CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: A Den of Inequity

The timer on his watch roused him. He was leaning against the wall and slumbering…sort of. His eyes glanced down at the timer on the watch. It was time for another injection…but there was only one left. It was time for the cavalry to pull the trigger on their rescue.

Their time in the den was coming to an end.

The BSAA would drop a grenade into this pit and blow it sky high. They'd do their best to rescue their agents first. The fact that Chris Redfield was in this pit would halt the front assault they'd try to launch. He was the keys to the entire organization. They wouldn't kill the leader of the resistance. They would be stupid and futile and potentially fatal.

Leon shifted and his blood boiled from it. He lifted his hand and looked at it. The fingernails…were longer. Longer. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror across the room from him. His hair was entirely white. And his eyes?

Entirely red.

Jesus.

Jill roused where she lay on his thigh. Her eyes rolled to him. And the blue of them had bled red at the edges. She made a sound when she saw his face.

"Leon…"

"….I know."

"How do you feel?"

His eyes tracked her face. And he could see through the wall beside him. He could see bodies beyond the stone. He could smell the blood, hear the laughter down the hall. He could taste the hunger for her on his tongue like poison. How did he feel?

"Alive."

"Alive?"

"Oh yeah. And hot."

Jill laughed a little, scared. "You're always hot."

"Ditto, kiddo."

"Do you feel….like you?"

"Sorta. Mostly. Maybe. Hard to say. I'm not scared, Jill. Not at all. I'm ok. And even more than that? I feel good. Strong." He stroked her hair, almost absently.

"You look like Dante."

Leon laughed a little. "I feel like Dante. Maybe not as snarky or charmless. But still like a devil. Invincible." And he grinned.

Jill sat up slowly, watching him. He hated the fear on her face. He must have done something to earn it though because she was backing away from him. He shivered a little, "What? Jill? What is it?"

"….your mouth is full of fangs."

He turned his head and saw them. Yep. Fangs. Sharp little pointy fangs all through his mouth. He tried to be concerned and wasn't. He wasn't concerned about anything. He wasn't, in fact, able to feel upset at all. He tried to feel something palpable and he just felt…neutral.

Jill shifted and his eyes shifted back to her. She looked afraid. And he didn't like that. THAT he could feel. What did they call that? Empathy for his mate.

"I won't hurt you, Jill. Mate. I won't hurt you."

"Won't you? Are you even Leon Kennedy anymore?"

"…yes."

Her breath hitched a little. "That was a slow answer."

"It was. Potentially I'm still me. But not exactly."

They held eyes. She pictured him that day she'd found him on the beach in Sri Lanka. She saw his smile; the husky blue of those eyes. She pictured his laughter. She pictured their joy. She wanted to go back. Could they just go back and be there again?

"You need a suppression injection."

"Jill…" She wouldn't look at him as she started digging through their clothes on the floor for the last injection. "Jilly…."

Still nothing.

He tried again. "Jillian."

Her eyes came up to his face. She looked grief-stricken. Jesus Christ, he wasn't dead yet. Why did she keep looking at him like he was? Damn woman.

He rose from the floor and the red shirt he wore framed the pale perfection of his chest. His beautiful tan was lost now. Gone. He was pale white and ghostly. And…hairy? Something. He had more chest hair than he should. Jill made a sound of fear as he crossed to her.

She rose as well…and she had the injection.

Leon stopped, tilted his head, and grinned.

THOSE TEETH. She lifted the plunger. "Come get this."

"No."

"Leon…you need it."

"Jillian…it's wasted on me. We both know it. This is it, honey. This is the end."

"Stop it. Idiot. Shut up." She moved toward him. He caught her wrist, snake quick, and twisted her arm. They grappled and he won. Easily. He threw the plunger away and twisted her around until her back was to his front.

She struggled and he said, softly, "Stop fighting me. Stop. I like it. I need you to stop."

Jill stopped.

And he hated that it hurt him to know she was afraid of him. He closed his eyes and breathed. But his voice said, again, "This is it, Jill. This is how it has to go down. I'm not dead. I'm still me enough to know I'm beyond help here. I'm going to fight Lillith."

Jill jerked in shock. "What?"

"I'm going to fight her. If I submit, she may kill you anyway. So I'm going to fight her. I'm going to take her fucking pack from her. And you? You get out of here, you get the cavalry. You ride back in here and you burn this fucking place to the ground."

Jill shook her head. She shook it hard. She turned in his arms. And she grabbed his face. He held her wrists. His face. HIS FACE. It was still him. In those red, red, red eyes…it was still him.

"I will not leave you here. We talked about this."

"We did. But Jill? If I'm right…if I'm right killing her will transfer the power of the pack to me. Do you understand what that means?"

She held his gaze. He could see that she didn't. She hadn't made the leap yet. She didn't understand. But she would. She would.

"If you inherit the pack, you inherit the power. Without an alpha? The pack can't survive. Killing her makes me their alpha."

"….ok."

"Jill…to stop the pack, you have to kill the alpha."

She slapped his face.

Just like that.

He blinked and shivered with delight. She smacked him again, harder. He let her. He liked it. She liked it too but she hated it and hated him. And hated them both for what was happening. How had they gotten here? How did they get out alive?

"You want me to bring in the BSAA and kill you?"

She slapped him again. He caught her hand and spun her around again to pin her against his front. Jill shook with rage.

"You want me to kill you!? You want me to be the girl that KILLED LEON KENNEDY!?"

He laughed a little and licked her cheek.

"Stop it! You fucking dog. Stop it. AND LET GO OF ME!"

Leon didn't let go. He kissed her neck and made her shiver. "I won't be me by then, Jill. Chances are this is the end of the infection. Soon? I'll probably be nothing but wolf. I have to do this now. NOW. Before I turn completely and become her god damn mate. If you get everyone out, you get the vaccine, and you come back to find me gone…DO IT. Do you understand? I would do it for you. This is our job. It's what we do. We fight, we kill, we DIE…and we keep fighting. There is no other choice. Surviving is how we honor the dead."

Honor the dead.

The guy who collected wallets to send home to waiting families.

The guy who sacrificed himself to save the world.

The guy who was trying to do it now to save Chris Redfield. So Chris could save the world. He was humble, handsome, hot eyes and heavy hands and laughter. He was the best she'd ever seen in the field. He was the only thing in the fucking world she wanted. And she loved him. She loved him like she'd die from it.

Didn't he get it?

"I get it, Leon. I get it. I know what we do. I KNOW it. You'll be ok. You'll be fine. You'll be DEAD. But what about me?"

He was so quiet behind her.

"What about me, Leon? What about ME?! What do I do when you're gone!? What do I do without you?! You burst into my life. You made me love you. You made me want you. You made me NEED you. And now what? You just want me to end you!?" She spun around and fisted his shirt in her hands. "Do you think I can? I'm not that strong!"

He caught her face now. "You're the strongest thing I've ever seen, Jill Valentine. So maybe this isn't our love story. Maybe not. Maybe it's our story of how we saved the girl."

"Is the girl Chris?"

"He is."

But she didn't laugh.

"That's a happy ending, Jill. Saving Chris saves the world. It's a good way to end it."

They held eyes. And finally, she whispered, "I won't make it without you. I won't survive it, Leon."

"You'll survive it, honey. You'll survive me. You're a survivor. It's what we do."

This kind of answer was more Leon Kennedy than he'd been in days. A selfless man, the kind who saved the day. The kind who pushed you against the door and took the bullet. The kind who walked into the den of the wolf to rescue the missing hero. The one who rolled you beneath him and took the talon in his body to save you.

The one stayed behind to die while you got to safety.

Was he still Leon Kennedy?

It would seem he'd never be anything else. And he was everything to her.

Her face collapsed. He watched it happen. If she cried, he'd stop being so fucking selfless. He couldn't FEEL anything for anyone but her anymore. He didn't even feel anything about himself. Mate, they called her, and she was. She was his mate. And that was all he knew.

But she didn't cry. She dragged him forward to kiss him. He hesitated, held back. "The teeth, Jill."

"Fuck the teeth. Kiss me."

Fuck the teeth. Kiss me. God damn he loved her. She was the probably the most amazing creature ever created. He kissed her. She slipped her tongue between those pointy teeth and didn't even nick herself once.

The kiss was desperate and rolling. Her hands jerked at his pants. He lifted his head to look at her. "Jill…"

"Please. I can't do this without you. I need you."

A dangerous thing to say to a man who was mostly wolf. He jerked up her dress. She gasped at the abruptness of it. Her hands echoed the move. She jerked open his pants.

He lifted her, effortlessly, and she wrapped her legs around him.

He put her against the wall and drove into her body. She was ready for him. She was willing. She was wet and needy and dying. The dress settled around their slapping bodies. She was keening in her throat with each desperate thrust of skin and sin and savoring hunger.

Leon put his face against her neck and breathed her in while he hammered her into the wall. Her body sucked him deeper; her cries urged him on. Her hands? They tried to shove the plunger into him.

He caught it an inch from his chest. And he didn't even stop fucking her while he held her hand out to the side to stop her. Jill was torn between coming, dying, and screaming in frustration. The bastard. The best she'd ever seen. Even in the throws of utter release, he was aware of the threat against him. All threats.

White hair, red eyes, fangs…holy god. And his body? It tried to drill through her and out the other side. Her free hand grabbed a handful of his hair; his slipped under that dress to fill itself full of her bare bottom. He tilted her, turned her, and fired into her body like he'd burst her flesh and break her bones with it.

He turned her toward the wall and pistoned into her from behind. He mounted her like the animals they were becoming. His mouth settled at the edge of her throat and sucked, sucked, sucked until she was sure he was going to burst her skin to get to her blood.

She mewled, bucking back toward him for more. It was unlike either of them. They weren't people who mated in a hellhole where they'd come to die. But they weren't them anymore...they were animals. And so she growled to spur him on.

The orgasm didn't arrive gently. It burst out of her mouth in a…howl? She howled. And bucked, bucked, boiling and burning alive for him. She lifted her mouth for a kiss. He gave it to her…and shoved the plunger into the other side of her neck.

No.

NO!

The drug cooled her blood. The drug put her back in her head. The drug…was gone. It was gone. And so was he. He was gone. Leon filled her up, gasping, groaning. Jill turned in his arms to grip him and held on while he came, thrusting, thrusting, thrusting. They collapsed down the wall, gasping.

And she made a sound of loss.

"What have you done?"

"….Saved my mate."

She lay beneath the press of his body and held him. She held him. "Leon…please don't die on me."

"I'm gonna give it my best shot."

The door opened and Fenrir stood there, grinning. "YES! ALWAYS MATING! It is time!"

It was. It was time. It was time for it all. Leon eased her dress down and rose. He zipped himself up. Jill shivered, her thighs quivering with release. He took her hand…and faced the man in the door.

"Find Lillith. Tell her I have her answer."

Fenrir held his eyes. "What is your answer?"

"I will fight her."

"You cannot fight her," Fenrir laughed, "She is alpha. You can't fight her."

"Oh yeah?" Leon moved toward him. Fenrir held his ground. And when they were a foot apart, the other man grabbed for him. Leon let him grab his throat and lift him. He dangled in that big fist.

"I will kill you, little man." Fenrir was smirking happily at the idea.

Leon smiled as well, thrilled. "Put me down."

"I wi-"Fenrir twitched. He twitched and shifted. But he couldn't resist. That happened, it seemed. You couldn't resist the alpha. And maybe he wasn't Leon Kennedy anymore. And maybe he was.

But one thing he was sure of?

He was the alpha.

Fenrir put him down. And his eyes flashed anger and fear.

"Yeah. That's what alpha looks like, you dumb shit Neanderthal." Leon shoved the big man with all that infected strength. Probably three hundred pounds of muscle and he shoved him like he weighed nothing. Fenrir hit the far wall and slid down it, dazed.

"Get Lillith. Tell her to meet me in the pit. This ends now."

He turned back to Jill. "Get Chris. Get Carlos. Get Grace and get the hell out of here. Now."

"Leon…"

"Now Jill. NOW. They won't stop you now. I'm the alpha. They won't stop you. But I can't hold them if I lose to Lillith. Get to the top and get the cavalry. Show me what you got, kid. And save the day."

Jill watched him turn down the hallway. She raced after him. He moved like…like what? Like a predator. He moved like water. He moved like something amazing. Jill watched the wolves around him bow and scrape.

Oh god.

"Leon!"

He turned back, all red eyes and feral sex. "Jill."

"I love you."

He grinned at her and winked. She wanted to run after him and grab him and run away. Instead, she called, "If you're alpha….you can just…we can just leave right? We can just go."

"I can't Jill. I can't. She has to be stopped. You know that." He grabbed the closest bowing wolf from the floor and jerked them up. "Get Chris Redfield and the rest of our people. Let them out. Give them gear and send them to the surface. Do you understand me?"

"…yes. Yes. Yes." The little ferrety looking man was nodding. "Yes. I will."

Leon held him at eye level. "If anything happens to her. Anything. I will level this place and watch you all burn."

Terrified, the ferrety man kept nodding.

He tossed the ferrety man toward Jill. He scrambled and ran toward her. Jill looked at the back of the man she loved. She was so afraid. She was so enthralled by him.

He paused with his back to her still, and said, "I love you too, Jill. I think I knew that the moment you came out of that water."

Heartbroken, Jill whispered, "Me too. I need you."

"I don't plan on dying today. Get them out of here. Hurry." And he disappeared down the hallway.

The ferrety little man was tugging her hand down the other way. He hurried to the far cell and opened it. Carlos was sitting on the floor looking at them.

"Jill?"

"Get up. Hurry. We need to get Rebecca. We need the fucking cure. NOW."

The sounds of fighting filled the corridor. Oh god. OH GOD. The ferrety man opened the other cell and Chris emerged. Jill grabbed him and held on. He caught her face.

"Where is Leon?"

She shook her head. His bearded face was all sympathy. And she couldn't see it now. She couldn't. It would break her. "We have to hurry, Chris. We have to save him. Please. Please."

"Come on." They ran.

They ran toward the only hope they had left. They had to get to the cure. They had to hurry. If Leon won, they had to cure him. Maybe curing him would cure the pack. If he lost…

No.

She couldn't even stand to think it. She couldn't. She'd die. She'd die there on the floor in a puddle of piss and blood and grief. They had to hurry.

They were out of time.

And the sounds of fighting chased them down the hallway like a nightmare.