There was a certain endearing charm to watching Leo and his sidekick bungle their way through trying to be heroes, Sara decided. With no good experience to guide him, Leo was acting on instinct. His idea to bring a chunk of ice down out of the mountains to a village whose well had dried up was sound enough in principle. And the mud really was more Mick's fault than his.

And he was a sucker for kids. There was a particularly gentle smile that he reserved for children that quite simply melted Sara's heart. And then there was the way his eyes would light up when he saw her. She'd never had anyone look at her like that.

She loved…being around him. He was a great source of entertainment - there were usually some bad guys who needed sense knocked into them, or the chance for adventure. But she always tried to slip away after the action…before he could turn to her with that warmth in his eyes and smile. She wasn't good for him. She knew that. And her longing for time spent with him - for the times they spent playing dice, or drinking - were making her soft.

Which is perhaps how she failed to notice Mick slipping away into the woods to take care of business one night, after they'd been drinking to celebrate saving a fishing village from a sea serpent.

"You disappoint me, Sara," Malcolm was saying. "Why is dear old Leo still breathing?"

"Lack of opportunity," Sara replied glibly. "You don't really want me to do this in front of an audience, do you?"

"I don't really care how you do it, as long as he ends up dead. I'm on a bit of a time table here. I need my dear nephew out of the way."

Mick blinked blearily and stumbled back to the tavern. He had to find Leo.

Leo was getting a bit irritated by his friend's drunken insistence that he'd seen something nefarious in the woods.

"I'm tellin' you, Boss, it was him, the King of the Underworld." Mick paused, making a sign to ward off the evil eye. "Brimstone and all."

"And I'm telling you - you're drunk."

"But Boss - she's workin' fer him!"

"Sleep it off, Mick."

Leo turned and left the crowded, smoky tavern, in need of some fresh air. Unfortunately, once out in the village square, he was promptly enveloped in a cloud of brimstone. "Seriously?" he muttered, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the air.

"Hello, Leo. I'm your Uncle Malcolm, but you can call me Your Majesty."

Leo stared at the suave, dark-haired figure in his immaculate purple toga. "What?"

"I see intelligence runs in the family. Too bad you got your father's, and not mine. I have a proposal for you. I have a business acquaintance arriving shortly. Let's just say…you and he wouldn't get along well. In the interest of good business, what say you…take a day off? Rest, relax, recover from all this hero-ing you've been doing. What do you say?"

Leo looked at him with blatant suspicion. "I haven't been in the hero business for long, but it seems to me that when someone wants the hero to take a day off, they're up to no good. So - no."

Malcolm stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Leo's shoulder. Leo looked at the offending appendage with disgust.

"Leo, Leo, Leo…you don't mind if I call you Leo, do you?"

"Actually -"

"Like I was saying, Leo, I've got plans. You tend to get in the way. If we can't do this the friendly way, well -"

Malcolm snapped his fingers, and Sara appeared, held (just barely) in the grip of three imps.

"Sara!"

Leo started for her, but was restrained by Malcolm's iron grip on his arm.

"You see how things stand, don't you, Leo? You agree to my proposal, give up your cold powers for the next twenty four hours, and your lovely friend here goes free and unharmed." He paused and heaved a somewhat theatrical sigh. "Cross me, and well…even I can't guarantee her safety."

"Leo, don't!"

One of the imps reached up and clapped a slimy hand across Sara's mouth.

"You swear she'll be safe?" Leo demanded.

"Of course. Twenty four hours, no powers for you, she goes free, and you two can go right back to…whatever it is that you do."

He held out his hand. "Do we have a deal, nephew?"

"I…" Leo looked at Sara, struggling in the imps' grasp. He grasped his uncle's hand. "Deal."

There was a stink of sulphur as the deal was sealed. "Good lad. Twenty fours hours and you're both free. If you survive, that is. Oh, and by the way? Great performance, Sara. I always knew you had it in you."

With that, Malcolm and his minions departed in a whirl of black and green smoke.

Leo stared at Sara in disbelief. "You were working for him all along?"

"Yes - I mean no. I mean…it wasn't like that." She sighed, defeated. "It's a long story."

Leo crossed his arms and glared at her. "Evidently, we've got time. Twenty four hours."

Sara looked up as a meteor blazed across the sky and crashed into a nearby village. "Maybe not as much as we thought. Come on!"

"Did you miss the part about no powers? What exactly am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know! You're smart - you'll figure something out!"

Still, Leo hesitated. Mick was right - he'd been a sucker for a pretty face. What the hell could he do against something that fell from the sky, with no powers to aid him?

"Fine. I'll go myself," Sara declared.