HELLO EVERYONE! Again...it's been a month since I've posted and I'm sorry. No excuses other than I was busy and had little to no inspiration until today! Before we get right into it, this chapter actually is just a sort of...well, a filler. Every story has one chapter like that I feel like and this is literally very much without action. It's relaxed, sort of. Anywho. Let's move on to the beautiful reviewers!

Nina Vale: Yes, Damien is a dick. But I still find ways to appreciate his character, in some weird way. Haha! And regarding your question of will Clara/T-Bone be a thing? Uh, I honestly don't think so. Going according to what I think the character would do...I doubt T-Bone would adventure himself in a relationship with her at all. A one night stand? Pfft, sure yeah but an actual relationship? Had things been different then yes. But most likely, no. Sorry =S Things may change! Haha =) Thank you for that review.

Weirdo Named Carter & Insomniatic-Artist3 & yukiyukina89: Haha! Thank you ALL so much! I hope you like this chapter! =)

AllThingWeird35: Haha, I think it is pretty obvious who it was =P Thank for the review! ENJOY!

Sarimon: Oh wow, thank you! And yes, she's sort of a Fixer. More will be revealed about her involvement with the Fixers as the story goes on. I'm also glad you think I'm having the characters behaving like they should, which is something incredibly important to me, especially considering the amount of hours I put into analyzing every single cutscene =P Thank you so much! And you also keep being awesome! Hope you enjoy this one!

enigma013: I got your review today and this pumped me to no end to finish it! Thank you for that! What you said means a lot to me as I said above that characterization is ULTRA important to me. Thank you! And I'm so glad you are like Shaw =) Thank you!

I do not own WATCH_DOGS. Ubisoft does and I'm simply borrowing. My OCs are mine.

Again, a special thanks to my friend MissAlisterCroft for being a big source of inspiration in general! ENJOY!

Watch Dogs_

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY_

Chapter 4_

"Hi, you've reached Shaw. I can't come to the phone right now so, leave me a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can. Bye!"

The frown on Aiden's face intensified, his finger itching to dial her number again but knowing all to well there would not be an answer. He closed his eyes, jaw clenching as he inhaled deeply and exhaled just as deeply, his rough fingers wrapping around the phone in his hands tightly. Where could she be? To the best of his knowledge she had to have gone home and especially after a job that's where she would primarily head to, knowing her. His lips fell into a thin line, still resisting that urge to redial the number before slamming his hand down on the passenger seat and letting the phone slip form his hand, and slide on the leather seat.

Resting his head in his other hand leaning against the window, Aiden heavily sighed. Something in the pit of his stomach was telling him something was wrong. It was a feeling Aiden was far too aware of, a feeling of dread that he had experienced far too often in his life and something he wanted to never experience again.

A light buzzing caught his attention, the barely visible speck of light emitting from his phone prompted him to fully turn his attention to it and sigh, closing his eyes. I can't deal with him right now. Aiden lazily made a grab for the phone, lightly pressing the screen to answer.

"Jordi, whatever you need better be important be-"

"You got any news from Shaw?" This was the only time Aiden would somewhat gladly allow Jordi to cut him off, though the information had further sunken whatever feeling he felt in the pit of his stomach.

Aiden took some time to answer, sighing before saying, "No. Why?"

A long, loud and heavy sigh left Jordi too, "I called her a couple of hours ago to come and pick up her cash from the last job I gave her…" he trailed off, "and she hasn't shown up."

"Did she tell you she was gonna pick it up?"

"Oh…yeah. She did." Jordi cleared his throat, adding. "Said she'd stop at her house first and then be on her merry way." Aiden had to roll his eyes at Jordi's choice of words, two fingers going to rub at the bridge of his nose.

"I'll—I'll go to her place and check it out." Aiden said, earning nothing from Jordi but a dead line. Son of a bitch hung up.

Aiden started the car, hands tightly gripping the wheel as he began the long and excruciatingly painful drive to her house. And that bothered him. The drive was only twenty minutes, which, in any other circumstances, would seem fairly rapid but just as it was with his drive to Nicky's after Damien's call, it felt like hours.

The sun was beginning to rise as he crossed the last bridge leading into her neighborhood, making Aiden much more nervous at the amount of time since he had heard from Shaw. Four to six hours…fuck. His nostrils flared, closing his eyes briefly before resuming the concentration he needed to have to be on the road.

Aiden soon reached the street where she lived, slightly speeding up down it before stepping on the breaks. He gave himself a push and exited the car, jogging to the front door and knocking loudly. Growing impatient at the lack of answer he made a run for the back door, knowing where she would usually hide a key as he entered her house.

The place had been turned over as Aiden entered Shaw's house and going from room to room, calling her name and thoroughly searching for her as he came to the realization that she was not there. He slowly, feeling defeated, made his way back to her kitchen as he leaned forward on the island. Aiden dropped his head in his hands as he tried remaining calm, understanding now that Damien had most definitely taken Shaw as collateral too.

Aiden straightened up, reaching for his phone as he dialed a familiar phone number and brought the phone to his ear.

"She's gone."

Aiden would be met with silent until he received an answer, "Uh, what?"

"Shaw! Jordi, she's gone!"

"Uh, what do you mean someone she's gone?" Jordi had sounded worried for a change.

"She's gone, Jordi! I think someone took her…her apartment is ransacked and it looks like there was a struggle, she put up a fight…" Aiden explained, slowly coming to terms, unhappily, that Shaw had been taken.

"That's our girl." Jordi sighed. "D'you know who took her? You need me or something?"

"Yeah, I know who but there's not gonna be anything here…I'll call you if I find anything."

"Alright." Jordi said with some form of hesitance as he hung up.

Aiden started going around her apartment, looking for clues of why her apartment was ransacked and if Damien had been looking for something specific by wrecking her apartment in the way he had. Any piece of paper he'd pick up he'd shake his head, nothing informative to be found on most of them as he would simply pile them together and put them back on the table.

When he returned to the living room he took note of her phone and laptop just sitting on the small table in the middle of the room, lying untouched, which had him frown. He opened her computer, hacking into it to see if there was anything that had been touched.

"There's nothing…" mumbled a confused Aiden.

"Of course there's nothing…I had nothing to begin with." Aiden snapped his head up towards the door where Shaw stood, leaning on it as he took in her bruised appearance. Holding onto her side, looking fine aside from the slightly split up lower lip and bruised cheek she had as he rapidly stood up and headed to her as he gently grabbed her biceps. "I'm okay, Aiden…"

"What happened?" He asked, still holding onto her.

"Damien, who else?" She said, looking up at him. "Had two of his goons trying to take me. They were waiting for me inside the house…They were able to get me in the car but I gave them enough hell to cause a crash…hence why I'm here…"

"You need to get checked out…" Aiden said as she waved him off.

"I'm fine…just bruised up and I'll feel sore as hell tomorrow but I'll live." She tried reassuring him as best as she could, knowing all too well it would never work with him. "If I wake up and feel like shit then I'll go…but I'm fine. And plus, hospitals ask questions and we don't need that right now…"

She walked past him, removing her jacket as she winced and went back to holding her ribs, "Can I please kill Damien when you get him…? Or at least maim him real bad first…"

"Be my guest." Aiden said. "Let me see." He gestured to her ribs as she rolled her eyes but his fixed gaze had her sigh in defeat as she approached him. Aiden took a seat on her couch as she stood in front of him, standing in between his legs.

She slowly lifted her shirt to reveal extremely bruised ribs as well as some redness, feeling his cold fingers slowly slide over her ribs as she hissed lightly. She immediately took note of his furrowed brows after she did so, "Your hands are cold." She simply stated under her breath as he reached for the hem of her shirt, bringing it down to cover her.

"It'll hurt when you wake up tomorrow." He said, keeping his hands on her hips as she gently took hold of them.

"I know…it'll be a bitch but I'll be fine." She said as he watched their hands just as she gently let go before stepping back. "I promise I'll get it checked out if it gets any worse."

"You can't stay here…not for a few days at least." Aiden said, causing Shaw to groan as she threw her head back and swore under her breath, moving away from him.

"Don't I know that…but I've got nowhere else to go." She began thinking of other options, slowly heading into her kitchen to assess the damage done by the fixers with Aiden following suit. "What do you think they were looking for?"

With a small shrug of the shoulder, Aiden spoke, "I don't know…does Damien know you came in contact with me?"

"Yeah, he knows. I-I told him I knew about the 'vigilante' thing when he thought I didn't…so yeah, Damien knows we talked." She explained, wincing while trying to pick up objects scattered around on the floor. Aiden walked to her as he watched her bend and would stop her.

"This can wait, Shaw…" He stated, delicately grabbing her arm and pulling her straight as she grunted with annoyance. He knew she would hate being told to wait, Shaw never having been one to receive advice well. Or to have someone trying to take care of her.

"What do you think they were looking for?" Aiden asked, glancing around the kitchen.

Shaw gave a slight shrug, "I don't know…"

Aiden slowly walked around to face her, "Damien seemed to think you had something…"

She scoffed, still holding onto her side and waving a hand around, "Well, sucks for him…I don't have anything." Shaw slowly settled herself against the counter. "I mean…the most he could find would be information on the job Jordi had me working on…"

"What job?" Shaw waved his question off before adding.

"But nothing. I would never write down stuff…you know me. I'm paranoid." Shaw said, watching him as he rolled his eyes slightly.

"You're…careful. It's different." She tilted her head slightly at his words, eyebrow cocked before looking to the wall where the bullet the man had tried shooting her with was lodged.

"Fuck…" She sighed, bringing a finger to inspect the damage. "That I have to fix soon enough though…"

"He shot at you?!" Aiden asked. She nodded as he added. "And no one heard?"

"Silencer. And," she would add to make him understand, pointing at another lodged bullet in the opposite wall, "I shot at him too…"

Aiden gave a light shake of the head before looking back at her, "Are you gonna be okay?"

She would yet again wave his concern off before saying, "I'll live." She said, watching him before adding while looking around her messy kitchen. "I'll pack a bag and go to a motel for a night or two. Pay cash. Use another name. Like that he won't be able to trace me."

Aiden nodded, the relief now lining his shoulders before asking, "You still remember how to cover your tracks?"

"Botnets…my best friend as of now." She stated, looking down before swallowing hard and clearing her throat. She rolled her shoulder before saying,

"Can I ask for a ride? These assholes slashed my tires to stop me from leaving…"

He gave her a firm nod, "Get whatever you need and I'll drive you."

Shaw acquiesced, grateful while slowly walking past Aiden to go up the stairs and to her room. She packed a duffel bag with only the essentials of what she'd need for a few days, shoving them carelessly inside the bag before zipping it close. As she walked down the stairs Aiden slowly made his way to the bottom of them, holding a hand out to make a grab for her bag once she was close enough. Shaw thanked him before stopping dead in her tracks, grunting as Aiden asked her if something was wrong as he noted Winston following Shaw down the stairs.

"Winston…I can't bring him to a motel. I mean…I can try sneaking him in but I'd rather not. Fuck." She gave a light stomp with her foot.

Aiden groaned lightly, watching Winston approach him before lying at his feet, "We can stop by Leon's…he's kept an eye on him before, remember?" Shaw gradually began nodding in a slow manner, agreeing before walking to get the leash as well as the food.

"That is an idea…I just hope it's not too last minute." She mumbled, attaching the leash to Winston's collar. "C'mon boy, we're going out." She said, straightening up with a grunt before glancing to Aiden with a nod.

They exited the house, locking up behind them before Aiden unlocked the doors to his personal car, shoving the bag on the back seat while stepping aside to allow Shaw to get Winston inside. Aiden fixed his seat once the dog comfortably lied down on the back seat, entering the car and closing the door. Shaw carefully took a seat next to Aiden, wincing while sitting down as she held her ribs and dragged the door behind her, closing it.

"Alright, I'm good." She reached for the belt, strapping it around her chest and locking it in place before glancing to Winston and then Aiden, nodding to him. "Let's go."

With a nod, Aiden put the keys in the ignition and started the car before driving off quietly. He would glance from time to time to Shaw who was looking out the window while continuously holding onto her ribs and wincing when he would drive over a bump or hit potholes as he would apologize every single time. She would again just shrug it off, glancing to him with the tiniest of smiles as she would ask.

"How'd you even know...?" She mumbled as he quirked an eyebrow, confused. "How'd you even know I was gone?"

"I-I tried calling but you weren't answering, that was my first indication something was off." He explained, making her chuckle.

"What was the second?"

He shifted in his seat, pursing his lips lightly before flexing his fingers around the wheel, "Jordi."

"Jordi?"

"Yeah. He called…said you never showed up to pick up your money." He quickly looked over to her. "I guess he was worried."

"Pfft. Jordi doesn't worry…" She scoffed.

Aiden shook his head at her apparent lack of faith in the fixer, "Well, he seemed worried."

She slowly began to shift in her seat, sighing, "Well, I guess the man does have a heart…somewhere…deep inside." That caused Aiden to smirk lightly, agreeing with what she said although she probably had more of an insight on the man, having known him for over a decade. "He just doesn't show it very often…if ever."

Aiden stayed quiet, deciding not to comment on her last few words as he continued driving them to Leon's. He watched her for a few seconds, scanning over her features before returning his gaze to the road ahead of him, tightening his grip on the wheel and making a soft turn to the right.

"Maybe you should ask Leon if you can stay there for a few days…" he stated as an idea, waiting for her response.

She shook her head, "No. I don't want anything to happen to him because of me. The motel will do just fine." She turned to Aiden as the car slowed down, meeting his green eyes as she continued. "I'm done getting people hurt…"

"He'd do it, you know? Have you stay with him…"

She gave a light scoff, "Of course he would. All I'd have to do is ask and he'd have a room ready for me in under a day."

Aiden simply shook his head with a light chuckle, squinting and tilting his head forward to see the neon sign to Leon's restaurant. He gently cleared his throat, catching her attention as he made a careful turn to park the car in front of the diner.

"Diner's closed." She mumbled.

"Well, it's convenient he lives right above it." He stated with a slight curve of the lips as she removed the seatbelt. Aiden quickly stepped out of the car, closing the door before walking around to help her out as Winston began fidgeting in the back, Shaw gently telling him to remain calm. Shaw thanked Aiden once on her feet and out of the car, waiting for Aiden to give her the leash.

The street was dead quiet. There was no more than three people on the street, including them as they slowly crossed the street. The lights were still dim lit, lighting the street just enough to feel safe but not enough to disturb the sleeping citizens.

As they walked up the street Shaw stopped dead in her tracks, causing Aiden to stop two steps later before worriedly glancing back at her.

"I—I don't think I should be the one going to drop Winston off…"

Her words prompted Aiden to frown as he neared her, "Why not?"

She tilted her to the side lightly before looking into his eyes, "Aiden, the man is gonna see me looking like this," she gestured to her face, "and he's gonna freak out, and then he's gonna talk me into staying with him! We both know Leon and that man can convince nearly anyone of…anything!" She reasoned.

Aiden lightly pursed his lips before crossing his arms as she added, "He'll find some ways to…you know, make me stay and I don't want him in any danger. We put him through enough back then."

She watched Aiden sighing just lightly, nodding, "Okay. I'll get Winston to Leon. You go back to the car and wait for me." Aiden said, reaching for the leash as he worked his fingers around hers to grip it and taking charge of Winston. Shaw glanced to the car just as it unlocked before kneeling as best as she could to pet Winston, looking up at Aiden as he helped her back up.

"Yeah, that, uh, that sounds good." She said. "Thanks."

Aiden only gave her a firm nod, giving her a gentle push towards the car as he walked to the door with Winston. She slowly made her way back to the car, opening the passenger door and entering the car before locking it up as she relaxed against the seat.

She sat there with her head thrown back against the seat, eyes closed and taking deep breaths, albeit still feeling the pain when she did. It was when the doors unlocked again that she finally reopened her eyes, having been slightly startled by the noise as she glanced to see Aiden step inside.

"How'd it go?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes as he sat still next to her. Not even starting the car up.

"He wondered where you were." This caused Shaw to chuckle lightly, shaking her head. "Told him you were safe."

She cleared her throat, bringing a hand to cover her mouth as she did, "Let me guess, he, uh, he said he wouldn't believe ya until he'd see me?"

The tiniest scoff left his lips as he spoke, "Yeah…something along those lines." They both fell silent before he glanced to her just as she did, holding his gaze for a few seconds. "Let's get you a room. You need to get some rest…" he trailed off before putting the key in the ignition, "you look like crap."

She scoffed, resisting the urge to smirk as she lazily brought a hand to gently shove him, "Fuck you." She coughed out. "Just-just drive."

Shaw looked up, watching Aiden exit the motel reception area with a small key in his hands as he made his way to her as he visibly rolled his eyes as he reached her.

"I thought I told you to wait in the car." He said, going for the back door to get her bag.

"No, you said to wait 'here'. You didn't specify where." He stopped moving, slowly turning his head to look at her with a 'seriously?' look plastered on his face as she shrugged lightly. "Don't mind me…I'm being a wise-ass."

"C'mon." He said, locking up the car before gently motioning for her to walk with him.

"Alright, alright." She whispered as they began walking, going up a flight of stairs before reaching the second floor. Soon enough Aiden began slowing down to come to a stop, Shaw looking up to a small red-ish door with the number eighteen painted on it. She watched as Aiden inserted the key in, twisting and then turning the knob before pushing the door open, letting her step in first as he followed suit.

She quickly let her eyes roam, taking in the inside of the room, which consisted of a simple bed with a dresser, bedside table and a private bathroom. She gently passed the bed, bringing one hand to feel it before going to the bathroom to look at it. She turned around, seeing Aiden drop the bag on the bed as he looked around lightly.

"What?" She asked softly, Aiden shaking his head. She sighed, knowing all too well why he looked so grim as he glanced around the room. He wanted her safe and by leaving her alone in a motel room he could not feel like she was. Shaw knew he probably was right but they both knew that putting other people in danger was just not an option either. She moved towards him, standing next to him as she opened up her bag and bringing a hand to squeeze his arm gently before glancing up quickly. "I'll be fine. You've got bigger things to worry about."

"Damien going after you is big." He retorted, his voice low as she inhaled calmly.

"And we will deal with that…but this," she used a hand to gesture to herself, "this was a complete failure in his plan. Now, I don't know if he knows that yet."

Aiden frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

She pursed her lips with a light sigh, "When his goons had me in the car?" He nodded. "I was…half out of consciousness and half in, but I managed to hear one of the guys calling Damien over speakers."

"And?"

"He still thinks he's got me and Nicky." When Aiden was about to ask 'why' she just went ahead and explained. "During the phone call he told them to bring me to a location and to call him the next day in the early afternoon to give you time to notice I was gone."

Aiden suddenly turned entirely to face her, brows knitted together as she added, "He's gonna have one hell of a surprise when he realizes I'm still out and free." She could not help herself but let a smirk tug at the corner of her lips as she watched Aiden nod. "He was too ambitious…and he fucked up. And he'll do it again."

They fell silent, Aiden letting his eyes fall for a small second before taking a step back as he rasped, "I should go." She followed his movement with looking down before glancing back up as he brought a gentle hand to rest on her shoulder as she snapped her eyes to look deep into his.

She brought her own hand up to softly grip the arm resting on her shoulder as she gave it a soft squeeze, her eyes still locked onto his as he visibly exhaled. She felt him press the palm of his hand flat against her shoulder blade as he delicately pushed her to him in a one-arm embrace, catching her off guard as she brought a hand to press flat against the middle of his back.

They stood there in silence and unmoving, Shaw feeling his head moving to a position where he was pressing what may have been a kiss against the side of her head as she softly flexed her fingers around the fabric of his coat. She found herself closing her eyes and relaxing against the man she had known for eight years, her head comfortably resting against his chest as they stood in the middle of the room. With a content sigh heard leaving Shaw's lips, Aiden closed his eyes again as he pressed another light, and hopefully subtle, kiss to the top of her head this time around.

With reluctance they both pulled away from each other, Aiden letting his hand travel down the length of her arm until it reached her hand to which he gave a small squeeze before putting some distance between them. Shaw gave him something akin to a ghost smile, something barely visible for the usual person but for him, he knew she was smiling. She looked up to him as he immediately sent his eyes to let them roam around the room one last time before glancing back to her as she gestured to the door.

"I know you have to go, Aiden." She said. "Don't w—I'll be fine. I promise." She corrected, her tone trying to reassure him as he hesitantly began stepping to the door. "I'll give you a call once I wake up." She added.

"Lock the door. Don't u—" "Don't use my own phone, use a public one. Botnets. Pay cash. Try to cover my face if I have to go out. I know the drill." She cut him off softly, nodding more to herself than to him.

He nodded, grabbing the doorknob, "Okay. Stay safe."

"I will."

Here it is! I sure hope y'all liked it!

This was a tiny filler really but we're getting back into the gist of things in the next one, I can guarantee you. AS WELL as introducing an new character! HA HA! Yes! A new character.

Again, you can contact me through PM to ask me some questions or just to talk to me! I'm super friendly! I love constructive comments but no bashing please. If you don't like it, just don't read and comment on it if it's all for the sake of bashing.

Reviews are appreciated! =) Again, I will go over the chapter later today (It's almost 4AM where I am) and I will try to fix the grammar mistakes. I apologize again if there are any, I'm French-Canadian and English is not my mother tongue.

I hope you liked it! Love you all!

R&R!