Chapter 36

Told you I'd try for weekly updates, yay for Monday!

(Not like I could have spent the last four hours doing my fashion homework, ;^;)

Anywho, I really like this one, and I hope you guys do too, because, well, you'll see~! I make no promises for anything else this week, but if you guys are lucky, maybe tomorrow or Wedensday I'll have another something out, if not, then definitely hope for next week. Let's get this DONE! Thank you everyone for reviewing, you don't know how much those make my day! Well, maybe you can relate, but still, lots of love to all of you fabulous people! XOXOXO~

Resident Evil 4 does not belong to me, just Morgan and my swing of things

(And guys, you'll never guess what I did recently that I totally forgot to mention sooner! I PLAYED RESIDENT EVIL 5 ALL BY MYSELF- and with a few friends- beat it on easy, beat it on normal, and am currently attempting to play it on veteran. Be PROUD! Had to up my gaming skills because OCTOBER 2nd, RE 6 is out baby! And the 25th, Damnation finally comes out, and then I forget the exact date for the movie with Alice to come out, but that's in September too. Just giving y'all head ups in case you didn't know any of this! On with the story~ Love you guys!

-Kit

The world seemed like an unfocused blur to Leon. He fought to stay conscious but it seemed that every few seconds things would go completely black, and then his eyes would blink away the darkness for a moment of unfocused sight. He couldn't move, too dazed, he had his breath knocked right out of him. And it hurt.

He let his eyes slide around lazily, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing. There was dust everywhere and the smell was thick with a mildew taste. Wherever he was, it wasn't particularly pleasant. His breathing was shallow and quick, still trying to slink back into even inhales, normal exhales. What had he been doing?

There was a ringing in his ears that blocked out everything else; he must have really hit his head for his ears to ring. But he heard a faint something that should have sounded familiar. Leon dizzily pondered why he was sprawled out on the ground and what he could possibly be hearing.

"I'm going to barbeque you and feed you to some giant alligators! Do not touch him, or even think about it!" Morgan threatened with adrenaline pumping through her veins like there was no tomorrow; she launched herself and tackled the giant insect to the floor where she proceeded to sink her knife through its underbelly over and over and over and over and—"Just stay down!" It fell twitchless and unmoving beneath the small woman, and she glared at it even as she lifted herself up from it and ran towards Leon.

"Leon, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

After what could have been the fiftieth time he had came to again, Leon blinked away the darkness and let his green eyes stare up at the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. Now, of course, the ringing was dulling but he still wasn't comprehending the nervous babble Morgan was half-screaming a mile-a-minute. All he saw was her face leaning over his, with the light dipping down from the ceiling behind her lighting her hair like a halo.

"An angel…"

Morgan stopped mid-word, biting her lip and holding it between her teeth as she stared down at the dirty blonde haired man. Scrunching her eye brows together, she nervously peeked over her shoulder in case she missed something, but returned her blue eyes on him. "What?"

Leon smiled a crooked grin and lifted his hand slightly to hold the one Morgan had hovering over his chest—she wasn't sure where he had been hurt and hadn't wanted to blindly touch around to find out. Now though, having such a gentle action catch her off guard, she didn't know what to do at all.

"You look just like an angel." He explained properly and Morgan's cheeks flared a light pink. She looked down, avoiding his eyes, and tried to speak without stuttering too much.

"C-Can you move? I-I'll help you sit up, here." Together, rather effortlessly, they lifted Leon up slowly so he was sitting right side up and Morgan was kneeling down in front of him. Her resolve was slowly breaking and she didn't want that, so Morgan started to tighten the screws on her professional mask.

"Don't stop smiling!" Leon gasped so suddenly he didn't even register he had placed his other hand on Morgan's cheek. "I'm sorry, whatever I said earlier—forget about it! I don't want you to hold back for the mission, smile and laugh and yell all you want, we've only stayed alive because of your high spirits Morgan." He pulled her closer and into his lap, never taking his eyes off the tears that had built up in the corners of her eyes. Leon held her even closer, tucking her head beneath his chin holding her in a warm embrace. "Don't, just, just don't stop being you. I'm sorry for yelling, and for being rude earlier…"

Although Morgan didn't cry, she couldn't think of anything sweeter than this moment. True, there was worry somewhere in the back of her mind that Leon had hit his head so hard his personality flipped…but she really was enjoying this. It was so hard and draining trying to force herself to act according to what she was expected; that wasn't her. And Leon understood that.

"We'll get Ashley back, walk right on in with big grins on our faces, how about it short stuff?"

Morgan pulled back and laughed, gently tapping her finger into his chest.

"You got yourself a deal boy wonder!" They shared a smile, and Leon started to lean in, before Morgan's hand flew up and covered his mouth. "Hell no, I think it's sweet and all, but I don't want to be romantically tied to a place like this." She waved her hand around the room, and Leon broke out into shoulder shaking laughter. The dust, the smell and the rust around them, not to mention the cobwebs, dead bug bodies, the pile of bones, and the creepy atmosphere all made everything seem so much funnier, and soon they were both laughing till tears spilled from their eyes.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Leon." A sincere smile was aimed at the young man's way and he returned it, plopping a sloppy kiss to her forehead.

"I am too, ready to blow this popsicle stand?"

"Thought you'd never ask!"

Untangling themselves from each other, standing, and shuffling out of the cell, Leon and Morgan reloaded and ventured forth, taking the chance to scavenge around. In one cell Leon kindly smashed open, there was a journal. Morgan's eyes were already scanning it as she started to read it to Leon.

"Eh, it just talks about how parasites have been known to make their hosts vulnerable to be killed, yadda yadda yadda." Actually, now that Morgan thought about it, she nervously touched her bad arm, waiting to see if it would start to shake or anything. "There's…something…I need to tell you…" She mumbled out nervously.

"Is your arm hurting? I can rewrap the bandages if you need me—"She shook her head.

"It's just, let me say this really quick…so this arm, "She pointed to the one she could no longer use or feel, "It, um, it has recently started to move on its own. Like, it twitches, and shakes, and in theory I believe the parasite is taking over what part of me can't fight anything. So, yea, that's all I have to say…" She tried to read Leon's face but it was, for a moment, completely unreadable. Then he took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"We will get these things out of our systems, I promise you that. The next time it happens, let me know, I'll try and help you the best I can." Morgan's heart did flips and she nodded with flaming cheeks. It had been awhile since the last time she had been treated so gently, and she had forgotten how nice it felt.

"You got it chief." She winked and tugged him out of the dingy cell. "So I've been wondering what's this way, so we're going this way, and you might need your handsome shot gun if any more of those creepy things appear."

"Thanks mom, I don't know how I would ever have thought of that without you."

"Sorry…"

The both chuckled lightly, letting the hallway turn them into a new room. Morgan looked around, found a chest with a jewelry piece in it, and looked between the barred window that over looked a waterway. Leon, instead, looked around and found a handle and decided to turn it.

"Whatever you did lowered the water level." She approved turning to face him. He smirked, smacking the dust from his hands.

"I was being awesome, that seems to do a lot for me."

Morgan rolled her eyes, biting back a smile.

She walked past him, pushed the door open with little effort and listened to the hinges squeak. She scrunched up her face but instantly hissed as the pain hit her, and she looked at Leon expectedly. "Is my nose broken?"

He stepped closer, lightly touching his fingers around the area, which had bruised rather nicely and darkly, just on the bridge of it, and somewhat on the sides mixed in with dirt. "I'm not a specialist here, but I think it's alright, it doesn't appear to be overly swollen."

"Man, this sucks." She huffed, venturing forth once more only to hear Leon call out a quick 'It's only slightly crooked anyway!' Which sent her stopping dead in her tracks, and their sewer friend joined them once again.

"It's crooked?!" She screeched, not even batting an eye at the bug, though Leon had already started to blast his shot gun shells into it so it didn't launch itself at her. "You have to be joking, you're joking right? Leon, you need to fix it, make it straight again!" Morgan didn't even care about the next creature that jumped down after the first one went down, and because Leon noticed this, he grabbed her and pushed her behind him, seeing as she wasn't going to do anything.

"Oh yes, it's pointing at an angle, you don't feel that? Wow, maybe it is broken after all!" He took down the giant insect easily, and it was Morgan who fired this time at something his eyes couldn't see. Morgan noted the steps on the floor and fired rounds until the third insect appeared, venting her frustration. Leon finished it off quickly after it faded in between fazes.

"Leon I swear, you have to fix it and push it back straight!" Leon bit back a smile, watching as Morgan got so worked up over her perfectly fine, non-crooked nose.

"Alright, I'll fix it, this may hurt though, you ready?" It was almost killing him to keep a straight face. Morgan just nodded and gritted her teeth, preparing herself. Leon lifted his hand to hover above her nose, seemed to stare at her for silent approval until she nodded, and slowly lowered his fingers until…

"Damnitt I knew you were lying!" Morgan screamed after Leon grinned and turned his tactic into messing up her hair—even more than it already was. He chuckled to himself as steam almost visibly rose from her seething form. "You and that stupid smirk, I knew it! Got me worked up for nothing!" She was so mad, Morgan couldn't handle being around him, so she stomped off with her knife in hand, ready to vent her anger physically on anything else that popped up.

They kept dropping from the ceiling, and Morgan would attack the visible ones closest to her while Leon looked after her and blasted any from getting too close. When reloading wasn't fast enough, he'd run and twist his body so a powerful kick would knock them back, and then proceed to fire at them. There was a moment where Leon pulled Morgan to the side, just as one of the creatures literally threw acid from its mouth.

"I wish I could do that…" Morgan muttered before going back to her assault. Leon just shook his head, no comment.

"Let's get out of here while we're in the clear." He called, running towards the other side of the room where a ladder led to the area he had drained the water from. Jumping down, ignoring Morgan's complaints, he held his arms out and caught her, like usual. "You hardly hesitate anymore, I knew you'd warm up to me eventually." He winked, but Morgan didn't get a chance to say anything as they were followed by their invisible friend.

"RUN AWAY LEON!" She screamed, still in his arms, and he held her tighter as he ran, and she tried to fire. But when you're cradled in someone's arms with only one arm, and you can't twist your body around to aim correctly, more bullets hit stone walls than should have been possible. "Stupid thing, go away!" She nicked it in the leg but didn't really do much besides slow it down. "Just keep going!" Because she didn't feel like fighting it anyway. Or walking.

Speeding up some stairs, and taking a sharp right, a door appeared and Morgan flung it open as Leon carried her through, and they locked it behind them separating the monster behind them from the room they were in.

Leon finally let Morgan down and she grinned, patting his shoulder. "Thanks dear."

He rolled his eyes.

"Hey what's that noise—oh my god…" Morgan's eyes were huge, and so were Leon's at this point. Staring ahead of them, were a row of giant swinging blades. "No way, absolutely not. You can get me to walk over a bridge, you can make me get into a crappy little boat, you can even fling me off a cliff, but you are not making me do this." If she could have crossed her arms, she surely would have.

"Look, it's all about timing. I'll help you jump and you'll be absolutely fine. Do you trust me?" Leon knew she wasn't a fan of heights, like it wasn't made obvious, but this was the only way out and they had to do it together. "C'mon partner, if we can face a giant, I think we'll be able to handle this."

Morgan sighed, stared wearily at the blades, and bowed her head. "Alright…"

So they walked up to the first one, and ran forward easily although Morgan paled considerably, and Leon took it as a breeze. Then came the next one, which actually required jumping over a gap.

"You can do it, I'll jump first, and then you will." Morgan stiffly nodded as Leon effortlessly jumped over unscathed and turned for her to do the same. Arms parted for her to jump into if need be.

"Just tell me when…" She gulped, starting to slightly panic. Leon nodded and held up three fingers, two fingers, one, "go!"

And she flung herself over the gap and into his arms. Leon allowed her a moment to collect herself, and looked ahead. "We only have two more to go, we can do it together, sound good?"

"Peachy." She bit out, slightly shaking. He kept his arm around her shoulders and looked at the double swinging blades. It required perfect timing more so than before. No warning, Leon just pulled her forward and out of harms way calmly. "Thank God, thank you so much." She hugged Leon tightly and they walked like that towards the next door. Out of this room as quickly as Morgan could move.

The hall led to a metal ladder and Morgan slowly hobbled her way up it, with Leon waiting below just in case. There was a moment when her footing slipped against the rail from having been wet still from the water earlier.

"You're alright, just breathe, I'm here and nothing is going to happen." Leon's strong assuring voice traveled up to her as she clutched the bars in a petrified state. Morgan screwed her eyes shut, her breathing raged slightly.

"I-I can't!" 'She literally couldn't make herself move.

"Okay then I'm coming up with you." And in a matter of no time, Leon was there just a step below her. "We'll do this together, move slowly and take one bar at a time. I'm right here." He spoke gently and Morgan nodded slowly, gathering her wits. She lifted herself slowly, and Leon pressed a hand against her back to help her feel more steady. It was a wonder how she even managed to climb ladders this whole journey. She would lift her foot, raise her chin so it balanced her body on something while she would quickly move her arm to the next one, and pull herself just a step higher. They made it to the top five minutes later and Morgan fled from the dreaded room as quickly as she could.

"I hate this place, I hate it." She continued to mutter, holding herself to shake the fear in her system. "Leon, I have absolutely no idea what I would do without you, I really don't." Leon gently pat her head and nodded, a small smile on his face. The smile passed as a series of chants flitted up to their position and they curiously investigated from their perch.

Morgan silently lifted her gun and pointed to the leader, the red one, and Leon nodded. He brought out the rifle and knelt down, getting a better aim before sending a bullet down. It knocked the mask clean off his face, and Morgan started to fire away while Leon reloaded.

"We certainly know how to crash a party!" Leon called jumping up and running to a ladder.

"Well that's what happens when we weren't invited. Give me the rifle, I'll handle things from up here." Morgan was already reaching for the gun, and Leon vaguely wondered how she would pull it off. But then again, it was Morgan, so he didn't bother with trying to figure out how she did anything anymore.

"Take it, I'll keep them distracted." Handing the gun over, he brought out his shotgun and jumped down, opening fire on the seven men in black. Above, Morgan sat on with her knees bent, the rifle resting at an angle in between them, and aimed at anyone in sight. It was rather difficult, but she did manage to pull it off rather decently. When the rifle ran out, Morgan was forced to try and use her handgun.

As she had thought earlier with Ashley, her aim wasn't as great with a handgun with distances. It was a wonder how Leon never got hit by her bullets. The room was cleared out, and it dawned on them that this room was familiar.

"Did we go in a circle?!" Morgan yelled in anger. What was the point of that? Leon didn't know, but it happened so there was no use crying over it.

"Come on, let's go princess."

"Pfft, nice try." She rolled her eyes but moved to the ladder. "Here comes the rifle, wasn't so bad was I?" She tossed it down and he placed it back over his shoulder.

"Not really, surprisingly." He teased and she stuck her tongue out at him. Morgan jumped down and smiled innocently at him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, handsome." She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before she wiggled out of his hold and ran up the stone staircase she had seen earlier. Leon smiled lightly, walking casually after her. "OH MY BESTEST FRIEND EVER I MISSED YOU!" He heard the girl scream, and figured he knew who was at the top.

"So this is where you disappeared to earlier, didn't even see you do it. Sneaky man~" She smiled, and the Merchant was silently pleased to see her spirits so high again.

"Aye Morgan, never question a stranger's ways." His eyes seemed to sparkle a bit though, genuinely happy for her. She nodded with a smile.

"Yep, and I don't ask questions if I can help it~ So, right, Leon do you need anything upgraded?" She still wasn't going to mention her encounter earlier, and neither was the Merchant. Leon thought it over and then nodded, offering a smile at the odd salesman. The shotgun and rifle were both upgraded, and when they couldn't think of anything else to be done, they parted ways. And this time, Morgan made sure to give her friend a big hug, which he awkwardly returned.

"If only I had a camera." Leon snickered and Morgan glared playfully.

"See you later Mr. Merchant~ Take care!"

"Aye, as the two of you."

Then, they parted ways once again, heading out to find their favorite blonde friend.