Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 53: Chapter 53

— Léon —
When Léon closed the door at his back, nothing kept him company but the dead cement in the walls and the constant buzz of the spaced lights overhead. Amma had found him clean clothes and flip-flops, but the trouble nagging at his heart had nothing to do with his appearance and everything to do with the power raging inside him.
The emergency unit looked deserted. Hospitals never stop, but he was near the ICU, which meant people usually rested at that hour, so close to sunrise. Besides the silence, the coldness of first light lent the place an eerie ambiance. Watching the sunrise and lost in this bubble of concrete, Léon had never felt so alone.
Contrary to what he expected, that thought filled him with relief.
Life had been too complicated in the past weeks. The things Léon did, didn't do, and could've done filled his head like wasps inside a jar. Instead of a lid, all he got to keep the critters inside were his bare hands... but to every step he took, every thought he conjured, and every word he said, he ended up shaking the jar a little harder.
Right now, the wasps inside the metaphoric jar stung his palms without rest and there was nothing he could do about it. Not only that—it also hurt like a motherfucker.
Léon fitted his hands into his pocket, nails digging into calloused skin. He couldn't escape from Jackal or from his past. More than that, he didn't think he could escape from himself. But he could try. He shut his eyes.
Don't think about it. Forget all of it!
With a sigh, he stepped closer to the half-wall, supported his arms on the railing, and his chin on his crossed arms. Yellowish lights from old lamp posts licked the exuberant royal color of the Purple Ipê in the very center of it. He was way above it, far away from the range of the lamp-posts, and for a second he wished he could stay there forever, frozen in that single moment of peace.
I don't think my brother can take this, Phil. None of us can. Not another Toni; not again.
Léon growled at the memory. "I'm not Toni, okay?" he barked.
"Okay," someone said at his back. "But I don't think I need you to tell me that."
"You..." Léon's eyes widened and he dried the tears on his cheek before turning around. "What are you doing here?"
"They'll come for you tomorrow. Jackal found out how to have what she wants in the most damaging way possible, and you don't have much time."
He took a step forward, and Léon took one backward.
"I want you to stay away from me," Léon growled. "You don't know who you're messing with."
"Oh, yes I do."
Rio slipped a hand into his jacket's pocket, but before he could make a second move, Léon was already calling upon his powers. He took a hard step forward and swung his arm upward as the long snath of his weapon took shape between his fingers. He then swung the scythe down and, with a hard jerk, he interrupted the movement, stopping the edge of his blade mere millimeters away from Rio's neck.
Eyes widened, Rio looked from the blade to Léon. The weapon was so close that when a droplet of sweat rolled down Rio's neck, it found purchase on the cold ethereal metal of Léon's scythe.
"No, Gregorio. You don't know what I'm capable of. Not after you lied and fooled us and fucked with my mind!" Léon shouted. "You have no idea of how much I want to—"
"What? Cut my arm off? Kill me?" He let out a derisive chuckle. "You're not that kind of person, Léon. I might not know you since we were kids, but I have known you for the past five years."
"Shut up. Raise your hands, Gregorio; I don't trust you."
Rio rolled his eyes and obeyed. Léon took a step forward and balanced his weapon with one hand so he could use the other to pat Rio's clothes and check for weapons. Léon found a syringe tucked in the elastic band of Rio's pants and a small swiss army knife in his pocket. That seemed to be all. There was a small weight change in Léon's pocket, but he ignored it.
"Look, I'm not sorry." Rio tilted his head up to look into Léon's eyes. "If you'd seen what that sickness does to people, you'd beg me to do my job. Everything I'm doing is to help people, Léon. I'm a nurse—that's what I do."
"Yeah, maybe if you repeat that enough, it'll become true. It's called the illusion of truth." Léon took a step back and pocketed Rio's weapons. "Now tell me what you want before I call the others."
It really seemed like Rio was fighting a smile—but after a heartbeat, he lost the battle.
"Sorry." He cleared his throat and schooled his grin. "I just came to give you this." Rio opened one of his raised hands and a short, thin chain fell, then stopped against his palm, linked to his middle finger by the metallic loop of a keychain. There was a small, square device connected to it.
A datadrive.
Léon looked from Rio to the small device on his hand. He hesitated. Instead of reaching for the datadrive, Léon fished through his back pocket to get his phone. There was nothing there. He frowned. He was sure he had it when he left Amma's office.
Rio's smile widened. "You have a blade against my neck, Leo. What do you think I can do?"
"I don't know anymore, Gregorio. That's the problem."
A crease formed between Rio's eyebrows. If there was a smile on his lips before, now they were twisted in a mix of sadness and regret.
Léon patted his other pocket, then felt around the elastic band of his underwear. Nothing. When he looked at Rio, he still wore the same conflicted expression as before—but it was short-lived.
"Listen," Rio said. "Get the datadrive and show it to Rafa." He lowered his hands and, as if there wasn't a massive blade ready to cut his head off, Rio took the metallic loop from his finger and offered it to Léon. "Take it. They're coming soon, and you'll have to be ready. I'll do what I can to slow them down."
"Don't move!"
Rio took a step forward. "Take the datadrive, Léon."
"I'm warning you. I'll—"
With a tired sigh, Rio nudged the blade away and flattened a hand on Léon's chest, pushing the datadrive against it.
"I said take it, Léon. For Goddess' sake, I just want to help you; stop losing time!"
Léon lowered his scythe and raised a hand as Rio stepped away. The datadrive fell on Léon's palm.
"You betrayed me, Rio. Did the same to Phillip. And you want me to think you're gonna help us now?" Léon scoffed and curled his fingers around the datadrive. "You don't have my trust anymore."
"I never asked for your trust. You and Phillip, you..." Rio sneered. "You're so frustrating." He stepped backward and raised his hands again. "You can either defend your own interests and beliefs or live under someone else's; there is no other option. I decided to follow my own, and that"—he pointed at the device Léon now held—"is my way of sticking to them."
"But it doesn't make sense, Rio! Why betray us if you'll end up helping us in the end?" Léon relaxed his arm, and the datadrive felt with a series of metallic clinks. "I don't buy it."
"Let me help you with that: Nothing in this world makes sense, Léon." Rio huffed and rubbed his face. Then, he pointed at the datadrive on the floor. "Have your sister-in-law read that. I can offer you—I don't know. At most ten hours. After that time, you're on your own." He moved to pivot away but stopped. "Here. You'll need this"—Rio tossed him a small vial with a shimmering fine dust—"and take this back too," he completed, flinging Léon's phone back to him. "Now you can call the others."
Léon's fuming anger had already sated by the time he noticed where he was. Instead of calling anyone, he spent one of the ten hours Rio had supposedly given him to wander in the dark, watching the sunrise. Right now, close to seven AM, the emergency unit was a much more lively place, so it was easy to ask around and find Rafaela Taiguara's room.
The small device in his pocket was as heavy as a brick, and Léon still wasn't sure if he should hand it to Rafa or not.
There was light inside the room, so Léon raised his knuckles and was ready to knock when a disgusted grunt came from behind the door.
"Sister, I..." Rob scoffed. "Listen, I think I'm being more mature right now than I've ever been in my entire life." There was a noise—something hitting a wooden surface. Then, something rolling and, finally, china breaking. "Ah, shite. Fuck me." Rob huffed. "I mean, of course he's not okay. Not a single person in this bloody world would be okay after going through what happened. Now toss me that rag."
Léon shook his head and stepped back. The tip of his tongue tried the sharpness of his canine. Was every single one of his friends talking about him behind his back?
"Catch." After a while, Rafa said, "I just think you should be there with him, you know. Right now. It's what I think I would want in his place."
Outside of the room, Léon lowered his hand and sighed. He turned the knob and pushed the door open to peek inside. Yes, he was listening in. No, he wasn't making a habit out of it.
Was he?
Rob clicked his tongue and raised his eyes from the datapad in his hands to look at his sister. There was a puddle of tea on the floor around a broken white mug, and connected to it was the frail-looking chair where Rob was sitting. Rob glanced at the charts and reports and then at Rafa as if trying to remind her of something.
Lying on her bed, Rafa arched her eyebrows and waited.
"It's..." Rob took in a deep breath and let it out as he said, "It's the files Kali got for me, with Dr. Bree's research on the cosmic trace. It'll be hard to bloody stop Jackal from saving an entire forest and more than a few people if I don't give her an alternative." Rob leaned forward on the chair to dry the floor. "This is all rubbish, anyway. Her approach was slightly different than The Mayor's, but I'm sure she just wants to use my husband's powers—like The Mayor."
"Yeah. Can't really argue with that." Rafa yawned and stretched as best as she could with her plastered arm. By the looks of it, she had spent the night with little to no hours of sleep. "He's really unstable, though. You should keep an eye on him."
"Actually, I... I was there." Rob pushed the wet rag around, moving the tea more than drying it. "I saw the way he reacted to your and Phillip's conversation."
"What? Why didn't you talk to him, Beto? You could've said something."
Something cold swirled inside Léon's stomach. Anticipation, perhaps.
"He wasn't in the mood for talking, Rafa. I stayed there after he fell asleep, but I couldn't just sit tight and do nothing anymore. I couldn't just wait." Rob stopped and tossed the rag aside. It fell on the floor with a wet plop. "We talked about this not two days ago, him and I. Leo knows I'm here for him. I've been pushing and pushing and pushing to help him—against his will. I... I don't want to..." Rob stammered a couple of words and huffed, straightening his back. "He'll come to me when he's ready. And then, when he does, I'll have an alternative that will protect him from Jackal and save people. I won't let anyone use my Tiger anymore; I'm sick and tired of it."
"Huh." Rafa sighed and slid down her bed as if looking for a more comfortable position. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, little brother. You sound a little wiser. I'm proud."
Rob chuckled. "I can't believe it took me so much time to understand. Léon's strong. I know he just needs some time for himself—and that my husband will come to me when he's ready. He'll tell me what I can do to help." Rob dried his hands on the legs of his jeans and faced the many graphs in the datapad again. "In the meantime, I'll search for options, so he can choose for himself."
"Good job, Beto," she mumbled. After a long moment of silence, she sighed and chuckled. There was a different kind of relief in her voice when she said, "You know he's not your husband, right?"
"Oh." Rob turned around and smirked. "But that's easy to rectify."
She shook her head, a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Hu-huh. You can't be serious about it."
"Oi. Sis." He paused and only continued when Rafa looked at him. With a grin and flushed cheeks, Rob said, "I, uh... I am serious."