The Fight For Us Part I - Resident Evil

21 - Standing Up

| December 21st, 1996 |

It was pretty close to Christmas when the movie came out, all the other kids in his neighborhood were talking about it. How scary it is. Yet Henry hadn't seen it, but that was gonna change after his dad offered him a trip to the theater. It's gonna be his first Rated-R movie, in fact it'll be his first scary movie. Scream. He just had to see it, not seeing it put him at a serious disadvantage from the other kids. They'd talk about the killer reveal and Henry would just sit there completely lost.

"You sure you'll be okay with it kiddo?" His dad asked as they pulled into the theater's parking lot,
"Yes! Let's go c'mon!" Henry all but flew out of the car with excitement, his dad following behind him with a nervous smile. He hopes the movie won't be too scary. The last thing he needs is for Henry to be scared so bad he needs to sleep in his dad's bed.

They ran up to the attendant standing in her glass box outside the doors,
"Two adults for Scream." his dad asked,
"Okay, sorry have to say Scream is rated-r for strong graphic horror violence, gore, and language."
"That sounds about right."
"Alright, that'll be eleven dollars even." The attendant says with a smile, taking the money Henry's dad offers. And in return, he gets two tickets to the movie.

| Two Hours Later |

"Told you it was gonna be scary." Henry's dad said as Henry worriedly looked around the dark parking lot for murders just as they got back to his dad's car.
"It wasn't." Henry lies once he's inside the vehicle,
"You hid behind your coat the whole movie. It's okay to be scared." Henry's trying to play it off but In reality, the second he saw Ghostface he stopped wanting to watch the movie.

Henry looks out the window as his dad pulled out of the parking lot,
"I wasn't scared, I just..." Henry starts when they start driving down the road home,
"Fear is a good thing." His dad says, one of his many moments of wisdom that are intercut with dad jokes and a love of poker.
"How?

There's a pause, his dad taking a deep breath as he tried to formulate a response that might help his son survive this world.
"Think about the good parts of being scared." His dad said, Henry all but laughed at this,
"The good parts...?"
"You run faster, you're more focused, you don't feel pain as much. All of those bad feelings... They're signs you're actually stronger."

| Present Day |

Leon is still unconscious, Henry had all but given up when he heard the sound of a chainsaw directly above the basement, and dangerously close to the hatch.
"Leon—" Henry starts when the hatch starts to rattle, someone from up above is trying to open it.

With his partner incapacitated, Henry searches Leon's body for some kind of weapon for the thing upstairs. He finds a grenade, holding the explosive in his hand he stands back from the hatch and waits. Suddenly, the chainsaw is thrust through the wood. Henry screams as the hatch is cut open violently. Killing people when they aren't expecting it is one thing, but Henry is not skilled in head-on combat. Let alone anything with chainsaws in tight spaces.

The hatch is cut open entirely, and in drops, a man holding a chainsaw—a hemp-clothed bag over his face. Henry takes a deep breath before tossing the grenade, the man stumbles as it hits his head. Henry then plugs his ears before it goes off, a loud explosion blowing off one of the man's legs.

He drops his chainsaw, flopping to the floor and screeching inhumanly. Henry calms down slightly as the man is incapacitated, but that is the wrong thing to do. Within seconds of having his leg blown off the man jumps up and wraps his bloody hands around Henry's neck, holding him against a wall and squeezing.

Henry struggles for breath, thrashing in the man's inhuman grip before he uses his free hand to grab the man's bloodied stump. The stranger squeals under his bag, and Henry takes the moment to kick the side of his ankle. The man then loses his balance, falling back only to land directly on his still-running saw.

Immediately the man starts to vibrate and shake, blood spraying in every conceivable direction as his back is mulched by the chainsaw. Henry watches in horror before the saw breaks through his body, successfully sawing the man in half before it seemingly runs out of gas.

Henry sits down, the basement once again becoming silent as he looks over to Leon.
"Wow," Leon says, apparently having watched the whole thing, why he didn't say anything during is anyone's guess.
"Oh my god stop doing that—" Henry practically jumps at his boyfriend, pulling him into a desperate hug, second time he's passed out on him. He can't do it again.
"I'm okay, I'm okay—" Leon starts only for Henry to kiss him happily.

This trip is starting to make them both nervous. There have been too many close calls, and too many chances of death. In fact, if Ashley didn't remind Henry of Rachel as much as she did, he would've been out of here the second he saw their driver being burned alive. Leon on the other hand, is willing to die for this. He's not willing to let Henry die for this, but he'd give his life to save Ashley. He'd die for this job. Why? Henry wonders, why would he be willing to leave Henry behind?

"You sure?" Henry asks, pulling away and looking at Leon with enough worry to be a mom sending her kid to school for the first time.
"I'm fine, just a little light-headed. Let's take a break." Leon sighs, Henry nods, sitting down beside his boyfriend.
"Alright, what do you want to talk about in the meantime?" Henry asks with a smile,
"Uh... when did you lose your virginity?" Leon asks crudely,
"What? That's really what's on your mind?"
"It's a legitimate question!" Leon defends himself, after this long, it'd be weird if they didn't talk about this.

"If I tell you, you tell me," Henry says, pointing to Leon and then back to himself to further his point,
"Deal." Leon agrees with a smirk.
"But it has to be when you lost it to a guy, I don't care about your first time with a girl." Henry all but laughs aloud at the thought of Leon being with a woman, all the things he's seen him do make it hard to believe.
"What you don't want to hear about me being too scared to touch a boob?" Leon laughs.

It sounded like a joke but it wasn't, girls always intimidated Leon. After all, he doesn't have a woman's body—so it's difficult to understand just what feels good. He lost his virginity when he was like fifteen to his first girlfriend, Stephanie. It wasn't good. It wasn't sexy, it felt awkward and almost performative. And throughout their whole relationship Leon never once touched her breasts. He was for some inconceivable reason terrified of doing so.

After that, he started looking towards guys more than girls, with another guy it just isn't as stressful. That societal pressure to pleasure a woman perfectly, was scary—especially when you're young. When Leon messed it up and didn't do it right, he felt like less of a man. He felt like a loser.

Despite Henry's guesses, Leon hasn't been with too many people. He's never been one to sleep around, he likes to find relationships—connections. He cares more about the emotional aspect of a bond with someone over sex, that's just a bonus. He was with Stephanie, then Brian, then Michael, then Kate. And now of course, Henry.

"You first, Blondie."
"Alright I'll bite."