I have a life, thanks. Viola was proud of herself for not letting the words leave her head. “I don’t think I will. Full disclosure. But like, more for you, right?”
“Shit.” Viola stifled a laugh of surprise at the notion of someone truly leaving the Alessis. “Sorry. I mean. It’s not funny. It’s like… cool.” Fuck. Who knew Leo Graviano could be cool? “That’s like… Man.” She was usually more articulate than this, but God, it was making her feel better. She didn’t know much about the organized crime shit, but she’d been in the room for some sequences from The Godfather. She knew you didn’t get out without getting gunned down at a tollbooth. But she supposed they were fresh out of tollbooths. If Tony couldn’t keep his own family in line and Finn was Finn, she was fine.
Viola shoved her hand into her bag, pushing aside her usual potentially incendiary shit and a few tampons. She pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to Leo. A normal person would have said ‘congratulations’ or whatever, but instead she said, “You’re lucky. I’ve been cleaning out some caches. In exchange, be like seventy percent less gross. You’re a political spouse now.” She wasn’t sure why she found the PDA so irritating. There was just this strange ease to Tee and Leo that unnerved her. Like she should be embarrassed for them, but they didn’t know any better.
She didn’t understand how adults, even new ones, still indulged in puppy love. She wouldn’t even know how, of course. She only indulged in the nineteenth century novel kind. Halting, intense, punctured by fits of ill advised passion and property damage. That had been the problem with Jordan. He was a romantic, but he never fully matched her energy. Well. He tried once and got scared. He was Harlequin, and she was Brontë. But Ruby? Whatever our souls are made out of, hers and mine are the same. “And like, don’t do anything stupid. I may not be around to hear your woes or whatever.”
"Okay," he nodded, a little disappointed but grateful for the communication. "If you change your mind offer is there." Leo liked Viola. She wasn't as prickly as she wanted people to think she was.
A slow, hesitant smile formed on his face. She was stuttering over him leaving his family. Unexpected reaction, but wow it did a lot for his confidence. "I'm probably not thinking totally straight but. I had to get out of there." He was scared as shit but he couldn't regret it. Deep down where it mattered he knew it was the right thing to do. Morally. For himself. It was right.
"Holy shiiit." His eyes were wide with excitement. He held the envelope in his hands with the kind of reverence he only ever felt for Tee. These photos had meant so much to him and now they were his again. A reminder of who they'd started out as, even if they were different now. They were still this too.
"I am lucky. Thank you so fucking much. I owe you." Leo peeked inside to make sure the pictures were really in there. They were, thank God. That would have been embarrassing. A few seconds later, his brain caught up with what she'd said. "Gross?" he asked, lifting his arm and giving his pit a sniff. It smelled like his deodorant. "Do I look like I need to shower or something? I did this morning."
"Hey, I'll try my best. If you ever have your own woes to share hit me up. I'm a good listener when I try."
Fuck. He was always so good at finding the right thing to say. And what’s more, somehow, Tee believed him. They sat up just a little taller. "You’re right. You’re right. They take advantage of my shame. They always fucking do. When they have absolutely none.”
The tears were coming in earnest now, but they felt good. Comforting even. “You save me, too, Leo. You always do. I wouldn’t be with you if that wasn’t true.” They let out a dark laugh. “You’re family’s too fucking scary otherwise.”
Their hands slid to cradle both of his perfect cheekbones. “I’m glad you went to me first. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s an honor, Leo. We just both panicked. For different reasons. But that’s mutual. And honestly, when it comes down to it… I think most people might have. Most people our age anyway. So maybe we just rest on that. People will understand. Especially if we put him away.”
They sniffed. “It’s also really fucking hot when you pronounce stuff correctly.”
Leo let out a relieved breath. Tee didn't tell him he was wrong or delusional. The fire they had wasn't out, it had just been hidden, deprived of oxygen. But he could see that changing in front of his eyes. Thank fuck for that. "Exactly," he agreed, pushing their hair back from their face. "They're not going to do that anymore. We're not going to let them. Okay?" It would be easier said than done, but Leo believed in them with his entire heart. Tee was incredible, he'd make sure they remembered that.
Something in him healed a little at Tee's words. He nodded ruefully. "Too fucking true."
He searched their eyes, looking for any hint that they were just saying that to make him feel better. But he didn't find any. "Yeah." He agreed. "I think you're right." Leo sighed. "I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen." Including letting himself go down for his part as well, but he didn't say that aloud.
"Yeah?" He brightened. "I didn't fuck it up?" Leo kissed them three times: lips, nose, forehead. Then he searched the recesses of his mind and dredged up something they'd taught him a long ass time ago. He cleared his throat. "Konoronhkwa," he told them. "More than anything."
"No. At least part of it is my fault. Covering it up. Letting Anu think she can control me. When I hold the power here. I have the popular vote. She got in there by the skin of her teeth. And now I’ve let her erode…” Tee’s voice cracked a little. “…everything.”
But it wasn’t recoverable, was it? In for a penny, in for a pound, and Finn fucking knew that. Because he was in the exact same boat. Did he want to be? They weren’t sure. It didn’t really matter. The net effect was the same. There were no allies in that house. Not anymore.
They shook their head. “You didn’t drag me anywhere. I let it slip through our hands. I fucking dropped it. I threw it on the fucking ground. Because I was too chicken shit to live by my principles. I thought I was trying to protect you, but you didn’t ask me to do that, Leo. At least we told the council. That’s a start. I don’t know why I thought I could save Finn. But I’m realizing I can’t save anyone.” They curled into his arms, letting his broad torso swallow them up, trying to use his scent to steady them. “Even people who want to be saved.”
“She hasn’t eroded shit, Tee. I promise. You just need to remember who you are. You’re fucking Kanien’kehá:ka,” he said, hoping he didn’t butcher it, hoping he remembered the way they taught him how to shape his mouth to make the correct sounds. “She doesn’t get to take that and what being you means. The power it gives you. I should have said that sooner.”
“Baby no, that’s not true. Finn's choices are his.” He squeezed them tight before pulling back slightly to see their face. The devastation there broke his fucking heart. Broke him even worse that he was part of the reason. Leo stroked their cheek with his thumb, kissed their forehead too for good measure. “Like mine are mine. But you save me every day.” He knew it wasn’t enough. They probably weren't even talking about him at all. But he needed them to know it.
"I should have just gone to who the fuck ever in the first place instead of putting it on you. I know it's fucked. I'm going to try my best to fix the parts that can be fixed."
He wasn’t going to answer that. He was too tired. So, he sipped his beer instead. He was still, unfortunately, not drunk enough for this conversation. They could think he was a minion or not, he didn’t give a shit what they thought of him right now. It was literally the smallest of his problems.
Finn grimaced. “I know you love homoeroticism, but I am not married to anyone.” Honestly, thanks to the dinner, he wasn’t even sure he was the kind of guy that could handle a girlfriend. That had been a lot tougher than he thought and he only had a few days of being with someone in public. “And since when do people get alone with their in-laws?” He was being nice so he wasn’t going to add you don’t but it was tempting. Damn him for being decent today.
Finally, they were listening to reason. And yet they were still talking nonsense. They know wanted to say they were coming to make sure that they didn’t lie for them anymore? No one had fucking asked them to. Unless Leo had, but that wasn’t his problem. He didn’t feel like responding to that either, so he turned towards Laila. “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere?”
Tee didn’t speed walk. That would have looked silly. But the urge was there. God it was there. Though in what direction, they weren’t sure. Away. Far away. And yet that nagging sense of helplessness was tugging at the back of their mind. Not liking Finn’s tone, or Laila’s either. As if drawing the gun could have made this any better. Nothing was going to make it better.
So they yanked open the car door and sat down, breathless, angry, feeling hopeless. Not even Leo’s perfect bone structure and long eyelashes could fill the pit in their stomach. "So.” They said, voice low. “I’m about 90% sure Noah’s dead. 85% sure at least one of those two ghouls knows that if not both. And I have no idea what to do about it. If we can. If we…” They trailed off. “I’m sorry, Leo. I mishandled this so badly from the start. I’m sorry.”
Leo really hoped the silence on the other end of the phone was because Tee was on their way back to him and not because Finn had like... chloroformed them or some shit and made it sound like they'd left on their own. He didn't hang up, not until they were opening the car door and he felt like he could take a real breath again.
Safe. They were safe. He fucking hated the devastated look on their face though. Leo wished he could make it so Tee never had to feel that way again.
His stomach churned at their words, but it wasn't anything they didn't already suspect. "None of this is your fault Tee," he said, reaching for their hand across from him. "It's mine. It's Tony's. It's..." He didn't know what to say. Leo felt terrible, he'd brought this to them. It was his fault in more ways than one.
"It's out of our hands now." There really wasn't anything else he could think of that they could try. He'd come clean. Too late, but he'd done it. Tee tried to appeal to whatever better nature they thought Finn might have. It wasn't their fault he'd gone full dark side. "I'm sorry. I hate that I'm dragging you through this with me."
“You would be a Material Girl. That makes sense.” Viola nodded solemnly. “I’m more of a Joan Jett person but I get it. Why do you have a PS2? Aren’t you rich? Or is it like some hipster shit? So you can play like.. I dunno. Old stuff.” She felt like everything was getting remastered these days. She didn’t even want to know that but one of Go’s boytoys was like really into ‘vintage’ Sims, whatever the fuck that meant.
Well this was different. Viola had really no way of knowing what was going on in the Alessi family. She wasn’t sure she wanted to. She’d never been a Sopranos fan. “Yeah I don’t recommend pretending. Not that I know how but, you know, I imagine. Really, if people can’t handle you, throw a match and leave. That’s what I do, metaphorically speaking.” And sometimes literally, but less often than people might think, Dylan and Finn’s assumptions aside.
She’d never noticed that about Tony, but she also never really paid attention to him beyond a glance. Height could only make a girl overlook a certain degree of sociopathy. She preferred to be the toxicity in a relationship. She wasn’t Go. “Nice tip. Thanks, puppy dog.” She’d have to be on the lookout for it when she got to the Lion.
She considered Leo for a moment, taking solace in his dumb pretty face. If Tony had let this dork wander off, maybe this meeting didn’t have to be as tense as she’d imagined.
She reached into her bag. “Did you, uh, want your pictures back? I saw you with them at the election. Unless that was like… not a thing. In which case I guess sorry or congratulations depending on your mood.”
Leo didn't know if she meant that as a compliment but he would take it as one. "Thank you," he said, inclining his head at her. He shrugged. "Yeah I just like games I guess. Some of the older stuff is really cool. But you can't get SingStar on modern shit so I mostly use it for that." He had an old Nintendo DS for his Nintendogs, he had a pug and everything. And a Game Boy Color for all his old Pokémon games. So fucking cool. He wondered if Young would ever be interested in playing anything with him or seeing his consoles, he knew Young was even more into gaming than he was. He didn't know. Maybe he'd ask Tee what they thought. "If you wanna borrow any hit me up. I can text you what I have."
"That's sort of what I did," he said, his expression growing serious. "I'm not really... talking to any of them right now. Between you and me. Dunno if I'm happier or not yet but I think I could get there." It was all way too fucking intense right now for him to be able to see past the current moment. But at least Tee was with him in it. Even if he felt like shit for dragging them in with him. They meant everything to him. "Sorry. I said I wouldn't make you listen to my woes again." He offered her an apologetic smile.
Leo perked up immediately. "You have them?" he asked. He'd hoped but he hadn't known if she still would. It warmed his heart that she'd kept her promise. "It's a thing," he said, a wide smile spreading across his face. "We're back together."
Tee contained their urge to say ‘oh so you made it official’ to Finn. It wasn’t a queer thing so much as a minion thing. One of the parts of the Alessi house that had always been strange to Tee was how many people were around always. Housekeepers and gardeners and far more bodyguards than anyone should need, even a mafioso. They’d remarked on it to Anu once, and she’d said yes, the guards had their own wing in the house. Like a Sicilian Downton Abbey.
Still, Tee nodded at Finn’s assessment of the evening’s entertainments. They’d found themselves needing more active stimulation than reading lately, which was a shame for someone who read as much as them, both tabletop books and the regular kind. Finn’s story made sense as much as any of this made sense, which was, quite frankly, very little. Tee had risked everything for Leo and by extension, by neither their nor Leo’s consent, Leo’s stupid capital F Family. Tee had lost their best friend and their sense of safety and their sense of self, all because Anu had promised she would keep Tony under control and leave Leo alone.
But torching Noah’s house accomplished neither goal. Tee now had a decision to make. They could take Finn’s explanation and confront Anu later, or they could take the risk of potentially giving Finn information that was above his no-pay grade. But the words left Tee’s mouth before they could even decide, a fracture of hurt that split their words open, raw and exposed to the air. “Did you burn down Noah’s house, Finn? Did you do that because he’s dead?”
They had intended the royal ‘you,’ the general you that included Anu and Tony and probably whatever gullible little minions they’d recruited, but some part of Tee was still especially hurt by the small thought that it could be Finn who knew something about this. They’d always known he was True Neutral, but he didn’t have to be such a dick about it.
Finn stared dumbly at Tee for a full minute. When the awkward silence had been stretched to its brink, he finally spoke. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Leo had snitched. Big time. That wasn’t Finn’s problem. That was Tony’s problem. Tony didn’t want to be disturbed right now so he’d slip a note under the door or what the fuck ever later. But this kinda gumption, it needed to be stopped.
“If I’d murdered someone,” Finn crossed his arms in front of his body, “Do you really think it’d be a good idea to just ask me? Like, I’m no expert, but what person is gonna say yes to that?”
He would. Actually. If he hadn’t done it. Then he could gaslight the situation a little bit and end up in a more interesting position. But he couldn’t fuck with Tee when there was a chance, however small, that they would find out the truth.
He leaned back slightly. “No. Tee. I didn’t burn down anyone’s house. I also doubt Noah is dead. He’s probably crying on some dude’s shoulder about how that little shithead won’t text him back or whatever.” Honestly, it Noah was alive that is probably exactly what he would be doing. “Really interested in seeing who else you ask about this though. I’m sure Anu’s gonna love to hear that while she was at a party the community put on, you were going door to door trying to get people to admit to murder.” They might be a hell of a DM but their real life planning was absolute shit.
He heard the tell tale clack of high heels behind him. “Speaking of,” he turned around, but it wasn’t Anu. It was Laila. “You really fucked up a great punchline. You know that?”
“Oh Finn.” Laila said with an arguably apologetic purr. “I’m sure you’ll have another opportunity soon enough. Perhaps at my expense.” With her luck tonight, it would be. “Sorry to disappoint.” As if Laila could ever be a disappointment. She was Laila fucking Khan.
It wasn’t that Finn wasn’t doing a good job. He was. Considering. But Laila also knew that Tony and the boys he surrounded himself with came in two varieties: coward (Reg, Trip) and hothead (Tony, Adam). Finn had never burned as hot or as fast as the latter, but she knew enough about people (and had observed enough of Mr. Beaumont’s banter) to know that he was no coward. So process of elimination suggested she was entering into a volatile situation. She’d never trusted Tee. It was always the quiet ones, and their rapid ascension to power in New Ham only proved the point. Moral superiority could be an opiate for people like them. Nevermind that the moral superiority was entirely unearned. Everyone in this room was about one degree of separation from a murder, but pointing it out was just gauche.
Laila wasn’t exactly a touchy-feely person with the infrequent exception of her trio of chosen people, but some part of her wished she could wrap her arm around Finn’s shoulders just to get him to relax a little. Especially considering what she was about to say next.
“Anu will indeed be… displeased.” She started delicately. She generally didn’t like using her best friend’s anger as a threat and she certainly didn’t like when her baby brother’s friends used it either. “But more importantly, I imagine Leo may be unhappy, Tee. From what I understand, the two of you are a united front now. Situation notwithstanding, that does make me very happy. I love a second chance romance, and you deserve nice things.”
She slid a beer toward Finn as a subtle peace offering as she kept her eyes on the intruder. “Finn is being very direct…” She gave a little nod of her head to Tee, as if to say people raised as boys, amirite? “But he makes several good points. This is not the kind of accusation that should be undertaken lightly, and it’s not the sort of the thing that should be communicated secondhand. Why don’t we table this conversation until you can speak to the people who actually know what’s going on rather than their devastatingly attractive underlings? You go back to wherever you’re holing up with your rekindled love, and we’ll pretend this didn’t happen.” She didn’t add a ’right, Finn?’ Because she was almost certain she knew the answer. And she didn’t like it. But she’d called him attractive. That should count for something.
Did you do that because he’s dead? Leo almost dropped the fucking phone. "Jesus... Mary and Joseph," Leo whispered into the dark. Nobody could hear him but he still felt like he had to be quiet. He glanced in the direction of the house as if he could see them from here.
Finn was talking to someone else. His blood ran cold imagining Tony walking up to them. Leo gripped the phone in one hand, his other on the door handle. If he heard a single syllable out of Tony's mouth he was going in. But it wasn't Tony. It was Laila. And Leo wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.
But more importantly, I imagine Leo may be unhappy, Tee. "I'm right fucking here assholes," he said to the phone. "Don't use me against them." Devastatingly attractive? Leo gagged. "That's nasty."
Well. That was not who they expected to see. Perhaps they should have. It felt like both Tony and Anu’s friends had gone the full minion route, but it was still weird to see Finn Beaumont playing doorman. Tee would have guessed he was too lazy for that.
“I could ask you the same question.” Tee said, jutting their chin out probably a little too far. Carrying guns was supposed to give you confidence, wasn’t it? So why did they feel like they were going to need to ask for the bathroom? “You and Tony sulking because of the other party?”
Finn had never had a deception proficiency. Relatively good charisma modifier, yeah, but his irritation tended to waft off of his very high hair. It was generally fun trying to get his orc barbarian to do social things, but that was one of the fun things about Tee’s table in general - the contrasts. And the sheer eclecticism. But Tee was surprisingly confident that they could lean on their insight enough to (gently) push Finn if needed. Not that they wanted to. Innocent creature that Tee was, they still nursed a hope of running a oneshot or two in the apocalypse (not set in the apocalypse though, that would be in poor taste.)
But they were losing track of the point. Which was probably because the whole thing was more than a little terrifying. “I need to talk to Tony and Anu. Right now.”
Finn blinked at Tee. “I live here.” They hadn’t been at the dinner, but surely Tee could have assumed it was coming down the pipeline. Unless Leo was a bigger idiot than he thought, which was surprising because his bar was so low. “No, we’re not five. We went. I got bored of hearing people scream in the dark,” He assumed that’s what West Ham’s dumbest were up to, “So I came back here to relax. But there’s not enough to do when none of the electronics work. I read like five pages of a book and it just wasn’t as good as tv.”
If Tee were someone else, he’d ask if they wanted to help to fight boredom with him. The idea of doing that with them, though, gave him hives. He wanted them gone. They had no business being here and they knew that. Tony had been clear on that front.
“Well, that’s a damn shame.” He leaned against the doorway, hip pressed against the frame. They’d barely be able to see around him. “Neither of them are here. They’re both at the party. Last I heard, Tony was looking to talk to Jacks about snack selection and Anu was comforting Lucy over the loss of good lighting.” It sounded true to his ears. “Anything I can help with?”
Everything about Leo was tense right now. His hand gripped the door handle, his jaw clenched and aching. He was ready to spring into action the moment he heard something remotely off.
Tony wasn’t there? Tony wasn’t there. Fucking hell. He didn’t know if he was relieved or stressed about that. Stressed, probably. Leo always got the impression that Finn was a bit of a loose cannon. The guy just had those vibes. Leo could be too sometimes, but in more of a funny and funky way. Finn was different. And Tony could come back at any time...
Leo wondered if he could sneak over there. Even if Tee didn’t need him yet. It’d save him a good few seconds of sprinting in the dark if he left now. And if he was being honest, they had something at the pool house that belonged to him. Two birds one stone?
“Okay. Okay.” A small smile crept over Tee’s face. “Okay.” They were not going to get into a situation where Leo needed to come in. They refused. Still. Hadn’t Leo having their back been what they wanted all those months ago? It had only taken an apocalypse. And a kidnapping. But Tee knew a thing or two about family being their own anchor weighing you down. They had mourned it, rather than resented it. And shit as this whole situation was, this all felt like their own personal miracle.
They turned back to face front and shifted into first gear. “Alright. To the Alessi fucking compound we go. And then whatever comes next.”
Leo let Tee focus on driving. He tried his best to ground himself, to dismiss every over protective thought and what if that popped into his mind. Tee was tough. They knew how to handle difficult people. And this was their choice to make. Leo knew he had to give them that space to decide things like this. They’d done it for him over and over again. Leo just hadn’t realised how hard that might have been sometimes.
Leo meant what he said. He would be their backup, and he would be ready for anything. Tee pulled off the side of the road, maybe a minutes walk away from the compound. It was still pitch black and they had some bush cover here. People would only notice if they were looking for it. Leo drew in a shaky breath. “Okay. I’m calling you now.” He tapped their name on his screen. “I’ll mute myself but I’ll be able to hear you. If you need to, just kick him in the fucking nuts hard as you can and book it. You got your shit kicking boots on right?” He looked down at their feet, but he couldn’t really see.
“Hell of a cover.” Tee sighed. Teenage boys could be very shortsighted. They weren’t sure how they’d gotten so lucky with the ones they surrounded themselves with. Outside of D&D, obviously.
Tee wanted to tell Leo no. Tee wanted to remind him of how badly he’d pissed off his cousin. But they both knew that. So Tee took a deep breath and placed their hand against him, willing themselves to focus. “You can be backup. I’ll call you on my phone and have it on speaker in my pocket, okay? We can record it or something maybe?” Tee knew that recording conversations without mutual consent was illegal in Connecticut, but they weren’t in Connecticut, were they? “Deal?”
“Yeah, yes. I can record it. And I’ll be ready.” Leo was relieved. The thought of sending Tee in there own their own was almost unbearable. Especially knowing there’d be a confrontation. Sending them in there with him still nearby was easier to stomach. He just prayed that Tony or whoever his goons were right now wouldn’t flip out.
Leo covered their hand with his own. “It’ll be okay. We’ll stop them. And then we’ll go home.” He made it sound so much simpler than it actually was. “Or do whatever else comes next.” It was impossible to know. “I’ll follow your lead. Okay?”
“Is that–” Tee swallowed. They hated asking these sorts of things. It always felt unfair. “Is that something he would do?” They didn’t think they needed to say who, and they certainly weren’t going to phrase it as ‘something your family would do.’ Leo had done a big, brave thing, and Tee wasn’t going to lump him in with the Gravianos unless he told them to.
They could feel him tensing, trying to hold it together. For what? For Tee? That wasn’t his job. They slid their fingers to his collarbone and then up to his cheek. “This is not your fault. He doesn’t get to ruin this. I won’t let him.”
There was no way Anu knew about this. It was too reckless, too obvious. Which left it to Tony and… Samuels was a coward. So was Reg, to a certain point. Or at least cautious enough to stay out of this. But Finn had that whole homoerotic ‘us against the world’ thing going on with Tony. A plan was slowly formulating in Tee’s head. It was a dangerous one, yes. But if anyone could get Finn Beaumont to feel things, it was Tee. They’d done it every second and fourth Sunday night for years.
Tee studied Leo, running their finger along his cheekbone, curving their hand into his hair. “I think I have a way to stop this. But it involves going back to the compound. I can’t ask you to do that. You shouldn’t do that. But they’re not going to stop. So I have to stop them. You understand, don’t you?
@leograviano
“For sure,” Leo said. “I don’t really get why.” It wasn’t like there was going to be evidence there. They hadn’t been anywhere near Noah’s house. “But if he felt like it would help him cover his ass he’d do almost anything.”
Leo closed his eyes for a moment, letting Tee’s words and touch comfort him for just a second. “He can’t ruin it.” Leo hoped like hell it was true. He didn’t know if he deserved it, but he knew Tee did.
Going to the compound? Leo’s stomach clenched, but he ignored it. “Okay,” he said, trying to remind himself of all the things that would keep Tee safe. There were a lot. Tony might be dangerous but he wasn’t stupid. “I’m coming with you.” He kept talking, not wanting Tee to tell him no. “I’m part of the reason this is even happening. So I need to be there. Even if it’s just waiting out of sight in case you need backup. I love you and I want to help. Okay? Please.”
Rowan nearly laughed at “attend to.” That wasn’t something she’d dealt with ever. No one attended to her. Except Derek, now. She did appreciate the help however bizarrely it was offered.
“A roaring fire can’t be a secret.” It certainly wouldn’t be one for a very long time. “And guests are fine as long as we keep a respectable distance from…it. There’s been one accident tonight, we don’t need another one.” She felt for Poppy, having to deal with such a conflagration and an ill sister to boot. The hospital didn’t need any more visitors.
“I haven’t called them. Should I call them? They seemed so…confused as to what their role should be I wasn’t sure….” Now that she said it out loud, the whole thing sounded silly, “I’ll let them know.”
She put her phone on speaker so she could text Tee quickly. Gabe knows more, but there’s been a fire at Noah Nixon’s house.
Tee had been having such a good night. The Noah information was out there. Anu had been too stunned to say anything and they had just left. It was so simple, so obvious. Really, why had they put it off for so long? They were driving through one of the nicer neighborhoods looking for a place to chill with Leo in the passenger seat beside them when their phone beeped.
Tee slowed to a full stop in the road, lights still on. It was a weird kind of safety first but they’d gotten enough bombshells dropped on them lately to know that texting and driving wasn’t the answer. And man was it a bombshell.
They turned in their seat slowly. “…Leo. Noah’s house is on fire.”
@leograviano
Leo finally felt like some of the heaviness that had been sitting on his chest had lifted. It wasn’t all gone, but it was a big enough difference. He could tell that Tee was feeling it a little too. He was actually able to be in the moment with them. Cracking a couple of jokes. (He was working up to his usual level of humour, but this was a good start.) They didn’t know where they were going to be staying tonight, or the nights after that. But he didn’t really care as long as he was with Tee and Tony didn’t know jack shit.
His eyes were already on Tee before they said his name. Then he felt like his stomach was going to fall out of his butt. “Fuck, seriously?” He didn’t know why he was surprised. Leo should have expected Tony to do something like that next. “Goddammit. Of course it is.”
How did she deal with that? “Uh.” She considered one more time. “I supposed the way that I usually do.” She snapped the lighter open for a moment before clicking it closed again. “Everything burns.”
She stared at him. “99 Red Balloons? From the 80s?” She hummed a terribly mumbled version of German. “You know? It’s actually about bombings. I think. I dunno. My foster moms are old. They like old stuff.” Jules and Bea weren’t going to disagree whether they were here or not.
“Huh.” Viola put her hands on her hips. “I’d take responsibility, but that would be gauche.” She wasn’t much of a corruptor. An instigator, certainly. But corrupting someone sounded like work. It’s why she’d never tried with Jordan. And something gross about liking him how he was. Maybe.
She had to laugh at Leo now. “Yeah. That’s where you fucked up. You did what people said in the first place. Though I guess your people are a little more, uh…” She mimed a throat slitting. She’d been paired up with Anu for a project once. It had been literal hell. She’d been perfectly happy to let Anu complain that she wasn’t doing anything. Better to take a 0 than deal with the one person who was a bigger bitch than her. “How do you deal with that?”
Leo pretended that seeing her flick that lighter like that wasn’t as intimidating as fuck. “Cool. That’s cool. I guess everyone has their ways.”
Oh! He knew that song. He snapped his fingers and pointed at her excitedly. “That’s on SingStar ‘80s. A fucking bop. Got it on my vintage PS2. Sucks about the bombs though, I didn’t know that. Material Girl is probably my fave on that one.”
Leo grimaced. Not doing what his family told him had never felt like an option until like, the other day. And if their parents and Nonno were here right now he didn’t know if he’d be in this position. Leo knew he was glad for it, though. Would he have ever gotten out if he hadn’t had a push like this? He liked to hope he’d get the courage on his own.
“Errrrrrr.” Leo didn’t know how to answer that question. “I don’t know that I did. I think I just got good at pretending. Which is kinda bad I think.” Leo laughed nervously. “It’s better to piss them off. Yeah. For sure better. Tony does this funny thing with his nostrils when he’s mad. Gets me every time.”
Well this was intriguing. Leo setting boundaries. And around the Alessis no less. Well, maybe not intriguing. She didn’t care that much. Amusing, let’s say. And definitely something to use against his cousin if needed. Trouble in poolhouse paradise would at least provide a distraction in a pinch. “I’ll go with ‘hey asshole.’ But affectionate. Promise.”
She grinned brightly. “No one should believe me. I’m a compulsive liar because I’m so insecurely attached that I think anyone I depend on is going to float away like neunundneunzig Luftballons.” That was especially prescient, since this was the apocalypse.
Shit. He was feeling shit again? That sounded exhausting. This was why she tried to not feel anything at all. Especially when people were thanking her for doing things. She chuckled. “Well I can’t say I’m sorry to hear that, but it’s not malevolence, just boredom. Does this really happen to you often? You’re a hot rich white man. Where are you going wrong?”
“You know what? I’ll take it,” Leo said with a smile. He had a feeling he didn’t actually get a say, but he would pretend he did.
Leo pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at her. “’Kay. Sorry about that. I’ve got a question...s. How do you deal with that? And what the fuck is a luftballons?” He held his hands together in front of him, waiting expectantly. If it was anyone else he was talking to he would have probably replied seriously, but a part of him knew that if he poked she would probably bite. And he wanted to leave with his photos safely in hand.
“I mean, not usually,” he said. “You just happen to have waltzed on up at two of the most significant changes I’ve had in my life. You’re pretty talented like that.” Leo chuckled, finding himself distracted for a minute from the loud feelings he’d been having. “Most recently I’ve started making my own decisions. It’s been a long time coming but some people get really pissed off when you stop doing what they want.” Leo shrugged like it was no big deal. “Who woulda thunk it?”
Leo tells Tee about how his meeting with Community Maintenance and Fern went i.e. not well! lol
@teeoakes
Leo’s disappointment in himself was pretty fucking huge right now. This morning had shaken him more than a little. He’d really gone into that meeting planning to tell them everything. He felt a different kind of weak than he was used to feeling. And it really stung.
It didn’t take him that long to get back to Young’s house, even with the constant checking that he wasn’t being followed. He really needed to figure out where else he could live. Bringing Young into it even just in this way felt wrong. Leo went straight upstairs to the bedroom he was sharing with Tee. He kicked off his shoes, pulled the photos out of his pocket so they wouldn’t get damaged, and let himself fall backwards onto the bed.
Tee had homework. They had their laptop open, the cursor blinking on their proposal with Rowan. Dante’s binder lay on the bed beside them. They pulled their legs back so Leo could fit. This did not look good. Not at all. “What’s up?”
Leo realised then he hadn’t even said hello before he’d collapsed in a heap. He turned his head to look at them, managing to give them a small smile, though he wasn’t sure what his face actually looked like to them. “Sorry, hi.” He pushed himself up into a sitting position so he could talk to them properly. “It didn’t go how I planned,” he told them. “Once I was in there sitting in front of them all, all I could think about was how fucked I am.”
Tee softened, leaning forward to place their hand on his arm. “Hi.” But they sat back as he spoke, limbs limp and taut at the same time. “Leo. What does that mean?” They resisted the urge to repeat the question, but only barely.
“I told them about me leaving,” Leo started. “And why it’s so huge for me. But um, I don’t think they really understand. I kept thinking about what Tony might do when he finds out I talked, and just, you know. This whole non-existent justice system situation. I got scared. Really scared.” Leo let out a breath. “So I told them about Tony taking me to Amara’s house the morning of that day. He never explained anything to me. Didn’t tell me we were going there. None of it made any fucking sense and I don’t know what he said to her. I guess I was trying to see what they would say about that. ‘Cause if I had to guess, he probably threatened her. I don’t know why. Wish I did so I could tell them.” What a giant mess he’d managed to get himself into. “They don’t think Tony’s going to do anything. They suggested learning self defense. I didn’t tell them about the rest of it.”
At first, Tee just listened. It hurt to see him hurt. It always did. But making it about their own pain would defeat the purpose. Especially when they needed to be listening. The story made sense until… it didn’t. “They told you to learn self defense.” They felt a flair of protective anger rise within them. But then the last sentence dropped. “So you didn’t tell them why you left. Just that you did.” That was probably the worst option. Wasn’t it? Or was the worst saying it all? They weren’t sure now if they wanted Noah back. The costs were just too high. “Leo, if they find out…” God, they didn’t want to finish that sentence.
It made Leo feel the tiniest bit better to know he wasn’t the only one who thought the self defense suggestion was a little mismatched to the situation. Even if they didn’t have the full picture. He’d tried to make it clear that this was dangerous. “I told them about how things have always been with me and all that family stuff. And how Tony’s stepped everything up and gotten really unpredictable since all this started. And how uh, I can’t be a part of it. I told them about Amara after that. And they didn’t even know about Tony breaking Gabe’s nose.” Leo really didn’t know if that would seem like enough to someone outside of it all. But that was all he had without adding in the Noah of it all. “I know,” he said. “But all that was going through my mind was what if Tony found out? He probably thinks I had something to do with the note on that board already.”
“If he already thinks that, isn’t it better for them to know?” Tee regretted it the minute they said it. They weren’t at all sure. Leo was white, but throwing yourself on the mercy of the court rarely worked for anyone in a mob justice scenario. They’d done projects on the difference between community self policing and vigilante justice, and as hopeful as this whole “community maintenance” thing was, it was an experiment. “Leo, we need to tell them. At best, they understand and give you protection. At worst, they know and they sit on it and they go down with us. There’s no way they can publicise it fast enough to look like they were on top of it. Community Maintainence told you to learn self defense for shit’s sake. What expectation could you have of protection? Why would you tell them anything? But if we go to the council now-- aside from Anu-- we get ahead of this. It’s the right thing to do, and it keeps you safe.” They looked up at him, trying to not sound manic. “Right?”
There was a lot that Leo was unsure about when it came to this mess. But he also knew that he wasn’t going to be able to make any good decisions on his own. There was a reason he trusted Tee so completely. He did know that they couldn’t predict the outcome. But that wasn’t for them to do. “Right,” Leo agreed. He knew it was the right thing. That much was obvious. It didn’t mean it didn’t scare the shit out of him. “You’re right. I need to tell them.” This was what he had decided last night. The reasons behind that decision hadn’t changed. He’d just let fear get in the way. Again. Like a fucking chicken shit. It was all just way fucking harder than he’d imagined. “I’ll tell them.”
A flood of relief washed over Tee’s chest, finally loosening the constriction there. “We have a reading day legislatively so they might be unavailable during the day. But we can catch them at that blacklight thing Jacks is throwing. That way, if someone is watching, it just looks like socializing. Okay?” They held out their hand.
“Okay.” Leo took their hand, just holding it for a minute. He hated that everything was so messy right now. He hoped at the very least that telling the council what had happened would mean that Tee didn’t have to carry the weight of this like they were now. Hopefully they would take it seriously and have some better ideas for protection. Leo should probably start thinking about it himself though too, just in case they didn’t.
He reached for the small stack of photos next to him and handed it to them. “Look what I found today,” he said. “Feels like a lifetime ago.”
“That’s because it was.” Tee’s smile was pained as they examined the photos. They were happy and silly and in love. But somehow that made it hurt more. They wanted that again. But there were so many barriers, so many things out of their control. “We’ve reached this… unprecedented… thing.” They couldn’t help but wonder what this May would have been like if this hadn’t happened. Tee realized they didn’t really quite know what Leo’s college plans were. Did he know theirs? Was this reunion inevitable, the kind of thing that would have occurred all over again on winter break? How close had they been to slipping through each other’s fingers? “I don’t mean to be a downer, I’m sorry. It’s adorable. You’re adorable. We’re adorable. I just wish… Back then, I could pretend they didn’t exist, you know. And now…” There’s nowhere to run, they finished in their head.
“Yeah,” Leo said, picking up his favourite photo, the two of them absolutely cheesin’ for the camera. He remembered feeling like things were so difficult after they’d broken up. Like his problems couldn’t get any bigger. What a dumbass. “You’re not a downer,” he said. “It’s just true.” Leo squeezed their hand. He wanted to be comforting, it was just difficult to do when he didn’t know how anything was going to turn out. “It’s still us,” he said. “We’ll get through it.” Leo knew he probably shouldn’t say it, but he needed to. “I promise.”
Tee knew it was more of a hope than a promise. Or maybe just a promise to hope. But that was all they could do right now. “I know.” They said softly, bringing their lips to his. “I know. Thank you. For trying again.”
Leo rested his forehead gently against theirs, closing his eyes for a moment. It was then that he realised how exhausted he was. Emotions were tiring. “I think I’m gonna try get a little beauty sleep, if that’s cool. I’m pooped.” He nodded at their binder and laptop. “Let you get back to your council work.”
“Okay.” Tee said. They lied back against the headboard, moving the laptop further down their legs. “C’mon.” They beckoned him to put his head in their lap so they could reach over him and still write. They bent down to kiss his head and stroke his hair. “So proud of you. So proud.”
Viola was taking her time getting to the pub. She didn’t want to fully explain to Ruby what was happening with Tony and his minions until she had a full picture of it. Preferably a solution too. Both of the elder Mauks had a penchant for worrying. Ruby just hid it better.
She was making her way across the street when she saw him. Walking down the middle of the road like this was a zombie movie and this was the moment shit got real. Tony. Was she late? She wasn’t late. Unless Dylan had told her the wrong time. He was an asshole like that. She took inventory of her pockets. Three sparklers and two lighters. Not much to make a point with. But she hadn’t wanted to bring too much in case she was searched. She couldn’t run either. If he was here, someone else was. Douches always traveled in packs.
But her pulse slowed just enough to breathe when she got close enough to see that this Italian had at least fifteen pounds of muscle on his cousin on a good day. She wasn’t exactly pleased to see him, but the alternative was far worse.
“Leo. Thank you for reminding me of your name. I was going to go with “Not Alessi” but that seemed rude.” She smiled, as if she ever worried about being rude. “My life is boring and uneventful.” There was just enough sarcasm to ground the statement without going to the full teenage eyeroll. “How are you?”
Leo winced loudly. She had no idea how much baggage those two words could carry. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the feelings that had brought up. He’d just decided he was moving on. How long did that last? Like 37 seconds? Damn. “Yeah if we could stay away from that I’d appreciate it,” he said. “Even Graviano is okay, if Leo is too hard to remember. Or just hey you! Any of those work.”
“For some reason I don’t believe you,” Leo said. He didn’t expect her to actually share anything with him. Even if he would be happy to listen. He thought he could be pretty good at advice on the odd occasion.
“How am I?” he asked, pursing his lips. “Well, pretty shit. Don’t worry though, I won’t get you to listen to all my woes again. That was a one time thing. That was really cool of you, by the way.”
Leo attempts to come clean to Del, Drew and Fern about what happened to Noah. Well, the parts he knows of it. But he soon finds out whether he has the courage he needs. Or not.
cw: drug mention, gun mention
Coach Guidry’s keys jingled in the lock as Drew unlocked the door to the Athletics office. He gave Del a small smile as he pushed down on the handle. “Does this feel even a little normal? Just this part. Not you know, the rest.” The threats and the danger and the secret meetings with an Alessi.
“Um...when we were dating?” Del had spent hours here with him, but only in the context of a relationship. Their schema of friendship hadn’t included this sacred space. It was his altar and they hadn’t been able to trespass here. He’d brought her when their space had shifted. It had shifted again but they hadn’t clearly defined what that meant for their boundaries. “But it’s good.” They bumped her shoulder against his. They could build new schemas together.
Drew swallowed. “...Yeah.” What was that word they used in Joe’s episodes of Law & Order? “...Withdrawn.” He nudged them back as he sat down, then glanced up at the door, wondering if Fern or Leo would get there first. He had no idea which he should be rooting for. Or what to expect at all.
Fern was exhausted from her early wake up call to meet Wes at the school (who still hadn’t called her to tell her why he’d ran away). So she’d made sure she had a large travel mug of coffee with her when she went to this meeting. She was extremely curious about what was going to happen here, why Tony’s cousin wanted to meet with them. Fern knocked gently before she entered the office. “Hi,” she greeted them, moving to sit down. “How’re you both doing?” She wanted to ask if they had any idea what this was about, but she was silenced by the sound of footsteps approaching.
Thinking about running away wasn’t something that was new to Leo. He’d been doing that on and off for as long as he could remember. But right now as he made his way to the Athletics office to a meeting he’d asked for, the urge was stronger than ever. He stopped before the door, forcing himself to take a deep breath in. This was what he needed to do. Before any other thoughts could enter his mind, he made his way inside. They were all already there, looking at him. With their eyes. Leo tried to pretend it wasn’t intimidating. “Thanks for coming,” he said. “I really appreciate it.”
“Hi, uh--” Drew looked up. Turned out niceties were going to have to wait. He glanced at Fern and then at Del. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Fern being there, not just from a Tony perspective but a community maintenance one. But it was Leo’s right to ask for what he’d asked for. Well. If they actually knew what he was asking for. He gave Del another nod, making sure they were ready to begin the silent but very difficult job of observing all of this. Not that she couldn’t speak. They’d just agreed that Tony Alessi and his connections counted as jerks, so Drew had to live up to his bargain. “Thanks for contacting us. Before we start, we need to know how far you want this information to go, and we need to tell you when that can’t be the case, okay?” He tried to not look at Del again, but he was sure they could still feel him worrying, afraid he’d said the wrong thing.
Del pulled out their ever-present notebook and started to take notes. She shot a quick reassuring smile to Fern and Leo. Drew was doing well. Their conversations about how to handle situations were paying off, he had the right schema here.
Leo nodded, deciding to focus just on Drew for now. “Cool,” he said. “Uh, I’d like it if as much as possible stayed within your like… team or whatever.” He swallowed. “I get it if that can’t happen though.”
Del sat up straighter. “We can’t say until we know what it is.” They couldn’t guarantee personal safety until group safety had been assessed. She’d made a checklist to help with this, but not everything fit into these situations, especially with the group they had.
Drew nodded to agree, his mind racing with what it could be. Heli hadn’t mentioned Leo being at the Alessis the night before. And Fern didn’t even know about the threat yet. He needed to decide who needed to know what, but it was all too up in the air. Like waiting for the longest play review ever.
Fern decided to just sit back for now. She was already impressed with Drew and Del, and this had barely started.
“Right.” Leo nodded. He knew that. He was very aware that if he told them everything, it wouldn’t be able to just stay in this room. That would be naive as fuck. How did he even start with this? Shit. His hands were sweaty. Leo resisted the urge to wipe them on his jeans. “It’s about me and my cousin,” he told them. “Tony.” Taking a breath in, he tried to steady himself. “I’m sorry. I’m nervous. Being here is kind of a big risk for me right now.”
Fern’s expression stayed the same. This didn’t surprise her. Tony was staying busy, apparently. But she did find it surprising that Leo would be here to talk to them about whatever this was. What had gone wrong in that family that he would come to them?
Drew gave Del another small look. Seemed being around Alessi was hazardous to everyone’s health right now. “I get that. But we need to, uh,” another look at Del “--set expectations. Because we want to keep you safe. But if someone else has been hurt... “ (God there were already too many.) “...we’re going to have to help them too, and telling us what happened before anyone else isn’t necessarily going to matter in terms of mediation. Is that fair to say, D?”
“Yes.” Del cleared their throat. “We can handle it, but we need to know what happened.” She assumed it had to do with Tony, but she was unprepared for more from him. He didn’t seem to have scheduled breaks in his routines. Perhaps they’d underestimated the amount of community maintenance that should be devoted to him.
Leo thought he knew how fucked he would be if he shared this information, but being confronted with the situation head on was a different ball game. He was terrified. Was having a guilt free conscience really worth what he was about to do? It wasn’t a small risk he was taking. He could lose everything. There was too much unknown when it came to the justice system which wasn’t even in place yet. And then there was Tony. Who would want to get back at him in some way for this. Leo didn’t know what that would look like, there were too many options. And Tony could be creative when he wanted to be.
Leo wished Tee were here, just for a moment. He knew that if he could just… meet their eyes, or squeeze their hand it would make all the difference. “I left the Family,” he began. “Things have always been pretty rocky with me when it came to that. Always on a different page and never... fitting. Not like Tony. But since all this happened Tony’s stepped it up. I tried to stay and see if I could keep my values and y’know, be there for Tony and do what he needed at the same time. But it became clear pretty quickly that it wasn’t going to work out.”
Drew wasn’t sure if he was supposed to look surprised or not. He hadn’t known what to expect but this was just vague enough to be ominous. “Okay. I’m sorry. That sounds like a lot. But we need, uh… details?” He paused. “To help, you know?” It was so much information at once. Maybe they did need one of those whiteboards in police shows. The school did have a lot.
Fern held her breath. It was one thing imagining what kinds of things Tony did now that she knew more about who he actually was. But hearing from someone who was this close to him, who’d worked alongside him and had known him his whole life, was something else. Fern had known one version of Tony, and Leo had known a completely different one. It was scary. But necessary. She needed to know these things. Even if it just highlighted how naïve and in the dark she had been about who Tony really was.
Leo nodded. “Okay. Uh. Fuck, I don’t even know when it was. Four days ago?” Time didn’t feel real right now. “He asked to meet, told me we were getting breakfast and then we turn up at some random house. I have no idea what’s going on. Find out it’s Amara’s house. Tony starts asking her if she gave drugs to her friends or something. I don’t know what that has to do with Tony. They start talking about messes and apparently something got moved but then they went to the other room.” Leo paused to take a breath. “They were only in there for a minute or two but when they came out she seemed okay. Kind of off but I don’t really know her. Even after he wouldn’t tell me shit. Just told me to trust him.” The rest of that day had just spiraled to hell. But right now, Leo didn’t feel like he should share the rest. Maybe one day he could, but at the moment he needed more time. “He’s been so unpredictable. I just felt like shit was going to get worse so I got out. But you can’t just leave and have everything be fine.”
Del breathed out a breath they’d been holding. It was a big deal for Leo and she wanted to respect that. It was also, however, better than she had anticipated. There was no acknowledgment of the guns or any physical violence. There wasn’t much they could do for him or Amara. Rin had proven how difficult this job could be. “Thanks for sharing.” She looked to Drew. “We’ve had several similar complaints but…” Here she faced a difficult task. The strings were in front of her and she was going to pluck the only one she could. This universe, wherever it was and whatever had happened, was full of strings that led to bad outcomes. “We can’t do anything unless Amara makes a complaint.” If it happened four days ago, the likelihood that it would be reported was low. “Do you have a place to stay?”
“Sorry, Del, I…” Drew swallowed, trying to figure out how to word it. There was something about this that felt wrong. All of it felt wrong, but that wasn’t specific to these people in this moment. The fact of the matter was that Drew had spent the night trying to calm down Bronte and her sister, having gotten pretty much zero sleep. He had had to convince both girls over and over again that he was safe, that he would be fine, and that the Tony situation would be handled. The picnic had set off a cascade of developments for his little community maintenance team, and the idea that the signs were showing even before Tony’s grandstanding at the nominations was a little hard to swallow. He looked to Leo, trying to keep his voice measured. “You said this happened four days ago. Why are you here now?” He looked at Del for confirmation that he could proceed before he did so. “Tony was testy at the nominations and he was testy at the picnic.” Well, he kind of wasn’t but that felt like a different kind of testy. “Why now, Leo?”
“I do,” Leo said to Del. It might be changing soon, he was lucky that he had options. At Drew’s question, he refocused on him. He tried for a version of the truth. “I’ve been trying to process all of this, just lying low,” he started. “My leaving is kind of a huge deal. It wasn’t on good terms, which makes things worse.” How did he get them to understand? “People don’t just leave. And there’s nowhere for me to go. I’m stuck here with him and I feel like I’m waiting for him to do something about it.” There was a chance that Tony just didn’t give a fuck, that he had more important things to worry about. But Leo couldn’t bet on that, it was too risky. “I don’t feel safe, and that makes me worry about the people close to me as well. If Tony finds out I spoke to you today, I’m even more in the shit. But having extra eyes on it is the only thing I can ask for.”
Fern couldn’t look away from Leo. A part of her brain had accepted that she had never truly known who she had been spending so much time with over the last eight months. But hearing Tony’s family talk about him like this was still jarring. What kind of person made their own cousin feel like this? So worried for their own wellbeing and the people they cared about? It was so messed up. Fern was trying to stay silent, just let Drew and Del do what they were good at. But one question was nagging her. She looked to Drew and Del, “Can I ask?” she started. “What are you afraid he’ll do?”
“That’s not helpful.” Del cleared their throat and let their hair fall forward. “Discussing hypotheticals leads to spiralling in most instances.” She knew this part, at least. Her father had walked her through the process before. When the atoms that held Raleigh and Del together had split, they’d been consumed by worst case scenarios, but coping was the effective way out of the wormhole. “We’ve had one report of physical violence and it didn’t go farther than minor injuries.” Considering that it had been six days since that altercation, it was safe to assume that one most likely wouldn’t be coming. “I’m sorry he’s made you feel scared. It sounds very stressful.” She smiled warmly, doing her best impression of her father. “His pattern suggests that he’s ruling via intimidation rather than escalations.” They had one more solution they could offer, but they weren’t comfortable with this assertion that retribution would be coming. Tony had four days to respond and he hadn’t. It wasn’t logical to assume otherwise. “If you’re worried about safety, you can ask Cricket if he’d be willing to help.” That wasn’t something she could volunteer for him. And if Leo was priding himself on being part of the family before, then he would have some self-defense training. There was no meaningful way for them to be involved.
Drew coughed in recognition. “Yeah spiraling’s not great.” He’d messed that up a fair amount last night, even though he knew better. Del was, as always, making great points. They couldn’t do much. All the actions they’d taken had been subtle moves, if at all. Drew liked that. It had never been hard for him to leave his aggression on the field, if he had any at all. But he wasn’t playing any more. It was a reality he hadn’t expected to occur until he was thirtysomething. Longer, if he was lucky. And he was quickly beginning to understand why athletes struggled when they retired. There was a feedback loop unfulfilled. A helplessness. And he was struggling with how little they could do. “I don’t want to speak for you Fern, but I feel like what you might be asking is, is the Amara stuff the worst thing you know about? We’re looking at, uh… patterns of behavior?” He glanced at Del for confirmation. “Yeah. That.”
It wasn’t what Fern had been asking. But she knew her question had more to do with trying to learn more about this Tony and what he was like. How the people closest to him saw him and what they expected from him. Which, Del was right. In this situation it wasn’t helpful. She wasn’t going to double down on it. She shouldn’t have even asked the question. “Yeah,” she said. “That’s what I meant.”
Leo’s hope in getting any kind of help was slowly slipping away. They didn’t get it. They weren’t going to. He couldn’t tell them any more than he already had. “I saw him break someone’s nose,” Leo said. Twice, if he was counting. But the one he was going to let them think about was a very public event. “But I’m guessing that’s the physical violence you were talking about.” Leo ran a hand over his head, suddenly tired. He didn’t know what to do now.
Del was taken by surprise. They hadn’t heard of a broken nose. “It’s not.” She swallowed. “If you’re worried about your nose,” The options were limited but there were options, “I can ask about self defense.” Blocking a hit to the face seemed like a skill that they should probably all have given the rising levels of anger in town.
Drew suppressed a grimace. No more news. No evidence, whatever that evidence was. But then he needed to barrel past Del’s admission. The Cricket and Tony situation did not need to escalate. “Heli has self defense training. Specifically anti-mafia stuff, I think.” So did Bronte but he wasn’t going to bring her anywhere closer to this conversation if he could absolutely help it. Heli was already close. She could handle herself. He hoped. He tried to play it off casually. “Their-- her dad’s kind of focused on it for, um,” he swallowed the word obvious in order to be polite-- “...reasons.”
This being the solution they offered was so unexpected it took Leo a second. Heli? That was… reassuring, actually. Good for her. Really. “Okay,” he said, thinking. He’d grown up training to box with Tony. It wasn’t like he didn’t know how to fight. But maybe learning how to defend himself against people who fought the way he did would be helpful? Shit. Maybe not. But he didn’t have any other fucking options. Leo felt so far away from his usual goofy self right now. He wasn’t annoyed so much as defeated. “Uh. Put me on the waiting list, I guess.” It wouldn’t be a bad thing to see Heli again. “Please,” he added.
“Is there…” Del pulled their lip between her teeth. She wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to ask. Her father was better at this, with his formalized training and steady personality. She felt more like an asteroid looking for a safe place to crash. She could only minimize the damage so far. “Did you have an expected outcome here?” It was a tricky question but Leo didn’t seem entirely happy with the situation.
Leo’s expectations had already changed dramatically since he had stepped through the door. “I guess not,” he said. “I mostly just wanted more people aware, who could look out.” That’s what had driven him to go down this track in the first place. Wanting to feel like he and Tee weren’t the only ones watching his back. “Just don’t underestimate him, okay?”
Fern sat up a little straighter. She’d already underestimated Tony. Several times. Each time she felt a little bit more of the image she’d created of him in her mind chip away. She wondered how long it would take until it disappeared entirely, replaced by this new Tony. One who threatened people, who broke people’s noses, who hated her. It was painful to think about, but she couldn’t shy away from it just because it hurt. She didn’t have that luxury here.
“We’re on it.” Del did smile this time. They’d already taken that actionable item, but the more eyes on the better outcome of a situation. It gave them more pause about the gun situation, but they weren’t going to bring that up right now. “Thanks for coming.”
“I can promise you we aren’t underestimating him.” Drew said. Well, maybe that was a bad promise. Drew needed to think he was estimating Tony the right amount. Or he would never go outside again. “Thank you for leaving, again. The less support he has, the safer we all are.” Well, he supposed it depended. From how Heli’d explained it, he was very cranky about losing any sense of control over Trip. But that wasn’t Trip’s fault necessarily. “Fern, did you have anything else?”
Leo doubted that, but there was only one way to get them to really understand. And he wasn’t prepared to do that at this point. “Yeah,” Leo replied. It was weird being thanked for that. He didn’t really know how to respond. “Thanks for meeting with me.”
Fern shook her head at Drew’s question. “No,” she said. “Thank you for telling us Leo.” It must have been hard for him to do all of that.
Leo nodded and stood up, tucking his hands into the pocket at the front of his hoodie. He looked between them again, feeling like he’d failed. All he had to do was tell the truth, and he couldn’t do it. “Yeah. Okay, thanks again,” he said, before he turned to leave.
“Wait Leo,” Fern said, throwing Drew and Del an apologetic glance. “Sorry, I just thought of something.” She hated the idea that she was stepping on their toes, but this was part of a bigger question. “Before you go. What do you know about Tony’s access to weapons?” The thought had just occurred to her. They could probably guess, but if they could get any specific information from someone who used to be close to Tony that was a good thing.
Leo turned back, standing awkwardly in the open doorway. “Uh,” he scratched at the back of his neck. “I mean, he has them, if that’s what you’re asking?” Leo tried to give them a proper answer, but he realised he didn’t actually know any details. That was one of the things he hadn’t been clued in on. “There’s definitely guns, the guards were always armed. But I don’t know how many or where they’re kept. That information wasn’t shared with me.”
Del looked to Drew. They hadn’t said anything to Fern about weapons. Leo had already established that he wasn’t privy to the inner workings of the organization. Not that those could even be counted on. The most important variables had shifted. They were on their back foot and their approach to information would have to be more unconventional than that. Most people knew that the guards carried weapons. She’d never been to an Alessi party, but Raleigh had. She’d heard the stories. Drew could probably vouch for the same piece of information. Not to mention the fact that even if Tony did have weapons, he wasn’t currently using them. They had enough tangible information to act on. Hypotheticals would have to come when there was more room. They didn’t know what to say so she nodded her head. “Thanks.”
Drew could feel the temperature drop in the room. Yet another threat settling in. It wasn’t exactly new information but it was a reiteration he wasn’t sure he needed. Bronte kind of specialized in recognizing threats before they happened. Sure she tended to see more than were actually feasible, but it still counted. “Yeah, thanks man. I’ll see you out.” He knew this was a longer conversation, but they needed the civilian out first. Though where Fern fell on that civilian spectrum he wasn’t sure anymore. Leo’d been the one to bring her in, which he understood considering the tie to Tony. But it was impossible to maintain a united front between the three of them. Her style was just too different.
Leo nodded and turned to leave. He wasn’t sure what to do now, but maybe a scenic walk back to the house would give him the time he needed to think about it.
Fern waited until the sound of Drew and Leo’s footsteps were far enough away, and turned to face Del. “I’m sorry if I got in the way,” she said. There was a reason she had asked Drew and Del to handle things like this. It wasn’t her forte. “I need to apologise to you.” Fern had been meaning to for a couple of days, things kept cropping up and getting in the way. “I’m so sorry for not telling you both about Tony and I sooner. You should have known from the start, there’s no excuse. I feel terrible asking you to do this without giving you a full picture. It was wrong and I promise to be completely transparent with you.”
Del was caught off guard. She’d been so focused on the myriad possibilities surrounding Leo’s situations, it hadn’t occurred to her that Fern would want to speak. They nodded her head slowly. “It complicated our investigations.” She and Drew couldn’t approach Tony in the same way anymore. “But I understand.”
Fern felt herself wanting to explain more, but she wasn’t sure it would be for Del’s benefit. It was just hard sitting with something she had done wrong. That was part of the process though, she was learning. “I know. I regret it deeply. Thank you,” she said. “If I can answer any questions I’m here.” Not that she would actually be able to help much. There were more gaps than answers.
“Okay. I’ll reach out.” Del wasn’t sure what scenarios would come up. She appreciated the ability to ask. Things had been so uncertain on that front lately. It didn’t inspire trust yet, but it was a step. “Thanks.” They nodded their head softly and walked out.
“Bye Del.” The silence Fern found herself in once Del had left was too much. There was a lot to process, but she didn’t want to do it here. She didn’t know if Drew was coming back but she sent him a message to tell him she was leaving and closed the office door securely behind her. Maybe it was a good thing she had no car and a decent walk home.
It was time to move the fuck on. That’s what Leo was trying to do. He didn’t want to live in the mental space he was in right now. Leo was pretty confident that doing so would probably uhhh, destroy him. He wasn’t going to like, ignore his feelings or anything. He knew that was unhealthy. He just needed to not stay there. And be prepared for the causes of his feelings to crop up and try to like, kick him in the shins sometime. He didn’t care what they said, Leo wasn’t going to let his guard down when it came to what Tony might do.
Now that he’d at least partially shared what was happening in his world with the new community… whatever, he wanted to focus on what he wanted to invest in now. What did he want life to look like when he had freedom he never thought he’d have? Learning some new skills might be fun, make some new friends who weren’t kissing Tony’s ass. Make sure he was the best boyfriend he could be.
But before he did any of that, he was taking a walk. He knew he needed to go back to Tee and tell them what had happened. But he wasn’t ready yet.
He was walking aimlessly down the middle of the very empty street when he saw Vi walking on the sidewalk. Leo was instantly reminded of the photos he’d given to her for safe keeping. How one day, when he was ready, she was going to give them back to him. Leo honestly never thought he’d be at this point, but here he was. “Vi!” he called out to her, hoping he didn’t sound cat call-y. That would be gross. Leo jogged to catch up with her. “Um hello, it’s Leo,” he said, pointing at himself. “How are you?”
