http://fictionalfantasies.tumblr.com/Leo
*
Leo
Chapter 11
Leo as a Parent
* is conscientious about bringing up children
* wants to be proud of offspring
* may put too much pressure to succeed on children
* expects to be loved and appreciated by offspring
* is capable of giving great warmth
* knows how to play with children
* is generous with pocket money
* insists on honesty
* makes every effort to teach children many things
*
Michael
Michael woke up the next morning and he was shocked when he opened his eyes and found himself not at home lying next to Toni. He remembered where he was instantly.
He was with Leo. Or at least at Leo’s mansion.
They let him sleep in one of the guest rooms and the guest room was bigger than the apartment that he and Toni shared, he didn’t know how he felt about that.
A knock came at the door and he got up and walked to the door and opened it a crack, one of the maids, Maria or Mandy, he knew it started with an M…. He then noticed her nametag. Mindy. He knew it started with an M at least. “Breakfast will be ready in 30 minutes. Do you request to have it in the dining room or here in the room?”she asked.
"I really don’t have to-"
"She insists"
"She? Leo? I mean Leona?"he asked and she nodded,"Ok, if…she insists…but then after that I should get going, I haven’t been home in 24 hours"
"Well Dr. Lacey insists you stay here until he gets home at least. He has us all under strict instructions to not let you leave unless its for Miss Leona’s sessions or anything she needs. He said it’s for your safety"
Michael sighed,”Ok alright”
"So, here or in the dining room?"
"Where will Miss Leona be eating? If you don’t mind me asking?"he asked her
"It depends on her mood. Bad mood, she eats in bed. Good mood, she eats at the table. Just call the kitchen when you make up your mind?"she said,"Oh I just want to make sure that you have enough towels and any other toiletries you need"she said as she nodded for him to open the door. He opened it as he pursed his lips, embarrassed that she’ll see his lanky and tattooed body in just boxer shorts. She didnt notice as she walked right in the bathroom and double checked everything. "Good, you’re all set"
"My tooth brush and all my-"
"We have an abundance of extras. It’s like a hotel to be honest"Mindy said. "But if you need anything, call housekeeping"Mindy said to him. "See you at breakfast"she said to him as she walked to the door
"Thanks Mindy"
"And thank you for what you did yesterday. All the security cant stop talking about it, everyone cant stop talking about it. Even the first family is raving about it"
"Really?"
"Yeah, the Mayor himself said how proud he was to have you working for him. Dr. Lacey most especially, who knows what would have happened to Miss Leona if you weren’t there"she said to him
"I was just doing my job"he said with a blush
"Well keep up the good work. You’re a hero"Mindy said with a smile and walked out
Michael smiled as he closed the door and got into the shower. Everything was luxurious, the jacuzzi bathtub, the waterfall shower even down to the electric toothbrush and soap. The Lacey’s were living THE life. He got dressed in a suit that Mindy brought up for him and went downstairs to the dining room. On the way, the many maids and housekeepers thanked and congratulated him and when he got downstairs, the chefs, security guards and even the cable guy shook his hand and told him a job well done. He felt like the King of this castle right now.
However, when he walked into the dining room, the abnormally long dining room table was only set for one. He sat down as Mindy brought out a huge tray with waffles, pancakes, french toast, the works. “Whoa this is a huge breakfast”
"A thank you from the kitchen staff"Mindy said
"You guys shouldn’t have"he said as he poured himself some orange juice and winced from the pain in his hands. He almost broke his knuckles last night. Luckily Dr. Lacey looked at the hand and prescribed him some pain medication. He needed to pick that up.
"You alright?"she asked him, noticing he was in pain
"Yeah…"
"I’ll get you some ibuprofen. It may not be enough-"
"Anything will work at this rate, thank you"he said to her and she nodded and left. A minute later, she came back with two pills and he thanked her and swallowed it down with the orange juice. She had to go back to work however and he sighed. He wondered where Leo was, how she was. He dug into his pancakes when the door opened. He thought it was Mindy so he didn’t turn and acknowledge the person as they came in.
Leo
"They make the best pancakes here, I’ll give them that"Leo said with a smile as she rolled in
"Hey"he said to her with a big smile and she smiled wide, never seeing him smile at all. He had a nice one. "How are you? How did you sleep? Are you ok?"
"Nothing a few pills couldnt fix"she said as she rolled up to the place setting across from him and tried to move the chair that was in it’s place out of the way. He bolted out of his chair and moved it against the wall as Mindy walked in
"Oh Miss Leona, I thought you were eating in your room-"
"I changed my mind"Leo said as Mindy rushed to move the table settings in perfect order. She put the gold spoon, fork and knife on a purple cloth napkin next to the plate and put another purple napkin in her lap. "I need some chamomille tea as well. I got the jitters, I need something calming"
"Yes Miss Leona"Mindy said and rushed back to the kitchen
Michael couldnt help but look at her as he ate, she was beautiful. Always was. She was wearing a simple gray maxi dress, a black cardigan and had her long dark hair piled high on her head. He wiped his mouth and smiled at her,”I think this is the first time we have eaten at the same table together”he teased
She chuckled and looked down,”Yeah it is, isn’t it?”she asked and sighed,”Speaking of that…I should apologize”she said as Mindy came in with her tea. She took a sip and nodded with approval and Mindy rushed out quickly to get her meal. “Hindsight is always 20/20 and my hindsight is telling me that I was a super bitch”
"A super bitch? That’s new. I’m guessing that’s worse than a normal one?"he asked her sarcastically
She chuckled again,”Im serious. I literally treated you like The Help. I’m like that evil redhead in the movie-“
"Never seen it"
"You should, it’s really good"she said,"Anyway…I treated you really badly, even tried to get you fired but you stepped up when I needed you most and I’m sorry for even thinking you weren’t good at your job. You’re excellent at it. You…you saved my life"she said genuinely as Mindy brought in her plate which was an omelette with toast on the side. It was nowhere near as elaborate as what he had on his plate. "Can you accept my apology?"
"Of course"he said without any hesitation. She smiled with relief and started putting jam and butter on her toast. "You didn’t get the super sized platter like I did, what’s up with that?"
"I don’t like to eat heavy first thing in the morning, with all the meds I’m on, I already get drowsy and with the itis kicking in, I’d be no good"she said with a smile as she sipped her tea
"True, well you don’t know what you’re missing. The kitchen went all out. I may sneak over for breakfast more often if it’s like this"
"I told them to. I don’t know if you had trouble sleeping last night and you were in that jail for entirely too long, it was the least we could do"
"This feels like it’s my last meal"he said with a smile but he was more surprised that she went out of her way to tell the staff to make something special for him. "How did you know I liked french toast?"he teased
"I didn’t"she said with a shrug. He nodded, thinking back to the time where she knew everything about him. And he her. "That bacon smells good though"
"You can’t have breakfast without it"he said,"You want a piece?"
"No, that’s rude"
"It’s not rude if I’m offering"he said as he picked up a few pieces and put it on a small plate and slid it across the table to her. "There. You seem like a red meat kinda gal"
"I am, how did you know that?"she asked him
"You just seem like the type and besides, who on earth would hate bacon?"
"Vegetarians? Pescatarians?"
"It was a rhetorical question"he said with a wink and she smiled. They ate in silence and she watched as he basically inhaled his feast.
"So um….tell me a little bit about yourself, Michael. Kenny mentioned you were in the Army too? I was too but…well he probably told you the whole lowdown and the doctors at the offices probably have said something to the affect that I have amnesia and dont remember my time overseas"
"Yeah Dr. Lacey told me"
"That’s where you learned how to shoot? Agent Harper couldn’t stop raving at how good your shooting was, that you shot the tires of a moving car which is damn near impossible…and you did"
"Yeah.."he blushed,"Funny story…I used to suck at it. In boot camp, I was the worst. I thought they would have sent me home"
"Really?"she asked him with a smile as she ate her omelette and looked back at him attentively. "I would think you were at the top of your class or whatever"
"Oh I was just not at first"Michael said with a smile, she smiled back and looked away to cut her omelette and put it in her mouth. If only she knew that she was the one who helped him to shoot better. "I got some help"he said to her
"Yeah?"
"You would think having to mop the barracks and the bathrooms and the mess hall as punishment for missing so many shots would help me learn but no, some smart ass one day told me I sucked and to keep my arms locked and straight and….it came naturally soon after"
"Was this a friend of yours? In your team or whatever?"
"Platoon? Yeah. They were a very good friend. She is…was…a very good friend"
"She?"Leo asked with surprise. "You were in the same platoon as a woman and she could shoot better than you?"
"Yeah yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh"he said and she shook her head as she tried not to as she covered her mouth with her cup of tea, trying to hold it in. "I was some smart ass who thought he was a gang banger but never shot anyone unless it was in video games. This girl…she….she used to go to the gun range all the time, so it came in handy when she signed up"
"Sounds familiar"she said and he looked at her. It did? "Well it seems familiar. I went to the gun range to relieve stress when I turned 18. I also had a bebe gun, I swear my father treated me like the son he wished he had when I was younger"she said with a slight sadness and sipped her tea again.
"What do you mean by that?"he asked her, even though he knew the answer but he was enjoying this moment. Her just opening up to him, it took him back to that night they had to mop up the mess hall together and how he forced her to talk to him. They were inseparable until that fateful day.
"Nothing"she said as she waved him off. "Tell me more about this girl though, she sounds more intriguing"she said with a smile as she finished her toast and wiped her mouth on her napkin
"She was a wild card. Could shoot and had an attitude to match. You know how you girls are, when you are around a bunch of guys doing something a girl wouldn’t ‘normally’ do, you tend to show out, show off to prove you aren’t just some other girl. She proved herself though"
"What was her name?"Leo asked and he paused as he sipped on his juice
Should he tell her that he was really talking about her? About them? He looked her in the eye and her eyes sparkled with interest, hanging on to every word that he was saying, like he was reading a novel to her, wondering where the story would take her next. Would he ruin the story if he told her the truth? Would he ruin her, everything she knows now?
"Her name was….Lee…..ann. Leeann"he said with a nod. It was better for her not to know, he still felt that way. She has literally been through enough, she could have died yesterday, her life was in danger and the only place she could feel safe was in this very home. He couldn’t take that away from her.
She nodded,”Leeann? What did she look like?”
'Like you,' he wanted to say. “Beautiful”he said, which wasn't a lie.
Her eyebrows raised in interest and then she gasped,”You loved her didnt you?”
He nodded, it hurt that he had to lie about it but he wanted to at least bring some truth to it.
"That is the sweetest thing I ever heard. It’s like…a war movie…like um….like The Notebook! Have you seen that?"
"Yes unfortunately"
"Unfortunately?! It’s the most romantic story ever told!"
"Ever? Come on now"
"Well it’s pretty damn close"she said,"So like did you ever express your feelings to her?"
"Yeah once we were deployed to Iraq. Seeing her in life or death situations, getting shot at, or not seeing her at all because she was on another mission…it killed me"he said and she nodded as her expression turned very apologetic
"Please tell me there’s a happy ending to this. You’re no longer in the Army…you two retired together? Came back and she’s at home waiting for you?"she asked
He shook his head no and all of a sudden he didnt want to talk about this anymore. Leo sighed sadly.
"No….don’t tell me that. Did she….she didn’t…."
"Our platoon was attacked. Many are dead or MIA, few came back. I was one of the lucky ones"
"She died?"
"No"he said and she looked hopeful,"But she’s missing in action…."
So to speak.
"Do you think she could come back? Find you?"
"Everyday…well for awhile I had given up on her"
"You shouldnt"Leo said,"Though that is a tough situation to be in, wow I’m so sorry. But you should keep the faith"
"Talking like this with you helps with that"he said honestly. "She could come back. I may have given up on her out of anger and confusion but I never stopped loving her or believing in her"
"That’s so sweet"Leo said as she clutched her purple cloth napkin and clutched it to her chest. "I believe in her too, if that helps"
"It does"he said
"Wow, Michael Stephenson, who knew that you could be a hopeless romantic"she said with a smile. "I thought you were…"
"An idiot that deserved to be fired?"he supplied for her
"Oh God"she said as she put her head in her hands,"I’m sorry-"
"You already apologized, it’s fine. You didn’t know me and I was practically thrown upon you. It’s understandable"
"But it wasn’t classy. It wasn’t me…really. I haven’t been myself lately since I got hurt overseas and just trying to rebuild and now with….practically being under witness protection…can we start over? I don’t want you to think of me as Leo the Diva"she said and when she did, he spit out his drink. "Michael! Eww"she said with a laugh,"What? What did I say?"
"I’m sorry"he said as he wiped his mouth. "The sad part was…that’s exactly what I called you, in my head"he said
"Leo the Diva?"she asked and he nodded his head sheepishly. "Ohmygod noooo"she whined playfully as her phone started to ring. She sighed and said ‘excuse me’ and he nodded as she answered. "Hello?"she asked and looked at her watch,"No I won’t be making it to my appointment"she said and Michael paused and looked at his watch and saw that it was 10 minutes past 10. Shit, they were late! "I don’t feel comfortable leaving the house due to the events that happened yesterday….well charge me I dont care but I’m not coming today nor on Friday, I’ll come back when I’m ready….."she said angrily,"Maybe if you watched the news you would have a little sympathy. If Dr. Prentiss has any questions she can call me or my boyfriend"she said and hung up on them
"If we leave now we can get a good 30 minutes in"he said as he put his napkin and fork down but she waved him off
"Im not leaving this house again"she said sadly
"Dont do that Leo….Leona, dont let them win"
"Either I let them win or get shot in the fucking head Michael, which do you think I should do?"
"Neither, you go to physical therapy so you can be stronger, so you can learn to walk again-"
"And have them shoot that up too? No. I’m like a hex, a curse, everywhere I go chaos follows. They should just lock me up somewhere"
"Leona-"
"Im not hungry anymore"she said as she put her napkin on the table and wheeled out
Michael sighed as he sat there and stared at his empty plate. He then stretched and got up and walked out of the dining room. He walked down the hall and saw that Leo let herself outside, she sat in her chair as she looked out across the expansive pool. King, her puppy, let himself out the small doggy door and dropped a ball at her feet and she bent down in her wheelchair and struggled to pick it up. He picked it up for her and he threw it a few feet away and King went after it. “I know you’re scared”he said to her
"I’m scared to death, there’s a difference. My life is in danger"she said sadly
"And what are you going to do about it?"he asked her and she gave him an incredulous look. "That’s what Leeann asked me when I was having trouble shooting in boot camp. I was mad at our Leiutenant, I was mad at my father for making me sign up to ‘discipline’ me. I was mad at the world. She was too, for her own reasons. And she said, ‘You can be mad and let the anger poison you or you can use that for good and change your life, make it worth living, something you’re proud of‘“he said to her, wishing he could take Leo back in time and introduce her to the girl she used to be….the girl she still was, she just didn’t know it.
"Leeann is right and all but there’s not much I can do-"
"There’s a lot you can do"he said as King brought back two tennis balls. He took one and threw it and kept the other one and gave it to her. "Squeeze that"
"It’s gonna hurt"she said as she looked at her arm that was still in a cast
"Of course it’s gonna hurt, that means you’re working through the pain but the pain won’t last Leo…sorry. Leona"he said and she sighed,"Squeeze for 5 seconds, release for 5 seconds, we’ll start slow"
"And then what? My arm will be magically healed?"
"You’ll be one step closer and you’ll be just a little bit stronger than yesterday. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger"
"What doesn’t kill you makes you stranger too"she said as she squeezed the ball for 5 seconds and then released
"How was that? Not so bad huh? Seems the physical therapy has been helping"he said,"Lets do 10"he said and she did. She felt a little pain. "Lets try it again and we’ll stop and then come back later. You’re putting all these pills in your body but it’s only temporary relief. What your body needs is for you to be normal again, isn’t that what you want?"he asked her and she nodded. "Your hand will get stronger and so will your leg and you can go back to that gun range and-"
"Michael I appreciate the enthusiasm but I cant"
"Why not?"
"I need a doctor’s clearance to shoot a gun….because of my anxiety"
"Well we’ll just have to work on that too now wont we?"he asked her
"We?"she asked him and he nodded,"Why bother when you’re quitting in 2 weeks?"
"Who said I was quitting?"
"You did, yesterday-"
"Before everything happened, but I cant now. I only wanted to quit because I felt I wasnt needed. But I feel like I am…unless…you don’t"
"I did but not anymore. I need you now more than ever"she said sincerely and that alone warmed his heart. "Ok 10 right?"she asked as Michael nodded as he threw King’s ball further and he went after it. Leo winced as she squeezed it for 10 seconds and let go.
"Good"he said to her,"You’re doing great"he said to her
*
Leos are unrestrained lovers and can make the partner feel very special.
*
Kenneth
Kenneth sighed as he sat in the locker room in the hospital, deep in thought. The past 24 hours have been the most trying to date and that’s saying something. Even having to operate on other victims from the Fair shooting and Leo herself, this was much harder.
He was one of the doctors who had to operate on the shooter that Michael beat to a pulp. He was still in a coma and made it through the surgery but as he removed the bullets from the mans body, all he wanted to do was open up his chest and rip his fucking heart out.
This man tried to kill the woman he loved but he had to save his life, while Leo was at home, afraid to leave the house because of his actions? She’s been through enough and this man was literally making her life hell. Kenneth knew that when this man woke up from his coma, he would be released, heal and go to jail. But someone else will take his place, one of his many gang banging friends will try to come after Leo again or even his mother or father or brother. Why should his tax dollars go to feeding and clothing these men behind bars? They deserved to die.
He sat there deep in thought for almost an hour and then got up and took the batteries out of his beeper and walked slowly out of the locker room, down the hall and to the elevator. He said hello to the many nurses and doctors who passed by when he made it to the 5th floor and then he walked into a room and closed the door behind him.
The heart monitor beating steadily made him pause and look at the man lying in the hospital bed. Every beat that went by was like a knock to the head. An incessant reminder that this man was still alive…
Kenneth dimmed the lights and walked to the window and closed the blinds, he checked the bathroom and locked the door. He then took some gauze and a needle out of his white coat pocket as he looked at the man’s chart.
Floyd Granger.
That was the man’s name.
The man that wreaked havoc on the woman he loved and he has had enough of it. Leo will never be safe again if he didn’t do something about it.
He walked to the side of Floyd’s bed and he quickly stuck the needle he had into Floyd’s neck. He then wiped away any residue and blood with the gauze and quickly walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Luckily for him, Floyd had a history of drug use, his drug of choice was heroin and there were high doses of the drug inside of him when he was brought in after the shooting. He was high when he went out with his gang and attempted to murder his girlfriend. He couldn’t stand by and do it anymore, see this happen and operate on these people. They were the reason Leo didn’t sleep well at night so he wanted to be the reason that they would never wake.
He had injected a huge dosage of medicinal heroin into Floyd’s bloodstream. The dosage was so high that Floyd’s body started to seize and he passed away quickly though a few doctors attempted to revive him. When Kenneth overheard that he had passed, he threw out the cloth and needle, washed his hands and clocked out
And as he drove home he smiled.
Have fun in hell, motherfucker.
Toni
Meanwhile, Toni was a nervous wreck when Michael returned home later that night. As soon as he walked in the door she ran up to him and hugged him close. Michael sighed as he held her tightly, he felt partly to blame about her anxiety. He basically called her to break him out of prison and then called again saying he couldn’t come home until it was safe.
"You’re ok. Thank God"she said as she held his face in her hands and then kissed him. "I was so worried"
"Boss bailed me out and made sure to have security in place to make sure I wasn’t being followed. The situation is pretty extreme now, the woman I’m watching is a target-"
"I know and I think that you should turn in your notice"she said to him
"I can’t now-"
"But you said-"
"I know what I said but I was only going to quit because I thought she had nothing to worry about, but she does. She really does and I’m the only one that can help her-"
"You were also going to quit because she was being a total bitch"
"She’s been through a lot-"
"So? You told me that didn’t give her the right-"
"She kinda has the right to be angry all the time, Toni. Gangs are trying to kill her. Her life is in danger"
"And I think the police or the FBI should take care of it. Not you"
"I’m just as good as the FBI, Toni. I’m a war veteran. I’ve hunted down and killed terrorists and survived when they attacked us. I’m the man for this job. I have a duty to serve the Lacey’s and my country in this way. It’s small….actually it’s not. A life is in my hands and I take it very seriously"
"I cant believe this. 48 hours ago, you were talking about turning in your notice and filling out online applications. Now you’re the only man for the job after practically getting killed and spending the night in jail?"
"I was in jail for a few hours at best. And yes I am, I stepped up and took one of the men down and helped to catch the others. A lot can happen in 48 hours bae"
"And now your life is in danger!!! Because of her! You couldn’t even come home!"
"I’m here now, everything is fine, we have it taken care of"
"We? Who’s we? How am I going to know that I’ll walk out of this apartment safe and sound? Or you even? You can be a target!"
"I know this"Michael said as he pushed back the curtain and nodded outside to a black SUV. "Agent Jowalski and Agent Jones, they’ll take care of it"
"A bodyguard needs a bodyguard, let alone two?! This is idiotic!"
"It’s for my safety. Our safety"
"This woman, this family is putting your life in danger Michael and I’m not comfortable with it!"
"You’re the one who found the job for me! You knew what I was getting into!"
"It wasn’t supposed to be like this!"
"Babe, I’m sorry but everything is under control now. One of the men just died and the others are behind bars, the Agents outside are just precautions"
"Oh a precaution huh?"Toni asked angrily as she walked away and stomped into the bedroom. Michael sighed, put his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling, praying to God for a way to talk some sense into her. She then walked out of the room with a few blankets and a pillow and threw them on the couch. "You’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight. In case those fools wanna shoot you, I don’t wanna be in bed next to you when it happens, you know for precautionary measures"
"Wow. Really though?"
"Yeah really. Good night, Michael"Toni said as she picked up her bottle and glass of wine, walked into the bedroom and closed and locked the door.
Michael sighed as he laid down on the futon couch. Toni was angry and needed space. She was upset that she had to sleep alone last night and she was up all night worried about him most definitely. She’ll come around.
But she didn’t. She didn’t answer when he knocked and she never came out to apologize or ask him to come to bed.
He sighed as he tried to get comfortable. His body yearned for the King sized bed he slept on last night at the mansion. The bed made him forget that his life could be in danger.
He sighed, feeling down about himself. He went from being a hero to being a zero in no time flat.
*
Any idea of failure is alien to both male and female Leos.
*