An Unexpected Friend

A Friend

The pipe clattered onto the floor as the man grabbed for his head sauntering a bit in pain. Meg squealed in panic guilt all over her face as nervous hand shot out pointlessly trying to help him.

"Oh god! Oh god I'm so sorry!!"

Her worried cries made her put a hand to her mouth realizing she was being too loud. His hand came out to her trying to signal her to relax while still wincing in pain his skull currently throbbing. He spoke with authority,

"Miss-"

He squinted a bit attempting to ignore the pain.

"I'm alright. I'm an officer."

He stated trying to calm and assert the situation quickly. Her face only fell in more horror hands frozen in front of her as she exclaimed in panic,

"I hit a fucking cop!?"

He stopped realizing he had only made it worse as she once again slapped her hand over her own mouth.

"Shit- sorry! I shouldn't swear in front of a cop."

It was such a funny thing to say in the given moment he almost grinned. This poor girl looked like she was a bit delirious and seemed to be having a meltdown. That made sense, the blood all over her dress and her eyes filled with worry made him wonder if she was just in shock.

Awkwardly as he really hadn't expected her to say that he let his hand down and straightened the throbbing subsiding somewhat.

"It's fine."

Rubbing the spot that would definitely bruise he took a breath while holstering his gun,

"Swearing is pretty understandable right now."

This gave her some comfort, sighing her hands came down both of them taking a second to breath. The man looked around the backroom quick to get back onto point,

"Is it just you here?"

Meg nodded glad to be seeing another face, now that he wasn't keeled over in pain she could see him clearly. Her first thought was that he really didn't look like a cop. Or at least not the type for it, but who was she to judge? He was incredibly handsome but she didn't stay on that thought for long as she wondered if he was old enough to be a cop.

He could see how tired she was, behind her large round framed glasses were dark circles. Dirt speckled her face and blood, her nice dress was also drenched and dried with blood. She had clearly been in the city a lot longer than him which made him pity her. She was kind of small so it was impressive she lasted this long as she apparently had.

As he took her in his eyes went down to her weapon, the pipe on the floor,

"With just that?"

He asked a bit in awe, these things weren't easy to kill and a girl of her size able to do so was not an easy feat. Looking back to her face it was a bit sad as she thought it over. This girl was a fighter she didn't even have a gun. She spoke sounding exhausted but hopeful,

"Please tell me you're here to help."

He stood straighter with resolve immediately ready to do what he had to and nodded once completely serious,

"It's my duty miss."

A small smile came to her face glad to hear some actual good news. Allowing herself a moment of relax she breathed once again before looking back up to him now collected. In fact she completely went from having a meltdown to composed in a second flat which made the man confused. But she spoke before he could think to ask if she was fine,

"What's the plan?"

She thought more on her question for a moment shaking her head as nothing came to mind,

"Is there even a way out of the city?"

Leon paused a second before speaking with certainty, as he didn't have much of a plan,

"I'm working on a solution miss."

The way he spoke so formally to her despite them probably being similar in age made her give him a look. Amused she looked at his serious professional stance he now had,

"You must be new."

He tried not to let his face give it away as he hesitated for a moment.

"It's my first day."

The awkward silence hit hard as despite knowing he was as young as her he also happened to be as inexperienced as possible. This wasn't great but he was still another person and he was still a cop. Pity for him rose above the worry, it was his first day and this happened?

"Yikes."

She said in sympathy not trying to be mean. He knew that and pushed on deciding to let the subject drop, it wasn't important and he was still very much a police officer. Not wanting him to think she meant to be rude she quickly extended her hand to him,

"I'm Meg."

Flashing a smile while putting on a brave face she tried to brighten up a bit. He took it admiring her courage and shook it once with a friendly grin that both of them needed. He remained poised wanting her to have faith in him and trust that he could help her. Straightening up and squaring his shoulders a bit he spoke professionally,

"Officer Leon S. Kennedy."

He tried not to let his expression falter as she looked surprised, like she was trying to be nice after seeing something cute or funny. Moving down to grab her pipe again to spare him of her gaze she couldn't suppress the smile on her face. His effort to be a serious cop was very welcome and made her feel a lot better, he clearly took this very seriously and knew what he was doing. But his formality was a bit much. Moving to a table she had a backpack there with very meager food supplies in it. Grabbing it she spoke trying to be friendly, the presence of another around giving her hope and ease,

"Well Officer Kennedy. I like you."

She span around with a grin as he raised his eyebrows at her sudden energetic tone,

"If we live through this I'm sure we could be friends."

He returned her grin glad to see her improved greatly in attitude from before, she was even funny which eased his worry. A terrified civilian would be hard to protect.

"Alright. Good plan."

A friend didn't sound terrible now. Once he found Claire they could all figure this out together. He like those odds and looking at her now determined face made him feel like maybe things would turn for the better.