses Aaron. “Promise.”

Aaron sleepily rolls over, and as soon as Robert’s arm wraps around him, he fully descends into sleep.

…

Robert’s phone vibrates.

Waking, he turns it off and quickly dresses.

Sitting down on the bed, he looks at the sleeping Aaron for a long moment. Carefully, he readjusts the sheets and comforter so they’re all tucked snugly around Aaron. Then, placing a gentle hand on Aaron’s cheek and threading his fingers through Aaron’s hair, he murmurs, “Sorry.” Leaning down, he kisses the cheek.

Standing, he digs the chained ring out of his pocket and stares.

Taking a sharp breath, he slips the chain over Aaron’s lamp.

With one last look at the peacefully sleeping Aaron, he leaves.

…

The sun peeking through the curtains wakes Aaron up, and he immediately tenses.

He’s warm and comfortable, but- “Robert?”

He focuses his senses, but even before they confirm it, he knows Robert is gone.

Sighing, he starts to get ready for the day. After brushing his teeth, he goes to get his clothes to take to the bathroom for after he gets out of the shower and pauses when the sun causes something on his lamp to glint.

Going over, he sees a woman’s ring is hanging from a chain over the lamp. It’s a simple gold band, and in the middle of it is three small diamonds.

Mostly, he’s confused.

Beyond this, he hopes Robert accidentally left the ring behind rather than intentionally leaving a woman’s ring behind for the man he pulled a runner on.

…

“Aaron!”

He’s just left Bob’s when he hears Andy’s voice and abruptly realises, Oh, no, I’ve not showered.

“Hey,” Andy greets. “Did you-” He pauses. “My brother’s all over you. You two didn’t get into a fight, did you?”

Aaron knows Andy’s senses are going to catch up any second and tries to decide if there’s any way he can get around and leave before they do.

“He’s not got a black eye, has he? I swear, it’s as if he’s cursed or summat. I can’t think of one job interview, school photo, or any important celebration where he hasn’t had a black eye, bloody nose, or bruised cheek. I guess I thought that had finally been broken when he got through Vic’s wedding without-” His nostrils flair.

“You and- Wh- Okay,” Andy says. “Um, I’m hoping now that you two weren’t at the quarry last night like we all thought. Do you know where he is? He promised to have one last breakfast with Vic, Diane, and the kids, but it doesn’t look like he intended to follow through. Sarah and Jack threw a fit when me and Katie finally made them go to school.”

At least, it’s not just me, he thinks.

Grateful for this and the fact, though radiating confusion, Andy isn’t bombarding him with questions about Andy’s supposedly straight, hunter brother shagging a male werewolf, Aaron tells him, “I’m in the same boat as them, mate. Look, here-” He tugs the chain so the ring comes out from underneath his shirt and slides the chain over his head. “He left this in my room. Mail it to him, one of you lot keep it for yourselves, I don’t care.”

“That’s-” Andy shakes his head and looks at him with werecoyote-blue eyes. “That’s his mum, his biological mum’s wedding ring. Just how special are you to him?”

Tossing the ring over, Aaron says, “I swear to you, mate, I’m really not. There’s a good chance he accidentally left it while he was getting dressed and sneaking out. Probably thought, if he turned on the light, I’d wake.”

It comes out embarrassingly bitter, and he can’t believe he just told anyone, never mind Robert’s brother, of all people, something so personal in the middle of the street.

“Sorry, mate,” is Andy’s simple response. “That’s Robert for you. I knew you and him got close pretty quickly, but if I ever thought he was anything more than a new mate, I would have tried warning ya.”

“Thanks. I’m heading back to the pub, if you want to walk with me.”

“Yeah,” Andy sighs. “Thanks. That’s where Vic and Diane are. I’ll have to break it to them that Robert’s probably already left town.”

…

Relieved his mum is still out, he quickly showers and debates spraying his room down.

Finally, he decides not to. There’s a good chance enough people have already smelt him and put the pieces together. His mum will know soon enough.

More than this, part of him simply doesn’t want to lose the smell of Robert and what they did so soon. It hurts, it makes him angry, it only make the sadness even more sharp- but it’s so good, and in its own way, comforting.

He goes down to the pub, gets a cup of coffee (“other pot, Aaron, that’s the decaf,” Vic tiredly tells him), and is about to sit down when several people stride in.

Most of the customers automatically tense, and their vitals make it clear they don’t know why they’re having such a reaction, but Aaron knows the cause. These people are hunters, and he recognises the man leading them.

Coming over, Diane greets, “Hello. You’re hunters? I’m- I was married to Jack Sugden before his death. Can I help you?”

“Chris Argent. We’re looking for your stepson, ma’am, Robert Sugden.”

“Great job Rob’s doing on the start of his new assignment,” Andy wryly comments. “Sorry, mate, but he must have thought he was meant to meet you lot elsewhere. He headed out bright and early.”

The way Chris’s vitals change cause Aaron to instinctively stand.

“Start searching,” Chris tells two hunters. They leave, and with a sigh, he says, “Robert Sugden has been condemned to die for breaking the code. He was given one month to get his affairs in order. And now, he’s officially a fugitive.”

“Vic,” Andy says with a turn, but Vic is already striding over.

“Excuse me, I’m Victoria Sugden Barton, Jack Sugden’s daughter. What do you mean? No one here will deny Rob’s violated the code in the past, but he’s never severely broken it.”

“He tried to kill a three-year-old werecoyote and ended up killing the little boy’s six-month human sister instead.”

No one in the pub knows how to react to these words, least of all Aaron.

…

Robert is walking down a backroad when a car starts to come up behind him.

Reaching into his jacket, he curls his fingers around his gun.   

Chapter Text

Andy speaks first. “No. Rob would never do that.”

“Yeah,” Vic quickly agrees. “You must be mistaken. Again, Robert’s no saint, but-”

Chris gives them a sympathetic look. “He confessed."

“There still must be some mistake,” Andy insists.

Diane clears her throat. “Let’s go to the back. Everyone else, I’m sorry to do this…”

The hunters head to the back, the Sudgens shoo everyone out, and Aaron slips into the back, too.

Memories of the first time he and Robert went to the barn swirl into his head, and once Vic and Andy are back and Andy’s properly introduced himself, he goes over to where they're standing with Chris. “The werecoyote and the baby- Petey and Maria Smith-Elliot, right?”

Chris looks over. “Yes. Who are you?”

“Aaron Livesy, a friend of the family. His mum, Chas, and my stepmum share ownership of the pub,” Vic answers. “Aaron, did Robert tell you something?”

He nods. “An American family in Bristol. There was a fire at their house. He went in because fire services weren’t getting there quick enough. The babies were upstairs, and he got Petey to set his sister down and jump across the damaged floor. Tossed him out the window-” At the horrified fury overtaking Vic, Aaron quickly reminds her, “Werecoyote. That was the safest way, quickest, to get him out of the burning house. And before he could try to get to the baby, the floor holding her crashed.”

“If that were true, we wouldn’t be here,” Chris says.

“You said my brother confessed,” Andy says. “Obviously, he told you a different story than what he told Aaron. What did he tell you?”

Coming over, Diane pulls Vic and Andy close to her.

“The child accused him, and he admitted to Petey’s version.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous,” Diane declares. “Now, obviously, there’s no maliciousness in whatever this toddler says, but a toddler who survived an incredibly traumatic, life-threatening situation and whose sister just died in the same event- even a fully grown adult’s memories of the events could very well be suspect.”

His mum and DS Wise burst through along with Adam.

Adam immediately pulls Vic into a hug. “We came as soon as we heard, babe. Are you alright?”

Running golden eyes over him, his mum fusses, “Love, have they hurt you?"

“I’m fine, Mum,” he promises. Grabbing her clawed hands, he adds, “Mum, stop growling at the hunter and waving your claws about before you get us and Andy all killed. When I was in France, one of his cousins- well, basically, she and Ed tried to kill one another, but it was all over rugby, nothing to do with me. Anyway, she reckons her uncle is sound.”

He relaxes a bit at the feeling of Adam’s hand finding the back of his neck.

Despite his cold look at Chris Argent, DS Wise's tone is polite when he says, “I’m not sure I share said opinion. Hunters haven’t had the authority to mete out-”

“With all due respect, British hunters aren’t allowed to inflict death on violators of the code if the offender is also British. An American werecoyote was attacked, and an American child was killed. Your courts,” Chris hands a piece of paper over, “have already given my government the go ahead to extradite Robert Sugden, and our courts have already handed the matter over to the Argent family.”

“Well, this is legal,” DS Wise mutters. Looking up and taking off his reading glasses, he raises his voice so the whole room can hear, “However, so is this: Robert Sugden is wanted on charges by us. This is your official notice, Mr Argent. My fellow officers are already looking for him. And whoever finds him, first, if he’s not safely sat in a jail cell at the local station, the American government and every officially established hunter family, here and abroad, will be petitioned to put every Argent hunter and every heavily Argent-aligned hunter back on trial.”

Aaron’s always been okay with DS Wise, he wouldn’t have wanted his mum to take a chance if he weren’t, but until now, he’s never had much of in the way of a personal opinion of the man. He was just- sort of there, a bit stuffy and matter-of-fact, but he did make her laugh, and anyone with shifter senses could tell she found him nice to look at.

Now, though, Aaron suddenly finds himself impressed and grateful.

Chris sighs, and abruptly, Aaron remembers the pictures he saw, once. In them, Chris Argent was young and strong, and he looked at his wife and daughter as if they were his world.

Aaron knows too well what’s it’s like when someone who was your world is gone.

Chris must have some strength left, however, because he barrels on with an exasperated, “What charges?”

“It turns out he’s been driving without a driving license. His expired a few years ago, and recently, Mr Sugden, Andy here,” DS Wise nods over, “made accusations about his brother allegedly stealing his wedding ring. If he wants to pursue-”

“I do,” Andy quickly says. “Uh, as you can see, I have it back, now, but I know for a fact he took it without permission.”

“My backup knows better than to kill him on British soil. Unless, of course, he makes it a matter of self-defence to do so.”

Aaron bites back a groan at the thought.

“Can- can we just get back to- Diane’s right,” Vic says. “We’re all truly sorry a baby is dead, and no one would accuse a three-year-old of lying, not about something so big, but common sense says there has to be much more to the story, especially with Aaron believing a different version, doesn’t it? What exactly did the little boy say, and what did Robert say? ‘Cause, he can be majorly, annoyingly sarcastic and make tasteless jokes and sometimes not correct people when he knows they’re wrong.”

Chris tells them, “He attacked Petey with glass, took the baby, and tossed Petey out of the window. Until he did- I don’t know whether he had any intention of hurting her or not. That could have been an unavoidable accident, but what’s not in debate is the fact Petey is three-years-old, the product of a human and werecoyote. The glass or being thrown out the window could have very well killed him, if he hadn’t abruptly manifested his abilities.”

Then, Chris hesitates for a long moment before looking over at Andy. “He mentioned you. He said he was trying to do the world a favour by finally killing a werecoyote before it had the chance to truly become one.”

Vic immediately wraps around Andy.

“Whatever he said afterwards, he broke the window so he could get Petey out,” Aaron says. “He knew he’d manifested, he had him jump across damaged floor. He didn’t want him jumping with the baby, that was too risky.”

Something isn’t completely adding up, and it’s itching at the back of his skull, but at the same time, other things are adding up perfectly and taking on brand-new meaning: Robert’s protective coddling of Jack, him teaching Sarah all sorts of new skills, wanting assurance so badly his little sister would always be safe.

“I’m not doubting he told you this, but all it proves is that he’s lied to someone. There’s nothing to suggest you were the one he told the truth to.”

Aaron takes a breath and pushes his mum over towards DS Wise. “Alright, look, Adam, Vic, Mum, you can give me hell later, yeah? Robert and I have been shagging, and everyone who’s listening, I want to make it clear I’d normally never tell something like this, he didn’t want anyone to know, but if it might save him from dying for something he didn’t do-”

Shaking his head, he continues, “After we were together the second time, I was going over the scars on his body.” Letting his fingers trace over the spots on his own arm, elbow, and hands where they’d be on Robert, he says, “And he told me about all of this. I’m a werewolf.” He lets his eyes flash. “After sex, not many people can lie about big things. I mean, they can say it, but a shifter would know.”

“Not if they’re a sociopath or simply extremely well-trained- My sister was human when she was seducing Derek Hale, and he never suspected.”

Feeling a bizarre surge of pity and kinship, Aaron quietly says, “Well, I know someone who might’ve gotten along real well with her. They were an exception, too. That’s how I know Robert’s not.”

“Love?” His mum speaks gently, touches him tentatively, and asks with confusion, “What- what do you mean by that?”

More hunters and a coyote come into the back, and aside from being grateful, Aaron tries to figure out what he’s supposed to make of the werecoyote in coyote form. Namely: He has on a collar.

Struggling to get a bottle of water opened, one of them says, “We’re going to need actual hounds, sir. Sugden literally left his scent everywhere around the village and town. The Buick is missing- who knows when and where he drove it of town, but he likely abandoned it somewhere.” Reaching down, he angles the bottle, and the werecoyote drinks. “Danny can only do so much.”

“Here, I’ll get a bowl with some proper tea in it,” Diane says.

Chris softly groans. “Of course. Danny, this is why I don’t like taking you when Turner’s sick. For God’s sake, get some proper sleep before-”

Diane reappears. “Here. And I’ve brought some oatmeal biscuits as well. They’ve always helped Andy when he tired himself out.”

The werecoyote nuzzles her hand in thanks.

Chris withdraws his wallet, and while he’s paying Diane, Vic says, “I’m going with one of you. Rob- he’ll fight whoever comes after him. But maybe, if I’m there-”

Andy shakes his head. “No."

“Yeah, Vic, I’m sorry, but I’m with him,” Adam says.

“He’s not going to hurt me.”

“Like he hasn’t in the past,” Andy gently retorts. “Vic, neither of us want him dead, but I’m not going to risk you for his sake. Let you risk yourself.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, we do,” Andy says. “Neither of us is going. We’re sending someone else.”

…

On the backroad, the car drives past Robert, turns sideways, and stops.

He stops, too.

Getting out, the person closes the door and leans against the car with both hands stuffed in his pockets.

Uncurling his fingers, Robert takes his hand out of his jacket. “Aaron.”

“Robert. I’d ask if you were alright, but I think the hunters swarming the village wanting to take you to America to kill you well answers that.”

Laughing slightly, Robert nods. “Yeah. What about my sister and the kids?”

“They’re safe. Katie got Sarah and Jack out of school before they could hear anything, and she’s taken them to her mum’s. None of the hunters have threatened Vic, Diane, or Andy. Did threaten our Cain, but the day a hunter comes around and doesn’t, we all have a big problem.”

Quietly, Robert says, “Let me go, Aaron. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you make me fight, I’ll give it my all, and I just might.”

Aaron shrugs. “Everyone knows about us. That we’ve been shagging.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got slightly bigger things on my mind at the moment. Don’t worry, I doubt your reputation will suffer too much.”

“I was never worried about people finding out for my sake,” Aaron points out. “Why’d you leave your biological mum’s ring on my lamp?”

“Is this a stalling tactic?”

“No.”

“I’m leaving now.” He starts to back away.

“You know, when Chris Argent came in and said you tried to kill a three-year-old werecoyote and ended up killing his human sister instead, Andy said, ‘No. Rob would never do that.’ He was the first one to speak.”

“So? Am I meant to care?”

“Just stop, Robert,” Aaron orders. “We both know, if I thought you had, believed it, one or both of us would be dead by now. I know you told me the truth. What I don’t know is what’s missing. Because it’s obvious you lied to them and didn’t tell me something. So, what is it?”

“Goodbye, Aaron.”

“Wait." Rotating his head and shoulders, Aaron shifts.

Robert stares with awe on his face and starts to move forward with his hand coming up before abruptly stopping and stepping back.

“That’s an interesting reaction.”

Shaking his head, Robert turns his back and starts walking.

“I wonder if Vic would have had the same back when me and her were together.”

Robert turns.

“Never said Holly or Jackson was the first, mate. Andy tried to kill me the first time he caught us kissing. And the first time he smelt me all over her, like he smelt you on me earlier, he started to march straight down to Paddy’s, but he came across Cain, first, and he and Cain came to blows. This morning, though, all he really said was that, if he’d known, he would have warned me about you.”

Making an exasperated, unsurprised sound, Robert says, “Somehow, I doubt you would have listened.”

“To him, no. But for some reason, I’ve been listening to you a lot ever since you came around. And I’ll listen to you now, if you’ll just talk to me.”

Throwing up his hands, Robert huffs out, “Fine!”

Coming over to lean against the car but staying out of reach, he takes a deep breath. “In Bristol, Carl Smith gave me a ride to the train station, only, I missed the train. He was nice to me, helped me out by letting me kip over while I was waiting for the next train, which was scheduled to come in two days. Anyway, Carl is a ginger bloke. Werecoyote. Ellie Elliot, whose parents I reckon must have hated her to give her such a name, is black and human. They had Petey, and he’s obviously Carl’s son. Maria came out obviously Asian. Ellie’d had an affair with her human dentist. But they stayed together and were raising their kids.”

“Only, the dentist went mental and set the house on fire. I was downstairs with them while Petey and Maria were upstairs. I got them out and went up. Petey had gotten Maria out of her crib and was holding her. She was, I could see her breathing, but she was too-quiet, all things considering, and Petey was wheezing. That necklace I gave Sarah?”

Aaron nods.

“This was before. All I had was the moon rock, and I’d heard some legend when I was a kid about this emperor werecreature who’d been near unstoppable because he’d had a bit of the moon that fell to Earth. I convinced him to set Maria down- I should have had him set her in the crib or something, I knew the floor was damaged, but I didn’t stop to think when he set her down on it. And I tossed it over to him. As soon as he caught it, this huge rock in his tiny hands, his eyes turned gold. So- I don’t know if I broke the window before or after he jumped, but like I told you, I tossed him out.”

“And then, suddenly, before I could figure anything out, the floor on her side- it just gave. And she went with it. I passed out trying to navigate my way back down, and I came to outside. The firefighters had gotten me out, but they couldn’t find her, either.”

“Ellie was hurt, but she was refusing to be taken to hospital, someone had put mountain ash around Carl to keep him from running back in, and Petey was crying and kept going on about how sorry he was. I could tell he was blaming himself. So, I- I honestly don’t remember most of what I said. Somehow, though, when the police were talking to them, the story became that I had thrown glass at him, taken Maria away from him, and thrown him out the window.”

“His parents, though-” Aaron starts.

“I remember how Dad was after the fire,” Robert quietly says. “They weren’t that different. They’d just lost their baby and watched their little boy go flying out a window. A hunter had been up there when it happened, and a hunter had admitted to doing the latter. They were nice to a stranger. It didn’t make us friends.”

“Alright, but why would you tell the Argents that you had?”

“I did, at first. I mean, I told them I was innocent. But the only options in cases like this is a telepath or alpha claws to the neck. Petey wasn’t lying, so, to subject a little kid to either when it wouldn’t have even helped my case- and I wasn’t going to face either myself. I remember what was done to Andy, and I’ve seen first-hand what can happen to people who have alpha claws stuck into them.”

“There has to be another option,” Aaron insists.

“There really isn’t.”

“You don’t know that. If you’d- why didn’t you tell Vic about this? The first time you told her you were coming back, couldn’t you tell her? I know you coulda told someone once you got here.”

“I did. I told you.”

“No, you told me that you got scars on your arms and hands from saving a little kid’s life and that, unfortunately, you couldn’t save his sister, too. You somehow managed to leave out the part where you were condemned to die because the little kid’s traumatised memories made him accuse you of attempted murder and actual baby murder.”

“No,” Robert softly says. “I told you.”

Aaron looks over. “Did- was I really the only one you felt you could?”

“I tried to kill Andy, once. Traumatised Vic when she was a kid. Diane and I, it’s always been rocky. And if anyone had brought up my dad- I don’t know what I would have done.” His chin and cheeks tremble.

“They’ll help you, now,” Aaron promises. “You just need to come back with me.”

“Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”

“You-”

“I imagine they’d try to help. And when they couldn’t, oh, well, our screwed up brother is going to die, Diane’s so nice to cook his favourite tea, let’s cry and standing there smugly scowling while we watch him be carted off in chains. No. I left them how I wanted them to remember me. You- I should have left last night and gotten a head start, but I decided I wanted you to feel so good and sleepy that you’d just fall asleep while a hunter was still in your bed. You actually asking me to stay, that was just the cherry on top.”

Aaron scoffs. “So, now, we’re at the part where you lash out at me, eh? Fine. It might work better, though, if you’d remembered we actually slept together that night in the barn after Adam and Vic’s wedding.”

“You were drunk from whatever was added to that vodka, and you knew I had alcohol in my system.”

“Why’d you leave the ring, Robert?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“They’re not going to let you go, mate. And I can prove it.”

“Yeah?” Robert glances over. “How?”

Aaron takes his hands out of his pocket.

…

Andy slides his wedding band off his finger and grabs Aaron’s left hand. “Him.” Holding the ring above each finger, he says, “God help me, I’m actually hoping he is more to you than someone you’ve just shagged. Because, whatever he said, you’re more than that to him. But either way,” he sees if it’ll go on the middle finger and finds it won’t, “please, find my brother.”

He slides it snugly on Aaron’s pinky, and gasping at the surge of sudden power running through him, Aaron’s eyes change werewolf-blue.

“It’s the moon,” Andy tells him. “Robert had Sarah bring it to him so that he could have a jeweller puts some of it inside. When he sees it, he’ll know. That he needs to come back, that it’s safe to. Please, Aaron,” he repeats, “bring our Robert home.”

…

“That’s-” Robert swallows.

“Andy’s ring. Your dad’s,” Aaron supplies. “Vic was hell-bent on going with hunters or the police, terrified you’d fight and give them a reason to kill you, but Andy put this on me and asked me to find you.”

“Better you than her and Danny, I suppose." Going around, Robert gets into the passenger side of the car.

Getting in, too, Aaron puts his seatbelt on and looks over to make sure Robert has his on. “Danny’s the coyote with a collar?”

“He’s married,” Robert explains, “and it looks more like a necklace when he’s in human form.”

“That’s a relief. I thought I saw something dangling from it, but mostly, I- every reason I could think of for him wearing it was just completely disturbing.”

He starts driving.

…

Pacing, Vic declares, “I’m going to murder him.”

Coming in, Diane says, “Pet, sit down, I’ve made you and Andy some soup. You haven’t eaten since breakfast, and that was only a bit of toast.”

Waving her off, Vic continues, “And why wouldn’t he tell us that he was gay?”

Andy shakes his head. “I really doubt he is."

“What do you call what he’s been doing with Aaron, then?”

Reaching out, Diane insists, “Victoria, sit down and eat.”

Sighing, Vic does. “Thanks, Diane. Wait, who’s covering the pub?”

“Chas and Marlon are on it. Frankly, I think it’s the best thing for her right now. This has been a big shock to all of us, but especially her. Keeping busy has always helped.”

“Right,” Vic says. “Not as big a shock as for us, though, is it?”

Sitting down, Diane pulls them both closer to her. “We’re all going to get through this, loves.”

There’s a knock, and Chris Argent comes in.

Before anyone can say anything, Vic stands and walks over. “It’s no secret none of us believe that Robert did this. But if he had, you still wouldn’t take him. Not because we’d excuse it. I’ve heard my dad was a great hunter, but he hardly ever talked about it at home. I’ve never done any hunting myself.” Touching her chest, she says, “I had a hole in my heart when I was little, and it was fixed, but even now, it’s a bit weaker than it should be. Andy, he did a few jobs with Dad, but mostly, he and Dad both agreed it wasn’t the life for him. If it weren’t for Robert, we couldn’t call ourselves a hunting family anymore.”

“If he did something like this, Andy, Diane, and I would call down every living Sugden to talk about it. We might decide to turn him over to human courts, or we might- I don’t know. But we would never let anyone in our family be taken to a foreign country by strangers to be killed. So, just understand, I’m not declaring war, but I am telling you that, even if Robert can’t prove his innocence, you’re taking him nowhere.”

Andy stands, puts his hand on her shoulder, and looks at Chris with werecoyote-blue eyes. “My sister’s right. Aside from Rob and some goons who weren’t fit to call themselves hunters, I’ve never gotten onto the bad side of one of you before. I hope I never do. But anyone tries to take or, worse, kill my brother, I don’t care if they’re human or not, hunter or not, they deal with me.”

“Noted,” Chris responds.

“Good,” Vic says. She and Andy sit down. “Also, if he ends up dead after it’s proven he’s innocent, you won’t be able to pin it on me.”

“Or me,” Andy adds. At Diane’s indignant noise, he says, “Sorry, Diane, but admit it, even you want to kill him right now. And once this is all over, he’ll definitely deserve it.”

“We don’t know that. He could have truly changed this time. Maybe, he’ll actually stick around.”

“He was getting his affairs in order. Once he fully realises death isn’t hanging over him anymore, he’ll be back to his old self,” Andy says.

Vic sighs. “I hope Andy’s wrong, Diane, but-”

“I know,” Diane sadly agrees.

Chris quietly slips out.

…

DS Wise and Chris lead Robert into a cell.

“Lined with mountain ash,” he comments. “I’m human.”

“With a werewolf boyfriend and a werecoyote brother,” Chris responds.

Scoffing, Robert scrawls out on the cot. “Aaron’s not my boyfriend, and I don’t have a brother.”

“He deserves better than you.”

“Which one?”

Both,” Chris answers.

DS Wise pulls Chris out, shuts, and locks the door.

…

“Hey,” Andy says.

Robert sits up.

“Shove over a bit." Instead of sitting in the chair DS Wise brought, Andy sits down on the cot. “Even with everything, if you’d just called- well, actually, you did call Vic. If you’d told her, we would have gone down and helped. When you first came, I asked if you were in trouble.”

“I needed help when I was nineteen,” Robert snaps. “It’s pathetic. You’ve got Katie, Vic’s got Adam, and I’ve got a cot in a jail cell. I wish it were me instead of Mum.”

Andy flinches.

“Wish I burned with that baby."

“Your sense of self-preservation’s too strong for you to mean that, Rob.”

Robert sighs. “Yeah. It is.”

“Maybe Dad and I should have handled things differently back then, but don’t pretend you were some good person who just made some mistakes.”

“I was, once upon a time,” Robert says. “Then, I stopped being that and became this.”

“No. You stopped being that and became something else. What you were wasn’t this.”

They sit quietly.

“Are we going to talk about you and Aaron?”

“I’m not gay.”

“I reckoned that. So, what, are you bisexual or summat?”

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to look out for him. He might have brought me back, but- I never would have gone for him if I didn’t think I was likely to lose everything soon, and he’s up for a bit of fun, but in the end, he’s going to be wearing some bloke’s ring and having boring domestic morning cuddles.”

“Try to sound a little more disdainful of the concept, why don’t ya?”

“Pathetic,” Robert repeats.

“Well, I imagine we won’t be speaking again by the time it happens, but if it ever does, you finding someone you want that with, really want that with, not like whatever it was with you and Katie, I’m going to laugh at watching Vic never let you live it down.”

Stretching, Robert groans. “Right. That even more than this is something I’ll never let any of you lot-”

“Here, your tag’s out,” Andy says. He adjusts it. “Lucky that you’re allowed to wear your own clothes for now.”

“True. I was-”

Andy’s arm brushes against Robert’s lower back, and tensing, Robert quickly stands up.

“Robert?”

Taking the chair, Robert simply says, “Don’t.”

“No- Hang on.” Andy stares. “Do you remember when you were fifteen? Dad hired that boy, about sixteen, seventeen, to help out around the farm. One day, I came in, and you- he’d leathered you earlier, and the belt had missed at one point and hit that spot.”

“Andy-”

“You and Dad both said it was for skivving, and I never saw him again. Somehow, I knew there was a connection. To be honest, I thought you and him might have been doing drugs or pulled some stupid, dangerous stunt together, because, Dad didn’t really believe in-”

“Oh, just shut up! Everything I did, it’s on me, not on- You know, most werecreatures are naturally bi or pan or whatever, they can fall for either, but you can’t even do that right, can you? No, you had to be my dad’s boy, a man’s man, straight as an arrow, our Andy. And I could have fallen in love with a girl, too, but I was fifteen, I’d finally found someone who I could talk to about Hawkeye without feeling like a geek, and I just- I just wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him, ‘cause, I’d kissed Donna, and that was nice, but as good as it was, I knew her and me would never work as boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Shaking his head, Robert takes a breath. “So, we were in my room, and one of us leaned over, and we were kissing. It wasn’t going to go any farther. It just felt so good, and I was thinking about how he could stay for tea, and how maybe, in a week or two, when I’d saved up my pocket money, we could go into town and catch a movie or something.”

“Then, Dad had to walk in.”

Slowly, Andy reaches over and tugs him back over to the cot. “It’s on you, but that was a big contributing factor, wasn’t it? No wonder you’ve never had a decent, long-term relationship. You’ve always been too- Dad’s always been on your mind, hasn’t he? Have you ever let yourself just be you with anyone? Or were you always trying to be what you thought he wanted or what you thought would most stick it to him?”

“I can kill you in here,” Robert threatens.

They sit in silence.

Wiping his eyes, Robert sprawls out as much as he can.

Eventually, Andy tilts his head and puts his hand on Robert’s shoulder. “Here. Aaron’s coming.” He presses his palm against the spot on Robert’s back and tightens his hold on the shoulder against Robert’s attempts to dislodge him.

The door opens, and Aaron asks, “Alright?”

Andy nods. “Yeah." Looking over, he asks DS Wise, “I need to talk to them privately. Just five minutes, yeah? Please?”

The cell door shuts.

“Aaron,” Andy says.

Aaron gives a curious nod.

“If you two keep seeing each other, don’t hurt my brother. If he can be happy with you, I want that for him. And for you. Hopefully, if it doesn’t work, he won’t be the one responsible for mucking it up, but if you are- Understood?”

“Yeah, mate, I understand.”

All of the tension drains from Robert’s body, and he shakes a bit.

“Good.” Standing up, Andy squeezes Robert’s shoulder again before letting go. “All that happened in the past, we’re not letting you go down for this. See ya later, yeah?”

…

Alarm goes through Aaron at the sight of unshed tears in Robert’s eyes. Sitting down on the cot, he tentatively asks, “What was that about?”

Wiping the spilling tears, Robert takes a breath. “Just my brother- just Andy, trying to, giving me- what Dad never- Don’t worry about it.” Giving a watery smile, he leans back. “What are you doing here?”

If a person wanted to mock him, the fact he’s, in all truth, hiding from his mum in a jail cell would give them the perfect material. “Everyone’s going mental out there because of you. It’s only right you let me stay here, where it’s quiet.”

“Yeah, this is one of the quietest I’ve ever been in,” Robert says.  

“You mean after you left?” At Robert’s nod, Aaron asks, “What’d you get thrown in one for? How many times?”

“Well, the first time, a few months after I left, I’d just turned twenty, and…”

Chapter Text

Following him around the kitchen, his mum persists, “Was it that Flynn boy? If he did-”

“Mum!”

She stares. “No, you’re not putting me off. You slept with someone bad, and I don’t care if you’re an adult, baby, you’re my boy, and I want to know who this person was and what they did to you.”

Why did I have to say that to Chris Argent, he desperately wonders.

Suddenly, Holly flashes through his mind, and he feels a sense of calm overtake him. He’d never throw her under, but right or wrong, some mate of hers-

“Alright, Mum, look-” Sitting, he waits for her to do the same. “Maybe I- overstated it a bit? The thing is- it weren’t just Holly and Vic.”

“After Holly broke up with me but back before Jackson and I truly started, Holly had this mate from out of town. She set us up, and I- well, I wanted to like her, anything to not be gay, and she seemed decent. She and Holly were close, and she told me she’d recently gotten out of a relationship. Nothing ever pointed to her lying, but- pretty soon, I heard her trashing Holly when Holly wasn’t around, and then, on top of that, her boyfriend popped into town to surprise her. If they were broken up, it was news to him.”

He knows the fact he can still easily control his vitals and chemo signals with little effort doesn’t say anything good about him.

“So, yeah. Robert, he was skating around the truth a lot this past month, but I can’t find one time he’s ever outright lied when I was around. And when we were together, I could practically tell what was going on inside him just by his smell. He isn’t lying about what happened to those babies, Mum.”

Reaching over, she takes his hand. “I believe that, sweetheart, but, love, I’ll always be more concerned with you than anyone else’s scandal. Is this really all, a lying cow who did her mate and boyfriend wrong? She didn’t do anything worse to hurt you?”

“Mum, she didn’t hurt me at all. I just couldn’t believe how easily she sold those lies. Pretty sure she was completely human.”

Finally, his mum sighs, and most of the worry and curiosity leaves her. “Okay. Well, I’m sorry, love, that you have someone like her on your list. But most people do, eh?”

“Yeah,” he agrees.

“Now, about you running around with Robert flipping Sugden…”

He sighs.

…

Vic couldn’t get Robert’s library card renewed, but she did check out several books for him.

Somehow, this translates to Aaron going to the jail during his lunch break to deliver them.

While an officer is literally checking every page –on the one hand, Aaron can respect the dedication, but on the other hand, it’s insulting and exasperating, and if he weren’t in an okay mood, he’d already be in a bad one-, he ends up honing in on Robert’s voice.

Robert’s in his cell, and Aaron wonders if this means the mountain ash is defective. Worse, remembering the times he was in mountain ash-lined interrogation rooms, he’s suddenly wondering if werecreatures outside snooped into his private conversations.

“Are you sure,” Rakesh asks.

“Yes. It’s the best way to look out for my sister, niece, and nephew.”

“What about your biological mother’s ring?”

“Right,” Robert sighs. “Suppose I should ask Aaron about that. I have no idea what he did with it. Well, if it’s still around and he doesn’t object, list Sarah. It won’t have any sentimental value to her, but if she ever needs some quick cash, she might be able to hock it for a good price.”

“DC Nelson, is there a problem?” DS Wise’s voice breaks in.

Soon, he and Aaron are going to Robert’s cell with the books, and Aaron is relieved to see the cell door is slightly ajar.

....

After making sure the door is firmly closed, Aaron sits down. “Heard you and Rakesh talking. I gave the ring to Andy.”

“Good.”

However, Robert seems more interested in the books than this particular conversation.  

Aaron can’t and doesn’t blame him, but he does find it almost discomfortingly hilarious how Robert is somewhere between an impatient kid and a closing to begging puppy with how he tries to grab at them.

Finally, Robert manages to swipe the bag, and though he doesn’t stick out his tongue, the feeling of the air manages to suggest it, anyways.

“What are you going to do if you’re found guilty?”

“Try to run,” Robert bluntly answers. “My instinct for self-preservation trumps everything.”

“Just don’t expect me to help you, yeah? I don’t want the likes of Argent after me and my pack.”

“Of course,” Robert says. “I wouldn’t.”

This hurts more than Aaron expected it to.

…

In the bar, Diane hands Chris his mixture of root beer and American-style lemonade.

“Are you sure we can’t get you something stronger or, at least, caffeinated,” Chas inquires.

“No, thank you. I don’t drink, and I’m trying to cut back on my caffeine intake.”

“Hmm.” She wanders off.

“Sorry about that,” Aaron says. He sits down. “A pint, please, Diane.” To Chris, he says, “If it helps, it’s not you being a hunter.”

Popping her head out, Chas says, “No, it’s about you sleeping-”

“Mum, just- remember all those issues I had about being gay? Do you want to bring those back?”

He catches the shoe she throws.

“Oi, don’t you dare go there! I-”

Appearing with the pint, Diane pushes Chas back with her foot. “Here, love. By the way, I need to talk to you in private later. For now, however, please, remember that, just because you can drink and drive, most hunters are humans, and so, I’d appreciate you not getting into any drinking contests with them around lunchtime.”

“Okay,” Aaron says, and Chris looks attentively at her. “Is that-”

“It was before your time, love, but yes, it did happen.” Looking over at the door, she says, “Speaking of, more customers.”

Chas pops her head out, again, but Diane takes the shoe from Aaron, hands it to her, and pushes her back.

Chris quietly laughs.

Raising his glass, Aaron says, “Cheers, mate."

“You said that you met a niece or cousin of mine in France. What was her name?”

Aaron digs his wallet out. “You can see for yourself. Sorry, but I was only around her for about three days, and I never quite got the hang of pronouncing her name.”

Looking down at the picture, Chris easily pronounces the name. “This was during her honeymoon, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, me and my boyfriend at the time, Ed, were staying in the same hotel as her while his flat was being set up, and they met in the lobby. Ed’s a rugby player, and she liked some competitor’s team of his.”

Chris takes a drink. “I’m sorry about all of this. It’s not a secret I’ve never quite liked or trusted Robert, but-”

“You don’t need to explain,” Aaron interrupts. “You want to do right by a dead baby, by an American family. Don’t let your personal feelings towards him stop that, eh? Me and him, we were a fling. I’m not heartbroken. Do know that, in this instance, he is innocent, though.”

Again, Chas pops her head out. “When you say ‘fling’-”

“Mum, catch,” Aaron orders. He drains the rest of his pint and tosses the glass at her.

As she’s catching it, he leaves.

…

During the night, Jason comes into the pub and sits down at Chris's table.

“Thank you for coming,” Chris says. “Maria’s body is being exhumed and autopsied, and a child psychiatrist has been assigned to Petey. I don’t know if the latter will produce anything useful or not, but hopefully, the former will soon.”

“Good,” Jason says. “Whatever happens, are you and your hunters going to leave town after the verdict is established?”

“Yes. Can I ask you a personal question? Is it me going after the man your girlfriend’s son is involved with or something deeper that makes you object so strongly to my presence?”

Jason utters a Russian phrase. “‘We lay down our lives to fight monsters of every species.’ My grandmother risked her life trying to stop the transportation of fifteen hundred werecreature teenagers to Mexico, France, and America. Now, young, ill-prepared men and women are being unjustly transported and killed by essentially the same legal loophole.”

Sighing, Jason rubs his temples. “The truth is, all of the Sugdens have always made me- uneasy. Everything I’ve seen of Robert tells me, it’s possible he did kill that baby, and if he did, it wouldn’t surprise me if no investigation could ever prove it. However, I try to live my life and serve my duties by application of Blackstone’s formulation. You and your family have always done the opposite.”

“Not always,” Chris says. “But for far too long and by far too many of us, yes, I can’t dispute that.”

For a long moment, Jason hesitates. “On an even more personal note, I watched my grandmother die when I was six-years-old. She was bitten by an alpha. Members of the Argent and Calavera families came, and I remember one of them giving me a chocolate sweet and holding me in their lap. Looking back as an adult, the fact I was in that person’s lap, in my grandmother’s eyesight-”

He shakes his head. “More than I blame myself or those hunters in the room, I blame your family for enforcing that part of the code so efficiently and without mercy for hundreds of years. I don’t know that my grandmother would have chosen to live or not, but if she hadn’t, I would have preferred her committing suicide to being murdered.”

“I’m sorry,” Chris quietly tells him.

“Above all, I strive to serve justice, Mr Argent. I won’t let my personal feelings get in the way of this investigation. Enjoy your dinner.”

…

When Jason leaves the table, Chas intercepts him and takes him in the back.

He smiles. “I was hoping to run into you. I know everything’s been-”

Kissing him, she pulls him close.

“Hey. Is everything alright?”

“I’m so sorry, love. I didn’t exactly mean to be listening, but your grandmum- I’m sorry.”

Sighing, he wraps around her. “It’s not something I hardly ever talk about. I try not to think about it, to be honest.”

She nods. “Listen- I don’t want to keep on, but if we get serious, well, I can’t get serious with someone if something like that’s a possibility. I need you to promise, if something ever happens to you, you won’t leave like that. I liked Jackson, but I could kill him for what he did to my boy, and I just couldn’t handle something like that.”

He kisses her. “Chas, I promise, if I’m ever bitten or scratched deep enough, I wouldn’t kill myself over it. I’d never leave you, my friends, and my family like that.”

“Good,” she says.  “Can you stay the night?”

“I’d love to. Uh, is Aaron here?”

“No, he’s staying at Adam and Vic’s.”

She leads him upstairs.

…

Robert looks up from his book. “I was wondering if you’d show up.”

Giving him a mirthless smile, his visitor leans against the wall. “You’ve really done it this time, haven’t you, Rob?”

“Except, I’m innocent.”

“Aaron Livesy isn’t. He spends a lot of time on the quarry, doesn’t he? An out-of-control werewolf, no one could be blamed for putting him down.”

“Careful,” he warns.

“That’s my line. That’s why I’m here, baby. You’ve shown your hand to the wrong person, and now, you and this whole village is under threat. If they can’t get you for the little girl’s murder, they’ll strike, and they’ll keep striking until they do. What’s one little pack, one lone coyote, one little coywolf girl, a few monster-sympathising humans to them?”

“Do you actually have helpful advice for me, or are you just here to gloat?”

“That was very helpful advice. However, I’ll also give you something more immediate and applicable. Cross your arms.”

Setting aside his book, he does.

“Don’t take any pain relief. Let the fever break naturally. Now, kick.”

He does, and with a grunt of pain, Robert wakes up on the cell floor.

Panting and shaking, he gingerly raises himself back up onto the cot.

Chapter Text

Aaron comes home from Adam and Vic’s to find Diane stirring a steaming pot of soup and talking on the phone. “He- just like his father,” she sighs. “Yes, alright, love. I’ll be down soon.”

Hanging up, she sees him. “Oh, morning. Not exactly breakfast food, but would you like some turkey soup?”

“Turkey soup?”

Nodding, she digs out some bowls and plastic covering. “Blame Val. Whenever she’s sick, she always wants turkey instead of chicken, and Jack and the children took after her when they found out. A nasty fever snuck up on Robert in the middle of the night.”

Knowing he shouldn’t get involved, Aaron nevertheless finds himself offering, “I could take that down before work. Pick up some pain relief at the chemist.”

She shakes her head. “He’s refusing medicine. About that, though- I neither need nor want to think much on the subject, but: My stepson didn’t make you any promises, did he?”

“No,” he answers. “It was causal. He was going to leave at the end of the month, and I was going back to my normal life.”

“Good.” She hesitates. “When he’s found innocent, if he sticks around, as much as I love him, um-”

“If we still keep seeing each other, it’ll keep being causal. Much as I respect you, Diane, I know enough to see that Robert ain’t the commit and be faithful type. I wouldn’t try to make a boyfriend out of him.”

“Well, then, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate you taking this.”

…

At the station, DS Wise leads him in a different direction than normal. “We moved Robert to a different cell about an hour ago.”

“What? Why?”

“He refused to let his niece visit him in the mountain ash lined one.”

Aaron supposes this makes sense from Robert’s side of things. Stretching his senses out, he discovers Sarah is still around and hears, “Upon the discovery of the preternatural and supernatural by humans, the number of humans began to dramatically drop as more and more people sought out alphas to bite them and their children. In response, France, America, and Mexico along with several Middle Eastern countries became to stridently identify and wipe out-”

The cell door is opened, and Sarah looks up from her e-reader. “Aaron’s here, Uncle Rob.”

On the bed, a sweaty, shivering Robert mutters something.

Feeling awkwardly conflicted, Aaron asks, “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

A sense of exasperation and pride comes over him at the look she gives him. He knows, so far, she’s been a right goody-goody in comparison to her dad, Katie, and especially, the Dingle side of her family, and even now, she’s skipping in order to read to her sick uncle, but still, she’s obviously skipping without parent approval and is irritated rather than scared or apologetic at being called out.

Beside him, DS Wise sighs. “I assumed her parents had- Well, I’d better go call them.”

“It’s Sunday, innit?"

Kneeling down next to the cot, he carefully puts his hand on Robert’s forehead and winces at the heat. “No, Robert, it’s Monday.”

“Oh. Well, Andy killing me would be preferable,” Robert replies through a cough.

Sarah’s vitals change in a bad way, and Aaron quickly tells her, “Don’t listen to that. Look, I’m going to try to get some soup in him. You don’t happen to have any Alice in the Wonderland or Wizard of Oz, do you?”

She nods, does some tapping, and starts reading the second.

Once Aaron has Robert sat up, Robert becomes more-or-less alert and swallows down a few decent spoonfuls of the soup. “Don’t go to the quarry at night. Please, Aaron. I had a bad dream.”

Confused, he nevertheless offers, “Alright, how about, until you’re better, I won’t, yeah?”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he agrees.

Robert sighs, but there’s relief in it.

“You sure you don’t want some medicine, mate?”

“Sure,” Robert answers. “Quiet, now. Want to hear the story.”

Sarah beams and is still determinedly reading in her quiet, clear voice when Aaron leaves for work.

…

By night, Robert is even worse.

He’s stripped down to his pants and is lying on the cell floor when Aaron and Vic come.

Vic is kneels down, and Aaron sends a text to his mum.

“You’re being stupid. Please, Rob, just take some over-the-counter-”

“I told you not to come. Don’t want you sick, Vic. What if you pass something onto Jack? Until he manifests, he can suffer colds and flus, too.” Shivering, Robert breaks into a coughing, sneezing fit.

Vic pulls tissues out of her pocket, but Aaron kneels down and takes them. “I’ll do it. Vic, go find DS Wise. I’ll stay until you get back.”

Thankfully, she doesn’t argue.

Irritably, Robert tries to bat Aaron’s hands away, but ‘tries’ is key. His normally above-average coordination is just as affected as the rest of him.

Aaron isn’t sure it’s a good idea to say anything. Even without shifter senses, he thinks he might be able to understand exactly where Robert is emotionally: Everything is either painful or numb, and more than this, his body is going from one extreme to another with no time to adapt. Even his thoughts are a disorganised, often unpleasant mess.

All this, and none of it compares to the fact Robert wants no one to see him as weak. To label him as such.

DS Wise appears, and standing up, Aaron hands over his mobile. “I’m staying. If you want to put us in a mountain ash cell, fine, but I am staying. He’s not critical, but there’s a chance he could get there during the night.”

“Won’t,” Robert declares. “Uh, and objection? I have that right, don’t I?”

Rolling his eyes, Aaron kneels down, turns Robert onto his back, and holds his hand up above Robert’s face. “Grab my hand, and I’ll go home.”

After two failed attempts, DS Wise sighs. “Alright. Here, best call your mum.” He holds the mobile out.

“I’ve already texted her.”

“Fine. Just take it. I’m not going to lock it up.”

“You can’t let-” Robert starts.

“Mate, his girlfriend is a werewolf, and me and her have our pack here. There’s a load of hunters with a vested interest in you in the village. You think we’re risking you dying without their say so while they’re here?”

Reaching over, Robert grabs his hand.

Since it was setting on the ground right next to him and Aaron saw him reaching for it but choose not to move it, Aaron will laugh if Robert tries to claim this as a victory.

Instead, Robert clasps his fingers through Aaron’s and looks up at DS Wise. “He needs food. If I get hungry later, I’ll have some soup.”

…

“If it was my time to die, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course, baby,” his visitor answers. “Don’t worry. It’s not. But the same might not be true for the Livesys.”

“Aaron’s still here, isn’t he?”

“For now. There’s more than just him, though. Gordon has been marked by someone else, you’ll have nothing to do with how it swings, but the other two-” She pauses. “You might be the fall of the Livesys. Long live the Dingle pack, goodbye Aaron and Olivia Livesy, here’s Robert Sugden dressed in black and white with flowers all around.”

…

A gasp jolts Aaron out of his sleep, and he can immediately tell Robert is in terrible shape. His shaking body and teary eyes are bad enough, but his vitals-

Making sure his voice is gentle, Aaron moves from the blanket he was sleeping on over to the cot. “Hey. Was it a bad dream, or-”

Gentle hands press against his cheek and the side of neck.

Easing onto the cot and pulling Robert against him, he says, “Yeah, I’m here.”

Eventually, Robert lies back down, but he doesn’t go back to sleep, and by morning, while he’s still not critical, his fever is even stronger.

…

When Andy comes to sit with Robert, Aaron stops at Bob’s on the way to work.

“Holt’s gone back home,” a nearby hunter says.

“Good,” his mate responds. “We don’t need his type. Or Sugden’s, for that matter.”

Tensing, Aaron tells himself, Just order your brew and egg sandwich and leave. Ignore it.

“Of course, that werewolf isn’t much better.” A term the hunter is smart enough to just barely whisper passes through his mouth, and Aaron feels his claws digging into his palm. “Has always gone for people, well, in some cases, he shouldn’t. Werewolf killing a wendigo, how shocking. Then, his next boyfriend- more unsuitable in more ways than one.”

Stalking over, Aaron pins the hunter against the wall and ignores the mistletoe-coated knife sliding into his side and the silent cocking of a gun. “Oh, and what ways are those? That we’re both blokes? That he’s human, and I’m werewolf? That we’re different colours?”

“What in the hell is going on,” Chris Argent’s voice breaks in.

“Aaron!” Paddy’s voice rings out. “Let the hunter- oh. What’s on that knife? I can tell by the bleeding, it’s not just a knife, make them be still. Aaron, be still.”

Chris starts to respond, and before Paddy can get over, the hunter withdraws the knife.

Paddy catches Aaron when he stumbles backwards. “Right. Mr Argent, right now, I don’t care who started it. I’m taking Aaron to the clinic. If you want to talk to him, later, no one will stop you.” They start walking. “Aaron, focus on the air. What colours can you see?”

“Mainly orange.”

“Mistletoe, then, probably. Alright, well, you’ve been through worse, haven’t you? That’s it, we’re almost to the car."

…

Jackie gives Aaron a disapproving look.

Paddy’s silent worry and disappointment is worse.

“I know I shouldn’t have,” he tries.

“Why did you? The last time you attacked a hunter-” Paddy shakes his head.

Swallowing, Aaron says, “They were talking about Ed and Jackson. About how my relationships were wrong. How Robert- they didn’t approve of what we’ve been doing, either. And I know you probably don’t, either, but their reasons- I’m sorry, Paddy.”

Finishing applying the paste, Paddy reaches up and rubs his shoulder. “You could have handled it better, but it’s not as if I can fully blame you. Aaron- I don’t know how long I’ve loved you, but I have for a long time. I always will. So, try not to take this wrong: Back then, you were such a mess. Jackson and Ed, in different ways, they brought out the good in you, and you learned better ways to live. For a time, you were happy with both, and so were they.”

“Whatever over people say, try to remember this. Don’t let their words taint these facts.”

He nods.

…

Thankfully, no one has told Robert about what happened earlier (of course, he was curious why Aaron’s phone kept ringing and dinging, but Aaron simply turned it off after the ninth text), and they listen to music until they fall asleep.

…

In the morning, Aaron’s brushing his teeth when there’s a change in the air, and he sighs in relief.

Looking over, he sees Robert sitting up.

Stretching, Robert declares, “Hungry. And I need a proper shower.”

Walking over, Aaron kisses Robert’s forehead and feels the last of the fever completely dissipating. “Yeah,” he agrees. “You really do, mate.”

Laughing, Robert carefully stands and begins changing. “Thanks. For all you’ve done.”

“It wasn’t anything,” Aaron answers.