Cynthia didn't react to the CPR at all and Leon was about to lose hope before he remembered something. 'The link! I can save her! If I can kickstart her breathing and heart she won't die!' He knocked Holly out of the way and knelt next to Cynthia, focusing on the sound of his heart beating in his ears, placing his hands on either side of Cynthia's face and breathed soft puffs of air on her face at the pace he was breathing while tapping his pulse rate on her right temple, focusing on the link which had temporarily stabilized to be weak and briefly flickering.
"I'm not letting you leave me!" He whispered to her, amber eyes roaming over her blood-streaked face, "You can't!" The determination washed over all his senses and he leaned closer, thinking he was imagining the small furrowing of her eyebrows and the faint flaring of her nose. He sent waves of affection and hope across the link at the movements in hope that he wasn't imagining anything and she were moving. Leaning closer he noticed her lips part and she breathed a rattled breath over his face, her breath washing over his face, "You can do it, Cindy, keep going. You're almost there." He could feel the link strengthening the more she struggled to regain consciousness and breathe completely on her own, right now Leon was helping her, breathing at a steady rate to help get her to react and breathe at the same rate. "Keep going Cindy, I want to see your beautiful blue eyes." He was hiding her face from the others, leaning close enough to make sure he could feel her breath on his face. Cynthia made a faint noise before her blue eyes half opened, glassy and glazed over with pain but alive and glittering with the usual kind spark her eyes always held. "Hi," He smiled at her, not budging when Holly tried to shove him out of the way.
"Hi." Cynthia gasped weakly, looking half dead and full of pain.
"Hold on," He moved and gently pressed his hand to her leg, with the link working correctly and her not blocking the pain she was feeling he couldn't heal a wound that severe but he could stop her from bleeding to death again. The pain she was feeling didn't go away at all but Leon didn't want her to die in his arms again, "You aren't leaving me," He whispered before Holly shoved him out of the way, "I love you so much, thank you Cyn."
Cynthia's blue eyes sparkled as she understood but didn't speak, probably too tired to do so as she breathed in and out at a steady pace, each inhale rattling, her blue eyes slipped mostly closed as her exhaustion pulled at her body.
Leon leaned back against the headboard sitting in the hospital bed where Cynthia was safely sleeping, they were in the clinic in the base, safe and sound. After a long surgery where they removed the broken shards, splinters, and severed muscles of her mangled leg and put a temporary rod from her hip all the way to her ankle with a ball joint so she could have her knee bent she was resting with no chance of slipping into a coma or anything like that. He was up on the bed with her because he didn't like the visitor's chairs despite being padded leather, and preferred to be up with her to make sure nothing was going to go wrong or to give her an alternate pillow.
Right now she was lying on her back with Leon's arm over her face, one of her arms above her head and keeping his arm there to block all traces of light that had a chance of waking her up; her damp black hair spread out on the white pillow, the rough uneven cut the interrogator had made was visible by the difference in the shorter and longer strands. Her other arm was lying on her stomach with her palm on Leon's side, knowing he was there by the link's GPS system.
The door creaked open and Jay slipped into the room, blind blue eyes gazing vacantly at his brother, "I'm not even going to tell you to get down from there." The last time he told Leon that the teen had obeyed but it had woken up Cynthia who had rolled off and hit the ground with a pained thump. He checked everything over to make sure everything was functioning and asked Leon, "Has she woken up yet?"
"Nope, not yet." Leon could feel his link with Cynthia tingling as she regained consciousness but feigned still being asleep, apparently content in her position and not in the mood to talk to Jay.
"She should be waking up soon." Jay then left.
"Is he gone?" Cynthia asked once she heard the door shut.
"Yup," Leon removed his arm, causing her to hiss and blink a few times to a adjust her vision so she could see correctly. He hugged her, burying his nose in her hair, "You scared the crap out of me." He murmured and felt her arms circle his back.
"I know, and I scared myself too."
"I'm glad you're alive Cindy."
"I'm not leaving you in this screwed up world." She replied quietly, her cheek pressed against his chest, blue eyes looking out at the window where the sun was just beginning to set.
"I love you Cyn."
"I love you too Leo."
Cynthia opened her eyes, feeling groggy and strange, she could feel her right leg tingling, 'How can I feel it?' She wondered because after she nearly died a few months ago she hadn't been able to feel in that leg because she had had most of the inside of her leg removed because it had been too damaged to heal and repair itself. Leon's face came into view and he looked at her with worried eyes,
"Are you alright?You're not hurt, are you? The surgery didn't hurt you did it?"
"What surgery?" She asked groggily, racking her brain for any sort of surgery that she could remember.
"They didn't ask you?!" Leon asked alarmed, "They told me they asked you!"
"I don't remember any surgeries besides the one where my leg was cleaned out."
Leon was silent and fear sparked in Cynthia's mind before he soothed her, "It's ok, it's just they told me they asked you and filling your leg with artificial stuff isn't something they should have done without your permission."
"Filling my leg with artificial stuff?!" She asked in a higher pitched voice, blue eyes widening drastically.
"It's ok Cindy," He took her hand and helped her feel the back of her right thigh where a thick scar would be. "You can feel, move, and use your leg now, it's not a bad thing," He soothed, kissing the tip of her nose, "You'll be able to go back into the field and you're not crippled." He smiled excitedly, "You'll be able to go with me on missions and skirmishes again." Cynthia pushed away her fear and grinned, just as excited as he was, she was still able to go with him places and their relationship wouldn't be strained because of her problem.
(About a few years later)
Leon opened his eyes, hearing the sound of an alarm going off. He watched as Cynthia's arm emerged from under the blankets and slapped her phone, probably breaking the device in the process.
"I hate alarms." She muttered, popping her head out from under the blue themed blankets and rolled over to be facing him, blue eyes droopy and slightly annoyed.
"Mmm Hmm," Leon replied watching her with a smile, she was extremely grumpy when woken up by an alarm and he found it relatively adorable, He grinned at her and moved closer, squeezing her sides and getting a surprised squeal from her. "Tickles!" He grinned and Cynthia sprang up and bolted trying to escape him. Jumping off the bed he tackled her to the floor and started mercilessly tickling her, causing her to laugh, squirm and giggle trying to escape his grip. The door open and Holly face palmed, Cynthia was on her back on the ground with her hands pinned above her head, lighter blue tank top and gray sweat pants ruffled slightly, the tank top riding up to her stomach as Leon pinned her arms above her head and tickled her, he was straddling the girl keeping her from kicking him to escape, decidedly shirtless with black and red basketball shorts. Both adopted guilty expressions as Holly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You guys are super weird." She sighed closing her green eyes for a moment before reopening them, "I think I might have to separate you two."
"Why?" Leon asked in alarm, getting off Cynthia and helping her to her feet.
"Because I'm tired of hearing people complain about how much noise you guys make."
"Holly," Cynthia whined, "It's not our fault their complaining."
"No, but it is your fault for being that loud." Holly narrowed her green eyes at Cynthia, "You especially."
Cynthia's cheeks pinkened but she rolled her eyes, "I'm a naturally loud person, I like the noise, it's comforting."
"She's not the only one who makes noise Holly," Leon says truthfully, "Just because you're a silent ninja doesn't mean all of us are."
"No, but some people would like silence so they could sleep and not have to listen to you two horsing around until midnight."
"Hey!" Cynthia exclaimed, "I don't like what you're insinuating here, we only play around, not do what you're thinking!" Holly raised an eyebrow and Cynthia amended her statement, "Most of the time." She amended, her cheeks bright pink while Leon's ears were turning a light red.
"Get up and get ready," Holly sighed, "There's a meeting before breakfast." Both warriors pouted and she rolled her eyes, "I'll bring something." Cynthia and Leon both smiled. "Don't be late and no horsing around during it." Cynthia smiled innocently while Leon grinned with mischief in his eyes. "I mean it Leon, no horsing around during the meeting. I know and agree they can be boring but the meetings are necessary."
"Am I required to go?" He asked.
"I'm not sure-"
"Then I'm staying here," He grinned, pulling Cynthia to him who had been about to go get ready for the meeting, "And Cindy's staying with me." He pinned her to his body, his arms locked around her waist.
Holly looked at Cynthia who shrugged, "He's not letting me go." She told her friend simply, knowing he really wasn't going to let her go.
"Leon, you need to go, what're you going to do while you skip it?"
"Horse around during the day rather than at night so those nosy people can sleep." Leon grinned at his sister.
Both Holly and Cynthia were shocked exchanging looks that said, 'What?' Both girls were surprised when Leon's grin widened further and he spoke again, mischief and cheek coloring his tone.
"Now, if you'll excuse us, Holly," He shut the door and pinned Cynthia to a wall, whose blue eyes were wide with shock, and surprise but lit with amusement and love. He grinned and leaned forward to close the gap between them.
Holly stared at the door for a few seconds before she sighed and rolled her eyes good-naturedly, starting to walk to the meeting room, radiating amusement.