CHAPTER FOUR: STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

Leon dove, rolled and went left. He flipped into a cartwheel, moved into a handspring, and pushed off the wall beside him. She watched him run up the wall, flip backward, and throw himself into a front tuck. He spun between two narrow beams of light and nearly killed her as one took a piece of his vest with it.

He'd activated some kind of system. It came at him in a series of twisting, tucking, turning lights that would shear his head from his shoulders. She watched him move like a boxer, tracking it, shifting from one foot to the next. And he dove through the first opening, rolled over the ground and dropped onto his belly as the next passed inches over his head. She couldn't breathe watching him.

He rolled to his back, flipped to his feet and leapt up to grab the light fixture above him. He used it to lever himself completely flush to the ceiling. The lasers hissed and passed with nothing more than a thought over his back. He dropped down and went into a side flip, spinning through it land near the other door. He put his hand on the sensor there and the laser beams hissed, popped, and died.

She stared at him across the room.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"What?"

"You trying to give me a heart attack over here?"

He smiled, tossing his hair a little. "Sorry. Had to go with it once I was in it."

"You almost lost your dick there."

Leon laughed, "Not even close. Grab a piece of rock from outside the door and toss it in here. Do NOT cross that floor until you do."

Jill, feeling a little numb from fear still, tossed the rock she'd picked up. It clattered and clacked and rolled. But that was it. Nothing else happened.

He watched her. And she KNEW what he'd do before he did it.

He crossed the floor toward her.

Her breath caught and held. "Leon! Damnit! Stop trying to scare me to death!"

"Figured better me than you."

"No. EVER. Don't risk it. Ever. Ever."

He grabbed her and dragged her against him. She wrapped her hands around his vest. Oh, she mused, the adrenaline turned him on too. Click. Something else they had in common. "I thought you were a professional."

"I'm a rebel."

"Clearly."

He kissed her, hard and fast and let her go. She chuckled.

"You look ridiculously hot in that outfit you're almost wearing P.S.."

She nodded, hard. "Yeah. I do." And she dropped her hands to slap him in the ass, hard. He jumped and lifted a brow at her…but he smiled.

He should really stop this flirting. Really. It wasn't going to help anything to do it. But he didn't want to stop. He LIKED it. Leon slapped her ass in that little skirt. And surprised her. "Come on. Let's see what the woman in red has been hiding in here."

They walked into the next chamber.

And came face to face with the tyrant. It was just standing there, waiting. Like it could wait all day. Like it had nowhere else to be but waiting right there for them.

Jill said, "Shit."

It brought its taloned arm down between them and they both dove apart. It struck the floor where it'd been, causing the floor to shake like an earthquake. Jill rolled and sprang to her feet. It came at her like the thunder of god.

The room was a wide open cavernous drop into nothing. It was split by narrow walkways on both sides. She was on one…and Leon on the other. She pulled her pistol and braced, aiming down her arm. The bullets peppered against it and mostly annoyed it. She backed up, stumbled, and nearly fell into the darkness.

The tyrant leapt. Just like that. It went up, up, and came barreling down toward her. She threw herself backward, prayed to god she didn't fall into the abyss, and flipped.

It smashed its arm into her as she went down. It didn't just slap her with that arm. It kicked her like a football. She flipped alright. She went end over end. She felt the air split a second after she was flying through it. She grappled for the edge of the drop and missed. She tumbled down.

The air raced cold and dark at her face. She thought, what a fucking way to die. Why was she always falling to her death?

There was nothing but bloody spikes in the darkness. They raced toward her, promising her a very painful, very awful way to die. She put her hands out as if to stop it from happening.

She heard the pop of sound, heard the whistle and spin of wheels. He caught her, six feet from the spikes. Leon caught her and she held on, her heart racing. She glanced up at his face…and the grappling gun in his other hand.

He hit the trigger and they went up, impossibly fast. He swung them to the other side of the cavern and tossed her out. She flipped and rolled when she hit, springing to her feet. He landed beside her.

The tyrant was a fury of swipes and screaming rage. It started running for her. She backed up and had nowhere to go. She held her ground.

Leon didn't run. He fired the grappling gun at it. The hook latched into the wall eight feet above its head.

She yelled, "LEON!"

And he hit the trigger.

She watched him fly across the room. He swung himself out as she went, in a flying circle. She was running…and she'd never get there in time. She dropped to one knee and aimed down her arm. The world went quiet, static and white noise and nothing but her hand on the gun, her finger on the trigger. She waited.

Leon flew in an arch and drove his feet into it. The impact lifted it up and out. It lifted that arm to take his head. She fired.

The bullet smashed into that ugly featureless face. The arm missed his head by inches. And Leon grabbed it in mid swing. He grabbed it, drug it over the pit and pulled the trigger again. The grappling gun released them both.

Jill shouted his name.

And they plummeted into the pit.

She heard the roaring, heard the sounds of fighting and falling. And she heard the crunch of death. She heard it. And the silence that followed seemed too long. Too long.

She yelled his name into the darkness.

It was a handful of seconds that felt like forever. The gun fired somewhere in the inky black below her and speared that sharp little hook into the ceiling. She waited, breath held, and he came up in a whistling arch. He flipped out of the throw of it and skidded across the ground beside her in a perfect crouch. He threw one leg out to the side to slow the skid. Gravel and dust kicked up around him in a fine cloud.

She grabbed his vest and jerked him to his feet. She shoved him. "I'm going to feed you that fucking gun!"

He laughed a little and looked at it. "This might be the greatest thing ever made."

Jill slapped Leon with both hands on his chest. He watched her tits in that top while she did. "I take that back. THAT might be the great thing ever made. Hit me again."

"Pervert." And she slapped his face. He paused, blinked, and blinked again.

"Did you just slap me?"

"You SCARED ME TO DEATH!"

"I was FINE. I knew what I was doing. This thing is awesome. You want to try it?"

"You're joking? You're joking right now!?"

"Slap me again." He wiggled his brows at her. "Let's see if we can figure out how to dangle and do it at the same time. You've got strong thighs. What's the success rate on Cirque Du Soleil fucking?"

Jill had to laugh. She shoved him again. He nodded approval.

"I'm going to smack the shit out of you before we're done here."

"What's the likelihood your tits will fall out while you smack me? I might let you."

He grabbed her around the waist and kissed her neck. She smacked at him and shoved him away. "Stop being a hero."

"Can't do it. It's what I do. Surely you've heard that about me? I like the rush of it. Jesus. The adrenalines in my dick." He grabbed her hand and put it on him over his pants. "See? Rock hard."

She shoved at him again. "That's very dirty, Mr. Kennedy. And completely ill timed."

"True. We could die at any moment. Not the best time to put your hand in my pants."

She shoved him against the wall and kissed him. He laughed, rushing. They spent five minutes trying to eat each other's faces. She finally shoved him away, panting.

"Jesus. You are the most unprofessional man I've ever met. Iceman, my ass. I'm not interested in jumping your bones right now, hotshot."

He glanced at her chest. "Your nipples make a liar out of you."

She laughed and moved toward the door to the next room. "Focus on the mission, you perv."

"Shades of Chris Redfield, ladies and gentleman. Jill Valentine is channeling that old stick up his ass. The least funny man ALIVE."

The next room was more and less concerning. Ada had been very busy. The room was a long tunnel. He glanced around and it rang bells in place that he couldn't even begin to understand.

Jill was waiting and he didn't look at all thrilled. She was less fond of caves than pretty much anything else on Earth. She glanced at Leon. "This is gonna go bad, very quickly."

Leon laughed. He looked at Jill, "You stick to me like glue, understand?"

She did. Oh yeah she did. She slid against his back and pressed herself against him. He blinked, smirked and stood there. "So maybe I can't move with you back there. But…you could give me a reach around and make it worth the wait."

Jill giggled.

It surprised them both. He turned to look at her. She blinked. "What was that?"

"…nothing."

He laughed, "What was THAT?"

"Nothing. I chuckled."

"That was NOT a chuckle. That…was a giggle."

"Kiss ass, Kennedy. I don't giggle."

"You did. I heard it. I can have the court reporter read it back to you."

"No need."

Leon said, "Survey says giggle, Valentine. You cheerleader."

"Stop it."

"Do a herkie and shake your ass."

"You are the worst pervert alive, Leon Kennedy. My god. I heard you were PROFESSIONAL. I have not witnessed this. ONCE. This is sexual harassment. I don't need to listen to it."

Leon said, "You would be something in that little uniform."

"Clearly. Without question."

"Jill, do the giggle again."

He chuckled again, enamored of her. Irritated, she stalked away.

She let their playing around make her forget. She walked into the tunnel without thinking. Leon yelled, "Jill!"

And the arrow whistled. She ducked but she was too late. She threw up her arm. He hit her in a full body tackle. And she heard it hit. She froze. Her eyes were closed. She knew what she'd see as she opened her eyes.

They hit the floor and slid along it.

She grabbed him.

He said, "Be still."

"Are you hit!? Are you hit?! Jesus."

"Be still."

They'd activated the trap. He heard the pop and hiss and rolled. He jerked her over him and rolled with her. The fire erupted where they'd been. She grabbed him and threw him up and out as the next one popped and exploded. He rolled where he landed and grabbed her hands.

He yanked her forward and she stumbled and went left, missing the next stream of fire by inches. The next volley of arrows thrummed, whistled, and started to land around them.

He threw her under him and crouched while they ran. A popping burst of fire saved him an arrow to the back.

He wrapped his arm around her and swung her around, shoving her against the wall. Arrows struck and broke and stabbed at the ground around them. She pushed at him, hooked her ankle behind him, and dropped him onto his ass. It saved him an arrow to the back.

She grabbed his vest and jerked him up. "Run!"

And this time she was right. It was time to run.

They took off up the tunnel. The tunnel narrowed, narrowed, and the sounds started. It was loud and getting closer. It sounded like thunder and rushing rock. She glanced at him.

Leon said, "Hell."

There was a giant boulder barreling down the tunnel toward them.

Leon yelled, "Who needs Chris Redfield now!"

Jill was laughing even as they figured they were fucked.

They raced toward it trying to find an alcove, a hidey hole, anything to get out of the way. It was twenty feet away and getting closer. Jill said, "Hey hey. Let's try this!" And she dropped the grenade in her hand.

She blinked and Leon grabbed her, running back the way they'd come.

Three second later, the world exploded. It blasted through the tunnel and the force of the wind pushed them down like tinker toys. Rock and stone rained down around them. Leon pulled her under him and covered her from head to toe with his body. She shook her head and stuck her arms up, covering his head with her arms.

What was left of the boulder barreled toward them. It was smaller, weaker in size, a jagged half circle of broken chunks. But it was enough to flatten them still.

Jill rolled, rolled hard, and jerked Leon with her. She pressed him against the wall of the tunnel.

Leon shoved her back and ran. She was with him. They hit the boulder in tandem. They were shoving. It tried to roll them flat with jagged edges and pieces that kept falling off. They slowed it down so it didn't crush them but they couldn't get the path of it to reverse. They were knocked around like bowling pins. Jill spun back and grabbed Leon, shoving him against the wall. Leon grabbed at the jagged edge of it and pushed off. He hooked an arm around her waist and shot the grappling gun into the ceiling. They dangled, swinging back and forth.

The boulder barreled toward them. And they kicked it, hard enough she heard him grunt from the effort. She held on to him and kicked with everything she had. And it started to roll back the way it had come.

They dangled from the ceiling like a funny little puppets. And the broken pieces of boulder hit the walls as it rolled backward and disappeared the way they' come. He dropped to the floor, inspecting the grappling gun. Jill said, "Admittedly, that thing is pretty sweet."

Leon said, "Right?"

"It's bomb ass, dude. Seriously."

Leon chuckled, "You ok?"

"I plan to tell everyone Leon Kennedy couldn't fight the boulder…but yeah. I'm good."

He looked at her back, shaking his head. "I'm no Chris Redfield."

"Poor thing. You'll live." She laughed a little.

They moved up the tunnel, slowly. It narrowed and finally spilled them out into a long corridor. The room was dusty and covered in old carpet and portraits. The portraits were of various cats in various colors. Panther, tiger, house cat, bobcat.

They studied the portraits, trying to discern the puzzle to get through the locked door at the end of the corridor. Jill asked, as they checked for switches and levers, "Why is it always some stupid puzzle?"

Leon studied Jill. She glanced at him. "What?"

He looked away. "Nothing."

She liked that he was looking at her like that. She liked him. She wanted to know what he was thinking but didn't ask.

Jill was watching the lights above the cats. She turned and looked again. She turned back. Finally, she said, "Red."

"What?" Leon faced her.

"That's her color right? Red? We need to turn the lights above them red. But how?"

Jill poked the tiger in the heart. It clicked, whizzed, and the light above it turned blue. Leon poked the bobcat and the light above the tiger turned purple.

She could see Leon trying to figure out the puzzle. Jill poked the house cat and the light above the tiger turned orange. Leon poked the panther and the light above the tiger turned green.

"Is it size based? Biggest to smallest?"

"Too easy." Leon studied the cats. Black panther, gold bobcat, gray house cat, white tiger. What was the connection? They clicked cats and the light kept changing. But never red.

Leon said, "Think we can just blow the door open?"

"Man, I WISH."

And finally she saw the little plaques on the floor beneath the portraits. She read the one beneath the black panther. "In darkness – is temptation…"

Leon read beneath the bobcat, "In sunlight – is hope."

Jill went to the house cat, "In shadow – is strength."

And beneath the tiger, Leon read, "In twilight – is love."

They looked at each other. Finally Leon moved to each portrait. He pressed the tiger, pressed the house cat, pressed the panther, and finally bobcat. The light turned red and the door opened.

Jill lifted a brow at him. He said, "Love the strength to fight temptation and find hope."

She was impressed. She walked with him down the corridor. "They said you were practically a genius."

"What's that even mean? A genius?"

"Probably a guy who uses algebra."

Inside the room was a case with a sample of something purple in it. It was contained within a glass enclosure. There was a tiny gold bowl on top. The sign said: Life for Life.

He pulled off his tactical glove and pocketed it. Jill watched him pull the combat knife from his vest and put it against his palm. He sliced it, no hesitation. And put it over the golden bowl.

It wanted a pretty good amount of blood before it clicked and the case opened.

Jill took the sample out while Leon wrapped his hand to stop the bleeding. She said, "This is it?"

"Seemingly."

"What do we do with this?"

"Take it back to HQ. And analyze the hell out of it."

Jill nodded. "What about Chris?"

"I'm pretty sure the answer is in that vial."

They took the sample back to HQ. It was highly possible there were answers still waiting in the jungle. But without knowing where to go next, they couldn't do anything but wait.

Jill turned the sample over to Rebecca Chambers to analyze. She was happy to. Rebecca was all about virology. She'd take the sample apart and tell them where to find the source.

Leon came out of the shower in his bedroom toweling his hair dry.

It was her voice that drew his attention to her. "Hi."

He lowered the towel. And he was stark naked otherwise. Which was exactly what she'd wanted when she'd come in.

"That door was locked," He said conversationally.

"I'm the master of unlocking."

"So I hear."

"I came for my bracelet."

"I'm keeping it."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

"I've done nothing but think of you for months."

He studied her and struck up a cigarette. A filthy habit and one he couldn't break. Sorta like obsessing about her.

"A hard road for a girl that couldn't bother to say goodbye."

"Ah. Hurt your feelings?"

"Seems that way."

"But you're the Iceman."

She glanced down at his body. He did look kinda cold. His nipples were turgid and excited. She said, "What are you thinking?"

He glanced down at himself. So did she. She could see EXACTLY what he was thinking.

She said, "Ah. You have a dirty mind, Mr. Kennedy."

And she opened her legs. She was wearing that tiny little skirt and no panties. She crossed her legs again. He pursed his lips.

"That would make two of us, it seems."

"Could get complicated to do this and still work together."

"I'm willing to risk it."

"God me too."

He moved. She moved. She went to her knees on the bed. She grabbed him like she had talons for hands. He laughed, craving her. He threw her back on the bed and jerked up her skirt. She didn't even get a moment to say no and he thrust inside of her.

It was crude and hot and needy. She gasped, bowed, and wrapped her legs around his flanks. She grabbed his face to turn it to her. They kissed, wet and slow. His body slid into her and out of her and made them both insane for it.

He was the master of her body. There was no lie there. He was demanding and still gentle. He was crude and commanding. He was slick and hot and awesome. She came wetly around him with two strokes of his thumb on her body.

She gave him his name, in a pant, and he braced her hands over her head and held her eyes. His body continued that slow, wet, torturous ride into hers. The blonde hair was everywhere. It was long and wrapped around them both. Shades darker than his, it was a compliment to the Icelandic princess face that had haunted him for months.

He dropped his mouth and she craned her neck. The deep, delving, swirling torture of two tongues inside of one mouth was wonderful and smooth and sexy. He molded her breasts in his hand now, pulling that little tube top down to touch her. It banded around her belly uselessly.

He watched her face while he touched her, while he tasted her. There, she thought, was that lover she'd obsessed over forever. He echoed the smooth glide of his mouth on her skin with the smooth slide of his body inside of her.

He was the executioner after all, he was killing her with want, and she was nuts for him. She skimmed her hands over the incredible and smooth curve of his ass and the delightful swell of muscle in his arms and shoulders. He shifted her, gliding his hands down the inside of her thighs to open her legs wider for him.

She shivered and invited him in. Smoothly, softly, she felt the next wave of orgasm crest and roll over her. She gasped, surprised by the golden edge of it. It was needy, god yes, but not glaring. It echoed out of her mouth in a shivering whisper of his name.

Leon pressed himself inside of her, hilt deep as far as he could go. She bowed, wrapped her legs around him and squeezed him inside her as she crested and came. He dipped his head and took her mouth and went over the edge for her, shuddering, shivering. Smooth, smooth and deep and needy.

He collapsed atop her, shivering inside of her. He turned his head and they rolled tongues and teeth together slow and sleepy.

She said, "How do we work together like this?"

He lifted his head and skimmed his fingers over her cheek. "Very, very carefully."

"I don't ever feel careful when I'm close to you."

"Me either." He cupped her face in his hands and licked her mouth. Jill sighed and shifted beneath him a little.

"You'll help me find, Chris right? No matter what this is."

"Jill, this is you and me. And nothing to do with the other. That day in Sri Lanka? I'd never met anyone like you before. Let's take it a step at a time."

"Deal."

She wiggled out of that little outfit and into the bed with him. He laid on his back and she laid her head on his stomach. He played with her hair, almost passively.

"Want to tell me about the blonde hair?"

"Long story. Wong?"

"Longer one."

"I'm digging on you, Leon Kennedy."

"I'm kinda crazy about you too, Jill Valentine."

"Well crappola."

And now he laughed, "That sounds about right."

Her communicator beeped on the floor. She rolled away to check it and turned back to him. "Looks like we've got some answers."

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. She went and he rolled her beneath him to kiss her. It was just hard enough to steal her breath. He leaned back to look at her face. "Let's go find out what they are."

She was kinda afraid the answers were going to cost them each other. And, for the first time in her life, she wanted to deny the truth of whatever waited for them. Because she wanted to keep him.

And she just wasn't sure how they did that.

This was a total mess.

And she couldn't wait to see where it went next.