Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers

Summary: Oneshot. Leo shows up in New York, Brooklyn to be precise, when he drops out of college. He did not expect to find Simmons still working in a deli. Leo/Simmons slash! Written for DarknessintheCorners

Rating: T

Warning: Language

What Do You Want From Me?

Leo Spitz sighed and sat down on the edge of the New York sidewalk. Then he realised he had sat in a puddle. Leo jumped up in disgust, looking around to make sure no-one had noticed. No-one had. The streets were almost empty except for people hurrying home from work before it got too dark. Leo swore under his breath. He was cold. He was tired. He was hungry. Everything hurt from where he had been mugged about an hour earlier. He had a bruise on his left cheek. He had sat in a puddle of only God-knows-what. He was broke and had dropped out with college after suffering from numerous nervous breakdowns and now he was meant to be looking for as job. Why didn't NEST help him, like they did everyone else? Sam and Mikaela had run off to the NEST base in Diego Garcia without telling him. Leo didn't count the note taped to the door of his and Sam's room as a goodbye – it wasn't even handwritten. He decided it was time to find a place to stay for the night – he couldn't afford the motel he had been staying at – he had been mugged last night. He needed to find a cab. None of them ever seemed to stop for him after the events in Egypt. Was there something about him that just made people stay away? Well, except for muggers.

If only I had never met Sam Witwicky. Leo grumbled in his mind, imagining what his life could've been like – he could've been getting ready for a party right now. No, he wouldn't. He would be getting ready to try and get into a party he wasn't invited to, as had been the case most of his life. Only recently he had realised how uncool he really was – which didn't help the periodic breakdowns. The only person he had in his life to depend on had been Sam – he understood how Leo felt. Mikaela had always been a bitch to him. Maybe it was because he had started hitting on her when giant robots were trying to kill them...

He walked along the darkening street, staring down at the pavement with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. During the day, this street was usually one of the busiest, flooded with commuters and shoppers. Finding a cab during the day wasn't this difficult. Leo's eyes wandered down the street, looking for anyone to help him get a cab home, or maybe get him something to eat. Then his eyes stopped on a familiar building, where the lights were still on. Leo walked towards the building and ignored the 'closed' sign on the door. He flung the door open.

"Hellooo?" Leo called out. "Is anyone here?"

"The deli's closed." A voice snapped from the backroom. "Can't you read the sign, idiot?"

"Oh, that's a nice way to greet someone, old man." Leo snorted.

"Look kid, don't try to be –" Seymour Simmons walked out of the back room, carrying a large meat cleaver, wearing an apron stained with blood. He pointed the meat cleaver at Leo and his jaw dropped. "What the hell are you doing here?! What do you want from me?"

"I didn't expect to find you still working in a deli in Brooklyn." Leo said, leaning against the counter. "I thought you would be on Diego Garcia with the rest of NEST."

"Why aren't you at college?" Simmons asked, lowering the meat cleaver.

"I dropped out." Leo sighed, jumping up onto the counter and swinging his legs. "I just couldn't take it anymore and periodic breakdowns weren't exactly good for me. Needless to say, I have to see a therapist twice a week now..." he sighed and turned to look at Simmons.

"That still doesn't answer my question. Why are you here?" Simmons asked, wandering into the back room again. Leo jumped down from the counter and followed him, watching as Simmons put the meat cleaver away and take off his apron.

"I came to New York looking for a job." Leo said, standing next to the sink as Simmons washed his hands. "I don't know exactly how long I would be able to keep one, but I need to get some money. I'm completely broke and my mum isn't any help. She's disgusted that I dropped out of college. She isn't even talking to me."

"And how do you expect me to sort this out?" Simmons asked, drying his hands. "Do you expect me to wave a magic wand and make it all better?"

"Don't mock me." Leo snapped, hauling himself up onto the worktop as Simmons began to clear up. "I've been through shit these last couple of days. I've been staying in the cheapest motels I could find and tonight I can't even stay in a motel because I got mugged – now I don't have any money!"

"Is that where that bruise on your cheek came from?" Simmons asked. Leo absentmindedly covered the bruise on his cheek with his hand. "You should've kept the taser I gave you."

"You took it back from me, remember?" Leo scowled. "You said it would do me more harm than good!"

"Well, you have tasered yourself a couple of times." Simmons chuckled. "I did it for your own good, Leo. I didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Oh, but it's okay if I get mugged and beaten up." Leo grumbled. "Is that because I didn't do it myself?"

"How badly did they beat you up?" Simmons asked, concern echoing in his voice.

"I've got a couple of impressive bruises." Leo replied, forcing a smile. "I might be able to impress a couple of people with them – maybe some girls. I was lucky though. The guys who mugged me were threatening to stab me."

"Show me the bruises." Simmons commanded.

"They're not too bad –" Leo protested, jumping down from the worktop.

"I don't care. Show them to me." Simmons demanded, grabbing Leo by his jacket and pushing him into the middle of the room, though not too forcefully. Leo hesitated. "Leo, show them to me or I'll knock you out and look at them myself. I'm pretty sure I have a taser around here somewhere..."

"Fine, I'll show you." Leo snapped. He unzipped his jacket and threw it to the floor aggressively, then lifted up his T-shirt and turned around to show his back to Simmons. Several bruises were spread blotchily on his back. Leo turned around and there were more on his front. "Are you happy now?"

"No, I'm not happy." Simmons growled. He was shaky with rage. "Why did they do this to you?"

"They wanted my money." Leo shrugged, pulling his T-shirt back down. "I gave it over to them without making much of a fuss and barely had anything so they didn't do anything too bad to me. I guess I wasn't worth it."

"This is still bad, Leo." Simmons protested. "What if they had decided you were worth it?"

"Then I wouldn't be standing here right now." Leo sighed. "Why do you act like you care so much? When I was talking about my life being at an all time low earlier you sounded like you couldn't wait to get rid of me."

"Because I do care about you, Leo." Simmons insisted. "I was just a little surprised seeing you a show up here – don't get me wrong though. It's a nice surprise."

"Now you're just saying that because you feel bad." Leo mumbled, retrieving his jacket from the floor and shrugging it on. "Thanks for your time, Simmons. I guess I'll just be on my way now... you might see me sleeping on a doorstep on your way home."

"Leo, don't." Simmons said, grabbing Leo's arm as he tried to walk past. Leo struggled to get out of Simmons's grip then resigned himself to hearing the man out. "Don't be like that. I didn't mean to sound like I'm just pretending I care. I really do care about what happens to you."

"Really?" Leo asked, his arm gripping Simmons's. "You really care about what happens to me?"

"Yes, I do. Why is that so hard to believe?" Simmons asked with a faint smile.

"No-one ever has cared much about me..." Leo sighed. His eyes met Simmons's and he smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Simmons said. They stood there in silence for a few minutes, then Leo did something completely unexpected. He stood up on his toes and placed a soft kiss on Simmons's lips. Simmons was shocked. He had always felt some sort of feelings towards Leo... he supposed it was just a friendly affection after everything they went through together in Egypt. This proved he had been wrong. Leo stepped back nervously, unsure of how Simmons was going to react. Simmons's mind was trying to make sense of what had just happened. "Erm..."

"I'm sorry." Leo spluttered. "I don't know what happened... I just did it... I don't know what came over me."

"Leo, shut up." Simmons put a finger over Leo's lips and smiled. "You still looking for a job and a place to stay?"

"Well yeah..." Leo said. "It's not like I've found either..."

"Yes you have." Simmons said. "You're coming to work with me at the deli and you can come and live with me for a while, if you want to."

"I'd like that." Leo smiled. "Thanks, Simmons."

"You're welcome." Simmons grinned, placing his hands on Leo's forearms and rubbing them. "Now, why don't we take this jacket off again, hm?"

There you go. I'm actually quite happy about how this turned out. It's given me so much grief the past couple of weeks and I only had to write it because I didn't write any Leo/Simmons into "One Last Time" like DarknessintheCorners asked... and then Kimmieh-chan bullied me into it... and so did my older sister. Now, I have some unfinished business with Kimmieh-chan. She owes me a story about bunk beds *glares*

Drop me a line, I'd love to know what people think : )