16 Something To Prove

As William finishes a training session one night, he looks over at a TV and sees Cross doing an interview after winning another fight, staying undefeated.

"Isaiah, which Saint brother do you think hits harder?" An interviewer asks, making William chuckle.

"Which Saint brother hits harder? That's your question? Unbelievable. Well, neither one of them can strike like me, I'll tell you that right now. But if I really had to choose. Well I'd say little Leo hits harder."

William smile slowly fades when he hears this from Cross.

"I mean the jailbirds damaged goods now, but he was a genuine fighter. But the big baby, has always been a pretender."

As the interview ends, William throws his water bottle to the ground, angry at Cross's comments.

Meanwhile, Leo sets up a candle light dinner to surprise Danielle. When he hears a knock on the door, he checks his hair and his breath and answers the door. He then opens the door and sees a beautiful Danielle in a dress.

"Wow, you look amazing." Leo says.

Danielle smile gets even bigger than before.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself. So, you ready to go?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could eat in tonight."

Leo fully opens the door to reveal the candle light dinner.

"You did all of this?"

"Yep, I even cooked."

Danielle is surprised.

"You, cook?"

"Yeah."

Danielle looks at him suspiciously.

"Ok, I might have ordered in."

The two chuckle and share a kiss and sit down to eat. A Later on the two laugh about old stories about Frank and William Leo has, both of them having a good time.

"So why do you do it, anyway?" Danielle asks.

"Do what?"

"You know, fight. You seem like you wouldn't hurt a fly, but when you get into the ring, it's like you flip some switch, so I'm curious."

Leo smiles before answering.

"Well, as a kid wasn't good at anything I tried. Basketball, football, baseball, chess, the piano. You name it, I sucked at it. But there was one thing that I was good at, just one talent. And that was fighting. Frank and my dad called it my "only gift from God." So I used it. Became a professional fighter."

Danielle smiles in awe of the story.

"Wow, I was not expecting that answer."

Leo chuckles.

"Well you're the only person to ask me that question. So what about you? Why do you manage fighters?"

Danielle is a little hesitant to answer.

"Its crazy to say it now, but when I was a little girl, I used to look up to my father. I thought that what he did, managing all these fighters, was just amazing so I wanted to do it. Then I found out what kind of a man my father was and I considered quitting. I don't know, being a manager felt... wrong afterwards. But I realized that I'm pretty good at this. So I stopped doing it because of my father. And started doing because of me."

Leo smiles and raises his glass.

"Cheers to that."

The two bump glasses and drink as there's a knock on the door. Leo goes to answer it and sees Cato.

"The hell are you doing here?" Leo asks.

"Mr. Morgan wants to see you. Come with me."

Leo scoffs.

"And why would I do that?"

"Unless you want a repeat of what happened the last time you crossed him, you'll get in the damn car."

Leo let's out a sigh and turns to Danielle.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

He then grabs his jacket and leaves.

A few minutes later, Leo storms into Morgan's office.

"Alright, this better be important. I was just in the middle of something." Leo says.

He is then suprised to see William there as well.

"William, hey. What are you doing here?"

"William was the one who scheduled this here meeting. He wants the next shot at Cross, but after your performance against Erik Gomez, you have a right to the title match. So you can either take it, or give it up to William."

Leo is shocked by this sudden reveal and just sits there in silence for a moment.

"I need this fight, Leo. The critics have doubts about me, I want to prove them wrong." William says.

"You stole your brother's thunder, Leo." Sunny adds.

"Hey, I didn't steal anything!" Leo replies.

"It's not about that. I've been just the other Saint brother, ever since you debuted as a middleweight. I didn't have a chance to be anything else, never even have a chance to be my own man."

Leo takes in every word from his little brother and puts his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, William. I didn't know. I should have, though."

"As my brother, you owe me the chance to prove myself."

As leo thinks to himself, feeling the weight of the conversation, Sunny just sits in the background, smiling sinisterly.