C'mon, I need my BABY {Cassidy}

['Lucky' Leo Barone]

“You wanna piece ‘a me? C’mon, come and get some! I can kick your ass from here to Timbuktu! You wanna piece ‘a—AWK. OW. YEAAAAAARGH!”

Yep, that was pretty much what a man sounded like when he was getting the crap kicked out of him. Sure, he was good on the taunting part- a guy just can’t be called formidable without having the ability to whip his opponent’s ego as well as his body- but the actual physical part? Not so much.

…Now, if only he wasn’t getting beat up by teenagers. Grown men, twenty or so; THAT he could deal with. But this was just embarrassing. Thank God his reputation was built on computers and adventures involving women instead of fighting. Fuck, had he found the only group of freakishly built eighteen year olds in the country? Well, he had to hand it to them; they sure knew how to kick a guy in the nuts.

“That was really dirty fighting,” Leo wheezed, falling to his knees. He felt as if his gut were about to explode, and hell if he didn’t want to start bawling like a baby. They were guys too, man…they should know not to hit a guy in that particular happy place.

The kids, dressed in various shades of black, merely laughed and turned away to speed off on their skateboards. Dammit, this was definitely the last time he tried to intimidate anyone into telling him the location of a hermit.

With a few deep, easy breaths, Leo persuaded his legs to move again and carefully slid to his feet. He saw stars for a few seconds, but managed to pry his hands away from his crotch, when an elderly couple passed by and gave him a weird look. Oh, how his pride was hurt so!

But hell, this was just how the past few days were turning out, weren't they? First, his landlady tries to beat him with a rolling pin when he and a 'friend' stepped on her prized kittie. Then, he ended up walking into a supermarket and got tingly in all the wrong places by an old lady's earring, thus making him feel like a water wiggle for the entire day. THEN, to make things even better, he found out that a certain irritable competitor found out that he'd kind of...stole a prized item and sold it to the same buyer for double the price he was going to get.

So, there he was, getting the crap kicked out of him by teenagers while a millionaire was swearing warrents out on his head. It was a wonder why he didn't throw himself into traffic, if only to find a way to strangle Fate.

Shuffling into the nearest diner, Leo plopped down into an empty booth and let his forehead hit the table. What the hell was he going to do? Travis Jenner was going to get the cops on his ass, which meant publicity, which meant that the guys back in New York were going to hear his name, which ultimately meant bye, bye Leo. He needed to get these damn charges dropped before they made it to the right circles. But how was he going to do that? He could hack into the police system and get rid of the complaint, but that didn't do anything to 'ol Jenner. He was so screwed!

...Or was he?

With his forehead still saying its special hello's to the table, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. After two rings, a familiar voice picked up and for the first time that day, he found himself smiling.

"Well, if that isn't the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. Hey, Cass, babe, it's Leo Barone. How would you like to meet me for lunch?"

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['Lucky' Leo Barone]

Hot damn, his nuts hurt.

The words echoed in his head as he waited for Cass’ imminent arrival. After trading sweet nothings with the girl, he’d let his forehead rest on the table in front of him and contemplated life. There had to be something wrong with his, he thought with a little sigh. He had a bad ass sniffing him out and cops potentially following suit; he should be feeling nervous, scared, anxious…not freaking amused! He snorted against the clear polish of the table beneath him and shook his head.

He should not be thinking how nice it was to have powerful friends…or that he couldn’t wait to see how Cass’ legs looked in jeans, now that it was cold weather. He also shouldn’t be thinking about when her birthday was, so he could see if she were 21 yet. What he should be focusing on was the fact that he had a price on his goddamn head!

…And yet, there he was, giggling to himself because he was picturing Cassidy White naked. Oh man, did he deserve to be shot.

At the sound of a familiar voice chirping out a coffee order, the thief slowly picked up his head and grinned at the woman who approached him. His slouching, almost defeated posture was immediately replaced by a cocky arm over the back of his seat and a wide grin. Returning the light kiss, he allowed himself to be urged to scoot over and let his arm drape on the seat back behind her shoulders.

”Hey there, beautiful,” He drawled, leaning back in the corner so he could look at her. ”Damn, mama, but you’re lookin’ fine. No wonder every guy in this place just started drooling, man.”

With a wink, he sighed and shrugged, giving the young woman delivering Cassidy’s coffee a polite nod. He was tempted to ignore her question and keep on going with the casual flirtation that was their ritual…but hell, his conscious just would NOT shut up about the whole ‘time was of the essence’ thing. Just because one random mook was trying to string him up by his balls, didn’t mean he couldn’t shoot the shit with an old buddy, right?

Dammit, he hated his life sometimes.

Another sigh escaped him as he gave her a sheepish look. ”Well…truthfully, Cass, I called you ‘cause…I need help. See, I made a few guys a bit angry at me, and I need somewhere to crash; somewhere off their radar. If I leave the state, they’ll come gunning even harder, and I don’t have anywhere else to go. So…I was kinda hoping that you could help a buddy out? I swear, I’ll owe you like…ten favors if you help me. I’ll give you backrubs, go with you to the hair salon; anything. I really need your help, Cass.”



((I am so, so, SO sorry that this took me so long to get to you! I'm a douchebag; you can have Cass smack meh if you want. -hangs head- ><; ))

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['Lucky' Leo Barone]

For a minute there, Leo couldn't help but feel like a complete ham. He knew that his face was probably stapled under the 'user' category, but he always prided himself in being a good guy toward his friends. While Cass wasn't exactly a bosom buddy, he did count her as someone he could count on, and the knowledge that he hadn't gotten in touch with her for so long, just to show up randomly...gah, he wanted to smack himself. The girl was one helluva fun time; he had yet to meet someone with such vitality that matched his. But he knew deep down, she had problems that probably came with her lot in life. And what he was doing now...yeah, it was probably tickling her the wrong ass way.

But hell, what was he gonna do? He was in such heat, and Cass was probably the richest friend he had. The others only associated themselves with him when they wanted an item or a good time, after all. This girl, on the other hand? She was...different.

She was frikkin' GOD, that is. With an embarassingly relieved breath, Leo slumped in his seat. A wide grin was shot her way, and before he could think twice about it, he leaned forward and captured her in a tight hug.

"Fuckin' HELL, you don't know how much I appreciate this! You're saving my ass, Cassidy; no frikkin' lie. I'm gonna owe you big time. Anything you need- items, intimidation, contacts, ANYTHING- you just lemme know and it's yours. Gah, thank you!" He gave her one last squeeze before letting her go and settling back into his chair. God, talk about a weight off his chest!

That is, until he realized that she'd snuck an 'and I' into her answer. A flash of surprise showed up on his face as he looked at her again. "Me and you? I thought you were living with your parents still?"

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['Lucky' Leo Barone]

Good Lord, he felt as if he were floating. The adrenaline rush that came with the absolute relief currently pouring through him was making his head swim, and thanked God that Cass had pretty lips for him to focus on. Instead of wondering if humping her leg in appreciation would be a good idea, he concentrated on the color lip gloss she was wearing- some kind of shiny pink…oh yeah, he approved- and grounded himself. She was going to help him…oh thank you, baby Jesus, she was going to help him! Hallelujah! He wasn’t gonna die!

…Then again, the schmo who was out for blood did have all those PI contacts. Hopefully their being in a crowded café would throw off the dogs? Oh please…please, please, please, with cherries on top…

When he was gently shoved, Leo let that cocky grin of his fall onto his lips. He bit back the urge to laugh when she claimed to be so devoted to her and gave her shoulders a squeeze instead. He was too jaded for his own good, he knew it…and couldn’t help but wonder if Cass really meant what she said. Go to the ends of the world? The cute little thing barely knew him, save the fact that his mere presence pissed her father off to no end. If Daddy Dearest were taken out of the equation, would she still feel the same way? If he weren’t serving some kind of purpose- petting her ego, giving her parents joint heart attacks- would she still ‘love’ him?

Bah, this was why he rarely allowed himself to have friends; he always got to doubting them. Nah well, it was the life of a career criminal, he supposed. Cass was a nice girl, smoking hot and willing to help him, despite her reasons. He was eternally grateful.

When the conversation turned back to her parents, he raised a brow. ”Really? Everything alright on the home front, Cass?” Curiously, he tilted his head. Huh…even after all that ‘is she really a friend’ soul searching, he felt oddly protective of the little blond. He was such a putz. ”You need blackmail taken care of, you just say the word. I know people.”

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