Chapter 4

Leon stood before his closet, he slung the doors open and began pushing his suits to the side. Pushing past his polo shirts and khakis (for the weekend), past the holiday sweaters he is forced to where every year because "They were a gift from my (Ada's) mother", finally arriving at his goal. He pulled the heavy black garment bag out of the closet and laid it before him on the bed.

Leon: "Just when I was thinking it was time to retire you".

Opening the zipper revealed Leon's "Field Gear". Tactical pants, compression shirt, duty belt, kevlar vest and- .

Leon: "Maybe not this time," he said as he placed his leather jacket to the side.

Leon: "faux sheepskin will be back in style, someday…..".

Across the room Ada was also preparing herself for the task ahead. She opened her closet with the calm grace that had defined her. She pushed aside her red silk dresses, past her red silk evening gowns, beyond her red silk sun dresses, and finally past her red silk formal dresses. She pulled out her immaculate white garment bag. She laid it on the bed next to Leon's. She delicately opened the bag to reveal….. A red silk dress.

Ada: "A classic that never goes out of style" she held up the garment as she inspected it for defects.

Leon: "You know, someday you will need to expand your wardrobe".

Ada: "And someday you will need to stop wearing your hair like a 90's boy band reject, but neither of those days are here yet" Leon tried to think up a witty come back but was interrupted by the sound of a car horn from their driveway.

Leon drew his sidearm and quickly moved to peek out through the curtains.

Leon: "Expecting someone?"

Ada: "I thought the drive would get pretty quiet if it was just the two of us" it was then that Leon recognized the car.

Leon: "You can't be serious" The driver exited the car and held a large box over his head .

Barry: "LEON! ADA!" he shouted "I brought snacks!" Barry had put on a fair bit of weight since Ada had last seen him.

Ada: "I see that you like your men big these days" .

Leon: "At least he fills out his kevlar" .

Loen and Ada stepped out into their driveway. Barry was waiting, impatiently, rummaging through his cardboard box of snacks.

Barry: "Ada told me about little Jackrauser" he said as he swept Leon into a big bear hug, lifting him off the ground.

Barry: "You are strong, you are going to make it through this, it is always darkest just bef-" .

Leon: Straining for breath "B...Barry! AIR!" .

Barry: "Oh right, sorry" he suddenly dropped Leon knocking him off balance .

Barry: "And Ada…" he moved towards Ada to give her the same treatment but stopped short, her icy glare cutting straight through him.

Barry: "Oh, uh, right" he extended his hand for a gentle handshake.

Leon: "Barry, car, now"

Barry: "SHOTGUN! Uh er" Leon was already sliding into the passenger seat .

Barry: "But I called it"

Leon: "BARRY!" He climbed into the backseat without further protest.

Ada gently pulled out of the driveway and started towards the interstate. They cruised along in silence, Barry still feeling scolded from the incident in the driveway. But, the golden silence couldn't last, Barry could no longer contain himself.

Barry: "So, where are we going"

Leon: "..." Ada's stoic gaze quickly turning into a grin .

Barry: "Sooooo…?" .

Leon: "So you showed up at my house, in tactical gear and carrying a big box of snacks, without knowing where we were going?" .

Barry: "Yep, Ada said you would fill me in when I got there, but this is starting to feel like a thinly veiled expositional device to avoid writing a scene where we discuss this before getting into the car" Leon let out a deep sigh .

Leon: "Well, yesterday morning, as I was leaving the house, a small package was delivered , When we got to school , my phone rang, the person on the other end of the phone was standing in front of my Suburban. They knew I had the package in the car, and instructed me to open it. Inside there was a small teddy bear keychain"

Barry: "*CRUNCH* yeah *CRUNCH*" Barry had began eating a large bag of cheese puffs.

Leon asked himself 'Is this really the man I am cheating on my wife with?' .

Barry: through a mouthful of artificial cheese flavor "And then what happened?".

Leon: "The caller then said 'your past never dies, it will always catch up with you' I said, 'What?", he said 'Morir es vivor, ' ran towards the children and then…" the memory was too painful to recount.

Ada: "Boom" .

Barry: "...Right…" .

Leon: "We decided to postpone Jackrauser's funeral until we find whomever is responsible. The local funeral homes are already booked solid with the teachers and other children from the bom-bombing" Leon nearly choked on the word.

Ada: "And while we wait for the lab to process the explosive residue, we are going to go talk to the last person that had that keychain" .

They settled in for the long drive. The miles flew by as the twisting roads grew more remote

A few hours in the silence was again broken.

Barry: "Can we turn on the radio?" .

Ada: "Sure" Ada switched the radio on and waited .

Radio: "Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass…." .

Barry: "Oh shit, this my jam!" .

Radio: "Making my way through the croooooooowd" .

Leon made eye contact with Ada .

Leon: "No way" .

Ada: "Way" she cranked the volume WAY up .

Barry: "And I need you *string quartet riff* and I miss you *string quartet riff* and now I wonder…." .

And he just kept going

Barry: "Release your inhibitions, FEEL THE RAIN ON YOUR SKIN!" .

And going .

Barry: "I'm on tonight, you know my hips don't lie and I'm starting to feel it's right!"

And going .

Barry: "Oh, oh, oh, I want to be free yeah, MAN! I feel like a woman!" .

And going .

Barry: "If you wanna be with me, Baby there's a price to pay, I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right-" Leon could no longer contain himself.

Leon: He shouted "BARRY!" as he turned around so he could face the backseat .

Leon: "If you so much as utter ONE MORE WORD, I will take your revolver and shove it so far down your throat that-" .

Ada: "We're here".

Leon did not break eye contact with Barry for a solid ten seconds. Barry looked sheepishly at Leon, feeling hurt by the way the man he loved had spoken to him, he knew he was hurting inside, but still. Leon slowly turned back around and looked at their destination.