X~X
10
X~X
30, September, 1998
A woman was muttering, that much was clear as the three grew closer to a room. Elise could pick up small words, mainly detailing a failure. What failed, and why? Leon decided to be a gentleman and checked the area before slowly opening the door. A woman with long blonde hair was kneeling before a body and was muttering as she wrote something down in a small notebook. Nearby stood another woman, this one dark haired and smoking a cigarette. Elise paused at the sight of her sister-in-law. Alice looked a bit older since the last time she had seen her. Leon noted the tension in the air when Alice looked over and smirked at her family member.
"Definitely William's handiwork," the blonde woman stated, and Alice nodded her agreement.
"Identify yourselves," Leon said, having enough of the muttering and moving into the room with his gun trained on the two.
Annette gained an annoyed look and simply rolled her eyes as she stood up and stared at the zombie's body. Ada and Elise joined him, and Alice narrowed her eyes. Oh, so her sister seemed to have grown a spine? That was an interesting development. Elise would've never trained her gun on someone, not even after Louisiana. Now, her sister's hand was steady and trained right on her.
"Annette Birkin," Ada cooly said.
"Alice," Elise stated.
"She's who we're looking for?" Leon quietly asked in surprise, sizing the two scientists up.
"We don't have much time," Annette told Alice. "I need to dispose of it."
"We're here for the G-virus," Ada stated, and Annette scoffed.
"That's not happening," Annette stated.
"I'm warning you, Doctor," Ada said.
"Oh yeah?" Annette asked, she pulled out a lighter and tossed it onto the dead body.
"Let's go, "Alice's cool voice surprised the other two before Elise frowned.
"Hey!" Leon yelled as the two scientists began to run off.
Ada clicked her tongue and started to rush after the two. Elise shook her head in disbelief. That was a sure fire way to get herself shot. Leon watched as Elise began to move after the FBI agent. Annette turned a corner and pulled something out of her pocket. As soon as Ada grew close gunshots rang out.
"Ada!" Leon called, rushing forward and tackling her down the other side of the hallway, his pained grunt made Elise move his way.
He had been shot! She mentally cursed before another gunshot rang out. She blinked in confusion when something began to go down her leg. Ada looked towards the two and saw the blood. Elise pushed through her confusion and took off Leon's jacket with difficulty. She needed to stop his bleeding, she would be fine with whatever had happened. He wouldn't.
"Forget about me, just go…stop her before she gets away," Leon barely got those words out before he lost consciousness.
"Shit," Elise cursed, putting more pressure on his shoulder.
"Didn't expect that from a scientist," Ada commented and moved to leave them.
"Please, I can't bandage him on my own," Elise softly pleaded. "I've never dealt with bullet wounds."
Ada studied the woman and noted she was pushing Leon's hair back as she put pressure on his wound, neglecting her own. It was like she wasn't even feeling it. Ada brought a hand up and pressed it against the younger woman's upper back. Her gasp of pain made Ada wince. Being shot in the back wasn't a fun event, the fact that the young woman's adrenaline was pumping gave credence to the fact that she didn't feel it at all.
"Okay, move his head to your lap," Ada ordered as she removed her trench coat. "You'll help keep him steady, we need to make sure the bullet went clean through or else we'll have to dig it out."
"I have a metal box in my bag, it's filled with medical equipment," Elise told Ada as she moved around Leon and placed his head in her lap.
"You come from a family of doctors?" Ada asked, grabbing the kit and looking through it and finding some professional grade equipment.
"My mother, father, and Umma are all Doctors, my twin's a lawyer," Elise admitted, wincing as Leon unconsciously grabbed onto her thigh with a tight grip.
"You'll be next," Ada informed Elise, pointing at the blood that was soaking her white shirt. "You most likely have the bullet stuck in you, and it's going to hurt taking it out."
Elise gave her nod of understanding as they both removed Leon's vest and then his shirts. Ada's brows raised in surprise at how well taken care of the young man was. He was incredibly toned, something she hadn't expected. She looked at the British woman who removed the sleeves of his undershirt to make it easier to put back on him. Lucky woman. Ada studied the bullet wound, hearing the man groan in pain and grip his girlfriend's thigh tighter when she had to move his shoulder to see if there was an exit wound. The muscle twitched as Leon's grasp tightened. Very lucky woman.
"Know how to sew?" Ada asked.
"Surprisingly yes," Elise confirmed and she was handed the needle with a thread already through the eye of it. "I know how to do sutras, I did a few on myself a year ago."
"Back in Louisiana," Ada confirmed, watching the other woman's hands twitch"Your sister wasn't very telling in her reports about you, a lot of missing information or information that didn't make sense."
"She put in that she messed with time and space or knew someone that did?" Elise questioned, her wince at Leon's grip showing even though she couldn't be angry at him for doing so. "Because if she did, then that's amazing truthfulness from her for once."
"She cited a Smith, no first name," Ada answered as she watched her finish off the sutras on both sides.
"Not in any circles I would know of," Elise muttered, sighing quietly. "Can't be too upset, I got to meet Leon, and Cher."
"Cher?" Ada muttered to herself with a frown. "You also went through an apocalypse."
"I went through hell in Louisiana," Elise's statement made Ada think differently of the young woman. "It hasn't even been a full year since then either, so the memories are still fresh of what happened…I just do my best to move forward."
"You're lucky," Ada complimented Elise when she really studied Leon. "You two haven't even known each other long."
"You read the file on my family," Elise chuckled, liking the agent even though the family was muttering warnings against her. "It's odd genetics."
Ada found herself agreeing, helping the other woman pull her boyfriend's shirts back on and moving to look at her back as she placed his vest on him. Leon had moved to lie on his side away from his injured shoulder and had wrapped his arm around her thigh, she wasn't going anywhere until he woke up. Elise's eyes widened when Ada tugged on her leather jacket. Right, she needed to be helped as well. A pained sound came out of her and she heard Ada's soft laugh.
"Starting to feel it?" Ada asked, her voice teasing.
"Which one shot me?" Elise asked.
"Your sister…" Ada answered, knowing how it felt to be shot in the back by someone you should be able to trust.
Elise's shirt was removed and the woman had a gentle blush on her face, and her shoulders. Oh, so the blush was full body. There were scars on the woman's torso from a previous injury, the long slashes silver and protruding from the skin. It made her wince. She was going to have to dig a bullet out of her back. It was painful to hear as the younger woman tensed up and grabbed onto the vest under her hand. It took her a few minutes and a couple pained sounds to finally extract the bullet.
"Want a souvenir?" Ada asked, showing the bullet to Elise.
"I think the scar will be a good one," Elise weakly chuckled.
"You two need to rest for a while," Ada informed her, wrapping the wound even as it gained black veins and started to stitch itself back together. "I need to get going."
"Thank you, for staying… I know you need to get Annette," Elise thanked, slowly lifting Leon and moving him to lean against the wall, grabbing her bloodied leather jacket and laying it across him.
"You need to go after your sister," Ada countered and Elise gave a small nod. "Besides, I'm not that heartless…even with as sickenly sweet as you two are."
Elise couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Ada left with a nod at the British woman, tossing her coat at her. Elise listened to the heels clicking away and Ada calling her headquarters to talk about NEST. Elise didn't want to know too much, not wanting the family to be right about the agent that stayed to help. Still, the explosion did cause her to pause a little. She had to trust that Ada would keep herself safe. She reluctantly pulled on her shirt and grimaced at the wet fabric against her skin.
"Got shot, I can't believe it," Elise mumbled, knowing that Leon was going to be out for a while but she still wanted to talk to him. "What a pair we make."
"Elise?" Her eyes widened at the sound of another British voice.
"Evan?" She asked back, her twin brother stood at the entrance with grime on his face and his grey eyes wide. "I was wondering where you were."
"Outrunning those zombies with their brains exposed," Evan answered, kneeling next to his twin sister and checking her for injury. "What happened?"
"Got shot by Alice," She stated, giving Leon a glance when he burrowed into her for warmth.
"This is…" Evan paused, knowing the answer but needing confirmation.
"Leon Kennedy, my boyfriend." The name had been expected, not the title he had.
Evan studied the two and gave a low chuckle. Leave it to his sister to fall in love with someone in a day. What surprised him was the obvious reciprocation on Leon's side. If he were to remove the two jackets keeping them warm, he would see a man wrapped around his sister.
"You love him," Evan commented, smiling warmly. "It's nice to see."
"Stop reading me," Elise huffed, pressing into Leon in an attempt to end the conversation.
"Cranky?" Evan muttered before frowning. "When was the last time you got some decent sleep?"
She was silent at that question. He looked at the puffy eyes and saw how exhausted she was. He went into his messenger bag as she began to fall asleep. He would keep look-out for his baby sister, oh how he enjoyed being the eldest twin. He sat back on his heels as her breathing evened out. Dreamless, which was good for her. He remembered the nights when she came back from America, the times she would stand in the kitchen just staring out the window at the garden. No one really knew how much it had affected her, only him. It was why he had been chasing after Alice the second he woke up in Racoon city. He had checked in on his sister at the station and saw how people took a liking to her. Her shy nature had always been a way to make people relax, it was why he sometimes brought her into his cases.
"Elise?" Leon's mumble made Evan jump a little.
"No, just her brother," Evan stated and Leon snapped to awareness quickly. "Relax, Alice is the outlier in our family. The rest of us love her, but not like you do."
"Sounds like her when she gets going on a thought," Leon stated, shifting and repositioning his arms around Elise.
"Also sounds like her when she was arguing with our government about not becoming a weapon for them," Evan shrugged. "She fell asleep after I pointed out she loved you."
Leon stared at the man in disbelief and got a shrug. He was confident and a little rude, but it was obvious he was gathering information about his feelings for his sister. He was surprised when her brother began to go through her backpack, he went to move but was stopped by his shoulder burning in pain. He narrowed his eyes when the small box from earlier was brought out.
"Ah, so that's where I left it," Evan muttered, closing his sister's bag and placing it next to her. "Was she wearing any jewellery or watches at all?"
"No, nothing of the sort," Leon answered.
"This girl…" Evan sighed, opening the box and pulling out a watch. "This is supposed to help her monitor her stability, and she still refuses to wear it…might be why she's so exhausted."
"It could also be the three days or more of no sleep," Leon dryly commented as her brother put the watch on her and turned it on.
"Could be," Evan agreed before sitting back as the screen showed her vitals. "So, how badly do you want to make sure my sister doesn't become a government tool?"
Leon felt as though he was being blackmailed, without any blackmail present. He cleared his throat and gave Evan a serious look. A smile appeared on the man's face, a face that was so similar to Elise's that it was disconcerting, and he worried about what the man was going to have him do. Evan knew he had the man right where he wanted him. The government wasn't going to listen to a woman that wasn't married, and was a recent immigrant to the country. They would immediately take her into custody for testing and put her into battles he didn't want for her. He was going to change that.
"How did you even get these?" Leon asked, looking at the papers in Evan's hands as he filed them away.
"I'm a lawyer, and a good one at that," Evan shrugged. "Welcome to our crazy family, two doctors, a lawyer, a chef turned into a bio-weapon, and a scientist that married the one that changed the chef…I think that made sense."
Leon was staring at him outright and Elise had joined. She had woken up after her brother claimed he was a good lawyer. A small hand reached out and smacked him outside the head. Leon smiled as she gave her brother a second one. She didn't know what he had done since she had been out, and she was worried what it was. Leon brushed his fingers against her's, the sweet manner making her relax a bit.
"What did you two do while I was asleep?" Elise asked them, Leon couldn't help but sheepishly look away before wincing when his shoulder hurt.
"Mazel tov," Evan stated and he watched as his sister figured it out.
"You didn't…" she started and Evan held his hands up as Leon gave a soft cough.
"He agreed, it's one of the few ways to keep you safe," Evan explained, watching as his sister went through different emotions.
"Writing your name is going to be a little different now," Leon said, trying to keep things on the lighter side.
"I think a lot of things are going to be a little different now," Evan countered, slowly standing up. "I'm going to join you two in getting back to the one that left."
"Shit, where is Ada?" Leon asked, noticing that she wasn't there.
"She went after Annette and Alice," Elise answered. "I wasn't in any shape to go with her, and I wasn't going to leave you on your own…not after being shot."
"See, you two have the whole till death do we part down," Evan stated and he got annoyed looks out of the two.
"Right, well we need to get going," Elise said, gently helping Leon to his feet. "When did this get here?"
She was looking at her watch with a frown. The electronic screen was too advanced for the current time they were in. Leon saw the green lines and gathered it meant she was doing fine. Elise knew that most of her vitals were all right, but the one that monitored her brain wasn't. Exhaustion was the main factor behind that, and she knew it. That and the emotional turmoil and having everything go faster than she thought it would. Leon's hand wandered a bit more now, going from her's to her waist and then to her lower back. Evan gave her an amused look every time she blushed when he caught Leon brushing a thumb against her hip.
"This is why I didn't put pain pills in the kit," Evan stated as they began to hurry after Ada. "Elise doesn't need them anymore."
"Wish I had known that when she was in pain from a licker getting her," Leon darkly muttered.
Evan wasn't too sure on terminology for where Alice sent them. But, he gathered it had to be the one zombie that had its brain on display. Elise made a small sound at the back of her throat. She had to nip the arguing between the two in the bud and knew just the way to do so.
"Careful, you two might make me decide on Ada," She said and Leon blinked. "What? She's an incredibly attractive woman."
"I wasn't expecting that," Evan admitted when Leon looked his way. "We'll stop arguing."
"As best as we can," Leon agreed before gaining a contemplative look. "Is she that pretty?"
"Gorgeous really, too bad you swept me off my feet," she teased him. "Attraction to both does happen, love."
"I'm just glad it's not just me," Leon admitted, and Evan quickened his pace to get away from the conversation. "You've never been in a relationship though."
"No, but that doesn't mean I'm blind," she chuckled. "I guess I needed emotional attraction as well."
"It's funny, I got dumped by a girl I wanted to marry and then ended up going through a zombie apocalypse," Leon commented, looking at her and she gave a tiny smile. "Ended up with quite a bit from it."
She grinned when her brother gave a loud groan from in front of them. Leon took the small distraction and checked her back. She held in a pained sound when he gently pressed against it. The healing was slow again, and he could see some of her vitals turn orange.
"Okay, Elise stop flirting with him," Evan called from up front.
"I don't think I will, but I have taken your suggestion into account," Elise called back. "Get used to it, it was your idea."
Evan rubbed the back of his head and Leon noted how similar it was to Elise doing it. He still found her the more attractive of the two, for many reasons. Her own brother had made the decision for them, and he wondered how long it was going to work. To keep her safe. The government might not be so quick to take a married woman into testing custody.
"One of these days we'll have a formal one," Leon quietly told her. "We can continue as we were, if that is all right."
"To be fair, there's not much of a difference," Elise stated as they ended up going into the water. "I may be able to fight off infection with ease, but please be careful."
"Would you nurse me back to health?" He asked, and Evan turned to look at them in disbelief.
"I'll find an outfit," she couldn't help but laugh.
Evan thought that their brother and father had been bad. Umma at least had the temperament to roll her eyes and slap their dad. Elise flirted back with Leon. Maybe he should've gone and found someone else. Then again, how could he predict that his sister would find someone in the span of a day? His sister had never shown interest in anyone, save for the kind thanks to compliments given to get into her pants. He rubbed the back of his head again, annoyed a little with his twin. He was stuck with them through the entirety of the sewers. He grimaced when the sewerage water got onto his nice tie.
"Found a tape," Elise said as they came across some bodies. "Hopefully, there's a way to watch it."
"Underground lab, there has to be," Evan commented, and Elise rolled her eyes in amusement.
It was when they came across a waterway, the only way to continue forward. Elise looked down below and winced a bit. They were going to get covered in the water. Leon's hand on her lower back wasn't helping her nerves at the sight of the drop. Her vitals flashed red for a few seconds when she was back there. Just for a moment she was under the water, the bayou water sinking into her lungs. Leon ended up behind her and she came out of it quickly. A brush of warm air hit the shell of her ear, and her face heated up.
"You're not there," Leon mumbled in her ear.
She gave a small nod and he could see her vitals returning to an orange. It seemed lighter than before. He leaned back a bit as Evan psyched himself up to go down the drop. A part of him almost wanted to push him down. Evan's use of emotional blackmail still bothered him, even if he was happy with the results himself. Leon winced as his shoulder twinged in pain. It was starting to throb a bit.
"Down we go, I guess," Elise stated, slowly stepping down into the rushing waters.
"Shit," Evan muttered, watching as his sister began to slide down the drop.
Leon easily passed him, his stance allowing him some speed. A large splash informed him that the two were at the bottom. He raised a brow as he landed. Elise was trying to wring her hair out, the shorter strands making him pause for a few seconds. He hadn't noticed that change.
"Shit," Leon cursed, looking at his shoulder as he wiped his face. "I got my shoulder wet."
"You'll be fine," Evan stated, wiping his own face. "You're stubborn."
Leon held up his hands at that and gave Elise a sad look. She gave a tiny smile, and gave his good shoulder a gentle pat. There wasn't much she could do about her twin's behaviour; he liked to be right, even when he was wrong. Elise paused to grab the parts of a blue herb and placed them in the spare tin she had been using.
"Has this been what it's like for you guys?" Evan asked as something dove into the sewage and swam to sit in their way.
"The entire night," Leon confirmed. "Bouncing from one area to another and then back again."
"A lot of unnecessary puzzles…" Elise added, frowning a bit as she kicked some of the sewage out of her way. "Should I go and take care of it?"
"Maybe," Evan shrugged.
Leon saw the annoyance on Elise's face and he smiled. Elise hit her wall again, even with the little sleep their injuries had allowed them. He readied his pistol and watched as Elise headed up to whatever was in the water. Her expression was thoughtful as she grew closer. Evan scratched his cheek with a frown. It looked like a small monster, but the second she stomped on it the rest of it emerged from the water.
"Jesus," Leon stated, watching her quick reaction with her revolver.
"Don't drool over my sister," Evan dryly stated, frowning at him.
"He has every right to!" Elise yelled, before making a face and wiping at the blood on her face. "This one can spit out offspring, got lucky enough to stop it before it could."
"You have dark bruising on the side of your face, and you call that lucky?" Evan questioned his sister as she headed back to them.
"Oh, that's from the toxins in its blood, I'll be fine," Elise said. "Not as bad as her bugs…"
Leon looked between the two and wondered if it was a twin thing. Still, he checked the bruising and watched as the black veins crawled up her neck and stopped at the right side of her face that had been covered in the monster's blood. He had never seen what it did when it healed bruises. Watching as the deep purple slowly disappeared into the usual pale skin. It was amazing, but he knew it bothered her. His fingers brushed against the hot skin, noting the temperature change.
"I will say one thing, Alice's work is amazing," Evan quietly said. "Fuck her for doing what she did though."
"Can we just keep moving?" Elise asked, not wanting to waste anymore time. "Ada might be in trouble, and I would rather she not get hurt."
Leon nodded and she welcomed his sensitive insight. She was glad they had talked together before her brother had gone through and moved them along faster. Elise looked up as they hurried through the rest of the sewer, ending up in the treatment pool room. It smelt a bit better than out in the sewer but not much. Her gaze paused on the cable bar and her head tilted.
"Huh…we get to go deeper," Elise commented and Evan groaned. "You wanted to tag along."
"I felt like you two would be able to get out of here," Even stated, frowning when Leon sent him a glare. "What, Elise has this odd ability to get out of danger. It's why we always trusted her when she barbecued."
Leon's glare increased a bit at that. Maybe it was the other brother that had left her the small note, this one was an ass. Still, another pair of eyes was helpful. He rubbed the back of his head and shared a look with Elise. Even she seemed a little unsure of what was going on with her brother.