building up from the bones

Not understanding what he meant by ‘used to be’, Rosalie dropped the subject, focusing on his later comments. “Alphas are the worst of them. They’re arrogant and power-hungry. Perhaps you should find better company.” Despite her words, Rosalie’s tone wasn’t harsh. Admittedly, she didn’t care enough about this man to argue.

Scott couldn’t hide his own smile when Leo agreed. It took a lot for him to get excited since he’d lost so much, but he was still working on that, and making plans and looking forward to them was certainly a step in the right direction. “Okay, cool. Great,” he nodded enthusiastically. “I know James would love to play with those two.” 

Satisfied he’d done the right thing, he turned, knowing he had to let Melissa know soon, so they could prepare. But he paused in the doorway again, debating with himself. He’d been meaning to ask the doctor something for some time, but it had never felt like the right time. Scott had never felt ready. Still didn’t. Sighing quietly, he decided he’d ask that night. Turning back, he smiled a little at Leo again. “Um, do you need any help, or anything? I’m meant to be helping mom shop, but I can do a few rounds first?”

Leo paused in his sifting through the work on his desk to consider the offer. “Your mom gonna grouse at either of us later if I keep you away from helpin’ her with dinner?”

“I know. I always say we are opposite. And yet, it works,” Wanda admittedly fondly. It was harder to hide her affection for him, these days, since she’d spent so long without him. “Ah… z’hat is a difficult one. Twins will always put eachoz’her first, it will be impossible to catch z’hem in a lie because of z’hat. You and Katherine will have to work togez’her to outsmart z’hem.”

“I know. But we will. Because if anyz’hing comes for us again… I will protect us.” She refused to lose again. After Pietro had been taken from her, she vowed to unleash hell upon anyone who ever harmed her family again.

Leo snorted. “That’s promising -- just out-think two kids who’re determined to keep the other out’ve trouble.” Despite the dry tone, his half-smile still stayed on his face. It faded slowly as Wanda continued; he turned to look at her more fully, shifting his shopping basket to his other arm so he could touch her shoulder. “Kid . . that’s not on you, you know? If crap starts again, well, ‘course we’ll all work to take care of it -- but nobody’s expectin’ you to save the day.”

Emma’s back tensed as he glanced at her file, wondering if it would lead to judgement. But, he was a Doctor, and must deal with similar cases everyday, so Emma calmed herself of the paranoia. She only needed a prescription update, not a therapy meeting. “Yes,” she admitted bluntly. If she slept at all, the nightmares made her feel as if she’d been awake all night anyway. Still, at least she could hide those - the panic attacks were worse. “It hasn’t eased up since what happened happened.” Emma saw Will’s face everywhere she went. His dead face. She missed him dearly, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be haunted by him. 

Leo’s eyebrow raised slightly at the short answer; the girl didn’t seem too keen on lingering over her file. He closed it, nodding. “Right. Sorry to hear that,” he replied, just as brusquely. He stood and turned towards the locked medicine cabinet behind him. “Hop on the exam table for a minute,” he said, gesturing to the one tidy surface in his otherwise crowded office: a flat, semi-cushioned board covered with a crisp, crinkly sheet of paper.

“My ego? Of course not. Perfection doesn’t bruise.” Something about him was different than what she remembered from their limited interactions, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Katherine shrugged it off, deciding she didn’t care. “Whatever I want.”

“Perfection doesn’t bruise? The hell do you come up with this corny-ass ‘I’m so perfect’ bloodsucker bullshit?” Leo snapped, and then -- unhappily -- regretted it the second he finished saying it. That was rude.

“That’s okay, I should have called ahead,” Emma muttered, gently moving the paperwork off the chair so that she could be seated. Crossing her arms over her chest, she replied, “Emma Duval. My mom should have handed in my previous prescription paperwork.”

“Duval, okay.” Leo started thumbing through the file cabinet, scanning the neatly-labeled tabs for the girl’s name. He really needed to thank Melissa one of these days for setting up a manageable system for him. Duncan, Dursley. . .Duval, there it was.

He drew out the file and flicked it open. He quickly read over the brief information included. Dvual, Emma. History of PTSD, difficulty sleeping. Anxiety medication recommended. Huh. Leo was a surgeon, not a shrink, but he’d supposed for a long while that most, if not all of the kids who’d lived through the rebellion -- hell, never mind the rebellion, any of them who’d lived through the Games -- ought to be treated for some kind of trauma. Kind of encouraging, actually, seeing a diagnosis for it.

He glanced up at the girl across the desk. “Still havin’ trouble sleeping?”

Wanda’s smile became more assured at the mention of his children, especially considering they were boy-girl set, similar to herself and Pietro. “Ah. One is hard work, two is… near impossible.” She nodded in understanding. “Better, now Pietro is back with me. Everyone seems to be moving forward, it’s - peaceful, almost.”

Leo glanced at her. A smile lifted at the corner of his mouth in response to her warmer expression. “You know, I’d half forgotten you an’ your brother are twins, different as you are,” he admitted. “You’ll have to give me and Katherine some tips for surviving two against two.”

“Yes, actually, I have. I’ll be staying here from now on, fortunately for everyone else.” She needed Kol’s protection, and this was the only place which provided it. She may hate the rebels, but she’d take survival with annoyance over running for her life every second. Besides, she did have friends here.

Neville forced himself to be quiet, training his worried gaze at his shoes instead. “Oh,” his eyes widened at the suggestion, looking at the doctor again. Quickly, he shook his head. “No, sir, certainly not. He’s a toad, you see, and he was given to me, by my Great Uncle. He’s my friend. I have to take care of ‘im.”

“Toad, right.” There was a difference between them, but not saddled with the amphibian obsession that wizards had, he’d never really learned to tell them apart. Satisfied that the thing wasn’t hopping around in the cool, damp corners of his office, Leo gestured to the door. “Well, you and I can agree on the you takin’ care of him part, at least,” he said dryly. “Not in here, far as I can tell, but there’s more places we can check down the hall.”

“Nick,” he repeated patiently, even if he was really anything but right then. Clearing his throat, he dropped his hand and continued on, laughing a little as he explained. “Yeah, I- I guess not. But a cure all the same, right? At least I’ll be doing something helpful. And I want to do that.”

Leo sighed. His eyes itched with tiredness, and he was just anxious for this day to be over. If this kid was so eager to find some way to be helpful, should he really be the one to stand in the way of offering Melissa an extra hand? He stood from his seat and gestured to the door. “S’pose you can spend your time how you want,” he agreed gruffly. “C’mon, follow me. I’ll take you to meet the head nurse who can give you somethin’ to do.”

Rosalie heavily rolled her eyes, suspecting this man had some connection to werewolves. Since he didn’t smell like one, perhaps he was related to them, instead. “And what experience would that be?” Not that she was overly interested, she didn’t want to waste her time. “There were no wolves where I moved from. That’s why it was much better than here.”