Xuebing Du
Not today Justin
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Sweet Seals For You, Always
DEAR READER
YOU ARE THE REASON
Mike Driver
Love Begins
Janaina Medeiros
tannertan36
Three Goblin Art
Jules of Nature
Peter Solarz
trying on a metaphor
Monterey Bay Aquarium
noise dept.
$LAYYYTER
🪼
Stranger Things
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Vietnam
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Denmark
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Bolivia
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
@labrxnth
Scheduling with TCTAR
Hey Gang! The fanfic author curse hit me!! The wifi went out at the house I'm living at last Friday. It was the company's fault and they can't fix it for another week! I'm writing during my lunch breaks and going to the library, but it's caused quite a problem with my schedule. The next chapters will be up as soon as they can be. Sorry!
The City That Always Rains (A Leon Kennedy x Reader Series) Chapter 4
1, 2, 3, 4
Tag List: @meowieees
CW: Human Experimentation, No beta reader, Game level violence and language, awful "father figure", Reader has an AWFUL life, eventual smut?, canon divergence, Re2og and Re2Remake canon squished together, body horror, weight discussion/thoughts, mc might come off as autistic because author is
WC: 3735
Summary: In the wake of Leon fighting a monstrosity, the two of you make it to the parking garage. You meet an F.B.I. agent, a strange man in a prison cell, and what seems to be your next big roadblock.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
“Isn’t she something?” A voice said.
As you sat up, the room around you was almost swirling, swaying in a way. Darkness, hazy darkness, was all around you, making your surroundings hard to see. Looking up to see where the voice came from, all you saw were two shadows, figures beyond recognition.
”She better be, I put my life’s research on the line for her,” A voice that you would recognize no matter what replied to the other shadow. David sounded tired, exasperated.
“What exactly does she do?” The other figure asked.
”She has superhuman healing abilities, no matter how I hurt her, she always comes back,” David said.
”Is that it?” The other man asked, seemingly uninterested.
“Is that it?” David echoed, incredulously. “You try to splice and regenerate human DNA without killing the child,” He retorted.
“You can’t keep her hidden from the higher ups,”
“I’m not trying to. She’s my life’s work, of course I’ll be bringing her to Lauper,”
“Lauper will want more than ‘regenerative abilities’. We were given grant money by Spencer himself.”
David sighed and shifted. “Fine, but if this gets leaked, you’ll be next on the testing table, Birkin. I’m making her for-”
“Joan? Get up, it’s been an hour,” A voice brought you out of the dream. Just as the haziness had begun, it had left. As your eyes fluttered open, you could see Leon’s face inches from yours.
“Sorry, but we have to keep moving if we’re gonna get out of here,” Leon said, apologetically.
You got up like Leon, stretching your limbs awake as you did. Looking around, you found yourself in the same place you had left off, the control room.
“Does your illness make you fatigued? If you need us to go slower, I can make it work,” Leon said. His eyes had a clarity to them that they didn’t when you met. He must've been coming off of the hangover he mentioned earlier.
His words and kindness sent a wince through your stomach. Again, he was asking questions, making sure you were okay. What you were- what you were doing would break this man. Once the two of you escaped, you’d have to separate.
Separate?
Why did the thought fill you with dread? Not the kind of dread you felt when you saw David entering your cell at the Umbrella lab, no. A different kind of dread.
Like sadness.
He’s been useful and helped you through whatever hell you had gotten yourself tied into. Of course you’d be sad. A current constant, something you could rely on would eventually leave.
“I’m okay. Are you? You fought that thing,” You said, the words leaving your mouth before you could even think.
“I’m alright. Just a few scrapes,” Leon said, giving you a small smile with a thumbs up. He walked over to a lever, and inspected it after looking out the window in front of him. There was a catwalk, but one section was detached from the others, suspended by cables to the ceiling.
Leon pulled the lever down and the whole room slightly hummed as the catwalk was put into place by the cables. “Come on,” He said, stepping further. Turning back towards you, he outstretched his hand.
You took it gingerly and the two of you walked out of the control room, over the catwalk, and into another room.
“Thanks for giving these back by the way. Kinda forgot I gave them to you,” He added, dangling the key ring in front of you.
His appreciation and thanks made something spread through your chest, a warm tingly feeling. Just like you made a choice to lie and deceive him earlier, now you had made a choice to give something back. To be trusted. To, hopefully, be kept.
After a nod in reply from you, Leon cleared his throat, and looked forward, where he pointed his flashlight.
“What was your life like, before the hospital?” Leon asked you.
“Why would you like to know?” You asked, meeting his eyes. His eyes weren’t looking forward now, they weren’t following the flashlight he carried. Instead, they were on your face.
“Hey, I told you about my life. Eye or an eye or something like that,” He said, intrigue written on his face.
You tried to remember something, anything. Memories of the beach, the rock music, your family, playgrounds, forests, all of it was gone. Blank. Like a cloud you couldn’t get through. Like you were staring down a hallway with only one door at the end of it, being pushed towards it. Your eyebrows knitted in confusion, your eyes slightly narrowed.
“I… don’t remember much,” You said. “Just.. white walls and floors.” At least that wasn’t a lie.
“Oh… you must’ve been admitted young,” He replied.
You nodded. “When I was ten.” Another truth.
You didn’t realize Leon stopped walking before you were in front of him, his arm stretched because of your intertwined hands.
“You’re….?” He asked. You knew what he was asking.
“20.”
“Oh.” Leon replied, his eyes wide, but looking like he could cry. Pity…. Or was it sympathy? “I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter, I’m still alive,” You replied.
Leon nodded solemnly and kept walking. The two of you walked through a doorway to reveal a small room. It had a locker, a boiler, some other machines, and a big box. Turning a corner, there was a ladder, leading up to a manhole. Looking down, you could see how dingy the floors were, a greenish pale with speckles of dirt, rust, and blood on them.
“Stay here,” Leon said and let go of your hand. The absence of his warmth was palpable to you. What was a gloved hand, warm and sturdy, was the ghost of a touch. You found yourself missing the warmth.
Were you cold?
That was the only explanation you could think of. The warmth that spread through you when he touched you, the spread of a feeling in your heart. Either you were colder than you thought, or you were ill.
“Be careful,” Your voice broke through the silence as you watched him approach the ladder.
A warm smile that cut through your being appeared as he turned to look at you. A soft gasp escaped your lips, soft enough that only you noticed. “I made a promise to you, didn’t I?” Leon asked and turned back to the ladder. He made his way up and stopped at the top, heaving the corrugated manhole out of the way with a soft grunt.
His head poked up through the hole in the ceiling and he lightly chuckled. “Found it, it’s the parking garage!” He said down to you. “We’re close, come on!” He added. Leon climbed up the ladder.
Following him, you made your way up the ladder. You looked up to see Leon smiling at you, bringing that same warmth back. His hand was extended to you, an invitation you took happily. With ease, he helped you up, even putting a hand on your back to make sure you got all the way up. “See? Almost out of here,” Leon said, gesturing to a gate in front of you.
You had entered the parking garage. Cars, police cars, vans, and civilian cars, were strewn about. Some looked like they were raided, their trunks and doors open. Some had damage to them, others just looked abandoned. The garage was illuminated by a single cop car on the other side of the gate. By the drawn gate was a console, yellow light on top of it.
Leon’s gloved hand returned to yours as he led the two of you towards the console. He pushed a couple buttons, then sighed. “Needs a key card,” He said, turning to you. “Sorry, we’re stuck here for a little longer,” He added.
That was when you heard it. A growl. Different than the growls that came from the “people” in the police department. This kind of growl, you knew, was natural. Both of you turned to see a dog, stalking towards you. It panted, the breath visible in the chill of the air. The dog’s eyes were white, clouded, and some of its skin was ripped off, the muscle visible and leaking.
“Joan….” Leon said to you quietly. He let go of your hand, and slowly stepped towards the dog, making sure he was the target instead of you.
As if on cue, the dog barrelled towards Leon, jumping, and trying to sink its teeth into him. Leon fell back onto the ground, struggling with the dog. You ran towards a plank on the ground, hoping to get the canine off of your companion.
What if you weren’t fast enough? Could you get through this place alone? All you had to do was get a key card, how hard could that be? But, did you want to do this alone?
Then, you heard a gun shot, two to be exact. Expecting it to be Leon, you put the plank down and turned towards him. Leon sat up, looking towards the darkness, as if answering the question you didn’t ask.
“Hey, who is that?” He asked, propping himself up on his elbows.
A shadow appeared. “Stay sharp,” A female voice said. You knew the kind of voice, one that had business to attend to. You heard it all the time from most of the scientists around you. They were on a job, on duty, hustling and bustling because of budgets. This was the same kind of voice.
Clack, clack.
The figure’s high heels clacked on the ground as they approached. You didn’t even see Leon draw his gun, all you heard was another shot going into the dog. Leon’s gun was fixed on the figure approaching, her's trained on Leon as well.
“Lower it,” Said the woman. Her hair was dark, blunt and short, side parted. She wore a long beige trenchcoat, black gloves, and the heels you heard before with stocking on. Her face was obstructed, big black sunglasses adored her face, but you could tell she meant business.
“F.B.I.” She added, flashing a wallet to Leon. In the light, you could see more intricacies of her outfit. The belt of the trenchcoat was buckled on the side, she wore a houndstooth scarf that slightly peaked out of the jacket, and she had a choker on.
Fashionable.
Leon took in the badge, then lowered his gun. “Sorry… Thank you for your help,” He said. You expected him to look for you, for his eyes to find you, but they were on her. The F.B.I. agent. Instead of waiting for him to look for you, you went to walk forward, but something planted your feet where they were.
It felt the same as before, like you were in front of a long hallway, being pushed towards the one door. Your feet were stuck in place as you were forced to watch the interaction, not participate.
Another bullet was fired by the woman, striking the dog as it went to get up again. This time, it let out a whimper and its body went fully slack.
Leon got up and watched her start to leave. “F.B.I., huh? What’s going on here?” He asked, following the woman. You wanted to reach out, to follow him, but you couldn’t. Your voice was stuck in your throat, unable to call for him.
As Leon followed the woman, she made no effort to turn around to talk to him. “Sorry, Classified,” was all she said in response to his question. The two of them kept walking, making their way to the other end of the parking garage.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Leon asked, as if plucking the words right out of your mouth. He stopped walking as the woman did. She turned towards Leon, her voice sharper this time.
“Do yourself a favor: stop asking questions and get the hell out of here,” She said, her head bobbing slightly as she did.
Clack, clack.
As she left, Leon shook his head slightly and sighed. Aggravation and exhaustion evident in his breath. As if remembering you were there, he turned around to face you.
“Joan? Come on,” He said and gestured for you to follow him. Suddenly becoming unstuck, you jogged over to him, earning yourself his hand in yours, again.
“Sorry, I tried to find something to help you,” You started.
He squeezed your hand, getting your attention. “Hey, don’t worry about it. In a situation like that, I’d prefer if you got the hell out.”
Your eyes searched his. You didn’t want that, you decided. You wanted to stay together. How long had it been since you wanted something?
A lot of new, no old feelings were coming back tonight. It was like you had been an outline of a person the past ten years, and Leon was slowly coloring you in. You were letting your emotions find a home you had been too scared to give them directions to.
“Okay,” You said, and the two of you continued on.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
Leon led you through a dark hallway with holding cells. The only light was from his flashlight, and the only sound was that of infected people gnawing at their jail cell bars and yelling. Rounding a corner, light appeared from the cell at the very end.
“Hey, stay close to me, we don’t know what kind of people are in here,” Leon said, his hand holding yours tighter than before.
“Okay,” You replied, moving closer to him, on instinct.
“Hello?” A voice asked, coming from the very last cell, the stench of tobacco following the voice.
As you and Leon approached whoever it was, Leon stood in front of you, his hand slightly pulling you close.
“I don’t believe it, a real human,” The man on the other side of the jail bars said. He stood up from where he was standing and smiled, getting closer to the bars. He had on glasses, a coat, jeans, and regular sneakers. But the necklace, or rather the I.D. lanyard stood out to you the most.
Scientists in the NEST had them on all the time; you made it a habit to memorize their names to feel some sort of human connection from them. Reading the man’s lanyard, you saw two words on it: PARKING PERMIT.
He grabbed the jail bars, relaxed, and smiled at Leon, as if in shock to find two breathing humans.
“How long have you been here?” Leon asked, backing up a bit, and making sure you were fully behind him.
Leon being protective over you was something you had come to trust over the past few hours. The only reason why you let him so close was because he wore his heart on his sleeve- something you both admired, and was terrified of.
You were walking through the halls of the NEST, David in front of you, a guard behind you. You had just come from some sort of evaluation, judging by how exhausted you were. The hallway, David, and the guard looked big compared to you, so you must’ve been young. Your hand was connected to David’s. He led you by holding your hand.
Not a lead, not by having a guard drag you. He was holding your hand. David was stopped by another scientist, whose face was fuzzy in your memories. You couldn’t remember whoever it was, so it must not have been important.
”I don’t care,” David said to them, holding a hand up when they tried to talk. “If Birkin wants his hands on her, he can rot. I got assigned to this project, she’s my responsibility!” David replied shortly.
”Doctor Porter, it would be better for all of us if this was collaborative. What you’re seeking to do is impossible with one person, and one specimen.” They replied.
Pain filled your hand as David gripped it tighter. A cold sensation blossomed in you as dread took over your being. “She’s my life work! No one touches her except for me!”
You blinked and suddenly, where a bigger memory of David was, was the back of a uniform. An R.P.D. logo eye level with you, ashy blonde hair above it.
Leon. You sighed in relief at the man in front of you, unaware of what was happening in the room.
“Sh-Shit! It’s coming!” The man in the cell said. The floor rumbled, as if something was waking up under it. Mechanical steps, each with bass loaded into them, shook the holding cells, debris falling from the ceiling.
Leon wasted no time, he backed up from the cell and pulled you closer to him, his arm reaching back to go around your side, not hold your hand. “What’s coming?” Leon asked, looking down the hallway.
“C’mon, don’t be an asshole, okay?!” The man said, walking so his back was against the brick wall behind him. “You need this!” He pleaded, holding up the key card. “Just get me the fuck out of here!” His body shook with anxiety as he yelled.
A hand shot through the bricks, one gloved and the size of his head. It grabbed the man, large fingers grabbing at the skin and skull underneath. Then, it began to squeeze. And squeeze.
Leon moved to block your view as you heard screaming and a pop. Not like a balloon pop, like a pop of sudden pressure being gone and the splatter of liquid. “Oh my God,” Leon muttered, slightly shaking at whatever sight he blocked you from. His breathing became deeper, as if he was forcing himself to breathe instead of it happening automatically. All the while, the thunderous steps were moving away.
You peaked out from behind him, despite him trying to hold you back to see a horror. The man was sitting on the floor, his body limp and slumped against the brick wall that had a large trail taken out of it. His head was caved in, an eyeball loose and only held by a bodily string. As if the visual of the man dead like that wasn’t enough, blood was spattered against the wall all behind him.
Messy violence was something hidden from you at the NEST. Sure, you got poked and prodded, you saw inhumane acts being done to people and animals, but you never saw blood or something like this. The violence at the lab was clean. Sanitized.
This was a stain. Something that would never come out of the bricks, or you and Leon’s minds.
Leon quickly drew his gun, pointing it towards the hallway. He moved in front of you again, shielding you from whatever was approaching. “Who is that?!” He asked, an edge to his voice.
Clack, clack.
That woman.
The F.B.I. agent appeared out of the shadows, illuminated by the light of the cell. “It’s just me, so you can put that thing away,” She said, walking over to the bars of the cell. Leon holstered his gun and sighed in relief.
“I don’t even know what happened… it just happened so quick,” Leon said, looking back at the body slumped in the cell.
The woman turned back towards Leon, catching a glimpse of you in the process. Her body posture changed, from annoyed to more rigid. Like she hadn’t planned on you being there. Did she notice you before in the parking garage? She had to.
“I told you to get out of here,” She said to Leon, while his gaze was locked on the body. “You wouldn’t want your friend or yourself to end up like Ben, now would you?” She asked, nodding to the body slumped against the wall.
Leon’s attention shifted to her. “You knew him?” He asked.
“He was an informant. Had information of use to my investigation,” She crossed her arms and looked back into the cell.
“So what he said was true?” Leon asked, incredulously.
Instead of answering, the woman uncrossed her arms and started to walk away.
“Hey! You can’t keep walking away from me!” Leon said, reaching for her arm. She snagged it away and looked at him as if his touch was poisonous. “I don’t even know your name!” Leon added. “I’m Leon Kennedy.”
Her face turned towards you, her eyes unreadable under those sunglasses. “That’s Joan,” Leon said. Her face went back to tracking Leon.
“Find a way out, Leon, before it’s too late. Then we’ll talk.” She said and turned to walk away. “Name’s Ada,” She added as she walked back into the darkness.
Clack, clack.
“Joan, you okay?” He asked, standing between you and the cell.
Your eyes looked up at him, seeing how wound tight he was. He may be more experienced than you with a lot of things, but he was still young. Around your age, if you had to guess. His eyes were trying to be level and calm, but a storm was brewing in that sea of ice blue. A sea of panic held together by determination.
“I’m okay,” You reassured.
His hand found yours again, whether it was to comfort you or himself wasn’t clear anymore. With a small squeeze, he nodded. “Let’s find a way to get that key card and get the hell out of here,” He said.
Behind you and Leon were two tables. One held a sort of crank, the other held a notice. Leon stuffed the crank in the back of his bulletproof vest, with help from you, and he picked up the notice. You peaked from behind him and read it to yourself, intrigued.
The power panel is out. Can the person in charge of it please take care of it ASAP!?
I assume everyone knows, but since the jail’s power panel is old as hell, we’re gonna need those custom power panel parts no one makes anymore. There should be a few in the generator room.
“Generator room?” You asked, looking up at Leon. He nodded and smiled softly at you.
“Sounds like that’s our next stop,” He replied.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
Catch this and more on my AO3!
Scheduling TCTAR
Hey guys! Last week I fell behind on writing so Chapter 3 was released late due to work and friend hangouts. But don't worry, Chapter 4 is all written and set to release tomorrow! Yay!
Writing a fanfic, then getting the one string that pulls everything together really feels like that one pic of the Joker
Writing a fanfic, then getting the one string that pulls everything together really feels like that one pic of the Joker
The City That Always Rains (A Leon Kennedy x Reader Series) Chapter 3
1, 2, 3, 4
Tag List:
CW: Human Experimentation, No beta reader, Game level violence and language, awful "father figure", Reader has an AWFUL life, eventual smut?, canon divergence, Re2og and Re2Remake canon squished together, body horror, weight discussion/thoughts, mc might come off as autistic because author is
WC: 4831
Summary: You learn that trust, maybe, has been earned.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
It felt like hours had passed since you crashed into the side of the Raccoon City Police Department. The grungy and dingy setting of the abandoned and festering building had grown familiar in your mind. A stark contrast to your home, the cell with all white walls and floors.
Thankfully, the clothes that Leon had supplied you with made life easier. You felt like you could run and keep up with him. What was your plain white, almost hospital gown, article of cloth was now an oversized police uniform. The top of it was wrapped and tied around your waist to keep it up, a tank top covering your chest. The shoes made it easy to walk, or more likely run, with Leon.
Even with your busted up ankle.
The medallion looking object that Leon was studying had a woman etched into it. Observing him, you could put together that it was a piece of something by the way he kept looking at the small notebook, then the metal object.
“Do you need me to hold anything?” You asked, noticing his pouches and pockets looked quite full. With the new clothes you had on, you had a few spare pockets, and you could always hold something.
More than anything, you wanted assurance that Leon wouldn’t leave you behind or abandon you. If you were useful, he would keep you around.
“Actually, can you hold onto these?” Leon asked, handing you a key ring. Inspecting the keyring, it held a key with a spade insignia on the tail end of it. You took a closer look, a bit confused as to why he had a key like this.
“This place is a maze. It used to be an art museum,” He added.
“That… actually makes sense,” You replied, taking the key.
You remembered a few things about art museums. All the memories you had of them made you feel strangely calm. Picturing hundreds of beautiful artworks on muted color walls, lights that weren’t the bright white LEDs you were used to by now. You remembered going to a few for school field trips.
School field trips…. Did anyone at your school wonder what happened to you? Any of your friends whose faces or voices you couldn’t remember anymore. Did they remember your name when you couldn’t?
“Hey, I know this is tough, but we need to keep going,” Leon’s voice cut through your spiral.
You nodded, your eyes meeting his. His eyes held something that you hadn’t expected, concern. Not pity, not frustration, concern.
“I’m okay… My ankle just hurts,” You said, trying to come up with an excuse. For some reason, not telling him the truth left you with a pit in your stomach, something that could be felt in the bottom of your throat, where it met your collarbone.
“I know… when we make it out of here I’ll patch it up properly,” He said, looking down at your injury. Even with the bandages on, it was easy to tell how swollen it had gotten. His voice was laced with guilt when he said it.
Lying was stomped out of you in the lab. You don’t remember how, or when, but you remember a change. Somewhere, somehow.
Being able to lie felt like shit, but it also felt like being human. Deceit used to like a gaping wound, bleeding more and more until it got plugged up. Then, the imagery became all too tangled with the actuality. A lie, then pain, then more questioning.
With Leon, your lies came out easier, less life threatening. Like you had an actual choice on whether to tell the truth or to lie. Choice.
Choice?
Parts of the human experience that were lost to you had started to make their way back, it seemed. But, choice was dangerous. Choice brought hope.
Were you willing to die hopeful? To be either dragged back to a lab by Leon or someone else, or to die in this building where the death in the air made it claustrophobic? What if Leon was as good as he seemed? What if you broke him by being intoxicated by your new sense of freedom?
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
Getting to the main lobby of the Police Department felt like it took ages. Eventually, the grimy, dingy, blue and green walls turned into an almost elegant main lobby. Warm lights shined down from the overhead lights, as well as wall sconces.
As your hand softly dragged along the top of a wooden desk, you took in how it felt. The texture of the wood, how soft, but rigid it was. You wouldn’t mind staying here while the rest of the world went to shit around you.
Leon had walked past you and made his way up a ramp to an area you couldn’t see. While he was moving around up there, you played with the familiar feel of a typewriter and the stained glass on an old fashioned banking lamp; maybe the world hadn’t changed as much as it appeared.
Suddenly, you heard the sound of something moving, like a large statue being dragged. The ground trembled slightly as the sound died down, the smell of dust filled the air.
“Lieutenant Branagh! Marvin!” You heard Leon’s voice call out.
You made your way up the ramp and could see Leon walking away from what appeared to be an underground passage. He was walking to an area with hospital beds and privacy curtains that you couldn’t see around from where you were.
“It’s time to go,” Leon said as he walked over to something, or rather someone.
He had other people with him? Were they liabilities? Could they be trusted? Were they from Umbrella?
A slight growl cut off your thoughts,making you freeze. That type of sound… you had heard it before. Coming out of the mouths of lab abominations, right before no humanity was left in them. You shook your head slightly, and made your way ont the landing. Past the privacy curtain, you could see a man on a couch in a police uniform. He was sitting up, growling like he just came out of your own nightmare. There was a wound on his side, one he was clutching.
“Hey,” Leon said, crouching down to his level. “ We need to get you to a hospital, right now.” You could see how he looked at the man, compassion in his eyes. The same look as when he found you. Maybe Leon was as good as he seemed. Was that possible?
“No, no, I….” Branagh trailed off, sitting up more, dazed. “Save yourself,” He added, grimacing and turning away from Leon.
Leon stood up, reaching out for him. “C’mon, I got you-”
“Don’t!” Branagh exclaimed, moving away from him.
You got closer to Leon, trying not to intrude on whatever was happening, but also being there in case you needed to pull him away. Leon was your lifeline, you weren’t going to lose him to his own compassion and heroism.
Leon looked back at you, acknowledging that you were there, then looked back at Branagh. “Look, we can still make it out of here together if you just gimme-”
Leon was cut off by Branagh brandishing a gun, pointed at him. Instinctively, you grabbed Leon’s arm, wanting to pull him away, but Leon wasn’t budging.
“It’s too late,” Branagh said, breathing heavily. “I tried Leon, but I couldn’t stop it. We can’t let this thing spread.” As he talked, his breathing got heavier, his voice got shakier.
“It’s on you now, just go,” He finished, looking down at the ground, wincing. The gun wavered as he did. He looked back up at Leon, then his eyes glanced over to yours. You recognized the look in his eyes.
You weren’t the only person that was experimented on by Umbrella. There were others, other adults, kids, animals. Most of them failed, but somehow you survived. You survived to see hundreds of people and animals have the same look in their eyes. Trying not to succumb to whatever Umbrella had made them to be, fighting their forced destiny.
“I understand,” Leon said flatly, watching as Branagh laid back down on the couch, resigning to his fate.
Leon’s hand grabbed yours, leading you down into the depths of wherever you were going.
You had questions, many questions. Questions for Leon, questions about what you had been thrown into, questions about why it was up to Leon to “stop the spread” as Branagh put it.
Only one question could sum everything up. Who did you piss off to make your life this complicated?
“Leon,” You started, looking at the back of his head as he led the two of you down stone stairs. He was uncharacteristically quiet. His touch between your hands felt loose. Usually, he’d be checking up on you, or making some witty comment to make the horrors around you less awful.
He didn’t even acknowledge you. Not one change with how mechanically and automatically he was walking down the stairs; his head facing forwards, trudging downstairs. His coldness was echoed in the all stone, almost tomb-like stairwell you two were descending.
“Hey, Leon,” You said again, stopping. He looked up at you and, even in darkness, you could tell it was the face of someone trying to steel themselves against loss.
“We should keep going,” He replied, almost pulling you along. When you stumbled from your ankle injury, he slowed down and led you instead of pulling.
After a bit, light could be seen in the stairwell. When you reached the end of it, a door opened to a room. It had a high ceiling, bookshelves lined the walls, and it had a desk with a typewriter on it. The floors felt plush as you walked along the carpet.
You had always wanted a carpet like this in your cell. Many things could be forgotten or misplaced in a memory, but the feel of your favorite carpet back home couldn’t be. The amount of phone calls you had taken while your parents listened in on the landline, the dice that seemed to get lost in it. How you loved to just lay in it because it felt nice. At the lab, it was a pipedream. Something to hold onto while your new world was sterile.
Now, something similar was under your feet again.
Leon let go of your hand and he walked over to a crate, searching it for supplies and dropping things he didn’t need.
When Leon let go, you crouched down and ran your hand along the carpet. It was just as soft as it looked. You looked from the carpet to Leon, wondering why you felt the need to.
“Leon,” You said again, watching him go through the crate.
“Hm?” He said in reply.
“Did you know him long?” You asked, standing up.
He stopped what he was doing and sighed. “No, I met him tonight. I just…” He said, trying to find the right words.
“The world needs compassionate people,” You said. Personal experience dictated that truth. If people were compassionate, no child would’ve been stolen.
Leon laughed, a little coldly. “You barely know me,” He replied. “I could be the worst person ever.” He added.
“I don’t think you are,” You responded, your eyes going back to the carpet.
“Any cruel, or even neutral, person would’ve left me to rot in that room.”
For most of your life, you were taught that physical weakness meant failure. Failure meant getting tossed out with all the other experiments that failed. Your past made you expect Leon to leave you in the room where you two left. You would’ve understood it, especially in the situation you were in.
In a surprise to yourself, you walked closer to Leon, reaching out for his hand. It was just a security you had gotten used to. The world around you was terrifying, but this contact was grounding, that was the only explanation you had.
As your hands touched, Leon didn’t hesitate; his hand held yours.
His eyes met yours, filled with determination, shedding off whatever he was going through. “I won’t fail Marvin,” He said. “And… I won’t fail you. I’ll get us out of here.”
His fingers laced together with yours and his eyes softened. “I’ll make sure you live,” He said softly.
No one had ever promised that to you before. David kept you alive for personal gain and his research, not because he wanted to. You were sure your parents cared for you, like a lot of parents did, but you couldn’t remember them saying that. Leon did.
He was a cop- he was supposed to help people. Of course he’d say something like that. But it didn’t stop the way you reacted to the promise.
Your heart thumped in a way that you hadn’t felt before. The beat of it against your chest was akin to fluttering. An unfamiliar warmth passed through you. A slight painting of blush spread across your cheeks as you processed his words.
Luckily for you, Leon had looked away and started walking, leading the two of you through a doorway and around a corner to an elevator. He pressed the button and you watched as the elevator came up to the floor.
You both looked at each other, then stepped into the elevator. It was slightly cramped, obviously made for only one person, but it wasn’t suffocating. Leon pushed the “down” button and you leaned up against the back wall of the elevator, your hands resting against the bar on the wall.
“The man you were talking to… Marvin…. He said it was up to you to stop this whole thing going on,” You said. “How much do you know about this?” You asked.
Leon turned to face you, standing next to you against the back wall of the elevator. “I know that it’s zombies, humans infected and turning undead… but other than that I know nothing,” He replied. “It’s funny, I’ve watched so many movies and played zombie games. I never thought it’d happen in real life.” He sighed and looked up at the light flickering on the ceiling of the elevator.
“I remember my dad liking monster movies,” You said. Memories of him raving about the newest monster thrillers swarmed your brain. Funny, you could remember what he liked, but you couldn’t remember him.
“Did he not visit you in the hospital?” Leon asked, raising his eyebrows.
Oh. That’s right, the “hospital” you told him about. Left with another choice, you chose safety- doubling down.
“He died before I was admitted,” You replied, the web of lies growing. Freedom and choice came at a price, but you weren't safe enough to admit it yet.
It was better than the alternative of you telling him you were an experiment. He could leave you, scared you would turn into an infected, or worse, he could use you to his advantage. Just like the carpet from before, Leon seemed even softer than he looked, but you still didn’t really know him.
You were like a wounded animal, being treated, but with the threat of betrayal close at hand. You’d do anything to avoid death, like lie to a man’s face while comforting him. But again anything was better than–
“I know how you feel, both of my parents died when I was younger,” Leon said, breaking the few seconds of silence that passed and your thoughts.
Now you really felt like an asshole.
“I’m sorry,” You said, swallowing the lump in your throat that formed.
“Don’t be. They were kind of awful people. They made a mistake dealing with people they shouldn’t have and it cost them their lives,” He replied. “They were good to me, they weren’t absolute monsters, but they made their choices.”
You looked over at him. “So you became a cop?” You asked, putting his background together.
With a nod from him, it was confirmed. “When my parents were killed, a police officer found me. He kind of adopted me in a way. I grew up wanting to help people so I went to the Police Academy,” He replied.
“How’d that go?”
“Top of my class,” He replied, a slight grin on his lips.
“Bragger,” You snipped back, a grin on your face too.
Anything to distract the two of you from whatever hell was waiting outside the elevator.
“This was supposed to be my first day, I got a letter telling me to stay away, but I just… couldn’t,” He replied.
“Hell of a first day,” You replied.
“Something like that,” He replied and chuckled, humorlessly. “Well, what about you?” He asked, his eyes looking over at you. “I don’t need to find medication for you or anything, right?”
“I-” You were about to spout out some random lie about being sick, but fate was in your favor. The elevator stopped and the door creaked open to reveal another set of stairs.
“We can talk later,” He replied. “Before we leave, how’s your ankle?” He asked.
“Awful, but I’ll manage,” You replied. Moving was painful as hell, but resting was worse. At least when you moved you could get your mind off of it.
He dug through one of his pouches and produced a cloth. “I have some medical herbs. If you suck on the leaves, it’ll alleviate pain for a bit,” He handed the cloth over to you.
You grabbed a few leaves and stuck them in your mouth. It tasted like spearmint, but made warmth surge through you.
“Don't swallow them, just spit them out when you’re done,” He replied.
You nodded in reply.
“And Joan, promise me something,” He said, grabbing your hand again. “If we ever get into a lot of trouble, you leave me. I’ll distract them while you run for it… or hobble I guess,” He added.
“What about staying together?” You asked.
“In a bad situation, I’d rather us be separated for a few minutes than have you get hurt,”
“Okay,” You replied, nodding slightly. The idea of having to get around this place without Leon scared you shitless. You liked his company, but more than that he was your safety. He could shoot a gun, he had supplies, and he was pleasant to be around.
Not having him with you wasn’t an option for survival.
He nodded, seemingly content with your response and he led the two of you down the concrete staircase. The staircase was extremely dark and eerie; the only light being from his flashlight and the only sound being the steps from the two of you and a growling off in the distance.
As the two of you got to the ground floor, your footsteps became more swamped as the floor was flooded. Trying not to think about the water and where it came from, you pressed on. An open doorway into a bare hallway was the only way to go for now, and the growling came from that direction.
Leon pulled out his handgun and motioned for you to stick behind him as he walked through the hallway. As you walked, you noted that the floor changed from concreted to grated, as did the ceiling. The two of you were on some sort of catwalk-type landing that led you through a dark room.
You were about to say something when an inhuman noise came from above you, causing you to duck. Hurried footsteps could be heard running along the ceiling of the walkway you two were on, the growling and gurgling noises following it.
“What the-” Leon said under his breath as the noises died down. Whatever was making those noises had run far enough away that you couldn’t hear them anymore.
Everything in your body was telling you not to press forward. Not to go on. But you knew that you had to in order to make it out of here. The area around you started to look more industrial. Precarious lights, pipes, meters, boxes, lockers everything was everywhere.
Leon kept on walking and the two of you made your way into a generator room. Beyond that was a machinery room with a balcony overlooking the bottom floor. Steam and smoke billowed from the bottom floor, making it hard to see beneath the balcony.
Before the two of you stood a room where workers would be, windows overlooking the room, what seemed to be control panels and chairs. But a big locker was in the way, blocking off the door by being tipped over and leaning against another locker diagonally.
“Stay here, I’m gonna check out ahead,” Leon said, looking back at you.
Your eyebrows knit together as your thoughts warred inside of you. Part of you was screaming at you to stop him, he could still leave you. The other part was rational, he made a promise. He wouldn’t leave you.
It wasn’t that the thought of him dying didn’t cross your mind. It was more that you couldn’t help much, and he seemed resourceful. Top of his class in the academy and he’s survived so far.
Leon must’ve misread the look on your face as concern rather than someone fighting themselves. “I’ll be fine. I made you a promise that I’d get you out of here and I intend to keep it,” He said, squeezing your hand slightly.
“I know you will,” You said, with a slight smile as you remembered something: you had the key ring. He couldn’t get anywhere without you. That was enough to calm both sides of your mind.
You stayed where you were, watching Leon move the locker. While you could tell Leon wasn’t ungodly strong, it was still an impressive feat. Your eyes went to his back and arms as he pulled it back to where it belonged. Under the uniform, you could see his muscles working.
As Leon walked through the door, dust picked up as something dropped from the ceiling. His body was blocking your view of whatever it was, but your brain told you to stay.
Then, Leon was grabbed and thrown into the grates on the floor.
“Joan, run!” Leon said, struggling against what was over him.
A creature, a man in a labcoat had Leon pinned to the ground. One of his arms was twice the size of his head, a giant eye blinking and watching Leon as the visceral, exposed muscles and skin around it flowed down to his hand that was holding a crowbar.
You froze as you recognized the logo on the labcoat. The same red and white logo that was burned into your nightmares. That damn red and white umbrella. Even here, you couldn’t get away. It was a matter of time before they found you.
Suddenly, the man spasmed as the eye did, pushing Leon more into the grates of the balcony, causing Leon and the man to yell in pain.
Frozen in place, you couldn’t move. You couldn’t help.
“Joan, go! Run!” Leon yelled as the creature pressed him harder into the balcony, making it give beneath them.
Leon and the creature fell to the floor beneath, surrounded by machinery and billowing smoke. You heard Leon groaning and saw a flash of the familiar navy blue uniform as he ran.
You kneeled down, looking for any way to see what was going on. It wasn’t much, but you could see a flashlight- Leon.
Seeing some sign of life made your heart swell. You justified the feeling by being practical. He was your only way of getting out, if he died, so did you. While you had the freedom to make choices, you didn’t allow yourself to have the luxury of feelings.
You could hear gunshots being fired. Seeing the spark from the muzzle of the handgun made you slightly smile, he was still alive.
Metal clanged against metal as the creature hit its surroundings with its crowbar. Its guttural screams and agonal groans could still be heard and felt as Leon fired bullets into it.
There was nothing you could do as you tried to make out where Leon was among the smoke. The gap in the balcony was too far for you to jump across without any help and there was nothing around to throw at the creature.
Suddenly, everything went silent. You limped over to the edge of the balcony, searching the bottom floor. “Leon?” You called into the silence.
A metal clang could be heard and you saw a figure on the other side of the room on the balcony. A woman in a tan trenchcoat with short black hair. Her eyes looked at you, then she turned to walk away from the ladder she just released to Leon.
If she was there to help, why wasn’t she sticking around? You watched as she left, your eyes trailing the mysterious woman who helped Leon.
“Joan?” Leon’s voice called out. Your head snapped to where the sound came from, he was on the other side of the gap.
“Jump, I’ll catch you!” He said. He looked more exhausted and disheveled than earlier. Dust and other debris was caked into his ash blonde hair, sweat made his bangs stick to his forehead and gave his face a sheen. His pupils were like pins, still in fight or flight as his chest heaved from trying to catch his breath.
“Don’t worry about the gap, I’ll catch you,” he said again, watching you.
You nodded and jumped the gap easily. His arms were around you as you cleared the jump, the two of you falling to the floor. “You're surprisingly athletic,” He commented, sitting up and catching your gaze. Both Leon and you were on the floor, faces inches from each other. “Thanks for the ladder,” He added and smiled a bit.
“That wasn’t me,” You replied as the two of you sat up.
This time, his eyebrows furrowed. “Someone’s watching us, then,” He replied and looked around.
Your mind went to the woman in the trenchcoat. She was definitely watching the pair of you. Maybe she was looking out for the two of you, like a guardian angel. Or maybe she was another enemy luring you to your eventual death and playing with you.
Leon’s chest was still falling and rising, making you think now wasn’t the time to confirm his suspicion, or fear. He took out another cloth, like the one he gave you earlier, and opened it to more green herbs. After putting it in his mouth, he seemed in better shape.
“We should get some rest,” Leon said. “This could be the last chance we have to.” His eyes went to your beat up ankle that was shoved into many socks, bandages, and a shoe. “I’ll take another look at your ankle too.”
With a quick nod, you shifted a bit more, to let him up. You tried to rise from the grates, but the pain from your ankle kept you on the ground. Without missing a beat, Leon held out his hands and helped you up. “Need more herbs?” He asked.
You shook your head in reply. “Just… hit it weird,” You said.
He took your answer and nodded, the concern coming back to his face. Both of you made your way into the control office. Leon pulled a chair out for you and gestured to it.
“Rest, I’ll wake you up in an hour,” He said and sat down against a metal locker. There was no doubt in your mind that he would’ve stayed up if he hadn’t just fought for his life. His head leaned against the cabinet and he seemed to drift asleep while you walked over to the chair. As you walked over to the chair, the keyring seemed to burn a hole into your pocket.
You kept it because he told you to hold it, but you also kept it to make yourself necessary for his survival. The part of you that doubted Leon was like a sickness. Or rather, like a woman who survived years of being abused, lied to, and experimented on. You could feel your old sense of hope, freedom, and want coming back slowly.
Maybe that’s why David never let you outside. A hopeful experiment was one not worth the trouble.
But with Leon, things seemed okay. Not great, because of the situation you both were in, but okay. Survivable. You took out the keyring and stared at the key. Then, against your learned judgement, you placed it in Leon’s lap.
You gently brushed his hair back into place with your fingers and you made your way to the chair. Sitting down in it, you sighed, exhaustion catching up to you. Your eyes closed as the world around you turned to black and you gave into your desire to sleep.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
A/N: You all better be normal about Ada Wong.
Catch this fic and more on my AO3!
Hey, I started reading your fic 'The city that always rains' and really loved it, but would it be alright if you either remove the reader insert's name or just turn it into an OC??
I was reading the first chapter and really enjoying it but then MC came up with a name and it really takes you out of the self insert immersion. Ik that's it's not actually her name and she took it from the memory but it still makes it hard for most people to insert themselves into the story.
So you could maybe turn the fic into an oc story or just have the MC remember her name and use y/n, (name) or any other variant. (Hopefully the later cause I really, really love the concept of your fic but can't stand reading oc stories 😭😭)
I hope none of this came off as rude or anything 🙏🙏 but it is a bit annoying to get dragged out of the immersion like that by a named MC, especially when you were enjoying the fic so much beforehand.
I wanted to find a way to answer this privately but I couldn't T_T
Don't worry, it didn't come off as rude to me. And I hope this response doesn't come off as rude either.
So, part of the reader/MC's character arc is her identity. Her identity in what she was and what she could be. She comes up with a fake name because her old one was taken away from her and she can't remember it.
The fake name is there for a reason and the reason is very ingrained into the themes of the fic. If it's annoying or hard to read because of a fake name, then the fic isn't for you.
The City That Always Rains (A Leon Kennedy x Reader Series) Chapter 2
1, 2, 3, 4
Tag List:
CW: Human Experimentation, No beta reader, Game level violence and language, awful "father figure", Reader has an AWFUL life, eventual smut?, canon divergence, Re2og and Re2Remake canon squished together, body horror, weight discussion/thoughts, mc might come off as autistic because author is
WC: 3590
Summary: You and Leon make your way through the grimey RPD and you get a much needed outfit change.
A/N: As you've noticed, I changed some tags. I'm not writing the reader to be autistic, but if it comes off that way I can't help it lol (I'm autistic, so some things might come off as neurodivergent).
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
“So this is what you’re up to?” You asked, your eyes on the booklet in his hand.
The dark, sinister hallway that had your stomach in knots wasn’t easy to look at. Walls covered in water staining and blood echoed like a chamber. The floors were covered in mystery liquid, one you weren’t gonna ask about. The notebook in Leon’s hand was easier to look at, the question was to get the uneasiness out of your head.
“Yeah,” Leon answered, his eyes flickering between the book and forward, as if waiting for something to jump out at the two of you. The hallway was dimly lit from his flashlight, adding to his growing suspense.
Looking at him, you could tell the signs of someone in denial and trying to juggle multiple things at once.
“Do you want me to keep track of the booklet?” You asked. You had been brought up to help people, engineered to do the exact same thing. Over the past 9 years, you were told how helpful you were, how good you were.
“I can’t ask you to do that, you focus on that ankle,” Leon said and pocketed the notebook. You made sure to take note of where he put the small booklet. His right back pocket.
One question you had on your mind since venturing out from the room you met in was at the forefront, begging to be asked.
“Is this what the world looks like now?” You asked, your eyes on the ceiling, seeing the different stains and wiring showing, sparking. You remembered the neon, the smell of hairspray, not this.
Leon looked at you, as if trying to gauge what exactly you meant by it, then his head whipped back in front of the two of you. Now was not the time to play 20 questions.
“I guess. I don’t know what’s going on here, but my only guess is that it’s only here that’s affected. At least in Denver it’s not like this,” He replied. He stopped walking and shook his head a little bit, then continued to walk. “At least when I left, it wasn’t like this,” He added.
Denver, you remembered that name. It was the capital of a state, unfortunately you couldn’t remember which one. Trying to remember social studies from 9 years ago was like trying to remember a piece of information so deep in your mind that it wouldn't budge.
You were trying to figure out how to ask for more information without revealing too much, but the sound of your foot slipping caught your attention.
Hands were suddenly on your arms, making you sturdy and upright again. Leon’s face was inches from yours as the flashlight illuminated a random wall from him grabbing you.
“Careful, can’t have you spraining that other ankle,” He said, looking over you to make sure you were okay.
You were miles away, the sudden touch, or rather grab, was all too familiar to you. Leon meant it in goodwill, but you were used to people jostling you around, moving you at their own will and want. In place of Leon, you saw David, his eyes leering down at you.
“Be a good girl for me, Thirteen,” He said, a snarl on his face as a syringe was in his hand. He held you with one arm, forcing you to stay still as the large needle with your usual sleeping medication got closer to you.
You had to get out, you had to break free, don’t let the needle touch you, get out from his grip, don’t touch me-
“Hey, you okay?” You were brought back to reality by another voice, one that was starting to be familiar. As you blinked, the white walls and floors melted back to the dark blue and hazy green atmosphere of the place you were in.
Leon’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at you with concern. His blue eyes searched you over, checking you for any sign of hurt.
“Y-yeah,” You managed to say, your voice cracking. “Just startled is all…” Your heart sped up as adrenaline entered your body. Lying didn’t come easily to you, it never did. You were hoping that Leon didn’t catch the unevenness of your tone and how clammy your hands had gotten.
He seemed to believe you, or at least think it would be too much to call you out on the lie. Leon nodded and let go of you, turning back to facing forward. “Watch your step, there’s blood and worse everywhere,” He said and continued walking.
“...Blood?” You asked, finally looking down at what you had slipped on. Sure enough, painting the tiled floor was thick streams of crimson red. Your eyes widened as you saw the blood now on your bare feet. Vomit threatened to come up and you started slightly shaking.
You weren’t used to seeing blood. Everything in the Umbrella lab was clean, you never saw blood there.
Leon turned to look at you, as if sensing you stopping. The flashlight turned to you and he took in your expression.
“We gotta keep moving, there’s a locker room up ahead, we can find you some better clothes and some shoes there,” He said.
“Why is there…” You said, trailing off.
To Leon’s credit, he picked up on what was happening quickly. He walked back to you and held out a hand to you.
Your eyes focused on his hand, then flicked up to his eyes, seeing compassion in them.
“The quicker we move, the quicker we can get out of here,” He said softly.
You nodded and reached out to his hand. You remembered something like this, this was normal, people held hands all the time. Flashes of memories of your parents, your friends, and you holding hands. Whether it was during a game, or leading you through something, it was normal. This was a normal thing.
Leon’s hand softly grabbed yours, lacing your fingers together. The familiarity of soft human contact, a touch not expecting anything in return was enough to bring you back. Before all of this.
Looking up to Leon, he wasn’t Leon anymore. A middle aged man with black hair and blue eyes stood in front of you. He was two times your size, tall and wide. He smelled of the Ocean. His eyes looked at you lovingly and his smile had a chipped tooth from eating ice.
Dad. My dad.
“Come on sunshine, I got you,” He said and held your hand, walking you to a stall that was so much taller than you.
The smell of high tide filled your nose and the squawk of seagulls could be heard all around you. Looking down, you saw the usual dark brown wooden planks that were waterlogged. You remembered this place.
The beach.
Your dad crouched down to your height and pointed at the stall, then the worker. “Tell the nice ice cream man what flavor you want,” He said, smiling at you. You could feel the hand patting your back, encouraging you to speak.
This was what an actual father was supposed to be. This is what you had been ripped from, forced to forget.
Your dad looked at you. “____, tell him. I know you can do it, honey,” He said softly. What was supposed to be your name was static, even your memories couldn’t remember your old identity. Who you were born to be.
Suddenly, his expression changed and he stood back up. “_____, I have to take care of something. I’m gonna leave you alone for a bit, but I’ll be back,” He said.
“Joan, I’m gonna leave you alone for a bit, but I’ll be back,” Leon said, his voice bringing you back to your present again. That’s twice today, that was a new record.
Murmured memories, while weaning off of some sort of injected drug filled your past time in the lab. The cold floor was home to the past that slowly and softly left your lips, said over and over again like a madman. Then again, were you that far off from a madman?
“Okay,” You said and nodded, barely processing what he said. The two of you were in a small outlet of a hallway, Leon looking around the corner. Your hands were still entangled in each other, the warmth spreading up your arm.
“Give me two minutes and I’ll be back,” He said, looking back at you.
“What if you’re not?” You asked nervously. As new as everything was, you knew who looked the best to latch onto in any given situation. First it was David, then it was his aide, now it was Leon. Different faces, all seeming like the best option for survival.
“I’ll be back, I’m not leaving you alone in here,” Leon said, getting a little closer to you. “Don’t worry, I’ve fought these things before, I know how to kill them,” He added.
Your eyes widened at his words.
Things….
Kill?
“What?” You asked, your mind reeling trying to figure out what he meant. You were pulled back into the dark reality of the Police Department.
Leon looked at you, confused for a second, then he realized something. “You have no clue about the outbreak,” He said. It wasn’t a question, he was telling you. Stating it.
“Outbreak?” You said. You remembered David’s words from when you left the facility: Birkin messed with something. You had a sense that whatever was going on, this ‘Birkin’ was responsible.
Leon looked at the floor, trying to figure out how to explain it. “So, we’re currently in the middle of a zombie outbreak. I don’t know why and I don’t know what causes it, but the dead aren’t actually dead,” He said, looking at you. His eyes looked at you like he expected you to freak out.
“O…kay?” You said, not really getting as hung up on it as Leon expected you to. For the past nine years you were surrounded by scientists who fucked around with human biology, you weren’t really surprised that the dead could come back to life.
“You’re taking this way better than I guessed you would,” Leon said. He let go of your hand to cross his arms. His eyes looked at you, a hint of untrust in them.
“I grew up around biologists,” You offered as an explanation. He took it as the truth, out of convenience.
“Where were you before this?” He asked, prodding a bit, but not as much as he could. The question that was raised earlier, but never answered.
“I was in a hospital,” You replied, offering the basic response. Again, taken as truth out of convenience.
“When we make it out of here, I’m never touching another bottle of alcohol ever again,” He grumbled and checked the gun he was holding. “Two minutes,” He said and nodded to you.
You nodded in agreement and watched him go around the corner. After a few seconds, you heard gunshots and a yelp, then bodies hitting the floor.
Soon enough, the ashy blonde hair of your new companion came around the corner and he looked at you. “It’s clear,” He said.
You nodded and went to walk, but instead his hand reached out to you again. As if missing the feeling of the warmth between the two of you, you took it almost immediately.
“Hold on,” Leon said, not moving. He got closer to you and his eyes met you. As he got closer, you could see the blood spurts on his face, making you flinch a bit.
“I need you to close your eyes, okay?” He asked.
“Uh okay,” You said quietly and squeezed your eyes shut. For some reason, you knew you could trust him. That idea scared you, the idea of trust was one you weren’t used to anymore. Trust deposited you into the hands of scientists in Umbrella. Trust took you from your family and injected you with various serums. Trust burned you worse than any fire could.
Leon guided you through the hallway, lightly pulling your hand forward. Looking back, he noticed how awkward and slowly you moved through the hallway even with his guidance. He walked back to you and went to put his other arm around your back.
“Is it okay if I help you?” He asked gently. You nodded in reply and felt his hand on your higher back. Instead of the dread you assumed the touch would bring, it brought peace and assurance.
After a few minutes of walking, you heard a door open after the warmth of Leon’s hand disappeared. Then, you walked through a doorway onto a different feeling floor.
“You can open your eyes,” Leon said.
You opened your eyes to the sight of a dimly lit locker room. You watched Leon put something into a terminal and he pressed a few buttons, running to get a newly opened locker.
“There are uniforms and shoes in that locker, if they fit it’ll make this easier,” He sighed as he sat down and held his head with his hands.
If Leon had been fighting all day long, it was no wonder he was tired. Anyone would keel over at this point.
But… fighting what? He mentioned zombies- biological crimes of humanity weren’t something ethereal to you. You saw what they did in those labs; the cloudy eyes of children whose DNA rejected the injections.
“I picked the worst day to come in,” He grumbled.
As your hands found the locker Leon was talking about, you noticed what he said. “So you weren’t here when this started?” You asked, wanting to gain more information about what happened, or really what Leon knew.
“No,” He admitted as he put pouches on his hips. The pouches had the letters R.P.D. written on them.
You found a uniform that looked like it was the closest to your size and took it out of the locker. Holding it up to your body, the navy blue fabric was still too big for your frame.
It was a size women’s small.
You knew that David and Umbrella kept you malnourished so you were more agreeable and less energetic, but holding the fabric up to your body made you see how small your frame was. It was scary.
Getting your mind off of comparing yourself to the clothes, you decided to press Leon more. “When did you get here?” You asked.
“Today. I thought that yesterday was one of the worst days of my life so I decided to come in and ignore the calls I got. But this is… much worse than what was going on with me,” He sighed and tightened the straps on his pouches and holsters.
You were quiet, not really knowing if you should continue to press.
“I guess I should tell you, seeing as though I’m now responsible for your safety as well…” He said under his breath. “I had a pretty awful day yesterday, so I’m not the most sober person right now,” He admitted.
You blankly stared at him, not knowing what he meant.
“Uh….” He said sheepishly and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m a little hungover right now, but don’t worry, I’ll still get us through this,” He said.
That…still didn’t clear up what he meant. It was almost like he was speaking a foreign language from your reaction. You just stared blankly at him still.
Moving onto other matters, you started taking off your scrubs, finally being free of the grubby, smokey fabric. As you did, you heard a yelp come from Leon.
“Jesus! Let me know next time you do that,” He said, turning to face the wall. You could see the back of his neck and the tips of his ears were pink.
You went about your business and finished changing. The women’s uniform came with a tanktop, the button up shirt, the pants, and the shoes.
“A-are you done?” Leon asked, his voice slightly cracking and the pink turning deeper with the voice crack.
“I think…” You said and looked down. You looked like a toddler trying on their parent’s work clothes. The way the fabric hung loosely would only make you slower, a liability.
“Here,” Leon said and walked up to you. He crouched down to do something, then looked up at you. “Can I help you with this?” He asked. You nodded and his eyes looked over the uniform.
He noticed that you had put a tanktop on underneath so he got to work undoing the buttons of the shirt. “So, I told you how I got here, how’d you get here?” He asked
You tried to think of a way to explain your situation. Even if you told the truth, would he believe you? He’d either ignore it, deny it was the truth, or worse turn you in.
After all, you were property technically. And the longer you were gone, the longer you were technically “stolen”.
Your eyes flicked to the side and you decided to make up a story. “I was at the hospital… I had been for a while,” You said. It wasn’t too far from the truth.
“Oh,” Leon said softly, his eyes meeting yours. They carried a sympathy that stabbed your heart for lying about being ill.
“They were transporting me,” You said, looking at the floor.
“And the helicopter was the one that crashed,” He said, recalling that you told him you were in the helicopter that crashed.
“Yeah,”
“Here, hold onto me so I can tie this easier,” He said. You hesitantly wrapped your arms around his neck, loosely, and he got to working on the clothes again.
Leon had finished making adjustments to your uniform. He took the long sleeves on the button up and used them to tie the shirt around your waist. The pant legs were tucked into your socks and the bandages from your sprained ankle.
“I’m no seamstress, but I did what I could,” He said. You removed your arms and offered a light smile in thanks.
“Thanks, these feel better than what I was in,” You said. The feel of a different fabric than the same one you had been wearing for years felt odd.
Not odd, just weird.
“I thought as much,” He said. “I picked this up too, my girlfriend, well ex, used to use them all the time. She would get upset if her hair got in the way of doing things,” He said and held up a hair elastic.
You used hair elastics a lot, and luckily, this was the type that held your hair the strongest.
“Thanks,” You said again and took it, putting your hair back and away from your face. This wasn’t the time to worry about looks, this was the time to worry about practicality.
“There’s one last thing. Can I?” He asked, gesturing to his neck. The collar.
You nodded and looked up as he took his knife out. He ran his finger along the collar and looked at you. “It’s a bit tougher material than I thought it’d be. Where’d you get this?” He asked.
“I ran away a lot. They would use it to transport me,” You said, thinking quickly.
“Jesus, remind me to never go to the hospital you were in,” He said, trying to remove it with his knife.
“Trust me, you won’t ever go there,”
After a few minutes, he sighed in frustration. “It’s not giving. I think you’ll have to keep it until we find something sturdier to get it off. You okay with that?” He asked.
You nodded in reply.
“Alright, now I feel better about bringing you along with me,” Leon said and smiled at you. “I won’t have to worry about you stepping on glass or anything,” He added.
“Thank you,” You said again, your eyes meeting his.
“Thank me when we get out of here,” He said and walked over to the door. “I’d give you a gun or a knife, but I don’t have anything to spare.” He looked at you sympathetically.
“Don’t worry, I don’t even know how to use either one so it would be lost on me,” You reassured.
His eyebrows furrowed a bit and he slightly tilted his head. “Really? Not even a knife?” He asked.
You shook your head in reply.
“Well then, I’ll just have to teach you when we get out of here. Or earlier if I have to,” He said and put his hand on the doorknob. “You still okay with following me around?” He asked.
There was no doubt in your mind that Leon was the safest person you could be with right now. He knew where you were, at least more than you did, and he knew how to fight. It would stupid of you to say no.
“Of course,” You said and nodded. “We’ll make it out of here together,” You added and lightly smiled.
His concerned look slowly turned into a light smile and he nodded. “Yeah, we will. As long as we stay together, we’ll be okay,” He replied.
Leon opened the door into the darkness, ready to get out of the locker room and plunge into the dark hallway. Ready to lead the two of you into whatever this hell would throw at him. He was more determined now, because he had someone that depended on him.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
Catch this fic and more on my AO3
may i humbly request repliku.....
Anything for my best friend jubey 🫶❤️😊
The City That Always Rains (A Leon Kennedy x Reader Series) Chapter 1
1, 2, 3, 4
Tag List:
CW: Human Experimentation, No beta reader, Game level violence and language, awful "father figure", Reader has an AWFUL life, eventual smut?, canon divergence, Re2og and Re2Remake canon squished together
WC: 3362
Summary: Umbrella stole you from the world when you were ten. Now, at 19, what you know of your world turns upside down when a zombie outbreak happens in Raccoon City. Is this freedom, or another layer of hell to live through?
A/N: AHHH I'm so excited to be starting this up again. I have so many plans! This is a work that I've uploaded before, but I took down to edit what I had and expand upon it. Hope you enjoy!
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
The first thing you experienced about the apocalypse wasn’t the loud sirens, explosions, or screaming. It was how quiet it was. The usual fluorescent lights of the lab testing floor you were on were still burning as bright as ever, your eyes trailing the multitude of doctors and nurses scrambling through the hall, clipboards and keycards in hand.
Your hand placed itself on the glass wall, confused as to why the doctors and scientists were acting more skittish than usual. The feeling you had in your stomach turning into a deeper pit. Anxiety swelling inside of you.
Even without any of the chemicals dumped into you through the many syringes “gifted” to you, your intuition was off the charts. You knew something was wrong.
Hearing the usual vroom of the door to your cell opening, your eyes turned to it, seeing the scientist usually in charge of you with a lead in hand. He stood in the doorway, his salt and pepper hair slicked back like it always was. His glasses were pristine, no scratches or dirt on them, his lab coat and scrubs eerily clean.
“Subject 13, we’re moving you,” David said, his voice not leaving room for question.
You nodded, walking up to him. David had been in charge of you since you got here at the ripe age of 10. A decade of being trapped in these four walls, not seeing the outside.
The last time you were outside, the whole world felt like it was dripped in neon. The lights, the hair, the makeup, everything. All you wanted was a Barbie doll or a cabbage patch kid. Now, the world to you was white walls, white floors, and people wearing all white.
David clasped the lead onto your thin collar, starting to walk the opposite end down the hallway that you were used to. You only ever walked to the left of your cell, not the right. Today you were going to the right, following all the other doctors and scientists.
“Where are we going?” You asked quietly.
“Hm?” David asked, not even bothering to look over you.
You took a second, looking down at your feet while you walked. Taking a deep breath, you get ready to rephrase your sentence. “Father, where are you taking me?” You rephrased.
He smiled back at you, his yellow cigarette smoke stained teeth being visible from behind his lips. “My flower, we’re relocating you.” He responded, then looked forward.
Relocation…..
You’ll get to see another part of the world. Maybe if you were lucky, you’d be able to see outside through windows. The idea thrilled you more than the fear of being sent to another location. But still, one thought loomed over you, the NEST had been your home for the past 10 years, why were they moving you now?
“Father, why?” You asked, watching people run by you. The hairs on the back of your neck were sticking up, matching the anxiety of everyone else besides David.
“Because, My Flower, someone messed up on one of the upper floors,” He replied. His tone was always condescending, infantilizing you, talking down to you. He acted like you were still 10- like when he “found you”.
“Messed up?” You asked. He never told you about stuff happening on the upper floors, you were hoping that he’d be willing to go into deeper detail if he was already in a talking mood.
“Birkin…. messed with something that he shouldn’t have,” He responded and left it at that.
Birkin…. That had to be a person by the way he was talking. You had searched your memory, trying to figure out if you ever came into contact, but couldn’t remember anything.
As the two of you walked through a set of double doors, the hallway changed from white to a blaring red. An alarm was going off, along with the emergency lights, making the hallway a sensory nightmare.
You squeezed your eyes closed, attempting to quell the migraine you were starting to get from everything.
After going through another set of double doors, you felt yourself rising from the ground. Opening your (e/c) eyes in a panic, you noticed you were in an elevator, making your way to the surface. How long had it been since you were in an elevator last? It had to have been at the mall, while you were waiting impatiently to get to Orange Julius.
The mall that had just opened up down the road from where you lived. The same mall where a strange man in a suit came up to you and asked you where your parents were.
The same one where you were taken from, never to see the outside world again.
“Where will we go?” You asked, your (e/c) eyes meeting his face.
“Where we go,” David replied dryly.
You nodded, discontent with the answer, but pushing your feelings aside like you had been trained to do. If you dug too far, it would only spell more pain and suffering for you; curiosity was not a trait celebrated by Umbrella Corp.
He led you down another hallway, the lead tugging at your neck, an uncomfortable feeling, making you seem like a dog. Your place was a lab rat, property owned by Umbrella Corp. You were truly David’s bitch through and through. Something he held over you.
After a mind numbing walk through more hallways than you could count, you felt the cold air prick your face. Your nose breathed in the fresh air for the first time in a decade, tears almost welling in your eyes at the nostalgic feeling of it. It was crisp, but warm at the same time. Smelling like nothing, but everything all at once. Where the air smelled like cleaner and chemicals in your cell, the air here smelled of an electric charge, a storm on the horizon, and the calamity happening in the city.
Looking around, you saw the city horizon line. There were more lights than when you were brought here, assuming you were looking at the same side of the building from before. You saw the misty haze sweeping over the city, the pine trees in the background surrounding the mountains in the faint distance. If you could see the roads, you would have seen the destruction breaking out around you.
You would have seen the hell emerging from the depths of where you were kept.
Looking forward, you saw a military grade helicopter, the same type they brought you here in. When you were first taken, you remembered every single detail you could with hope you could somehow make it out.
Obviously, you were naïve.
David ushered you into the helicopter, taking his seat in the pilot’s. Two U.S.S. (Umbrella Security Services) agents accompanied the two of you on the helicopter, guns drawn. One was pointed off the ramp, the other was pointed at you. At this point, you would have either been an idiot or had a death wish if you attempted to run. At this point you had the survivor mentality beaten out of you.
Starting up the helicopter, David tied your lead to the bar separating the two of your seats. Your eyes were glued to the world outside, watching the rain hit the windows and windshields in awe. The world seemed darker since you saw it last, obviously because it was night time, but it felt grungier. Less like the neon wonderland you left and more like cigarette smoke and leather.
As the helicopter flew above the city, the fires and crowds of people below were finally visible to you. The shock tore through your body at the sight.
“The people… what’s happening to them?” You asked, your eyes following clusters of people attacking others. It looked like ants fighting from how high up you were, but you could still make out their shapes and sizes.
“Birken’s atrocity. This is why I worked on more sophisticated projects like you, My Flower,” David replied, running a hand through your hair. An unfamiliar sound filled your ears, getting louder and louder by the second.
David’s head whipped to the side. “Holy shit!” He yelled and jerked the steering sticks of the helicopter towards you. Your eyes widened as you saw a glimpse of something coming at the two of you, then the world went white again.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
You woke up to a searing pain in your right arm. Eyes shooting open, all you saw around you were silent flames, engulfing the helicopter and licking up your right arm. You tried to lunge through the flames and get out of the helicopter, but a force pulled you back, the fucking collar and lead. Looking around the helicopter, you found a stray shard of glass and picked it up. Your hand instantly filled with a sanguine red, the glass cutting your hand from just holding it. Quickly and wasting no time, you sawed through the lead, gritting your teeth at the pain.
David would surely forgive you for breaking your lead, it was life or death. Then again, you knew the kind of man he was.
Once the lead went slack, breaking apart, you jumped through the flames, rolling on the floor of wherever you were to extinguish the flames on you. Catching your breath and feeling your heartbeat die down, you took a few seconds, waiting for David or a U.S.S. agent to pick you back up.
When no one jolted you up to your feet, your eyes opened to find a dusty wooden floor beneath you. Pushing off of your arms, you looked around you and saw a hallway of some sort, a rather plain one, but not the white ones you were used to seeing by now.
You stood up and looked toward the helicopter, seeing three bodies in there, engulfed in the flames. David and the two U.S.S. agents.
You were…. Free.
Free…
David was dead.
Your mind kept going over these words in your mind before you decided it would be better to move than stay still. While David had beaten the survivor out of you, you weren’t an idiot.
The helicopter was cutting the hallway in half, giving you only one choice to go: behind you. You turned around and looked down the daunting hallway, feeling like it would’ve been better if you perished in the crash with everyone else. Nonetheless, you pushed forward into the darkness, your eyes adjusting to the darkness and your ears adjusting to the quiet.
Walking down the hallway, you found the first door, a wooden door directly in front of you. On the wall, there was a sign that stuck out from it saying “Waiting Room”. As you walked closer, you found yourself having to limp, your ankle feeling less than ideal for walking a great distance. Your hand pressed up to the door, feeling the indents on the real wood. Every texture you had dealt with since you were taken was either slick, cold, slimy, or all of the above.
It felt nice to feel something homemade, something that felt real. You cautiously pushed the door open and a sudden warmth filled the hallway. The room had multiple lights on, the type that you weren’t used to anymore. Instead of the fluorescent lights that made you want to gouge your eyeballs out, they were small lamps with a warm, orange or yellow glow to them.
Closing the door behind you, you tried to find anything that could tell you where you were. You had no clue the size of the building you crashed into or where exactly you were.
Turning to your direct left, you found a bulletin board on the wall with multiple posters. All of them said Raccoon City as the location of what they were advertising, so it was safe to say you were still in the city.
Looking around more, you were startled as you heard the door behind you open. It was quiet, but you still picked up on it, your ears flicking slightly at the sound.
“Are you alive?” A rather young voice asked you. Your hands went up slightly in surrender and you turned around.
When you looked at who was talking, your eyes lit up. The question he asked puzzled you, but seeing someone that looked around your age was a relief in its own right.
His face was unlike any other face you had seen. Most faces from your childhood blurred together, the only faces you really remember being your own, David’s, and the other scientists that occasionally worked on you for David. This young man’s features were soft, his eyes blue and kind, with an emotion at the forefront. You had seen that emotion in your own eyes before.
He was scared and trying to hide it.
“You’re alive,” He responded. You knit your eyebrows in confusion and noticed the gun he was pointing at you. Confused, you nodded and watched him sigh in relief, then lower the gun. “You, me, and Marvin are the only ones here that aren’t infected,” He added, reholstering his gun.
“Infected?” Your voice asked.
The young man looked at you, his eyebrows knit together, confusion matching your own. His eyes looked up and down your outfit, the white hospital gown and scrub pants that you had worn for the last ten years catching his eye.
“Yeah…. Where did you come from?” He asked and took a step towards you.
Instinctively, you took a step back, his eyes immediately softening. “Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you, okay? I’m a police officer, it’s my job to help people.” He said softly.
You remembered your parents telling you to find a police officer if you ever needed help when you would go to the mall alone. The day you were taken, you tried to tell one that a man in a suit was following you.
You were laughed at.
Sensing your apprehension, he took off one of his fingerless gloves and held his bare hand out to you. “My name’s Leon, Leon Kennedy. If you want to survive, I might be your best bet,” He said.
You looked at the hand and hesitantly reached your own out to his. But your name, what name could you tell him? Subject 13 wasn’t your name, it was used to get rid of your humanity, taking away your ability to even have a name.
A name, you used to have a name, but what was it? Digging deep into your memories, you tried to remember it; tried to remember a friend saying it in joy, tried to remember a parent saying it in love, a teacher in anger.
Nothing.
Leon looked at you expectantly, trying to read your expression. Your eyes met his as your hand met his in a shake. All you could remember for a name was the sound of rock playing through your dad’s radio, him praising a female singer for her melodies and guitar playing skills.
“Joan, my name is Joan,” You said, claiming the name as your own.
“Nice to meet you Joan, got a gun?” Leon asked. He looked down at your hands and you guessed that you had held on for way too long judging by the look on his face. You let go and awkwardly smiled at him.
“A gun? No,” You replied, your head tilting to the side slightly. “Why would I need a gun?” You asked.
“Why would you need a gun?” Leon echoed your question, looking at you incredulously. His eyes then went down to the burn mark on your right arm and the cut through the palm of your same hand. “Where did you come from? You haven’t been here?” He asked.
You shook your head slightly, proving his theory correct. “I was in a helicopter, then everything went white and I woke up surrounded by flames in this building,”
His eyes widened. “You were in that helicopter? The one that crashed into the building?” He asked, his eyes almost bugging out of his head. You nodded in response and he dug through his hip pouches, producing a small box with a green cross on it.
“Here, let me patch you up, take a seat,” He said and gestured to one of the benches. You limped over, his eyes catching which ankle you weren’t letting touch the floor and taking a mental note of it.
Sitting down on the bench, you looked at the palm of your hand seeing just how deep the glass had cut you. Leon kneeled down in front of you and looked up into your eyes, then back down at the collar you had on.
“I don’t mean to pry…” He trailed off. You stared at him, expecting him to ask a question, but he just shrugged and shook his head, saying something to himself that a normal person wouldn’t be able to hear, but you could. “Isn’t the weirdest fucking thing I’ve seen today,” He said to himself.
You watched him take bandages and a small spray can out of the case. “Can I have your hand?” He asked. You gave up your hand, palm side up. His hand gently grabbed your wrist, his eyes darting to your face for any sign of discomfort, but finding none.
His touch was gentle, but his hands were slightly calloused. He was the first person to touch you that wasn’t a scientist in God knows how long. The scientists all had cold hands, precise movements, and a fear in how they handled you. Leon touched you like a normal person; his hands were warm.
“This will hurt a bit,” He said and shook the small can. As the spray hit your cut, a slight hiss left your mouth. “Sorry,” He said, his eyebrows knit in focus and sympathy. Leon was quick to wrap the hand in bandages and then wrap the burn loosely.
His hand dropped your wrist and he gestured to your ankle. “Can I help that too?” He asked. You nodded and he took your ankle, resting it on his knee. Almost as quick as when he wrapped your hand, your ankle was wrapped and all set to go.
“It looks sprained. If we were in a better situation, I’d tell you to stay off of it, but we’re not,” He said and looked up at you.
“Thank you,” You said and lightly smiled at him. Looking down at him, you got a feeling that you haven’t had in awhile.
You felt like he could be trusted; instead of the churning sea that your stomach usually was, it was calm. A slight warmth spreading through your chest at his smile.
“We should head out, I have this puzzle that I need to solve for us to get out of here,” He said, fishing a small booklet out of his pouches and putting the box back in.
Looking at him, you could tell that he’d been here for at least longer than you had. He might be useful to stick around; especially if he had weapons and you didn’t.
“Sounds good,” You said and stood up, getting used to the new weight on your ankle.
“Before we go…. I gotta ask,” He said, leading into a question that you didn’t really want to answer right now.
“No you don’t,” You replied and steadied yourself, looking up to meet his gaze.
“Okay, I guess I don’t,” He said, his head moving to the door he came out of. “Alright, let’s get moving,” He added.
You followed him through the door, into the unknown. Maybe on the other side of the door, there would be a fully fledged freedom; the world that you were kept from.
To you, you were free of the white walls, white floors, damnation you were sentenced to. Now, you were headed into hell on Earth that you were completely unaware of.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
Catch this fic and more on my AO3
Fih 🥀
Art by me 😭
The difference between this and the first art I was proud of about Leon is astounding
My first art of Leon circa. 2020 that I took eons to not finish:
Fih 🥀
Art by me 😭
Prison Break- Part 9.5 (Leon Kennedy x Reader Series)
part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 9.5, part 10
Tag List:
CW: Smut (not graphic)
WC:1574
A/N: This is the very much requested second part of that date.
Disclaimer: This is written about two years since the rest of the series was written. I read the fic to get in my headspace from earlier, but my writing style might be different. Sorry if it’s jarring, but people wanted a part 2 to the date ;)
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
The pizza was long gone and forgotten. Music filled your apartment, a speaker connected to Leon’s phone playing a playlist; classy music to dance to.
And you two were.
One of Leon’s hands was interlaced with one of yours, held close to his chest, while the other one was on your waist. The heat from his callused hand penetrated your dress, seeping into your skin. You swayed with the music, Leon leading just like he did before in New York. Everything about tonight felt right, as much as everything leading up to it was tense.
“I meant for us to talk after Alcatraz, and I chickened out of it,” He said, a familiar tinge in his voice. Saying Leon Kennedy was prone to guilt was like saying a duck was prone to swim. That lilt in his voice caught your attention.
“Hey, I chickened out of it too. It’s not just on you,” You replied softly. Your eyebrows knit together ever so slightly, concerned that he was mentally beating himself up again.
“Yeah, but… in relationships, normally the guy-”
“Are you really talking about traditional relationships?” You asked, humor edging your voice. “Leon, what about our lives is traditional?” The dancing swayed back and forth, mirroring your conversation.
At your question, Leon stopped dancing and looked in your eyes. His blue eyes held many questions, ones you hoped that someday you’d be able to hear.
“I’m your first boyfriend since high school, I kind of have to act right,” He replied. Boyfriend. The word made your stomach flip in all the right ways.
“You do, but that doesn't mean you have to be perfect. I’m expecting you, not some cookie cutter of a relationship,” You said. Using the arm draped around his neck, you pulled him slightly closer. “I want Leon Kennedy, not perfection.”
Leon blinked at your reply, then something happened that you hadn’t expected; he blushed and looked away.
That would be going directly into your ego.
“You’re blushing,” You commented, a grin going wide across your face.
“I am,” He didn’t deny it.
After a few seconds of silence, Leon reached into his pocket and handed his phone to you. It was a simple smartphone, one of the newer models out, paid for by the D.S.O. He faced you, a steel look on his face as he met your eyes. “Pick a playlist,” He said, his eyes almost burning a hole into you.
“For….?” You asked, needing more information.
Leon backed away from you and cleaned the pizza boxes off the couch, acting casual. “Whatever music you like to drown out sounds of pleasure,” He said.
You almost choked on your spit at his response. Sure, he had asked you beforehand if he should prepare for anything, and you replied with a ‘yes’, but it still took you out.
Just as you were losing your mind, so was Leon. Cleaning up the pizza boxes? An excuse to give him space while his mind was running 100mph. The response? One that made him seem like he had everything under control.
“Got one….” You trailed off, face red with blush as you put the phone on the counter.
“.... Is it playing?” Leon asked, raising an eyebrow at the silence.
“......yes.” You replied.
“I didn’t take you for someone to want silence in the room-”
“I want to be able to hear you,” You replied, shamelessly. Your face was still red as a tomato, but you got it out.
Leon stared at you as your words pierced through to his brain. When they finally got through to him, and he recovered mentally from them, he walked over to you. Almost as if he was stalking.
“It’s annoying, you know,” He said lowly, his voice only audible to you and the four walls of your living room.
“What is?” You asked as his hand came up under your jaw.
“Few things in this world can unravel me. It’s annoying that one of them is you,” he said. His face tinged red with blush as his eyes glanced down at your lips, silently asking. Silently pleading.
You were the one to initiate the kiss. Unlike the kiss in the parking garage, this one wasn’t just tender. It had started as tender, like a fire catching its tinder, then turned into a more heated exchange, like kindling catching the fire.
Your right hand was on the side of his face, almost cradling it; your left was around his shoulder, placed on his back. You held him like something precious to be admired, kissed him like you were corrupting it.
His left arm was under your right, wrapped around your back, and gripping your right side in an embrace; his right hand was placed on your waist. Heat exchanged between you, not just by the kiss, but by the blush on both of your faces.
While it wasn’t the first, or second, or even third kiss, it was a damn good one.
You separated, panting to get air in, as you looked as his eyes, in a way a kin to drunkenness; both you and Leon had pupils blown wide with desire and need.
“Were you joking earlier?” You asked.
“About what?” Leon asked. His mind was reeling from the kiss, too disheveled to think.
“The lipstick thing,”
His eyes held a spark of remembrance to the joke said earlier in the night. “I was joking, there’s no expectations tonight,” He replied. “Or really any night if that isn’t something you like-”
He was cut off by you pressing a peck to his cheek.
“You don’t have to be so nervous, I have enough anxiety for the both of us,” You said, chuckling softly.
His eyes met yours and he nodded, but there was a sadness to them. One that held experience that warranted his hesitation. A hand of yours went to the same cheek you kissed, a soft and gentle touch.
“Hey, talk to me,” You said.
Leon’s shoulders sagged with a breath. “I’ve messed up relationships before. And I’ve tried to make fleeting things into relationships,” He sighed.
“I’m none of those people,” You said softly. “This is different, we’ll take it one step at a time, until we can plan for more.” Your hand brushed a few strands of bangs out of his face. “I told you, nothing is too fast, or too much for me,” You added.
He melted into the touch and smiled, his face going from soft, to the primal hunger again. “Alright, enough sappiness for one night,” He replied and brought your hand up to his mouth. He placed a kiss in the palm of your hand. “I’d like to get back to what we were doing,” He said, his eyes locking with yours.
As you nodded, he picked you up like a sack of wheat, throwing you over his shoulder, and he walked to your bedroom. When your back softly hit the mattress, he was already over you, caging you in. “This isn’t too fast or too much?” He asked, making sure. His eyes searched yours for any hesitance or unwant.
“Take me,” You replied breathlessly and fearlessly.
“Shit,” Leon swore, looking down at you, the blush on his face got more intense. Leon’s lips crashed into yours as his hands went to your hips. Your lips moved together in a heated exchange, better than the last handful from learning each other’s lip shape and way of kissing.
All love was, was learning, wasn’t it?
Love was learning that Leon’s eyelashes fluttered when you kissed, love was learning his coffee order, love was learning how he folded his arms when he got annoyed.
Love was learning how he takes his shirt off, tossing it to the side of your bed. Love was learning that he struggled with figuring out how to remove your dress, and laughing about it.
Love was learning what kind of boxers he wears, only to watch them be discarded shortly after. Love was learning how he opened a condom wrapper and put it on himself. Love was learning how his fingers felt pleasuring you, causing you to climax.
Love was learning that he licked his fingers of your climax, delighting in the act. Love was learning how his dick felt entering you. Love was learning that he liked to have you close while having sex, kissing you and whispering sweet nothings.
Love was learning how he moaned in your ear, a sweet and gruff mixture. Love was learning that his rutting changed right before he climaxed. Love was learning that he panted and almost whimpered as he orgasmed.
As the two of you laid in your bed in the faint afterglow, you nestled into his side. The curvature of your body felt right, being beside him. “Leon…..” You said softly.
“Hm?” He asked, looking at you, giving you all his attention, as if you were the only person in the world.
“This might be too fast or too much-”
“Nothing is too fast or too much,” He reminded you.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───
I also realized I wrote that chapter 9 of prison break was a part one of a date.
I genuinely didn’t have the mental or physical strength to write a part two at the time and my memory was SHOT while dealing with a chronic illness.
I may write a part 2 to get back into writing. 👀
I may have time tomorrow 👀
A PERSONAL UPDATE- NOT A FANFIC
CW: Depression, Mention of Chronic Illness, Eating Disorder, drastic weight loss
Hi guys, it’s been awhile hasn’t it?
Life has been a little insane the past few years and I’ve decided to be up front about most of it.
I moved to Japan in early 2023 for a job. A couple months into it, I got a chronic illness (gastritis) that had developed into an autoimmune disorder.
The release of RE4Remake and the fandom being alive again was the only thing keeping me going somedays. I’ve loved RE since I was a kid, so seeing the community back again made me happy.
Writing was the only thing I had the strength to do some times. I went from being plus sized to 140lbs in the span of 6 months. The chronic illness made me scared to eat, which turned into anorexia because I got happy seeing the number on the scale get lower and lower. My neighbors kept asking me what diet I was on in awe, and I had wanted to be a normal weight for my whole life- so I stopped eating and blamed it on the gastritis.
I would have flare ups that lasted 8 hours, 5 days a week most weeks. On top of this, I was met with the attitude that I wasn’t working hard enough from my boss. Writing self indulgent fanfic became a crutch that kept me happy- if I was happy in this universe, that was enough. (Maladaptive daydreamers RISE) I could pick and choose what I looked like, how I acted, how people perceived me.
I had my last flare up in February of 2024, then had to deal with a bunch of new things going on. I had depression from living in Japan (my town was very small and grey), I was finding out that I have autism alongside my adhd, and I was having to navigate this job I still had.
In August of 2024, I was asked to leave my job in Japan. It broke my heart- I had made so many friends that I thought would last forever. I wrote a lot during 2024, my emotions being too hard for me to process.
Last year, I moved to New Zealand. It’s the same type of job, and same overarching company, but different region. I fit so much better here and I got to set roots. I’ve been able to actually talk about being AuDHD, and I’m now an advocate for neurodivergent people at my job. I became so busy, that I had to pick and choose what hobby to keep, so my writing activity dipped.
Now, I’m 26. I haven’t been depressed in awhile, I’m keeping up my nutrition, and I’m in love with being alive. I don’t write to wish for a happy life somewhere out there- I write BECAUSE I’m happy and want to spread the joy of the many fandoms I’m in!
I took down my most recent WIP because I’m still planning on writing it. Echoes of the Past is a big project- I had no idea what I was signing up for when I started it.
I’m editing what was there, releasing those, and I’ll continue to write. My life is mine again, no longer lost to depression, gastritis, or a job that demanded too much of me.
I hope what I’ve written can bring you joy, and I hope your lives are all yours.
My dear friend Jonathan Harker is going to embark on his first work trip in 6 days. I hope it goes well!
Hey guys, so the past few weeks have been… interesting.
The deal is, I’m being threatened with eviction in the next week because I can’t make finances meet.
I usually don’t come to Tumblr posting about stuff like this, but I’m genuinely stranded. I’m in a foreign country so I could face deportation, I don’t have enough money for the flight home if that was the case, and i’m kinda freaking out.
Because of this, I haven’t been able to write or do much of anything.
I know tumblr works its magic so I’m kinda on my last resort here.
If you feel led to, please consider donating some money to me.
PayPal: sad1emahan
Venmo: Sadie-mahan-1
If you can’t, just reblogging will do enough.
Thanks
