5 Saving Leon (2.2)

Suddenly, someone honked a horn loudly and repeatedly. "Hey slowpokes, get in the car!" Mina yelled from the car alongside the bottom of the building. Leon only sighed as he gently pulled her hand and walked towards the ladder on the side of the building. Risále followed him and he let her climb down first so he could make sure she got into the car safely before following her in.

"What took you so long?" Fenix asked, looking back from the second row of seats, leaning over Owen to talk to them. 

"You say that as if I haven't beaten you in every race we've had from Sector 2 to home for the past month," Leon smirked.

"Irrelevant," Fenix glared at him

"You're irrelevant—"

"He made me jump a building even though I've literally never done that before," Risále deadpanned.

"Are you serious, Leon? She hasn't had any sort of training or anything, she could have died!" Lumina groaned, only one hand on the steering wheel as they drove towards the gates, running her hand through her hair. 

"Lumina, relax for like, two minutes? Besides, Risále looks like a strong, capable woman, and if you both picked her up, then she's probably got guts," Leon said.

"I think all humans have guts," Fenix said, and Leon turned to him, glaring literal daggers, but immediately turned away as he saw the curious spark in Fenix's eyes, "Strong capable woman, huh?" He whispered to the blonde.

"I swear to God if you don't shut up—"

"Boys, enough. Jesus Christ, can we not have one day without you two pulling this shit?" Owen grabbed both of them by the collars of their shirts, pushing Leon further away and Fenix closer to the back—closer to himself, Risále noted.

"Leon, we have partially become your unwilling mothers in the past three years, did you really think you were getting away with that?" Risále cackled at the "unwilling mothers" while Mina turned back to face the front. 

It didn't take them long to reach the compound again, especially at the speed that Lumina was driving at. Risále couldn't complain, at least the driving was smooth and speedy, unlike Mina's abrupt and uneven driving. 

"So, where did you come from, Miss Cyborg?" Leon asked Lumina and Mina. Owen looked confused. Something didn't sit right with him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He shook off the feeling and began paying attention to the conversation again.

"She was just passed out outside the compound and we couldn't just leave her out there to die or something, so we brought her in and checked her for trackers or anything. She had nothing on her. And then, surprise surprise, we find out she's got a cyborg chip in her brain," Lumina explained, one hand on the steering wheel.

"Oh," Leon said, looking surprised. Something about his surprise though…Owen couldn't place his finger on it but it seemed off, "Well, if you two approve of her, she's gotta be decent. It doesn't look like she'll get us killed, either. I think maybe with a little bit of training, she should be able to hold her own," Leon listed.

Risále was very tempted to tell him to try and fight her to see what happens, "I mean, I can help you with all of that. If you'd like, that is. I'm always down for training and you...Uh...You seem pretty cool," He turned to her and Risále noticed his eyes looked very soft, and his smile might have seemed self-assured but taking a closer look, she could tell there was a slight tinge of nervousness to it. Scratch that, he's a sweetheart that needs to be protected, my God, that was adorable, Risále thought to herself.

"Do you know what Sector you're from?" Leon asked, looking at Risále. 

"Buddy, I lost my memories. Do I need to put the puzzle pieces together for you?" Risále asked back, raising an eyebrow

"You've got quite the attitude," Leon said with a smile on his face, which sent her confusing signals.

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" Risále muttered under her breath, as the car slowed to a stop and she realized they were in a garage. They all got out, Leon and Risále getting out of the back area of the van, which could seat six people in addition to the five seats in front. Lumina was the last to leave the garage, locking the car behind her. 

"It's a compliment," Leon leaned over to say to her before tossing his knife onto a table, putting his gun down, and walking backward, shooting finger guns, but walking into the wall. She almost laughed at the pure confidence he walked away with, if she hadn't seen him walk into the wall she never would have realized he did.

"That was cute," Risále murmured, smiling slightly and dropping off the handgun.

"What was that?" Mina grinned, hearing Risále. This was interesting. As long as Mina had known him, Leon never really had an interest in anyone, but for him to suddenly take a liking to the new girl…Maybe the poor boy could be happy after everything he'd been through.

"Oh, don't even try it," Risále glared at her.

"Leon get your ass down here this minute young man, the knife still has blood on it!" Lumina screeched, before running after Leon.

Mina sighed, "Why does it always come down to me to do something? What am I, your mother?" She muttered to no one in particular with a soft smile on her face.

"I really don't think they realize how much they act like a married couple," Owen whispered. Fenix choked, trying to cover up his laugh. Owen's eyes brightened at making the other boy laugh. Risále could understand, Fenix looked rather cold with a straight face, which there was nothing wrong with, but he really did look quite pretty when he laughed.

"Lumina Liu, the food is burning!" Mina screamed and Lumina came rushing back in. 

"What the fuck happened to the food-食物到底怎么了,如果它烧了,我就要自杀了—"

Mina put her hand over Lumina's mouth to signal her to shut up. "We didn't even make food, lady, are you dumb? I had to save Leon's life somehow. Now, come on. Speaking of food, I'm starving. Who's turn is it to cook today?" Mina asked. Owen leaned over, grabbed a tablet, and tapped a couple of icons.

"Uh, the calendar says it's yours and Lumina's week to cook. Last week was Leon and me," Owen shrugged. Mina grabbed Lumina's arm and dragged her off to the kitchen.

"Come on, the faster we make food, the faster I can eat," She said and Lumina rolled her eyes.

"Are you—Are you not going to ask if the kids are hungry?" She asked and Mina just stopped and shrugged.

"When I'm hungry, they're your problem."

Fenix and Owen looked slightly offended, "You would leave us to starve?" Owen asked, fake-dramatically. Mina just winked at them before she and Lumina finally left, the latter being dragged by the former.

"I hope they actually end up cooking food and not getting distracted. And by that, I mean both whatever implications that statement has but also I hope they don't start arguing over how much salt and chili powder to put in," Fenix muttered and Owen put his hand over his mouth to cover his laugh, "I know, sounds incredibly specific, and that's because it has happened before."

"Fenix, if you keep saying embarrassing stuff about us to the new girl, I will dent your head with a frying pan, do not test me!" Mina yelled from the kitchen. 

"Alright, alright! Get back to cooking with your wife or else she might forget to turn on the stove at all and think that the stove is broken and the water isn't heating up!" Fenix yelled back.

"For God's sake, it was one time, Fenix! And don't say it like you weren't there either, you didn't realize it until we finished cooking! If I recall, I noticed before you, you fucking ginger gremlin!" Lumina's voice was heard loudly from the kitchen.

"Shut up, Mom!" 

"Ginger gremlin—What? What is—Is this normal?" Risále asked and Owen laughed and nodded, jumping up on the little part of the half wall, which pushed him to be taller than Fenix. He dropped a hand on the older boy's head, patting it.

"Completely normal. This one's the gremlin child. Thankfully, I'm actually mostly normal so I balance him out a little bit," He explained and Risále just sighed, rubbing her temples. Then, she paused.

"Okay, so, I can kind of see why Fenix is the gremlin child. But if that's the case, then there's no way Leon doesn't have a nickname, right? I mean, he definitely matches Fenix's energy," She asked.

Owen and Fenix looked at each other and immediately, both of their faces split into grins. "He's known as the chaos child," Fenix said, leaning back casually on the half wall next to Owen, almost as if he was leaning into the younger's touch.

"...Chaos child? Really? I mean, I guess he was a bit chaotic but he seems kind of…" Risále didn't know what she was trying to say, cute? Adorable? She settled with something else, "I don't know, I guess he just doesn't seem as 'demonic child' as I expected?" She said.

Fenix raised his eyebrows, "Oh, he absolutely does seem that way but trust me, when you get to know him, you'll understand what we mean. Besides, the chaos isn't always him doing something to actively be a menace, that man is just really good at getting into tricky situations. Honestly, I think Mina and Lumina have lost like ten years of their life because this boy has literally no self-preservation instincts," He explained, "Those two, though…I swear, some people here are basically in a relationship and are somehow completely oblivious to it. It's insane."

"Example one of not realizing you are in a relationship: Mina and Lumina," Owen giggled.