Chapter 6: What Would Happen?

Another rumble of thunder shook the high ceilinged garage. Leon had barely spoken in the time since he had arrived, simply setting himself at the drafting table and explaining what the issue was. He knew Cid was watching him out of the corner of his eye. The man came off as an uncaring prick but often proved to be as supportive as Aerith.

Only an hour had passed and Cid had pretty much worked out the problem with the design. Apparently, it had been an easy fix but Leon had been too distracted to do it himself. He felt rather foolish and more than a little angry toward himself for not noticing the error.

"Well, there you go." The older blonde man shoved the papers toward Leon. "If you have any trouble with that, it's your own damn fault."

"Thanks."

Cid pulled out a fresh cigarette. As he lit it, he mumbled. "All right, spill it."

Leon scooped up the papers hastily. "Nothing to spill; Thanks for-"

"Oh no, don't be giving me that bull shit." Cid blew out some smoke pointing his cigarette holding fingers at the other. "You don't wanna talk that's fine but don't lie to me about it."

He could not bring himself to look at Cid. He still did not quite understand how quickly and perfectly he had fit in with these people. It was like there had always been a space open within the group that was intended just for him. It honestly scared him sometimes.

"I can't talk about it."

Cid snorted. "Fine then; when you can, you know we're here."

Yeah, he knew.

"Spiky's getting worried."

"He shouldn't," Leon snapped out. "He's got nothing to worry about."

"You know he won't see it that way." Cid noted, turning back to the workbench. "But I'm staying out of it."

Good. Leon thought to himself. He wandered away from the table to look out the partially open garage door. The wind was really whipping things around outside. "Someone's going to have to clean up down branches tomorrow."

"Make Cloud do it. Doubt he can mess that up too badly." Cid grumbled. "I don't know how Spiky managed to nab himself someone like Riku. That kid is a freakin' wonder."

Leon closed his eyes. "Yeah, he is."

Cid stopped trying to talk and went to work on some project at the workbench.

An hour passed and Leon still stood at the door. The storm had wound down to a mere light rain with a few gusts of wind. The sky was beginning to clear, allowing for some of the sunset to break through. The red-gold light caught on various wet surfaces, causing several beautiful rainbow effects.

He had hoped the storm would continue so that he would have a set excuse not to leave. Now he was going to have to find somewhere else to hide. He frowned to himself. That was exactly what he was doing, was it not? Hiding?

When had he become such a coward?

"Looks like the weather's breaking." Cid walked up beside him, blowing out some smoke. "Be a good time to head home."

Leon did not move.

Cid shook his head. It was obvious that he had no real idea what was wrong, but he had figured out that it had something to do with home. "You can crash on the cot if you want. I'm going to the bar for some grub."

He left through the opening and Leon watched him for a moment before again looking at nothing. Eating was probably a good idea but he just was not hungry. At the moment, he was not anything.

He had no idea how much time had passed when a tug on his sleeve snapped him from his stupor. Grey eyes flicked over and down to met concerned blue. Sora was frowning deeply at him, worry coloring his eyes.

"Hey. Cloud and Riku sent me over with food for you." The teen held up a bag.

Leon nodded once before looking away. "Set it on the table."

Sora bit his lip but did as told. It was very clear that Leon was not in the mood for company. He was reminded of Traverse Town and Leon's hidden training area. He wondered if Leon had such a spot here.

He walked back over and stood beside the older man. "You gonna be home tonight?"

Leon wanted to say yes. He wanted to pretend that everything was the exact same as it was before Riku entered the picture and completely destroyed everything he had become. How the hell did one person cause so much confusion?

"I don't know."

"Oh." Sora muttered. He straightened and gave a smile that fell short of its usual brightness. "Well, if not I'll see you tomorrow then."

He managed a turn of his lip, "Yeah."

The boy's grin became a bit lighter and with a nod, he headed back out into the drizzle. As he left, he turned once to wave and then began running. At least someone was feeling better.

Leon moved away from the door. He went over to the table, briefly looking over the contents of the bag. Riku had obviously packed it. Everything looked too… pretty for it to have been Cloud.

He re-closed the bag.

Glancing around, he decided this was not where he wanted to be. He thought that by distracting himself with work, he would be able to keep from thinking about what was wrenching at his gut and threatening to rip him in half. It was not working.

He picked up the bag and left.

--0—0—

An hour later found him at the Bailey, again looking over the castle ruins. The untouched food sat on the ledge near the corner. He leaned forward, forearms resting on the stone with his clasped hands hanging over the side.

It was full dark and a damp chill clung to him. He was likely to catch a cold but found he did not much care. A cold he could deal with and it would give him a physical excuse for his misery.

He pushed himself up in a fit of self-disgust. This was ridiculous. He made up his mind and took up the food sack. He was going to go home, eat, take a long shower to warm up his chilled body and then crawl into bed.

He walked to the house at an even pace, eyes focused ahead of him. He did not allow his thoughts to wander nor let any stray emotion work its way out of his heart. He would take the broken pieces of those walls he had build and construct new ones, a system of barriers so that it one broke another would hold.

The house was dark and silent as he entered. He was relieved that no one had stayed up worrying over him. He had half-expected Sora to still be awake. He removed his damp jacket and tossed it carelessly onto the back of a chair.

Turning toward the stairs, he suddenly stopped. Riku sat on the sofa, and though it was almost black in the room, Leon could see the teen's aqua eyes clearly. There was concern written all across those blue-green depths. The boy really did have horribly expressive eyes.

"Sora said you weren't coming back."

"I changed my mind."

They waited in awkward silence for something to happen. One of them was going to have to say or do something. However, it seemed neither was willing to be the first.

Finally, Riku stood. He walked slowly past Leon, pausing for the briefest of moments beside him. "Get some sleep, Leon."

He then continued on, heading upstairs. Leon stared after him, even when he was gone. He had come so very close to stopping the teen. He had no idea what he would have done if he had. Shaking his head at himself, he also went up the stairs.

He really needed that shower.

--0—0—

Sleep had found him surprisingly easily. In fact, he did not awaken until mid morning. It was a bit annoyed with himself for waking up late but relieved that he had not managed to pick up a cold last night.

He dressed and headed down, intent on grabbing a piece of fruit and then getting to work. That plan went out the window when he heard low, heated voices.

"You're being paranoid, Cloud."

"I don't think so. Something is really off with him and it didn't start until a few days ago."

"So are you saying it's my fault?" Riku's tone was quiet, a bit on the defensive side.

"No," Cloud sighed. "I just think…"

"Look, I don't know what's going on either but I'm just as worried about it as you."

Great, they had to be arguing because of him. This was not want he wanted to wake up to. He waited a moment on the stairs then purposely made his last few steps heavy. By the time he appeared, the couple had stopped talking and appeared in reasonably good moods.

He nodded at them as he went into the kitchen. There was relatively fresh coffee, it smelled like Irish crème, and he found himself reluctant to drink it. Realizing how completely foolish the thought was, he grabbed a mug.

"So what's on the schedule today?" Riku asked quickly.

"You know where you're needed."

There was a beat, "Yeah."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Riku give Cloud a quick kiss and leave. Once the door shut, Cloud turned his intense eyes on his best friend. "I don't know what's going on with you, Leon, but it needs to stop. Riku is…"

"Blaming himself;" Leon sighed. He set his mug down. "I over heard the two of you from the stairs."

Stormy eyes fixed on the blonde. "Don't be angry with him."

"I'm not angry with him." Cloud frowned. "I just want to know what's wrong."

Leon knew that was exactly what his friend was trying to do. He really just wanted to help, and that was making this so much worse. If Cloud understood what the issue was, it would destroy the friendship. A friendship that had been extremely hard won.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, knowing there were infinite ways Cloud could interpret that statement.

He gave up on the coffee and left the kitchen. He brushed past Cloud without further word. With a determined step, he set off to loose himself in some hard work.

Thankfully, upon arriving at headquarters he was told that one of the lifts at the Quarry had broken down. He headed over and threw himself into the repairs. It was nice in that while the repair itself was rather simple, it was terribly time consuming. Perfect.

He managed to lose all track of time and it was not until Sora and Yuffie came bounding in that he realized it was likely already afternoon. He had worked through lunch and now that he was aware of it, he actually began feeling a bit hungry. When was the last time he had eaten?

"Hey, Leon!" Sora called up. "Guess what?"

"Riku got the city's central program isolated!" Yuffie exclaimed. She paused for a second. "Not that I know what that means, but it's really good."

That certainly was good news.

Leon began climbing down the metal framework he had been sitting on for however long. It seemed like now was as good a time as any to take a break. "What time is it?"

"Two thirty." Sora answered. "How's the repair going?"

"Slow."

"Ah. Well, Cloud's been keeping up with things across town."

"Good." Leon's feet hit the ground and he pulled off his gloves, smacking them along the metal to take some of the grime off of them.

He walked past the two. They did not follow, likely assuming he was going to make the rounds and check the status of things. He probably should do that, but not right now. Now he was going to find something to eat and simply try to relax.

He had taken a liking to a lunch counter on the other side of town. Behind it was a small cluster of trees, which was mostly hidden from notice due to the stand. It sounded like a perfect place to be.

He bought a chicken pocket and a juice then proceeded around the small stand. There was a large leafy tree that was perfect to simply lean against and take a nap. A nap felt like a good plan.

Only someone else had been of the same idea.

Leon gazed down at Riku, who was stretched out before the tree trunk, eyes closed. His chest rose and fell steadily, his lips just barely parted. His legs were crossed at the ankles, one hand lying beside him and the other resting on his lap.

...And every feeling he had managed to push back all day came rushing to the surface. He almost staggered from it. He wanted to run, wanted to simply turn and bolt.

He could not tear his eyes away.

He found himself hunched down beside the teen, studying every little detail of Riku's face. He hand was already half-way extended before he realized what he was doing and dropped it. He had to leave, had to get away from here. He slowly stood, not taking his gaze from the one sleeping under the tree.

He heard steps and turned. Cloud approached with a small frown in his face. The rest of his expression was unreadable. "Leon."

The sable-haired man said nothing.

Cloud stepped closer. He looked away from his friend to glance down at his lover. The frown turned up some.

Leon somehow found his voice again. "Sora told me he got the active program isolated."

"Yeah… Something like that." Cloud replied softly, crouching down. "You know I don't understand any of it."

He lightly touched Riku's face. "Riku's been working his ass off to get it done."

The teen stirred a bit, eyes cracking open sleepily. "Mmmm… Is it three already?"

"Yeah."

Aqua eyes opened further as he pulled away from the tree. They flicked up to look over Cloud's shoulder. "Leon?"

Leon only nodded.

Riku took Cloud's offered hand and the blonde man pulled him to his feet. Riku brushed at his loose pants and glanced at Leon. "Did they tell you I got the central program isolated?"

"Yeah; Good work."

"Come on." Riku stepped away from the tree. "I'll show you what I did."

Leon was ready to protest, but did not. He did not want Riku to feel he was being further isolated. He could not keep avoiding the teen. Besides, if Cloud was going to be with them…

"I've got to get back to the library." Cloud stated. He took Riku into one arm and the couple exchanged a through kiss. He pulled away, giving Leon a quick nod before leaving.

There went that hope.

"Come on." Riku jerked his head in a clear follow me motion.

They were silent during the walk to Ansem's computer room. Both had their hands in their pockets and watched the road; neither looked at one another.

In the study, Riku went behind the large desk. Leon frowned, wondering at the sudden stop. Riku searched for something among the papers and just as Leon was about to ask, Riku began talking. "I know I put it here…"

He opened a draw and his face lit up. "There it is."

He placed a short stack of folders on top the desk. "These are the print outs of everything I did. I figured it was a good idea to make a… manual so that if something happened you can repair it."

"Or we could always have you do it again."

Riku froze. He flicked his eyes up at Leon a moment before falling back to the folders. "Yeah, well, if I'm not here…"

"Why wouldn't you be?" Something in the back of his mind was warning him to be careful.

The teen shrugged a little. "Things happen, change."

They fell silent again for a moment.

Riku shook himself of it first. "So, they'll be in the drawer here and Tron knows the passwords and re-routes. I had to change the encryptions of a lot of things. Those are in the smallest folder."

Leon stepped closer to see what Riku was actually talking about. He stood at the edge of the desk, trying to keep his focus on what Riku's hands where doing. It did not work very well.

Grey eyes kept straying up to gaze at smooth jaw and pale lips. He wanted to focus of Riku's words but he found himself paying more attention to the mouth that was producing those words. He wanted reach out and touch…

Aqua eyes suddenly met his.

With no conscious thought to his actions, Leon had closed the distance between them. He reached up a hand to cup Riku's face, brushing his thumb along that smooth cheek. A voice inside was screaming to stop, stop this endless moment before he went too far.

However, he could not.

He leaned in, only hesitating a second before pressing his lips to Riku's. He felt a peculiar relief at finally doing the one thing he had been wanting, needing to do for days now. He did not allow any other thoughts to interrupt this one perfect moment.

The only thing that could have made it better was if Riku had kissed back.

Leon pulled away, suddenly unable to meet the other's eyes… He should not have done that. Yet, he was incredibly glad he had.

"Leon." Riku whispered. "Look at me."

With grave uncertainty, Leon raised his face and after a beat, lifted his eyes to gaze into Riku's own. There was confused understanding in those expressive depths. ...And mixed within that was a sadness that Leon could not bear to see.

He broke the contact. He quickly turned and in a surprisingly clear voice, stated. "I'm sorry."

"No. I am."

"Don't." Leon grimaced. He held up a hand almost as if to steady himself. "You… you have done nothing to be sorry for."

"I had to have-"

"No." Leon cut him off angrily. He still did not look back at Riku. He blew out a breath. "I'm the only one who should be sorry."

...And before Riku could try to protest further, Leon left the study.