BLEED/HAVEN

[XXVI] LEO

'Thank you. I'm still in your head you know.'

Oops. Leo brushed it off and went to introduce her,

"Juno, this is Leo and Setton, Set and Jet, this is Juno. She worked with me during my years as a detective and is a very close friend of mine."

The two greeted her with jubilation and Jet spoke,

"Nice to meet you, miss Juno. I have to say I didn't know Leo had it in him to ask a woman of your caliber out to this occasion and I am more than happy to welcome you to our crusade."

Leo went to smack Jet on the shoulder, which he flinched at before he laughed. The four then left out of the room towards his car. Setton drove, being the most sober out of the bunch, and after a short ten minute drive, they arrived at the main building of Roakon rather than the Lionessa outpost Leo was expecting. When they arrived, they presented their V.I's to gain access, Leo vouching for Juno as his guest, which still did not get her out of a security scan. This made him nervous, however the woman simply presented her arm and the scanner beeped just fine. He was relieved and Juno simply gave him a wink as they made their way to an enormous conference room with hundreds of people dressed up enjoying drinks and food.

After grabbing a few drinks and plates of food, Juno politely refused, saying she would share drinks with Leo, as her body did not agree well with alcohol and that she was on a diet. The other two thought nothing of it and sat with them as they continued on. After a while, Tina and Charnita appeared in respective grey and white dresses, having a seat behind them, Jet and Set politely pulling their chairs fout for them and playfully complementing one another. Charnita turned to Juno and reached out a hand,

"I don't believe we've met, I'm Charnita, Charnita Mcree. Are you a friend of Jet's?"

Jet chimed in promptly,

"Actually, she's a friend of Leo's."

He said this triumphantly for some reason, as if he was a proud father or something alike. Tina leaned over and shook her hand as well,

"I'm Tina, Tina Martinez. Pleasure to meet you."

Juno smiled back and replied,

"The pleasure's all mine, Tina, Charnita. I am Juno.. Juno Velasquez."

They nodded and went on to talk about how much they adored one another's outfits and such, Juno seeming to fit right in with the other women to Leo's relief. Then an announcer came across the public announcement system, the group turning their attention to the stage in the front of the room. A man in a black tuxedo spoke,

"Welcome members of the mighty Roakon Legion and their esteemed guests. We will now begin today's itinerary before we continue with the festivities and raffle afterwards. If you have not received raffle tickets, be sure to grab them from the stand just outside the double doors and to the left down the hallway."

Leo turned to the group, Setton shrugging and Jet stuffing his face with food. Char and Tina showed off their tickets and Leo shrugged it off as he went back to the announcer,

"First on the agenda we have to say thanks to quite a few members and their families for making this event a reality."

The man went on to list off names followed by applause as he moved on to announcement after announcement. All the while the group of six were trying to contain their laughter and rowdy behavior as they joked around and mocked the man on stage. Eventually came something that caught their attention,

"...and now we will hear from our leader, Commander Yusei Holland."

The audience responded with applause, as did the table Leo sat at, although the group shot one another with looks of playful disgust that made Juno laugh. A familiar man in a dark navy suit took to the stage with a confident smile that lit up the room. Commander Holland took to the mic and spoke in a voice that was contagiously cheerful,

"Man I can't believe this many people showed up, I hope there's enough cake to go around. I already got my slice so don't be surprised if you see a slice missing."

The audience gave a laugh and Holland continued to smile before speaking again,

"I want to thank you all for attending this ceremony. When I was first presented the idea of downtime like this, I was skeptical. As you know we usually do nothing but work and work, I personally have become used to the work rhythm and I'm sure many of you have as well. However, I decided we should give it a shot in order to build a stronger camaraderie between co workers and the like. So tonight I implore you to walk up to someone and strike up a conversation, make new connections. We all fight for the same cause, so let's support one another in more than just the fight my friends."

Leo turned to Tina who whispered under her breath to the group,

"Bullshit."

They laughed quietly as the man continued speaking about the greatness of Roakon and the like before raising his hand to toast to the years to come and the eventuality of crossing space to find a new home for the human race. They all rose their cups and drank.