“It doesn’t bother me.” Leo said, pulling out gauze for the first arm. “That’s still the next 6 months to figure out if this is gonna work or not, right? Worst case, it doesn’t, and life goes on. You go back to Drand, I stay here.” He wrapped Nick’s arm gently, but firmly. “Best case? We…make this work. Whether we make it a long distance tango, or..you know, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” As he finished wrapping the first arm he looked up to stare Nick in his eyes, smiling. He squeezed his hand reassuringly. “That sound alright to you?”

Nick could only stare back at Leo, unsure of what to say- he’d definitely taken it better than he thought he would. He eventually nodded, swallowing in an attempt to wet his throat. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Leo nodded back, moving to Nick’s next arm. “But uh…we’re gonna have to talk about what happened back there.” He glanced up again. “That was pretty note-worthy. Don’t look at me like that- it’s not a deal breaker.”

Nick’s brow couldn’t help but lower in confusion, squinting his eyes. “Being a demi-signa isn’t a deal breaker?”

Leo stopped what he was doing, slowly looking up to Nick. The shorter of the two internally panicked- did he say something wrong? Of course that was wrong! That’s a big bomb to drop on someone!

Leo went back to work. “That’s not what it is- is it?”

“What do you mean?” What else could it be? “That’s what the doctor’s told me it was- but they said the core I have-”

“So you have a core?” Leo interjected, looking up at him. “You know for sure?”

It was the first thing Nightingale doctors looked for in patients plagued by signa possession- the heart would slowly crystalize overtime, eventually taking over their host completely, transforming them into the beasts they saw tonight. 

“Yeah-”

“Then why aren’t you in Nightingale’s custody?”

Nick inhaled at that one, looking away for a moment and circling back to Leo. “I paid him.”

Leo’s eyes didn’t leave him as they usually would- instead he stayed locked on, gauging Nick’s demeanor. “That’s a lot of money for someone your age to have, I’m assuming.”

“Well-” Nick started, “it was money given to me for my top surgery- I didn’t want mom and dad to know as well, so the money I’ve been making here has been paying the medical bills. We've transferred to a private doctor in Drand now who’s certified by Nightingale, so I haven’t seen the original guy who found it since.”

“When did he find it?”

Nick thought about that for a moment- he knew the date, but he wasn’t sure if he should lie or not. Would it benefit anything?

“They found it the night you found me.” He admitted quietly. 

“So the signa that Lior sensed when we approached the shack…”

Nick swallowed hard- damn he needed a drink. “It was me.”

Leo was quiet for a moment, but nodded, finally returning his gaze to Nick’s arm. “You were about to say something about the core you have- what was it?”

Nick bit his lip. “They said it wasn’t a normal signa core they’d seen before- it’s color was different, the structure. Signa cores would usually be dark and jagged- while mine is smooth, clear, but has a dark patch in the middle. They said they weren’t able to tell me much unless I agreed to a full exam, but if I did that, it was submitting myself to Nightingale.” He paused, thinking of his next words carefully. “I thought about it, just for a moment- but at that point, with a fully formed core in my chest, shouldn’t I have been turned? I wouldn’t be human right now, right?”

Leo nodded. “Right. There’d be no way you would be sitting here talking to me- which is why I don’t think it’s quite…fully a signa core.”

Nick tilted his head, then sat upright, his curiosity peaked. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Leo began, “what you did back there reminded me a lot of what Lior does- my subordinate. You met him that night in the shack as well. He’s never been open about how he’s come to have those powers, just calls them a “Gift from Daianha”. Leo finished off Nick’s other arm, sitting back with his hands on his knees. “He can create those shields, use weapons he pulls out thin air- heal, teleport, all sorts of crazy things I’ve never seen before ... .but our trackers don’t pick him up as a threat, so that’s the only difference I can see between you two.”

Nick's mind danced over Leo's words carefully, picking them apart, and finally he nodded, understanding what Leo was getting at. "So you..think I'm like Lior?"

"Like Lior…but there are still some differences- I don't know." Leo stood up, stretching. "He won't talk to me about it- he's not exactly my biggest fan- but I'll look into it at work and see if I can find anything similar in some old files."

"That sounds like a lot of work-" Nick stared up at Leo from his seat on the couch, wearing an expression of worry and guilt. "I can't ask you to do that."

Leo turned to him, smiling- it was genuine, his eyes soft, the tension he'd been holding earlier seemingly gone. "It's not a problem at all- I'm…very fond of you Nick. I didn't ask you out because I think one single date would be fun- given the chance, I fully intend to devote myself to you. Take this as my promise to you, and the proof that I trust you- we'll get through this together, yeah?"

Nick knew he probably looked like an idiot, sitting on the couch in stunned silence, unsure of what to say. He could feel the blood running to his cheeks to give him away- he'd never had such kind words said to him, let alone by someone like Leo- someone else he very much cared for the same way. 

He hadn't noticed Leo laugh and step away, grabbing yet another work shirt from the supply cabinet, until the fabric touched his hands in his lap, bringing him out of his thoughts and into the real world once more. 

"Put that on-" Leo said, crossing his arms. "We can't hide the wraps on your arms, but Meg will absolutely flip her lid if she sees the one on your chest. I'm saving you a good hour of lecture-time, here."

Nick nodded, still yet to mutter a word, as Leo glanced out onto the sales floor. "I'm gonna get some air and wait for Meg outside, you're welcome to join me."

Nick's head popped out of the shirt he was given and he pulled his hair out of the collar, shaking his head. "That's alright, I think I need to sit a bit longer. I'm a little more lightheaded than I wanna admit."

Leo simply nodded, disappearing into the other room. As he exited the store and leaned against the brick wall near the door, assessing the damage, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering to their conversation. 

He'd purposefully left out the question that would upset Nick the most- the last thing he wanted to do was make Nick recall any more details of that night than he had to. 

Still, the implications of what Nick had said…being the entity that Lior had sensed in the shack- it would make sense why the aura was still lingering, even with no obvious signa presence that they could see…but the body that had laid motionless in the corner, steeped in blood and gore…

Well, there was no one else to look to but Nick. 

Judging from what Leo had heard and the wounds Nick had sustained that night, it was mostly likely a self defense, fight or flight reflex, his body jumping to action to protect itself. Leo didn't know much else from the case, only that the male in the room was Nick's boyfriend at the time, who had a history of arrests for activity relating to a local cult. He hadn't read much into it, as his interest at the time was solely Nick and his recovery. 

He wondered now if the files pertaining to the incident were a solid start in his search for answers. However, his planning was interrupted as a truck pulled up, Meg jumping quickly out of it before he could even fully stop. Her face was wrought with worry as she ran up to Leo, looking him over, her hands feeling for bumps or broken bones. 

"Are you alright?!" She asked, the pitch of her voice was higher- Leo recognized it as her "mid-panic-attack" voice, so he nodded, giving her a weary smile.

"Yes, I'm just fine-"

"And Nick?"

Leo's slight hesitation made her whine, pouting, so he forced his response out. "He'll BE fine, but he's beat up at the moment. He's in the back."

She nodded, quickly running off to leave Leo alone with her father, Clint. He was an old man, round and stout, with droopy eyes and graying, brunette hair- well, what was left of it. His mustache wiggled as he gave Leo a smile, nodding in acknowledgment, as he carried planks out of the truck. Leo nodded back, pushing himself off of the stone wall.

"Let me help with that."

Meanwhile, Nick was leaned over on the couch, curled into a ball as he willed the pain from the scuffle away, sighing. Between that, blood loss, the use of his powers…their conversation- he was exhausted. There was no way they'd be able to continue with their date tonight, so he was bummed about that as well. 

His mind scanned over their conversation again- he wondered why Leo had avoided the question of his ex, Jake's demise ... .but at the moment, he wasn't concerned enough to bring it up. He was just relieved he wouldn't have to relive the experience. Still, his mind wandered to that night and he recoiled, his face scrunching up as he tried to force it out of his mind and think of anything else.

Meg- the absolute savior- chose that moment to walk in, sighing at the sight of him on the couch.

"Oh Nick you poor thing."

She crossed the room and Nick moved to sit up- he really didn't need to worry her, but he appreciated how far she'd gone to treat him almost like a son- despite them only being 5 years apart. He had to admit- with his life the way it was, the things expected of him…sometimes it was just nice to be coddled.

And that's exactly what Meg did, sitting next to him and taking his face into her hands, looking him over. "Look at all these little bruises, the blood- your arms! What happened?"

"I'm sorry," he couldn't help but let an apology slip out, thinking of the state of the shop, "it broke in through the greenhouse I think…I tried to fight it off myself, but Leo showed up right on time."

"Oh don't you worry about that, sweetie." Meg smiled at him, her hands still cupping his cheeks. "Dad and I will handle it- you need to go home and rest- don't worry about coming in tomorrow."

Nick found it a little challenging to speak through the squish of his cheeks. "No, I can still work-"

"Nonsense." She finally let go, placing her hands on her lap. "I'll call Teno- he can handle one morning shift."

Nick sighed, but nodded. They exited the backroom together, meeting Leo and Clint at the front, who were hauling the last of the planks from the truck.

"Leo!" Meg waved him over, so he placed the board he was holding down, brushing off his hands. "Can you walk Nick home, make sure he's safe?"

Leo nodded, watching Nick make chatter with Clint. "Yeah, I can do that. We'll have to move our date- he needs to rest."

"Remind him not to come in tomorrow as well." Her voice was stern, her arms crossed. "I told him to take the day off, but something tells me he'll try to wiggle his way in anyway. Maybe he'll listen if it comes from you."

Leo chuckled in response, shrugging. "I doubt I'll make much difference, but I'll try." Nick chose them to approach them. "Cmon, I'll walk you home. I'll be back soon to help with the shop, alright?"

Meg thanked him and went to work, helping her dad lift the first board. Nick watched them and sighed, then turned on his heel, following Leo.