Leo's eyes shot open as a scream pierced the air and he lunged to his feet, pulling out both of his swords and standing over Cora protectively as he scanned the area for threats.
When he didn't see anything, he looked down. Cora had her head in her hands and was shaking uncontrollably.
"Cora, what happened?" He asked.
She didn't move or respond and Leo realized that there was no outside threat. She must have had a nightmare.
He dropped his swords and sat down, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly. A sob erupted from her and her breathing went haywire.
"Shh, it's okay. Calm down." He told her softly, patting her back.
Cora wrapped her arms around Leo, hiccuping and sniffling as her tears poured onto his shoulder. They sat there for a long time until Leo decided that she had calmed down enough.
He pulled away and wiped her eyes before pushing the hair out of her face and grabbing her hands softly. Cora stared at him, still shaking, but not as hard as before.
"You want to talk about it?" He asked gently.
Cora shook her head, afraid that if she opened her mouth she would just start crying all over again.
"Okay. That's okay." He assured her.
They sat there for another few minutes, avoiding eye contact until Cora tried to pull away.
"I'm sorry." She muttered, standing up.
Leo grabbed her hand. "Don't be sorry, you did nothing wrong."
She shook her head, "I did. I did everything wrong."
Leo pulled her back down to him. "No, Cora. Don't blame yourself, none of this is your fault."
"I'm not talking about this!"
He looked at her in surprise and Cora looked away, ashamed of her sudden outburst. Then his face softened and he grabbed her hands again gently.
"Then what are you talking about?" He questioned.
Cora looked up at the sky, doing her best not to look at Leo in fear that he would shatter what was left of her soul. Leo reached out and touched her chin, pulling her face toward his.
Their eyes locked and Cora cracked.
"I lied to you." She whispered. "And the others."
"I know." He replied softly.
"My mother wasn't mutated and I wasn't living with her. I was on the run, Leo. I left- I left her behind. They killed her. They killed her because of me." Cora said, her eyes watering.
"Who? Who killed her? Who were you running from?"
"The Garrison drug lords." She whispered.
Leo blinked in surprise. Donnie had been obsessed with these guys back when they all were stuck in the sewers with Splinter.
The Garrison drug lords had been arrested two years ago after an anonymous hacker tipped the FBI off during the time that the Garrison brothers were trying to take over their father's drug operation.
They had been the worst drug dealers in all of Chicago.
Cora tried to pull away again, but Leo stopped her.
"Don't. Don't go, Cora. I'm here for you." Leo assured her, reaching out and wiping the tears off of her face again.
She sniffled. "My mom... she didn't have a choice. She didn't want to but he- he did it."
YOU ARE READING
Polar Opposites
FanfictionCora and Leo didn't have a lot in common. Leo was a fighter, he was brave and strong. A fearless leader. Cora on the other hand was clumsy and preferred to do her work while hiding behind a computer. But since she was Mikey's secret online friend, t...
