Leon, Gwen, and Ashley stood at the edge of the garbage chute, staring down at the pile of waste below. "Looks like this is it," the blonde man said.
Ashley holds her nose and takes a step back from the edge. "Ugh, it stinks."
"Sure does." Leon glanced between the two girls, smirking from ear to ear.
Gwen recognized the expression and couldn't help but smile. "Oh, I know that look."
The amber-eyed girl looks at Leon after listening to Gwen and shook her head, knowing exactly what he was scheming. "No way, Leon." She backed away further from the edge and away from the man.
Leon grabs her wrist, still grinning. "Way." He runs towards the chute while tugging Ashley along and before they jump, he hooks his other arm around Gwen. The blonde girl let out a yelp as she, Gwen, and Leon jumped into the garbage chute. Their bodies felt weightless for a few seconds before they landed on a pile of waste.
Leon released Ashley's wrist when they made impact and Gwen ended up falling on top of him during the descent. She grunted in pain when she landed directly on him, knocking the air out of her lungs and Leon's.
After catching her breath, Gwen placed her hands on his chest and pushed her body upwards. She glared down at the man as she clutched the front of his black shirt. "You could've warned me instead of practically tackling me like a football player into a garbage chute."
"Are you out of your mind?" Ashley hissed, glaring over at Leon.
"I knew you'd be fine if you landed on your butt." Leon's eyes bounced over to Gwen, who adjusted her body and straddled his waist, keeping his body pinned to the pile of garbage. "As much as I'm enjoying this position, we've got to get moving."
The small flirtatious remark earned a smirk from Gwen and she patted her hand against his chest. "Glad to see your head's in the right place." She promptly climbed off him and brushed off the small pieces of waste that clung to her clothes. "And now I smell like garbage."
Once Leon gets to his feet, he helps Ashley up. She then looks down when she felt her hand touch something slimy and sees a regenerator beside her. "What is this?"
"It's the same kind of regenerator that attacked us in the lab. Do you think...?" Gwen's voice trailed off as she met Leon's gaze.
"Not sure, but we're not going to stick around and find out. Come on, let's go." Leon took the lead through the waste area and pulled a lever to raise a gate. The moment the gate was opened, the regenerator sprung to life and breathed heavily as it trudged towards them.
"So much for not finding out," Gwen grumbled as they stepped through the gate. She promptly closed the gate to prevent it from reaching them. "Leon, rifle, please." Her boyfriend tossed her the firearm and she made quick work of the regenerator. As she killed the last parasite, she ordered them to back away from the gate to avoid the spikes as they shot out of the monster's body.
Ashley screamed when the spikes shot through the bars of the gate. "What was that thing?!"
"Regenerator. Only way to kill them is by eliminating the parasites within its body," Gwen responded. "Although, the spikes are a new addition."
"I'm just glad you both know what you're doing," Ashley sighed in relief.
Gwen chewed on her bottom lip before releasing it and whispering to herself. "Well...not entirely..."
"Help me with this," Leon's voice cuts through the silence between the two girls. They rush through another gate the man had opened and saw him trying to push a storage container to create a walkway across the murky water below. Gwen and Ashley stood on either side of Leon and pushed with all their strength. The metal crate fell into the water, making a small splash.
The trio dash over their makeshift path to reach the other side, but Gwen stops them in front of a garbage bin once safely across. By the look on her face and how quiet she was, Leon knew she sensed something. "What is it?"
Without an explanation, Gwen turned to Ashley and yelled. "Hide!" The amber-eyed girl doesn't bicker and hopped into the trash bin, closing the lid behind her. Gwen snatched the rifle from Leon and dashed off. "Gwen, stop!" The blonde shouted after the woman as he took chase. She halted, but it wasn't due to Leon's desperate cry.
Without muttering a single word, Gwen raised the weapon and fired four bullets. Each shot hit its mark and the regenerator's torso exploded as the spikes lashed out of its gray flesh. Wordlessly, the archivist handed the gun back to Leon. Once again, the blonde was impressed by her sharp senses and marksmanship. "You sure you're an archivist?"
Gwen sighed, running a hand through her short locks. "A hundred percent."
Leon could hear in her voice and see on her face how the exhaustion of the mission was finally catching up to her. "Are you alright, Gwen?" He was worried she was pushing herself too hard. He knew she'd try to hide her fatigue so she wouldn't concern him, but he saw straight through her facade.
Seeing she couldn't lie to him, Gwen exhaled deeply. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... tired, I guess. Unlike you, I don't have the training."
"Could've fooled me." Leon reloaded the rifle, waiting for a smart remark, but one never came. Now he knew there was something more going on with the young woman that she had yet to tell him. "Tell me what's really wrong. We're not goin' anywhere until you do."
Ashley heard Leon's demanding tone and stepped out of the dumpster. She glanced at the couple, noticing how the woman wasn't her bubbly-self. "What's wrong, Gwen?"
Said woman huffed, placing a hand against her aching head. "I think my rational thoughts are catching up with me."
"What do you mean?" Leon's eyes narrowed slightly as he clutched the rifle tightly before slinging it across his back.
"Since the moment we stepped foot in the village, all I've been is a burden. I caused even more trouble when Salazar captured me. In all honesty, I don't think I should've come on this mission. I'm nothing but extra baggage you have to tote around. And now that Saddler is after me, I'm even more trouble. It would've been better if I stayed behind in D.C." Gwen couldn't bring herself to meet Leon's gaze as she spoke.
"First of all, you being captured by Salazar wasn't your fault. Second, that burden shit is a complete lie. Since we got here you've saved not only my ass, but Ashley's and Luis'. When we were trapped in that house, we would've died if you hadn't showed up. Not to mention, you gave us a chance to escape the church and stayed behind to buy us the time we needed." Leon's tone was strong and unwavering. He desperately wanted Gwen to realize she was worth more than she thought. "If you hadn't been here, Luis would've died and I'm damn certain I would've been killed a long time ago, too."
Gwen finally tore her gaze from the floor and met Leon's heated one. "In the end, I'm only worth what my blood is. Luis is alive only for that reason."
"Your blood doesn't make up who you are." Leon closed the distance between him and the love of his life. "Last time I checked, I fell in love with an amazing, confident, and cheerful girl. That was before I knew about your blood."
Gwen's fingers fidgeted as she watched Leon slowly approach her. She was aware he was trying to erase her doubts but still couldn't keep them from returning. Although, she did have to admit hearing his confession caused warmth to spread through her body. She had delved deep into thought and hadn't noticed how close Leon was until he grabbed both her hands in his own. He entwines his fingers with hers and pulls her closer by tugging on her hands. "No more doubting yourself. You've already proven you can handle yourself in a tough situation. If I didn't believe in your skills, I would've protested when I heard you were taggin' along."
The archivist gripped Leon's hands tight with a sigh of content. "I'm actually surprised you didn't argue when the president appointed me as your partner for this mission."
"I've got three reasons why I couldn't possibly disagree," The blonde smugly grinned. "The first one: you're pretty damn skilled with any firearm in your hands, making you the best possible option for a partner. Two: I knew you would have my back. And three: I'd get to spend some needed time with you regardless of the dangers."
"So," Gwen started. "One of the reasons you agreed to take me along was because we hadn't seen each other in a while?"
"Exactly," he responds.
"Most boyfriends would want their girlfriends far away from the danger. You, on the other hand, drag her directly into the line of fire," the woman huffed with laughter. "You are not a normal boyfriend."
"Normal's boring. We wouldn't be together if either of us were normal," Leon cheekily responds.
"You are, by far, the weirdest man in my life."
"How many men do you have in your life that I'm unaware of?" The agent raised a brow, peering into Gwen's sapphire eyes.
The archivist spotted an opportunity to tease the man and smirked. She retracted her hands and began counting on her fingers. "Let's see... One, two, three, four, five..." While Gwen continued to count meaninglessly with her fingers, she heard Ashley snicker in the background.
"Hold on," Leon raised his voice, stopping the woman.
She looked up from her hands with a smug grin. "What's wrong? I wasn't done counting. I can give you their names and you can-"
"No," Leon sighed. Ashley couldn't hold in her laughter as she erupted into a fit of giggles. Leon glanced between the two girls, knowing Gwen was messing with him. He decided to play along and smirked. "I'll just have to meet all of them when we get back."
"Oh, they'll love to meet you! Your name always ends up popping up in our conversations, especially when they get flirty. Some of them are kinda pushy, but I know you'll get along with them just fine."
Leon's forehead creased at the revelation. "You think I'm pushy?"
Gwen's eyes narrowed slightly as she held up her hands, using her fingers to display his amount of pushiness. "Just a little..."
All Leon did was smirk in response. He had accomplished his goal of cheering Gwen up and was able to put a smile back onto her face, which is what truly mattered.
<-------------<<<<<<<
"Is that a wrecking ball?" Ashley questioned as they hopped out of a pipe.
"And is it hanging over a pit of lava?" Gwen added.
"Doesn't make sense, but we'll be needing that wrecking ball." Leon eyed a crumbling wall, spotting a door behind it.
"Must be a way to activate it. There's a control room in the back," the midnight-haired woman pointed out.
Just as they passed the boiling pit of lava and the wrecking ball, a door beside the crumbling wall flew open and a horde of ganados flooded into the room. Leon clicked his tongue, brows furrowed as he watched the men storm over. "You two, figure a way to use the wrecking ball. I'll hold them off."
"You can't handle them all on your own!" Gwen protested, her voice slightly cracking.
Leon shot a single shell from his shotgun, knocking a few men into the lava, before looking over his shoulder at the woman. "Ashley's not the only one they're after. I need you to keep an eye on her in case any of these bastards slip by me, understood?"
Gwen wanted to argue further, but she knew now was not the time for an argument. "Understood." She raced into the control room with Ashley by her side. The two girls searched for a way to use the wrecking ball and by pure luck, they had found the handle used to operate the swinging ball. The females had to wait for a short period of time before the lever was usable again and pulled it until the wall was only a pile of debris.
Outside the control room, Leon finished off another few ganados before running up the short stairwell to join the girls. "Nice work, ladies. Ready to make a run for it?"
"I'm pretty sure we've been doing that most of the time," Gwen retorts with a faint grin.
"I might be exhausted, but I've got plenty of energy left to run from these creeps," Ashley said.
"Alright, let's go!" Leon remained behind the two girls, protecting their backs from the corrupted soldiers. They pushed through the heavy metal doors and slammed them shut behind them, locking it behind them to prevent the men from breaking through and continuing their pursuit.
"Leon, rifle!" Gwen yelled just as the shutter fifteen feet in front of them opened. The blonde tossed the weapon over and the sable-haired woman sniped the parasites in the regenerator's body as it sluggishly approached them. Luckily, its body wasn't littered with spikes and made the end result an unnecessary concern. The blood from its body splattered across the walls as its torso exploded. Gwen smirked, resting the firearm on her shoulder. "It's like popping a pimple."
"Ew!" Ashley wailed at the analogy. Gwen snickered at the reaction she received.
Further down the hallway, another regenerator rounded the corner. Raising the rifle, Gwen killed the monster blocking their path. "Another one down."
"Nice shootin', Tex," Leon complimented as he took the weapon from her.
"Thank ya, partner," Gwen laughed.
Another red lever caught Ashley's eye and she pulled it. When the shutter didn't raise, she sighed. "Great... It's stuck."
"We did pass by another room. Better go check it out," the woman stated.
"I'll see what I can find. You two stay here." Leon swiveled on his heels and disappeared down a small hallway.
Ashley eyed the short yet older woman beside her. She saw the bandage wrapped around her shoulder and wondered how she was fairing. "How's your shoulder?"
Gwen unconsciously placed a hand over her bandaged shoulder, testing the wound by stretching it slightly. "Not completely healed, but it does feel much better."
"What happened?"
"Shot in the shoulder with a bolt. Some kind of chemical agent was coated on the tip and knocked me out. It's how Leon and I got separated. I was trying to break the lock on the cage he was trapped in and wasn't paying attention."
"I guess love really does make you blind," Ashley said.
Gwen sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "You've no idea how right you are..."