Work Text:
Your POV
You stared at the reflection in the mirror. Other girls were getting ready in the background. All chatting about something that'd gone down in one of the private suites the other night. A drop gone awry. Several casualties. There hadn’t been a night like that in quite some time. It was one of the many rules of the club. Crime is welcome, violence is not. Whatever that’s supposed to mean.
You finished your makeup, donning some fake lashes, before getting up. Luckily, you didn’t have much time on the floor. You were too hot a commodity for it. Only VIP guests had access to private sessions with you.
“Vixen!” A girl rushed over to you with a wide smile on her face. Crystal. She was a newbie. Did stage most of the time for that reason. Inexperienced and frankly, too innocent for this line of business.
“Oh uh… hey, Crystal. Need something?” You tilted your head to the side slightly.
She then pulled out a small cookie, wrapped in a cutesy plastic bag with a bow tied at the top.
“I made it for everyone here tonight,” she beamed and handed it over. You took it and admired it for a little while. This girl was too kind to be in a place like this…
“Thanks… I’ll make sure to eat it on my break.” You gave her a curt smile, then put the dessert in your bag and locked it up in your locker.
Walking out of the dressing room and out onto the floor, your high pony swayed from side to side. The rhinestones dangling from your lingerie clicked together, though deafened by the loud music blasting throughout the place.
It was the same crowd of regulars tonight. Gangsters and mobsters who were making deals and planning their next big thing. You’d gotten good at spotting the big spenders. Usually, the ones sucking on a Cuban and being able to blow rings. They were surprisingly also the ones who were the most polite and respectful. Men like them held a high regard for the girls at the club, and almost always spent more than just a pretty penny.
Just as you were about to chat up a regular group of guys, your manager rushed over with a hasty and jittery bout of his movements.
“Vixen! Good thing you’re out. A VIP guest just came in. Young fella. He’s loaded. You’ll work some sweet magic on him, right? Make him feel reeeaal welcome, eh?” He urged desperately,
“He’s in room six, waiting for you. I told him he’d get our best, so you better prove it. He has you for the entire night,” he finished.
Your eyes blew wide open. The entire night? Only bosses had that kind of petty cash. Whoever this guy was, he was important and probably dangerous.
“Seriously? How much’d he pay?”
“He paid thirty grand, so I want you to disregard any of our rules completely tonight. He can touch you as much as he wants if you permit it. I’ll turn the cameras off in that room for tonight. Do, however, turn on your earpiece if you’re in trouble.” He clapped your back and pushed you towards the VIP rooms.
You found the sixth room and opened the door, expecting thick smoke and some nepotism son of a mob boss.
What?
Your mouth went slightly agape. That was barely a man. He didn’t look a day over eighteen. He was definitely younger than you.
He didn’t say a word. You carefully examined him, trying to read his character. Innocent? College fresher? Something was off about him, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. He seemed nervous.
“I’m twenty-one. You can relax,” he finally spoke after your prolonged staring,
“I honestly didn’t expect this when I came here,” he huffed whilst avoiding your gaze, before taking a generous sip of his Diet Coke.
“You dropped thirty grand. I had different expectations…” You sauntered over to him and sat on his spread lap. He almost flinched at that.
“Yeah, well, it’s company-issued,” he answered with a shaky voice and grabbed you by the waist. It was far from confident and, quite frankly, awkward. Not usually something the club allowed, but it didn’t matter. He was a generous spender and quite attractive.
Your hands slowly found his hair with a sultry grin. You were used to seducing all types of men. Surely, he’d fall into your trap.
“Company-issued? Dangerous game you’re playing there,” you commented.
He shrugged and reached up to pull a stray piece of hair behind your ear that’d escaped from your ponytail. But as he did so, you felt him pull your earpiece out.
Your blood ran cold. Fuck. Maybe he really was a dangerous guy, or at least the son of one.
“How old are you?” He asked, clearly not confident. Whatever he was trying to do, he was not well-versed in it.
“Mmm, I’m twenty-six. A bit older than twenty-one, huh?” You scoffed and shifted slightly in his lap. It only served to freeze him up even more.
“Suppose so…” He averted his gaze before guiding you off his lap to sit next to him instead,
“Look… I uh… I heard about this place from uh… a-a friend. Said some good deals are going on here. I just wanted to know a little more about them. Could you provide me with some information?”
Was it his first buy or what? He seemed like a fish out of water. There was no way he was experienced at all, and you knew most deals and buys involved the heavier stuff like crystals.
“Do you know how out of your depth you sound? What are you even talking about?” You raised a brow.
He swallowed thickly, and it seemed like he was trying to think for a moment. Like he knew he’d slipped up or something.
“Look, I know I don’t look like it, but I’m really into that stuff. Uh… coke and um hallucinogens…?” He tried to cover, but you were starting to see through him now. This guy had probably never even touched a single line in his life.
“What’s your name?” You asked out of nowhere, with a tug at the corner of your lip. He was cute.
“Leon… my name’s Leon,” he answered carefully, trying to gauge your next move. You could tell by the look in his eyes. He was inspecting you just as much as you were him.
“I’m Vixen… but I bet my manager already told you that,” you chuckled and reached to play with his hair,
“You’re not really here for coke and girls, are you?”
That did it. He was quiet for a moment before letting out a hopeless sigh,
“RPD… It’s my first case, actually….”
You certainly didn’t expect that. You’d thought he might’ve stolen some money from his rich parents and tried to go rogue with it. Things like that happened more often than not in Raccoon City.
“So you’re here on police business? Doing what? Trying to intercept a deal?” You scoffed. He was way in over his head. Especially as a rookie cop. You knew what the regulars here did to people like him. They’d swallow him whole for breakfast.
“I’m just investigating this place in general. The detectives are supposed to deal with my findings, that's all.” His hands were shaking already. As if he knew just how fucked he’d be if any of the men out there knew about this. You shook your head and huffed out,
“Let me guess, I’ve already incriminated myself?” It was more a confirmation than a question. You knew everything you’d spilt could land you a good few years in the slammer. Fucking hell.
He only nodded in response and pulled out a recording device he’d kept hidden in his underwear of all things.
“Would you be willing to give me immunity if I tattle?” There was no question about it. Of course, he would. That was a classic police tactic many fell for, and you were no exception. The thought of prison was enough to make you betray it all.
“I’ll make sure you’re granted complete immunity. I’ll see about a safehouse for you as well…” You considered his words. Chewed on them. You knew a lot of mobs would be after whoever snitched and ratted out their hotspot. Not to mention you’d likely be blacklisted somehow from all other clubs if you weren’t already dead and buried.
“I’ll tell you what I know… if you also keep my identity secret. I don’t want anyone to know I’m the snitch.” Here you were, a grown woman, succumbing to the pressure of some rookie cop. All because you’d seen one too many episodes of Orange is the New Black. Fuck!
“Good to know you’re considering the right side of the law here.” You watched as he pulled out a notepad. Likely to jot down whatever you were saying. For some reason, he turned off his recording device and pocketed it.
“Lay it on me.” His eyes met yours. He was no longer insecure or scared. Maybe because he knew he had the upper hand? You couldn’t tell. He was the first one in a while that you couldn’t read all that well.
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Leon’s POV
He’d just shown up at his desk after filing stacks of paperwork in the filing room. Rookies always bore the burden of grunt work.
“Hey, rookie!” The chief’s secretary approached him with a sly look on her face,
“Irons wants you in his office.” Fuck. Had he slipped up in his reports again? Had he messed up timelines?
He swallowed thickly before taking nervous steps towards the chief’s office. He knocked twice before walking in.
“You wanted to see me, sir…” he tilted his head, his voice reaching a slightly higher octave.
“Leon! Good, you’re here. There’s a situation at this local bar. Shady business. People are saying they’ve seen some high-profile mobs there. Mind taking a look?” What. He was used to being sent out to check on house calls and random Karens who wanted to complain about their neighbour being too loud in their backyard. Nothing like this. He was a rookie. Was he even qualified for something like this?
“Sir… with all due respect… Am I really the right person for that job? I mean—“ He started, but wasn’t allowed to finish. The bellowing laughter of the chief filled the stuffy office,
“You’re not going in as some detective undercover,” he laughed,
“Just a slight disguise whilst you take some statements,” he shrugged,
“There’ll be a task force to aid the rest of the investigation, of course. You’re not that special, Kennedy.” Right. He figured as much. He barely knew his way around the museum-turned-precinct. Taking down the hub for all organised crime was definitely not in his job description.
“So, what do you need me to do? Just waltz in there like I own the place?” He spoke with slight sarcasm. The chief grinned widely and nodded,
“Actually, yeah. You’ll get thirty grand to spend at the bar. You know, so as not to raise any suspicion.”
Leon’s eyes blew wide open at that. Thirty grand? He’d never been to a bar where he’d somehow rack up anything past two hundred at most. Tip included. Then again… it was a mobster hotspot. Perhaps the bar was bougie and priced its stock as such.
After he got the rest of the information in a file and read it through carefully, he clocked out and drove his truck back home. It was a modest one-bedroom apartment, but a steal for a policeman’s salary. He hung his jacket on the coat hanger in the entrance after taking off his shoes. It’d been a long day of mindless filing, so he decided to treat himself to takeout instead of fixing something up.
After the food—Chinese—arrived, he set it on his kitchen island in the quaint corner of his kitchen. As he ate in silence, a call suddenly came through— His damned boss.
“Chief Irons,” he answered the phone, barely managing to swallow his food before then.
“Leon, I’d like you to go investigate that bar tonight at midnight.” You’ve got to be kidding me… Leon groaned to himself. He hadn’t even been on stakeouts that late before. Why were they putting this on a rookie?
“You’ll get double the overtime,” he continued, after sensing the silence was from obvious disbelief. Double the pay for the amount of overtime wasn’t too shabby a deal. Especially considering many of his coworkers worked unpaid overtime.
“Fine… send me the address. I didn’t get a picture when I had the file earlier,” he huffed into the phone before hanging up. Only a few minutes later, the chief had sent a pin. Heaven’s Night.
He finished his food, took out the trash, and did the dishes before setting an alarm and hitting the hay.
˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
A few hours later, the alarm sounded with a gentle tune. He wasn’t one for the louder sounds. Slept like a feather anyway. Rubbing his eyes, he groaned and rose from his spot on the couch.
It was 11:40 PM. He had ten minutes to get ready and ten minutes to get down to the bar. He did a quick outfit change and slicked back his hair. Something he’d seen in movies. There was something rich and sketchy about a slicked-back look. He needed to look the part if he didn’t want to get caught tonight.
However, when he went outside, there was a mustang parked in front of his truck. A piece of paper was taped to the passenger window, “Use for bar. 30K in glovebox.” Right… of course, he couldn’t show up in his rusty old truck.
The drive to the bar was fairly smooth. There weren’t many people on the road at this time of night. Raccoon City was a small city after all. Thank fuck for that. The radio was playing some god-awful “classics”; he had to turn it off and drive in silence instead.
Soon enough, the bar was in sight. He parked on the other side of the road before walking over. Something seemed off about the place. The exterior was all black. No illustrations in sight. Just a big sign with the name of the bar on it. Heaven’s Night. Odd name for a bar…
But, walking in, he realised it wasn’t just any bar. It was a strip club. Could’ve led with that… he sighed to himself before pulling out a fake ID and having it checked. He passed. They clearly didn’t care much for security, but that was another story entirely. Didn’t need that in his report.
“Hey, uh… where can I find the manager?” Leon went up to the bar, where the keeper was cleaning some glasses.
“He’s in the dressing rooms. He should be back out in a minute. Need anything meanwhile?” She asked, to which he shook his head,
“I’m good.”
A few moments later, the manager walked out with some girls following behind. They went out onto the floor where all the thirsty men were seated. Many of them were in suits, smoking cigars and drinking scotch or bourbon. He saw files being passed around, too. Definitely something sketchy.
Leon saw it as his chance, though, and swiftly made his way to where the manager was standing. Shit shit shit… he was panicking internally. He’d never done anything like this before. How was he supposed to know what to do?
“... ‘You the manager?” He spoke as gruffly as possible, trying to seem intimidating. The manager was of shorter stature. 5’6 maybe? More rotund as well.
“Sure, I am. What do you need?” He smirked with a disgustingly knowing look on his face. Eugh…
“I have thirty thousand on me. I want the best of the best.” Leon had virtually no idea what he was saying, but hopefully it wasn’t gibberish.
“You talk big game, but where’s the proof, eh?” He chuckled gutturally and patted his belly.
Leon reached into the bag he'd brought with him and zipped it open, revealing the fat stacks,
“I’m good for it.”
As soon as he saw the money, the manager laughed heartily and slung his arm around Leon’s back, leading him to a room to the far side of the club. He called in some girls to ready a bucket with champagne on rocks, along with some caviar and a plate of oysters.
“Cuban?” he pulled out a fat cigar with a sleek label on it, but Leon shook his head. He wasn’t going to start smoking just for cover.
“Sorry, I don’t smoke. Thanks, though…” he nodded. The manager just shrugged as if it were Leon’s loss,
“Well, I can assure you, you will still have our best girl here to enjoy all night. She’s a real looker. I’ll turn off the cameras in here,” he chuckled,
“You can go wild.” What a sad man, Leon thought to himself, as he saw the devious smile on the manager’s face. He hadn’t quite noticed it before, but his hair was slightly thinning and sort of greasy too. There was something deeply disturbing about both him and whatever this club was.
After the door shut behind him, dread began settling in Leon’s chest. What if his cover was weak? He knew the moment something was off, any of the men out on that floor would take great pleasure in ending his life.
He took a few deep breaths before freezing as the door opened again.
Wow… you were beautiful. Fucking gorgeous. The way the lingerie cropped your ass nicely and cupped your breasts with perfection— you could be an art installation.
This was certainly not what he’d signed up for…
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Your POV
You thought things over for a moment. Was it really worth it to spill your guts? It practically meant risking your life, and you knew death wouldn’t be the only thing to fear. Those guys would have you begging for it.
“You’re sure they won’t know it’s me?” You chewed on your lip, suddenly feeling a bit intimidated.
Leon had a look in his eyes. As if he could see the fear in yours. As if he knew exactly what you were feeling.
There was a slight pause. As if he were stuck between telling you the truth and giving you a sugar-coated half-truth.
“Look… I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise anything…” he muttered and averted his gaze down to his blank notepad.
You let out a sigh, contemplating it some more, before closing your eyes and clearing your throat,
“I’ll do it…” You spoke softly. He nodded in response, and you started spilling everything you knew.
You gave him names, places, connections, even dirty cops. Coworkers of his. People he thought he knew. You gave him more ammunition than a gun range. It didn’t seem to end.
His wrist was getting sore from the note-taking. You could tell by the way he twisted and turned it now and then.
However, just as you were about to move on to a new piece of information, you heard something outside. Larger than normal commotion. People screaming. Things were being thrown. Your heart stopped for a moment, and your eyes froze on the door. It was long before gunshots rang out in the club.
You looked back at Leon with a look of pure horror in your eyes,
“W-w-what the fuck?!” You stammered, reasonably shaken up. Sure, things had gotten violent before with some fighting here and there— but never with guns being involved.
“Wait here. I’ll go check it out…” Leon focused on the door and pulled out a handgun he’d hidden in his pants. You just went to hide as best as you could.
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Leon’s POV
As the gunshots rang out, he was immediately on high alert. His eyes zeroed in on the door. He heard the screaming. It was loud over the already loud music.
When he turned to look at you, your face was as pale as a ghost. Clearly, this wasn’t just any regular occurrence.
He got up as you went to hide behind a couch in the corner.
Slowly stepping out, the music was still playing. He went down the long corridor of VIP rooms before finally arriving on the floor and stage.
What. The. Fuck.
People were strewn about. Flesh was torn into, and it was like a crimson pool. Dancers were on the stage, face down, blood soaking the money that’d been thrown at them mere moments before.
He felt sick to his stomach. Then suddenly, a man appeared with a gun trained right at Leon. More specifically, his temple.
“Don’t fucking move!” He sounded horrified, panicked.
Leon put his arms up in the air and stood completely still,
“What the hell happened here?”
The man looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. He hyperventilated, trying to get words to come out of his mouth.
“Fuck! I don’t know! Some… some thing came in here and-a-a-and started eating people! Fucking eating them!” He jittered with a shaky voice, hair sticking to his sweaty forehead from all the adrenaline.
A sense of doom settled deep in Leon’s body. Some… thing..? Was eating people? He was just a rookie. He hadn’t even been working at the station for a full month, and now he was dealing with what sounded like fucking bioterrorism?!
“Look, I’m not gonna hurt you. I was in a VIP room. It was locked. I have a girl back there, and she needs to get to safety. Can you please lower your gun?” Leon slowly lowered his arms.
“O-okay…” he lowered his gun and came closer, trusting Leon— not before something flashed behind him. In a sudden moment, a girl appeared behind him. A dancer. Her eyes were way off. Blood poured from her mouth, and even more so as she dug into the flesh of the man right in front of Leon.
Shit.
He took off running towards the room where you were still hiding. He burst in and found you safe and sound,
“We have to go. We can’t stay here!” He helped you up and dragged you out with him.
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Your POV
You sat in silence and tried to cover your breathing with your hand to minimise noise. Your heart pounded wildly against your chest, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Where was Leon? Why hadn’t he come back yet? He’d said he’d just check it out. So why wasn’t he back yet?
After a while, you heard the door open. Your entire body froze up. Tears prickled your eyes, and you closed them, bracing for the worst. Only to feel a hand grab your wrist. You looked up and saw him standing there. Something was wrong. Deeply wrong. Leon’s face was stuck in some kind of horror.
As he dragged you out of the room and towards the emergency exit, you pulled your wrist back.
“Wait! My stuff is in the changing room—“
“It can wait!” Leon grabbed your wrist again. Not before there was the sound of groaning. Both of you turned around to see the same girl he’d seen earlier. Lingerie covered with blood. Her skin was stained red.
Oh my goodness.
“C-Crystal?” You looked at her with pure terror. She staggered towards you, and you almost reached out to her, but Leon was able to stop you.
“We have to go!” He pulled you with him, and the two of you ran out the emergency exit. The streets were smashed by now, too. Gunshots were being fired in the distance, and fire had broken out, too. What the fuck was happening?!
The two of you quickly made it to his car, and you hopped in. It didn’t take him much time to start the thing up and drive off at unprecedented speed. He drove with absolutely no regard for safety.
“F-fuck! What the fuck is going on?!” You screamed as he swung around a few sharp corners.
“I don’t know, okay? I’m just as scared as you are,” he breathed out heavily and focused on the road ahead.
“Where are you driving us?!”
“The precinct. It should be safe there… I-I think…”
“You think?!” You yelled with panic.
“Forgive me, I’m just a rookie trying to do his best here!” He shot back.
Eventually, he pulled into the garage. It seemed fine…? The two of you got out of the car and hurried inside by the back entrance.
People were huddled together in the grand hall of the precinct. It seemed like it was being used as a safe place for now. Detectives were boarding up windows and locking doors as well.
You clung to Leon’s arm like a lifeline. You had absolutely no intention of letting go, and he didn’t seem to mind much.
“Stay with the other civilians… it’s safest,” he led you over to them, but you shook your head and clung tighter.
“U-uhm… well then… I guess we can stay together…” he muttered and awkwardly slid his arm around your waist. Mainly for the sake of your comfort, but a little for his too.
“I take it you knew the girl back at the club…?” He asked carefully, not wanting to intrude too much.
Your face dropped slightly as you remembered what she looked like back there. How she’d gone from her cutest self earlier that night, to whatever the fuck that was,
“Yeah… Crystal…” you barely managed to utter and continued,
“New girl. Too sweet and innocent to have been working there in the first place…”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t save her…” Leon swallowed thickly, feeling a sense of guilt creep up his back. He was supposed to be a cop. So why’d he run? Why couldn’t he have saved more than just one person?
“We could’ve. You just didn’t want to. You grabbed me and ran,” you teared up.
You knew you were being irrational. You knew she’d been too far gone. Her eyes said it all back there. Even so, you felt horrible for leaving her behind. She was so young. So innocent. She didn’t deserve any of that.
“I did what I thought was best in the moment…” He sighed and averted his gaze,
“Look… I’ll see if I can go get you some coffee or something else to drink.”
You felt him try to pull his arm away, but you held on, desperate not to be alone.
“We can go together,” you said, taking a few steps.
“U-uh okay…” he grew slightly flustered and continued walking towards one of the water fountains that were in the facility.
As you went up the stairs and into one of the corridors, you shivered. After all, you were still only clad in the lingerie you wore back at the club.
You could tell he noticed it, because he immediately turned around,
“We’ll find you something to cover up.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a child, I’m literally older than you…” You huffed, half joking.
“I’m just trying to keep you safe. You are a civilian.” He shrugged.
After getting some water, you tried to open some of the other doors along the corridor, but they’d been locked by the detectives. Surely it was just for the extra safety?
“Go back to the others. I’ll get one of these open to go find something,” Leon spoke, clearly a bit nervous.
“Will you be okay?” You cocked your head to the side. He was only twenty-one. Anyone would be shitting their pants in this situation.
“I’ll be fine… just go back to the others.”
You pulled away from him and nodded, hurrying down the main stairs and into the grand hall where everyone was huddled up together.
As you stood there and waited, there was a sudden banging on the shutter near the entrance. Everyone’s attention turned to it. Detectives drew their guns, and you tried your best to blend into the masses for your own safety.
But then again. How could you even trust that—whatever this was— these people hadn’t somehow contracted it? You thought back to all the zombie movies you watched in your high school days and started searching for possible symptoms.
You didn’t get that much of a chance to actually do so, as someone in the group suddenly went rogue. You and everyone else screamed and scattered.
“Shit shit shit!” You huffed as you made a run for it. You felt your ankles hurt and threw your heels off.
Detectives were trying to calm people down whilst also getting control of the infected, who were now spreading from the initial attack.
But it wasn’t enough. They were running out of ammunition way too quickly. The infection was spreading, and soon enough, it was everyone for themselves.
You were luckily able to make it outside via the garage back door you came in from, and quickly ran a few blocks to the local gun shop. It’d already been looted, but you were able to find a handgun and a rifle just in case. You grabbed a bag that’d been gathering dust on one of the shelves and stocked it full with magazines and other necessities. What the fuck were you even doing?
You were a fucking stripper. Not some survivalist.
That didn’t matter, though. You knew you had to pull through and handle matters yourself. You knew how to shoot a gun. You had to. All dancers were always at risk back at the club. Even if most of the mobsters were relatively respectful.
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Leon’s POV
He managed to unlock the door with a small spare key he’d found in the custodian’s office. Everything was pure darkness. He had to turn on a flashlight to move further in. It was eerie for sure, but he rationalised the situation. All he had to do was find the lockers and get a jacket and a pair of shoes.
Easier said than done.
A sudden groan made his heart drop. He slowly turned around and saw the gruesome-looking appearance of the Chief’s secretary. He knew her. Mainly because his cubicle was so close to Iron’s office.
“Shit…” he huffed and trained his gun at her forehead,
“I… I’m sorry,” he squeezed his eyes shut and shot her. He swallowed thickly and stood over her for a few moments, picking up her name tag and pocketing it. Carole Sindermann,
“Rest easy.”
With that, he rose back up and moved on. Eventually, he reached the lockers and went through each one. When he finally found a jacket and a pair of boots that looked your size, he made a run for it. All the way back to the grand hall.
Only to be met with the stench of death. A sickly sweet smell of decaying flesh, and way too many infected people.
You were nowhere to be seen. He concluded you must’ve escaped somehow. Which was a good thing, only now he had to find you again.
He checked his handgun, realising he only had a few rounds left. Not enough for that horde. So he did what anybody would do, and ran back the way he’d just come from.
He looted every room he passed. Every locker. Stocked up on medicine and ammo.
Until he stumbled upon a desk in the waiting area. The woman he’d put down earlier. Carole. Her diary was open. Partly out of guilt, obligation to return it to her loved ones and morbid curiosity, he opened it.
“Fuck me…” he whispered to himself as he read through the diary. The more pages he flipped through, the worse it got.
It detailed all the records of bribes and shady dealings Chief Irons himself had done with Umbrella… who’d apparently been secretly working on biological weapons… aka whatever the fuck was going on.
“Irons…” Leon grumbled,
“That bastard…”
He shut the diary and put it in his bag, which he carried on his back. He had to find some way out of the station and come find you.
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Your POV
A lot of time had passed. You don’t know how many magazines you’ve reloaded, nor do you know how many infected you’ve killed. They came in droves. Fuck’s sake. You had plenty of ammo left, but there was no way you had enough for the entire city.
Besides… you needed to find Leon. It felt wrong to leave him behind. Especially after he’d helped you out so much.
You could only hope he somehow made it out of the station. People had shut the garage door behind you after escaping. He was effectively trapped there.
You’d managed to break into a mall, to get some clothes and shoes on. You roamed the mall for a while, checking for any threats.
Just as you were entering a small convenience store that had clearly already been raided, you heard sniffling somewhere. Out of fear and suspicion, you raised your gun. The closer you came, however, the more it sounded like… crying?
Finally, your eyes locked onto a little girl hugging a stuffed animal in the far back corner of the store. Tears were pouring down her face uncontrollably. She seemed thoroughly traumatised. Who wouldn’t be? Especially a little kid like her.
“… Hey there…” You approached slowly. She tried to back herself further into the corner. You could tell she was scared of you. Her little hands were squeezing the stuffed animal tighter.
“I’m not here to hurt you, I promise.” You lowered your gun and reached out to her,
“Come with me, it’s not safe here.” She looked up at you with terrified, unsure eyes before eventually crawling out of the corner and towards you.
“What’s your name, honey?” You crouched down to her level.
“Marie”, she mumbled and buried her face in her stuffed toy. You gently rubbed her arms, feeling how cold she was.
“Do you know where your parents are?”
Wrong thing to ask. She started bawling her eyes out. Shocked, you tried your best to soothe her, hugging her and shushing her softly.
“It’s okay…. Let’s get you out of here safe,” you grabbed her hand,
“Stay close to me, okay?” She clenched your hand in response and held the stuffy close with her free hand.
You navigated the ruined streets of Raccoon City, killing any infected in the way whilst simultaneously shielding Marie. It wasn’t as easy as it seemed, and you were running out of ammo fast.
You knew you had to find some way out of the city, but most roads were obstructed with cars in piles. People had fled from them, after all. The metro was likely shut down, too. There truly was no way out.
“I’m tired…” You heard a small voice squeak behind you. Marie wasn’t in good shape at all. Her face was red from running, and tears prickled her eyes from exhaustion and trauma.
“I know… so am I, Marie…” you sighed and crouched down,
“Here, get on my back.” As you offered the transport, she crawled up and got comfortable, wrapping her arms around your neck to steady herself. You hooked one arm under one of her legs and let her hold the other up by herself. That left you with one free arm.
“We’re getting out of here soon, okay, Marie?” You huffed and kept moving, not wanting to stay in one place too long.
˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
A new day had started breaking by now. You’d been walking for too long. Marie was fast asleep on your back when there was a sudden helicopter sound from above the two of you.
“Marie,” you rustled her a bit,
“I’m sorry, honey, but I’m going to have to put you down.” You gently helped her onto the ground before flailing your arms and shouting at the helicopter.
Thankfully, it noticed the two of you and lowered a throw-ladder. Good thing the military finally stepped in… right?
You made sure Marie got on board first, before climbing up behind her. When you got in, there was a man wearing shades and with his hair slicked back.
“Good thing you shouted,” he said. His voice was low but had some weird undertone to it,
“Didn’t matter either way, though. We still would’ve picked you up.” He shrugged and signalled for the pilot to continue moving.
You strapped Marie in, making sure the buckle was secured before strapping yourself in. You held her close, caressing her gently to soothe her distress.
“Where are we going?” You tried to get a look at the man, but his shades prevented it.
“Don’t worry about that. Rest assured, it’s not a place of destruction.”
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
Leon’s POV
“Damn it…” Leon had finally made it out of the station after looting it for weapons and magazines. He could only hope you’d gotten to safety somehow. It was too late to go around searching for you aimlessly. Especially considering you’d already run off.
He double-checked his pouch before confirming he had what he needed. He knew there was a helipad near the hospital, so he set out for it without hesitation.
It was not without difficulty, however, as the infected came from all sides. Shit. He made a run for it, shooting whatever was in his way with frantic and shaky hands. He wasn’t cut out for this. He was just a rookie cop!
Eventually, he was able to find a sewage system. Traversing through it was no easy task. There were more than just a couple of undead civilians meandering about. They most likely thought they’d be safe in the underground systems– only to be proven brutally wrong. Whatever this virus was, it was spreading at an unprecedented speed.
“What the fuck?” Leon huffed as he thought he had finally reached the surface. Of course, that wasn’t the case. He stood before some rundown gondola, as if this were some theme park. Might as well have brought some snacks. He somehow managed to crank the thing into gear and hopped into the ride before it passed. It rattled and squeaked the whole way down. Almost scarier than the hell he’d just fought his way through. The walls were all concrete. From all the files he’d read back at the station, he had an idea of what was down there. It sickened Leon to know that his old boss had ties to it. That he, by extension, had somehow been a part of it. Fuck…
Eventually, the gondola came to a screeching halt. The gears twisted out of place, and he knew he had to hurry and get on out of there before the whole thing would go kaputski. He barely managed to drop and roll out of the cramped space before it caved in on itself and burst into flames.
“Fucking hell…” He whinged and got up with a slight groan. He wasn’t built for this kind of stuff. A rookie cop, taking on an underground criminal enterprise? Yeah, fuck no.
He found a large door with a red and white umbrella logo before. He knew it rather well. The umbrella corporation. They handled a lot of matters in Raccoon City. Practically owned the place with all the money they put into it. Leon had always been suspicious of their involvement in the city. Well? Now he certainly had his answer.
Upon entering the facility, he was greeted with a rather clean and antiseptic space, like the waiting rooms of doctors and dentists. The reception even had a monstera to match. It seemed so out of place for something that was several feet underground.
Some doors required certain levels of access. What a pain… but luckily, he managed to find some key cards along the way. Not that it was a particularly easy task. Whatever experiments these sick fucks had going on down there weren't exactly beaming to see him. He couldn’t even count all the close calls on his fingers.
But as he finally made it to a grand module, with bridges connecting the different rooms scattered about, he heard a voice calling out— which he recognised. Yours.
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
Your POV
Your head was pounding worse than any alcohol you’d ever been forced to ingest at the club for big spenders. As you eyed your surroundings, you found yourself bound by your hands and feet. A feeling of helplessness surged throughout your body. What the hell? You tried to struggle, having learned a few tricks from the plethora of mobs you’d serviced over the years. After you managed to get one hand free, the rest was a walk in the park.
“Wait…” you shuddered to yourself. The little girl you’d rescued earlier. She was nowhere to be seen. You were inside some office. There were cabinets with glass smashed, and files scattered about the floor. Clearly, people had been in a rush to leave.
“Some random guy with a helicopter was too good to be true… fuck,” you huffed under your breath, and got up on your feet. Your gun was gone. Your bag too.
“Fuck!” You snapped and started frantically searching for whatever could be used as a weapon.
After aimlessly wandering about the different rooms in the facility, you managed to find a hatchet and some magazines. No gun, though. Perfect. Ammo, but nothing to use it with.
More importantly, however, was the fact that you had to find Marie. You hadn’t come across her yet, which meant she was being held somewhere with high security. What the hell did they want with her anyway?
It was by pure luck that you managed to find a level II access key card on a dead researcher. Additionally, you found a hand pistol. Nothing much, but you had to make do with what you had. The magazines didn’t fit it. You needed a different kind of ammo. Why did it have to be so hard? At the very least, the pistol had all its rounds remaining.
“Marie!” You called out as you reached a large bay, with bridges connecting the different wings. All you heard was an echo of your own voice. It was probably a bad idea to shout out like that anyway. You let out a sigh before walking into the middle, where the bridges joined together in a circle surrounding some big… rock? You couldn’t exactly tell.
“Vixen?” You heard a voice on the other side. It sounded an awful lot like…
“Leon?” You called back.
“Yeah… It’s me,” he huffed and ran over, finding you on the other side of the rock.
“The hell are you doing here?” He holstered his gun and came closer, seemingly checking you for injuries.
“Some guy in a helicopter came and rescued me from the city. I think he chloroformed me… I woke up in a random office an hour or so ago.” Leon’s jaw tensed at your words.
“Look, this lab is fucked up, alright? I read several files. There’s a vial with a virus down here that they’re guarding. I have to find it and get it to the government or something.” You looked at him with wide eyes. Well, yeah, you’d figured it was an underground lab. You just believed it to be some research lab, though. Not an institution housing a bioweapon. Then again, you hadn’t bothered to read any of the files that’d been lying around.
“Holy shit… Leon… I-I came with a girl. They took her. I don’t know where, but I have to find her,” you quavered. Now, new thoughts were plaguing your mind. What if they were doing some sick testing on Marie? What if they were using her for whatever vial Leon was talking about?
“Don’t worry, alright? We’ll find her,” he nodded,
“I bet she’s in the same place as the vial. I don’t think there’s any reason for us to split up.” You let out a sigh, but followed his lead as he began walking towards the west wing.
You had no time to waste. Marie was in danger, and you’d already wandered around for too long. Leon seemed to pick up on your mood, and the two of you moved with the utmost efficiency. You came across some infected and other experiments, but they were swiftly defeated with Leon’s help. Not that you didn’t do your part.
After a while, you finally made it to a grand door. Connecting the dots from the files Leon had picked up along the way, the vial was supposedly housed in the adjoining room.
“Get behind me.” He pushed you back and readied himself for whatever was behind the door.
An office? An empty one, at that.
“What the hell?” You scoffed and scoured the place for any clues. Leon read through the files he’d collected once more. There was nothing to note, other than an adjoining room. Right… adjoining behind the door. It didn’t make sense, though. There was no door to any adjoining room inside the office. Nor was there some vent to crawl through.
It wasn’t until you started pulling out random books as you’d seen in movies that a secret passage was opened from behind the bookshelf.
“Huh, that really works.” Both you and Leon were dumbfounded for a moment before you made haste.
The space was huge. Numerous wires were connected to various ports and devices. You couldn’t make out what it all was—just machinery. That didn’t matter, however, because your eyes soon landed on a figure inside some kind of capsule.
“Marie!” You rushed over and put your hands on the capsule. She was fast asleep within it. Leon ran over behind you,
“Doesn’t seem like they’ve done anything to her yet. Just kept her asleep so she wouldn’t escape…”
“Perceptive…” a voice suddenly boomed throughout the place. A man in a lab coat emerged from the shadows. Not the same guy from the helicopter… then who…?
“You’re looking for something, aren’t you?” He chuckled, showing a syringe in his hand. There was a bright purple liquid inside it. You watched as Leon sharpened his gaze and pointed a gun at the man. To your surprise, the man only laughed before injecting himself with the liquid. That prompted Leon to blast off three shots.
… to no avail.
You’d never seen anything like it in your life. Even with all the infected you’d encountered. His body contorted and grew a different colour. His arms started bulging and expanding with the rest of his body. Hell, even his eyes changed.
“What the fuck?!” You screamed at the sight. Whoever that man was, he was no longer human.
“I’ll deal with him; you save the kid and get out of here!” Leon urged. You just nodded in panic. Finding a hatchet, you broke the glass of the capsule and pulled Marie out of it, carrying her as you ran out of the room.
Infected you’d missed before jumped out at you, but you just ran as fast as you could. Whatever to get back to the surface unscathed. Marie didn’t deserve any of this.
Eventually, through sheer brute force, you found a way out of that twisted underground lab. A new dawn had broken in the time you’d been down there. Helicopters were swarming above in drones. Luckily, it seemed to be the military.
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
Leon’s POV
The monster before him had finally taken its last hit. He watched as it collapsed with a roar, before exploding all over the place, prompting pipes to disconnect with fumes spilling out. No doubt harmful stuff to breathe in. Alarms started blaring, and it seemed whatever had happened started a chain reaction.
“Initiating self-destruction in T minus ten minutes.” He heard a voice through the speakers attached to the ceiling. Fuck… that wasn’t good.
He didn’t bother finding the vial he came for. It was time to run.
He shot everything that got in his way as he navigated the place in sheer panic. Some rookie job… The automated voice kept counting down the minutes until he finally heard the seconds being counted.
Fifty…
He found the set of stairs leading out of the place and climbed them, pushing himself beyond his capabilities.
Thirty-five…
He reached the end of the stairs and pushed the doors open frantically, as he made a run for it, getting as far away from the blast zone as possible.
As he made it outside the gates just in time to see you standing there with Marie in your arms, a huge explosion lit up behind him.
“Holy shit…” he heard you mutter. The two of you eyed the dark cloud of smoke forming.
“Leon, there’s military personnel just a few yards out. We should get out of here before anything else happens.” You jogged off. Leon followed suit behind you until you finally made it to a quarantine zone, where you were cleared before being allowed aboard a helicopter.
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
Your POV
As you touched down in New York City, Leon helped you and Marie off the helicopter.
“Thanks…” you huffed, relieved to no longer be in imminent danger. Marie was still passed out, but some soldiers were tending to her, having medical staff check her for injuries.
“No… I should thank you too.” Leon scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He had such a sweet, but exhausted look on his face. Almost innocent.
“One hell of a first date, huh?” You scoffed. He laughed with you.
“First date?” He glanced at you with a knowing smile. You smirked and came closer,
“Why? You don’t go for older women?” His face grew flushed as you said that. He tripped over his words a bit before producing a coherent sentence,
“You’d wanna go out with me? We just met…”
“After what we’ve just been through? Might as well have been a lifetime of knowing each other.” You shrugged, waiting for his response. He seemed like a nervous wreck.
“I suppose you’re right. Maybe we should take it from the top, though. Nice to meet you, I’m Leon. Leon Kennedy.” He extended his hand for you to shake. You took it in yours and told him your name. Not your stripper name. Your real name.
“Beautiful name for a beautiful lady,” he commented.
Feeling bold after all the shit you’d just gone through, you wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled you in for a kiss.
꧁ ༺ ⚜ ༻ ꧂
Six Years Later...
You had just finished ironing Leon’s coat for an upcoming mission of his. He’d been recruited by the DSO and gone on various missions here and there after the events that happened in Raccoon City. You still took up work as a stripper. It was a versatile job. You could easily switch clubs whenever Leon’s job demanded moving to a different area, which it often did.
The two of you had adopted Marie. It took some getting used to on both sides, but everyone eventually came around. It wasn’t a picture-perfect family life. It was far from it, actually, but you were all happy. That’s what mattered in the end.
“You ironed my jacket?” Leon scoffed, coming up behind you to kiss your neck before reaching your mouth.
“You’ll want to look fly on your mission. Impress all the infected, you know?” You chuckled softly.
“Nah, the only person I have to impress is my lovely wife.” He squeezed your hips and pecked you once more.
You helped him get the coat on and straightened it out on his shoulders before he picked up his attaché case. Marie came running down the stairs and tumbled into Leon,
“Come back safe, please, Dad?” She always worried about him. He smiled and ruffled her hair with a soft smile,
“You got it, kid. I’ll be back before you know it. In the meantime, be good to your mother, yeah?” Marie nodded at his words and hugged him again. He gave her a peck on the forehead before giving you another kiss, before leaning in to whisper in your ear.
“Reward when I get back, yeah?” With a flushed face, you just nodded.
“That’s my vixen.”