Chapter Text
Wesker had tightened the uroborus around his neck, leaving him entirely breathless, until sparks of light started to surround him. He had been seconds away from being swallowed whole by it when the parasitic worms let up their grip, and he again found himself gulping down air on the floor.
Wesker hadn’t choked him out to unconsciousness, which made things a lot more difficult for the both of them. And Leon did everything short of biting in his attempts of getting away, and the only reason he didn't do that was because he feared it would spread all those viruses inside Wesker to him- but thinking about it now with Wesker’s durability he doubts he could hope to break his skin with his teeth alone.
His struggles only served to leave him more bruised in the end and he seriously regretted his decision to fight back when Wesker ripped a fucking metal beam out of the wall. Leon had been certain his spine was next when Wesker bent the thing like it was tinfoil, and not the steel that it was. Despite what Wesker’s intentions were, kidnapping him to become a minion or whatever, Leon had finally pushed him to losing control. But not so, because Wesker just wrapped it around Leon’s body as easily as tying a ribbon. After that, all and all, Wesker didn’t seem too mad, which Leon took as a bad omen, because he had been growling and baring his teeth before and now he was as cold as stone, even when he smiled it was arctic.
Having a steel beam tied around him put an end to his escape attempts but he still yelled his heart out, and to be fair Wesker had warned him several times before he tied a cloth around his mouth to shut him up. He regretted that too, the instant the cotton fabric slid onto his tongue, soaking up the moisture in his mouth he felt like a complete idiot for even trying to get away.
So that’s about where he was at now. All that had happened hours ago, he’s not entirely sure how many, he may have dozed off a few times, all he knows is that they’ve been driving for nearly 5 hours and this is their 2nd car.
Leon spent most of that time shooting Wesker dirty looks or staring out the window in search of some indicator of where they were going, or maybe he was just hoping a friendly Helicopter would appear, coming to his rescue- wouldn’t be the first time.
It was lots of forests and empty fields, broken up by the occasional sign or gas station. As they went Leon grew only more and more certain that they were going to the middle of nowhere.
Leon scowled, again, at Wesker when he hit another pothole, again, which caused the sharp edge of the iron beam to threaten to cut into his skin, again.
“Comfortable?” Wesker didn’t move his head but Leon saw the flash of vibrant red in the corner of his eye, unfiltered by the dark shades. “Too cold?” Wesker taunted, he reached a hand over to fiddle with the vent that had been blowing freezing air at him. Apparently the tyrant prefers it cold, unless Wesker is just trying to make Leon as physically uncomfortable as possible.
He was cold, not that he could voice it. He just narrowed his eyes at the other and in turn Wesker pretended not to notice, unwilling to give Leon that shred of obstinance. But Leon saw the subtle pursing of his lips as he hid a smile. Wesker was angry. This is the most degraded he has felt from the other and that isn’t coincidental. Wesker has had him when he was tied down and vulnerable before but there were always extenuating circumstances at play. This is the first time Wesker has actively, purposefully and continuously left him in discomfort. Which really should be what he expects from him. It seems Wesker really was playing nice earlier, and now he was just being met with cold indifference or sadistic pleasure every time he couldn't suppress a squirm or hiss of pain.
”You’ve been up for hours, Agent Kennedy. You should sleep. We have quite a ways ahead of us yet.” Wesker’s tone was light and teasing, but there was that glacial undercurrent that told Leon it wasn’t really a suggestion.
The sun had long since disappeared past the horizon and the only lights were the beams of the car, revealing nothing but a paved road before them. Leon doesn’t suspect he will be getting any more valuable information about their location until the light of day.
Leon was exhausted, his eyelids were heavy and he could glance how tired he looked in the reflection of the passenger side window, and unfortunately the initial adrenaline of being restrained and kidnapped had long since worn off a few hours into this dumb driving. It was the sting of metal, his overall discomfort and stubborn-will keeping him from sleep, he had spent enough time trying to get any kind of comfortable, leaning his cheek against the window had proven to be alright since it didn’t put anymore pressure on his bindings but Wesker was sure to hit plenty of potholes that would crack his teeth or forehead against the glass. But since He didn’t want to sleep anyway, he could almost be grateful for all the things jabbing at him, although it undeniably made him grow increasingly irritable and dimwitted.
A hand pressed against his chest and forced him back into his seat, a small grunt escaped him as the metal scraped his back. It got worse each time, more raw and a little deeper, but he didn’t think he was bleeding yet.
“Rest.” Wesker commanded
Leon twisted his body to get Wesker’s hand off him and it did relent after he let out a frustrated growl that sounded more animal than human. That finally got Wesker to really look at him for the first time in probably hours. Leon made sure to meet his gaze with a glare when Wesker’s eyes swept over him. They stared each other in the face for a moment, or Leon assumed that’s where he was looking but of course it was impossible to tell. Who the fuck wears sunglasses at night anyway?
”what?” He hissed like Leon was being needy.
Wesker must be tired too, he probably has been up longer than himself and Leon must be nearing hour 24 of no sleep. Not at all close to his record, but it was more draining than he remembered, perhaps because he hasn’t gotten a full night's rest for weeks now. But did Wesker even need sleep? He was a self proclaimed god so he’d think not but what did he know.
Leon’s expression dropped to unimpressed disdain, because he obviously couldn’t answer.
”Will you behave yourself?” Wesker asked and Leon just kept his flat look and the tyrant shook his head in disapproval, but he hooked his pointer finger into the cloth gag and yanked it until the knot gave enough slack to pull it down under his chin and Leon could finally close his mouth and swallow down the weird amalgamation of excess drool around his papery dry tongue.
“Well?”
Leon kept his mouth defiantly closed.
”I see. So I can assume you were whining for no reason then.”
He said nothing. It felt useless to ask questions and he was honestly pissed.
“If you have nothing to say I can put the gag back on.” Wesker threatened and Leon just ground his teeth together.
“Have I finally silenced you?” Wesker reached a hand to Leon’s face, rubbing the drool from his chin, and pressing two fingers lightly into his cheek to rub away the soreness of the gag.
Yeah, he didn’t get to do that after being the cause of it, Leon lurched forward and snapped his jaws at the offending appendages. He really did try to bite them, he didn’t care if it turned him into a zombie, his teeth clacked loudly when Wesker retreated instantly.
“This is why I had to gag you. If you had cooperated it wouldn’t have come to this.” Wesker swatted at the side of his head, it didn’t even hurt, barely grazed his scalp and only really tussled his hair and Leon responded by trying to bite him again.
“Fine then.” And Wesker was suddenly veering into the grass laying on the side of the road. Leon’s heart stuttered as they came to an abrupt stop that had him rocking forward from inertia. The tires crunched against the gravel fragments of the road as they parked halfway off the pavement. Wesker left the keys in the ignition as he got out and walked around to the passenger side door and opened it to get to Leon.
His heart was hammering against his chest as he shift back in his seat, his body leaning into the console as he distanced himself from the other, but he kept his eyes on Wesker, he hoped his expression looked as defiant and angry as he felt. He was both terrified and unafraid because at this point he wanted Wesker to choke him out and maybe then he’d get some rest. The tyrant sure looked about ready to.
Leon flinched when Wesker reach for his face, he grabbed him by the hair, pulling Leon out of the seat and onto his stiff legs, heavy from stagnation and fatigue. Wesker was not gentle, his grip threatened to pull the locks from his head and Leon’s eyes involuntarily welled at the strain.
“Look.” Wesker commanded, jerking Leon’s head slightly.
Leon cracked open his eyes, trying to blink away the tears. There was nothing to look at in the dark save the night sky and the dim shapes of pine trees.
“The DSO isn’t here. Your friends aren’t here. Your defiance is nothing but tiresome and performative now.”
“Go to hell.” The first thing he said. His voice was ragged and groggy but held some bite.
Wesker tugged his hair again, hard.
Leon let out a hiss.
“I should throw you in the trunk…”
“Yeah, what’s stopping you?”
“I avoided knocking you out to spare your brain more damage, and this is the thanks I get. You aren’t thinking rationally, Agent Kennedy. You are past exhausted, hungry, and dehrydrated, and I worry of your chances of surviving this night if you keep up this pathetic act of yours.”
Leon swallowed dryly “yeah well whose fucking fault is that?”
Wesker yanked him again. “Enough. You will behave yourself or I will make you regret it.”
“I-“
“Quiet.” Wesker let go of his hair and kicked the back of his knee and he crumbled to the ground in an instant. “You are the one insistenting on making this difficult.”
Leon’s breath was coming quickly and he was starting to panic, sitting on his knees like this. He felt like Wesker was about to shoot him or cut his head from his shoulders with the slice of a hand.
“I’m giving you a choice.”
Hands grasped Leon’s shoulders, thumbs dug into his trapezoid muscles, poking into his pressure points as they started making small bruising circles like they were trying to carve a hole into his flesh. He held his breath to keep any noises inside.
“You know what I think? I think you want to behave. Certainly you want to get some sleep. It’s that bullheadedness sense of what-? Justice? Morality? Duty? That keeps you fighting me every step of the way. Shut it down, Kennedy. It won’t help you or anyone else tonight.”
“You don’t exactly make it easy for me- talking like that. I feel like I’m about to be executed here, psycho.”
“So the trunk then?”
The sharp gravel was pressing into his knees through the fabric of his pants. He saw the darkness of the trees looming a few feet from them and the sky was full of many stars that shone brightly between the gaps of clouds that made the night feel so haunting. You don’t get stars like that in civilization. They were out deep in the wilderness, they were already nowhere.
“Ok, you win.” Leon conceded. Truthfully it might not hurt to build some kind of rapport with Wesker, or that’s what he had to tell himself or he really would die out here like this. It could save him a lot of trouble atleast. “-For tonight.” He couldn’t help but tack on.
“Good. Hold still.” Wesker didn’t give him the opportunity to move as the piercing noise of heavy metal snapping interrupted the soft chirping of crickets.
And then the beam that had been holding his hands to his sides for hours fell off him in two pieces of nearly equal length. Each end was bent slightly where Wesker had broken it. Leon imagined the ends might be hot to the touch. He didn’t know how he did it so fast and with such precision, and he can’t help but think about minutes early when Wesker had wacked him. His fist could’ve gone through his head if he had wanted it to. Wesker must have great control over his strength. Why did that make him burn? Why did he have to know that Wesker was always holding back, always…gentle with him? That wasn’t the right word…but he could be dead a hundred times over by now. Maybe that’s the only reason Chris is alive. Wesker likes playing with his food.
“Ow” Leon grumbled as he rubbed his arms, stretching them out slowly, his bones cracked when he pulled them over his head. It felt good to finally get the blood flowing in them again. He massaged the area where the metal had cut indents into his flesh as he rose to his feet. Wesker had drifted off back to the black car, Leon heard the opening of one of the doors and looked behind himself to see Wesker had the passenger side door swung open and was standing behind it with a hand on the handle like he was a vallet or something, but the message was clear and it wasn’t a courteous act.
Wesker was fixed on him, and Leon, despite everything, was still half tempted to make a beeline for the woods, but that would be purposeless and it would likely end with him in the trunk. So he complied, slowly, and made his way over to the passenger seat.
“Today, Leon.”
“You’re a real gentleman.” He climbed in with some effort of his tired stiff limbs, pulling the seatbelt down over himself. He expected Wesker to close his door and take his place in the driver's seat but instead he walked around the door so he was standing directly next to him, boxing him in.
“I don’t want to hear another word from you until morning. Understand?”
“Can I atleast ask-“
“No.” Then Wesker stepped back and slammed the door.
“Ok, jeez.” Leon muttered to himself in the fleeting solitude as Wesker walked around the car to the other side.
It occurred to Leon then that he could’ve tried scooching over to the drivers side and flooring it out of there. That might’ve worked, surely Wesker can’t keep up with a car forever, and running him over is sure to slow him down- if It doesn’t total the car. But then again- it was probably a bad idea, and the opportunity to do so quickly passed anyway when Wesker got in behind the steering wheel.
Leon watched him warily as he pulled the clutch into drive and they started again on the dark road to somewhere awful. He wanted to say something, he had a lot on his mind, a lot of shitty one liners that were left unsaid thanks to the gag, but they helped him with the stress, so he’d been without that for the whole duration of the kidnapping. But one glance at Wesker told him he had really meant what he said about shutting the fuck up, because Wesker wasn’t looking at him again. So Leon did them both a favor and obeyed for once, he leaned back in his seat, and pulled the lever that tilted the chair back so he could be somewhat horizontal as he turned on his side, back intentionally towards his chauffeur. He crossed his arms over his chest to try and maintain some warmth. He doesn’t know how Wesker can stand having the AC blasting like this, or maybe it was just part of Leon’s punishment. He shuffled slightly as he got comfortable.
It was shamefully easy to fall into the darkness. He can hardly keep it out of his mind that he feels safe with Wesker, relatively safe. He doesn’t think he could fall asleep next to someone like Saddler no matter what- or short of being knocked unconscious but Wesker isn’t unstable like that guy was. He’s something else entirely…Plus Leon’s so tired, if he wasn’t mentally spent he’d probably be thinking rationally enough to force himself to stay awake but he couldn’t anymore. Being free from the bindings brought him ease enough to sink into slumber.
—-
He awoke with the orange light of the rising sun. It shone into his eyes as it flickered between the trees, just above the horizon. Leon groaned and rubbed his eyes before remembering where he was and jolting upright. He checked his left and Wesker remained unchanged, like a statue, just as he was late last night. Guess he doesn’t need sleep, or maybe he really does because he has the steering wheel in a death grip and Leon can gleam the bags under his eyes, so he’s likely fronting. Which is good and bad. Good because maybe Wesker is too tired to keep Leon under his control And Bad because this is untread territory. Leon has never seen Wesker not confident and cool, the only time he saw cracks in his effigy is when he had a gun to his own head-
That could actually be what Wesker had been mad about. Not that he tried escaping- that he tried to kill himself.
Leon leaned back in his seat and he looked Wesker up and down without trying to hide it and Wesker for his part still didn’t pay him a sliver of attention. Technically it was morning, just barely, so he should be allowed to talk now according to Wesker.
“Good morning.” Leon tried and Wesker let out a gruff breath. He relaxed a little. It was definitely more in the vein of an exhausted sound than an angry one, although neither were particularly good to hear from your driver.
“How long have you been awake?”
“Go back to sleep.”
Leon shifted back in his seat, sitting more upright. “We're lucky I got any to begin with. I don’t sleep well when I’m in imminent danger.”
“You’re in no danger, Kennedy. That should be obvious to you.” Wesker snarled.
Leon frowned at his sour mood. “I don’t think anyone in your presence has ever not been in imminent danger.”
“I’m not in the mood for your banter. It would do you well to be quiet.”
“You’ve been driving for over-” he checked the clock on the dashboard. “ten hours, and usually I’d offer to take the wheel but-…I mean on account of being held against my will and everything, plus I just have no idea where we are going.”
“We’re not much further.”
“How much further?”
“That’s of no concern to you.”
“Sounds far.”
“I’m sure you would love it if we stopped.”
“Seriously though.“
“Kennedy.” Wesker snapped in that stern tone he often heard from his superior officers.
“Ok, sorry. I’ll just…” Leon rolled onto his side, this time facing Wesker. Some sleep gave him a crumb more of clarity. It was true that Wesker wasn’t gonna hurt him…not right now. Certainly later if push comes to shove…and it will. It always does. But maybe escape wasn’t his best move. Not when he didn’t know where he was or where he was going.
The DSO would just keep sending him back to the tyrant. This was becoming a problem he couldn’t run from.
—
He dreamt of nothing for once just empty black, no haunting visions of the past but he still jumped when he felt an arm around his back and he groaned in irritation about getting woken up. He was barely able to register that he needed to keep on his toes, and he shoved a hand at Wesker’s chest to get him away. The tyrant went.
“So you are awake”
“The hell-?” Leon rubbed his eyes. There was no adrenaline spike helping to wake him up, he was out, he was empty. “Fuck” he commented when the sluggishness didn’t fade.
“There’s a bed for you inside. Do you need me to carry you?”
Leon had enough of his wits to glare at the other. “-Where the hell are we?”
“Come along if you can stand.” Wesker backed up from the car, waiting with his hands tucked into his black coat.
Leon took a second to get his bearings, he realized he was unbuckled in the passenger seat, and it clicked that Wesker had tried to carry him moments ago. His legs felt heavy as he slid onto them. If he was being honest he could probably fall asleep in the dirt right now.
He took in the landscape around them, a green plain with sparse trees. The car was parked on a dirt road that was in the process of being reclaimed by the grass.
“Where the hell are we?” Leon said again at the empty field.
“Over here. Follow.” Wesker supplied and walked a few feet away where he crouched and swiped a hand through the loose dirt.
Leon walked over to him in confusion, he flinched when the sound of metal caught him off guard.
Wesker wrenched the trap door open, it sounded heavy as it swung out and collided with the hard ground like a gong. It was square in shape and about the size of a sewage cover and inside was a ladder leading down into an ominous darkness. Great.
Wesker took a step back from the entrance and looked to Leon. “You first.”
“Really?”
“It’s not far down.”
Leon looked skeptically at the opening, it was too dark or too deep to see the bottom- if there was a bottom. What are the chances this is a wishing well and Leon is Wesker’s Lucky coin.
“I can carry you down if needed.” It was an offer as much as it was a threat.
Leon honestly considered it, because he was still exhausted and he wasn’t currently confident enough in his coordination to descend a creepy ladder in complete darkness, a ladder that was old and rusty and waiting to fall apart the second some unfortunate idiot decided to use it.
“Easy way or hard way.” Wesker’s tone was pointed and impatient, mistaking his apprehension for disobedience.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t remind me.” Leon scoffed as he crouched, slipping a foot onto one of the lower rungs that he could, he slowly applied his weight and it creaked but didn’t give. He descended with similar caution until he was about waist deep. He looked up at Wesker who was fixated on him. “If you close this thing on my face I’m gonna freak the fuck out.” After the whole bombing incident he was left with a fear of cramped dark places- something he didn’t realize he picked up until just now while he was descending into one. That’s just great, add it to the list of new phobias Wesker installed into him. He'll never have a restful night's sleep again.
“I’ll be right behind you. Don’t worry.”
For some reason Leon believed him and for some reason it comforted him too. It shouldn’t, but these were the circumstances and he’d rather die by Wesker’s hand then alone in the pitch black. Leon lowered himself down further, stopping when he was in deep enough where Wesker could close the hatch on him, and looked up to see the tyrant standing at the edge watching him still like the fucking vulture he was. Wesker raised an eyebrow at him and made no move to plunge him into darkness. Leon apprehensively continued his descent, which didn’t last long, his foot hit solid ground much sooner than he expected, and he hopped off the ladder. It really wasn’t deep at all, he could’ve jumped down normally, if he had known. He stepped away so Wesker could join him.
The tyrant slung his foot down on a lower wrung and then there was a bang and then there was darkness.
Leon's breath quickened, his first thought was that a gun went off and his panic wasn’t quelled by his lack of visuals. He felt a woosh followed by the sound of Wesker’s boots hitting the ground and he jumped when he felt a hand gripping his arm. “Fuck-” he said startled, instinctively reaching for the gun on his belt- which of course wasn’t there.
A second later dim lights flickered on, clearly a few bulbs needed to be replaced, It lit the small concrete gray room, like a prison, and it smelled old like dust and fermented earth. There was nothing but the ladder leading up on one side and a large metal door on the other that resembled an elevator. An umbrella logo was printed on it. Not shocking- but still jarring. The paint was chipped and crumbling from water damage.
There's a place to input a code by the door, and Wesker approaches it and types in something he couldn't see since the tyrant purposefully blocked his view. There's a small beep of affirmation, the door begins to slide open, and then gets stuck on something, probably a loose screw given the age of the place. Wesker slams the door the rest of the way open with an impatient grumble, the metal on metal scraping produces a horrible grinding sound, and Leon suspects it is broken now if it wasn’t before.
The area behind the door is much more inviting, and likely decades old, with little signs of human activity. It's very similar to the umbrella facility he explored under raccoon city but more dated if the old computer on the reception desk is any indication. It’s creepy for sure but leagues better than a small dark concert room and well within his ballpark of disturbing. Leon's just happy the door wasn't an elevator after all, he's had enough of underground facilities, but he has a feeling this place goes down pretty far too so he's not about to get his hopes up too high.
Wesker leads him down hallways like he knows the place by heart, but every corridor looks the same. “I remember being promised a bed?” Leon comments when they turn into yet another copy and paste hall.
Wesker hums, “We’re almost there.” They turn a few more corners and come to a door that is much bigger and much studier. Most of the others were what you’d find in a secure office building, made of glass, with reinforced metal trimmings and card scanners to keep out rogue interns. This door was steel, with bolts and a giant metal beam barricade that could be slid down in front of it.
“I guess its too much to hope for, for a room with a window.”
“We’re underground did you want a view of some dirt?”
“You have no idea how sick I am at looking at all this clinical brutalist garbage.”
“There’s a certain elegance to it, no?”
“I didn’t become a field agent to work in a place like this.”
“Well, you're not working for me, are you?” Wesker imputed another code into the key pad and the door slid open on its own after a moment.
Based on the door at the entrance he’d be worried about it getting stuck and trapping them both down here if not for how confident Leon is in Wesker’s ability to crush titanium. Leon followed Wesker into the new hallway and once he stepped inside he realized what this was, holding cells, of a sort. Not for criminals but for test subjects. On either side of the corridor was a string of rooms identical to each other, separated and carved out into concrete, but instead of bars like what you’d find in a precinct it was reinforced glass, perfect for observation. Each room held only the bare bones of survival, a toilet, a sink, a mattress that was stuck to the wall, hovering over the floor. Technically it was a bed but Leon thinks what they had in the hospital were probably of better quality.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“Do I ever kid?”
“I think after this is over I’m gonna retire and become a landscaper, maybe a forest ranger.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, Kennedy.”
“Yeah me neither.” Leon muttered sounding defeated and sardonic.
Wesker grinned at him and opened one of the cells, holding it open with all the courtesy he had when he did the same to the car door.
This would be his last chance to run if he was going to run. Except not really because he can’t say he ever had a chance to run in the first place.
“Ok, bring it on then, fucker.” Leon said and walked inside.
“Hmm.” Wesker seems to have been taken back by his lack of resistance, and Leon doesn’t want to think about it. “You look dead on your feet. I’ll come check on you later.”
“And then what? Brunch?”
“I believe we have much to discuss, don't you?” Wesker closes the door and Leon can hear it lock into place.
Well that could mean anything, but most likely it will be brainwashing and torture. If he can’t have a window, could he at least get some food. Leon still hasn't eaten. Wesker only had provided him with water on the roadtrip here. Did Wesker forget that humans still need to eat? Leon was too tired to care, he'd be useless to himself and to the world until he gets at least 5 hours of sleep.
“Do I get a bedtime story, atleast?”
“Goodnight, Leon. Don’t do anything stupid.” he points at something in the corner of Leon’s new room, a camera. It looks functional, there's a small red light on it and it moves to follow him when leon takes a step close to get a better look of it. Just when he thought he might finally get an ounce of privacy…this has been a particularly bad few weeks for him. He thinks he's achieved a new record of consecutive bad days in a row. Wesker turns away and begins to leave.
“H-hey!” He stammers out walking up to the glass.
The man stops but doesn’t spin back around.
“Just…do me a favor and leave the lights on?” It’s so childish it could be mistaken for another one of his quips, and maybe that’d be for the best.
“The hallway lights stay on.” Wesker says it like he’s informing, like it’s not optional, part of protocol. Probably is. And then the tyrant is gone.
Leon lays down on the bed provided, it smells like old clothes and the blankets are thin, but he's used to all that by now, he’s out within minutes, whatever fight or flight facilities that were keeping his motor functions going officially shut down the moment he pulled the stiff starchy covers over himself.
It was a deep sleep, his brain too exhausted to even dream. Which was his only win of the day, he can’t recall the last time he had a good dream.
—
Leon was woken and actually stayed awake when the hunger pangs became too hard to ignore, he didn’t know the time but he felt pretty well rested so a solid 6 hours at his guess. He sat up in the bed, which had proved to be slightly more comfortable than cardboard. He tried and failed to resist the urge to drink out of the rusting faucet from the sink provided. He can’t imagine the kind of contaminants that might be in the water, but it just has a metallic taste like water from a hose, nothing bitter or sinister that he can tell. He chooses to believe Wesker isn't dumb enough to leave a dehydrated person alone in a cell with poisonous water- that would be a rather anticlimactic end to this, and an end Leon unfortunately isn’t all that opposed to.
“So is your plan for me to starve to death?’ He asked the camera in the corner after he gulped down the very questionable water.
The camera twitched and he heard a buzz as the lens readjusted its focus, like it had heard him. He guessed Wesker was watching but the audio and video quality on an ancient camera like that must be dogshit.
Leon didn’t wait for Wesker to show up. He started messing around his cage, he tested the glass with a few good kicks and ended up with a bruised foot, there was no give or scratch left behind. Same with the locked door, same with the concrete walls, go figure. He had been hoping for something to be faulty with age, like the entrance door, but the only indications of it here were some rust and stale air. He was in the middle of seeing if he couldn’t dismantle a part of his metal sink to use for hitting, when Wesker appeared silently behind the wall of glass. Leon had just caught sight of the dark figure out of the corner of his eye and whipped around.
“Jesus” Leon swore, had no idea how long the other had been standing there.
“Good morning, Kennedy. You never sit still long do you? Already plotting your escape?” Leon took notice of the tray he was holding, he looked entirely ridiculous with it. There were brown packages of what he assumed to be food. Looks like ancient MRE meals.
“So you remembered humans need to eat.”
“I didn’t forget. It just wasn’t a priority. I provided you with adequate water.” Wesker slid open the door, holding the tray with one hand and gesturing to the bed with it. “Sit.” He said, the door still open behind him. A test. A taunt.
Leon’s stomach growled and he imagined no future where running at the door with Wesker fully blocking it would end well. He prowled over to the bed, not turning his back toward the other and sat down. Wesker seemed pleased with this and walked over to him in no hurry before offering the tray to him with an outstretched hand which Leon took, ripping the tray from the other indignantly.
Leon tore one of the packages open revealing stale crackers. In another he found what he thinks is a cinnamon roll that is very much falling apart, and lastly some kind of jerky. He frowned at the food. It’s not as though he was unused to military grade rations but this stuff must be bordering on expired if not already. “I think I’d kill for a cheeseburger.”
Wesker scoffed. “The food provided is much healthier.”
“Yeah sure, if I don't get food poisoning.” Like a deceased cinnamon roll is better than a Fast food burger.
“It’s old.” Wesker concedes, “but there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Leon picks up a piece of jerky, twisting it in his fingers before bringing it up to his nose to smell. He can’t sense anything wrong with it and bites into it begrudgingly. It’s chewier and blander than it ought to be but he makes quick work of it, and all the others.
“If I hadn’t been gagged I would’ve mentioned how awful of a plan this is.” Leon said between a mouthful of crumbly cracker, he might as well be eating flour. “Like, even for you this doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
“Oh? Well don’t keep me guessing.”
“I still have no idea why you’d single me out, because there’s no fucking way in hell I’m ever gonna do whatever the fuck it is you want me to do.”
“Is that all? We have nothing but time, my dear.”
Leon slid the tray off him so he could rise, set off by the pet name. “You want to turn me into something like you?! You think I’m gonna join you because you offer me some sick version of “godhood”? If you make me into some worm infested cockroach like yourself I’m gonna be nothing but a much bigger problem for you!”
He was expecting to get punched for his words but Wesker just tilted at him a smirk plastered on his lips. “I think you will view things differently after you are reborn, and I have every confidence your power would not exceed mine even if you continue to struggle. But you needn't worry yourself just yet, the time isn’t right for your transubstantiation.”
“Do you realize how *fucking* crazy you sound?!”
“I’m within my right mind, Kennedy. I promise I’ll take proper care of you. We went through quite an arduous journey keeping you all in one piece, didn't we? and I'm not about to waste that effort by evolving an adversary. You will come to understand.” Wesker placed a hand on Leon’s hip. “It is good to see the fight still within you. You haven’t been broken yet. Perhaps it is misfortune for us both that you are one of the few worthy of me.” Wesker moved in closer, leaning his head in towards his face
Leon shifted back, turning away from the other and his expression a mix of anger and disgust. He had to leverage an elbow against the wall to keep himself from falling onto the bed behind him. Wesker stopped an few inches short of touching and fucking smelled him. Leon punched him across the face, well he tried to, Wesker caught his fist in one hand and then took a step back, taking Leon with him so they were both standing straight again, Leon's heart was racing.
“You reek.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t find the time to shower in between all the kidnapping.”
“We have shower facilities down the hall. Changes of clean clothes as well.”
“Let me guess, cold water and prisoner scrubs?”
“You may have noticed this facility isn't being run up to code; many of its usual amenities are not functional. You will need to change into something while what you are currently wearing is being washed.”
“Are you saying you'll give me my clothes back?” Leon can hardly keep up with his own situation. Wesker has been a very strange blend of courtesy and cruelty and Leon doesn't know how to fit him into any particular box. His head just keeps on spinning.
“I do not care what you are wearing. It makes little difference.”
Leon eyed him skeptically and then sat back down on the bed. A moment of quiet passed, Wesker unmoving and Leon uncertain. “So at what point is this gonna turn into a torture session?”
Wesker let out a small chuckle. “I make no promises, but I have no plans to torture you.”
“You can’t keep me here.” Leon shook his head. “They are gonna come.”
“Still in denial? The DSO never cared about you. They won’t come for you until I’m done with you.”
“I’m not in denial!” Leon snapped, “I never had any delusions about being the DSO’s friend. I was always just a bargaining chip, an expendable. I know that..but most of my friends were never with the DSO.”
“Are these the same friends that visited you in the hospital? I wouldn't concern yourself too much with them…They were once my friends too, you know. They won't reach you, not before I reach them.” Wesker promised and lifted his hand under Leon’s chin, his fingers barely touching his jaw. “I’ll be your only friend now. Until the new world. Best you get comfortable here, Kennedy.”
“If not for me, they will come for you, and I’m just fine with that.” He clenched his teeth.
“And what can they do to me that they haven’t already tried?”
Leon felt them both, trapped between a rock and a hard place. No way forwards, no way back, no way through, no way over. No way out.
“So what now?” He asked, desperately.
“We wait, and then Genesis.”
—
Leon was permitted to roam during the day to his own surprise. Wesker didn’t shut or lock his door after his first night. The other's hubris was as irritating as it was terrifying. Wesker’s undying confidence in himself was something to behold and it made Leon feel like a grub under his boot.
He found out why Wesker was so comfortable letting him wander about.
The facility was like a maze, and he felt the size of an ant. Most sections were closed off to him and so were most rooms, he couldn't even enter the other prisons cells, just his own, and the showers and the pantry and some liminally creepy old hallways that just lead to more hallways or in circles. So far no windows, and the closest thing he’s found to another living being is a very withered houseplant.
Every few yards there was a camera following his movement…yes, even in the showers, although a curtain could be pulled across the shower stall to give Leon the only fleeting instance of true privacy he ever got.
He’s ashamed to admit he has no idea which way leads to the exit, the one they came in through anyway. He hopes there are more but this whole place was built decades ago and obviously didn't follow typical safety regulations given it was a secret Umbrella facility so who knows if there's a fire exit anywhere, he sure hasn’t seen any sign of one.
He also has no clue where Wesker goes to hide. Probably in the security office where all the video feed is, a room which he has to assume exists.
Which if it does is no doubt locked behind one of the many, many, many doors, but really he could be anywhere. Leon's not even sure if they are alone here. There's a strange level of upkeeping to this place that would hint that they aren’t but whose to say anymore, maybe Wesker is the one doing the dusting.
Leon was making his rounds of the place, checking doorknobs and vents, when he tugged on a handle and found it open, the door creaked as it swung outward revealing a new but familiar sight. He was taken back to that town in Spain to that lab, to the freezing cold and giant test tubes with those horrible creatures inside, relentless beasts that were damn near invulnerable. Regenerators, but these weren’t those. The design was different but Leon can’t imagine they were far off in function.
There were about a dozen tubes, scaling floor to ceiling, wide enough to comfortably fit some 7ish foot tall humanoid abomination in a translucent green liquid. And Leon is no scientist but the fluid looks like it’s gone bad as it grows brown around the edges and there’s a foot of empty air a little above each monsters’ head with the glass there coated in grime that lets Leon know it was at one point filled up to the top and that whatever the substance was has had a lot of time to sit and evaporate.
Its heart could be seen merging into its chest, he could be thankful that it wasn’t beating. The organ was the size of a human head. Gray skin broken up by the raw crimson hues of veins and boils. It might have once been a human being, it held the same shape, but hairless and lipless, teeth free to meet the light like a skull, and its hands grew into razors at each fingertip.
It appeared to be dead, it was muted in color, drained of saturation like a wet specimen that has been sitting in an acetone jar for too long, left to decay and mummify. Leon cautiously stepped towards the tube that was nearest to him.
“Careful now.”
Leon startled and whipped around to face the voice. Wesker was in his black suit, as always, did he wear anything else? His hands in his pockets, sunglasses in place. They stared at each other for a moment before Wesker strode closer, Leon stepped back but the other just continued past him, until he stood not a foot away from the tube that held the creature.
“Beautiful, aren't they? Although, rather primitive indeed. Yet still, they pioneered the way, even if these ones were failures.”
“Not exactly what I’d call beautiful but whatever floats your boat I guess.”
“Do you even know what it is you are looking at? Perhaps you aren’t seeing what’s really before you.” Wesker's tone was snippy.
“And perhaps you're just out of your mind. I don’t get it, Wesker….I mean, come on, what the hell is your endgame here?”
“I do loathe repeating myself, Kennedy.”
Leon looked between the monster and the tyrant. “Yeah, I know, you want your new world, genesis, whatever you want to call it, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. Why the hell do you even want a new world? You already got what you wanted, haven't you? As far as everyone is concerned you’re immortal, with super human powers and everything. If I were you I’d rob a bank and then live out the rest of forever somewhere nice and tropical. Not on the lam, hiding in a creepy underground laboratory with a bunch of stinking mutant carcasses.”
Wesker scoffed, “Is that your advice? Quit while I’m ahead?”
“*Yes*, why not? You know how this ended last time, but if you stop-”
“You’re right. You don’t understand.”
“I-if you just stop this no one would be able to go after you.” Leon knew he had a better chance of convincing a crocodile to be vegan than to convince Wesker not to end the whole fucking world but when did he let terrible odds stop him.
“The DSO doesn’t want to deal with you. Not if they don’t have to. No one does. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that.”
“You flatter me.”
“You already have your godhood, why would you want to share that? What kind of world will that be if everyone else is just like you? How did you imagine that going?!”
“You think I’m evil, don't you?"
Leon faltered. “What the hell kind of question is that?’
Wesker shrugged his shoulders. “Tell me. After everything you've seen do you still believe there is such a thing?” Wesker didn’t sound offended, just curious, like a scientist, like a philosopher.
It’s not the kind of question Leon had an answer to. It’s not the kind of thing he thinks about, slinging that kind of judgement around, condemning people to a single idea. Evil. There is right and there is wrong, but to call someone evil? Luis worked for Umbrella, he helped create a mind controlling parasite that ended with hundreds, maybe thousands of casualties, and yet he died for two foreigners he barely even knew because he wanted to be better. Krauser had once been a good man, he taught Leon most of what he knew and Leon would be dead without that. Then the DSO screwed him and his men, and he went hard off the deep end into megalomania, and ended up falling for all the shit Wesker is peddling. Ada. Ada who always seems to fight for whatever side is opposing Leon. Ada who lies, and steals, and gives Umbrella whatever they want if the price is right. Ada who saved his life more times than he can count, who can’t pull the trigger on him even if it means getting stiffed and even if it means death.
What does he know of evil? So often he’s felt surrounded by it, yet it remains so intangible. The corpses, the rubble, that man and his daughter. The stench of the infected. Raccoon City. What happened to Raccoon City was evil, and senseless. All those deaths and for what? The whole place got leveled, and whose fault was it? Wesker had played his role in it. If it wasn’t for people like him it never would have happened to begin with.
“What happened in Raccoon City?” Leon found himself asking, his gaze shot to the ground. He's surprised at himself for bringing it up. It’s not something he likes to talk about but he always feels it creeping behind him like a ghost, like the hands of the undead. Just uttering the name is enough to create a twisting ball of guilt in the pit of his stomach.
Wesker turned to face him, his eyebrows raised. “Ah…” There was something like regret in his voice.
Emotion surged through him. Leon’s heart was pounding again, and he had to bite his lip to keep it from quivering as he waits in the thick silence for Wesker’s reply, and Leon knows he shouldn’t have brought it up because he just handed the other man his weakest point, and he feels as vulnerable as someone in the middle of open heart surgery. In his periphery he sees Wesker taking off his sunglasses and observing him with those hellfire reptilian eyes. His expression is unreadable, but there is a slight softness to it, a wrinkle in his brow that might indicate something like concern, or sympathy and Leon feels a bundle of rage inside himself and he’s about a wire trigger away from trying to kill the other with his bare fucking hands.
“Raccoon City was a mistake.”
Leon looked back up to glare daggers at him. Wesker faced it for a moment before tilting his head a away, and looking off into nothing but the plain white wall, and the science equipment strewn about on the counters.
“You were there.” Wesker continued after a pause. “You experienced it first hand. You may know more of what happened then I do.”
“Why did it happen? What happened? How did it happen?” He demanded.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen at all. Contaminants leaked out to the local population due to a power struggle taking place within Umbrella, the lead researcher, Dr William Birkin was shot without cause and due to incompetence of those responsible important protocols were overlooked.”
“William Birkin…”
“Yes.”
“He made those viruses.”
“Yes, largely due to his work the t-virus became what it is.”
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
Leon shook his head. “Why?”
“William had been something of a friend of mine. We worked together and we shared many ideals.”
Leon’s stomach dropped. “I killed him.” It fell out of him. Like a confession.
“I know.”
Leon stared at him stunned, he felt like he could scream. “Is that what this is about!? Some kind of revenge on me?!”
“No,” Wesker stepped towards him, grasping at Leon’s arm but the other knocked him away and Wesker let his hands fall to his sides
His fingers slipped through his hair, yanking at the locks as he tried to keep himself from losing it. “Fuck-” Leon muttered between his rapid breath.
“This isn’t about revenge. Not on you.” He felt a hand on his back.
“I killed him.”
“I do believe it was self defense. My sources tell me he didn’t go down easy either. It’s impressive you managed to survive him.”
“Wha-?! *Impressive?* I thought you said he was your friend and you're impressed I killed him?”
“Do you want me to be upset at you?”
Leon swallowed and said nothing, the rasping of his panicked breathing was answer enough for the both of them.
“I see…well, I’m not.” Wesker ran his hand down Leon's back. “He was dead the second he was shot, and it wasn’t by your hands. The G-virus prolonged his life but he would’ve succumbed to it in the end anyway. Perhaps if I had been there-...but no. It’s a useless thought. Indeed, Raccoon City was a major loss, and waste.”
“He deserved what happened to him.” Leon spit.
“I place the blame squarely on Umbrella’s mishandling and incompetence. I was already out the door by the time the virus leaked. I am not Umbrella.”
“No, Umbrella had a motive. They had reason, greed. You’re something else entirely.”
“Greed rules you humans. It damns you.”
“You think youre fucking Jesus Christ, don’t you?”
“There will always be sickness and death in this world, and I alone hold the cure to it. Isn’t that what you want, to help, to save the world? No longer would you have to struggle to keep others alive, to save them. Everyone in my new world will already be saved. Humankind is already rocketing off into their extinction, the world we live in now won’t hold either way. I’m selflessly sharing my gifts, my godhood, although none will rise above me.”
Leon felt sick, like his insides were all twisted like the roots of a tree. He couldn’t get over the way Wesker spoke…like he really believed all that stuff he said. Like he really believed he was right. It felt an entire mischaracterization. For all he has known of Wesker, the man was arrogant, driven by hubris and sadism and power and nothing more. Why would he want to share his power and lessen it. “But why? Why not use the power you have now? Why share it? You could do anything you want.”
“I am not evil.”
“Millions will die if you go through with this! That’s evil!” It would be like Raccoon City…but worse and unescapable. What fate would be more terrible than that? What would be more evil?
“You don’t see the bigger picture. The transition may prove to be gory but the world will be reborn, stronger, better.”
Evolve. Infect. Spread. Conquer. Multiply. The decaying zombies, what was left of them, were always in pursuit of the uninflected. The virus took over them, held their bodies hostage, using them as weapons.
“You’re sick.” Leon has said it before but it carries a different meaning, it was a revelation, not an insult.
Wesker placed his sunglasses back over his eyes.
Does the Uroboros know? Is that why it spared Wesker his mind and autonomy because it knew Wesker's ideas aligned with its own plan of creating an eternal worldwide disease, purging the “weak” to be left with only strong generations that will replicate exponentially- that it can *feed* on.
“It wasn’t your fault, Leon.”
“What?”
“It was a miracle you were able to survive. You were damned the day you drove into that city and yet you persevered, and escaped death.”
“That’s just cause…” he felt suddenly numb like cotton and lidocaine. He couldn’t keep his thoughts in line.
“And how young you were…a recent graduate from the academy if I recall?”
“Shut up.” He bit out, the angriest he’s ever sounded, and Wesker did shut up. So instead what hung between them was Leon’s gasping breaths. He curled up on himself, staring at the floor.
Everything else was dead silent, like he was alone in the room and as the seconds ticked on and he eventually straightened up and found the strength to turn, he found that he was still there. Did Wesker even need to breathe?
“You are burdened by it…but you cannot undo it and the blame is not yours to shoulder- and then which organization blew it all sky high? There could’ve been more survivors- and what did they care?”
“You are evil.” Leon said with vitriol. He could feel the wet hot tears threatening to spill.
Wesker sighed and turned back to look at his wicked creations that remained suspended in liquid.
Leon got the feeling that meant Wesker was done talking- he felt the same. Talking to each other was like a conversation between brick walls- except way more annoying.
He sniffled, and took a few shaky breaths, collecting himself as he watched the other man stare into the unmoving creature.
“…I’m sorry, about your friend.” He murmured, because it had weighed on him, despite it all.
“…even though he deserved to die?”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t be sorry- sorry for you anyway, and for his family..”
“Sorry for me…? I really don’t require any pity, least of all from you. Besides, What good does it do, Kennedy?”
Leon left him after that, ears ringing and bleary eyed as he walked back to his cell and collapsed on his bed.
—