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Leon stood off to the side as he watched the FBI agent being treated in the back of the ambulance a few feet away. There were other FBI agents everywhere now, along with some of his fellow DSO co workers. He smiled to himself as he watched the little girl, Emily, crawl into Grace's lap. He was glad to hear how determinded the young woman was in taking in the girl, putting some of his worries at ease. As long as Emily was in Grace's care, he didn't have to worry about the DSO trying to take the girl in and do god knows what to the poor thing. Not that Leon would have let that happen anyway, he wouldn't let another victim become another experiment to another set of scientist.
Leon let out a heavy huff, twisting the band on his finger. "He'll be glad to hear you're okay." he heard Sherry speak in his ear piece, causing Leon to chuckle. "He didn't doubt I'd be okay." he grumbled. He watched the paramedic's leave Grace and Emily and took his chance to walk back over to the two. "Are you two going to be alright? Anything you might need?" he asked Grace, gaining a warm smile from the young woman. "No thank you, Mr. Kennedy. I think we'll be okay now." she said, hugging Emily closer to her.
Leon was going to accept her answer, only to pause as he heard a growing commotion coming from behind him. Emily sat up in Grace's trying to look around the large man, while Grace just raised a brow. "What's going on?" she asked, also trying to look around the large man.
"Leon! Come on! I wanna go home!" a voice suddenly yelled out, causing a warm dopey smile to spread across the man's face. He turned around, just in time to witness a man bundled up in a few layers make his way through the crowds, not letting them stop him as he made his way through the crime scene tape. He was wearing a blue cable knit sweater on, on top of it being a black flannel and green slicker coat. His brown hair, streaked with silver and white, was covered with his black sheep beanie, the colors of the yarn faded slightly from the decades he's had it. He was more plump than when they'd first met, something that made Leon's heart warm, considering how he'd found him with the DSO scientists.
He'd never forget bardging into the lab, having found out they were using a victim of Umbrella from Raccoon City behind his back. When he'd first laid eyes on the poor man, he'd been cured of his infection and had recieved surgeries to mend the mutations, but he looked awful still... He was too skinny to be considered healthy, not to mention that he was in a glass cage like an animal, despite they'd proven already that he had regained his humanity and was a coherant person again. He'd never forgive the bastards, he forced them to release the man, and then did everything in his power to help him recover and assimilate back into society. During that time, they'd grown closer, until instead of helping Bryan find a new place to live, they'd decided it was best to stick together.
The man whipped his head around before his mismatched eyes fell upon him, his heart swelling from the lovestruck look the man gave him. "Leon! Thank god you're okay!" Bryan had yelled, jogging over to Leon before jumping into his awaiting arms.
Leon scooped him up with ease, Bryan's feet dangling a few inches from the ground and his squeezed his husband to his chest. "Of course I'm okay, did you really think I wouldn't make it." he grumbled into Bryan's neck, causing the man to squirm. Bryan just wrapped his arms around his neck and squeezed him back. "Of course not, but I always worry when you're away. Sherry told me she lost contact with you a few times..." Bryan mumbled. Leon let out a small huff, of course Sherry told Bryan she'd lost contact. Of course, the last time that had happened and no one told Bryan, the man had interupted the mission to get Leon himself. Leon decided he had to marry the man as soon as they returned home then and there.
"I'm okay, sweetheart. I always come back, don't I?" he asked, his tone smooth as he gently lowered his short husband back to the ground. "Yeah, but I still can't help but worry." Bryan said, his arms sliding from around his neck so his hands could cup his stuble covered cheeks. "I wish you'd just let me join you, I wouldn't have to worry so much." Bryan said, before leaning forward and kissing him softly.
Leon melted into the kiss, he loved how much his husband worried over him. "I can't let anything happen to you, you've gone through enough. I wont let anyone get their hands on you, not again." he grumbled slighlty, his hands squeezing at Bryan's chubby sides. Bryan just chuckled and kissed him again, freezing when he heard the sound of soft giggles from behind his husband.
"Leon...?" Bryan said softly, pulling away from the kiss and looking into his husbands bright eyes. Leon just squeezed his eyes shut, knowing exactly what was going to come out of Bryan's mouth as soon as he saw. Bryan took a step to the side to peer around his husband, his mismatched eyes landing on the blonde woman and girl sitting in the ambulance behind his husband.
"Oh... oh my gosh..." Bryan said softly, quickly shoving his husband away from him and moving towards the girls. "I'm so sorry for not introducing myself! I'm Bryan Hodukavich-Kennedy, Leon's husband!" he said cheerfully, shaking Grace's hand and earning a giggle from Emily. "Um... Grace Ashcroft, and this is Emily." she said, introducing them both to Leon's somewhat strange husband. "You're Grace...?" Bryan said softly before stepping forward and hugging the girl. "Thank you, thank you for saving my Leon." he said, holding her close, almost squeezing Emily between them. Emily just giggled and wrapped her arms around Bryan's middle and cuddled into his sweater. Grace just blinked in surprise before hugging the man back. "I... you're welcome." she said, leaning her head against his shoulder, finding comfort in how warm the man felt. "Oh shoot, you must be freezing!" Bryan said, pulling away from the hug to shuck off his slicker coat and drapped it around Grace's shoulders, pulling off the flannel after to wrap Emily up in it.
"There we go, those should keep you girls warm until we can get to the car." Bryan said, taking his beanie off and placing it on Emily's head, the girl giggling uncontrollably. Grace's eyes moved to the top of his head, the removal of his hat revealing his roots to be a stark white, he couldn't have been that much older than Leon, right? "I mean, there is almost a decade between us, Grace dear. But trust me, if you were married to a man like him, you'd go grey quick too." Bryan complained, his hand racking through his hair.
Leon let out a huff as he walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Bryan, don't think I didn't hear that comment. They're not coming with us, Grace probably wants to go home." Leon said, resting his chin on Bryan's shoulder. "Oh I'm well aware, Leon. But we're taking her home, we can't leave our precious daughter and granddaughter in the hands of these ruffians!" Bryan declared, causing Grace to squack in surprise. "E-Excuse me!" she yelped, looking between the two men, watching Bryan smile brightly at her while Leon's face burned a bright red.
"Wh-what do you mean daughter and granddaughter?" Grace asked, becoming concerned with Bryan's sanity. "Oh, don't mind me dear, its just a joke... well, mostly. You see, Leon always manages to find young blonde woman that need his help whenever he goes on missions, after the second time I've joked that he's just adopting blondes and the girls are our daughters." Bryan said, chuckling to himself as he watched the tension leave Grace's body.
"First there was Sherry, our little sweetheart he saved in Raccoon City with our friend Claire. Hello Sherry baby, if you can make it I'd love to see you for dinner sweetheart." Bryan said, turning to speak into the ear piece he knew was still in Leon's ear. Leon just smiled as he heard Sherry giggle on the other side of the call. "Please tell pops that of course I'll be coming to dinner, I still need my share of Elpis after all." Leon just grunted as he kissed Bryan's ear. "She's coming." he said simply.
"Then of course, there's Ashley Graham, he saved her way back in Spain. She's such a spitfire, I think you two would get along. She's made such a name for herself in the airforce, I'm so proud of her. I miss her so much, but she comes to visit whenever she can and calls us at least once a week to keep us updated on her life." Bryan gushed, pulling out his phone and pulling out a recent picture he had of the woman, it was at her birthday, she was sat between Bryan and Leon and a few others behind them. Grace smiled at the photo, they seemed like such an unconventional yet beautiful family.
"You'll meet Sherry later at dinner.... that is, if you two want of course. Otherwise we can take you straight home." Bryan said, suddenly becoming shy as he threw out the offer. Grace's cheeks heated up, she didn't actually expect this man to accept her into their family so easily, she figured she'd have to somehow stay in contact with them for awhile before she earned their affections like Sherry and Ashley had.
"Can we go eat with Grandpa Bryan and Leon?" Emily said, accepting this new family with ease. Bryan squealed before shoving Leon's arms off of him and scooping the girl into his arms. He spun her around in an embrace, gushing at her calling him grandpa while she just laughed histarically. Leon sighed as he turned back to Grace, giving her a weak smile. "I'm sorry about him, he's always wanted a big family. He lost his last girlfriend and their baby during Raccoon City... at first he was just using Sherry to cope, but then it just sort of spiraled out of control when I came back with Ashley." he said, shaking his head as he watched Bryan throw Emily up into the air gently and catching her, probably being the first person besides Grace to treat the girl like a child.
"You don't have to feed into his dillusions, of course. But the offer still stands, we can just take you home." he said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. Grace looked away from Leon and watched Bryan play with Emily, seeing her laugh and smile so freely warmed her heart, this was exactly what she wanted for her. She looked between Bryan and Emily then back to Leon for a moment, finally letting a small smile grace her lips. "Actually... I'd love to come over for dinner. I haven't had family dinner... or family anything in a long time." she said, turning to watch Bryan and Emily again.
They'd never replace her mom, of course, but if they weren't willing to accept her and hew daughter into their lives, who was she to refuse. "Ya hear that, hun? They're coming for dinner!" Leon called, chuckling slightly when Bryan caught Emily and then gaped at the two of them. "Really! Yay! You can meet your Aunt Sherry, and we'll play games and you can have all the ice cream you want for dessert!" Bryan said, spinning Emily around again before kissing the girl on the top of her head.
"Come on, you two. Lets get going, I want to meet Sherry there!" Bryan said, holding Emily against his hip before grabbing Grace's hand and leading her to his car. Grace turned back and grabbed Leon's hand, dragging him with her. "You too, Mr. Hodukavich-Kennedy!" she said cheerfully. Leon blinked at her in surprise before smiling like a dope. "Finally, someone gets it right." he grumbled as he followed his family back to the car.
Extra:
Grace smiled contently as she sat on her new dads couch, petting Emily's hair gently. The girl had fallen asleep soon after finishing dinner, the events of the night and a full warm stomach catching up to her. "She can have ice cream for breakfast, you too of course." Byran said softly, leaning against the back of the couch next to Grace, earning a giggle from the young woman. "Ice cream for breakfast? I can't spoil her too quickly now." she said, smiling down at the girl. Bryan leaned his head to the side and he smiled down at the girl.
"She deserves it, I know how it feels to be in a glass cage... as long as she's happy and healthy who cares how you raise her Grace, you'll do a good job regardless." Bryan said before kissing the top of her head and walking away. Grace bit her bottom lip as she turned to watch him walk away, his words filling her with so much love that she couldn't help but tear up.
Sherry sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of Grace, injecting herself with the vial of Elpis Leon had mangaged to save for her. "You'll get used to Bryan, eventually. He has so much love to give, despite what the DSO hoped to turn him into." Sherry said softly, wiping a stray tear from Grace's face before it could tall onto Emily. Grace huffed out a laugh before facing Sherry, Bryan was right she was blonde as well.
"I just glad they they're so willing to accept us into their lives." Grace muttered, craddling Emily's head softly. Shrry smiled warmly at the two before she reached out and ruffled Grace's hair. "Of course they would, you saved both the loves of their lives." she said with a small chuckle. Grace frowned slightly at that, she had technically saved Leon by giving him the Elpis serum, but who else has she saved besides Sherry herself...
"Ouch! Damn you, you bastard!" Grace jumped slighlty, her hand moving to cover Emily's ear -who miraculously hadn't woken up at that shout- as she turned to look behind her. Leon stood in the foyer, holding another syringe containing the Elpis serum to Bryan's neck, the serum dissappearing as Leon pressed down on the plunger. Bryan continued to hiss out insult and cuss words, quieter this time so he wouldn't accidently wake Emily, as Leon pulled the needle from his neck and let it drop to the floor.
Leon cupped Bryan's face, tears welling in his eyes as he watched Bryan's red and black eye slowly turn back to white and hazel. Leon's lip wobbled as color slowly returned to Bryan's skin, his complexion looking more pink and full of life than the same pale palour as Leon's, and some of his white hair growing out into the soft brown. Leon sucked in a sob as he watched life come back to his husband before pulling him into a passionate kiss.
Grace blushed before turning to face Sherry again, who was starring lovingly at the two. "Bryan had to constantly see the scientist at DSO to keep his infection in check. We discovered it about seven years ago that they had never actually cured him fully, so his mutations were slowly coming back... the Elpis serum is curing him like it did Leon and me." Sherry said, wiping the tears that had built in her eyes as well. "As far as Leon knew, Bryan could die at any second."
Grace turned to look at the couple again, still locked in an embrace. Her lip wobbled slightly when they finally pulled away from each other, only for Leon to walk over to the couch and kiss the top of her head. "Thank you Grace." he said against her scalp. She let out a teary laugh, smiling between the three in the room. "Thank you too, all of you."