five to life

Basic Info:

full name: Leonard Beckett gender & pronouns: cis man He/Him age & date of birth: 48, December 28th 1978 where do they live: Southside time living in lockwood springs: 48 years occupation: Co-Owner of Beckett&Sons / Enforcer for The Keepers positive traits: Loyal, Caring, Confident, Charming negative traits: Unimaginative, Particular, Self-Reliant, Challenging

About:

“Good, maybe it’ll stop you.” Hunter’s reply didn’t miss a beat but he laughed to show there was no malice. Leo and him had always had differing personalities but despite that, they were brothers to the cause. Lighting up a cigarette, Hunter tried to listen to Leo’s wisdom but he disagreed. “You mean like we already gotta do? Or did Jason just stab himself? What about Prescott? That run just go bad all by itself?” Hunter offered up the bitter examples. “Just because I’ve got questions doesn’t mean I’m questioning Diego. There’s a difference. Before you start runnin’ off trying to put words in my mouth.”

Leo laughs with Hunter, already knowing he’s spoken more promptly to Hunter Cross without getting punched than most people can say. Leo’s head bows when the names are reeled off, proving Hunter’s point instead of his own. They’d lost many, but nothing was certain who was to blame. “If we do something unplanned, we could lose a lot more.” he shrugs, the only thing he’s able to offer in return to prove their slow movements. “I’m not speaking for you Hunt, I just think you’re better off talking this through with Die and Cruz if it’s this strong.” he smiles crookedly before he sighs. “If you let bitterness stay in there, we’ll lose you too. Just in a different sorta way.” 

Hunter didn’t know what he thought, he just knew he was pissed off which wasn’t something new but it was the first time Diego had made him question things. He also wasn’t going to talk about it to Leo, or anyone else for that matter. “Hey, you asked.” Hunter shrugged and laughed, joining the enforcer to walk back to the bonfire. Maybe being around more drinks and people having fun would lighten his own bad mood. “I never said we can’t handle it, just said that we don’t have a clue what to do next. You don’t think it’s weird how we’ve sat around speculating when it’s obvious? I know I’ve always been shoot first and ask questions later, and everyone tells me to calm the fuck down but don’t you think this time, it’d actually work?”

“Uhuh and you’re making me regret ever asking.” Leo laughs as they walk, slowing his pace when they near the bonfire with caution to anybody overhearing. The conversation had become a difficult one to navigate, with Leo’s concern rising on Hunter’s trust in their club. “Oh come on, Hunt you know it’s never been that simple. If we blasted through their doors every time something happened, we’d constantly have to be on the look out for our lives.” he compromises his friend’s thoughts, although he doesn’t feel hopeful it will do much good. “You told Diego you wanna go chopping heads off before we know who even did it?”

now that daniela thinks about it, having a big strong burly man who can fix cars has never looked so good. she doesn’t really understand what he’s talking about but she nods along with interest. “well, that’s good to know. maybe i will contact you directly if there’s ever something else wrong.” she suggests with a dainty upwards tilt of her chin. daniela watches him as she gets the cables and laughs musically when he says he can show her. “by all means, but i just had my nails done so i won’t be touching them.” she expresses when she walks back to the car and gestures for him to pop the hood. “sorry, i don’t think i caught your name earlier. i’m daniela.”

Leo has been out of the dating game for so long that he’s unsure if the glamorous woman is hinting to get his number. He feels delusional but confident all at once, nodding with a soft clearing of his throat. “I think that’s best, you can skip the waiting times.” he smiles, fetching the cell from his back pocket and unlocking the screen. Passing it over, Leo lets out a genuine laughter at her refusal to touch the cables. “They’re not covered in chemicals, miss.” he responds but shows her with his own hands in the same moment. “Real easy, see? Just stick ‘em on.” It’s hardly difficult work but then again not many car owners call up because of flat batteries. “Oh, I know. Got your name on my slip. You’re the fancy lawyer a lot of people talk about.” Leo grins, gesturing to himself. “Leo. The not so fancy mechanic.”

Leo managed to put the feeling into words but Hunter sipped his beer to hide the relief on his expression. He had to think about it before he spoke, nodding slowly. “We are on it.” he finally said like the grumpy old man he was in his soul. “I think that’s what I’m pissed at.” Hunter added, unable to restrain now that Leo had made the little lightbulb moment happen. “The way everyone’s acting like we’re in control of this, that we’re taking our time because we wanna do the right thing. Nah. It’s because we don’t know shit, don’t know where to start and don’t have a fucking clue.”

Compared to his brother, Leo is more pessimistic but after a short time of listening to Hunter he believes their sarge can win any pessimism award that exists. He lets out a small laugh at first, drinking more of his beer before slowly trailing back towards the bonfire. He gives his friend a kind tap on the shoulder to follow. “Jesus, tell me how you really feel.” he makes a light joke, blinking through the cloud of negativity. “You think we can’t handle any of this, Hunt? Cause I didn’t think you thought that bad of us.” he asks with a genuine confusion at where it has come from. “You sure nothing happened...made you grumpier than usual?”

Hunter wasn’t going to undermine Diego, at least not vocally. Nobody could tax his mind though and he had drawn away from the President ever since the storm and kept a more professional closeness. He hated disloyalty and trusted the club undoubtedly. “Both an option?” he laughed it off, getting a cigarette and lighting it. “Got nothing to add most days, Leo. No point bein’ another face blowing hot air for damn reason.” that was the nice way of wording it but maybe the disinterest was obvious in Hunter’s tone. “Why? You think people are talking shit?”

“I suppose it is.” Leo laughs, his eyes trailing at people walking by them but then his eyes are back to Hunter and watching as the man speaks. Hunter is not a talkative man but Leo has always been astute to the tiniest of changes, it’s his job to be. Shaking his head, he shrugs his mouth downwards. “Nah, man. Nothing has been bothering me. Just all the focus on finding out everything we can for Jason, feels like the...” he pauses and finds the words, looking to the bonfire. “Feels like we’re on the backfoot, right? No one likes to feel that.”

the only reason why daniela enjoys expensive cars is because of how she looks driving them. anything to do with their maintenance or upkeep isn’t her issue, which is why she had demanded someone take a look at her range rover. it’s her run around vehicle, as she couldn’t possibly take the mercedes to denver for work. “yes, yes. just leave it there.” she calls back to the voice, grabbing her files to walk through the house. “let me check you’ve done everything right.” daniela adds despite not knowing the first thing about what was wrong. she wants to make sure he hasn’t left any dents or scratches. “if we all bought cables wouldn’t you be out of a job?” she laughs but it stops as soon as she sees him, and her tune changes almost instantly. suddenly the idea of him staying for longer to talk her through about cars doesn’t seem such a bad idea. “are there any particular cables you’d recommend?” 

Leo guessed the owner of such a fine home must have been someone of equal status but he wasn’t expecting the vision he ends up seeing. For only a second, the mechanic is stunned into silence and has to allow his brain catch up that she’s speaking to him. “I don’t think I would be outta a job, no. I do a lot more than fix up dead batteries.” he smiles, dropping all of his previous attitude of not wanting to be there. Nodding at the question, Leo follows her back to the garage and decides that being good at customer service isn’t as taxing as it usually is. “I can suggest some, yeah...” he puts down his tool box so he can retrieve the cables and show them to her. “Can get them anywhere too, pretty much. I can show you how to use them if you want?”

Leo is feeling his age at the gathering, finding himself doing what the old timers did and gravitate towards the line up of bikes to talk mechanics for most of the night. He’s standing near Hunter’s, studying the beautiful machine as he sips a beer but something else comes to his mind. Tapping his friend on the chest with the back of his hand, Leo turns away from the bike. “You were quiet last week at church, barely said a thing.” he mentions, and while Hunter is not known for being a man of many words Leo couldn’t help but notice something seeming off. “Hungover? Or just thought everyone was talking a load of shit?”

Leo doesn’t do too well with difficult customers. It’s rare for him to do call outs but this woman was bloody minded and declared that there was no way for her to solve a simple car battery problem. Fair enough. But when he arrives, he finds the several vehicles she owns that she could have used for the flat range rover. “All sorted...” he sighs, wandering through the home which seems empty. She had politely left the garage door open, and hadn’t once came to offer him a drink. “Anyone home?” Leo glances around, deciding the house seems abnormally large if it’s only her living there. Whoever her is. “I’ll leave the invoice here, I guess.” he says, placing the sip by the table near the door. “Will save you cash next time if you buy some cables...”

.

Wyatt wished he was unfamiliar with the sound of gunshots. Unfortunately it was not an uncommon thing, despite the smaller size of their town. What he couldn’t make out, is why they would be going off inside the building while they are all meant to be sheltering from the storm. Did people have no ounce of decency? Then he remembered some of the people who lived in their town and knew the answer to that question. Still waiting to find out any sort of information, he started looking around for another deputy or anyone who looked like they were in the know. That was when he heard his little brother’s voice above the panicked chatter and closed the distance to meet him half way. 

“Junebug’s back in the room with some of the family and the kids. I don’t know where Ethan is,” the older man turned with a slight gesture toward the classroom they were sharing with most of the Jones clan. “Why what’s go-” but then Leonard let out the news and Wyatt’s mouth hung open mid-question. A hand scrubbed it’s way through salt and peppered hair while he let out a slow exhale. He was trying to absorb the sudden information. “Wait- what? I don’t. Are you sure it was Jason? Why would anyone want to hurt Jason? He’s not a bad guy.” Wyatt shook his head confused. 

Leo hates that he has to nod to his brother’s question. He hangs his head in shame, a lump forming in his throat. Guilt for not sticking together, for Jason walking the halls alone. The tensions were always possible to topple over the edge into mayhem, but nobody once expected such a brutal way for the two sides to begin a fight again. Leo assumes that’s where it’s headed. “Yeah I...” he splutters, because there’s a ringing in his head as he tries to sift through all of the information at once. “It’s Jason, nobody knows anything else but Wy...it’s bad.” he says quietly, avoiding anybody else from overhearing and adding to the panic. “Not an accident.” he says but Leo can feel his words pushing together with no sense. “Someone did this, Wy. You need to be the one to tell June and I’m sorry that you do. But, it’s better than her hearing it from anyone else.” he nods in encouragement to his brother, feeling a sting of sadness as his mind works overtime again. “Things could get real ugly soon.”

Leo is no stranger to the gun fire, so when the familiar pops echo through the school the Keeper’s eyes are instantly open. There is more panic than anybody knows what to do with, people swarming all with the same question on the tips of their tongue. Silently, Leo winds through the people to get ahead. To follow the sounds, witnessing two people escorted away by police who both look as if they’ve seen a ghost. The officer that instructs Leo to walk away is the one who breaks the news to him.

“Wyatt. Wyatt!” Leonard calls for his brother as he wanders back, and he can tell by the curiosity and concern on Wyatt’s face that he’s also wondering the same thing as everybody else. Leo’s heart is pounding, and his pace picks up to a small jog so he can reach his brother sooner. “Wy, where’s June? Ethan?” he asks, panicked and swept with worry. “It’s...someone killed Jason.” Leo doesn’t know how else to say it. His mind fixing to how June will react and then Ethan, and then the rest of the Jones brood. “They’re gonna start separating everyone up, you need to get back to June and the kids.”