Bounty (Leland Chapman Fanfiction - Unedited)

7

"This is the shop," Lyssa explains as her and Maggie enter. "As seen on the show, we sit on these couches, my Dad explains everything, and then we take off. You've seen the show, right?" Maggie nods. "Alright, then you know what you're doing!" Lyssa smiles. "I think my Mom also has got a belt, an extra pair of cuffs for you, a radio, and maybe even mace."

"Awesome," Maggie grins, sitting down between Leland and Lyssa on one of the couches. Leland handed her a paper with the mugshot and information on it.

"This one's a difficult one," Dog said as he entered the room, pinning the picture to the white board. He began to go through the information, explaining the man's backstory. "His ex wife will not let him see the baby, so that is what we are going to use as bait," Dog explained.

"Can Leland fit in the baby stroller, so when the fugitive shows up he whips out the mace and screams 'freeze mother fucker'?" Duane Lee asked, causing the entire crew to start laughing.

"Well we all know your fat ass wouldn't fit," Leland responds, receiving more laughter from the group.

"Maggie, how tall are you?" Duane Lee asked, standing up.

"5 foot 4," she responds with a frown.

"She could fit," Duane Lee nods, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm not sitting in a baby stroller," she responds, laughing.

The fit in the trucks was squished, leading to the need of a third vehicle. The 3 drivers were Duane Lee, Leland and Beth. Maggie went with Leland, Beth went with Justin and Lyssa, and Duane Lee went with Dog.

The bounty went by rather quick. Maggie and Lyssa spotted the fugitive first, where Leland and Duane Lee took him down. They baited him in by setting up a baby stroller, having the ex wife respond to his voicemails saying she'd let him see the baby. He showed up, expecting to find a baby when he got taken down and put in cuffs. The groups arrived at the jail, getting out of the vehicles to turn the fugitive in.

"You gotta respect your girl, man," Beth said to him. Maggie stood back, wrinkling her nose at the scent of bourbon radiating off of him. She stayed close to Leland, as she knows him more than anybody else in the group.

"I only hit her once or twice-"

"I don't want to hear that bullshit, man," Leland spoke up. "No man ever has the right his woman in a situation like that, man."

The fugitive looked at Maggie, who was glaring at him. She sighed and looked at Leland instead. The group noticed this interaction. Leland shook his head. "What's your name?" The fugitive asked.

"Nah," Leland shook his head, grabbing the cuffs. "You're going in and ain't comin' out," he brought him inside the building, leaving the group outside.

"Are you okay?" Dog asked, looking at Maggie.

"Yes," she nodded. "It's nice seeing people go to jail. Who deserve it, anyways."

The group went out for dinner, and afterwards, went back to their house. As the group settled in, Maggie wandered into Leland's room, finding him standing, fiddling with his belt, trying to attach a holster to it. Leland stopped and looked at Maggie. "What's up?" He asked her, putting the belt down and facing her.

"I... just wanted to say thank you," Maggie said quietly, looking at him. "I know you were the one who came up with the idea of me coming here. I can tell. And you've done so much to help me..." she sighed and looked at him. "But... why did you?"

"Why did I what?" Leland asked, looking at her.

"Help me. And work so hard to get me here?"

Leland looked down, taking a small breath. He took a step towards her and hesitated. She didn't flinch. He looked at her, putting his hand on her chin, raising it up gently as he leaned down and kissed her. He took a breath, gently letting go of her chin and he stood back up.

"So it's because you have a crush on me?" She teased, smirking as she looked at him. He smiled, offering a nod. "You don't even know if I'm seeing somebody."

"Are you?" He asked.

She scoffed. "No." She put her hand on the back of his head and lightly pulled him down, kissing him back. His hand wrapped around her waist, gently pulling her closer to him as he kissed her back. It lasted a few seconds, before they both released. "You still want to know my story?"

"Yeah, I do," he nodded. She sighed, looking at his door.

"Okay, well it's a long one," she gently shut the door. The two sat down on the bed, as Maggie sighed and began. "I don't know who or where my mother is. My father always told me she died during childbirth, but I don't think that's the truth."

"Isn't it on file?" Leland asked.

"Yes, but I've searched with Danny and I can't find any record of a burial or cremation or anything," she sighed. "Or record of me being born in a hospital. No doctors or nurses or anything remember my father. I don't know my mom's name, face, anything. And it sucks even more because I look a lot like my father, so I have no idea if I look anything like her as well. I thought I might've been kidnapped as a baby, but... I hate to admit it, but I'm too much like him. We look a lot alike, but I have his drinking habits, his anger issues, his anxiety, and his trust issues. Ever since I can remember, he'd tell me that if I said anything to anybody about the things he did to me, then they wouldn't believe me and I'd just get into trouble. Of course, I believed him because I was too little to understand that there was proof any officer could see that he was abusive." Maggie looked down, then back up at Leland. "I have scars. Scars from when I was a baby, up until the night the officers took me from him. That's one of the reasons I don't really go swimming all that much." She took a breath. "He did rape me. Not often, maybe once every other month. When I was around 5 he started using drugs on me to make me drowsy, so I didn't remember a lot of it. I have trust issues. They're bad. I've never consented to anything more than kissing because when it gets passed that, I get anxious and freak out. My last boyfriend didn't like that and tried to force himself on me, it was in the apartment, I screamed and the frat boys next door came in and beat the shit out of him."

Leland listened quietly, sympathetic to everything she was saying. It was hard for him to hear this, but he wanted to know her story. He wanted to know the truth.

"When I was 9 years old, after he beat me pretty bad one night I thought about it, and I realized that I need to tell somebody. I was old enough to understand how cops work, so the next day at school, Danny who had been my friend since kindergarten, asked why I had a bruise on my neck, and I told him. He told his parents as soon as he got home. That night I woke up to a flashlight in my face, I'll never forget him, Officer Bulliet, told me everything was okay and got me out of there. Next thing I new, Jake and Terry were signing paperwork and they drove me to their house that afternoon. I had no other family, that I know of. As far as my story from there to now... that's a lot."

"Wait," Leland said, "I have an idea first."