Stomping off from the gates of the zoo, Leon fumed, grumbling under his breath and heading nowhere in particular. So close, I can feel it, he mentally spat, fumbling to light a bent cigarette he'd pulled from his coat pocket as he walked, ignoring the disgusted glares of parents as he did so. "Fuck," he swore when the lighter slipped from his fingers and clattered under where he stepped. He bent to retrieve it, cigarette dangling from his lips when a cry of, "pass auf!" reached his ears, and he looked up with an audible, "huh?"

WHAM.

It took him a moment to realize he'd been knocked flat on his backside by a small blond cretin running as fast as his stout legs would carry him. He sat up and snatched the child by the collar, lifting him up from where the boy lay sprawled on his legs. "Watch where you're going!" He barked, gently tossing the startled lad aside to stand. A dainty hand clasped onto his arm in an effort to steady him and his battered rucksack.

"Es tut mir sehr leid!"

Leon blinked, the foreign words bouncing uselessly in his ears. "Say what?"

"Oh! You're American!"

"Uh, yeah..." Tossing his now broken cigarette aside, he met the warm gaze of a pretty brunette with doe eyes as she tried to dust him off with her one free hand, her other firmly latched onto a double stroller containing a relatively new baby.

"My son is a little excited to visit the zoo, I am sorry he ran into you," an embarrassed smile gracing her round face. She then turned to speak to the boy hiding behind her legs, watching him nervously. Seconds later a mumbled something came quietly out his mouth, that Leon could only assume was German for "sorry."

He waved it off. "It's cool; I've a little brother who does the same thing."

The woman gave an understanding chuckle, playing with her son's hair. "Are you here with him?"

A heaviness settled in his heart; he missed his lil bro. His smile echoing a bit of sadness, Leon shook his head. "No, he's back home in the States."

Catching his mood change, she apologized yet again, prompting him to laugh, claiming he wouldn't have been able to let him skip so much school to visit a zoo on the other side of the world, and changed the subject.

"Here on your own with the two kids?" He nodded his head towards them.

Now it was her turn to smile sadly. "Yes, their father works long hours as an Inspector. I'm by myself most of the time."

Sympathy overcame him. "You've got no one to help you?"

"Sadly, no, my friends either work or have children of their own, and both my and my husband's parents have passed on."

The pang of unease that surged through him left more than a bit of guilt and an uncomfortably bitter zing of- not going there! A cop husband, a caretaker left mostly alone, a blond boy and a dark haired infant, and no grandparents. Fuck! Would this have been...? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Not thinking about dead grandparents and creepy babies.

But the blatant similarities hit him hard. If D had stayed, if grandpa Q-chan hadn't taken the baby, would D have ended up like this young woman? Leon knew himself well enough, and D, to know that, yeah, he was staring at an alternate future lost. Albeit, he was positive she had the better life in any case. He'd have left Chris with D and that baby thing and worked himself into the ground to avoid the guilt trip seeing it would've brought, and then D would be nothing but beyond pissed at him; they'd be fighting constantly. He and D would've been saddled with two kids, constant fighting, and zero chance of makeup sex.

"Christ! Fuck. Blahhhh!" Leon pulled at his hair in horror, squishing down his revolting stomach. What in the living fuck was he thinking?! God, he needed beer. These thoughts had to drown.

The woman reached for him in a panic, "are you hurt?! I didn't think to ask!"

Forcing his breathing under control, Leon looked at her apologetically. "I'll be okay, I, uh, moved wrong; it's fine."

She eyed him unbelievingly. "Are you sure?"

Leon straightened to his full height, and cast his eyes to the sky before giving her what he hoped was an assuring expression. "Yeah, I'm just not used to sleeping on hostel beds; think it's messing with my back."

The following lull left them both fumbling for words, eventually Leon sighed and flashed her a small, compassionate smile, to which she returned. "Really, I'm fine. No harm done, but I do believe your little guy has been more than patient. I should let you get to the zoo, I need to dig up some lunch anyway."

She laughed, as the boy in question suddenly perked up at being remembered and started babbling rapidly at his mother. "I guess so."

"Thanks for the conversation," Leon said, waving over his shoulder. "Tell your husband he's lucky."

Blushing, confused, she waved back. "Der Dank, I will."

Giving her one last smile, he continued in the direction he started, searching for another cigarette on his person. Finding one in his back jean pocket, he lit up and breathed deep, weariness momentarily overcoming him. "Time for that beer, and beautiful , busty bartenders," he said, attempting to break out of the funk that had settled on him. He chuckled happily, it'd be nice if he found one who hated bras. Weren't Europeans supposed to be more liberal in that regard? He sure hoped so. Unbidden a cool face with disappointed, brilliant Heterochromatic eyes came to the forefront of his mind. Tearing the image away as forcefully as he could, he let out a groan. Maybe he ought to give Chris a call first, instead, and save the beer for after he ditched whatever it was he was feeling. Yeah, he'd do that instead.

Holy cow, I wrote something, after a stupid long break to boot. Figures it would be Petshop to get me back into the swing of things. BTW, did you know that Ms. Akino has started a third PSoH series starring Sofu D called Passages? I also found the last four volumes of Shin/Tokyo, in Chinese only, on a manga website. If anyone wants the link, message me and I'll send it to you.

Also, pardon my crappy German. I know very little (mostly phrases that I couldn't write out to save my life) and used Google translate so I'd stand a chance of it being at least semi correct. And, if you haven't guessed, this is based on the end of the side story Door in Shin/Tokyo vol. one, where Leon mixes up signs and finds the zoo instead of Chinatown. heehee :)