Chapter Text
"There! Blood!" Ashley cries, pointing to a dark red spot in the water. Leon swims towards it and dives under towards where James is sinking feet-first into the murky depths, his arms floating loosely out to the sides. His blond hair moves with the water. He looks peaceful as bubbles slip out of his slightly open mouth. If it weren't for the copious amount of blood that was flowing out of his stomach, it would be a relatively serene scene.
Leon reaches out, catching the collar of James' jumpsuit and yanking him up. He grabs him around the chest and kicks forcibly upwards until they both breach the surface. He floats James onto his back and pulls him towards the jet ski. Leon tries not to look at how grey James’ skin has gotten or think about how cold he feels. He reaches the jet ski and hauls himself up, dragging James up into his arms again. He clutches him with his right hand and turns the jet ski motor back on with the other.
"Ashley, grab on," Leon says. His voice betrays him and cracks. It's not time to get emotional. Ashley wraps her arms around his waist and squeezes her eyes shut. Leon hits the gas and they go blasting towards the shore. His throat is tight and he feels one or two tears escape his eyes. He probably only has a few more minutes. I have to get to shore.
"Leon, watch out!" Ashley cries. They're about to skid onto the shore, but Leon keeps accelerating forward. Ashley shrieks as they hit a rock and the jet ski flies into the air for a few feet before skidding to a halt on the rocky beach. Leon extracts himself from her grip and lays James on his back on the ground. He touches James' cold cheeks, then moves his hands down to the zipper on his shirt and unzips it until he can pull it back and fully take in the wound. It was filled with blood, slowly dripping to the ground. The shape of it reminds Leon of a misshapen kidney bean - it starts below James' navel and curves up around it. It's big enough that Leon could stick his hand in it.
"Give me your sweater!" Leon demands, looking back at Ashley.
Ashley fumbles with the sweater that's tied around her shoulders. She hesitates and hands it over. For a moment, she considers protesting the use of her favorite sweater, but the look on Leon's face and the tears dripping down his cheeks makes her think otherwise. Leon pushes the sweater into the wound and wraps it around James as tightly as possible.
In the distance they can hear the sound of helicopters and cars rapidly approaching. They're close - they must be looking for them. Leon takes one bloody hand away and flips open his communicator, dialing Hunnigan.
"Kennedy, you're alive!" she says, relief creeping into her voice. "There's a rescue team in the area, do you see them?"
"Yes!" Leon says. "I need immediate medical assistance."
"Is Ashley ok? Are you ok?" Hunnigan asks, typing into her computer. "I got your location, they should be there soon."
"We're roughed up, but James, the civilian-" Leon swallows, trying to keep his composure. He hates that James has to be an afterthought. "He's bleeding out. He'll be dead in a few minutes if they don't hurry."
"Understood," Hunnigan says. "The pilots can see you, they'll be there soon. I'll talk to you after extraction."
Hunnigan clicks off and Leon drops the communicator. He resumes putting pressure on the wound and lays his head on James' chest. His heart beats very slowly. Leon squeezes his eyes shut, concentrating on the sound as the helicopters begin to land nearby. He covers his free ear and listens through the noise of the rotors. James' heart beats a couple more times before it stops.
"No!" Leon yells. Pulling back, he repositions himself to start chest compressions. "No, no, no, James, please don't!" He puts his hands on James' chest but before he can begin he's hauled to his feet by someone. "Let me go!" he yells, pulling away and turning to the person who did it. It's a paramedic.
"Calm yourself agent, we'll take it from here," they say. Leon turns and sees two other paramedics shift James onto a stretcher and run to one of the helicopters. Leon moves to follow, but the paramedic grabs his arm and stops him. "Come on, there isn't any more room in that chopper." The paramedic motions to where their colleague is wrapping Ashley in a blanket and leading her to the other helicopter. Leon looks back once more at where they've taken James and lets the paramedic bring him with Ashley.
The ride feels like a blur. The people on board are checking Ashley and Leon out, confirming that they aren't seriously injured. It only takes a few minutes until they're circling above a hospital. Leon looks down below and sees the first helicopter land - the paramedics run out with James on a stretcher. Based on how they're rushing, there could still be a chance he'll survive. Leon's stomach twists as he sees the amount of blood covering James' clothes.
Once the other helicopter takes off, theirs lands and he and Ashley are quickly ushered out. They're met with agents in hazmat suits from STRATCOM who whisk them into isolation rooms in the basement. The entire ride down in the elevator and the walk to the rooms is in silence.
"Agent Kennedy," one of the people in the hazmat suits says after opening the door to a white, sterile room. There's a bed in the center with a couple of machines beside it.
"Yes?" Leon says, refocusing on the situation at hand.
"We'll need you to undress and lay down on the bed. We just need to keep you here for a day of observation, alright?" The person leads Leon to the bed and hands him a pair of crisp white briefs to change into.
Leon undresses and changes into the fresh underwear. "What about Ashley?"
"She'll be undergoing similar treatment in the room next door."
Leon climbs onto the bed and as he lies down, he starts to feel how much his body aches. He can see numerous bruises and cuts across his body. His mind drifts to James, whose injuries are far worse and potentially fatal. I wonder if James is going to make it , Leon thinks as the person in the hazmat suit attaches monitoring devices to him.
"Don't worry sir," the person says, seeing the concerned, tired expression on his face, "you and Ashley are in good hands. It should only take a few days until you'll be back home. Make sure to get some rest.
"Thanks," Leon says, trying to relax. The person brings out an IV needle and puts it in his arm at his elbow. "What about the... civilian we were with? Will you keep me up to date on his condition?"
The person in the hazmat suit looks at Leon and tapes the needle into place. "I'll see what I can find out for you. For now, rest a bit. Once we clear you, you'll be able to debrief and this'll all be like a bad dream sooner than you know it.
Leon sighs out his nose and relaxes into the bed. Even with how stiff it is, he finds himself dozing off to the sound of the machines monitoring him with quiet beeps. Soon it'll all just be a bad dream.
Time seems to blend together the next day. Leon finds himself drifting in and out of sleep, sometimes awoken so someone could run some scan or clean his wounds. He dreams strange things - sometimes it just seems like bizarre fever dreams, but others make him snap awake in a cold sweat. Sometimes he could see James' face - ashen, thin, and exhausted. The look in James' eyes as he had laid there bleeding out is etched into Leon’s mind. His baby-blue eyes were shaded by dark rings and bags. The way he struggled to focus on Leon, eyes searching for his face as his body failed. James was tired and scared, but seemed to be at peace. It made Leon angry that James would do such a thing. Sacrifice himself for an agent whose duty it was to protect others… and then he was content to lay there and die in such a drawn-out, painful way? No matter how angry he wants to be at James, he feels his heart ache a little. It had felt good to be wanted and needed in such an intimate way. The way James was quiet and gentle with him, trying to be sympathetic towards Leon's own suffering.
The next time the person in the hazmat suit comes into the room, Leon realizes he had been turning over his time with James in his mind for over an hour. Leon pushes himself up in the bed to look at the person.
"How much longer do I need to be here?" Leon asks. "How's Ashley?" How's James? Did he make it? He pushes the thought from his mind.
"We just need to do one final scan and you'll be all set to go," they say. "Ashley is doing great, it looks like you did a good job getting her out safely."
"Any sign of the parasite?" Leon asks. They had vaporized the thing back on the island, but who's to say there wasn't still some lingering?
They shake their head. "If there was any, some of what we've been giving you eliminated the rest." They shift a scanner over Leon. He must have been asleep the last time they did this. "I checked into the civilian you dragged out of there."
Leon's heart skips a beat, but he keeps a cool exterior. "Yeah?"
"Looks like they pulled him through," the person in the hazmat suit shakes their head again. "Sounded like they were in surgery for a while to stitch him together."
"But he's alive?" Leon asks, barely able to cover the relief in his voice.
They start the scan. "He's in a coma, but yeah."
Leon's heart sinks a little. James wasn't awake. I can't talk to him. Part of him just wants to hug James and kiss him for being an idiot for jumping in front of Saddler for him. He shouldn't feel the need to do that for Leon. Even if some of James’ motivation was out of a lack of self-preservation and a desire for death, it was still a selfless action to be willing to take the risk. James had probably felt like he could be with his wife again, but now he has to go back to what he left behind. If there was anything left. What was James going to do now? It seemed like he had thrown his life away and didn't even want to try and continue on when Leon met him. It seems silly that I would be able to convince James otherwise, but... Leon pictures James' face as he had smiled a little at Leon's stupid jokes. When Leon was able to make James laugh and bring some life back to him, it had made Leon feel warm and fuzzy. His stomach flutters thinking about it. His mind drifts to when they slept together. The way James had felt so good around him, and the way he had moaned and begged for Leon made him want him again. Whether it was because it was the first time in several years that James had had sex, or whatever sort of physical attraction and emotional attachment they had... it was just good. There was no pressure for performance or strength. No expectations, just a need for another person to be there with him.
Another part of his mind reminded him: This is why you don't form attachments. It'll distract you from your work. He could have been out of that whole situation sooner if he hadn't bothered to drag James out of his sinking car and tend to him. Taking the extra effort to hold him, support him, fuck him, even, were moments that had taken away time from rescuing Ashley. If he had taken any more time with James he could have blown the entire mission. Who knows how close they were to being completely taken over by the parasite? Even if it was good with James, and they had some sort of connection… even if James had saved Leon's life, and vice versa. This was not a job that tolerated emotional connections. The world of bioweapons was dangerous, and it would be so easy to watch a loved one get sick from some new disease. Leon had to travel across the world for missions. There's no time to maintain a relationship, Leon thinks, even if there's something there, it couldn't work. He'll need too much from me, and I'll want him too badly… it'll be hard to separate. Besides, maybe he's just using me to fill the void his wife left behind. Maybe it's just a heat-of-the-moment thing. It'll be easier just to move on and accept a mission well done. What happens to James now isn't my responsibility. I've given him a second chance at life - that doesn't mean I have to be a part of it.
"Agent?"
Leon looks over to the person in the hazmat suit. "Sorry, I was just thinking. I'm surprised he made it, is all."
"From what the nurses were discussing, he's not out of the woods yet." They look over the scan results that display on a monitor on the far wall. "Well, Agent Kennedy, it looks like we should be able to discharge you."
"I'm all clear?"
"All clear. No parasites, and your wounds are clean, patched and stitched up. You’ll have to rest and relax for a while, but you should be right as rain in no time." They remove the monitoring devices from Leon’s body.
Leon sighs with relief. "That's good to hear. I'll be glad to get back stateside and complete this damned mission."
"I don't blame you," they say. "I'll get you your clothes so you can get changed. They've been cleaned, so don't worry about them carrying anything." They approach the door. "You'll also probably be expected to give a short debrief in the morning."
Leon sits up and shifts to the edge of the bed. "Where are they keeping me until then?"
"We have a room set up in the main part of the hospital. It'll only be a couple days, don't worry too much about it." The person in the suit leaves and a few moments later a woman returns with Leon's clothes and gives him directions to his new room.
Leon changes back into his black cargo pants and tight-fitting black shirt, then makes his way up through the hospital to the third floor. He passes by a few empty rooms before he sees Ashley sitting by the window in her room, gazing outward. She has a fresh set of clothes that someone must have brought from her things back in the states. She has on black leggings and a long-sleeved orange turtleneck sweater underneath a white vest. It looks like they were able to salvage her boots, as she has them pulled up nearly to her knees with some cream-colored socks peeking out at the tops.
Leon steps into the room, lightly knocking on the door. "Ashley," he says with a sigh of relief, "are you ok?" Ashley looks over and jumps up and hurries to Leon, tackling him in a hug. Leon stumbles a little, but chuckles, hugging her back. "Whoa there!"
"Leon, I was so worried!" Ashley says, squeezing Leon tightly in her embrace. She pulls back and looks up at him, smiling. "I guess we'll both be ok, huh?"
Leon smiles back at her. "Yeah, we'll be ok. I just have to do a little bit of a debrief and I'll get you home."
"Yeah..." Ashley says, her eyes casting down to the ground. "What about James? No one will tell me where he is or if he's ok."
Leon takes her shoulders and says in the most reassuring tone he can, "Don't worry about him, ok? I don't know much either, but he's alive."
Ashley fidgets a little, thinking about how frantic Leon had been when he was trying to save James earlier. His suave, cool persona had evaporated when he thought he had lost him. "Are you... ok?"
Leon furrows his brow. "Of course I'm ok, I'm parasite free and ready to take on anything." He gives her a confident grin, but her expression doesn't change. Leon sighs a little and relaxes his face. "Ashley, I'm a trained professional, these are things I deal with all the time. I'll be fine."
"You seemed worried for him," Ashley says, "I mean, I know I joked about you guys before, but…" She pauses. It crosses her mind that maybe the two men had been intimate in just some sort of heat-of-the-moment way. But it had been frightening to see Leon so scared. That fear was something she hadn't seen in him before that moment. It was a fear she remembered seeing on her father's face when threats would come in to the White House towards herself or her mother. It was the fear of losing someone you really cared about. "Maybe you should see him?"
Leon is quiet for a few moments. "Maybe," he crosses his arms, "but now that we have you out of there safely, I need to make sure you make it back home safe too." Ashley, you don't understand - it isn't as simple as just being attracted to another person. I don't think I can see him again. I might grow too attached. Maybe I already have.
Ashley shrugs and sits back down by the window. "I am safe, and I thought we were going to be here a little longer anyway. Might as well go see him - I'm not going anywhere." She picks up a book from a nearby table and opens it, shutting down any further conversation.
Leon shuts her door as he leaves and walks down the hallway to his own room. There isn't much in there, save for the bare essentials. There's a bed, chair, table, and a couple changes of clothes. He examines them and finds that they’re standard issue STRATCOM clothes. He huffs a little and then flops down into the chair, sliding down low. They should just get this over with as soon as they can so we can leave. Why even bother with a debrief here when we could go home? Leon sits and drums his fingers on the arm rest, waiting for someone, anyone to come in and tell him where to go next. Tell him what he should be doing. He'd rather be doing anything than just sitting here quietly with his thoughts. There had to be something to do while he waited until the morning debrief. After a lengthy thirty minutes of sitting and doing nothing, Leon gets to his feet and decides to walk around the building.
Like any hospital, there are people bustling about every which way. The halls are white and sterile with labels on each door. Leon wanders, trying to just focus on the movement of walking, the sounds of the place, anything to keep himself from thinking too much about James.
Eventually he finds himself on the top floor of the building. This area is eerily quiet, with only the sounds of faintly-beeping machines echoing through the hall. Leon peeks through the window of one of the rooms and sees an old man lying with his eyes closed on a bed. His hands are folded in his lap as he rests. The next room has a woman in it quietly crocheting something. Her hair is all gone from her head and she looks thin and sickly. As Leon watches, a nurse excuses herself and enters the room, asking if the woman needed any more pain relief. When she says yes, the nurse pulls out some morphine for her.
Leon steps away from the door. This must be some sort of long-term care area . He turns to leave when he sees that the door across the hallway is open and he can see who’s lying in the bed. It should be hard to tell from where he's standing, but Leon knows it's James by his blond hair and distinct nose. Leon approaches the doorway and grips the frame tightly, looking at the scene before him.
The room is small, but the view out the window shows the pretty forest on this side of the hospital. James lies still on the bed, a heart monitor indicating a slow but steady heartbeat. He has an oxygen mask on his face, helping to stimulate his breathing. It fogs a little as he takes shallow breaths. His arms are laid beside him, exposing the scars from the self-inflicted cuts that Leon had only glimpsed before. From there he can see how they've braced James' ribs, and where there are a couple of additional small wounds from where they must have gone in to patch up and reinflate his lung. His shoulder is wrapped up and appears to be secure in its place as it meets the brace around James' ribs. Leon's eyes wander down to James' lower abdomen and he clenches his fists tightly. He can't see what used to be the hole in James' body, but there's a light dressing over it. Lean steps into the room further until he's beside James. It appears that a skin graft must have been used to cover the hole, as it’s a slightly different tone than James' pale, cool-undertone skin. James doesn’t seem to have any large wounds from a skin graft so it is most likely cadaver skin. Leon glances towards the bottom of this wound, where the staff had the decency to keep his underwear on, especially considering the cast on James' left leg. It's slightly elevated with a sling hanging from above.
"James..." Leon says softly. He reaches out his hand towards James' left cheek, but pauses and clenches it into a fist, pulling it back instead. Don't get attached. The gash on the left side of James’ forehead is stitched up. Leon still wasn't sure what he got hit with, but it looked like it hurt. The spot where James' head had smashed against the steering wheel during his car crash is scabbed over and bruised. Leon lets himself reach out again to brush James' hair away from it. He can feel how soft it is now that it’s been cleaned. Leon runs his fingers through James' hair until his bangs are completely off his forehead. He swears he can see James' expression relax a little, but it could just be his imagination.
"I'm sorry..." Leon says quietly, "I wish I could have done more for you." He pulls up a chair and sinks into it besides James. He slowly reaches out and touches James' forearm, feeling the raised scars along it. James' skin is so cold that barely any heat comes off of him. Part of Leon screams that he should let this go; he should just leave him here and let him heal without Leon trying to cling on. "I shouldn't stay," Leon says softly, pulling his hand away. "It'll be better for you... less complicated."
Leon gazes at James' face. Please wake up. Tell me that I should stay. James remains unmoving, his heart rate continuing at a steady pace. Leon stays seated, not wanting to leave James alone in this cold, sterile room. He can see that James has goosebumps along most of his exposed skin. He wasn't covered up, probably due to the amount of healing wounds. He's so cold... Leon looks around from where he is and doesn't find any blankets in the room. If only he still had the jacket that he started with at the beginning of this whole thing, maybe he could have been able to lay it across James, just give him something to warm him up . Leon rubs James' arm gently, trying to give him a little relief.
The light from the room’s small window slowly begins to darken as the sun sets outside. Leon doesn't know how long he's been sitting here with James, gently rubbing parts of his body to warm him up a little. The entire time James' breathing doesn't change and his heart rate doesn't elevate. Don't be ridiculous, Leon thinks to himself. It isn't like the movies, he won't just wake up because you're here. Even with that reality check, Leon’s heart still aches. Every time he looks up at James' face he hopes to see his blue eyes gazing back at him, the trace of a smile on his lips. Instead, his eyes remain closed and he rests with a slight frown.
Leon slowly stands, keeping his hands on James’ arm. Leon's stomach growls. It's been so long since he last ate, and even hospital food sounds amazing compared to that old discarded food they had found earlier. Leon lets himself cup James' left cheek in his hand and he rests his other hand on his chest, feeling his shallow breaths and heart beat. You need to let go, it's time to say goodbye.
"James, I..." Leon starts, "I need to go." He leans over James, his hair brushing against James' face. He presses a kiss to James' forehead, his nose touching his hair. He lingers there for a moment, rubbing his thumb against James' cheekbone.
There's loud, rushed footsteps in the hallway, and as Leon starts slowly pulling away the sound stops. Leon glances over and then yanks himself away from James as he sees someone standing in the doorway. He can still feel that the trace of a blush is on his cheeks, but when he lays eyes on the man in the doorway the color drains from his face.
The man is a spitting image of James - similar square jaw, same large, straight nose, bright but piercing blue eyes, and similar lips. He's a little shorter than James, maybe about 5'10”, and he's a bit heavier and stockier looking. They have the same broad shoulders and defined, outward chest. The main differences lie in how he holds himself in a more aggressive, confident way, his head up and shoulders squared. He folds his thick arms across his body. If James was maybe twenty or thirty years older, he'd probably look about as aged and have the same white hair. This man has it styled upwards, unlike James' loose bangs. He reminds Leon of one of those stereotypical Russian landlords people would joke about, except instead of the stereotypical greasy white wife beater and gold chain, he's wearing clean and neat clothes.
"And who the fuck are you?" the man asks, his voice lower and gruffer than James'.
Leon moves towards the door, wanting to extract himself from this interaction. "Sorry sir, I was just checking in on the patient."
The man glowers at Leon. It's an intense stare that makes Leon falter in his own confident stance. "Sure, and I'm the grim reaper. Who the fuck are you?" he repeats.
Leon swallows. The man’s broad frame is wide enough to block most of the doorway. "I'm Agent Leon Kennedy, I am the person responsible for--"
"You did this to him?" the man shouts, jabbing a thick finger into Leon's chest. "What's wrong with you?!"
Leon removes the man's finger from his chest. "I pulled him out of there, sir. He's only here because of me."
The man huffs, "I'd like to know what the hell you did. That's not what he looked like the last time I saw him."
"Sorry sir, I'm afraid that's classified."
"Classified?!" the man says, raising his voice. "You're talking about my son! I have the right to know!" He approaches the bed and takes in James' current state. "He's been missing for two weeks and now he's turned up here in Spain, without his wife, who I should mention is also missing. Look at him!" The man gestures to James and sits down beside him, eyes glancing down to James' arms. He gently places one of his hands on James’ forearm, hiding some of the scarring. "You don't get hurt like this doing nothing!"
Leon turns towards James' father. "I'm sorry sir, but his wife has passed away." Leon thinks back to the smashed windshield in James' car, how James had said that he had her body with him. Maybe her body is laying at the end of the river, waiting to be recovered. "He told me she died of her illness. Seems like he may have taken her on a trip and she died during it, and he was..." How do I explain the car accident? I can't just say that James drove his car into a river or a lake or whatever on his own. "He was driving her to the hospital and was in an accident. We haven't recovered her yet."
James' father looks back down at James, taking it all in. "You don't get injuries like this from just a car accident."
Leon sighs, "I can't tell you all the details sir--"
"Frank."
"Ok, Frank, I can't tell you all the details, but since his accident led him into the middle of an active United States government operation, he couldn't be extracted until I was." Leon pauses and clenches his fists. "Your son saved my life, and... I'm very grateful to him."
Frank looks back at Leon and eyes him up, frown remaining on his face. "I want you to find my daughter-in-law, can you do that for him?" Frank looks back down at James. "He's suffered enough, at least let him bury her."
"I'll see what I can do," Leon says, and he quickly exits the room, not wanting to make the situation any weirder. He lingers outside the door though, hearing Frank talk in a quieter, gentler tone to the unconscious James.
"James..." he says quietly, "what did you do to yourself? Look at you... you just... stopped taking care of yourself, huh?" Leon can hear Frank's voice crack a little. "I told you that you could come to me. I know losing Mary is hard, but you can't throw your life away..." Frank chuckles a little, "but I guess you already decided that long before she was gone, didn't you? You don't get this many scars and drop that much weight in a week or two." Frank makes a soft noise, sounding like maybe he was shedding a few tears. "I can't lose you too, James. Come back to me, ok?"
Leon moves away from the door and proceeds down the hallway back to his room. He'll be in good hands now, at least he still has his father there for him. Leon closes the door to his room and finds that someone had brought a tray of food for him. He digs in and soon lays down to sleep. He'll be safe now, and in the hands of someone who loves him. It's ok to let him go. Soon Leon falls into a restless sleep, fitfully dreaming about what he just went through. He still sees James there, supporting and saving him nearly countless times. James slips from his grasp in his dream instead of being pulled to shore. He was letting him go, and as much as he screamed while trying to pull James back up, he had to accept that it was the right decision as he watches James sink into the depths below.