Chapter Text
It takes days for them to find Leon.
They’d barely just finished killing Arias when the arms’ dealers lackey, Maria, had kidnapped Leon straight out from under them. Between the rest of the New York incident and rushing out the cure, it takes too long for them to figure out who Maria handed the DSO agent off to, to figure out where Leon was taken.
It takes days until they finally follow the trail to a secret laboratory, paid off and property of Arias’ of course. The assault rifle in Chris’ hands creaks under his grip. Rebecca’s joined him on this, despite the fact she really should be recovering after her own kidnapping, but Chris can only guess she feels as responsible as he does.
He’s the one who dragged Leon into this mess.
The rest of the makeshift team Chris was able to rustle up to look for Leon have spread through the facility, looking for any sign of the agent. There’s not much to find though. So far it’s been largely empty. Well, empty except for the giant spiders.
Chris shudders at the reminder of the bioweapons. He’s always been a little afraid of spiders—a fact Claire loved to tease him about when they were little—but it was the giant mutated variants Chris encountered decades ago in the Spencer Mansion that really sealed his phobia of them. That’s not to say Chris can’t fight them, but he is admittedly much bolder taking them down when he has an assault rifle and several hundred rounds of ammo.
Focus, Redfield, Chris mutters to himself, hefting his rifle. Spiders or not, we need to find Leon. He just has to hope against hope that they aren’t too late.
It’s not long after when Chris, accompanied by Rebecca, stumble into another part of the laboratory. It’s quiet but there’s a large window looking into a neighboring room. And within…
Chris’ heart leaps in his chest.
It’s Leon, stripped naked and with his arms tied over his head. Chris can’t tell if he’s alive or not, but he’s here. And in the room with him…
Dread surges in Chris’ chest as he catches sight of another fucking massive spider, the size of the goddamn car. At a glance it’s not moving, and seems to be… dead? It’s on its back, legs curled, but far far too close to Leon for comfort.
Still, fuck the spider, Leon’s in there—
Chris races for the door, slamming it open and stepping inside. Only for his steps to hitch as he walks in and finally gets a good look at Leon and the spider trapped in there with him. Leon is still there, unmoved, hanging and restrained. But the spider… Chris struggles to make sense of what he’s looking at, his brain arguing it can’t be true but…
He has seen far too much over the years to not realize what he’s seeing.
Leon, head lolling into his chest and arms tied above him. His chest is bare, but moving downward… his legs are missing. Instead, pale skin turns to dark twisted flesh where Leon’s torso meets the body of the massive spider.
…God, what the hell did they do to him?
Distantly, Chris is aware of Rebecca coming in behind him. Of her sharp breath as she sees and realizes what he does. Sees what these fucking bastards did to Leon. Where Leon’s legs should be is a spider’s abdomen and attached to that, eight spindly legs, curled—like a spider’s do in death—over the massive arachnid body.
“…Fucking hell,” Chris whispers, disgust and horror twisting in his gut as he sees what those sickos did to his friend. Jesus… Was Leon aware when they did this? Did he see it? Feel it?
At Chris’ swear, Leon’s eyes suddenly crack open. There’s no blue remaining, only an inky black filling the entire eye, peering from beneath the dark fringe of hair. Chris tenses, half expecting Leon—or the thing that used to be his friend—to start fighting, to attack. But instead the eyes slip closed and Leon’s head sags against his chest.
“…Just kill me, already.”
The words are soft, barely audible, but without question they came from Leon.
He’s still conscious.
Rebecca gasps beside Chris and immediately surges forward, moving beside him. “Leon? Leon!” she lays a hand on his shoulder and Leon flinches. The arachnid legs twitch as well, briefly curling tighter. …God, they really are part of him, aren’t they? Chris follows Rebecca, resolutely keeping his eyes on Leon’s face and chest rather than… the rest of him. Chris reaches up, slicing the bindings keeping Leon’s arms restrained and catching the mutated man before he can fall too far.
The movement stirs Leon slightly and those black eyes again slide open as Chris lowers Leon down. “…What are you doing, Redfield?” Leon whispers. His voice is small and utterly defeated. Chris thought, when he and Rebecca found Leon in that bar in Colorado, that it was the most resigned he’d ever heard the man. It doesn’t even hold a candle to now. “Just fucking but a bullet in me and end it.”
“We are not killing you,” Rebecca snaps. She glances at Chris, the heat of her glare strong enough to melt solid rock. “Neither of us.” Chris wholeheartedly agrees. Leon is conscious and aware, even if mutated. He’s not losing another friend, not if he can help it. The doctor scans Leon before glancing at Chris. “Let’s get him out of here.”
Chris nods and, after quickly assessing the best method, bends down and scoops Leon into his arms. It’s a bit tricky. The long spindly legs all collectively flinch as Chris hefts Leon up, and Chris has to get one arm to hold Leon’s human torso and the other arm loops around the junction between his spidery thorax and abdomen, legs facing outward. And his brain is being very unhelpful because part of it is fucking screaming because spider.
Yes brain, Chris fires back at himself. I am aware.
GIANT FUCKING SPIDER! Chris’ brain shrieks.
It’s Leon, Chris tries to reason.
EIGHT LEGS, wails the phobia.
Ten, technically? Chris tries to correct. Or… limbs. Ten limbs, counting his arms.
Speaking of arms, in Chris’, Leon looks listlessly up at them. “The hell are you doing?” Leon asks, voice still far far too quiet. He sounds defeated. Chris hates it. Leon’s default state is witty asshole—the man cracks one liners like it’s a terminal condition. But now… he sounds like he’s already dead.
“We’re getting you out,” Chris says, echoing Rebecca. “We’re not letting you die, okay?”
Leon’s brows furrow, the most emotion he’s shown so far. “I’m a fucking monster, Chris. Look at me.” The man exhales. “If you’re not going to, I will—”
“No!” Rebecca growls, marching closer to look Leon in the face. “You are not going suicidal on me, Leon, alright? You are going to be okay.”
Leon lets out a dark, derisive snort. “Doctor Fucking High Hopes… how is any of this going to be okay?”
“Well,” Rebecca tilts her head. “Let’s be honest, this may be the lowest point in your life right now… but that also means things can only go up from here!”
Leon gives her the flattest look imaginable. “Rebecca. I don’t have my legs. I have been fucked grafted onto a giant fucking spider. I am pretty sure that we have long passed going up and are instead approaching several thousand feet underground.” Leon slumps in Chris’ hold. “I’m a fucking bioweapon now… and not even the functional kind. What’s the point?”
“Hey,” Chris says sharply, shaking Leon slightly. “You’ve got plenty to live for.”
“Like what?” Leon asks, exhausted.
“Think of all the spider puns you can use now!" Chris offers. It’s stupid but… Leon laughs. It’s a breathy, tired thing. But it’s a laugh. Chris gives a small internal cheer. “Like… we’ve got this webbed up!”
“Oh!” Rebecca chirps, joining in. “Or what about: ‘I’m Spider Man’.”
Leon’s black eyes look up at them. “…Those were fucking terrible.”
“Well, sorry we can’t all come up with witty one-liners,” Chris grumbles. “What, you got something better?”
“Yeah,” Leon mutters. “You two are an itsy-bitsy pain in my ass.”
Chris snorts, it’s an ugly sound and it’s accompanied by a similar sounding bark of surprised laughter from Rebecca. Chris sniffs, trying to play off his reaction as Leon gives him a smug smirk. It’s not much of one, barely a curl of his lip. But just like the laugh, it’s there. Leon is here, alive. Part spider but… eh, nobody’s perfect. And Chris isn’t about to leave his friend to his fate.
…He just might need to start attending some of those ‘get over your phobia’ exposure therapy visits.