Disclaimer: CAPCOM owns Resident Evil. I own my OC and make no profit from writing this.
"This sucks," Alma gasped, struggling to reload her shotgun as she narrowly dodged El Gigante's grabby hands. "Shit, fuck, shit, fuck-!"
Her last words came out as a feeble squeak when she felt one of those monstrous paws come around her, pinning her arms to her side and lifted her clear off the ground. He folded his left hand around his right and began to squeeze.
"Hang on!" She heard her partner yell out over the sound of rapid gunfire.
She managed to get an arm free and clawed futilely at whatever bits of her opponent she could reach. An explosion rocked the ground beneath them, courtesy of a well-thrown frag grenade.
A pained grunt escaped her lips when she was abruptly dropped to the ground.
El Gigante stood, shaking his head before letting out a roar that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
"Keep shooting Nguyen!" Leon yelled, dodging a swipe from their opponent with a nimble combat roll.
"On it!" she called back breathlessly, racking her shotgun and looking up just in time to narrowly avoid getting her face rearranged by a tree trunk.
Alma crashed belly-first onto the ground, feeling the air rush over her head from his swing, ruffling her hair.
'That was too close. Where the fuck did he get a tree from!? I swear those weren't here earlier,' she thought, rolling to the side when he brought the tree trunk down, leaving a huge imprint in the dirt where her body had been seconds before.
"This is entirely un-good," she gasped, rolling onto her back and raising the shotgun, giving the giant a buckshot shampoo just before he swung at her once more.
He staggered back, shaking his head and growling. Alma took the opportunity to haul ass over to where Leon was on the opposite side of the small area.
"What do we do? He won't fucking die!" Alma hissed. Leon's eyes darted over to her, looking every bit as terrified and helpless as she felt.
The two agents found themselves being backed against the wall. It seemed like the beast just shook off whatever damage they did to him.
"There are worse ways to go, I guess," Alma found herself saying before she could stop, a disbelieving laugh escaping her lips.
"Yeah, like what?" Leon scoffed, frowning when his handgun clicked empty.
"Scaphism."
Leon gave her a bewildered look before a mournful howl filled the air. "What the-?"
"Look! Up there!" Alma pointed up to the top of the mining camp.
"It's that dog," Leon said breathlessly. "No way-."
They watched as the dog made its way down into the camp, hopping from rocky outcropping to rocky outcropping. He finally made it to the ground and began barking at El Gigante.
The monster turned, giving the dog its full attention, allowing the agents to catch their breaths and get their wits about them once more.
The dog darted between El Gigante's legs, eliciting an irritated roar from said-giant. When he turned to face the dog he received a grenade to the spine, courtesy of Leon.
El Gigante roared, grabbing his head as he teetered from side to side before taking a knee. A huge parasite burst out of El Gigante's back not seconds later.
Alma made a face of disgust, emptying a few handgun rounds into the parasite before digging through her ammo pouch for more. She could hear Leon doing the same, the parasite taking three more shots before vanishing back into the monster's body.
"That was progress," she murmured to herself as the duo began circling their opponent, trading blows with their shotguns to draw its attention. They finally found their rhythm; it took roughly four shotgun shells to the face and back to stagger it before the parasite would reveal itself. After that it would take a few shots before disappearing into its body once more.
"Just fucking die already!" Alma snarled when the parasite appeared for the fourth time. She was running out of ammunition and aching something fierce from being smacked around like a ragdoll when the fight began.
Alma's heart nearly stopped when she heard a pained yip. Her head snapped to the side, seeing the poor dog tumble across the ground. He came to a stop at her feet, a weak whimper escaping him.
"Oh no-," she knelt down, resting a hand on its heaving side. She felt her throat grow tight when her palm came away wet with blood. While she was suitably distracted with the injured dog lying before her, El Gigante took the opportunity to deliver a brutal kick to her midsection.
It launched her across the camp. A shriek of both surprise and pain escaped her when she crashed into one of the shacks. Wood splintered around her and she found herself in a heap on the floor.
"Alma!" she was briefly aware of Leon yelling her name though the world was beginning to swim in and out of focus. "Hang on! I'm coming!"
"Hangin'," she managed to say weakly, tasting blood in her mouth though she wasn't entirely sure where it was coming from.
She lifted her head, wincing when pain flared through the back of her skull. Alma watched through watery eyes as her partner vaulted onto El Gigante's back, sawing away at the parasite with his combat knife before leaping to the ground.
They watched with bated breath as El Gigante roared, flailing his arms around for a moment before falling forward, landing motionless at Leon's feet. The sound of metal grinding echoed through the small mining camp as the gates finally opened. Leon kept his eyes trained on the giant, warily making his way to where Alma lay.
"Hey," he said softly, taking a knee beside her and resting a hand gently on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Been better," she managed to say weakly, pulling a deep breath of cool air into her lungs. "Also been worse, but we won't get into that."
"Hard to see what could be worse than this," Leon muttered, raking his gaze over her body as he looked for injuries. "What hurts?"
"Truthfully? Everything."
"Alma-," he sighed reproachfully.
"Is the dog okay?"
"Al-."
"I'm serious. Is he okay?"
"You were just punted into a wooden cabin from ten feet away and you're worried about the dog?"
Alma frowned, letting him help her into a sitting position. "If it weren't for him we'd be dead."
Leon glanced over his shoulder, seeing the dog limp towards them. The dog sat beside the pair, nuzzling his head under Leon's arm in an attempt to get Leon to pet him. "Looks like he's okay."
"Can you bandage his leg?"
Leon gave her a disbelieving look but figured it would be pointless to argue and pulled a first aid kit from his ammo pouch. As he did so, Alma began taking stock of her injuries. So far it looked like she'd be nursing an impressive laceration to her forehead above her eyebrow and a nasty headache.
She shrugged her tactical vest off, wincing as she did so, and drew her shirt up to her neck.
"How do I look?"
"With your eyes," Leon replied, eliciting a half-hearted snort of laughter from Alma.
"You're hilarious. But really, how fucked up am I?" she asked, waiting for him to face her.
"What's wrong-?" he trailed off when he faced her, both pleased and surprised he didn't blush at the sight of her half-naked.
Her training as both a martial artist and federal agent left her with a banging body, including a set of abs that were more defined than his own were.
'Don't stare, don't stare, don't stare,' he repeated to himself over and over again as his eyes raked over her slender figure, looking for any injuries.
"You're staring," she said, lips quirking into a little half-smile that did odd things to the butterflies suddenly present in his stomach.
"If you recall, you asked me to look. I'm just being thorough," he shrugged casually, seeing her cheeks flush. "You're bruised pretty badly back here along your ribs." She shivered when she felt his fingers touch her skin and tried to tell herself it was only because his hands were cold. "But I don't see anything else."
"Thanks," she managed to squeak out, yanking her shirt down bashfully and tucking it into her pants once more.
"Here, let me help." He held out her tactical vest, helping her back into it and fastening the clasps closed. "Let's get you patched up now that Fido is okay."
"Thanks," she said softly once more, hands falling to her lap as she let him take care of her wounds.
Five steri-strips, three Tylenol, and fourteen doggy kisses later Alma was as good as new. They decided to make another trip to their new merchant friend before heading towards the church to save their charge.
"Are you really going to carry him all the way down there?" Leon asked, watching her teeter unsteadily with the dog in her arms before getting her footing.
"Of course. The only reason I work out is so I can carry every dog I meet like a baby," she replied, giggling when the dog (affectionately named 'Rex' by Alma) gave her a lick on the chin.
"We can't take him with us," Leon repeated for what must have been the seventh or eighth time.
"I know," she said snippily, carrying him down the stairs. "I was hoping our new friend would be able to look after him."
Leon arched a brow. "Do you really think he will?"
"Doesn't hurt to ask. Worst he could say is no," Alma stated, a smile gracing her lips when she spotted the small shop.
"Looking a bit rough there, strangers," the merchant commented, eyeing them both.
"Yeah. Would've been nice to know about the ambush they set up," Leon commented, folding his arms over his chest.
"Wouldn't have done ya' any good. That's the only way back to the village proper," the merchant replied with a shrug. "Don't blame me for your own shortcomings."
Leon's eyebrows shot up into his hairline at those words and Alma pressed her face into Rex's fur to stifle a laugh.
"We have a favor to ask-."
"You have a favor to ask. Leave me out of this," Leon interrupted her, eliciting a glare from the raven-haired agent.
"Fine. I have a favor to ask you. Is there any way you could look after this dude? Just until he's better? He saved our lives and we can't take him with us." Alma rested her chin atop Rex's head, giving the merchant the best pouty puppy dog eyes she could manage.
The merchant looked from the dog to Leon and back to the dog. "Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack."
The merchant rolled his eyes at her cheek. "I suppose I could. Only till he's better though. After that-."
"Great!" Alma exclaimed excitedly, placing Rex down on the counter between them. "You hear that baby? He's gonna look after you and make sure you get all better!"
Leon exchanged an uncomfortable look with the merchant at the baby talk coming from the woman at his side.
"Now that that's sorted, I need more bullets."
"Anything for you princess," the merchant grumbled, turning to retrieve a few cases off the shelf.
Alma pursed her lips in annoyance at the nickname, resting a hand on her hip but remained quiet. She didn't want to jeopardize Rex's only chance at survival by being a mouthy bitch.
Once their supplies were replenished the duo retraced their steps back to the mining camp, gathering up a few more boxes of handgun ammunition and the occasional herb.
"Alright, let's finally head towards that god damn church and get Ashley out of here," Alma sighed, shoving the door open that led to the wooden walkways before lightning flashed and the heavens opened above them.
"If it's not one thing it's another," Leon muttered, sharing an irritated look with Alma.
"No kidding," she grumbled, switching on the flashlight attached to the shoulder of her tactical vest as she followed closely behind him across the walkways.
"-fucking mutt!" Alma gasped, grappling with the Plagas-infected pooch that had pounced on her as soon as they got to the top of the hill. Luckily Leon was ready with his shotgun and one round melted said-pooch into a pile of goop.
"And that's why I'm a cat person," Leon commented, helping her to her feet.
Alma dusted herself off before giving him a confused look. "You like cats?"
"I was being facetious," he replied.
Alma pursed her lips. "What does that mean?"
"It means-uh-being-."
"It's okay. Sometimes I use words I don't understand too just to make myself sound more photosynthesis."
Leon rolled his eyes at her cheek. "You know, when you try to insult someone for using big words to sound smart, all you're really saying is 'I'm insecure about my own poor vocabulary and lack of knowledge on this topic'."
"Shit, Leon. Throwing shade like that," Alma pouted, glaring at him. "You're being a bit of a butt and I don't appreciate it."
Leon chuckled, slinging his shotgun over his shoulder before withdrawing his handgun from its holster. "Ready?"
"Always."
They held their breath when Leon placed the emblem into the spiral indentation. He turned it a full 180 degrees before a loud 'click' was heard and the doors eased open slowly.
"What an odd church," Alma commented, Picador at the ready as they strolled down the middle aisle towards the altar. Candelabras were lit on both sides near the front pews and the same insignia that was on the emblem was on a pane of stained glass on the back wall.
"I wonder if this insignia is religious related?" Leon commented, examining the altar.
"You think?" Alma snorted, rolling her eyes. "All that cult shit Mendez has in his house didn't clue you in?"
"Whatever," Leon grumbled, cutting through the pews to a small hallway. "There's a ladder over here."
"Lovely." Alma waited for him to scale it before following suit to the second floor balcony.
"Ashley's gotta be here somewhere. There's gotta be some way to open these bars, but how?" Leon mused aloud, resting a hand on the iron rails.
"What's that over there?" Alma pointed towards what looked like a control panel on the opposite side of the church.
"Huh. Maybe it's a way to open it?"
"Yeah, but how are we gonna get over there-?" she trailed off, eyes slightly smaller than tea saucers as the honey-haired agent leapt onto the chandelier, swinging back and forth to gain momentum before launching himself onto the opposite balcony. "Uh, I'm not going to do that."
"That's fine. I don't need your help with this," he called back over, examining the control panel. He hit a switch, causing three differently colored beams of light to appear beside the stain glass panel. "This is weird. Okay. I can do this."
He began turning switches, trying to figure out a pattern but nothing stuck out to him.
"You need some help?" he heard Alma call over.
"No! I'm good!" he replied, ignoring the little voice in his head that said 'you are most certainly not good' and continued trying to figure out the odd puzzle he was presented with. Alma frowned, folding her arms over her chest, tapping her toe impatiently.
When five minutes had passed and progress had yet to be made, Alma jumped down to the first level of the church, turning to face the glass panel.
"Maybe you should line up the shapes with each other?" she suggested, turning to face her partner.
"Yeah, but they're all jagged and-wait a second," he trailed off, beginning to see a pattern Once he had them where he thought they belonged, he hit the center switch, hearing a loud metallic clank.
The two agents looked over to see the iron bars begin to slowly rise into the ceiling.
"Great job Leon!" she laughed, jogging over to the ladder to join him once more.
When she reached the second floor, he was standing before a metal door, handgun at the ready and his hand on the knob.
Leon glanced over at her and she obediently raised her gun, exhaling softly before giving a curt nod.
He opened the door gently as Alma cautiously entered the room. Her eyes widened when she saw a head of blond hair run across the room.
"Ashley?" she said softly.
"Don't come!" she replied shakily, grabbing a piece of wood and launching it towards Alma. Alma knocked it aside with her hand, tucking her gun back into her holster as she tried to ignore the way her eyes began tearing up.
"Ash, it's me, Alma," she said quietly, approaching Ashley slowly as though she were a frightened animal.
"A-A-Alma?" Ashley repeated, eyes widening a fraction. Alma remained still, waiting for Ashley to come to her.
It didn't take long. A few seconds later and Alma found her arms full of her sobbing blonde charge. A grunt of pain escaped her when Ashley hugged her painfully hard around the middle though she didn't pull away.
"I thought no one would ever come for me," Ashley sobbed against the front of Alma's tactical vest. "He-they-told me you were dead!"
"Who's he Ashley?" Alma asked, carding her fingers gently through Ashley's hair.
"I-I don't know. I-I didn't see his face. He just grabbed me and-oh god I was so scared Alma!"
"I know sweet pea, but I'm here now. My partner and I are going to take you home."
"Partner?" Ashley echoed, raising her tear-streaked face to meet Alma's questioningly.
Leon stepped into the room, making himself known. "Hi Ashley. My name is Leon. I'm under the president's orders, along with Alma, to rescue you."
"My-my father?"
"That's right. Let's get you out of here," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. Alma raised a brow when she saw Ashley blush but thought nothing of it. After all, Leon Kennedy was a lovely male specimen.
"Let me radio Hunnigan that we found her. Can you…?" he trailed off, nodding to Ashley.
"Yeah. Give us a few minutes and we'll be out."
"Sounds good." He gave Ashley another smile before exiting the small storeroom, shutting the door behind him.
"Ashley, are you-?"
"Is he single?"
"Is he sin-what? I don't know. That's not important right now," Alma sighed in exasperation. "What is important is you. Are you injured?"
"No. They didn't hurt me. Well, at least not after the initial kidnapping."
"What do you mean?"
"I just got roughed up a bit, bumped my head. Nothing bad. They keep me locked up but no one has hurt me since I got here."
"That's good. Has anyone sex-?"
"Oh my god no. I wasn't raped," Ashley said quickly, waving her hands before her dismissively. "I swear. No one has touched me aside from when they moved me from that small house in the valley. Some asshole shoved me and I fell and skinned my knees but that's it."
"Good." Alma breathed a sigh of relief, lips curving into a tired smile. "I'm glad you're okay Ashley."
"I'm glad you're okay too, Alma-llama."
Alma smiled wider at her beloved nickname, reaching forward and giving Ashley another hug before they parted. "Alright. What say we make like the good shepherd and get the flock out of here?"
"Oh hell yes!"
"You ready?"
"Fuck yeah," Alma laughed, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Don't get too comfortable. We still have to get to the extraction point."
"Where is the extraction point?"
"You remember that other trail we didn't take when we got here? When we went right instead of left?"
"We're going left this time?"
"You got it."
"Alright. Let's get moving."
The trio headed for the ladder. Leon jumped down, landing nimbly on his feet. Ashley frowned, twisting her fingers into the fabric of her skirt.
"Go on Ashley. I'll be right behind you," Alma assured her.
"But what if he looks up my skirt?" Ashley whispered. Alma gave her a 'look', trying her best to stay patient but she really wanted them to get moving.
"Just jump. I'll catch you," Leon called up to her. Ashley gave Alma a worried look before glancing down at Leon. "Promise!"
"Oh, shit," Ashley squeaked out as she jumped, landing in his arms. Alma began climbing down the ladder, reaching the bottom as she followed the other two.
"I'll take the girl." They spun around, seeing a tall man in a purple robe step forward from the altar. He was holding a strangely crafted staff, his skin a sallow color and his eyes were dark gray.
"Who are you?" Leon asked, placing himself between the girls and the newcomer.
"If you must know, my name is Osmund Saddler. The master of this fine, religious community."
"That's Saddler?" Alma whispered to Leon who gave her a small shrug before addressing him once more.
"What do you want?"
"To demonstrate to the whole world our astounding power, of course," he replied. "No longer will the United States think they can police the world forever. So, we kidnapped the President's Daughter in order to give her our power and then…send her back…"
"No," Ashley whispered, eyes widening as she rested a hand over her throat. "I-I think they shot something into my neck."
Alma's eyes narrowed dangerously. They must have injected her with las plagas or whatever it was called too.
"What did you do to her?" Leon practically growled, his voice sending shivers down Alma's spine.
"We just planted her a little…gift. Oh, there will be one hell of a party when she returns home to her loving father," he laughed, beginning to advance on the trio. "But, before that, I thought I might bargain with the President for some donations. You see, it takes a lot of money to keep this church up and running."
"Faith and money will lead you nowhere Saddler," Leon shot back.
"Oh, that reminds me. I almost forgot. We gave you two the same gift. Oh, I truly hope you like our small but special contributions. When the eggs hatch, you will become my puppets. Involuntarily you'll do as I say. I'll have total control over your minds. I wouldn't mind a new body guard…and mistress…," he trailed off, eyeing Alma.
She bared her teeth at him angrily, trying to ignore the way his lecherous grin made her skin crawl.
"Don't you think this is a revolutionary way to propagate ones fate?" Saddler asked, smirking wider.
"Sounds more like an alien invasion if you ask me," Leon commented, grabbing Alma's wrist and pulling her closer to his back protectively.
Alma's head snapped around when the door burst open. Two men wearing black robes entered the church, holding up crossbows with flaming bolts.
Saddler simply smiled as Alma's eyes met Leon's, the plan going unspoken between them as Leon grabbed Ashley's hand, dragging her behind him. Alma pulled the pin on the flash grenade she had been palming since Saddler's speech began, launching it towards the pair and blinding them momentarily.
"Move!" she heard Leon yell as both he and Alma grabbed Ashley around the waist and leapt through the window.
Alma and Leon rolled forward to ease their landings but Ashley wasn't so lucky. She crashed painfully onto the ground with a yelp. Alma leapt to her feet, grasping Ashley's hand and helping her up.
"You okay?" Alma asked, giving her a once-over.
"I-I'm fine. What-what's going to happen to us?" Ashley questioned, looking fearfully between the two agents.
"Don't worry. We got into this mess, we can get out of it," Leon assured her.
"Right, well, I think we should get moving. I'm getting this bad feeling in my gut and I'm not 100% sure it's the parasite," Alma sighed, reaching up to fix her ponytail.
"I second that," Ashley quickly agreed.
"Alright. I'll take point. Ashley, stay close. Alma-." The aforementioned woman gave him a curt salute to show she was listening. He raked his eyes over her, lingering on the gash above her right eyebrow. "-Try not to die."
"No promises," Alma replied with a chuckle, following them through the door and into the night.
Sorry I've been MIA. I'll try to be better, no promises though. Thanks everyone whose read this. Hope you've enjoyed it so far. Also, I don't recommend googling 'Scaphism'. It's gross. Anywhore, cabin fight is coming up. Gonna be making some progress. This chapter took so long because I wasn't sure how to write the El Gigante scene. Love you, darlings.
