Leon Orcot (under_arrest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-07-30 09:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, laurel lance (black canary), leon orcot |
Who: Leon Orcot and Laurel Lance
What: Leon finally goes to visit Laurel
When: Friday, July 26th
Where: Laurel's hospital room
Ratings/Warnings: Low/none, discussions around Laurel getting shot and shooting suspects
Status: Partner Thread | Complete
For the past few days Laurel had been able to get her mobility back, she was sitting up fine now, she had been pampered between Sara, her mother, Olivier, and got to see Olivia via skype, she didn’t want her daughter to see her in person, not yet. She was sitting up in bed with a book that she had been meaning to read, however it was hard to read being a fulltime mom and cop. Sara and Mom were at home resting, which left Laurel with was peace and quiet for the moment.
Honestly it was too quiet so Laurel had CNN on in the background so she could listen to the news as she read
Leon knew that he should have come to see Laurel sooner, but it had taken him a few days to get his head on straight enough to work up the nerve to go see her. It had been his fault that Laurel had gotten shot; he could have gotten her killed. He wondered if she blamed him too. She had to have. He’d had the shot, he should have taken it instead of freezing like an idiot.
He had a pot of planted daisies for her, bright pinks and oranges, plus a tray of coffee. He remembered when he’d been shot, the hospital had been especially keen on him drinking coffee, and somedays it was all he had wanted. He knocked on her open hospital door, and then stepped through, offering Laurel a smile. “Hey, this a good time?” he asked.
Laurel head looked up, nodding it, “Of course,” she reached over for the remote to turn off the tv, “Just doing some reading,” she said as she put the book in her lap and her eyes hone in on the coffee, “thank god.” she breathed out, “I hope that’s for me because it’s like drinking charcoal with what they have been giving me here.” Laurel made a face at just the thought.
She motioned for him to sit down, “How are you?” she asked, “clearly no need to ask how I am.” Humor was how she was trying to deal with this, it had been working so far.
“You’re in luck, it is for you,” Leon said, setting the plant down on the ledge near the window and then putting Laurel’s coffee on the stand that was next to her bed. She looked… better than he had been expecting, if he was telling the truth, but then, if Laurel looked in real life like she’d looked in his mind the last four days, then she’d be curled up on Death’s doorstop.
“I’m not the one lying in a hospital bed,” he said, taking a seat next to her.
A cringe met his words as she reached for her coffee, “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” she told him, “but Mom and Sara have been taking shifts, I’ve just been faking it to I make it,” she muttered before she took a sip and another one, “I’ll be okay, got to go through rehab and all that jazz, than get cleared to go back on the field.”
She looked at him, “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yeah, getting shot leaves something to be desired,” Leon agreed. His own gunshot wounds had been a result of his dreams, but the pain and the resulting wounds and time off had been real enough. That had been before Laurel had joined the force though.
He had been hoping that she wasn’t going to push the question, but he sighed when she did. “No one’s really okay when they see their partner being shot.” Especially not when the shooter was their teenage best friend. The worst part was, he was more torn up about Harry’s death than he had been about Laurel’s shooting, and that did nothing but make him feel even more guilty about something that had been his fault in the first place. “I’m just glad that you’re going to be okay.”
“Sara had said the man who shot me was killed,” she looked at him, trying to see how he would react, “You knew him,” she stated, “don’t worry, I already did my report, I didn’t mention it.” She frowned slightly, “old friend?” she asked him softly. Laurel shifted, grimacing and moved to close her book, placing it on the tray.
“Leon,” she sighed, “I’m not one to beat around the bush, we both know what happened. I’m not mad,” she stressed, “I just asking for answers for I can understand what happened. We are partners, I put trust in you every day that I will come home to my daughter, as you do with me so that you will come home to your family. I want to keep it that way, but I need to know if I’m safe with you, Leon”
Leon’s lips tightened at the mention of Harry dying, but he tried not to give too much away. At least, not until Laurel asked if he was a friend. Leon’s shoulders slumped, and he looked at the coffee cup that he held in both hands, cradled between his knees.
He grimaced a little when Laurel asked if she was safe with him. He wasn’t even sure how he could answer that. He wanted to believe she was, but that obviously wasn’t true. If it was, then she wouldn’t be lying here in the hospital. “You didn’t have to keep it off your report,” Leon said, feeling equal parts relieved that Laurel would have his back if something were to happen and ashamed that she’d had to cover up the truth for him. “Harry was a friend of mine from high school,” Leon said after a moment. “Not just a friend. My best friend. You know, one of those friends where you spend every day together.” They’d both dated a lot of girls in high school too, but Leon had always been in love with Harry. Not that he’d ever admitted his feelings to the other boy. “He moved away in sophomore year. I hadn’t even heard from the guy in a decade. And when I saw him the other day…”
He swallowed, and looked up, steeling himself for Laurel’s judgement. He could understand if she couldn’t trust him. He didn’t trust him. “I just froze. I couldn’t do anything. I knew I had to pull the trigger before he shot you but I just…” He looked at his hands again. “I just couldn’t do it. I’m sorry I didn’t have your back, Laurel.”
She knew what he meant, her, Tommy and Oliver were inseparable, even when her and Oliver started dating. “I left it off because I do have your back,” she told him, “I wanted to talk to you first. Remember, father was a cop. I grew up with him and a partner.” She sighed softly, frowning, “I get what you mean with best friends, I grew up with two boys as mine.” She looked at him Leon, “If I had to shoot Oliver, I would have froze too,” it was true, she doubt she could ever shoot him.
“So…” she shifted a little, “we need to move past this,” she was mothering situation, but it was the only way she could. “Just have my back from now on, okay? I got you, you got me, and no need to mention that to anyone, it’s between us.”
Leon let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, relieved. It really had been stupid to freeze up just because he’d known someone a decade ago, but it was a relief to hear that Laurel understood. “I won’t let you down again,” he promised.