𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙'𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊! ━━━ ²⁰
She's the heart
THE night was dark and full of crime.
Spider-Man and Heathen made it into the abandoned warehouse where Adrian Toomes awaited unsuspectingly. Upon setting foot into the open room, Heathen shifted back, there was no point in hiding behind the symbiote when the man already knew his identity. His sky-blue eyes were fixed on the Vulture who stood at the very end of the open room with his back turned to them, the silent room was filled with echoes of his whistling.
Whereas Spider-Man's footsteps became louder and angrier, Leo remained uncharacteristically calm as they approached Toomes. "Hey!"
The whistling stopped abruptly, and Adrian turned to face his greatest migraine and obstacle; two teenage boys. "Surprised?"
"Ah. Hey, Pete." His cold blue eyes glance at Leo, who came to a sudden halt next to his partner. "Leo. I didn't hear you come in."
He's playing you.
Adrian leaned back against the desk with one hand gripping the edge of it, and Peter quickly shot a web at his hand. "It's over. I've got you."
"You know," he started, eyes flickering to Leo who stood beside Peter, "I gotta tell you. I really, really admire your grit. Even after I threatened to kill your family and everyone you love... you still chose to do the right thing-- well, according to your judgment. I see why Liz likes you."
Told you, Teagan woulda been a better date.
"When you first came to the house..." Adrian recalled with a nasty smirk, Leo remained passive and only limit himself to listening. "I thought I knew the reason. You know... the blue eyes... the hair. You're literally Prince Charming. And to top it off, you know exactly what to say and when to say it. Hell, even my wife adores you!"
"How could you do this to them?" Peter asked voice laced with indignation.
Adrian blink once, twice before pulling a confused face. "To them? I'm not doing anything to them, Pete. I'm doing this for them."
"Yeah?" Leo pressed, eyes narrowing. "Don't kid yourself, Toomes. You're only doing this for yourself." He hissed, taking For the luxury. If you were really doing this for them, then you wouldn't have kept them in the dark about any of this."
The Vulture sighs and tries to explain himself better. "Right, because the truth would've done-- what exactly? You, teenagers, think life is black and white-- you're either rich or you're poor, you're good, or you're evil, smart or dumb-- and I don't blame you for it, you're still young. An inexperienced mindset comes with your youth. So you don't really understand how the world works."
"But I understand that selling weapons to criminals is wrong." Peter backtalked.
Adrian cocked his head to the side. "How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower? Or any of his little toys?"
"That's not the same, and you know it," Leo interjected. "That happened--"
"Why? Why isn't it the same?" Adrian shrugged, but the answer was evident to him. "Oh, right, I forgot. Because he's an Avenger, and I'm a Mr. Nobody. He's the hero, and I'm the villain."
He pressed his lips into a thin line and smiled at the naive kids before him. "Those people, Leo, Pete, those people up there... the rich and powerful, they do whatever they want." He motioned between the trio. "Guys like us... well, like Peter and me... people like Leo or the Starks don't care about us. Rich. Born on a silver platter. They don't give a flying rat about us. We build their roads, and we fight all their wars... and everything, but they still don't care about us."
Leo had a feeling there was a reason he got into this mess of selling weapons, and judging by the way he spoke, someone rich did him dirty.
"We have to pick up after them. We have to eat their table scraps." Adrian's eyes flared with resentment, but they were mostly tired as he spoke. "That's how it is. I know you know what I'm talking about, Peter."
"I didn't realize this was a therapy session." Leo scoffed as he glared at the man.
Peter frown. "Why are you telling me this?"
It can't be.
"That... was a threat." A new voice called from behind. "In case it wasn't clear enough."
Leo and Peter spun around to the source of the voice, their eyes caught sight of Cole pressing a gun against Teagan's temple. "Surprised? Come on, you should've seen this coming a mile away. This is how we criminals deal with problems. You f*ck with us, we f*ck with you right back. And believe me when I tell you this, killing is the cheapest hour of the day for me."
Teagan could feel Cole's nails digging into her forearm the more she fought against him, her eyes felt droopy from the sedatives that were still in the process of wearing off. A whimper blurts out her lips as the barrel of the gun pressed deeper into her temple as Cole made his statement. Her whole body was under a lot of stress, Teagan felt so scared, even in the presence of her powerful friends, she had never felt more indispensable than at this moment. All Cole had to do was pull the trigger and her life would end in a blink, and her heart seemed to just figure everything out.
She could die tonight...
... unless she did something about it.
"Is that what you are now? A f*cking criminal that threatens innocents? That kills them?" Leo's voice boomed, clearly affected by the fact that Cole and Toomes were using Teagan as leverage.
His blood was boiling, and his fists were tightly clenched. Heathen wanted out, the beast had had enough of being trapped inside a cage, it wanted to lash out, it wanted to hunt, and feast, but Leo was a bit more controlling of his temper than Heathen was. Leo wanted to wait for the perfect time, he knew if Heathen went after Cole he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger and kill her, neither of them wanted her dead.
"I gain nothing by killing your girlfriend." Cole spat. "It would be a waste of a bullet. But I will do so. I will pull this trigger and blow her brains out, bear no doubt of it. Because criminals don't like it when they f*ck with their business!"
The gun. The thought came to her as fast as being dosed in cold water, and she took advantage of that Cole's attention was fixed on Leo. She glanced down at the holster tied to his right leg, since her arms were tied, she would have to be subtle in her moves. If she grabbed a hold of the gun she could use it against him, she wasn't as smart as Ned or Peter, but she knew exposing the skin to nitrogen was harmful.
Peter took a step forward, he had to restrain himself from not doing anything impulsive, but his heart was beating with force as he took in her state of distress. She looked so beautiful tonight, but now she was a mess, her hair disheveled, mascara running down her cheeks, and the gag on her mouth seemed to be hurting her. Peter wanted nothing more than to beat the life out of Argo. He was aware that he was Leo's brother, but right now he was threatening the life of his best friend, and neither of them was going to forget this. He will pay.
"And just to be fair, I did warn you," Adrian spoke directly to Leo. The Lacrosse captain slowly turned his head toward him, he flashed Heathen's symbiote eyes for a second before he suppressed the symbiote. "I told you there would be consequences should you intervene with my work, and you didn't listen. You thought I was bluffing. I don't bluff. Not when it comes to working."
Peter shook his head as he half-turned and stared at Toomes. "Just let her go! Tell him to stop pointing a gun at her. She's got nothing to do with this. This is between us. We are who you want, and here you've got us."
Leo switched his focus back to Cole, he noticed immediately what Teagan was trying to do, she was reaching down for the gun strapped to his leg, and he felt his heart skip a beat in fear for her. He prepared himself in case anything were to happen, and she was in danger, he wasn't going to let anything happen to her, and he knew Heathen wouldn't either.
Cole kept a firm grip on her arm, and the gun was still pressed against her temple.
"On the contrary, Pete, she's got everything to do with this." Adrian rebutted. "She's the heart--no, she's more of a... of a stone. She's the stone I need to kill... three little birdies with one single shot. Spider-Man. Napoleon Reeves. The head of SIRIUS, Christian Prime. Her death is like a domino effect, it's almost poetic. One, two, three. And as long as she's with me, I'm untouchable."
Toomes smiles coyly, he thinks he won this fight, but he couldn't be more wrong. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Toomes. Underestimating your opponent is any leader's downfall." Leo said in an authoritative voice, the same one he used to address his teammates.
I will enjoy putting them on their deathbeds.
"Very well said, Leo." Adrian shrugged. "But I was only telling you this because I needed a little time to get her airborne."
Teagan managed to grab a hold of the gun just in time to see Cole transform into his symbiote. She fell on the floor, and she watched in shock as the silver symbiote charged toward Leo, who already shifted into Heathen.
"RIOT!" Heathen roared, Cole!
"HEATHEN!" Riot roared, Leo!
The Vulture's flight suit wreaked havoc. Teagan tried getting up, but she was unable to do so since there were chunks of debris flying everywhere as the flight suit wrecked the support beams. Riot and Heathen engaged in a beastly fight, the former was able to turn its hands into any sort of weapon, and the latter had brute strength and tendrils.
Chunks of debris fell near Teagan, and she let out a strangled scream, she couldn't call out for her friends due to the gag being tightly wrapped around her mouth. Spider-Man, however, didn't forget about her, but the flight suit flying dangerously close to him was keeping him from getting to her. All he could do was shoot webs at the chunks of cement threatening to crush her and pull them out of the way, but that wouldn't be enough, he needed to get to her, or he might lose her.
"Leo!" Peter screamed, but the symbiote was busy, it was on a warpath. "Teagan! You have to help-- oh!" He swiftly dodged the flight suit. "You gotta get to her! She's in danger!"
She's in danger.
Heathen landed one good punch on Riot's face and sent the symbiote flying away from them, Leo quickly spotted Teagan on the floor.
"I'm sorry, guys." Adrian apologized.
Peter frowned, the flight didn't even touch him, it just flew close to him. "What are you talking about? That thing didn't even touch us yet."
"True." He shrugged. "But then again... it wasn't really trying to."
Realization dawned on him when it was too late, Riot had already disappeared when the ceiling came crashing down on them, caging the teenagers. Heathen managed to use its body to block the debris from harming Teagan, the girl cried and cowered closer to Heathen, where she knew she would be safe.
'You're okay. You're okay, Teagan. I'm here.' Leo tried reassuring her, and Heathen took notice of that. "You're okay. You're safe."
But the weight became exponentially greater as the building collapsed. Teagan felt extremely dizzy by the amount of distress she was in, she clung onto Heathen's big arms as if her life depended on them. Peter Parker wasn't as lucky, debris toppled against him, its weight was too much for his teenage body to carry. His knees buckled, and he landed on the ground face first, a heavy boulder fell on his back and Peter felt how the air left his lungs.
Then came the silence and stagnation. The rubble and noise ceased, and there was only one term to describe their situation: trapped.
CARS arrived at the warehouse following Teagan's signal, what none of the crew expected was to find it demolished. Christian didn't even let the car park when he was already leaping out of it and running toward the building. Gavin was hot on his tail and managed to grab onto him and pull him back, they both fell to the ground.
"Let go of me. Teagan!" Christian tried to wrestle Gavin off him, but the latter had his legs and arms wrapped around his limbs, keeping him there. "Teagan!"
"Calm yourself first." Gavin hissed in his ear as he used his enhanced strength on him. "If you want to help her, get your sh*t together, brother, and you better do that fast."
Deckard assessed the situation and the rest of the squad remained on standby, awaiting orders from their superiors. Christian blinked, he tried not to think of the possibility of finding Teagan's crushed body underneath all that rubble. He needed to be strong, and keep a cool head, he needed to focus. Christian could feel his ragged breathing slowly start to regulate as he took deep breaths, he closed his eyes and compartmentalized his fears from his priority.
"Okay." Christian breathed out and opened his eyes, Gavin loosen his grip and allowed him to get up. "Okay. Beatles!"
"Oi! You rang?" Zazie stuck her head out of the car's window, Deckard turned and signaled her that she was needed with a sharp hand gesture. "Right. Right. Coming boss!"
"Faster, Knightly, we don't have all night!" Deckard shouted, Zazie quickly followed instructions.
She jumped out of the vehicle holding her tablet, and she successfully led the crew toward Teagan. But none of them expected to come across a demolished building, her sternum going crazy as she hurriedly made her way toward Christian and Gavin. She could feel the anxiety struggling to take over his body by the way he curled and uncurled his fists.
"Yes, boss."
His eyes remained stared ahead as he spoke to her. "Show me where my sister is. Now."
"Wait. You're planning on going there? I don't think that's smart, the ground seems highly uneven. What if you cause a ripple effect with the rubble?" She shared her point of view but found her boss giving her a glare. "Don't-- Don't give me that look. It has happened before."
Gavin licked his lips and snapped at Zazie. "Oh, so now you're a risk inspector? Just do your damn job and tell us where the f*ck is our sister."
"Rude." Zazie narrowed her eyes at the second eldest before quickly typing down something on the tablet, and she watched how the signal narrowed down to one area of the building. She showed him the screen. "The signal is coming from here. See that dot? That's her."
Christian started at the blue dot on the GPS map, and he felt his heart skip a beat, but he was wise to remind himself that right now he couldn't afford to lose his focus. Right now Teagan needed him, she needed Christian Prime, CEO of SIRIUS Private Security Contractor Business.
"Lead the way, then." Zazie didn't have to be told twice, she followed the dots' direction through the rubble. "Go with her."
Gavin raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. "What about you?"
Christian let out an exasperated sigh. "I have to radio this in. The authorities need to be involved at some point." He turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "And right now, Teagan needs you. These types of things don't affect you, but it affects me. I'll just lose my mind and get in the way. You handle this."
These types of things don't influence you. Gavin let those words sink in. Christian wasn't the first person to ever tell him that, and he suddenly found himself thinking of Sofia. "Go."
Christian leaves him and he wastes no time. Zazie was already far from him, suddenly she stopped and turned, she pointed at the ground. "She's here!"
Gavin quickly gets through the troublesome path and reaches her. "Teagan doesn't worry, we'll get you out of here. Just hang on!"
"She's conscious?" Gavin wonders and Zazie affirms.
"Yeah."
He took in a deep breath and started to dig in, heaving chunks of debris and throwing them aside when suddenly something black and muscly emerged from the ground like a shadow. Zazie shrieks as she loses her footing and falls on her butt. Gavin stumbles back as he watches black tendrils shoot out of the symbiote's body and push the remaining chunks of debris off them.
"Holy mother of..." The words died in Zazie's mouth as she observed Heathen rising to its full height holding Teagan in his arms.
Heathen set Teagan down and Gavin was quick to pull her into a tight hug. The boy may not be so expressive unlike his sibling, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel. He gets worried. He gets depressed. He gets lonely. He gets disappointed. But the difference lies in his reaction, instead of indulging in the sentiment-- other than anger-- he works out a solution or just keeps his mind busy.
Teagan was too damn scared that she embraced him with force, there was no time for shock. She needed that hug, she needed that reassurance from someone strong and close to her. He held her close to her and kissed the top of her head before pulling back, even though Teagan was reluctant in letting go.
"Are you in pain?" He runs his eyes over her body, trying to spot any sign of pain or damage. "Does it hurt somewhere?"
Teagan only shook her head and let out a dry chuckle. "Physically, I'm alright. Mentally? Therapy is starting to sound better and better each time."
Zazie bit down her lip, trying not to laugh at her humor. "Wait. Where's Spider-Man?" Heathen suddenly wondered.
"Help!" A high pitch scream came out from somewhere underneath the rubble. "Somebody! Please help! I'm here! I'm-- I'm trapped!"
"Get Teagan out of here. Take her to Chris. I'll aid Spider-Man." Gavin instructed Zazie. "Heathen, follow me."
Heathen and Gavin followed Peter's voice, and when they made it they came to realize he was buried in too deep. His cries shook Leo to his core, he had never heard Peter sound so scared and desperate, Heathen could sense his host's anxiety and immediately started to move the debris.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Peter's frantic shouts froze them in place. "If you keep trying to remove the rubble, the air compressor on top of me is going to crush me."
"Heathen put it back-- slowly," Gavin instructed, and he squatted down, licked his lips, and spoke to the teenager. "Peter, from the looks of it, we can't get through to you. You're gonna have to climb your way out of this."
Peter wheezed, the pressure of not being able to breathe easily was driving him borderline, and hearing Gavin's words just put him through a lot more distress. "And how do you propose I do that? I can barely even breathe! I can't move!"
"And I couldn't stop killing people!" Gavin blurted out, Peter fell silent and Heathen observed him. Gavin let out a long sigh, he ran a hand over his face as he tried to think of what to say to motivate the kid, words were never his forte, not then and not even now. "Listen... I know right now you must be scared out of your mind. I get that, and you have all the right to be. But fear isn't going to get you out of this hole."
Peter sniffled and whimpered, his breathing was ragged, and his mind was spinning. "Listen, part of being different, being special-- of putting on a mask and doing some good on his rotten world, is realizing that there will be days when your strength is truly tested."
Spider-Man stared at his reflection and as Gavin spoke, he heard Tony's voice: if you're nothing with the suit, then you shouldn't have it.
"So, why are you doing this, Spider-Man? What's your MO?" Gavin said to him, hoping that by asking all these questions, Peter would find the answer within himself and rise, because he knew the kid got heart. "Is your strength truly measured by the power of your powers, or is it measured by the strength of your heart?"
Because... because I've been me my whole life, and I've had these powers for six months. I read books, I build computers, and I would love to play football, but I couldn't then, so I shouldn't be able to now...
Peter sucked in a deep breath and positioned his palms against the ground, mentally preparing himself to lift the rubble plus the air compressor weighing down on him. Part of being a hero, like Gavin said, was to realize that there will be times when his strengths will be tested. He will come to face hardships that will either break him or shape him, and Peter Parker was the kind that never gave up. There was too much courage and kindness in him.
"Come on, Peter." He whispered to himself. "Come on, Peter Parker."
When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you.
Gavin remained there, his heart beating steadily as he heard Peter motivate him. "Come on, Spider-Man." Gavin encouraged him.
Peter let out a scream that gave Gavin goosebumps. Heathen moved back, noticing the rubble moving, and Gavin stumbled backward and fell on his butt. They watch in amazement as Spider-Man lifts the debris and the air compressor single-handedly.
"Yeah!" Gavin yelled as he encouraged Peter's act of courage. "Come on, Spider-Man! Let's go! Let's go!"
'Help him with the air compressor.' Leo commanded and Heathen reacted. Black tendrils came out from the symbiote and lash themselves around the compressor. It lifted the object without trouble and tossed it aside, Spider-Man was able to successfully lift the rubble off him and get out of the hole.
"You good?" Gavin reached him, but there was no time for a breather. "The worst is over. You did it."
Vulture was still out there and Spider-Man had his eyes on him, Peter clenched his jaw and rose up, putting the mask on. "Not yet."
He quickly shot a web and left the area with Heathen hot on his trail.
"WAIT!"
Teagan watched as her friends disappeared after Vulture, and Christian was quick to grab her wrist, keeping her from running after them. Her hand still gripped the gun, she cursed in German, and let out an exasperated sigh. Christian observed her with a raised eyebrow, knowing there was something going on.
"Wa... scheisse." Teagan mumbled in exasperation, she turned around to face her brother and ran a hand down her messy hair.
Christian furrowed his eyebrows and placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her attention on him. "What? What is it? What's with the gun?"
Teagan rolled her lips in and waved the gun in her hand lazily. "This gun may be Leo's chance at defeating Cole."
"How's that?" She told him what she heard while she was lucid. "So-- wait, let me get this straight. What you're telling me is that... Cole plans on eating the symbiote in its prime form. And their plan was to use this gun, with bullets dosed in nitrogen, on Heathen to... to freeze it?"
The teenager grimaced. "Yeah?" Cole let out a long sigh and covered his face with one hand. "Okay. Yeah, I know how this sounds. But in my defense, I was drugged and barely conscious, but I heard them say this to each other. Nitrogen in theory cannot harm a symbiote, but fire and loud noises can. But Cole isn't planning on killing the Heathen, he wants to eat it."
"Yeah, you said that already." Christian breathed out and ran his hand down his face. "What I don't understand is how he plans on getting the symbiote off Leo's body. I thought you said it was impossible."
"I never said it was impossible." Teagan corrected. "I said they were compatible and that Leo was not endangered by it."
He nodded. "Right, so you want to give this to Leo, so he can use it against Cole?" Teagan nodded. "What if this endangers them? The host? There's still a human being inside the symbiote, what if these bullets pierce through the symbiote and get to them?"
"Well... I mean, Cole was perfectly fine with doing that on Leo." She shrugged. "So why the hell should we care if it endangers him? He's the bad guy. Bad guys get hurt."
Christian scoffed and took a step closer to his sister and said in the most condescending voice ever. "Because if this has the possibility of harming Cole, then it sure as hell has the potential of doing the same with Leo. And I don't wanna go and hand him a weapon that could result in a double-edged sword for him."
"Bloody hell."
Teagan and Christian turned to Deckard and noticed how everyone was staring at the sky, so the Prime siblings followed their line of sight and came across something horrific. A giant plane dropped from the sky and crashed near Coney Island. There was shock written on everybody's faces as they watched the plane explode.
"Everybody to their vehicles and prepare to move," Christian ordered.
Deckard nodded and rounded up his guys. "You heard him, ladies. It's showtime, let's go!"
He grabbed Teagan's hand and pulled her with him, taking her to Zazie. "Take her to the hospital and I want you to call my dad, tell him where you are, and that she's safe."
"Chris--"
"Go with her." He ordered her, hand cupping her tear-stained cheek. "Don't worry about him. I'll make sure he's safe, you can trust me on that."
Christian kissed the top of her head and gave her a tight hug, Teagan quickly responded and hugged him with equal force. "Please be safe."
"We will. I got Gavin and Gavin has me." He reassured her. "We'll be okay."
LEILANI was going about her shift normally, she still hadn't checked her phone. She didn't want to think about Christian or the fact that her little brother is half alien. She just wanted to focus on tonight's shift and give the best of her attention and care to her patients. She was revising a diagnosis report in the reception, and her back was turned from the TV, so she was unaware of the breaking news.
Jessa, on the other hand, was paying close attention to the live footage. "Man, the world really is going crazy."
Leia, distracted by Jessa's words, turned to her and soon followed her line of sight. She immediately read the news headlight, saying: Night of terror in the sky: Argo and Vulture captured by masked vigilantes. Her eyes widened when she saw Adrian Toomes on the screen, she never knew the man personally, but she knew he was Liz's father. The camera followed Adrian as he was pushed into a police van, followed by another man.
The man turned to glare at the cameraman that was getting on his face, and that's when Leilani felt her whole world come to a standstill. Her breath got caught in her throat as a cold shiver ran down her spine. Leilani felt her mind go blank as she stared at the angry face of Ercole Reeves.
"Oh my God..."
He tried to push him but was quickly restrained by SIRIUS agents, he was quickly rushed inside the van and disappeared from the public eye once the door was shut. Leilani blinked and turned away from the TV, Jessa immediately took notice of her pale appearance.
"Hey, hey, hey, talk to me." Jessa rose from her seat and walked around the desk until she reached her friend. "What's wrong? What happened?"
She shook her brunette mane and looked Jessa in the eye. "It's nothing. I'm alright..." The receptionist didn't buy it, Leilani gestured behind her with her thumb and said. "I'm sorry, but I have to make a call."
"Dr. Reeves." A female voice caught both of their attention.
Leilani's skin crawled upon seeing Teagan in the state she was in, her heart skipped a beat as she quickly approached them. "Teagan, oh my God, what happened?"
Teagan's eyes watered, and her body began to tremble nervously as she was reminded of all the trauma she experienced tonight. Enough to last her a lifetime.
"I don't know. Everything... Everything happened so fast." She cried and Leilani's heart sank for her, she quickly engulfed her in a hug. "I don't know."
"Shh, it's okay. You're safe now." Leilani comforts her. "I'm gonna take good care of you, alright?" Teagan could only nod, she was reluctant to let Leilani go. "Come on, let's go have a look at you."
Zazie watched them leave.
"And you are?" Jessa turned to the young adult.
The tech girl blinked and turned her attention to the receptionist. "Oh, right. I'm Zazie Knightly. I'm from the operations team of SIRIUS, a Private Security Contractor Business. A tech girl, to be precise."
"You know, I never really understood why they named the business after a Harry Potter character." Jessa wondered.
Zazie chuckled, allowing herself to relax and breathe, the worst was over. "Not at all. Christian had always had a fascination with the stars and constellations, he admired them. The company is named after a dog star, which is the brightest star in Earth's night sky." She explained. "SIRIUS business is supposed to be a haven for guys who are looking to watch over the good citizens of New York. And the name Sirius means glowing in Greek."
"So SIRIUS is like a beacon of hope?" Jessa guessed.
Zazie nodded with a dimpled smile. "Exactly like a beacon of hope."
Jessa turned to the TV and saw Christian Prime and Happy Hogan being interviewed about tonight's event. "Yeah, I can totally see that."
Teagan lay on the bed dressed in a hospital gown, Leilani remained by her side as she watched the teenager sleep. She pulled out her phone and noticed Leo had texted her informing her that he was okay and that he was home. Her eyes then flickered to the voicemail notification, she bit her lip before deciding to hear it.
Leilani took in a deep breath and pressed the phone against her ear and listened to his voice:
"Hey, love-- I mean, Leilani. Shit.-- sorry." He cursed under his breath, and she felt her eyes water, she had missed him. "Uh, it's me. I-- I called you just to inform you about what's going down tonight. I know I told you there were no more secrets between us... I lied. There's one more."
"Ercole is alive." She blinked and looked up, not wanting to cry. "I-- And I think I have to hand him over to the authorities tonight. I wanted you to hear it from me first. I'm sorry it has to end this way. I love you and I miss you so much. Hope we can talk soon... Bye, love."
Ava and Nikolaj made it to the hospital and Leilani left them alone with Teagan, she informed them that she was okay. Her body went through a lot of stress, she might need to talk to someone to make sure her mental health is healthy and to rest. Her shift was over, and she quickly made her way out of the hospital, and she crossed the double doors she bumped into someone.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." She looked up, and her breath hitched, dark gems were staring right back at her. "Christian."
"If anyone needs to apologize, it's me." He said in a low deep voice, Leilani felt her heart skip two beats causing her skin to crawl. "Did you get my message?"
She nodded. "I did, yeah. As a matter of fact, I just heard it."
"I'm sorry." His look softened as he said those words with sincerity. "I wanted to tell you about him. But I didn't know how to break it to you. It's not the type of news that you can just blurt out. Just like that."
She let out a shaky breath and hugged him. Leilani breathed in the familiar scent, she could feel how her brain was being stimulated by the chemical causing her brain to send nerve impulses to thousands of clusters of neurons in the glomeruli. The glomeruli make up the olfactory bulb, otherwise known in simple terms as the brain's smell center.
"I think I made the dumbest decision of my entire life," Leilani whispered to him, Christian wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly against him. "I don't usually do things on a whim, but I was so upset with you. Taking that ring off... I regretted it the instance I did it."
Christian let out a sigh of relief and kissed her head. "Please don't feel sorry. If anyone should be sorry, it is me. I took for granted your patience and tolerance. I should have been clear with you from the beginning. In my mind, I thought I was sparing you with the pain and stress. I thought I could carry the weight of the truth for both of us. But that was wrong. I was wrong. And I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. I never wanted to risk losing you by doing this."
Leilani heard him clearly, a single tear ran down her eye as she felt her heart nearly combusting from all the love and admiration she felt for him.
"I love you, Christian." She leaned her head back and state into his bloodshot eyes. "Thank you for always taking care of me. You and I... we're not perfect. But we're perfect for each other. I'm sorry for making such a rash decision, it's not like you cheated. I let my frustration get the best of me."
He kissed her forehead and she closed her eyes, relishing and burning that sensation in her mind. "I'll make you a promise." He leaned back and stared into her eyes. "When we committed, I made you promise to me that you'll always make time for us, to show up. And now when I look back, I realized I was stupid to make you promise me that when it's been me that's been with one foot in and one foot out in this relationship--"
"Babe." Leilani interrupted him in the most tender voice. "How about we just figure it out as we go?"
"But promises are our thing."
Leia playfully narrowed his eyes at him, smiling a bit. "No... promises are your thing. And I don't need you to promise me the sky and the stars. I just need you to include me more in your life. If we are to get married... I don't need promises. I need action, Christian. And you can expect the same thing from me."
Christian smiled and leaned close to her, she tilted her head up. "Mmm, that sounded vaguely close to a promise." She rolled her eyes before closing them as they leaned close to one another, their lips meeting halfway.
Their heartbeats synced as they kissed, indulging in the moment, feeling the warmth of mouths and the gentle poke of their noses on their cheeks. Who knew you could kiss someone's world better?
"I love you, Leia."
Christian stared into her lips as she whispered the following words. "And I have always loved you, Chris."