(A/N): Jerremyah's POV of Leo's 'idea'. My dad goes in for hand surgery tomorrow, and we're about to have dinner- which he is eager for, because he has to fast from midnight onward, and the earliest surgery he can have is 11am. He's been looking forward to this surgery for ages, because hopefully (if everything goes well) he will no longer have the pain he's been suffering from because of his arthritis for the past few years. Well, at least in that hand, anyway.

Jerremyah

Once I bit, nothing else mattered. I knew Leo was there- that animalistic- vampire- side of me, was painfully aware of that fact. He was a threat- both sides of me knew that. But there was nothing I could do to answer him, or to stop myself from feeding.

And then he got closer- he reached out to me. When he put his hand on my arm, my instincts drove me to protect my prey, and to defend myself- unfortunately, those two things didn't work together all that well, and as I moved to pull the deer closer, I rended two, long sets of gashes along it's sides. Leo seemed alarmed by that, and disappeared behind me, out of my eye-line. It left that other side of me on edge- it didn't like having a threat like him at my back.

'I'm going to try something- try not to hate me afterward.' Why would I hate him-?

Agony.

White. Hot. Agony.

Instinct took over, and I kicked out with my leg, where the pain was coming from. I felt his hand catch my ankle before I could make contact with him, and when the pain continued, I spun to attack him, but not before, as I readied my claws, I ripped through the deer's flesh as my arms constricted.

My mouth opened, fangs disengaging from the animal's throat, so that I could hiss at him, and as I did so, I splattered him with bloody spittle. I swung at him, and he dodged, falling back, his hands coming free of my leg, and I saw that the claws on one of them were wet with blood- my blood.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, which, in the back of my mind, surprised me, but right now, I wasn't in control of myself. I swung at him again, and he rolled out of the way, hopping to his feet. "Okay, any chance you'll- woah!" He ducked my next slash with a yelp, and popped back up- grinning? Why the hell was he grinning? "Any chance you'll come back to yourself any time soon?" I rushed forward, using vampire speed, but fire raced up my leg from the wound, and it failed me. As it collapsed under my weight, my momentum carried me forward, and I slammed into the ground- almost bouncing off of it with the force.

I laid there, pointlessly breathing rather hard, focusing on watching my exhales disturb the grass that poked up through the snow. Everything was quiet for a second, before I groaned.

"Fuck." I heard Leo huff out a laugh from a few feet behind me, and then move closer, before he crouched down just a few feet away.

"I take it that means you're yourself again? Welcome back. A bit late for the deer, but..." He sounded genuinely upset by that, but like he was trying to hide it. "Hey, you didn't get a hit in on me!" I turned my head, inspecting him to make sure he wasn't lying. He saw me looking, though, and laughed again. "I'm fine, I promise! God, you're as bad as Lisbet!" High praise, and I think he knew I thought so.

"Speaking of which, what the hell did you do to my leg?" I eyed his fingertips, still bloody, but with his claws no longer extended. "I've had claws in me before- it's one of the ways that Grey and Lisbet tried to keep me in control... with varying degrees of success. But that... that wasn't-" He smiled- a wide, toothy smile, and I realised what had happened. "You-" He cut me off.

"Lisbet may be your mate, but I'm not-" No, but you are her kit. "My venom works on you full force. I can't believe that worked- I had other ideas, but let's just say, I'm glad I didn't have to use them." He shuddered, and I couldn't help but wonder- what were those, 'other ideas'?

"Well, congratulations- my leg is killing me." His smile faltered slightly, but then, he shrugged.

"Yes, but I didn't have to rip your fangs out, or your jaw off, so I think you should be a little more grateful." My eyebrows shot up. Jesus H. Christ... this kid!

"You know, I'm the one that taught Lisbet it was okay to be ruthless like that." He blinked, then his eyebrows furrowed.

"I- okay? I don't... I don't understand what you're trying to say." I shrugged, echoing his earlier movement.

"I figure you get some of that from her. I can't take credit for it, she had it long before me- probably from birth- but she didn't often indulge it. In those days, women were- well, let's just say, things were expected of her. She was expected to act a certain way, and ruthlessness didn't fit into that." He blinked again, and opened his mouth- floundered, then closer it again. Then, he tried again.

"I- honestly, I don't know if any of it came from Lisbet. I... I hope it does." It was small. Quiet. And like he said... hopeful. "I thought it all came from my mother- from the way I grew up. I've never... never thought that ruthlessness could possibly be a good thing." That... made sense. The way I had grown up, ruthlessness had been necessary. If I hadn't been ruthless- at the right times- I would have died long before I ever met Nuria. But Leo...

"Ruthlessness can be a good thing... as long as it isn't paired with cruelty. If someone tries to hurt you, or to hurt others- those you care about? They'll pay for it, and you won't stop until they do." He was silent for a minute, dropping his eyes to the ground.

"I... I've never thought about it like that. I think... I think that might be something Elaine might like to hear. Some of our other friends, too." Hmm... Yes, she did seem rather predisposed to it. Hopefully, that ruthlessness was in favor of Leo, rather than against.

I stayed silent for a second, then pushed myself up into a sitting position, wincing as I jarred my leg. I bent in half, and pulled up the leg of my trousers to inspect the wounds. Five small punctures, red and angry, encircling my lower shin, just above my ankle.

"Oof. Awful." I saw Leo's cheeky smile out of the corner of my eye, and couldn't help but echo it. I reached out, and nudged his bicep with the back of my hand. "You're vicious, Kiddo. A real menace." His grin only intensified. "I can understand why Lisbet likes you so much." Why I was starting to like him, almost as much- and not just because he was hers.

"Yeah, well..." He murmured. "I like her quite a bit, too."

(A/N): Leo: *grinning the entire time Jerremyah is trying to attack him*

Jerremyah: 'What. The. Fuck?!'

Jerremyah: *slams face first into the ground*

Jerremyah: 'Fuck.'

Leo: *laughs*

Leo: 'I think he's forgotten about Lisbet's language mandate.'