-Combustible, Untrustable, Indestructible-

Tatchi, China

The fire woke him.

It was burning and blistering the earth with its acrid, painful, licking tongue. It left soot and scorch on the pavement around them as it devoured anything in its path. He grunted, head swirling, eyes blinking.

He couldn't feel his left arm, which had him rolling his neck to see why. It was stuck under him and numb. Leon shifted, moaning a little in pain. His eyes blinked in the smoky, wavering air. People were screaming and dying beyond the fire. They fell, fed the dead, tried to flee, and failed.

Jesus Christ. He had to…."Get up!" He grunted it and pushed off the ground.

His legs held him, shook his numb arm, and staggered a little. Where was everyone else?

Afraid, he turned and called out. "Ben?"

"Leon!"

Ben was limping toward him from just beyond the car. He was holding his arm against his body. His face was slick with sweat and smeared with dirt. He was bleeding from a cut above his cheekbone. But he was walking.

Leon knelt and picked him up, holding him against him. "It's ok, buddy. It's ok. You ok?"

Ben nodded against his neck and whispered, "I can't move my hand."

Concerned, Leon leaned him back. Ben lifted his arm to show him. The wrist was broken; no getting around that. It was swollen and crooked. The god damn kid was a tank. He wasn't even crying. He was pale and shaking.

Leon set him down and jerked off his vest. He unbuttoned his shirt and took it off as well. In his undershirt, Leon knelt to construct a makeshift sling and wrap from the ruined shirt. When Ben was bound and secure, he slipped his vest back over the short-sleeved black undershirt he'd been wearing and picked him up again.

Helena was moving toward them. She was dirty but ok. Jill whistled from atop the truck where she'd fallen. She had a helluva black eye starting but was standing.

It was as good as they would get right at that moment.

Leon started to crack a joke, and a plane passed above them. It was too close. It was less than a football field above them. Why was it flying so low!?

It didn't matter. There was no time to ask why.

It crashed into the damn skyscraper beside them and ignited. Leon watched it plummet toward them. The horror crashed into the fear, and they were running. They were just running.

He tossed Ben to Jill on the back of the tractor-trailer truck and vaulted up after Helena. They started running, for all the good it would do them, and the plane hit the ground where they'd been. The noise was massive. It was enormous. It was deafening.

The plane took the street with it as it came down. It created a sinkhole. All the cars piled up and surrounding began to plummet into the fiery abyss it created. They slid, groaned with a metal cry, and caught fire with a WHOMP of sound.

The world suddenly smelled like gasoline and death.

There was no time to do anything but run. Run. Run.

The explosion threw cars like popping corn into the air. They struck and screamed with metal and ignited. Engines blew, wheels flew like darts, metallic screeched and pealed. The fire flickered, eating everything in its way.

Ben was moaning in fear against his neck. Helena was making some kind of keen. They leaped from one car to the next like acrobats, stunt men, or desperate people just trying to stay ahead of death.

Where could they go?

And then a helicopter swirled around and hovered. It waited for them. The soldier inside was swinging his arm, beckoning. "Hurry!"

It looked like a chinook. It was long and open and waiting.

They ran while the world erupted in metal and fire. A car smashed into another beside them and threw pieces of glass and steel like vomit. Cars kept taking flight as if tossed by playful hands.

Leon slid down the hood of an SUV with Ben stuck to him like a burr. He poured on the speed while Jill and Helena raced in front of him. They all but took flight across a box truck while the fire chased them into the swirling smoke.

When Jill leaped on and turned, he threw Ben across the divide to her. He flew like the superhero he was trying to be. She caught him, and Leon pushed off the end of the truck like he'd jackrabbit into the air.

The force of the world exploding beneath him sent him careening upward. He missed the entrance of the chopper but grabbed the landing gear beneath. His arms looped around the railing and the zombie grabbing for him took a diving snap at his ankle.

He kicked. Ben screamed.

Jill dropped to her belly and put one right between the gobbling bastard's eyes.

Helena grabbed his wrist and jerked him up into the chopper with them. The helicopter pitched, and the pilot fell out of his seat. He skidded across the steel floor and tried to fall out into the burning night.

Helena shouted and grabbed for him.

Jill caught Ben and held on to him.

And Leon grabbed for the controls of the chopper.

Jill took one look at him and exclaimed, "You kidding me here!?"

And Helena was shouting. The pilot was trying to eat her face. Ben shouted in fear, Jill turned back to help, and Leon grabbed the throttle.

"I can fly a goddamn chopper!"

Maybe.

Ordinarily.

Under less extreme circumstances, clearly.

The chopper was pealing its warning bells all around them. Jill kicked the zombie that had once been the pilot. It dived for her, and she went to her back on the floor to avoid him grabbing Ben.

Leon pulled the chopper up from its tailspin. It smashed into a neon sign and threw sparks and fire into the filthy sky. The warning bells indicated the engine was failing. Of course, it was. It was on fire.

Helena screamed, "LEON! FOR GOD'S SAKE, PULL UP!"

Like it was his fault the damn chopper was broken!?

He jerked the chopper up from smashing into the ground, and it ducked left, spun, and sideswiped…the train. The fucking train. They all shouted and tumbled. Leon let out a battle cry of fear and whipped the damn thing until they were sparking, squealing, and somehow staying up in the air. The train blew its horn, and the chopper shuddered and spun out.

And they smashed into a building.

The wall exploded around them. They barreled straight through it and kept on going. The chopper lost its blades, the sides started to peel away like a can opener, and metal screamed. Somehow shouted, "OH MY GOD!"

And they erupted out into the open air again. They were suspended for what seemed like forever, and then the spinning chopper threw itself right toward the blinking billboard in the center of the open tower. It stuck like a dart with a crash and spark of fire and electricity into the flickering screens with their countless advertisements. And then it trembled.

"Run…RUN!"

He leaped free and bolted toward the back. Helena was already running. Jill had Ben clutched to her and stumbled. The chopper groaned loudly; it tilted. They were suddenly falling instead of running. They were grappling and grabbing on. And the grip was lost.

Helena went first, shouting as she tumbled.

Leon grabbed desperately for Ben and Jill, caught her fingers, and lost her. She slid down and plummeted, and he just… let go and followed her. The world rushed. They tumbled and dropped.

And hit the glass floor two stories beneath.

The glass cracked and spiderwebbed where he fell.

It hurt. No lie there. But he'd survived worse falls. He rolled…and looked through the glass floor beneath them. It was…infested. Zombies. Zombies. And more zombies. If the glass cracked and they fell further…they weren't just dead; they were undead.

Helena and Jill were scrambling. And he looked up. The billboard tower of screens shivered, squealed, and cocked to the side like the leaning tower of Piza. Leon threw himself forward, stumbling, skidding…and sliding.

And the damn chopper whooshed down and missed him by inches. It hit the glass where they'd been and exploded, throwing shards and fire into the sky. He covered his face with his arms and staggered.

He dove and slid.

And silence spilled around them again. Burning and moaning floated up from where the chopper had ended its swan song.

Leon rolled to his back, gasping.

Jill appeared above him, sweaty, filthy, bloody, pale. She said earnestly, "You are…without a doubt…the most awful fucking driver ever. Ever."

Leon panted and shouted, "The engine was blown! What was I supposed to do!? Fix the damn thing with a rubber band and some gum!? The names KENNEDY, not MACGUYER. I did the fucking best I could."

"Yeah? You're supposed to be some kind of legend, Kennedy. I'm thinking you might be the clone instead."

He pursed his lips at her. "...that hurts, Jill. That hurts me deeply. I'm gonna cry."

She laughed a little and offered him a hand up. It was so good to see the humor on her again. He wasn't sure what he thought happened after this. But he needed that humor.

It kept him alive. Their palms caught. He knew they should just get up and get going.

Jill laughed, curled her fingers through his, and jerked him to his feet. He kept his hand on her ass the whole time, and she mused, "They also said you're professional, Agent Kennedy. I'm doubting every report I've ever read on you."

"Yeah? What's the reports say about my flirting?"

Her eyes twinkled, "Depends on the source, I think. Hopefully, better than your piloting skills."

The floor trembled a little and shook them where they stood.

And he was still laughing when they opened the door on the far side of the landing and went through it.

The laughter didn't last long. How could it?

They were suddenly no longer alone.

The large monument in the center of the circular room jutted toward the heavens like a sword. It offered the viewer the chance to marvel at the mastery of architecture that had once been this tower where they stood.

But it was lost under the horror…of watching Derek Simmons shamble toward them. He was busted up like a jigsaw puzzle and stumbling. He was bleeding all over the face. His face and chest were split and seeping. But he was alive. And his shape was human again.

How!? How was that even possible!?

What was in this damn virus?!

Jill pushed Ben to Helena hurriedly. "Get him out of here. Hurry. Hurry."

But it was too late for that.

Far too late.

Helena grabbed him up and started running for the tower across the courtyard.

Simmons staggered and said, "Kennedy….you think you can kill me? I don't die. I can't die. I'm beyond that now."

Leon answered, spitting it between his teeth as the rage ate away the laughter and left him fuming. "Back for more, you son of a bitch? Good. Killing you once wasn't enough anyway. I owe you a thousand deaths for each person in Tall Oaks. For Adam. For every person out there right now dying...and each death you gave me when I was kneeling in her blood. I can't kill you enough for it. Now or ever."

Jill felt something shift hard and fast in her belly. She felt the love for him like fire now and need. She'd known him four days.

She'd been looking for him all her life.

Simmons laughed, gasping around the pain. "I will take her from you. I will laugh while she dies. That's what love is. It's what kills you…and leaves you in pieces."

"I'm going to leave you in pieces, you ass clown. Quit fucking talking and COME ON!"

The shout was so loud it scared her. She jumped. She'd never heard Leon yell like that before. It echoed in the courtyard where they stood beside the towering monument.

Simmons studied him as if he'd finally done something interesting. "All the world on fire, and this girl is what it takes to push you beyond your limits? This girl? She's nothing. She's flesh and bones and failure. She's human."

Leon shook his head as the wind kicked his hair around his perfect face. "She's everything - you stupid pathetic bastard. I'd have killed you for Adam alone. For her? I'm gonna make sure there's not even enough left of you to scrape up in a spoon."

How could he ever be worried about Chris? Didn't he realize she felt the same way? Didn't he know she'd never, ever, ever let him go?

Leon said aside to her," Go. Go after Ben. I got this."

And she answered, "I told you once - I will never leave you."

Jill ranged herself beside him and lifted her gun on Simmons.

The world was suddenly bright all around them. A helicopter floated there, showing a pretty face behind its curved glass. Jill felt Leon jerk beside her and murmur, "Ada?!"

Simmons started screaming now. "A-DUHHHH! I KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU TOOK WESKER'S SON! YOU USED HIS BLOOD TO MAKE THE VIRUS STRONGER! I WILL FUCK YOU WHILE YOU SCREAM AND BLEED AND BEG. I WILL FUCK YOU TO DEATH…YOU BITCH!"

Leon laughed mirthlessly beside Jill. "You won't do anything, you stupid mother fucker, but make peace with whoever might be waiting for you on the other side. Because nobody here is going to mourn you."

The helicopter started firing. And the body of Derek Simmons fell to the ground screaming in a hail of bullets. It shook, it burst with blood, and it exploded.

There was no other word for it. None.

What erupted from within the confines of his flesh was horrible. It was the size of a tyrannosaurus rex. It was bones and muscle and roaring need. And then its horrible face split like a flower in the sun and revealed one massive bloodshot eye. It roared its hunger to the heaves and shook the earth when it stomped.

They couldn't do anything but run.

The helicopter fired mercilessly on it while it chased, stomping, roaring, swishing its massive tail, and knocking anything out of its way. How did they fight something like that!?

They ducked and rolled. They dove and slid. They were fucked. Seriously fucked. Because there was no way to fight something like that. There was no way. Was this Dino Crisis!? There was no way.

And then the world shifted again. And Derek Simmons was sucked back into his mortal form to fall to his knees on the cold stone floor.

Leon was already running. Running.

He felt the world fracture as he slid out of place. He tackled the other man. They slid across the ground, and Leon reared up, straddling him, holding on. He just started swinging.

He just started shouting. Jill had stopped him the last time he'd done it. She'd stepped over to stop him.

She did nothing now. She waited, breathing.

And she watched Leon Kennedy try to beat the National Security Advisor to death with his fists.

He shouted his rage. He shouted obscenities. He punctuated each word with a subsequent blow to the face. The crunch, thunk, and squelch of blood and bone filled the air around them. He grabbed him and smashed him to the ground. He was shaking, shouting, beating Derek Simmons into the street beneath him while he sounded his battle cry.

He was soaked in blood now. He didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He just kept hitting him. He just kept hitting him and shouting.

And finally, Jill grabbed his body. She grabbed him from behind. She curled against his back and held on. And she breathed. "Stop. Please. It's enough. It's enough now. Stop."

Leon panted, harsh and hitching. He dropped the battered body to the street. He was straddling that body in a puddle of blood. His hands were shaking and tearing. The knuckles are raw. Only the tactical gloves saved them from being ripped to shreds.

He was trembling while she held him.

Jill slid around his front. She knelt over the body of Derek Simmons. She held his desperate gaze with her cool one.

"Stop. Stop. Just….stop." And she collapsed against him. He rose, dragging her with him. He gathered her in and held her, shaking and breathing harsh and fast.

The helicopter lowered, shining that light down on them.

A perfect spotlight on the death of Derek Simmons.

He lifted his head over where he held Jill against him, her face buried in his neck.

He met the curious gaze of Ada Wong beyond the curved glass of the chopper. She smirked… winked…and gestured upwards with her head. And then her helicopter lifted, up, up, and headed off.

He murmured, "She's headed to the roof."

Jill leaned back, watching his sweating face. No humor now. No laughter. The body of Simmons lay beside them, bleeding and raw. The face was hamburger. And Leon was bathed in his blood.

She intoned softly, "I guess we better hope the elevator is working then, huh?"

She stepped back and turned toward the building where Helena had run with Ben. It took her a moment to realize he hadn't followed. He was staring into the sky where Ada Wong's chopper had gone.

Something shifted in her. It was what had shifted when she saw them together in the catacombs. There was more there. There was more to Ada Wong. There was more to all of it.

She'd known him four days.

It was the first time it felt like maybe she didn't know him.

She said softly, "Leon? What is it?"

And he glanced back at her and shook his head, "It's nothing. Nothing. Let's go."

They moved silently now. She felt the shiver in her belly for him. He'd scared her. His rage was a horrible, beautiful, frightening thing. He'd all but stripped away his humanity and became something dark and hungry down there. The need for revenge had flayed the flesh from his bones and left him naked and feral.

The four of them stood together in the glass enclosure as the elevator zipped up the side of the tower toward the roof. The world burned beneath them, lost in a bathing beauty of red, gold, and flickering orange. Fire consumed. Fire destroyed. It erupted, burped, and basted the sky above it as buildings tumbled, burned, and collapsed beneath its rage.

Ben was curled against Helena, holding on while the elevator lifted them into the waiting night. Even he hadn't touched Leon since they'd boarded the elevator. Admittedly, he was soaked in blood. He didn't look like someone you hugged.

Jill leaned against the wall, watching Leon.

He stood facing out at the burning world. The building across from them burst and belched fire, imploding and tumbling to the dirt beneath it. It flickered over his face in a bath of shadow and flame. She uncrossed her arms and stepped up beside him.

She'd known him four days. He'd asked her to marry him. He'd brought her back to life. He'd filled her darkness with something tangible and real. She was full of him. He'd stood in the firelight and avenged her. He'd kissed her breathless. He'd stolen her heart and given it back to beat again for him. It was all very consuming.

Like the fire that ate the world...their love was something that burned and left ashes behind.

And fire didn't last forever.