Warnings: violence & death
Unfortunately, Cartman had been smart enough to take his duffel bag.
When the four Mob members had killed him, Kenny dropped one of his daggers somewhere; he still managed to keep one hidden by stabbing it deep into his forearm while he was being dragged across the floor. Cartman hadn't even noticed.
Now that it was just him, and he had found Leo, Kenny rolled up his sleeve to pull it out of his flesh. The handle was the only part not inside of him, so it took some struggling to get it out of him. He cleaned off the blood from the dagger with his jacket sleeve, before he tore some fabric from his shirt to make a tourniquet for the deep wound.
He was lucky that Cartman hadn't noticed. It was his only defense now. Even though it wouldn't help much against a gun, it was better than nothing. Kenny wasn't going to let them hurt Leo anymore. He had already been through enough.
Leo was still unconscious, his breathing slightly unsteady as Kenny approached him to investigate his wounds. Cartman could've done worse, it seemed like he had only beat on him for a while; he wondered if it was under Stephen's orders that Cartman not hurt Butters too horribly.
Despite the torture not being as brutal as it could've been, Kenny could see it had taken a toll on Leo. His wounds from his father hadn't quite healed all the way, and Kenny was concerned that he might have a concussion. If Leo was this hurt, it was going to be harder to get him to safety - that's probably what they had been betting on.
It was silent in the contained area. Kenny assumed the room was regularly used for torture as he noticed the surgical tools hung on the wall behind Leo. It made him shudder. These people were truly fucked up.
"K-Ken?" Leo was awake again, whispering to what he thought was an illusion in front of him. "Are you really.. here?"
He found the straps to unlock him. Kenny had to hold his shoulders as he slumped forward slightly when he was released. "Y-Yeah, Leo, I'm here."
Disoriented, Leo looked at their surroundings. When he looked back at Kenny, he grabbed at his arm where the makeshift tourniquet was: "W-What happened?! How long have I been here?" He was starting to freak out a little. "Oh god, how many times did you die?!"
Trying to calm him down as best as he could manage, Kenny engulfed him in a hug, relieved that he was mostly in one piece. He didn't want Butters worrying about him, when he was the one who got kidnapped. "We can talk about it later, we need to get the hell out of here."
They were still hugging, Leo's fists clenching his shirt tightly to keep him against his shaking body. He had told Kenny where to find him if this happened, yet he was surprised that he'd actually rescue him. No one else in his life would've done this for him.
After a few moments, they released each other. Kenny's breath caught in his throat as he saw that tears were pouring down Leo's bloody cheeks. He ripped more of his shirt to dab up the tears, removing some of the blood in the process. With everything he had seen today, and been through, it didn't compare to the pain he felt when he saw that Leo was hurting; it was more than physical, it was intense emotional pain too.
"Leo," Kenny started as he studied his surroundings, recognizing how screwed they really were if anyone but Cartman came back. There were no windows, and no other doors - the surgical tools may have helped him in a pinch, only if he just had to fight one person though. "If it comes to it, I need you to leave me behind, and run. Can you run?"
Shaking his head, tears still streaming down his face, Leo was flabbergasted: "I'm not gonna leave you, Ken!"
"I can't.." He hesitated. "I can't lose you.. please, let me die so you can live."
Kenny was staring at him intensely. He wasn't saying exactly what was on his mind, but he at least needed Leo to know much he mattered to him. Not seeming to grasp what he was saying, Butters tried to stand up, only to fall to his knees on the floor. Kenny started to pull him up by his arms, but Leo refused to stand now.
He was shaking, except, it seemed to be with something that resembled rage. "Well, I can't lose you either, idiot!"
Tears started to well up in his own eyes, Kenny felt like he couldn't breathe. He didn't understand why Leo was so upset with him. "I-I.. I'll come back, Leo, I always do!"
"What if you don't?"
Kenny had to pause at that. It happened when he was a kid, though he wasn't sure what caused that circumstance. At this point, he decided his resolve was too strong to stay dead - Leo needed him. "I will come back. I won't leave you alone, I promise."
He knew that was no point in arguing with him. Kenny's eyes were lit up with a fiery passion as he made his promise. Leo had to believe him.
"I can run.. W-Where do we find each other?" Butters responded in defeat after a moment, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"Go to Craig's, he's expecting us."
Snapping his head up at that reveal, Leo scrunched his eyebrows together. "Does he-"
"Yeah, he knows. You can trust him. I trust him, Leo."
They couldn't share any more words. The impending doom was starting to crush them. It didn't help that they were both still losing blood from their wounds; Kenny was starting to feel drained. He tightened the fabric around his arm, wincing as more blood came spilling out instead. It was deeper than he had meant it to be.
Leo tore off a piece of his own shirt now, shakily applying more fabric to Kenny's forearm when he noticed the other fabric was completely soaked in blood. If they didn't get a chance to fight soon, Kenny would be too weak to protect him.
They both froze as they heard a voice immediately outside the door. They couldn't hear what he was saying, but Kenny recognized the voice as Cartman's. This was his chance. He held his dagger in his left hand, crouching at a corner of the door in preparation for the entrance of an enemy.
He motioned for Leo to be at the ready on the opposite side. They only had one chance for him to escape, Kenny was going to distract Cartman for as long as possible. As the door was being pulled open, he took one last look at Leo, before he lunged at Cartman, tackling him back onto the floor.
Butters was fast, he sprinted past them towards a back gate that hadn't been slightly ajar before. Since he was moving quickly, he slammed into it, sending it flying open the rest of the way as he tumbled to the ground. Leo didn't waste time, he pushed himself up and continued down the street, desperate to do what Kenny needed him to do.
Now that Leo was gone, Kenny released his dagger from where he had it pressed against Cartman's throat. His vision was starting to waiver, however, as the hot blood from his arm continued to trickle down to his hand. He didn't have much time before he could be overpowered. Cartman seemed to realize this as he grabbed the wrist that held the dagger, and threw it out of his hand. Shit.
"Kenny, you goddamn asshole!" Cartman kneed him in the stomach, causing him to be crippled in pain temporarily. It was long enough for him to be the one pinning Kenny down. He found the dagger he had forced out of his hand, and held it over his heart. "Do you know how many fucking times I've thought about this?! I just wish Leopold could've been here to see it! I wanted you to beg for him to not watch you die again, blah, blah - my plan got fucking ruined!"
He was enjoying this. The devious smile only grew on his face as he started to press the knife down into his skin, Kenny wincing slightly as it broke skin. "Guess it's not too bad, I still get to kill your poor ass!"
Kenny refused to let Cartman have the satisfaction of knowing he was causing him pain; he held his stare with hatred as he put all of his weight down onto the dagger, puncturing Kenny's heart. Choking on his own blood, Kenny managed to chuckle at him - he'd be back.
Seemingly unsettled by Kenny's reaction, Cartman stumbled off of his body, dropping the dagger off to the side. He knew well that Kenny would be back, and he'd be back with a more violent vengeance. As much shit as Cartman talked, even as he was murdering someone, he ran away, afraid of what Kenny would do to him once he was alive again.
It was a good thing for him that the Mob had an idiot on their side.
Kenny was coming back again. He didn't know how long he had until Cartman rounded up more Mob members to keep killing him.
Exhausted now, he struggled to get his body moving. Leo was waiting at Craig's, so Kenny pushed himself up finally, and exited out the same way Butters had. He got out right in time too - when he looked back, now down the street, Cartman had rounded up twelve Mob members.
Of course, it wasn't over. They had vehicles that could chase him down.
I gotta find somewhere to hide. Kenny thought as he heard engines behind him start up. If he wasn't so tired, he would've been able to make it farther. He had no choice, but to slip into the library only a block away from the U-Haul center. Trying to act as casual as possible, Kenny beelined for the back of the library, hoping that there'd be a back door somewhere.
There was only one other person in there, they didn't look up as he desperately tried to find a way out. There wasn't another door. He was starting to panic, until the person reading silently at the table behind him suddenly whispered: "Window."
Kenny wished he had his daggers as he turned to face the person, assuming that it was somehow one of the Mob members. Instead, the mystery guy pointed towards the bathrooms right across from them. He didn't look up once.
"Thank you." He whispered back to the person, before walking a few feet to slip into the men's.
He locked the door behind him. There was a window above the sink, it was just big enough that he would be able to squeeze out of it. Kenny unlatched the window, climbing up on the porcelain sink as he pulled himself through the window. He dropped hard onto his right shoulder, wincing as he felt skin break on something sharp in the grass.
In the reflection on the glass that was apparently there, he could see the black cars pulling up to the front of the library. He didn't waste any more time. Kenny was running down the street again, cutting through alleyways every chance he could get. It was harder to follow someone through narrow areas.
Knowing better than to assume he was safe, Kenny stopped in one of the alleys he was running through. There was a dumpster to his right. Although he wasn't a big fan of having to do this, he dived into the contained space.
It was beginning to get dark at this point. It was better to move in the cover of night, even with an orange jacket on. If he left it behind in the dumpster, it might've helped the Mob find where he was. That wasn't an option. In fact, he didn't think it was an option to go home. He was hoping that Craig would've hidden Karen too since Kenny hadn't brought his phone to warn his sister of any danger. God, he was basically praying that Craig was smarter than him.
Since he had distracted them for a while, he had a feeling Leo was safe. If he was safe, Kenny could focus on his next move.
It felt like he was in there for hours. There were plenty of cars that had driven by; Kenny couldn't discern which vehicles could've belonged to the Mob - he waited until he didn't hear anything for a long time. Kenny lifted the lid just enough to be able to peek out at the city, finding it empty, and silent. There were some police sirens in the distance, but Kenny considered that to be a good thing. Even if the police were in cahoots with the Mob, it couldn't have possibly been all of them, right?
Kenny shook his head at his hesitation, there was no use in worrying about that when he needed to get back. He decided it was safe enough to climb out of the dumpster. Moving along the brick wall, Kenny approached the corner to peer around the area, sighing slightly as he only saw emptiness.
The run back to Craig's would still take a few minutes, Kenny had to be careful. He continued to move through alleys only, until he was out of the downtown area where he would have to travel the neighborhoods. Luckily, he didn't come upon any more issues.
As he was about to turn onto his street, Kenny's heart nearly stopped when he noticed a car parked in his driveway. No one in his family owned a car, and neither did any of his friends. The Mob was waiting for him.
Shit, now what? Are they still at Craig's?
"Ken!" He jumped slightly as he heard a familiar whisper in the trees to his left. Kenny was surprised to find Craig standing there, hidden by the darkness. "Follow me."
He complied silently, confused as to how Craig knew where he would be. Grateful though, he didn't question him.
They ran down another street through the cover of night. Kenny recognized the house they were approaching as Clyde's, it was a bit weird for them to hide there. He continued to follow him until they were slipping inside though, only bending to catch their breath when the door closed behind them.
"So," Craig started after taking some deep breaths. "Clyde, his sister and his dad aren't here, said they were cool with us staying here for tonight. I gave them some bullshit excuse that our houses were having plumbing issues."
Trying to keep himself from collapsing, Kenny leaned against the wall behind himself. "And they bought that?"
"Um, yeah Ken, they're a little dumb." Craig grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't happy with this situation, clearly. "Kar and Tricia are upstairs, they don't really know what's going on. Butters is in the basement.. he's been worried about you."
Kenny didn't move. It had been a long day of dying and coming back again - he was starting to feel his body ache. It wasn't often that he would die repeatedly like that in one day. He didn't expect to feel so beat down.
Craig noticed this at the right moment, just barely catching Kenny in time as he suddenly passed out. He was awake again in an instant, pushing Craig away as he thought he was in danger again. "S-Sorry, didn't mean that." Slumping against the wall again, Kenny rubbed at his face in an attempt to keep himself awake. "'M not doin' too good, I think. Thanks for everything. I owe you, Craig."
Stumbling off towards the basement stairs by the kitchen, Kenny didn't care that his body was trying to give out. He needed to see Leo.
His vision was nearly filled with black spots as he started down the stairs, slipping down a few of them when his head started to spin. Leo saw him land at the bottom of the steps, jumping up from where he had been huddled in the corner of the room.
"Ken!" He was relieved that Kenny made it back, but the state he was in spiked his anxiety once again. "Oh my god, I'm glad you made it-"
"Leo." Kenny could barely sit up now, his head was pounding. "I-I need to lay down.."
Snapping into a different mode, Leo lifted him, his smaller arms barely able to hold him up. Since Kenny was a few inches taller, he was having issues trying to bring him up the stairs with limited help. Leo had to call for Craig, despite not wanting to. They carried a barely conscious Kenny up the stairs into Clyde's room, and set him gently onto the bed where he was lulled to sleep by the comfortable mattress immediately.
Refusing to leave his side, Leo sat at the foot of the bed, staring down at Kenny like he was going to disappear. Not only did he want to stay with Kenny until he was awake, he also wanted to avoid any more interactions with Craig. Although Craig helped him, Leo could sense that he wasn't his biggest fan at the moment. Leo couldn't blame him though, he had put everyone in danger.
As angry as Craig was at Leo, he relaxed slightly as he watched him stare at Kenny. He refused to look away from him. At least Leo cared as much about Kenny as he cared about him, or Craig might've beat his ass right there. He knew Leo didn't want any of this to happen, he didn't have control over his own life - still, Craig didn't exactly trust him. He was considering that if Kenny trusted him enough to fall in love with him, then he needed to give Leo a chance.
Before he left them alone for the rest of the night, Craig turned in the doorway. "You need anything?"
Surprised by his softer tone, Leo looked up at him. "U-Uh, maybe water for when he wakes up?"
He nodded once before going back down to the kitchen. After returning with a few waters, and a snack for both of them, Craig closed the door behind him without another word. He was trusting Leo to take care of Kenny.
Now that he was alone, Leo began sobbing. Kenny often blamed himself for everything to do with the Mob, but Butters knew he was more responsible than anyone. He had been so exhausted from dying for him more than once; if he hadn't moved to South Park, none of this would be happening to Kenny. Leo felt sick.
Just as tired as his asleep friend now, Leo leaned his head back against the wall he was propped up on. Drifting to sleep himself, he placed a hand on Kenny's leg, needing to be aware of his presence.
**
It was morning when Kenny's eyes snapped open.
His head was pounding as he looked around Clyde's room, irritated by the fact that he couldn't be in his own room. Kenny thought he was alone until he went to move his legs, only to find a weight on them. He looked down to find Leo clinging to him in a deep sleep.
He.. He stayed with me? His mouth was hanging open in awe as he looked down at Leo, his chest tightening as he studied the cleaned wounds on his face. His left eye was pretty swollen, even in his sleep; Kenny had to fight the urge to reach out and caress the bruises.
Since Leo was holding onto him, Kenny didn't want to move. Despite all of the terrible things that happened yesterday, he appreciated this moment, and felt something resembling peace. Leo was safe. He had gotten him back.
Laying back down on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling. Kenny was starting to wonder if they'd ever be able to go home, or if the Mob would be constantly waiting for them. He was also worried about where Leo would go; if his own parents kidnapped him to torture him, Kenny expected that he wouldn't be able to return home. Damn, can we go to school next week?
His head was spinning again, he couldn't think about all of this yet. There were a couple of people he owed explanations to - that was enough to deal with by itself.
After a few more minutes of Kenny being absorbed in his thoughts, Leo was shifting at the end of the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Realizing he was on Kenny, he pushed himself up quickly, his face turning a slight shade of pink when he saw that Kenny was awake too, staring at him. Neither of them said anything for a moment while Leo chewed on his bottom lip, fighting off the urge to burst with emotion again.
"I told you I wouldn't leave you alone." Kenny finally muttered.
Leo chuckled a little in relief. "T-Thank you."
Sitting up next to him now, Kenny shrugged. He wanted to tell him how he felt about him at that moment, the baby blues he loved so much connected with his eyes, stopping him from doing so. Leo was in too much pain.
Instead, he decided to wrap an arm around his shoulders, and hold him against his chest. It was what Leo needed, his body immediately erupted into violent sobs. Kenny had to keep his own tears from falling as he felt the pain from the boy in his arms. He had rescued him from torture, yet he still wasn't saved from his torment.
"What now?" Kenny questioned after a while of holding Leo, refusing to loosen his grip. "You can't go home.. I don't know if I can go home, either.."
Gently releasing himself from Kenny's arms, Leo grabbed one of the waters on the table next to him. He could barely drink it from how much he was shaking. "I don't know. Are we completely screwed?"
"Maybe."
"Do you want to talk about-"
"Leo, no." Kenny sighed, his hand falling on the forearm where he had punctured himself with the dagger. It ultimately hadn't helped him much, it had just given Cartman a weapon to murder him with; he wasn't about to tell Leo any of this though. "I-I don't want you to know. You already saw me die, again."
Grabbing the arm that Kenny was attempting to cover, Leo forcefully pushed up the sleeve, revealing the large scar that only they could see. He shuddered at this, his fingers hovering just above the raised skin. Kenny might've been right, maybe he didn't want to know. Leo looked up to meet his eyes again, only finding them clouded over.
"You've always dealt with this alone." Leo took to inspecting more of him, finding the scar above his heart as he pushed his shirt up. Normally, he never would've searched Kenny like this, but Leo could see how disturbed he really was, and he couldn't control himself. His stomach dropped as he realized that the scar over his heart was the newest, the skin was slightly pink instead of white. "Kenny.."
The way his voice broke as he said his name caused a few tears to slip down Kenny's face. He wiped them away with frustration, hating the fact that he was so vulnerable, again, in front of Leo. He wasn't judging him though, Kenny could see that this was just as hard for him.
"Why do you care so much about me? I-"
Their moment was cut short as the bedroom door opened, Karen's eyes going wide as she noticed her brother crying. Her face went pale as she stared for a moment, but she closed the door quickly, in shock. Karen had only seen Kenny cry a handful of times. Seeing the strongest person she'd ever known crumbling had crushed her. She went back down to the living room, tears streaking her own face now, too.
No one else dared to go upstairs at this. Even Craig's stomach was in knots.
Since she had interrupted something important, Kenny was pacing slightly now as he kept pushing his hair back from his forehead, as if it would help him figure out what to do. He hated that he was making the two people he loved the most cry.
"I'm so tired.." He was mumbling to himself now, unaware of the tears that continued to spill down his cheeks. The last few days had been too much, even for someone as strong as him. "Shouldn't be in anyone's life.. I-"
"Ken," Leo stopped him from pacing by placing his hands on his shoulders, snapping him out of his mumbling. He hadn't realized he was doing it. "You aren't alone in this anymore. I'm here for you."
"But why?" He couldn't help, but question him.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Leo smiled sadly. "'Cause ever since we met, I haven't felt alone.." Kenny looked up at him. "Besides, dummy, you were there for me when I was the one in trouble."
Leo, I love you.. Kenny held his mouth shut firmly as he thought this, refusing to speak it out loud. Goddamnit though, it was true. He had fallen so fast, and so hard - it terrified him. Leo was terrifying to him. He never thought another person could make him feel like this.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Kenny decided to tell him something he had never been able to tell anyone before: "Every time I've died.. it-it never really goes away. I relive my deaths all the time. It's so lonely, and it fucking hurts.."
Although he could never understand fully, Leo nodded, rubbing his arm comfortingly. One thing he could understand was the empty look of trauma in Kenny's eyes. He didn't understand how Kenny continued on with so much resilience when this always plagued him.
That was one of the things that made Kenny amazing to Leo.