Summary: Another look into what could have been Linda and Lee's relationship before the events of The Warriors Heir

Another Notes: So this is pretty much just another angle at looking at how Lee and Linda got together, also written in 2007 (apparently the very next day after the first one). This one (I believe) is a bit more structured and less drabble-y than the first one. Of course, I've also attempted to edit this one as well but again, largely left things un-touched for the sake of preserving whatever thoughts my thirteen year old self wanted to convey.

The trader glanced over at her in the corner, she could just make out the words he spoke.

"An enchanter you say? Well, we have one right here," there was a note of distaste in the traders voice as he opened the cage to let the other wizard in. The wizard was a tall man, ranging to about 6'6 in height, much taller than Linda. She glared scornfully at him, although she was only nineteen, young and inexperienced, very little ever scared Linda Downey. She was determined that this man would not part of the 'very little'.

"Really? She doesn't seem like much," the man murmured, he was provoking her. She could tell. The best thing to do was to keep her mouth shut.

"Ah, she's a handful this one, nasty brat," growled the trader. She smirked at him and fought the urge to throw another insult in the traders direction. His name was Frank, his nickname, Doggy. Linda had once enchanted him to act as a dog would.

"Really?" A note of interest appeared in the wizard's voice. "Could I take a step closer?" The trader nodded enthusiastically and made way for the wizard. Linda stood up defiantly, even though her hands and legs were in chains, she would give this wizard hell. "Well aren't you the strong one." mused the wizard. His tone of voice was indifferent, emotionless, his face was the same. He was clean shaven, his hair was a dark chestnut brown and it curled slightly. If Linda was seventeen, she would have fallen for this man for he was handsome. Two years of being in 'the trade' and being chased by other wizards taught her better.

"What do you want?" she asked bitterly, letting her spit fly until it hit the wizard smack in the face. His hands slowly reached up to wipe it away, his face showed no answer but his words held power. Linda didn't blink.

"No fear? That is a bad thing you know, sometimes it's good to show a bit of fear, it shows you still have some human qualities in you." Linda couldn't tell who these words were directed at, but the man didn't seem to be talking about her. His smile was wolfish, the smile of a hunter who had just found its prey. A small tendril of fear arose and she fought to keep it down, the tendril expanded and left its mark before retreating.

"Why should I fear wizards?" she answered back, and then smirked. "I am sure good ole Frank here can tell you that I am not such a weakling as to be ruled by wizards." The trader angrily glared at her but said nothing. The wizard turned and raised an eyebrow causing trader Frank to turn slightly red.

"Little brat caught me unawares, she's good at it. Been sent back at least 20 times in the past two years. Never stayed with someone more than a month, dunno why they didn't just kill the girl… probably more enchantments," the wizard muttered darkly. There was a note of glee in his voice though, those 20 times of selling the same enchanter had made his wallet quite full.

"Really?" That same interested voice again; couldn't he say anything other then 'really'?

The wizard turned and stared at her, actually stared as if scrutinizing her, analyzing her, calculating her next movements. She stared back the whole way through, she studied this man. His appearance looked 30, his eyes showed a much older age. Possibly around a few hundred, he seemed to have gone through many troubles. Her mind dimly contacted his but his mind was strictly guarded. He was a strong wizard, from what clan though? Red or White? She felt him trying to push her mind, she shoved him away. He blinked at her as if shocked and then a small twitch of his mouth signalled amusement.

"I'll take her, thank you," Linda frowned, running from this man wouldn't be easy. She could tell.

0000

Silence, the whole trip had been nothing but silence. They drove for hours, for two days the two never spoke to each other. Where they were going? Linda didn't much care, but it was somewhere. Were they leaving England? Finally on the third day he spoke. His voice was indifferent, his face impassive. She would've thought he was talking to himself if his eyes hadn't traveled in her direction.

"Like your great-grandmother," Linda looked up startled. He must surely have been at least 150 years of age then. Not surprising really, she had managed to guess in the matter of days they had spent together. Her great-grandmother Susannah Downey was the only weir aside from herself and her grandfather in the past generations. "Yes I knew your grandmother, Susannah, strong woman, exactly…" he paused, "Like you," there was a note of annoyance in his voice. As if he hadn't expected her to last so long.

She smirked, "Us Downey woman are quite the same," she replied smugly. He said nothing in return. A few hours later he spoke again, his voice again cutting through the silence.

"Not going to question me?" She looked at him for a moment, calculating him, wondering why he said that and then shook her head.

"About what? You probably wouldn't answer me, typical wizard," she added the bit at the end with a note of scorn. She saw his mouth twitch into a grimace, or was it supposed to be a smile? She couldn't really tell.

"Typical… yes, typical us," he murmured, she could barely hear his voice.

"What do you want with me?" She asked finally, the question had been hovering at the tip of her tongue for a while now. He didn't answer, she hadn't expected an answer. But when he did answer her a few minutes later she felt shocked, annoyed and then confused, she hid these emotions with anger and amusement.

"I heard you were quite a bother, rumours of an enchantress who made fools of wizards, insulted them, didn't care about herself. Drove them insane apparently, whenever she returned the trade she would make fools of the traders themselves, and would band other people in the trade together. Soothsayers, sorcerers, she would plan with them, make alliances and plan escapes. She had planned all three mass trade break-outs in two years, she was a real nuisance. I was... Intrigued, I thought she would be helpful," the wizard paused as if wondering if she would speak. Linda didn't.

"You see I, myself, am fighting to free the servant guilds," she laughed. It was bordering among hysteria, but the wizard didn't seem to notice.

"Are you kidding me? Why would a wizard want to get rid of their power?"

"I do not need it," he replied darkly, she nodded and then smirked.

"Of course you don't, of course you don't," His eyes never left the rode but she could feel his annoyance. It was small, or maybe he hid his feelings well.

"I see you hold a special scorn against wizards as well." She didn't answer but shrugged instead. "Together, we could free the servant guilds, it would be easier working out in the open then inside a locked cage."

"Of course it would, why, do you think I always stayed with the wizards for at least a month?" she answered back. An amused smiled appeared on the man's lips.

"I see, so are you going to leave me within a months time?"

She smiled back sweetly. "I don't think you'd allow me." And it was true. That surprised a laugh out of him.

"You're very bright." That ended all conversation.

The rest of the trip wasn't much. Small bits of conversation, occasionally he would try to persuade her but he stopped after another few days. When they finally arrived at a destination, they were in America. The place made Linda's throat tighten, she wanted to leave and run to her beloved sister Becka who was studying in Trinity College, Ohio, but she couldn't. The house Hastings, that's the only name she got from him, showed her was a regular two story home for a family of three. There were two bedrooms, one for her, one for him and a study.

0000

Often Hastings would leave early in the morning to do god knows what. She had tried following him but he always managed to elude her. In the end she stopped, for days she did nothing but talk on the phone to her 'acquaintances' and she even phoned Becka saying she was back in America. Her sister was happy but confused as to why Linda couldn't visit. One day, Linda saw the doorway to Hastings study was left slightly ajar. She had left the place alone, expecting it to be warded with magic but as she moved to close the door, her curiosity got the better of her.

The study was large, it was probably magicked into looking so big. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled top to bottom with large, small, thick and thin books. There was a running computer on an oak desk and lots of filing cabinets and folders among other things. She would have to look into those. She saw newspaper clippings on the wall from both America and England both having to do with some sort of magical disturbance. She read of murders, explosions, fires, and people running naked in fields of grass.

Then she booted the computer. It was a very good computer, very fast. Linda went from site to site, emailing people, making contacts and finding out who 'Hastings' was. She snooped into folders about different people and read scribbled notes left down by Hastings. This was how her day passed. Every day at 4:00pm she would leave the study, put everything back exactly as it was and leave the room. She wore gloves as well to leave no finger prints.

She did this for months, she learned much about Lee Hastings, or 'Leander' as his name seemed to be in this time. Apparently he was from Coalton Country, last line of the 'Hastings' who immigrated to America. It seemed he really was trying to free the servant guilds and wizards piled over top of each other trying to kill him. She had also met many interesting wizards who supported Linda, one was a man named Nicodemus Snowbeard. He had lived long before and was around 500 years of age. She had met him once, he had visited her for she was not allowed to leave Hasting's home.

Nicodemus seemed to know lots about everything, but wouldn't tell her. Becka had visited once to, she giggled as she wondered who Linda was living with and the enchantress herself was shocked that Becka was engaged.

Weeks slid into months, the months passed into half a year, then a full year. In that year, Linda had still not given in to helping Hastings and the two rarely spoke. He would often leave her to her own thing, but sometimes she caught him staring at her. In these times she felt awkward. Occasionally she found herself staring at him, his fine muscular body and his soft looking… these moments, she would hit herself for falling into the wizards trap. All wizards were notorious for being extremely handsome or beautiful.

A few times she had found herself feeling very self-conscious, when their hands collided she jerked back as if shocked by electricity and then suddenly felt embarrassed, but she hid these feelings with anger and annoyance while Hastings showed no emotion at all. Occasionally he brought wizards over, some woman some men. Men would often tease her, poke at her, Woman would smile at her and then run all over Hastings as if trying to prove they were better then a mere 'enchantress'. She paid them no heed.

In around 14 months, she and Hastings had indeed begun working as an awkward pair. Sometimes she informed him of events or people and he told her about events in the outside world. They never amounted to much though. Twice they had to pack in the middle of the night and run because wizards were coming to attack. Twice she had to huddle in a corner with him, in these times of huddling she often felt oddly comforted. These feelings scared her.

0000

"So… back to snooping I see," Hastings murmured, Linda glanced up sharply and nearly dropped the folder she was holding. His face was impassive but his voice was angry.

"Hastings," she gasped shocked. He took a step closer to her, but she held her ground. She held up her own emotionless mask and place the folder down calmly, leaning on the desk in a very casual manner. In reality, her heart was pounding, blood was rushing to her ears and she dimly wondered why he was staring at her face in such a way that made her feel as if she had acne all over her.

"Never learned what privacy was?" he asked. Another step. She didn't move, and tried hard not to push herself against the desk.

"Well you don't expect me to be your personal maid do you?" Linda was surprised at the calmness of her own voice.

"I have known that you have been using my study, I did not guess you would be reading into my… private files," Hastings glanced at the locked cabinet in the corner of the room, it hung slightly open. She felt a slight guilt stirring over her. She had always known that cabinet was especially confidential, she had gone to great lengths to retrieve the key to open it.

"I was curious," she murmured, the folders held quite valuable information on the history of the weir, detailed reports of some famous weir and weirlinds. She wondered about Hastings great interest in warriors but never spoke of it.

"Haven't you ever heard of-" she cut him off with a smirk.

"Curiosity killed the cat but answers brought her back," she said in a sing-song voice. For a moment he didn't speak and then he took a step closer and looked down at her, his voice cold.

"I had given you much freedom in this house Linda, I have always been a fair person, how is repaying my kindness by snooping into my business fair?"

She glared at him and then smirked, moving her face until it was inches from his, "Who said anything about fair?" his reaction was confusing and amusing. She had never seen Hastings jerk back so fast in such an un-elegant manner, and never had she seen him blush. A red tinge now dotted his cheeks and he glared at her with cold eyes. Cold eyes, not angry ones.

"Do not anger me enchantress," the venom in his voice hurt Linda a bit but she would never admit it, her pride wouldn't let her. Pride, such a sin it was.

"Don't anger me enchantress," she mimicked, she dodged his hand and skipped out of the room and entered her own room wondering how long it would before he stormed in and pelted her with flames of burning fire. The thought scared her, but half of her told her Lee would never do such an inhuman thing… would he?

She didn't have to wait long, she felt Lee's presence outside her door, it was near suffocating. The door was bending back and he opened it quickly before the door nearly flew off its hinges. Instead it slammed into the wall with a loud bang. The curtains of her window blew around and book pages rustled wildly.

"Some of those are your books you know," Linda murmured while sitting on her bed in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Fixing is not hard for me," Hastings answered.

"Well, well -So-Godly," Linda muttered back. He didn't answer. He just glared, glared with a hard iron stare. Linda glared back but it wasn't a glare of anger, it was more of a pleading glare that truly said 'I love you' but she hid that message well.

Lee glared at Linda, the enchantress, a bubbling hate filled his body. He wanted to reach out and shake some sense into her, tell her that he could be helpful. But no, no she was as stubborn as her grandmother. A pang of pain entered his heart at the memory of Susannah, but he shoved it away. He knew at any moment she would force him to do something foolish. She had done it once during a fierce argument. She had made him much a fool, he had called her a dog, she made him act like one.

0000

Linda smiled, Hastings was distracted, immediately she entered his mind. You want to hop for Linda right? Then nearly laughed out loud as he nodded slowly and began hopping like a bunny. Good, now hop right downstairs and prepare Linda a sandwich, a cruel smile appeared on Linda's lips as Hastings did just that. She didn't miss the anger in his eyes and the grit of his teeth as he fought her mind magic. Linda was strong though, even stronger than Hastings in mind magic.

Keep your mouth shut little Hastings she cooed.

Downstairs she watched him grudgingly hop from fridge to counter as he prepared a sandwich, she asked him to prepare it in a way so he would constantly be hopping. Slowly she ate her sandwich as he hopped. His fists were clenched, she asked him to unclench them and place them on his head with his index fingers sticking out so they looked like cow horns. Then she asked him to moo. She grinned as his eyes flashed with anger.

"That's what you get for having your mind stray, angry thoughts aren't good Mr. Hastings," she whispered, her face inches from his. "Follow me," he did, she went to the living room. She turned, "Come here," Hastings hopped in front of her, she asked him to stop hopping. There was a pause as he glared at her. She grinned and her mind rushed as she thought of what to do next, but it came out of her mouth instantly.

"Kiss me," she never said where, she never said he had to be nice, but when he gripped her shoulders and kissed her full on the lips her eyes opened in shock. His kiss was soft, tender and his hold on her was strong but light. She would've fallen on her knees had he not held her up. Her mind let go of his but even then his kiss did not stop. He backed away slowly, a small twinkle in his eye. "Y-You could've…" she murmured, looking away from his face. She touched her lips slightly wondering if he had really just kissed her there.

"There is just something about you… something that draws me to you. Could it be your stubbornness or your defiance against me? Maybe your fearlessness? I don't know, but somehow… somehow…" he stopped there and she was glad he did. He looked at her, for the first time she noticed that his eyes were not angry when they glared at her, but confused, hurt… now they looked at her with care. She smiled tensely back.

"Lee…" the name sounded awkward and he moved closer to her, holding her slightly.

"Yes?" he asked, his voice soft and kind. She smiled.

"Kiss me again," and he did, without any persuasion needed.