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Somehow Rick wasn't surprised to find Laszlo propped up against the front door, blood in his hair and clothes torn ragged. Not surprised, but disappointed."I forgot my key," he explained as Rick stepped around him and unlocked the door."You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached to your neck." Rick opened the door and took Laszlo by the arm, helping him over the threshold. He firmly closed and locked the door behind him. "Who was it this time?""Does it matter?" Laszlo limped over to the nearest armchair and collapsed into it like a bundle of sticks.Rick shrugged. "I guess not, as long as you don't think they'll follow you back here.""I think not. They seemed to treat our fight as a finality in itself.""Uh-huh." Rick put a hand to Laszlo's head and tipped it to one side for a better look at the blood still oozing from somewhere beyond his hairline. "I don't suppose you need stitches.""No. You know how it is with head wounds."Rick did know how it was with head wounds. "Well, we'd better get you cleaned up before Ilsa comes home."Laszlo gestured at his bruised and battered face."I know. But she'll be mad at me for letting you sit and bleed all over her furniture."Laszlo nodded in acknowledgement. He allowed Rick to help him to his feet but made his own way to the bathroom. If anything, he seemed contemplative as he opened up the bath tap and started to shed his clothes.Rick headed for the linen closet so as to give him a little privacy. He found a couple of the most ragged washcloths and towels and a cup, then tracked down a dressing gown, which he hung from the back of the bathroom door.Without a word Laszlo accepted his arm as he stepped into the tub. He huffed out a sigh and leaned his head back against the wall behind it. For a while he just sat there, eyes closed, and let the water rise up his body."How was your evening?" he asked at last.Rick snorted. "Better than yours."Laszlo raised his eyebrows as if to acknowledge this was probably true. He didn't open his eyes, not until Rick dipped one of the washcloths in the bath water and squeezed the water from it. "I can do that myself.""Sure." Rick switched off the water and began lightly scrubbing at some of the scrapes on Laszlo's arm.Neither of them spoke for a while. Laszlo kept his eyes on the opposite wall and his breath purposefully steady, even as Rick washed the grit out of his hands. There were scars there that Rick had never asked him about. It seemed too late to do anything about it now.Without a word he tipped Laszlo's head back and poured a cupful of water over the dark, matted hair. Laszlo's face contorted in a grimace, but he still didn't make a sound, still as the dead while Rick ran his fingers through his hair, keeping alert for the break in his scalp."Sorry," Rick told him. He kept scrubbing at the blood in his hair. Instead of answering, Laszlo just sighed and leaned back into Rick's hands. His eyes were closed. Slowly, the water around him tinged pink, but the mats in his hair relaxed.Out in the front of the house, the door opened and closed. After a moment there came padding footsteps, and then Ilsa appeared in the doorway. She took in the sight of Laszlo huddled in the tub and Rick pouring yet more water over his hair, leaned against the doorway, and crossed her arms."Who was it this time?" she asked.Together, Laszlo and Rick asked, "Does it matter?"She sighed, then smiled. "I suppose I ought to be grateful you're upright and relatively unharmed."Laszlo shook Rick's hand off his shoulder and climbed slowly to his feet. He took the towel Rick handed to him and dried himself, shifting his weight onto first one foot, then the other. Rick helped him out of the tub and pulled the drain plug before following him into the bedroom.It took Ilsa and Rick a few minutes to shed their clothes, and as they did Laszlo crawled directly into the center of the bed and curled up in a ball. His head seemed to have stopped bleeding, which was better than nothing, Rick supposed. He and Ilsa slipped into bed, one on each side of Laszlo, and cuddled in close. It was an awkward fit, and Rick's instincts told him to get out while the getting was good, but he stayed, wrapping himself protectively around Laszlo's body and taking Ilsa's hand in his."'s alright," he told them, and they agreed it was so.