(A/N): Jo comes to tell Leo it's time to go home, Danniel apparates them both home, and Leo reunites with Lisbet and the others. Also, I just finished my birthday chapter (the next chapter), and it's just over 20 pages long. Not sure how many words that's going to be, but judging that St Vampentine's Day was 23 pages, and 6,700 ish words, it's going to be a lot. Yes, it's a continuation of that one- a flashback to 1966. I gave myself more time to do this one, buuuuuut... still ended up pulling an all nighter, and, from start to finish, working on it for about 20 hours (breaks for bodily functions and research included). My hand got sore around page 10 or 11, but I kept coming back to it for some reason, until it was finished. I was fueled by chocolate cake (my birthday cake, made early by my mother). I probably consumed WAY too much sugar today, but... I'm about to have another piece. Let's see if I can get some sleep after posting this, yeah?

Leo

Just after the sun finally set, and the last of its rays left the sky dark, Jo arrived to tell me that it was time for me to come home. The look she had on her face was not reassuring, and I had to fight to control myself, so that I didn't clench my grip around Elaine's letter and crumple- or god forbid, tear- it.

"Oh, god." I groaned, and Jo grimaced. "How bad is it?" She shrugged, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I mean, if I'm being strictly honest, I don't know- but I'm guessing pretty bad, considering they were up in Lisbet's room for a while with some sort of sound cancelling magic hooey-" I butted in, trying to alleviate some of my anxiety, even as I nonchalantly slipped the letter into my pocket- maybe not quite so nonchalantly as I had hoped, seeing as Jo's eyes followed the movement rather keenly.

"At least they're not shagging in the hallway." I joked, and Danniel seemed more amused by me deciding to ignore Lisbet's 'family friendly' language mandate, than he did by the joke itself.

"-and then, suddenly, Jerremyah comes tearing out of there like a bat out of hell, and drags Herc out of the house- 'to train', he said, but it certainly didn't seem like he was in a training sort of mood." Well. That didn't sound good.

"Did Herc seem okay with that, or am I going to have to mount a rescue mission?" I would do it- unfortunately.

"Hard to say- he wasn't actively fighting him, if that's what you're asking." Hm. I suppose that was probably good enough. If Herc got sick of putting up with Jerremyah's bullshit, he'd most likely just leave him out there and come home. Or he'd kill him- but honestly, if Herc got pushed to the point of wanting to kill someone, then that person probably deserved whatever they got.

"Guess that's good enough for me." The corner of Jo's lips twitched up.

"Lisbet and Greygorry stayed in there for a while after that as well- with the silencing magic back in effect, so I couldn't eavesdrop for you, sorry Leo." Sure, the eavesdropping was purely for my benefit.

"That's alright, Jo. I've decided that if Lisbet wants me to know, then she'll tell me when she's ready." The Twins shared a look over my shoulder, clearly shocked by my unusually mature and emotionally intelligent decision. "So, who's going to be on watch?" Jo raised her hand.

"It's technically my turn, but-" Danniel took over for her, picking up the cardboard box of our picnicking supplies and sticking it under one arm.

"But after I escort you back to the house, I'm going to come back and join her- so none of us are alone for too long." It was a good idea. Smart, even. What I didn't like was the fact that it felt like it had been worked out beforehand- talked about previously, when I hadn't been present.

"That's... good." Charlie had left to fly back home not long after I had finished reading the letter, so when Danniel held his free arm out to me in order to apparate us, I took it. "Be careful, Jo." She nodded.

"I will. Don't worry about me." I wouldn't, because I had much more pressing things to worry about.

"See you soon, Sis." As the world spun, I barely managed to catch sight of Jo's grimace at Danniel's new term of endearment before everything blacked out.

Knowing what he had said to me about being an only child, and never having had a sibling, made him referring to Jo as his sister- even in passing, even as a joke- mean a lot more than I thought Jo had any idea of. The world around us reappeared, and when it did, we were at the edge of the grounds of my family's estate.

"Ready for this?" Danniel whispered, leaning close to me- probably so we wouldn't be heard by the older vampires from where they waited for us in the house.

"I kind of have to be, don't I?" I whispered back, and Danniel shrugged.

"I could always apparate us back to the Folley's- or anywhere else you wanted to go." For the briefest, split second, I considered it- and then I remembered how we had heard Greygorry apparate in just that morning- meaning that they almost certainly already knew we were here.

"It's too late for that." I said, no longer bothering to whisper, and set off towards the house, via the driveway. Just as I reached the front steps, the door swung open, and Lisbet came marching out.

"Leo! You're back!" Why did she sound so surprised? She came right up to me, and placed both hands flat on my shoulders- with the way she had to reach up slightly to make up for the height difference, her wrists rested on my collar bones, and I felt like it wasn't an accident.

"Uh... Yeah. Was I not supposed to be?" She shook her head quickly, but I was mostly distracted by Greygorry coming to stand in the front doorway.

"No, no, you were! I just thought it might take longer- Jo having to run there, and everything." 'Everything'? What was that supposed to mean?

"Speaking of Jo- she said Jerremyah stormed out to go train with Herc. What's that about- if you don't mind me asking?" At first, Lisbet grimaced at the mention of Jerremyah storming out, but when I finished talking, her face softened.

"Leo- No, I don't mind you asking. I never mind you asking- I may not answer, but that should never make you feel like you can't ask me something." Rather than focusing on that, I pulled the letter from the pocket of my jacket, which caught her attention just like I thought it would.

"I want to show you something- Elaine sent me a letter. I- I mean, I said it first, but-" I could tell Danniel knew where I was going with this, because he sucked in a breath- temporarily snagging Lisbet's attention, before I shoved the parchment under her nose, pointing out Elaine's postscript. Now, it was Lisbet's turn to suck in a shocked breath.

"Leo, that's- wait, you said- and then she- Oh, Leo!" In an instant, I was in her arms, my face buried in her shoulder by her hand on the back of my head- the letter crushed between us. I rubbed my face into her shoulder, clearly scenting her, and Lisbet rested the side of her head against mine, doing the same in return. "I'm so proud of you." This time, I knew it when I started purring- if my chest vibrating didn't tip me off, then Lisbet's gasp in my ear and the tightening of her arms around me would have.

"He was purring when he first read it, too." Danniel said, his voice almost unbearably gentle, and Lisbet scratched the hair at the back of my neck lightly with her nails.

"I'm glad you're happy... Mon Petit Monstre." Even if I hadn't grown up speaking French, I'd be able to translate that- Lisbet calling me, 'My Little Monster' was incredibly fitting.

"I hope I can say the same for you, soon, Tante." Before Lisbet could reply, the crack of someone apparating interrupted us, and immediately, the scent of Herc, Jerremyah and... Shari, filled my nose. Why was Shari with them?

"Ah, good, you found them! Hope you didn't have too much trouble." Lisbet still didn't release me, and I let her hang on to me- I was enjoying it, and I wasn't willing to give up this closeness yet.

"Finding them wasn't the problem." Shari grumbled, and I tightened my arms around Lisbet's back, which she seemed to appreciate.

"What's happening?" Jerremyah asked quietly, crossing his arms over his chest- he should have presented quite the imposing figure, but instead, he just looked rather sullen. He was, after all, pouting about as much as a grown man could without looking ridiculous- not that I thought Jerremyah particularly cared about looking ridiculous.

"Nothing- Well... Leo just got some good news, it all." Her automatic response to being asked about it was to dismiss him- to try to keep it a secret. It was only after that, that she thought to tell them some small thing in order to keep them from being suspicious- or feeling like they were being excluded.

I gave her one last squeeze- not because I wanted to leave her side- or, well, front, I guess- but so I could make my way over to Shari, taking a second to smooth out the letter before presenting her with it.

"What- What's this? I mean, judging by the scent, I'm guessing-" Jerremyah cut her off, his nostrils flaring.

"Elaine?" Ugh, I hadn't thought about the fact that I was exposing her scent to him. If he wanted to, he could probably track her- or, he could track my scent back to the Folley's, much like Jonothan had. Not that I thought that was something Jerremyah would do, but I could never be entirely sure- and I wasn't willing to take that risk, when Elaine was the one who would suffer for it.

"I'm happy- of course it's Elaine." By this point, Shari had read Elaine's postscript, and was staring at me with tear filled eyes.

"Leo!" She pushed my hand aside- the one holding the letter- and stepped into me.

Shari hugging me wasn't like Lisbet hugging me- if Shari had tried to pull my head down to her shoulder, my back that had already been bent would have snapped clean in half- clearly, those three or four inches of height made all the difference. Shari was only an inch or so taller than Elaine, after all, and there was a reason I spent most of my time hugging Elaine, sitting down. Instead of her shoulder, Shari pulled my chin to meet her temple.

"Do you want to see something else?" She pulled back halfway, and I lifted the letter, so I could scan it for what I wanted to show her. "Here." I pointed out two lines- 'Jerremyah sounds awful.' and 'If you're already going for the throat, I hear beheading works a lot better than strangulation when it comes to vampires.' Shari snorted in amusement, upon reading them.

"Do I want to know why Elaine thinks you're going to try to strangle Jerremyah?" The man in question straightened, and I saw Lisbet cock an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, I would like to hear the answer to that, too." He grumbled, and I simply grinned at him and shrugged.

"I may have mentioned in passing that Jo wants to strangle you." He nodded. "And I want to strangle you." He seemed a little... something about this. If I didn't know better, I would have thought the emotion that he was displaying was hurt- but I did know better- this was Jerremyah, after all. "And Shari wants to strangle you." He glanced at Shari, and, after she merely shrugged at him, he rolled his eyes.

"Anything else?" I shrugged at him again, trying to act nonchalant.

"I told her that, despite the rest of us wanting to strangle you, Lisbet still wants to screw you." The sound of Lisbet choking on her own tongue behind me almost broke my composure. Jerremyah's face automatically started to light up, but then he glanced at Lisbet over my shoulder, and reined himself in.

"Language." He reminded me quietly, and I nearly burst out laughing at the ridiculous notion that was him telling me that.

"Anyway. Elaine then reminded me that vampires can't be killed by strangulation-" Jerremyah nodded in begrudging agreement. "So she advised me that, as long as I was already going for the throat, she's heard that beheading works much better when it comes to vampires." Jerremyah's eyebrows shot up, and then- slowly, ever so slowly, a sharp tooth filled grin bloomed on his face in the most awful of ways. I hated it.

"What a lovely young lady, she is." Greygorry snorted from where he still stood in the doorway, and, oddly enough, I noticed Jerremyah's face harden when his eyes landed on him, over my shoulder. At least now I knew it had probably been Greygorry who had caused Jerremyah to storm off, and not Lisbet.

"She's certainly her daddy's daughter."

(A/N): Leo: 'Hello, welcome to McDonald's, what would you like to order?'

Greygorry: 'One punch in the face, please.'

Leo: 'Coming right up.'

Translations:

Mon Petit Monster = My Little Monster (AKA, the first time Lisbet has called Leo her anything, to his face)

Tante = Aunt

Oh also, the traffic stats are still broken, which sucks big time.