(A/N): Leo's reaction to Greygorry calling Elaine, 'her daddy's daughter'.

Leo

Before Lisbet could even turn all the way around- presumably to scold Greygorry for his comment- I pushed the letter into Shari's hand, and launched myself towards him. When I got close enough, I swung- as hard as I could.

My body felt like it was on fire, I was so full of fury, and as my fist made contact with his face, I heard twin cracks of bone- his nose, and my hand. As the force of the blow snapped his head back, I heard another crack- the crack of his neck breaking.

Greygorry's body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, and as he hit the ground with a meaty 'fhlumph', I shook out my- now sore- hand. Everything was silent, and when I eventually turned to look, everyone was gaping at me in shock, particularly Lisbet and Jerremyah- they must be concerned for their friend.

"Leo-" I shook my head at Lisbet's exclamation- not to indicate that I was saying no, but like a bull shakes its head when looking for its next target. "Your hand!" ...What? "Come here, let me see." I hesitated, and I saw each person in attendance notice it. Cautiously, I stepped towards her. "Can I touch you?" Typically, she didn't feel the need to ask- had I frightened her that much? Was she now worried about me hurting her? I would never- could never!

"...sure?" Slowly, she stepped as close to me as I suspect she dared, and gently placed a hand on the elbow connected to my injured hand. I usually wrote with my left hand, but throughout years of training, I had learned that I always hit harder with my right hand, so I usually defaulted to using that hand to throw punches. Maybe it was because of the Meliflua Family ring on my left ring finger- If I had broken my fingers and Greygorry's nose with my right hand, I would hate to see what damage the immovable ring would have inflicted.

"I'm going to touch your hand, now. I need to make sure that your bones are in the right alignment, before they heal." I shrugged weakly, making sure not to jostle my right arm at all.

"If you want to." She had started to lower her head to get a better look, but when I said that, her eyes darted back up to meet mine, and there was an almost pained look in them.

"I really don't want to have to, but if I don't, your hand could heal all wrong." ...So. One punch, and she didn't even want to be near me?

"I can ask someone else to do it." She shook her head.

"No one else wants to do it, either." I felt tears start to prickle behind my eyes, and I struggled not to let it show.

"Then I guess I'm lucky you're still willing to touch me." Her head popped back up, and she looked confused and concerned- at least, I hoped it was concern, and not fear. Maybe that was a foolish hope...

"Leo-" I cut her off, shaking my head.

"Just get it over with." Reluctantly, she dropped her gaze to my hand again. Gently, ever so gently, she pressed on my knuckles, and I had to bite my lip in order to keep in a hiss of pain.

"Looks like it's just your fourth and fifth metacarpals that are broken- your ring and little finger knuckles, basically." I nodded- a lot of my training had been interspersed with anatomy lessons- usually just like this, with someone explaining what bones I had just broken, my own or occasionally my training partners. "I- I have to set them." I nodded again, but she didn't move- just staring down at the back of my hand. "I'm sorry, Leo, I'll just-" Her hand tensed, and there was a moment where I held my breath, but then she just let go of my hand, letting out a heavy sigh. "Jerremyah, can you-" He looked panicked, and Lisbet hesitated, but Shari just rolled her eyes.

"For Merlin's sake, I'll do it if you two are just going to fret about it." She said, but she barely had time to take a step before Herc put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, Shari, but- with your weakened state, you may not be strong enough to set them, quickly enough to not cause him pain he doesn't need." Shari frowned, looking unhappy to be reminded of her less than perfect condition, but accepting that Herc, unfortunately, had a point.

"Well, I'd do it, but my bloody neck is broken!" Greygorry growled, and I rolled my eyes.

"And if you hadn't-" Lisbet cut me off, and I expected to receive the scolding I'd anticipated since my fist had met Greygorry's face- but it never came.

"You deserved it, you arse!" I turned back to her, my eyebrows lifted in shock.

"You- but you're-" I cut myself off, under Lisbet's heavy gaze.

"I'm what?" I hesitated, for a long, tense second.

"But you're..." I lowered my voice, before the next part. "...mad at me." It sounded pathetic when I said it, but Lisbet's expression immediately softened, completely.

"Oh, Leo..." She reached out, and grabbed my face with both of her hands, pulling me in close so she could press a soft kiss to my forehead- something that shocked me, and not just because I hadn't had a parental figure do that to me in many years. "I'm not mad at you, sweetheart." She wasn't? How?

"But- But... I hit him. Really hard. I thought-" I cut myself off, but Lisbet noticed anyway.

"Sweetheart... If you didn't hit him, I would have- and it wouldn't be his head hurting right now." Oh?

"Great. Good to know. Note to self, don't mention Elaine or her father." Greygorry grumbled from where he still laid flat on his back on the ground, and I moved away from Lisbet to crouch down next to him. The fact that Lisbet didn't stop me, showed that either she trusted me not to throw another punch- or she really thought he deserved it, if he ended up provoking me again.

"Mentioning either of them isn't the issue- You don't compare them. Ever. Elaine is not her father- and he, most certainly, isn't her." Lisbet came to join me, resting the palm of her hand on top of my head. "If you knew anything about him, you would know that." Greygorry scoffed.

"I know plenty about Tarea Hugar- and while Elaine seems perfectly nice-" I cut him off.

"Watch your mouth." I growled, and he was silent for a second, his tongue darting out to taste the blood that had flooded from his broken nose. As I looked at him, I realised that I may have broken both of his eye sockets as well.

"The apple doesn't usually fall far from the tree." I growled again- an actually growl, this time. This wasn't just for Elaine now- it was for me, and Mia. And Sirius. And Herc. And any of Nicholai's other children who didn't want to end up like him. And, just maybe, for Dahrya, whose biological fathers neck I had just broken.

"Wait." Jerremyah said from behind me, and I felt Lisbet's hand grip the hair on the top of my head- not tightly, but... apprehensively. "Elaine- Your Elaine-" The amount that I enjoyed her being referred to as 'my Elaine' was truly awe inspiring. "Is Tarea Hugar's kid?"

Uh oh.

(A/N): Leo: *punches Greygorry as hard as he can, breaking his nose, both of his eye sockets, and his neck*

Leo: 'Everyone hates me now, because violence is scary, and I should be better behaved.'

Everyone else: 'Jesus Christ, this kid is STRONG!'

Greygorry: 'Ow.'

The type of injury Leo has is commonly referred to as a 'Boxer's Fracture', because it occurs most often when someone punches something- like a person, or a wall.