Author's Note: I realized there was some confusion regarding the previous chapter. The first scene with Chris and Jill is a flashback that takes place on the day after Jill and Leon go to the hotel (so after chapter 1). And the second scene, when Jill goes to rescue Leon and Sherry, is happening in the current timeline-now five months since the night in the hotel happened (so five months after chapter 1).
Anyway, this chapter was super fun to write. It's all Leon's perspective, and it's 4k words long, so I hope you enjoy!
7
A team of medics is already waiting for them as soon as they land. Jill and Leon clear the path for them, allowing them to take Sherry out on a stretcher and rush her to the med bay.
Leon follows Jill's lead as they head there together. Heart beating in his throat. He's tired and in pain and basically running on fumes, but his legs carry him all the way, until the medics tell them to stand back when they take her into intensive care.
Jill's hand rests on his shoulder. "They'll do everything they can," she says, confident, reassuring. "I promise."
He looks at her hand, then turns to face her, nodding, even if he struggles to stay optimistic. "Thanks."
They stand there for a moment, staring at each other, exchanging unspoken words. He's thankful she showed up when she did. Thankful for her help. And, inappropriate as it is (for a lot of reasons), he wishes he could express his gratitude with a kiss. Because apparently, despite the circumstances, his mind still has a special space reserved just for her, a space she occupies at all times.
And it's like a whole month's work comes undone just like that. The past month he spent collecting himself and accepting the fact that Jill Valentine is simply out of his reach. That he let her slip away and that's that. And yet there she is, standing in front of him, and he can so easily grab her by the waist and pull her flush against him.
Jill's hand reaches over, brushing a spot on his cheek. It stings. Her touch more than the spot. "You need some patching up, too."
"I'm alright." He shakes his head, watching her hand fall to her side, wishing he could take it and place it back on his face, keep it there for comfort. "I wanna wait to hear how it goes."
"You can wait while you get treated," Jill says.
"It's not too bad—" he starts, but is interrupted when Jill takes him by the arm and tugs him forward. He winces, her grip wrapped around an aching spot, and Jill shoots him a furrowed brow. See, her eyes say. And so he follows without another complaint.
She walks him into a treatment room, mostly empty save for one patient who looks to be asleep, then she gestures for him to sit on one of the empty beds. He does, watching her walk over to one of the cabinets. She grabs some medical supplies and returns to him.
It takes him a second to realize that she's going to tend to his wounds herself. "I can do it—"
"Don't argue," she says.
He doesn't. His lips press together, and he tries his best to sit still and not make a sound while she dabs away at the cuts on his face with an alcohol pad. His throat works up and down, eyes inadvertently falling to her lips despite his attempts to look anywhere but.
It's hard. So damn hard not to stare at her when she's this close to him. So hard to resist the urge to pull her even closer. So hard not to imagine how soothing her mouth would be on his wounds. How soft on his skin. How good.
Jill stops, tosses the used-up pad into a trash bin, then looks at him. "Anywhere else?"
His mouth falls. He's certain he's got bruises all over his abdomen and back, probably legs, too. Not much she can do about those, except maybe give him a soothing salve to rub over, which he'd rather not do when he's a sweaty mess.
He shakes his head. "Thanks."
"My pleasure." She smiles, and walks away to return the unused supplies to the cabinet.
Leon gets up from the bed and walks over to the door. Jill comes back with some painkillers and tugs out her own water canteen to hand to him. He accepts both, takes the pills and chugs them down with some water before handing the canteen back to her.
"You should get some rest," she says. "I'll keep you posted if anything happens."
"I don't think I can rest," Leon says. "I'll just wait in the hallway, if that's okay."
"As you wish," Jill says.
Leon leaves the room and finds a bench to sit, clammy hands on his lap, foot tapping on the floor. A shadow towers over him. He looks up just as Jill sits beside him. His eyes stay on her, wide and curious.
"I'll wait with you," she says. Her hand rests on his thigh for the briefest of seconds, enough for his heart to skip a beat.
He nods, a smile drawing about his lips in appreciation.
Hours pass before the medics drag Sherry out into the hallway on a stretcher, and Leon attempts to follow them, but they tell him not to. Then one of the doctors approaches him and Jill.
"We've managed to stabilize her condition, but without an anti-virus, or at least a sample of the virus she's infected with, it'll take us time to produce anything of substance," the doctor explains.
"I see," Jill says.
"We can maybe keep her stabilized for twenty-four hours, forty-eight, max, but if she doesn't get better by then, there's no guarantee she'll make it."
Leon's blood runs cold. He swallows.
"Do your best," Jill tells him.
"We already are," the doctor says, then heads off.
Jill turns to Leon. "I'm gonna go call Rebecca, see if she can help. Last time she managed to get a vaccine ready for us in no time." She's about to leave, but Leon reaches and grabs her wrist, stopping her.
"Jill…" he says, and once she turns to face him, he slips a hand into his pouch and tugs out a test tube.
Jill blinks. "What's this?"
"It's the G-variant," he says. Eyes fall to the tube in his hand, twisting it between his fingers. "I'm supposed to bring it to the DSO." But that's not happening anymore. He sighs and holds it to her. "Take it."
"Leon…" Jill wraps her hand over his and lowers it, concealing the sample. "Are you sure?"
"She needs a vaccine," Leon says, a stubborn lump in his throat. "We couldn't find any back there. This is all I got. Your research team could use it to reverse engineer an anti-virus."
Her brows pinch, and she gives him a questioning, worried look. "I doubt the DSO's gonna be happy about this."
"It doesn't matter," Leon says. "Sherry matters."
There is hesitance in her eyes as she considers this for a moment, and then she takes the sample from him, hiding it in her fist before stuffing it into her pocket.
"We'll get it for her," she whispers, a firm hand squeezing his arm. "I promise. Our team can work fast."
Leon nods. "Thank you."
Jill turns away and leaves in a hurry, headed straight for the elevator.
Leon paces about the hallway for a while before he finally caves and takes a seat again, tapping his foot on the floor, waiting, desperately, to hear any news. Another long wait, this time all on his own, and it feels even longer because of that. At one point his eyes start to shut, sleep creeping into him.
It's only when his phone buzzes that he remembers he should have probably made some calls.
Leon gets up from the seat and tugs out his phone to accept the call. "Hunnigan."
"Leon?" Her voice is urgent. "Jill got in touch and told me you made it back."
"Yeah, sorry I didn't call."
"Are you okay? How is Sherry?"
"She's… not looking too good," Leon says.
"We can bring her in. I'll send a chopper your way, I'm sure we can—"
"The BSAA's on it," Leon says.
"What can the BSAA do?" Hunnigan says. "We can try and use the sample you got of the virus to—"
"I already gave it to them."
"What?!" Hunnigan gasps. "You handed the sample over to the BSAA?"
"They needed it," Leon says. "To save Sherry."
"Leon," Hunnigan's voice is firm. "I can't believe… first that sudden detour you make immediately post-op, purposely missing the mission debrief. Then you show up to work the next day drunk to your bones and get yourself a two-week suspension, and now you hand over crucial and classified evidence to an unauthorized third party? What is wrong with you?"
"You know, funny thing, been asking myself that for years," Leon says. "What is wrong with me? Oh wait, it's probably the fact that I didn't choose to do this job."
"Leon, don't you get started with me—"
"I gotta go."
"Wait!" Hunnigan whisper-yells. "What am I supposed to tell them?"
"Tell them I lost it," Leon says. "It got destroyed while I was trying to escape."
Hunnigan is quiet for a moment. "You owe me, you know that?"
"If I take you out to dinner, would that make us even?"
"Not even close," Hunnigan says. "This is serious, Leon. We're forging mission reports."
"Yeah…" Leon sighs. "Sorry to drag you into this mess."
"No, you're not."
"I had to do it," he says. "For Sherry."
"Stay focused," Hunnigan says. "Talk again soon."
The call ends, and Leon holds his phone for a long moment, staring at the screen until it dims. He takes the seat again, feeling even more tired than before, like that call just sucked out the last bits of energy he had left. Arms folded against his chest, he checks the time on his watch. 06:30 P.M. He can get some shuteye until Jill comes back with some news.
His eyes close for approximately two seconds before someone nudges his shoulder. Leon looks up at a blurry Jill standing in front of him.
"Hey," she says in a soft whisper, as if trying not to startle him. Two cups of coffee are in her hands, and she holds one of them to him. "Sorry, I didn't wanna wake you up, but I figured this isn't the most comfortable way to sleep. Also, coffee."
"Thanks." Leon accepts the beverage. His voice is groggy when he says, "I wasn't sleeping."
Jill's brows arch. "I guess I've heard worse lies than that, so I'll bite."
Leon watches her with a confused face for a moment. He shoots a glance at his watch.
It's 8:45 P.M.
Oh.
Coffee in one hand, Leon rubs his eyes with the other. That explains why they sting. "Is there anything new? How's Sherry?"
"Nothing new." Jill shakes her head. "Not yet, at least. But I gave them the sample, and they've been at it since."
His shoulders drop. Leon leans back with a tired sigh before he brings the coffee to his mouth and takes a sip.
"Hey." Jill takes a seat beside him, leaning in to search his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah… I'm good," he says. "Just… was on the phone with Hunnigan earlier. Gave me an earful about the sample."
Jill looks down, she swirls the coffee in her cup before sipping from it. Then she holds it in both hands between her legs. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't tell her anything… but I guess you had to, anyway."
Leon nods, then his head dips. "It was my fault. I should've protected her."
"She'll be fine." Jill's hand returns to his thigh. "We've got our best medics on it and she's already stabilizing. Our research team will do its best to reverse engineer a cure. She's a tough girl. She's giving that virus one hell of a fight."
Leon sips from the coffee as he watches her hand on his thigh, then he meets Jill's eyes. Holds them for a long second there, before he can even utter a word. "Thanks, I, uh…" he swallows a lump. "I appreciate your help."
"Look…" Jill says, her hand giving his thigh a gentle squeeze. It's meant to comfort him, he knows this. But his body feels something more than just comfort. Looking into her eyes doesn't help, either. "Sitting around here, driving yourself crazy about it won't do you any good. Let's go grab something to eat."
Leon's throat works up and down. He's starving, that's for sure, but he has more than one reason to refuse. For both his and her sake. So he gives her a faint shake of his head and a soft smile. "Thanks, but… I don't think I have much appetite right now." Or, more accurately, he has appetite for things he's definitely not supposed to have.
She frowns, but gives him a nod nonetheless. Her hand retreats to hold her coffee cup instead, giving Leon some sense of… relief, even though that word feels wrong. "Well, let me know if you need anything else." And that's all she says before she's getting up, about to leave again.
"Actually, Jill…" Leon takes her by the wrist and pulls her back to sit, urgent but careful so that she doesn't spill any of her coffee. It's not even something he thinks to do, his body just does it. Her eyes meet his, and he's silent for a moment as he stares at her face. "I just want you to know… I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
"You don't have to apologize. You were busy," she says, her voice cool, contained, but then she adds in a more playful tone, "It's not like you were going to marry me, right, pretty boy?"
His heart jumps at the last bit. He can't help a smirk. "You should've waited to find out"
Jill laughs. "Oh, I waited." And that, well, it erases the smirk from Leon's face in an instant. "It was fun while it lasted, though," she says, perhaps to lessen the sting.
Leon huffs. "Just one night."
"Yeah," she says. "But it was still fun."
Fun.
Is that all it was then? Just having fun?
"So," Jill frees her wrist from his hold. "I imagine you want to stick around? At least until Sherry's doing better?"
"Yeah." Leon nods. That's the plan.
"Then I'll see about reserving a hotel room nearby for you," she says.
"I can take care of that—"
"It's fine," she says as she stands. "I got it."
Leon smiles. "Thanks."
It's the same hotel.
Not the same room, but it's the same hotel, and Leon's not sure what to make of it.
Probably nothing. Probably just because it's the closest hotel to the BSAA HQ, which is also why Leon chose it last time.
That doesn't change how strange it is to walk into his room and be instantly reminded by the décor of that night he shared with her. It's a good thing that Sherry is occupying more than half of his mind, otherwise that would have been all he could think of the entire time he's here.
Leon pushes the thoughts of Jill far, far away as he strips off his clothes and heads for the bathroom. Takes a long, steaming shower. And then he instantly crashes on the bed. Probably the best outcome, because his only other option was to grab a drink from the minibar and that would not have been the best way to handle it. He's almost a month sober, anyway, and he intends on keeping it that way for as long as it takes him to have another mental breakdown.
He only has enough energy to turn off his phone, just to dodge anything from the DSO. Jill could probably call the hotel with any updates on Sherry. And then he falls asleep.
It's at a knock on the door that he wakes up again. It's already bright outside—he forgot to pull the curtains and the sun is blasting through the windows.
Leon presses his thumb and forefinger to his eyes, rubbing the sleep off of them before pushing himself upward. He drags himself out of bed. His body is sore and his back stiff. He only bothers with throwing on his pants before he opens the door.
Jill stands on the other side with a bag in her hands.
His eyes widen. "Jill?"
Her gaze travels down his body briefly before settling back on his face. "Good morning," she says.
He swallows. "What are you doing here?"
"I tried to call, but you weren't answering," she says. "They're administering the vaccine to Sherry today."
"Already?"
"I told you we had a fast team," she says. "I called Rebecca anyway, and she helped a lot. And plus, the DSO actually sent us some records about the G and those were a great help with analyzing the variant. It made the process faster"
Leon almost snorts. "The DSO, huh?"
Jill nods. "So…" Her eyes scan him again. "You wanna get dressed and come along?"
"Yeah. Give me a sec," he says. "You can come in."
She smiles but shakes her head. "I'll wait in my car. I just wanted to give you these." She holds the bag to him. "Some clean clothes." A pause. "They're Chris's, so they may not fit properly, but… I figured it's better than wearing dirty clothes."
Leon takes the bag from her, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the thought of wearing her… boyfriend's clothes. But he appreciates the gesture nonetheless. "Thanks."
"Meet me out front," she says. "I'll drive us there."
He nods. "Will do."
It's a nice change, at least, that she's driving this time. And also that they're driving in her car instead of his bike. God knows his back needs as much support as it can get right now.
"Did they already administer it?" Leon asks.
"They were prepping for it," Jill says. Her eyes dart in his direction frequently, but they don't linger. "I told them to go ahead and do it as soon as they're ready. I figured that's better than waiting for us. They already tested the vaccine on other subjects and it should work."
"Okay," he says. "That's good." But he'll only truly be relieved once he sees it work with his own eyes. Once Sherry's awake again.
"Hunnigan called by the way," Jill says, and Leon can't help but roll his eyes. "Said she's been trying to contact you and couldn't. I told her your phone must have run out of battery or something."
"It didn't," Leon says.
"I think she's just worried about you," Jill says.
"I know," Leon says. "And I don't want her to be."
"Then maybe you should call her," Jill says. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you at the DSO… I heard you got suspended."
Leon's eyes pop. "You did?"
"From Claire," she says.
Of course.
Because as soon as he got suspended, he went out drinking again, and he vaguely remembers taking a call from Claire, who wanted to check on him after the previous night, and he may or may not have told her about how lovely a day he was having. She'd actually left work and come to him. Drove him to his place, took care of him. Pushed him to get back on his feet. Eventually, he did. But after yesterday? Seeing Jill again? Feeling her touch? His legs are starting to feel a little weak again.
"Is there…" Jill clears her throat, "is there anything I can do to help?"
"Like what?" Leon asks. He can't help but feel there's more to that question than she's letting on.
"I don't know," she says. "I'm asking you."
"You could kiss me," he says. A joke that's not really a joke. "That'd probably make me feel better."
Jill scoffs. "Don't dodge my question. Leon, if you're in trouble or something—"
"I'm not." Not yet, at least. He might be, soon enough. But that's not a problem to worry about now. "Thanks, though. I appreciate your concern." That may have come off more sarcastic that he intended. But it's also hard, especially right now, to hide his frustration with her.
"Alright, then," she says. Her eyes settle on him briefly, and there's that look again.
"What?" Leon asks pointedly.
"Nothing," she says, and this time it's clear she's forcing herself to look at the road.
"It's not nothing," he says. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
She shakes her head. Her lips press together, and then they twitch, and in seconds, she's giggling.
Leon's brows arch. "You lost me."
"Sorry," she says, shaking her head still. "Sorry, it's just… you look kinda silly in that shirt. It's too big."
Leon looks down at the shirt he's wearing, which is about a size or two bigger than his—he didn't really bother checking, was in too much a hurry getting dressed. Admittedly, he did have to roll up the sleeves because they were too flappy. But that didn't magically reduce the size of the rest of the shirt.
The sigh that comes out of him is exaggerated. And then he's chuckling to himself, which triggers Jill to start laughing again. Louder this time. Leon rolls his eyes. "Hey, take it easy. It's not my fault you're dating a gorilla."
Her laughter continues from a few seconds before it mellows down. Jill clears her throat, and Leon is lost watching that pretty smile on her face, until it gradually turns into a frown. A frown that infects his own lips as the bitter realization settles in the air.
The rest of the ride is spent in awkward silent. Thankfully, it's not that long a ride. And that's the only good thing about her having reserved a room in the same hotel from that night.
They arrive at the BSAA HQ and head straight for the med bay.
Leon is there, right by Sherry's side, when the doctor administers the anti-virus to her. His eyes remain on the unconscious woman the entire time, not quite able to focus on whatever the doctor is saying, which is why he's thankful Jill is there, listening. She says something, once the doctor leaves, about going to check if Rebecca's still gonna come over. Leon merely gives her a nod before he takes a seat by Sherry's side, watching her face for a few moments.
Then his phone rings, breaking him out of his thoughts.
Leon shoots to his feet and answers the call, walking to stand by the window. "Hunnigan?"
"Leon," Hunnigan says. "Jill told me they're administering the vaccine to Sherry today. How's she doing?"
"Too early to tell," Leon says.
"Alright," Hunnigan says. "But did the doctors say if she'll recover?"
"I don't know," Leon says. "We have to wait and see."
"Any idea how long it'll be before—"
"I don't know," Leon presses.
There's a long pause on the other end, then a frustrated sigh.
"Leon," Hunnigan says. "I'm worried about you, you know? If you keep being this careless… The DSO is going to have a word with you eventually."
"The DSO owns my life," Leon barks. "They control everything I do. Every little breath I take. Hell, I could swear they know every time I take a dump. I don't need you to tell me how expendable I am. They never tried to hide that fact from me. All these years."
"I… Leon, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"Do I even need to be on this call right now? I'm sure they've already hacked into the BSAA security just to keep track of every step I take." Leon lets out an aggravated breath. "Just… Forget about it."
"Leon—"
He hangs up before she finishes.
Just thinking about all the things that could have been if he wasn't so married to his job. The things he could have had. The things he wouldn't have lost.
Jill being one of those.
It instantly makes him want to punch things.
A whimper sounds from Sherry, and Leon's frustration dissipates in a heartbeat. He hurries to her, taking her hand in his. "Sherry?" he says. "Sherry, can you hear me?"
She doesn't say a thing, doesn't make another sound.
He breathes out softly. "You'll get through this. I know you will."
A knock on the door. Leon looks over his shoulder as Jill walks in.
"Hey," she says, her eyes wide upon seeing him. "Did something happen?"
"Yeah… no, not really," he says. "She was… whimpering. But she's not awake yet."
Jill frowns. "They said it'll take some time for the vaccine to take full effect, since the virus stayed in her body for so long. But the good news is, because she was already infected with the G, her recovery rate is that much higher."
"Yeah," he says. "I believe in her."
Jill smiles. She's quiet for a minute, then she says, "So… I wanted to check if you wanted me to bring some breakfast for you, since we didn't get to grab anything on the way? Or… if you wanna go eat something? Together?"
Again, inviting him out to eat with her. And Leon knows she's just trying to be nice, and maybe part of it is also because she feels some level of guilt toward him. Pity, even. And that doesn't exactly sit right with him.
"Together." He swallows, getting up from the chair to stand facing her. "Just the two of us? Or is Chris coming too?"
"No," she says. "He's not. He's… on a mission right now."
"I see," Leon says. Their eyes hold for a long moment. He doesn't give her an answer, because there's something else on his mind. A question he's been wondering for a while now. "Does he know?"
Jill's brows furrow. He half-expects her to ignore him, but then she shakes her head. That's fair. It's probably an awkward thing to talk about anyway. But it's the way she shrugs her shoulders that pisses Leon off. The way she says, in a most nonchalant voice, "There is nothing he needs to know."
"Right," Leon says, tongue clicking, before he wets his lips and breathes out softly.
Nothing he needs to know. Nothing. That's what it was, then? Nothing?
Something overcomes him in that second. An urge, or perhaps, it's more an impulse. Combined with rage. Frustration. And a whole lot of other emotions coming up at once. And yet his steps are so confident and steady when he approaches her. His voice so cool when he speaks. "If that was nothing, then I guess…" his gaze passes over her lips before settling back on her eyes, "this isn't something he needs to know about, either."
Jill's lips part in what he assumes is a question.
One he doesn't let her utter, because his mouth steals hers in a heartbeat.
Author's Note: Well, we've all seen this coming, right? Right. Anyway! Let me know your thoughts down below. And as always, thank you so much for reading!