Habitat Enclosure, Vermont Facility.
Chris stared at Leon for a full minute before unhooking two grenades from his belt. "Sorry, but I don't carry C-4 around in my pocket like a crazy person."
"Its perfectly safe as long as you keep the blasting caps in another pocket and it doesn't get shot." Leon shrugged with a small smile before taking the proffered grenades. It gave Chris a chance to look the younger man over. He didn't look well. He'd lost a lot of weight and was covered in dirt and blood. His arm was bandaged and Chris could tell that his left shoulder was injured by the way he held it. He was also limping slightly.
"Maybe we should take a break, Leon. You look like shit." Leon's blue-grey eyes lifted to his and Chris could see the pain and fatigue in them.
"We have to keep moving. The longer we stay in one place the more danger we're in." He pushed his dirty hair from his face giving Chris a glimpse of a pretty nasty cut on his forehead. "How do you think I've survived this long?"
"Frankly, Leon, I don't know." Chris replied evenly.
"The only relatively safe place is the trees, but its slow going, so if you want to get out of here you need to follow me." With that Leon turned and headed into the trees. Chris sighed before following, Jill and Sheva at his heels.
"Does anyone else feel like our roles have been reversed?" He murmured quietly. "I mean we're supposed to be rescuing him right?" Jill chuckled.
"We really didn't make a good plan did we?"
"No, we had a good plan." Sheva replied. "It just didn't go the way we wanted it to."
"Ain't that the truth?" Chris muttered darkly. "Have you noticed how he doesn't even seem to like that we're here?" He eyed the younger man's back a few yards ahead of him. "If I were in his shoes I'd be ecstatic, but I'd probably also be dead within a week. Probably less."
"What makes you say that?" Jill asked quietly.
"He's quite a bit smarter than me." Chris replied. "I didn't realize how much until now." He couldn't stop staring at Leon. He'd never met anyone as strong, skilled or intelligent. It was a terrifying combination and Chris was thankful the man was on his side.
"Do you think he's going to be ok? He's pretty beat up and I can't imagine what-" Sheva cut off as Leon suddenly stopped, his head cocked to the side. Chris knew he'd heard something but he had no idea what. He couldn't hear a thing except for the breeze blowing through the trees and a stream somewhere off to his right. "Leon?" Sheva took a step forward. Suddenly the ground began to rumble beneath their feet.
"Trees!" Leon shouted, running towards them. None of the agents had to be told twice. They each climbed into the tree nearest them. Chris watched Leon's agile leap to a branch lower than the one he himself sat on and had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat. The man truly was amazing, even covered in dirt and blood. "Climb up higher Redfield." Leon ordered. Chris obeyed then turned to watch Leon work. The younger man crouched on his branch and brought his fingers to his lips. A shrill whistle later and the snake was charging for him. Leon waited until the last possible second before leaping out of the way and as with the last snake they'd encountered a knife to the brain brought it down relatively quickly. Chris half fell out of the tree as he climbed down. Leon struggled to his feet, breathing hard. "Come on, the gate's not much further." He panted, wiping his knife on his jeans.
"That's gross." Jill wrinkled her nose.
"I'm burning them as soon as I get home anyway." Leon shrugged. "And I'd rather not have that crap in the sheath."
"Its still gross and smells disgusting."
"Yeah well the smell keeps the smaller creatures away so I'm okay with it for now."
"Smaller ones?"
"Dogs and these monkey like things." Leon shrugged. Chris frowned as he swayed on his feet.
"That's it." He swore walking up to tower over the smaller man. "You need to rest, you're about to fall over. We can protect you while you take it easy for a bit. We aren't helpless you know."
"You said the trees were safe, right?" Jill added stepping forward. Leon closed his eyes with a sigh.
"Fine, but only for a half hour."
"As if, at least an hour or I knock you out right here." Chris folded his arms. Leon's eyes narrowed, muscles tensing, but after a moment he sighed again.
"Fine, but not here." He turned away from Chris and began heading deeper into the forest. Jill and Sheva nodded to their leader as the three of them followed. About a hundred yards later Leon stopped. "Lickers are attracted to the corpses. This should be far enough away, but keep your ears open. You'll hear them before you see them." He set his bag on the ground near the base of a tree then climbed up the branches with an ease Chris envied. The man was on empty and could still out maneuver the larger man. It wasn't fair. "There's water and emergency rations in the bag, and ammo if any of you have magnums." Chris nodded.
"Good, now go to sleep."
"Yes mother." Leon grumbled before settling back against the trunk. Jill snorted while Sheva just smiled. "Keep off the open ground and don't move around a lot." Chris saluted him and took a seat at the base of a tree where he could keep an eye on Leon and an ear on the forest. Jill crouched near a tree to his left while Sheva took one on his right. Chris watched him until he saw the younger man's body relax.
"I wonder if he's going to be ok." Sheva frowned looking up at Leon. "He's different then when we last saw him."
"He'll be fine." Chris set his jaw. "We'll make sure of it."
"Claire will help." Jill said quietly.
"If she can pull her head out of her ass and apologize." Chris muttered.
"Chris…" Jill's brow furrowed. He looked away. He wasn't really sure why he was being so hard on his sister except for the fact that he knew how it felt to be betrayed by a person you thought was a friend. Leon had made sure she survived Raccoon City not to mention telling Chris she was in danger so that he could rescue her. He'd even saved her life in Harvardville and she repaid his efforts by telling him she never wanted him to speak to her again not to mention accusing him of forgetting what had happened during and since Raccoon city. That was harsh, especially for Claire. His eyes moved to Leon's sleeping, dirty face and felt his heart ache. The younger man had been through so much and Chris had never heard him complain once. Leon internalized everything. All the pain and horrors he'd lived through and here he was leading Chris, Jill and Sheva out of a mess they'd gotten into to save him. It was ironic and downright humiliating. Chris had never felt so helpless in his life when he'd been staring at that Regenerator through the window. It had been worse than when he'd gone into the Spencer mansion. Back then he'd been scared but at least he could kill the creatures after him and his team. As he stared up at Leon he felt the ground beneath his feet tremble.
"Shit." He stood up quickly, aiming his M16 at the ground. A glance up at Leon told him that the other man had felt it too.
"That's not a snake." He said quietly, coming down from the tree. "Its bigger."
"What is it?"
"We need to run, now." He grabbed Chris's wrist and pulled him into a denser part of the forest.
"Leon, what is it?" The older man hissed.
"In Spain they called them El Gigantes, but this one's bigger and a hell of a lot smarter. Its been hunting me for a couple weeks now. They let it loose when I killed this huge armored crab-like thing." Chris jerked in shock, almost stopping.
"You killed one of those things by yourself with just a handgun?"
"It's a .45 caliber Desert Eagle, Redfield, and that fucking crab was the reason I ran out of bullets."
"So you've been running around for two weeks with no ammo?"
"Pretty much."
"How the hell are you still alive?" Leon stopped then turned back to him with a grin. Chris didn't like the look in his eyes. "What?"
"I have ammo."
"You're not kidding, that bag weighs a ton." Leon's grin widened.
"No, Redfield, I have ammo. What the fuck am I running for?"
"You're insane. Why fight that thing when you don't have to?" Chris grabbed his uninjured arm as the younger man turned to head towards the thunderous footsteps.
"Why not?" Leon winked then disappeared into the trees.
"Why not, indeed?" Chris threw his hands in the air and followed. Jill and Sheva stood in a clearing staring as Leon ran past them.
"What is he-"
"He has ammo." Chris rolled his eyes. "Let's just make sure he doesn't get himself killed." They nodded, drawing their weapons. As the three agents entered a large clearing they gaped in shock at the largest monster they'd ever seen then at Leon when he whistled to get the beast's attention. "Jesus Christ, he is nuts." The Gigante, or whatever it was, roared throwing its arms in the air. Leon's Eagle came up and Chris almost laughed at the sight. The Gigante had to be a hundred times Leon's size and here the rookie was standing in front of it with a magnum aimed at its head. The magnum's report seemed quiet after the monster's roar and as the giant went to one knee holding its face and roaring a large tentacled growth erupted from its back. Chris gasped, he and Sheva had fought one of these things in Africa. They'd had the guns from a BSAA Humvee though so they'd made it out okay and here Leon was going up against it with only a magnum. He watched in awe as Leon ran forward, using a tree as a step to leap onto the monster's shoulders. One hand gripped a tentacle as he fired repeatedly into the growth. It exploded covering both Leon and the surrounding area with a foul smelling liquidized gore. The Gigante stopped its roaring and fell to the ground with a large crash that shook the ground. Leon tumbled to the forest floor laughing. Chris just stared at him, as did Jill and Sheva.
"He's lost it." Sheva said quietly. Jill nodded emphatically as he got to his feet still chuckling and wiping at his face. His smile faded as he turned to them that's when Chris heard the snuffling. He turned around slowly and felt his blood run cold. Four Regenerators were stumbling towards them.
"Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph." He swore raising his M16. Sheva gasped as she turned as well.
"What the fuck?" Jill cried taking a few steps back.
"They're attracted to sound." Leon said from behind them. "I suggest you guys walk back this way slowly and fire into their torsos. Whatever you do, don't aim for their legs."
"Figured that already." Chris muttered, slowly backing up. He switched the scope on his assault rifle to thermal and looked through it. Sheva followed suit and the two of them fired at the small, moving leeches they could now see clearly. Two Regenerators exploded simultaneously and the last two followed soon after that. When Chris raised his head he found himself next to Leon. The younger man frowned.
"Well that was fast." He leaned closer to Chris to look through his scope. "Oh…cheater."
"You're just disappointed you didn't get to use your ninja moves on them." Chris snorted pulling away. Leon blinked then grinned.
"Ninja, huh? I like that. Now can we get out of here? I need a shower."
"Phew, you're telling me." Chris took a step away from him, plugging his nose. Jill and Sheva giggled as Leon punched his arm gently.
"Bastard." He was smiling though and Chris was glad to see it in his eyes this time. "The gates this way and I have two grenades in my pockets that would like to blow it up." Chris threw his head back with a laugh as Leon walked off with a haughty swagger then followed. The girls were still giggling as the three agents caught up with him. After about ten minutes of a very uneventful walk they arrived at a massive gate. Chris whistled as he stared up at it.
"I think you're going to need more grenades."
"Nonsense." Leon scoffed. "I could bring down a tank with one grenade. Its just a matter of where you put them."
"I beg to differ."
"Beg all you want." Leon replied approaching the massive gate. "I'll show you."
"I'm telling you, two grenades won't work on something that size."
"If you have sucky grenades, sure, but these kind blow up nicely." Leon tossed one in the air and caught it on his palm. "Especially when you shoot them."
"Oh God."
"I'd get behind those trees." Leon waved him off. As he turned away Chris could see his shoulders shaking as if he were suppressing laughter.
"You're insane." Leon snorted.
"Maybe, but I'd still get behind those trees if I were you." Chris grabbed Jill and Sheva by their arms and dragged them behind a small copse of trees 20 yards from the gate. "Fire in the hole!" They heard Leon shout before a large explosion rocked the enclosure. "Well there you go, Redfield, I only needed one." Chris peeked around the tree he was behind and gaped. The blast from the grenade had blown half the gate in towards the wall beyond. Leon was lying on his back having been thrown back 30 feet, his head raised to survey his handiwork.
"You're fucking crazy!"
"Not really. I just want to get out of here that bad." He groaned as he got to his feet. "Is anyone else's head ringing?" Chris collapsed against the tree laughing. He couldn't help it. Leon's hair was sticking up every which way and his face was almost completely black. He heard Jill snort and a sort of shrill giggle came from Sheva. Leon grinned at them before walking towards the now busted gate. The three BSAA agents composed themselves before following. As they got nearer the wall they saw a door…that needed two keycards to open.
"Now what?" Chris kicked at one of the readers irritably.
"Never fear." Leon grinned producing two keycards from his pocket.
"The hell?"
"Always be prepared." The younger man smirked.
"How'd you get those?"
"I borrowed them from some very kind men." Leon replied. "They were a bit unreasonable at first, but when I explained the situation to them they were more than happy to give them to me."
"Uh-huh." Chris raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest. "You just talked them into giving you their keys?"
"Um…yeah, pretty much. The gun I was aiming at them didn't have any bullets." Chris looked at Jill; they burst out laughing at the same time. Leon slid the cards through the readers and whooped as the door opened. The four of them walked through the opening into a long white hallway. A very bright, white hallway. Leon swore, covering his eyes and turning away. His head ran into Chris's chest and the older man felt his heart flutter. "Good, fucking, God." The smaller man groaned. Chris bit his lip. He wanted to put his arms around Leon, but wasn't sure if he should. "Bastards. Why do they have to make everything so goddamn white and light it up like a fucking Christmas tree?" Chris snorted then put an arm around his shoulders.
"Keep your eyes closed until you're used to the light. I'll guide you." Leon grunted with a nod. "Sheva, take the rear. Jill, you're on point."
"Gotcha." Jill smirked at him as she moved to walk in front of them.
"Nah, let me take point." Leon snorted. "It'll be awesome."
"How about not?" Chris chuckled. "You've done enough. We'll get you home."
"I wanna blow this place up first."
"What, why?" Chris looked down at him in shock.
"Because they piss me off." He squinted up at Chris with watery eyes. "But one grenade's not going to cut it. Got anymore?"
"No."
"Jill?"
"I don't think so, cupcake." The blonde replied with a laugh.
"Sheva?"
"Sorry, fresh out." Chris could hear the grin in her voice.
"You guys suck." Leon sighed. "I guess that only leaves me with one option-"
"No." Chris said firmly.
"-the self destruct button. This place has got to have one."
"No, Leon. We're going to take you home."
"It'll only be a small detour." The younger man reasoned, opening his eyes the rest of the way and blinking rapidly. "Seriously. We'll even make a quicker get away." Chris could hear both girls laughing quietly.
"You're delirious."
"Maybe, but you know I'm right." Leon smirked, elbowing him gently. "You want to blow them up just as much as I do."
"I say we go for it." Jill said over her shoulder.
"You're a wonderful person." Leon smiled at her, then leaned against Chris. "Come on, Redfield, I know you want to." Sheva giggled behind them.
"What could it hurt Chris?" She asked.
"Um, let me think, how about us?"
"I won't let that happen." Leon promised, looking up at him sincerely. "I have a map in my back pocket I borrowed from the same gentlemen I got the keycards from." He pulled out a folded, dirty piece of paper.
"Jesus, what are you, a magician? What else do you have in your pockets?"
"A grenade, three extra clips, my wallet and some gum." His brow furrowed. "I don't think you want to eat it though. My hiding places haven't always been dry, or above ground. Oh! I have this tooth I pulled out of my shoulder too." Chris watched him dig around in his pocket and produce a large, curved tooth. "It came from the crab when it…" Chris pushed the younger man against the wall, putting a hand to his forehead. Leon's skin felt as though it were on fire.
"You're burning up. How long have you had this fever?"
"Fuck if I know." Leon shrugged. "But I've been covered in monster guts for the past two weeks straight, that can't be good for my health. The good thing is that it can't be a fever from infection because-oi!" Chris ignored the younger man's protests as he pulled Leon's shirt off his left shoulder. There was a large gash on the front and a matching one on the back. The skin around it was swollen with a reddish green hue.
"Jesus!" Chris inhaled sharply.
"Yeah, it got a little close. I almost lost my arm."
"You still might if we don't get you to a hospital soon."
"First we're going to blow this place sky high." Leon held up the folded map. "I know exactly where to go and how to get out. I've had plenty of time to plan this."
"Leon…" Chris bit his lip. "You need a-"
"I know, Redfield, I know, but I need to do this." Leon met his eyes. "And I need your help." As Chris stared down into those fever-bright, blue-grey eyes he found that he couldn't say no.
"Fine." He sighed. Leon grinned.
"Perfect. We go left at the first junction, Jill."
"Gotcha." The blonde grinned, her blue eyes shining.