Chapter 4

"Helena, no!" Helena faltered as she jumped and turned around at the familiar voice. Leon jumped up onto the roof and ran up towards her at top speed.

"Leon?!" She lost her footing as she span around and slipped, tumbling off the edge with a shriek and knocking her head on the edge in the process.

"NO!" Leon threw himself over the edge to grab her and grasped onto the piping for support. He caught her wrist and gripped tight, hanging from the edge from one arm with both his own and Helena's weight. A groan of pain came from him as a tearing pain ripped through his shoulder. They swung there for a few moments as Leon found it hard to move from the agonizing position. Helena had knocked herself out.

He began lifting her up slightly from the arm as he used his legs to walk up the wall, relieving some pressure from his arm. With one last heave of his strength, he pulled himself up onto the roof and pulled Helena up after him, making her roll face-down onto his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, Leon tilted his head back onto the floor and closed his eyes. They stayed in that position for a while, with Leon breathing deeply to reduce the burning lactic acid pumping in his right arm. "God damn it, Helena."

When he could finally move again, he lifted her up with an arm under her neck and legs and stood to his feet. He carried her down the fire escape and through the window back into her apartment, where he placed her on the sofa. Now he knew she was definitely safe, a sigh escaped him. He turned to the glass table and holstered the Wing shooter that lay abandoned. Next to it was the fallen note. He picked it up and crumpled it in his hand and then threw it out of the open window. Somehow ridding himself of the letter made Leon think it ridded the suicidal thoughts from Helena's mind. Leon took a few steps back and collapsed on the chair behind him, cupping his face with his hands. He was close, so close to losing her, all because of his own stupidity. What if he didn't make it there in time? That was what scared Leon the most. She was ready to jump…

Helena awoke sometime later. Her eyes drifted around the room and she realized she was in her own apartment.

'I'm not dead?' she thought to herself. A damp cloth was being stroked on her forehead. She looked up to find Leon's face. "Leon?"

He made eye contact with her but said nothing; he simply kept a solemn face and broke the eye contact, continuing to dab the soft cloth onto her head and collarbone. Helena couldn't find anything in her to say, and Leon decided not to speak either. After another moment of dabbing her with the cloth, he stood and left her in the room by herself. Helena could hear running water from the kitchen and he returned a moment later. Leon parked himself down on the chair and locked his hands together.

Helena sat up. The silence was overwhelming. She wasn't used to Leon being this quiet. She had to say something to break the silence, anything, but she couldn't. "L-Leon, I-I..."

"Don't." He said emotionlessly and cut her off by staring into her eyes. "Never scare me like that again."

Leon's voice was the most serious she had ever heard and Helena wasn't sure what to say to him. She couldn't exactly thank him for stopping her suicide, could she?

Leon tilted her head down at her silence. "I'll make you something to eat." He said and went onto the kitchen; leaving Helena sat in her place on the sofa. She put her head into her hands.

Leon returned and placed a sandwich on the table. He offered a smile when she looked up at him. She looked so tired, though she spent most of the day asleep. Her eye bags were almost vivid now. He felt tired himself and the pain in his shoulder was returning now. Helena caught him wincing.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me." He almost snapped.

"But…"

"Helena, just eat." This time it was more of an exhausted plea than an angry snap.

She took a bite just to satisfy him. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"Most of the day."

"Were you here all this time? You must be hungry."

"Helena." Leon gave her a look. "I'm fine. You rest."

Helena returned the look. "I don't need to rest, I just have been."

Leon gave another firm look at her that said everything he was thinking. She reluctantly ate what was in front of her without another word.

"I'm going to stay with you tonight, okay?" He said as she nibbled through the sandwich.

Helena nearly choked. "What? You don't need to baby me, I'm okay."

Leon sighed. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?!"

"Pushing me away." He stated calmly, despite her snappiness.

Helena didn't even realize she was doing it. She couldn't look into his eyes. She felt pathetic, weak, and she was never one to show weakness. Even throughout the C-virus pandemic, she kept her cool but now all her walls were crashing down. A sniffle escaped her, which turned into a sob. "I'm so sorry!" She said tearfully.

Leon looked over at her. He stood from the chair and walked over to her and embraced her in a hug. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Helena. It was all me."

She cried onto his chest and he kept her enveloped in his arms. "I'm… I'm not as strong as you are, Leon. I can only cope so much…"

"I know. God, I know." He said and rested his chin on the top of her head but he moved out of the embrace quickly before things became uncomfortable.

"Y-you can take the guest room, but… I'll need to clean it." Helena rubbed a hand across her face to wipe her tears and push stray hairs back.

"No, no. I'll do it, don't worry. Just promise me, you won't ever try anything like that again."

Her voice cracked. "I-I won't."

'But I can't promise you anything.' She thought silently.

End of chapter 4