Finished one more for this. Didn't have time for a proofread since I need to go to work in two minutes from now.
Still, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
Disclaimer2: I'm again using the Penny family members that TerribleWaitress created, simply because I'm used to it :D
Screaming, the patrons of the club began running. Penny was about to join them when she felt her sister's hand holding her back. A second later, she saw why Bridget did it when the first customers were bowled over by the panicked crowd and luckily, those unfortunate souls managed to get back up and keep running when the first gun shots rang out.
Bullets were screaming past them, and both Penny and Bridget tried to make themselves as small as possible, hearing the impacts of the projectiles in the walls around them. Penny looked over at Leonard who was still behind the thick table he had turned over when he crashed onto it, now holding a gun of his own.
She winced when she saw him rip the shard out of his shoulder, a long thin piece of it covered in blood. He looked past the table and pulled the trigger three times, causing three of the people shooting at them to drop dead, a bullet in each of their heads. That show of marksmanship made the goons take cover as well, the rate of fire dropping as they sought to protect themselves from the man who had crashed through the window before an explosion.
Flames were still licking out of the office area and started to spread through the building. Penny looked at Bridget who could only shake her head, seeing no avenue of exit anymore, now that the rest of the patrons were gone and the goons were freely shooting into their direction to get at Leonard.
"Fire in the hole!" she heard someone shout before and object began flying towards them.
"Oh fuck!" she cursed under her breath.
Penny knew from her time in high school that when the body gets flooded with adrenaline in the fight or flight response, time appears to slow down and right now, she began feeling it. She looked and saw the flight path of the grenade with excruciating slowness, knowing where it would land and that when it exploded, her young life and that of her sister were most likely at an end.
Knowing that Bridget had a husband to go home to, Penny prepared herself mentally to shield Bridget from the blast, so she would survive when suddenly, a thick table slid in front of them just in time for the grenade to bounce off of it and land several feet away while Leonard was jumping behind another table, trying to shield himself as it went off.
The blast deafened her momentarily, a loud ringing overpowering everything else. She saw Leonard get hit by a piece of shrapnel, his body contorting in pain and his mouth opening in a scream she couldn't hear as the blood squirted out of his hip. She saw him grab a bottle she knew out of one of his pockets, spraying the contents on the wound and using a burning piece of wood to ignite it, creating the flash she knew from the alley. He then grabbed a syringe and rammed it into his hip close to the wound, pressing the plunger down until it was empty.
Ten seconds later, Leonard rolled onto his belly and grabbed his gun again, lifting his head over the rim of the table he was hiding behind and let loose a volley of seven shots. To her shock and astonishment, seven more goons fell dead, all with bullets in their heads or chests. She had never seen something so brutal yet elegant, no shot or movement wasted. As her hearing began to return, another burst of automatic fire hit the area, impacting their barricades and splintering the hard wood, making her scream in fear.
Leonard made eye contact with her and inclined his head towards the exit, then jumped up and ran into the developing smoke from the fire, away from her and Bridget. More shots rang out, their impacts going away from them and Penny understood the nodding he had done.
"We have to get out of here!" she shouted at Bridget to be heard over the gunfire.
"Are you insane?!" Bridget shouted back. "We'll never make it!"
"He's drawing their fire away from us, go!" Penny shouted and jumped up.
"For crying out loud!" Bridget cursed and got up as well, running after her sister towards the exit and into the cool night air until they had reached their truck.
"Open it!" Penny yelled.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Bridget cursed again, fumbling the keys with shaking hands, finally managing to open the driver's side door and jumping in so she could lift the pin of the passenger door.
"We need to get away from here before the cops arrive." Penny told Bridget who nodded and started the car, driving it a few hundred yards.
"Stop!" Penny shouted, making Bridget slam on the breaks.
"What now?" Bridget asked.
"I need to see if he's alright." Penny told her.
"Are you insane?" Bridget hissed. "Under no circumstances are we going back there."
"Bridge, I need to know." Penny pleaded.
"Why?" Bridget groaned. "Weren't you there? The guy killed like a dozen people with as many shots. Who is he to you?"
"He..." Penny wanted to tell her but in that moment, a movement caught in the periphery of her eye. "Look!"
They both looked to Penny's right, seeing a lone figure stumble through the night, one hand on the hip. Penny knew instinctively that it was Leonard, his short stature and his gait known to her. Penny fumbled with the door opener until it finally clicked and the door opened.
"Penny, why are you so determined to help him?" Bridget held her on the arm. "Who is he to you?"
"He's the guy who saved me from Kurt." Penny said teary and jumped out of the vehicle.
"Shit!" Bridget cursed again when the figure fell down and lay still and also jumped out of the truck.
"Leonard!" Penny shouted and ran to the prone figure.
"I thought his name was John?" Bridget asked as she caught up to Penny.
"His real name is Leonard." Penny sniffed and knelt down, trying to figure out what to do.
"He's alive." Bridget stated, having felt his pulse. "Help me get him into the truck."
"Why are you helping so suddenly?" Penny asked her.
"Because I still need to buy him a beer." Bridget stated and pulled him up. "We need to get him to a hospital."
"No hospital." Leonard mumbled. "They'll call the police and that would complicated things too much."
"Do you have a doctor to call on?" Penny asked as they reached the truck, hoisting him onto the passenger seat while Penny climbed into the backseat.
"Normally yes, but the one in this city died two weeks ago and there's no replacement yet." Leonard whispered, weak from his ordeal. "Get me to a place with hot water and strong alcohol."
"Shit!" Bridget cursed again when Leonard closed his eyes and seemed to nod off. "Lets take him home."
"What? Home?" Penny gasped. "What about mom and dad?"
"It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission." Bridget shrugged. "And we have hot water and believe me, mom and dad have strong alcohol."
"Okay." Penny nodded as Bridget started driving, sticking to some side streets as the blue flashing lights of the police and fire department vehicles went the opposite way on the main road.
Whenever Bridget could, she drove above the speed limit, allowing them to reach their parents' farm in thirty minutes. Leonard was breathing steadily and Penny was sure he was asleep when he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the house they brought him to.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Home." Penny told him and pushed herself out of the backseat after Bridget had exited the car.
"Come on, you." Bridget said and grabbed Leonard's arm, lifting him up and steadying him alone until Penny reached them and put his other arm over her shoulder, eliciting a pained groan from him.
"Is the pain bad?" she asked.
"Yes, especially in my left hip." Leonard confirmed.
"Shit!" Penny cursed when she saw fresh blood coming out of the wound he had, her action of pulling his arm up and over her shoulder having ripped the protective cover he had created over the wound open again.
Bridget fumbled her keys out of her purse and unlocked the door, pulling Leonard inside who groaned in pain from being pulled on one side and held in the other. More blood came from his shoulder wound where the glass shard had been stuck in, running down his outfit and starting to drip on the floor.
"Where do we put him?" Penny wondered.
"Preferably a comfortable surface where I can be propped up in a half-sitting position." Leonard told them.
"Like a hospital bed?" Bridget asked pointedly.
"A bunch of cushions under my back and head will result in the same." Leonard let out a cough.
"Shit, lets get him up to my room." Penny says.
"Try to be quieter." Bridget hissed when they were banging against the wall and the banister on their way up and to Penny's room.
"Here we are." Penny said shyly, not even knowing why.
"You know, when I said earlier tonight that you could have found yourself a piece of male ass for the night, I didn't mean it like this." Bridget joked as they put Leonard into her bed after Penny had put a spare blanket over it.
"I hope this isn't some bad joke about how the only guy I can get into bed is one who can't escape." Penny scoffed as they both put a bunch of pillows under his back and neck so he was propped up before they manhandled the body glove off of his upper body. "So, what do we need?"
"I have most of the tools on me." Leonard winced and opened a zipper on his, what Penny knew to be a body glove, pulling out a thin pouch and handing it to Penny.
"Jesus." Penny said as she took out a scalpel, a pair of small forceps and some surgical needles along with thread in a separate plastic covering.
"What the hell is going on here?" the voice of Meryl interrupted them, both girls seeing her and Wyatt standing at the door of Penny's room.
"Mom, dad." Penny looked apologetic at her parents. "I'd love to say that this isn't what it looks like, but it is."
"Can someone explain what I'm looking at?" Wyatt asked. "Because I see a man bleeding on my daughter's bed."
"Remember the guy I told you about, that saved me from Kurt?" Penny looked at them. "Meet the man who saved me from Kurt."
"Oh crap, what happened to him?" Meryl asked.
"Job gone wrong." Leonard winced. "Could we please get on with his before I pass out from blood loss?"
"What do we need?" Wyatt asked, his concern about the man somewhat pushed aside by gratefulness.
"You need to boil the tools." Leonard pointed to the scalpel and forceps.
"Wyatt, go to the kitchen and boil some water." Meryl ordered. "What else?"
"A disinfectant to clean the wound." Leonard continued.
"He mentioned strong booze." Bridget said.
"I'll get the iodine." Meryl sighed and got up to run into the master bathroom.
"Get some strong alcohol anyway." Leonard told Bridget who nodded and also left the room.
"What happened?" Penny asked quietly.
"I have no idea." Leonard winced once more as a fresh wave of pain went through him. "The bomb was a surprise."
"I bet." Penny chuckled.
"You look good." Leonard said seriously. "That dress fits you."
"You looked better. But I think the dress looked better without the blood stains." she smiled at him. "And I think you need a shower."
"Look who's talking." Leonard winked.
"Are you saying I stink?" Penny gasped in humor.
"You positively reek." Leonard replied and Penny was surprised to hear the very same words directed at her that she said to her dad the day before. "Like a barbecue gone wrong."
"Okay, I've boiled everything like you said." a returning Wyatt proclaimed, stopping the banter, carrying a pot with steaming water where the scalpel and forceps were placed in.
"I got the iodine and some gauze." Meryl said as she came into the room again.
"I got the booze." Bridget proclaimed when she returned with a bottle of strong vodka.
"What for?" Meryl asked.
"It's for you guys." Leonard said. "To calm your nerves."
"Good idea." Bridget nodded and took a swig.
"Wrap some gauze around a stick or something and put iodine on it." Leonard said, Penny doing what he told her. "Now dab the wound, to disinfect it then use water to clean the edges."
"Sorry." Penny winced when Leonard twitched in suppressed pain as Penny cleaned the blood from around the wound.
"Okay, what now?" Bridget wanted to know.
"Now, take the scalpel and make an incision through the wound, about an inch long." Leonard told them.
"Here you go." Wyatt handed her the scalpel.
"What, me?" Penny shrieked.
"Give it to me." Meryl sighed and sat down beside Leonard, taking a deep breath and a swig of vodka. "Okay, about an inch."
"Ugh." Bridget made a gagging sound as Meryl cut Leonard's wound open, the skin parting and fresh blood squirting out of it. "How can you take that without screaming?"
"Me and pain have a long and close relationship." Leonard groaned in pain.
"What now?" Meryl asked, putting the scalpel away.
"Here comes the fun part." Leonard tried levity. "Carefully, and I do mean carefully, pull the sliver out. You, sir, heat one of the needles over an open flame. "
"Right." Wyatt nodded, getting a lighter as Penny handed the small forceps to her mom.
"God, the last time I tried this was with a board game with a guy whose nose lit up when I made a mistake." Meryl winced herself.
"Then please do me a favor and try not to make my nose light up." Leonard joked to lift the mood.
"Got it." Meryl couldn't help but chuckle as she put the forceps into the wound.
"Be careful, mom." Penny implored.
"Well, and here I thought I would simply ram it in." Meryl scoffed.
"Ahem." Leonard looked at both.
"Sorry." Penny apologized as Meryl put the forceps in again
"Okay, I think I got it. Yeah, I got it." Meryl nodded to herself as she felt the resistance of a piece of metal but when she pulled, the metal slipped out of the forceps which came back out empty, eliciting another groan of pain from Leonard. "I haven't got it."
"Careful, mom." Bridget said.
"Okay, now that you know how not to do it, why not try the other way?" Leonard smiled weakly.
"Okay, I got it again." Meryl said, having grabbed the piece of metal with the forceps and this time, she held them tight together as to not lose them again.
"Hrgn!" Leonard groaned loudly, his body again lifting in what looked to Penny tremendous pain as Meryl slowly pulled on the metal until it was completely out of his body.
"Well done, honey." Wyatt congratulated her, holding a small bowl for her to put the tool and sliver in.
"Now hand me the needle and thread." Leonard told them.
"I take you sowed yourself up before." Wyatt said as he handed Leonard the tools.
"At least this time I have a needle." Leonard nodded and set to work, pressing the needle into his skin and closing the wound.
"How would you close a wound without a needle?" Meryl asked.
"Once I used a stapler." Leonard shrugged with one shoulder, given that the other was still bleeding. "I also used glue more than once to prevent bleeding out until I got to a proper doctor to patch me up."
"Jeez." Wyatt breathed.
"The second needle please." Leonard said after finishing with the hip wound.
"You can do that with one hand?" Penny asked.
"Yes." Leonard nodded. "But I need a mirror, preferably one larger than what you might carry in your purse.
"I get one." Bridget said and went to the bathroom, coming back out with a large mirror and holding it up for him as Leonard set to work, sowing the second wound close, deftly using his free fingers to hold the skin in place when he pierced it with the needle.
"What exactly happened to you?" Meryl asked, looking over the multitude of scars and what looked like old bullet holes on Leonard's body.
"Are you talking about tonight or in general?" he asked, noticing her stare.
"Well... both." Meryl shrugged.
"Everybody has a reason for what they do." Leonard replied cryptically. "But tonight was something I didn't expect."
"Did you kill the owner of the Rose club?" Bridget asked.
"That was my job, yes." Leonard nodded. "Though I didn't have to, he was already dead when I reached his office and the bomb was sitting on his desk, with ten seconds to go. Hence my... alternate exit from the room."
"He crashed through the window." Penny elaborated to her parents.
"Which means, either one of my... uh... colleagues accepted the job after I did or it was someone completely unrelated since bombings isn't really a style of anyone I know in my profession."
"Penny told us you kill people for a living?" Wyatt wanted confirmation.
"Yes, I do." Leonard nodded and turned to Penny. "And just how much did you tell them about me?"
"I didn't tell them!" she defended herself.
"She didn't need to, her saying you killed Kurt and then telling me that you'd kill me before I get a shot off from my shotgun told us enough." Wyatt smiled.
"I do hope I don't have to prove that." Leonard said.
"Nah, you saved my little girl, that trumps whatever you do."
"Why did you have to kill the owner anyway?" Bridget asked.
"He had been using the club to distribute drugs and launder money for years now..."
"Ha!" Wyatt interrupted. "I knew it."
"But recently, he has expanded into human trafficking of girls as young as twelve, immigrant and domestic, snapping them off the streets, when they're homeless and selling them into prostitution around the country and even other parts of the world." Leonard continued. "Then his men made the mistake of grabbing the thirteen year old granddaughter of a retired associate of mine from her school vacation in France. Needless to say, he wanted revenge."
"What happened to the girl?" Bridget asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.
"Others like me have rescued her and others girls when they took out the European branches of the ring." Leonard told her. "Luckily they got to her before she was fully... uh... groomed, so she hadn't been violated sexually yet."
"And by taken out you mean..." Bridget inquired.
"Lets just say that there are quite a few less people in the world than there were a month ago." Leonard said clearly enough. "The people in my profession are very thorough, especially when it comes to helping one of our own. I expect more bodies to drop in the next few weeks. In this case, we have no qualms about how high it goes. We'd even kill the leader of a country if he or she was involved."
"How exactly does that work?" Penny asked. "I mean, I doubt there's a message board on the internet where people like me could place a hit on someone like Kurt for example."
"Actually, there's a message board on the internet, though it's disguised on the dark net, and not accessible through regular means." Leonard explained.
"Then how do people that hire you get there?"
"We have web sniffers that do nothing but scour the net for people with grievances and after a background check to see if they're who they claim to be, they get approached. If they agree to place a contract, they give the information which are then put on our message board to accept." Leonard continued. "A target or more than one is set, the amount of money it pays and if the contract is open or closed."
"What does that mean?" Bridget wanted to know.
"A closed contract means that if I take it, nobody else can. An open one means, it's open season on the target and the money goes to the one who takes it out." Leonard told her. "My contract was closed, hence my... surprise at finding my target dead and a bomb on his desk."
"And that will lead to what?"
"If it was one of the people in my profession, then there will be consequences." Leonard said. "Nothing lethal, just some sanctions." Leonard shrugged.
"I think we should let you sleep." Meryl told everyone. "You had a rough night and I'm sure you could use the rest."
"Where do I sleep?" Leonard asked.
"I think you should stay in the bed." Penny stated.
"Sis, I was joking when I said land yourself some hot male ass." Bridget smirked.
"Very funny." Penny rolled her eyes. "He's already in it, he's hurt and it already smells like blood and disinfectant in here."
"Makes sense." Meryl nodded. "Penny can sleep in Scott's room."
"I could use a shower." Leonard said, slowly getting up. "Do you have some plastic foil and tape?"
"Of course." Meryl nodded and headed downstairs to get both.
"Us too." Penny pointed to herself and Bridget. "We smell like smoke from the fire."
"I also need a laptop." Leonard stated. "Mine is still in my hotel room."
"I can lend you one." a returning Meryl said, handing Leonard the foil and tape. "But I don't know if it has everything on it that someone like you needs."
"No worries." Leonard told her an fished a flash drive out of one of his pockets. "Everything I need is on here."
Penny showed Leonard the bathroom, him nodding and peeling off the pants part of his body glove, showing few scars on his legs and a very tight pair of underwear, Penny already understanding why, given what he wore above it. Leonard took the foil and tape and began ripping some off, clearly having trouble until Penny took the tape and fixed the foil over his wounds to keep it dry.
Without any warning, Leonard dropped his underwear, Penny quickly turning around, blushing, and stepped into the tub, closing the curtain and opening the faucet. He used the soap available and rinsed himself off, getting the stink of smoke and blood off of him as best he could. For almost a minute, Penny was transfixed in place, not quite sure how to process that the man had just gotten naked without a worry and gotten into the tub.
For a moment, she thought about getting naked and stepping into the tub as well but she quelled that thought, heading out to her brother's empty room after grabbing her sleepwear. As she stood under the spray of her brother's shower, she wondered why she had that thought of getting into the shower with him. She barely knew him, he did things that were illegal and her head was swimming with the knowledge of what he told them, making her aware of just how much she didn't know about the goings on.
But she also couldn't deny that she found him cute. Even though he was on the shorter end in terms of height, his body was tight in a way not even athletes' were. Every stance of him exuded danger, the knowledge that if someone were to attack him, that someone would find himself dead or very injured as a result and it would take Leonard barely an afterthought.
She thought about the fight in the alley she had witnessed. In retrospect, she realized that Leonard had incapacitated the guys in a manner that cost him the least amount of energy. When the big guy had attacked him, Leonard had evaded most attacks and then broke the guy's elbow, taking him out. The next one had dropped after a punch into the throat and to top it off, he broke or at least twisted the ankles of both. For some reason, she wanted to learn to do this as well.
After drying off, she put on her sleepwear, loose pajama bottoms and an old top with its stomach area cut out, which she hadn't worn since she was thirteen. She looked at herself in the mirror and realized that she should have bought new pajamas since having the underside of her breasts showing and her nipples barely covered by the top wasn't something she was going for, even to sleep.
She decided to have a glass of water before going to bed and headed downstairs, stopping short when she reached the kitchen, finding Leonard standing at the counter, wearing only shorts, and rubbing something on his freshly sown wounds.
"Hey." she got his attention, unsure if she should approach for a glass. "Just wanted to get some water. What are you doing?"
"Rubbing honey on the wounds." he said, looking at her and doing a slight double-take when he took in her outfit, one eyebrow going up in appreciation. "That's a rare choice for sleepwear."
"Yeah, I left most of my stuff in Los Angeles." she shrugged. "And for reasons you know, I didn't have the chance yet to buy new clothes."
"Didn't you say you wanted some water?" Leonard asked, feeling the urge to look at her.
"Yeah, you're standing in front of the cupboard with the glasses." she smiled.
"Sorry." he nodded and took a step aside so she could approach, coughing when she stretched to grab it, showing him more than he expected.
"Do you have everything?" an appearing Meryl asked, looking at her daughter, who was unknowingly flashing their guest, with a smile.
"You wouldn't have a hot patch by any chance, would you?" Leonard asked.
"Sure I do." Meryl nodded and left the kitchen again, to reappear a few seconds later with a package.
"Thanks." Leonard nodded and took it out, taking a knife as well and starting to scrape at it.
"What are you doing?" Penny asked, the glass she was holding momentarily forgotten.
"Heat and moisture accelerate the healing process. But this particular type of hot patch creates the heat by releasing a powder that reacts with the moisture on your skin. The last thing I want is this powder in the wound because it would make me feel as if I was on fire." Leonard explained and began spreading a gel on the patch when he was done scraping.
"What's that?" Penny asked.
"A zinc oxide paste." he told them. "Like honey, it's anti-inflammatory and it lowers the scarring."
"The stuff you know." Penny chuckled and finally poured some water into her glass.
"Actually, your mom told me about this." Leonard corrected.
"Those are household remedies." Meryl smiled.
"Well, thank you for your hospitality." Leonard said when he was done. "Tomorrow, when I get up, I will leave again."
"Nonsense." Meryl shook her head. "You can stay for as long as you need."
"Thanks, but until I know the reason for what happened tonight, I can't risk putting you all in possible danger." Leonard stated and left them alone.
"What?" Penny looked at her mom, who just grinned at her.
"You like him." Meryl said.
"Well, he saved my life, of course I'm grateful." Penny stammered.
"Not what I meant." Meryl winked. "Good night."
"Ugh." Penny huffed and downed her glass before going back up the stairs and entering her room.
"Something else on your mind?" Leonard asked.
"Oh, forgot that I slept in my brother's room tonight." she chuckled and heard the music coming from her old radio. "What's that music? The voice of the guy is amazing."
"It's a Finnish band called Poets of the Fall." Leonard replied as he put away the laptop he had been working on. "Their music soothes me, especially on days like this."
"Wow, I need to get myself some of those songs." Penny nodded, listening for a bit to the lyrics, which were deep and profound. "Any recommendations?"
"It's faster to show you the songs of theirs that aren't good." Leonard said and held out a piece of paper which she took.
"There's nothing on here." Penny pointed out.
"Exactly." Leonard smiled.
"Well..." Penny began, unsure if she should say anything else. "Good night."
"Good night." Leonard said and shut off the light as Penny walked towards the door. "Oh, and Penny?"
"Yes?" she turned around, seeing only his silhouette in the dim moonlight.
"You truly are a beautiful woman." he said serious. "Don't let anything that happened in your life take that away from you."
"Uh... thanks." she stammered and left the room, not knowing how to reply to that.
After getting into her brother's bed, she let the day run through her head, from being saved by him to getting into that club only to have her life again saved by him when he pushed that table in front of them. Her thoughts went to earlier, when he got naked in front of her and his appreciative look at her body, both in the alley and in the kitchen, which was so much different than either Kurt or any of the guys she had to sleep with during the last years.
Huffing, she turned and tried to get some sleep.
So, you may have noticed that I named a certain band. Yes, all their songs are great and I'd ask everyone to listen to their songs, especially the song "The Sweet Escape" in their Alexander Theatre version. The guy has the voice of an angel and it's almost a crime against nature that they're not more well known.
Other than that, review please :)