Heartbeat
Pairing: RE9!Leon Kennedy x fem!Reader Summary: Every time Leon is around you, you get a notification on your smartwatch about your rapid heart rate. It got to the point where every time he's around you, he hears the same alert. Is that something he should be worried about? Note: Ahhh, my first Resident Evil fanfic :') I've been dying to write for Resident Evil for a while, and now it's finally here! I typed out this fic while I was on NyQuil, so some parts might feel a bit wonky. I'm still pretty sick, but the only difference is that I'm not on NyQuil. I have so many ideas for upcoming Leon Kennedy fics, and I can't wait to get them all posted in the future. Anyway! I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo). Warning: Since this is my first time writing a fanfic for Resident Evil, the characters will be (slightly) out of character until I get used to writing for Resident Evil :') Word Count: 7.5k
Leon has seen you around the DSO building a few times when he's not in the field. You're always at your computer, typing rapidly away before having to sprint from one place to another. Your nose is always glued to some kind of screen—whether it's your computer or tablet, you hardly look up from your work unless you have to. Leon knows who you are because you ran into him one time when you were a new hire.
God, you were a stuttering, flustered mess, apologizing and rambling about being in a rush to get to the other side of the building because someone's training you to configure, test, and install telecommunications systems for the division. Of course, Leon reassured you that you're all fine and don't have to apologize for running into him, despite it being an awkward way of meeting a coworker. After that, you quickly bow out of respect before proceeding with what you were doing earlier—run to where you're needed, leaving him standing in the middle of the hallway, watching your figure get smaller and smaller as the distance between you two grows.
Since the introduction, Leon has not seen you around much due to being an on-field agent and you working (and running around) as a telecommunications specialist. Funny how the awkward introduction would replay in his head from time to time, making him wonder if you're adjusting to your new job just fine since then.
While the introduction was endearing to Leon, it's one of your top five horrifyingly embarrassing moments that plays in your head at three in the morning when you're struggling to fall asleep. You, a newly hired telecommunications specialist for the DSO, ran right into Leon S. Kennedy, a DSO agent, a very elusive and highly respected person. It's almost rare to see him around the building because he's always deployed somewhere around the country (or a foreign country) for a mission.
Maybe it's a good thing you don't see Leon around the DSO building much, because you cannot bear seeing him after running into him. It wasn't a cutesy bump where you two can laugh it off and form a work friendship over. No! You were sprinting to where you're needed and then BOOM! You ran right into an incredibly solid figure that sent you stumbling back and landing on your ass in a full office, papers flying everywhere, and your head spinning.
You remember how hot your face felt when you came to your senses. A tall figure towering over you, gazing down at you with those crystal blue eyes—eyes filled with amusement and curiosity. A flurry of apologies tumbling out of your mouth as you scramble to collect the scattered papers around you. While you were busy making yourself a bigger fool, this hulking DSO agent knelt beside you and helped gather the papers with you.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Kennedy! I was in a rush, and I wasn't watching where I was going and—"
Leon cuts you off. "It's alright. You don't need to apologize."
You looked up from the stacks of paper in your hands, making eye contact with the DSO agent. He had a small smile on his face. God, his smile was so soft. You continued staring at Leon, blindly reaching around you for the papers. That very moment is when you felt your heart do this weird flip before beating rapidly. Your smartwatch buzzed, pulling you out of your trance.
"WARNING: HIGH HEART RATE. Your heart rate increased above 120 BPM while you—"
You quickly swiped the notification away before continuing where you left off: apologizing to Leon for running (more like slamming) into him. Leon handed you the papers you dropped. You thanked him before bowing to him, only to abruptly stop and do a double-take, smacking your forehead. Why did you bow to him?
"I should go now." You sighed in defeat, turning around and running off with your tail tucked between your legs.
After the accidental interaction, you try your best to avoid Leon. As if that would be hard, since the man is barely in the building unless he returns from his mission. But when he is on site, you're at your computer doing your work, so engrossed in your task to realize he's in the same building.
Oftentimes, you see Leon with Sherry Birkin, one of your close friends at work. And when you do spot the two together around the DSO building or in the break room, chatting and having lunch together, you make sure to turn around and go to another break room.
How can you face thee Leon S. Kennedy after that day? It's humiliating, and you can't look or think of Leon without becoming an absolute mess. Plus, Leon is incredibly attractive, and running into someone as handsome as Leon might as well send you to an early grave.
"Hey! I saw you walk to the break room, but immediately turned around and left. Are you alright?" Sherry asks, approaching your desk with a cup of water in her hand.
Fuck.
You nod, smiling at Sherry. "Of course I'm fine, Sherry! I completely forgot that I left my lunch bag in the other break room until I arrived at the one where you were."
That's a lie. Sometimes you do bring in a lunch bag with you to work, but most of the time, you go somewhere nearby for lunch. But today is the day you brought in a lunch bag and stored it in the break room where Leon and Sherry were. Needless to say, you had to order something to eat because you didn't have the guts to return to get your home-cooked lunch. Well, at least you know what you'll be having for dinner tonight when you get home from work.
"Well, I hope you can join Leon and me during our break next time! If you want to, of course."
You nod, pressing your lips into a thin line. You don't know how to respond to her offer. You can't reject her invitation! It would be rude, and Sherry might suspect that you're avoiding any interaction with both her and Leon (it's half true). You choose not to accept or reject Sherry's invitation, leaving the offer open.
After that interaction, the day goes smoothly, and you're able to collect communication data from the electronic surveillance monitoring equipment and download it onto various computer systems for analysis. That was on the floor above you, so you had to go back and forth frequently. Which means, you sometimes see Leon when you're going from floor to floor.
"They're really having you run around this building, huh?" Leon murmurs, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the wall in the elevator.
Yep. You are in the elevator with Leon, and no one else is in the elevator but you two. You're going one floor above, it's not like you'll be stuck in the elevator with him, right?
You nod. "It's part of the job. But I can't complain, this counts as my exercise for the day because I'm always sitting at my desk."
What kind of response is that? You kick yourself mentally. You hear a soft chuckle coming from Leon, making you look at him from the corner of your eyes. The way the crow's feet become prominent whenever he smiles causes something to stir within you.
You can't help but stare at him while he's looking straight at the elevator door. Usually, whenever you see Leon around the DSO building (while trying not to be seen by him), he would wear a leather jacket that has a shearling collar, but today is different. Today, he's wearing a very fitted top, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and the zipper of his shirt is unzipped halfway.
Those arms of his. God, those arms of his make you feel some type of way. You subconsciously bite the bottom of your lip before looking at the ground. Your heart does the weird thing again. It flutters, making your breath get caught in your throat before letting out a shaky sigh.
Leon takes his eyes off the elevator door, now looking at you. "Are you alright?"
You nod, not looking at Leon. "Yes, I'm fine, Mr. Kennedy." Your response comes out weak, almost too quiet to hear if the elevator music was any louder (it's not, it's actually pretty quiet that you can hear your heart pounding in your ears).
You take a peek at Leon, only to lock eyes with him. You quickly look away, brushing away an invisible hair from your face while trying to act like you weren't looking at him. Why is the elevator so slow? Just as you're about to pull the classic move of checking your watch to see what time it is, your smartwatch buzzes before loudly announcing:
"WARNING: HIGH HEART RATE. Your heart rate increased above 120 BPM while—"
You quickly swipe the notification away, heat rushing to your cheeks while your heart is drumming against your chest. Oh, god, this is so embarrassing. Why did it announce to the world to hear it!?
Before you can die from embarrassment, the elevator chimes, signaling for you that you've arrived on the floor where you're needed. You nearly cry in relief, quickly bidding Leon goodbye before scrambling out of the elevator without giving him the chance to respond.
You're adding that moment to another embarrassing moment that will forever replay in your head before you fall asleep. It's inevitable. At this point, maybe it's best for you to just work for another government agency to escape these embarrassing moments that keep happening to you for some reason.
A few days go by, and you finally have the courage to confide in your friend about your smartwatch embarrassing you whenever Leon's around. You're sitting on the couch, hugging your knees to your chest while you stab your ice cream tub with the metal spoon.
Laila chuckles, shaking her head. "That's what you're embarrassed about? Your smartwatch telling you that your heart beats fast whenever a fine ass man is near you?"
"You think it's funny because you're not the one in my situation." You grumble, glaring at Laila while still jabbing your ice cream. "How can I not be embarrassed? Imagine your smartwatch outing you for feeling nervous around someone like thee Leon S. Kennedy. My coworker!"
Laila makes a face after hearing that. Can you blame her? It's one thing to have a crush on someone, but a coworker? A workplace relationship isn't going to end well, and you're certain that—with your luck—it's not going to work out for you. Nothing ever does!
Laila leans over and flicks your forehead, making you wince and grumble while rubbing the stinging spot. "It's all in your head, [Y/N]. Just because you think about these embarrassing moments doesn't mean that Leon is going to do the same. Besides, do you remember other people's humiliating moments?"
You shake your head.
"Exactly! So, you have nothing to worry about, really. It may be another memory that haunts you in the middle of the night, but I'm sure Leon forgot that ever happened as his day goes by."
A few weeks have gone by, and you find yourself typing away at your computer, trying to complete as many assignments as you can before having to go to the upper floor. You've been so occupied with the tasks that you fail to notice a certain DSO agent walking towards your cubicle, eyeing the little decoration around your cubicle that's obscured by the mountain of files on your desk.
Leon clears his throat, trying to get your attention. But you don't look away from your computer, still typing away on one screen before turning to the second monitor, muttering something under your breath.
"What am I looking at?" You grumble, squinting and leaning towards the monitor.
"Being that close to the monitor isn't good for your eyes, you know." Leon comments, crossing his arms over his chest.
You jerk in your seat, head snapping towards his direction before looking at him like a deer caught in headlights. Your reaction brought a smile to his face. You clear your throat, quickly fixing your composure before smiling at him awkwardly.
"Mr. Kennedy! Is there something I can help you with?" You ask, adjusting the sleeves of your blazer.
"The head of the department is requesting your presence and assistance on the upper floor. Something about electronic surveillance not working the way it should be."
You pinch the bridge of your nose, sighing. How many times has this happened within a week? It's not like you can complain, unfortunately. It's what you're trained to do, and what you applied for.
You clear your throat, getting up from your seat after locking your computer. "Are you leading the way, or are you here to fetch me before going elsewhere?"
"I will be leading the way and watching the professional in action."
You can't tell if he's being serious or mocking you, but either way, the thought of someone like Leon watching you do your task makes your heart skip a beat. You better not fuck up anything while he's in the same room. You can't have another embarrassing moment added to the growing list.
With that, you gesture for Leon to lead the way. As you're walking to the elevator—the same elevator where your smartwatch decides to announce to the entire world that your heart rate has increased—you can't help but ponder whether Leon knows your name, or if he refers to you by your job title.
You nearly cry in relief when you realize that both you and Leon aren't the only ones in the elevator this time. Maybe this will ease your mind a bit. It's not like you don't want to be alone with Leon; it's the fact that you don't want the same incident repeated. You and Leon step into the elevator, greeting other people in the elevator.
You pull up your tablet, switching from lists of progress requests to detailed records of existing configurations of data circuits. You're reading everything on the screen, but at the same time, you're not processing a single thing. You poke the inside of your cheek with your tongue before tucking the tablet under your arm.
The elevator chimes, alerting you and everyone else that you have arrived on the floor you're needed in. You and Leon exit the elevator and walk to the office that's two doors down on the right. For a medium-sized office, it's rather quiet compared to where you're stationed.
You briefly greet the head of the department before starting your task of fixing the issues. There's literally no time to lose, or else that means way more paperwork and workload for you to deal with. About five minutes into searching for the problem, you're able to find it and gradually fix the errors.
"Are the senior technicians not here today? This feels a bit out of the ordinary, at least for someone still new to the agency. I'm usually working under the guidance of the senior techs." You mutter, eyes darting from one screen to another while your fingers are rapidly typing away.
"Zhao is currently needed in another department. You can view this as a test to see how you perform without the guidance of a technician. Zhao said he's confident that you can do the task without needing his guidance." Mrs. Lee replies, watching you like a hawk.
You nod, muttering to yourself while checking to see if there are any security issues while the systems are down. Thankfully, there's none that you know of. After what felt like an eternity, you manage to fix the issue before turning to where your attention is needed.
"Systems are back up and running. You shouldn't have any issues after that. If you do end up running into any issues, please find me immediately, and I'll get it back up and running and double-check the security measures to make sure there aren't any security breaches." You get up from the chair and rub the back of your neck.
"And they don't have you working in strict environments with those skills of yours? If I remember correctly—I could be wrong—working in resource-limited locations is one of the major duties for a telecommunications specialist, is it not?" Leon comments, his eyebrows furrowing.
You shrug. "I believe they're going to start having me do that soon. I don't know when, but it's all up to Zhao. For now, I'm on site at the DSO building performing my tasks and being trained on many other things."
Leon nods, the creases between his eyebrows gradually smoothing over. "That's impressive. You're doing well, and I'm impressed by the skills you have shown us today, and your ability to quickly pinpoint and fix the issues without the guidance of a senior technician."
Hearing and getting a compliment from Leon makes you feel some type of way. It's like a mix of pride and shyness. Pride because someone with years of experience under his belt is complimenting you, someone with less than a year of experience. Shyness because, well, it's Leon. The small smile of his, the crow's feet in the outer corner of his eyes, became visible when he smiles.
Would it be weird to call a grown-ass man, who's almost twice your age, cute? Apparently, it's weird to consider one cute. It's not like anyone else is going to know that you find the DSO agent cute, nor will they know about your little crush on him. Right? God, you're so fucked.
"Thank you, Mr. Kennedy, it means a lot coming from you," You reply. You can feel heat creeping up your cheeks the longer you and Leon look at each other, not saying anything after. "I believe my job here is done. I will return to my desk now."
You bid Mrs. Lee and Leon farewell before making your way towards the door. Just when you thought you were safe from humiliation, the minute you pass Leon, is when your smartwatch decides it's the perfect time to announce to everyone in the room about your heart rate.
"WARNING: HIGH HEART RATE. Your heart rate increased above 120 BPM—"
Of course, you immediately swipe the notification away frantically. You unsuccessfully swipe the notification away and opt to silence your watch. You quickly look back and apologize for the disruption before closing the office door behind you. Great, first it's Leon, and now it's your other coworkers who will remember this embarrassing moment for who knows how long. Does the DSO have a gadget that wipes memories by chance?
You collapse on your office chair, grumbling about what happened prior. After you typed in your password to unlock your computer, you realize something. You left your tablet on the desk in the office you just returned from. This happened all because you were too busy thinking about Leon and being shy after being complimented by him, and needing to return to your cubicle immediately after your smartwatch humiliated you (again) in front of Leon and your other coworkers.
Great! It's almost like every time something good (or something remotely positive) happens to you, your smartwatch needs to humble you in some kind of way. You bury your face in your hands, sighing. There's no way you can go back and retrieve your tablet. But you need it for work! But what if Leon is still there, talking to Mrs. Lee, and they brought up the smartwatch notification? What if your other coworkers bring it up while you're trying to get your tablet?
Your mind is a war zone, and you're just standing there, dissociating while chaos runs rampant. There's probably a grenade being launched at you right now, but you're too busy in that head of yours.
"Hey, you!" Sherry pops in front of your desk, successfully pulling you out of your inner turmoil. "Heard great things about you from Leon and Mrs. Lee."
Your heart skips a beat when Leon is mentioned. "Like what?" You try your best to act nonchalant, but you're not nonchalant; you could never be nonchalant.
"That you're cool when you're focusing on fixing the issues, you type incredibly fast. Not a single mistake, and you got the systems back up and running without the presence or guidance of the senior technician, according to Leon!" Sherry grins. "Oh! And in case I forget, here is your tablet."
You sigh in relief, leaning over to grab your tablet from Sherry's hand over your cubicle. Thanks to Sherry, you won't have to humiliate yourself for the second time today! "Oh, my god, thank you so much, Sherry! I didn't even realize I forgot the most important thing until I made it back to my cubicle. I'm forever in your debt."
Sherry smiles coyly, "Actually," Sherry starts, quickly peeking over her shoulder before turning to you, "the person who wanted to return your tablet to you was Leon. But he couldn't do that because he had a meeting to go to and handed the tablet to me to return to the owner."
"Oh!" Is the only response you can give to Sherry.
Sherry continues to give you that look, but you can't describe it. It's the kind of look that your friend gives you when your crush is in the same room as the two of you. Almost teasing, if that makes sense. Wait, Sherry doesn't know about your little crush on Leon, does she?
You smile awkwardly at Sherry. "Why are you giving me that look?"
She shakes her head, the smile on her face growing wider. At this point, you're convinced that Sherry can read your mind or see through you despite being work friends. "You know, Leon isn't as intimidating as you think." She starts.
"Where are you going with this, Sherry?" You bury your face in your hands.
"Nothing! All I'm saying is that Leon is a good guy and the only thing that are intimidated by Leon are the zombies he buries his hatchet in!" Sherry giggles.
"Shit, he can bury his hatchet in me, too, like damn," is what you wanted to say, but you bite your tongue and continue to let Sherry ramble on about Leon. What is wrong with you? How does a man have this much effect on you? Where is the professionalism, and what happened to the "no falling in love with a coworker" rule you set for yourself?
"Anyway! What I'm trying to say is that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Leon, alright? You two should get some lunch together someday!" Sherry suggests, crossing her arms over her chest.
Your eyebrows furrow. "How am I going to do that when we barely talk to each other?"
Sherry giggles, fiddling with her hands while rocking back and forth.
"Sherry, what did you do?" You whisper, fearing for the worst.
"Nothing bad!" Sherry reassures you. She leans over your cubicle, hands cupping around her lips. "I may or may not have given Leon your phone number."
Suddenly, the tapping of keyboards, mild chattering in the office among coworkers, and office printers going off go silent. Did you hear Sherry correctly? Sherry Birkin, your work friend, gave Leon S. Kennedy your phone number?
"You what?"
"I hope you don't mind! I think you'll get along with Leon incredibly well, and I can sort of see you sometimes yearn to talk to Leon, but you're just shy…" She trails off after seeing the expression on your face.
You look at your monitor, moving your mouse so your monitor won't fall asleep. You gulp and turn to Sherry. "Did Leon ask for my number, or did you randomly give it to him? Also, what do you mean by you can sort of see me yearn to talk to Leon?"
Do you yearn to talk to Leon? Sort of, but you've humiliated yourself so many times in front of Leon that you question if it's even a good idea to talk to him. You may want to talk to him, but does he want to talk to you? That is the question. What's there to talk about when there are gaps in resumes, job and life experiences, and age?
"Well, not really, but—uh, are you alright?" Sherry asks, waving her hand in front of your face.
You nod. "Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry about me, Sherry."
After a few exchanges, Sherry leaves your cubicle to return to her desk, leaving you alone with your thoughts. Your watch buzzes. You check your watch to see multiple notifications from the heart rate app, notifying you about the same thing. It's a good thing you put your smartwatch on silent. Maybe you should keep it that way from now on.
"Why didn't I think about that earlier?" You smack your forehead before continuing on your work.
By the time it's time for you to clock out of work, you have completed most of your work that needs to be done by the end of the day. You yawn for the umpteenth time today, trying to shake off sleep that's creeping up on you. You make sure to save your progress and document what you need to get done when you return to your desk tomorrow morning.
You make a small checklist on your tablet, log off your computer, and turn it off. You grab your belongings and make way towards the elevator after bidding Sherry farewell. She's talking to Leon and Jake Muller—her boyfriend, you assume— so you bid the two goodbye, too tired to even realize what you did. You're so excited to finally go home and get some sleep.
By the time the elevator arrived, and it's your turn to get on, the hallway is nearly empty. You hop on the elevator, press the main floor button before turning to your tablet. God, you're so tired that you're not processing the words on your screen. The words are blurring into each other, making it incoherent.
You eventually give up and turn your tablet off, putting it in your tote bag. The elevator chimes, and you find yourself in the parking lot of the DSO building. As you're searching for your car keys, you hear someone calling for you from a distance. You look to see Leon jogging towards you.
"Mr. Kennedy, do you need something?" You ask.
Leon holds up a familiar keychain. "You left your car keys at your desk."
You stare at Leon, your mouth agape. You're a mess today, aren't you? "Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. Strange how I didn't even realize it, even with a lot of keychains attached to it."
Leon hands you your car keys before offering to help you take your things to your car. Obviously, you accepted his offer because you didn't want to be rude to reject his offer, and because your shoulders were starting to become sore because of how bulky your tote bag is.
At first, the walk to your car was silent, but Leon broke the silence by complimenting you on your problem-solving skills and your ability to get the servers up and running in no time.
"Have you considered being a field agent?" Leon asks, watching you unlock your car.
You shake your head. "Not really. I don't think I'm suited to be a field agent because it's a little bit intimidating. I've seen and heard the things you do as a DSO agent, and before that, and it's something I don't see myself doing."
"Have you ever shot a gun before?" Leon asks, putting your things on the passenger seat of your car.
You press your lips into a thin line. "Not necessarily…"
He raises his eyebrows at you. "You hesitated."
"No, I didn't."
"You did." The corner of his lips curls up into a smirk.
God, he's even prettier when he smiles. You shake your head, trying not to smile as you open the door on the driver's side and start your engine. You can't have a crush on your coworker, someone who's a father figure to Sherry.
"Why not try it out? Give it a shot," Leon shrugs, now leaning against your car with his beefy arms crossed over his chest.
Goddamn, he's so muscular. Those biceps are huge—wait, was that a one-liner? You raise an eyebrow at Leon. "That was lame."
"What? No, it's not. I think it was brilliant."
"Of course you think it's brilliant. You're the one who came up with it."
The two of you have a good laugh before eventually having to part ways. You and Leon bid each other goodbye after you thanked him for giving you your car keys and helping you put your things in your car. From the comfort of your car, you watch Leon walk to his car, which happens to be parked a few spaces from where you parked your car.
"Of course, he drives a nice car. I shouldn't be surprised at all."
You watch his car come to life and pull out of the parking spot, then leave the lot of the DSO building. You reverse your car, pull out of your parking spot, and slowly pull out of the site after making sure there aren't any oncoming vehicles. Finally, you can go home and relax. Anything work-related can wait for you to clock in tomorrow.
-
On his way to the DSO building, the interaction he had with you in the parking lot plays in his head. Leon couldn't help but think back to the time when your smartwatch would notify you of your heart rate. At first, Leon thought it was funny, as in a funny coincidence, but then he noticed that it would happen often, especially whenever he was around.
Again, Leon assumed it was a coincidence that it happened at least three times whenever he was around. But he brushed it off as you still being anxious about working for the DSO as a semi-new hire. What throws that assumption out of the window is your reaction to getting the notification. He can't help but feel concerned for you.
Does your heart rate do this regularly? Do you get notifications about your heart rate throughout the day? Are you an anxious person by nature? That can't be it, right? Whenever you're in your element at work, all of that anxiousness is gone, and you're focused on your work and get things done as soon as possible without rushing or caving in under the pressure.
A million questions pop up in Leon's head as he sets foot into the office, searching for someone who could have the answer to his burning questions. You. Unfortunately for Leon, he did not find you at your desk. Leon scans the room and sees Sherry typing away at her desk while conversing with the person sitting at another desk beside her.
Leon weaves through rows of cubicles to get to where Sherry's sitting, nodding and briefly greeting people who greet him as he passes by. As Leon gets closer to her desk, he calls out to Sherry. "Sherry, can I speak with you for a moment?"
Sherry looks up from her computer to see Leon nearing her desk, eyes still wandering around the area in search of something, or someone. She pushes herself away from the desk and stands, facing Leon, now that he's standing in front of her.
"Of course, Leon, what can I do for you?" Sherry leans against the desk, head tilting to the side.
Leon clears his throat, lowering his voice. "Do you know whether [Y/N] has a heart condition?" Leon continues to be on the lookout, earning an inquisitive look from the blonde woman.
Sherry's eyebrows furrow, slowly shaking her head in response to his question. "Heart condition? Not that I know of. I don't think she's mentioned it, why?"
Leon hums, nodding. Interesting. If you don't have a heart condition (going off on Sherry's response), then why did your smartwatch inform you that your heart rate was too high? At an odd time, as well. So, Leon then gives Sherry the rundown on why he's asking her these questions instead of you. Technically, he was going to ask you, but you're not at the DSO building currently.
After explaining the situation and his concerns to Sherry, she strokes her chin, nodding. "I see… you're worried that if she has a heart condition, it could get in the way of her work. Or that her job could affect her supposed heart condition. making it worse."
"Yes, that is correct, Sherry."
Before Sherry can respond, she peeks from Leon's shoulder and sees you entering the office with your tote bag, tablet, a stack of manila folders, and a coffee cup in your hands. Leon follows Sherry's gaze and quickly bids Sherry farewell before walking towards you.
Leon pauses when he sees you on the phone, speaking to someone. He looks over at Sherry, who gestures for him to continue what he's doing and questions why he stopped in the first place.
"I'm at work already, so I'll call you later." You mutter. "You'll have to end the call for me because my hands are full right now."
The person on the other end of the call hangs up their phone. You sigh, lifting your head from your shoulder, only to realize you made a mistake. Your phone slides off your shoulders and tumbles to the ground, but it doesn't fall to the ground. Leon manages to catch your phone for you before taking the stacks of manila folders from your hands.
"Busy morning already?" Leon murmurs, giving you a half smile.
You sigh, nodding. "Very. The minute I open my eyes, I already have tasks to do. I am not organized today. I'm all over the place," You ramble, putting your tote bag on your chair and turning your computer on. "Thank you for catching my phone and taking the folders from my hands."
"No need to thank me. I'm more than happy to help when you need it." Leon smiles, watching you get situated for the day.
You nurse your cup of coffee, waiting for your computer to load everything so you can start where you left off the day before. With one hand, you turn your tablet on, enter your pass code, and open a notes app that consists of your checklist for the day and work.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Leon—I mean, Mr. Kennedy?" You clear your throat, heat rushing to your cheeks as your heart starts racing against your chest.
It's a new day, and you've already embarrassed yourself. How lovely. But it's no surprise, since you always, somehow, manage to embarrass yourself without having to try. Maybe if you don't look at Leon, he won't notice your mistake.
Leon clears his throat. "There's something I need to ask you, but I want to ask you this question privately."
You peek at him. "I'm not getting fired, am I?"
"No, you're not getting fired. I'm not your boss; we're in different departments."
"Okay, so, if we were in the same department, would you fire me?"
"What? No, absolutely not. That's ridiculous."
You put your coffee cup on your desk and lock your desktop. You turn to Leon and nod to let him know that you're available to discuss whatever he wants to talk about. You get up from your desk and follow Leon out of the office. You pass Sherry, only to see her shoot a mysterious smile at you while sipping on her coffee.
Once you and Leon are out of earshot and the office, Leon doesn't stop there. He searches for an empty room where no one can walk in on the conversation. After two and a half minutes, Leon finds an unoccupied room and gestures for you to enter after opening the door for you.
You enter the office, subconsciously wiping your sweaty palms against your pants. Why are you so nervous? It's not like Leon is going to interrogate you, right? You'll be fine. Everything is going to be okay! Nothing to worry about at all!
"So, Mr. Kennedy, what do you want to ask me since you pulled me to an unoccupied room to ask me this question?" You tuck your hands in your pockets—it's deep pockets, too!
Leon closes the door behind him and approaches you. God, he's tall and beefy. A man! There's at least a foot distance between you and Leon; he's standing pretty close to you that you can smell his cologne. If your job wasn't on the line, you wouldn't mind blurring the line between professionalism and unprofessionalism. Heck, you would make it HR's problem if your job wasn't on the line and if Leon felt the same way. For now, it'll be in the back of your brain, never allowed to see the light.
Leon waves his hand in front of your face, head tilting to the side while gazing at you worriedly. "Are you alright?"
You smile at Leon. "I'm perfectly fine, Leon! Why'd you ask?" You didn't realize you said his name instead of his last name.
Leon smiles, looking down briefly, then back at you. You then realize that he's looking down at your smartwatch, the very watch that's screaming at you and Leon about your heart rate.
"WARNING: HIGH HEART RATE. Your heart rate increased above 120 BPM while—"
You quickly swipe the notification away before acting like nothing happened. Leon chuckles, shaking his head.
"Right. That reminds me. I hope this doesn't come off as rude, but I was wondering if you have a heart condition of any sort." Leon asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
Your eyes quickly fall onto his bulging biceps before quickly looking at his beautiful blue eyes. Shit, what was the question again? You awkwardly clear your throat, rubbing the back of your neck while looking at the bland decor of the office to calm your nerves and distract you.
After some time, you shake your head. "I don't have any heart conditions. Why'd you ask?"
Leon cocks his head to the side, looking at you curiously. "Can I ask you another question?"
"I don't know, can you? Also, you already asked me a question." You shrug, rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet.
"Alright, fair enough. May I ask you another question?" Leon shakes his head, trying to hold back a smile.
"I mean, you just did, but go ahead." You reply, pressing your lips into a thin line to stop yourself from laughing. God, you hate yourself sometimes.
Leon shakes his head, quietly laughing to himself. You find yourself staring at him, mesmerized by his beauty. He's so handsome. Everything about him makes him attractive, not just his looks and his massive biceps that you want to be put in a chokehold with.
"If you don't have a heart condition, what is the main cause for your heart rate to increase at an alarming rate?" Leon asks.
"I'm a nervous person by nature," You lie.
He does that thing again, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy. "You're nervous whenever you're around me?"
You blink at Leon owlishly. There's no way you walked right into that, right? "Uh, I don't know why you would think that, Leon—ahem, Mr. Kennedy." Is the room suddenly hot? Why are you so warm?
"You don't have to call me by my last name when we're alone. Leon is fine." He reassures you, smiling at you. "What I meant to say is, whenever I'm around you, or in the same room as you, your smartwatch would notify you of your increasing heart rate. Does your smartwatch notify you of your heart rate regularly, or does it notify you whenever I'm around?"
You definitely walked in on that one, fuck. You pucker your lips and look away from Leon, hands propped on your hips. You can't choose the first option because it doesn't happen regularly, hence why you never put your smartwatch on silent. But you don't want to choose the second option because it's the correct answer. The best thing you can do is die.
You slowly nod, looking at him from the corner of your eyes before staring at your shoes. "I plead the fifth."
Leon raises an eyebrow at you. "Avoiding self-incrimination, I see," Leon mutters, stroking his chin while watching you closely. "That's not fair, you can't do that."
"Well, you didn't say that I can't plead the fifth."
"Okay, well, now I'm saying it. You can't plead the fifth."
You nearly stomp your feet on the ground. "What do you mean I can't plead the fifth?"
"Because I said so," Leon shrugs, watching you with pure amusement while you're having an internal conflict.
You stare at him, mouth agape. "You can't do that, that's not fair!"
Leon's eyebrows shoot to his hairline. "Oh, now you know what unfairness is!" Leon says, his shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Why are you laughing? This is no laughing matter!" You whine, covering your face with both your hands. God, can lightning strike you already?
While you're busy ruminating and shielding your face from Leon's view, you give him a clear view of your smartwatch screen. Leon leans forward to get a better look at your brightly lit smartwatch screen out of pure curiosity (and because he wants to mess with you a little more).
"WARNING: HIGH HEART RATE. Your heart rate increased above 120 BPM while…"
"Ah, there it is…" Leon murmurs, his eyes flickering back to you.
You peek from between your fingers to see how close his face is. You look at your watch and quickly swipe the notification away before turning around and proceeding to cover your face with your hands once more. Oh, so this was his plan the entire time!
"Stop, you're going to make my heart explode." You grumble, now pressing both hands to your chest. Your heart is thundering against your chest.
Leon shrugs, running his hands through his hair. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose."
"I don't believe you." You snort, shaking your head. You eventually peek over your shoulder to see Leon toying with his Hamilton watch. God, the veins on his forearm. If you're in a cartoon, your eyes would be bulging out of your sockets, jaws to the ground with an AWOOGA blaring after you see those veins on his arms.
Leon looks up from his watch when he hears an audible smack. "What happened?"
"Nothing," is your immediate response while rubbing your throbbing cheek. What happens now after this? How can you go on about your day after this interaction with Leon? If anything, you're going to need to put your smartwatch on silent from now on.
Eventually, you and Leon make your way back to the office, exchanging words here and there. It doesn't feel uncomfortable between you and Leon. Leon is more loose around you, like he can joke with you and tease you, compared to the first time meeting you.
You also tease him back, but more shyly because of the thoughts in your head—how you just want him to… never mind. You're sure that Leon is very aware of that because of your smartwatch and because sometimes Leon catches you in the act of staring at him.
As you're locking your computer to go on your lunch break, Leon stops by your cubicle and watches you tuck your tablet into your tote bag. You look up and smile at him shyly, your heart punching against your ribcage.
"Do you need anything before I go on my lunch break, Leon—I mean, Mr. Kennedy?"
Leon chuckles. "I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch."
"Yeah, I'd love to join you for lunch, Leon." You smile at him, warmth rushing to your face. "Will we be having lunch here, or outside of the DSO building?" You get up from your seat and push your chair in.
"Outside of the DSO building. Unless you prefer to have lunch on site?" Leon says, gesturing for you to follow him.
You walk beside Leon, tucking your hands in your pockets. "We can have lunch outside of the DSO building. I didn't bring lunch with me today."
As you and Leon walk to the elevator, you pass by Sherry, who quietly cheers and claps her hands. Leon has one hand hovering close to your back as you're both walking to the elevator and the parking lot to where his car is parked. It looks like things are budding between you and Leon, one heartbeat at a time.
Note: Lowkey was hesitant about posting this because it sort of kicked my ass when I typed it out. But once I got out of the complicated part of the fic (the government stuff), it was easy to type out from there. This idea has been sitting in my head for exactly a month now, wow. I hope you guys enjoyed the fic, cause I definitely enjoyed writing it :') Anyway, to all my new and returning readers, keep in mind that I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3! Edit: Part 2 can be found here → Heartbeat II Read more of my works on my Grand Masterlist, which contains every masterlist I have created! | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon! I might post all of my stories there, too, but who knows? You can also tip me on Tumblr if you'd like, as a way to show support! ^^ Join the Discord to get future fic updates and connect with other readers, maybe?:) Raccoon City Sanctuary