[April 25th] [Perry Mason] A Glimpse Beyond the Illusion

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: A Glimpse Beyond the Illusion
Day/Theme: April 25th - You know, I think that men love wars...
Series: Perry Mason
Character/Pairing: Hamilton Burger, Leon
Rating: G/K

The previous day's piece was actually originally supposed to be the first scene of a longer fic that would flash back and go into detail about the attempt to drive a wedge between Hamilton and his secretary Leon (and who was doing it and why). It was while I was writing it that I suddenly became aware of several uncomfortable holes in the idea. I scrapped the project, rewrote some of that first scene, and put it up as it is now. Leon was actually not supposed to die in the first draft. I don't know where that came from, to be honest!

This is a follow-up, wherein I further try to tinker with some of the problems of the original, mostly unwritten storyline. Perhaps someday, if I can iron out the problems, I'll write a modified version of the original story idea.

You know, another project I want to try someday is "The missing scenes of The Broken Ties", scenes I wanted to have or considered having or thought of later that never made it into The Case of the Broken Ties.

Referenced: My story The Case of the Macabre Mansion.


By Lucky_Ladybug

The room was cool as he began to stir—not too hot and not too cold. It felt nice.

But it did not counter the immense pain he was waking up in. It seemed to start somewhere in his back and spread to all other parts of his body. It was awful; he had never felt anything like it. He could not help the involuntary moan.

“Leon?”

He cast his gaze upward. Mr. Burger was standing by the edge of the bed, worried and clutching the railing. Good, honest, upright Mr. Burger. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Leon was instantly worried for him.

“Mr. Burger, what . . .” It was hard to speak. His voice caught in his throat.

“Leon, do you remember what happened?”

Leon stared up at the ceiling, trying to think. His mind was still in a fog. Anything that had happened before he had awakened here seemed to be somewhere in that fog, currently out of his reach. “No . . .”

But then he looked back to Mr. Burger. What he saw reflected in his employer’s eyes brought it back with a jolt.

“Wait,” he managed to say. “I remember something. The gunman in the courtroom. He . . . he tried to shoot you down.”

“And he took you down instead,” Mr. Burger interjected. “You saved my life. For a while I thought your life was the price for it. Leon, you were dead.”

Leon’s eyes widened. “What? No, that . . . it couldn’t be true. I wasn’t dead, Mr. Burger. I just passed out from the pain.”

Mr. Burger shook his head. “You were dead, Leon. I felt you die in my arms. Both I and the paramedics tried to revive you, but we couldn’t.”

A cold chill went through Leon’s blood. “But then how . . .” He stared at Mr. Burger, honest fright in his eyes. “How am I . . .”

“Don’t ask me,” Hamilton said. “It doesn’t look like it was anything we did.” He took a deep breath. “The truth is, I remembered what happened to Lieutenant Anderson last year, when he was shot and clinically dead but miraculously revived. And I was desperate. I prayed that somehow, the same thing could happen to you and you could live again. When the paramedics tried one more time, they got a pulse. It could be a coincidence, but . . .” He trailed off. He did not really think so.

Leon sank back into the pillows. “So I was dead,” he said quietly. “It wasn’t anything like I thought.”

“Maybe it’s different for everyone. I don’t know. The important thing is that you’re alive and going to get better.” Mr. Burger looked and sounded a bit uncomfortable by the topic. Leon knew from past experience that his employer did not at all like discussing anything out of the ordinary. And while he dealt with death almost every day, it was far different when the death being discussed was either his or that of someone close to him.

Leon was quite willing to drop the subject himself. “Mr. Burger, what about the gunman?”

“He was caught,” Mr. Burger quickly said.

“Did anyone else get hurt?”

“Well . . . the bailiff was shot, but maybe you knew about that.” Mr. Burger sighed, heavily. “When he and Lieutenant Anderson ran over to subdue the wretch, it didn’t take much. He just let them arrest him.”

Leon frowned. “Why would he do that? I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I.” A bit of anger slipped into Mr. Burger’s voice. “It seems like all he really wanted was to get back at me or you or both of us. Even though he tried to shoot me, he didn’t try again when he saw you took the bullet in my place. Paul told me he saw the nut’s expression then. It scared him. It was so . . . bloodthirsty and satisfied.”

Leon was disturbed. “I never even saw that man before he tried twisting the truth and making me believe you didn’t trust me. What could either of us have ever done to him?”

“Maybe nothing,” Mr. Burger said. “Maybe he was a hired killer. Or maybe I sent up a relative or friend of his and he’s out for revenge.”

“Hasn’t he said anything to the police?”

Mr. Burger shook his head. “No, he hasn’t. He’s been stubbornly silent. But I’ll prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. If he wants to wage war on us, I’ll wage war right back.”

Leon smiled a bit, but his eyes flickered with regret. “I know you will, Mr. Burger. And you’ll get a conviction. Under these circumstances, there’s no way you won’t.

“I’m sorry I won’t be able to get in to work for a while. There’s always so much to get done, too. It’s probably already stacking up. . . .”

“Don’t worry about that, Leon,” Mr. Burger returned. “Miss Miller and the others can take it on until you’re well again. Just concentrate on getting better.”

Leon leaned back into the bed. “Thank you, Sir.”

Mr. Burger paused. “I should thank you, Leon. Not every secretary would do what you did.”

“A secretary is supposed to look after his boss, Sir. That’s what I was doing.” Leon sobered. “But a secretary is also supposed to trust his boss. And on that, I failed.”

“Leon, you’ve always trusted me,” Mr. Burger declared. “You only wavered briefly because of how you were being manipulated. You’re only human. Most people would start doubting if someone kept pushing like what was being done to you. And especially if their employer didn’t help things.” He looked firmly into Leon’s eyes. “I failed too, Leon. I should have told you everything from the start. Out of everyone who should have been told, you were one of them.”

“I still shouldn’t have doubted, Mr. Burger. You did tell me the rest before long. And it was by your own choice. I didn’t drag it out of you; at the time, I didn’t even realize you hadn’t told me everything you knew.”

“Yes, that’s true,” admitted Mr. Burger. “I realized I was doing wrong by you. I wanted to correct that.

“And you realized on your own that you were being tricked,” he went on. “You could have fallen further into their trap when you heard that phone call. Instead it brought you back to your senses.”

“Even if I wasn’t sure if you trusted me, I could never think that you would do something the least bit illegal, Sir.” Leon gripped the quilt. “But I’m still upset that I fell for any of their tricks at all.”

Mr. Burger nodded. “And those feelings will take a while to get over,” he said. “I won’t try to sugarcoat that. I’ve seen and felt enough myself to know otherwise.

“But I hope you won’t keep beating yourself up over it for a long time. I don’t blame you for what happened. And if any forgiveness is needed, you can be sure you have it.” He held out his hand. “Friends look after and trust each other, too. I hope I’m that to you as well as your boss.”

For a long moment Leon stared at him in awed surprise. “Mr. Burger . . .” He reached up, tightly gripping the offered hand. “Of course, Sir. Of course you are.”