FOOL → leon kennedy ✔

chapter ten

CHAPTER TEN
i'm not dead yet.

...

"Lucky! Lucky, please... please wake up." He shook her shoulder relentlessly, but there was no response. Her chest rose and fell to an internal rhythm, but there were no other signs that showed that she was even close to being alive. "Lucina, this isn't a time to joke. Please... I thought we got the infection down on your leg... I-- shit." His eyes drifted down to her arm.

Leon's fingers reached out, softly grazing the skin below the bandage on her arm. A glaring red mark was peeking out from under the stained material, and red vein-like lines spread around the wound. What he thought was a cut... well, she had been bitten, hadn't she?

Before he could pull the bandage away, though, a loud crashing noise came from somewhere deeper in the sewers. Something told him that it was Ada, and that she was in trouble. 

"Dammit... okay, Lucky. We're going to do this the awkward way. Just... please be okay." He let out a puff of a breath, then slid his arms underneath of her unconscious form. It was a struggle, and the bullet wound burned from the strain, but he eventually got her into his arms.

Seeing her face so pale and unmoving scared him. It was such a stark contrast to who she usually was that he... well, he was worried she wouldn't make it. If it was a bite then she had lied to him, and probably expected to wither away quietly and without notice. Why wouldn't she tell him?

"If you thought I was going to be mad... well, that'd never happen. I would've fought-- will fight like hell to get you the help you need, and I will get that virus out of you. Just hold on a little bit longer." He didn't know where he was even going as he followed the halls through the sewers, just hoping that he was going the right way.

Lucky needed help, and she needed it fast.

...

Everything kept moving, even after Lucky told it to stop. Leon kept appearing and disappearing, looking more dishevelled each time, and the world continued to spin despite her screaming that it was too fast. Her body was too hot and too cold at the same time. Her skin crawled. Her arm burned.

Then Leon was in front of her, smiling. The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, and that made Lucky smile. It seemed to ground her, if only slightly and only temporarily.

"Leon? Where... where are we?" She struggled to adjust herself, but her whole body felt like a wilted plant. Leon cupped her cheek, eyes boring into hers.

He seemed to realize the situation and shook himself to focus. "We don't have the time for that story, but I can tell you that Ada needs our help and you need my help. Do not argue, just let me." He then scooped her off the ground and began walking. She didn't complain, as she knew she wasn't very useful in this state.

"I'm so sorry... I didn't tell you and should have. I knew it, but I didn't want to worry you. Did a shitty job of that, I see." She chuckled, despite the situation. Leon shifted her body closer to his to press his lips to her forehead. Her skin was clammy and Lucky felt a flash of embarrassment before she saw Leon's smile again.

"Yeah, I'm worried. But it's okay. We'll fix this." She let her head rest against his chest, feeling her fever working its way back over her. "There's nothing that can stop me from curing you."

"I'm not dead... yet, so it's a start. Thanks for keeping it that way." Lucky forced her eyes open and looked up at him, before smiling and closing them again. "If you drop me, Kennedy, I'll beat you up-- I swear it."

"Let's not make promises we can't keep. I still have a bullet wound, let's not forget." He scrunched up his nose, as if remembering the pesky little wound in his left shoulder. Lucky snorted.

"Must've left my mind while I was busy dying. Takes a lot of effort, ya know."

"Oh, I know."