Quaranteam: North West Chapter 25 (Alpha) (Patreon)

The following story is based on the fantastic Quaranteam series by CorruptingPower over on Literotica. You can continue to expect general themes of light Mind Control, bonding and Harems from the original, but with a slightly edgy and alternative cast.

This Alpha draft won’t be official until it receives the approval of CorruptingPower to make sure it falls in line with his plans and the overall timeline of the Quaranteam universe. As an Alpha draft, it may see small or large revisions before final posting. If any major revisions are made, I’ll make sure to let the Patrons know!

- - - - - - - -

House La Costa; aka Leo and the Girls

“Morning, babes,” Leo said as he backed his way into the bedroom balancing four mugs of coffee on a tray.

“Morning, Leo,” Aria said, opening the door a little wider for him as she smiled. She looked tired, but it was early and they’d had a late night. The room was still dark, the blinds pulled down tight on the window over the bed, but Leo could see that India was still asleep, and since the shower was running he assumed Dani was in the adjoining washroom.

“Morning,” Leo repeated himself, giving Aria a kiss on the cheek as she took her coffee from the tray. Hers was the easiest to differentiate since she took a heap of milk in it, and even in the super dim light the colour difference was clear.

“You want a blowjob?” Aria offered after taking her first sip and sighing comfortably.

“After last night?” Leo asked. She and India had both gotten their ‘doses’ the night before - the fact that the two were a couple meant that India usually preferred doing it together in a threesome. The sex was fantastic when it was happening, but the dynamic in their little family was that Sex Time was Sex Time, and not-sex time it was India and Aria together, and Leo and Dani together.

“Leo,” Aria said. “You’re a fantastic lover, with a nice dick, and tasty cum that makes me come like crazy. I’ll suck you off, wrap my tits around your dick or ride you whenever you want.”

He couldn’t help himself and glanced over to the bed where India was still on her side, her bare back facing the two of them. She hadn’t moved, but there was no telling if she was awake or not. The thing was, he liked India. She was fun, and a little wild, and had that grin and those eyes and those tits. But at night he was always snuggled up between Dani and Aria, usually with Aria’s back to him as she spooked her girlfriend. India just wasn’t connecting with him the same.

“It’s fine,” Aria assured him, placing a hand on his arm. “She understands.”

“Alright,” Leo said. “Though, to be fair, I should check with Dani first in case she’s feeling a need.”

“Fair,” Aria agreed, taking another mug from the tray and bringing it over to the bedside table for India. She was wearing a pair of panties and a thin tank top that did little to hide her curves, and images of their fun last night drifted through Leo’s imagination and made him grin. Both Aria and India had a smattering of small tattoos, each with a new one from the past few weeks since Erica was available to do the work, and he’d enjoyed kissing each one whether it was a shoulder, a hip, or small of the back.

Leo took a swig of his own coffee then set it on the desk along with the tray, taking Dani’s mug into the washroom with him. The window in that room didn’t have a shade on it so it was letting in the early summer morning light, but it was set high in the wall so there wasn’t a chance of accidentally flashing out through the window. What it did do, however, was highlight Dani in the shower. He stopped, leaning just inside the doorway, looking at his first partner.

She was stunning. That first time he’d seen her when she came into Harrison’s old place without a top on he’d been gobsmacked. They’d barely said two words to each other - she’d looked at him, quirked a finger, and summoned him to the stairs. After everything with Erica and Harri he’d known what was coming, but it was still stunning. Her body, her elf-like features, those eyes of hers… she was almost inhumanly attractive, and he still thought of her like she was an Elf stepped out of Tolkien’s works. And there she was, her arms up as she washed her long brunette hair, her tits projecting forward as water ran down her body, lit up by the bar of sunlight from the window.

Dani opened her eyes, blinking and smiling in surprise at seeing Leo watching her, and Leo raised the mug to show her it was waiting for her and set it on the sink counter.

“Want to come join me?” Dani asked with a grin. Her accent, that strange mash of Australian and Valley Girl, was still a bit of a tingle in his ears.

“Yes,” Leo chuckled. “But Aria asked if she could blow me. Do you need me this morning?”

Dani looked over his shoulder, still smiling, and gestured. Leo felt arms circle his chest and tits press against his back as Aria hugged him from behind. “I mean, I don't need you, Leo,” Dani said. “But I’ll definitely watch.”

Leo was soon groaning as he leaned against the sink counter, his shorts around his ankles. Aria was kneeling in front of him, bobbing her head quickly and moaning lightly as she worked him over with her lips and tongue, not to mention the smooth tongue stud she knew how to use so well. Then she released him from her mouth, trailing her tongue along the underside of his shaft, before sitting up and wrapping her tits around his cock and starting to jerk him off. Aria had the biggest tits of his three partners, though India wasn’t far behind, and she knew Leo loved getting a good titfuck in. She was grinning as she did it, her blue eyes twinkling playfully as her hands overflowed with her breasts as she pressed them together. Her nipples, perfect little peachy beads surrounded by cute slightly oval areola, looked so damn suckable. Leo groaned, running his fingers through her strawberry blonde hair - when she and India had first arrived it had been a little more ginger, but the summer had bleached it a little more blonde.

Another moan, from the shower, had Leo look away from one partner and focus for a moment on the other. Dani was leaning back in the shower stall, the water still beating against her fit torso and her breasts, and she had two fingers buried in her pussy as she masturbated and watched the blowjob/titjob.

Aria dragged her tits up and off of Leo’s cock and replaced them again with her mouth, driving deep onto him and taking him entirely in her mouth and humming purposefully. For a woman with a girlfriend, she was really good at blowjobs.

Leo popped first, groaning as he unloaded into Aria’s mouth. She went second, her chemically-enduced orgasm from the taste of his sperm making her shudder all over as her eyes rolled up - Leo had trained himself not to close his eyes when that happened because Aria’s curvy body looked so fucking good when it was quaking through an orgasm. Dani didn’t go off, or if she did it was only small, but when Leo had finished and looked back up at her she was grinning and pressing her tits to the glass of the shower door, teasing him.

Aria stood up, holding onto Leo as her legs got steady again, but didn’t offer him a kiss. Instead she opened her mouth, showing him she’d held a good amount of his cum on her tongue, and then she winked before leaving the washroom.

“Come let me wash you off, Leo,” Dani beckoned him, opening the shower door.

Leo was just getting wet when a loud moan echoed from the bedroom.

“Aria is such a tease,” Dani laughed, already running her hands through Leo’s hair to get it soaked and ready for shampoo.

Leo smirked and shook his head. “At least she’s good at sharing. What are we doing today?”

“Same thing we do every day, babe,” Dani said. She’d picked up his sister’s tendency to use ‘babe’ for the people she was close with. “Try to stay relaxed and keep up everyone’s spirits.”

Leo nodded and sighed. That sounded amazing, but it was starting to be a problem. Sex whenever he wanted, surrounded by three beautiful partners, not to mention the bevy of women they were staying with at the Falls. Every meal made for them, or only needing to help a little.

But nothing to do. No… purpose.

He was tired of that. Having nothing to do. He’d been feeling that way for weeks, ever since the tours with the surveyors had ended. He just wanted to feel useful again for more than his cum.

- - - - -

“Josie isn’t doing great,” Erica said with a sigh.

Leo glanced over at his sister with a look of concern. She’d come to sit with him on the bench out in the parking lot where he’d been reading his dogeared copy of The Two Towers. Dani was doing a workout with Spencer and Kyla, and Aria and India were trying to figure out how they could run a cooking class with Sara - the problem with that idea was that everyone at Valkyrie Falls except the Black/La Costa families were on strict diets, so their options were limited. Everyone would want cake, but most of them couldn’t have it.

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked.

“She heard that a friend died,” Erica said. “Sometime before breakfast. Didn’t come down, and some of the girls heard her crying in her room. I tried to check on her but she wouldn’t let me in.”

“That sucks,” Leo sighed, setting down his book and leaning back a bit more, looking up at the sky. It was only partially cloudy, the bright blue peeking through the slowly moving clouds. Other than the clanking of the athletic equipment behind them in the outdoor gym area, it was almost like they could have been on the porch of the old house as the sound of the trees in the breeze and the fragrant essence of being surrounded by woods was a comfortable warmth around them.

“Yep,” Erica sighed, leaning in and resting her head on her brother’s shoulder. “You OK?”

Leo had heard back from a friend in Portland - it hadn’t been anyone really close this time, but the tally of acquaintances going missing was growing again. Something must have happened to start another outbreak in the city.

“Yeah, I’m OK,” Leo said. “I’m mostly worried about Harri. And you.”

“Why me?” Erica asked.

“Because the outbreak on the Rez brings up all the old stuff with Kara. Again. I don’t want you getting hurt - and I know Harri wouldn’t do it on purpose, obviously. But you and I both know that with the way things are…”

“Leo, I’m telling him to bring her in,” Erica said.

“Really?” Leo asked.

“I mean, it’s obviously not ideal,” Erica said. “I’m already sharing him with three other women, and I love each of them now, but there’s a sort of… order to things. We weren’t stepping on each other’s toes. But Kara has more history with him than I do, so her and I are going to need to hash shit out. I mean, could you imagine if the roles were reversed and Harri had to contend with Billy Tucci coming back into my life?”

Leo snorted and shook his head. “No competition,” he said. “Billy was always a dirtbag and I told you so from the first day you admitted to having a crush on him.”

“Yeah, well, telling a fifteen year old girl that the cool guy who is interested in her isn’t going to get you big props,” Erica smirked. “But you get what I’m saying. There would be history there. I’m not worried about Harri getting stolen from me or whatever. We’re bonded in more than one way. The growing pains will suck, but we’ll get through it.”

Leo nodded. “OK, as long as you’re sure,” he said.

“I am,” Erica said.

They sat for a few minutes in silence, just looking out at the forest beyond the parking lot as Leo looped his arm around his sister’s shoulders and held her.

“Hey, are you guys busy?”

Erica sat up and Leo brought his arm back, leaning forward a little as he smiled. “Just enjoying the morning,” he replied. “What’s up, Yvonne?”

The brunette smiled a little awkwardly and left the outdoor gym, coming out to them fully and standing to the side. She’d grown up with a cleft palate that had been fixed when she was ten and her smile had never really fully adjusted, but Leo thought it was cute. Yvonne was a slender athlete of Estonian descent, her impressive strength somewhat stealthy since she didn’t have the same thick frame as many of the other women like Abi or Spencer at the facility who did lots of weight training. Even dressed in the tight sweater and leggings she was wearing, she looked more… normal than a lot of the other women.

“I finished the book,” she said, that lopsided smile flashing again as she held out Leo’s copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. “You were right, it was definitely worth it. The movies are great but there was so much more. Could I maybe borrow the next one?”

“Sure,” Leo said, accepting his book back and then handing her The Two Towers.

“Oh, if you’re already reading it, I can wait,” Yvonne said, frowning a little and not accepting it yet. “It’s your book to enjoy.”

“Please, take it,” Leo grinned. “I’ve read it, like, twenty times. Seriously, I’m not missing out.”

“Thanks,” Yvonna said, flashing that cute smile again as she took the book. “I’ll leave you guys to it.”

Leo and Erica both watched her walk away, and then Erica chuckled.

“What?” Leo asked. He knew that chuckle. It was at his expense.

“She’s cute,” Erica said. “Are you going to fuck her?”

Leo gave his sister a look. “I lent her a book.”

“You think a chick like that borrows a book from a nerd like you without being interested? She’s stupidly pretty, Leo.”

“She’s a nerd!” Leo argued. “We got into an argument about movie adaptations the first night we got here.”

Erica sighed, smirking at her brother. “She wants to jump your bones.”

“That doesn’t make sense, Erica,” Leo said. “Yvonne is-”

“Single. Horny. Available?” Erica filled in.

“I don’t know, it hasn’t come up,” Leo said. “I’ve already got three hot chicks in my bed as it is, and that bed is cramped.”

“Harri already has four, and needs more,” Erica said. “So do you.”

Leo rolled his eyes. The number of women interested in Harri was a little ridiculous. For a guy who barely even dated while they lived in the city, and then was pretty much a hermit monk while they lived at his parents' old place, he was certainly making up for lost time. “So what?” Leo asked. “Hook up with her until the ladies here finally get to take the Oracle test and find out their real matches?”

“She might be a match for you,” Erica pointed out.

Leo shook his head. They liked a few of the same things, that was all it was. Plus, compatibility didn’t mean liking the same things anyways. He didn’t actually have all that much in common with Dani, they just worked together really well. He was pretty sure he and Aria were a better match, and India was added in since they were together.

“Hey you guys.” Their conversation was interrupted by another woman coming out from the outdoor gym and heading towards them. Where Yvonna was slender, lightly tanned and her strength was stealthy, Rachel was the opposite. A 6’2 black woman, she was a bodybuilder that had maintained a feminine form. She was wearing running shorts and an athletic bra that was covering her enhanced chest, her long, powerful legs and somewhat ridiculously muscled torso both bare and glistening with sweat from her workout. The thing that really topped her off, however, was her very pretty face underneath a short crop of tightly braided hair. “Either of you fancy coming on a jog with me?” she asked.

“Leo would love to,” Erica said, slapping her brother on the back gently and giving him a look. Leo knew what she was insinuating - that another woman was interested in him. He was a little worried about how much his sister’s mind was on sex these days.

“Great,” Rachel said with a broad smile. “Want to go get changed?”

“I’ll do that,” Leo said, not wanting to disappoint that smile. “You’ll have to take it easy on me though, I’m used to working on my feet all day, not going for runs.”

“Working with his hands,” Erica clarified. “From what I understand, he’s very good with his hands.”

Leo internally groaned, but Rachel laughed. As he went to go get changed he passed through the outdoor gym and into the main hall of the complex. Yvonne was standing with Spencer and a stocky Mexican woman named Antonia who was a shot putter who should have been heading to the Olympics if not for the pandemic. Yvonne smiled and waved, still holding his book. He waved back.

OK, he thought. Maybe Erica is right. Maybe.

- - - - -

“I hurt all over,” Leo groaned.

“Oh, stop being a baby,” Dani chuckled as she firmly slid her hands up and down his back.

Leo was naked on their bed, and he really did ache. Rachel’s invitation to a jog had turned into several more of the ladies cajoling him into agreeing to a workout. He’d avoided that specific pastime so far at the Falls because he was a skinny motherfucker, mostly by genetic luck. He had a great metabolism, could eat pretty much whatever he wanted, and as long as he was getting some activity in the day he didn’t get a paunch. Sure, he wasn’t muscular or built, but he got by.

“This might make it worth it,” he grumbled, smiling a little as Dani put a little more massage oil on his back and continued to work it in.

“Oh yeah?” she asked, and he could hear the smile on her lips. “Maybe we should add ‘naked massage time’ to the weekly rotation.”

“I think I’d like that a lot,” Leo grinned. “Only if I get to massage you too.”

“Of course,” Dani said. Then she sighed as she moved her hands more to his sides. “Did you hear about Josie?”

“Erica mentioned something,” he said.

“She still hasn’t come out of her room. A bunch of the ladies have tried to talk to her and she just cries and says to leave her alone. I’m kind of worried.”

“Has she eaten anything?” Leo asked.

He felt Dani shake her head through her body straddling his rather than seeing her do it. “Maybe I’ll try to leave food outside her door for her.”

Leo grunted softly in acknowledgement. Was there something he could do? They were friendly, but in the few times he’d seen Josie interact with Harri they’d seemed a lot closer. If she was turning away her friends from the Falls, Leo couldn’t see her opening the door for him.

“You’re thinking,” Dani observed.

“Just… wishing I could do something,” Leo said.

“I know how you feel,” Dani sighed.

Leo wasn’t sure she did, but he didn’t say that. Dani had taught a lap dance class the other day along with Ivy, and she’d made a bunch of friends with the other ladies. She always seemed to be on the move, or have plans - even if the plans were with him. Leo felt… he wasn’t sure. Not alone. Not isolated. Just… adrift, a little.

- - - - -

Erica jogged, catching up with Leo as he was heading to the cafeteria. He was feeling refreshed after the massage from Dani, and a shower, and had read for a couple more hours before deciding he should offer to help with the dinner prep.

“Hey,” Erica said as she reached Leo. “Just FYI, I called Harri a minute ago to come over.”

“Erica, I do not need to know when you’re making a booty call to Harri,” Leo said flatly.

“Not for that,” she rolled her eyes, giving him a light shove on the shoulder. “To come see about Josie.”

Leo nodded, pressing his lips together firmly. “Makes sense, I guess,” he said. “Honestly, E, are you angling for…?” He lifted an eyebrow.

“Maybe I am,” Erica shrugged. “You know as much as the rest of us from Miriam’s info. More ladies, more protection.”

“Doesn’t hurt that you're Bi,” Leo said, taking his turn to roll his eyes.

“No, it doesn’t,” Erica smirked. “But Dani is too. I’m going to talk to her about you.”

“Please don’t,” Leo sighed.

“Then find some more ladies yourself,” Erica said. “You’re my brother, I want you fit and healthy.”

“Whatever,” Leo shook his head. “The Oracle will do what the Oracle does.”

“You’re too hooked on the Oracle thing,” Erica argued. “And yet you’re conspiracy brained on the Government. What gives?”

Leo shrugged. “I mean, I feel like with what we know, it’s kind of fair to be conspiracy brained. Secret vaccines, secret extra diseases in the pandemic. Secret construction? Not telling the truth about the death tolls? How many other big secrets are out there from the past five years, let alone the last fifty?”

“But?” she prompted.

“But I think, after Dani showed up, I can’t help but trust that the Oracle test is working,” Leo said. “Evidence, Erica. That’s what I trust.”

Erica sighed and shook her head. “Nerd,” she said.

“Hippy,” Leo shot back with a smirk.

Neither of the titles were off-base, but neither of them were fully correct either.

“Kay,” Erica said. “I need to go get myself together. I just wanted you to know he’d be here so you can say hi.”

“Thanks,” Leo nodded, frowning a little. “What do you need to ‘get yourself together’ for? He’s already your fiance.”

“A lady needs to remind her man, and the women around him, who’s in charge sometimes,” Erica smirked. “He pointed out I was doing it subconsciously before, so now I’ll do it consciously. He’s my man, I’m his woman, and they gotta go through me for access.”

“You’re crazy,” Leo snorted. “But I still love you.”

“Love you too,” Erica said, then gave him a punch in the arm and headed towards the stairs up to the bedrooms.

Leo did, in fact, hear when Harri had arrived because it was like a fast whisper campaign through the facility. It felt like half, or maybe even more, of the ladies had developed little crushes on Harri during his appearances and workouts at the compound, let alone the stories of his heroics. As soon as he was in the parking lot, three different phones went off in the kitchen and several ladies excused themselves to go post up in seemingly innocuous places so they could run into Harri.

Sara, working at one cutting board, sighed and shook her head.

“I agree,” Leo chuckled.

Sara flashed Leo a smirk and kept working. Yvonne, who had been helping as well, hadn’t abandoned her post and she looked over at Leo and Sara. “Too hairy for me,” she said with a smirk. That made Sara laugh, and Leo snorted and had to set down the knife he was using to cut peppers.

Still, he excused himself so he could go see his best friend, and he found Harri in the main hall. The big guy looked a little worn down, if Leo was being honest, but he’d looked that way for a while. Getting shot would do that to a guy. Still, it was good to actually see that Harri was OK, and Leo slapped him on the back firmly as he hugged the man. They didn’t really need to say anything - Harri was there for a purpose, and slowing him down wouldn’t make things any better. Still, Leo squeezed him just as hard as Harri hugged back, and they made meaningful manly eye contact before they split.

Returning to the kitchen, Leo chuckled softly as he went back to his cutting board. “Better make a couple extra portions worth of food,” he said. “Harri eats like a damn ox.”

“I am already working on it,” Sara smirked.

It didn’t take too long for the other ladies who had been helping to wander back into the kitchen - Leo was fairly sure most of them hadn’t even really made an appearance to Harri and just wanted to get a surreptitious look at him. He felt like he was surrounded by a bunch of giddy high schoolers. Still, they got back to work and soon all of the prep Sara needed help with was done, reducing the number of hands needed in the kitchen. Sara shooed off Leo and Yvonne first since they’d been the most consistently helpful.

“It’ll be another couple of hours before dinner,” Yvonne said as they walked down the main hall past the utility workout rooms, the outdoor gym visible through the glass windows on the opposite side. “Have any plans?”

Leo blew out a breath and shook his head. “Not really. I was thinking I should find Dani, or Aria and India, to see what’s up with them.”

“Can I… ask you a question about that?” Yvonne said, stopping near a low wooden bench in the hall. She gestured to it, and they both sat as Leo nodded for her to go on. “What’s it like, being polyamorous?” she asked. “I’ve never really understood it.”

Leo chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment. “I’m not really sure how to explain it,” he finally said. “And I don’t know if we even really are poly, at least not the way Harri and my sister and their thing is. The vaccine is… it’s a necessity, and I can’t argue with the perks, right? But the vaccine only goes so far in binding the four of us together. I’m starting to think that the Oracle test - the matchmaking program - is the important part of making things work. Dani and I feel so natural like we’re in a really good, standard relationship. Aria and I are like… I feel like if we’d met outside of the vaccine and stuff, we could have been good friends if we had taken the time to get to know each other, and probably would have gone to friends-with-benefits but maybe not dating. I’m not in love with Aria, but I love being with her and around her, if that makes sense.”

“But you don’t feel the same way about India,” Yvonne guessed.

He nodded and sighed a little. “India and Aria were together before all of this. I don’t know for sure, but I think Aria probably matched really high with me, and India was locked onto her. Maybe that’s not the case and they both matched with me, but our thing isn’t all of us together, it’s more like me and Dani, and then Aria and India, and Aria and I bridge the gap.”

Yvonne pursed her lips as she absorbed this, slowly nodding. She was in her early twenties and had a sort of stoic, almost chiselled prettiness that Leo could only see coming out of an Eastern European woman. She was also hard to read because of that, her face was almost like a mask unless she was showing a lot of emotion. “So the vaccine doesn’t just… make you love someone,” she said.

“That’s not how it’s worked for us,” Leo confirmed. “Are you worried about that?”

Yvonne shrugged a little. “I haven’t had a boyfriend since high school, and haven’t felt like I wanted someone. Relationships were a distraction from my training, and I got tired of being hit on by gym rats long before I decided that. I don’t have anyone back home who I would want to try and partner up with, like Harri and Erica or India and Aria. I’m just worried that, when it’s finally available… What if I match with someone who wants me to change, and the vaccine makes me want to change even though I don’t?”

“I don’t really have a good answer for that,” Leo said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. As far as I can tell so far that’s not how it’s worked, but I’ll admit that my sample size is pretty small.”

“It’s fine,” she said, patting his knee. “You can’t have all the answers. Thanks for at least listening.”

“Anytime you need,” Leo said, then sighed and decided to change the subject. “Did you dig into the book yet?”

She had, and they talked about the first couple of chapters of The Two Towers for a bit, and the end of Fellowship since they hadn’t chatted about that. Yvonne was a fun person to talk to for Leo because she made insights into the story that weren’t based on having studied the books, or done a lot of reading on them. She was also nerdy but not steeped in nerd-dom like Leo and anyone else he would have talked Tolkein with before so she wasn’t just rehashing stuff she’d heard before.

At one point during the conversation Erica passed by, like other ladies going about their business, and Leo saw her give him a look and a smirk that he tried to ignore. Eventually dinner time proper came around and they needed to get up and stretch - their conversation had lasted well over an hour.

“Thanks for talking,” Yvonne said with a smile, slipping under his arm and giving Leo a side hug as she pressed her head to his chest for a moment. “It’s nice to not feel trapped here, talking with you and about fantasy stuff.”

“Any time you want, I’ll take an imagination tour with you,” Leo grinned as he hugged her back around her shoulders. That got her to snort a little chuckle.

They headed back down the hall to the cafeteria, which was already half-full and was continuing to fill up as more of the ladies from the Falls filtered in. Josie and what she was going through seemed to be a pervasive, but whispered, topic of conversation anywhere that Erica wasn’t - which Leo found to be pretty funny considering how imposing a personality the physically strong women saw his sister.

Spencer and Kyla were a couple of the last people to show up, carrying Macho along with them after having taken him on a quick walk. The little pooch looked like he was grinning, his tongue hanging out one side of his mouth as half his body wiggled with each tail wag. If Harri was the secret crush of the Valkyrie Falls ladies, Macho might as well have become the beloved mascot. Everyone wanted to pet him.

Dani, seeing Leo smiling and rolling his eyes at the commotion the dog was making with all the ladies, came over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Did you have a good afternoon?” she asked.

“I did,” Leo said, his hands coming to rest on her waist. “Good workout?”

She nodded and then hugged him. “It’s supposed to be a movie night tonight,” she said. “Want to snuggle up with me?”

“Of course I do,” Leo smiled, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the rich chestnut brown hair on the top of her head.

Just as dinner was starting with Sara dishing out the specially portioned plates to each of their proper recipients, Harri and Josie made an appearance. The blonde wrestler still had a sad, kind of dazed look to her but she at least looked like she’d washed her face and taken the time to clean herself up a bit, while Harri had that classic ‘Concerned for you’ look whenever his eyes drifted over her. Josie ended up getting led over to a chair after being swamped with just about as many hugs as Macho had been, and then the little dachshund had gotten put in her lap and she cracked a grin.

“She’ll be OK,” Dani said, standing next to Leo and leaning into him a little, her arm around his waist and Leo’s around her shoulders.

“We’ll all be OK,” Leo said. “Though maybe I should see if I can start working on a degree for grief counselling online. That’ll be the next gold rush.”

“Little dark, babe,” Dani replied with a smirk. “Plus then you couldn’t keep working with your hands, and everything you make is so gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Leo smiled, squeezing her a little more. Dani had only seen a couple of the pieces he’d made for Harri’s old place in person but had made a point of getting him to show her pictures of the other custom work he’d done in the past. She’d already decided that, once their new house was built, they’d only furnish it with Ikea stuff so that everything would be easy to replace with things he made.

They headed towards the kitchen to receive their dinners from Sara, which looked like it was some sort of a stir fry with grilled chicken mixed in. Leo noticed Harri speaking to his sister off to one side and then headed out of the cafeteria. Ivy and Kyla were already there, so he wondered where his buddy was heading and decided he’d ask Erica after he had his plate.

Rachel lined up behind him and grabbed his shoulders in a friendly squeeze. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “We didn’t push you too hard, did you?”

Dani turned with a grin, scrunching up her nose a bit at the taller woman. “Oh, he was hurting earlier, but I fixed that with a massage.”

“Shit,” Rachel said. “Sorry, Leo.”

“No, it’s fine,” he said. “I really should be putting in more effort. Sooner than later my metabolism is going to shut off and I’ll get a gut like my Dad had.”

“Want to work out with me tomorrow?” Dani asked hopefully.

“Maybe the next day,” Leo said. “You definitely made me feel better, but I'm still gonna hurt tomorrow still.”

“Did you do some stretches with him?” Rachel asked Dani.

“Massage,” Dani said, grinning all over again.

“Leo,” Rachel scoffed. “I’m literally a licensed massage therapist. I made you hurt, I could have helped you out with that.”

Leo felt the heat rising to his cheeks. “Um, that would be great, but…”

“It was a naked massage,” Dani chuckled. “Much more fun.”

Leo saw a glance pass between Rachel and Dani - the kind of look that he recognized as ‘psychic girl communication.’ Erica had done that with her friends back in high school, and now it felt like all the ladies between his family and Harri’s did it regularly. Maybe it was a universal language.

“Kyla!”

The urgency, and alarm, in Harri’s voice wasn’t something Leo had heard from him in years. The last time had been three years prior when Leo had been working in his shop in the barn and Harri had stormed in because he’d seen a mountain lion fairly close to the house. There had been an attack a few weeks prior and a teenager had gotten mauled pretty bad. Things had turned out fine, but that tone of voice struck Leo like an ice pick.

Kyla was already standing and heading towards Harri as he turned to Leo’s sister. “Erica, is your car open?”

“It should be,” Erica said. “What’s-”

Harri left without responding to her, Kyla following at a run.

“Something bad is happening,” Leo said and left the food line heading for the exit, Erica only a few steps ahead of him as they were both jogging. That started an exodus because everyone wanted to know what was going on.

Outside Leo could see that Harri was already throwing open the trunk of Erica’s car. Where the guns they had brought just in case were being stored. Kyla was already at Harri’s police truck and lowering the back gate. Seeing that, Leo made a snap decision and instead of following his sister, he turned, holding out his arms to stop the ladies from crowding into the parking lot. “Give them space,” Leo said. “Something is wrong, but they are on top of it. We’ll find out what it is, but we need to give them space.

Of course, some of the ladies were able to take directions a little better than others but a firm word and glare from Abi had them falling back from moving around Leo. Others were asking questions that Leo didn’t have answers to.

“Ivy!” Harri called from behind Leo, and Leo quickly moved out of the way as Ivy darted into the parking lot. He watched enough to see Leo actually leap into Harri’s arms, but turned back to the ladies since they were sounding like they wanted to press forward again.

A minute later the police truck was peeling out of the parking lot, and Erica and Ivy were coming back from the parking lot to the group. Dani had slipped through the crowd to stand next to Leo, grabbing his hand tightly as she chewed on the inside of her lip nervously. Aria and India had crowded closer as well, hovering just beside Dani.

“Attention!” Ivy said loudly, her Quebecois French accent somehow making the word sound exotic. Leo would have expected Erica to be the one taking charge, but Ivy stood tall despite her stature and addressed the crowd. “Harrison found out something has gone wrong at the Reserve where his sick friends are. He and Kyla are going to investigate, but it might be bad. Mon amour, he is very worried, but he says there should be no trouble here and we are in no danger. So, that means we should all head inside and eat the lovely meals Chef Sara has prepared for us, no? And then we shall all have a cheat night and eat buttery popcorn until our stomachs hurt and watch our movies. Oui?”

She didn’t exactly get a resounding answer, but at least half the crowd - bolstered considerably by Erica, Leo, Dani, Aria and India - agreed and started to filter back into the building. Leo didn’t move, however, and Ivy didn’t include him as she started to usher the ladies back inside as she fielded questions. Leo made quick eye contact with Aria, who pursed her lips slightly in a little air kiss and nodded, knowing he’d fill her in when he could. She took India by the hand and led her inside. In the end it was Leo, Dani, Erica and Abi still standing outside.

“What happened?” Leo asked.

“Ivy wasn’t hiding anything,” Erica said. “It is something on the Rez, but it’s worse than the outbreak. Harri left his phone in his truck, so I don’t know exactly what’s going on but whatever call or texts he got were bad if he reacted like that.” She turned to Abi. “He doesn’t think anything is threatening us here, but he asked if we could be more vigilant so he isn’t worrying. I know you and Sara didn’t like the guns being in the building, but… could we maybe get set up on the roof tonight with them? Just to keep watch.”

Abi was grimacing but nodded quickly. “This would be fine. I’ll show you the roof access,” she said. “And we can bring some chairs up there too.”

Erica turned to Dani and Leo. “It’s us three,” she said. “Harri asked Ivy to make sure everyone stayed calm.”

“I was wondering why she took charge,” Leo said. “Usually you’re the bossy one.”

“Ha ha,” Erica said sarcastically, smirking at her brother.

It was strange - despite his worry for Harri and Kyla, and whatever they were running towards - Leo found himself feeling a little more himself knowing he had something that needed doing. He, Dani and Erica went to her car and retrieved the firearms that had been left behind - a couple of hunting rifles and the bear shotgun weren’t going to repel an enemy army, but they would do a lot more than throwing rocks. They snuck them into the building using the outdoor gym entrance so no one in the cafeteria saw them and followed Abi up to the second floor and into a storage area that had a ladder to a trap door on the roof. It took a couple of trips to get everything they needed up there, including several chairs along with the firearms. Erica also went and fetched the two handguns that Kyla had stashed under her bed, plus all the ammunition she’d stored there as well.

Once they were set up, the gravel of the softly sloped roof wasn’t the most comfortable spot to balance the chairs, but they got everything set up and settled in as Abi headed back down. Dani, the best shot of the three of them by far, and Leo since he’d been hunting with Harri, held the rifles while Erica had the shotgun near to hand even if it wouldn’t do anything from up on the roof - the handguns would be more effective at trying to hit someone down in the parking lot.

Then Leo’s stomach grumbled, and both Dani and Erica burst into nervous laughter.

“He’ll be alright,” Leo said to his sister.

“Oh, I know he will,” Erica said, clearly trying to force a joke. “If he comes back shot again I’ll kill him myself. Kyla will make sure he’s fine.”

Dani stood up from her folding lawn chair and went to Dani, leaning down and hugging her tightly. “They’ll be OK,” she said firmly.

“Stop trying to make me cry, bitch,” Erica chuckled but hugged her back. Dani laughed as well and stood back up after kissing Erica on the cheek, then she turned and gave Leo a kiss on the lips. It was the sort of kiss that said ‘I’m glad you’re here with me,’ and Leo returned it earnestly.

Aria ended up bringing their dinners up to them, shifted into Tupperware containers so they could be covered for climbing up the ladder, but didn’t stick around long except to whisper something to Dani and then kiss Leo on the cheek. Otherwise, Leo tried to help ease the tension by talking, telling stories to the two women about when he and Harri had lived in Portland, how much of a disaster the two of them had been as ‘city boys’ and how much things had fallen into place when they’d moved out to the country. Dani helped out, talking about the differences between city living in California and Australia, and living outside of a city when she was growing up back home. Much of the time, even though they didn’t want to admit it, their eyes were roving the treeline at the end of the parking lot towards the driveway and the unseen highway beyond the trees.

All three of them almost jumped out of their skin when Erica’s phone went off. She’d texted Vanessa for a bit at the start, keeping her updated, but had set the phone down purposefully after a few minutes like she didn’t want to be nervously checking it. Erica quickly picked it up and thumbed it open, reading quickly.

“They’re safe,” Erica sighed, letting out some of the tension she’d been holding. “But there was an attack on the Rez. Women and children were taken by someone - Kyla says Harri thinks it has to be the same militia people who raided the site. She also says Kara and the two women with her are missing and it doesn’t look good.”

“Shit,” Leo grunted. He closed his eyes and let himself hurt for Harri for a moment. The guy would take that straight to heart. All of it, not just the people he knew but every woman and kid.

“What are they doing now?” Dani asked.

“Looks like they’ve got the National Guard there now or something, they’re searching the Rez for anyone else who needs help,” Erica said. “After that, Kyla says Harri has some ideas of where to look for information.”

All three of them were quiet for a bit, not sure what to say. There wasn’t much to say, and Leo didn’t like feeling that way. There were lots of things he loved about his best friend, and a few things that bugged the shit out of him, but one of the things Harri was really good at was having a purpose. He always found something that he was working towards, something that he was doing. Even if that thing was having a relaxing day, it was like Harri had to put effort into doing that to make sure it happened the way he wanted. Sometimes that was a great thing, and sometimes it was frustrating. At the moment, though, it was worrying.

And also enviable.

Leo couldn’t do what Harri was doing. Well, he could try, but their skills and experiences and lives were different. Leo knew he was good at a few specific things, but what did cabinet making, or being pretty good in the kitchen, or being weirdly good at remembering song lyrics and book quotes do when the shit was hitting the fan?

Here I am, on watch, protecting the family, he thought to himself. And it still feels like I’m just floating. I need to find my purpose.

Leo could feel eyes on him and turned to see Erica looking at him. Their eyes met and the siblings just looked at each other for a long moment before both sighing at the same time. Maybe there were more important things going on than Leo’s self-realisations.

The quiet was disrupted, however, not by either of the siblings or Dani striking up a new conversation, but by Aria coming back up the ladder. “Movie’s started,” she said. “Ivy is being a little firecracker, getting everyone together. I think she practically forced Abi to sit right in the middle of the group so that she couldn’t sneak out once the lights were off.”

Erica snorted softly and smiled. “Harri gave her a job, and she’ll go at it like a pit bull. Just FYI - Harri and Kyla are OK, but still working.”

Aria nodded and sighed.

“Now tell us what’s wrong,” Dani said, looking the other woman up and down.

“Actually, I was kind of hoping I could have a couple minutes with Leo?” Aria asked.

“Yes,” Erica said and turned to Dani. “That actually gives me the chance to grab you, babe, and have a conversation.”

“Erica-” Leo said.

“Oh, shush,” Erica said. “Who said it was about you?”

“You did,” Leo said. “Earlier.”

Erica rolled her eyes at her brother and waved him off as she stood up, then she pulled Dani to her feet and they grabbed their chairs and started walking over to the far side of the roof. Dani shot Leo a questioning look and all he could do was shrug.

“Sit,” he said, gesturing to the empty lawn chair and sitting up himself. “Dani was right, something’s obviously going on. What’s up?”

Aria sighed, sitting down on the lawn chair and slouching. “Is that other conversation going to bug you?” she asked.

“Everything my sister does bugs me,” Leo smirked. “So no more than normal.”

Aria smiled a little and shook her head. “You’re a good man, Leo.”

“Thanks?” he responded. “Why does that sound like the start of a breakup speech?”

“It’s not,” Aria said. “Seriously, you are. Look… I know things are weird between us. Dani and you, India and me, you and me… we all know it’s not exactly going as smoothly as Harri and Erica and them, right? It’s the big open secret.”

“It’s not a secret when you say it out loud,” Leo said.

“Well, I’m saying it because I don’t want it to be,” Aria said. “I want it to get fixed. Look, I’m- I’m not in love with you. But I’m in like with you. Big, heavy, sweaty, lusty Like. I think you’re a very sweet man who cares about me, and India, and you’re great in bed, and I think that once we’re not all living out of borrowed rooms or RVs you’ll be the kind of man I would want to live with. So what’s wrong is India and I are arguing about that, and she’s being kind of a bitch about it.”

“Fuck,” I sighed. “I’m sorry. Is this about this morning?”

“Partially,” Aria said and then sighed. “It’s more about her than you. Look, she’s got stuff that I don’t have the right to tell you. But you already know that we both ‘worked’ as sugar babies before the whole vaccine testing thing. Well, while I’m… I don’t want to say ‘nesting’ with you or anything 'cause we’re definitely not there, but while I’m settling in and getting comfortable she thinks we should be using Sugar Daddy Rules for you.”

“OK,” Leo said. “I get not wanting to tell me her past stuff, but you’re gonna need to spell that one out for me.”

“Fair,” Aria said. “What I mean is… When we were working as Sugar Babies, we could have sex with the guys. Alone or together. That wasn’t against the rules in our own thing between us. But there was a business to it. We weren’t dating them, or living with them. Sex was a reward for the guys, even if we enjoyed it as well. And when I say sex, I mean like… everything above flirty texts. We didn’t give away anything for free. And India thinks we should treat you like that because, in her mind, you’re just another guy getting your rocks off with us, and the promise of the big house and surviving the pandemic in safety doesn’t seem to compute as enough in her mind. But I’m not thinking that way at all. I want to fuck you. I want to have fun with you. So she’s acting like a bit of a bitch to try and get her way.”

Leo sighed and groaned slightly. “For the record,” he said. “I like spending time with you too. Sex and not-sex. And I really like the sex. And I like India too, I just wish she’d…”

“Take the stick out of her ass and mellow out?” Aria suggested.

“Towards me,” Leo said, a little chagrined. “She’s pretty mellow with everyone else except Harri.”

“Well, that one I can tell you about,” Aria said. “It’s purely because he’s a cop now. She was raised by hippy anarchist parents, so the only good cop in her eyes is a fired cop. The fact that you’re his best friend, and the whole housing situation is thanks to him, makes her feel awkward as hell. Especially when she overhears him talking about helping people, or people doing really shitty things, because it challenges her.”

“So what are we doing then?” Leo asked. “Do you want to back off on stuff? Because however much I like spending time with you, I don’t want to press your relationship with her.”

“The opposite, actually,” Aria said, sitting up now and leaning forward. She was wearing a sweater and shorts, and she leaned forward and planted her elbows on her knees. “I want to be more open with you. I want to have fun with you when we feel like it, and when we want to be close to each other. And despite what she’s saying, India wants that too. She likes you, Leo, but she doesn’t respect you yet. She likes sex with you, she likes being around you, but her past is getting in her own way.”

“I’ll make more of an effort with her,” Leo said. “Meet her where she’s at.”

“That’s where to start, but…” Aria hesitated. “Honestly? She’s acting like a brat and I think you need to treat her like one. We’re not BDSM people, obviously, but that’s sort of how we handled things with Sugar Daddies. She was the bratty, demanding one and I was the casual, sometimes motherly one smoothing things over. I think you need to fuck her, and just her, and make it a big one. Fuck her like you want to erase every other guy from her memory. Make her focus on you, and see you. Don’t let her bitch or bully, make her be her.”

Leo let out a long breath. “That sounds great in theory, but in reality she might just flat refuse.”

“Maybe,” Aria said. “But I don’t think she will. If you pull her aside and whisper in her ear that you can’t wait a minute more for her, you’ll hook her.”

“That easy, huh?”

Aria smiled softly. “It would work on me or Dani. It’ll work on her.”

With a grunt, Leo stood up and stretched, then leaned down and kissed Aria on the cheek before pressing his lips to her ear. “I can’t wait a minute more, Aria,” he said quietly. “I’m stressed out and you make me feel like the world can melt away.”

Aria pulled back, looking into his eyes for a long moment, before kissing him hard. Then she pulled back again and looked in the direction that Erica and Dani had gone. They were pretty much invisible in the dark of night, the lights on the exterior of the building illuminating the grounds and the parking lot but making the roof even darker. “Hey, girls?” Aria called. “Stay over there for a bit more unless you want to get a show. We’re fuckin’.”

“Go for it!” Dani called at the same time Erica said, “Gross!”

Aria pulled her sweater off, revealing she wasn’t wearing a bra under the hoodie as her breasts were freed. Her pale skin with rosy pink nipples were a contrast even in the little light they had. Leo was drawn to them and Aria was quickly groaning happily as he got his lips over one, tonguing the nipple hard as he sucked.

The problem, it turned out, with fucking on the roof was that there was gravel everywhere. As soon as they both stood up to disrobe more the challenge presented itself. Even the lawn chairs, sturdy as they were for one person, felt like a not-great option for two. In the end, Leo sat super low in the sturdier of the two chairs with his ass pretty much hanging off the front and his feet braced firmly. This let Aria straddle him facing away and sit down on his cock as she moaned happily and started bouncing.

“God, yes,” Leo groaned, giving her meaty butt a swat.

“Do that again,” Aria panted.

Leo gave her another spank, this time on the other cheek, and she leaned forward to get a different angle as she bounced faster on him.

“Fuck, I wish I could see more of you,” Leo grunted.

“Feel me then,” Aria said. “Get your hands all over me.”

He did just that, grabbing her ass and then exploring her in the near-dark, feeling every curve from her thighs to her waist. He teased every nook and cranny of her ass, even sliding his fingers across her stretched pussy where he was entering her, and up to tease around her butthole. It was a very poorly kept secret that Harri was getting anal on the regular from Ivy, but Leo hadn’t done that with any of the three women he was with and he was more than curious. He filed some new information away for later when Aria groaned pleasurably when he teased a finger into her ass, feeling it squeeze in his digit, but that also made her slow her riding of him.

“Gaaawd, Leo,” Aria groaned, pushing her ass fully down and grinding on him. “Fuck, I’m going to come.”

“Fuck, I want to get to your clit but I can’t reach,” he laughed, not able to sit up for fear of the whole chair tipping forward.

“Hold on, just play with my tits instead,” Aria said, leaning back carefully until her back was pressed to his chest. Leo did as requested and got ahold of her tits, mauling them a little roughly as she used her hips to continue stroking his cock inside of her though the odd positioning wasn’t allowing for a lot of depth. Neither of them particularly cared though, because the stimulation was bringing them closer and closer.

Leo had learned a lot about what Aria liked from the fact that usually their sex was a threesome with India, who knew her really well. That was why, as she let out a little girly whine and exhaled heavily, Leo knew to grab her nipples firmly.

Aria moaned, full-throated, as she came, shuddering like she always did. Leo couldn’t watch her really because of the dark, but what he could do was feel her body pressed against his. He could feel her pussy clenching ridge of the ridge of his cock head. He could feel her fingers clawed and holding his thighs tightly.

Leo came, thrusting up at her, just as she was coming down. It wasn’t fair, really, doing that to her. As soon as his cum rocketed up and out like a hot geyser it pushed Aria right back into another, even bigger orgasm and her moan was even louder.

Her second orgasm lasted longer than his did, and he held her through her shaking and quaking until she let out a big breath and relaxed.

“Fuck,” she said. “That was good.”

“Damn straight,” Leo grunted.

“Is it weird that I want this for India?” she whispered

Leo was interrupted by clapping and a wolf whistle from over in the direction of Erica and Dani, which made both him and Aria laugh softly.

“It’s not weird,” Leo said. “Or at least, I don’t think so. I want this feeling for her, and you, and Dani. And me. This is- Maybe it’s not love. But it’s something special.”

“Thanks for saying that spooging in me is special,” Aria said, the smirk audible on her lips.

“If you start calling it that, you’re starting a war you can’t win,” Leo said. “Cause I really liked dropping my swimmers off in your pool.”

“Oh, gross,” Aria laughed. “Alright, no calling it spooge.” She grunted and leaned forward, then stood up and turned, taking Leo’s hand and pulling him to his feet as well until they were standing in just their shoes and hugging each other. “Thanks for being my government-regulated cum dispenser, Leo,” she said.

“That is not better,” Leo laughed, hugging her back.

“Yeah, probably,” Aria said. “But if we use that phrasing then I can be your cum bank, and you can make deposits at all hours.”

“Are you trying to get me hard again?” Leo asked.

“Only because Dani deserves a turn,” Aria said, then kissed Leo on the cheek. “Thanks, babe. For being you, and hearing me out.”

“Thanks for telling me. I feel like I should have asked sooner what I could do.”

“Honestly, that might have made it weird,” Aria said. ”You waiting was the right call.”

“Well, it’s not going to happen tonight, but in the next few days I’m going to do what you suggested,” Leo said. “Let me process what you said, get my mind around it, and I promise I’ll make the attempt.”

Aria rested her head on his chest and they stood, naked in the dark, holding each other until the feeling of Aria’s tits pressed against him started Leo’s cock rising again. Then, chuckling, they got dressed. “Alright,” Aria called. “It’s safe again.”

Leo was just sitting down when Erica and Dani came trudging out of the darkness and set their chairs down next to him.

“That sounded like fun,” Dani said.

“You’re lucky I didn’t throw things at you, or tell an embarrassing story,” Erica smirked.

“It was, and thanks for not,” Leo sighed. “The talk was about India. The sex was about us.”

“Want to know what our talk was about?” Erica asked.

“Not while you’re still here,” Leo laughed. “I’ll talk with my partner without the immediate influence of my sister, thank you very much.”

“Fine, fine,” Erica chuckled.

It was past midnight when Kyla texted again. They were safe, but Harri had only been able to drum up one potential lead. Erica had wanted them to come back to the Falls, but Kyla had insisted that they were heading back to the site and RVs - she and Vanessa would ‘take care’ of making sure Harri’s immunities were up.

“Didn’t need to think about that,” Leo sighed.

“Oh, come on,” Erica snorted. “Kyla is hot as hell and Vanessa isn’t far behind.”

“You are evil,” Leo said. “Evil, I say.”

After some discussion, it was decided that the evening watch could be cancelled. There never really had been any real risk, they’d been up on the roof more for Harri’s benefit than for safety. Still, as they packed up they left the lawn chairs at the bottom of the ladder in the storage room just in case, and the firearms got split between Erica and Leo to store in their rooms for the night at least.

Most of the compound was quiet, the ladies having headed to bed, but Ivy met Erica and Leo overheard them whispering. He smiled to himself, listening to Erica tell Ivy how she’d done a good job, and Ivy telling Erica she was proud of her for not worrying.

“Leo,” Dani whispered, catching his attention back.

“What’s up?” he asked, coming to her in the doorway of their room. The door was still shut and she was leaning back against it. When he got close, Dani grabbed him by the front of his shirt and gently pulled him closer as she smiled until their lips were pressed together. The kiss was long and slow and only ended when she moved her lips to his ear.

“I’ve been wet since I watched you are Aria this morning,” she whispered. “And then I had to listen to you fuck her.”

Leo groaned softly. “You could hear that much?”

She laughed in her chest without making a noise. “We heard enough,” she whispered. “No one should be downstairs. Come fuck me on one of the cafeteria tables.”

He groaned again, a little louder. “I guess we can sleep some other time.”

- - - - -

Dani looked at Leo across their breakfast table and grinned, her eyes dropping to the table and then back up to him.

“I know,” he said cryptically and rolled his eyes.

“Know what?” Rachel asked as she came and sat down next to Leo, while Spencer sat down next to Dani. Rachel was wearing a unitard with jean shorts over top, the thin layer of the almost swimsuit-tight top hugging her body and showing the dull bumps of her nipples underneath. Spencer was dressed almost the opposite, wearing one of her usual bulky sweaters and pyjama lounging pants.

“Nothing,” Leo said quickly, definitely not wanting it to spread around that he and Dani had made use of that particular table last night without getting caught. The last thing they needed was for Abi or Sara to get pissed that they were taking advantage of their kindness to house them, especially after the panic surrounding last night’s events.

“Have you guys heard anything from Harri and Kyla?” Spencer asked. “Ivy keeps saying that they’ll be fine, but you should have heard something, right?”

“Harri and Kyla texted last night,” Leo said. “They were safe, and crashed back at the construction site because they had to make sure their vaccines were dealing with any outbreaks.”

“What about the ladies from the Rez?” Rachel asked.

Leo glanced at Dani, not sure how much he should reveal - on the one hand, the truth wasn’t some big secret, but on the other it could scare them more than needed. Dani shrugged softly and turned to the ladies. “There was an attack, sort of like what happened at the construction site and why we’re here, but worse,” Dani said. “Kyla said people are missing.”

“That’s awful,” Spencer said, getting a pained look on her face.

“Is Harri doing his cop thing, then?” Rachel asked.

“I can’t see him not doing that,” Leo said. “I haven’t heard anything from them this morning though.”

“Well, I’m glad we’ve got you here for us,” Rachel said, putting a hand on Leo’s shoulder and rubbing it for a moment before going back to her food. “Honestly, it’s good to have a guy around in general. Too much estrogen packed into one place is not something I’m used to. I grew up with five brothers. I’m not used to this many feelings being expressed in ways other than shouting - happy, sad, angry, whatever.”

“How are they?” Leo asked. “Your family?”

“Mm, fine so far. The ones that are worth keeping up with, anyways,” Rachel said. “My Mom and youngest brother are socked away down in Dallas and keeping safe. My Dad and oldest brother were in prison, have been for years - they got it in their heads to try and rob a bank to fix their fraud. Turns out they were both gambling addicts, ruined my Mom’s life and everyone’s credit in my family by opening up fake credit cards. I could give a fuck if they’re alive or not. My second-oldest brother got into gangs and tried to recruit my second-youngest, so I beat the fuck out of him myself. He ended up getting killed when he was doing a drive-by and the people shot back, so serves him right. My second-youngest brother is the brainiac of the family. He graduated from college in April, full ride all the way but no ceremony or anything, and he got an immediate job offer from the CDC. Surprise-surprise, they need a hell of a lot of bodies right now for all the research and contamination control and shit they’re doing. He’s got a biochem degree so I guess that helps. He can’t say what he’s working on or where, but he shoots me a text every few days letting me know he’s safe.”

“Jesus,” Dani said. “And I thought my family had issues. Sorry about your older brothers and father.”

“It’s in the past,” Rachel said, waving her off and shaking her head.

The conversation was interrupted when Erica came over. “Hey,” she said, joining the table as she slid in next to Sabrina on the bend and gave the blonde a wink before leaning forward to look at Leo and Dani. “Harri texted good morning, but Kyla and Vanessa gave me more details. They have a big lead on a lead, and Harri and Kyla are making a deal with some bikers. If it works out, they’ll probably be doing something about it today. I’m thinking we should try to meet them back at the site instead of getting them to come here.”

“Absolutely,” Leo said. “We can pile into your car, be there in fifteen minutes. Whenever it makes sense.”

“OK,” Erica said. “I’ll make sure Ivy and I are ready.”

“Do you think I can come?” Spencer asked, a little embarrassed. “I- Harri and I were supposed to chat last night but he had to rush out.”

“Maybe,” Erica said, putting a hand on her back and rubbing softly. “I’m sure he’d appreciate it, sweetie, but there’s only so much space in the car and if we take a second then we’re probably overwhelming him and Kyla before something big and possibly dangerous. And, honestly, I think Josie is kind of feeling wrung out still emotionally and the only thing that helped was Harri, and she feels like she didn’t even get to thank him.”

“OK,” Spencer nodded. “That makes sense.”

“If she doesn’t want to go, you can have the spot in the car,” Erica assured her.

“Thanks, Erica,” Spencer said.

“No problem,” Leo’s sister replied, wrapping an arm around the younger woman and hugging her around the shoulder. Then she glanced at Leo. “I’ll let you know when? I was supposed to be doing a tattoo design for Melina but I’m going to push that back.”

Leo nodded, and Erica slipped back out from the bench seating and headed to grab some food from the light spread Sara had prepared for breakfast.

“You sister kinda scares me,” Rachel said.

“What?” Leo asked. “Why? She wasn’t even being intense.”

“I dunno, she’s just like… a big female personality. She’s like Abi, but I don’t understand her as well,” Rachel said. “Everything about her is just like, ‘I am Woman, hear me roar.’”

“I get that,” Dani laughed. “I love her, but she does definitely come off that way.”

“I think she’s kind of awesome,” Spencer said. “Scary, but awesome.”

Leo snorted, smirking and shaking his head. “If you only knew the stories I do about her being a massive dork.”

All three of the ladies immediately wanted to know those stories, but Leo held up his hands. “I will tell the stories,” he said. “When it’s appropriate. Meaning when I can watch my sister squirm as I embarrass her like a good brother should.”

“Sounds like the same rules apply in your house as mine,” Rachel laughed.

- - - - -

“Family meeting,” was all Leo had needed to say, and Aria and India had agreed and brought their breakfasts with them outside. They’d gotten up later, having lounged in bed longer than Leo and Dani.

Leo led the way, circling around the side of the Valkyrie Falls building to where a few picnic tables were set up. They would have privacy for their conversation since it was out of hearing range of the outdoor gym. It was cooler than the past couple of days and overcast, the sound of the wind in the leaves making a constant rustle. As they approached the table Dani slid onto the bench first but Leo turned and embraced Aria with one hand on her back and kissed her on the cheek. “Good morning,” he said.

“Morning, babe,” Aria said with a little smile, giving him a little peck on the lips.

Leo then made sure to make eye contact with India, stepping to her as well. She wasn’t a short woman, but she was the shortest of the three he was partnered with. Where Aria was dressed casually in a loose t-shirt and yoga pants hugging her curvy hips and thighs, India looked ready for a day at the beach already. She was wearing a pretty yellow string bikini top with orange accents, the cups giving her fantastic tits full coverage, and she was wearing jean shorts over the bikini bottoms, the yellow-and-orange ties in messy bows high on each hip. Her brown hair was loose, intermixed with braids and a bunch of fake dreads - he’d watched Aria help her take them out before so she could do a proper hair washing and then put them back in, and it was a process, but it was also her look. Beads, a feather, and a couple of metallic rings were woven into the dreads and braids, and she was wearing big mandala earrings.

“Good morning, India,” Leo said, keeping eye contact. She had beautiful grey eyes and playful features, but he could see the calculations going on behind her expression. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, just touching her hip lightly as he did it before backing off.

“Good morning, babe,” she said. It didn’t sound cautious, but now that he knew what Aria had told him he could see the guardedness of it. She went to sit, and Leo sat across from her and Aria, next to Dani.

They took turns giving Aria and India the latest update on things, which didn’t take very long.

“If Josie wants to go, I guess there’s no room for me,” Aria said. “I would go if there was room.” Leo noted that she dropped a hand beneath the edge of the table and touched India’s leg, reassuring her wordlessly.

“I’m sure Harri would appreciate it,” Leo said.

“He’ll understand though,” Dani nodded.

“There’s something else I want to talk to you gals about though,” Leo said. This took Dani a little by surprise, and she pivoted to look more at him. Leo pressed his lips together for a moment as he let out a breath. “So - I’ve been feeling a sort of… not a depression or anything, but a malaise. Like I’m being way too lazy, and vacation has lasted too long. And I think that’s been affecting me in some not-great ways. The first thing I want to do is apologise to all three of you; you each got matched with a me that hadn’t been forced into losing his paycheck, and a me that was just doing more than we have been since you each got here. Dani, you got more of that me, but Aria and India… well, you especially deserve to know I can see where I might not have been meeting the initial matching compared to where I’ve been at.”

“Thank you,” Aria said. “And we understand. Things are wild right now.” She looked at India, who was chewing on the inside of her cheeks as she poked her oatmeal with her spoon.

“OK,” India said, acknowledging. “I mean, things haven’t exactly been bad, so I don’t know why you feel the need to apologise. We live in a tricked out RV, sure, so that’s kind of weird but it’s only temporary.”

“It’s not about where we live,” Leo sighed as Dani started rubbing his knee under the table. “It’s about being the sort of man that you three deserve to have around, whatever that means to us. We’ve been living off of Harri’s coat tails and that’s not OK. So, I just want to make a couple of promises - I’m going to find my purpose in all these changes that are happening. Maybe that means I sign on with the construction crews and go back to doing cabinet making, or I pick up framing or something. But I’m also going to find my purpose with us, or be more purposeful to make sure I’m pulling my weight to be a good partner to you all.”

“Thank you, Leo,” Aria said, nodding sincerely as she looked at him. “That’s really- I believe you.” India didn’t say anything, just nodding as she looked a little curious and a little sceptical. That was just a challenge that Leo would need to overcome.

Maybe Aria was right about how to deal with it, Leo thought. But that was something for another day.

“Thank you, babe,” Dani said, turning on the bench next to him and lifting a leg over to sit on it sideways so that she could hug him with both arms. Leo got an arm around her as well.

“You ladies deserve my best efforts, not just me letting it ride,” he said.

Dani sat back up. “And speaking of effort… I think we need to talk about one other thing. All of us.”

“What’s that?” Leo asked.

Dani took a breath and glanced at the other two ladies. “If Harri is going on a rescue mission to save a bunch of women and children, I want to go with him. And maybe you should too. We’re both decent shots, and he’s going to need more backup than Kyla. I just keep thinking of a bunch of scared kids and I can’t not do something.”

Leo nodded. “I was going to wait for us to know more, but… I agree,” he said. Then he swallowed the little claw of panic in his throat. “Harri has been running into the fire for weeks helping people. We need to step up, and maybe that’s part of me finding myself. But-” He cut off, letting out a long breath and looking at Aria and India again. “It’s dangerous for all of us, just not me or Dani. If I were to get badly hurt, or killed… we know that there’s supposedly something they can do with my body to help you three out, but not really what.”

Aria frowned. “I want to tell you you’re overreacting on your search for purpose, babe,” she said, reaching across the table and grabbing his hand. “But I actually saw the people on the Rez that first time Harri went up to find out if Kara was alive after the fire. They’re just people, trying to make things work. And I saw the way they were together… Harri will take risks, even bigger ones than usual, for her. He needs people to help him make good decisions. My vote is that he’ll need you, so you should go. For the people who need it.”

“My vote is obvious, I’m going with you,” Dani said.

“I would too if I could shoot the broad side of a barn,” Aria smirked.

All three of them turned to India, who was making an oddly conflicted face. “I feel like shit, with what I want to say,” she finally sighed.

“No one’s going to judge you,” Aria assured her.

India took in a breath, her chest rising and falling heavily. “I don’t want to die because you decided to do something stupidly risky,” she said, looking at Leo. “I get that it’s a good cause, and he’s your best friend, and you need to feel purposeful or whatever. But you don’t have any training to do some sort of wild west shootout or Call of Duty bullshit. You could just make things worse and get killed doing it, and then we’d all be fucked.”

Leo took that one like a punch in the chest, but he knew she was right. In the balance of things, would he even make a difference?

“So that’s a No vote,” Dani said. “Two against one.”

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Leo said, looking into Dani’s eyes, and then over to India. “I feel like maybe there should be some Veto power for anyone at risk when a decision like this is being made.”

“Fine,” Dani said, focusing on India. Her accent deepened as she let out some of her frustration. “Don’t be a selfish bitch. Ladies just like you, me and Aria got kidnapped. Their kids got kidnapped. Orphans who’ve been watching their parents die from the pandemic got kidnapped. By backwoods hicks for some unknown reason. Awful things might be happening to them right now. Torture. Assault. Rape. They might be getting sold to other people. Killed. Hooked on drugs to keep them pliable. Pimped out. And Leo and I might be able to help save them from that. Because what are the chances that they took all of those women and children for something else? Best case scenario is, what, it’s some whackadoo doomsday cult? Great, they all get fed poison kool-aid and get murdered instead of being raped. So do you want to veto us helping, or-”

“Enough,” Aria said sternly, cutting Dani off. India had tears running down her cheeks, her chin and lower lip shuddering, and Aria grabbed her and hugged her close, cradling her head with one hand. “She gets it, Dani. “

“Good,” Dani said. “Then-”

“She gets it!” Aria practically snarled.

“Dani,” Leo said, reaching up and turning Dani by the chin to look at him instead of glaring at India and Aria. She was riled up and he could see it in her eyes, but they softened a little when their gazes locked. Leo wasn’t sure what to say, or how to say it, without betraying some trust. Aria had hinted that India had some shit in her past that wasn’t her story to tell. What were the chances that Dani had hit closer to home than she realised?

After a long moment Dani’s eyes softened some more, seeing the conflict in Leo’s, and she let out her breath. Another moment and she nodded, reaching up to wrap her fingers around Leo’s and pull his hand down into her lap. She turned to India and Aria. “I’m sorry,” she said. No excuses.

“Go,” India said, suppressing a sob. “Just- Fuck, just go. You’re right. I can’t just- me versus dozens of other women and kids? Me versus any of them?”

Aria’s look had softened as well, and she glanced between Dani and Leo and took a deep breath. Then she nodded away, back around the corner of the building. ‘Go,’ she mouthed. ‘Be safe.’

Leo reached out this time and she accepted his hand, and they squeezed a little as they looked into each other's eyes. Then he and Dani stood and left the two so that Aria could console India. Once they were around the corner, Dani stopped and looked up at Leo. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just-”

“Shh,” Leo hushed her, pulling her into a hug. “You were right, Dani. You just hit her where it hurts, I think.”

“Fuck,” Dani sighed, hugging him back.

“We’ll fix it when we can,” Leo said. “That just probably won’t be today.”

- - - - -

Piling into the car took a little longer than Leo thought it would when Erica first gave him and Dani the nod that it was time to go. The delay was a conversation between Erica, Josie and Spencer. Josie was apparently still unsure about whether she should come or not even though she’d done herself up. In the end Spencer had hugged the taller blonde and then pretty much pushed her into the car.

“So,”  Erica said as she started driving her car out through the woods and towards the highway. “Everyone think of ways to tell Harri that he better bring his ass back safe and sound?”

“I know how, if we had more time,” Ivy said from the back middle seat, the smallest person getting the most-squished seating.

“Ivy, he doesn’t need to fuck your butt right now to remember how good it is,” Erica smirked.

“Jesus,” Leo coughed, still not exactly used to how open the ladies of the Black-La Costa group could be. Erica, Dani and Ivy all chuckled, though Josie remained quiet and Leo could see in the rear view mirror that she was blushing as she looked out the window.

“Leo and I aren’t wishing him off,” Dani spoke up. “We’re going to go with him.”

That brought a silence to the car.

“I don’t know about that…” Erica finally said.

“We can help,” Leo said to his sister. “And he needs it.”

“Kyla texted and said Miriam got him help, though,” Erica said. “And that Agent who leased the place originally sent someone too.”

“How many people are going with Kyla and Harri?” Leo asked. “If it’s not, like, twenty then it’s probably not enough.”

Erica grimaced and glanced over her shoulder. “Really?” she asked Dani.

“Kyla is going, I don’t see why Leo or I shouldn’t,” Dani said.

Leo saw a flash of something pass over Erica’s features, but it was there and gone so quick that he really wasn’t sure what it was. “Dani’s right. Kyla might have been the resident action sidekick for Harri, but she isn’t any more trained than either of us. We can shoot a rifle, so we can help.”

Erica sighed heavily. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea. Harri won’t go for it.”

“We’re not taking no for an answer, sis,” Leo said. “We’ll keep him as safe as we can.”

“Well, it’s on you to sell him on it,” Erica said while glancing at Leo out of the corner of her eye while driving. He knew she wouldn’t want him to go - who wanted their sibling to run towards danger? And the fact that she was already dealing with Harri going off didn’t help things. But she pivoted the conversation, talking to Josie about getting to be off of the Valkyrie Falls grounds for the first time in months, and how she’d get to see the construction site. Ivy took over parts of the conversation as well, promising to show Josie where their House would go up. Leo wasn’t sure how easy that would be considering that it was looking more and more like a storm was going to break at any minute - they could show Josie the RVs for sure, but hiking up to the spring didn’t seem like it would be in the cards.

The drive wasn’t long and the closer the more tense Leo felt. They hadn’t been back to the site in almost a week, and it felt weird even thinking of it as ‘the site’ and not ‘home’ or at least ‘Harri’s place.’ It hadn’t even been two and a half months since that Agent had come to make a deal for the land. It felt like it had been ages.

“Well, that’s new,” Erica murmured as they came around the last long bend in the highway and within view of the main entrance to the site. The last time any of them had seen it, the little portable shack had still been up off to one side of the graded gravel road and there had been trees pretty much up to the shoulder of the road.

The biggest change was that trees had been trimmed back, creating a V-like open space to make more room for what Leo could only think of as little bunkers. The trees they’d felled, plus more that must have been brought down, had been chopped into lengths and laid sideways into a roughly half-hexagon shape on either side of the driveway. There were a half dozen airmen reinforcing the positions, lining the wooden walls with sandbags as they were filling them with dirt dug out from in front of the bunkers to make a trench.

The most eye-catching of the additions weren’t the little bunkers themselves though, it was the dark green humvee with the big fuckin’ gun on top of it. Harri would probably be able to rattle off exactly what it was, what size ammunition it shot and how much damage it could do to a man at a hundred yards, but Leo didn’t have the experience or the care to know what it was. It was big, it was mounted on top of a military vehicle, and that meant it could probably cut a civilian vehicle in half without much trouble.

And it was pointing right at them.

Well, maybe not right at them, but the soldier manning the gun was definitely tracking them, and all of the airmen stood up and were vigilant as Erica slowed the car and signalled that she was turning in. One of the airmen filling sandbags waved for her to stop as he climbed up onto the gravel road. It didn’t take long to show they had clearance onto the base, even if they didn’t have badges or anything. Apparently ‘the Sheriff’s family’ was fairly well known.

“Guess you are one of us now, Josie,” Ivy said with a grin, nudging the athlete with an elbow. The way Ivy said ‘Josie’ was with a soft J and more like ‘Joh-see,’ making it sound way more French.

A lot of work had been done in the last week that Harri hadn’t really mentioned, but he’d been busy so maybe he hadn’t noticed. All of the offshooting roads from the expanded driveway weren’t just cleared dirt anymore, they had pressed gravel to better support the big trucks hauling logs and brush out of the way. It looked like they were also starting to clear out lots, especially closer to the highway - one large swathe on either side of the driveway could hold an entire stripmall already and workers were still going.

Up closer to the camp, they saw that the third barracks was well on its way in construction, and the site was buzzing with activity. Erica avoided the main drag straight through the camp even though there was a gravel road they could have taken, instead skirting around the outside of the camp and sliding onto the roughly graded dirt of the cleared area around the camp. It was a lot more of a bumpy trip, but it meant not needing to slow down for pedestrians and that close to seeing Harri, Leo knew Erica didn’t want to slow down one bit.

There was activity around a couple of trucks sort of near the RVs, well spaced away from the camp, and Erica headed for it since Harri’s truck was there, and the man himself quickly came into view.

Erica brought the car to a jarring halt and didn’t even bother taking the keys out of the ignition before she was getting out of the car. Leo had to reach over to get the car in park himself before turning it off. Ivy had basically scrambled out of the car over Dani’s lap even faster than Erica. By the time Leo, Dani and Josie managed to get out of the car as well Harri had already had a couple of smooches planted on him.

“Hey,” he said as Erica managed to peel herself away from him. “You guys didn’t need to come out.”

“Of course we did,” Leo said, shaking his head and grabbing Harri, pulling him into a hug. Classic Harri, trying to make a big thing look like a little one.

“And we’re not just here to see you off,” Dani said as she came up behind her partner. “Leo and I are coming with you.

Leo had just let him go so he could hug Dani and Josie, but he could see Harri physically tense up. “OK,” the big guy said. “Hold on-”

“One conversation at a time,” Erica said. She distracted Harri from his immediate arguments by kissing him again and telling him to go hard on the hunt. Then she passed him to Ivy, who said something in French, and then she gave way to Josie. Watching Harri and Josie hug was like watching a couple of awkward fourteen year olds who everyone knew were crushing on each other, but they didn’t realise it was mutual. They spoke quietly as Harri held her, and Leo took a moment to check out the other people who looked like they were going to be part of the mission.

There was a lithe black woman, a short and stocky guy, a tall blonde guy, and… a soccer mom? Or like, the mom from the Brady Bunch?

“What the fuck is going on,” Leo muttered to himself.

“Guys-” Harri started, having separated from Josie and turning to Leo and Dani again, but he got cut off as a woman came out of the RV compound and called Erica’s name.

It took Leo a long moment to connect the face to the situation - he’d met Julia before. She was a client of Erica’s. He was pretty sure he’d even made a tipsy pass at her at a bar once when they went out, but was pretty sure she’d ended up going home with Erica that night and that had definitely scratched her off the ‘possible hookup’ list because he wasn't about to be Eskimo siblings with his sister.

Erica recognized her faster than Leo though, and they basically ran at each other and collided in a flash of womanly hugs and speed-talking at the same time.

Harri, on the other hand, decided to let the reunion be and turned to Leo and Dani. “Come on,” he said, nodding towards the closest barracks, and started walking. Leo followed, taking Dani’s hand and giving it a squeeze. Harri stopped maybe thirty yards from the trucks and everyone else, turning and opening his mouth to tell them exactly what he thought of Dani’s declaration.

“Harri, we’re not letting you do this alone,” Dani cut in before he could say no. “Leo and I both know how to shoot.”

“And there’s no fucking way that you’re talking us out of it,” Leo continued. “You’ve got what looks like some experts along with… Is that a soccer mom?”

“Apparently she’s a psychopath with a hatred for human traffickers,” Harri said with a rueful look. “Which, I mean, is pertinent in this case. Guys, I appreciate the offer but I can’t let you come. If something happened-”

“If something happened to you, do you think we could forgive ourselves either?” Leo asked, feeling his frustration rising. “I mean seriously, Harri.”

“We both love you,” Dani said, taking Leo’s hand and squeezing it hard, making it a unified front.

Harri sighed and wiped at his forehead, clearly frustrated because he was torn. He knew they’d cornered him emotionally, and the logic of taking more people wasn’t exactly a failing case.

“You’re thinking too hard about it,” Leo said.

“We’ve both been hunting, and we can both help,” Dani said, dropping her voice as her accent and went more Australian. “You keep taking everything on yourself, Harri, every time something bad happens. But we’re all a family and families fight together.”

“Ugh,” he grunted, looking to the sky. He turned and called over to the others. “Erica, can you come over here?”

Erica said something to Julia, then to Ivy, and came over at a jog. “What is it, babe? I told them you’d probably be against this idea.”

Harri turned back to Dani and Leo. “You’re right, OK? There are a lot of reasons to say yes, and there’s probably a few less reasons to say no. But there’s one major reason I need you to stay back, Leo.” He looked at Erica and they seemed to have a moment before nodding, which confused Leo heavily. Then Harri turned his attention back to Leo, looking him in the eyes. “Remember how we were talking about the fact that we’d be brothers now, if Erica and I ever manage to actually tie the knot? Well, you’re also going to be an uncle.”

It took Leo a second to parse past the ‘no’ and hear what his best friend had just told him. He looked at Erica as his eyes went wide. “You’re…?” he asked his sister, not able to finish the sentence.

Erica nodded, breaking into a grin, and Leo crashed into her as he wrapped his arms around his sister and squeezed her just about as tight as he could, burying his face into her shoulder. “Oh my God, Erica. Oh my God,” he said. “Mom and Dad would be so happy for you. Oh my God!”

“I know,” Erica sobbed softly, holding him back just as tight. “I know, Leo. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you yet, we just wanted to wait until we were all back home.”

The secret didn’t matter. It was their news to tell, and it had to still be pretty new. Leo squeezed her one more time and let her go, turning to Harri as Dani took her turn to crash into Erica with a little suppressed squeal of joy for her. Leo grabbed his best friend and pulled him tight. “You bastard,” he laughed, shaking his head as he tried to run through everything he was feeling. “You fucking bastard.”

“I promise not to let your niece or nephew be a bastard, Leo,” Harri chuckled. “But this is why I need you to stay back. Nothing’s going to happen to me, but just in case, I need you safe. I need you to be the man in my son or daughter’s life if I can’t be. Putting us both out there in danger would take us both away from Erica and from the kid.”

It was dirty pool. “Fuck you,” Leo sighed, thumping Harri on the shoulder softly with a fist. “God, you’re such an asshole. Yes, obviously, OK. When you put it like that, how am I supposed to argue?”

“That doesn’t mean I need to stay back,” Dani said, wrapping one arm around Leo as she hugged both men. “It just gives me more reason to go. I need to make sure you come home, Harri.”

Erica came around and joined the group hug from the other side. THe conversation was full of quick updates - she was only a few weeks pregnant so it was still early days. She was already researching and trying to find a good doctor who also happened to still be alive and taking patients, but thought she might end up needing to contact Miriam since there were questions about the vaccine and the baby. Leo and Dani were both thrilled for her.

Leo also watched Dani closely. They hadn’t talked about kids yet - Dani had an IUD that would need to be removed for that to happen, and they didn’t even say ‘I love you’ in a romantic way. Sure, they loved each other, and worked really well as partners, but it was sort of a heightened version of what he had with Aria. He didn’t get any sort of feeling from her either way of whether the first baby in the group was turning on her own biological clock or not, so he decided to try to put it out of his mind for now because there was something else dominating his thoughts.

Erica was pregnant, and Harri needed him to be the backstop. He needed Leo to pick up the pieces if something bad happened, and Erica would need him more than ever in that circumstance as well.

Dani made the argument that if Leo was staying back, she should still go. Her risking herself wasn’t as problematic vaccine-wise as Leo, and now she had extra reason to want to keep Harri safe for Erica. Harrison reluctantly agreed and things started moving quickly as Dani rushed to the RV to change, and Leo followed Harri back to the main group where introductions had been getting tossed around, wanting to find a private moment with his sister but not getting it immediately.

Erica re-introduced Julia to Harri, filling in how they knew each other. Then there was a lot of reorganising, and during the press Erica pulled Leo into a hug and whispered in his ear, “We’re not telling anyone else right now, so don’t spread it. Please?”

“Of course,” Leo said, hugging her firmly before letting her go as they looked into each other’s eyes. He couldn’t stop himself from grinning despite the tense moment going on, and Erica smirked a little back. He was going to be an uncle. His sister was going to be a Mom.

Dani came back out, changed into some darker clothes and wearing a jacket over the bulletproof vest she was borrowing from Kyla. Leo met her first, pulling her into a hug before she got wrapped up with figuring out what firearms she’d be using and whatever else the professionals needed to tell her.

“Leo, babe,” Dani said. “It’ll be OK.”

“Just be careful,” he told her. “I’m staying back because of what they asked me to do, and it’s making me feel like I’m failing you, Dani.”

“Shh,” she shushed him softly.

“I’m being serious, Dani,” Leo said. “Earlier this morning I made some promises to you and the girls. Now I’m feeling like- I feel like I’m paying the price for figuring that out. I can’t be everything. I can’t be Harri. But I can be me. I’ll be the backstop for our families. I’m going to make sure our family is on course and healthy and provided for, and I’m going to make sure Erica and Harri have that as well.”

“You’ll be the Godfather,” Dani said, pulling back a little as she smiled at him. They’d watched Old School a few weeks ago while going through a ‘Will Ferrel but just his secondary roles’ movie marathon.

“Sure,” Leo smirked. “I’ll be the Godfather. I’m taking control of our future. If Harri is going to be some big fucking hero for everyone else, I’ll be the hero we need at home.”

“Then I need you to do something for me,” Dani said.

“Anything,” he promised immediately.

She hugged him tightly again, pressing her lips to his ear. “I need you to start flirting back with Yvonne and Rachel. Even start sleeping with them now, so that when the vaccine is available for them they’ll pick you right away. You need more partners, babe, and they would make good ones.”

Leo swallowed. “OK,” he said a little hoarsely. “I understand.”

Dani kissed him on the cheek, then pulled back a little again and kissed him on the lips firmly. “My Godfather,” she said and winked. “I’ll be home soon with a story to tell.”

“I’ll have a naked massage ready for you when you get back, to ease all the aches and pains my sexy action hero partner accumulates while kicking ass and taking names,” Leo promised.

She kissed him again. “That sounds amazing, but depending on what happens I might just need a good cry instead.”

“Then I’ll be ready for that too,” he assured her.

“I need to go.”

“I know,” Leo sighed, then let her go.

He felt like he should tell her he loved her, but the words felt weird in his mouth. It just wasn’t them. One last look between them, Dani smiling a little, and she went and joined the Rescue Team.

In minutes they were loading up in the trucks. Leo stole one last kiss from Dani through the rolled down window of Harri’s truck, and then they were driving away.

“Shit,” Erica sighed. She was standing with one arm around Ivy and the other around Josie, pulling both women tighter to her.

“It feels like it got a lot more quiet, real quick,” Leo said.

“Tell me that’s not the last time we see him,” Josie said quietly. “I couldn’t handle it.”

“Harrison will come back to us,” Ivy said, sticking her chin out confidently. “He will come back a hero, but will need to be taken care of. We’ll do that for him.”

“And we’ll take care of whoever he comes back with,” Erica said, then glanced at Leo. “You might want to think about volunteering for Imprinting duty, Leo. If-” She had to clear her throat, emotion suddenly surging through her. “If Kara and Gerty and Tanaya are all OK, I’d bet my left tit they’ll all want to choose him. But there might be a whole bunch of women who need partners before they succumb to the virus.”

Leo grimaced but nodded. “I’m willing,” he said. “Do we know-” He was cut off by a spatter of rain drops, and he looked up and saw that heavens were about to open up. The clouds looked heavy in the air, and another smattering of raindrops hit. “Are we staying here or heading back to the Falls?” he asked quickly.

“...Falls,” Erica said. “We can’t do anything here except wait.”

They all rushed for Erica’s car and piled in as the rain started coming down like someone turned on the faucet.

“Better get us onto the gravel road,” Leo said. “Before we get stuck when this turns to mud.”

“Fuck,” Erica grunted, putting the car in drive and getting it turned around. “I really need to get a jeep or something, living out here in the fuckin’ sticks.”

They drove through the middle of the camp this time, meaning to head for the road out, but a waving figure stopped them as it approached out of the rain. Seeing it was Vanessa, Erica put it in park and Ivy and Josie squeezed over in the back seat as the already-soaked woman climbed in, taking off her hard hat as she entered.

“You guys OK?” she asked.

“Did you get to say goodbye?” Erica asked her in reply.

“Yeah, I caught them on their way out.”

“And?” Erica prompted.

“And I’m freaking out, but I can handle it,” Vanessa said.

“Same,” Leo said.

“Yeah, same,” Erica sighed.

“I am not freaked,” Ivy said. “I have faith.”

“Well, I’m freaked,” Josie chuckled dimly.

“Vanessa, I had a thought,” Leo said, deciding that if he was going to keep his mind off of the danger his partner and best friend were heading into, he might as well start acting on his decisions. “There’s going to be at least a few hundred houses built eventually, right?”

“Yeah,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“How are they all being furnished?” Leo asked.

Vanessa frowned. “I… actually don’t know,” she said. “I assume that’s on someone’s radar, but definitely not mine.”

“Could you find out for me?” Leo asked. “I know you’ve got all those untrained apprentices - I’m thinking I could grab a few of them and start up a workshop to start churning out custom dining room tables and chairs. Even if the rest of the houses are full of Ikea furniture, if everyone is going to have a big family then they’ll need big tables to fit them. That’s something I could get started on as soon as I can get some work space.”

“I’ll talk to my Dad, see what the plan is,” Vanessa said. “But I think that’s a great idea. We can probably get you a contract or something, and if you’re training some of the ladies that’s all the better because I’ve got too many to begin with.”

“I’d like to put in an order for a custom bed,” Erica smirked from the driver’s seat.

Leo snorted softly, almost unhearable over the beating of the rain on the roof of the car. “Maybe I should start working on some designs. That might be a hot item in the near future.”

“I’ve got a question back,” Vanessa said. “Or a favour, I guess.”

“What’s up?” Leo asked.

“I need someone to come make sure the chicken coop isn’t currently blowing away or that this rain is going to kill the chickens,” Vanessa said.

Erica, Leo and Ivy all said, “Chicken coop?” at the same time.

Vanessa grinned. “Our man got us fresh eggs for life,” she said. “I just need to make sure I’m not currently murdering them.”

Leo sighed. “Alright. Where is it and how wet am I going to get?”

“Around that barracks there, and very,” Vanessa said.

“Let’s go save some chickens,” Leo said, and got out of the car into the heavy rain. The chill of it hit him, but he didn’t mind. Harri brought home the chickens, but by God, Leo was going to backstop him and make sure they were safe. That was the job he could do, and he’d do it.

- - - - -

“You guys are back,” Yvonne said, raising her eyebrows and smiling hopefully as Leo, Ivy, Erica and Josie tramped in from out of the storm and into the front vestibule of Valkyrie Falls. She’d been laying down on the same bench she and Leo had been talking at the night before, reading Leo’s copy of The Two Towers as she listened to the rain on the window.

“The rescue party is off on their mission,” Erica said. “And we’re all drowned rats. Come on, ladies, I think hot showers are in order.” Ivy and Josie mumbled in agreement and started heading down the hall, but veered into the gym change room instead of heading up the stairs.

“Did it go OK?” Yvonne asked Leo.

He sighed and nodded. “Dani went with them to help. Harri asked me to stay back and keep things handled in case anything went wrong.”

“Was he protecting you, or trusting you?” Yvonne asked.

Leo blinked and looked at the younger woman curiously. She was almost a decade younger than he was, and yet she could see all that so easily. “Both,” Leo said. “Yvonne, I- Can I sit?”

She nodded, rotating around so she was sitting up on the bench properly instead of lounged across it a little. Leo sat, his shorts squelching wetly on the wooden bench, but he didn’t care. He took a breath, looking at Yvonne. She didn’t look away, frowning slightly as she met his gaze. She also didn’t say anything, comfortable letting him figure out what he wanted to say.

But Leo didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to say anything.

He leaned forward slowly but deliberately, giving her every opportunity to back away or tell him to stop, but she didn’t. He kissed her.

Yvonne kissed him back.

It wasn’t extremely passionate, or messy, or anything more than a firm kiss. But it was a connection. And he could feel that she’d wanted it just as much as he’d been telling himself he didn’t.

“Is that OK?” she asked him as they pulled apart.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while now, I think,” Leo said. “I wasn’t sure you’d be interested.”

“I wasn’t sure you would be interested with three women already filling your bed,” she said. “And you sort of have a type.”

“What’s that?” Leo asked.

Yvonne held up her hands over her chest. “Tits,” she said, miming large ones. Much larger than hers, which weren’t tiny but he could see where she was going.

“That was just happenstance,” he said. “Unplanned. I think you’re-” He took a breath. “Yvonne, I think you’re stunning, and intriguing, and funny. And insightful as hell. And I have the green light from Dani to go as far as we want.”

Yvonne looked at him carefully, her eyes scanning his face, before she leaned in and kissed him back.

It felt good to be wanted. It felt good to know what he was doing again. Family, house, home - those were his goals. Those were his purposes. He could see Yvonne fitting into that. He could see things getting better with India. He could see it all.

He just needed Harri, Dani and Kyla to come back safe.