SAVEGUARD ⟼ leon s. kennedy

xii. sparks between us

"But there's no electricity," I mumble, clicking my flashlight on.

"Exactly. We need to find the back-up generator." He pulls out a small manual from his front pocket, small enough that it fits in the palm of his hand. "I looted the infirmary after you slept. I found this."

I open the booklet, and skim through the paragraphs:

"The Queen Zenobia has two unique power generators. If the main power generator should fail, the back-up generator in the bilge will compensate for its loss and supply the entire ship with operating power."

"The casino must have had its own generator," I say to myself.

"And it's too weak for the whole ship," he continues.

"What even is a 'bilge'?" I ask.

"It's the lowest part of the ship. Right at the bottom. Water usually collects there, and God knows what else," he says, his face serious.

"Fuck, do we really have to go back down there?"

"We do. But at least we know what we're up against now. These bio-weapons are something else. I think they were created here. There has to be a lab on this ship."

I feel the anxiety weaken my knees, and lean against a wall to support myself. The darkness is becoming too much again. Leon lowers his flashlight and stands by my side, our shoulders almost touching.

"I won't let anything happen to you again. We need to get you to Redfield in one piece," he says, and even in the dark, I can feel him look at me.

I steady myself against the wall. "What happened was not your fault. I should have been more cautious. If I had reacted in time maybe that thing wouldn't've—"

"It is my fault," he says, cutting me off. "I'm responsible for your well-being."

"I appreciate that, but you have to let me take some of the blame, Leon. I'm not a child—"

"I know you're not," he interjects, cutting me off again and shaking his head like he won't hear another word. "But you're my responsibility. You're here with me, now, and I can't let anything else hurt you."

He's looking at me with guilt on his face. It makes my heart soften. "No," I tell him. "I can't let you think that. I can take care of myself. I feel much safer with you, and I'm so grateful I'm stuck here with you and not anyone else. But if something happens to me, you need to know it's not your fault."

He clicks his jaw as if he wants to say something, but then flashes his light in my eyes, and I catch a smirk on his face. I blink away in protest, the light burning my eyes, but he starts walking off. "You're so damn difficult, do you know that?" He asks, as he walks to a flight of stairs.

"I may have been told that in the past," I mumble.

"Well, you're being told again."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I joke, as we start walking down the stairs.

He looks at me over his shoulders, his blond hair bouncing up and down. "Take it however you want."

"Okay, I will. Thank you for the compliment," I say, as we finally reach the bottom layer of the ship.

"I'll pay you a real compliment, if you manage to get out of this bilge without another scratch," he says, illuminating the room with his flashlight.

"Oh yeah? What kind of compliment?" I say, my heart fluttering away in my chest.

Why am I flirting with Leon Kennedy? Is it just to pass the time?

"Any kind you wish," he tells me.

The dark makes it easier to be brave, to bluff. "And if we get off this ship in one piece... Do I get more than a compliment?"

He stops at the bottom of the stairs and waits until I reach him. I hear him exhale, hear the smile on his lips. "Officer Carling, if we get off this ship in one piece, we can do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want... That could mean a lot of things."

He flashes his light on a sign: 'Bilge Pump Room'. "A lot of things, huh? You're that imaginative?" He asks me as he nods towards the entrance.

"Maybe. But I thought you were the imaginative one," I say, as we stand next to the door, check our ammo, and look at each other.

"You'll let me be creative with you, then?" He asks, smirking, leaning back on the door, bracing himself.

The words escape my lips before I can catch them. "I'd like nothing more, Agent Kennedy."

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