236. Laura Green: Part 2

Warning: language, brief nudity

Bridgeport, present day

The next morning, after she dropped off the kids at school, Leigh made a quick detour to the Vampire Council’s Headquarters.

Celina tried to stop her from seeing the Vampire Council's second in command, but Leigh paid her no mind as she rapidly made her way to Thornton's office, her ballet slippers barely touching the smooth marble floors, she was too emotional, too far gone in her confusion to reason with anyone.

She found her father in law absorbed in a report. A broad smile stretched across his face as he stood up from the chair and opened his arms for her.

The moment she eased into his hug, Leigh bawled on his chest.

"What’s wrong?” He pulled away slightly to stare at her; a deep frown creased his forehead. “Did something happen with Krisis?"

"It's nothing," Leigh shook her head and brushed the tears from her eyes.

"Yes, it's something, you wouldn't be here if nothing was on your mind," Thornton cringed almost immediately after he said the words, "I mean- of course I don't mean you come to me only when you need help-" He fumbled through his explanation, and Leigh just smiled that smile of hers, like she could see right into his mind, and what she saw there, amused her to no end.

"Will, it's okay," she placed her hand over his.

"I know what you mean.” She added as she drifted to the window. She always drifted to the damn window, Thornton thought as he perched himself on the edge of his desk and stared at her.

"Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee? O+? Whiskey?" He asked when the silence became too overwhelming for him.

Leigh turned from the window, that small smile still there, "I need everything on Laura Greene."

Thornton closed his eyes and breathed in sharply, "Jesus, Leigh! Does Krisis know you are here, asking about his ex?"

Her silence spoke volumes.

"I can't Leigh. I don't want to get involved in-"

"You are not getting involved, I just need her file."

"And then what? Where's this coming from suddenly? I thought you were okay with everything," Thornton got up from his position on the table and paced the room.

Leigh watched him spin circles around her, trying his damnedest to disarm her. But she wouldn't be talked down. She was determined to learn the truth, no matter how scary and shocking it might be.

"I thought I was. But the kids found his photo album and -" she let the rest of her statement hang in the air.  But Thornton had a pretty clear picture.

"They figured out it's not you," he connected the dots.

"How did they know? The triplets knew right away, but Lily didn't. How did the triplets know?" Leigh cried in her hands.

"They are a part of you Leigh, you share the same DNA and to some extent the same consciousness. The bond they have with you is much stronger than the connection you have with Lily." Thornton explained, but Leigh didn't look convinced.

"It's hard to explain-" But he tried anyway, "It's like the bond a mother has with her children. It's pure instinct. With their psychic abilities, the triplets' instincts are ten times stronger than an average person's."

"I didn't want them to know-I didn't want any of this for them," Leigh cried as she finally sat down.

"It had to come out at some point," Thornton sat beside her and took her hand.

"And now that it has, I need to know everything about Laura. I need to know why I look like her. I need to know if we are related!" Leigh said.

"Don't you think Krisis would have told you if you were related to her?" Thornton asked.

Leigh wanted to believe Krisis wouldn't keep the truth from her, but there was a lot her husband didn’t tell her, a lot he felt she needed protecting from, like when she died on the operating table, how the idea of losing her almost killed him. 

"You know how he is, if he thinks it will hurt me, he'd rather carry the burden alone." She told Thornton now.

"Leigh, once you go down this road there's no going back. There are some doors you just can't close once opened," Thornton warned.

"I know. But Laura's one door that's been closed for too long. I need to know what's on the other side. Krisis and the band pretend like the four years he spent with her never existed-"

"They are all trying to protect you," Thornton interrupted her.

"I know! God damn it, I know. I just wish they would all stop!" Leigh buried face in her hands, her hair falling into her eyes; she looked wild and crazy, but vulnerable too. And Thornton had no idea how to help her, how to change her mind and redirect her momentum to a less destructive path.

“I think I'll have that drink now." Leigh added in a much softer tone.

Thornton got up and made his way over to the bar, grateful for the distraction as he mixed their drinks.

"Look, Leigh," he began as he handed her the glass. "Go home, talk things through with Krisis and if tomorrow you still feel the same way I'll get you the file.

Leigh took a long sip from her glass, "No. I want the file today. Now."

"There's no going back, Leigh," Thornton warned her again as he resumed his place behind his desk and got to work.

For a little while only the sound of his fingers running erratically on the keyboard filled the silence. Leigh figured he was sending an email to someone. Since he didn't ask Celina for help, she guessed her request was completely off the books.

"You'll get the file by the end of business today, I've asked my guy to email it to you," he said some time later as he closed his laptop, the latch clicked in place with a finality that scared Leigh a little, she’d crossed a line, there was no going back after this.

"Thank you," Leigh stood up from her seat and kissed his cheek, preparing to leave. “Not just for this. But for not turning my brother and Eloise in. I know it was a lot to ask of you.”

"Don’t mention it, Leigh,” Thornton murmured as he showed her out of his office.

Leigh lingered in the doorway, suddenly unsure about everything. 

And Thornton could see right through her doubts, he latched on to them and tried once more to change her mind, "Go home and think about it, if you're still unsure-"

"There's nothing to think about!" With that Leigh turned on her heel and walked away.

Thornton watched her walk away, silently wondering if he should call his son and keep him in the loop.

"No," he decided against it as he walked back into his office, it was none of his business; Leigh needed to know the truth, whatever it was.

The email, sent from one of those unattended mail boxes, was waiting in her inbox when Leigh got home almost an hour later.

A part of her told her she should delete it; forget she'd ever asked Thornton for help.

But, curiosity got the best of her.

She double-clicked blue-flagged e-mail and stared at Laura Greene's life, neatly typed and summarized.

She had a bewildered look in her eyes as she browsed through the file, she couldn't understand how thirty three years of someone’s life, thirty-three years of hopes and dreams, fears, insecurities, aspirations, could be reduced to just eighty nine pages. It seemed cold, cruel even, to cut down a once breathing, living being to mere words and numbers and paragraphs. Over a decade ago, Laura was alive and in love. She’d loved Krisis and Krisis had loved her in return. But now she was just words. Words Leigh couldn't pry herself from, no matter how wrong reading the report felt. 

A lot of what was in the report- Laura’s fame, the ION syndrome, and declining health and subsequent sporadic public appearances-Leigh already knew from Krisis. When they first started dating, her mate had shared bits and pieces of his life with Laura, but even back then Krisis was never completely comfortable opening that world to her, and she never pushed him because their relationship was still new and she’d hoped he’d come around on his own, learn to let her in just a little. Years later, though, Krisis hadn't shared more than what he already had; and to some extent she blamed herself for it. She should have pushed harder for him to let her in.

“And where would that have gotten you?”  She wondered as she stared at the address of one Mrs. Simone Greene. Roaring Heights suddenly seemed like a good place to source new art.

That night when they made love, for the first time in their marriage, Leigh brought another woman to their bed. Every time Krisis kissed her, Leigh silently wondered if it was Laura he wanted, Laura he wished he was making love to. The moment the thought crossed her mind, Krisis withdrew from her.

"I'm sorry," Leigh cried softly.

"Not as sorry as I am Leigh," Krisis whispered.

He went to the bathroom and took a long shower, wishing with all his heart he could wash away the past hour along with Leigh's doubts and insecurities.

She was still up, waiting for him, when he left the bathroom half an hour later. Krisis barely glanced at her as he rapidly threw on his clothes.

"Where are you going?" Leigh asked when he headed for the door. "You can't leave now, please, let's talk about this?"

"I think we’ve both said all we needed to say, Leigh," he said coldly as he slipped out of the door.

Leigh was instantly on her feet, throwing on her nightgown as she ran down the hallway, doing everything in her power to hold on to him and stop him from leaving.

"I'm sorry! I said I'm sorry! I made a mistake!" She yelled, holding on to his arm.

Krisis gently brushed off her hand and placed it at her side, "how did you think this was going to end? Bringing Laura to our bed? What were you hoping for?"

"I don't know¬, Krisis, please stop! I just wanted—"

"You just wanted what?" He barked at her, showing his anger for the first time since he left her in their bed. "You wanted to hurt me and invalidate what we have? You wanted to find any excuse, any reason at all to keep doubting my love for you?"

"No that's not-"

Krisis cut her off yet again, "Guess what, Leigh you fucking won!"

"It wasn't about winning! It's about knowing who I am in relation to Laura. It's about knowing whether the place I have in your heart is for me and me alone, and not because I'm replacing Laura. It's about knowing that I am different from Laura!" Leigh screamed, suddenly not caring at all that she might wake the kids up.

"You are different from Laura, Leigh! One of the reasons I love Laura is because she would never have doubted my love for her. She knew who she was. She didn't need me to constantly validate her and prove my commitment to her! She was never so damn insecure!" Krisis screamed right back at her, and the moment he did he wished he could take it all back, erase everything he'd just said. He died along with the light in Leigh's eyes.

For a while nothing was said between them, not because they didn't know what to say, but because they'd both said too much, things had gotten out of hand and they both knew if they said any more, however well-meaning it may be, they might never be able to come back from it.

Leigh was the first to chip away at the ice between them, doing more damage than good really, "you love her," she whispered.

"What?" Krisis shook his head, a puzzled look in his eyes.

"You said one of the reasons you love Laura is because she was not insecure. She would have never doubted your love for her. My God, Krisis, you love her! You are still in love with her!"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

"What did you mean then, because where I'm standing it sounds like you are still in love with her!"

"I love you, Leigh. I loved Laura, maybe I still do, but I'm not in love with her. I'm in love with you," Krisis explained, but no matter how hard he tried to make her understand, Leigh wouldn't. She seemed determined to put up walls between them, throw every road block in his way, just so he couldn't reach her and eventually he got tired of it all and he lost it again.

"What do you want from me, Ashleigh? I have changed my whole life for you. Changed the man I used to be for you because you deserve better! I have given up a lot for you. I've killed one of my own for you! I've been on the wrong of the side the law one too many times, all for you!"

"I never asked you to and I'm sorry if giving up your life of debauchery has been so fucking hard! Forgive me for saddling you with three kids and making you give up all your whores!" Leigh fired back.

"Go to hell!" With that Krisis stormed out of the door and Leigh followed him outside, screaming at him the whole time.

"If you leave now, I won't be here when you come back!" She warned him and it was the last thing she should have said; Krisis had never been one for ultimatums.

He got on his bike and sped out of the yard without a backward glance, leaving a cloud of gasoline fumes behind him.

For a while Leigh just stood there, watching his headlights grow dimmer and his darkly clad form become one with the night.

She didn't know she was crying until she felt a small hand tugging at her arm comfortingly.

She wiped the tears away quickly when she glanced down and saw Ariel, her fragile child who saw things children should never see. 

For one crazy moment, Leigh wanted to ask her if they'd make it, if she and Krisis would come back from this. And the moment the thought crossed her mind, she loathed herself for it, hated herself for even considering using her daughter's gift...

AN: Thanks Ozzy, for fixing Laura's , I mean Leigh's hair. You rock!