A/N: Big thankyou to the following for their reviews: The lovely Ms Fi, betty-boo, leslienicolespeaks, nascargirl05, ..., Jet and dogreign - thankyou to all of you! And to everyone who read but didn't review - thankyou too. At least it's being read.

Ruby shook her head as she watched Leon walk away and down between the house and the garage toward the back yard, his hands pressed to the sides of his head. She sighed, knowing – just knowing – he was going to be a pain in the royal proverbial later.

She turned back to the quiet couple, looking up at Vince, and down at Tala. She fought a wave of emotions now she was being met face to face with the woman who had offered her so much guidance and support and a small, wary smile lifted her lips. Her ringed fingers smoothed the front of her skirt and she glanced across to make sure Cade was still behaving for Angie, then back at Vince and Tala.

"Well," she started with a sigh, "-I suppose I should introduce you to Angie."

Tala gave her an encouraging smile. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ruby. Leon rambled all about you."

Ruby smiled, remembering Leon's drunken rambling. "He's told me a lot about you two as well believe it or not," she looked up at Vince, nervous. "Um, hello."

Vince grunted a hello when Tala's hand slapped his stomach and he rubbed at the tender spot.

"Baby why don't you go after Leon – I know you wanted to talk to him." Tala urged him, waving him off in the direction that Leon went.

Ruby nodded at his wary gesture toward the back yard. "He usually just sits on the back deck – can't miss it."

"Thanks." Vince muttered, then lumbered off in the direction of the pathway between the two buildings. Once his broad back disappeared into the shadows Tala slipped her arm around Ruby and urged her to sit on the grass with her.

"Sit, sweetie, sit." She tugged her down beside her and tucked her hair behind her ears, then took Ruby's hands in hers. She looked around to make sure nobody was near enough to hear, then looked at Ruby. The younger woman had tears in her eyes, but thankfully she didn't look completely broken.

"How are you doing?"

Ruby looked away, watching Cade and Rory playing in the middle of the front yard, Angie watching them.

"He still doesn't know," she started, "- he has no idea." Ruby smiled softly. "He just thought I wasn't feeling well."

Tala opened her mouth to speak when she stopped and looked over Ruby's shoulder, the younger woman turning to look.

Vince was striding toward them, his features set in a scowl, his walk purposeful.

"The little bastard lied to us – he's had well over his daily limit of caffeine. He's gunna be sick and he wont let me near him."

Ruby squinted up at Vince then shook her head. "Where is he?"

He gave her a funny look. "On the deck." He staggered backward as Ruby darted by him and after shooting Tala a quick look, he started after the colourful red head.

Ruby's feet slapped quietly against the laminated pine decking as she climbed the steps slowly, hesitantly. She wasn't completely silent in her approach though, she never was. Her jewellery gave her away more often than not with it's jingling and clinking.

"Le?"

He was sitting with his head on his knees, taking slow, deep breaths with his hands pressed to his temples. His cigarettes lay on the deck nearby, forgotten and he was trembling.

"Go away!" he snapped, not looking up. Ruby ignored him and crept closer, her anklets tinkling softly. Leon's head lifted from his knees slightly, listening and his hand stretched out to the side, reaching toward her.

She sighed and lowered herself to the deck beside him, gathering him against her as he shook.

"How many did you have, Leon?" she asked him after a moment. She'd noticed in the past how he would react if he had more than a certain amount of coffee in one day – nausea, headaches, muscle cramps, not to mention he was a complete prick. She'd suspected he was caffeine sensitive but until now she wasn't sure of it. Vince's angry muttering had cleared that up for her. It must have been where Cade got his aversion to chocolate from.

His face was buried in her neck and she could feel his shoulders tensing and relaxing under her hands.

"A few too many," he admitted, "- it was a no smoking area."

Ruby snorted, trying not to laugh at his poor reasoning. "So you overdosed on caffeine instead – Leon nicotine calms you – caffeine does not."

He nodded, mumbling an agreement against her shoulder.

Ruby stroked his hair, rocking him gently. "Come on, precious – we'll get you some water, you can throw up a little then I'll put you to bed."

Leon moaned miserably, refusing to move and Ruby glanced over to where Vince and Tala were standing with twin looks of shock on their faces. She absently smoothed her hand across the back of Leon's neck and frowned at the clammy skin.

"Vince could you help me get him inside?"

Vince had taken no more than two steps and Leon was muttering, shaking his head.

"I can get up myself!"

Ruby clipped him across the back of the head, regardless of his headache. "Then stop acting like a child!" she snapped back, glaring at him. "Do you want to lay out here all night and die quietly on your own?"

Leon sagged against her. "… No." he mumbled, starting to sit up.

She released him and stood up, her skirt swaying across the top of her feet. "Then get up." She told him firmly. "I'm not putting up with your shit again, Leon. We've been there before and it was more trouble than it was worth. Now I am more than happy to take care of you, but you have to cooperate with me or I will leave you here."

He blinked up at her slowly, then held his hands out, silently asking for help. Ruby sighed and took his hands, looking at him with concern when she felt just how much he was shaking.

"Leon!"

"Three double espressos and five tall blacks," he murmured, "I yelled at an old lady."

She shook her head and smirked, trying not to laugh. "Did you say anything stupid?"

He flushed slightly, nodding. "The elderly don't appreciate comments about sex."

Ruby froze on the spot, her hand on the door handle. "You didn't.." she rolled her eyes, "Shit, Le – that's as good as Cade calling Marissa a whore."

"Well she fuckin is – greets the worlds male population with legs wide open." He stopped and shuddered. "Ew – visual."

Rolling her eyes, Ruby urged Leon inside. "God you are sick – get in there." She turned back to Vince and Tala once he was inside, her expression apologetic.

"I'm so sorry for all this."

Vince grunted. "It's Leon – we're used to it by now." They followed Ruby inside to the kitchen to where Angie was now standing and fussing over Leon, while the two kids sat at the table and watched.

"Angie," Ruby called, "This is Vince and Tala. Vince and Tala this is Angie."

Tala gave her a polite smile and a small wave. Vince merely stood there and looked at her for a moment, watching Leon out of the corner of his eye. The younger of the two disappeared down the hall and Vince made his way around the bench to stand in front of Angie, then he bent and scooped her up in a hug.

"Thankyou for everything you've done for him, Ma'am." He said into her hair. Angie looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She hadn't been anticipating that at all. She wasn't expecting anything of Leon's family.

She stammered out her reply. "Y- you're welcome." Her hands rested against his shoulders, her feet hanging off the ground. "Um, sweetie, could you put me down?"

Vince looked down. "Oh!" he set her on her feet and took a step back, "Sorry."

Tala laughed, sitting at the table beside Rory. "He does that a lot," she said affectionately, "- he tends to forget he's much bigger than us."

Angie waved the explanation off. "It's refreshing to see an affectionate man," she looked out toward the den where Leon had disappeared, "- we don't see them often here. Not unless Ruby's around."

Vince looked back around and noticed Ruby had gone missing too, then looked back at Angie. "Where'd she go?"

"She's probably seeing to Leon – those two are attached at the hip."

Vince frowned. "Is that the only place?" he asked dryly. Tala shrieked his name and Angie's hand flew to her mouth to smother her laughter. "It's a valid question! It's not like he's going to tell us!"

Angie pat him on the arm and went about fixing them something to drink.

"I'm not quite sure what it is between them at the moment, but she's good for him. You've no cause to be concerned, Vince."

The big man frowned again, going to sit down. "I hope you're right." Tala's hand slipped into his as he sat beside her and she leant her head to his shoulder.

"She wont hurt him, V. I know she wont."

Vince looked down at Tala, his eyes betraying his calm façade. "If you're sure," he kissed her forehead, " – then I'll take your word for it." He looked off in the direction Leon had gone. "I'm still kicking his ass though."

Tala smirked. "How did I know you'd say that?" She gave Angie a warm thankyou as she set their drinks down in front of them, letting go of Vince's hand.

Vince looked at Angie, still curious about his brothers well being. "How has he been? He wont talk to us any more."

Angie smiled softly. "He's been as well as can be expected. The only really rough patch he had was just before Cade's birthday," she sent the kids out into the yard to play, "- poor boy was a mess. Ruby wasn't talking to him, he was stressed and all this crap with Marissa…" she rolled her eyes, "I'm surprised he managed to hang in there."

"Marissa?" Vince muttered, "Who's she?"

The older woman sighed and shook her head. "Marissa is one of my daughter's friends, and I use that term loosely. She's fifteen years old and has her mind set on bedding your brother." Angie rubbed her forehead.

"Fifteen? She told him she was sixteen." Ruby said as she came back into the kitchen to get Leon some water. "Wait until he hears that – he's almost knocked her down once already."

Tala blinked in shock. "Leon almost hit a woman?"

Ruby nodded solemnly. "He was very angry."

"Well thank goodness you were here otherwise he'd be in jail at the moment." Angie told her, "Now off you go – go take care of the grumpy one."

Vince watched her flounce from the kitchen and shook his head. "You better be right, firefly.."