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This mission has been pretty cut and dry so far, the usual shambling zombies and admittedly still horrific but now easier to deal with lickers surrounding a suspected bioterrorist operation in northern Spain. It was a joint operation between DSO and BSAA, which meant Leon was here with Chris Redfield and his team, which of course included Piers Nivans.
God, Leon swears those two are attached at the hip, especially since Piers almost fucking died just last year to what Chris quite eloquently described as a giant fucking water monster thing, an monster that cost Piers his arm and left him with a high tech prosthetic Sherry had compared to the one Bucky had in Captain America and The Winter Soldier. He could still use his gun and could still fight just as good as before fortunately, and Chris had fought damn hard to keep him on his team, even when they got together and marked each other shortly after that.
Leon would be lying if he said he wasn't a tiny bit jealous of them, of what they had. He had only been with three alphas in his life: Ada, Krauser, and Luis. Him and Ada had gone their separate ways long ago, agreeing their lives and lines of work were just too different and a relationship would never work for them, Krauser had betrayed him and sided with Los Illuminados and Leon had been forced to put a knife in his Major's heart, and Luis…
Luis had been killed by Krauser, stabbed in the back right in front of him. He'd watched him take his last breath, heard his last words of people can change, right?, had carried the guilt and the ache in his heart ever since then. He hasn't even looked at another alpha since, not like that. Luis would always be the only alpha he ever truly loved, his true mate torn away from him by the cruel, fucked up world Leon was forced to exist in.
But Leon can't focus on that now. He has a mission, and that's the priority.
Every seemed pretty normal and ordinary here on said mission, until they found some fucking Plagas infected guards in the building, guarding a lab where Leon found numerous Plagas samples and notes on NE-Alpha and the Nemesis project.
Fortunately, they had managed to capture the supposed ringleader fairly easily, the greasy looking man in a cheap looking suit currently tied to a chair while he, Piers, and Chris interrogated him.
“Try all you want, poule mouillée. I've never tell you anything.” The slime snarled in Leon's face, making anger flare in his veins, but he did his best to maintain his composure regardless.
“We won't ask you again, connard.” Chris grumbles, standing next to the man with his giant arms crossed in front of his chest. “How did you get those parasites?”
“Like I'd tell a slicker like you—”
That earned him a swift punch to the jaw from Leon, hard enough to dislodge a tooth. Chris immediately pulled Leon back, more worried about Leon's fists than the asshole’s sad excuse for a face.
“Tell you what…” Piers says, placing his metal hand on the fucker’s shoulder. “You tell us where you got your samples, or my captain here will let him go and we'll just stand back and watch him turn your ugly face into some ground chuck.”
The bastard looks between Piers and Leon, gears audibly turning in his head, before he sighs in defeat. “We have a scientist, we picked him up in 2004, right before Voldelobos went kaboom. I was one of the last Umbrella remnants still in business in Spain, I had the money and the resources, but I needed his brain. His knowledge of the Plagas and Nemesis.”
Leon stares at him in silence, not daring to get his hopes up, because it can't be. It can't be. He watched that man die, watched him take his final breath right in front of him. He's carried that guilt for years, how?—
“Your scientist, does he have a name?” Piers asks, metal hand tightening on the man's shoulder just enough to draw a pained wince from him.
“Yes, but I doubt he'll answer to it anymore. We just call him Doctor, or The Scientist, or…knothead—”
“Name, asshole.” Piers repeats, tightening his grip even further, enough that Leon swears he hears a bone snap.
“Fuck! Serra! Luis Serra!” The asshole shouts, and Leon's knees almost give out beneath him, the only thing holding him upright being Chris who's still holding onto him.
“Did you say Luis Serra?” Leon asks, eyes wider than dinner plates as he tries to pull himself out of Chris' hold.
“Leon…” Chris grumbles.
“Did you know him, beau gosse? I bet you did. You definitely seem like the pédale’s type, pretty boy.” The bastard chuckles, and Leon lunges at him, held back only by Chris behind him and Piers putting himself between them.
“Where is he?!” Leon shouts over Piers' shoulder, all primal rage. “Where is Luis Serra?!”
“It doesn't matter, abruti!” The asshole replies. “We broke him. Broke him real good. I doubt he'd even remember you!”
Leon sees red, absolute bloody, blinding red in that moment, and breaks free from Chris and Piers' attempt to hold him back, pouncing on the shithead and slamming his chair into the floor, hands going around his neck as he squeezed with all his strength.
“Where is he? You tell me where he is, you MOTHERFUCKER!—”
“LEON! Get off of him!” Chris shouts, tearing Leon off of the asshole, who gasps and heaves for air on the floor as Piers sits the chair back up.
“TELL ME!” Leon screams, fucking screams, raw and shrill, catching Chris and Piers completely off guard. They'd never, never seen Leon like this, it was like seeing a feral, frightened animal finally snap and bare its teeth in a desperate final attempt at survival, some deep, raw emotion burning him alive inside.
“Fine.” The man coughs, spitting up blood from his knocked out tooth. “Thirty miles west of here. The abandoned warehouses, there's a secret lab inside. You'll find your précieux scientifique there. But you won't like it, I can guarantee that.” He chuckles, and god Leon wants to put a bullet between his eyes so bad.
“I'll have the rest of the squad take him in. You, me, and Piers will head to this hidden lab.” Chris says, pulling Leon out of the room.
Leon just feels…numb. Shock and disbelief flooding his system, confusion overwhelming his brain, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. The main question on his mind being how? How is Luis alive? How did these assholes save him? And what did that bigoted motherfucker mean by you won't like it?
Leon barely remembers getting his gear together and reloading his weapons, let alone loading into the van with Chris and Piers, only remembers suddenly being in the passenger seat, looking dead ahead still in shock, scent bitter with shock and fear.
“I can't believe it.” Leon whispers, breaking the most likely very awkward silence around them.
“What?” Chris asks.
“He's alive.” Leon replies shakily. “This whole time, he was…”
Chris looks over at him sympathetically, taking a deep breath and placing a hand on Leon's shoulder, putting as much comfort and sympathy into his scent as he can. “You didn't know, Lee. You couldn't have known. Whatever happened, it's not your fault.”
“I wanted to get him out of this shit.” Leon says shakily, resting his head in his hand, fingers tugging slightly on his hair. “All this…umbrella, plagas, bioterrorism shit. And I failed. I could have helped him for over a decade now, and I didn't, I—”
“You didn't know.” Chris objects, more sternly than before. “You've told me about this Luis guy, Lee. And from what I've heard, he doesn't sound like the type of guy to hate you for not coming to his rescue because you didn't know he was alive.”
“Yeah, he'll probably be happy to see his…what did he call you again?” Piers asks, and Leon knows he already knows the answer. “Right. His…prince Charming.”
Leon scoffs playfully, heart aching at the old nickname. He could still hear Luis' voice saying those words over the communicator.
“Come to my rescue, Prince Charming”
“I'll show you Charming, pal!”
Before he knew it, their van pulled up outside the warehouses, a ball of anticipation and dread seizing Leon's heart and stomach as they exit the vehicle and head inside.
This place is full of zombies and plagas guards, too, the sheer size of the force quickly depleting the trios’ ammo to just a couple extra mags each, but they finally reached the doors to a large laboratory, harsh florescents shining through the windows and a dark silhouette sat at a desk hunched over a computer.
Leon takes a deep breath, slowly opening the door, and he's greeted with the sight of long brown hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, glasses perched on the bridge of a familiar nose, slender, tan ringed fingers typing away on the keys. The man turns to face Leon, and god he looks…
He looks as beautiful as the day he lost him.
“Leon?” That painfully familiar voice says shakily, grey eyes shining with tears, and Leon almost collapses right there, because he feels like he's dreaming. All he wants is to pull the other man into his arms, to collapse into his slender body and never let go again.
“Luis…is that really you?” Leon asks, heart racing and head spinning.
“Sí…” Luis breathes, and it's then that Leon realizes he's sat in a wheelchair. God, Krauser had put him in a fucking wheelchair with that knife in his back. Leon feels a crushing amount of guilt fill his chest as Luis moves closer, still looking at him with the same fondness as he did back in Voldelobos. “I've been waiting, amor.”
“You have?” Leon chokes out, on the verge of tears.
“Of course. I never doubted that my prince charming would come to my rescue.” Luis says softly, taking Leon's hand so gently it was like he thought Leon was made of glass. It's that small, simple action that pushes him over the edge, absolutely collapsing onto his knees before Luis, clinging to him for dear life. Luis is taken back for a moment before gently running his hand though the other's soft, dark hair. “It's okay, mi querido. I'm here, I'm here."
“I'm sorry I took so long…” Leon whispers into Luis' thing, tears soaking the tight fabric. He could feel his bones prominently through his skin where his arms wrapped around his waist, which worried him greatly.
“Don't be.” Luis assures him. “I'd wait an eternity for you, Leon.”
“Can't stay here too long. Who knows what the hell's in this place…” Chris says, white knuckling his gun as he listens for any more shambling footsteps or distorted groans.
“Is it alright if I carry you?” Leon asks, standing and wiping his tears on his sleeve before reaching out and brushing some hair out of Luis' face. “It would be faster.”
“Oh, that's more than okay, Prince Charming…” Luis replies, unable to hold back his laughter as Leon gently hoists him into his arms, carrying him bridal style out of the lab.
The four of them quickly make their way back towards the entrance to this warehouse, Leon holding Luis' neck close to his face and re-familiarizing himself with his scent. Rich leather, smoke, and cinnamon fills his senses, almost making him dizzy with how comforting it is, how comforting he is.
Once they get loaded back up into the van, Leon practically has his entire body wrapped around Luis, face buried in his neck, too far gone to care about the other two men in the front seat. Slender, tan fingers gently card through his hair, and Leon focuses intently on the rhythmic beating of Luis' pulse beneath his ear where his head rests on his shoulder, a constant reminder that he's alive, he's really alive and is here in his arms again.
Leon dozed off in the backseat on the drive back to the hotel, his hand intertwined with Luis' as he finally felt himself relax for the first time in years. In a whole decade, actually. Once they reached the hotel, Leon carried Luis inside, ignoring any of the strange looks from the staff and other patrons as they took the elevator up to their floor, Leon now very glad he'd gone ahead and gotten his own room separate from Chris and Piers. Originally it had been so that the pair could have their own privacy, but now Leon's looking forward to having the privacy to just collapse into Luis' arms after nearly a decade of grieving and longing for him, after almost dying of rejection sickness after Voldelobos, saved only because it started during his quarantine stay at a spanish hospital.
The second Leon and Luis are alone in the hotel room, the agent nearly collapses right there, barely managing to bring Luis into the bathroom for a much needed shower for both of them.
“Do you..do you need any help?” Leon asks, fighting the urge to just drop into his instincts and let go.
“Just to get in there, I think.” Luis says, looking away from Leon as he starts to help him undress. “Joder, I can get myself undressed, I don't…I don't want to be a burden to you, Leon.”
“You're not.” Leon says firmly, taking Luis' face in his hands so delicately it almost brought the spaniard to tears. “Don't ever think that, Luis. You saved my life, you saved Ashley's life. Hell, you saved Ada’s life. I want to help you, Luis, there's nothing else I'd rather do.”
Luis sighs and allows Leon to strip his clothes off, the lab coat especially getting thrown far away, and then the agent lifts him with those still incredible muscles of his and gently lowers him into the bath tub, the warm water a welcome relief for his aching back. Then, Leon grabs the hotel 2-in-1 and squirts some out onto his hands, working his fingers through his long, dark hair so very gently and carefully, the affection almost overwhelming him. He doesn't deserve this, he doesn't deserve him.
Luis doesn't realize he's crying until Leon is suddenly taking his face in his hands and making him look at him, teary smoke grey eyes meeting worried sky blue.
“I'm here, Luis, it's okay. You're safe.” Leon says softly, his scent full of comfort and safety and…
Love.
“I don't deserve you, Leon.” Luis says shakily, taking one of those rough, calloused hands in his own. “With everything I've done, I don't—”
“You left umbrella.” Leon interrupts, staring at him intensely. “You found a way to remove the plagas safely after having to cut one out of your own chest. You made us a suppressant, you gave me the key to your lab so Ashley and I could get the parasites out of us. You saved us, you saved me. Anything you did before or after Voldelobos doesn't matter, Luis. Because for the last ten years, when I thought of you, I didn't think of an umbrella researcher or a servant of Los Illuminados, I thought of the guy who saved my life and taught me that people can change, that used his last breath to make sure I could get into his lab to save myself and Ashley.” Leon pauses, eyes flickering downward. “I…I thought of the only person I've ever truly loved.”
The confession makes the ache in Luis' chest tighter. He can smell the guilt burning in both their scents, a bitter, rotten thing in the air between them.
“Oh, Leon…” Luis whispers, more tears spilling down his face. “Yo también te amo…”
He pulls Leon into a kiss, wet fingers tangling into dirty blonde hair. Leon must have dyed it at some point because it was much lighter before, Luis is sure. Or maybe it was dyed lighter back then. The agent only breaks away from the kiss to pull his clothes off, joining him in the tub, Luis' hands immediately on those muscles he'd spent a decade dreaming of. He's a little slimmer than Luis remembers, and he can only assume it's because he wasn't eating enough.
After a few minutes of just kissing in the bath, they pull away for air, panting lightly in each other's arms. Luis just focuses on the feeling of Leon's warm, soft skin beneath his hands, the agent’s hands holding onto him like he was something precious.
“Bath’s gonna get cold, we should…should finish up here.” Leon mumbles, reluctant to move away from Luis.
“You're right.” Luis agrees, reaching for the body wash and the washcloths Leon had placed beside the bath. “We can continue kissing in the bed if you want.”
The blush that spreads across Leon's face is a sight to behold, and god Luis wants to remember that forever. “Shut up.” Leon says fondly, grabbing the cloth and body wash from Luis, earning a soft chuckle from the spaniard.
~
After they were done in the bath, Leon dried Luis off and helped him into an extra T-shirt and pair of sweats he'd packed for the mission, the clothes a bit baggy on the scientist’s thinner frame, and laid him down in the hotel bed, immediately curling up beside him with his head on his shoulder, their hands intertwined.
“I missed you so much, Luis.” Leon whispers, nose buried in his neck. “There was one time last year where I…I was fighting this giant, ugly ass thing on a rooftop, and all I could think was…if this thing takes me out, I’d be just fine with that, because it meant I would finally be free from this fucking nightmare, and I would get to see you again. But then it threw me, and I almost fell off the roof, and…it was like I saw my life flash before my eyes. I…I saw Marvin, and Ada, Claire, Ashley, Chris, and then I…I saw you.” He pauses to hold back the sob stuck in his throat, hiding his face in Luis' neck. “That’s what made me realize I had to keep going. That it wasn't my time yet and I had to keep fighting, I had to stop that thing, I had to stop Arias. I came so close to the end on the edge of that roof, too close. And now that you're back, and I know you were still alive when…when that happened, I…god, I don't even wanna think about what would have happened if I had gone over that edge.”
“You don't have to.” Luis says softly, tears pooling in his eyes as he presses a soft kiss to Leon's head. “I'm here now, amor. We're going to be okay, I promise.”
Leon squeezes him a little tighter, tears staining Luis' t-shirt as he finally allows himself to relax, breathing in that scent that he's missed so fucking much for 10 years. Rich leather and cigarette smoke and cinnamon mixing perfectly with his own scent of gunpowder and whiskey and cherry blossoms.
And as he drifts off to sleep, his thoughts aren't of anger or guilt or wishing he were dead.
They're of wanting to spend the rest of his life with this beautiful alpha curled in his bed beside him, of wanting to settle down with him and get married, of having everything he never thought he'd get, of having the man he never thought he'd get.
Luis Serra Navarro.
~a few years later~
The last few years have been blessedly uneventful, the only big incident being a mold based B.O.W in Dulvey, Louisiana, which lead to Chris befriending this guy named Ethan Winters who had gone down there to save his wife, Mia. Ethan was one tough customer, for sure, having dealt with the Baker family singlehandedly- quite literally single handedly at one point- and survived.
Then, a few years after that, Ethan's wife Mia was unfortunately discovered to have been killed and replaced by a woman called Mother Miranda, and their daughter Rose was kidnapped by Miranda's cult in Romania, and the man had gone in singlehandedly- again, at one point very literally- and fought all manner of werewolves and vampire ladies and fish men and completely fucked up hallucinations caused by a doll lady and her flowers to get Rose back, teaming up with an unlikely ally named Karl Heisenberg to take down Mother Miranda, the cult's leader, and destroy the megamycete, even though Karl had warned that it may destroy them both.
But somehow, some fucking way, it didn't. Ethan walked out of there with Rose in his arms, and got onto a helicopter with his new friend Karl, and went home. It wasn't easy for him to adjust to life knowing he was some sort of humanoid mold creature, but Karl seemed to make it a bit easier, given that he was basically made of mold too.
Meanwhile, Leon and Luis had moved into the agent's apartment in downtown DC, easily within driving distance of DSO headquarters. Luis was still confined to a wheelchair, but fortunately Leon's DSO salary allowed him to get a much nicer one that what he'd been stuck with for a decade in the captivity of those umbrella remnants. Leon's living room now had a bookshelf full of fantasy novels Luis had gotten, including a copy of Don Quixote Leon had bought him for his birthday the first year he’d lived here.
Whenever Leon was out on missions, he would make sure to have Ingrid or Sherry let Luis know he was alright and, once it was over, when he was coming home. He used to dread coming home after missions when he still lived alone, he hated coming home to his big, empty, messy apartment back then. But now, he has his beautiful, handsome, brilliant husband to come home to, he has a mate to curl up with in his nest instead of laying in it all alone.
This latest mission especially, he is very glad to come home from.
He had returned to Raccoon City, to the place where all his nightmares had begun, to the Raccoon City Police Department. He'd had to face a Tyrant again, face Lickers and Zombies and a fucking Nemesis, all while on the brink of death from the T Virus infection that had been laying dormant in his blood all this time. Finding a cure had been a fucking miracle, he didn't think he was going to make it out of there, but he did, and all thanks to Grace, the young, blonde, and absolutely terrified FBI analyst who'd gotten wrapped up in all of this. That girl turned out to be pretty damn resilient after all, having survived that entire fucking nightmare pretty much solo, and saving Emily in the end. She reminded Leon of his 21 year old self in a lot of ways, how she was clearly scared to death but kept going, kept pushing forward to save Emily, to get them both out of the nightmare of Rhodes Hill.
Now, Leon's finally going home, having already talked to Sherry and let her know he had a dose of Elpis for her as well, and they'd have some for the other Raccoon survivors soon as well. He could hardly wait to get home to Luis, sure that his husband is probably worried sick.
Sure enough Luis was waiting at the kitchen table for him with a mug of coffee to keep himself awake, lit only by the single lamp in the living room they always kept on. The worry on his face made Leon's chest ache with guilt, the agent coming to his side immediately and wrapping him in a hug, letting his scent surround his husband.
“I'm here.” Leon says softly, tangling his fingers in Luis' soft, long hair. “I'm home.”
“I was so worried, mi vida…” Luis whispers, voice thick with emotion.
“I know, I know.” Leon replies apologetically, pulling away and taking Luis' face in his hands. “I'm sorry I scared you, Lu. I didn't know I would be gone so long.”
“It's alright. You came home to me, that's what matters.” Luis says softly, taking one of Leon's hands and pressing a kiss to his palm.
“It won't happen again.” Leon murmurs, resting his head on Luis' shoulder. “I'm retiring. I'm done.”
“Really?” Luis asks, surprised.
“Yeah.” Leon confirms, taking a deep breath of Luis' scent. “I hate being away from you so much, and besides…I'm getting too old for this shit.”
“Hmm, well, I'm not going to stop you, amor.” Luis hums softly, nuzzling into Leon's neck. “Besides, I would love to have you all to myself more often.”
“Sure you can still keep up with me, old man?” Leon teases, earning a playful swat to the arm from his husband.
“Pequeño mocoso…” Luis scolds playfully, chuckling. “I can definitely keep up with you for another decade, you little shit. I'm not that old.”
“Whatever you say, handsome. Nothing tonight though, I'm beat.” Leon replies, scooping Luis up with ease. Those massive muscles of his definitely made carrying his husband around easy.
“You know I could have used my chair to get there, right?” Luis asks.
“We both know you prefer this method of transportation, babe.” Leon reminds him, and Luis just rolls his eyes and and sags into Leon's strong arms, not needing to say a single word, his body language screaming you're lucky I love your muscles loud and clear.
Leon carefully lays him down in their nest, kissing his head before grabbing a t-shirt and boxers and heading into the shower to clean up. Luis is tense the whole time, irrationally afraid Leon won't come back out, releasing a breathe he didn't even know he was holding when his husband finally does return from the shower, dressed in a sinfully tight t-shirt and black boxer shorts.
“Told you I was coming back.” Leon says softly, crawling in beside Luis and wrapping his arms around him tightly, letting the spaniard bury his face in his neck.
“And you always keep your promises.” Luis replies, taking Leon's hand in his, breathing another sigh of relief when he sees the lack of black bruising and veins on his skin, heart skipping a beat at the sight of his silver wedding band.
Leon presses his lips to Luis' head, still in disbelief after all these years that Luis was here, he was alive. Not only that, but he's his husband, his mate, bonded for life by the rings on their hands and the scarred marks on their necks.
And all because he had gone into the right basement in the middle of a bioweapon nightmare and opened a bag he never would have imagined contained the man he'd spend the rest of his life with.
That really was his lucky day after all...