Title: It Ain't Over
Author: Scarbie
Rating: PG-13 for language
Summary: You're never safe, especially in the middle of a large body of water riding on a Jet Ski. Spoilers for the ending to RE4.
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil 4.
They were almost home free but Leon would feel a hell of a lot better once they set foot on American soil. Preferably the soil in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
As of right now, there was no land in sight. For the past fifteen minutes, the endless blue of the Mediterranean Sea surrounded the elite agent and Ashley. He had almost lost Ashley again just moments earlier. The force of the waves knocked her off the Jet Ski.
If Ashley drowned after making it that far, Leon thought he might as well sink too because there was no way he would be able to come back to the US if he failed his mission.
Thank goodness the girl could swim. He found her several meters behind him, treading water. She quickly swam over and grabbed his outstretched hand. Once she settled in comfortably with her arms wrapped around his waist, he said, "Let's go home."
"Sounds like a great idea. Mission accomplished, right Leon?" Ashley asked brightly. From her point of view the ordeal was over. There were no longer any creepy crawlers growing in her body making her eyes glow red and act crazy (Leon told her about that).
Leon thought about what he should say. If he said, "Yeah. Mission accomplished" he would be lying. He didn't want to dampen her raised spirits but he had to be honest. They weren't out of the water yet. He almost groaned at the awful pun he made unintentionally.
"Not quite, I still have to get you home safe," he said with a bit of tired laughter in his voice.
The younger woman was quiet for a moment. Leon thought that his words might have upset her. Little did he know she was building up to courage to ask a rather interesting request.
"So, after you take me back to my place, how about we do some...overtime?"
Leon was a hot-blooded man, so it only took him a fraction of a second to process what she meant. And it only took him another fraction to think of all the consequences of that action if he took her up on her offer. No matter how fun it may be it wasn't worth having the President breathing down the back of his neck. Also, in a strange way he was already taken. He had to turn the brown-eyed cutie down.
"Heh. Sorry."
Ashley showed a lot of maturity in the way she dealt with his rejection. She sighed and said, "Somehow I knew you were going to say that, but it doesn't hurt to ask, y'know?"
She knew Leon had that beautiful lady in the red dress on his mind. She was curious as to what their history was. His connection with that woman made him seem even more mysterious to the blonde girl.
"So, who was that woman anyway?"
Leon responded to the question a bit defensively. "Why do you ask?"
"Come on, tell me!"
The former cop wasn't comfortable with the idea of going through all the details. Ada was a woman he only knew for one day but considering it was the most difficult day of his life—scratch that, second most difficult day of his life—made that day equal a lifetime.
"She's like a part of me I can't let go. Let's leave it at that."
Ashley knew better than to pry further.
They were quiet for a long while. Leon had long since tuned off the sound of the Jet Ski. The silence made Leon feel even more exhausted. At least while they were being chased by the Ganados and the Los Illuminados, his adrenaline was constantly pumping but now it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.
The scenery seemed static. Just water and more water. It was worse than driving on the highway at night! It would take them longer to reach the island via Jet Ski than it would by speedboat. Leon just hoped that Ada in her generosity had left the vehicle with a full tank of gas.
He noticed that Ashley hadn't moved much since she asked her question. He knew that she was tired but this wasn't the best place to take a nap.
"Ashley? You awake?"
"Mm-hmm." He felt the motion of her nodding her head on his back.
"You're awfully quiet back there," he said in a teasing tone.
"I was just thinking…" She let the sentence trail off.
"Using incomplete sentences. Nice way to start off a conversation, Ashley."
He couldn't see how the young woman behind him started to grin.
"I was just thinking about how different a Secret Service agent's resume must look compared to regular person's. Y'know, someone like an accountant."
"I don't know. Accountants seem kinda scary. Having all those numbers rolling around in your head could make a person loopy."
Ashley wasn't an aspiring CPA but she was a Math major. "Do I seem 'loopy' to you, Agent Kennedy?" She had a habit of getting formal when someone annoyed her but this time it was in jest.
"It's best that I not answer that question, Ms. Graham," The sandy haired man replied, playing right along.
"Honestly, what does your resume look like?"
"Interesting," Leon said glibly.
She pinched his side. "I'm serious! What do you have on there, 'Can suplex three guys in a row' or what?"
Leon laughed. "You're more than meets the eye yourself. I was really impressed when you operated that Earthmover. Where'd you learn how to operate heavy machinery? Next you'll be telling me you know how to hot wire a car."
"A girl's gotta have her secrets, Leon." She leaned into him more. "Where are we headed? We can only get so far on this thing."
"We're going back to the mainland and we'll wait for a chopper. Now that Salazar and Saddler are gone we should be able to get in touch with Hunnigan. As soon as we call they should have the everything ready." Leon thought about Ada at that point. She had the right idea.
"We're going back to that village?" Ashley asked, fear making her voice tremble.
"It'll be all right, Ashley. I doubt if there's anymore of those things left, but if there are we can handle them," he said confidently. He thought about those deranged chainsaw men and grimaced. As long as there weren't too many of those.
She tightened her grip around Leon's waist. A non-verbal sign that she trusted his judgment.
A comfortable silence enveloped them and Leon saw the coastline in the distance. "Almost there, Ashley."
"Thank goodness!" she said with a smile. The sooner they got on land, the sooner they could get back home. She was thinking of all the things that she was going to do when she got back. The first was give her dad the biggest hug.
Leon was thinking much of the same thing. As soon as he was done with his debriefing, he was going to get that fat juicy steak he had been craving.
"Mmmm…" he said unconsciously, the mental images of cutting into a steak and savoring the flavor were making him hungry. "Can't this thing go any faster," he wondered.
Ashley was calling his name. She sound like she'd been at it for a while and it brought Leon out of his reverie.
"Yeah, Ashley?"
"Don't you need to have both your hands on the handlebars? Besides, you said you didn't want to do any overtime." She wasn't adverse to the handsome agent changing his mind but now wasn't the best time.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Ashley?" He turned his head slightly to the side. "Both of my hands are on the bars."
"Then whose hand is this on my thigh?" she asked, her voice steadily decreasing in volume. Leon couldn't hear her over the hum of the Jet Ski. She looked down at the water-winkled hand and started screaming.
"Ashley, what's wrong?" The girl wouldn't answer his question and he couldn't turn his head far enough to see what was happening.
He peered into the small side mirrors and saw a drenched blue-shirt clad arm draped over Ashley's waist. A few moments later an ugly visage popped out of the water. If the agent could make out the water-clogged voice, the Ganado that hitched a ride was sprouting words that were uglier than its appearance. Probably saying something to the effect of, "It ain't over." Leon caught the "cabron."
This was ridiculous! They were so close to land and this happens. Leon was so tired. He'd finally gotten a hold of Ashley, killed the threat to national security, escaped from a self destructing island by riding a jet ski --whose key had a teddy bear charm on it no less-- and the shit still wasn't finished. At this moment he sympathized so completely with his late father that had to deal with Leon and his siblings cutting up in the back seat during road trips.
"Don't make me come back there!" Leon growled. The words came out of his mouth without any thought.
He said it with such force and intent to do bodily harm, the Ganado simply let go. The possessed man realizing his stupid mistake yelled a "Mierde" that quickly turned into a gurgle as he sunk into the blue abyss.
The suddenness of the Ganado's 'retreat' made Ashley stop screaming and look around in confusion. Not that she wanted the thing latched onto her.
Leon sighed and shook his head just like a man 40 years his senior. He noticed that the Jet Ski had more pickup. That Ganado must have been on the underside of the vehicle since the beginning. He supposed when the plagas were mature they didn't need to fear the water. That was a frightening thought. He would make sure to include that in his report.
"Okay, I think that's enough excitement for a life time," Ashley said in a shaking voice.
He knew that Ashley being the President's daughter was at increased risk for kidnapping and other attacks but he hoped that this would be the last.
"I agree completely," Leon said, sounding significantly older.
"I can't wait for this shit to be over." Leon heard a feminine echo to his words and yelled, "Ashley!"
"Huh?" It took a moment but Ashley realized what upset her protector. Ashley giggled and said, "Leon, I already told you about that! Anyway, this is a situation where it's perfectly appropriate to use that sort of language."
"Yes, your highness."
A/N: This story was a giftfic for TheDonutMistress. She's awesome! I have no idea goofiness came from. Well maybe I do.Just the idea of apersonon a Jet Ski telling someone, "Don't make me come back there!" seemed amusing. And as bad as Club Dread was I think it's stuck in my subconscious.