Leon peels his eyes open, groaning. His head is throbbing. He waits for his vision to clear before taking in his surroundings. The room he's in is mostly white, which instantly makes his heart beat faster. Lately, he hasn't had much luck with these kinds of places. Shackles hold his wrists above his head and suspend him slightly above the floor. His ankles are unbound, like a tease that he can't escape.
A high up government official walks into the room with two armed guards behind him. He wears a black suit with a dark blue tie. His hair is grey and slightly balding.
Leon struggles against his bonds, the metal cutting into his wrists and drawing blood.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?!"
The man stops a few feet in front of Leon, looking at him with disgust.
"You are here for interrogation. You are an enemy of the United States of America, and could be used as a weapon in the wrong hands. You are to tell me what your purpose is and who is your creator-"
"I'm a secret service agent! I worked personally for Adam Bedford!"
"Adam Bedford is dead, by your hands no less."
That hurts. Leon tries to ignore the pain in his heart.
"Who are you working for?" The man asks. Leon says nothing, just stares at the ground.
"Who. Are. You. Working. For?" He repeats, a bit of aggravation in his voice. Leon stays silent.
"He's all yours." The man says to the two soldiers as he leaves the room. One of them walks up to Leon, needle in hand, and slides it into a vein in his arm. The vial fills with blood and the man leaves, satisfied. The other man walks over to a cart on wheels and pulls it over near Leon, opening up the briefcase on it. Several blades shine in the light. He grabs a short dagger and his lips twist up in a smirk.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
Leon screamed as the blade tore through the flesh of his stomach, buried deep to the hilt. Blood dripped from the corner of his lip and he was breathing hard, each intake of breath causing him more pain. As new wounds were created, smaller, older ones began to heal, leaving the skin unscarred and blemish free. Leon's captors took advantage of this, never causing enough harm to become fatal, but just under.
Leon stared at the floor while the torturer chose a different device to be his bringer of pain. A small dagger, serrated on both edges, was his new choice. Blood slowly dripped from his wounds onto the tile floor.
"Wait, I need a blood sample." The second man pushes the first out of his way, preparing a syringe. "His blood may contain the key to advanced biological warfare."
Leon lets out a small gasp as the needle slides into a vein on his inner elbow. He watches as the vial fills with a violet-crimson blood, too dark to be human. The man smiles, satisfied, and takes his leave.
"Where were we? Oh, right. Torture." A sadistic grin appears on his dark face, and Leon is filled with dread.
"Stop!" Leon yells. The man halts for a moment while the ex-agent gasps for air, his lungs filled with blood and burning. He can't take much more pain; it surrounds him, fills his core, it's become all he knows in the few hours he's been captured. He doesn't know what the virus inside him is capable of other than regenerate powers. He takes this quick pause from torture to try and figure it out. Shouldn't he be incredibly fast and strong? Shouldn't he be just like Wes-
"How about I cut out those pretty eyes of yours?" The man says, holding the knife under Leon's right eye. He flinches, snapped out of his thoughts and pulled back into reality.
What if he could control it?
A small flame of hope ignites deep within him, and as the man slowly begins to push the knife into the soft flesh underneath Leon's eye, he's had enough.
"I SAID STOP!"
An explosion follows his voice, one of the walls blowing open sending concrete flying in all directions. Leon has never felt so alive, a static-like energy in the air surrounding him. He snaps out of his wrist restraints one at a time, and begins slowly walking to the man cowering on the floor, his knife out of sight and out of mind…
He can see his eyes, bright and fierce, shining in the eyes of his torturer. He snaps the man's neck. Doesn't even give it a second thought.
The lights shut off and red emergency lights turn on, followed by a blaring loud siren. Leon runs down the hallway, dozens of footsteps following behind him. A large pane of glass is at the end, the only thing separating him from freedom.
"There he is! Stop him!"
Bullets fire down the hallway, ricocheting off the walls and floor. Leon hisses as a few tear through his skin. He's so close to freedom…
Leon barrels through the window shoulder first, the glass shattering around him as he plummets to the ground. His wings snap open instinctively and he flies low to the ground, maneuvering through the trees. When his heart stops pounding he slows, landing on a high up tree branch, sitting and letting his legs dangle over the edge.
An albatross lands on the branch beside him, fanning its large white wings before tucking them against its back. It tilts its head at Leon, a curious look in its eyes.
"I don't belong with society, I don't belong with the birds, where do I belong?"
The albatross lets out a cry before taking to the skies.
"You're right. Nowhere."
