The loud bang had the pets squeaking, shrieking and hissing. D spun around, disturbed in the process of shushing them into the back to make ready for departure, and immediately wished he had hurried home earlier. He should have known what was up when he tried to extricate himself from the party and the host would not let him leave. How Leon had managed to get him to keep D busy until he had found the shop was anyone's guess, but seeing as he himself had only hurried inside moments ago, it was clear Leon had been waiting somewhere close for his return.

"The fuck are you up to this time, D?"

Dead silence fell in the parlour.

"Leon!" Pon-chan cried out, wriggled free of D's grasp and ran to hug his legs. He looked down for a moment, distracted, even managed a small smile.

"Hey Pon-chan. How're you doing?"

He got T-chan by the scruff of his neck before he could bite him and scowled. "Listen, you freak, I don't mind getting bitten by you when you look like a frigging goat, but no way I'm letting you bite me when you're like this. So cut it out already, will ya?"

D took a deep breath and willed his muscles to move again. Now that Leon was within the shop's confines, there was little else but to weather the confrontation. He could not stay forever and the moment he left, D would be able to disappear.

The blue glare hit him the moment Leon dropped T-chan, who sidled away to sulk. "Right, back to topic, D. What the fuck did you get yourself mixed up in now?"

D sniffed and unnecessarily dusted off his robe. "Nothing. I was merely attending an aquaintance's party. Since when is that illegal?"

Leon growled. "Not what I'm talking about!"

"No? Then what are you talking about, Detective?"

"Agent!" Leon snapped and something landed on the table with a clatter. D leant forward and picked it up, his eyes widening as he took in the logo.

"Interpol? My, Detective! I must say, you have made your way in the world."

The glare was almost physically hot. "Cut the crap, D. What's your business with Spencer Donald?"

"Spencer Donald?" D could not help but look surprised and confused for a moment. "Why would I answer that question? You have no jurisdiction in Italy, therefore I am not obliged to tell you anything. Now, if you would kindly remove yourself from the premises …"

"Cut it out. I know you've been selling him a number of animals."

"All of them were perfectly legal," D pointed out and found himself chagrined at the need to even say it. Interpol or not, Leon did not have any jurisdiction in Italy. What was he doing, anyhow? Working for Interpol? Leon? Really?

He did not like to admit it, but meeting Leon at that party, so suddenly and out of the blue, without D even knowing he was in the country, had thrown him more than he had expected. Of course he had known that Leon had been on his trail for the past few years. A few things were becoming a bit clearer now, though. Him working for Interpol answered at the least the question of how he could have found out about some of D's hide-outs in as little time as he had done. This was going to be a headache.

"I still do not see how it is any of your business, though," he added for good measure and sat down in his chair. There was the urge to go and prepare tea, but if he was honest, he did not feel like tea, only like bolting. For all his persistence, Leon should never have caught up to him. Should never have been able to. He could only get hurt.

Leon seemed to take him sitting down as an invitation to stalk up and tower over him. D found himself looking up, his heart leaping into his throat. He looked – older. More mature.

More interesting than ever.

D swallowed and almost missed the next few words.

"It is my business because I'm here to assist the Polizia di Stato in arresting Spencer Donald, amongst other things for supposedly having someone named Nikita Kshesinskaya assassinated. That name ring any bells?"

D's eyes widened. Leon saw, of course. He swore loudly and colourfully while threading his hand through his hair. "D, you can't fucking go around shacking up with an international criminal and selling your murder pets to people he doesn't like!"

"I was not aware there was a connection between Nikita Kshesinskaya and Spencer Donald. Really, how could I have known?"

The glare intensified. "How 'bout one being a Russian mafia boss with the other being an international tycoon?"

D glared right back. "I have not seen any reason to inquire into his business relations. He and I talk about his pets, nothing more." Something else registered and he gasped in outrage. "And I have most certainly not been 'shacking up' with him!"

Leon snorted. "Right. What do you call it then when you spend several days at his out-of-town place? I hear it's a really fancy villa."

D stuck his nose up in the air. "I was there to assist with the acculturation of a rare bird he had recently purchased."

"Sure."

"Detective -"

"It's either Leon or Mister," Leon snapped and D frowned at him. "I don't walk 'round flaunting who I work for, alright? Now, what about Nikita Kshesinskaya? Accident?"

The frown deepened. "The usual. A broken contract. I assure you, Spencer Donald had absolutely nothing to do with his demise."

If he had expected Leon to calm down at that, he found himself sorely mistaken. If anything, the man now seemed to burst with anger. "D, the fuck, can't you ever keep your feet still?" he roared. "Listen, I get all the family stuff about taking revenge on humanity and shit, never mind that y'all are fucking nuts if you think selling single pets to a few people is gonna do the job, but can't you just keep quiet for at least a little while? Until things have calmed down a bit?"

D gawked at him. "Excuse me? Are you telling me how to run my business?"

Leon glowered down at him. "Damn right I am!"

D wanted to rise and found he could not without coming chest to chest with the human. He stayed seated, his heart beating ever more quickly. "It is not up to you to tell me how I go about fulfilling my purpose. Simply because you were permitted one glance at my true nature -" and he now deeply regretted having ever allowed that glance in the first place, "- does not entitle you to lecture me about myself!"

"Listen, we're beyond the point where it's only the local police getting suspicious." Leon leant right into his personal space, hands on the arms of his chair, eyes blazing. "I can't believe how stupid you've been! You already had the FBI on your trail back in the States. And now Interpol's taken notice of you. How the fuck do you think you're going to wriggle out of this?"

D leant back and smirked. "Interpol or you, Detective Agent?"

"Interpol," Leon promptly replied, staying exactly where he was, gaze intense and yet, to D, unreadable. He could not make sense of what was happening here, why Leon was reacting the way he was. D raised an eyebrow.

"Dear me, what would Interpol want with an unimportant person like me?"

"Interpol," said Leon through what sounded like gritted teeth, "keeps track of and monitors certain types of crimes across the whole world to analyse the current trends and provide local police with a backdrop." It sounded rather like he was repeating a manual, but D could sense that he knew what he was talking about. "That's what I do these days, D. I look at numbers. Statistics. Crimes from all over the world. I look for similarities in MO, for people who just so happen to turn up certain places, who have connections to other people. And then I write about what I see in the numbers."

D stared up at him, frozen in his chair. "Oh."

"Yes, oh." Leon's eyes narrowed. "Funnily, your pet shop turns up time and again in different investigations from different countries. Most often in connection with suspicions of exotic animal trade, but you are mentioned several times in connection with people high up on the criminal ladder. And let me tell you, people are wondering. They're wondering big time who this Count D is who is so cosy with both politicians and big names from the underworld."

D pursed his lips, trying not to show his growing concern. "They are merely customers and it is fairly easy to establish that they are just that. Why, I hardly see most of them even twice!"

"Which is probably the only reason they haven't hauled you in yet!" Leon snapped and D flinched slightly. "These are modern-day times, D," he continued, quite a bit of fury in his voice. "We have computers, we have the internet, we have international organisations with international databases on crime, and people are fucking using them! Simply crossing a few country borders isn't going to get your neck out of the sling anymore!"

D processed the words, finding himself speechless for a moment as a thought struck. Even when he spoke, he could hardly believe his own words. "Leon, are you – worried about me?"

There was another glare, but no direct answer. D sat, stunned. Finally Leon let go of the chair, turned around and threaded a hand through his hair. "All I'm saying is, you should be more careful who you associate with. Your freak pets are suspicious enough in themselves. Would it kill you to at least try to steer clear of any mafia bosses?"

"You are worried about me," D said, still stunned but unable to keep his thoughts to himself, now. Leon glanced at him.

"So what if I was?"

"I -" D found himself flustered. He looked at his hands, glanced at Leon very, very quickly, then returned his eyes to his lap. "Why, I am – touched, certainly."

A snort. "Certainly."

"Well, what do you expect me to say?" D snapped. "You barge in here like you own the place only to immediately assault me with suspicions of illegal activities yet again!"

"Well, I have good fucking reasons to, don't I?" Leon yelled back.

"And that is all you have to say to me after years and years of chasing me halfway across the world?"

D could not believe he had just said that. He snapped his mouth shut, willing his breath to calm down and ignoring the pets' stares.

Leon, too, was staring.

"No. No, that's not all I have to say to you after you ditched me two fucking times to disappear in your fucking flying ark," he finally said, clearly speaking through gritted teeth. "But since you were so happy to immediately throw yourself back into the same kind of dubious business relationships you had back in LA, maybe my priorities what I need to talk to you about have changed a bit. Taken that into account?"

Uncomfortable silence fell. D looked at his hands, opened his mouth and was about to offer tea when Leon took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself. "Anyhow." The finger stubbed him right in the middle of his chest and D looked down at it, then back up at the fierce expression on Leon's face. "You stay put for once in your life. Don't run anywhere before they've gotten their hands on Donald. Don't sell any homicidal pets before they have scratched you off the list of suspected business partners. And most importantly, for fuck's sake make sure you stay out of any local power grapples! Think you can manage that?"

D blinked before he smirked and pushed the finger away. "Why, Agent Orcot, I really am obliged to you for your guidance on how to keep myself out of trouble. Of course I shall follow it to the letter since you are already going to the lengths of informing me yourself about my precarious situation. I assume, of course, that your superiors know that you are here, talking to a lowly suspected criminal like me and letting me know about their suspicions?"

He fluttered his eyelashes for good measure and Leon blushed angrily. "Fuck you," he snarled, turned on his heel and stormed out.

D rose and then simply stood for a few moments. The pets started whispering amongst themselves until Pon-chan finally tugged at his cheongsam. "Count? Shall we continue getting ready for departure?"

He heaved a deep sigh and sat back down, rubbing his forehead for a moment. "No. We're staying."

"But -"

"Much as I dislike to admit it, T-chan, I am afraid Leon is right for once. I cannot run this time. I need to find out first what the police and Interpol have on me." D frowned, cursing modern technology once more. Really, it was nothing but trouble! Tracking people across borders and nations, what a ridiculous notion! What an utter invasion of privacy! It was people's own affair where in the world they decided to be at any odd point in time. Humans!

But in truth, that was not what was worrying him the most.


Notes:

Well, that reunion did not go down as envisaged, did it now? Also, for those of you wondering why Leon is working for Interpol, it's mainly because I couldn't manage to make S.H.I.E.L.D fit into this fanfic, although I would have loved to hear Leon's conversations with Tony Stark.