AN: Thanks for all the reviews!!! Yes the note was meant for Piper because they knew she would be breaking into the house.
Piper shut the door to Leo's apartment with shaky hands. She was scared in a way, but she was a cop and trained to put herself in a different state of mind. After stopping her hands she realized she was alone in the dark.
"Leo!?" she called out. "Leo!?"
After no response, she walked back to his bedroom where she saw a form on the bed.
"Leo?" she whispered, kicking her shoes off and climbing into bed next to him. "Leo?" she leaned close to his face. "Leo—"
"BOO!!"
"AAAH!!" Piper jumped away with a jolt, and ended up on the floor. Leo crawled over to the edge of the bed, peering down at her.
"Jeez," he muttered, "I didn't mean to give you a cardiac." He reached his hand down to pull her up beside him, immediately pulling her into his arms. "What's the matter?" he asked, stroking her hair. She loved him when he was like this, gentle and caring…He was usually like that after sex, having been humbled and gratified. But now he just was.
"I got this note." She said, turning her nerves from "on edge" to "steel". She dug through her bag and handed him the note. She watched his jaw tighten angrily and felt his back stiffen.
"Who the fuck gave this to you?" Leo asked, voice so hate-driven and calm that Piper flinched.
"I found it wrapped up in some phone bills." Piper said, rubbing her hands across his back and abdomen.
"I'll bet somebody was motherfucking watching you." He said, thoroughly disgusted, He handed her the note, threw his shirt into the corner and rolled over in pensiveness.
Piper's eyes flashed nervously. "Leo, please just forget about this—"
"Fuck no!" He snapped, "Somebody's out to get you. I'm not letting them get you."
"Leo—"
"You're not changing my mind."
Piper was at her wit's end. "Leo, please—"
"NO!!" Leo roared.
Piper closed her eyes against the noise. He'd never yelled at her like that before.
"And don't beg," he continued, rolling over to look at her, "it's degrading and not too becoming."
Piper was at a loss. "Let's just sleep, okay?"
Leo nodded. They fell into an agitated slumber.
-----
Piper had again decided to join Manda for lunch. They were at the same restaurant but Shelly had decided to join them. The redhead was in much higher spirits, laughing jovially along with Piper and Manda. It was warming up and they'd all abandoned light jackets for tank tops.
It was when the food arrived that Piper noticed; faint, incredibly faint, scars on Shelly's arms.
"Hey Shel, what happened?"
Shelly looked up inquisitively. "What are you talking about?"
"Your arms…" Piper said, not bothering to finish the sentence.
Shelly flushed bright red and mumbled an "excuse me" before running off to the bathroom. Piper knitted her eyebrows at Manda who shrugged. For once she didn't have all the answers. Piper undid her eyebrows but considered the circumstances…They looked like marks of an attack, but from the places, it looked like there had been a struggle. Rape? Assault? Random mugging?
Piper rubbed her eyes wearily. All the pieces whirled in front of her, behind her, below and above. She just couldn't put them together. Maybe she was missing something else. Maybe she was over analyzing too many parts. What if only parts of it mattered? What if Manda was doing it?
She seemed to know everything…Piper glanced across the table at the chattering girl who was brandishing a fork. She didn't seem like that, there was no vibe. That was probably another shard in the glass ceiling of the police force, Piper thought sullenly.
She was too intuitive, relied on her gut and woman's intuition. Just because she didn't have dick she'd been held down all this time. Well, she'd prove everybody wrong when she blew this case wide open.
-----
"I told you this place needed a woman's touch."
Leo chuckled. "You make it sound like we're moving in together."
Piper shrugged and looked around Leo's kitchen. There were just pots, pans and a good cleaning, but had been a huge improvement.
"Next thing I know you'll have me hanging doilies on the windows and some fucking gaudy 'Home, Sweet Home' plaque on the wall."
Piper rolled her eyes but then gasped. "Oh! You know what I forgot?"
Leo put a hand to his heart in faux relief. "My God, I thought there was something really wrong! Like…you forgot to take 'The Pill'."
Piper slapped his arm playfully. "No, silverware. I just realized we've been eating home-cooked meals off of plastic."
"Well, I've got some silverware up in the top of my closet." He admitted.
Piper cocked an eyebrow.
"Moms, you know…"
She smiled knowingly. "Right. You want me to get it?"
Leo nodded. "If you would. It's to the right." Piper nodded and walked to his bedroom. After a few minutes of searching, she located the box of silverware. She pulled it down, knocking various other items to the ground in the process.
"Crap." She murmured, kneeling down to pick them up. Her hands brushed across a video tape with a series of numbers across the label. Something told her to put it in the VCR.
10 minutes later, Leo looked up from the TV show he'd become wrapped up in. Where was Piper? Damn, he'd totally spaced in the intimacy of them putting his kitchen together. Shit, what if she found the…
Leo quickly scrambled up from his seat and rushed to his bedroom. Upon arriving in the doorway, he saw Piper sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on her white clad knees, tears streaming down her face. She quickly looked up at him.
"Leo what is this? Please tell me you didn't know this was here. Please tell me it was planted."
Leo unwilling turned his attention to screen. The sight hit him in headrush.
Fuck.
AN: So, don't you wanna know what's on the tape? Well, you must review or you'll never know…BTW, I want to know what you think is going to happen at the end. I want you to tell me in every review if you feel like it.