Leopard and Reed Meet Again

"Put the gun down and I will," he said, his voice like ice. "I don't want this to get messy. We're in a hotel."

Leopard laughed.

"I've killed thousands of men in this hotel, don't make me laugh. The maids here know what they got into when they started working here," he replied, blowing out smoke. "Stop your childish whining and shoot me."

"At least put out the cigarette," he said, rolling his eyes. "I don't want it to start a fire when you hit the ground. Have some consideration for once since you left, asshole."

He dropped the cigarette onto the floor, putting it out with his heeled boot.

"Are you happy now, little Reed?"

"Don't call me that," he said, his finger hesitating over the trigger. "...Only Chase can call me that. You stopped being Chase when you stopped caring."

Taking his chance, Leopard lunged for him, shoving him onto the bed. He pinned his hands down, using his body to pin him as well.

"This is why you really asked me here, isn't it?" he whispered, grinning widely. "Tell the truth, little brother. You were disappointed last time, weren't you?"

"I came to kill you!" he hissed, struggling. "And don't call me that, either--you gave up the title of big brother long ago!"

"Fine, Reed," he whispered, chuckling. "You want this, and you can't deny it."

He glanced to the side, glaring at the wall.

"...All I've wanted, for all these years, is Chase back. It's as simple as that."

"You don't," he replied quietly. "If you had wanted your brother back, you would have accepted me the second you knew who I was, for better or for worse, you would accept who I've become. But you didn't. You won't. You don't want your brother back. You only want your memories of your brother back, you want something that doesn't exist anymore.

"What you really want is me, and you know it. Whether I am your brother, a completely different person, or your brother all grown up, you find me irresistible. And how can I blame you?

"But until you accept me as your brother, you will never have me."

"And why should I accept you?!" he spat. "I've been alone for years, Chase--I thought you were never coming back. Do you know what I've done? I don't even want to talk about it. I hardly count as human anymore, Chase--I was planning on joining you, and soon.

"So tell me--where were you, if you were still alive? Why the hell should I call you my brother? Brothers protect each other." He glared defiantly at Chase, all his pent-up frustrations rising to the surface.

"You think I haven't been alone? Who the fuck do you think I was with?" he asked incredulously. "I've been alone in my search to find you. Do you think that it's easy to break into a secret organization and just find you?"

He stared at his brother.

"You really don't understand what I've done to find you, how hard it was."

"You didn't find me, we just ran into each other--stop lying! What type of crazy asshole tries assassinating an ambassador to find his brother? I don't buy it. You were just doing your job."

"I only took the job because I heard that organization would be part of it!" he shouted angrily, his grip on his brother's wrists tightening significantly. "I only take jobs when your organization is involved and never any other time. I have killed so many agents for this organization but I had to find you. Finally, I found you, and I was so happy...

"But I'm a fool." he snarled. "You will never trust me again, you will never accept me as your brother, and I may as well give up on the only thing keeping me alive."

"I should be the one saying that," he said, unable to stop the tears from flowing to his eyes.

"They want me to kill you, you know--not killing you in the first place was a failure, the first black mark on my record. I'm stupid, because instead of just redeeming you, I...I..." He swallowed the lump in his throat, and the tears poured freely.

"I don't want to lose my brother again. Isn't that pathetic?"

Unable to come up with words, he pulled his brother into a tight hug.

"Please," he said quietly, "please run away with me."

Completely surprised, he gave in, slowly returning the embrace. His tears stained his brother's shirt as he buried his face in his shoulder. How old had he been the last time he had done this--six, seven?

"Run away to where?" he asked softly.

"Well, first...come back to my house," he said, grinning happily at the fact that his brother was giving in. "Let's go and lay low for a little while, alright?"

"They're going to find us, you idiot," he snapped miserably. "They did it before, they'll do it again--why do you think I haven't left? It's not that simple."

He sighed, wiping the tears away from his face with his sleeve.