"RUN!" Jasper grabbed the cop's hand and dragged him out of the hallway. Behind them, they could hear the figure stomping after them. He wasn't running after them, but since he was so tall, it was like he was speed walking.
They entered the rain once more and pushed the door closed. They backed away to avoid the creature, their hands still attached.
The door slammed open and the detective was given a better look at the figure's appearance in the moonlight. It had grayish skin that was wrinkly. It was wearing a black trench coat and black pants. The top of its head was covered with a black fedora.
Seeing that giant stomping towards the detective, Leon pulled out his pistol and fired a couple of rounds at the creature's shoulder, but the bullets weren't enough to stop him. "Shit!" He cursed.
The giant changed his target towards Leon and grabbed his head with his hand, lifting him off the ground. The cop tried to escape under its grip, but he was no match for the creature's strength.
"Let go of him!" A gunshot rang and a bullet hit the giant's head, forcing it to drop Leon. Only his hat fell off, but the shell did no damage to his skull. Leon scrambled up to his feet and regrouped with the detective. "We're gonna have to make a run for it!" Jasper said.
"Good idea!" Leon shouted, watching the giant stomp towards them threateningly fast.
"Go!" Jasper took the initiative and pulled his hand forward.
Together, they sprinted around the giant, dodging the fist that tried to swing at them. They made it past the door and dashed through the hall. They could still hear the loud footsteps approaching them from behind. They made it back to the main hall on the second floor so they run down the stairs, only to hear the same loud footsteps coming from the door they exited.
Jasper quickly looked around for a spot to hide. "Here!" He whispered as he pulled Leon behind him. The two stood straight behind a large pillar, one that was hiding them from the creature's view as it stomped down the stairs.
Its loud footsteps were like thunder, a warning for what would happen if it caught them. Leon shuts his eyes in fear as he heard the giant stomping around a few feet away from them. Jasper squeezed the cop's hand tightly in order to calm him down.
The two held their breaths, hoping that the creature would pass by now. Luckily, it didn't see them as it was eventually leaving the area. The duo didn't move from their spot until they heard its roaring footsteps fading in the distance. They let out a big sigh of relief once they knew it was safe.
"Jesus. What the hell was that thing?" Leon inquired.
"I don't know," Jasper admitted. "But I'm definitely not staying here with that thing."
"I still need to unlock the door with the key you found," Leon notified. "Do you think it... went back from where we came from?"
"I don't think so. But we might as well do it fast before it catches us again."
"Good call."
The two of them stepped out of their hiding spot and glanced down on their hands that are still attached to each other. Leon had to admit that Jasper's touch felt warm and comforting against his skin. They pulled their hands away much to his disappointment.
"Sorry," Jasper apologized.
"It's fine," Leon reassures him quickly. "Come on. Let's go."
The two made it back to the stairwell in the east wing and went downstairs to the two rooms that are still locked. Jasper unlocked the door leading to the observation room. He nearly jumped when he spotted a dead officer's corpse curled against the shelves by the door.
Leon followed Jasper into the room and they start to scavenge the room for supplies. Leon found a blue jewelry box with an ornate design and two red gems on the lid. "Hey, I found something!" Leon notified the detective.
Jasper turned around and examined the blue box in Leon's hands. He sees the alcove in the center, seeming as if it something could fit in it. "That red jewel you found. Do you think this is it?" Leon asked.
"Let's find out," Jasper replied as he grabbed the red jewel. Placing the gem in the slot, it clicked into place and the lid opened. Jasper's eyes narrowed in confusion as he took out what was in the box. "A S.T.A.R.S badge?"
"Why would that be locked in a jewelry box?" Leon inquired as he closed the jewelry box and placed it back on a table.
Jasper turned the badge over and spotted something on the back. He pushed up on it and something popped out of the top. "Is this... a USB?"
Leon perked up at the detective's find. "That's for the computer back at the S.T.A.R.S office, we can use that to open the armory," Leon told the detective.
"If that's so, then we better get going," Jasper stated and Leon nodded before they leave the room, still cautious about the brute that is still on the loose.
The two went back to the main hall and the moment they entered the library, they heard the sound of a door flying open. They looked up to see the titan—as Jasper would like to call it—barge in from the storage room door and stomp towards the ladder. "Hide!" Jasper whispered-yelled.
The titan jumped down from the ladder, making the floor rumble beneath them. Jasper and Leon ran through the lounge and Leon locked the door before they rushed down to the S.T.A.R.S office. They entered the room and closed the door behind them, hoping that the titan didn't spot them and would pass by the office without barging into it.
"Do you think it spot us?" Leon inquired.
"I sure as hell hope not," Jasper answered. "That lock won't hold him off. We have to do this quick."
Leon rushed over to the computer and plugged the USB drive into the system unit. "Come on..." Leon grumbled impatiently as the computer was slowly loading. Eventually, he was able to open the armory. "Got it!" The cop entered the armory and grabbed what he needed.
"What did you find?" Jasper asked after Leon exited the armory.
"A magnum. Not a lot of ammo, though," Leon said as he showed the powerful handgun to Jasper. "So... where do we go from here?"
"I think I remember passing the door with the same symbol as the key we used. It's on the first floor," Jasper informed.
"Well, we better get going."
The moment Leon and Jasper left the S.T.A.R.S office, they heard a sound of a debris crumbling behind them, a sign that the titan has broken though the door. "Run! Now!" Jasper demanded before the two of them took off running down the hall.
Jasper swore he had never run so fast in his life. He can hear the thundering footsteps behind them as they rushed down the stairwell. The two of them shuffled down the hallway and into the west office. Jasper quickly glanced around the room before he pulled Leon into the main office and closed the door. They pushed the chair aside and dove behind the desk.
They hear the door fly open, making them hold their breath. Leon felt his muscles tense up as the titan walked into the office, his heavy footsteps the only thing he could hear besides his racing heart. Jasper was just as tense as him, but he slipped his hand into Leon's and squeezed it.
The titan stomped around the west office before walking out of the room. Once Leon and Jasper hear the footsteps recede, they knew it was safe. They let out a sigh of relief before stepping out of their hiding spot.
"Come on. Let's go," Jasper ordered and Leon nodded. With the titan hot on their tail, there was no time for small talk.
The duo shuffled down the hallway to the operation room. They snuck through the large room and out of the double doors. Jasper peered over the corner to make sure that the coast was clear. They reached the club door with no problem and Leon quickly unlocked the door with the key. They dove into the room before closing the door behind him.
Leon quickly scavenge the room while Jasper guarded the door. He found some ammo for the magnum and picked up an object off one of the tables. "What's this?" He asked the detective.
The detective walked over and glanced at the object in the officer's hand. "That's the handle for the jack."
"What can we use this for?" Leon inquired, eyeing on the object with confusion.
Jasper grabbed the handle from the officer's hand and examines it. After a few minutes, an idea struck him. "The jack in the library. It's underneath one of the bookshelves. The bookshelves can be moved, so if we can use this to remove the jack, we can make a pathway to the clock tower," he explained.
Leon looked at the detective with astonishment. "Wow. You really know your way around here, don't you?"
"You should try working the night shift here. It might sound scary at first, but once you explore the place more often, it's not so bad," Jasper stated.
Leon nodded at his statement. "OK. Well, what we are—" He walked over to the door, but Jasper pulled him back and put a finger over his lips, silently telling the cop to stay quiet. They heard the thundering footsteps from the other side of the door. They waited there until the footsteps recede.
"We should go," Leon stated.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Jasper added.
The duo didn't hesitate and left the record room. They ran all the way down to the hall, snuck through the main hall, and into the library. Jasper placed the handle back into the jack and unjammed it from underneath the shelf, making a loud thud in the process. "That was loud..." Leon muttered.
"Here. Help me with these things," Jasper told the cop and Leon went over to help him align the bookshelves to make a path under the broken walkway. "OK, that should do it. Now let's go."
The two of them climbed the ladder and crossed the makeshift bridge. They walk through the door at the end of the walkway and entered a dark corridor.
"OK. The door to the clock tower should be over here," Jasper stated before turning towards the blonde. "Stay close."
Leon nodded before Jasper starts to lead the way. A few zombies were up ahead and they turned their heads in the duo's direction. "Let's use our knives. We don't wanna risk the noise," Jasper instructed before he pulled his knife out and eliminated one of the zombies. Leon dealt with the other one by using his knife as well.
After eliminating the zombies, the loud footsteps alerted them. Leon and Jasper immediately grabbed each other's hands, preparing to start sprinting away from the titan. But it wasn't on the third floor. Jasper peered over the railing and saw the brute stomping around on the first floor.
"He's on the main floor," Jasper notified.
"Yeah, that's good," Leon nodded with a whisper. "This is our chance!"
Leon and Jasper entered the clock tower and closed the door. "Start looking around, there should be something in here," Jasper ordered and Leon nodded before they scavenge the room.
Leon peered around the area he was in and found a machine with two large gears. He noticed that there was a missing slot between them, seeming as if something could fit in it.
"Did you find anything?" Leon hears the detective ask as soon as he returned from the back room.
"You still got that cogwheel you found, right?" Leon inquired.
"Yeah, why?" Jasper replied.
"'Cause I think it might fit on here," Leon responded, referring to the machine.
"All right. I'll give it a try." Jasper stepped forward and used the gear he found in the east storage room. A pair of stairs lowered and they were able to go to the second floor. "I'm so done with puzzles," the detective grumbled and the cop smiled at his annoyance.
The duo climbed up the stairs and they could now see the bell in entrapment and the box they needed in the same cage. "Are you serious? Didn't I just say I was done?" Jasper huffed.
"We can solve this faster if we do it together. Come on."
The two of them did manage the solve the puzzle quickly—thanks to the gears they found. When they insert the large gear into another machine, they had the bell swinging back and forth as it rang.
It was far too loud and aggressive, causing both of them to press their ears with their hands to block the sound. The bell swung in its entrapment, violently banging against the metal bars. The bell eventually snapped from the yoke, causing it to crash against the floorboards and the boxed part to roll over.
"Hope I don't have to write a report on that," Leon commented as he and Jasper eyed on the damage the bell caused.
"I'm even more surprised that it didn't fall through the floor," Jasper replied.
The duo walked over to the collapsed bell and Leon picked up the familiar orange box. He ripped open the flap, took the electrical part, and placed it inside his pocket along with the other component. "The sound is gonna attract those things. We gotta go."
Jasper nodded before he went over to the door. He opened it quietly, peering through the small gap to make sure that no surprises were waiting for them. Luckily, the corridor was still empty. "We can still get to the garage through the east side. Come on," he told Leon.
"OK," Leon nodded before he followed behind Jasper. Suddenly, the cop felt a large hand tightly gripping his arm, stopping him roughly.
Jasper looked behind him when he heard Leon yelp, only to see the titan grabbing his arm. "Let go of him!" He demanded, pulling out his knife and stabbed the brute on the shoulder, forcing it to release the cop.
However, the titan didn't flinch at the contact of the knife in its shoulder and it smacked the detective with his hand, making him fly until he hit the wall and land on the ground harshly.
"Jasper!" Leon tried to go over to Jasper's side, but stopped when the titan turned towards the blonde with a menacing stare, making him cower.
Fighting through the pain, Jasper used the wall to get back to his feet just as the titan wrapped his hand around Leon's throat. Gasping for air, the cop tried to pry the man's hands from his throat. Jasper pulled out his shotgun and fired at its arms, forcing it to drop Leon to the floor.
"Hey!" Jasper grabbed the titan's attention before it could attack the cop again. "Over here, you son of a bitch!" He reloaded his shotgun and fired at the titan again.
Leon crawled to his feet and watched in horror as his friend was being targeted. "Jasper! What are you doing?!" The cop yelled, concerned and frightened for the detective.
Jasper fired at the titan again. "Go! I'll deal with him!" He ordered.
Leon was taken back by the detective's order. "What?! I'm not leaving you!"
"You can go through that door to get back to the garage! I'll meet you back there!" Jasper quickly told the cop as he backed away from the titan. "Now go!"
Hearing the cop shouting his name was the last thing the detective heard before he dashed through the door at the end of the hall, distracting the titan while Leon ran back to the garage through the eastern wing.
With the titan hot on his trail, Jasper shuffled through the library and into the lounge. He sprinted through the hallway and out of the shower room. He had to lose it somehow so he could regroup with Leon.
He ran down the stairwell as the thundering footsteps boomed from behind him. He made it down to the first floor and sprinted towards the dark room. He closed the door behind him and dove behind the desk, hoping that the titan would eventually pass by.
He held his breath as he could hear the thundering stomps from a few feet away. He felt his muscles tense and his heart racing from the fear of getting caught by the titan. Eventually, he hears the footsteps recede until it was completely silent out there.
Jasper lets out a big sigh of relief as soon as he knew it was safe. He stayed in his position for a while until his heart rate went back to normal. Then something struck him as he remembered someone. "Leon..."
He knew that Leon would get angry at him for risking his life once he regroups with him, but he needed to make sure that he was okay and he couldn't bare it if he lost him too. Not after what happened to his colleagues. "Wait for me, Leon," Jasper muttered under his breath before he stepped out of his hiding spot and left the dark room.
***
"Leon?" Jasper called out for the blonde as soon as he made it back to the garage. His heart sinks when he sees a couple of dead dogs sprawled on the concrete floor. "Leon, are you here?"
"Jasper?" He hears light footsteps approaching and sees Leon standing across the room, before the blonde began to approach him.
"Hey, are you—"
"You asshole!" Jasper was interrupted when Leon shoved him away, making him stumble back a bit. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Jasper saw the anger fuming in the cop's eyes as he glared at him. He swore he had never seen Leon this angry before and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't intimidated by it. Jasper tries to reason with him. "I-I'm sorry. I thought I could—"
"How can you just risk your own life like that?!" He was interrupted again by Leon, distress present in his voice. Jasper fell silent, lost for words. "You could've died back there! I... I could've lost you, you idiot!" Leon begins to launch himself forward and started punching every inch of Jasper that he could reach.
"Leon, please!" Jasper cried while he grabbed Leon's wrists. The blonde kept hitting him as he tried to escape his grip, but Jasper's strength was no match for him.
"You... fucking... dumbass..." Leon muttered, hitting his chest between each word as his punches start to weaken. Eventually, all of his energy was drained out. Unable to hold back the tears from falling, he sobs quietly against the raven-haired's chest.
Jasper heard the quiet sobs that tore his heart. He couldn't stand to see him in such emotional stress, so he released both of his wrists and cupped his cheeks in his hands, making him look up to him with teary eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Jasper said softly as he wiped away the tears with his thumb, before gently pulling him into a hug. Leon gripped the leather on Jasper's jacket while burying his head in the crook of his neck, his sobs muffled. It was rare for Leon to be like this, so Jasper just lets him let it out, running his finger's through his blonde locks soothingly.
"I'm so sorry, Leon. I know we're supposed to be a team, but I just couldn't stand the thought of losing you too. I needed you to be OK," Jasper explained.
Leon sniffled as he eventually pulled away from Jasper and wiped away the tears swelling up in his eyes, before looking up to him. "We're supposed to take care of each other, Jasper. If you died back there, I wouldn't bare it," Leon choked on a sob at the end. "I just got you back. I can't lose you too, OK?"
Jasper stared at him with a sad look before responding. "You're right. I'm sorry, Leon."
"Just don't ever do anything like that again, OK?" Leon said hoarsely. "Promise?"
Jasper nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I promise."
"I'm serious, Jasper," Leon stated sternly.
"I know. Me too, Leon."
Leon lets out a heavy sigh before pulling Jasper into a hug and he immediately accepted it. In that moment, there in each other's arms, they felt safe and they wished they never have to let go.
Unfortunately, they still had to find a way out of the station. They pulled away from the hug and Leon shot a soft smile to Jasper before he spoke. "Let's go."
The duo returned back to the jail and Leon inserted the two electrical components into the slots, which created a new puzzle for them to solve. "You go ahead and sit back, I'll deal with this," Leon told the detective.
"You sure?" Jasper inquired.
"I'm sure," Leon reassures him. "Besides, you did said that you were done with puzzles for tonight."
"But I'm still better at solving them than you are," Jasper claimed with a smirk, making Leon roll his eyes playfully.
"Just let me do this for once," Leon said.
"Suit yourself," Jasper shrugged before he slumped against the stone wall as he attentively watched Leon tinkering with the power panel.
Eventually, Leon finally got the power restored. As the cell door opened, Jasper went over to his side before playfully ruffling his hair. "Hey!" Leon protested, slapping his hand away to fix his hair. Jasper only chuckled at his reaction before sauntering into the cell, not noticing the blonde's flushed cheeks from the simple gesture.
"Ugh... Fuck," Jasper grimaced at the man's crushed face. Before claiming the parking garage key card, his eyes caught a glimpse of something in the interior of his jacket. "Huh?"
Leon heard the curious hum from the raven-haired and stepped inside the cell with him. "What did you find?"
Jasper sifted through Ben's jacket and pulled out a small device. "It's a voice recorder," he told Leon.
"Should we listen to it?" Leon asked.
"I guess so," Jasper answered before pressing play and lifted it up to their ears to listen.
"...but that doesn't explain the rumors about the orphanage," a man said, his voice sounding exactly like Ben's. "I-I just find it way too coincidental Umbrella's one of the benefactors."
"You told me this interview was about the new scholarship Umbrella set up," a woman responded, irritation apparent to her voice.
"Come on, Annette. Nobody cares about that," Ben scoffs. "They want to know about the G-Virus, and the—"
"Where did you hear about this?" The woman named Annette demanded.
"...and that big fucking sinkhole in the city which, by the way, rumor has it goes straight to your underground lab," Ben continued, ignoring Annette's question.
"Lab?" Leon repeated in confusion.
Ben continued. "Now, are you going to talk to me or are you—"
"This interview is over," Annette interrupts the man.
With a small pause, Ben scoffed and cursed at the woman. "Bitch."
The recording stopped from there, and Leon was the first to speak. "What are they after?"
"Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure Umbrella has something to do with it," Jasper responded, placing the device in his pocket. "I mean, why would a billion-dollar pharmaceutical company need an underground lab?"
"Unless they're hiding something," Leon stated.
"Maybe this is what Ada is looking for," Jasper claimed and Leon nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, all the cell doors opened with loud clicks and growling was heard. "That's not good..." Leon muttered as the growling advanced.
"Go!" Jasper shouted before the two of them rushed down the hall at the end where he pulled on the lever, Leon fired at the nearest zombies with his pistol to keep them away as he did so.
Suddenly, loud footsteps were heard. The two looked up quickly and spotted the titan charging towards them through the zombies, knocking them out of its way. "Oh, give me a fucking break!" Jasper complained.
"This way!" Leon cried, grabbing Jasper and pulling him through the gate to their left.
Luckily, it shut behind them and there were no zombies in the hall. They managed to run back into the parking garage safely.
However, they were only a few seconds out of the door before the wall next to them exploded, debris falling beside them. They see the titan who blasted through the wall and grabbed the person nearest to it.
It was Jasper who got caught in its death grip. Leon started shooting at the creature and it didn't like it. It smacked Leon with its hand, making him fly until he hit the wall before he fell to the ground harshly.
Jasper tried to pry himself away from the titan's hand, but his strength against the creature was unmatched. It seemed like they were hopelessly stuck, until a pair of headlights switched on and an engine of a SWAT truck purred. The vehicle's tires skidded against the asphalt and it accelerated forward. The truck slammed against the titan's body, forcing it to drop Jasper as the vehicle pinned his body against the wall.
The detective gasped for air as he regained his bearings. "Leon!" He stumbled over to the cop, who was leaning against the wall on his back. He slowly got back on his feet with his help. "You all right?" Jasper inquired worriedly.
"Yeah," Leon nodded slowly.
A familiar feminine figure opened the door and exit the van, revealing the driver to be Ada. She joined the two males outside, leaving the vehicle pressed against the titan. Leon and Jasper glanced up in shock. "Ada?!"
"You're still here?" Jasper questioned.
"This is getting old..." Ada snarled instead answering the detective's question. "Saving your asses—that's twice."
"I didn't realize you were keeping score," Leon retorted.
"Look, this isn't a game!" Ada snapped back. Before she could continue her scolding, the van pinned against the titan to the wall creaked and it began to move the vehicle back.
"You gotta be kidding me," Jasper muttered as he and Leon pulled their pistols out, ready to fire at the creature.
"Nothing dies down here," Ada complained, pulling out a detonator from one of her pockets and pushed the button. The vehicle exploded, fire consuming the metal and the titan pinned to the wall.
Leon and Jasper looked at the woman with astonishment. "I take it you have the key card?" Ada inquired somewhat casually.
The detective nodded and dug through his pocket. "Yeah, and this..." Jasper tossed the voice recorder he received earlier to the Ada and she caught it. "We were hoping you could explain what's on it."
"Maybe... After I hear it," Ada said after a small pause before turning her heels towards the gate. "Let's get out of here."
Jasper narrowed his eyes at the woman. Although she had just saved their lives, the detective was still suspicious of her and why the FBI just sent a single agent on a mission instead of a whole group of soldiers.
"What is it?" Leon asked, noticing upon the look he had.
Jasper turned to him with a serious expression. "Listen: I know she saved us just now, but we still don't know what her agenda is," he told the blonde, carefully eyeing on the woman. "I don't think she's FBI, Leon."
"How can you be so sure?" Leon inquired.
"FBI agents aren't equipped with explosives and SWAT vans don't have them either because they don't use them," Jasper explained with a hushed voice. "I've been through this, so I know what I'm doing here. I need you to trust me on this."
Leon pondered over his words. He didn't want to jump to conclusions right away, since they still don't know what the woman is really after. But he also wanted to trust his partner, who always knew exactly what he was doing.
"Boys! Are you coming or not?" Ada shouted impatiently from across the room.
"Coming!" Leon responded before turning back to the detective.
"If my suspicions are right and she tries to pull something on us, we won't let her get away with it," Jasper notified him before he walked over to the gate, Leon followed behind him quickly.