SAVEGUARD ⟼ leon s. kennedy

xxiv. trials and tribulations

𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖

"Tell me why I agreed to be back here again?" I ask as I check the ammo in the new shotgun Chris assigned to me.

Chris, Leon, Jill and myself are back aboard the Queen Zenobia again. We're in the downstairs bay, close to where Leon and I had found the bilge a couple of weeks ago. We're about to split in two teams to search the whole ship to hopefully find a lab with a possible trace of anything that could point to an anti-dote, and anything that might help us incriminate Lansdale, who we're thinking is the full mastermind behind all of this.

"Because you can't stay away from your lover boy here?" Chris jokes, his tongue between his teeth, pointing at Leon.

Jill smiles demurely when I look at her for help from Chris' relentless teasing. All the journey back to the ship he kept picking on us in a brotherly way. She raises her eyebrows as if to say, there ain't nothing stopping Chris from this.

Redfield is right. Well. Mainly. I want to spend as much time as I can with Leon. But I also want to confront Lansdale. My ex-father-in-law. Arrest him. See him behind bars. Tell him I wasn't expecting him to try and one-up his son for the title of World's Shittiest Human Being.

Leon's face is stoic and unchanged all through Chris' teasing. He's acting like we hadn't come close to being... Intimate less than twelve hours ago.

"No, mostly because I want to see this son of a bitch behind bars," I tell Chris, but I feel the back of my neck heat up in embarrassment.

"Alright, here's the plan," Jill says, clicking on her flashlight and attaching it to front of her wetsuit. "Team Alpha—Chris and I— investigates the entirety of the ship's left side, which means the six floors from that room," she points towards a cabin door, "upwards. Team Bravo— you two— the entirety of the ship's right side. We have three hours. In exactly three hours we need to meet on the observation deck, where we found you two the first time."

"Yes ma'am," Chris says, setting the timer on his watch.

"Orders received and understood," Leon nods, setting his own timer. "Most of the electricity on the ship has been restored. In the case of a fallen partner, pull a fire alarm and stay visible as possible provided the threat of bioweapons has decreased."

"And if the threat is still there?" I ask, my throat dry.

"Non-verbal communication. Flash your lights, leave markings. If it is safe to run, pull an alarm and go to the observation deck," Leon replies, without looking at me.

"Don't worry Clementine, we'll all be fine," Chris says, placing a firm hand on my shoulder.

The words don't really mean anything to me, and I think Leon can sense the amount of dread that's building inside of me.

The ship creaks and the cacophony of sounds that I'd become acquainted with from when Leon and I were trapped here sparks that disgustingly familiar feeling of fear inside my chest.

"Are we ready?" Jill says, tugging at Chris' arm and nodding towards the dark corridor.

The air turns into a stone in my throat and suddenly I'm back in that darkened room where I was stuck waiting for Leon to come save me. I feel like I can't breathe, like there is nowhere near enough oxygen for us four on this ship, and I take a step back from the circle we've formed, clutching my chest and nodding, embarrassed at the thought of having any of these three professionals see me like this.

"Clem? You alright?" Jill asks, taking a step toward me.

Leon steps between us. "She's fine. Go, we'll communicate in a bit."