𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑| 𝐋.𝐂.

41: The cave

"Okay. Alright, well, let's go. We have to make this quick." Alex says and Leo nods.

"Bye." I say as Alex quickly kisses my cheek and leaves with Leo.

||

"What are you doing here?" Leo asks as I come jogging down to him.

"Think I would let you go in there alone?" I say, standing next to him and Brooke opens the cave for us.

"Partners in crime again, Ramirez?" Leo says, his height towering over mine.

"So it seems, Cruz." I say, looking up at him and I walk in first, shining my flashlight.

We then walk into the area where Marcus's stuff is and I shine my light on the controls.

"There." I say to Leo and he walks over, shutting it off and we both sigh.

"Thank god, thank god." I say.

"Yeah." Leo sighs.

"I hated that fucking noise. I was hearing that in my sleep last night." I say and he chuckles.

"Well, uh, mission accomplished. Now what?" Leo says to me.

"Uh, I don't know. I guess we wait four and a half minutes until Brooke opens the door." I say.

"Well, that's about four more minutes than I've spent with you in about three months, so I'll take it." Leo says and I chuckle.

"Me, too." I nod.

"So, how are you?" He asks me.

"Uh, I'm good. Mostly good. I mean, can anyone ever be all good?" I tell Leo.

"Never afraid to ask the deep questions, are you, Ramirez?" He says and I chuckle.

"What is that smell? It smells like something's burning." I say as Leo and I begin to cough.

"I don't know." Leo coughs and I turn around, shining my flashlight to see smoke coming out everywhere.

"Oh god, Leo. We're in trouble." I tell him, still coughing.

"We gotta get outta here. C'mon, go!" Leo exclaims as we run toward the cave entrance.

Leo and I stop in our tracks as we keep coughing hard.

"C'mon, Brooke." Leo breathes as I cough again.

Then the door opens and Leo grabs my hand.

"C'mon!" He says but I stop as my foot presses on something.

"Leo." I trail off, panting.

"What? What? What is it?" He says, and I look up at him, face dropping.

"I think I stepped on the trigger for the-"

"Explosives." Leo pants, looking up at me.

"If I move my foot..."

"This whole place goes." He says and my eyes get watery.

Oh, god. This is it.

"What?" I ask as Leo and I start coughing.

"Brooke thinks we're out." He says and I sigh.

"Shit." I croak out, still coughing.

"Hang on, okay? We're gonna get you out of here." Leo says to me.

"I'm so sorry, Leo." I yelp.

"For what?" He says to me.

"For dragging you into my mess, for bringing you here...for everything. And for even slapping you that one time." I say in a shaky voice.

"I deserved it. And that's what I love about you, Ramirez. You make life interesting." Leo breathes to me and he holds my hand as I start to cry.

"You've made my life way more interesting." I say, sniffling as he wipes a single tear under my eye.

"And back at the hike, I did care. I wanted to just wrap you in my arms and carry you to the hospital myself, Val. I was scared shitless. I'll always care about you, never doubt that." Leo breathes and I grin up at him.

The door opens again and I stop coughing.

"Go, Leo." I pant.

"I'm not going without you." He says, his face only centimeters from mine.

"Go, I'll run after you." I sniffle.

"What about the bombs?" He says.

"I'm fast. I'm an Eagle, remember? Go! Go. She's gonna close that door soon, and I can barely breathe. Please! Go! Go!" I plead in a shaky voice, pushing him a bit.

"Yeah, but you come right after me, okay? Right after." He says.

"Go! Go!" I nod, pushing him away from me.

I then pant heavily as I see my foots on the trigger.

"C'mon, Ramirez!" I hear Leo shout and I let a tear slip down my cheek.

"I love you, Leo." I whisper and put my foot off the trigger, running as fast as I can.

But everything goes red.