A/N: Hello hello.. Another chapter for you lovely, beautiful people. Bought to you by my giddy mood.. It's one in the morning and I just got home from going to a WWE event.. screamed, laughed.. yes, I even swore. I bought over priced t-shirts! I sat behind a rude child, eight years old at the most, who kept proclaiming that one man was another's bitch.. it was wonderful.

Uh, yes.. anyway! The song for this chapter is called "Push and Pull" by Nikka Costa. Enjoy!

sparkly green.

Vince pushed himself further into the corner, mindless to the pain flaring throughout his arm, fingers twitching violently against his stomach. With his knees tucked up underneath his chin, his thighs pushed against the braced arm, applying more pressure to the already throbbing limb. His shoulder jarred against the hard wall with each desperate push toward the corner. The hard skeletal outer of the brace twisted ever so slightly over his elbow, the straps not tight enough, and dug into the tender flesh below, tearing at the already delicate skin. Vince started to wheeze when he could feel a wetness slicking down his forearm.
The tiled floor felt cool beneath him as opposed to the higher temperature of his body. He was sweating bullets and his head was pounding like a drum, literally blackening his vision. From somewhere above him, he could make out some kind of muffled sound, whether it be people walking into the room or a door being opened somewhere outside he couldn't be sure.

"Oh my god… Dude, are you ok?" Someone asked. Someone unfamiliar. Vince howled as he felt a hand touch his arm and swung blindly at whoever it was that touched him. He heard scuffling, then the same voice that had spoken to him said something jumbled to someone else and everything went black.

Tala held the phone away from her ear, grimacing at the loud screeching coming down the line. She looked at the display. Leon? What the hell is Leon doing calling me all- Vince!

"Le.. Calm down, sweetie. Calm down." She bit her lip, pacing in the small hospital garden. "What's the matter with Vince?" she was shaking. The Leon she had come to know was close to unshakeable, especially when it came to his big brother. This Leon though, this one was scaring her.

"He's.. and he.. On the floor.. Can't wake him up," his voice changed from panicked to angry, "GET THE FUCK OUT!" A door slammed on the other end and Tala could feel herself pale.

"… Leon? Where are you?" She was already running back inside, heading for the staff room.

"We're at the diner on.. Shit.. Uh, it's the one across from that hair place. Fuck! It's got ugly yellow tables and chairs.."

She nodded to herself. Even though he was rather vague, she knew where he was talking about. In fact she knew it well. It was right around the corner from her apartment block. "I know the place, sweetie. Just try to stay calm and keep an eye on v, ok? I'll be there in five."

His heavy sigh made her hurry even more. "Tala?"

"Yeah, Le?"

"… He's bleeding."

When she arrived, she was met out the front by a tallish Hispanic man, bald with a goatee. He had a serious expression on his face.

"Are you the nurse?" he asked hopefully as she approached. His hands had a thin smearing of blood on them.

Nodding, she followed him inside. There were a few people milling about, most having left after all the commotion. When she couldn't see Leon nor Vince anywhere, she turned to baldy. "Where is he?"

"He went to the bathroom for a minute, and some kid came running out saying he was having a fit or something," he pushed her toward the men's room, nervous. "Le's a mess in there."

"I'd expect no less," she took one look at the door and then back to baldy. "I'm going to need you to get Leon out of there. He'll just get in the way. Carry him if you need to."

Eyes wide, baldy followed her. "Yes, Ma'am."

Whatever Tala expected to see when she entered the men's bathroom of 'Julie's', what she was greeted with wasn't it.

Leon was kneeling beside an unconscious Vince, rocking slightly as he timidly pushed the hair out of Vince's closed eyes with one hand, and held a spot just below the inside of Vince's elbow with the other. The accursed brace lay off to the side, Vince's arm free. His face was wet from tears, much of which Tala had the feeling he shed while he was screaming at her on the phone.

"Le? You're going to have to move." She told him firmly, unable to get to Vince, wedged in the corner as he was, with Leon in the way. She motioned to baldy and before Leon could even protest he found himself being dragged towards the doorway. Not to be outdone, he kicked and fought the whole way, cussing like a sailor his first day of leave after drinking the town dry.

No sooner had the door swung shut did Vince's eyes start to flicker, seconds later fluttering open.

"You gotta stop scaring us like this, big guy." She cooed, wiping over his face with some damp paper towel. "What happened?" Mindful of the constant pain he felt, she dabbed at the small cut on his arm gently. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't prevent any further pain and he flinched away from her.

Confused, Vince tried to sit up, finding he lacked the energy to do so. Resigned to his position, he let himself ease back onto the floor. "Panic attack," he murmured, ashamed. "I thought if I came in here it might go away. Didn't want to embarrass Le or Hector."

So baldy has a name. "You should have told Leon what was happening instead of hiding it from him." She looked up at him briefly, carefully taping the tiny wound together. "Didn't help, did it."

His exhausted eyes stared up at her. ".. No." He tried to sit up again, successful this time due to Tala's surprisingly strong arm curled around his back. "Why am I so tired?"

"It's the adrenalin. It burns up all the sugar in your blood stream and usually leaves you tired with a nasty headache." she explained, wiping his face again. "It's normal to feel drained after a bad attack."

"… Is.. Is Le mad at me?" he asked boyishly, afraid to meet her eyes.

"Oh, baby," she hugged him gently, "Of course he's not! Now Hector, I think you put the fear of god into him." She teased kindly, sitting back on her heels. "You ready to face them?" Her fingers stroked his neck just above his collar, dipping into his thick hair every now and then. She pretended not to notice him leaning into the caress.
"Wanna sit here.. Just for a while." He patted the cold tile beside him, his head tipped back against the wall. Once Tala was comfortable, or as comfortable as she would get, he leant into her side much like he had all the other times she had comforted him, his head resting in the crook of her neck.

"I'm sorry." He apologised after a while.
Tala smiled against his hair. "Not your fault, Vince. Not your fault."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

Leon shook his head, weary, and leant down to hug Tala. "I have to get back to Letty. Let her know what's going on." He squeezed her tightly, grateful. "Thankyou for coming so soon. I kinda lost it." He admitted, embarrassed. If she hadn't have turned up, he wasn't sure what he would have done. I guess I'm not as collected as I thought I was, he thought quietly, a little more than disappointed in himself. What if Tala hadn't answered her cell? He wasn't exactly the most stable person at present, so who knew what could have happened. Sure Vince had only passed out for a fairly short amount of time, but what if things had been serious? As if they weren't serious enough…

"It's nothing Leon." She pulled back, looking over her shoulder toward the couch, "I'll give one of you a call when he wants to come home."

Leon felt that lingering confusion bubble back up. "I don't understand why he doesn't want to come home.." he backed up into the hall at Tala's urging, looking down at her.

"He thinks he's embarrassed you." She said softly.

"Embarrassed me – What? Why the hell would he think that!"

Her hand waved at him, quieting him. "Le, you know he's very self conscious at the moment," she explained easily, "I guess he just thinks that if he's embarrassed that you must be too... Or something like that." Her nose creased in confusion.

"That's fucking ridiculous and you know it!"

Her expressive eyes rolled at him, dark with carefully concealed worry. "Of course I do. It'll pass, Le. Just give it time."

Resigned, Leon nodded, trying to understand. "Alright, then. I'll talk to you tomorrow or something." He leant down to peck her cheek, "Take care of him."

Her bright, infectious smile beamed back at him. "Always. Now shoo.. Letty's waiting for you."

"Oh god," he chuckled, "Don't you start too. It's bad enough with Vince teasing me."

"He teases Letty too, you know." She said conspiringly. Leon smirked.

"Oh, I knew about that. Hell, I tease her too."

Tala laughed lightly. "Well then, I suppose it's about time you stopped teasing her and actually did something about it then, isn't it? I mean after all, Vince will probably end up crashing here and all…" she trailed off suggestively, her expression one of innocence.

Leon gasped, " Why Tala! If I knew you were planning on taking advantage of V," he winked, backing off, "I would've stayed too."

She laughed loudly. One of those full bodied laughs that warmed you completely. "Go, Leon! Go to your Nubian princess!"

"Hey.. How'd you know about that dream?"
"Go away!" She laughed, stepping back inside. "I have an Orello to corrupt.. I mean care for!"

"Girl, he's more likely to corrupt you."
She grinned mysteriously, already pushing the door shut. "You think?"

Letty jerked out of her seat, already on her feet when she heard the metallic scrape of car keys on the table in the living room. When she reached him, Leon was toeing off his boots, one hand pressed to the wall for support. He was moving slowly, a sure sign of fatigue.
"Le?"

He looked up at her, his face drawn and pale. "Hey," he pushed his shoes out of the way with his foot. "Vince is fine."

Her breath whooshed out of her lungs heavily. "Where is he?" She asked, looking toward the front door. Leon moved toward her, shuffling.
"He's staying with Tala," he said with a raised brow, "You know, I think there's something going on there."

Letty rolled her eyes, leaning back to look at him as his arms curled around her waist. "No shit, Le. If you couldn't see that coming, you're blinder than I thought." She teased affectionately.

Leon pressed his tongue against his teeth, nodding to himself. "I'm not as blind as you think, Let." He brushed her hair back over her shoulder and away from her face, the backs of his knuckles dragging across her jaw. "I see a lot of interesting things."

Her eyes widened slightly as his touch turned into a caress, fingertips tracing from the full swell of her bottom lip to the sharp incline of her cheekbone, then up and over her brow.

He leaned in a little closer, "Let me know if I've got the wrong idea here, Leticia." His mouth was mere inches from hers, hovering just close enough for her to feel the warm puff of his breath on her upper lip. His mouth curved into a sexy little smirk when she moved closer.

"You're sure?" He asked, mouth brushing over hers, just barely. "You're sure it's me you want?"

"For fucks sake, Leon! Just kiss me already." She snapped and twisted her fists into his shirt, tugging him closer and finally closing that tiny gap between them. Only this time, she wasn't dreaming.