𝕃𝕖𝕠𝕟 𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕𝕪| ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇꜱ/ ᴘʀᴇꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇꜱ

The Part That Hurts The Most| Imagine

Leon relaxes just slightly, but Jack scoffs and raises his gun instead. In a moment of madness I throw myself infront of Leon, my gun lowered as I open my arms. "No!" I shout, it echoes down the corridor, "Maybe he's not entirely useless, when we were in the lab he read some of the files I didn't, he might know something."

My team look at me with suspicion, Tab shrugs and turns around, heading to the elevator with our other guy, Patrick, whilst Jack gives me a mean smile. "He's a liability, if you fuck this up it won't just be his life I take, it'll be yours too."

I nod, my fists clenching at the threat, but I stay calm and keep my chin up in defiance, I can't let him see me bothered. Jack points to his watch to hurry me up.

"Sorry about this." I whisper to Leon as his eyes widen. He never sees the bullet coming. Leon drops straight away, his hand reaching for his shoulder as blood begins to pour out. For a second I panic, but I remind myself that I didn't hit any vital organs and the pain will knock him out, as long as I patch him up quick he should be okay.

Jack sighs as he hefts a newly passed out Leon over his shoulder, muttering about blood stains and weaknesses.

An hour later my team and I arrive at our rendezvous point, an abandoned warehouse just outside of the city. Jack throws Leon to the concrete and handcuffs him to the pipes before storming away, the others sit around on some ammo boxes that we left here, lanterns already lit as we wait for the action outside to die down.

I grab the first aid kit and patch Leon up, wincing as I see the wound, no wonder he passed out so quick. My hands make quick work of fixing him up the best I can, and I brush his hair away from his eyes once done. Silently praying he'll be okay. I sit near him for the next few hours, checking every now and then to see if he's still breathing, I swear he's going to give me a heart attack.

The vial feels heavy in my pocket, knowing I did all of this just to get paid feels wrong, but I can't take it back, and I don't think Leon will ever forgive me. He trusted me and I think even began to care about me, and I threw it all away. I can't lie, I felt the same for him.

Leon groans as his eyes flutter open, immediately I kneel in front of him, cupping his face as I let out a relieved sigh. "How do you feel?" I softly ask.

Leon looks around in confusion before looking up at me, "Just a hint of betrayal mixed in with the pain of a bullet wound, no biggie."

I shake my head at his sarcasm, but smile at the fact he must be okay to be angry at me. I can live with that.

Seeing Leon awake, my team comes over with curiosity, as usual Jack looks ready to kill. I force myself up and step in line with them.

"Tell us about the files you read." Jack demands, his voice gruff. Leon purses his lips together, making it obvious he knows something but refuses to say.

Jack's eyes meet mine as he pulls out a knife, "One finger for every lie you tell." Anger flares inside of me, I snatch the knife from him and shove him away.

"Touch him and I'll cut more than your fingers off." I grit out. Tab and Patrick exchange uneasy looks as they grab their guns, already choosing a side. And it's not mine.

"You're weak for this team, we should've killed you both back at the facility and pried the vaccine from your cold hands."

"Yeah, you should have asshole." I laugh before dropping my gun. Leon catches it with his one free hand and shoots Tab and Patrick as I stab forward at Jack. He drops back and snarls before pulling out another knife.

We parry and attack, dancing around each other as Leon gets free. Jack roars in anger just as Leon shoots his leg, as he goes down I shove my knife through his throat, watching as he gurgles and curses me.

He falls and takes my knife with him. Panting I turn and almost laugh as Leon aims the gun at me. I put my bloody hands up in a surrender, wondering how the tables have turned.

"Why?" Leon asks, his brows crinkle as I shrug a shoulder up, I'm not ready to admit that this blue eyed man has made me rethink my entire moral compass and reason for living.

"Well thanks for not killing me when you could've." Leon mumbles, lowering the gun, sensing I'm no longer a threat  I reach into my pocket and hold out the vaccine, internally scolding myself but at the same time this feels right.

Leon takes it, his fingers graze mine and linger for a moment longer than needed before he pulls away with the vial. "Can I trust you now?" He asks, his tone slightly playful. I've come to learn that he teases when he's on edge, I don't blame him.

"Make your own decision." I say watching Leon watch me. He nods and gives me a small smile, gesturing to a small cut on my arm.

"You're bleeding, does it hurt?"

"No I'll be fine, the part that hurts the most is the lack of funds I'm not going to receive." I tease. Great, Leon really is rubbing off on me.

Leon frowns, "All this for money?"

I narrow my lips, "Originally, yeah. But now, now I think the vaccine deserves to go to people who need it, not just to someone who wants to use it as a weapon or money making tool."

Leon's lips tilt as he begins stumbling towards the door, I follow him, wrapping an arm around his middle to help. Unexpectedly, he doesn't shove me away or say anything, he doesn't lean against me either, I think he's conflicted.

That's fine, I can live with conflicted, because I now know that I'm going to do whatever it takes to redeem myself and earn back Leon's love.