Leon glances at me uneasily before reaching out and grabbing the sample of the vaccine, his jaw tenses as his blue eyes look around curiously, as if he's waiting for something bad to happen.
For the first time since we both teamed up, nothing tries to kill us. Or at least, nothing yet. Leon turns and winks at me playfully, "Seems like lady luck is finally on our side." I roll my eyes but can't hide the smile that appears on my face, but it soon drops as I remember what I'm here for, and now the new obstacle that stands in my way.
"Don't drop that," I say nodding at the vial in his hand, "actually, give it here." Leon shakes his head, slipping the vial into his pocket.
"It's alright, I've got it." He smiles again, dammit, why does he have to be so heroic. I've officially run out of plans, and I can tell Leon is beginning to sense something is up with me. Leon begins walking back the same way we came, down the corridor and towards the main elevator shaft, with a heavy inhale I quickly pull out my gun and aim it at the back of his head. Usually my fingers aren't so shaky, but betrayals are usually easy, for some reason this one has a real bite to it. Leon freezes as he turns around, his hands in the air as his brows frown.
"What are you doing?" Leon asks, sounding almost pained by having to ask. I lick my lips, giving Leon an apologetic look.
"I need that vial, there's nothing else to it." I say, attempting to keep my voice steady. Leon fakes a laugh as his eyes look around, clearly he's just as uncomfortable with our new conflict as I am.
"There's definitely more to it. Who are you working for? I should've knew you were too eager to help me." He murmurs, dropping his hands slowly as my gun drops a little. Catching myself I aim it high again, and really hope that I don't have to pull the trigger.
I look down at my watch for a split second, a rookie mistake. Leon uses the distraction to grab my gun and throw it aside, I narrow my eyes and swing my fist to his jaw, but his reflexes are fast and he catches it, pulling me towards him as I use my other hand to try punch. Another fail, Leon twists my arms over my chest as my body spins, and I end up cuddled against him with my back pressed against his chest.
"This isn't very professional of you." I murmur, relaxing just enough for Leon to release his grip. As soon as he does I stomp down on his foot, as predicted he reacts so I use the opportunity to spring forward and grab my gun again, turning around just as Leon's about to tackle me.
"Neither is holding a gun up to the person who saved your life." Leon sarcastically says back. Behind us the elevator dings and my lighthearted mood drops.
Two men and a woman come strolling out, all dressed in fancy suits and holding expensive guns, ones I helped supply. "Y/N, you're behind schedule." The tallest man, Jack, says with disapproval. I nod as I stand up and gesture at Leon with my weapon.
"Just had to deal with something." I smile, Leon stiffens as I step towards hin and reach into his pocket, pulling out the vaccine vial. His lips twitch as if he's got something to say, but he decides against it.
"Get rid of him and let's go." The woman, Tab, whines. She's the weakest link of my team, but she's good with seduction which is useful at times, unlike my prickly personality.
My eyes dart to Leon's, I never planned to kill him, I knew I might need to beat him up a little, but I was mostly hoping the sting of betrayal would keep him down whilst I stole the vial and ran off.
My team look at me expectantly, waiting for me to pull the trigger. I swallow and stare at Leon, he looks at me with judgement, I can't imagine what he's thinking right now, but I probably deserve it. After a few moments I shake my head, "There's no point in killing him, he's useless."
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.