Wildfire:
Chapter Four:
Of Parts and Pain
Leon woke up with an echo of weeping in his ears. He often did, as there wasn't much you could do when you were eyeball deep in an outbreak, and people were nothing but grief and loss. It chased him around like a plague most days - the misery, the erosion of hope. He'd started to lose most of his, too. But somehow...every weeping child or grief-stricken soul he met reminded him why he was doing this: to save lives, to stop the loss of more of them. Even if it was just one, just one fucking person, it was worth the risk of himself to spare them.
He had to believe that, or he'd lose that last shred of hope he was clinging desperately to like a man staring at a mirage in a desert. His watch told him he'd been asleep for three hours. Three. A solid number on a good day. He'd fallen asleep not lying down but sitting - back to the couch, eyes forward, watching the door, the window, the hallway where Jack slept- all within his view.
Jill's hand rested on his shoulder where he leaned, whether by choice or accident, as if she'd slept better having him close. He should get up and get a move on, but he hesitated, watching the woman on the couch. Testing a theory, Leon shifted toward her. Her dark hair looked silver in the moonlight. His fingers moved and settled over the pulse in her wrist. Steady. Slow. Relaxed. A comfortable sixty-six beats per minute. A runner's resting heart rate.
He was someone else when she was beside him. He was that kid on that bus looking for purpose. When had he stopped being that kid? He was barely twenty-three - too young to sit around thinking as if a dark cloud hung over his head raining. When had he become so goddamn dark?
He watched Jill's face and wished he'd met her in Raccoon City before the world had imploded. He'd have chased her, caught her, and kept her. That's what you did at twenty-one, you chased girls, you married one, you made babies. He was betting they'd have made cute babies.
She murmured in her sleep, and her legs slid down the faded fabric. He watched them and the curve of her ass above them as she rolled to her back on the cushions. Her left leg braced against the side of the couch, her right settling to the floor. The little shorts gaped at the leg, offering darkness above them and the promise of things that could kill a man.
He was betting Jill Valentine was the type of woman a man died for. The little tank top crept up her flat belly. Her breasts rose and fell with each easy breath. It was cool enough in the room that her nipples peaked while she slept. He'd made peace with having feelings for her in that camp. It was easy enough to; she was dedicated and brave, beautiful and strong, loyal and tough. But caring about her that way was risky. It was with any woman, which was why he'd avoided them like the plague since Raccoon City.
He didn't want to love one. Well, he did, but not now, not while he was doing this. When it was over...maybe...but even that was a maybe. Because in this line of work, he was reasonably sure he knew how it ended for him. Could he leave a wife and tater tots at home weeping for him? Would they even be told he'd died? Probably not.
His hand shifted and pushed the hair off Jill's face, where she snored. She muttered and grumbled, leaning her face against his palm as it started to pull back. Soft. Here, like this, she was soft. He'd never seen her soft. She was so goddamn tough. He wondered what she'd been like before the world collapsed around them. His thumb brushed her lips as he retreated, rising from his crouch.
He wanted to kiss her, and the timing was wrong there. One- this was a mission. Two - it would complicate what they'd come here to do. But after? What about after? Should he? Could he? Would he? He wished sometimes his life wasn't full of so many goddamn questions.
Leon helped himself to another cigarette and emerged onto the porch of the little house to smoke it. The sky was the color so often confused with black - midnight blue. It was the shade somewhere lost between the silver of the moon and the eternal blackness that meant a lack of light. It was poised to spill into a new day. He could almost smell the sun on the horizon.
The air echoed with humidity, and his internal barometer told him it would be a blistering day slogging through the jungle. His lungs protested the burst of nicotine and tobacco on the acrid smoke he inhaled. A vice, a stupid one - almost as dumb as the flask tucked into his vest filled with whiskey. Another vice, the kind that got you killed.
Even a war machine had vices, it seemed. He didn't want to be a war machine. He wanted to be a fucking cop with a wife and tater tots. But that...that he'd sold for the life of a girl with no one to protect her. He'd do it again. He'd do it any goddamn time someone needed him. It was just who he was.
But for now...now he had a job to do, and there was no time for regret.
He turned to find Jill watching him in the growing light. They stared at each other for a moment before he offered softly, "We should get moving."
She nodded.
But it was another handful of moments before either actually moved.
The journey to Javier had been fraught with so much shit that Jack was now a believer. He didn't doubt anything they told him. He'd seen firsthand the horrors that happened with bioterror. He'd bought into every impossible truth they unloaded on him.
They'd found Javier's daughter, Manuela, in such a surreal circumstance that it was hard to believe it was real. Apparently, she could sing to the monsters. She worked like a guide to help them. She led them deeper into the nightmare.
It was also clear she was the subject of experimentation. She was a B.O.W. The odd part? Jack was perfectly content to protect her anyway. Honestly, they'd both thought he'd turn on her when it became clear she wasn't entirely human.
Leon had immediately rallied around her like a champion, which wasn't as surprising to Jill as how fast Manuela had, in turn, taken to him like a child to a savior. She seemed to see beneath the shell to the softness he tried so hard to hide beneath a layer of badass and machine. He was a good man under the grime the government had tossed on them. He'd held onto his sense of self somehow despite whatever horror he found himself eyeball deep in. It made Jill feel like, just maybe, there was hope for them all to come out of this shit human.
Leon shook his head and turned toward the shower area of the little hut they'd found to hole up and make plans in. "I'm going to rinse the grime off before we get moving."
He pulled the shower curtain. Manuela watched his shape beyond the heavy vinyl. All shadows, but you could tell he was stripping. She tucked her knees up as the water fired on. The oversized T-shirt she wore was white and thrown over the dress she'd worn the day before. Jill had done her best to rinse the blood from the dress because the shorts they'd found would never have fit on her thin frame.
After it was clear he was showering, she looked at Jill, "He is not so simple, I think."
Jill nodded and scooped her hair up into a ponytail as she reached for her holster and boots. "Not even a little. What do you see when you look at him?"
Manuela gave her a thoughtful face. "He looks at you with such...what is word?" She struggled and finally said, "Solo está sediento de cariño."
Jill paused. She considered that. What had she said? He just hungers for affection. Was he simply lonely? That shouldn't have surprised her, either, but somehow it did.
Manuela smiled sweetly at her. "You should get in the shower. He is very naked in there. He would like your kisses, I know."
Jill smiled, unable to stop herself. She was charmed by this girl they'd found singing to monsters. She shook her head and answered, "I don't think he'd like them nearly as much as you think. And we have a job to do. Do you need to rest more?"
Manuela shook her head as she rose. "No. I am rested. You look warm. In the face. Much pink on the cheeks."
Well, Jill thought, that happened when you got turned on playing dangerous games with an overly sexy, potentially dangerous, possible ally. Jill gave Manuela a narrow-eyed expression laced with amusement, "You're too smart for your own good, I think. You might not speak the language, but you understand things just fine."
Manuela giggled a little.
It was nice to feel just a little normal. Jill shook her head in amusement as the door was tossed open, and Krauser emerged into the small cabin, "You ladies done with your sleepover? We're burning moonlight while you two share stories about your periods and paint your nails."
He was a pig. There was no other word for it. Jill rolled her eyes, "You sure you're not a girl, Jack? Only one of us seems to be having PMS at the moment."
He ignored her completely and instructed, "Kennedy! When you're done shaving your legs in there, how about we get a move on? I ain't gettin any younger, and you ain't gettin any prettier."
He paused and glanced over at Manuela to add, "Although I guess you think he's pretty enough, huh, sweetheart? You wanna climb in the shower and help him ease his tension?"
Manuela looked away and shook her head. Jill told him, "If you think he's so pretty, get in that shower with him yourself, Jack."
"Sorry, dollface, but I like my meat a little more tender." Jack leaned over to sniff at Jill's shoulder. Manuela made a face like he was gross or offensive. Jill just arched her brows at him as he finished, "You wanna take a shower with me? You look like a dirty girl."
Jill rolled her eyes in answer.
The water cut off behind the curtain. Jill felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a snide, tight smile. "I like my meat prettier, Jack. Maybe you should have traded some of those steroids for a hair transplant."
"Why? So I can be pretty like your girlfriend in there?"
Jill laughed dryly, "He's not just pretty. Based on who's been doing all the brave shit this mission, I'd say he's got all the balls in this cabin, too."
Krauser scoffed and leaned away from her. "So do I."
"Hard to believe when we both know the juice turns your junk to raisins. Next time I want to fuck a thumb, though, I'll give you a call."
"I'm about to juice on your raisins, sweetheart, and show you what my junk can do."
"Always the fucking gentleman, Jack."
Manuela cringed. Jill just laughed. And the curtain made a metallic whoosh as Leon stepped out from behind it. With his hair peeled back from his face, he managed to look impossibly young and fresh. Manuela looked at Jill and back at Jack with enough force that it gave Leon pause.
Leon strapped on his shoulder holster with one brow arched as his gaze jumped between them. "What?"
Jill shook her head. Krauser laughed and rolled his eyes, "Just dealing with our guide here hitting on me. What can I say? I have that effect on women."
Leon kept his expression bored and locked his vest in place on his chest. "Oh, I have no doubt that's true, Krauser. Like a kick in the crotch that never ends."
Krauser opened the door to the cabin and returned, "Oh, if I'm near their crotch, they're begging that it never ends."
Jill looked like she'd barf. Manuela, thank god, couldn't follow the slang enough to get it. Leon gestured with his head at Jill, and she helped Manuela up from the bed. After a moment, Leon reached into his pack to remove a black Kevlar vest. Surprised, Jill watched him as he moved to strap Manuela into it.
He spoke in fluent and rapid Spanish. He was telling her it was a spare, it was for her protection, and that she should never, ever take it off. He showed her the small knife strapped to the front and how to pull it. He gave a brief instruction on how to wield it.
Manuela nodded quickly and enthusiastically. To show her appreciation, Manuela carried Jill's small canteen and binoculars around her neck. She stepped out into the coming dawn as Leon slung his own pack onto his back and paused.
Jill was watching him quietly.
Curious, he arched a brow.
She shook her head and started out the door.
He was a mystery to her. There were so many layers. A man who apparently slaughtered like a professional and that gave away his spare body armor to skinny frightened girls. During their fights, he was fast, brutal, and efficient - he moved without thought, like a man who saw ten steps ahead of whatever the bad guy could throw at him. He was flawless and smart, savvy and smooth. He knew what he was doing...and he made you laugh while he did it. An absolute mystery. Whatever else he was, he wasn't just a killer.
She was starting to understand that he was probably more of a hero than he'd ever asked to be.
They were shaken and tired, bloody and bruised, and trying to stay alert. The position of the sun told Leon that it was likely somewhere close to dusk beyond the concrete cavern in which they found themselves. As they fought their way through a horde of undead, Manuela remained quiet and shaking.
When things slowed, Leon urged, "What? What is it?"
Manuela gnawed her lip and finally answered, "...how did I escape this? I-I can't-...it's blank. I cannot remember."
Leon touched her shoulder, which was an odd gesture for him to even feel the need to comfort, but it brought her worried gaze up from where she was twisting her fingers near her belly as he reassured her, "Whatever they did to you, we'll find out...I promise."
Manuela nodded and sucked in a sharp breath to steady herself. She licked her lips twice and confided, "...your face comforts me."
It was the first time in history anyone had said so. Leon felt his mouth twitch with humor and surprised himself when he quipped, "Usually, it frightens women, so I'm glad to hear it."
Manuela's eyes sparkled as she leaned a little toward him and whispered conspiratorially, "...that is because they are afraid you will stop looking back."
She was fairly wise for a child. His gloved hand squeezed companionably on her shoulder and retreated. She drew herself tall and steely and followed him as he led them toward the opening where Krauser and Jill had passed through.
After a moment, he realized why they were both frozen and staring.
On the rise above the rushing reservoir of water, Javier Hidalgo was watching them like a villain in a bad storybook. The waterfall that cascaded between them and the ladder to reach the balcony where he towered above likely dumped down into a reserve power grid. His thin face was graced with straggling waves of thinning black hair and reflective sunglasses above a pencil-thin mustache. When he saw Manuela, he called, "My darling! You frightened me! All you had to do was wait...just wait for fifteen years...and I would have set you free! I did this all for you...come with me now, and we can prevent the transformation."
Krauser snapped, "You little worm...you infect this girl!?"
Jack was an odd creature. He might think women were disposable, but he also seemed to be offended by an inherent abuse of them by those who were meant to protect them. Leon had seen him rape like an ancient Viking after pillaging a village in victory, but he was instantly aggrieved at the idea of experimentation on the girl they were trying to protect. He was a monster with some morals, it seemed.
Javier returned, "She is mine! I have done what I can to protect her! Veronica will set her free!"
Leon's weapon was loud. It went off, and Hidalgo was thrown backward against the wall with a hand shoved against his gushing chest. One of his men grabbed for him to drag him to safety.
Manuela gasped as a man claimed her from behind, banding her to his front with his arms wrapped tight around her struggling form. Jill shouted and lifted her gun, another man whipped her across the face for the effort and divested her of her weapon, and Javier shouted in rage, "Get rid of them!"
The man holding Manuela backed up, the three men with him lifted their guns on Krauser and Leon, and the one struggling with Jill kicked her in the stomach, whipped her again in the face, and sent her into the waterfall behind her. The guns started going off at the same time. Jack and Leon were already leaping in the water anyway, but his vest took a few heavy rounds before he sunk under.
The water kicked and pushed, his head came up for a moment, and he heard Manuela shout into the din of crushing waves, "Leon!"
Apparently, she cared enough about him to hurt her captors and come after him. It was flattering, honestly, since most of the time, he gave off a vibe that made women cringe. Maybe it was just normal women that found him beautiful but odd. He was, after all, prone to bad jokes when nervous. Sometimes his joking and pseudo-historian lecturing about random topics made people think he was autistic or something.
The waterfall pushed them right out into a terrifying drop. One moment, rushing and trying to breathe, the next plummeting with pinwheeling arms into the endless nothing. Leon angled his body, tucking his arms into his sides, making himself as aerodynamic as possible. He plummeted like a bullet shot from a gun, fast and straight. The ensuing madness left nothing but survival behind.
When he was pretty sure he'd keep on falling until he simply died, a lasso whipped out on the end of a fraying rope, dropped around him like a cowboy roping a steer, and jerked. He put his hands out to grab the grated walkway as it tugged him over. He swung, spinning, and latched on with both hands. Above him, Krauser shouted, "THE GIRL!"
Which one?
Leon pushed off the walkway toward the plummeting figure below him. He rushed, the lasso kept him from going too far, and his arms closed around Jill before the tidal wave of water could suck her under and take her off into nowhere. They twisted in midair like ballerinas dancing, and Jack called down, "Manuela!?"
Unconscious, Jill was about all Leon could handle for weight, but he spun with her clutched to him, searching steel catwalks for the girl they were still missing. He shouted, and his voice echoed through the cold reservoir, "Manuela!?"
There was no answer, but his shouting roused Jill from her stupor.
Jill stirred against him. He went from supporting her completely to having her grip him in return. Her legs looped at his waist, her arms around his chest, and her mouth ranged against his ear to whisper, "...holy shit...you catch me!?"
Krauser shouted down, "You fat fucks have to figure out your own way up! I can't carry you both! Sweetheart, if you want to drop that dead wait with a flat ass, you just go right ahead! I'll pull you up for a big kiss afterward!"
Amused, Jill muttered, "Whose flat ass is he talking about? Yours or mine?"
Leon hooked his left arm around her waist, holding her against him. To her amusement, his hand settled over the ass in question to hitch her into a place with better leverage as she answered her own question, "...clearly he wasn't talking about me, right?"
Leon snorted. She sighed and lamented, "...please tell me you saved me on your own here."
His right hand lifted to tug on the line as he answered, "...I think we both have to thank Jack for that."
"...shit." She laughed and leaned her head back a little, "..I think I'd rather eat my left foot."
His mouth twitched as he caught her gaze, "I can't argue with that. Help me swing this goddamn rope."
Jill shifted against him and sort of humped. He thought it was clearly the weirdest pseudo-dry humping of his entire life and returned the gesture. They both kept pushing and rolling until the rope began to gain momentum and swing them back and forth.
Above them, Jack shouted, "Keep playing cirque de so-gay down there all day, why doncha? I'm gonna try to find Manuela. The water is rising, so we have to go up to get out. This place looks like a big loop. Meet me on the far stairwell when you get tired of hanging around...see that, Kennedy? I can pun too."
Jill rolled her eyes as Jack disappeared from up top. She mused, "...do I wanna ask about the gay jokes?"
Leon shrugged as they finally swung far enough for her to grab the steel walkway and leverage herself up to climb over. He swung out and back once more, gripped her palm, and she leaned over him to cut loose the lasso around his back. She watched his arms bunch nicely as he tossed him up beside her and rose, "Jack is an alpha male," He confided as he offered her his machine gun and opted to carry his pistol, "He thinks accusing me of being a pretty boy or a constantly alluding to me being gay is going to get me riled up enough to fight him for dominance."
Jill considered him as they ducked into the cold inner chamber and headed toward the accompanying hallway. With any luck, Jack was going to be headed toward the elevator himself. She knew, without asking, that they were both worried about Manuela's whereabouts.
"...why don't you?"
Leon glanced at her as they reached the elevator on the far side. "...because it's like sticking a stick into the eye of a bear - what possible good could come from that?"
The elevator hummed and told them Jack was already on it and rising up, so they'd have to wait their turn. Jill looked at his profile as Leon vigilantly scanned the area around them, covering them. She told him, "...you could take him."
Surprised, he flicked a look at her and went back to being on guard, "You sure about that?"
After a handful of seconds, she answered, "Yeah. I am. I saw you...in the pit. I saw you fight. I fought you. You were good then. You're better now. You could take him."
To her infinite joy, he didn't bother to act humble or deflect; he just said, "I know."
Her mouth twitched with humor. The doors pinged and opened, and they got on. It rose up, beeping with each floor achieved. Jill peeped out the side window of the elevator to see the water rising where they'd been.
Softly, she breathed, "Manuela...where are you?"
When she glanced over her shoulder, she found him looking at her. Into the hum of machinery, Leon queried, "...I don't know how you do that."
Jill's brows lifted, "...do what?"
"...get so invested." He surveyed her face like one might a masterpiece hanging in an illustrious gallery, "Why do you care about one girl who's likely infected?"
In answer, Jill retorted, " The better question...is why do you?"
Leon laughed lightly. "I care about everyone. It's sorta my cross to bear. It would be nice though, if I could just do the job and not give a shit about the survivors when it was over."
Jill eyed him and returned quietly, "Why? That's what you're fighting for, right?"
He answered her softly, "Yeah...if you don't save one life..."
Jill murmured, "...you won't save any."
She laid a hand on his forearm and squeezed in support and camaraderie. The doors beeped. Her hand dropped. They opened with a whoosh, and Leon was already aiming over her shoulder at what waited beyond. The amused tone of Jack Krauser filled the elevator car, "Ease down, ladies, the rescue party has arrived."
Jill thought Leon hardly looked like a lady with his wet hair scooped back off that face. He looked like a goddamn model or something. It was stupid to be that good-looking. Somewhere, someone was laughing up their sleeve at giving the face of a fucking angel to a man with the reputation of a devil.
Jill shouldered Krauser aside and snapped, "Manuela? Any sign?"
As soon as she said it, a voice called, "Leon!"
Manuela hurried toward them, soaked but unharmed. Surprised, Jill glanced at Krauser who gave her a droll look and grumped, "What? You think I was gonna leave her floating like a turd in a toilet bowl?"
Jill shook her head, "You're an interesting asshole, Krauser...you don't stink nearly as much as you should."
He actually chuckled and quipped, "But I still know how to shit all over someone."
Jill couldn't stop the laugh. Leon accepted the tight hug from Manuela before the girl turned to embrace her as well. They put the girl between them and kept moving forward.
As they moved, Manuela told them all about her father. He'd tried to save her from the same disease that had killed dozens in their town. He'd failed to save her mother but had somehow kept her alive this whole time.
Curious, Leon wondered, "How? I wasn't aware there was any way to retard the Veronica Virus."
Manuela shrugged, looking scared and tired, "I don't know. I don't-I cannot remember some things, I think."
Krauser gave Leon and Jill a telling look over her head as they emerged onto a causeway into the war sunshine. The wind kicked up the scent of water and sand. They were near the forest again, suspended on a small walkway above an endless drop into a canopy cover of trees.
Jill and Leon shifted aside as Manuela moved to look over the edge into the beyond. Quietly, he told them, "...the organ harvesting."
Jill's brows arched, and Leon nodded, "I know. He's been taking girls close to her age and..."
He trailed off. Krauser nodded. Jill finally hissed, "What? He's what? Harvesting their fucking body parts to keep his daughter from succumbing to the virus?"
Jack licked his teeth. Leon bobbed his head once. With a scoff, Jill spit, "Piece of shit. All those girls...if Manuela finds out...the guilt will destroy her."
Shock set in when Krauser told them, "So we don't let her find out. No reason for her to know. Keep her close to you, sweetheart, and make sure she doesn't hear anything she don't need to. This shit is officially classified."
Jill bobbed her head and moved away to join Manuela. Into the stare-down between him and Jack, Leon remarked, "I can't leave Hidalgo alive."
Jack tilted his head, "Your mission ain't to kill him, Kennedy. That's mine. So what's keeping you here?"
Considering that, Leon went with honesty, "My mission is to stop the virus. One way or the other - I have to keep it from spreading."
Jack glanced over, "...so we should get rid of the girl before she turns."
To his surprise, Leon's mouth said, "No. She stays with us. So far, she's not a threat. She's bonded to the virus in a way that keeps her alive and human. It's the first time I've heard of Veronica boding to a human host. We need to know the whys. She has more value alive than dead."
Krauser agreed, "So we keep her alive."
"We keep her with us."
They both nodded at each other. After a moment, Jack put his hand out to the other man, "I'm ready to play nice. We get through this; I'm gonna kick your skinny ass."
Leon shook hands with him, mouth quirked, "Seems fair. For now? Let's go kick some other ones."
"Sounds like a good fucking time, brutha. Game on."
The more they traipsed through Hidalgo's fortress, the more it became clear what type of man Manuela's father was. He was a drug lord, that much was true, and as insane as any powerful man that Leon had ever had the displeasure of being in the company of. The deeper they traversed, the more obvious it became that Hidalgo was harvesting more than just organs for his dying daughter.
He was harvesting them for his garden.
They'd stood in the damp heat of it, staring in horror. The amount of B.O.W.S. he'd been breeding had been incomprehensible. And the battle had cost them all some blood, some courage, and a whole lot of pride. Jack had been badly wounded in the fray.
The helicopter ride out of the jungle was done in silence. Jack kept to himself, nursing his arm and cleaning it to bind it. Jill sat across from Leon, watching him watch her. When she glanced at Manuela, who was asleep beside him with her head on his thigh, he arched a brow.
Jill arched hers in return.
Leon rolled his eyes. Jill smirked and shrugged a shoulder. A whole conversation, it seemed, with just looks. The girl had an enormous crush on him, but it wasn't surprising. He'd played the white knight well for her. He'd made jokes to make her laugh. He'd kept things light and kind.
Just being him, no doubt, but it made starry-eyed teenage girls fall in love with him. Jill studied his tired face and wondered if she'd ever been that soft and sweet. Probably, once, but even in her youth, she'd been more hesitant about romance. Not against it, exactly, but wary of it. Even now, she was considering the cost of getting involved with him. Although she'd already made up her mind to do it, she was weighing the risks to both of them if it didn't work out.
Softly, she warned, "...that girl is in love with you."
Leon rolled his eyes. "After a couple of days? Please."
Jill tilted her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were the master of female emotion. Nice to meetcha; they call me the master of unlocking."
Leon twitched his mouth. "She's just grateful."
Jill eyed him like he was a little slow. "You really believe that?"
He shrugged a shoulder. "I never gave her a reason to think otherwise."
Touched at how naive he was, Jill encouraged, "You don't have to, Kennedy. Us women? We just get a crush on the hot hero when he does daring feats to save us."
Leon's mouth twitched again. "Yeah? You crushing on me, too?"
Jill held his eyes and determined, "I'm thinking about it."
Neither looked away while they were smiling. Finally, Leon cleared his throat. "Worst case here, she has a crush. It'll pass."
Jill shrugged. "Whatever you say, master of emotions. But you'll be sorry when she confesses undying love for you."
Leon snorted out a laugh. "Undying love after a couple of days...you guys are crazy."
Jill snorted too. "Maybe, but never underestimate us, Leon. Or you'll regret it."
Leon chuckled. He looked out over the coming dawn and lamented teasingly, "...women."
They stuck with Manuela until she was safely in the research hospital in Washington, D.C. As far as the doctors could tell, embracing the virus had somehow retarded its progression. Manuela was, officially, the first human to have successfully merged with the T-Veronica virus and maintained mortality. It was something that required further research and testing to substantiate, but Manuela was unwilling to stay in the hospital without some promises from him.
He told her, "I will come see you whenever I can."
The girl chewed her lip, looking nervous and scared, "...I won't be a test subject, yes? I won't stay here for that."
He crouched in front of her, and her hands shifted to his shoulders. Curious, Jill watched from the skyway above them. It was interesting to see how gentle he was with the girl. She wouldn't exactly call it brotherly, but there was some kind of softness in him for Manuela.
She almost asked about it, but she didn't have to. Indirectly, Yoko Suzuki - the doctor put in charge of Manuela's care- filled in the blanks. "They say he was the same with Sherry Birkin when they located them outside of Raccoon."
Jill glanced at her, and Yoko nodded, "He was like a wolf protecting her. The rumors say they had to use her to blackmail him into serving."
And there it was. They were the same; both bound to a master out of blackmail. But Leon's...it was still a choice. He'd sacrificed himself. The kindness of that one act alone spoke volumes about the type of man he was. Jill felt something shiver in her belly. "Hmm...protective."
"Yes," Yoko laughed lightly, "He's wonderful with trauma victims. Manuela really responds to him."
That part was easy to figure out. It was hero worship from a girl to a beautiful man who'd protected her at risk to himself. She was repelled by Krauser but seemed smitten with Leon in a way that was somehow refreshingly adorable. She was just hoping he was aware of it, so he could divert that affection before it became a young girl's painful crush.
And what about your painful crush? Her mind demanded as Jill watched him. Her mouth twitched with humor at the thought. But she had things to handle before she determined if she'd let that crush them both. She needed answers on what came next. She needed to know how deep the rabbit hole was on Hidalgo.
It was time to go back to Ada Wong and find out.
In the courtyard, Leon promised Manuela, "I won't let that happen. Stay here, be safe, get better - and I will find you a place to live that is worthy of you."
Manuela smiled happily and leaned forward. He thought - shit- and she pressed a kiss to his cheek. Of course, he wasn't a fool, he knew that's the way the wind blew for the girl, but she'd forget him soon enough for a boy her own age. She practically glowed with happiness, "You will live there too, yes? Together?"
Yikes.
Leon shook his head, "...I can't. I'm not your father or your brother, Manuela. I'm a grown man, and you're a girl. We can't live together like that."
She shook her head, denying that, and let go of him when he rose to say, "...in two years, I will be a grown woman. Then we can. You will treat me like a woman then. Promise?"
She was something else. He smiled, charmed somehow at the determination, and shrugged, "Why not? In two years, if I'm still kicking, I'll stop treating you like a girl."
It was a harmless enough promise. He would never take advantage of a girl this age. She was somehow, despite everything, innocent and sweet and pure. She carried a virus in her that could have made her a monster, and yet she was still hopeful and soft. She'd have to deal with all the girls that died to keep her alive, and she would in time, but she was already thinking of the future.
When had he stopped thinking of his own? Lifetimes ago, it seemed. He discovered that he was reluctant to leave her, which amused him greatly, as her youthful exuberance was somehow addictive. She radiated a kind of strength that made him feel better somehow just being near her. Like Sherry, she'd held on to some kind of beautiful sweetness that would carry her forward, hopefully, to some kind of normal life.
It just wasn't a life she'd ever share with him. He was hoping, as time went on, she'd discover it was better for her to find a man who could give her a family and a life. Once the shine of a savior wore off, she'd forget her affection for him.
He was positive.
It was a little annoying that Jill had tried to warn him about it, and he hadn't listened. But what he knew about women, he could almost sum up with a sentence, so maybe he got a pass on not accurately understanding a teenage girl's feelings. Maybe. He was going to try really hard not to encourage or crush this girl by simply being a little slow on the uptake.
He promised to see her before he left for his next assignment. She reluctantly said goodbye. She cried like women do when you leave them and made him feel like an asshole for going.
When Leon found himself on the cold street, it was interesting to feel the chill emanate beyond the sky and into his bones. Something was coming. He could feel it. He didn't know what, but something was coming. The damage of what Javier was peddling in Columbia was going to take months to track down and clean up.
He didn't have time to be thinking about women.
But he stood there in the cold, thinking about Jill Valentine anyway.
And it made him feel just a little more warm.
