𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝑲𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅𝒚| ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ 2

Don't Let Them Own You

One.
Two.
Three.
Four.

I take a breath, slamming down the gun in annoyance as I slip off the ear protectors, I've had enough of this stupid training. Enough of missing the damn targets almost every time. I'm done.

"There's a few more rounds, keep-" Leon, my apparent teacher slash bodyguard slash best agent the government has tells me, but I just storm past him, heading for the bench nearby to calm myself down before I turn the gun on him...or myself.

"Look, all you've gotta do is-" Leon tries again, but I've had it and give him a murderous glare.

"I'm done, okay! It's easy for you to say when you've been doing this for so long, just give me a fucking break Leon." My voice cracks, I take a shaky breath as my knee bounces, my hands shake and I'm half tempted to punch the wall, but I barely restrict myself.

"Drop that attitude," Leon says with cool anger, his eyes burrow into mine as we glare at each other. We haven't exactly been besties since he was assigned to train me, but we haven't killed each other yet, so I take that as a sign of mutual respect. "Stand up and try again."

I shake my head, standing up and heading towards him, stopping when we're toe to toe. "Stop bossing me about, can't you at least be a tiny bit nicer to me." I snap.

Leon fakes a laugh, "Nicer? Nice doesn't protect the world, being nice doesn't get you anywhere apart from dead or forced into a corner. So no, I'll be the asshole if it means teaching you to stay alive." He retorts, his breathing speeds up as he stares back at me, but we both know he's revealed too much, that the words he said have a deeper, more personal meaning. He's pent up too.

For some reason my eyes fill with tears. This is all too much, too sudden. Leon's face softens as I turn around, putting my back to him as I blink away the damn tears, I can't be weak, not now, not in front of him. "Hey," Leon softly says, putting a hand on my shoulder as he gently turns me around, "tell me what's wrong with you today?"

I scoff, looking anywhere but at him as I reply "Nothing. Just having a bad say, seems like you're having one too." Leon's lips purse together as if he's contemplating something, but then he shakes his head.

"Cut the bullshit, I know there's more to it than that. You can trust me."

I sigh, I've been so desperate for someone to listen to me for so long, and now an opportunity had risen, I can't hold back. I look around for cameras, but see none, so I finally spill. "I don't want to be here."

I meet Leon's eyes, they're full of worry, and I know he's gotten the wrong idea. "No, not like that. I mean...I don't want to be an agent, I never wanted to come train and spend my life saving people, at least not like this."

Leon stiffens, stepping back his jaw tenses, then he leads me back to the bench and sits beside me, shoulder to shoulder. "Why are you here then?" He asks, but it sounds like he already knows somehow.

I huff and cross my arms, hating my past. "My parents were into some shady biotech research, I was...coerced into helping them spy on other companies, like Umbrella. When we all got caught the government knew I was good at infiltration, so they used my parents against me, basically said they'd kill them if I didn't cooperate." It feels good to have finally gotten that off of my chest, but Leon watches me curiously, and for once he doesn't say anything for a while.

"I know what it's like," he mumbles staring off ahead, "to be forced into a box with no way out. I never wanted to do this either."

"I guess we do have something in common then." I nudge him with my elbow, trying to lighten the suddenly depressing mood. Leon breathes out a small laugh as he stands and holds out a hand for me, I take it and he pulls me up, but I stumble into his chest, his arms wrap around me as I gasp and pull away.

Leon clears his throat, "Let's try this one more time." He mumbles, heading over to the shooting range again, I nod and pick up the gun, standing how Leon taught me, but when I feel his chest press against my back I almost drop the gun, his hands cover mine as he lifts it up, aiming at the target as my breath catches. "Don't think. Just do." He whispers, his breath tickles my ear as I nod and aim, pulling the trigger.

It hits dead centre. I lean forward, blinking rapidly at the feat, then turn and reach out for a hug, but Leon's eyes widen and I quickly maneuver my hand into a high five instead. Leon lifts a brow as his lips quirk up, then he carefully high fives me back, however when I go to pull away Leon suddenly pulls me towards him, leaning down his lips brush against my ear.

"Don't let them own you, remember why you're doing this, and never forget who you are." He quietly mumbles, the advice sounds personal, so I nod without question as he pulls away.

His eyes dart to my lips once before his jaw tenses and he turns around. "We're done here, good job." He calls over his shoulder.

It feels like Leon and I have just reached a new level of understanding, as well as some dangerous territory, but I can't let that get in the way of why I'm here, so I close my eyes and count to ten, then continue putting on the brave face.