Chapter Text
Aiden kept the mug of coffee wrapped tightly in his fingers. The soothing warmth pushed away the cold of the chilly late summer evening. It had been raining for a few days covering the usually warm lake in a dampening fog. The warmth of the cup aided in soothing the soreness in his fingers as well. But it was a good kind of sore, the kind one gets from building.
In Aiden's case, it was finishing the first floor of his house.
It was only going to be one story, but Jesse and the others kept popping by and let's face it, no one wanted to sleep on a couch or the floor. So a two story was to be made, the floor plan edited to make up for the new structure. Building the bottom half had taken him awhile, not only did the weather slow him down, but he was still finishing off his community service by running various errands for Isa and Milo.
Wrecking an entire city can have some major setbacks.
He frowned, silently chiding himself for thinking about Sky City, and quickly shoved his mistakes back into the depths of his mind.
Aiden took a sip of coffee, watching as the last rays of the sun set from beyond his kitchen window.
Hmm, coffee is too strong.
The hard banging of his front door managed to break his serenity.
Aiden let out a heavy sigh, hoping it wasn't some parole guard. "Who is it?"
"It's Jesse!"
Relief washed over Aiden and he grinned, "Doors unlocked."
There was a loud slam as the door swung open, hitting the wall with such ferocity Aiden felt his counter vibrate.
"Jesse!" Aiden whipped around, "You don't have to open it so -"
The mug slipped from Aiden's hands and fell to the ground, coffee splattering everywhere as the glass shattered.
Jesse was covered in an inhumanly large amount of blood. There was enough scarlet liquid to stain Jesse's Star Shield armor, soaking through the cracks of the armor and even dying Jesse's black shirt red. But Jesse wasn't bleeding, not a drop was his. Aiden stared in horror as he realized who it belonged to.
It was all Lukas.
The blonde hung limply in Jesse's arms, his own gear stained nearly black with blood. His head rolled loosely, hair plastered to sweaty skin. He was pale, save for where more blood had smeared.
"Lukas!" Aiden rushed forward.
"Don't!" Jesse cried, "Don't touch him! He's sick with something!"
Aiden slide on the tile, looking over Jesse's shoulder just as Petra and Ivor hurried into the house. Not a single spot of red marked them.
"We didn't know where else to come-" Ivor began.
"What the hell happened?!" Aiden demanded.
"Lukas got separated," Petra quickly explained, "We don't know how, but we were traveling the Hallway and he was suddenly gone. It took us a few hours to find him he said he was feeling under the weather but was fine. Then when we made camp a few days later he suddenly started vomiting, he- he- couldn't stop. It didn't start with blood at first it was food, and then -"
As if on cue, Lukas let out a weak groan, a painful sound that made Aiden's throat tighten.
Jesse cursed and rushed into the temporary guest bedroom. He lowered Lukas to the floor and grabbed the nearby trash can just as the blonde lurched.
Aiden stared in horror, as watered down blood spilled out of Lukas's lips, splashing into the metal and turning it from silver to ruby.
"W-w-what does he have?"
"We don't know," Ivor replied, "We needed somewhere safe to bring him so we can figure it out. The last thing we wanted to do was bring a potential plague to the people of Sky City, but-"
"No you- you-" Aiden took a deep breath, "You did the right thing," He hurried towards the door, "I'll get Isa."