AN: I added a paragraph to the ending of chapter 6, kind of a deleted scene I had written but forgot to add, it's not important that you read it, you won't miss anything if you don't.

Chapter 7 – Bloodlust, Stitches, Dinner, Movie

Leonard hadn't seen or heard from Sara in two days, normally he'd think nothing of it but his concern increased as he watched the news. Several drug dealers were attacked a few hours back, while no one had been killed a large number of them were sent to the hospital. He watched the footage several times confirming what he suspected. The "attacker" had blonde hair. "So this is what bloodlust looks like." He watched again as Sara took on several men, all twice her size with very little effort. He watched as she continued to beat on a man that was clearly unconscious. He stood up needing to check on her, he'd known her long enough to know that the guilt would be eating at her. He got out to his balcony climbed over to her side and knocked on her window. Several minutes passed without any movement. He knocked again and waited. He was about to go back to his apartment when he saw her coming towards him. She opened the window not saying a word allowing him into her apartment. She turned her back to him walking away. He knew the way out.

"Sara." She didn't like the concern in his voice. It meant he knew. A part of her wanted to look into his face to see the disgust she was sure would be there, the other part was terrified. She didn't want to lose his friendship, he was the only good thing that had happened to her since she'd come back. "Sara look at me." He knew better than to reach out to her so he waited. "Please." He added. The word felt foreign on his tongue, she would owe him one for making him use it. Slowly she turned around her eyes on her fidgeting hands. She'd showered and changed but her hands were still bleeding. He looked her up and down finally resting his gaze on her face. "You look like shit."

She cracked a smile finally looking up. She hadn't expected that. A part of her told her she should have. After all it's what Leonard was good at, downplaying heavy emotional moments.

"Let's take a look at those hands of yours." He moved towards her slowly giving her a chance to back away. When she didn't he moved closer guiding her to the couch as she had done to him a few weeks before. "First aid kit in the bathroom?"

She nodded. "Under the sink."

Leonard patted her tense knee and stood to retrieve the kit. He found the bathroom easily taking note of the bloody discarded clothes on the ground. Too much blood, he'd have to make sure she to ask about other injuries. Next he went into the kitchen in search of a bowl of water and towels. He came back to the living room finding her exactly how he'd left her. He kneeled in front of her on the ground setting the open kit, bowl and towels on the coffee table. Her eyes followed his every movement. Slowly he reached for her hand getting to work on removing the dried blood. He tried to be as gentle as she'd been with him. She didn't flinch, not once.

"Pain and I came to an understanding a long time ago." She'd seen the look on his face, it was the same look Felicity had given her when Oliver had stitched her up a few years back.

He wondered how much pain she'd endured to be at this point. Even with all that he'd been through with his father he still felt and reacted to pain. "One down." He released her hand taking the other one. This one looked worse. He could feel Sara's gaze on him, burning into him. He did everything he could to keep from looking up. The moment would be too intense. He wouldn't be able to downplay it. He finished up with her hand giving it a gentle caress before releasing it. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

She nodded lifting her shirt over her head turning her back to him. She'd put a makeshift bandage on the cut but the blood was already starting to seep through.

Leonard frowned taking note of the scars that marred her back, so much pain behind each one. He was no longer sure he wanted to know what created them, at first he'd been curious, but now that Sara had become a friend to him, knowing someone had hurt her so much that she no longer felt pain angered him, hurt him in a way he never thought possible for anyone not his family. He wanted to go out there and punish those responsible. No one deserved this. No one. His fingers hovered over the scars briefly before going to the open wound. "Sara this is going to need stitches."

She pulled away from him panicked. "No hospitals."

He sighed in defeat. The cut was in a place she couldn't reach comfortably otherwise he was sure she'd have stitched it up herself. "Alright let's go to the kitchen. The lighting is better." Her body visibly relaxed. She grabbed the kit while he took the water bowl and towels. She sat in the chair leaning on the kitchen table exposing her back to him. Leonard took a moment to once again study the scars that ran across her back, he shook his head, he needed to focus on the here and now, there was nothing he could do about the things that had happened in the past. Once he finished stitching up the wound he replaced the water in the bowl and cleaned the wound of any excess blood. He placed a clean bandage over it and squeezed her shoulder signaling that he was done.

She sat up her back feeling better. "Thanks."

He nodded in acknowledgment. She still looked awful. "Have you eaten?"

She shook her head in the negative. "Not hungry."

"You need to eat. Go change." With that he walked back into the kitchen rummaging through her fridge. "Sit." He ordered once she returned fully clothed.

Sara's eyebrow shot up. If he thought for one second he could order her around in her own apartment he had another thing coming. She sat on the counter instead watching him move around in her kitchen. He gave her a sideways glance but said nothing. "What're you making?"

"Where are your spices?" He asked ignoring her question.

She gestured to the cabinet behind her head. "What do you need?"

"Depends on what you have." He stood beside her and started going through the cabinet. "This will do." He took out the lemon pepper. "I'll be right back." He left her apartment returning a few minutes later with a clove of garlic, a lemon, chicken and broccoli. He wanted to make a comment about how empty her fridge was but he saved it for another time. This was the most relaxed he'd seen her all evening and he didn't want to ruin it by being an ass. "Do you like chicken?"

She nodded.

"You'll like this then." Silence fell between them, Leonard had learned not to push her to talk, so he maintained the silence giving her time to gather her thoughts. He set the pan on the stove turning the heat on, at the same time setting the temperature of the oven. He cut up the broccoli and minced some garlic tossing it over the broccoli and squeezed some lemon juice and olive oil over it. Sprinkled some salt and pepper and placed it in the oven. Next he worked on cooking the chicken, covering it with the lemon pepper salt, adding pieces of garlic to it and drizzling lemon juice on it as it cooked.

"I almost killed those men tonight." She shuddered. "Everything in me told me to walk away, but I just," she paused her head falling back against the cabinet with a quiet thud, "I snapped. The rage took over and I couldn't stop myself, it was like I didn't know where I was, what would have happened if I'd been around innocent people?" A tear slipped down the side of her face, she knew playing the what if game was dangerous but she always ended up playing the nasty game, and it always got the better of her. "I could've killed them all."

Leonard wondered what had triggered the bloodlust in the first place. It wasn't like Sara to go out looking for trouble that was more his thing. "But you didn't, you're not a killer Sara." He removed the pan from the heat turning off the stove.

For a brief moment she wanted to believe him, to believe there was some humanity left in her but she knew better. Her humanity was tired of the constant fighting, it took more and more energy to fight the desire to just let go. She fought the urge to open her eyes when he invaded her space his hand reaching towards her.

He wiped the tear form her face resting his hand against her cheek briefly before moving it to her knee. "What stopped you?" He'd watched the news footage several times, he'd seen her beating one man mercilessly and suddenly stop as if realizing exactly what she was doing.

She opened her eyes looking deep into his. "It's stupid. I don't know how to explain it."

"Try." He pushed her.

She sighed. "It's like you were there all of a sudden, in my head and you were pissed that I hadn't taken you up on your offer to kill the urge, it was like I was back at the bar and instead of their faces I saw yours and I just stopped." She held her breath waiting for his reaction, she felt as though she'd just confessed her undying love to a crush.

"Well look at this face. Wouldn't want to ruin such a beautiful thing with bruises now would we." He patted her knee. She rolled her eyes thanking him for not laughing at her. "I'll give you a picture to carry around, you can look at it next time the urge strikes." He teased.

"No need. I'll get a copy of a booking photo from your last arrest, put it in a locket and carry it on a chain." She shot back thankful for their normal banter.

Leonard glared at her wondering if she was messing with him, her father was a cop after all, getting one wouldn't be hard.

She ignored his questioning eyes focusing on the food instead. "Food smells really good." Her stomach growled, she'd been hungrier than she'd thought. "Where did you learn to cook?"

"My mother wasn't always up to cooking and my father was a drunk. Someone had to take care of Lisa." His tone softer than usual, he turned back to the oven taking the broccoli out.

"She's very lucky to have you." As am I she thought to herself. She didn't need to say it she could see by his reaction that he'd caught on to the double meaning behind her words.

"Don't get sentimental on me, I won't be able to hold back the tears." His lips said one thing his eyes said another.

She rolled her eyes and hopped off the counter grabbing two beers from the fridge while he plated their food. He followed her into the living room setting the plates down on the coffee table and settled on the couch. Sara grabbed her plate taking a small bite. "Mmm, this is amazing."

"Don't talk with food in your mouth." He wasn't used to compliments. They made him uncomfortable. This whole situation was out of the ordinary for him. He needed silence there were far too many feelings floating around.

Sara took the hint and turned her attention to the movie he'd turned on. Once done she set her plate back on the coffee table and slouched into the cushions feeling full. It wasn't long before she felt her eyes drooping. She grabbed a pillow and set it at the end of the couch laying her head on it. She curled up into herself and continued watching the movie every once in a while catching herself dozing off. She was tempted to go to bed but knew sleep would escape her the minute she laid in her bed. She wasn't prepared for the nightmares that were sure to visit her in the hours to come.

Leonard grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it across her. He gave her legs a pat letting her know she could stretch out if she wanted to.

Sara extended her legs laying them across his thighs. Neither looked at the other, physical contact was a new development in their friendship. On an average day neither liked to be touched, to have someone so close and have it be comforting was alarming.

Leonard's hand occasionally ended up on Sara's leg any time she started to show any signs of a nightmare. He was relieved she settled quickly each time, eventually he left his hand on her leg assuring her he was there. He could only imagine the nightmares she'd face after the day she'd had, after killing his father he'd had some of the most terrifying and if he could spare her a few hours of peaceful sleep then he'd break his own rule of not showing affection to anyone outside his family. Once the movie finished he turned back to the news, they replayed the attack from earlier, the words witness revealed caught his attention he turned it up a bit to hear the reporter speak of a female witness that had come forward after the video had aired.

'She saved my life. They were going to kill me. She came out of nowhere and told me to run and I did, I was so scared, I didn't even thank her. I just want her to know how thankful my family and I are.' Her voiced cracked. 'All I could think was that I'd never see my son grow up.' The woman began to cry. 'Thank you, whoever you are. Thank you.'

Leonard turned the volume down not needing to hear anymore. He looked at Sara who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Her words of women not suffering at the hand of man ringing loud and clear. He wondered if she'd intentionally left the rescue part out or if she'd actually blocked it out once the bloodlust hit. "Not a killer," he spoke softly, he liked to think of himself as a good judge in character and no matter what his friend believed he knew better, he just needed her to believe it. "What have you done to me?" he muttered to himself running his hand down his face. It was official he'd gone soft. Several hours passed before he started preparing to leave, he moved from underneath her taking the dishes to the kitchen and putting them in the dishwasher. He scribbled a note on a piece of paper laying it on the coffee table. The note read. 'Watch the news, for the WHOLE story. - L' He almost made it out when he heard her tired voice.

"Thanks Len." She mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep.

Len. That was the first time she'd called him that. He would never admit it out loud but he liked the sound of it. "Good night Sara." He let himself out.

AN: I feel like this chapter could have gone on FOREVER but I don't like to drag things out too much. Hope you enjoyed.