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The silence felt so unnatural as the sound of gunshots died away, leaving a familiar ringing in Leon’s ears. He could taste blood in his mouth, there were voices, he strained to hear them. Why couldn’t he move? Leon… He coughed, pain shooting through his ribs. He could feel the shattered bricks beneath his back, digging into bruises and sores, the pain radiating through what must be broken ribs. “Leon .” Voices… the ringing in his ears was overwhelming, his vision blurred. “Leon! Get up! We have to go.” A hand tight on his arm, someone helping him to his feet. The change in position made his ribs shift and he groaned through the agony, leaning against whoever was helping him.
The gunshots resumed behind them, followed by panic and the sound of tearing flesh. What the hell is happening? It was too dark and his vision too blurred for him to see where he was. But this person, presumably leading him somewhere safe, was clearly his savior.
“Can you stand?” He struggled to blink away the fog that was making him useless. “Leon! Can you stand?” He recognized the voice now, with the ringing dying away, and he let himself smile, despite whatever hell they were living through.
“Yes… ma’am,” he groaned, “Barely.”
She slipped from under his arm, heels tapping on metal. He staggered a little but remained on his feet. “Wait a moment, I have to open this door. We’ll be safe once we get through… for just a bit…” He could hear the sound of screaming metal, and she groaned as she pushed it back… His vision was clearing. Behind them quiet fell, besides the chilling sound of claws scraping and tapping on the metal floor—a terrible sign. “Quickly.” She held the door open with all her strength, he could see her now, straining against its enormous weight. “Leon, hurry!” He stumbled past her, tripping as he entered the crisp white room, and falling to his knees. The reverberation of the impact made him shout out in pain, as agony burned through his ribs and lungs. Behind him Ada stumbled in, the enormous metal door slamming shut with a deafening BANG! And then they were plunged into silence, besides both of them struggling to catch their breath.
“Ada,” Leon rasped, struggling to sit up.
“You owe me again,” she teased, crossing the room towards a counter that was pressed up against a wall. “This facility has plenty of secrets I could be uncovering. But…” she hesitated, and then turned back to him, “Well, I couldn’t leave you behind. If you had died, my weekend plans would have been ruined,” she pouted.
Leon scoffed, leaning back against several crates. “Couldn’t have that now, huh?”
For one split second, he thought he saw her expression soften a little. “No,” she murmured, “We couldn’t.” And then she turned, yanking open several drawers in the white counter and pulling out a few items before crossing the room, and crouching beside him. Painkillers, antiseptic, antibiotic ointment, gauze.
“You know I’ve had worse,” he said, but she was already beginning to clean the cuts across his face. She made quick work of it, and he found himself admiring her while her attention was on him. She was infuriating—always. She never listened. Always only told half-truths when it came to what she was doing and why. She was an enigma. But every time he was with her he fell a little harder, especially in moments like these. His heart skipped a beat as she brushed her thumb across his lower lip.
“You have a split lip,” she said as if the thought was practically a sin. For a moment, their eyes met, her thumb still warm against his lips. But she seemed to remember herself and pulled away suddenly, reaching to grasp the gauze and antiseptic. “All done. Take some painkillers.” She turned to stand and put away the gauze and antiseptic, but Leon grasped her arm.
“Ada, wait.”
She paused, turning to meet his eyes once more, and Leon leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Thank you.”
Ada’s cheeks flushed red, and she turned quickly to hide her flustered expression. “You owe me,” she said shortly.
Leon smiled a little, “I’ll make it up to you. Next time we meet .”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Ada whispered, “Until then.”