Archive of Our Own

Julian is so exhausted that he knows he should be halfway home already, and on any other night he would be. But tonight’s the second Thursday of the month, so he can’t go home. Rather, he could, but he won’t. He won’t miss this for the world.

He parks outside the nondescript building and pulls down the driver’s side visor to look at himself in the mirror with a grimace. To say he looks like shit is an understatement. Hopefully his little Leo won’t mind.

He glances at his reflection again and takes off his tie. He came here straight from the office instead of going home to change. He couldn’t trust himself not to climb into bed and go right to sleep.

A quick glance at his watch, and Julian’s out of the car and heading inside. The club is his favorite out of all the ones he’s been in – and not just because it’s where he met Leo. It’s cozy and dim without being creepily dark. Julian swears some places hear ‘dungeon’ and take it as interior decorating law.

He heads straight to the bar – a somewhat generous term since the club doesn’t serve alcohol – and catches the bartender’s eye. Suzette’s always here on his Thursday visits, and she comes right over with a glass of water and a juice box.

“You’re a little early tonight. We ran out of grape,” she says, “so I grabbed apple.”

“That’s more than fine, Suzette. Thanks.”

She leans on the counter. “You look like shit, you know. Maybe you both need a little nap time tonight.”

“Ah, but then who will tuck us in?” Julian sips his water and smirks.

She shakes her head. “Your boy isn’t here yet. There’s a flogging demo in playroom one, though. Reece and Stella.”

Julian nods. “On another night, maybe. Tonight, I’m just going to park myself over there and wait for Leo.” He gestures to the corner of the club that’s filled with toys, large dog beds, bean bag chairs, and stuffies. Apparently in the early days, the club had kept separate little and pet play areas, but the littles kept wandering over to play with the puppies and kittens, and the pets kept playfully stealing the littles’ stuffies. So now – a corner for playtime with everything a little or pet could want. There’s still a smaller room tucked aside for more intimate moments between caregivers and their littles, but otherwise all the playtime happens right here.

Julian is a fan of the padded floor mats for Leo’s sake, but the few “adult” chairs scattered around the edge of the space are extremely comfortable too.

He sinks into one with a happy sigh, setting the juice box and his water on the small table next to him. Maybe he can finally ask Leo for his phone number. It would be a lot easier on both of them to reschedule in the event one of them isn’t well.

Very early on in this thing he and Leo have, Julian’s car had broken down on his way home from work. He certainly hadn’t made it to the club in time, and he had no other way of contacting Leo outside of their biweekly meetups. He was sick with worry that Leo would think he’d stood him up or worse, ended things without a word. Two weeks later, he’d driven straight to the club from work and watched the door with his heart in his throat. That night, Leo had been practically clingy, refusing to let Julian out of his reach.

Julian sips his water. He’ll ask tonight, he decides firmly. It’s been almost a year now. Julian feels confident that even if Leo says no, he won’t end things between them. Not anymore.

There’s a ghost of a breeze at his back then graceful, calloused fingers trailing down his shoulder. Julian is smiling before Leo fully rounds the chair and comes to stand in front of him.

“You look tired,” Leo says, gracefully sinking from his formidable height to settle down on his knees. They’ve spent many nights just like this – Julian in the chair, Leo at his feet. Julian’s always loved the sight of a submissive kneeling for him, but having that submissive be Leo takes his breath away every time.

“I’ve heard that from too many people tonight,” Julian says lightly.

Leo chuckles. “Maybe because it’s true.” He leans forward with a sigh and rests his cheek on Julian’s thigh.

The sight of Leo is comfortingly familiar, and Julian lets his hand drift down to its favorite place, tangling his fingers in Leo’s hair.

“Long day at work?” Leo asks quietly, eyes sliding shut.

“Long month,” Julian admits. “This kept me going.”

Leo hums. “Me too.” He shifts a little and winces, the sharp inhale sending Julian’s Dom instincts into overdrive as every remnant of his exhaustion vanishes.

“Are you hurt?”

Leo hesitates, nose scrunching slightly.

Julian leans forward and cups Leo’s chin to gently but firmly lift his head. “I know you’re not thinking of lying to me, baby boy. Where are you hurt?”

Leo whines a little, already slipping into his little space from Julian’s tone. “S’not bad, daddy. Promise.”

“You’ll let me be the judge of that,” Julian says. “Come on, come with daddy.”

He coaxes Leo to his feet and takes his boy’s hand, pocketing the juice box and grabbing his water. When they’re both standing, the height difference is obvious, but it just makes Julian prouder. His beautiful boy could probably pick him up with just one hand, but he still trusts Julian to take care of him and make things better. It’s an honor Julian will do everything to be worthy of.

Julian leads Leo into the secluded littles room, flipping the sign on the door to show the room is in use, and perches him on a chair. “Here,” he says softly, pulling out the juice box and popping in the straw. “Hydrate.” As Leo drinks, Julian pulls out the first aid kit in the room and brings it back over. “Let me see you, baby boy.”

Leo whines again but angles his head slightly to show Julian the gash on his temple. Julian presses his lips together. That’s the side Leo had been resting on his thigh – to hide it from Julian?

“Where else, sweetheart?” he asks, keeping his voice low and calm.

Leo wiggles a little in his seat. He goes nonverbal when he’s fully in his little space, and Julian is both gratified and worried to see how quickly Leo dropped into it tonight.

“Baby boy really needed daddy tonight, huh?” he asks.

Leo nods, sucking the straw of his juice box until it gets that hollow slurping sound.

“Are your other ouchies under here”—Julian rests his hand gently on Leo’s torso—“or here?” He moves the hand to Leo’s thigh.

Leo wiggles a little more, then reaches out to tug twice on Julian’s sleeve. Their gesture for agreement or consent. And also for when Leo just wants daddy’s attention.

“Both?” Julian guesses.

Leo nods. He’s chewing on the juice box straw now, eyes worried.

Julian cups Leo’s cheek in his hand and leans in to gently rub their noses together. “I’m not mad at you, baby boy. I’m just worried. You know daddy always wants you to be safe.”

Leo tugs his shirt twice.

“But I’m so honored you’re letting me take care of you now, sweetheart.” Julian kisses his forehead. “I’ll do this boo-boo first, and then we’ll look at the others, okay?”

Leo scrunches up his nose.

“What is it?”

Leo makes the sign for question and gestures it from Julian towards himself.

“I won’t,” Julian promises. “I promised you that day one, sweetheart. I won’t ask you any questions. Anything you want to tell me, you can tell me when you’re ready.”

Leo ducks his head and tugs twice on Julian’s shirt.

“My brave boy,” Julian says. He opens up the first aid kit. “Little sting, baby.” He doctors the head wound, wondering what happened. It’s a deep gash, not something caused by a minor accident. But he promised not to ask, and he won’t.

“Can we take this off you, baby boy?” he asks, lifting up the hem of Leo’s shirt.

Leo nods and raises his arms, juice box hanging from his mouth where he’s still biting the straw. Julian chuckles and takes away the juice box, setting it aside. Maybe apple is Leo’s new favorite flavor. He pulls Leo’s shirt off gently and bites his tongue at the extensive bruises and scrapes littered across his boy’s torso—and underneath that, scars from old wounds. He’s always known Leo probably does something…outside the law. He has to, from the secrecy and the callouses and Leo’s ability to move around soundlessly and Leo’s inability not to be on high alert at all times – except when he’s Julian’s little boy. But seeing the physical proof of the danger Leo is in makes Julian want to wrap him up and never let him go.

“I’m going to talk to you about this later,” Julian says as he starts gently cleaning the scrapes. Road rash, maybe? “But I’d like to give you my phone number. If you feel comfortable giving me yours, I’d be honored. But I’d like us to have a way to contact each other outside of this. In case something comes up.”

Two tugs on his shirt.

He finishes bandaging the wounds, then rests a hand on Leo’s thigh. “Are these boo-boos that need band-aids, baby boy?”

Leo hesitates then nods slowly.

“Are you okay with daddy taking your pants off? It’s okay if you’re not.”

Leo hesitates, his feet bouncing as he thinks. Part of why this thing between them is so special to Julian is that Leo’s hard limits mesh so well with his. This is the closest either of them has come to a limit before, and Julian is waiting for a headshake no or a signed yellow or maybe even the open-palm tap-tap-tap of red.

But instead, Leo nods, nervous but trusting. He reaches out and pulls Julian into a hug, hands scratching lightly against Julian’s back.

“My brave boy,” Julian says again, almost tearing up with how much he means it. “Do you want daddy to help you put your shirt back on first?”

Two tugs on his shirt.

“Okay. Arms up.”

He pulls Leo’s pants off as soon as he’s gotten the shirt back on. The sooner he gets the injuries treated, the sooner he can get Leo dressed again. But he has to pause when he sees Leo’s underwear – patterned with cartoon lions.

Julian smiles and leans up to kiss Leo’s cheek.

The road rash continues down Leo’s hip and thigh. Julian doctors it as best he can then gently helps Leo back into his clothes.

“Better?” he asks, and he returns Leo’s smile. “Good boy. Okay to go back out?”

Leo nods and reaches out with grabby hands. Julian laughs and hauls his boy to his feet. “Silly boy. I need to put the first aid kit back and tidy up a little. You want to go pick your favorite bean bag to cuddle daddy in?”

Leo nods and all but bounces out the door, much lighter than he was before. Julian cleans up, puts the first aid kit back, then leaves the room, flipping the door tag back to unoccupied. He sees Leo sprawled across a beanbag chair, looking like he bellyflopped onto it, and laughs.

There’s nothing he wants more than to curl up with his boy and hold him close. But first, he detours to the bar and flags down Suzette for more water. She refills his glass then pours another into the club’s cups with lids and disposable straws.

“Everything okay?” she asks. “You guys were in there for a bit.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. He just…” Julian shakes his head. “Sorry. It’s not really mine to share.”

“No, of course. I just wanted to know if there’s anything I could do to help.”

Julian smiles. “He loved the apple juice box. I think maybe that should be our new standard order.”

Suzette chuckles. “Duly noted. Now go hug your boy, he’s getting restless.”

Julian glances over just in time to see Leo stick his feet in the air and reach out to touch his toes.

“Restless boy,” he says as he approaches, “where are your shoes?”

Leo points. They’re strewn across the floor like he kicked them off. Julian shakes his head before retrieving the shoes and tucking them along the side of the bean bag.

“Make room for daddy,” Julian warns before he dramatically sits himself down at Leo’s uninjured side, sprawling everywhere. Leo giggles hysterically as Julian “accidentally” keeps rolling into him, until eventually they settle in their usual position with Julian on the bottom and Leo curled up half on top of him.

“Here, baby boy,” Julian says, and he adjusts them a little to prop Leo up as he brings straw to Leo’s mouth.

Leo sips the water and sighs, sagging into Julian’s arms. They stay curled up like that as people come and go, not speaking, just relaxing together. Julian reminds Leo to hydrate in regular intervals, and Leo toys with the buttons of Julian’s shirt. A pup comes sniffing their way at one point but quickly realizes they aren’t going to be exuberant playmates and leaves them alone.

“Daddy,” Leo says a while later as he starts to slowly surface from his headspace, “did you mean it?”

“I always mean what I say to you, baby boy,” Julian murmurs. “But which bit were you asking about?”

“Phone numbers.”

Julian kisses the top of Leo’s head. “I would like nothing more. But I never want to ask for more than you’re ready to give, sweetheart. And you’re not allowed to give me answer at all tonight.”

Leo raises his head, eyes wide. “Daddy!”

“No big decisions when you’re little, baby boy. You know that’s the rule.”

Leo pouts and thunks his head back onto Julian’s chest. “But what if I wanted that before tonight?”

Julian bites back the smile that wants to form. “Then daddy would be very excited. But he still wouldn’t take an answer from you until you weren’t little anymore. Frankly, I was very bad to even bring it up when I did.”

“No,” Leo says, shaking his head dramatically. “It was perfect, daddy.”

“Okay.” Julian kisses his head again. “How about this, impatient boy? I’ll give you my number when we say goodnight tonight. And then you can decide what to do with it. But you’re not allowed to text or call until at least tomorrow at lunch.”

“Lunch?” Leo sounds betrayed.

“I want to know you had time to think about it outside of your headspace, baby. I won’t budge on that.”

Leo huffs. “Fine.”

Julian arches a brow. “Was that attitude I heard?”

“No, daddy,” Leo mutters, “just impatience.”

Julian laughs and hugs Leo tightly. “Silly boy,” he whispers against Leo’s cheek.

Leo rubs their noses together with a smile.

The text comes in from a blocked number at exactly noon the following day.

I waited for FOREVER but it’s lunchtime now so I can’t be in trouble

Julian smiles. I didn’t know you made the rules here, sweetheart

I’m just saying I was following yours!

Mhm… Julian sends a thinking face emoji, then glances at the strange way the number is blocked but somehow able to receive his text messages. Would I be able to call this number if I needed to, sweetheart? It’s showing as a blocked number on my side

A longer pause between messages now.

I don’t think so
Sorry daddy

Take that back baby boy
You have nothing to be sorry about

But you wanted to exchange phone numbers and you still don’t have mine

I wanted a way to contact you outside of our club meetups and that’s exactly what you’ve given me

Another pause.

Leo. Tell me you understand that I’m not mad or disappointed in you.

Okay daddy. I’m sorry I was sorry

Baby boy you have made my day by texting me. Please believe me

I do daddy
Promise

Good boy
Daddy has to get some work done now, but if you want— Julian stops typing for a second, hesitating. Maybe this is too much, especially on the heels of Leo’s anxiety. But then he shakes his head. If nothing else, it should affirm for Leo that Julian’s still here and is all in. He finishes typing and hits send: Daddy has to get some work done but if you want daddy can give you a goodnight hug and kiss tonight

Leo texts back within seconds. Really???

Julian smiles. Really-really.

They fall into a routine without deliberately creating one, but Julian can’t bring himself to feel guilty about it. He knows how important consistency is to Leo, and he’s more than happy to provide it in all the ways he can.

Leo always wakes up before Julian, and he sends a good morning gif the moment he’s awake. Julian enjoys seeing the different ones Leo picks, and he’s always smiling when he writes back to ask how his day has been so far while daddy was still asleep. Every night, Leo texts when he’s getting ready for bed and Julian sends him a good night hug and kiss and tell him to have sweet dreams.

During the week, they trade texts during Julian’s lunch, and that’s what Julian is starting to think of as their non-dynamic time. Good mornings and goodnights are too intrinsically steeped in protocol now, not that Julian would change that for the world. But the midday conversations are when Leo complains about his coworkers and shares silly drama or rants about a book he finished that he thought was particularly disappointing.

They continue to meet at the club every other Thursday, but Julian feels like their time there is even more special than before. There’s a looseness to Leo as he curls up at Julian’s feet that wasn’t there before. A trust.

Julian has known for months now that Leo is a precious person in his life. But now that they’re connecting on this new level, both in their dynamic and outside of it, he knows that he wants Leo in his life for as long as Leo will have him.

Julian’s phone lights up, and he unlocks it to read the message.

If someone is picking on me you’re totally supposed to defend me, right?

Always. But I feel I should point out that you’re the muscle between the two of us

No no I don’t need that kind of defending
Finley keeps stealing my socks but just one from each pair
They need corner time daddy

Julian chuckles. I would be happy to do that except for one small detail…

What?

This daddy already has a little one to take care of, and daddy doesn’t discipline littles who aren’t his

A brief pause. Then a gif arrives of two cartoon bears hugging each other tightly.

“Love you too, baby boy,” Julian murmurs as he finds a gif to send in return.

One Friday afternoon, Julian gets into his car with a groan. Work has been getting more and more exhausting with each passing day. The projects keep piling up and no matter how often he tells the managers there’s only so many hours in the day and only one of him. But he’s made it to the weekend, and next week is his Thursday with Leo, so he has something to look forward to.

He pulls into the driveway and heads into his house, dropping his bag on the floor just inside the door. Then, something tickles at his instincts and he pauses.

“It’s just me,” Leo says, and Julian jumps a mile.

“Leo?” Julian looks around. “Where are you? How did you get in here?” He pauses. “How do you know where I live?”

“Sorry,” Leo says, voice thin. “I’m really sorry. I just needed somewhere to lie low and I wanted…”

Julian spots him curled up on the floor in front of the couch, and he hurries over to cup Leo’s cheek and raise his head. “What is it, sweetheart? What’s wrong?”

“I just wanted daddy to make it better,” Leo admits, voice trembling. “So I came here. I’m sorry, I know I wasn’t supposed to, but will you help me anyway, daddy? Please?”

“Of course, baby boy. Anything you need.” Julian reaches over to turn on the table lamp near them, then freezes when he sees the blood. “Fuck, Leo, what happened?”

“I got sloppy.” Leo shakes his head. “It’s not—” He scrunches up his nose. “I don’t need a hospital. I could’ve taken care of it myself, I just…”

“Wanted daddy to make it better,” Julian echoes. “Okay, baby boy. Daddy’s here. Come on, let’s go in the bathroom so daddy can get a look at you.”

Leo looks at him, eyes glassy. “Really?”

“Really-really,” Julian says. He extends a hand and pulls Leo to his feet, worried as he realizes how unsteady Leo is. “Come on, baby,” he murmurs. “Daddy’s going to take care of you.”

Leo whines and buries his nose against Julian’s throat. Julian feels two gentle tugs on his shirt.

In the bathroom light, Julian sits his boy on the toilet seat lid and slowly disrobes him, gingerly peeling back the fabric where it’s started to stick, tacky with blood.

“This looks bad, Leo,” he says softly. “I’m not…I’m a CPA, baby boy, I’m not a doctor.”

“It’s not that bad,” Leo insists, voice thready. Julian can tell he’s teetering on the edge of little space and trying not to fall in. “I’ve had worse. Really.”

Julian pauses and kisses Leo’s forehead. It doesn’t feel like enough, so he goes back in to kiss his cheek, his nose. “That doesn’t make me feel better, baby boy. But okay. Let’s get you cleaned up. Can I take your pants off, too?”

Leo nods and extends his legs, wiggling his feet a little. It makes Julian smile, just a little. Once he’s down to his underwear, Leo looks impressively formidable. Julian always knew Leo was bigger and stronger, but seeing him here, injured and halfway-little but still physically imposing with his abs and his biceps and whatever those other fancy names for muscles are, is an eye-opener.

Embarrassingly, it makes Julian want to puff out his chest with pride.

Instead, he wets a wash cloth and kneels down at Leo’s feet. “Let’s wipe this up, yeah?”

Leo nods and extends a hand. Julian plays with his fingers as he drags the cloth in slow, repetitive motions. He has to pause more times than he’d like to rinse the cloth, wring out the blood, but eventually he sees that Leo was telling the truth in his own way – it seems to be just two injuries, one on his side and one on his thigh. They look like shallow knife wounds, to Julian’s ignorant eye.

“A lot of blood for these,” he murmurs to himself, thinking of how tacky Leo’s shirt had been all the way to the sleeves.

Leo shifts, opening his mouth for the first time since he insisted his injuries weren’t as bad as they looked. “It—wasn’t all mine.”

Julian freezes, his hand tightening where it’s still tangled with Leo’s. He looks up to catch Leo’s eyes, and his heart breaks at the fear and panic he sees there. “Sweetheart,” he murmurs. He sets the cloth down and moves closer, wrapping Leo up in his arms as tightly as he can without hurting his injuries. “I want you to listen very closely, baby boy. Okay?”

Leo nods and tugs Julian’s shirt twice.

“I’ve known for a while that you did something probably illegal for work. I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now. You’re still my sweet baby boy, and I don’t ever want to let you go.”

“Really?” Leo asks, voice thin.

“Really-really,” Julian says firmly. He leans back enough to brush their noses against each other. “I promised you on day one I wouldn’t press or ask questions, and I never will. But I need to know one thing, sweetheart. Is anyone coming after you? Do I need to find a way to hide you, get you away from here?”

Leo’s lip trembles and his eyes water. “No, daddy,” he whispers. “I swear. I wouldn’t risk you like that.”

“Okay.” He kisses the tip of Leo’s nose. “Then let’s get you patched up and put to bed. My boy needs to sleep and heal.”

Leo nods and buries his head against Julian’s throat. He tugs Julian’s shirt over and over again as he shudders in Julian’s arms.

Once he’s gotten Leo patched up to the best of his abilities, Julian makes Leo something to eat and drink then tucks his boy into bed. Everything aside, the sight of Leo in his bed with the covers pulled up to his forehead, his hair sticking up just over the blanket hem, is satisfyingly right.

Julian lingers in the doorway to drink it in before heading back to the bathroom to clean up. The bloodstained clothes go straight into a trash bag – after Leo’s phone and wallet have been removed – but there Julian hesitates. They’re presumably incriminating, if the blood isn’t entirely Leo’s. He wonders what the best method is to dispose of them. He adds the washcloth to the bag and ties it off, firmly labelling that a future problem. Leo, presumably, has his ways.

He wipes down the sink then goes back out to the sitting room where Leo had been curled up on the floor. He’s expecting to find blood, but instead he sees trash bag-covered towels on the floor to keep the blood from sinking into the rug or sofa.

Something in Julian feels indescribably sad at the thought of a tired, hurt Leo desperate for comfort, but still taking the time to find a way to keep Julian’s carpet clean.

He adds the trash bags to his larger one with Leo’s clothes, double knots it, then washes his hands and gets ready for bed. Leo is out cold, but he stirs when Julian climbs under the covers with him, eyes flickering.

“Mm?”

“Ssh, baby boy, it’s just daddy climbing into bed with you. Go back to sleep.”

Leo hums and shifts a little closer to Julian, fingers brushing against his arm. Julian reaches out to tangle his fingers in Leo’s hair, stroking through it like he always does when they’re curled up together. He falls asleep like that, hand buried in Leo’s hair and Leo’s breath fanning across his skin.

When Julian wakes up, Leo’s already awake and typing on his phone. “Good morning, daddy,” Leo says, smiling. “I sent you a gif. You should check your phone.”

Julian chuckles, rubbing his eyes. “Why don’t you just show me on yours, baby boy?”

“Oh,” Leo says. “Right.” He turns his phone around and shoves it into Julian’s face.

It takes a minute for his sleepy eyes to focus on the screen, but he laughs when he sees it. “If you’re going to make a habit of getting hurt, sweetheart, I’m going to have to go shopping for some fun band aids.”

Leo looks at him. “Fun band aids?”

“Yep.” Julian rolls onto his side and gently pokes the end of Leo’s nose. “Ones with animals on them, maybe. Or silly faces. Does my boy like the sound of that?”

Leo nods shyly. “Please.”

Julian kisses his forehead. “Of course, baby boy. Come on, you must be starving. Let’s get you something to eat.”

He helps Leo out of bed and looks carefully at the two injuries as Leo walks into the kitchen. Aside from moving a little stiffly, there’s nothing to indicate Leo’s in any pain. The ibuprofen he gratefully takes from Julian seconds later contradicts that.

Julian pours him some milk then starts whipping together some omelets.

“Um,” Leo says, “Julian?”

Julian pauses and looks over his shoulder. “What is it, Leo?”

Leo is staring down at his milk and picking at a cuticle anxiously. “I think I want to tell you the truth. About what I do.”

Julian turns off the stovetop and sits down across from Leo. Slowly, he reaches over to take Leo’s hands, rubbing gently against the area he’d been picking at. “Only if you want to, sweetheart.”

“I know.” Leo nods. “I want you to know. I want to be able to tell you everything.” He hesitates. “I mean…if you. If we’re…”

Julian raises Leo’s hand to his mouth and kisses it. “I’m in this for the long haul, Leo. I’ll be here until you don’t want me to be.”

Leo blinks, ducking his head. “So, if I always want you here?”

“Then I’ll always be here,” Julian says simply.

Leo smiles. “Really?”

“Really-really.”

Leo grips Julian’s hands tighter and nods. “Okay. Well, so. What I do…”

Julian reaches out and pokes the tip of Leo’s nose, startling him into a small laugh.

“What was that, daddy?”

“Nothing.” Julian grins. “Just wanted to tease my baby boy.”

“Daddy,” Leo says, drawing out the word. “I’m trying to be super serious here.”

“Oh, my mistake.” Julian makes a show out of sitting up straight and making his expression more focused. “Okay. I’m super serious now.”

Leo shakes his head and giggles, then clears his throat. “I just don’t want you to not want me anymore,” he admits.

“Baby,” Julian says honestly, “if you told me you were a serial killer, I’d just ask you to get rid of your own bloody clothes in my bathroom so I don’t get arrested.”

Leo stares at him, eyes wide.

“No, seriously. I can hardly be a good daddy to you if we’re in jail.”

“Daddy,” Leo says, “you’re crazy.”

“I’m just being pragmatic here, really.”

“I’m not a serial killer.”

“Okay then.”

“But I am a killer for hire.”

Julian hesitates. “That’s still a thing?”

Leo stares at him. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I just thought assassins were, like, something they had in the medieval times.”

“This,” Leo says slowly, “is not the reaction I was expecting.”

Julian reaches out and pokes Leo’s nose again, just to make him laugh. Leo’s stomach rumbles, and Julian straightens and heads back to the stove. “That sound means daddy is slacking on the job. I can take a hint.”

Leo giggles. “Silly daddy.”

“If daddy’s silly, it’s just because his boy is,” Julian declares. He ducks around the table to poke Leo’s nose one more time, then kisses Leo’s forehead for good measure.

Leo goes home later that day, despite Julian’s playful attempts to convince him to stay for longer.

“I have to get back and check in,” Leo insists. “I told them I’m fine but they don’t believe me since I haven’t actually shown up yet.”

Julian reels him in for just one more hug. “You’ll text me when you get home safely?”

“Yes, daddy.”

“Okay.” He kisses Leo’s cheek. “I guess I can allow that.”

Leo ducks down to kiss Julian’s cheek in return. “I’ll text you. I promise.”

True to his word, he sends Julian a text forty minutes later.

I’m home and getting interrogated
You’re right I should’ve stayed with you

Daddy will kiss it better next time he sees you

Promise?

Promise

Ten minutes later, Julian’s phone chimes again.

GDI Remington dug into my phone’s GPS

Julian frowns slightly. That sounds slightly concerning, but also he assumes Remington is part of Leo’s team.

He put a photo of you up on his biggest monitor

“Ah,” Julian says out loud.

Is it a good photo at least?

Daddy!

Just asking

Leo sends him back a gif of someone shaking their head disappointedly, and Julian laughs. He pauses for a moment, wondering if he wants to send his net thought or wait until Thursday. Another text from Leo arrives.

Daddyyyy half of my team are trying to steal you away from me

That will never in a million years happen, baby boy

Julian hesitates, then decides, “Fuck it,” and starts typing again.

Sweetheart, can we figure out a way for you to let me know when you’re going to leave on a…job going forward? And maybe you can come stay with daddy for the night when you’re done each time

There’s a long enough pause for Julian to have regrets. He types some more.

We don’t have to decide this now. I shouldn’t have even sent this like this
We can talk about it Thursday
Or never
You can tell me this is a limit and of course I’ll respect that

Daddy
This is where you would tell me to take three deep breaths

Julian barks out a laugh.

Is that attitude I hear?

No
Just common sense
:P

My bratty boy

I would love to get daddy cuddles after assignments
I have to go deal with my team being stupid right now but I want to talk about it with you Thursday
Promise

Julian sighs, clutching his phone. Really? he types.

Really-really, daddy
<3

Thursday can’t come soon enough. Julian is dying to know more, but he also figures that nothing incriminating should be sent over text. Clearly, there’s a reason Leo’s number is blocked and Julian would never do anything to jeopardize Leo’s safety. They keep their daily text protocol, and Julian counts down the days.

He doesn’t even beat Leo to the club this time. When Julian walks in the door, he sees his boy at the bar chatting with Suzette. He’s got a juice box already – apple, Julian notes with a smile – and a glass of water at his side.

“Hey, baby boy,” Julian says as he comes up alongside him.

Leo beams at him and leans into his side, curling into Julian’s hug.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Suzette teases.

“If you wanted a hug,” Julian says, “all you had to do was ask.”

She laughs and waves them both off, and they take their drinks to go curl up on a bean bag chair together.

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Leo says immediately, “and I can text you an emoji, maybe? Something simple and quick. Like our”—he reaches out and tugs on Julian’s shirt.

“I love it,” Julian says. “And I didn’t mean to make this some…control or oversight thing. I just. Now that I know what you do, I’m going to worry about you.” He smiles ruefully. “Daddy’s prerogative.”

“No, I know.” Leo curls up on his side and rests his head on Julian’s chest in his favorite spot. “I like it. I swear, it’s usually not that dangerous. They never really see me coming. It’s just that sometimes they do. Or they have good protection.”

Julian tangles his fingers in Leo’s hair and starts stroking. “How long do your jobs last usually?”

Leo shrugs. “It varies. Sometimes they’re a couple hours, sometimes a couple weeks. The stakeouts are the most painful. Rem and the others can get some intel for me, but I always end up watching the marks for a bit to really lock in their schedule.”

Julian frowns. “You make sure you’re eating and drinking, right? You know how quickly you get dehydrated.”

Leo pulls away a little, and Julian immediately drops his hand from Leo’s hair to give him space to move.

“Sorry, sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Leo shakes his head, smiling slightly. “I just…that’s what you’re worried about? That I eat and drink?”

“I always want you as safe as possible,” Julian says. “And as healthy as possible, so yes, I’m worried you’re not eating and drinking on these stakeout things.”

Leo leans in and kisses the hinge of Julian’s jaw. “Thank you, daddy,” he murmurs. “I’ll try to be better at it for you. Promise.”

“And you’ll come stay with me afterwards?” Julian checks. “So daddy can patch you up and tuck you into bed?”

Leo sags into his side and tugs on his shirt. “Please?”

“Anything for my baby boy,” Julian says. “Anything at all.”

Leo’s watch vibrates gently against his wrist, and he taps it to dismiss the alarm before slowly moving to stretch all his joints. He’s in the middle of surveillance – the mark lives so remote that Remington couldn’t even find a satellite phone to hack, so Leo’s been out here for a week now doing things the old-fashioned way.

A couple months ago after Leo came home stiff and sore, Julian made it a rule that Leo take stretch-snack-drink breaks every hour. Leo’s set alarms on his watch accordingly.

The water bottle he carries was a gift from Julian. It’s a dark, matte metal that won’t catch the light and give away his position. A lion’s head is engraved on the side. Leo likes to run his fingers over it and think of Julian back at home.

He goes to his pack and pulls out today’s snack box then goes back to his perch. Julian’s gotten a little overzealous with this, not that Leo has any complaints. When he found out Leo would be gone at least a week, he’d put together a small mountain of snack boxes and insisted Leo take them all.

He opens up today’s and smiles. Like with every box, there’s a note on top. Today’s says, To my beautiful baby boy, remember the three don’ts of stakeouts (daddy edition):
1. Don’t forget to eat and drink
2. Don’t get caught
3. Don’t forget how much your daddy loves you.
If you have time and it’s safe, call me. Daddy would love to hear your voice.

Leo dips into the snacks and pulls out his heavily encrypted phone. Julian’s in his contacts under Pride. He hits the button to call without even doing out the math for time zones, even as he puts his eye back to his rifle scope to watch the mark.

“Hey, baby boy,” Julian says almost immediately. “What are you up to?”

“I’m having my snack,” Leo says, “and drinking water.”

“Good boy,” Julian purrs. “How’s the job going?”

“So slowly,” Leo grumbles. The mark is currently sitting in his hot tub, drinking wine. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, baby. But guess what?”

“What?”

“Daddy has a surprise for you when you get home.”

“A surprise?”

“Mhm. But you’ll only get it if you finish the job without getting hurt.”

Leo pouts, even though Julian can’t see him. “Daddy…”

“If you get hurt,” Julian says, “then you’ll just have to wait until the next job. Or the one after that. It isn’t going anywhere, baby boy. But I want you to start taking better care of yourself out there.”

Leo sighs. “But I like you taking care of my ouchies.”

“I like taking care of you too, baby, always. But remember what daddy told you?”

Leo nods. “I’m yours, so when I get hurt, it hurts you too.”

“Good boy.” The words make Leo all warm and happy inside.

He and Julian have found a balance to keep that feeling of care when Leo’s out on jobs without sending Leo into little space. Their dynamic these days is a strange almost-not-quite-24/7 style, where Julian is daddy more often than not, but Leo only fully drops into his nonverbal little space when he’s home and safe in his daddy’s arms.

“I’m so happy you called me, baby boy. I missed hearing your voice. Finish your snack and come home safe to me, okay?”

“I will,” Leo promises. “Love you.”

“Love you more.”

Leo hangs up the phone and finishes his snack, carefully tucking the note with his others. Through his scope, he watches the mark go back inside, right on time, for his midday lunch and booty call with the pool boy. The contract requires that the death looks accidental, so Leo’s going to have to get a little up close and personal. He’s thinking poison to make it look like the guy passed out drunk and drowned in the hot tub.

He’s got just the thing, and he should be able to sneak in tonight during their nightly sexathon. If all goes well, he’ll be home with Julian this time tomorrow.

He smiles and wonders what kind of surprise is waiting for him at home.