A/N: This idea came to me after watching a film by the same title. I've employed some artistic license with the plot and I've been struggling to find a way to end it for weeks, so It sort of feels like there might be more to come. And who knows, maybe there will be. But for now, just take it for what it is.
Nightcrawler
Distant sirens tell Leon he has about sixty seconds to finish up his work and get out of dodge. Steadying the camera and zooming in just a little more, he gets a tighter shot of the unconscious woman in her car, making sure the lighting catches the gleam of blood on her temple. It's not the best story he's covered this week, but a car-jacking in an affluent white neighbourhood will make breaking news on the 6am circuit and the $300 the footage will bring in will tide him over nicely.
The sirens are drawing closer and there's a flash of blue and red flickering off the porches that line the houses on Traverse Street and Leon looks up to see the first squad car come tearing round the corner. The small crowd that's gathered to watch the spectacle won't stay small, and there will be more news crews turning up soon.
Time to go.
Leon snaps the viewfinder closed and flicks off the light. Shoving the camera in his bag he pushes past the gawking spectators and fishes his car keys from the pocket of his tatty jeans, boots crunching over broken glass and tail light debris.
It's dark in the car, and Leon fumbles with the ignition a bit. Gets it started after he turns it over a few times and the old girl finally chokes to life. He reverses quickly up the street and pulls a sloppy J turn, spinning 180 until he is pointed in the right direction. The gear stick is stiff, but he slams it into first and speeds off, leaving the scene of the crime behind him. His nights work isn't done yet and he flicks on the police scanner and let's the static interrupt the rusty whir of the engine and the whistling wind through the open window. Leon checks the rear view mirror. He isn't being followed.
It's 4:30am by the time Leon calls it a night. Dawn is still a fair ways off and it's starting to snow. He needs to send his tape to HBNW news room before 6:00.
He takes his time and pulls up at a diner for coffee and pancakes. It's small and quiet and mostly empty this time of morning. Takes his laptop so he can edit the footage into something usable and then emails the file to Quistis. The coffee's bad and the breakfast is dry and Leon nudges his half eaten plate away with an apathetic flick of his finger. Thirty seconds later he gets an email from Quistis.
This all you got?
He raises an eyebrow a fraction.
It's been a slow night.
The waitress offers him more coffee and he holds out his cup.
Not your best work. Payments gone through.
Leon doesn't bother to send another reply to the news director. Just closes the laptop and drinks his shitty coffee. Cloud turns up later than expected and he sits himself one stool over from Leon forgoing pleasantries altogether.
"Couple of officers saw your car at the hit and run on Traverse and Twilight tonight." He says, shaking his head when the waitress offers him a drink.
"That right?" Leon's tone is acrid dry.
"See anything useful?" Cloud is fishing and he seems to know it's a long shot. Leon hands over a copy of his tape.
"Don't get your hopes up." He says, snatching it back a little as Cloud makes a grab for it. A raised eyebrow and Cloud rolls his eyes and digs in his wallet.
"I got a hundred." He says, and slides the money across the counter. Leon takes it. A hundred is better than a kick in the balls and he's never been stupid enough to turn down good money.
"I better not see this on the news." Cloud warns him, slipping the tape into the pocket of his hoodie.
Leon doesn't bother to tell him it's probably a bit late for that. "Whatever." He mutters, finishing the dregs of his drink. He can feel Cloud eye-balling him from the side and he turns to challenge him with a steady gaze of his own. Those cobalt blue eyes have never fazed him.
"Has anyone ever told you you're an utterly reprehensible human being?" Cloud asks with a straight face. Leon thinks he means it, though the words hurt less than they might if they came from anyone else and Leon snorts.
"Coming from a cop?" He ignores the sneer he gets and let's the silence linger a little while longer. He knows what Cloud is waiting for. Eventually he slides off his seat and tucks his laptop under his arm. The sun is up now and the bright morning is fogged by lightly falling snow.
"So," he drawls lazily, staring at Cloud's profile with his sharp, glacial eyes. "Your place or mine?"
Leon's been a nightcrawler for five years. An independent news gathering service chasing 911 call outs, accidents and violent crimes to be the first on the scene; filming the best footage for the local Hollow Bastian North West TV news station has been a career of necessity rather than choice. A few bad years straight out of college – no job or apartment or even a steady income – will do that to a person. His relationship with detective Strife, however, is something of a new development. Something equal parts lucrative and arguably stupid. But Leon doesn't have many people in his life that stick around with any sort of frequency. Something that he's not quite sure is by his own design. The familiarity he's developed with Cloud is oddly... comforting, despite the fact that their meetings are always short and frosty and loaded with the loathing they both hold for each others respective jobs. He'll be dead in his lonely grave before he tells Cloud that though. He's not quite sure what the detective is in it for: maybe he's just as lonely. Being a cop must be tough. Long hours, poor pay, high chance of death. It's a risky business. But maybe he's reading too much into it and instead Leon tries to focus on the feel of his cock disappearing down Strife's throat. It's not difficult. Cloud has an amazing mouth, when he's not shooting it off like an asshole. He closes his eyes and lets out a soft moan of encouragement. Hears the bed springs squeak as Cloud shifts his position and tries to work his way out of his underwear while still sucking Leon's dick.
Leon's apartment is small and sparse, nothing much in it to indicate he's been living there for years. No personal touches or family photos. He'd need a family first, but that's a little besides the point, Leon muses. Not too many cockroaches and the smell of damp only gets bad when it rains. Just enough of whatever he needs to survive and nothing more. But isn't that Leon all over?
Cloud does something with his tongue that makes Leon groan a bit harder, brows creasing in pleasure as he snakes a hand into soft blond spikes and encourages him faster and he shudders as he feels a wet finger tip slide between his ass cheeks.
Cloud's feeling assertive this morning, and Leon definitely doesn't have a problem with that. The prep is quick and Cloud's mouth slides off his cock; the detective grips his leg behind his knee and flips him over onto his stomach, resettles himself in between Leon's legs while he occupies himself with a condom.
"In a hurry this morning?" Leon comments just as he feels the blunt edge of Cloud's cock at his opening. He grimaces a little at the feeling and looks over his shoulder.
"Yeah well, as charming as your shit-hole of an apartment is, I have places to be." Cloud pushes forward and grips Leon's hips a little tighter.
"You're lucky you're here at all." Leon reminds him, pushing back with a satisfied grunt. He hears Cloud snort and feels the sharp jut of his thrusts turn punishing for a moment.
"You film people on the worst day of their lives and sell it to vultures like Trepe. You're hardly Mother-fucking-Teresa."
Cloud has him there. But what does an asshole cop know about anything? Strife has been using Leon's tapes, buying his first hand eyewitness statements to solve crimes for months. Without Leon, Cloud wouldn't be making the amount of arrests he does. Leon is providing a god-damned service here, and its just like Strife to forget that whenever he feels like trying to put Leon in his place.
"Yeah, and you don't benefit from that at all, do you?" Leon sneers, bucking his hips a little to let Cloud know who exactly needs whom in this little arrangement. The fist in his hair and the sharp tug that arches his head back into his neck is a salty enough reply, and Leon hisses as he scrabbles for purchase against the headboard. Christ, he loves it when Cloud plays mean. He can't even reach down to tug himself off in case he loses his balance; forced to kneel there and take Cloud's harsh pounding and pray Cloud gives him enough to come.
And Cloud doesn't disappoint. A subtle change in angle has Leon cussing out his pleasure. A few more hits right against that sweet spot is all it takes to have Leon shuddering and groaning and he can feel Cloud slam himself hard against his ass and then hold himself still, body ridged, fingers tangled in his hair as he pulls tight and leaves bruises on his hip bone.
Cloud pulls out and shoves Leon down, done with him – for now. He disappears into the bathroom and Leon can hear running water while he shifts himself over onto his back and settles himself against the headboard. He lights a cigarette and enjoys his occasional vice with a slow, lackadaisical pull of smoke, and watches Cloud reemerge and dress himself.
"No pillow talk?" Leon asks sardonically as he arches an arm behind his head.
Cloud throws him a narrow glare and shrugs into his hoodie. Slips his badge over his head and then stands there for a moment, as if seriously considering something. And then, really out of the fucking blue, he bends and angles Leon's face up towards him with a gentle hand under his chin. The kiss is quick and hot and it's over a moment later, but it still has Leon's eyes growing wide in baffled astonishment. Cloud never kisses him like that. Cloud never kisses him at all.
"I swear to god, if you weren't such an asshole..." Cloud lets the statement run dry, a quick shake of his head and he's turning to leave. "You think of anything else about last night just give me a call. You've got my number." He tosses over his shoulder as he closes the door behind him.
Leon feels queasy. Something about that look in Strife's eye and the touch of his finger tips against his jaw has him feeling uneasy and he stubs the cigarette out, half finished.
"Fuck." He mutters quietly to himself. Drags his fingers through his hair and then shoves himself off his bed and distracts himself with a shower. It's 7:30 in the morning, he's been up all night and he should be tired but instead Leon lies awake until well past noon. Wired and brain fried, turning repetitive cartwheels until he falls into a fuzzy doze that takes him all the way till 17:00 and the sound of his alarm clock.
By the time Cloud arrives on the scene the police cordon has already been set up and the crowd of onlookers, pedestrians and TV news crews are stationed well back at the entrance of the driveway. Out of habit, Cloud cranes his neck to look for Leon but he knows full well that he'll be gone by now. Leon never bothers to hang around for the sirens and the paramedics – or the medical examiner in this case.
Cloud once asked him why, and he wasn't altogether sure he was happy with the answer.
"No one wants to see the clean up," he'd said matter-of-factly. "There are a dozen nightcrawlers filming that shit. People wanna see what happens before the cops get there. Right after it happens. That's where the money is."
Still, at least Leon had had the decency to not sound enthusiastic when he talked about it. Cloud knew some nightcrawlers who really got off on shit like this. And if knowing nightcrawlers at all was the worst part of Cloud's job, then knowing Leon wasn't all together detestable. The guy had standards. Sort of.
But it never ceases to amaze Cloud how the bastard gets there before anyone else does. He's like a fucking phantom. Popping up and disappearing without leaving a god-damned trace. His unique 'reporting' style was the reason Cloud hunted him down in the first place. The first on the scene always has the advantage when it comes to evidence gathering, and sometimes, Leon is so early to arrive he sees near enough the whole thing go down. Without Leon, some of those cases would still be cold today, and as much as he detests his slimy, parasitic work, Cloud can't deny he comes in handy.
Is that your excuse for fucking him? His inner voice chimes in.
None of your God-damned business. He stalks his way up the drive to the crowd of police cars and flashes his badge, shoulders his way through, and spots Lockhart by the front door of the sprawling mansion, talking with Cid.
"Triple homocide. Ones a minor." Tifa says as he approaches, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. Cloud peeks inside and can already make out one dead body sprawled over the blood-stained couch.
"Yeah, I heard on the radio. Wondered if you wanted a hand?" He offers. It's a slow night anyways.
"Actually, there is something you can help with." Tifa says, holding up a small, circular black disk. "Found this lens cap in the living room. No camera though. Thought it might belong to your little friend." Tifa holds it out to him and Cloud takes it with a thoughtful frown.
"He's not my friend." He mumbles absently.
"Please," Tifa snorts, "he pushes your buttons and you love it. Now, are you gonna talk to him or not?"
Cloud's jaw tenses at the comment but he doesn't bite. "Sure. Gimme an hour, maybe two."
"Call me if you get something useful."
And with that Cloud is stalking back towards his car, twirling the lens cap in his fingers as he jerks open the door and reverses down the driveway.
Leon isn't in his usual spot. The diner is empty and so are all of the corners and parking lots he sometimes waits in. It's odd for him to be absent, especially after a big story like tonight, and Cloud can't help but feel uneasy about that. He tries the last place he expects him to be and is surprised when Leon answers his door. He's even more worried when he catches the off-white pallor of his skin.
"Wanna tell me what happened?" Cloud asks, holding the lens cap up between his fingers.
"I was expecting you sooner." Leon replies, his voice a little hoarse. He snatches the cap and opens the door a little wider and Cloud let's himself in.
His apartment is dark and the curtains are drawn, but there's a bottle of Scotch on the table beside the bed and a glass that looks like it's just been topped up. Straight, no ice. How very like Leon.
Cloud sits himself on the single chair in front of the desk and watches as Leon lowers himself to the bed, head in his hand as he swipes his drink from the night stand and downs it in one.
"Rough night?" Cloud asks, puzzled by Leon's rattled demeanour. "What, you've never seen a bunch of dead bodies before?" He adds, knowing Leon's seen plenty.
Leon shakes his head "...The kid..." He runs a hand through his hair and exhales sharply. Cloud can see his fingers are trembling. He has to admit, seeing children in that kind of a mess is always hard, but it shouldn't be new to Leon either.
"She looked... Christ... she looked like Ell." Leon whispers through his fingers before pouring himself another shaky drink.
"Ell?" Cloud is curious. "Some one you know?"
Leon sees the whiskey away and winces through the burn.
"Knew." He corrects, reaches under his pillow and pulls out a small silver box, a wire wrapped around it, and hands it over to Cloud. "Here, I got there before the perps were finished. I got their faces, car make, licence plate, everything." He says and then fumbles the hard drive as Cloud takes it out of his fingers, dropping it onto the floor. "Shit." He curses softly, the word staggering from his lips like a drunk from a bar.
Cloud has to admit, Leon has really excelled himself with this one, but that's not what he's concerned about as he catches Leon's wrist and arrests his attention.
"Hey," Cloud says quietly, urgently. "What's got you all turned around? I've never seen you like this before."
Leon snatches his hand back. "Nothing. It's nothing."
"Don't bullshit me, Leonhart. I didn't make detective at twenty three for nothing." Cloud reminds him.
Leon is quiet for what feels like an age, and Cloud begins to think he isn't ever going to talk. And then, as if he is picking up the threads of a conversation that's only just recently died out, Leon opens his mouth and a thick, emotional voice slips out.
"Ell... was my sister. She died, while we were still in care."
And that tells Cloud everything he needs to know about a man like Leon. That icy, abrasive exterior can be explained away by a childhood in and out of care homes and the death of the only family he's probably ever had. It makes him seem human, at last. Shit, Cloud had preferred it when Leon was simply an asshole. Now he's an asshole with a tragic past, and wasn't that just the sort of person Cloud went cuckoo for? Leon has hit his Achilles heel and he hadn't even been trying. Son-of-a-bitch.
He waits to see if Leon has anymore to say and when nothing is apparently forthcoming, Cloud lifts his ass up off his seat and steps into Leon's personal space. Doesn't even give him the option of backing away as he takes his face between his hands and kisses him, pushes him back across the narrow bed and crawls into his lap.
Leon tastes of whiskey and smoke, and he feels cold against his lips as Cloud rakes his fingers into the hair at Leon's temples.
"I don't need your pity." Leon growls as he helps Cloud out of his clothes. His own join the pile on the floor a minute later and he's helping them both into a better position on the bed; Cloud on top with a knee either side and the cop bends down to kiss him again.
"It's not pity." Cloud tells him, though he thinks some of it is. Not that pity is a bad thing but it's hard for a man like Leon to swallow.
A little fumbling with the condom wrapper and just as quickly Cloud is sliding down on top of Leon, inching him inside with little rolls of his hips and he looks down to see Leon with his head thrown back, neck exposed as he braces Cloud's weight with a hand on each hip.
Cloud goes slow, let's the feeling of Leon's cock inside him distract him from the god-awful feeling of impending doom. This is a bad idea, Strife. What the hell are you doing?
Just like Cloud to go charging in without a plan, and that uneasy feeling only grows wider as he hears his own name moaned out into the darkness between them. He bends and kisses Leon, if only to stop that sound coming from him again and it's definitely not so that he can feel Leon's chest against his own; can swipe his tongue against soft lips and breathe in a little of Leon's scent. That kind of foolishness gets a man in trouble.
From then on out their fucking turns quick and needful, a deliberate change in dynamic as Cloud realises he's let things become too familiar, and soon they're both coming fast and hard, together.
Cloud is careful as he untangles himself from Leon's hold and he takes the liberty of a shower. It doesn't take him long before he's clean and dressed, the long shadows hiding Leon's face as he sits on the edge of the bed, sheets draped across this lap as he pours another drink.
"I'll be alright." Leon says with a gruff edge to his voice, a response to the burning feeling of Cloud's eyes.
"See you around." Cloud replies, pocketing the discarded hard drive and he leaves with a soft click of the door behind him.
Leon slides back into his car and unwraps the greasy burger. It's still hot – just about – and it goes down easy with the coffee, and he leans back in his seat and watches the traffic pass.
He's parked opposite the fast food joint he's just purchased his meal from and the neon lights are casting long, watery reflections on the damp tarmac. It might freeze tonight, making driving anywhere in a hurry dangerous. Leon turns on the heater and then turns up the scanner.
Beside him, a black SUV pulls up and from the corner of his vision Leon sees two men climb out. A spike of adrenaline surges through him and he hunches down in his seat a little, reaches up and quickly turns off the scanner and his hands freeze on the wheel of his car.
He'd been hidden in the bushes of that house as he'd watched the flashes of a semi automatic rip bullets through that family. He'd also been fairly certain that the men that had emerged afterwards – cool, calm, and collected – hadn't seen him, but he couldn't be too careful. It had been dark and the haze of his fear had made remembering details difficult, but Leon would know those two men anywhere.
They circle his car and skirt round the back, cut across the parking lot, hop through the speeding traffic and then disappear into the restaurant across the street.
Shit, what do I do... Leon has to prize his fingers off the steering wheel and he fumbles for his phone, fishing it out of his jacket pocket. He messes up the number a few times and on the third go the number dials through and he waits for the call to connect.
"Leon?" Cloud is clearly surprised to hear from him.
"They're here," Leon blurts out, his gaze flicking back to the entrance of the take-out and he thinks he can see them through the large bay fronted window. "The men... From the home invasion... the kid... They're here." He repeats, heart pounding in his throat. Makes it hard to talk.
"Here?... Here where?" Cloud demands, voice suddenly high and tight.
"On the corner of Radiant Garden and Daybreak. There's a burger joint... They're inside."
There's a few seconds of silence and static, and then Cloud's voice.
"Okay, sit tight. I'm on my way. Stay put where ever you are, and stay out of sight." Cloud emphasises that last part and then hangs up.
Yeah, no shit.
Leon pockets his phone again and adjusts his position in his seat, craning his neck to get a better glimpse of the men inside. They're still in there, sat down at a table to wait for their food and Leon thinks thats a stroke of luck.
It's an agonising wait for the first squad car, and then moments later Leon recognises Cloud's unmarked vehicle. The officers go in first and then closely followed by the detective and then nothing... nothing... nothing... followed by a loud, sudden, unexpected blast of bullets that has Leon jumping in his seat.
The men must have spooked and opened fire. Leon didn't expect it to all go down so quickly. There's a couple more rounds and Leon ducks further down in his seat, heart pounding, palms clammy and cold as he tries to look through the window. Shapes and shadows are moving but he can't see clearly enough.
The door swings open and a man falls out, clearly wounded with blood smeared across his face. It's one of the perps and Leon's breath catches in his throat. He watches in slow motion as the man – six foot and broad as a brick shit-house – stumbles his way back across the street. Through a strange out of body type sensation, Leon thinks he should be filming this. It's the follow up to the biggest news story in six months and it's unfolding right before his eyes, but he can't move his arms to pick up the camera. He just watches that great lumbering giant come stumbling across the street and then he catches the quick, slick movement of another man in the doorway. This ones slighter – smaller – and Leon recognises Cloud's shape backlit by the restaurant.
Leon watches Cloud lean against the door frame, take aim and fire, the shot ringing out louder across the street but it misses, goes wide, the perp still trying to make it across the road, and Leon watches as Cloud slides down the doorframe to land heavily on his ass.
Shit, he's hurt. Leon realises, his throat closing over for a moment as finally the perp reaches the SUV and yanks the door open. Cloud lifts his gun again and then hesitates, spotting Leon's car between himself and his target, and after a moments hesitation he staggers to his feet again and lunges for his own car.
There's a loud screeching beside Leon and he twists in his seat to see the SUV tear out of its parking bay and Leon realises he's going to get away. Even more terrifyingly, Cloud is going after him – wounded and alone – and in a snap decision that sees his hands working of their own accord, Leon turns his ignition over and reverses out of the parking lot.
The SUV is two hundred yards ahead, heading east along Radiant Garden and Cloud is right behind him, his car swerving dramatically, cutting in and out of traffic to catch up. The oncoming cars cut diagonal shafts of light across Leon's face as he steps on the accelerator, gripping the steering wheel tighter as he jerks it left and right to keep up with the high speed chase. All three cars run a red light and Leon thinks he can hear the distant sound of sirens.
Too late. You're too fucking late. He thinks, catching a glimpse of Cloud's car as it jerks wildly out of a blockade of moving cars.
There's another intersection coming up and Leon can see the lights turning red, the line of traffic up ahead coming to a stand still as the SUV just plows on and tries to jump the crossing. Cloud is right up his ass, swinging out wide to the left to move around the queue of stationary vehicles.
Leon blinks, and when he opens his eyes again the SUV has been railroaded from the side by an arctic lorry, it's mangled frame tossed up into the air in a violent explosion of glass and twisted metal, and Leon watches as Cloud's car slams into the side of the trucks cab, lifts off its right sided wheels and turns over onto its side; slides and skids headlong into the upside down wreckage of the SUV.
Leon slams on his breaks and he skids to a halt behind the line of traffic – people getting out of their cars to stand in horrified bewilderment at the carnage in front of them – and Leon throws himself out of his car. Leaves the door wide open as he stands there and watches the SUV catch fire in a crackling whoosh of flame and heat.
A voice in the back of his head tells him to grab his camera, find the best angle, and start filming, but he can't make himself move. His gaze is pulled away from the burning SUV and it slides to Cloud's car, rocking back and forth on its side with the residual momentum of the impact.
Leon starts to run, pushing past gathering spectators to shoulder his way through to the middle of the intersection where the heat of the fire is more intense. He raises a hand to his face, shielding it from the blistering flames and through the smoke he can see the right sided door of Cloud's car has been bent out of its frame and is sticking up like the broken wing of an injured bird.
Darting forward, Leon runs towards it and propels himself up the exposed chassis, hissing as his hands start to burn on the scorching metal and with a grimace, he pulls himself up onto the side and he crouches there for a second getting his bearings through the smoke and the steam of heated radiator water billowing out of the arctic lorry. Carefully, he inches his way along the body of the car and peers down through the mangled remains of the door. He can see Cloud in there, still strapped into his seat and slumped against the shattered window, head lying listlessly against the pieces of broken glass. He's not moving.
Leon calls his name but he doesn't respond, and with a panicked curse, Leon looks around for help.
More squad cars have turned up and there's the sound of a fire truck coming from up the street, but it will be too late pretty soon if Leon doesn't do something now. The SUV could explode at any moment and Cloud is right in the firing line.
Carefully, Leon lowers himself into the car, the inside of it unfamiliar and awkward on its ninety degree angle. It's hot and suffocating and the flames from the SUV are drawing closer at an alarming rate. Thirty more seconds and they'll reach them. Leon perches himself with one knee braced against the side of Cloud's seat and a foot angled against the dashboard and he reaches down to shake Cloud's shoulder.
"Cloud!" He feels like he's screaming the man's name. When he gets no response he curses and tries to swallow down his rising fear. If he loses it in here they're both dead.
With a flutter of barely-there control, Leon reaches down and unbuckles the seatbelt and Cloud slides a little more into the car door, crunched and mangled from its impact with the road, but he's free and his legs aren't trapped beneath the column of the steering wheel.
Leon tugs on Cloud's arm and the movement catches his attention. There's so much blood and Cloud is covered in cuts and scrapes but it's the bloody bullet wound in his shoulder that worries him most. Pulling on Cloud's arm makes the wound gush and with a panicked 'fuck' Leon yanks hard one last time and levers Cloud up and away from the bottom of the wreckage.
Cloud is heavy and limp and the space around them is tight, but Leon doesn't stop pulling until he can work a shoulder under Cloud's arm, uses his leverage to hoist him a little higher onto his back and then pushes with his legs, lifts them both up and out through the other mangled door.
Leon rolls Cloud out on to the side of the car, the cop's lifeless body slipping and sliding over the roof and then drops off the other side onto the road. Without the heavy load of Cloud across his back, Leon scrambles out of the car and follows Cloud's path over the roof and lands with a little wobble on shaking legs. Initial burst of adrenaline gone, Leon feels weak and sluggish, but they're still not safe and he bends to pick up Cloud's arms and he drags him as fast as he can away from the burning wreckage scraping his back over shards of glass and rough tarmac. Cloud's car is on fire now and with a final tug Leon hauls him another few feet before a blast of fierce heat and a force so great it whitens his vision and knocks him over the head throws Leon to the ground.
It takes a moment for his senses to come back, a faint ringing in his ears that grows louder as the real world closes in, and then Leon is sitting up, looking around and he can see people rushing towards him.
Looking back towards the carnage, Leon see's Cloud sprawled across his legs, still unconscious, but alive and unharmed by the blast. Gingerly, Leon reaches down and pulls Cloud a little closer, until he's laid across his lap and with a final, exhausted gasp of relief, Leon collapses beside him just as the first police officer reaches him.
The first few times Cloud wakes up in the hospital are a blur of moving shapes, disorientation, pain and nausea. He sleeps through most of it and finally comes back to the land of the living three days later, all bruised ribs, concussion and a gunshot wound to the shoulder that will give him a scar to be proud of for the rest of his life. Once he's awake enough to attempt a good meal, and he can prove to the overbearing nurse that he can take a whiz without being helped to the bathroom, they discharge him back home, sore and sullen. He doesn't know why but he's more than a little pissed that Leon hasn't been to see him.
He'd expected him, that first day after waking up properly. But maybe he is expecting too much. Tifa told him all about how Leon pulled him out of that wreckage; risked his own life to haul him free just seconds before the SUV blew up taking the front of Cloud's car with it.
It had been all over the local news, of course. But replayed footage can't come close to the actual experience of nearly dying, but then again, Cloud doesn't exactly want to relive that part anyway. It seems strange to Cloud, how despite his injuries, Leon discharged himself from the hospital just hours after being rushed there with Cloud in the same ambulance, and no one, not even Tifa – who had done her best to track him down – had heard from him since.
Leonhart has always been a strange one, but even Cloud has to admit that his disappearance is odd, and it causes an unexpected knot of anxiety in Cloud's chest every time he thinks about it. Which is often, considering he is laid off work for the next three months with nothing to do but stare at the walls and think.
And mainly, he thinks about Leon: where he is, what he's doing. Why he left in the first place. The constant ruminations combined with the stir-crazy feeling of being confined to his apartment spur him to action, and Cloud finds himself employing his trusted sleuthing tactics. It doesn't take him long to track him down. An old acquaintance of a friend who knows somebody who knew a guy, is pretty certain he's seen a matching description of Leon's car in Atlantis. God only knows what the elusive man is doing in the gambling capitol, but it's Cloud's best lead so far and it's the reason he finds himself packing a bag and driving against doctor's orders across state lines, hot on his tail.
It takes him four days of looking to find his car parked under an overpass by the side of the free-way. Every single item he's ever owned stuffed into the trunk and the distinctive shape of Leon's shaggy brown head of hair is curled up in the driver's seat, attempting to sleep. Cloud sucks on the inside of his cheek and considers turning back around.
Fuck it, he thinks. I've come this far…
With a swift rap of his knuckles against the driver's side window, he watches Leon jolt from his half-doze and blink angrily up at him.
It takes Leon a good few minutes of internal wrestling before he winds the window down.
"You come to arrest me?" He finally asks, with just the right amount of acid in it to make Cloud nostalgic.
"Couldn't even if I wanted to." Cloud is outside of his jurisdiction.
"So what do you want?"
"To talk."
"Not my strongest personality trait." Leon scoffs, running a hand through hair that looks like it could use a good shower.
"Your personality is hardly a fucking treat at the best of times, Leonhart. I just figured you owed me an explanation."
"I owe you?" Leon is more than a little incredulous.
"Why'd you skip town?" Cloud gets straight to it.
"Needed a change of scenery."
"Yeah, well, I'm sure you're enjoying the views of Atlantis overpass from the back of your car, but I don't think that's really the reason you left." Cloud can see the tension in Leon's jaw and he doesn't know if he wants to kiss it or punch it away.
"How is what I do any of your fucking business?" Leon is as accommodating as ever.
"Because I'm making it."
Leon is silent for a long time, staring straight out ahead at the twinkling lights of the city and all the neon gaudiness sprawling across the black coast-land, before he pinches his lips and gives Cloud a narrow glare up through greasy bangs.
"If I talk, will you leave me alone?" He asks.
"Maybe."
Its all Cloud's prepared to give him and Leon is going to have to take it or leave it.
"So, you wanna tell me what happened?" Cloud asks as Leon comes out of the bathroom, towel thrown over his damp shoulders and an old, tatty pair of jogging bottoms slung low on his hips. The motel room Cloud has rented isn't big, but the water in the shower is warm and the bed is comfy enough. At the very least, Leon has the decency to thank him for the opportunity to get clean.
"You already know what happened. Why don't you just cut to the chase and tell me why you're really here." Though Leon's manner's don't extend as far as polite conversation.
"Fine," Cloud sighs, leaning forwards and he braces his elbows on his knees. The bed squeaks a little. "I wanna know why you left. You've got no job, no home; you're living out of your fucking car for Christ sakes. It doesn't make any sense, Leon. You might not have been winning any humanitarian awards back in Hollow Bastion but it was sure as shit better than this."
"I... I don't..." Leon seems a little taken off guard, like maybe he isn't prepared for the sudden onslaught of questions after all, despite knowing he might have to face them once Cloud caught up with him. He had to have known he would, didn't he? He crosses his arm and leans against the dressing table "I don't know, it just... we're not friends, Cloud. We barely even like each other. Why'd you come all this way to find me?" Leon has always been the master of diverting attention.
"I like you just fine." Cloud replies, avoiding the question.
"Yeah well, I've always done better on my own. I don't need you looking out for me."
"Seems to me like you do." Cloud says, not without a small sense of smugness.
"I mean it, Cloud. I don't want you getting involved in my business."
"That's what this is about, isn't it?" Cloud stands and steps closer, puts a hand against Leon's cheek and he can almost smell the hostility radiating off of Leon. "You already lost someone you care about so you think not caring at all will solve it?" Leon yanks his hand away and shoves him hard.
"You son of a bitch, don't you dare bring Ell into this. She's got nothing to do with you!"Leon is glaring at him and breathing hard, Cloud can see the way his chest moves quickly as he tried to control his temper. Can see the pulse point in his neck thumping feverishly.
"You're full of shit, Leon." Cloud almost laughs. "You're running scared and it's so fucking obvious why. You think you're so mysterious – a real fucking enigma? You're so scared of letting me in you literally ran to another city! I see through you, Leonhart." Cloud points at him. "I can see right through your bullshit, and I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you left."
"You've got no right-"
"I've got every right." Cloud cuts him off with a sharp retort. "I'm the only person on this whole fucking planet that even cares you exist. So start talking."
"I didn't ask you to care."
They're going round in circles and Cloud is done with playing nice, so he goes for the jugular instead.
"And I bet you didn't ask for Ell to die but it happened anyway." He anticipates the right hook that swings towards his face and he blocks it with his forearm easily enough, but the left jab to his ribs catches him off guard and he stumbles back, tripping over the bedside table behind him and he crashes into the wall. Leon doesn't miss a beat and he punches him again, this time making sure it connects to the side of Cloud's face and the resulting crack is satisfying in its own grotesque way. Leon grabs Cloud by the shoulders and shoves him back again, slams him into the wall and pins him there with an arm braced across his throat.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" He yells, face inches from Cloud's. "Why the fuck are you even here?"
"Because I care about you!" Cloud shouts back though his voice is shaken and spotted with pain. It takes Leon by surprise and he lets up the pressure on Cloud's neck a bit. "You saved my life and then just disappeared, you fucking asshole. What was I supposed to do?"
Leon takes a step back, eyes a little unfocused as the sudden red mist clears just as quickly as it came, and he looks like he's wrestling with something. Cloud straightens his posture, gets himself back on his feet and pushes off the wall.
"Why'd you even bother?" He asks, honestly curious.
"If you even have to ask me that, then you really are as dumb as you look." Leon says, voice tight and hoarse. His fists are still clenched and his shoulders are still snapped taught with tension and the menacing aura of strength and power and anger hasn't faded, but Cloud dares to put a hand against Leon's cheek. Its batted away just as quickly and Cloud tries again, a short struggle for dominance erupting between them as Cloud works his way in between Leon's defences and draws their foreheads together. Leon is still trying to push him away but not with nearly as much force as he could have been using.
"You're scared." Cloud says, tangling his fingers in the long, damp strands of Leon's hair.
"Fuck you!" Leon snarls, a little head-butt to emphasise his point. But Cloud doesn't back down and he fights his way past the last few inches and kisses Leon hard. Its a tense few moments of initial struggling before Leon finally relents, and suddenly he's putting all that anger and hostility into kissing Cloud back. He turns him quickly, pushing him back towards the bed and trips him up, landing them both across the bed with a violent squeal of bedsprings. He's ripping at Cloud's clothes, tugging them down just enough to get at what he wants and he flips Cloud over onto his stomach. Spits into his hand and does his best to make their fucking a little easier.
Cloud grips the sheets with a tight fist and lets out a satisfied grunt when Leon enters him. He quits putting up the fight he doesn't really want to win anyway and lets Leon pin him down. There's anger and vulnerability in the way Leon is fucking him and Cloud knows its all for show, so he just pushes back whenever he can and gasps and groans at how fucking good it feels to have Leon back again. Lets out a sharp little yelp as Leon bites down on his shoulder and he pants through the rest of it before he's allowed to come. Leon makes sure he's good and spent before he gives himself his own release; a quick and violent rush of hips as skin slaps against skin and Leon curses loudly, goes ridged and silent before he collapses on top of Cloud in a boneless heap. He's quick to roll away and he lies next to Cloud as they both breathe their way back to sanity.
It's Cloud who moves first. He lifts himself up onto his elbows – clothes still scattered in disarray – and he reaches out his fingers and traces an imaginary line down Leon's neck.
"You can't shut everybody out forever. People weren't meant to be that way." He says quietly, watches the way Leon swallows heavily and then licks his dry lips. "Don't you wanna be happy?"
Leon opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling, before he turns his head and looks at Cloud, his eyes so dark and glazed Cloud can't even tell what colour they are. Leon looks like he's going to say something, lips parted and words poised to come spilling out, before he shakes his head a little and closes his mouth.
"I'm tired." He says instead. "Mind if I crash here tonight?"
Cloud sighs a little but shakes his head no. They undress in silence and climb into bed, the unfamiliar nature of each other's nearness a strange post script to their evening; far too used to their normal fuck and dash encounters. Leon rolls over and gives Cloud his shoulder and Cloud does likewise. The bed is big enough that they don't have to touch and Leon is taking full advantage of that fact.
In the morning they rise and dress in silence and Cloud is the one to break the tension first.
"So, you really gonna stay out here?"
Leon just shrugs. Occupies himself with tying his laces.
"You think you'll ever come back to Hollow Bastion?" Cloud is ridiculously optimistic and he knows it will be the death of him. Leon stands and picks up his jacket, shrugs into it with all the lithe, fluid grace that caught Cloud's eye in the first place, and he looks up at Cloud through those silken, choppy bangs.
"I'll think about it." Is all he says before he picks up his car keys from the sideboard and shuts the door behind him quickly with a soft click.