III

When Leilyn gave the boys the go ahead to take anything they wanted, they really thought she was joking. Until she proved to them that she wasn't.

Whatever they stared at for too long, Leilyn threw it into the trolley without hesitation. They tried to convince her that it wasn't needed, even though they clearly desired it. The teens stated that they thought it rude to grab much things and they'll feel guilty if she spent too much money on them.

Leilyn just gave them an amused and reassuring smile. She told them that to her, money was nothing and she'll gladly spend it on someone else than herself, seeing as she didn't desire much.

It took a lot of reassuring words to convince them to go all out. When they were done, Leilyn spent up to like a thirty thousand UPCs or so. The boys chocked at that when they saw the receipts – from different shores they visited – and combined all the total prices. They were gaping in shock and Leilyn snorted at their dumbfounded expression under her breath.

"Mrs. Leilyn, this is too much!" Rick exclaims.

"Rick, this is nothing. Wait till you see my bank account. This wouldn't even make a dent." She scoffs, a hand on her hip.

"Even though!" Jason had on a look of guilt on his face. "This is too much."

"Hey~ Wipe that look from your faces." A wrinkle forms between her brows. "I told you guys that you should go all out. There's no need to feel guilty. Besides, I wasn't joking when I said it didn't even make a dent in my account. I'm hella wealthy ya know."

The teens share a look of uncertainty between themselves before looking back at her.

"Now come on. We still have Rick's eye glasses to buy."

And with that she walks away, not even giving them a change to object. They share a look of hesitation before walking up to meet her, charts hovering besides them.

They got Rick's glasses – a VERY expensive one. Its frames are made of gold and sprinkled with crushed diamond. Leilyn doesn't do things half way – before they head off to the heading out, list ticked off, and set off to the car. They carefully arranged everything in the boot, making sure that the food stuffs weren't close to other things. They were about to get into the car when an enraged voice shouted.

"Zack!"

The foursome turns around to face its location, frowns on their face. Behold, Zack's father - along with the woman Leilyn knew was stalking them for a while now - were striding over to them, his face twisted in a heavy scowl.

"What have I told you?! Stay away from this woman!" He pushes Leilyn out of the way – making her stumble a little due to how harshly he pushed her -, getting an exclamation of rage from Jason and Rick. "I've warned you to stay away from this devil and her agents! Come here! We are leaving!"

Zack look so freaking terrified as his father got in his face. His arm is grabbed roughly and then, he's being pulled away, his face twisted as if he was in pain. Judging by how he was being pulled like an unruly child, it's no surprised. And for Leilyn, that's a red flag. A familiar red flag.

The dark red copper head hand shots out, grabbing the wrist of Zack's father, ensuring that her nails dig into his skin. The burly man yells, head turning to glare spitefully at her.

"Let go of me you wrench!" He spits – literally - at Leilyn.

"After you." She levels a cold look at him, increasing the grip she has on his wrist.

The brut hisses, his own grip on Zack increasing, causing the teen to whimper in pain. Having had enough, Leilyn surges forward, landing a chop on his throat. He chocks, letting go of Zack as a hand drat to his throat. Leilyn doesn't hesitate to bring him down on his knees. She lets go of his wrist, aiming two perfect kicks to his knees – not too hard to break them – and when he was down, she got behind his back, grabs the arm that he used to grab Zack and uses her feet to drive his face into the ground.

"Ray!" A woman shrieks, making Leilyn, and a few pedestrians, wince at her volume.

"Move, and I'll break this filthy arm of yours." She says coldly as he begins to struggle. He stops, breath picking up.

People on the sidelines just stood and watched, unsure of what to do. If Leilyn heard right, someone has gone to call a nearby Enforcer. That means she has to end this quickly.

"Listen well and listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once." She starts, voice cold and devoid of any emotion, and eyes narrowed darkly. "You have no right to treat Zack the way you just did. He is a human being, and as that has the free will make his own choices. You might be his parent but you have no say in what he chooses to do or who he associates with, especially if you regularly use force as you just did. I'll only caution you once Mr. Smith. If you try that again, or I see any mark on Zack, your life is automatically forfeited. And trust me, it's not a threat, it's a promise and I always keep my promises. Watch yourself." She applies pressure on the arm, making the man to yell out in pain, before letting go and removing her foot from his head.

She steps away from him, and on time too, seeing as an Enforcer arrives a second later. With an innocent smile, she inclines her head at him before walking over to Zack, who has Jason and Rick on both sides of him, looking him over. Leilyn steps in front of him, a hand tucking a stand of hair behind her ear.

"Are you okay?"

Zack nods slowly, and Leilyn took that as a lie. She sighs under her breath before nodding.

"Come on then. Let's go."

She presses her thumb on the car's activation pad, and once the computer confirmed that it was her, it activates, opening the door for them to enter. Leilyn stands and watches as the boys stepped into the car and closes the door. She turns back and once again stares at Mr. Smith, who had the shrieking woman comforting him, with cold eyes and a mirthless smile.

"Do have a nice Easter Mr. Smith."

"Burn in hell witch!" He spits out, getting a dry chuckle from Leilyn.

"I'm quit flattered Mr. Smith, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I'm not quit interested in outdated fantasies. It gets old." She flicks her hand dismissively, an amused smile on her lips. "Do have a pleasant noon." With that said, she gets into the car and drives off.

On the way back to the house, the car is filled with silence. Leilyn kept staring at the boys through the view mirror – Zack decided to sit back, in between Rick and Jason – making sure that they were okay. Zack has a solemn look on his face while Rick and Jason have looks of rage on their faces.

"I take it this isn't the first time your father has been unhinged?" She queries, tone impassive. The responding silence answers her question.

No one uttered a word after that. The journey to Leilyn's house is made in silence. With how fast the woman was going, they soon reached the curve in the road leading to her house. The gray two storey building comes into view, all in its imposing glory. The gates open for them and they drive in. The lockdown sequences is then lifted, and the house opens back up. Leilyn optioned to park the car in front of the house, car turned sideways.

The foursome step out of the car and start picking up the items from the opened boot. Leilyn throws a side eye glance at Zack, catching the teen hiss in pain as he took up two big bags. The front door slides open, allowing them to walk it.

"Drop them on the counter." Leilyn says, dropping the bag she had in hand on said counter. She walks over to the corner of it, squatting down. The miniature medical cabinet comes out, exposing its content. She grabs some bandages, oil and some few other things.

"Zack." She calls out, stopping the three teens in their steps. "Sit down." She jerks her head at a counter stool.

"Mrs. Xander, it's okay." The teen waves dismissively, a cheerful look on his face. "I'm fi- ouch!" He yelps, a hand darting to clutch his shoulder. Rick and Jason flanked both sides of him, hands out stretched, unsure of what to do.

"Sit, Zack."

The teen acquiesces at last, taking a hesitant seat. Leilyn brings the medical items closer, standing before Zack.

"Please, take off your hoodie."

Zack looks up at her in alarm, eyes wide in fear.

"Zack, I have to take a look at your shoulder. By the way you grit your teeth, it's likely bruised or dislodged from its socket." Leilyn says in an impassive voice.

Zack shares a worried look with the other teens, eyes questioning. After a minute of communicating non-verbally, Zack gets a nod from both them.

Inhaling deeply, Zack slowly removes his hoodie, giving way for the singlet he wore inside. Even with the material on, Leilyn could clearly see the horrible scars littering his body.

The boys stare closely at her face, waiting with bated breaths to see an expression related to disgust. But none came. Leilyn's facial expression is as blank as a paper, going together with her impassive eyes. The woman simply takes up his arm, giving the entire appendage a thorough check up. She lightly tapped Zack's shoulders, getting a hiss from the teen. She raises his arm up slowly, getting a pained grunt from him.

"Hm… your arm is slightly banged up." She says softly. "Luckily, he didn't dislodge it from its socket." She grabs the oil and poured a generous amount in her palm. "I'm gonna give your shoulder a light massage; to get the blood flowing well and also easing you from a painful night."

While she massages Zack, Rick and Jason went back to the car to grab the remaining stuffs. They make two more trips back and forth and when they came back with the last bag, Leilyn was in the final process of bandaging Zack's arm.

"There, all done." Leilyn nods with a smile, sitting up straight to admire her work. "How about your back? Are there any wounds making you miserable?"

"How did you-" Zack looks at her in shock.

The scientist just gives a soft, knowing smile before gesturing at her body.  She stands up with a grunt, walking behind his back. She raises his singlet and examines his back, humming as she did so. Once again, the boys notice that she isn't moved to disgust, not even to Zack's heavily scarred back. She just goes on to gently probe his back with her finger, watching Zack for any reaction of pain.

"So, some of these scars are just scars, while some seems to be recent." She drops the singlet down. "Excuse me for a second." She proceeds in going upstairs, leaving the boys to their thoughts.

"Why do I feel like she knows?" Rick asks.

"With scars like that, I'll be surprised if she doesn't." Jason mutters.

The boys stayed in calm silence, awaiting the return of Leilyn. They didn't wait for long, as she arrived a minute later, changed to her previous clothes consisting of an indoor sports bra and shorts - that started from her pelvis and ended mid-thigh - holding what seems to be a tub cream. When she opens it, the aroma that wafts into the air is herbal, with a touch of mint.

"Here, hold this."

Leilyn hands over the tub to Jason, who's the closest to Zack. She lifts up the singlet once more, hanging it over his head. She then turns to Jason and scoops a generous amount of cream into her palm, smoothening it in both palms before rubbing it on Zack's back first, and after that, she focuses on his chest.

"This will lessen the intensity of the scars, as well as heal any wound on the back. Give it some few hours and your back won't feel uncomfortable anymore."

Once she's done massaging the cream perfectly into his skin, she brings down the singlet. She takes back the cream from Jason, capping it and dropping it on the counter. The copper head grabs the medical items and returns them back to their rightful position.

"Mrs. Xander-"

"Don't." She cuts Zack off. A soft smile and a fond look takes over her expression. "Don't force yourself. You are not ready to tell a stranger."

"But Mrs. Lyn! You're not a stranger!" Jason protests.

"You three have only known me for two months, three weeks and five days." She points out. "And we spent that two months outside... on the porch. So technically, I still am."

"Mrs. Xander…" Zack has a crushed look on his face.

Leilyn, still donning a soft smile, turns to him. She gently grabs his chin, lifting up his head. She gently swipes away some stray bangs from his face with her other hand.

"When you are truly ready, I am here." She lets go of his chin and pats his head softly. "Now, let's put away the groceries and start with our lunch."

The teens nod with smiles of their own, although Zack's was wobbly.

"Zack, do be careful not to strain your shoulder, okay?"

The teen nods, eyes brimming with tears.

The teens and Leilyn had fun making the meals. They ate ice cream and cookies while they worked, greatly distracting Leilyn from hurrying things up. Come seven PM, everyone was filled to the brim and relaxing in the parlor. Leilyn and Rick were in the kitchen tidying things up and twenty minutes later, they came back, holding a small paper bag in each hand containing pie.

When the clock hit nine, the boys bid goodbye to Leilyn and she watched them leave - on the new hover boards she bought for them today – the new voice recognition backpacks containing their gifts on their back. She waves them off, wishing them a goodnight. Once she couldn't see them, she walked back inside, unaware of the eyes staring at her.