SAVEGUARD ⟼ leon s. kennedy

xxxix. right behind you

ｌｅｏｎ
３：５５ｐｍ

"Jessica? Our Jessica?" Leon takes a step back, with Parker still clinging on to him.

Leon's head is reeling. A mole amongst the BSAA? 

He's fed up with spies. Fed up with everyone being a lying, two-faced cunt.

"How much does she know? Where is she now?" You ask, moving in front of Leon and Parker, casting a look at Leon's torso, where his ribs are absolutely screaming in pain under Parkers' weight.

"I— I don't know," Parker says, groaning. "As soon as got to the control room she was acting all suspicious, more than usual... Shot me, activated the self-destruct sequence, and disappeared."

"Fuck," Leon mumbles, trying to steady himself under Parker's weight. Normally he would have been able to carry him easily, but not with the pain radiating in his ribs and the barely-healed wound on his leg, from days ago.

"I'll help," you say, trying to take Parker's other hand.

"No," Leon grunts. "We need someone to cover us."

Parker stops moving, slumping against the corridor wall. "I'm just slowing you down," he says quietly. "Please, keep going. I'll see if I can make it."

"No!" Leon and you tell him at the same time. Leon grabs him by the shoulders, looking him squarely in the eyes. "You're not quitting like that on us."

Parker nods sadly, and reluctantly lets Leon support his weight again.

As they walk, you stop right in front of a metal grate. "This thing doesn't look strong enough to handle both your weight at once," you say quietly.

"I'll cross first," Leon says. "Parker, I know you can do it."

Parker grunts in pain as Leon lets go of him to cross over the metal grate. It creaks under him, and his heart sinks as he sees how rusted it is. Can it really withstand three people rushing over it?

Parker steps foot on it, but instantly clutches the wall, blood trickling down his leg. "It is impossible," he mutters, sliding down the wall.

"No! Don't sit on it!" Leon says urgently. That thing will not hold him.

"I don't have the strength, Kennedy," Parker chuckles sadly, his eyes turned downward. "My journey ends here. Save yourselves."

"Parker, please," you urge him quietly, standing besides Leon.

"It was a pleasure working with you both," Parker says, and slides fully down, sitting on the grate.

"Fuck this," Leon says, and he steps foot on the metal grate. It instantly groans under all the pressure, and shudders, half of it already coming undone.

Parker pulls out his handgun, and aims it at Leon, but Leon sees the safety is still on. "Leon. GO. The ship is about to self-destruct. That's an order!"

Leon stares at him, his jaw so tight he doubts he'll be able to ever speak again. He is racking his brain, trying to find a way to get Parker off that damned grate, but he can't step on it, and they couldn't take another route—the fucking ship is already half sunk. The alarm blaring across the ship is what finally jolts him to move, grabbing you by the arm and dragging you away from Parker.

You look back at Parker. "Leon, we can't—"

Leon jerks you forward, manhandling you, unable to talk to you, to look at you. He doesn't expect you to understand that sometimes these things have to happen, because he knows you won't understand that in his job, doing what needs to be done is exactly what you don't want to do.