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rainbowfic2014-05-04 06:40 pm
sarcasticsra) wrote in rainbowfic2014-05-04 06:40 pm
Olive Drab, 9 + Harvard Crimson, 17 + Zing, 11 + supplies and styles.
Authors: Sara and Kelly
Colors: Olive Drab, 9. “She kicked me! And then she messed up my files from M to Z and everything. And then she got mad.” (Sara) + Harvard Crimson, 17. thesis + Zing, 11. I can explain this to you, I can't comprehend it for you (Kelly)
Supplies: Eraser (Leo is DEEEAAAD AU), Brush (risible: arousing or provoking laughter; laughable), Watercolors ("I knew terrible things."), Glitter ("Make a list of changes you want to make."), Novelty Beads ("I almost wish Lea would wear the sorceress costume more often, but...")
Style: Interactive Art, Stained Glass
Word Count: 3,470
Rating: PG-13
Story: Polyfaceted; title of this is Cardiovascular.
Summary: Lea has some surprising news for her siblings.
Notes: Takes place in late May 2025 in a brand new AU! Also, um, hi guys! We're NOT dead, as it turns out! And we can still write things! Yaaaay!
Lea smiles politely at Caroline as she approaches Torey's office. "Is he free?"
Caroline smiles back and nods. "Johnny's in there, but it’s been a while. I believe at this point they're just arguing about baseball."
"Thank you," she says, and she straightens her back slightly before going inside. Johnny and Torey are engrossed by something on Torey's computer, and Lea sees Caroline's guess was right, given the way Johnny is gesticulating.
"Jus' don' make any fuckin' sense, Tore, they're fuckin' terrible."
"I am never going to be a fan of the Yankees, Johnny, so—"
They look up at the sound of her shutting the door. "Hey, Lea," Johnny says. "Tell Tore he has terrible fuckin' taste in baseball teams."
"I prefer the Red Sox," she says dryly, without missing a beat. They both look simultaneously amused and appalled, and she almost lets herself get caught up in the absurdity of the moment. But no, she came here for a reason. She takes a deep breath, stands even straighter, and adds, "I have something I need to tell you, Torey. You should stay for this, Johnny."
They exchange a familiar look, part of a shorthand language she’s been fluent in for decades. There's concern, curiosity, and... the tiniest bit of dread. "Something wrong, Lea?" Torey asks.
"Not anymore," she says. "Leonardo is dead. Daria should be discovering his body in about ten minutes—I'm sure you'll be called. The doctors will conclude it was a natural death, not suspicious. Heart disease, most likely. I realize this leaves you without your head legal counsel, and I'm sorry about that, but please believe me when I say it was necessary." She bows her head. "I wanted you to be the first to know. I'll see myself out."
Lea nods once, smiles tightly at their stunned expressions, and leaves the office. She has other preparations to make now that that's been done.
---
Johnny's the first to move, looking away from the door and to Torey; Torey turns his head to meet Johnny's gaze. "So she—"
"It sounds like it," Torey says slowly. "I thought if any of you would kill another, it was going to be Nic killing Leo. Or you and David killing each other..."
"Fuck off, I could kill David if I had ta." Johnny shakes his head. "D'ya have any idea why?"
Torey closes his eyes for a moment, thinking. "If it was Teresa again, we'd know," he says once he opens them again, "and I doubt he's enough of an idiot to hurt Grace again..."
"Even Leo's not that fuckin' stupid," Johnny says. "Or wasn't, I guess. Jesus fuck."
"She wouldn't do it without a good fucking reason," Torey says. "It's got to be something like that. Maybe one of his other kids?"
"Ya think? Jenny's jus’ a fuckin' baby..."
Torey rubs his face with his hand. "Fuck."
"Yeah," Johnny agrees. "Fuck."
They go silent for a moment; Johnny circles Torey's desk in that time, taking a chair across from him.
"I'm not sure what to do," Torey admits at last. "I mean, we can't call anyone to tell them he's dead, or it would look like we did it..."
Johnny opens his mouth to answer, closing it again when there's a brief knock on the door. Torey calls, "Come in."
Nic sticks her head in. "What's up with Lea?"
Johnny looks at Torey, and Torey glares at him for not taking the bullet. "Come in, Nic."
She does, frowning. "Seriously, is everything okay?" She closes the door behind her.
"I have no fucking clue," Torey says. "Leo's dead."
Nic's eyes narrow, and she all but growls, "Who fucking—"
"Lea," Johnny interrupts. "Lea did it."
Nic's stance immediately loses all its aggression. "What."
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Torey says.
"We would know if he'd hurt one of his kids, right?" she asks after a moment, dropping onto Torey's couch. "Or... any other family he's—he was—capable of hurting?"
"There aren't a lot he could have," Torey points out, "but we'd definitely know if he went after Teresa."
"Fuckin' coward asshole," Johnny mutters.
"And Lea wouldn't give a shit if he hurt Daria," Nic continues.
"Like I said, he was a fuckin' coward, so he wouldn' anyway," Johnny points out. "She'd fuckin' kill him."
No one argues that. Those of them in the room have never been afraid of Daria, but they all know she's fucking crazy and evil, too. Instead, Torey says, "It has to be something involving his kids, and we don't think it was Grace again."
"How did she do it?" Nic asks.
Torey shrugs, but Johnny beats him to answering. "Made it look like heart disease, 'parently."
"Damn," Nic says, sounding impressed. "Lea's fucking awesome."
Torey rolls his eyes.
"So Lea found out something he did—or was planning to do, maybe? Think he might've contracted something?" she continues, apparently thinking aloud. "He—was—enough of a coward to need a fucking middleman."
"I don't think he'd go after anyone else's kid," Torey says thoughtfully. He picks up a pen and rolls it between his fingers. "It almost has to be one of his own. Like you've both said, he was a coward."
"If he did contract somethin', we woulda heard first," Johnny says, "'less he was smart 'nough ta go outta state."
"He would have been," Nic says grudgingly.
"An' 'round here, most likely state's Jersey..." Johnny trails off, looking at Torey, who groans.
"And Lea being Lea, she has spies. Everywhere."
"Really?" Nic asks curiously.
"Carlos is in construction, remember?" Torey asks. "In Jersey. And he's committed to running a clean business. She's told me she had to find some way of staying ahead of everything."
"Why doesn't Lea work with us?" Nic demands, almost indignant.
Johnny snorts. "Be fuckin' nice if she did, but she likes bein' a full-time ma, an' she never wanted ta work here. Imagine the commute from fuckin' Jersey, anyway."
"Besides," Torey adds, "she'll do what needs doing, like making sure Carlos' business isn't fucked over by his commitment to cleanliness, but she doesn't think everything we do is necessary."
At that, Nic shrugs. "Mostly fun, though."
"Somehow," Torey says, tone impossibly dry, "I don't think she thought killing Leo was fun."
"I would have," Nic mutters. "Especially if he contracted someone to hurt another one of his fucking kids."
"Seems mos' likely," Johnny says. "Which is fuckin' fucked up."
"We should probably let Is know her workload is about to double. At least," Nic points out.
"Yeah, she's going to enjoy that," Torey says, shaking his head. "Christ, replacing Leo is going to suck."
"Why d'ya think none’a us have fuckin' offed 'im 'fore now?" Johnny asks.
Torey raises an eyebrow. "Lea making your death look like heart disease?"
Johnny pauses. "That too."
"Do you want to tell David?" Nic asks as she rises to her feet; it's clearly directed at Torey. "I will if you don't."
Torey rubs at his forehead for a moment. "Yeah. You take Is. Johnny, mind telling the boys?"
"Goddammit," Johnny sighs. "Yeah, I'll do it. Jus'—"
Torey's phone rings then, and he picks it up. "Hello?"
"Torey, it's Daria." She sounds as collected and calm as she ever does, which is disconcerting as hell.
"Daria, your husband didn't come into work today." When Nic stifles a laugh with her hand, Torey shoots her a warning look. "Is he all right?"
"No," she says, just as calmly. "He's dead."
Torey pauses a moment. "What happened? Did you call Lea?"
"I thought perhaps the news ought to come from you," Daria says, and Torey tries to read between the lines. He wonders if she suspects anything, but it's hard to tell. Daria is difficult in even the most straightforward situations—she didn't end up married to Leo by accident—and this isn’t exactly a straightforward situation. "He'd been having some heart trouble lately, the past month or so. We both thought it was minor, of course, and he saw a doctor... I suppose we should have taken it more seriously." She pauses before continuing. "You know how close they were; I imagine she'll take it quite hard."
"Yeah. She will. He was her baby brother. I'll tell her," Torey says. "Thank you for calling me, Daria. Let me know if you need anything."
"I'm sure I will," she says, hanging up.
"Jesus," he says. "A month. That's how long he'd been having heart problems."
"Shit," says Johnny.
"Gisella's starting part time soon, isn't she?" Nic muses. "Think she takes after Lea?"
Torey cradles his forehead in his hand. "Yes," he sighs, "we'll have someone with Lea's ruthlessness—shut up," he adds before either of them can object, "it's different than yours—in a little while." He looks up at Johnny, then Nic. "But do me a favor and don't encourage this aspect until she's older."
Nic holds up her hands. "Lea raised her. I doubt encouragement from us is necessary." She smirks. "I mean, does anyone actually need to encourage Emily's stubbornness?"
Johnny flips her off and stands. "C'mon," he says to her. To Torey, he adds, "Wan' us ta send David in?"
This will be just so fun. "Yeah," he sighs, "please."
---
As he and Letta leave Torey's office, Johnny says to her, "I'll let fuckface know. Gotta go that way ta talk ta the boys anyway."
"Cool," she says as they walk down the hallway. "Today is so fucking weird."
"Tell me 'bout it," he mutters. Letta stops at Sable's office, disappearing inside after a nod from Malcolm, and Johnny continues down the hall toward David and the boys' offices. The bitch is out front for a change, so he tells her, "Tore needs ta talk ta David. 'S important."
"He's on a call right now," she says. "I'll tell him."
"Don' wait too fuckin' long."
"Fuck off," she suggests.
Johnny doesn't particularly feel like getting in a fight with her, so he just says, "Tell 'im ta call 'em back an' go talk ta Tore," then turns to cross the hall to the boys' office.
He knocks once, and there's silence—probably them hiding something—before Gino calls, "Come in."
Johnny lets himself in, closing the door behind him. Vito's playing a video game, and Gino's poking at his keyboard. Johnny guesses Gino was looking at porn a moment before. "Vito, save your game."
Vito doesn't look up until Gino tosses a rubber ball at him. Then he jerks and seems to realize Johnny's there, so he takes out his earbuds. "What?"
Johnny repeats himself.
Frowning, Vito does as he's told as Gino asks, "What's up?"
"Got some news," he says, and hell, this is the last thing he expected to be doing today. "Leo's... dead."
"What?" Gino asks, looking shocked.
"Wait, for real?" Vito asks.
"How?" Gino adds.
Johnny has a very quick debate with himself about telling them the actual how and decides Vito shouldn't be trusted with it. Besides, Gino would probably be freaked out by Lea if he knew. "Daria called Tore. She says it was probably his heart. He's been havin' trouble for 'bout a month now, 'parently." He shrugs. "Letta's tellin' Sable, Tore's tellin' Lea an' David."
Gino looks stunned.
Vito, on the other hand, says, "If we need to steal anything from his home office or break into his records here, tell me."
Johnny barely, barely keeps himself from laughing; when he sees the look Gino shoots Vito, he's glad he did.
"Is Lea going to be okay?" Gino asks him, sounding incredibly worried.
Johnny suppresses his immediate answer, that she knew it was going to happen, and instead says, "We're all gonna need ta be there for her."
Gino nods seriously, and Johnny makes a mental note to let Lea know that Gino's not exactly in the loop on this, so she's prepared. He guesses she probably expects it, but better safe than sorry.
"Thanks for telling us, Johnny," Gino says then, and Johnny almost feels bad that he's not telling him the whole truth.
"You're welcome," he says. "Ya need anythin'?"
The boys hold a silent conversation of a very familiar type; various pairs and groupings of them can all do that. Then Vito says, "Do we need to stay today to help with things?" He looks at Johnny so Gino can't see his eyes and cuts them toward Gino, and that makes two silent conversations.
"Letta's still talkin' ta Sable, an' I dunno if Tore's tol' David yet," he says. "Why don' I take ya ta lunch, an' they can call me if we need ta come back?"
"Thanks," Vito says, and Gino nods.
"Yeah, thanks." He starts to stand, then pauses, frowning. "How will Teresa take it?"
"Considerin' Leo gave her acid when he was fifteen an' she had a bad trip," Johnny says dryly, "I really don' think she'll care. David'll tell her, anyway."
"Gabriella's going to be upset," Gino adds, and Johnny holds back a wince. Yeah, he doesn't envy Lea, having to deal with her ma about this.
"We'll all have ta help out where we can," he says, and Vito briefly looks at him like he's grown another head. Gino just nods again.
Johnny resists the urge to shake his head as they leave the office.
---
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Isabella says flatly. "This is some kind of late April Fools' Day joke, right?"
"Nope," Nicoletta says, and try as she might—though admittedly she isn't actually trying very hard—she can't quite keep the glee out of her voice. "Our big sister killed Leo. Over the course of a month. And made it look like heart disease."
"Jesus," she says. "I mean, Lea's always been a little scary, but I never thought..." She trails off, groaning. "Aw, fuck."
"What?"
"I just realized I'm going to be stuck taking over all of Leo's shit until we find someone to replace him."
"Yeah, that does suck," Nicoletta agrees. "It's going to be a pain in the ass to find someone, too."
Isabella looks around her office forlornly. "You think I should just say 'fuck it' and move my bed in here for the next, oh, I don't know, month or so?"
Nicoletta definitely does not laugh at that. "You already have a couch," she says instead, and Isabella shoots her a Look. "I'm just saying, do you really want to haul a bed up here? Your couch is comfortable."
This time, her sister throws a pen at her. "For that, I'm making you help."
"Look at it this way," Nicoletta says. "Access to the law library with no one bitching. And we can probably get a continuance on that case that's supposed to start next week..."
Isabella groans again. "Fuck," she says. "I'm going to have to deal with smug lawyers and dumbass paralegals and motherfucking arrogant judges with sticks up their asses." She shakes her head. "This is why no one ever killed Leo before now."
"And because of Lea," Nicoletta adds. "Who apparently has some serious fucking patience."
"You'd almost have to, with a ma like Gabriella and a full brother like Leo. Survival mechanism."
Nicoletta snorts. "Fucking seriously." She pauses a moment. "What do you think Pop would have said?"
Isabella gives her a look. "I'm pretty sure you have a better idea than I do."
"If he knew why we think she did it," she says thoughtfully, "I think he probably would have let it go." She pauses. "Of course, if he'd been alive when the fucker broke Grace's hands, Lea wouldn't have had to do this."
Isabella nods. "That's true. Soon as he found out about that... wouldn't have been pretty, that's for fucking sure." She sighs, leaning back in her chair. "I say we go out to lunch, since it's going to be my last opportunity for anything but a sandwich at my desk for a while. Somewhere really upscale and stupidly expensive.”
"There's that exclusive Thai place that just opened on Broadway. Celebrity appearances, five star reviews, waiting list six months long, the whole deal."
"Perfect."
---
David mutters under his breath as he lumbers into Torey's office. Given the call he cut short, this had better be fucking important. "Angela said you wanted something?"
"Sit down."
David eyes his brother, but Torey looks too stressed for him to push it right now, so he sits. "What?"
"Lea came by," Torey starts, and David's eyes narrow.
"Does this have to do with why the fucker didn't bother to come in today?"
Torey laughs shortly. "That would have been hard."
David waits. He can be fucking patient. If he feels like it.
Torey shakes his head. "He's dead," he says. "Leo's dead."
"Fucking seriously?" David demands. "The fuck happened?"
"Lea happened," he said. "She made it look like heart disease. Took her about a month."
That actually gives David pause. He knows Lea can be ruthless and—fuck, she's his oldest sister; he'll admit it—completely fucking terrifying, but she killed Leo over a month and made it look like natural causes? "With how Pop died," he says at last, "that makes sense."
Torey just looks at him.
And his brother looks at him long enough that David lets out, "What the fuck did he do to make Lea kill him?!"
"We're not sure yet," Torey says, "but we think he contracted someone to hurt one of his kids. Only he probably went out of Jersey, and Lea knows a lot of people in Jersey."
"Jesus fuck, the sick fucker," David says. Sure, kids can be a fucking pain in the ass, but what the hell? None of Leo's kids have even started fucking kindergarten yet. "That's fucked up."
Torey shifts a little in his chair. "You know what happened with Grace," he says, "and what Lea asked Johnny and me to do about it. If she did this, then I think it has to involve at least one of his kids." He shrugs. "And yeah. It's fucked up, but we're talking about Leo, so are you really surprised?"
David snorts. "After the shit he did to Teresa, nothing fucking surprises me with that asshole. Just fucking wish I'd done it before Lea could."
"That's what Nic said," Torey notes, "and you almost did, anyway."
"So did you," David points out.
"And he deserved it both times." Torey studies him. "You okay?"
"Jealous as fuck I didn't do it," he says frankly, "and kind of stunned she made it look natural—you said a goddamn month?"
"That's how long Daria said he'd been having problems. He even went to the doctor." Torey shakes his head. "It's... yeah."
David wonders if it's finally sinking in for Torey how ruthless Lea actually is and if maybe that's fucking with him a little, given how close they are. He sure as fuck isn't going to say anything about it, though. "So how long until we can throw the fucking party?"
Torey rolls his eyes at him.
"No, I'm serious," David insists. "We could reserve Dan's, get it catered..."
Torey finally cracks a smile. "If we do that," he says, "the cops are going to start looking at us."
"We didn't do anything," David says reasonably.
"Well, yeah, but we're also not Irish. Holding a wake in a bar would make us look a little suspicious, especially for our brother."
"We could pass it off," David says, waving a hand. "Say it's what he always wanted, we're celebrating his life, some fucking bullshit like that. People eat that shit up like it's fucking candy."
"I doubt that includes any people who ever actually met Leo."
"We just won't tell Gabriella," David says. None of them—except Lea—would want her there, anyway. "Anyone else would get why we're actually doing it."
Torey really smiles this time. "Are you including Daria in that?"
"Are you kidding? She married the fucker. She's Grace's mother. If she was anyone other than her fucking crazy self, she'd be right there with us."
Torey snorts. "Yeah, you're probably right about that." A thought seems to occur to him, and he adds, "Gabriella's reaction to this isn't going to be pretty. Lea's going to have her hands full with that."
"Christ," David says. The thought kind of makes him wants to shoot himself a little, and he's just imagining it.
"But," Torey adds, "I won't. So if you want to set up catering and everything, we can have the fake wake at Dan's. We just won't let Gabriella know."
David grins. "What about Ma?"
Torey gives him a look. "Ma can know. Ma cannot come. I plan to get drunk."
That's enough to make David laugh.
Colors: Olive Drab, 9. “She kicked me! And then she messed up my files from M to Z and everything. And then she got mad.” (Sara) + Harvard Crimson, 17. thesis + Zing, 11. I can explain this to you, I can't comprehend it for you (Kelly)
Supplies: Eraser (Leo is DEEEAAAD AU), Brush (risible: arousing or provoking laughter; laughable), Watercolors ("I knew terrible things."), Glitter ("Make a list of changes you want to make."), Novelty Beads ("I almost wish Lea would wear the sorceress costume more often, but...")
Style: Interactive Art, Stained Glass
Word Count: 3,470
Rating: PG-13
Story: Polyfaceted; title of this is Cardiovascular.
Summary: Lea has some surprising news for her siblings.
Notes: Takes place in late May 2025 in a brand new AU! Also, um, hi guys! We're NOT dead, as it turns out! And we can still write things! Yaaaay!
Lea smiles politely at Caroline as she approaches Torey's office. "Is he free?"
Caroline smiles back and nods. "Johnny's in there, but it’s been a while. I believe at this point they're just arguing about baseball."
"Thank you," she says, and she straightens her back slightly before going inside. Johnny and Torey are engrossed by something on Torey's computer, and Lea sees Caroline's guess was right, given the way Johnny is gesticulating.
"Jus' don' make any fuckin' sense, Tore, they're fuckin' terrible."
"I am never going to be a fan of the Yankees, Johnny, so—"
They look up at the sound of her shutting the door. "Hey, Lea," Johnny says. "Tell Tore he has terrible fuckin' taste in baseball teams."
"I prefer the Red Sox," she says dryly, without missing a beat. They both look simultaneously amused and appalled, and she almost lets herself get caught up in the absurdity of the moment. But no, she came here for a reason. She takes a deep breath, stands even straighter, and adds, "I have something I need to tell you, Torey. You should stay for this, Johnny."
They exchange a familiar look, part of a shorthand language she’s been fluent in for decades. There's concern, curiosity, and... the tiniest bit of dread. "Something wrong, Lea?" Torey asks.
"Not anymore," she says. "Leonardo is dead. Daria should be discovering his body in about ten minutes—I'm sure you'll be called. The doctors will conclude it was a natural death, not suspicious. Heart disease, most likely. I realize this leaves you without your head legal counsel, and I'm sorry about that, but please believe me when I say it was necessary." She bows her head. "I wanted you to be the first to know. I'll see myself out."
Lea nods once, smiles tightly at their stunned expressions, and leaves the office. She has other preparations to make now that that's been done.
Johnny's the first to move, looking away from the door and to Torey; Torey turns his head to meet Johnny's gaze. "So she—"
"It sounds like it," Torey says slowly. "I thought if any of you would kill another, it was going to be Nic killing Leo. Or you and David killing each other..."
"Fuck off, I could kill David if I had ta." Johnny shakes his head. "D'ya have any idea why?"
Torey closes his eyes for a moment, thinking. "If it was Teresa again, we'd know," he says once he opens them again, "and I doubt he's enough of an idiot to hurt Grace again..."
"Even Leo's not that fuckin' stupid," Johnny says. "Or wasn't, I guess. Jesus fuck."
"She wouldn't do it without a good fucking reason," Torey says. "It's got to be something like that. Maybe one of his other kids?"
"Ya think? Jenny's jus’ a fuckin' baby..."
Torey rubs his face with his hand. "Fuck."
"Yeah," Johnny agrees. "Fuck."
They go silent for a moment; Johnny circles Torey's desk in that time, taking a chair across from him.
"I'm not sure what to do," Torey admits at last. "I mean, we can't call anyone to tell them he's dead, or it would look like we did it..."
Johnny opens his mouth to answer, closing it again when there's a brief knock on the door. Torey calls, "Come in."
Nic sticks her head in. "What's up with Lea?"
Johnny looks at Torey, and Torey glares at him for not taking the bullet. "Come in, Nic."
She does, frowning. "Seriously, is everything okay?" She closes the door behind her.
"I have no fucking clue," Torey says. "Leo's dead."
Nic's eyes narrow, and she all but growls, "Who fucking—"
"Lea," Johnny interrupts. "Lea did it."
Nic's stance immediately loses all its aggression. "What."
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Torey says.
"We would know if he'd hurt one of his kids, right?" she asks after a moment, dropping onto Torey's couch. "Or... any other family he's—he was—capable of hurting?"
"There aren't a lot he could have," Torey points out, "but we'd definitely know if he went after Teresa."
"Fuckin' coward asshole," Johnny mutters.
"And Lea wouldn't give a shit if he hurt Daria," Nic continues.
"Like I said, he was a fuckin' coward, so he wouldn' anyway," Johnny points out. "She'd fuckin' kill him."
No one argues that. Those of them in the room have never been afraid of Daria, but they all know she's fucking crazy and evil, too. Instead, Torey says, "It has to be something involving his kids, and we don't think it was Grace again."
"How did she do it?" Nic asks.
Torey shrugs, but Johnny beats him to answering. "Made it look like heart disease, 'parently."
"Damn," Nic says, sounding impressed. "Lea's fucking awesome."
Torey rolls his eyes.
"So Lea found out something he did—or was planning to do, maybe? Think he might've contracted something?" she continues, apparently thinking aloud. "He—was—enough of a coward to need a fucking middleman."
"I don't think he'd go after anyone else's kid," Torey says thoughtfully. He picks up a pen and rolls it between his fingers. "It almost has to be one of his own. Like you've both said, he was a coward."
"If he did contract somethin', we woulda heard first," Johnny says, "'less he was smart 'nough ta go outta state."
"He would have been," Nic says grudgingly.
"An' 'round here, most likely state's Jersey..." Johnny trails off, looking at Torey, who groans.
"And Lea being Lea, she has spies. Everywhere."
"Really?" Nic asks curiously.
"Carlos is in construction, remember?" Torey asks. "In Jersey. And he's committed to running a clean business. She's told me she had to find some way of staying ahead of everything."
"Why doesn't Lea work with us?" Nic demands, almost indignant.
Johnny snorts. "Be fuckin' nice if she did, but she likes bein' a full-time ma, an' she never wanted ta work here. Imagine the commute from fuckin' Jersey, anyway."
"Besides," Torey adds, "she'll do what needs doing, like making sure Carlos' business isn't fucked over by his commitment to cleanliness, but she doesn't think everything we do is necessary."
At that, Nic shrugs. "Mostly fun, though."
"Somehow," Torey says, tone impossibly dry, "I don't think she thought killing Leo was fun."
"I would have," Nic mutters. "Especially if he contracted someone to hurt another one of his fucking kids."
"Seems mos' likely," Johnny says. "Which is fuckin' fucked up."
"We should probably let Is know her workload is about to double. At least," Nic points out.
"Yeah, she's going to enjoy that," Torey says, shaking his head. "Christ, replacing Leo is going to suck."
"Why d'ya think none’a us have fuckin' offed 'im 'fore now?" Johnny asks.
Torey raises an eyebrow. "Lea making your death look like heart disease?"
Johnny pauses. "That too."
"Do you want to tell David?" Nic asks as she rises to her feet; it's clearly directed at Torey. "I will if you don't."
Torey rubs at his forehead for a moment. "Yeah. You take Is. Johnny, mind telling the boys?"
"Goddammit," Johnny sighs. "Yeah, I'll do it. Jus'—"
Torey's phone rings then, and he picks it up. "Hello?"
"Torey, it's Daria." She sounds as collected and calm as she ever does, which is disconcerting as hell.
"Daria, your husband didn't come into work today." When Nic stifles a laugh with her hand, Torey shoots her a warning look. "Is he all right?"
"No," she says, just as calmly. "He's dead."
Torey pauses a moment. "What happened? Did you call Lea?"
"I thought perhaps the news ought to come from you," Daria says, and Torey tries to read between the lines. He wonders if she suspects anything, but it's hard to tell. Daria is difficult in even the most straightforward situations—she didn't end up married to Leo by accident—and this isn’t exactly a straightforward situation. "He'd been having some heart trouble lately, the past month or so. We both thought it was minor, of course, and he saw a doctor... I suppose we should have taken it more seriously." She pauses before continuing. "You know how close they were; I imagine she'll take it quite hard."
"Yeah. She will. He was her baby brother. I'll tell her," Torey says. "Thank you for calling me, Daria. Let me know if you need anything."
"I'm sure I will," she says, hanging up.
"Jesus," he says. "A month. That's how long he'd been having heart problems."
"Shit," says Johnny.
"Gisella's starting part time soon, isn't she?" Nic muses. "Think she takes after Lea?"
Torey cradles his forehead in his hand. "Yes," he sighs, "we'll have someone with Lea's ruthlessness—shut up," he adds before either of them can object, "it's different than yours—in a little while." He looks up at Johnny, then Nic. "But do me a favor and don't encourage this aspect until she's older."
Nic holds up her hands. "Lea raised her. I doubt encouragement from us is necessary." She smirks. "I mean, does anyone actually need to encourage Emily's stubbornness?"
Johnny flips her off and stands. "C'mon," he says to her. To Torey, he adds, "Wan' us ta send David in?"
This will be just so fun. "Yeah," he sighs, "please."
As he and Letta leave Torey's office, Johnny says to her, "I'll let fuckface know. Gotta go that way ta talk ta the boys anyway."
"Cool," she says as they walk down the hallway. "Today is so fucking weird."
"Tell me 'bout it," he mutters. Letta stops at Sable's office, disappearing inside after a nod from Malcolm, and Johnny continues down the hall toward David and the boys' offices. The bitch is out front for a change, so he tells her, "Tore needs ta talk ta David. 'S important."
"He's on a call right now," she says. "I'll tell him."
"Don' wait too fuckin' long."
"Fuck off," she suggests.
Johnny doesn't particularly feel like getting in a fight with her, so he just says, "Tell 'im ta call 'em back an' go talk ta Tore," then turns to cross the hall to the boys' office.
He knocks once, and there's silence—probably them hiding something—before Gino calls, "Come in."
Johnny lets himself in, closing the door behind him. Vito's playing a video game, and Gino's poking at his keyboard. Johnny guesses Gino was looking at porn a moment before. "Vito, save your game."
Vito doesn't look up until Gino tosses a rubber ball at him. Then he jerks and seems to realize Johnny's there, so he takes out his earbuds. "What?"
Johnny repeats himself.
Frowning, Vito does as he's told as Gino asks, "What's up?"
"Got some news," he says, and hell, this is the last thing he expected to be doing today. "Leo's... dead."
"What?" Gino asks, looking shocked.
"Wait, for real?" Vito asks.
"How?" Gino adds.
Johnny has a very quick debate with himself about telling them the actual how and decides Vito shouldn't be trusted with it. Besides, Gino would probably be freaked out by Lea if he knew. "Daria called Tore. She says it was probably his heart. He's been havin' trouble for 'bout a month now, 'parently." He shrugs. "Letta's tellin' Sable, Tore's tellin' Lea an' David."
Gino looks stunned.
Vito, on the other hand, says, "If we need to steal anything from his home office or break into his records here, tell me."
Johnny barely, barely keeps himself from laughing; when he sees the look Gino shoots Vito, he's glad he did.
"Is Lea going to be okay?" Gino asks him, sounding incredibly worried.
Johnny suppresses his immediate answer, that she knew it was going to happen, and instead says, "We're all gonna need ta be there for her."
Gino nods seriously, and Johnny makes a mental note to let Lea know that Gino's not exactly in the loop on this, so she's prepared. He guesses she probably expects it, but better safe than sorry.
"Thanks for telling us, Johnny," Gino says then, and Johnny almost feels bad that he's not telling him the whole truth.
"You're welcome," he says. "Ya need anythin'?"
The boys hold a silent conversation of a very familiar type; various pairs and groupings of them can all do that. Then Vito says, "Do we need to stay today to help with things?" He looks at Johnny so Gino can't see his eyes and cuts them toward Gino, and that makes two silent conversations.
"Letta's still talkin' ta Sable, an' I dunno if Tore's tol' David yet," he says. "Why don' I take ya ta lunch, an' they can call me if we need ta come back?"
"Thanks," Vito says, and Gino nods.
"Yeah, thanks." He starts to stand, then pauses, frowning. "How will Teresa take it?"
"Considerin' Leo gave her acid when he was fifteen an' she had a bad trip," Johnny says dryly, "I really don' think she'll care. David'll tell her, anyway."
"Gabriella's going to be upset," Gino adds, and Johnny holds back a wince. Yeah, he doesn't envy Lea, having to deal with her ma about this.
"We'll all have ta help out where we can," he says, and Vito briefly looks at him like he's grown another head. Gino just nods again.
Johnny resists the urge to shake his head as they leave the office.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Isabella says flatly. "This is some kind of late April Fools' Day joke, right?"
"Nope," Nicoletta says, and try as she might—though admittedly she isn't actually trying very hard—she can't quite keep the glee out of her voice. "Our big sister killed Leo. Over the course of a month. And made it look like heart disease."
"Jesus," she says. "I mean, Lea's always been a little scary, but I never thought..." She trails off, groaning. "Aw, fuck."
"What?"
"I just realized I'm going to be stuck taking over all of Leo's shit until we find someone to replace him."
"Yeah, that does suck," Nicoletta agrees. "It's going to be a pain in the ass to find someone, too."
Isabella looks around her office forlornly. "You think I should just say 'fuck it' and move my bed in here for the next, oh, I don't know, month or so?"
Nicoletta definitely does not laugh at that. "You already have a couch," she says instead, and Isabella shoots her a Look. "I'm just saying, do you really want to haul a bed up here? Your couch is comfortable."
This time, her sister throws a pen at her. "For that, I'm making you help."
"Look at it this way," Nicoletta says. "Access to the law library with no one bitching. And we can probably get a continuance on that case that's supposed to start next week..."
Isabella groans again. "Fuck," she says. "I'm going to have to deal with smug lawyers and dumbass paralegals and motherfucking arrogant judges with sticks up their asses." She shakes her head. "This is why no one ever killed Leo before now."
"And because of Lea," Nicoletta adds. "Who apparently has some serious fucking patience."
"You'd almost have to, with a ma like Gabriella and a full brother like Leo. Survival mechanism."
Nicoletta snorts. "Fucking seriously." She pauses a moment. "What do you think Pop would have said?"
Isabella gives her a look. "I'm pretty sure you have a better idea than I do."
"If he knew why we think she did it," she says thoughtfully, "I think he probably would have let it go." She pauses. "Of course, if he'd been alive when the fucker broke Grace's hands, Lea wouldn't have had to do this."
Isabella nods. "That's true. Soon as he found out about that... wouldn't have been pretty, that's for fucking sure." She sighs, leaning back in her chair. "I say we go out to lunch, since it's going to be my last opportunity for anything but a sandwich at my desk for a while. Somewhere really upscale and stupidly expensive.”
"There's that exclusive Thai place that just opened on Broadway. Celebrity appearances, five star reviews, waiting list six months long, the whole deal."
"Perfect."
David mutters under his breath as he lumbers into Torey's office. Given the call he cut short, this had better be fucking important. "Angela said you wanted something?"
"Sit down."
David eyes his brother, but Torey looks too stressed for him to push it right now, so he sits. "What?"
"Lea came by," Torey starts, and David's eyes narrow.
"Does this have to do with why the fucker didn't bother to come in today?"
Torey laughs shortly. "That would have been hard."
David waits. He can be fucking patient. If he feels like it.
Torey shakes his head. "He's dead," he says. "Leo's dead."
"Fucking seriously?" David demands. "The fuck happened?"
"Lea happened," he said. "She made it look like heart disease. Took her about a month."
That actually gives David pause. He knows Lea can be ruthless and—fuck, she's his oldest sister; he'll admit it—completely fucking terrifying, but she killed Leo over a month and made it look like natural causes? "With how Pop died," he says at last, "that makes sense."
Torey just looks at him.
And his brother looks at him long enough that David lets out, "What the fuck did he do to make Lea kill him?!"
"We're not sure yet," Torey says, "but we think he contracted someone to hurt one of his kids. Only he probably went out of Jersey, and Lea knows a lot of people in Jersey."
"Jesus fuck, the sick fucker," David says. Sure, kids can be a fucking pain in the ass, but what the hell? None of Leo's kids have even started fucking kindergarten yet. "That's fucked up."
Torey shifts a little in his chair. "You know what happened with Grace," he says, "and what Lea asked Johnny and me to do about it. If she did this, then I think it has to involve at least one of his kids." He shrugs. "And yeah. It's fucked up, but we're talking about Leo, so are you really surprised?"
David snorts. "After the shit he did to Teresa, nothing fucking surprises me with that asshole. Just fucking wish I'd done it before Lea could."
"That's what Nic said," Torey notes, "and you almost did, anyway."
"So did you," David points out.
"And he deserved it both times." Torey studies him. "You okay?"
"Jealous as fuck I didn't do it," he says frankly, "and kind of stunned she made it look natural—you said a goddamn month?"
"That's how long Daria said he'd been having problems. He even went to the doctor." Torey shakes his head. "It's... yeah."
David wonders if it's finally sinking in for Torey how ruthless Lea actually is and if maybe that's fucking with him a little, given how close they are. He sure as fuck isn't going to say anything about it, though. "So how long until we can throw the fucking party?"
Torey rolls his eyes at him.
"No, I'm serious," David insists. "We could reserve Dan's, get it catered..."
Torey finally cracks a smile. "If we do that," he says, "the cops are going to start looking at us."
"We didn't do anything," David says reasonably.
"Well, yeah, but we're also not Irish. Holding a wake in a bar would make us look a little suspicious, especially for our brother."
"We could pass it off," David says, waving a hand. "Say it's what he always wanted, we're celebrating his life, some fucking bullshit like that. People eat that shit up like it's fucking candy."
"I doubt that includes any people who ever actually met Leo."
"We just won't tell Gabriella," David says. None of them—except Lea—would want her there, anyway. "Anyone else would get why we're actually doing it."
Torey really smiles this time. "Are you including Daria in that?"
"Are you kidding? She married the fucker. She's Grace's mother. If she was anyone other than her fucking crazy self, she'd be right there with us."
Torey snorts. "Yeah, you're probably right about that." A thought seems to occur to him, and he adds, "Gabriella's reaction to this isn't going to be pretty. Lea's going to have her hands full with that."
"Christ," David says. The thought kind of makes him wants to shoot himself a little, and he's just imagining it.
"But," Torey adds, "I won't. So if you want to set up catering and everything, we can have the fake wake at Dan's. We just won't let Gabriella know."
David grins. "What about Ma?"
Torey gives him a look. "Ma can know. Ma cannot come. I plan to get drunk."
That's enough to make David laugh.
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I have to say I feel a mixture of fear and admiration for Lea for the way she did it. Making it drag out for a month and making it look like heart disease I know I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. I'm actually not sad that Leo's gone, though now I want to know what he did. I missed reading about these guys. ^^
Very nice!
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No one is sad Leo's gone, heh. Well, Lea, some, but given she's the one who KILLED HIM...says a lot, lol. Oh Leo. We have another fic in progress about what he actually did. Hopefully it'll be done soon!
Thanks!
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My prayers for more Corlioni
Have been answered
WITH A LEO IS DEAD AU
I didn't even know I wanted this, but now I can't imagine life without it.
Welcome back. Your dialogue rocks. You made me happy.
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Thaaaaaank you!
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