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“My name's Leon, by the way.”
“Eh?” The merchant stopped rustling through his coat to see what new wares he had to stare at his customer.
The man crossed his arms and shrugged. “You always call me a stranger, but we've met a few times now. Figured it was time for introductions.”
The merchant nodded slowly. “Aright. Pleased to meetcha.”
Silence fell as Leon started rummaging through his own pouches to find the random jewels he kept stumbling across. “Sorry if this is prying, but I've learned that whenever I let things I don't know lie, it ends up with a lot of double crossing. Why are you helping me? Not that I'm complaining.”
The merchant laughed gravelly. How many packs a day did this man smoke? Twelve? “Just a simple merchant buying and selling products. Making a living.”
“In the middle of nowhere in Spain surrounded by monsters?”
The man shrugged. “Untapped market.”
Leon sighed. At least the man wasn't becoming hostile about his questions. “But why help me? You're not also selling to the illuminados.”
The merchant laughed. “They do things a bit more medieval than you, stranga. Not much need for what I got.”
Leon pulled out a bracelet. “I've seen you in rooms with amo and treasure out in the open for you to take but you don't, and then buy it from me for thousands of pesetas.”
“Don't sell bullets. Too bulky.” He waved his hand. “I'm not a scavenger, Leave that up to you stranga.” He laughed like any of this was funny or made sense.
Leon was starting to get frustrated, which, with someone who dealt with megalomaniacal monsters on the regular, was quite a feat. “But why? Why are you doing this? Do you.-..is this so you can try and find a cure?”
The Merchant stopped laughing. “I ain't sick stranga.”
“Was born at night, but not last night. Even covered head to toe I can tell you’re infected. But you’re not, ya’know, trying to murder me.” He scratched the back of his head. “Saddler and that little pompous kinglet seem very emphatic about the idea that anyone infected is controlled by them completely, so I just don't understand. If there's some way to have that off my mind it would help a lot.”
The merchant finally stopped rummaging through his coat and stood up a little straighter, almost fully coming out of his hunched posture. Leon tensed, mentally cataloging which of his guns has ammo at this point but he knew the man had a rocket launcher so he might be better off running. Guy was a lot taller than he thought.
“Well, now that's a story. I travel all around following where I'm needed. Works well enough, but sometimes you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Leon had been wondering about the man's accent being very...non Spanish. “And money can't buy everything stranga, but it can buy a lot. Like a cure, but not fast as I needed. Couldn't stop the parasite, but it stopped the control. Don't much like feeling like a puppet.” He shrugged. “Can't rightly go very far without...issues.” He laughed at the understatement. “Then you came along, so I thought I'd help in my own way to solve our mutual problem.”
“And make money in the process.”
“Even parasites have to eat.” He chuckled darkly.
“But why don't any of the ganados or other monsters attack you? In the village at least you might be able to hide but you're inside their castle base and they must know you're helping me.”
The man shrugged and laughed ominously. “They stopped trying that a long time ago. Like a cockroach, I am. Just keep coming back.”
Leon blinked before running his hands through his hair. “Glad you're on my side.”
“I’m a free agent, I'd like to think.”
It was Leon's turn to laugh. “That's why you won't learn my name? Plausible deniability? From who? I could try and help you, you know. See if there's a way you could be cured.” He turned more serious.
“Not quite a good guy stranga, don't sell weapons without making mistakes with your clientele. Not sure whoever you work for would take kindly to that.” He shifted. “Besides, with all the treasure you keep finding, you won't have a problem going outside for work any more.”
“Many palatial run down shacks you got your eye on?” Leon frowned. “But really. I...trust you, but some people won't. Especially with the parasite. Like you said, money can't buy everything.”
The merchant knocked a hand on his chest. “Hard to kill, rememba?”
Leon shook his head, not really having any more time to talk about this right now. “Well just...let me know if you change your mind. Can I at least get a name from you? I can't just keep calling you ‘the merchant’.”
“Mercado.” He said evenly, voice rough.
Leon squinted at him. “That's just...merchant in Spanish.”
The man tilted his hood. “Almost stranga, ya need to practice more.” He laughed at Leon's expense.
The blond man rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this. “Just...can I get some handgun upgrades?”
“Comin right up, stranga.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leon would have kicked down the door if he could currently raise his leg without pain shooting down his entire right side, but instead just pushed through it and slammed it behind him firmly as he sighed, putting his forehead to the door to take a deep breath before pushing off of it. And there was a blood smear where his head was. Wonderful. Add it to the list of places he was bleeding.
He turned around and found a small, very opulently furnished room with nothing substantial actually in it other than the furniture and the familiar blue light of the merchant and his torch. “Mercado.” He mumbled out through grit teeth as he pulled out a nearby gilded chair. He felt some amount of satisfaction that he was getting blood all over the white furniture of the bastard putting him through this, staining it. Did not help the pain though. He inhaled deeply despite it hurting his ribs and let himself release the tension in his body and slump into the chair.
He closed his eyes a few moments before cracking one open and staring at the merchant through his bangs. He would have preferred to find a quiet, lockable, empty room to bleed out / recover, but he knew the merchant was the one place none of the monsters went. Least he knew why now.
Sure enough, the man was staring at him. “Don't you ever get tired of standing?”
The merchant's shoulders jerked in a single laugh. “Don't you ever get tired of being shot?”
Leon closed his eyes and let his head thud against the back of the chair. “It is starting to lose its appeal.” He groaned and reached for his pack, rummaging through it before sighing. “Got any more of those first aid sprays?”
The merchant opened his coat and looked through it despite already knowing the answer in his head. “All out.”
“Shit.” Leon mumbled out. “Guess I’ll just-...think I saw some curtains in the hallway that I could use as a bandage.” He ran a hand through his hair, unsticking it with a scrunched nose before looking around. “Oh great, this room has curtains too. Unless you already claimed these?”
Merchant huffed out his nose. “Never been much for decoratin’.”
Leon nodded. “But your fashion sense? Impeccable. Speaking of, you haven't happened to see a beige coat around? Fur on the cuffs and neck?” He scoffed and rubbed his face. “Ugh, I hate how weird I get with blood loss.” He took a deep breath before forcing himself to stand up shakily by holding onto the table and stumbling his way over to the curtains. It was still thundering and raining out.
“Can't say I have. Not my style.”
“Oh, is the brown too colorful for you-” As he tugged on the curtains, he put too much of his weight on it and the rings holding it up snapped, causing him to stumble onto his knees. He grunted through his teeth. “Gunna needs knee replacements at thirty at this rate. If I live that long.” He debated standing back up before figuring he was actually fine on the floor and just leaning against the wall. He started cutting strips out of the material to make into bandages.
He was almost getting into the rhythm trying to think how many he needed before there was a large thunder clap and the lights went out with a bang.
There was a long silence between the two of them before Leon took a deep breath. “Of course.” He said almost silently.
“That never happened before...” The merchant looked up at the now dim light with a matter of fact tone.
“Lucky me.” The mercenary continued tearing strips until he judged he had enough and started tying them around his wounds. Luckily, he only had one arm injury so everything else was easy to bandage. He tied them probably too tightly, just wanting to not bleed out. Afterward he used the remaining fabric to try and wipe the blood off of his face. Worked as well as you would expect. Poorly.
After his work was done he leaned his head back against the wall to take a breather. The flickering blue light of the merchant's torch and the tapping of the rain was both hypnotic and soothing, letting his heart rate thankfully stop hammering out of his chest. He moved his head slightly and felt it swim. That wasn't a good sign. He'd just keep still for a little longer, maybe the thudding in his limbs would stop.
He didn't know how long he'd been laying there, his mind lost in a haze until he heard something.
“Aye.”
He opened his eyes to see the merchant a lot closer to him than before. He should have been able to hear the man moving with all the metal jangling in his coat. Must have really been out of it. How long had he been floating like that? He'd almost forgotten the man was even in here with him. Didn't realize he trusted him that much to let his guard down completely.
The merchant nodded. “Want an egg?”
How much head trauma he had endured? A lot, but usually he didn't hear things. He blinked up at the masked man. “What?”
The man dug through his pocket and pulled out an egg. Some kind of chicken egg it looked like. “Not much good to eat around here. Wondered if ya wanted an egg.”
Some food wouldn't really be bad and some eggs had done him good when he was in the village surrounded by surprisingly un-parasite riddle chickens. Still, he was a bit wary of...pocket eggs. Survive the parasite and die by salmonella. “You just carry raw eggs in your pocket?” It was different for him, he carried it in his attached case.
“Naw. Not an idiot. S’hard boiled. Raw eggs would break and go everywhere.”
That did make a little more sense. Leon shrugged with a small wince. “Uh, yeah thanks.” He held out his hand dumbly and it was promptly filled with an egg. He knocked it against the ground and started peeling it. At least the busy work kept him from thinking about his pain. The merchant sat down next to him with a large rattle.
Man just smelled dusty. Probably better than him, who'd been dunked in the lake and covered in blood. His own and others. He finished peeling and started eating. Kinda forgot how nice it was to eat things. He stared at ‘Mercado’ while he ate. He winced at a crunch. He always missed a few shell parts. Up close it was a lot easier to tell he was definitely not entirely human. White eyes and skin are more gray than anything else. Almost wondered what was under the coat but he always had a bad habit of asking questions he probably didn't want to know the answer too. Little weird to be close to someone not trying to kill him for a change. Could feel the warmth through the coat. Wasn't this guy overheating? Don't lean into it, that would be weird even if he was cold.
Well, he was still in pain, but he wasn't hungry. “How much do I owe yah?”
The man waved his hand. “S’fine.”
“How generous of you.” Leon said sarcastically.
“Not really. Bad business when your only customer dies.”
Leon laughed so hard and so sudden he actually hurt his chest. “Boy, did you bet on the wrong horse in that regard.” He rubbed his eyes. When was the last time he slept? Did passing out near the lake from pain count? Probably not.
Should probably try and stand up and get going now. Who knew if Ashley could keep hidden and for how long. He braced his hands against the floor and then woke up staring at the ceiling.
He tried to move and was immediately assaulted by soreness, but not the massive pain he was before. “What, the fuck-” He mumbled through a dry mouth.
“Ya passed out.” Came the reply. It was the merchant sitting in the same place he'd last seen him leaning against the wall next to him, but now at a different angle as he now found he was laying on the floor and covered by something. A coat. He rubbed his head and sat up more. “Shit. How long?”
The masked man shrugged. “Half an hour.”
“Shit.” He said again. He was about to continue thinking about Ashley and how much more time he could lose before it would be too much before something green was shoved into his face. He blinked trying to focus his eyes. It was one of the green herb plants being held out to him, or at least a few dried leafs of it. Leon looked at the giver with a raised eyebrow. “Thought you said you didn't have any first aid.” He took the crumpling leaves anyway and shoved them in his mouth without too much thought. If they were going to kill him, he was going to be dead without them anyway.
“Got no spray. Don't sell the plants.”
Leon crunched on the leaves in his dry mouth. Tasted like dirt, but good dirt because of the pavlov effect that he knew most of his aches would be better soon. He sighed in relief before coughing. He couldn't tell if it was from inhaling some leaf dust or from the parasite. He noticed something metal pressed into his hands. Some kind of canteen. He didn't have time to question it, just thankful for something to drink. His canteen had run out hours ago and he didn't trust any of the wells in this place. It wasn't cold, but it was clean and that was wonderful. He wanted to drink it all, but he didn't want to tax the merchant's generosity. He handed it back and cleared his throat. “Guess you don't have to worry about catching anything from me.”
The merchant laughed. “Say that again. Tried to catcha when you fell, but I didn't move so fast.”
Explained the pain in the back of his head. But he had been hit in the back of the head a lot lately. He stood up carefully and he was able to do it without his head swimming or passing out again, which was a good sign. He held out the coat to the merchant. “Thanks for...all the help.”
The man took it and looked unbothered, but still didn't meet his eye. “Just a merchant.”
“Got a hell of a customer service.” He made sure his guns were reloaded and he took a deep breath. He turned to leave and paused for a second. “Uh...really, thanks for. Everything. Little kindness goes a long way when you're in a strange place and everything wants to kill you.”
There was a long pause and oddly the stranger didn't laugh. Didn’t respond at all. So he just left into the fray once again.
The merchant looked after him after the door had shut, shrugging his coat back on. He wondered why the stranger was still doing this. Guess he could ask himself the same thing.
He did laugh after thinking that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things weren't going well, but he was well stocked on meds and bullets, and didn't feel like he was actively dying. Ashley had been lost again, but before they got separated she’d taken some of the suppressors with her. And they’d just gotten separated in one of this castles stupid puzzle traps, not actively captured by one of Salazar’s goons. Small miracles.
That set his teeth on edge. Whenever he was feeling okay about something, it always meant there was probably some huge monster in the next room. Or maybe two. He shook his head. Agonizing over the future wouldn't help; he just had to plan for the worst and deal with what came at him.
He checked his map again. Room to his left, hallway to his right. Room first obviously. Might find some treasure or supplies before going deeper into the lion's den.
He kicked the door open from overconfidence and impatience. That was a mistake as what was inside was one of the things he hadn’t planned on.
The usual calming light coming from the blue torches signaling the merchant was spluttering and hollow. One sconce was tilled over and out and the other was lower than usual. The entire room was in disarray with tables and chairs and a single amour tipped over in the back. Blood was staining the wall and ceiling violently. He could see familiar boots laying on the ground obscured by the table. “No…” He quickly shut the door, throwing a chair limply in front of it as a barricade before stepping closer.
The Merchant was injured and he didn't need a doctor to know that with the blood surrounding him and shining on his dark clothes. Leon holstered his gun and tried to find the wounds. With all the clothing he couldn't tell where he was injured in the least. He pulled the man's mask down, it would have been an invasion but he needed to check his pulse and breathing.
He held a finger to his neck and another on his chest. Then to his mouth. Nothing. Nothing anywhere. He tried again and again pressing harder as if he just looked closer the man would suddenly not be dead. He knew he should be used to this. Expecting this. Shouldn't feel his eyes burning from this. It was his own fault. It always was. Expecting someone he cared about to actually live.
A dark, vengeful part of him said he could take everything from the man without paying now. Loot his cold body like all the rest of the people he'd killed here. All he was good at doing. Just being a fucking vulture taking help from everyone and leaving them to die.
His fingers clawed into the man's clothes in anger and despair without his knowledge.
Then he felt the man move.
Leon jolted to look at him before the man coughed. “Merch?” He asked in disbelief.
The scruffy man blinked and rubbed his face before looking at him. He seemed perfectly fine. Well, he seemed the same as Leon had always seen him. “Mm, hey stranga. Caught me at a rough time. Shop I’ll be open in a few minu-”
The mercenary dragged the man lurching forward and embracing him. The merchant froze and wasn't sure exactly what to do, just kind of sitting there being grappled onto. He slowly patted the man awkwardly. “Uh, somethin’ wrong?”
Leon pulled back still holding him by the shoulders. “Wrong? I thought you were dead!”
The merchant blinked at him. It was odd to see his entire face. It looked...actually pretty normal. Teeth were a bit wonky and face had some stubble and scars, but he wasn't missing his lower jaw or anything drastic. “Well, I did, but I got better.” He said it so nonchalantly it made Leon bark out a laugh hysterically. Mercado looked confused. “I told ya, keep coming back.” He tapped his still bloody chest.
Leon shook his head. “Just, forever. You just can't die?”
The man laughed roughly. “Don't think so, but I'd rather not try.”
Leon pointed at him. “Good. Don’t start.” He sighed and let some of the horrible tension leach from his body as he hunched forward, limply sitting back on his heels. “Rather not lose anyone else…” He mumbled out almost inaudible.
“Didn’ think it would matter that much…” The merchant scratched his face awkwardly.
The soldier motioned wildly. “Of course it matters! You're one of the only people in this hell hole that hasn't tried to kill me! I care about you, man. I'm not heartless, I don't think you're just a vending machine I get guns from.”
The merchant stared at him. Weird to see him so...visible and able to be read. “Huh…” Like he wasn't expecting it at all. “Thanks uh...Leon, ya said?”
The blond was surprised for the second time in five minutes. “Yeah, yes.” It was slowly dawning on him that he might have overstepped some boundaries in his relief. They both stood up fairly easily, the merchant with a lot more cracks. He rubbed his neck and pulled his mask back up. “Only bad thing is after I have any mishaps, my limbs fall asleep.”
Leon nodded, laughing nervously, not getting rid of his anxious energy easily. “Yeah losing blood circulation on your entire body will do that.”
The merchant waved him off. “So, what're ya buyin?”
Leon sighed shakily, realizing the undead man wasn't going to talk about this anymore. “Whatcha got, Mercado?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was over. Finally, Salazar was dead along with Saddler. Everyone had gotten the parasites removed before it was too late. The helicopter was coming to pick them up and he, Luis, and Ashley were waiting in a partially destroyed shack for them to get here, all still trying to process they were actually alive. Leon, for the first time in what felt like days, let himself relax as he laid against a wall and shut his eyes. He was then reminded of the last time had been in that position and opened them again. He clenched his jaw, thinking. It took a few moments before he pulled himself to his feet again. He sighed. “Luis, can you watch Ashley for a sec? I need to go get something.”
The Spaniard put his legs on the ground where he had been propping them up on a table. “Oh no, I used that excuse and it sounded fake to them. You can't expect it to work on me.”
Leon sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’m not the shady one here Sera, I just wanted to check something out.”
“And that something is?” Ashley chimed in easily.
“Oh don't you start!” He said in mock frustration.
The scruffy man laughed, only flinching slightly at the wound in his shoulder from Saddlers stinger. “We've all been through a lot, amigo, might be a little late to be keeping any more secrets.”
The mercenary pinched his nose. He knew he was right. “It's...the merchant.”
Luis blinked before nodding sagely. “Ah I see, well the heart wants what it wants.”
The man coughed in shock. “What? No! What are you even talking about? I just met he helped me the entire time and I offered him a way out if he wanted to come. Wanna check and see if he wants to join our escape entourage.” He scratched the back of his neck. “But if you both don't think I should, I wouldn’t want to compromise either of your safety.”
Luis and Ashley looked at each other. She shrugged. “He seemed a little creepy, but he never tried to attack us and at this point that's all I need.”
Luis laughed. “I agree with the princess.”
She rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Leon smiled. “Alright, it shouldn't take long to find him. Always hanging around somewhere and the copter shouldn't be here for the next...” He checked his watch. “Two hours.”
Ashley huffed and put her head down on the rough table. “Not to be a spoiled brat, but ew.”
Luis snorted. “Totally gross.” He said dramatically before putting a hand into his inner vest pocket. “Know how to play brisca?”
“No? You were able to carry that with you the entire time, but lost the sample like three times?” Ashley said petulantly.
He leaned forward and started shuffling the cards, shaking his head. “Eh, I can't win bets with the plagas.” He flourished the cards from one hand to another. He thought for a moment. “Eh, actually…”
She waved her hand. “Nevermind, how do you play?”
Leon couldn't help but laugh as he shut the door behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leon looked in the last place he'd seen him and found both him and his torches gone. He almost worried for a moment before spotting the man lower down in the village from his higher vantage point. He quickly hurried down the various dirt slopes before finally catching up to the man as he was walking the road out of town, the opposite way that the copter would come to pick them up. If the man heard him coming, he didn't make any show of it. “Hey! Mercado!”
Finally the man stopped and turned around. “Aye, mate. Want guns for the road?”
The blond stopped running and caught his breath. “What was that? Good work Leon? Wow, masterful use of a handgun to take out a world ending menace, Leon?”
The man cackled. “Thanks for being such a valued customer, but the shop is closed right now. See ya on the road.” He went to turn again and this seemed to be the first time the man was moving this fast.
Leon put a hand on the man's shoulder. “Hey wait a minute. Seriously. The helicopter is coming to pick us up in a few hours. Do you...want to come? Nearest town’s miles away. I meant what I said earlier about trying to help you anyway I could. You've done so much for me. Would have died out here with my pistol without you.”
The man seemed a little taken aback. Seemed like he was shaking him more and more every meeting. He readjusted his straps. “Just sold ya some trinkets. My job really.”
“Oh don't give me that. What's the actual problem? I’m not gonna force you to go just…” He huffed out and looked away rubbing the back of his neck. He'd grown fond of the man. “Bad people get drawn to this kind of thing and they might come after you just for being involved. The DSO might at least be able to protect you even if they can't cure you.”
The merchant's eyes hardened. “Protect me by putting me in a cage somewhere.”
“N-” Leon started to say before thinking. He really had no basis for that. They'd never dealt with a non hostile infected before and with the amount of carte blanche clearance had been given with his firearm this mission, they didn't seem very interested in curing anyone that wasn't already important to them.
The merchant could see his hesitance. It almost made him feel better knowing Leon wasn't just blindly trusting the people he was working for.
The mercenary clenched his teeth and looked back at the man. “I’ll make sure it won't happen. I have friends. Real friends that are in deep with stuff like this that trust me if I vouch for you. But-” The merchant waited for the price. There was always a price. “If you don't want to risk it I understand, please just...take my number. So if you need anything you can call me.” He dug into his pocket for a scrap piece of paper from one of the files he found here and wrote down his number before holding it out.
The merchant stared at him, as if trying to gauge his honesty. He tilted his head before grabbing the paper hesitantly, putting his other hand on the Leon's hand to hold it in place. Leon inhaled sharply as they maintained eye contact.
The blond looked confused as the moment stretched out and he kept staring at the man's foggy eyes. Was he being the weird one? Should he have stopped looking? How long had he been staring? What Luis said ran through his head. Was his face heating up? Maybe the blood loss would make his blood pressure low enough he wouldn't redden? Had a feeling that wasn't how it worked.
He...could have pulled back at any time in this entire sequence of events. Shit.
He was about to pull away when their merchant nodded slowly and took the paper, slipping it into his pocket. “Ah, I understand.”
“What?” Leon laughed nervously. “What do you understand?” Mercado continued to laugh ominously before winking and walking past him. “What? No wait, what do you understand? Where are you going?”
“To America, I assume. Hear they love buyin shiny things there. If you’re any indication.”
Why could he move so fast with all the shit in his backpack? “No. Wait. No, I’m, what are you implying?” He tried to keep his voice even.
“Ain’t sayin nothin, Leon.”
The man scrunched up his face. Now was not the time for him to think about how it made his chest warm that he finally said his name properly. When they were back in America and had a shower he would maybe think about it. “You know what, I've changed my mind. I'm leaving you here.”
Mercado continued to laugh like tormenting the former cop was the most fun he'd had in weeks.
Leon rubbed his face. “Are you ever going to give me your real name? I’m just going to tell whoever asks your name is something really embarrassing and stupid.”
“Like Leon?”
The cop steepled his fingers and inhaled deeply. “I walked directly into that one.”
“Like a bear trap.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They came through the door to the smooth Spaniard and the American princess yelling at each other while gesturing wildly. “No, you lost. Your cards did not look like that two seconds ago. You're cheating.”
Ashley huffed. “Your hair is covering your eyes. I just learned this game. How would I cheat?”
“You cheat at being blond.” Luis said cattily.
She stomped her foot. “I am blond!”
The man scoffed with a laugh. “Guess las illuminados didn't have anything to touch up your roots with.”
She shrieked and threw her cards at him. “You're just a sore loser.”
Leon was about to step in so that they didn't claw each other apart but the merchant held up his hand before stepping forward. “I think I have a solution.” They both looked at him surprised, defusing the situation. The man looked at them before dropping some spinals on the table. “Stakes.”
Leon dragged a hang down his face. After all he'd been through, these three would probably be the ones that killed him.