A/N: Capcom relies heavily on homages to other series. They spend a good portion of time playing mirror to Aliens. For me, I'm throwing this one at Terminator. Suffice to say, these two heroes have a battle on their hands.

Here Be Monsters

Part One:

The Devil's Legacy

Chapter 3:

Sarah Conner

The car squealed around a turn so fast that Leon cautioned, "...easy...easy." She'd taken over driving so he could operate his phone and search for answers while simultaneously assuming a guard dog position in the passenger seat.

Easy he said. Take it easy.

She wanted to kick him really hard for the suggestion.

Right.

Easy.

Was any of this easy?!

Angry now, Rebecca snapped, "Do I look like the type who takes it easy? I look like a girl whose got it all together here? I'm being chased by a psycho because of some goddamn suitcase that some dude handed me...I didn't ask for this! Ok!? And I don't want it!"

Leon was watching her with a calm expression. She muttered angrily, jerking on the wheel until he inquired, "...feel better?"

She said nothing.

He added, "Did that help at all?"

She shook her head, gnawing on her lower lip. He patted her knee and told her, "Get mad if you want, kiddo. It won't do any damn good, but go ahead and get it out. Mad is better than scared anyway, right? Channel that anger. Rage against the machine. Piss and moan and fight. That's how you keep alive. It's how you keep going."

Rebecca shook her head again, steering through the darkness. "Stop talking."

He looked amused in her peripheral vision. "...seriously?"

She nodded, turning down a side road, "Yeah. Stop talking. You're making it worse. I don't need a rousing fight song here either, Kennedy. Ok? Just let me fester and leave me alone."

He did just that.

She liked that about him. He seemed happy to take commands when they suited him. She tried to stop the anger when it descended into tears. She really, really did, but here they came anyway. They leaked out of her eyes.

He said nothing. He didn't even look over. He let her cry silently and said nothing.

He was a good man.

She was going to get him killed because of it.

Rebecca hunkered a little in the seat wanting, not for the first time, to be anyone but herself. She wanted to be bigger, braver, more bad ass and better equipped to take on bad guys. She wanted to be Jill or Claire or Wonder Woman...or what? What?

Sarah Conner. She wanted to be Sarah Conner. That woman fought machines and survived! After a moment of thinking of it, Rebecca told Leon, "...I'm Sarah Conner."

Surprised, he glanced up from his phone. She was circling the car to park outside of a run down warehouse in the middle of a dark alley. He furrowed his brow as she went on, "I am. I'm Sarah Conner. Someone wants me dead...someone who won't die...it's surreal."

She swung the car into a quiet spot on the street, killed the lights, and killed the engine. The tick seemed loud in the silence. Leon was watching her in the muted darkness. She wondered, "...you gonna die on me like Reese?"

He flashed a smile that looked white in the murky shadow, "...not today, kid. I'm not some rookie living in mortal fear anymore, Rebecca. I know what I'm doing. You don't need to worry about being Sarah Conner, because I'm already a bad ass. It's ok to be afraid. It's ok to be worried about Krauser. You should be, he's scary. He's terrifying when you don't know how to handle him, but that's what we're doing here right? We're here to handle him. So..."

He put his hand out an waited. She twitched her mouth as he invited again, "...come with me if you want to live."

She smiled and shook her head, "...you're a clever guy."

"I have my moments."

She took his hand and he patted the top of hers with the other one. "...now let's go find out how to kick the ass of a monster who won't die."

She wasn't sure why, but it was desperately easy to believe in him.

Quint, affectionately called "Q" by those who knew him well, was a man with a code name in his business that might have offended other men. It was Jackass, because he was always braying about something and often didn't have the ass to back it up. In this case, a bragging Q was a good one.

He was currently digging around in his computer like a man possesed. His set up was something that any computer nerd would envy. It was monitors and lights and flickering machines in a cold room. He was slapping keys and rolling between monitors to check data.

He was madly in love with Rebecca and she was basically exploiting that love to get answers here, but she didn't feel bad. Q knew where their relationship stood. They had one date- a bad one- and ended things with a reluctant friendship. He was tenacious about wanting her back, of course, but not obnoxious. His lack of charming was his most charming asset.

He was a man with little in the way of looks. His big ears and balding head beneath big glasses and a sad attempt at beard under a hooked nose left little in the way of leers or lady appreciation, but the brain inside that balding head was brilliant. His most attractive feature was his genius.

He clicked his tongue, rolled his wheels, and worked tirelessly to track Krauser. When he got a moment to sip coffee, he mused, "...why you look like a fucking model man?"

Leon, amused, was leaning on the wall watching him work. He tilted his head, "Do I?"

Q scoffed, "Come on...you know you look like an actor in a bad spy movie. You James Bond over there and me the ugly sidekick. I'm, literally, the Q to your 007."

Leon chuckled lightly, "What you look like is irrelevant when you're ass deep in monsters."

Q scoffed again and rolled around to tap keys, "I bet the pussy that face gets you makes up for the risk to your ass though."

Rebecca winced and murmured, "...sorry. He's-"

Leon winked at her, "Harmless. He's harmless."

Q added, "Sadly, I'm so harmless girls just ignore me." He waited, rolled his neck and remarked, "If I save you, can I get another chance?"

Rebecca snorted. Leon smirked and offered, "...you should say yes. Guy is saving your life a little here."

She gave Leon a look and remarked, "...so did you. You want a date too?"

Q made a "pfft" sound, "There goes my shot. You think I can compete with the walking wet dream over there? Girls probably cream their panties just catching a glimpse of that ridiculous hair."

Leon couldn't stop the laugh. Rebecca flushed with embarrassment, "...again. Sorry."

"Hey, if he's as good as you said, he can make all the jokes he wants."

Q returned, carelessly, "I'm better...at all things." He leered and cooed, "I could show you sometime, B. I wasn't graced with the beauty...but I was graced with the beast...if you catch my drift."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. Leon chortled. Q told them, "...meaning I have a huge dong."

That was it. That was all it took. Leon burst into laughter. Rebecca got up to walk away to the bathroom and splash water on her face. She couldn't believe how bad the manners were on that man! He was filter-less. She wondered if there was any chance at all that this didn't end with her slapping his face.

And then he called, "Whoa...whoa whoa whoa...tits on a tranny...look here."

He gestured and alluded, "...see the connection here? Your guy? He's working with the syndicate."

Leon's brow furrowed. Rebecca mused, "Is that like...capital S?"

Leon answered her, "Yeah. The Syndicate has made some small waves behind the scenes for months now. We haven't been able to get a line on them, but it's clear they're working with someone on the black market for the sale of B.O.W.S. Jack was never a patriot, but a terrorist? Someone must have acquired him after I assumed he was dead and turned him completely. Can you follow the money to the financier?"

Q blew out a breath, "More blocks in my way than the chastity belt around B's panties over there, but I can try. Gonna take me some time."

Leon nodded, he glanced at Rebecca and told her, "We should work on the case and see if we can get it open. You don't know what it could possibly hold?"

Rebecca shook her head as they took up a spot on the couch. She tapped the case. Leon went to work on the lock with a couple paper clips without any lock. He frowned, rubbing the rough skin of his chin that was just starting to sprout some facial fuzz.

Without thinking, Rebecca told him, "I think you'd look cute with a little beard."

Amused, Leon arched a brow, "It looks more like a dirty face than a beard."

She smiled, "I bet it's still attractive."

From behind them, Quint hooted, "Lookie looker...buy me a hooker...I found the money man."

The lights went out.

Everyone froze in total darkness.

There was a scuffling sound beyond the door. Leon put a hand on Rebecca and she shifted soundlessly behind him. The door opened with a squeal of squeaky hinges. There was the thump of footsteps crossing the floor.

A flicker of movement in the shadows had Leon turning his gun in the darkness. He was itching to shoot, but the risk of hitting Quint was tantamount. He hesitated and a voice called, "...fee fi fo fum...I smell the blood of the young and dumb."

Krauser.

Leon and Rebecca backed up together in the dark. She clung to the back of his shirt as he angled them toward the door. His photographic memory was a gift in the dark. He knew where everything was like the lights were still on. He herded her carefully around the couch and toward the door.

Something brushed his hip and he knew it was Quint by the familiar smell of Old Spice and tacos. The good part about being trained like he was, was that Leon could track in the dark the same as the light. He wasn't blind here. Krauser knew that. He was just fucking with them.

When they reached the door, Leon felt Rebecca and Quint duck through first. He carefully backed up after them. Something shifted in the shadows they'd left behind and Leon fired. Just like that. No warning.

The gun sparked in the dark.

The echo of the bullet was loud.

There was a grunt and crash as Krauser was tossed backward over whatever furniture was near him. Leon turned, slamming the door in his wake, and commanded on a shout, "GO!"

The other two ran for it. Rebecca cried out, "-the case!"

And Quint bellowed, "I got it! What the hell do you think I was after when the lights went out?!"

The sound of fighting made her panic. She started to turn back and Quint dragged her on, "Come on! He can handle it!"

Leon ducked in the dark. He pivoted. He weaved. One thing was true, Krauser didn't have the agility to fight like him. He never had. Leon came up with the knife in his left hand and jabbed. He felt it hit, felt the blood, smelled the copper and spun out and away.

Jack grunted, gasping. He laughed, "You little shit! You coward! Come back here!"

Leon shot from the dark again and sent the other man into the wall. He sprang off and tackled him. It was like being hit by a buffalo. They went over the kitchen table in a clatter and hit the cabinets behind. Leon missed losing his face to the fist that flew at it. Krauser hit the floor with a roar of pain, Leon leveraged up and elbow him in the face, and he jabbed the knife in his fist into Krauser's chest.

It made a clunk sound that scared him.

All joking aside...was Krauser even human under the skin?

What the hell was he...Wolverine?!

Leon tucked the gun under his chin and Krauser head butted him.

It rang, his vision bisected, and someone shouted, "You piece of monkey shit!"

Quint kicked Krauser in the balls from above and behind. The other man went pale and Leon humped him off his body from beneath him. He threw him into the cabinets and Rebecca jerked him to his feet.

Quint shouted, "GO! Get to the choppa!"

He ignited the hairspray can, flipped open the light in his hands, and hit the flame with the spray. It lit Krauser up like a Christmas tree. The man squealed on the floor, tossing in flames as they backed up. He smacked into the wall, screaming, burning.

Quint taunted, "Fee fi fo fum...I smell the death of the big and dumb!"

And Leon commanded, "NOW! GO!"

They all ran for the front door.

Impressed, Rebecca kept pace with Quint as he led her through his living room and out the front door into the dark street. They herded together into his van, Quint claiming the wheel as Leon reached the van and the front door was thrown open behind them. Krauser raced out, smoldering but alive, burning but determined, Quint shouted, "What fucking freak-o-steroids is that shit!?"

And the van squealed as he gunned it away from the curb.

Krauser gave chase, Leon firing on him as he claimed a place in the back of the van. It smelled of marijuana and old tacos. What was it with the guy and tacos?

Rebecca huddled down on the floor, shaking.

Quint squealed around a turn and it tossed Leon into the wall of the van with a clang. He shouted, "S-s-sorry! Sorry! Shit man. Sorry."

Leon grunted and took back his position. He fired again, pissed about the loss of the shotgun in the house behind them. There was no time to lament it's loss sadly, as Krauser was gaining on them. Plugged full of holes from a goddamn Magnum and he was still gaining on a speeding van.

Leon shouted, "Spin the wheel full circle...NOW!"

Quint did it, no asking, no arguing. The van spun out, Rebecca shouted in fear, and it smashed into Krauser in mid spin. It threw him to the side, Leon shot him in the groin and heard him roar as they over rotated, and Leon commanded, "Now gun it!"

Quint grabbed the wheel, jerked hard, and gunned the engine. The old blue van roared in response. It shot away like a dart. Rebecca rolled across the floor, dazed from smacking hard into the door. Leon tugged her upright and settled her against the wall instead, "...you ok?"

She nodded and gave him a tremulous thumbs up. He patted her knee and took up post again watching out the window.

Quint informed them, "I got a buddy from World's of Warcraft that lives in Wombat Junction. He owns a cabin up north. What do you say we go camping?"

Leon glanced over his shoulder, "Bear Creek?"

Quint nodded, "Yep. It's big enough to work like a hideout man. And it ain't mine so the Juggernaut back there shouldn't be able to find us for a minute at least."

Leon informed him, "Take us there. No side streets. No alleys. Stay on the highway, broad sight, open and ready. I want the other cars to dissuade this fucker from getting too aggressive. Impervious or not, he can't fight the entire might of the goddamn National Guard he starts killing mass amounts of civilians on the open road man. He's escaped so far because we keep running. We need to stop running and corner his ass."

Rebecca said quietly, "What about...a trap?"

He glanced at her.

Quint piped up, "Hell yeah...a bait and switch right? We set it up so it looks like Rebecca leaves the case somewhere? Maybe we get the drop on him for a change and he ends up trapped."

Leon considered things. Like it or not, he'd inherited another person to defend and protect. No way they could risk Q by leaving him somewhere now. He was officially the third leg of their lame dog.

It was time to see if a lame dog could out run a wolf.

He told them, "Ok. First the cabin, then we get this goddamn case open. After that? We're gonna set a trap for a terminator."

Rebecca whispered, "The only way to kill him was to blow him up."

Leon nodded, "...exactly. What do you think is gonna be inside that case he wants so much?"

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was better than nothing. They just had to get somewhere safe to set it up. Hell or high water, he was going to bust open this case on the floor between them. Something in there was worth killing countless people to claim.

Krauser wasn't the only man who wouldn't stop until he had what he wanted.

Leon was now a terminator himself but his target? The truth. No matter what it took, he wasn't going to stop until he had it.