Page 25 of Lifeline

“Alright,” I said when he finished. “You certainly seem…equipped.”

“Of course,” Don said brightly. “Like I said, I’ve been doing this for years. I know what I’m doing.”

I looked at Aidan, who scoffed and gestured to Mav and me. “Don’t look at me, I’m just observing, remember?”

“Fine. Just call the outpost if you end up in trouble.”

“Of course,” Don said in that same serene, bright way that was getting on my nerves a little. “I respect what you boys do. One of the few government sorts that are worth a damn if you ask me. You take care of yourselves, especially you; looks like you hurt yourself.”

“Just a misstep,” Aidan said, looking startled. “I’m okay.”

“Just listen to your body,” Don advised, like some sort of stoned survival wisdom. “We don’t do that enough.”

“Why don’t you go back to listening to the woods?” Aidan suggested with a smirk. “I’ll worry about my body.”

“Good, good,” Don said, closing his eyes. “Listening is something we’re so bad at…people that is. We always want to talk, we always want to share, to explain, but we never want to listen. And when we do? We hear what we want to hear. Learn how to shed the ego, to break down those walls and let the world in. You can’t grow without learning to listen, so you should start with your body, trust what it says, and then work your way up.”

“I’ll…keep that in mind,” Aidan said, squinting at the man.

Mav grunted and, pushing off from the tree, began walking away. With a sigh, I followed him, hearing that Aidan was keeping up with us. We walked for a few minutes before Mav looked back, his eyes roaming up and down my body, which was smeared with mud and plant matter. His eyes drifted to Aidan, who was still hobbling slightly but was also covered from our fall down the hill.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t.”

Mav snorted and turned his attention back to the front, and we continued walking. It took me a little while to notice there was silence, at least silence from people. Aidan had grown quiet, and when I looked, he was still limping, but there was a thoughtful, distant look on his face that told me he was following us on autopilot. I didn’t know what had made him so introspective, but I was willing to leave him be for the moment.

He came back to life when we reached the quads, and he hopped on his with a smile. I remembered him telling me his mother’s side of the family had always been big on outdoor excursions, so he had grown up riding quads, jet skis, snowmobiles, and the occasional dirt bike. He was comfortable enough that he was more daring in his driving. Daring enough to force me to bite back a criticism for his borderline reckless driving, telling myself that if he drove into a tree, he would be the one to deal with Colin.

We made it back without incident, and I wasn’t surprised to see Xander waiting for us as we parked the quads in the garage. The big man immediately took in the state of Aidan's and my clothes, his frown deepening.

“The fuck happened?” he growled, his eyes immediately darting toward Aidan.

“The reports were well-intentioned but not accurate,” I said before Aidan could speak. I could see the way the man felt the burn of Xander’s stare, and I knew Aidan cornered or accused would balk and snarl. “We found the man they reported, and he’s fine. Stoned as hell, but despite that, we determined he was well prepared for being out here and is reasonably capable.”

“Uh-huh,” Xander said, looking over Aidan and me with that same doubtful glare.

I glanced at Aidan and saw he was standing upright without a sign of his hurt ankle. “The footing wasn’t that great out there. Everyone’s fine.”

“No one needs to see Colin?” Xander asked.

“Oh, I’m actually supposed to be seeing him,” Aidan said with a slap to his own forehead. “He wanted me to stop in for a visit.”

I glanced at him. “Might want to get changed and wash up, or you’ll have him combing every square inch of you for injuries you don’t have.”

He looked down at himself. “True.”

“Go,” Xander grunted, and Aidan looked like he was going to say something but then walked off with a soft snort.

Xander waited until he was back in the building before turning to Mav and me. “So?”

“He was fine,” Mav said, and Xander raised a brow at what we both knew was the best sort of praise Mav could give for someone he barely knew.

“What happened?” Xander asked me instead, looking at my dirty clothes.

“I stepped wrong, slipped, Aidan tried to save my bacon, and we both went down,” I said with a shrug.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”