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“Leon? Why’re you in a rush? We’re safe now” Grace looked at him, his legs still a bit swollen. The blanket around her shoulders gave her the extra warmth she needed right now.
”We are, but she’s not” Leon couldn’t take his eyes off the partly broken screen of his phone, like he was expecting someone to call him. On the other hand, he was constantly adjusting his earpiece that he used to communicate to Sherry during all this time.
“Sherry, do you copy?” With his now desperate voice, Grace could tell something was off. The man didn't stop walking around in circles for a while now, trying to contact his partner.
“Leon?” the girl on the other end of the line finally answered, his voice a little weaker than usual.
“Sherry. God, finally” he leaned on his knees, exasperated. “How are you? How is she?”
“I’m good, a little dizzy but still well” she leans against his chair, looking to her left. The woman laying on the improvised bed, panting and coughing lightly was clearly not as good as her. “But she’s not doing good, Leon,” his preoccupied voice worried him even more.
“Fuck…” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’s talking to you at least?”
“Yeah…” Sherry answered after a short pause. “Not much, but she’s awake.”
“Put me on speaker,” he doesn’t hesitate, almost demanding.
Sherry looks back at her, whose breathing was uneven.. She disconnects the earpiece, letting Leon’s voice come through the monitor. “She hears you now.”
“Claire?” Leon said softly, leaning closer to his earpiece like it would somehow bring him closer to her.
For a moment, there was only the sound of the people roaming around him, minding their own business. The tense silence made his skin crawl.
“... Leon?” Her voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
Grace watched how Leon’s expression changed immediately. The panic that had been sitting in his eyes softened. Just a little.
“Hey, Red,” he murmured.
Claire let out a weak breath that almost sounded like a laugh.
“You’re alright?” She always did that. Ever since they got married, even if she’s on the verge of death, bedridden with barely enough strength to breath. She has to make sure he’s okay.
Sherry looked between the monitor and Claire, kneeling beside her. She wasn't as bad as Claire is, but surely the virus was starting to affect her too.
“He’s bringing the cure,” she added quickly.
Claire closed her eyes for a moment. Her grip went directly to the collar of Leon’s leather jacket. The one she gifted him before leaving for Spain.
“Of course you are,” she murmured, grinning a bit before starting to cough, now more heavily.
Leon straightened slightly, running a hand through his hair.
“Leon… ” Sherry’s voice sounded urgent. He still listens to Claire coughing in the background. “Hurry up”
His sight went directly to the tent where the cops had Elpis under control. “I’ve got you, okay? Both of you.”
Leon didn’t wait for another word. He cut the connection before either of them could answer and turned towards the medical tent.
Two police officers stood at the entrance, guarding the temporary lab where the remaining doses of Elpis were being stored.
He didn’t slow down.
“Mr. Kennedy,” one of them said, stepping in front of him. “We can’t release those yet”
Leon stopped. “What?”
“The samples need to be analyzed first. Protocol says—”
“Protocol?” a dry, humorless laugh crosses their mouth. “I don’t give a fuck about protocoles. My wife is dying”
The officer shifted slightly, clearing his throat.
“Sir, we understand the urgency, but—”
“Go to hell” he murmured before stepping inside, not wasting another second.
Inside the tent, the lights were blinding. It wasn’t hard to find where all the remaining vials were. The table in the middle of the improvised lab was holding them, along with a pile of medical trays and sealed containers.
He took one borrowed, putting inside the two samples he needed.
One for Claire and one for Sherry.
Just when he was about to leave, he bumped into some broad-shoulders a couple centimeters taller than him.
“Finally, you show up” Leon looks at him. It’s been a while since they last saw each other. Even if they’re now family-related, Chris was hard to find. “You sent your squad to save your brother-in-law but didn’t appeared since now.”
The preoccupied face of Chris let Leon know he was aware of his sister’s condition. “Sherry called you, didn’t she?”
He nodded, looking at the sealed container Leon was handling. “Once I knew you were back in here I had to send the squad.” Chris looked at the table where all the Elpis samples were lying. “You got what you needed?”
“Yeah, and I’m not wasting more time here.” He stepped back outside, not before giving him a pat on his shoulders. They both knew once everything was back to normal, they’ll meet again.
Once he was outside, Grace was still sitting where he had left her, now with a steaming cup between her hands. He crouched briefly in front of her. “You’re safe now,” he said, slightly out of breath.
Grace blinked, aware of his growing anxiety. “What about your wife?”
During the times they’re together, he mentioned Claire a couple of times. Things like how they met here the first time, how much she needed that cure; even how they survived together the night at Raccoon City.
“I’m bringing her back.” He grinned at her before standing. “Take care, Grace.”
He didn’t even wait for an answer. He started to run.
The streets of what remained of Raccoon City felt strangely quiet now. What the city was once, is now summed into ruins and ashes.
His car was still there, abandoned exactly where he had left it. Right next to where that truck crashed and forced them to separate; 28 years ago.
Leon jumped inside his Porsche, turning the key and the engine roaring to life.
He didn’t even wait a single second before putting in reverse and starting driving.
“You have to wait for the engine to warm before you start driving!” Claire's words the first time he bought this car echoed in his head.
If she was sitting on the passenger seat right now, she would absolutely be giving him that look. The one where her eyebrow lifted slightly, arms crossed, silently judging every mechanical crime he was committing against the car.
And right now? He was committing a few.
But honestly he prefered her lecturing about it later that not being able to listen to her voice again.
The Porsche sped through the empty streets, tires scraping slightly against broken asphalt and scattered debris.
Then the radio clicked on.
Soft music filled the car.
Leon reached to turn it off. He was not in the mood right now, but froze when he recognized the opening melody.
Claire always said Leon's music was too noisy. Only loud guitars, screamings and heavy drums. But this song… It was the only one she actually liked.
The first time she heard it, she had leaned back in the passenger seat and said with a small smile,
“Okay… this one can stay.”
After that day, it somehow became their song.
Leon slowly lowered his hand from the radio.
The soft vocals filled the silence in the car for a couple of seconds, before a soft muttering came from Leon's mouth,
“I'm coming, Red,” his hand tightened around the steering wheel.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Once he arrived, he barely remembered to park. The car stopped half-crooked near the entrance of the building, engine still humming softly as Leon threw the door open and stepped out.
He didn't even bother closing it. If someone wanted to steal it, it wasn't hard at all.
His boots echoed loudly through the empty hallway as he pushed the main door open.
Inside, the lights were minimal. The low murmur of voices drifted from the corridor.
He was looking desperately for Sherry. During his drive back here, he didn't talk to any of them, fearing the worst.
But then, he spotted her.
She was sitting beside the improvised bed, leaning forwards slightly. One hand resting against the edge of the mattress like she had been holding onto it for a long time.
The moment she saw him, she stood up.
“Leon —”
He was so worried for Claire, but didn't forget Sherry was passing for the same too.
“I see you’re better than her” He handed her one of the vials, without quitting his sight to Claire.
“Help her, I’m good.” Both of them were focused on her. She was lying on her side, curled slightly toward the wall, one hand gripping the collar of the leather jacket she had wrapped around herself.
His jacket.
The one she had gifted him before he left for Spain.
Then, her breathing started sounding wrong. Too shallow, too uneven.
Leon automatically dropped to his knees beside the bed.
“Claire.”
Her shoulders shook suddenly.
A harsh cough forced his way out of his chest, and she sat up just enough to spit a dark liquid into the floor.
Black.
The same one Leon had coughed up earlier, just before administrating Elpis himself.
His stomach tightened.
“Hey,” he said softly, brushing away the hair stuck to her forehead due to sweat. ”Hey, Red.”
Claire blinked slowly, a faint smile appeared on her lips after hearing that nickname.
For a moment her eyes struggled to focus on the tall figure she had in front of her. She knows it's Leon, but his sight is starting to fail too.
“You’re here,” she reached his left hand up, where she senses his husband is.
“I promised you I'll bring you the cure” he instantly grabbed her hand, kissing his knuckles gently. He then pulled the other vial out of the sealed container, opening it quickly.
Leon started preparing the syringe without hesitation, he knows he's running against time.
His movements were quick but careful, despite himself his hands were shaking.
“Leon, you're shaking…” Sherry intervened.
He 's aware of that. He may have been trained by the government to survive global catastrophes, to fight bio-wheapons, but nothing prepares him to see his wife on the brink of death.
He ignored Sherry’s comment as he finished preparing the injection. Then he gently took Claire’s arm.
Her skin felt too warm.
“Okay,” he murmured. “This is the part where you don’t move”
Leon pushed the needle into her arm, making Claire tense for a moment.
The clear liquid disappeared slowly into her bloodstream.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her, fearing she'd disappear at any moment.
While they waited to see the effect, Leon didn't stop to stroke her hair gently, like he does when she’s not feeling good.
Her breathing was slowly now, more steady and normal.
The tight tension in Leon’s shoulder loosened little by little.
Claire blinked a few times, like someone waking from a long sleep.
The first thing she saw was his husband’s face just a couple of inches from hers.
Her eyes were still unfocused, adjusting slowly, but she could feel his hands on her. His thumb was moving absent-mindedly over her forehead, like he needed constant contact to convince himself she was still there.
“Leon…” she murmured, her voice still rough.
He leaned closer immediately. “I’m here,” he said quietly.
Claire took a slow breath, like she almost forget how it felt to do it. She tilted her head sightly, studying his face. Even with her vision a little blurry, she could see the exhaustion written all over him — the tension in his jaw, the way his shoulders still looked too stiff.
“You look terrible, Leon” she whispered.
Leon let out a quiet breath that almost sounded like a laugh.
“I didn’t realize that,” he teased lightly.
That earned the smallest, breathy laugh from her.
The sound alone made something inside his chest finally loosen.
Claire slowly shifted against the pillow, trying to incorporate herself. Leon automatically helped her, putting an arm at his back.
After a moment, they both stand there, looking at each other realizing everything they’ve just been through.
Leon lets out a deep sigh before grabbing her gently and kissing his lips.
He missed her. So much it hurts.
The simple thought of losing her makes him sick.
She melts at him, just to realize something and pushes him away.
“I’m full of this disgustingness,” she grimaced, wiping her lips.
Leon looks at her with an eyebrow furrowed. “Do you really think I care about it? And right now I’m pretty offended, you just whipped after i kissed you”
And there he was, the same old Leon she just married.
“You’re an old man now, and still with this nonsense” she shakes his head, obviously enjoying the normality again.
“You married this old man years ago, and he was already saying all that bullshit.”
“No need to swear,” she smirked. “By the way, I stole your jacket. Now you only wear the black one I bought you months ago and you’ve forgotten this one,” she points to the jacket she’s wearing, trying to sound annoyed.
“C’mon, love. You know it doesn’t fit me anymore.” It’s been almost twenty years since then, but it felts like it was yesterday.
After talking a bit, they both take a look around the room.
“Where’s Sherry?” The red-haired asked.
“She probably saw us flirting and didnt wanted to witness that.”