Jade awoke the next morning confused and out of sorts. She looked around her bedroom, wondering for a brief, groggy moment why she was in a place that was actually pleasant, and not her usual morning sight of the dumpy, rundown apartment where she lived.

Oh, that's right, she thought, sitting up and stretching, I'm in a rich person's apartment.

She got out of bed, took a quick shower, and threw on her clothes. Heading back out into the living room, she was greeted with the sight of Leon seated at the kitchen bar with Oliver, the two of them laughing and joking around about one thing or another.

"Morning," said Leon, noticing Jade now in the room.

"Morning," Jade replied, her voice still heavy with sleep.

The apartment was bright and sunny, and Jade couldn't help but feel a little gladdened at the sight of Leon first thing in the morning. It reminded her of the times he'd stay over at her apartment during their brief fling, and how happy she always was waking up next to him.

"There's pancakes!" said Oliver, a strange little triumphant tone to his words that Jade couldn't help but chuckle at.

"Saturday morning tradition," said Leon.

"Pancakes sound great to me," she said.

Jade strolled into the kitchen past Leon and Oliver and loaded up a plate with pancakes, pouring herself a cup of fresh coffee in the process.

"I was thinking that you and I could do a little more interview work before I dropped you back off at your place," said Leon. "How does that sound?"

"Sounds great to me," said Jade. "The faster that you and I can get down everything you want to say, the faster I can start on the actual article."

"Are you having a story written about you?" asked Oliver. "Does that mean you're famous?"

"I wouldn't quite say ‘famous'," said Leon. "But there seem to be plenty of people who want to hear about your dad's life story, as weird as that is to me."

"You don't get to accomplish as much as you have without attracting a little attention," said Jade. "People want to know just how you did it."

"Just hard work and extremely singular focus," said Leon.

"Oh, oh," said Jade, holding up a finger. "Save his for the interview."

Leon let out a dry chuckle.

"Sure," he said.

The three of them ate their breakfast, and after Leon cleaned up he invited out onto the balcony to continue their interview. Oliver busied himself with his schoolwork in the meantime.

"So," said Leon. "What's next on the agenda?"

Jade went through her usual process of setting up her recorder and notepad, and the interview was soon underway. The two of them covered more of the subject of Leon's rise to the top echelons of Sanderson Holdings, and Jade couldn't help but notice that, though he kept the details vague, Leon seemed to pursue his track in the business world with the same ruthless nature that he'd brought to bear during his time in the drug game.

"It's like you went from illegal to legal," said Jade. "But kept the same attitude."

"Funny you should mention that," said Leon. "Because that's precisely why I was picked for the job."

"Wait, what?" asked Jade, taken aback.

"I'd always wondered why Mr. Delahunt had chosen me, out of any Ivy League brat that he could've had, to take under his wing. And eventually, he shared with me that when he narrowed the list down to ten promising candidates, he did a little research on his own. During this, he found out all about my…family history, as well as how, exactly, I paid my way through school."

"That's…incredible," said Jade.

"You can find out just about anything you want with the right private investigator," said Leon. "And it was lucky for me; he got me out of the game just in time."

"How long did he wait before he told you this?" asked Jade.

"Just before he died," said Leon. "He passed around three years ago; cancer."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Jade.

Sitting there with Leon, learning about just how much suffering and loss he'd gone through during his life, Jade couldn't help but feel a deep sympathy for him. But she knew better than to express that; Leon had never been the type to seek out pity.

"Tell me about Mr. Delahunt," said Jade.

"He was my mentor, the man who saw potential in me that I never would've believed was there…"

Leon told the story of his mentor, from their first year working together in the city, to Leon's time under the man's wing, to his last struggles with cancer. After an hour or so, Leon seemed spent.

"I think that's good for today," said Jade.

"Same here," said Leon. "This is all…surprisingly more difficult to talk about than I was anticipating."

"Hopefully we won't have to dredge up your past too much longer."

Leon looked away for a brief moment as if considering something.

"It's difficult, sure, but it's actually a little…nice, to get all of this off my chest."

"See?" asked Jade, reaching over and giving Leon a playful jab to the arm. "There's a reason why I kept trying to get you to open up when we were dating. I wasn't just being nosy, you know."

"Could've fooled me," said Leon with a half-smile. "OK, let me take you home. Ready to go?"

"Sure am," said Jade.

They were soon off, and Jade couldn't help but look one last time over her shoulder at Leon's amazing apartment as they stepped out through the front door. She wasn't looking forward to coming home to her shoebox apartment.

A quick drive in Leon's silver Mercedes later, they arrived at the dilapidated apartment building in Sunnyside, Queens where Jade lived. As they pulled up, Jade watched as Leon scanned the apartment building and its surroundings. He glanced at the broken windows of the building, the worn-down brick, the hoodlums lurking about, and the general unwelcoming nature of the neighborhood.

"I don't like this," said Leon, his tone serious and stern.

Jade knew that tone; it was the one that he took when he was about to make a decision that he didn't intend to argue.

"Well, I don't either, but it's not like I have any other options. I mean, unless I want to live with five nineteen-year-olds in some Bushwick loft."

"No," said Leon. "I mean that this is unacceptable for you. This is no place for a woman to live by herself."

"Not all of us can live in massive penthouse apartments, you know," said Jade.

"You can, for a little while, at least."

"What're you talking about?" asked Jade.

"I mean, I want you to come stay with me for a while. During this project."

A tinge of anxiety ran through Jade's stomach.

"I mean, I don't know," said Jade. "That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Why not?" asked Leon. "I've got plenty of space, and it'll be more convenient for you and me than having to trek across town to do our interviews. I think it's a great idea."

Jade had her doubts, but they all involved her history with Leon. He made good points, but there was something about all this that just didn't sit right with her.

"No discussion," he said. "Let's go get your things."

Leon pulled into an open space on the side of the street in front of the apartment, and, after he checked the car alarm multiple times to make sure that it was activated, the two of them entered the building and trekked up the several flights of stairs to Jade's place. Stepping into the cramped apartment, Leon shook his head.

"Yeah," he said. "You're definitely coming with me."

After staying at Leon's place, the apartment seemed even smaller to Jade. She wanted to put up more of a fight about, but if she were being honest with herself, she knew that Leon was right – this was too dangerous of a neighborhood for her, and living with him temporarily would make the whole job easier.

Leon helped her grab a few suitcases worth of things, and soon the two of them were back on the road.

"Here's the deal," said Leon as he drove out of her neighborhood. "If you're feeling like I'm just being charitable, you can look after Oliver from time to time. Nothing too crazy – just every now and then if I have to go out during the evening."

"That works for me," said Jade.

Truthfully, she was a little nervous at the idea of having to watch Oliver; she never really considered herself much of a kid-person. But being able to do a little work did offset the feeling that she was being a burden.

"I've actually got a dinner to go to tonight," said Leon. "You can start the babysitting this evening."

"Oh!" said Jade, a little shocked by how quickly everything was happening. "Sure!"

Leon could apparently sense how nervous she was.

"Don't worry about it," said Leon. "He's an easy kid; just listen to him ramble on about whatever he's into, and maybe you'll have to play some video games with him or something."

"I'm not much of a gamer, but I think I can handle that."

"I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you could. Watch him, that is – not play video games."

Jade flashed him a smile.

"OK," she said. "I'm feeling a little better about this."

After a little more driving, they were soon back at Leon's place, picking up Oliver from a friend's on the floor below on the way.

"You're going to be hanging out with Ms. Jade tonight," said Leon to his son. "So be on your best behavior."

"OK," said Oliver.

Jade could tell right away that he was just as wary about the whole thing as she was.

"Make yourself at home," said Leon, "and feel free to use the extra office for your work."

"Sounds like a plan," said Jade. "I'll be there if you need me for anything."

Leon gave a nod as Jade headed off. Her laptop in hand, she sat down at the ornate desk in the quaint little office and got to work. The view of the city outside inspiring her, Jade worked at a furious pace, taking the notes that she'd collected from Leon, along with the recorded interviews, and turning them into the first rough outline of her article. She was a little surprised at just how easily Leon's life lent itself to a story format, and began to feel excited about the work ahead, instead of the usual fear and anxiety that usually accompanied her writing.

Don't let yourself get too carried away, Jade, she thought to herself. Keep in mind that you're still dealing with the asshole who broke your heart by cheating on you with some skank.

A jolt of anger ran through Jade's body, and for a brief moment, she was taken back to that night so many years ago, when she'd walked in on Leon with the other girl.

Maybe he's changed? she thought. He seems to have the rest of his life in order, after all.

Zebra's don't change their stripes, thought another voice in her mind, as if Jade was possessed by two personalities of conflicting opinions on the matter.

Just focus on the work for now, thought Jade, calming herself down. This is looking good so far; the fastest way to screw it up would be to bring up shit from nearly a decade ago that I'm still sore about.

The afternoon flew by, and eventually Jade reached the point when she knew that no more work was going to get done. She closed her laptop and headed out into the living room, where she spotted Oliver in front of the TV, a controller in his hands. Leon emerged from the hallway that led to his bedroom, dressed in a slick dark suit as he finished the knot on a dark blue tie.

Goddamn, Jade thought, the man knows how to fill out a suit – I'll give him that much.

"Alright, you two," said Leon. "I'm about to take off. Credit card's on the counter; get whatever you want for dinner. Within reason."

He then turned to Jade.

"And call me if you need anything. I shouldn't be too late."

Jade gave a playful little salute, and Leon responded with another one of those smiles that Jade just went wild for. Her heart thudded hard in her chest as she watched Leon leave through the front door.

"Why are you staring at my dad?" asked Oliver, turning away from the screen for just a moment.

"Um, just making sure he didn't have anything on this clothes," said Jade, her face growing hot.

"On his butt?"

"Gotta check everywhere," said Jade.

She turned her attention to the screen.

"What're you playing?"

"Oh, nothing that a girl would like," he said.

"Try me," said Jade.

"It's called Dark Souls. You're a guy with a sword and you have to kill everyone else and steal their souls. That's it. And it's really hard."

"I bet I can beat you," said Jade.

That got Oliver's attention.

"No way," he said. "I'm the best at this game; no one can beat me."

"Let me see that controller," said Jade, plopping onto the couch in front of the enormous TV right next to Oliver.

He handed her the controller and she went to work. Jade had no idea what she was doing at first, but with Oliver's help, she quickly got the gist of things. The hours flew by as the two played their games, with Oliver eagerly explaining the finer points of all of them to Jade. And Jade was happy to listen. After a time, they took a break to order some pizza.

"You're actually pretty cool," said Oliver. "Most of the babysitters think that video games are lame. But then they sit on the couch and play, like, phone games. And I say that those are video games too, but they're always like ‘nu-uh, they're different'."

"What can I say," said Jade. "I'm kind of a badass."

An impish smile formed on Oliver's mouth at hearing a bad word. The rest of the evening passed, and at around ten she got Oliver ready for bed. And as he got into his pajamas, Oliver provided a recap of all of the highlights of their evening, talking eagerly about his video game victories.

"Sounds like you two had quite the night," said Leon from the entrance to Oliver's room.

Jade turned on her heels and, sure enough, there stood Leon. He was leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest and his tie undone in a charmingly rakish way.

"Lots of video games, lots of pizza," said Jade.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" said Oliver.

"See?" said Leon. "I knew you'd a knack for this."

Jade could only smile.