"Forevermore I'll quietly watch that sleeping face until the gentle wind which tempts us to sleep surrounds me." Hyde, Butterfly's Sleep

Leon's hands gripped the steering wheel as he struggled to stay awake. Worrying about his partner and friend was weighing heavily on him. A mellow song played on the radio, causing Leon's thoughts to shift from the road to other things. Snapping awake from a brief sleep, Leon quickly pulled over and shut his car off. I'll take a quick walk to wake myself up and then head back come.

Reaching for the door handle, Leon caught sight of a girl hurrying down the sidewalk. "Now who in their right mind would wear a skirt that short in this weather?" He asked himself, as the girl turned the corner. "Wait a second." Peering across the street, Leon saw a shady looking guy start walking rapidly in the direction the girl had gone. Despite being in a sleep-deprived state, Leon un-holstered his gun, and silently jogged to the corner.

He listened for foot steps, but heard none. Rounding the corner, Leon quickly looked around for the two people. They were no where in sight. The area was dark; there were no street lights. It was a perfect place to get away with rape, or even murder. Rubbing his eyes, Leon started down the sidewalk and began to look around. The cars that lined the street were empty. At the end of the road, there was a gate partially open. Tightening his jaw, Leon approached the gate and peered into the alley.

With a rush of adrenaline, Leon flew into the darkened space with his gun drawn. A frightened woman, no older than twenty lay on the floor as Leon pulled a guy off of her. He threw the attacker forcefully against the gate to the alley, which slammed shut loudly. The man muttered a few curses while rubbing his head in a daze. Before his vision cleared, the man was shoved to the ground, and Leon slapped a pair of handcuffs on him.

"You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one with be appointed to you at no cost. Do you understand?" Leon recited, while the frightened woman slowly dragged herself to the back of the alley. The man said nothing, so Leon hoisted him from the ground and slammed him into the wall. "Answer me, you sick fuck!"

"Yeah. I understand."

Leon quickly patted the guy down, and attached the handcuffs to the fence so the guy wouldn't be able to run away. After holstering his gun, Leon made his way over to the woman he just rescued. "Hey…don't worry, you're alright now." He said, squinting to see in the dark. "Come on out of there, I'm going to call an ambulance for you, all right?" Leon continued.

"Okay." She finally replied, walking slowly back into the light. She was pretty with light brown hair. There was a line of blood underneath her nose. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Leon asked as she inched her way towards him. The woman was too busy looking at the man on the floor to answer. Leon pulled out his badge and held it in front of her.

"My name's Leon Kennedy. I'm a detective. I'm going to call my station house and have them bring a couple of people over, and they're going to bring an ambulance to take you to the hospital, okay?" Leon said calmly. He had no idea how the woman was emotionally, and he didn't want to say anything to upset her. She nodded, and stared at the man with glossed over eyes.

Leon shrugged his coat off and offered it to the woman. "Thank you." She whispered, taking it from him with shaking hands.

"You're welcome." Leon replied with a small smile. He walked over to the guy on the floor and pressed his head down.

"Ow! What the hell are you doin'?" The guy shouted.

"Keep your eyes on the floor, got it?" Leon ordered, pulling the gate open, which caused the man to be pressed up against the wall of the alley. "Come on, man! Ease up a little!"

Ignoring the dirt bag on the floor, Leon held the gate open long enough for the young woman to walk back onto the street. "You're staying here until the guy's on night tour get here." Leon said, kneeling down to the perp's eye level. "These are the guys that can't stand rapists, wife beaters…douche bags like you. They're going to have fun when they find out what you did, and the only way to limit your beating is to confess everything as fast as that little rat mouth of yours can, you understand?"

The guy nodded and kept quiet as Leon walked the girl back towards his car. "What's your name?" Leon asked her as soon as they were out of the man's hearing distance.

"Sarah….Blackwell."

"Do you live around here, Sarah?" Leon continued. She shook her head and pulled Leon's coat around her tightly.

"I was taking a different way to the train. My friend told me it was much faster…I never would have thought…that…"

Her legs gave out and she dropped to the ground. Leon caught her before her knees crashed onto the concrete floor. "It's okay, you're safe now. You're gonna be alright." Leon said, trying to soothe her without scaring her. She was downright bawling, no longer to keep it in. Leon pulled his cell phone out and dialed his station house.

"It's alright, Sarah. I'm calling you an ambulance, and they'll take good care of you." He told her, while waiting for the desk sergeant to pick up the phone.

"Hey, this is Kennedy from upstairs…yeah, fine. Listen, I need you to send a squad car and a bus out to Broadway and Clover Road. I got a rape victim here than needs to get to the hospital…yeah, the perp too….no, I found it. Look, I'll explain to who ever you send over, just tell them to hurry it up, okay? Thanks." Leon hung up the phone, and put it in his pocket.

"Okay, Sarah. Let's walk over to my car where you can sit down okay. I've got tissues in there somewhere…I think." Leon said, helping her to stand.

"What's a bus?" Sarah asked.

"Hm?"

"You said to send a bus."

"Oh, that's just cop-talk for an ambulance. They'll be here in a few minutes, so you can rest until then."

They walked to Leon's car, where he dug around for a box of tissues. He knew Claire kept them in there in case either of them needed them. After rummaging around in the trunk, Leon found them wrapped in a picnic blanket. Glancing at his watch, Leon walked to the back seat and handed Sarah the box. "Here you go. Is there anyone you want to call?" He asked. She shook her head quickly.

"No girlfriends, siblings?" He continued.

"I'm on my own…and my friends are all sleeping. They have work in the morning." She explained.

"Well, I'd think they'd make this an exception, don't you?" Leon said, scratching his head.

"I just moved here, officer. I don't want to put any one out of there way. Oh God…I feel sick."

Leon took a few steps back. "Just keep your head down. The paramedics'll be here any minute." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"If you don't mind my asking…what are you doing out at this hour? Did you just get out of work?" Sarah asked as she stared at the curb.

"No, I actually got off several hours ago. I was visiting a friend at the hospital and was heading home." Leon replied, shifting his gaze to the street where he saw flashing lights.

"Oh. I guess I was just lucky then." Sarah said before noticing that the ambulance had arrived.

"You stay here, I'll be right back." Leon said, as he walked over to the police car that had just pulled over. "Hey, thanks for coming guys." He greeted.

"No problem. So word is you walked in on a rape?" One of the officers questioned.

"Yeah. I saw this woman, Sarah…Blackwell I think, and some guy started following her. So I went after them and that was that."

A female officer took notes in the large notepad all cops carried around before going over to the victim. "So…you hear from Redfield yet?" The other officer asked.

"No. I gotta get home and check my messages in case he called me." Leon replied before turning to go back to his car.

"Well in any case, I hope everything works out." The officer continued.

"Yeah, thanks." Leon replied, waving his hand.

The female officer was squatting in front of Sarah, who was still hunched over. "How's she doing?" Leon asked.

"I feel sick." Sarah replied.

"Come on Sarah, I'll help you over to the ambulance and we'll get you to the hospital. You'll feel better soon, I promise." The woman continued. Leon recognized her from around the station house, but couldn't remember her name.

Sarah slowly started to stand up. She took the officer's hand and slowly started towards the awaiting ambulance. "Oh, Officer Kennedy. Your coat." She said, shrugging the heavy coat off. Leon walked over and took it from her.

"You got blankets in there?" He asked one of the paramedics. They nodded and pulled a warm looking thing from a shelf. "Alright Sarah, you feel better okay? I'll come and visit you tomorrow if I can." Leon said. He wished he could promise, but things were too complicated for promises.

"Thank you…for everything." Sarah said tearfully, before the doors were slammed shut and she was driven away.

"Lucky for her, I guess." The female officer complimented, tipping her hat. Leon stole a glance at her name tag. Cheza

"Yeah. I gotta get home. It feels like I haven't slept in days."

"I can't blame you for that. My partner can be an ass sometimes, but I'd probably go crazy if he up and disappeared." She replied.

Leon sighed. "Yeah…thanks for coming down. See you at the house."

END