“Shit,” you whispered, “There’s only one.”
You stared at the vial as if trying to conjure up another one, all this for just one? You heard Leon grumble in the background as he rummaged for spare bullets and other supplies. All this for just one, you thought again, thinking of all the shit that you and Leon went through. You placed your hand on the shoulder that you could’ve sworn was bitten off by those monsters, not surprised to see that your hand was red.
But you thought back to the more pressing issue as you held the singular vial, the medicine that Luis had given you had worn off. You stared at the inky trails running up your arm feeling sick. We’ll just need to hurry then, you thought with a frown.
“Did you find it?” Leon asked.
“Yeah,” you said quietly, “But it’s only one though.”
He cursed again, walking past you to look in the safe as if he didn’t believe what you said. You moved out of his way, finding a wall to lean against. You placed the vial in one of your pockets, before sitting on the floor. You closed your eyes as you held your shoulder, breathing through your nose. Your shoulder was on fire, and you were unable to move it, just thinking about movement was enough to make you nauseated. Great, you thought, I'll only slow Leon down, and won't be able to protect Ashely. A burdened sigh left your mouth as you finally opened your eyes, seeing Leon walk over to you.
“Hey handsome,” you grimaced, “Sorry I left you by yourself out there.”
He knelt in front of you, slowly removing your hand from your shoulder. His frown deepened seeing the torn and bloody flesh. He held his hands in front of you, unable to find a way to ease your pain. He got up, walking around the small lab to find something to wrap your shoulder with.
“Were there a lot?” you asked again, but he continued to look for medical cloth, barely sparing a glance at you, “A few of them got in here,” you continued.
You jumped at hearing the sound of supplies being thrown to the floor, as he tore open cabinets and drawers. He cursed again, which caused you to slowly make your way toward him. You leaned against him, causing him to jump before he relaxed again. You heard him sigh, as he took your free hand, no doubt about whether he was staring at the blood on it.
“I’m doing a fine job of keeping you safe,” he finally spoke to you.
“Well, then it’s a good thing that Ashley needs the protection and not me,” you said, kissing the back of his neck.
“I failed you too many times already, first, you got infected and now you’re suffering from something that I can’t control and your shoulder,” he turned his head, “I have a responsibility to protect you.”
“No,” you said quickly, “I’m not your responsibility Leon. I earned being here just as much as you did. But thanks,” you smiled, “For being my knight.”
“You can thank me when we get out of here,” he chuckled.
The two of you eventually found some cloth to wrap around your shoulder. You closed your eyes as he did this, finally being able to breathe. You then felt his hand take hold of your wrist, gently holding it as his other hand traced the inky veins. His hand then cupped the side of your face, his thumb rubbing gentle circles over where the same inky veins appeared. You placed your hand over his, drowning in a love that you still can’t understand. You smiled at him, trying to tell him to not worry, but he couldn’t breathe under your calming gaze. He dropped his hand, as you found it again, lacing your fingers in between his. You opened your mouth, to say something to ease him, but you thought against it.
Instead, you motioned him to your side, guiding him to lean on you. You felt yourself smiling again, the moment causing you to think about your training days with Leon. Whenever the two of you were allowed a break, the two of you would sneak into a corner and sit just like this, with Leon glued against you or resting his head in your lap.
“You’re going to be okay,” Leon finally said, turning your face to him, “I promise you, my love.”
You leaned into him, kissing him softly, “I trust you, Le.”
On the walk back, and even when the two of you made it back to Ashley, he was focused on your health. Leon constantly touched your arm, tracing the black lines that marked your skin. To anyone else, his concentrated stare seemed distant, as if he was trying to figure out the cause of the markings. But you, you saw behind the curtain. You saw the worry in his eyes, the constant movement between your face and arm. You always felt his eyes on you, ready to be there in case you need him.
You felt his worry, it covered you like a blanket. Whenever the plague would seep further into your body, causing you to spasm in pain, Leon would be there holding you. Telling you to breathe as he would whisper encouraging words, constantly telling you that he loves you and that you’ll be okay. That you’re safe with him. He would hold you way after the pain would subside, long after your breathing has calmed. His breathing and the rhythm of his heart would get you to close your eyes, his arms are the only place that you feel safe. You would relax, knowing that he would do anything for you. Yes, Ashley is his priority, but you know that he wouldn’t let anything harm you. If it came to you or Ashley, the two of you would have to flee the country hand in hand because of the decision that he would make.
He looked at the vial, then at Ashley’s unconscious body. The plague has spread across her, creating black veins on her arms and her face. You felt your heart twist seeing her body, and remembering the fear etched on her face, she’s just been through so much. He then looked at you, his mind moving, “I can split it,” he began, “That should be enough until I can remove the parasite.”
“No,” you said, “We got this for her. She needs it.”
“But your arm. If she’s like this, then you can’t be far behind, Y/N-“
You kissed him softly, feeling him relax at your touch, “I’ll be okay, I promise.”
He softly touched the side of your face, causing you to lean into his touch. You placed your hand on top of his, communicating that you’ll be fine. He gave a slight nod, before kissing the top of your head. You stood back, watching Leon carefully inject Ashley.
You smiled to yourself, seeing Leon be so careful. What a softie, you thought. Relief washed over you seeing Ashely’s skin return to normal, but it was short-lived. You hissed quietly, feeling a painful contraction in your arm. You clinched your fist, gritting your teeth as the black lines spread even further up your arm. Leon held you, forcing you to sit on the edge of the operating bed. You tapped your foot against the ground, squeezing Leon’s hand as the pain only worsened.
“Hey,” Leon grabbed your attention, “Make sure to count between breaths, okay.”
You only responded by squeezing your eyes shut, causing him to speak again, “Make sure you’re counting love.”
Between the huffs and the counting, you desperately sought out other ways to ignore the pain. You focused on Leon’s jacket, how it was too big on you, but kept you warm. The lingering scent of his cologne seemed to have a magical effect, you felt calmer, sinking into the safety of the jacket. You felt your mind begin to drift, thinking of the first time that you wore this jacket. It was after training, you were long gone from your locker when you realized that you had left your jacket. You remember how it was freezing, and Leon gave you his jacket as he walked you back.
You felt your lips quirk into the smallest smile remembering what he told you after he handed it to you, “Please don’t jacket up, it’s my favorite,” he smiled at his joke. You rolled your eyes, punching his arm.
You slowly released his hand, feeling bad about the red finger marks. He smiled at you, shaking his hand as he commented about firm handshakes, which caused you to laugh. You flexed your hand, seeing the black marks not disappearing. You sighed again, how much time do I have left?
“Don’t worry about that,” he turned your face to him, “I’ll handle it.”
“But Leon, we don’t have much time. It’s spreading, I feel it in my body,” you felt your eyes begin to sting, “It’s like a cancer. I feel slow, it feels like a chain is slowly tightening around my heart. I don’t want to become one of them.”
You whispered the last part, unable to look at his fragile eyes or the slight quivering of his lips. You knew that he’s been blaming himself for what happened to you, frustrated that you were the one to save him. He shakily took your hand, wrapping it around yours. He brought your hand to his lips, kissing it. The small gesture did cause your heart to flutter, causing you to feel calm.
“Love, I promise that you’ll be okay, I’m not going to let you turn into them. I’m going to do everything that I can to save you. I came with you to this place and I’m leaving with you from this place. You’re safe with me.”
He leaned into you, softly kissing your lips. I’m safe, you thought slightly deepening the kiss, feeling his hand hold yours a little tighter. You mumbled I love you in the kiss, breathless, feeling drunk. He responded by saying I’m not going to lose you in the same breathless drunk way, as if he needed your lips, your love, to survive. He pulled away from you, giving you one last kiss on your forehead. He walked away opening a cabinet, once again looking for something. You heard him make a sound of approval as he walked back with health spray and more cloth for injuries. You hissed as he sprayed your wound, hearing him quietly apologize. He then wrapped your wound, still trying his best to be gentle.
“Rest up,” he said, “I’m going to check the area.”
“I’ll go instead,” you said, “You barely got any rest.”
“No,” he said, “Rest up, we’ll take turns. I won’t be long, promise.”
So you got comfortable, making sure that you weren’t in Ashely’s space. You held up your gun, showing Leon that you were prepared for any unexpected visitors. He nodded before heading off. In the silence, you thought of when you first met him, though you didn’t know why, it’s probably because of the emotions you thought, now I’m a softie.
You were having the roughest day of training. Everyone was being an ass and kicking your ass in everything. It eventually became too much and during your break, you hid in the locker room, crying settled on leaving the program. You thought you were by yourself until you felt the eyes of another, causing you to snap to attention. You remember feeling a surge of annoyance seeing Mr. Leon Perfect standing at the end of the aisle, lunch in hand.
“You can laugh, I don’t care,” you said, refusing to clean your eyes.
“Training is difficult,” he walked over, “It’s not fair for me to laugh.”
You rolled your eyes, thinking his kind words were for show. Even more annoyingly, he sat down next to you. You watched him open his lunch, taking a bite of an apple, his eyes focused on the blue lockers in front of you. He spun the apple in his hand, as you watched him, desperately wanting him to leave.
“What happened?” he asked.
You looked at him, ready to form a sarcastic response, before you stopped. He was genuine, his eyes were soft. They were looking at you as if trying to figure out who you are. You felt seen, and that alone made you shed some more tears. You opened up to him about how everyone there made your life a living hell, and how training was the worst thing on Earth. Your partners treated you like shit, and you had no one to report their behavior to.
You cleaned your eyes, finally feeling somewhat better. You looked at Leon, who gave you a reassuring smile as he rubbed your back. “I can help you,” he finally said, “With the training, you’re already perfect at the other stuff.”
“Perfect?” You echoed, “I don’t know about all that. But besides, what does it even matter, it won’t save my life or anything.”
“I think it’s important actually,” he said, handing you his lunch, you peeked in, taking out an orange, “A mistranslation can cause mass casualties, it can have you be somewhere where you’re not supposed to be.”
You nodded, consenting to his point. You plucked the orange into your mouth, as you mumbled thank you, relishing in its sweet flavor. Who knew he would be so nice? He was a loner, never really the conversation type, but everyone still tried to be around him, especially the ladies.
“Combat is important, but,” he gave you a sly smile, “All you need is two good shots, and I’ve seen your shooting, you have nothing to worry about.”
“Thanks,” you said quietly, “I’m-“
“Y/N,” he interrupted, then smiled again, “Sorry. I’m-“
“Leon,” you interrupted, causing the both of you to laugh.
“Well, if it’s fine with you,” he began, “I can help you train, you shouldn’t be this frustrated over something like this.”
“Um, yeah. That’s cool, thanks. If you need help with something, let me know,” you smiled.
That was your deal, he helped you with training and you helped him with the paperwork area, like language or coding. You didn’t know that you were making a friend at that moment, especially a partner. But through the years, you found yourself scaling the wall that he created around himself, finding layers so beautiful and fragile. It leaves you scared, praying that you won’t drop anything so precious.
“I’m back,” he snapped you out of your thoughts, “Found some more bullets.”
“Good,” you smiled, slightly feeling a high.
“Why do you have that look?” He smiled, “Thinking of something, or someone?”
You sat up again, “Just my sweet boy.”
You felt your face slightly burn, seeing his smirk as he placed the bullets on a spare cabinet. He swiftly, yet coolly walked towards you, placing his gun in the holster. You felt your face burn even more, paying attention to eyes that can read your soul and lips that personally knows your body. He leans over, trapping you. You moved stray hair out of his face, your breathing scarce.
“Good,” he leaned into you.
You kissed once again, instantly feeling refreshed. He forced your lips open, causing you to become dumb off of his tongue. He deepened the kiss, taking away your breath and causing you to forget where you are momentary. You squeezed his hand, feeling him bite your lip, before trailing down to your neck. His lips felt like heaven against the heat of your neck, soft yet commanding. You closed your eyes, cutting off your gasp as you felt Leon nip in between kisses. His smile is evidence that he caught your small reaction.
“Once we leave,” he said in between kisses, his voice low, “We’re going somewhere nice, so I can be yours and you can be mine.”
“Yeah,” you breathed, your mind blank.
“I miss this,” he returned to your lips, “I miss how you feel.”
“Then we better hurry,” you whispered, “I also miss you on my lips.”
“That’s my girl, always on top of things and me,” he smiled.
“Leon!” You whispered, motioning to Ashley.
“What,” he snuck in another kiss, “She can’t hear us.”
He laughed, before walking back towards the ammo. You then watched him sit in front of the bed, taking up a guarding position as he pulled out his gun. Single-handedly, Leon checked the ammo, and you felt your mouth drop, which you thought wasn’t possible. But he surprised you a lot during this mission, most notably when he did a suplex. Seeing his biceps and the veins in his arms has left your brain and mind in shambles. Once again, you were at a loss for words.
“Pretty cool, right?” You could hear his smirk.
“Show off,” you managed to say.
“Well, at least I’m your show off,” he said turning towards you, “Get some rest, okay? You need to.”
“I’m still fine from earlier when I rested,” he kissed your hand, “I’ll wake you up if I need you, promise.”
You quietly said okay, lying down facing the back of Leon’s head. You ran your hand through his soft hair, causing him to lean back even more. He hummed quietly, as you smiled, reminding you of home. Home, where you sit on the couch as you gave Leon a massage listening to the radio.
“You want your jacket back?” You asked him.
“No, it looks better on you than me.”
You smiled, snuggling into it, finally closing your eyes.
