SAVEGUARD ⟼ leon s. kennedy

xiv. heated promises

𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖

After a lot of water, a lot of breathing through my nose, and a lot of corny jokes from Leon, I finally get over my panic attack.

I've lost count of how many anxiety attacks have managed to get ahold of me on this ship.

But every time, Leon is there. With more patience than I thought was humanly possible.

"Looks like Rachael had something for us, by the way," Leon tells me, as he helps me stand up. He produces a bloodied key from his pocket, dangles it in front of his face. I can read its tag: lift key. "It fell with that chunk of flesh when we shot her."

"Poor woman," I say, "Not the end I'd wish for."

"And not the end you're going to get," he says, slightly nodding at me. "I can assure you that." He places a hand on my shoulder.

I nod back. "Thank you. For helping me. Again."

"Okay," he says awkwardly, like he can't take a compliment. "We're partners now."

"It all happened so quick. I'm sorry I was screaming your name when you were getting attacked," I say stupidly, rubbing the back of my neck, trying to ease the soreness.

"I'm used to women screaming my name," he says, shrugging, as we begin walking to the lift room.

"Oh really?" I ask sarcastically.

"Don't act like that's hard to believe," he replies, and then he smiles at me, a small smile, barely visible, but the way his eyes twinkle makes my whole body feel better.

We walk in silence, along the metal corridors. As we descend into the room that will lead us to the bilge, Leon signals for me to keep quiet.

We find a lift platform, and on it there's a small control box. Leon inserts the key. "There should be a lever here somewhere," he says. When he turns the key, we hear an engine powering up. "That should be enough electricity to operate this elevator."

"Got it," I whisper, and scan the rest of the platform with my flashlight, until I find another control box, with a large lever. I pull it and the platform starts descending.

"Down into the depths of hell," Leon groans.

"At least we got each other," I try, leaning against the platform's rails.

"Best partner I could ask for," he says, with a tilt of his head.

"Uh-huh," I reply, chuckling. Something about the way he talks to me makes me forget where we're at, even if it's only for just a second. His voice is dangerous; the control it has on me makes my head spin.

When the platform descends as far as it possibly can, we get off. There's light here, and I attach my flashlight back to my belt.

"What's that sound?" Leon asks, looking around.

"Running water?" I think out loud.

"Over here," he says, gesturing me to follow him. "This must be where the water piles up."

In front of us is a ladder, and sure enough, the water sound is loudest here, like there's a body of water right below.

"Can you swim?" He asks me.

"Of course I can swim."

"Wanna go first?"

I swallow, and look down the ladder. It's dark, and I can't even see where it ends. I don't even want to know what is in that water. But I don't want him to know I'm afraid. "Sure?"