And To Dust, Return [Complete]

[Aidan Fox]

Aidan shrugged. "Well, I just have the one, and I was kind of in a hurry. Thought it'd be a dick move to wear a helmet if I didn't have one for you. Oh, hang on."

He slipped out of his leather jacket and offered it to Tess. "The breeze can be pretty cold if you're not used to it."

[Tess Abrahams]

"Thanks," Tess took the jacket and slipped it on over her T-shirt, trying to ignore the factoids on fatal accidents that pinged around, lighting up her mental space. The leather sloped raggedly off her shoulders, arms two inches too long, but it felt good, beaten in like a favorite pair of jeans or a blanket so old and trusted that it never failed to stop a draft.

They walked out through the sad lobby, Aidan wheeling his bike and Tess following behind, taking in the glide of the Harley as though trying to appraise a stallion's gait. A stallion with an imposingly sleek and aerodynamic frame that looked like it had ten kinds of wild lurking below the surface, waiting to spring out and surprise the first mortal foolish enough to try and rope it.

Tess watched as Aidan easily threw a leg over, glancing over his shoulder at her expectantly. She twisted her hands in the sleeves of his jacket and then followed suit, mimicking his maneuver as she climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle in a rather crushing grip.

[Aidan Fox]

The first thing Aidan did was make sure he could still breathe. Then he slipped the key into the ignition, squeezed the clutch, and put his thumb on the starter switch. "You ready?"

Tess nodded curtly, and he fired up the engine, which snarled gamely and settled into a rhythmic growl: thump-thudda-thump-thudda-thump-thump-thudda-thump-thudda.

Aidan gave the Sportster a little gas and guided it smoothly down the driveway and into the street, where it began to sing.

[Tess Abrahams]

The sensation was similar to the time Felix had convinced her to go on the Whirling Dirvish at Six Flags, except that Tess had kept her eyes open and thrown up all over the tiny cage they'd been strapped into, which sort of ruined the rest of the ride. It was a mistake she didn't make this time.

Face firmly pressed against Aidan's back, she concentrated on the purr of the engine, the way it rumbled beneath them and on breathing through her nose whenever a smooth turn had them tilting to one side. The wind whistled past, whipping her hair into a frenzy and she quadruple-checked that her tight hold on the intrepid captain hadn't waned at all.

So busy was she in keeping her mind off the wicked speed they were rocketing along at that when it slowed, Tess barely noticed. It wasn't until Aidan cleared his throat that it dawned on her that all was quiet. They had stopped.

Relief spilled over her for the second time that evening and Tess unclenched her fisted hands with some difficulty. "That wasn't so bad!" she said with some surprise, shaking hair out of her eyes.

[Aidan Fox]

"Did you expect it to be?" Aidan asked with a mockingly miffed look. "I didn't even speed this time. Honest."

He turned to face the House. Tess, he realized, was just now doing the same.

"You ready to go in?"

He looked back and offered his hand in case she wanted to take it - to prove to the others she wasn't just back, she was safe.

[Tess Abrahams]

"That's only considered not speeding in Europe," Tess said with a wry grin as she slowly slipped off the Harley, legs still tingling with phantom vibrations from the ride.

Light shone from the windows of the House, warm beacons against the dark evening sky that seemed to beckon in welcome. From inside a few low rolls of conversation drifted out, too muffled to discern the speakers let alone the subject, and then they were gone, drowned out by the opening theme of Jeopardy on the television. It was just like normal.

Except of course that it wasn't, exactly. There was no such thing as a static state in a house full of mutants, Tess was finding. It was a constant shift, a changing playing field that offered little warning (if any) before rolling away in unpredictable directions. The best they could do was try and keep up.

It took a moment to realize that Aidan was waiting for her. Speed demon though he might have been, that quiet patience of his was a remarkable motivator. She met his gaze and laughed, the sound more soft, uncertain breath than anything.

"Not really," Tess said, and slipped her hand into Aidan's as they fell into step beside one another. Before them the steadfast outline of Redencion loomed, honest and unassuming. As they climbed the back steps, she felt the same lurching sense of vertigo that had urged her to leap across the open space at the theatre.

Tess gave Aidan's hand a squeeze and shrugged. "But there isn't anywhere else to go," she said, opening the screen door. "No turning back, now."