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- GUEST HOUSE HORRORS
The gate was locked, because of course it was. Better luck next time. Still, Ethan was not deterred. He had to find Mia. He had to. Or if not her, then at least what had happened to her. Three years of radio silence and even more years of Ethan wondering what Mia’s “babysitting” job actually was. Something military?
Ethan followed the path along the estate when two parked cars caught his attention. One had clearly seen better days a long time ago—it was filthy, damaged from exposure, and god knows what else. The windows were broken, and the papers strewn across the backseat had creepy messages scribbled in red on their backs. The work of kids trying to look “cool”, no doubt. The “JOIN US” was his personal favourite. Very horror game-y. Ethan was more worried about the other car. It looked to be in perfect condition, and the last thing Ethan needed was to encounter the owner. Their business aside, Ethan himself was certainly not meant to be on another person’s private property.
Despite his best wishes, he did encounter someone. Ethan was not sure it was the owner of the car, however. In fact, he was not sure he had seen a man at all since, as Ethan rounded the corner just seconds after the other had walked out of view, the man was gone, and there was nowhere he could have gone to. Then Ethan saw the altars of animal carcasses and forgot all about the man. Maybe the notes were not from teenagers after all. Ethan did not like the idea of walking into a cult hide-out. He decided not to think about the altars anymore as he opened the door leading into the house.
- TURBULENT REUNION
The house was rotten, both literally and figuratively. Which was roughly how Ethan felt after his wife tried to kill him. Twice. Then the phone rang, and the person on the other line, Zoe, explained… Nothing. Mia had always been strong but not throwing-a-grown-man-up-a-flight-of-steep-stairs strong. And then she took his hand. Ethan was not sure why he picked up the severed limb or why he put it in his pocket. And then his wife tried to kill him again. Ethan was so fucking tired. He was almost glad when the man—who was apparently very real—knocked him out.
- FAMILY DINNER
This was the worst dinner Ethan had ever partaken in. Possibly the worst dinner in the history of dinners even. Well. Maybe not. But it had to be up there, Ethan thought. He had a lot of experience with uncomfortable family meals. All of them, if he was feeling uncharitable. But at least the food was usually edible. He had to get the fuck out of this place.
- MINOR ALTERATIONS
There was a man in the laundry room, sharpening a knife. He stared wide-eyed at Ethan, who had frozen halfway through climbing out of the crawlspace. Ethan could hear a ringing in his ears. He distantly wished he could move, do something. Anything. But he had no weapons, while the other was very much armed.
The man seemed to sense the thoughts running through Ethan’s head as he slowly put the knife down. “It’s okay. I’m Leon Kennedy,” he said calmly, raising his hands.
Ethan blinked. Was this guy for real? He narrowed his eyes. “Sure. And the other freaks are Jack, Marguerite and Lucas. Is your name supposed to mean something to me?” Ethan was glad his voice had remained steady.
Leon looked… Not shocked, exactly. But something. “Uh, no?” He shrugged.
“Good.”
“Good.” Leon pointed casually at Ethan. “Are you coming out of the hole or…?”
Ethan’s face twitched in irritation, but he did pull himself the rest of the way up.
- MAGPIE TENDENCIES
“Here,” Leon said, casually handing Ethan an herb the other man had missed.
Ethan tilted his head. “Uh, thanks. Why though? You’ve been saying you’ve got everything we need since we met.”
“Well, you like collecting stuff,” Leon shrugged. “Can’t hurt.”
Ethan smiled slightly. “Thanks,” he repeated.
- FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU
Ethan was not sure who was more surprised as they watched the upper half of the former deputy’s head slide to the ground with a wet plop. But it was probably him. Leon fired a few shots at Jack, barely slowing the man down. Leon cursed and launched himself towards the car. Ethan, by contrast, backed away, trying to maintain his distance from Jack, who was rapidly advancing on him.
“Come now, boy, don’t be throwing a tantrum! Are you tryna make her sad?”
“Who the fuck?” Ethan probably should have focused more on running than on grabbing every item in sight, but well. And then he heard Leon shout.
“Keys! Did you see keys?”
Ethan did not respond but threw himself in the driver’s seat, colliding with Leon and pushing him to the side. Ethan did not notice, focused on slamming the driver’s door shut. He took the car key from his pocket but struggled to insert it. He was shaking, and his breathing was loud and irregular. Leon reached out to help. Just in time, since Ethan dropped it to stop Jack from yanking the driver’s door open. Leon successfully ignited the car, immediately putting it in reverse. Ethan, no longer needing to hold onto the door, mirrored Leon—one hand on the wheel and the other over Leon’s on the gearshift. They ran Jack over. Several times. Yet Jack still almost managed to run them through. Luckily, he only managed to impale himself. Leon found that morbidly funny. Ethan did, too, but he was not about to tell him that.
- SECONDARY DISCUSSION
Ethan and Leon were neck-deep into solving puzzles, and neither was happy about it. As they ran past grandma yet again, Leon broke.
“So what’s her deal?”
“Who?”
“Grandma.”
“How the fuck would I know?”
Leon shrugged. “Well, you knew everybody else’s name earlier.”
Ethan could not tell if he was being serious. “So did you. And you’ve been here longer, right?”
“So?”
“So, you should be telling me.”
“Am I supposed to do everything here?” Leon huffed.
“All you do is something sometimes,” Ethan retorted.
“You haven’t tried shooting her?”
“What is wrong with you?”
“It’s a fair question!”
“It really isn’t. Plus, don’t you watch any horror movies or what? You don’t just do that.”
“Horror’s not really my thing,” Leon said, making a face.
“It shows.”
Leon looked offended for the grand total of a second before laughing, almost despite himself. Ethan smiled slightly. Leon had an infectious laugh.
- MAIN DISCUSSION
They watched the tapes in silence. Leon looked as if he knew something Ethan did not and would not like to, and Ethan had just about had it by the end of it.
“Okay, look. You are an agent, right?”
“Uh.”
“Do you mind briefing me on this shit already? I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“But how did you know I was—”
Ethan gave him a death stare.
“Never mind.” Leon coughed, clearing his throat. “Mia worked for The Connections. Crime syndicate involved in BOW research. Their latest experiment was a kid; Mia was her primary caretaker. They fucked up, and now Eveline and Mia are here, and the Bakers are collateral.”
“Eveline is here.”
“Yes.”
“When you asked if I’ve tried shooting the grandma—”
“Yep.”
Ethan swore.
Leon winced. “Eveline ages uncontrollably. Unstable mutation.”
“And she wants what, exactly?”
“What The Connections were promising her. A family.”
Ethan swore again.
- FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME
Jack, the fucking bastard, was back. How groovy. Not as groovy as Leon’s trying to hook Ethan up with a divorce lawyer while an old man was attempting to beat them both to a literal pulp, though. Ethan dodged with a hoarse yell, the added weight of the chainsaw making him stagger.
“I can get my friend Chris to pay with company money,” Leon shouted before doing—in Ethan’s opinion—an absolutely unnecessary backflip to shoot Jack. Who did that? And who was Chris? And why was Ethan even considering this?
Ethan briefly thought about sawing into Leon instead of into Jack.
- TRAILER CONVERSATIONS
“What happened to your hand, anyway,” Leon asked as he watched Ethan grab the steroids from the birdcage.
“Lost it,” replied Ethan curtly, stabbing the needle into his left forearm and flexing his fingers.
“Sure, but how? And how is it still working?”
“Mia. Zoe. I try not to think about it, actually.” Ethan sighed. “It’s got to do with this whole freak show going on, doesn’t it?”
“Probably,” Leon grimaced. “The only thing you seem to be suffering from is accelerated healing, though. That’s… good.”
Ethan laughed. “Good, sure.”
Leon patted his back awkwardly. Ethan appreciated it.
- GREENHOUSE CONFESSIONS
Ethan and Leon stood in the middle of the greenhouse, taking in the peace settling over it now that Marguerite was dead.
Ethan relaxed his defensive stance and put his flamethrower away. “Well, that was disgusting.”
The man barely managed to get the words out before hands were cupping his face and lips were pressed against his own. When they pulled apart, Leon’s hands went to Ethan’s own. It was a very nice kiss, Ethan decided. But Jesus.
“After this? Really?”
Leon shrugged, smiling. “Seemed appropriate to me.”
Ethan let out an undignified snort, but he thought he might have been smiling, too.
- BIRTHDAY PARTY
“What is wrong with you two? Some of us have places to be!”
Leon groaned. “Nobody cares, asshole!”
“Well, I never,” crowed Lucas. “Fine, be like that. But if you aren’t done in five, I’m blowing you up.”
“Fuck you!”
“Now, now, Ethan, I’m not the one taking forever to join the party.”
“You ever think there’s a reason you need hostages to throw a party,” Leon mused. “I bet Zoe never needed to kidnap anyone.”
“Oh, fuck you, lover boy—”
“True,” Ethan said, ignoring Lucas. “Jack and Marguerite must’ve been a riot at parties too, honestly. Uh, before… Yeah.”
Leon nodded solemnly.
- FOOL ME THRICE, SHAME ON US BOTH
“How many fucking times,” Ethan hissed, reloading his gun.
“Three for luck,” said Leon as he shot off another of Jack’s eyes.
“Forget Jack, I’m going to kill you.”
- CHANGES, CHANGES
They managed to hold onto both syringes. It was a marvel, what spite could do for a person. Zoe, especially, looked relieved. Ethan did not wonder why. He was sure she had her reasons.
“Ethan,” Mia said softly, reaching for him.
Ethan flinched, backing away. He felt untethered. He wished Leon would hug him. It was probably for the best that he did not. Mia looked distraught as she let her arm drop back to her side, but Ethan could not help but be relieved.
He shifted his gaze towards the boat. “Leon and I are going to get you help. But I can’t… I just can’t.”
- WRECKED SHIP
Ethan, for the first time in a while, was alone in this shit show. He missed Leon. He even missed Zoe’s not-nearly-informative-enough phone calls. He hoped they were okay. Mia, too. He was not sure he was going to be.
- TEMPORARY PEACE
Ethan barreled into Leon faster than he ever thought he could move. Leon wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him just as tightly despite the swamp water dripping from Ethan’s clothes. Ethan took the opportunity to rest his head on the other’s shoulder.
“Leon?”
“Hm?”
“I want you to know that I’m slightly sorry for threatening to kill you earlier. Slightly.”
“Don’t be, it’s all part of your charm.”
Ethan pursed his lips, humming. “I hope you know this is a very odd thing to say.”
“And that’s part of my charm.”
Ethan chuckled helplessly.
- BLAME GAME
Ethan and Leon stood, barely, leaning onto each other.
“It was not really her fault, you know.”
“Leon, I really don’t care,” Ethan gritted out.
“She was just a kid.”
Ethan wavered. He flexed his left hand.
“Why the fuck should I care! She was never my problem, she wasn’t—”
His breathing was harsh, and he could feel the tears gathering in his eyes. Leon held him as he cried.
- THE END
Chris found them huddled together on the ground. He looked at Ethan before turning to Leon. “Is he asleep or unconscious?”
“Asleep. I think. It’s been a long day.”
Chris looked pointedly at their clasped hands. “Decided to make a date out of it?”
Leon snorted, giving Ethan a soft smile. “I did.” He looked back at Chris. “Next date will hopefully involve less life-and-death situations.”
“I didn’t know you spent time with people apart from that.”
“Leave my social life out of this, you don’t get to judge,” Leon said, rolling his eyes.
“You started this,” Chris retorted. “You have 10 more minutes, then we really have to go.” He nodded at the two before walking away.
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