Leo slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. Both of his arms lay around Greenlee, still in the exact same position that they had fallen asleep in together the night before. He smiled, looking over his wife's shoulder and noticing the satisfied smile on her face as she slept; and enjoying the hell out of fact that neither of them had any clothes on. Last night had been pure bliss. He thought he had reached the pinnacle of intimacy all those years ago at the Pine Cone, when he and Greenlee finally gave in to their feelings. How was anything supposed to top that first time that they discovered just how deep a connection they had? But no, back from the dead sex topped it. Last night, all they needed to do was look into each other's eyes and they felt the most amazing electricity. It was the most intense night of his life. He looked over to the clock in the corner of the room: 12:30pm. It seemed a little late, but Leo had no idea what time the two of them had finally made it to sleep.
Greenlee, somehow sensing that Leo was awake, began to stretch out on her side of the bed, gradually waking herself up. Leo brushed the back of her hair off to the side and kissed her exposed nape. She moaned with pleasure and turned her body around to face Leo. "Morning, Leo," she smiled.
"Afternoon, Greenlee," Leo responded.
Greenlee bit down on her lower lip, letting another moan of pleasure escape her. "I had the most incredible dream last night," she told him in her soft, just woke up voice. "Wanna hear?" Leo's smile grew wider, urging her to go on. "In my wonderful dream," she continued happily. "The love of my life came back from the dead and we made sweet, passionate, beautiful love all night long. It was heaven."
"Sounds real nice, Greens," Leo smirked. "I'm sorry that you had to wake up."
"I'm still dreaming," she told him, putting her hand between his head and his pillow, caressing his cheek with her thumb. She moved her head forward, extending her lips to meet his. "Last night was the most incredible, amazing night, wasn't it?"
"So I take it you're feeling fine?" Leo asked her seriously. "We didn't push it too hard?"
"I feel so much better than fine," she answered, unable to stop grinning. "I feel you, and I feel alive, and I feel so absurdly happy."
"Me too," Leo told her, rubbing his hand over her exposed chest and the bottom of her neck. "You always know exactly what I need, Greens. I was a mess before I got back here, but you knew exactly how to get my mind clear again; to make me feel centered again. But I'm wondering how you did all that. How did you set up the room and everything when you couldn't even walk when I left?"
"Simone and I patched things up," Greenlee explained, enjoying Leo's touch. "This is the new and improved Greenlee you're dealing with. This Greenlee is too happy with life to hold grudges. So we talked everything out and she set the place up and helped me get changed and everything. I always knew she didn't mean to hurt me, but I didn't know I could really get over it until you came back."
"Oh that's what she was saying," Leo realized. "I bumped into her on my way in, but I was pretty much sleepwalking through it. I don't even remember a word she said to me." Greenlee stared into his eyes, a devilish sparkle coming through her own brown beauties. "What's that look?" Leo asked.
"You're lucky I know you so well," she replied. Leo nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, I'm very lucky."
"So do you need to talk about what happened with Ryan?" Greenlee asked.
"I guess it was exactly what you knew would happen," Leo answered her. "He told me about what he thought he was feeling."
"And…"
"Um… I hit him," Leo told her with a sheepish smile. Greenlee covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to hold back her laughter. "Oh, you think that's funny?" Leo asked, reaching his hands under the blanket. "I'll show you funny," he smiled, tickling her bare navel. "Stop! Stop it!" Greenlee cried for mercy through her laughter. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Greenlee chuckled when he let her go. "But I thought Roger was the only person you knew how to hit." Leo chuckled and reached his hand back under the covers, threatening to tickle her again. "Come on, when it comes to you, Greens, I'd punch anyone. And I'll have you know Miss my-husband-is-a-softy that I actually hit him twice."
"Ooh," Greenlee raised an eyebrow. "Bringing out your inner alpha male."
"Hey, if you heard what he said about you…"
"Aww," Greenlee looked lovingly at Leo. "Defending my honor – my hero."
"Always," Leo brought his hands back up to his wife's face and sighed. "But Ryan looked like he was skipping town last night. I don't think he wants to look either of us in the face ever again."
"Works for me," Greenlee told him. A sly smile crept to her face as a thought occurred to her. "I can't wait to tell Kendall why he left," Greenlee laughed. "I'm going to hold this over her head for the rest of her life."
Leo rolled his eyes and laughed at her. "What happened to my new and improved, too happy with life for grudges Greenlee?"
"One grudge at a time, Leo," Greenlee answered. "Can't take all the bark out of the bitch."
"Got it; the world isn't ready yet to see Greenlee Smythe duPres the way I see her. We'll go one step at a time. And speaking of you going one step at a time, how about you let me take care of that right now?"
"What do you have in mind?" Greenlee smiled.
"I was just thinking," Leo smirked. "I know you're moving okay on a bed…" Greenlee interrupted him by playfully hitting his shoulder. "But if you're still having trouble on your feet," Leo went on. "Instead of a shower, maybe I can draw a bath for the both of us. And then afterwards we can go out to the woods and see what we can find, what do you say?"
Greenlee licked her lips. "Sounds perfect," she smiled.
Ring ring!
"Damn, we need to unplug that thing," Leo ruefully told his wife, reaching for a towel sitting beside the bed and tying it to his waist.
"So ignore it," Greenlee reached for Leo's arm. "And stay in bed with me a little bit longer."
Leo leaned back over and kissed his wife. "Love to, baby. But I should get that in case it's Jackson or Anna."
"Or it could be Revlon wondering what happened to my mourning time off," Greenlee mumbled, sitting herself up straight on the bed and bringing the covers up with her, holding them up against her over her breasts as a top.
"Hello," Leo answered the phone. "Anna, what's the problem?… why can't you tell me over the phone?… okay, we're on our way." click
"What did Anna want?" Greenlee asked her husband curiously. "Did they find something? Is David off the hook?"
Leo looked back at his wife with a confused look on his face. "She didn't tell me," Leo told her. "She just said that we needed to see something and come down to her office. Something about there being good news and bad news."
----------
"duPres!" one of the officers called out to Leo from his desk. "The chief is waiting for you two in her office."
Leo thanked the man with a wave and continued walking ahead with Greenlee. He had his arm resting over her shoulder as she had hers tightly wrapped around his waist. Once again, Greenlee had insisted on getting no other help than the support of her husband's large frame. It was bad enough that she wasn't her usual graceful self in private, but no one was ever allowed to see her showing any signs of weakness in public. She lifted her neck up at Leo, his cue to bend down to her. "Let's hurry it up, Leo," she whispered in his ear. "Everyone is staring at us and I really need to get off my feet and sit down."
Leo tried to oblige her and pick up their pace, but her dragging legs still limited them. It took them about fifteen more seconds to walk the length of the room to Anna's office where Leo used his free hand to knock slightly before pushing the door open. "We're here," he announced before even looking into the room. Anna sat at her desk. She looked worn down, as if she had just finished a frustrating argument. In the corner of the room stood a man that Leo was shocked to see: David! He had been facing the wall but turned around when he heard Leo and Greenlee enter the office. "Hey!" Leo looked happily at his older brother. He helped Greenlee over to the chair in front of Anna's desk and then walked over to David, giving him a hug. He could tell David was happy to see the two of them, but something was clearly bothering him.
"Does this mean your free, David?" Greenlee hoped.
David gave his sister-in-law a half-smile and nodded. Leo softly hit his brother's chest with the back of his hand to get his attention back. "Come on, bro, why the long face? You're free!"
"I can explain that," Anna interrupted. She held up a video tape and put it in a VCR next to her desk. "Someone brought this in this morning," she explained as she inserted the tape. "The man is a zoologist doing some studies on the deer that are always hanging around the woods. He left a camera rolling out there and when he was going over the tape, he found something you two need to see."
She pressed play as Leo settled up next to Greenlee, sitting down on one knee on the floor. They saw Trey lying on the ground in pain, and then two figures approaching him: a large man and… Vanessa! Greenlee gasped at seeing her and immediately buried her face down in Leo chest, not wanting to see another second of the tape. Leo held her tightly as he kept an eye on the screen. He watched his mother mocking his helpless brother, he watched her take the diamonds, and he watched her walk away as the other man picked up a gun… bang!
"So as you can tell," Anna told them softly. "The good news is that David is free. And the bad news… well… you just saw it."
Leo held Greenlee close to him as he tried to comfort her, rubbing his hand up and down the back of her hair. "Don't worry, baby. She won't get near you again I promise you." He turned up to Anna. "What are you doing about this? Go find her, damn it!"
Anna took a deep breath as she watched Leo hold a terrified Greenlee. The look in his eyes was one of pain and worry. The man had already risked everything to save Greenlee from his mother, and now he found out that they were no better off for it. But she could see he was still willing to do anything to protect the woman he loved. Anything. She remembered a time when David was able to give her that feeling.
"We're checking the security camera of every airport within 150 miles to find out where she went, Leo. But the chances of us getting to her… I mean, even if we can find out where Vanessa went she probably left the country right after she got the diamonds. She is days ahead of us by now. The chances of us getting to her now…" Anna's voice trailed off in apology, knowing the reaction she was going to get.
"Great!" Leo shot back, still holding his wife in his arms. "So we're just supposed to sit around and wait for my mother to find us again!"
Greenlee let her head back away from Leo. She looked straight through his eyes, looking for the feeling of security that always came from his loving gaze. David immediately recognized the look. It was the same one he saw from her at the hospital, the same one that held a woman scared to death about the future. But this time it wasn't only about an uncertain future, but her very own life. If Vanessa was alive and on the loose, she was going to come after Greenlee again; everyone in that room knew it. It was only a matter of when. Leo put his hands on her neck, letting his fingers glide up and down. "No escaping her," Greenlee finally choked out. "What are we going to do, Leo?"
"I have an idea about that," Anna responded from behind her desk. "It may sound a bit radical though." David knew it was going to happen. He saw how scared Greenlee was and he knew his brother was at the point where nothing on the planet could stop him from protecting her. "I've been on the phone all morning with some contacts and I have a plan for you two." Leo and Greenlee looked up at her intently, urging her to continue on. "I can set you up with a new life; a completely fresh start. Think of it as a witness protection type of thing with the two of you getting completely new lives where Vanessa will never be able to find you."
"And say goodbye to everything?" Leo asked.
"No one will know were you are, including David," Anna confirmed. "I can't offer you Paris because Vanessa will think to look there but I can promise you I won't stick you in Alaska or some other place you wouldn't be able to enjoy. I can have you set up by tonight."
Leo and Greenlee looked at each other in silent assessment, trying to read the other's thoughts. Leo then looked up at David as if to ask his approval. "Come on," David laughed. "I know you both want to be free of this town. And I know you're both still packed and ready to go from when you were planning on leaving us for Paris, so you've got no excuse there." Leo looked back into Greenlee's eyes. Smiles crossed their faces at the same moment: "Looks like we're out of here," Leo declared.
Anna smiled; glad she could give the happy pair the new start to their lives that they had been craving for months, but also sad for David, knowing how much he'd miss them. "Well then," she stated, trying to hide her mixed emotions. "I should give the three of you a private family moment to say goodbye and all." She walked around her desk towards the door but Leo grabbed her arm as she past him. He stood up and hugged her. "Thank you, Anna," he told her when he broke away. "Thank you so much for everything." "Thank you," Greenlee agreed from her seat. "You'll never know what you've done for us."
"Oh, I think I have an idea," Anna smiled back. She walked out of the office leaving David alone with the couple to say his goodbyes.
David fidgeted uncomfortably, unsure of what to say. This was the best thing that could happen for his brother and sister-in-law, but oh man did he hate goodbyes. There were only so many people in the world that he cared about, and he was about to lose two of them. "So…" he clapped his hands together; a slight quiver coming through in his voice. "What happens now?"
Leo came up in front of him and stared at him for a few moments. David waited for Leo to make the first move – it was safer that way. Leo wrapped his arms around his older brother in a huge hug. One hand lay on David's back and the other on the back of his head. David was shocked to feel his eyes moistening up – this was truly goodbye. "I'm going to miss you," Leo told him, still holding on tight. "Same here," David choked out, patting Leo's back. "Damn," David brushed away a tear as Leo let go. "I didn't think I was going to cry. This is happy, you know? You're finally escaping your no good family and getting the life you deserve."
Leo smiled at David. "Yeah, but I'm still going to miss you. You better take good care of my future niece or nephew because one day I'm going to meet that kid and make sure you didn't screw him or her up too much, alright?"
"Yeah," David wiped away some more tears. "I'll do my best."
"My turn?" Greenlee interrupted from her seat. David smiled and walked in front of her. He kneeled down to be face to face with Greenlee and she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Remember," she told him, rubbing her thumb over the spot where she kissed him. "No one is left to cover up your messes anymore so make sure you stay out of trouble, okay?"
"Okay," David agreed, trying to hold back some more tears.
"And good luck with everything," Greenlee continued. "Remember what I told you at the Valley Inn? Show Anna the person you've shown me. I know she'll take you back, just don't give up on her. You deserve a family with her and your baby."
"Sure, sis. I'll try."
Greenlee opened her arms, inviting David to hug her. "Leo's not the only one who is going to really miss you," she whispered in his ear when he wrapped his arms around her. "I owe you my life David. None of this would be possible without you. You're a good person; never forget that."
David laughed as he backed away. "You better take good care of my brother. He deserves a life of nothing but happiness."
"I'll make sure of that," Greenlee told him, wiping away some tears of her own.
Leo smiled watching them. "That was cute," he mocked. "Too bad you couldn't make that kind of impression on her before, David. Having this one on your side helps keep those jail trips short."
David laughed, realizing it was the last time he would ever laugh at one of his brother's jokes. As long as it wasn't safe they were going to be out of his life. Out of his life for good.