A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed that last chapter.. I really wasn't too sure of the smurf part. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who over analyses the procreational habits of the little blue people.

Song for the chapter.. 'Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart' by HIM.

Letty hugged the cushion closer to her chest, serenely watching Leon at the other end of the couch. His fingers were carefully holding one of her toes, his face the picture of concentration as he applied a coat of candy pink nail polish to her toenails. He was chattering away at the same time, used to talking to someone as he worked. On more than one occasion, back when the team still existed and everyone had full use of all limbs, she often found herself sitting on an old milk crate listening to him jabber on as he airbrushed some of the most insane artwork she had ever seen onto customer cars. He never seemed to be concentrating, just going about his job almost recklessly, but upon closer inspection you could see that glimmer of determined concentration in his emerald eyes. He was the kind of person who always drew in pen, confident they wouldn't make a mistake.

Watching him, Letty felt her heart swell at the knowledge that he was all hers. To think that he was under her nose the whole time and she had never seen him for who he was. Leon had always just been there. His long fingers tightly capped the nail polish, setting it down on the coffee table.

"All done." He stated proudly, blowing on the wet varnish.

Letty held her feet up in the air, twiddling her toes. Satisfied that he'd done a good job, she lowered them again onto his lap. The television hummed quietly in the background.

"Le?" she asked after a long silence, watching him absently stroke her calf as he watched the TV. He turned to her, expression questioning. His fingers were still skimming along the smooth skin of her leg.

"Yesum?"

"When you kiss me.." he started to grin, "-on the inside of the wrist…" the grin faded back into his expression of indifference. His hand stopped moving, gripping her ankle loosely.

"What about it?" he asked, uncomfortable. He looked away from her face as she sat up and shimmied closer.

"Why do you do that? Not the kissing part, that I enjoy," that got a weak smile from him, "-but why the inside of the wrist? I've noticed V does it too."

Leon sighed deeply, straight from his gut. He suddenly looked older, more tired. "Why do I have to explain, Let? Why can't you just take it for what it is?" His hand ran over his face roughly.

"What is it, Leon?"

He looked her dead in the eye. "It's a kiss, Letty." He stood up, walking toward the kitchen.

"Le! Please.." she pleaded, wanting to follow him but knowing that if he wanted to be alone his mood would only turn foul. His steps faltered slightly, slowing to a stop.

"Mama always told us that we were her life. As long as she could feel our heartbeat when she kissed us she could be sure we weren't just a dream."

Letty swallowed the lump in her throat. "She did the same thing?" She asked, noticing the sad slump in his posture.

"Yeah," he answered quietly, starting out of the room. "I couldn't handle you being just a dream, Let."

The back door banged shut behind him.

She had been sitting in stunned silence, dewy eyed, for almost half an hour when she heard the scrape of the front door opening, seconds later revealing a rather damp, but happy looking Vince. He almost glowed as he bounded over to her.

"Hi, Let!" He pressed a kiss to her cheek and sat beside her on the edge of the seat. "I wanna show you something." He was rooting around in his pocket, a wide, beaming smile brightening his features when he produced a navy velvet jewellery box.

Letty could have sworn she felt her heart stop beating for a moment, then restart when she realised the box was too big to be a ring of any kind. She looked up at him, curious. As soon as she did she knew meeting his eyes was a mistake.

His features lost some of their exuberance. The velvet box was forgotten, resting on his thigh. "What's wrong? Why.. Tears.." he fumbled to say something, clumsily brushing the dampness from her cheeks. She giggled at his obvious concern, wiping her eyes. "It's nothing, boo. Now you show me what you were going to."

He studied her for a moment, then handed her the box. His cheeks were slightly pink. "I uh, can't open it one handed." He explained self consciously, scratching at his eyebrow. His knee was bouncing a million miles a minute as he watched her open it.

Letty stared upon the necklace in awe. It was a white gold box chain, polished to the point that it was winking at her in the muted lighting of the living room. Hanging from the centre was a dainty white gold firefly charm, no bigger than the base circumference of a shot glass, tiny crystal chips running along the length of its wings.

"My god, Vince! Is this for Tala?" She assumed right, barely able to resist from cooing to herself at his enthused nod. Vince had never invested a decent amount of money in a woman before. "Why a firefly?" she asked curiously. The beautiful trinket sparkled up at her.

"She's my firefly." He said simply, shrugging. There wasn't a hint of embarrassment on his face at all.

Letty grinned, running a finger over the delicate charm. "Explain." She ordered gently. This time, he did look a little embarrassed.

"Well.. You know how fireflies come out when it starts getting dark and make everything look pretty?" At her nod, he continued. "Well, Tala's my firefly. She makes the darkness easier to bear."

She almost dropped the box when she heard his explanation, her fingers fumbling to catch it before it hit the floor. That had to be the single most romantic thing ever uttered under this roof.. And it was Vince who said it. She turned to him.

"Does she know this?"

He nodded, accepting the jewellery box back. "She cried." He admitted quietly. "I didn't mean to make her cry."

Letty threw her arms around his neck, laughing. "Boo, you know she didn't cry 'cause she was upset."

He nodded, smiling shyly. "I know." His face turned darker again. "Speaking of crying, are you sure you're alright? Le didn't hurt you? You didn't get fired did you?"

Patting his chest, Letty stood up. "Yes I am, no he didn't and no I did not." She wiped at her face, "Why don't you go hide that somewhere and then come help me with dinner?"

He didn't move, glacial blue eyes boring a hole into her. "You're sure?"

"Yes! Le just sprung something on me that I wasn't expecting is all.," she waved him off, "Hurry up, V."

He rose to his feet, smiling again. "A'right.. Be right back." And he disappeared into the hall.

Letty watched him go, slowly realising that there was much more to Leon and Vince than anyone had ever given them credit for.

Leon pushed at the flap of torn skin over his knuckle, eyes riveted on the blood that oozed from the grease coated wound. It was the same finger he always seemed to be hurting, whether it be from jamming it in a door, burning it, scraping it while he was beneath the hood of a car.. Always the same finger. He cussed to himself, shaking his hand.

A light knock on the garage door, so quiet he would have missed it if he was doing something, revealed a tired Tala. "Hey, Le." She sighed, leaning against the door jam.

He gave her a weak smile. "Hi, shorty." He reached for a dirty rag and started cleaning the blood away. "I'm not sure if Vince is home yet… Been out here a while." He winced at the feel of something gritty pushing into the tiny wound. "Fucker.." he swore quietly, squeezing at the knuckle.

"You alright?" She asked. He could tell she was concerned but she wasn't about to butt in where she wasn't welcome to. He respected that about her. If he said he was fine, she would take his word for it and leave him to it, unlike Mia. Mia would force him into the bathroom and attack him with five different kinds of antiseptic creams and gels, try to tell him he needed stitches and make a big deal out of nothing.

"I think I got some metal shavings in it," he mumbled, turning his hand in the light trying to see. "Just rinse it out?"

Tala nodded. She was still in her scrubs and looked a fright. Leon smirked. Vince would be all over her to get some rest as soon as she stepped in that door.

"Yeah," she answered lazily, taking a look, "It's nothing dire. Just throw a bandaid on it with some drawing ointment or something if you're concerned."

"Hey, Tala?" He called after her, watching her leave the garage. She turned to him, "I'm sorry."

Confusion creased her brow. "What for?"

"For grabbing you that time in the hospital.. I had no right. I was just so pissed about everything that was going on.. I didn't even know he was there for the first week."

She turned back into the garage and pulled herself up onto the bench. "You didn't know he was in the hospital?" She asked, a sceptical look on her face. "You're his brother…"

Leon leaned back against the side of the Skyline, legs crossed at the ankle. "The team didn't know that." He explained, still picking at the bloody knuckle, "Jesse knew, but the was it. Let and I thought Jesse was with Vince, keeping him company." He swallowed the burning sensation starting to build up in his throat. "Dom or Mia neglected to inform us that Jesse had been murdered the day we left."

"They what! What kind of friends are they?" She looked horrified.

Leon scowled. "They're not any more. We spent so many years trying to make Dom happy and keep him that way. Vince morso than me," he slid to the floor, elbows resting on raised knees. "V and Dom were best friends." He laughed humourlessly, looking up at her perched on the bench. "If Dom had asked him to, Vince would have gone to the end of the earth and thrown himself off. So fucking loyal to someone who didn't give a shit about him."

Tala's face softened at the mention of Vince and Leon knew that his brother had finally picked the right one. "Sounds like the big guy."

He nodded, picking at the frayed rip over the knee of his jeans. "That is Vince. Loyal. The big bastard's like a fucking dog sometimes I swear."

"Hey now," she laughed, "Don't you call my man a dog."

Leon grinned. "Newsflash, Tala. All men are dogs." He told her, "Some are just trained better." He paused, "He knew shit was goin on. Somethin wasn't right."

"Vince?"

"Yeah. Vince. When Brian came sniffin' around Mia, he knew. Dom didn't believe him though." He met Tala's eyes, "Dominic believed Brian over Vince. He had known Brian for a few weeks… Vince since they were eight or nine. V never said nothin, but you could tell it stung."

Tala's eyes had turned that dark, chocolaty brown they went when she was concerned or angry. "Dominic sounds like a self centred prick." She spat.

"I guess he is," Leon uttered, "We spent so long doing his bidding.. Vince got arrested for him, Jesse died in the end, Let gave up everything to be with him.." the last sounded like it had to be forced out of him.

"What did you give up?"

Leon looked away. "I've loved Letty for six years... What do you think I gave up for the sake of Dom's team?"