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Leon struggles against his bindings, his lips curled up in a snarl as he bites out, "Just what do you plan to do here?"
Krauser's brows jut up slightly, amused, while his knife spins in the air after he flicks it up with his wrist. He catches it and repeats the action while he stalks around the blonde in the chair. He's watching Leon closely, watching the way he writhes against his restraints."You've always had some bite to you, rookie."
Leon jerks his head to the side, trying to keep his own eyes on Krauser as he walks in slow circles around him. It was stupid - stupid and unfair. Things were going fine. They were fine. Luis was being Luis, overly confident and cocky about their escape from that hellhole. He was so sure they were free - just to get stabbed in the back by a man he didn't even know. Leon was just starting to tolerate him, too. The man had secrets, but it didn't matter. None of it matters. Not anymore.
"Krauser," Leon growled, lurching against his restraints. He knows deep in the pit of his stomach that he can't escape. If Jack Krauser tied a person up, that person wouldn't be going anywhere unless Krauser wanted them to. "You already killed Luis. Why not me? What's your play?" He asked, voice rough around the edges. Luis didn't deserve to die down here. And how did Leon avenge him? By getting cut up by his former mentor and then strapped to a chair in the depths of some cavern somewhere? It's pitiful, really.
Krauser is the one who is supposed to be dead.
Leon mourned his death. Mourned his loss. It doesn't seem like his grieving went entirely to waste; the Major standing in front of him no longer the man he once knew. Jack was tough. He was a drill sergeant at heart. He didn't pussy-foot around. He didn't take shit. He would lay anyone flat on their ass if they so much as looked at him the wrong way. He was incredible. A feat of strength, fortitude. So what broke this man? What changed him so? Because Leon knows behind that wall of flesh is a heart - a heart capable of caring. Of teaching. Of guiding.
Krauser is suddenly in front of Leon, crouching as he slams his fighting knife into the back of Leon's hand, a smirk tugging up his scarred lips as Leon gasps through his teeth, his back reeling into the chair as the blade penetrates his glove and slips between the bones in his hand, wedging into the wood of the armrest. Krauser rests on his feet, bent at the knees as he holds the hilt of his knife, shifting it slightly in Leon's flesh as he comments, "You haven't changed at all."
Leon grinds his teeth, blood soaking into his glove as his fingers spasm painfully. His heart rate is through the roof, it thudding harshly against his ribcage as he hisses out, "Fuck you." Krauser chuckles as he stands, leaving his knife to sit lodged in Leon's hand as he reaches out to touch Leon's face. Leon jerks away, spitting out, "Don't touch me."
"Feisty," Krauser mumbles, his rough fingers grabbing Leon's chin to pinch at it harshly, making Leon look up at him as he stares down at Leon, eyes that we're once blue now a hazel-red. "And here I thought you liked me."
The statement was worse than the blade wedged in Leon's hand. Leon's nostrils flared as old wounds opened, his mouth parting against the pressure of Krauser's fingertips to bite back, "And I thought you were a decent human being."
Krauser releases his grasp to click his teeth, crossing his arms as he looks down at Leon with mixed disappointment and pity. It makes Leon's skin crawl. To think he yearned to be held by this man once. To think he once looked up to him, followed his orders, listened to his teachings. To think he saw him as something of a pseudo father, his emotions warping dangerously into ones of caring.
"Oh rookie," Krauser mutters, looming over Leon as his voice drops, "You could not be more wrong."
Leon blows more air through his nose, shaking his head incredulously as he tugs at his restraints in frustration, asking breathily, "Why? Why are you doing this?"
Krauser shrugs, releasing one of his hands to reach out for the blade in Leon's hand, gripping the handle as he looks Leon in the eyes, voice a haunting murmur, "You've always been soft."
Leon can't help the pained whimper that bubbles in his throat as Krauser tugs the blade from his hand, his own crimson blood staining the tip of the blade. "S-Screw you," Leon spat the moment he could get air back into his lungs.
Krauser sighed, flipping his knife back up into the air for a moment before catching it and wiping the blade on the front of his shirt. "I've got work to do. Wesker wants me to kill you."
"So do it," Leon barks out, tired of this interaction. Tired of all this bullshit. How dare Jack do this to him? How dare he kill his new friend and then poke into his old wounds, making fun of his boy crush from years ago? How dare he? Krauser was supposed to be a leader. It's not Leon's fault he got it twisted. It's not his fault he fell, confused by his emotions. All he ever wanted was someone to be proud of him, to praise him. "Kill me then! Kill the failed rookie! Isn't that what you want?" Leon hisses, shaking the chair with his angered movements as he bites out, his veins in his neck throbbing as that dammed parasite pulses through him, feeding his rage. "To smother out the biggest disappointment of your life?" His breathing ran ragged, his shoulders heaving up and down with each breath.
The old Major's face is unreadable as he slots his knife back into its sheath, his brows only ticking slightly as he stares at Leon for a long minute. Leon can't read the man to save his life - he's never been able to read this stupid fucking man, and it makes him infuriated.
Kruaser's lips part, but he's taking too long to reply. Leon thrashes once in his chair, the heat of anger hot on his breath as he spits, face twisted in a scowl, "Or are you a coward too? Like me?"
There's a beat of silence before Krauser turns, his words level, "You were never a coward, Leon."
Leon's angered movements still, his brows furrowed as he stares at Kruaser's back. He can see the way Kruaser's muscles shift, and it makes his hands curl into fists as he yells out, "What's that supposed to mean?" Leon can't see Kruaser's face as the man starts to walk away. "Jack!" Leon barks, the chair creaking beneath his movements as he leans forward. What the hell? What the actual hell?
Krauser turns to give Leon a side glance, waving a hand in the air nonchalantly as he calls back, "See ya later, rookie."
Leon's chest rises with a sharp breath, it sticking in his lungs as he clenches his teeth, his fingers flexing. Just what was that interaction besides puzzling? He should be dead. He should be dead like Luis' cooling corpse on the ground, but his heart is still beating. His heart is beating and there's a parasite growing in his chest. Why would Krauser do all of that? Why would he murder Leon's friend but spare Leon himself?
Leon shakes his head, his anger simmering. He doesn't have anymore time to waste on Jack Krauser.