Chapter 11 - The Fight

Piper stepped into the garage and stood with her head cocked to one side, hands on her hips. A small smile was on her face as she looked at her husband, who had beer, a tank of acetylene with a hose, a lighter, and balloons, not to mention coffee cans and lighter fluid. Jake and Ron were also in the garage, listening to Leo speak. He was standing in the middle of the floor, everything else pushed aside.

"Okay, what I'm thinking we could do is mix the acetylene with the propane and leave a little oxygen in. Then—"

"What are you boys doing?"

The brothers looked up. "We're blowing up the garage," Jake answered simply.

"No, we're not going to blow up the garage," Leo said. "The balloon is too small," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Didn't you guys hear about the man who filled a punching bag balloon with acetylene in his garage?"

The three men looked at each other, shrugged, and looked back at Piper.

"He put it in his car to take it to a party, the static electricity set it off, and the walls of his garage caved in from the explosion."

"We don't have any punching bag balloons, though," Ron said.

"Yeah, they wouldn't let me get any," Leo said.

"Well, that's probably for the best. I happen to like this garage," Piper replied. "So only half-full balloons, okay?"

The brothers sighed in unison and said together, "Whatever, Mom."

Piper smiled. Leo was as close to his brothers as she was to her sisters. "Just be careful, and don't upset the neighbors too much, okay?"

"I don't like our neighbors, anyway."

Piper walked past Leo and to the back of the garage. The door was up and the alley was dark and empty. That was good. The Wyatt brothers had interesting habits and curiosities with bombs. She knew they would experiment and blow the balloons up too much, then get drunk and blast music from the garage. Then they would come in and share their bomb stories with her. Then Ron would call Marie, who would pick him and Jake up and take them home.

Piper's back was to the brothers, and Leo gave them a devious smile. He stepped closer to his wife, the handle of the acetylene hose in one hand, a lighter in the other. He took another step. "So…Only things like…this?" He held the lighter flame in front of the hose and turned the nozzle. A flame shot out of the hose.

Piper heard the whoosh of the flame and saw it in the corner of her eye. She was scared by it enough to scream and jump around to face Leo. She slapped his arm with a frown. "I'm going inside."

"Leave the fire to us, then," Leo suggested.

"Good idea." Piper kissed him once and started for the house.

"Don't worry, Piper! We've got friends in the fire department!" Ron called.

"And if someone calls the cops—Hey! We're already here!" Leo added.

Piper didn't even turn around. She just smiled and shook her head as she went in the back door to the house. A minute later, she heard a boom and three men yell in triumph. Yukon groaned as dogs do: he was trying to sleep.

"Shh, Yukon, go back to bed. The kids are just playing."

A week later, after Leo took well to being back to work—he really seemed to love being back—Piper went on a routine trip to the grocery store. Usually she dragged Leo along with her, mostly for her enjoyment more than his, but this time she was flying solo. With bags hanging from her hands and arms, she banged on the front door with her foot, begging Leo to hurry up and open the door. It was Saturday and he shouldn't have been at work…She kicked the door again.

Finally, Leo opened the door. He was on the phone. "Uh huh—Look, I gotta go. My wife just got back from the grocery store, and…Yeah. Okay, bye." Leo hung up the cordless house phone and tossed it onto the kitchen island so that he could grab some of the bags Piper had. "Damn, Piper. Got enough food here to feed a third world country. You do know it's just the two of us and Yukon, right? Or have you been hiding some people from me here?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Leo chuckled. "Nothing, never mind."

They carried the bags to the kitchen and set them on the counter. Leo handed Piper food that needed to be refrigerated and she put it away. She stopped suddenly, facing the open refrigerator, back to her husband.

"What is it?"

Piper sighed.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

She suddenly whipped around to face him. She stared at him for a few seconds, mouth open as if she were about to say something. She closed the refrigerator door and walked around the kitchen island and up to Leo. She stared up at him for a few seconds. She took his hand. "Follow me."

"Where?"

She smiled a bit. She led Leo into the living room and sat him down on the edge of the couch, taking a seat beside him. "I need to talk to you."

"Is everything okay?"

Piper smiled at Leo's worry. "Yes, everything is okay. I was just…thinking."

"About what?"

"About us…About what everyone thinks."

He cocked his head to one side, confused. "What do you mean? What everyone thinks?"

"About us…having…kids…"

Stunned, Leo remained silent.

Piper shrugged, feeling as confused as her husband was, and helpless to explain just how she was feeling. "I'm not sure…I was just thinking."

"Wait, who's been saying…" Leo trailed off.

"Everyone, Leo. Our friends and family have been dropping hints in everywhere for the past…Well, for a while. Kyle, Adam, Cortez, my sisters, your parents, your brothers…It's kind of making sense."

Leo didn't say anything.

"I just…I've always wanted kids. I've always thought it would be so fun. And we both have supporting families and we're not some new couple…I mean, seriously, how did we pull off almost eighteen years without any kids?"

"I'm…not sure…"

Piper almost laughed. "Don't tell me that you don't want to hold a baby? That you don't want to hear a child call you Daddy?"

Leo couldn't answer.

"I saw Ron's baby Lauren, and…It was magic, Leo. She was magic."

Piper quieted and waited for Leo to respond. He processed what she had just heard and tried to come up with something to say, taking both of her hands in his.

"Piper…I love you…I've always loved you…I've probably never said it, but hell, I've probably never actually thought it to myself, but I've always dreamed of having a family with you…We've just never talked about it or really…had the time for kids…I can't imagine how having a child would feel…I'm a new uncle and it still hasn't sunk in…"

Piper smiled a little. "You haven't seen Lauren yet."

He sighed. "I know. I will."

"We're just…running out of time, here, Leo. I was thinking the other day…If I had a baby when I was thirty-seven, when that child was thirteen, I would be fifty."

Leo nodded slowly.

"It's just…Something I've been thinking about…" Piper sighed.

He blinked. "I think you're right."

"What?" Piper looked up at Leo.

"You're right. I think we've both been thinking about it for years, but…we just haven't talked about it, or…even consciously thought about it. I mean, you have a point: eighteen years is a long time to go without having kids. I don't know how we did it."

"God has foreseen the consequences of a Wyatt-Halliwell child and prevented it in advance," Piper said darkly, a smile on her face.

Leo chuckled. He took Piper in his arms. "No…I don't know…But I think you're right…" he said.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." There was silence for a few seconds. "Okay, but babies don't just appear out of nowhere."

Piper smiled. "No…"

"So you…" He kissed the top of her head. "You throw out your birth control…stuff…tomorrow."

Piper giggled. She sat up and faced Leo. She stared into his eyes and kissed him, pushing him back onto the couch.

"She's beautiful, Marie."

"She is…" Marie beamed at her daughter's light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Lauren was wrapped in a pink blanket and was currently on close watch because of a low fever. "Do you want to hold her?" Marie asked.

"Of course." Marie handed Lauren to Leo. It had been a while since he'd held a baby, and he looked up at Piper in awe. She smiled at him. Since their talk the day before about having children of their own, Leo had been wanting to see his brother's new baby girl.

"Out of all the drama and traumatic things we go through each day on the job, leave it to my baby to knock Leo speechless," Ron said.

"Ron, she's so beautiful," Leo whispered. Lauren gurgled.

Piper stood beside Leo and put her arm around his shoulder. "You can't take her home, you know."

"Look at her…"

Piper laughed softly. "I see her."

"Listen, Leo…" Ron started. "Marie and I sort of had a question to ask you two." He didn't finish, but instead nudged his wife.

Marie smiled. "We were wondering…if anything were to happen to us…I mean, nothing will, we know, but just in case…You two just seem so stable, and you're family…We wanted to make you Lauren's godparents."

Piper looked at Leo, both smiling. "We'd be honored."

Leo looked up, slightly startled, when a small pile of papers landed on his desk in a manila folder. Adam was standing over him.

"Rounds," was all Adam said.

"Time to take the kid out?"

"He needs some fresh air."

Leo groaned. He stood up lazily, grabbing the manila folder marked Rounds: Wyatt, Leo in Amy's unmistakable handwriting. Adam left the office. Leo followed slowly, putting on his coat. He closed the office door behind him. As he headed for the precinct's exit, he shouted for Mike to follow.

"Kid, car!"

Mike rolled his eyes, but he followed anyway.

There wasn't much to do that night, so when they had finished patrolling, Leo radioed Adam at the station.

"Whatcha need, Wy?"

"Look, it's not a busy night at all. There's nothing to do."

"Hmm…All right, take the night off. I'll sign you guys out and send out a couple of guys in your places."

Leo was shocked, to say the least. "What?"

"You haven't gotten off this early in a long time. You deserve it. Go have a good night."

"Can do. Thanks, Adam."

Leo decided to take Mike to the restaurant Piper and her sisters owned. He hadn't been there in a while, since they had been spending weekends at Hell's Haven, and he was rarely off this early. It was only eight o'clock.

"You ever been here before?" Leo asked when he and Mike got there.

"Once or twice, yeah. I never knew your wife owned it."

"Yeah." They went inside, Leo first, and noticed that the place was sort of crowded. The typicals and the regulars were there, with a couple of men at the bar who rarely left. Families were the main table-takers, with many small children crowding the booths. Leo and Mike found Piper working the bar. Her sisters were off from working that day.

"Hi, boys. What're you doing here?"

"Adam let us off early, so I figured since I haven't been here in so long, we should stop by," Leo said, leaning over the bar for a quick kiss from his wife.

"I'm glad. Also glad to see the two of you together. Finally getting used to this partner business, eh, Leo?" Piper teased.

"Not really."

Piper smiled. "Hold on, I'll be right back." She turned and left for her office.

One of the bartenders approached them. "Why, Leo, what a surprise." She offered him a smile and briefly wiped the bar with a washcloth.

"Hey, Rachael."

"Who's your friend?" She nodded toward Mike.

"Not friend, partner. Rachael, this is Mike. Mike, get to know Rachael. She's my favorite single employee here."

Rachael laughed. "Can I get you boys something?"

"Just, uh, two beers."

"All right." She bent down and opened a small refrigerator, reemerging with two beer bottles. She handed them to Mike and Leo. "I'll put it on your tab," she said, and went back to work.

As if from nowhere, Victor swaggered up to them and sat to Leo's left at a bar stool. A glass of rum and coke was secure in his right hand. "Leo, haven't seen you here in a while."

"Hi, Victor."

The older man nodded. "So, at least you're here, and not out getting shot."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Leo asked through gritted teeth, fighting a sudden surge of anger.

Victor shook his head. "It doesn't mean anything…Never mind." He gestured in the air vaguely.

"Fine." Leo took a long pull of beer.

"You just go on and keep risking your life while my daughter waits at home for you. She worries and worries and worries all the time about you, and then when you come home okay, she feels better. Then the next day she worries and worries again. But you don't come home, do you? You get shot and go to the hospital and nearly die," Victor said, staring into the empty space before him as he spoke.

Calmly, Leo answered, "I didn't nearly die. I was barely even shot. It just scraped me."

Victor jumped up. "That's not what I'm talking about, Leo! You died right there on the operating table! Piper was right there behind the glass. She watched your heart stop and she watched that line go flat. Do you have any idea how she felt?" he hissed. His voice was staying fairly low, though a couple of people had taken notice to them.

"Victor, I think you've had one too many drinks…"

Victor's head rolled from side to side and he sat back down. "You didn't see her, Leo. She was broken. She was hurt. She was crying. You made her cry." His voice was quiet and angry now.

"That was five years ago, Victor. It's all in the past."

"And just because she got attacked by one of those lunatics you're supposed to be keeping off the street—Just because that was one year ago, that means it's it the past, too? It left permanent scars on her, Leo. He scarred her body. He hurt her, and you, the one person I trusted to protect her, failed. You might as well have just let him in the door and fed him dinner while you were at it."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Victor stood up again, face right in Leo's. "It means you can't protect my daughter! Admit it! You know it!" he yelled.

The restaurant quieted; everyone's eyes were on Leo and Victor.

"You let him hurt her!"

"I would never do that! You know it! I'd have killed him right then and there if they'd let me! Don't even suggest that I wanted that to happen to her! Don't even think it!"

Victor knew he had hit a very touchy subject. "I have suggested it, I have thought it, and I just said it!"

"Fuck you, Victor!"

"If you can't protect my daughter, then get the hell out of her life!" Victor pushed Leo's shoulders, shoving him away. Leo jumped back at him, but Mike and one of the bartenders who had seen the whole thing held him back. Victor was being held off by another bartender. He shrugged the man off and stalked off behind the bar counter to a back room, drink in hand.

Piper ran up. "What the hell was that? I was only gone two minutes!"

Mike and the bartender let Leo go after a short struggle, but they didn't go anywhere. "Victor, he—I think he's drunk. He just sat next to me and started rambling on about how I couldn't protect you," Leo explained.

"That's just Dad, Leo! He does that all the time, you know that! What happened?"

"He said…Never mind." Leo turned away.

Piper grabbed his arm. "No, I do mind! I just saw two people I love get in a fight! I almost witnessed my husband beating up my father! What the hell happened?"

"He said…" Leo's voice dropped and he spoke close to Piper's face. "He said that what happened a year ago…He blamed me for it…He said it was my fault, and he implied that he thought I set it all up…"

"He what?" Piper asked angrily. She turned to run after her dad.

Wordlessly, Leo turned to the people of the restaurant, who were still watching. He followed the path Piper had taken after her father.

Victor was sitting in the office room of the restaurant. When Piper found him, she pushed him onto his feet. "What the hell took you over and told you to blame Leo for that?" she yelled. "Why in God's name would you blame Leo? He did everything he could! There was nothing—Why, Dad?"

"It was his fault, and you know it!" Victor slurred.

In a desperate effort to show exactly how angry she was, Piper punched her dad in the face. He slumped back into a chair, unconscious. "Never blame Leo for that, I don't care how many drinks you've had!" she yelled.

Leo swung the door open. "Piper, what the hell…?"

Piper turned around and hugged him. "I love you," was all she said.

Slowly, his arms enclosed around her body. "You knocked your dad out," he said distantly.

"Leo, please tell me you love me," Piper whispered into her husband's shirt.

"I love you," he told her without hesitation.

Piper turned her head to glance at her father. "He was drunk…But I think he deserved it."

"You think he deserved to be knocked out by his own daughter?"

"It wasn't his place to talk about that…" Piper shook her head. "It wasn't his place," she whispered to herself.