Limp Bizcut - Hold on

Megahertz – Augenblick

Enjoy, I could spend another two months rewriting…but I figure this is long overdue as it is…

WARNING: Drowning. Not sure if the scene I wrote would be a trigger for some people, but I wanted to make sure people were aware that I describe it with some detail and I didn't want it to upset or hurt anyone. It will be in italics so you can skip over it.

Chapter 11 - To any depth

Melissa could only stare as Angela plunged into the inky waters again. His hold on her had been vice-like and she could see Angela struggling in his grasp. She didn't have time to waste though - if she didn't get help Angela would be leaving the docks in a body bag. As she pulled herself over the edge she lost sight of Angela as she was dragged below the water. Yelling for her team was the only way she could alert them without her headset, even if it did mean that the soldiers might target her, "Alpha Two is in the water! Backup needed! A-Alpha…Angela's being drowned!"

Leon tried to forget that Angela and the other officers were out there fighting against those men, but he hated not being there to watch her back. He could tell that they needed help, but he had to recover a sample of what was in the containers and he worked faster to take out the stragglers that hadn't managed to escape with their containers as yet. He'd secured two, but the locking mechanism was digital. While he was familiar with the technology he knew there was no way he was going to be able to open it without the key. He didn't bother to waste his time trying to get in and instead made to move the containers to the location he had secured nearby before. It didn't take long, but after moving the second container he heard an explosion from the docks.

"Shit! Angela!" His heart started pounding as the adrenaline hit his system and spurred him into action. He couldn't help but worry that she might have been caught in the blast and he couldn't keep the images of her injured…or dead…from entering his head. Reaching the docks he could see that the explosion had taken out a crane and some vehicles leaving debris and hazardous obstacles in the way. A flicker to his right exposed one of the Special Forces soldiers making their way towards him and he reacted swiftly. He didn't know where Angela or her team were, but hopefully they wouldn't mistake him for the enemy. Though, right now he couldn't think about that as his fight required his full attention, especially if he wanted to track her down quickly and make sure she was alright.

Leon had got the other man into a chokehold; a few S.R.T. officers had seen him tussling with their opponent and had used the opportunity to take out the few remaining soldiers while they were surprised by the back up. They'd reached him as the soldier finally passed out, but obviously were playing it cautious as they still had their weapons trained on him. It seemed that all the threats were taken care of, but he still couldn't see Angela.

"U.S. Government Agent Leon Kennedy. My mission is classified, but I'm guessing we're here for the same reason. I'm a friend of Angela Miller. Is she safe? I don't see her."

His behaviour and mention of Angela satisfied them sufficiently for them to lower their weapons as they replied, "We lost contact with her after the explosion, but we haven't been able to search the area because of those a*******. Angela and our other teammate Melissa are-" He didn't get to finish, however, as he was interrupted by Melissa yelling.

"Alpha Two is in the water! Backup needed! A-Alpha…Angela's being drowned!"

"Gavin! We don't have visual on Melissa, can you see her?"

"3 'o' clock, 50 clicks. She looks injured."

"50 clicks, West!"

Leon wasn't the first to react, but he outran them as he made his way towards where Angela was. With all the wreckage in the way, the other S.R.T. officers struggled to make it through and opted to go around. He made quick and easy work of steering his way through and over it rather than around and reached Melissa ahead of the others.

"Leon! Down there. One of the soldiers dragged her under"

Before she had a chance to finish he dove into the water, just catching the end of her sentence. He silently cursed when he realised that her opponent was probably using his underwater endurance training to try to drown her. Even if Angela could manage hand to hand with him on land, going against them underwater was a completely different playing field. One she probably had little chance of coming out of alive.

Angela struggled desperately against the man; he'd been choking her before they fell in and now he still hadn't relinquished his hold on her. She fought to reach her gun, but she was frantic for air. Her lungs were tightening, burning for oxygen as she tried to fight the reflex to breath. He didn't do anything except restrain her, confident that he would drown her before he needed oxygen and without needing to exert much effort. She had to fight the panic and pain to kick herself away from him. Her struggles forced him to try to get a better grip on her and the action gave her time to grab her firearm and shoot him in the leg. Even if she had managed to wound him though she was fighting a losing battle - she couldn't stop herself from trying to breath. Gulping in water, her throat constricted – a reflex to prevent her from inhaling more water. Fighting the fear she felt, she fired off a few more rounds at him as he completely released his grip on her to get to her gun, but she couldn't focus anymore. No air, lungs burning, the lack of oxygen was making functioning difficult. Her gun was lost in the underwater skirmish and she tried to reach the surface to get some air. She was too far, however, and he obviously knew it as he released her and swam away from her. He knew that she wouldn't reach the surface in time…she would not be coming out of the water alive.

The reflex that had been saving her from taking in water was weakening with the lack of oxygen. Her lungs were on fire and she took a gulp of water as if it was air. Her throat constricted briefly, before it relaxed again. She didn't realise that she was taking in more breaths of water and her brain weakly registered that she was dying as she slowly sunk further into the water. Her final thoughts were of her deceased family and her fallen comrades who she would now be joining. She regretted that she would be leaving her new team so soon; Melissa, who had become a close and fast friend; and Leon. Apart from her family, Leon was one of her biggest regret. She regretted that she longed for him; that her heart sped up at the thought of him; that her heart physically hurt because she felt so strongly about him but she wouldn't be with him; that the opportunity to change both their situations would be lost because after running into him she was going to die here…

…

…

…

Leon pulled out his flashlight after entering the water. He hoped that he wasn't far from where she was because there was little light from above and his flashlight wasn't strong enough to penetrate very far in the water. He was relatively deep but he still couldn't see her anywhere around him. He knew he had to hurry - she could be sinking... getting further and further away from him every second, reducing his chances of finding her, and her chances of surviving. He continued to dive deeper. The water was cold and heavy, a blanket enveloping him, quieting all the noises from above. He heard a muted splash that reverberated through the water, probably one of her other teammates entering the water. It was unnerving how quiet and peaceful it was when his own heartbeat hammered so loudly within him. It didn't reflect his turbulent anxiety and fear about finding her, how he could have been searching in the wrong spot. She could be just a few feet from him. He would never know and he would be failing her in one of the worst ways possible. Leon could feel his own lungs start to burn and knew he needed to get some air soon…but he needed to press on just a little bit longer. He couldn't waste time going back for air.

His heart stopped. He could see a hand and what looked like the top of a helmet. There was only one body in front of him and as he swam quickly towards it he recognised her S.R.T uniform. He would have sighed in relief if he could, but he grabbed her and started swimming to the top with her. He gave her what little breath he had as he used his flashlight to signal to those above that he had found her. Before long he was joined by another S.R.T. member and as they emerged Leon looked at Angela to see that her lips were blue and her skin pale. Letting the other S.R.T. officer move them both towards the dock, he continued to give her mouth-to-mouth. Fortunately the remaining S.R.T. had set up a pulley to hoist her up so little time would be wasted. They secured her and as she was lifted up Leon rushed up the ladder to be with her.

He was slightly out of breath as he bolted towards her on the ground. Melissa had mouthed to one of the S.R.T. blocking Leon's way and he made room for Leon to kneel down next to her. They had stripped off Angela's outer gear and were searching for a pulse as one of the others performed mouth-to-mouth. As he watched the scene flow out in slow-motion he thought he truly understood why someone would want to create the T-virus…to create something that could bring a person back to life. When he saw them start CPR after realising there was no pulse, the feeling of wishing the T-virus actually worked bubbled up like thick tar clawing its way up his insides. He had no idea that he would feel this way seeing her like this and it frightened him more than anything else had in his life. It frightened him that their connection could be so strong after such a brief encounter and for a moment he wondered if part of the reason why he never went back to her was because he was afraid…

Sounds of retching and coughing brought the situation back into focus and he unclenched his fist, unaware that his body had been tensed this entire time. She was rolled onto her side carefully to help her expel the liquids before she was rolled back onto her back. "Angela…" he called gently looking at her pale skin. Her lips were no longer the dark blue it had looked in the water, but her body was still cold.

"Secure her head again Mike and somebody get some blankets and the oxygen as soon as the van gets here. Angela. Angela can you hear me? It's Daniel."

She didn't seem to register her teammate's question instead focussing on the first voice she had heard, "Leon…?" her voice was a raspy whisper and it tugged at his heart to hear her in this condition.

"I'm right here Angela." He said picking up one of her hands to comfort and warm between his own.

"It was…you, wasn't it...thank you…"