Summary: Leon arrives too late as he finds a distraught Saya fleeing the clinic where she lost Takashi. Not wanting to cause the girl anymore pain, Leon decides to do what needs to be done before the boy can resurrect as an Undead.

バイオハザード

Part 2

Take Back

3.75

Leon felt cold as he entered the clinic. There was blood and shredded corpses all around thanks to Takashi's grenade launcher. None of them were moving, shredded by buckshot. But it was strange. If there were as many as Saya had told him, then there should have been a at least a few wandering around.

He came up to the treatment room where he Takashi had been taken, and found a massacre. These zombies looked liked they'd been put through a meat grinder. The room itself looked like a bomb had gone off as the walls were plastered with fresh dripping blood, and the shredded remains of Undead.

What set Leon's nerves on edge was the fact that there was a set of claw marks on the wall near the door as well as a trail of blood. The trail was that of a boot print, and a slide of someone dragging an injured limb.

Against his better judgement, Leon began to follow it. The staggering trail, occasionally moving toward the wall,and leaving a human hand print, led him to the doctor's office where the door had been smashed open.

The room was dark as he entered, but he could hear labored breathing. "Takashi?"

He heard the chair behind the desk squeak, "Who...who's there?" He heard a young man's voice rasp out weakly.

Leon was surprised to hear him answer. "My name's Leon," he said, trying to sound calming, "I'm one of the D.S.O. agents that was sent here to deal with the T-Virus."

"Is...Is Saya...safe...?"

Leon nodded as he inched closer, "Yeah, she's safe. I stashed her in a car until I found out if you were...up and around."

"You're here...to kill me?," Takashi didn't sound frightened, but relieved. "Good...I can't...I can't let her see me...not like this."

Leon frowned at him, "A few bites in return for saving someone you love is nothing to be ashamed of," Leon told the boy as he stepped around the chair, "You should be proud that you - "

"You don't understand," Takashi said as he and Leon finally faced each other, "I can't go back to her looking like this."

Leon, for all of his twenty years fighting Undead B.O.W.s, had never seen such a mutation. It was as if someone had sewn the mutated bits onto the body of a scrawny teenage boy. His right arm looked like it had come off of a Tyrant after it had mutated, or a Licker's front leg. Speaking of legs, his left leg was that of a Hunter, scales and claws included. His left shoulder had a huge bony spike growing out of it, and an extra eye was bulging out of his right cheek below the natural one.

"Jesus, kid, what the fuck did they do to you?" Leon breathed out as pity began washing over him.

Takashi shook his head, "This...happens whenever I take too much damage."

Leon nodded, "That's been known to happen with highly infected individuals...but not to this level," he shook his head, "And you're still conscious of yourself. A T-Virus infection is always fatal, but you're still alive."

"Not for long," Takashi said as he looked at the weapon in Leon's hands, "Please...I can't face them like this...I can't..." Takashi began choking back a sob as Leon frowned.

"I don't often kill kids, Takashi," he sighed as he raised the pistol and placed it against Takashi's forehead. "You're sure about this? There may be a way to - "

"LOOK AT ME!" Takashi roared angrily. "I can't face any of my friends or family like this!"

Leon nodded, "I understand that kid." His finger rested on the trigger, "What should I tell Saya?"

Takashi finally cracked a small smile, "My recklessness finally got the better of me."

The trigger began to fall.

"Drop it!" Leon looked toward the door, and saw the pink-haired girl standing there with her rifle aimed directly at him, and looking utterly furious. "I said drop it now!"

Leon took the gun away from Takashi's head, "Alright, now, let's just calm down, Miss Takagi." The lightning hawk dangled limply from his finger, "This wasn't my idea."

Saya growled, "You really think I care?" She snapped, "I don't care who you are, or who sent you, if you hurt him, I'll put bullet right through your head!"

Leon jerked his head at the mutated teen, "Better talk to him about that," he said as Takashi turned his head toward her, all three eyes on the girl, "He's the one that wanted to be put down."

"Put it down, Saya." Takashi spoke up as he looked at her sadly.

Saya flinched as she finally looked at him. But the shock was momentary, and she came forward, ignoring Leon completely. "Did you really think you'd scare me?" She asked as she reached out and brushed hr fingers against his cheek, "This is no different than what happened after your fight at the police station." She looked at Leon, "All he needs is a little food, and his body can push the mutations back."

Leon nodded and holstered his weapon, "Better than the alternative." He said, "I've got some ration bars, will that work?"

"It should," she nodded.

Takashi just shook his head, "I'm too far gone, this time."

Leon frowned, "You give up too easily, kiddo," he said before reaching into his belt pouch, "Here, eat up, and then we'll see about getting you two outta here."

バイオハザード

What rations Leon and Saya had went right down Takashi's throat, the young teen ravenous after losing so much blood to the various bite wounds. His leg, thankfully, had returned to normal. But his right arm, left shoulder and face were still mutated. Either he hadn't eaten enough to fight them off, or his body hadn't yet gotten strong enough.

"Kid," Leon said as they walked toward the mall, "I have to hand it to you. I'm impressed that you survived this long with so many people in your group."

Takashi, who had wrapped a curtain around his shoulders to hide his mutations was only able to shake his head, "I wouldn't be here without them."

"And we wouldn't be here without you," Saya said from the rear as she kept an eye out for more Undead, or Hunters, as Leon had called their reptilian pursuers. "So when you go back to normal, you're gonna get a dressing down for giving up like that."

Takashi kept his mouth closed on the subject, knowing that he'd most likely lose an argument with her at the moment, or attract every zombie within five blocks. With Leon on point, they reached the mall quicker than Takashi was hoping for. When they approached, he spotted Naomi up on the roof with her rifle aimed at Leon, so he stepped in front of him, waving her off with his normal arm.

Of course, as soon as he was through the door, all weapons were aimed at him. "Shit," he raised his hands as he met Kohta, Morita, and Hisashi with their guns aimed at him, "Maybe I was safer outside?"

"Stand down!" Takashi snapped, drawing attention to himself, or rather, the extra features on his face.

"Good God, Takashi!" Hisashi gagged upon seeing the eyeball on his face, "What the hell - ?"

Morita chuckled darkly, "Got chomped again, didn'ya?"

Takashi glared at him, "It's not like I'm trying to make this a habit," he growled, "This is Leon, a member of the D.S.O."

Kohta looked at the man in shock, "That wouldn't be Leon S. Kennedy, would it?" He asked with some awe, "One of the few survivors of Raccoon City?"

"In the flesh," Leon smiled at the rotund boy, "Anyway, if you know about Takashi, then you'll know he's gonna need more food before he's back to normal."

The three young men looked at each other, "Well, he'll have to settle for one of us cooking, because Saeko's guarding that Shimada prick." Morita growled, "As soon as you two were gone, the guy went after Shizuka. Nearly raped her until Asami held him up long enough for Kohta to get the drop on him." He slung an arm around Kohta's shoulders, "And this fluffy little bastard nearly took his head off with a piece of wire! Man you should'a seen his face!"

Takashi's eyes glowed red, "Where is he?"

Before they could say anything, Saya stepped in, "I'll cook," she said, and handed off her bag to Hisashi, "Make sure that gets to Shizuka, and the old woman. Morita, see if you can find some clothes that'll fit Takashi, his shirt and pants are shredded up. He'll also need some more armor."

"I'll get right on that," Morita said.

"I'll get the armor." Kohta volunteered as Hisashi hurried off with the medicine.

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Downing was checking on the the incubation of his next batch of Hunters when Wesker found him, "Ah, here you are." The man said as the doctor raised his head from his data pad. "Have you received any new data on our mystery subject?"

"Actually, yes," Downing said, gaining the man's interest, "Some drone feed we had showed him in the company of Leon Kennedy three hours ago."

Wesker's eyes began to glow brightly, "And why haven't you done anything about it?"

"Oh, the simple fact that I was quite shocked that Leon let the boy live," Downing said, "He had mutated quite badly when I saw them."

"Mutated?" The man asked, "I had thought that he was the exception to the mutations?"

Downing sighed, "As had I, but I noticed that he had been injured, and thought that the mutations had been triggered by a high amount of damage." He said, "I was proven right when I found more footage from the area around that large shopping mall in the center of the city. The boy had returned to normal after eating quite a large meal."

"I see, so the mutations are a defense mechanism." Wesker said, "And the increased food intake must have something to do with switching the defenses off."

Downing nodded with a small smile, "Judging by what I saw, I'd guess that it's triggered by large amounts of blood loss." He said, "The virus must instigate the mutations to bolster the host's healing rate, and stop further blood loss. His strength and speed increase tenfold while mutated, making him quite formidable, even for you, I'd say. When he's gotten enough food to replenish the loss of blood, the mutations will fade."

"Hmm, but we haven't really seen what he's capable of, have we?" Wesker frowned, "Either way, I think it's time we took back what was given. After all, with the strain of the virus he now has, your research will no doubt take off."

"What did you have in mind?" Downing asked, "I do need the body fairly intact."

Wesker smiled, "I think that you'll like what I have in mind," he said, "We can get rid of our mutual acquaintance, Leon S. Kennedy, test the boy's potential, and have his body brought back intact."

Downing smiled, "Nemesis?"

"We have one in storage, do we not?" Wesker asked, "What better way to put it to use? And we can loose the other Lickers to cause chaos with Leon's team."

"Ah, yes, and be rid of Miss Redfield." Downing continued to smile, "This is going to be such fun."

バイオハザード

"Man these things really stink," Ratzass grumbled as he and Hero tossed another corpse onto the pile. "Has it really only been three days?"

Hero dusted off his hands, "Don't know much about T-Virus zombies, huh?" He asked to which the other shrugged, "When infected with the T-Virus, you pretty much begin to degenerate from the inside out, like a corpse would after death. So yeah, they smell pretty ripe because they are ripe. Worse than a week old corpse left out in the sun."

"There's a nice image," Ratzass frowned, then looked down at his feet, "Hey! Look out!" Hero jerked away from the decaying hand reaching for his leg, and pulled out his sidearm to finish the Undead off. "Jeez, these things are hard to kill." Ratzass said, as Hero kicked the now dead creature back into the pile.

"Shoot'em in the head," Hero reminded him, "Maybe you should start using a rifle instead of a minigun."

The man grinned and shook his head, "Nah, man, it's not my style."

Tami and Holy Man came up with another corpse, "I think he's compensating."

"I do not think that he has the pride to do that," the tattooed man chuckled as they laid the corpse down, and offered a prayer. "May their souls be cleansed by fire."

Hero gave a nod to the attending men, "Holy Man says they're ready."

Takagi's men moved in with flamethrowers and lit the pile of bodies on fire.

Tami stepped back, the smell of burning flesh too much for her, "Is it always like this?"

Hero and Ratzass snorted, "I forgot this is the first time you've been involved with zombies." Hero said, "But yeah, it is...actually, this is a little tame compared to other times." He said, "Leon and Chris recruited me when some assholes were using Tyrants over in Afghanistan three years ago."

"G-Virus outbreak in North Dakota," Ratzass said, shaking his head, "Man that was a mess."

Tami looked a little shocked, "He just took me out of the army because I was a good marksman."

Both men winced at that, "Ouch, so this is the first time period, huh?" Hero asked, "Nothing to be ashamed of. It's nasty business. And that's why we get called in. People here would be killing their neighbors, and family. Us? No problem 'cause all we see is the zombie. Them, they still see people."

Tami nodded slowly and looked at Holy Man, who was still praying over the pyre. "What about Holy Man?"

"Doesn't talk about it, so we don't ask." Ratzass said, frowning, "All we know is that he had a real close encounter."

"And survived," Holy Man said for himself, "Five years ago. A small village, and a pack of Hunters."

"Hunters?" Tami asked.

"An unfortunate, and unholy creature that is created by fusing human and reptile DNA," Holy Man said, "Long claws, thick skin, and many teeth."

Tami looked disgusted, "I've never seen a zombie like that."

Hero looked at her, frowning, "Hunters...Hunters aren't zombies, Tami." He said, "They're just as alive as you and me. They use the T-Virus to bond the DNA together so the creature doesn't die before it's had a chance to grow."

"And people use these things as living weapons." Ratzass said, "Hunters are no joke, but I sure as hell never want to go against a G again."

Tami looked at the usually snarky soldier, "Uh, I'm probably gonna regret asking, but what's...what's this G-Virus, and these Gs you keep talking about?"

Ratzass shook his head, "They don't pop up all that often, but wherever a massive T-Virus outbreak appears, some asshole always let's a G loose."

"Gs are what we call anything or anyone infected with the G-Virus," Hero put in, "And the G-Virus is an offshoot of the T-Virus, two sides of the same coin, really. The T-Virus causes deadly mutations to any that come into contact with it, but the G-Virus has to be injected, like a self-inflicted wound. And then the body mutates beyond anything you'd be able to call human. The harder to come at the resulting creature, the meaner it gets. It just keeps regenerating and mutating until it can't anymore, and goes berserk."

"If that wasn't bad enough," Ratzass said, "The thing makes its own fucking babies. And they grow up, and make more, then those infect humans, and turn them into G-Zombies." He said, "Killed one of those things for the first time, and saw the little bastard bust right of of the thing's chest like a something you'd see off and Alien flick."

"Jesus." Tami had turned pale.

Hero nodded, "Worst part about that is the fact that the thing, human or whatever it was at the time of infection, is still alive."

"Had to incinerate the whole damned area with napalm just to make sure we got them all," Ratzass said, "If even one got out, then it'd start all over again."

Tami shook her head, "What did I get myself into?"

"Welcome to the D.S.O., kiddo," Clair said as she came up to the team, "We're the one's that hunt down man-made monsters, and the fuckers that make them." She smirked as the three men nodded, "Alright, guys, we've got more work to do. I just a call from Leon, and he's made contact with Souichiro's daughter. She's got a big group of survivors with her, so as soon as we get the VTOLs recharged, we're moving out. In the meantime, you're all going on a sewer run."

"What?" Hero growled.

"Aw, man, you've gotta be kidding," Ratzass yelled, "Is this about the joke I made?"

Clair shook her head, "'Fraid not, Rat, Leon found some Gammas down there this morning, and some other mutations he wants you to take care of. Bring some grenade launchers and heavy weapons. You will not like what you find down there."

Tami looked more uncomfortable than she had earlier while Holy Man stood and went to find his weapons. "There is a sewer entrance nearby," he said, "We should start there."

"On your six," Hero sighed, "What was that you were saying about being in the shit?" He asked as he jokingly punched Ratzass in the shoulder.

"Now how was I supposed to know?" The man asked with a hint of anger, "Man, we better have something to bust up down there, or I'm gonna be - "

"Feeling shitty?" Tami chimed in.

"You're lucky you're a rookie." Ratzass muttered.

バイオハザード

"Aw, man, I think I just stepped in shit!" Ratzass groaned as he checked his boot.

Up ahead of him, Hero shook his head, "Quit complaining, and watch your ass, Rat." He said, "We don't know what's down here besides those damned frogs."

Tami suddenly screamed as something scuttled by her and right between Hero's legs. "ROACH!"

Hero let loose with his assault rifle just before the insect could scuttle into the water. "Fucking hell," Hero said as they gathered around his kill, "This things over two feet long!"

"Explains why there's no rats down here," Holy Man said with a frown, "But if they feed on the rats, and the Gammas feed on them, then why have we not seen any Gammas?"

Hero frowned in thought, then kicked the giant roach into the water. It floated out a ways before something large underneath it sucked it down in a whirlpool of suction. "Because something's eatin' the Gammas."

"Secondary infection," Holy Man said, "They must dump Undead down here to feed the Gammas, but other animals also live down here, and feed on them in turn." He said, "And we see the result of that." He gestured to the spot the roach had been taken under.

"Eyes up," Hero said, and began moving on, "Holy Man, you've got the flame rounds, don't you?"

"Of course," Holy Man answered. "Hunters do not like fire."

"Good."

Suddenly an alarm blared overhead, and bodies began dropping out of shoots in the walls. "Oh, what now?"

One of the bodies rose up, a zombie, and staggered toward the team. Hero raised his rifle, but a movement in the water caught his attention. A Gamma charged through the murky water, mouth open, and snatched the zombie right up. Nearby, as the other zombies staggered up, another creature erupted from the water.

"Okay, now I wanna go home," Ratzass said as he saw the giant alligator. "Orders, Hero?"

"Light it up!" Hero shouted, and the team opened fire. Holy Man fired a flame round at the Gamma, setting the creature ablaze as it thrashed, trying to put the flames out. Ratzass, Hero and Tami opened up on the alligator. The beast didn't seem to care as it turned in their direction. "Aw, shit."

Holy Man fired another round at the alligator. This time, it roared as the flames crisped its skin, and dove under the water. "Explosive rounds," the tattooed man said as he began replacing the rounds.

"Grenades!" Hero shouted as the alligator rose up to attack. He tossed a grenade at its head, the explosion destroying one of its eyes, and a small portion of the head, "Aim for the mouth!"

Holy Man fired a round into the monster's mouth. "Cover!" The four soldiers turned away just as the grenade exploded, sending the top of the monster's head crashing against the wall near where they were.

Hero checked around for anymore creatures, "Stay on alert. All that noise is bound to attract attention." He frowned, and reached for his own grenade launcher, "Rat, Comacho, load up with flame rounds, Holy Man and I will take explosives."

"Uh, sir?" Tami pointed toward the water as more Gammas started to appear around the the dead alligator. Along with smaller alligators. "I think we're gonna need help?"

Hero shook his head, "We are the help." He said, and took aim, "Give'em hell."

バイオハザード

Takashi rotated his shoulder stiffly. The bone spike had retreated, and his arm was now back to normal while also being back down to two eyes. [Thank God that Alice didn't see me.] He thought tiredly as he sat on the edge of the bunk he'd claimed in the mattress store.

He was also thankful that they'd gotten the medicine back in time. Apparently the old woman had started a rapid decline just after they left on top of Shimada's assault of Shizuka. [Just an all around rotten day,] he thought tiredly as he laid back on the pillows.

Leon's arrival had put everyone in a better mood after what Shimada pulled, and the fact that Takashi had drawn more than a few looks as the curtain he had around himself couldn't hide his shoulder, or the eye that had sprouted on his cheek.

The last kick in the nuts for his group, at least where Asami was concerned, was the fact that her superior officer had turned up. As an Undead. She was distraught over the loss, and near inconsolable. She even went as far as saying she didn't care a bit what happened to the people she had been watching over the entire time.

And worst of all, she had yelled at Kohta, who had just been trying to comfort her.

He felt her pain, he really did, but was she really blind to the attraction that was forming between the two of them? Even he wasn't that dense. At least, he hoped that he wasn't.

"Hey," he jumped when he heard Leon's voice nearby, "Saya wanted me to give these back to you." He came into his area holding his sword, and pistol, "She put the grenade launcher back in that bus you guys brought over."

"Thank you," Takashi said as he took the weapons back gratefully, before looking down, "I...I'm not much of a fighter."

Leon chuckled, "I've heard," he jerked his thumb toward the kitchen area that Saeko had set up, "You pal Morita's one hell of a chatterbox. He and Ratzass would get along just fine."

"Ratzass?" Takashi smirked.

"Hell of a nickname, I know, but he likes it," the man said, and sat on the edge of the bed, "You know you've got nothing to blame on yourself, right?" He asked, "In all honesty, you did what anyone would've, and should've done, and prioritized the safety of a friend, and the mission objective in one move."

Takashi shook his head, "And I halfway turned into a monster."

"You can work around that," Leon said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Takashi, I meant what I said. I'm impressed with you, all of you, really." He said with a smile, "You and that Saya girl are both great with a pistol from what I hear, and that sword of yours has seen some battle." He said, and chuckled, "I watched Kohta teaching Naomi some better sniper tactics, and I even pitched in a little. I watched Morita and your friend Hisashi sparring, and I gotta say that they have potential. Takuzo is a fine gunman, too. I haven't seen him miss once." He laughed again, "And watching Rei and Saeko spar with a sword and spear was something to behold. Those two actually scare me."

Takashi actually laughed, "Yeah, Saeko scares me more than Rei does," he said, "Rei still things of the Zs as human, but Saeko? Never hesitates."

"Trust me, I've been there way too many times," Leon nodded sagely, "What I'm most impressed about is how much respect you seem to command around here. Powers or not, your friends are almost fatally loyal to you. Even Shizuka." He said with a slight blush, "Hmm, Clair's not gonna like her all that much."

"Why?" Takashi asked, surprised, "Shizuka's always been a pretty sweet woman, a little air-headed, but sweet."

Leon chuckled, "Put it this way, Takashi, Clair thinks anyone with tits that big is a hoochie."

Takashi sputtered, and started laughing uncontrollably. "She's not like that!"

"I know," Leon smirked, raising his hand to show him a few bandages, "She was nice enough to patch me up when I got here. Pushing open a manhole cover isn't easy." He sighed, "Anyway, back to what I was saying. Takashi, since it's gonna be a little while before my team gets here, or that we leave, period since you could leave any time with the vehicles, how would you like me to teach you a few things?"

Takashi looked at him, "You mean it?"

"Sure do," Leon smirked again, "After we get out of here, your group is more than welcome in my unit. And if you've got my vote, no one is gonna argue, except maybe Chris, or Jill, but you guys can handle it."

"Join the D.S.O.?" Takashi breathed out, "Wow, I...I never even thought..."

Leon sighed, "Kid, do you really think that, even if you do find a cure, that you'd be content with your old life?"

Takashi shook his head, "I wasn't content to begin with."

"Exactly." Leon said, "You and Kohta are the one's that stand out the most, but Morita and the other fighters are just as far gone as they can be without snapping." He said, "Some people go the wrong way, but we in the D.S.O. are dedicated to the eradication of all B.O.W.s, and they aren't going to go away any time soon. Even if I hunt down every former member of Umbrella, the research is still out there, and there are plenty of countries that are in possession of them." He shook his head, "And I hate to say it, but I'm not getting any younger. Sooner or later, I'll slip up, and that'll be that."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Takashi sighed, "I can take anything these things dish out, but what happens if...if I turn on them?"

"Then they'll take care of you," Leon said with a hint of confidence, "They probably already know what you're afraid of, and decided among themselves what to do if you actually turned." He sighed, "I've had to do that for too many people." He said, "Including you little miss Asami." He frowned, shaking his head, "You should've seen her face when I walked up to her friend and put a bullet in her head."

Takashi could imagine. The fact that he had been so close to losing Saya only a few hours ago hadn't totally sunk in, yet, but imagining her walking around as an Undead bio weapon made him physically sick to his stomach.

Taking a deep breath, he gave the older man a look, "So, when do we start?"

バイオハザード

Author's Note: Yeah, Leon's gonna be training Takashi. Not bad, huh? And there's gonna be a seriously OP weapon in this fic. Anyone wanna guess what it is? Come on! GUESSGUESSGUESSGUESS! And someone got there wish, sort of, in seeing Leon's team going up against Wesker's monster squad down in the sewers. And Wesker is on the move in an attempt to nab Takashi. BOSS BATTLE Nemesis Vs. Takashi!

If you wanna see it, destroy that Review button!