Finn entered the room slowly. Like the very first time he had visited Leland, it was around that time when the night transitioned into morning. The hospital room was lit, with Leland now propped up slightly in bed. He faced away from Finn, looking out the windows. Finn drew closer.
"Leland." There was no response. Finn's heart sank -was he still in a bad way, or had he just not heard Finn? He waited a little, then touched Leland's shoulder.
"Ugh!" Leland suddenly turned to face Finn, looking up at the man, his eyes slowly widening.
"Finn?" He choked out. His voice sounded muddled, as if he was underwater -or more realistically, not moving his mouth much. Finn nodded, before turning to the woman who had accompanied him into the room. She was another MI6 superior who went by Hagen. Like Smith, it was unclear if that was her actual surname or not.
"Thank you for the call."
"It's no trouble. I knew you'd appreciate it at any hour. I'll give you two some privacy." Hagen left the room, her heels clicking on the cold, hard tile floor. Finn turned back to Leland.
"How long was I out, Finn?" He sounded as if he was at the verge of tears. Finn got to his knees.
"A little bit under two months." Leland sniffled.
"I can't... I can't... can't feel half of me body, Finn..." Finn hesitated for a moment. Finn took Leland by the hand.
"Leland, you got badly injured on the rig. Do you remember?" Leland sat silent for a moment, blinking slowly. He shook his head.
"What's the last thing you do remember?" Leland was silent again.
"Wait, what fucking rig?" Finn sighed, getting up and walking over to the window. Leland didn't remember anything about that fateful mission, did he? Was it brain damage, psychological trauma, or both? Obviously, he wasn't all there. He held back tears, as he knew as stupid as it was, there had been a part of him hoping Leland would be fine, mentally good-as-new. A pipe dream, it was, wishing that for someone who had been injured like Leland.
"What fucking rig, Finn? What fucking rig?" Leland continued to yell at Finn in that garbled voice. There was an empty plastic bottle on the nightstand -Finn would never have left something like that there, so it had to have been from Siddeley, as he now often visited Leland by himself. Leland managed to grab it with his good arm and threw it at Finn, hitting him in the back. Finn wheeled around, and upon seeing that Leland was visibly distressed, stopped himself from doing whatever he was going to impulsively do a moment ago. He walked around and took Leland's hand once again, only for Leland to pull away.
"What fucking rig? What fucking rig?" Leland repeated once again.
"Leland, there-"
"What fucking rig?" Finn took a deep breath in.
"I'm trying to tell you 'what bloody rig' it-"
"What fucking rig?" This time Finn said nothing.
"What fucking rig? What fucking rig?" Leland repeated over and over, now without interruption. Hagen entered the room once more.
"Is everything alright, McMissile?"
"No. He's like a broken record."
"I can have the doctors sedate-"
"No! No, I want him awake. I haven't seen him awake for months. He's awake, he's talking... let him be." Hagen nodded and left the room once more. Finn placed his hand on Leland's shoulder. Eventually, Leland passed out once more. He awoke again at around five in the morning, with Finn still dutifully watching over him.
"Finn?"
"Yes, dear?"
"I'm being serious this time. What bloody rig were you talking about?" Finn smiled. Leland was lucid this time around. He took Leland by the hand once more.
"First, I need to know the last thing you remember." Leland groaned.
"I don't know. Everything... it's so hazy... it's like me life has been wiped away..."
"Finn, I can't remember how we met. I can't remember who we work for. Where we became romantically involved." A tear slid down Leland's face.
"Oh, Leland..." Suddenly, Leland smiled through the additional tears coming down his face.
"What it is it?"
"I missed it so much. I missed the way you say me name. 'Ley-land', in that Cockney accent of yours." Finn lovingly smiled back.
"And I missed your Scouse. I feared I'd never hear it again." Finn leaned in to kiss Leland, only to be stopped by Hagen entering the room.
"Agent Turbo! I'm glad to see you're feeling better than you were earlier!" Leland raised an eyebrow at this.
"Earlier?" This struck Finn as weird -Leland had remembered being awake earlier, initially.
"You woke up earlier this morning and then fell back asleep. I believe it was around... one?"
"Really?"
"Yes." Hagen was smiling at Leland -better her than Smith, Finn thought to himself. He was pretty sure after all this, Leland still had his contempt for Smith.
"But you do feel alright now, correct?"
"Yeah, I'm sound." He didn't sound completely sincere. Hagen still smiled, though.
"Alright, good to know. I'll give you and Agent McMissile some privacy." Hagen left.
"She knows, Leland."
"Who knows?"
"Hagen. She knows about us."
"Hagen? What does that bird have to do with anything?"
"Leland, she was just in here not ten seconds ago!"
"She was? That can't be..." Finn's face grew horrified at this.
"Leland, what's the last thing you remember? From today."
"Waking up and seeing you, then asking about some sort of rig. I told you I was 'being serious this time'."
"Overall though, it's like me life has been wiped away. I can't remember who we work for, how we met, where we became involved. Just..." Leland got choked up.
"Just bits and pieces here and there." He started crying, this time far harder than the first time around. Finn started petting Leland's hair.
"Oh, Leland... everything's going to be alright..." He continued petting his hair. He had always loved Leland's hair -instead of just cut short on the sides like Finn's, it was actually shaved, and then the longer top was usually parted down the middle and left messy. He had his hair like that since Finn had known him, and it always reminded him of some British post-punk singer, like Bernard Sumner, except with the top far less cropped. Finn, on the other hand, had always looked far more conservative -with hair swept back and loose side bangs. Leland was also more prone to dressing down somewhat when off-duty, and he actually had his ears pierced -it used to be a joke in their training days that MI6 had recruited Leland from an art school. Leland had later revealed to Finn that he had, in fact, graduated from University of the Arts London with a bachelors in fine art. He mostly painted.
Leland continued to cry, with Finn watching in mild horror.
"Leland, everything will be alright-"
"No it bloody won't!" Leland put his good hand up to his face.
"It's not going to be okay! I'm done for! I'm paralyzed and brain-damaged! I've forgotten bloody everything!"
"You're also an amputee..." Finn whispered quietly without even thinking. Leland suddenly uncovered his face.
"What did you just say? I'm missing limbs?" Leland's gaze shifted down to his legs. Finn wished he could rewind time and refrain from saying that last part. He regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth -it was the absolute last thing Leland needed to hear.
"Finn, am I missing me legs?" Finn was silent.
"Finn... am I missing... my legs?" Silence. Finn was shaking.
"Bloody hell Finn am I missing me damn legs?" Leland blurted out. Finn jolted.
"I'm afraid so..." Leland looked down at his legs again. They seemed to end right above where his knees used to be. His head started to spin, and he closed his eyes before letting out a single sob.
"That's it then. I'm quite literally half the man I used to be. I'm going to die in hospital! I'm going to rot and die in here!" He started crying once more.
"Leland! Leland, listen to me!" Finn grabbed Leland by both of his hands to get his attention.
"You're not going to die in here. I won't let that happen." Leland sniffled.
"And how are you going to do that?"
"I'll take you home with me. Look at the silver lining -we'll finally be living together, like..."
"...Like lovers do, Leland."
"Finn, you don't want me now. I'm missing half of myself... me legs, me memories, me arm..." Finn held Leland's hands closer to him.
"All superficial, my dear. I fell in love with your soul." The look on Leland's face softened.
"You -You promise?"
"I promise." With that, Finn leaned in, finally kissing Leland on the lips. His lover kissed back as best as he could.