Like a tattoo | leon kennedy x fem reader

chapter XXII - reunion

You're in denial. He was right in front of you! Wasn't he? Was this an illusion? Was this a dream? He was calling your name exactly how you remembered it. His silk voice running through your ears was clearer than water. This was real. A wave of thoughts and emotions came flooding in, taking over your capabilities for speech.

"I see you got those knife lessons. They taught you well." Leon smirks and speaks with an impressed tone. You immediately surrender and release him from your bondage as he does the same.

As you stand there, facing each other, you can't help but take a moment to study his features. Despite the two years that have passed, he hasn't changed. Although his hair may be a little longer now, his crystal-blue eyes still hold the same sincerity and boldness you fell for. The lines on his face now tell a story you can relate to, but his expression remains open and honest. You feel a rush of memories flooding back, and it feels like time has stood still for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" you utter finally.

"I should be asking you that question." Leon corrects as he puts his weapons away. This isn't quite the circumstances he expected to see you in. His eyes soften for a moment as he looks at you.

Unlike himself, Leon couldn't help but notice how much you had changed since the last time he saw you. He couldn't help but feel impressed by how you carried yourself. You were no longer the same desperate and naive little girl who always needed his help. Instead, a newfound sense of confidence and security radiated within you. He knew you had always been capable of handling yourself, but now it was as if you had come into your own. The change was drastic, and he couldn't help but admire you even more.

"You're the fourth agent, aren't you?" you retort.

"I suppose so...not that I had much of a choice." He says with his brows furrowed now. Leon redirects his flashlight, studying the situation at hand. "I see why they called me on such short notice."

"They told me you've been radio silent..." you mutter, ignoring his statement. He redirects his attention back to you.

"I was...for a while," he says soughingly, his features saddened. "But I knew I had to come back."

He returned only for a chance to see you again but was afraid to admit it in a moment like this.

In the heat of the moment, more groans and gargles come from behind your body, penetrating the silence. You peer behind as another human silhouette comes limping into view. In an instant, Leon instinctively takes your arm to put himself in front of you like a reflex.

Another one! They turn that quickly? This is most certainly not plagas.

It smells both of your presence and comes running towards you with its hands outstretched.

You grip your pistol to aim at it, but Leon, of course, already took the zombie down with a single shot before it could get any closer.

With his flashlight, he guides the way to examine the zombie closer—the view of the damaged human body before you was unbearable to witness. Leon's expert shot obliterated it, but a wave of grief outweighed all emotion. It was a person. They were a person. He bends down and examines the corpse with his flashlight between his shoulder and neck.

"Leon, these aren't the ones I've seen before. They aren't ganados," you whisper as you watch him reveal the human bite marks embedded into the person's clavicle. "How could this happen." you grieve.

"...someone has a virus," he answers directly, but a perplexed expression remains across his handsome face. "But why...why here?" he whispers.

Like in Raccoon City? That girl said what was depicted in that kid's drawing was exactly like what was reported in Racoon City. How does she know?