Leaving on such short notice hadn’t been ideal; the guilt alone was enough to make him want to ask the pilot to turn around, but Leon knew he was needed elsewhere. Lives were at stake and Harry was a big boy, meaning he would survive. As long as he didn’t do anything stupid he would be fine. Pissed, sure–but alive.
Taking Harry on the mission wasn’t a good idea for a multitude of reasons, but the first and foremost was that Leon knew he wouldn’t be able to give his objectives his full attention. Harry could take care of himself–he wasn’t some weakling. But Leon would still worry, and that worry would lead to not paying attention, and that’s when people get killed. It was too risky for them both, and Leon just hoped that Harry would settle for that brief phone call.
The target location wasn’t terribly far away, but it was far enough, The news had done a decent job of covering up the damage, but if Harry dug he could probably figure things out in enough time. He could also go straight to Hunnigan if he was desperate, since Leon had been dispatched alone. The pair seemed to worry about him more than was necessary, and Hunnigan had taken a liking to Harry. It wouldn’t be the first time she had let sensitive information slip.
The flight was only a couple of hours, but it gave Leon plenty of time to feel like a complete dick. More than once he had taken out his phone to call Harry and apologize again, but he resisted the urge. He wasn’t a civilian, he didn’t have the luxury of changing his mind or letting his emotions get to him. He was a soldier now, a fighter.
He still had a job to do.
Pissed was an understatement.
The phone call that Harry’s boyfriend for some years now so kindly gave him left a bit of anger in him. The emotion brewed to the point of discomfort. To think Leon would continue leaving him out of the loop because he thought things were better that way hurt far more than it really should, considering he knew why the other man did what he did. Harry understood.
Still. Did that really make this situation any less painful?
Leon’s duty was all well and good, that fierce dedication being something Harry admired, but the agent could’ve bothered to share the burden. Harry deserved that much, didn’t he? At least, he had thought something along those lines when the call ended.
For several minutes the former writer stared at his phone, over Leon’s contact, and continued to until the negative feeling in his gut subsided to a dull heartache. His thumb hovered over the small blue phone icon as if he was going to call again–he never did. He stashed the phone away, pocketing the device in his usual brown jacket.
He had to pack. Had to prepare to go right after the other man, despite his efforts to keep Harry from doing so.
