AN: Happy New Year! Revised chapter 1/9/2017
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Leon woke up before the sun.
Silently, he watched his wife sleep as she hugged him in her sleep. It made him smile, knowing that she sought him out even when unconscious. He looked at the clock and then slowly unwrapped his wife's arms from around him.
"Mm…" she stirred when his warmth was no longer by her side. "Where you goin'?"
"Practice," he murmured, lightly kissing her forehead.
Sora hmmed, her sleepy mind vaguely remembering that the understudies needed to learn their new roles before tonight's show.
"M' apptment?"
Leon shook his head at the inarticulate phrasing. "I'll be back to take you to Dr. Kate's." He slid his pillow into her arms and she immediately latched onto it.
"Don't be long," she groggily murmured, "or else this pillow's my new husband."
He leaned over her. "That pillow can't even begin to fill my role."
She smiled with her eyes closed, nuzzling the pillow. "Let's not test it."
If she wasn't injured, he would have pounced on her and reminded her in what ways the pillow fell short. Instead, he caressed her thigh, taking pride in the way her cheeks colored under the lamplight.
Then he left the bedroom, intent on getting a good head start on the day.
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All night, Ken worked on the new hire list for Jerry.
And all night, he wondered. He had seen Marie walking with the stage curtains earlier that day. He could have sworn he saw a peeking of the silk for the act underneath all of that just before she had shifted the curtain, covering it over. Was it really a memory? Or was Leon's accusation about it being sabotage poisoning the recollection?
But for what reason would Marie have in hurting anyone?
Ken thought as he walked the hallway to Kalos' office this early morning. Sure, she wasn't their best worker, but Ken thought with a little pushing and training, she could be a great stage crew member. She knew her way around fabrics and had an eye for color schemes. Why, she had been the one to help choose the fabric for Sora's dance number.
"It can't be her," Ken muttered to himself.
But then, who else was there? Ken opened the boss' office door, seeing Jerry and Leon already there. Conversation between the police officer and the Frenchman slowed to a stop as Ken walked further into the office.
They were waiting for news.
"Here's a list of the new hires," Ken said, passing out three copies to those inside the office. "But it's pretty lengthy, considering the help we hired for the Zorro production."
It was Kalos that noticed something was up.
"You've noticed an abnormality."
Ken sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Well, yes, I guess." He wet his lips, thinking about what was at stake and the damage that was already done.
It wouldn't hurt to have Jerry check.
"I noticed something strange that afternoon in the backstage hallways…"
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From below the rafters of the stage, Leon could hear Mia's voice.
"Rosetta, I need you more to the right! May, more to the middle so you don't crash!"
With Sora unable to perform May was now Esperanza, bumping Rosetta up to the role of Fuego, Zorro's sidekick. It was a huge break for the young Diabolo performer to be directly alongside Leon.
Had it been anyone else, Leon would have been suspicious. But Leon was aware of how much Rosetta looked up to Sora and they had a sort of understanding, so he couldn't see why Rosetta would want to put either of them at risk.
With a flashlight, Leon inspected the torn silk, lightly running a finger over the ripped edge. The part looked slightly darker than the rest of the silk and judging by the texture, he'd guess it was fabric paint.
So they purposefully weakened this part of the silk then covered it up with paint.
He'll have Jerry take a look at it for prints, but otherwise, he had all he needed. He turned off the flashlight. Now a trip to wardrobe could let him know where to buy good fabric paint. His phone alarm sounded off.
After Sora's appointment, he amended to himself.
Sora fisted her hand as Kate pressed along her ankle.
"Sorry Sora," Kate murmured as she continued to check, "just want to make sure I didn't miss any fractures."
"No worries," Sora half smiled, though a little forced.
Leon shook his head. Only his wife would feel bad about hurting the feelings of someone whom was causing her pain. Granted, it was for a check-up but still.
Pain was pain.
"As I thought, there are several tears," Kate said as she stopped checking Sora's foot and washed her hands. "The tests didn't reveal any fractures, but damage to tendons is nothing to ignore. Thankfully, nothing ripped around your Achilles' tendon, though it does look like it might be pulled." The good doctor took Sora's hand. "So just don't put any unnecessary weight on it and you should be fine, ok?"
"Alright."
"Good!" Kate smiled. "Now get out of here and get some lunch. Doctor's orders."
"Ok," Sora laughed.
Leon handed her the crutches and then they were out the door. His eyes slid over to his wife, waiting for her to ask what he knew she would. She merely looked forward as she moved. She paused by the car to look at him and he knew it was coming.
"Any news?"
He could understand her apprehension. After all, her dream stage was in trouble and her husband most likely had been the cause of it – though he knew she didn't blame him for what happened. He felt responsible all the same, regardless of whether she saw it that way or not.
He opened her door and gestured for her to enter. As she slid in the passenger seat, he opened the back door and placed her crutches inside, then he went to the driver's side. Patiently, she waited for him to close his door.
"My silk was torn," he murmured, "just enough that I wouldn't have noticed when I checked the stage before the performance. Then, it was painted over to cover any visible gaps."
She put a hand on his fist, her soft touch easing the white knuckle clench.
"It might have been Marie."
Sora started at that. "Little Marie? The freshman high schooler with the earbuds in all the time? But why?"
Leon half shrugged. "That's what Jerry's trying to find out. He should be bringing her in for formal questioning."
"Marie," Sora murmured, the corner of her lips down turned in a frown.
He leaned over, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Let's eat for now."
She brought her hand to her cheek where he had kissed it, still feeling his lingering touch. "You're so good to me," she softly said, entwining her fingers with his. "If people could see you the way I do, they wouldn't want to hurt you."
"Sora…"
She gave his hand a squeeze. "I know there's the past," she murmured, "but your present self doesn't deserve all of this."
"It's still me," he gravely intoned.
She gave him a sad smile, not knowing what else she could say to that. She brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles.
"It's your turn to choose," she said, her smile different now.
He allowed the shift in mood, deciding that there really was nothing else to say.
"Where do I go for you?" he murmured, giving her a faint grin.
Her cheeks tinted. "I'm still not on the menu, mister!"
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Sarah was writing checks on the coffee table when Kalos came back to the office.
"Jerry find anything new?"
"Yes." Kalos sat down behind his desk. "He's coming over to tell us after lunchtime."
"Mm." She tucked the check inside an envelope. "Are you sure it's Marie?"
"We have no solid proof." He opened up his inbox. "She's still in the cafeteria?"
"Ken and May are keeping an eye on her."
She looked at the envelope. "And we already checked for dna on the envelopes?"
"The person didn't lick it," Kalos dryly intoned, "Most people hate the taste of the glue."
Sarah finished licking the envelope. "It has a sweetness to it!"
"Which only you can detect."
"I have enhanced taste buds," Sarah quipped. She peeled a stamp off the sheet with a grumble. "These things are always getting on my finger."
Kalos paused in what he was doing and then looked at Sarah.
"It would be hard to put a stamp with gloves on."
"It would stick even more, I would think." She tilted her head in thought. "Bare handed is best."
Kalos reached for the phone and dialed. "Jerry, have we checked the stamps?"
"I'm a genius," Sarah preened.
Kalos couldn't keep from responding. "Who still does manual tasks."
"Hey!"
Kalos swiveled his chair around, giving her his back. A small grin appeared on his face before getting serious again. A heel zoomed past his head, crashing into his potted plant. The poor fern had a shoe stuck in it. He turned back around to give his wife a scolding look.
"I was aiming for you."
Good thing the majority of her martial arts trainings were fake.
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After lunch, Leon brought Sora to the stage.
She received heartfelt welcomes and several 'Get Well' cards, even a fluffy kitty plushie. The choice in animal made Leon grin, though he was fairly certain that others were not aware of her wildcat nature.
No, that pleasure was all his…
"Aren't you practicing?" she squirmed as he nibbled her neck.
She was watching from the audience seating though she was hardly alone, what with Leon feeling the constant impulse to keep her company when he wasn't needed on the stage. She bit her lip to keep a mew from escaping.
"Someone keeps delaying the inevitable," he rumbled in her ear.
"W-What are you talking about?"
He smirked against her neck. "I said I wanted you for lunch, but you didn't allow it…" Smoothly, he lifted the armrest dividing them, "You delayed. Now I'm here to collect."
She squeaked as he laid her on her back. "My foot's injured!"
He throatily laughed. "Is that all?"
She raised her hand up in time to stop him from kissing her. Too easily she forgot herself when they kissed. "That, among other things," she embarrassedly bit out, "like us being near our co-workers!"
Leon briefly looked around and then smiled at her. "We're too far up for them to see us clearly."
"It's uncomfortable here." Surely his attentions to her comfort would make him stop. His arm went under her shoulders, lifting her from the seat. It was sweet that he was cushioning her, but it didn't help her situation. "I could get hurt," she tried again. "Twist my other foot or something."
Her eyes widened as he rested his forehead on hers, his breath ghosting her lips.
"I'll be gentle," he soothed in that low voice of his.
It made her shiver in delight, despite her protests. She wasn't too surprised when she found herself leaning forward to brush her lips against his. He deepened the kiss deliciously, making her mewl and grip his hair. She leaned back as he came over her, the seats in front of them covering their figures.
"Paging Leon Oswald to the stage…"
She pushed him to sit up. "You need to go!" When he was starting to walk away with his hair still messy, she grabbed his arm. "Wait, your hair!" She smoothed his hair over when he did nothing to fix it.
He let her do what she wanted, taking some entertainment in her fretting. She swallowed a little, trying to focus on his hair rather than his black practice outfit. Her fingers followed the edge of his suit's collar, lightly touching his skin. She suddenly wished he didn't look as good as he did in it.
"Another time, perhaps," he amusedly grinned at her once she was done fixing his hair.
When his eyes languidly perused her form, she looked down to see what had his attention. Her face flushed crimson when she spotted her bra exposed when it shouldn't be. She hastily re-buttoned her shirt as she shot him a half glare. I didn't even realize he unbuttoned it! He was getting stealthier and stealthier with each encounter.
"We'll need to discuss boundaries!"
"We're a married couple," he easily replied, as if that was the only explanation needed.
She covered her face as he chuckled. By the way she didn't retort to that, he took it she knew there wasn't much else to be done about this. After all the drama they've been going through, they needed some time together.
Though, maybe the location had been too much…
When Leon got to the stage, he assumed it was to do a scene.
What he found was Jerry and Kalos off to the side.
"I've been digging deeper in what I can about Marie," Jerry said in a low voice so others outside of their group couldn't hear, "and it seems ok until this part." He opened the manila folder and read what he had. "According to her id, she's a US citizen, but when I looked into the records of her home city, there was nothing to be found that connected her to it. The authorities over there couldn't find one document about her."
"So it's forged," Leon surmised.
"Looks like it," Jerry sighed, "and a pretty decent one at that."
Leon hmmed as he crossed his arms. "I doubt a young teenager could come up with something like that on her own. She must have a partner."
"But who?" Jerry asked, closing the folder. "The others say she pretty much kept to herself. No one came to visit her during her stay here."
"There has to be something we're missing," Leon pushed, "some hidden form of communication or contact that will give us these answers."
"Speaking of missing," Kalos stated with no expression, "we can't find Marie."
Leon sharply turned to the owner of the stage.
"She gave Ken and May the slip in the cafeteria. Anna checked her dorm. It's empty of her things. She must have been planning to leave for some time now."
"In the meantime," Jerry positively added in, "a friend of mine's looking at the stamps. We should be able to get some kind of a fingerprint from the combined images."
They all knew that they needed concrete evidence that Marie was behind this. If they could get her fingerprint, it would be a great deal easier for them to arrest her. Leon's frown deepened for a moment. I cannot let her go free. She almost cost his wife her career.
"That is good news. But keep looking for Marie," Leon murmured and then walked over to the stage.
His scene with Rosetta was up.
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