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Leon follows behind James, focusing on the slight buzzing to keep himself from turning his hearing aids back on. The buzzing for too long is too much but he’s overstimulated enough that he’s risking walking around the White House with his hearing aids off, so lesser of two evils. A hand grabs his and he whips around. Claire’s there and her lips are already moving. While he can tell what she’s saying, he clearly missed the first part.
“Hold on,” he says, turning his hearing aids back on with his free hand.
She stops, her grip on his hand loosening. “What happened?” she asks after a moment, hand releasing his to go up toward his ear.
“Damage from using guns and explosives without proper ear protection,” he answers. “Got ‘em after coming back from Spain.”
“Why were they off then?”
Leon hesitates, then smiles sheepishly. “Hoping to avoid having to hear James’ speech. I can read lips pretty well and if I miss anything, there’s someone that transcribes the meetings. Can also claim they died. But what are you doing here?”
“I have a meeting to get schools and hospitals built,” Claire answers. “I just heard that you wouldn’t be in town.”
“Did Hunnigan tell you that? I got called in last minute to attend this meeting about anti-bioterrorism. Maybe I can give myself a concussion while I’m at it.”
Claire dramatically rolls her eyes. “Don’t do that, your head’s banged up enough.”
Leon laughs softly. “It’s good to see you, Claire. How long as you gonna be in town?”
“Today and tomorrow. I’m leaving the day after.”
“We should get dinner tomorrow.” He pauses. “If you don’t have plans already.”
“I was planning on hiding in my hotel room and eating Chinese takeout, so I don’t have plans.”
“Text me your hotel address and I’ll pick you up around seven?”
“Sure thing, hot shot. That guy you were walking with is coming back, so I’ll let you go.”
He spares a quick glance behind him and James is walking back over. “Alright, bye Claire.”
“Bye, Leon.” She gives him a smile and he gives her a wink before turning back to James.
“We’re going to be late, Mr. Kennedy.”
“Sorry, important conversation I needed to have. Coming.” He waits until James is turned back around to turn his hearing aids back off.
Leon’s sitting at his desk, checking his service weapon. While this was not originally on the “To Do” list, he’s on call now so he can’t help but check it once. Once that’s done, he turns to his computer to look over Claire’s manuscript. There’s a knock on the door.
“Claire, I asked for one hour,” Leon says, turning toward the door.
The door’s open and Claire’s standing there. “Yeah, I know, but this is important.”
“It hasn’t even been half of that.”
“I know, but this is—”
“I’m turning my hearing aids off.”
“Really?” Claire asks, folding her arms.
He nods, the skepticism on her face hardening his resolve.
“You can read lips, Idiot. You could still have a conversation with me, and you can still hear me if I yell.”
Leon makes a show of turning his hearing aids off before walking past her and going into the kitchen. He methodically goes through the process of starting coffee, then turns toward the living room. Claire’s in the entryway between the living room and kitchen, arms folded. She flips him off before grabbing her keys.
Wait, she doesn’t have work today.
Leon flips his hearing aids back on. “Hey, where are you going?”
She doesn’t stop walking. “If you would have a conversation with me, you’d know.”
“I love you!”
She stops at the door and turns. He smiles and she sighs, rolling her eyes again. “I love you too. I’m gonna be picking Chris up from the airport and bringing him back. You’re making dinner.”
Leon sighs before heading back into the kitchen.
“Shut up, you like Chris!”
“Yeah, I know! I’m just trying to bother you, my love.”
She opens the door and shuts it with as little force as possible, which makes Leon start laughing.
She knows exactly what to do to combat me pissing her off.
Leon’s eyes pop open and he can feel his chest heaving. The problem, he can’t hear it. He’s been able to hear himself when this happens.
Something’s wrong.
All he hears is the buzzing and even that’s quiet. He sits up and while it’s dark, Claire’s not next to him. He throws the covers off and gets up, reaching for his bedside table to grab his gun.
If she’s not here, something wrong. Something has to be wrong because she’s supposed to be here.
The door opens and light floods in. He can see Claire’s silhouette and his hand drops back to his side. She flips the lights on before sitting down on the bed next to him. He puts his head on her shoulder.
“I can’t hear anything.” He doesn’t know how loud his words are, but he knows Claire heard them because she wraps her arm around him. He takes a minute to compose himself, then reaches for his hearing aids. He turns them on and sound rushes back. “Oh, hell,” he mutters.
“It’s okay to freak out a little,” she says.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, doc told me this could happen but…”
“Needing help can be scary. That’s normal.”
Leon nods, “Yeah, I know. Thanks, Claire.”
“Of course. I was only going to check the door because somebody knocked. Wrong apartment number and they knew it as soon as I opened the door. But we’re awake now, so we’re gonna have to do something.”
“I can make pancakes?” Leon offers.
“Sounds like a great idea.” He gets up and offers a hand to her. She takes it and gets up, so he pulls her into a gentle embrace. Her arms around him keep him grounded as he takes several deep breaths. “I love you.”
He can almost hear the smile in her voice, “I know.”
He laughs, a soft and breathless sound. They head into the kitchen to make pancakes hand in hand.