***3rd POV***
"Look out!"
Leon rapidly turned his head around and followed Laura's line of sight, spotting a J'avo standing on top of a cargo container in the distance. His eyes widening when he noticed that the infected mercenary had a loaded rocket launcher perched on top of his right shoulder—aiming it right at the two of them.
Leon quickly scooped up Laura off the ground, protectively holding the little girl in his arms as he turned around and hastily made a run for it. Sprinting towards a nearby cargo container. The instant the J'avo pulled the trigger and fired the rocket launcher, Leon briskly jumped and dove behind the red metal container, as the fired grenade came into contact with the solid flooring. Immediately exploding upon impact; delivering an intense wave of heat throughout the area and sending massive chunks of rusty metal, durable concrete, and dust everywhere.
The dirty-blonde landed on his side along the polished, concrete floor, hovering over Laura while using his upper body to shield the young girl from the aftermath of the explosion. The volatile grenade barely missed Leon and Laura—only by a couple of feet. Once it cleared up, the government agent stood up off the ground, holding his hand out towards Laura. "Are you alright, Laura?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." Laura grasped ahold of the blonde's hand, letting him help her up off the ground; back onto her own two feet. The little girl stumbled and staggered momentarily, feeling light-headed and dizzy all while holding onto the side of the cargo container. Eventually regaining her balance and being able to stand on her own.
Laura's eyes then traveled towards Leon's other leg holster, eyeing the other wing shooter fastening within the designed pouch. The D.S.O. agent immediately caught on to her foreseeable idea. Already shaking his head in disapproval. "Nuh uh Laura, not happening. I'll handle them alone."
The corner's of Laura's mouth quirked down, frowning as the young girl balled her fists. "But why not, Leon? I can help. I've been training in hand-to-hand combat and how to efficiently wield firearms since I was six years old." Even with what she's been telling Leon, he highly doubted that someone her age could even use a gun properly. The very idea that Laura could take on even a single mercenary in her current condition already seemed far-fetched that it was!
"But you're just a kid, Laura. You're too young to be involved in all of this," The dirty-blonde reminded her, taking out his handgun. He briefly peered over the side of the cargo container, firing his wing shooter at one of the mercenaries sniping from far off. Killing it with only two gun shots to its forehead.
"There's fifty of them versus the two of us. You may be possess the skills Leon, but they have the numbers. And just because I'm eleven, it doesn't mean you have to treat me like a piece of glass—"
"Laura," Leon turned his head towards her. "Its my job is to keep you safe at all times, and I intend on doing that. Look, I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do to help me is by staying here behind the container and out of sight. You'll be safer here while I try to take them out one by one." The dirty blonde peered over the side of the cargo container for a brief moment once again, shooting down another one of snipers firing from afar before pressing his back behind the metal container as he glanced over at Laura. "I promise that no matter what happens, we will make it out of here alive. Okay?" The blonde instructed the little girl, smiling at her.
Knowing it would be only pointless to argue any further with the agent and waste more of their precious time, Laura directed her gaze up at Leon, nodding her head at him. "Okay."
After their little argument ended, the agent peered over from the side of the desecrated cargo container, spotting the J'avo that tried to blow them to smithereens reloading its rocket launcher. All while calling out for immediate back up in its foreign language right away. It wasn't very long until the mercenary reinforcements began to show up.
An umpteen of infected soldiers of fortune came pouring into the room, armed with sniper rifles, machine guns, submachine guns, rocket launchers, machetes, and sharp knives. 'There's too many of them, at this rate we'll be completely be surrounded within just minutes.' Leon thought to himself, as he pressed two fingers against his ear piece.
"Hunnigan, we've got a problem. ...A big one," Leon started off. "I've managed to locate the subject, she's needs immediate medical attention, but we're currently being surrounded by an enormous group of hostiles, and they don't look too intent on letting us leave." Leon briefly fired his handgun at the incoming J'avo, shooting the first three in the head, killing them instantaneously. The D.S.O. agent swiftly positioned himself right behind the container, as one of the sharpshooters' fired his sniper rifle at Leon. Barely missing the agent a few seconds too late.
"Alright, I just notified Agent Howard and the rest of his unit of your present situation. They're currently on route to your current position as we speak," Hunnigan informed the government agent.
"What's their ETA, Hunnigan?" Leon inquired, as he peered over the container and shot two more J'avo in the head that were coming their way.
"About ten minutes, Leon. I'll keep you updated as they head closer and closer towards your position. Hunnigan out." After the bullet pierced through the the infected mercenary's skull, chipping off part of the frontal bone and frontal lobe within it's head, it crumpled to its knees. He kneeled down on the concrete ground; the pieces of its own flesh and bone began molding back together like fresh clay, regenerating itself while recreating the bone matter and brain tissue it lost.
It's wasn't until then when Leon was able to get a good look at its face, his eyes widening in shock as the blonde stared at its mutated features. Taking in its bloody mouth full of rotten teeth while the creature stared back at the agent using all of its arthropod-like eyes. 'These aren't just any ordinary mercenaries. They're all infected! No wonder they smelled like rotting corpses. That would explain their fetid body odor. But how are the infected able to utilize such advanced weaponry? Let alone fire a rocket launcher with precision and accuracy?' The agent pondered to himself, attempting to shoot at the J'avo again; only for his gun to click.
"Shit," The dirty-blonde cursed under his breath, before ejecting the empty clip from the gun and reloading it with a new one.
Just as he was about to shoot the J'avo again, an unlikely ally fired his semi-automatic sniper rifle from afar. Shooting the infected mercenary in the head and killing it for sure this time. Leon briskly glanced all around the room, wondering for a moment who the hell shot down the J'avo for him before training his gun back at the incoming mercenaries heading their way. Continuing to fire his wing shooter at them.
While Leon was preoccupied with eliminating the infected mercenaries closing in on him and Laura, a certain blonde in black was perched up on top of one of the cargo containers in an unlit and remote part of the indoor loading bay area. The former S.T.A.R.S. member laid flat on his ripped stomach, using his burly arms to support the upper half of his well-toned body and aim his Mk Mod1 sniper rifle at the J'avo surrounding his daughter and the D.S.O. agent near the center of the loading bay. His partner was sniping as well from another corner of the loading bay, positioned on top of one of containers like Albert was. Hiding out of sight within the shadows.
'Looks like those two have gotten themselves in the quite the predicament, haven't they?' He thought to himself. Even while wearing his signature sunglasses, the blonde could still see through the scope on his one of a kind sniper rifle; giving him an impeccable view of the battleground. 'As long as I'm here, the situation will remain under control. By my standards, of course. Meaning that if Agent Kennedy succeeds in escorting my child to safety, I would spare the pleasure of putting a bullet in the middle of his forehead. Something I should've done to Redfield a long time ago.' He thought to himself, beginning to fire at the horde of J'avo drawing closer and closer towards the dirty-blonde agent and his youngest daughter. Shooting them one at a time with flawless precision.
"Any day now Hunnigan," Leon evoked the navigational technician, as he single-mindedly kept shooting at the inbound mercenaries coming their way.
"Okay Leon, they're halfway there. Their estimated ETA is less than five minutes," Hunnigan notified the D.S.O. agent through his earpiece.
As Leon continued to fire at the surrounding horde of J'avo, Laura let out a horrified scream, instantly catching the blonde's attention. Leon rapidly glanced over, seeing that a J'avo had snuck up on Laura. Picking the little girl up off the ground and throwing her over his shoulder as she constantly kicked and screamed at the mercenary to let her go. As he began to run off with her, Leon shot the J'avo in its leg a couple times, tripping the creature and precipitating it to lose its balance. He let go of both his submachine gun and Laura, as the two of them collapsed onto the ground. In the very middle of ground zero.
Right when Leon was about to rush over to help Laura, two more J'avo stepped in front of him. One of them trying to stab Leon with its combat knife, the dirty-blonde agent deftly dodging its attacks left and right, while the other was trying to shoot at him with its machine gun. Whilst the blonde had to deal with the two J'avo in front of him, Laura steadily stood up off the ground, groaning in pain after hitting her head against the polished concrete.
The young girl clutched her head, wincing when faintly touching the discoloring bruise on her forehead; the vague sounds of yelling and gunfire could be heard in the background. As Laura was glancing around the area, her eyes instantly landed as the J'avo that tried to recapture her, widening in fear. The blonde wasn't appalled at all by its inhumane facial features or its putrid body odor, as it growled viciously at little girl. The infected mercenary eyed her with its white, arthropod-like eyes, bearing closer and closer towards its target.
As Laura took a step back, she spotted the submachine gun the infected mercenary had dropped earlier, laying only a couple feet away from Laura on her right. Her vibrant blue eyes kept darting back and forth between the mercenary and the gun, timing the perfect opportunity when to go for the gun. Right when the J'avo started to storm towards her, Laura rapidly rolled out of the mercenary's way before standing up, dashing towards the firearm.
Just as Laura grabbed ahold of the gun off the ground, briskly turning around. She heedfully aimed the weapon at the J'avo before pulling the trigger, firing it at the infected mercenary. The force of the gun's recoil partially hindered Laura's accuracy, albeit still being able to shoot it in the head and kill it straight away.
After dodging another of its oncoming attacks, Leon elbowed the J'avo in the face before snatching ahold of its knife and stabbing it in the head. Killing it straight away. As the other J'avo started to fire its machine gun at the agent, Leon reacted by clasping ahold of the dead mercenary in front of him right as the corpse was about to collapse onto ground, using it as a shield against the endless stream of bullets being fired at him.
Once the J'avo had emptied its entire clip, Leon dropped the bullet-pierced corpse onto the ground and threw his combat at the infected mercenary using precise precision. The sharpened blade jabbed itself right into the infected mercenary's forehead, killing it straight away as its corpse crumbled to the ground.
After retrieving his blade from the dead mercenary's forehead and switching it out for his wing shooter, another J'avo was about to sneak up on the D.S.O. agent and shoot him with its machine gun until Laura yelled,
"Move!"
Leon easily complied, ducking and rolled to the side just as Laura fired her submachine gun at the infected mercenary. Numerous bullets rippled through its decomposing body, before the young girl shot it a couple times in the head. Killing it straightaway just, as its bloody corpse collapsed onto the ground like a rag doll.
Once the J'avo was dead, Leon and Laura swiftly slid behind another cargo container. Taking cover the from the abundance of bullets being fired at them. Leon glanced towards Laura; the little girl looking back up at the agent all while she was fixing the submachine gun in her hands.
"Are you alright?" Leon inquired, eyeing the discoloring bruise forming on her forehead.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Laura answered, before tossing her gun onto the floor. Realizing that she had already used up the entire clip.
"You weren't kidding about being inculcated how to handle firearms, weren't you?"
Laura huffed, meeting Leon's gaze. "Isn't it obvious, or is your blonde side taking over?"
Leon shook his head, letting out a low chuckle. "I'll give you credit. Not are you capable enough to handle a gun, you sure know how to joke at a time like this."
"So, are you gonna hand me your spare gun and finally let me help out now? Or do I still have to play the pretty little damsel in distress while you play my handsome knight in shining armor?"
Leon let out a sigh, unholstering his spare gun from his other leg holster. Holding the firearm out to Laura. "Only on one condition. You have to remain here behind the container, at all times. Do you understand me?"
Laura nodded her head. "Deal." The young girl took the handgun from Leon, checking the clip before reloading the gun and cocking it. The blonde showed off her flair while handling the firearm, prompting the dirty-blonde agent's eyes to widen for a brief moment. "It's showtime," Laura stated right before partially peering over from the side of the cargo container, aptly firing and taking down a couple more of the approaching J'avo along with the dirty-blonde agent.
'So Laura wasn't really lying. . . She actually can properly wield a firearm after all, let alone kill even a single mercenary in her current state. That still surprises me though. She's a trooper, that's for sure. I expected Laura to be more... unsophisticated for her age. She's just a kid, too young to be involved in all of this. Instead, Laura's been handling this situation like I would have. Calm, cool, and collective. Like well-trained government agent and not like a regular child, which completely perplexes me. In the end, I still can't believe I lost an argument to a eleven-year-old. That's a first.' The D.S.O. agent thought to himself, relentlessly firing his gun at the J'avo, killing a couple of them in the process.
"Leon, they just arrived at the cargo port. They should be making their way towards your current position any minute now," Hunnigan notified the agent, just as Agent Howard and the rest of his unit stormed into the indoor loading bay. The ravenette kicked the doors open, leading the platoon of agents and firing their GLOCK 17 handguns at the remaining J'avo in the area. A multitude of gun shots resonated throughout the entire room, blaring persistently like a never ending string of fireworks.
"That was quick," Leon said aloud. He hurried over to Laura, grabbing ahold of the little girl's free hand. "Come on, let's go." Laura nodded her head at him, as the two of them took off towards the nearest exit.
After the rest of the agents briskly rushed into the indoor loading bay, Agent Howard stayed back, hiding behind one of the cargo containers to shield himself from the ongoing crossfire. He pressed a finger over his ear piece. "Agent Kennedy, you do you read me?"
Leon quickly hid Laura and himself behind another container; gently gripping the little girl's wrist with one hand while momentarily holstering his wing shooter before pressing a finger over his ear piece.
"Yes, this is Agent Kennedy here. Over," The dirty-blonde answered.
"We got this from here on out, Agent Kennedy. Take the girl and get her out of here, reinforcements and medical personnel are waiting for the two of you just outside the building. We'll take care of these assholes," Agent Howard notified the dirty-blonde.
"Got it." Leon acknowledged him, briefly nodding his head whilst glancing at the agent. "Make sure not a single one of remain standing, all of them show apparent signs of viral infection."
"Understood. Agent Howard out." The ravenette came out from his hiding place, proceeding heedfully towards the center of room; shooting a few J'avo in the head along the way with his handgun.
"Let's get out of here, Laura. We'll be safe once we're outside," Leon said, his grip around Laura's wrist tightening slightly while the two of them made their way towards the exit.
As Leon was about to open the double doors, little did they know a J'avo had its sights set on them; aiming a fully loaded rocket launcher at both of them. The former S.T.A.R.S. captain noticed this straight away, aiming his sniper rifle at the J'avo and shooting it in the head one second too late. The J'avo had already pulled back the trigger by the time it was killed, firing the rocket launcher at Leon and Laura.
Right before the specialized grenade made contact with anything, Leon turned around and briskly pushed Laura to the side. Moving the little girl out of harms way right the grenade collided with the concrete ground. Only triggering another short-lived explosion within the indoor loading bay; sending various chunks of concrete, dust, and other debris all throughout the room once again.
Once the massive cloud of dust cleared, Leon groggily sat up on the ground. His well-defined features were now partially covered with bloody cuts and bruises, as he hastily looked around for Laura. His ears still rung loudly, due to the proximity of the explosion.
"Laura! Laura, where are you!" The dirty-blonde called out, speedily looking around for the missing little girl.
After a minute or so, Leon spotted Laura laying unconscious on the ground about fifteen feet away from him to his left. With a bloody piece of metal sticking out of her right arm. The wound bled profusely; crimson liquid trickling from her arm onto the debris-covered ground beneath her.
Before he could fully stand up off the, a J'avo abruptly stood on top of Leon. Leaning down and trying to stab the agent in the throat with his stained combat knife. Leon quickly clutched ahold of each of the mercenary's wrists, digging his nails into its decomposing skin while pushing the blade farther and farther from his Adam's apple.
The moment the D.S.O managed to move the knife far enough from his throat, he fiercely kicked the J'avo completely off of him. Swiftly standing up and unholstering his gun right before pulling the trigger, shooting it in the head straight away before briskly making his way towards Laura.
Leon hastily kneeled down beside the unconscious little girl, sighing out in relief when he pressed two fingers against her jugular. Feeling her pulse beat concurrently with vitality like her pumping heart. The dirty-blonde agent one snaked one arm under her knees and the other beneath her back, prudently picking Laura up off the ground before heading out the double doors. The blonde malefactor shot down four J'avo from his concealed hiding spot, who attempted to follow after Leon and Laura out the doors.
***
Leon tilted his back against the wall, sitting inside the back of an ambulance, parked outside the office building within Terminal 18. The dirty-blonde agent watched with keen eyes while the paramedics were busy tending to wound on Laura's right forearm. They had already finished disinfecting and cleaning the laceration, managing to stop the bleeding, all that was left to do it stitch it and bandage it up.
While the EMTs were occupied with tending to the little girl's injury, Leon was deep in thought, feeling nothing but guilt and tad bit of shame for Laura getting hurt like that. Practically blaming himself for what happened to her. It was job to his to keep her safe; to make sure that there's not a single scratch on her. However, holding himself responsible even though it wasn't his fault would only sidetrack him from his mission and he knew that very damn well.
Laura laid comfortably against the stretcher, her eye lids closed all the way with a light blue, thin blanket tucked up to her chest. Scarcely keeping the little girl warm from the chilliness of the cool spring night. A small ice pack was resting on top of her forehead, pressed against her temple by the female emergency medical technician, positioned right over her bruise in order to help reduce the swelling and allow it to heal faster. Her chest slowly dilated then gradually deflating in an unbroken cycle, a sign that she was respiring normally. The young girl was slept peacefully, all while one of the physicians' finished stitching up the laceration. Repeatedly puncturing her pale skin with a disinfected suture needle, then pushing it all the way through; precipitating blood to trickle from the tiny puncture wounds.
Once the needle went all the way through, the EMT attentively pulled the thread attached at the end, warily suturing her skin back together. The paramedic attentively watched his every move with his own cerulean blue eyes, making sure to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. It's a good thing they decided to sedate her before performing the procedure, or else she might've woken up in the middle of it; kicking and screaming in pain throughout the entire thing. And that's the last thing Laura needs right now; she's been through enough already as it is.
After the male EMT finished applying enough stitches, he placed a piece gauze right over the bloody wound, before wrapping her forearm in blue cohesive bandages. To keep the stitches from ripping or tearing. As soon as the blonde bandaged her arm well enough, he grabbed a pair of scissors from the unzipped first aid kit sitting on his lap, cutting the end of the bandage and taping down against the rest of the blue dressing. To prevent it from coming undone all together. The moment the paramedic finished wrapping Laura's wound and cleaning up after himself, both of them stood up. Leaving the back of the ambulance to find some place private to make an important phone call.
"Thank you," Leon told the male physician, right as he hopped out of the ambulance. The other EMT was long gone, gone to attend to another one of injured agents that hurt himself from the shootout.
The blonde turned around, facing the D.S.O. agent sitting beside Laura in the back of the back of the vehicle. "No problem sir," He replied back. "You know as well I as do that she's in good hands now, especially since she has you as her guardian angel. She's one lucky girl if you ask me." The blonde gestured towards Laura, still sleeping serenely. "Now if you excuse me," The paramedic unzipped his jacket, pulling out a pack of cigs and a lighter. "I'm gonna go smoke someplace secluded for the next couple of minutes." The blonde casually walked away, disappearing behind the side of the office building within a matter of seconds.
Just minutes later, Laura began to toss and turn habitually on top of the stretcher, shivering and moaning incessantly in her sleep. Not being able to handle the frigid atmosphere anymore, the young girl's eye lids began to flutter open, finally waking up after an hour or so. Catching the agent's attention right away.
"Hey," Leon turned his head, looking down at Laura as she momentarily glanced back up at him. Feeling weary and disoriented from the sedative that was administered to her. "Leon? Is that you?" Laura inquired, lifting her right arm. The blonde stared closely at her bandaged wound, before redirecting her gaze at the dirty-blonde agent, sitting right beside her. Laura then steadily began sitting up on top of the stretcher, swinging her legs over the side of the makeshift bed while using her non-injured arm to support herself. "Yeah, it's me," Leon answered, gently helping Laura into a sitting position, noticing how turbulently shivering she was from the cold, frigid night.
"Leon where are we? What happened? The last thing I remember is running away with you towards the exit before—" Laura was cut off when Leon draped his warm leather jacket around her shoulders, giving the young girl some decent protection against the nippy weather, aiding in warming her gelid body up.
Laura glanced over at the dirty-blonde, her cheeks heating up when seeing him without his jacket on. Taking in his heavily built chest, arms, and shoulders; showing patently through his blue v-neck t-shirt. The young girl looked away for a second, before shifting her gaze back up at him, obviously trying to mask her flustered state of being. Leon couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle, undoubtedly used to making women around him nervous and anxious.
"What about you Leon? Aren't you gonna get cold?" The young girl questioned the agent, gesturing towards him with one hand while using the other to clutch the jacket more tightly around her torso.
"I'll be fine Laura, it's you I'm more concerned about," Leon replied. "If you don't warm up here soon, you'll end up turning into an icicle," The agent joked, smiling down at the young girl, as she giggled a bit.
"Oh ha ha, very funny Leon." Laura sat up off the stretcher and sat down beside the D.S.O. agent, resting her head against his left arm as she yawned. Not taking the dirty-blonde by surprise at all. 'Poor thing, she's undeniably exhausted and they haven't even interrogated her yet. That can wait though. What she needs right now is a good night's rest; it's way past her bedtime.' Leon lifted his left arm, wrapping it around the little girl's shoulder and pulling her close to him, as she slowly but surely drifted out of consciousness.
"Thank you Leon, thank you for saving me," Laura told Leon using a somnolent tone of voice, before closing her vibrant blue eyes. Falling asleep against the agent. Leon glanced down at Laura one last time, a genuine smile decorating his lips as he sat patiently in the back of the ambulance, waiting for when he can take Laura back home to her parents.
Whilst the D.S.O. agent was watching over the little girl all while she was catching some Zs, the queer, tall, blonde, blue-eyed paramedic monitored the two from afar. Mainly Laura. Using his high tech binoculars to do so. Once satisfied with his observation, he moved away from the side of the building and pulled out his cellular device, dialing his partner's number before holding the device up to his ear as it rang continuously. It's wasn't very long until his partner answered.
"How is she? Is Laura alright?" Albert questioned Adam using an aloof tone of voice, getting straight to the point.
"Besides a minor contusion on her forehead and a laceration on her right forearm, she'll be fine. Laura's resilient, just like you Al."
"You don't need to remind me Adam, I'm already well aware of that," Albert said to him. "Meet me at the very back of the cargo port, near the docks. I'll be waiting." Then hung up on him.
***End of Flashback***
Leon's POV
"Leon. . . Leon!" I snapped out of my half-conscious state of being and swiftly glanced over at Hunnigan, as she partially lowered her glasses for a moment, eyeing me with her grey-colored eyes. "Sorry Hunnigan, I was dozing off," I justified, as I adjusted myself on the couch.
"No wonder it took me this long just to get your attention," She commented, closing her laptop and setting on top of the coffee table. "There's something I need to tell you, Leon. Something that you need to know and be well aware of from this point on."
"What is it?" I asked her, giving her full eye contact.
"Do you know what will happen if of the D.S.O.'s higher ups find out about Laura's parentage, especially since the both of us are hiding that fact from them?" Hunnigan inquired, the corners of her mouth quirking down the whole time.
"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure," I answering, using an honest tone of voice as he glanced out the jet window momentarily.
"Not only will they take Laura away, the consequences of our actions will be nothing but calamitous for us. For both of us. Trust me."
"I know, but it's well worth the risk. As long as Laura isn't in some private government laboratory, being poked and prodded like a lab rat," I justified, leaning back against the pristine couch. Resting my head on one of the arm rests. Eventually falling asleep.
***3rd POV***
A couple minutes later, the pilot eventually boarded the jet, spotting Leon sleeping peacefully and Hunnigan typing away on her laptop while on his way towards the cock pit. "Good evening Ms. Hunnigan. All of the luggage has been loaded onto the jet and we'll be taking off for DC here shortly," He notified her, before heading inside the cock pit, where his co-pilot was waiting for him.
As soon as the jet was started up, the plane's engines were powered on, practically roaring to life. The propellers within each engine began spinning speedily; the aircraft started to move rapidly along the runway, it's wheels spinning persistently against the paved asphalt. It wasn't before the jet took off into the air, soaring through the skies all while heading for their next destination. Washington DC.
End of Part 2