Leo Had a Little Lamb [closed/pill event]

It did not take long for the madness to reach Leo. At the first moment, he had been on his way to the DayCare, though he had taken the longer route there in order to soak up the day a little longer. He didn't think Harmony would mind if he was a minute or two late. Besides that, it was a beautiful day. The colder season was just around the corner and the student wanted to take in the warmth before winter came around. So Leo took a nice and steady stroll, hands fit comfortably in his pockets.

Until the chaos erupted. Adrenaline flooded his veins like his own drug, heart thundering. The angel took off in flight, soaring at a high velocity over the buildings to the DayCare. The angel stuck the landing--one he would have been proud of had the city not have been under attack-- then pushed the door open. Immediately he began checking on the children all the while working his way over to the nursery.

As Leo stepped in, his body froze as if he had seen a monster. The reality was something like that. At man in all black stood over a crib. Someone who should not be in there. Slowly, the blond dropped his bag to the side, pulling out his trench knives before hand. "Step away from the child." He warned, blue eyes flickering from the man to the crib.

The father tried to catch a glimpse of the baby, however, it was obscured from his view. Heart in his throat, Leo readjusted his grip. He was ready to fight tooth and nail. No matter if it was Shepard's life or another child's, they were to be protected at all costs.

It was his worst nightmares come to life.

In just a short time, the entire area was already in shambles. Buildings were turning to crumbles, the forest was all but torn, everywhere you looked; in town, on campus, anywhere - there was nothing but complete hysteria and ruin. All those who lived here, all their agonies, their fears, he could feel every bit of it pouring into him, and could feel the painful cries of those who took their last breath, all light and emotion fading quickly away. It was enough to drive anyone insane.

Nathaniel couldn't have afforded to lose himself then. If he did, then what little remained of their society would unravel in an instant. What Guardians the school had in the area were already off, fighting off the deranged students and gathering who they could and hiding them away into safety. Jayden and Melody were already away and safe as far as he knew, thank God, and he trusted his teachers and staff to take care of those around him in this madness.

But they weren't the only ones in danger then. They wouldn't dare touch the daycare, he had told himself, they wouldn't dare. Then again, he had told himself for years and years, so long as the right affairs were in order, so long as they'd stay mindful, that she'd never directly attack the school either. What a stupid, dire mistake he'd made, thinking that way.

The door to the cheerful building was already opened. He'd thought to almost call out to the caretaker before he felt the soft soul of her children, cowering around a corner. The younger Andrews boy hid as well. From where he stood, he could see just the peak of her hand and loose strands of blonde across the carpet floor. She held no fear, no anxieties; she was out cold.

Anger. Fright. Amusement.

The Headmaster whipped around towards the nursery, a cold chill over taking him. He could make out the dim shape of Leo through the doorway, glowing against the evening light.

'No...'

Nate took a step, moving his hand and thumbing away at the dull blade hidden in his jacket. Anger rippled away at him, but he refused to let it show, a blank stare taking him as he stepped slowly into the room, appearing beside Leo. Each step became cautious and calculated, staring this stranger down as he looked back at them - almost gleefully.

Though he's spent months going over collections and files, memorizing pictures, names, and different accounts; he quickly realized that this wasn't a name he could place. He hadn't the slightest clue what his power was or what he was capable of. But his smile, his pity, his utter joy of this situation only assured the empath one thing: he was insane. He'd always thought it fit for Argona to have a special place for the psychopaths of the world.

There was no threatening people like this, no room for reason. Nathaniel's golden eyes glinted as he took a step forward, feeling his mouth go dry. "You," he muttered, "Just tell us what you want." Shepard. Joanna. He couldn't let anything happened to them. He couldn't let anything happened to his daughter. He couldn't...

With the threat of a child's life, Leo was forced to stay where he was. Every inch of him wanted to lunge forward and pry the child out of the man's arms. Footsteps of another man caused Leo's eyes to flicker in the direction in which they came. Immediately recognizing the headmaster, a sense of relief came to life. At least he wouldn't be facing this alone. Reassured a bit, Leo put his focus on the man.

He seemed utmost relaxed about the disaster around them. Even with two other gifted adults in the room, his faith in his abilities apparent. The man almost seemed...Amused? What could possibly be amusing by all of this? People were dying and lives were being threatened. Nothing was humorous about this. The man had to be crazy. Who were these people that thought it would be okay to threaten innocent children? Who are these people?

While Leo had felt slightly reassured with Mr. Wright's appearance, it did little to help his anxiety due to the man cradling a child close to his chest. Feeling more helpless at that moment than ever before, blue eyes glanced back to the headmaster as he spoke. Leo's lips were pressed together to suppress his anger and worry. The angel could not calm himself down. Sure he had experience fighting, but nothing with a man this caliber and the hanging threat of a child's death.

The young man went to speak-- but the words were lost on him.

His golden eyes met with Leo's gaze for a brief moment before flickering back to the stranger, noting for a moment the sharp blades in the younger man's hands. The student was already to strike at any moment if need be, it was obvious enough that the blond reach in for the quick attack far faster than Nate would himself, if only they could move. They were trapped. With the bundle wrapped away in this psycho's arms, there was little they could do.

Even if he knew exactly who the man was holding, once he saw Joanna with his own eyes, the Headmaster could hardly believe it was true. The world around him turned cold and pale. "No!" Nathaniel dared to reach out then, taking a step forward. He wasn't above giving up his pride, not when his own flesh and blood was in danger before him. His precious baby, his grip on her was monstrous and assured. What the fuck could he do at a time like this?

His fist clenched to the point his knuckles had turned a ghostly white. Fear blazed quickly into fury. He'd kill this man, whoever he was, whatever he did to Joanna he'd make sure was done to this stranger a hundred-fold. It'd been so long since he'd felt this horrid, so utterly powerless. "You don't need to hurt her," Nate muttered lowly, parting his hands open and holding his arms out, wide and open - pleading more than anything. "I'm right where you want me? Take me then. Finish it, leave, and we all win here." He was already saying his prayers, thinking his goodbyes to his family, his wife, his apologies to the school. He didn't know what else to do.

Despite the fact that the child being threatened was not his son, it did not make him any less worried. The student had been looking after Joanna since January--when he started working in the DayCare. Leo was not sure if he could give it a name, but he cared for the baby like an older brother. It hurt him to see her in a situation like this. He couldn't do anything about it. Yet Leo also knew that he did not want to let the man get away. No matter what.

The student bit his lower lip, his head turning to the headmaster with a conflicted look. The school needed him, but Joanna did too. Was this the kind of choices that a parent has to make? Leo understood it to an extent. He hadn't been a parent very long, yet trading his own life for his baby... It would be something that he would do in order to save a child. However, did that choice have to be made? Could there be another way?

So the student watched Nate begin to move forward, waiting for a chance-- For an opening of any kind.

Nathaniel grit his teeth. Over the sound of his daughter's cries, he could still just make out the echoes of fighting and chaos not too far into the distance. Was this all some sort of sick game to them? Did they really regardless all of their life, their kind, so lowly - as much as this bastard did? He'd never forgive them for this.

Murdering Leo would never stand as an option in his mind, no matter whose hands Joanna - or Shepard - was in, there had to be another way. He shot another glance with the angel, letting loose a shaking sigh and looking towards the man in black again. With a deeper breath of air, he forced himself to calm, standing tall and putting on a slight smile. "That won't be necessary, will it?" He just had to stall, find some moment where he or Leo could get the upper hand. "Let's not kid ourselves. He'd have me down in a instant. If you want me dead, do it yourself."

Once, long ago, more than twenty years it seemed, he'd used his gift before on a madman. It was a terrible trick, to find enough of a precarious balance to twist their emotions just right, their minds so brittle already that too much or too little of good or bad thing would be enough to make them snap completely. He had little desire to repeat that trial again, but what choice did he have?

Nate had fought off the likes of even Phoebe's gift before him, in the face of her father, enough to save themselves then. He could manage this. "You're not a father yourself," He mused. That much was clear. The human mind was nothing but a mix of endorphins, it was by some miracle he'd gain the ability to read these, change them on his own whim. "But that desire to care for someone, I can see it there still." A fool could even see that this man felt little to nothing besides gross pleasure, yet everything the empath needed was there and waiting for him.

With an uneasy step foward, the Headmaster churned up different emotions within him: sadness, longing, remorse - artificial as it was, it had to have been enough to throw this psycho from his game. It had to have been...

He stayed well aware of the Angel behind him. "Come on, leave the children be."

A heart beat passed from the new threat the man came up with and Leo's reaction. A narrow of his eyes and a huff of disbelief. Leo would never kill anyone, even with Joanna and Shepard's life at stake. It would not be ethical to kill one person just so that another may live. The angel knew that it was not his choice to make to end someone's life. There was always another way--there had to be another way.

What could they do? Blue eyes turned to the headmaster, narrowing farther when the man began to speak. He parted his lips to get him to stop before the man killed Joanna, but he paused with a mouth parted. Of course! Mr. Wright was using his powers to create an opening. A chance to get in and save Joanna--and Shepard. Knowing they may not get another chance, Leo began to plot, his eyes judging the distance between he and the man. Leo could run in and snatch Joanna, but that may take too long and snap the man out of the emotions that the headmaster was concocting in his brain.

He would have to use the holy light to pull Joanna from his grasp. Of course that left Shepard without a defense. Leo had to take it one step at a time, first the baby who was in the most danger. Focusing on the girl, the light reached her. Its nearly transparent light began to slowly lift her weight out of the man's arms, directed away from the hand that was reaching inside of her chest. Thus the hand receded from its connection from any vital organs in the baby.

When it had moved her far enough out, the young girl was pulled upwards and out of the man's grasp. Then into Leo's arms. With a feeling of relief, he rested his chin on her head. A soft 'shh' sound came from his lips. He couldn't wait. Shepard was in danger next. The young father placed the girl on the ground and picked up his knives. Leo knew he couldn't let the man make a move for his son.

The man charged forward and swung a knife at the man, aiming to position Shepard's crib to Leo's back. The man would have to go through him before getting Shepard.