Chain Me

Leon

     The meeting with Leon ends up not happening until the next day, late afternoon. Lost is out in the hall somewhere talking to Hakeem while I'm inside finishing getting ready. My hair is atrocious and I end up just tying the red strands up into a messy ponytail. Which only reminds me that I have to get Lost a haircut. She hasn't complained yet but I assume she will soon.
     I grab my keys and essentials, and grab Lost a jacket, too, then leave the apartment and lock the door. I call for Lost as I do, knowing she'll hear me even if she were a block away and was wearing headphones.
     "Are you cold?" Lost asks from directly beside me. This time she didn't scare me since I expected it. It's a triumph for me, really.
     I hand her jacket over and start down the hall. "No, it's for you. It's cold outside. Where's Hakeem?"
     Lost stuffs her arms into her jacket and fixes the hood. "Back home. He invited us to his first baseball game this weekend. Can we go? I said yes."
     "Well, you already said yes," I drawl, pushing the button for the elevator. "If nothing comes up, we'll go."
     Lost hums one of those songs of hers as we descend and she fiddles with her sleeves. We make it outside, but I groan at the condition of our car. The roof has a layer of white, leaking down to the windows, and a few of the culprits are still present.
     "Lost!" I growl, shooing the birds off the SUV. They flap fervently but only waddle where I can't reach. "Lost. You fed the birds again, didn't you?"
     She helps me make the birds fly away and nods. "Yes."
I eyeball our feathered friends as they move to other cars and coo at us. "I don't want bird crap on my car anymore. It's ugly and embarrassing and-"
     "I'll tell them to do their business somewhere else," she interrupts. She waves at the birds then gets into the car and buckles her seatbelt.
     Frustrated, I throw my hands in the air. I'm all for Lost expressing herself but, really, bird whispering? That seems like the most unlikely of powers she'd have. I'll give her a chance, anyway. But only because I'm curious to see if she can actually make the birds stop crapping on the car.
     With a roll of my eyes I hop into the driver's seat and buckle up. "We're getting the car washed," I mumble, clicking on the blinker. Lost hums, accepting that, then coos like a pigeon. I am this close to snapping at her, and she shuts up right quick, evidently feeling my frustration. Of all the things I thought I'd ever get mad at Lost for, this wasn't a consideration.
     I drive to the nearest carwash and sigh as we roll up. At least I won't have to get out of the car. Hopefully this will go by quickly and we can get back on track to meeting Leon. Rolling my head, I glance at Lost halfway into the wash and my irritation with her disappears. Her palms are flat on the dashboard and her excited eyes follow the rainbow soaps drip down the windshield. She's so adorably innocent. There's no way I can stay mad at her.
     When we make it out of the wash so the car can be dried, Lost flops back in her seat and gives me the cutest smile, saying, "I'm going to tell Hakeem about this."
     I chuckle and stroke her cheek, almost pinching it. Hakeem has more likely than not been to a car wash before but I'm sure he'd listen to Lost tell her story. No one can resist Lost's imaginative retelling of events.
     Lost purrs and leans across the center console to kiss me, her soft lips pressing to my cheek for a few seconds. Butterflies flutter around my stomach. I think Lost feels them, too, because she blushes as she retakes her seat. Either that or she simply caught my sensations. Whatever the case, she turns sheepish.
     I tap the steering wheel with my thumbs in a jovial mood and start for Leon's meeting place. We're to meet him at his office building downtown. The place towers over the city, a cover for his section of the government. His people went the opposite way of the Facility and integrated themselves into society rather than try to hide. It makes for a great cover as well. No one expects a reputable business to hold actual beasts and monsters.
     Lost leans forward in her seat and squints. "We haven't been to this part of the city yet," she observes, and rightly so. This part of the city is busier, both foot and street traffic wise, and the buildings reach higher into the sky. Its occupants are essentially always moving.
     I pull the car into a parking garage and park in the first empty spot I can find. It takes a while to find.
     "This is crowded," Lost says as she exits the car. I can only imagine how she'll feel when the cars turn to people as we reach the street. "Leon wants to meet here?"
     "Yeah. This city's branch is in the heart of all this."
     Lost stomps once to make an echo. "This city's branch?"
     I grab her hand to prevent her from running up and down the aisles and lead her to the exit and the disappearing sunshine. "Yes. Just like the Facility has different places around the world to meet, Leon's people have different bunkers stationed all over."
     Humming, Lost almost slips from my grip as she fingers a splotch of fresh paint on the cement wall, no doubt covering graffiti. "That makes sense," she says, coming back to me. She finally stops trying to observe everything and follows my lead. "What do the bunkers hold? Soldiers and prison cells like the Facility?"
     Leon invited me in once, and I only lasted about five minutes before freaking out. "I'll just let you see."
     We reach the sidewalk and Lost pulls me to her side as a cyclist zooms by. She gives me a funny look and asks, "You're okay?"
     I'm not sure if she's asking about the cyclist almost running me down or my itchy skin about meeting Leon down in his zoo, but I say, "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go." Then I take her by the elbow and look both ways before running across the street. We walk side by side to a tall, slick office building and step into it, the air conditioning hitting us immediately. Business suits and work appropriate dresses and skirts walk around us without noticing us. They have better things to do than worry about two visitors.
     I take Lost across the pristine tiles and swerve past potted plants and waiting couches to reach the last service desk. The man behind the desk gives me one look before typing at his computer. He scrutinizes Lost for a few seconds, then jerks his chin to the hall of elevators behind him.
     "Second to last," he tells me.
     Thanking him, I move past the desk, Lost in tow. Even in the large space and echo prone tiles I only hear my own footsteps. Lost is quieter than silence itself.
     The second to last elevator's doors are wide open as I come upon them, and I slow. Lost breathes in deep when I step up to the elevator and I watch her to see how she reacts to the person inside. Her eyes widen... then she sneezes directly in Leon's face.
     "Oh, my God," I whisper as Lost wipes under her nose with her jacket sleeve.
     She sniffs and the bridge of her nose scrunches. "He shouldn't be wearing that."
     Leon wipes down his perfectly stubbled face with a thick fingered hand. "I thought I got rid of it all," he mumbles, scraping his hand on his pants. "Sorry."
     "Uh." If someone should be apologizing, it should be Lost. "Are you okay?"
     Leon nods then holds out a dark, friendly hand for Lost. "Great. You must be Lost. I'm Leon."
     Lost squints at his hand but doesn't shake it. "Nice to meet you."
     I nudge her and whisper, "Don't be rude."
     She frowns down at me. "I don't want to get that stuff on me. I could get a rash."
     "What stuff?"
     Leon clears his throat and moves to the side of the elevator. "I'll explain, but why don't we get moving, hm?"
     I enter the small space and Lost presses herself to the back of the elevator, as far away from Leon as she can get. Her behavior is giving me the creeps but I stand in front of her to hopefully make her feel better. She plays with my ponytail then I feel it rise and hear her inhale. I'm not disturbed but I really hope she doesn't sneeze in my hair.
     "Sorry, but I just dealt with an unusually disturbed sea serpent," Leon says, pressing numerous elevator buttons in an obviously memorized order. They chime and light up, then we begin to descend. "You shouldn't be effected. You have some kind of water creature in you? Excuse me, but I know very little about your kind."
     Lost harrumphs and sniffs my hair some more. I don't move because I think that would upset her. "I almost succumbed to a sea virus once. I'm not entirely sure about my heritage either... But thank you, for understanding."
     Leon nods. "Maybe we can find out together. I have a tome with references to you and your people. I'll let you read it, if you so wish."
     My hair falls and I shiver as Lost presses herself to my back. It's in no way sexual but something is exuding from her that gives me gooseflesh. "I can feel them," she almost growls, mouth directly behind my ear. "They are yours?"
     "Depends," Leon responds carefully. His chin lifts and his copper eyes twitch. "Has she told you what's below us?"
     Hands grips my hips, hard, and I can feel Lost shake her head. "Why are they here?"
     "They pose a legitimate threat."
     "By who's standard?"
     Leon smirks. "I have a council of different species to ensure judgment is fair."
     The hands on my hips slacken. "This is a prison?"
     "It holds uncooperative souls, yes."
     Lost's chin rests on my shoulder and she hums, almost playfully. "That scent is effective. Who made it?"
     Leon relaxes, his whole posture changing to someone chatting with a friend. "Deanna made it. Oh, she's our resident witch. She's on that council I mentioned."
     Whatever face off just happened, it's apparently effectively over. Lost moves out from behind me but takes my hand with her. She hovers the back of my hand near her mouth and conversationally asks, "How long have you been working here?"
     "Years. My dad worked here before me and his dad before him."
     "Your mother?"
     "Dead."
     "My apologies. Have you spoken to her recently?"
     I almost pull my hand back in surprise but Lost holds tightly to me, still by her mouth, and Leon replies, "I've tried, but she was always stubborn."
     "Pure souls tend to move on."
     Leon chuckles as the elevator comes to a stop. "Thank you. I thought the same thing."
     The whole conversation is over my head, and I'm a little jealous that Leon can speak to Lost so easily when I have trouble understanding her sometimes. My inadequacies are painfully obvious.
     As the elevator doors slide open, Leon points to my hand by Lost's face. "You won't need that anymore. I'll change."
     Lost nods and her eyes dart to me. "Sorry," she mumbles as we all exit the elevator. "Your scent combats his."
     Now she tells me. I swear half the time it's like I'm missing chunks of important information. "It's fine."
     Lost drops my hand with a kiss then looks around the waiting room we're in. Leon has gone, leaving us to stand awkwardly. I've been here already but I'm not comfortable yet. Then, a woman in a pencil skirt and silk blouse comes walking towards us, her heels signaling her arrival. There's a sincere smile on her face as she reaches us, her arm extended without malice.
     "Kahlan," she greets me cheerfully. Then she moves on to Lost. "And you must be the Lover, Lost. I'm Deanna. Witch. Dark."
     Lost shakes Deanna's hand once firmly before letting go. Professional. "Blood or bone? Or perhaps you're darker."
     "No, no. Blood. You know your magic."
     "I've been walking this land for centuries."
     Deanna raises an interested eyebrow. "No doubt. How would you like to meet a few other members of staff?"
     "The prisoners?"
     "Below us. Safe and secure. The staff?"
     Lost scratches her head but nods. Deanna claps her hands together then spins on her heel, beckoning us to follow. Lost gives me a smile then starts walking when I do.
     "Rollo should be in his quarters- he just came back from bagging a serpent illegally eating children- so you probably won't meet him," Deanna informs us. "But everyone else should be in the cafeteria."
     "Who is everyone else?" Lost asks curiously.
     "Agents, mostly. Agents in training. If you want to meet the rest of the council you'll have to come back another day. They're all deployed." Deanna stops at a pair of double doors and looks over her shoulder to wink at us. Then she pushes the doors open and swaggers inside. The cafeteria is smaller than I thought and there's only a handful of people inside.
     "Ay, Deanna," a man with some green goop stuck to his beard hollers. "I need more bug spray."
     Deanna sighs and plasters on a clearly fake smile. "I'm not an earth witch, Sammy, and you know that."
     Goopy beard, Sammy, grumbles about weak leaves as Dianna holds up her arms and addresses the whole room, "I know there have been rumors about a new- er, dangerously old- species being integrated into our little club here. Well, the rumors are true. I introduce you to Lost, the Lover." She sweeps her hand to Lost dramatically.
     Lost straightens up and waggles her fingers. A young man with purple hair springs up from his seat and immediately moves towards Lost. He keeps his hands behind his back as he stops about three feet away from her.
     "Nice to meet you," he chirps. "I'm Zora. Fae."
     Lost gives him a sweet smile. "You move with such grace, tender wing."
     Zora blushes wildly and giggles, turning to run back to his seat. He whispers something to a woman beside him, and she shakes her head, clearly uncomfortable. Lost's shoulders roll as she spots her and her feet are moving before I can register it. Lost stops by Zora's table but Sammy gets up from his seat to meet her first.
     "I'm Sammy," he growls out. "Fae."
     Lost turns to him and pushes on his chest fiercely, knocking him back a few steps. I open my mouth to chastise her but Deanna holds a hand up for me to wait. So I do, and Sammy gives Lost a push in return. She wobbles backward a few feet. There's a smile on her face. Sammy rumbles with laughter as Lost throws a punch at him, obviously not at her full strength, and he catches her fist.
     "You must be old to know," he chuckles.
     Lost takes her fist back and grins. "We never forget."
     "No we don't." Sammy shakes his head in amusement and pats Lost shoulder before returning to his table. He scratches at his goopy beard and kicks up his feet.
     Lost cocks her head and stalks around Zora's table, her focus on the woman he had been whispering to before. She steps beside the woman then takes a knee.
     "May I?" she asks, holding out her hands towards the woman's.
     This time it's Deanna who reacts to the situation, and I have to stop her from interrupting. I don't know why I stop Deanna, but Lost knows what she's doing. I think.
     "I'm Lessa," the woman says nervously. She gulps and twists her hands in her lap.
     Lost smiles, her profile clear to me. "I'm Lost. You are very young. May I?"
     Lessa shakes her head, her short, dark hair swinging slightly. "I... I can't."
     "Am I revolting?" Lost asks, sounding hurt.
     Lessa gasps and looks around for help. Her wide eyes find Deanna's, but Deanna doesn't do anything. I think she's as curious as I am. "I'm... I am death," Lessa says loud enough for me to hear. "I'm sorry."
     But Lost only chuckles. "Who told you that?"
     "No one had to tell me. My touch kills. I'm sorry. I can't shake your hand."
     Lost's head spins to Deanna and she scowls viciously. But her face softens when she returns her gaze to Lessa. "You are the brink, my dear. Have your parents not taught you?"
     Lessa's head droops. "They died when I was young."
     Scooting closer, Lost looks up into Lessa's face. "You are not death, Lessa. You are the line. You can be death if you wish, but you can be life as well. I'm terribly sorry that you have lived without touch. Do not go in thinking you are death please." Swiftly, Lost grabs on to Lessa's hands and holds tight. Everyone in the room collectively gasps, and Lessa yells, trying to tug her hands out of Lost's. Lost won't let go.
     "You are the brink," Lost grinds out, smoke ascending from her hands. Lessa sobs harder. Everyone in the room starts yelling, but Lost shouts over them to be heard. "You are not Death! You are beautiful, Lessa! Show me your life!"
     Lessa cries and stands to yank her hands away, but all she does is take Lost up with her. "Please, stop!"
     Sammy and Zora move forward to pull on Lost, but she shoves them away, still holding to Lessa. "I am not afraid," she snarls. The smoke coming from her hands is worse and the scent of burning meat is starting to become present. "You are not death. Believe it and you can't hurt me. You are life itself. Make me live. Show them all you are no danger. Prove them wrong."
     Tears still falling, Lessa stops trying to fright. She sniffles and only stares at Lost in defeat. "I'm sorry," she whispers. Lost's hands have turned ugly and I'm afraid they'll melt if she doesn't stop this. "I'm so sorry."
     "I accept," Lost exhales. Her breaths are hard. "I know you are only being you, and it's beautiful. Has anyone told you how soft your hands are?"
     Despite her wet cheeks, Lessa chuckles. She swallows and manages a wobbly smile. "Please let go."
     Lost doesn't. "Never. I've never felt someone like you. You are what dreams wish they could be." Her knees buckle and Lessa follows her to the ground.
     "Why are you telling me things like that?"
     Lost's fingers lift from Lessa's hands for a moment and I cover my mouth at seeing the blistered and melting flesh. "Because I truly believe it," Lost says between her teeth. "Your kind is magnificent. Not monsters, not angels. You're both and neither. You're magnificent."
     Lessa chokes up, and the smoke emanating from Lost's hands stops. Lost's head drops forward and she leans close to Lessa, whispering something I can't quite catch. The rest of the room looks around nervously.
     Then, making everyone sigh in relief, Lost drops back, her grip no longer on Lessa. Zora kneels beside Lessa without touching her and asks if she's okay.
     "She's fine," Lost says cheerily. She shows off her palms, no longer destroyed. Everyones gapes in surprise. Deanna even curses, confused.
     "I'm not a monster," Lessa cries, covering her face with her hands.
     "You are not," Lost agrees. Then she lifts her head to eye the rest of us. "You avoided her for so long. You all should be ashamed."
     Finally, Deanna steps forward and speaks. "What was that? What did you do to her?"
     "I did nothing. It's what you did," Lost hisses. "You made her believe she could only destroy. You have a tome on me but not on her? She is the brink, witch, and I will murder you if you cause such pain to another again."
     Deanna bristles at the threat, but deflates almost immediately. "We didn't know what she was."
     Lost stands and holds out her hand for Lessa to take. Lessa hesitates for a moment, but takes Lost's hand. No smoke. "Are there no elders here? No one to teach?"
     "There... aren't," Deanna admits. "We know only what comes from tomes and journals we've found."
     "The young are useful," Lost declares, spreading her arm out to indicate the people in the room. "But our people need elders to teach the younglings. Did you not learn your craft from your parents?"
     Deanna turns her head. "I did."
     "Humans have books, witch. We have each other. Our secrets are secrets because we keep them in the family. You cannot rely on paper for important information like this. I know you learned sensitive spells from word of mouth only."
     "Alright," Denna snaps. "Enough. I understand. I'll... work on it."
     Lost turns and brings Lessa's hand to her lips. "You are the brink, always remember. Practice and you will touch with life on your fingertips."
     Lessa wipes her eyes and nods. "Thank you."
     "What's going on here?" a voice booms, and I turn to see Leon standing at the doors of the cafeteria, brow furrowed.
     Deanna sighs and rubs her forehead. "No tests, no scrutiny. Lost stays. We need her."
     "What?" Leon balks. "What did I miss?"
     Deanna shakes her head. "I'll tell you about it later. Just trust me on this." She takes Leon to the side and mumbles to him as Lost comes up beside me.
     "I'm sorry I scared you," Lost whispers to me.
     I keep staring at Deanna and Leon. They're arguing now, and Leon keeps glancing at Lessa. "You knew what you were doing, didn't you?"
     "Yes. I couldn't allow that poor girl to continue life so depressed. I know what that feels like."
     At that I turn to her. "Did you know you'd be okay, or were you guessing?"
     "I knew." Lost exhales, gripping the amulet Tiffany gave her, then looks into my eyes. "And I think we can go home now and live like normal. I just proved my worth."