Chapter 1
It was a shitty day.
First you were late for work because the alarm clock didn't work, then the car wouldn't start for some reason.
Then you missed the train and had to walk back in the rain to your flat and call in sick because you didn't feel like giving any effort coming to work that day.
Now it had come to this, you stood in the kitchen and looked bored out of the window with a cup of tea in your slightly cold hands.
And a few seconds later, since it was directly opposite, you had no choice and looked at his flat.
Normally there would be dead silence and no light, there was, in fact, a light on.
Actually, he was not back yet, at least you had asked him to let you know as soon as he was home.
You knew how hard it was for him after he returned from whatever trip he was send to, but a phone call to let you know that he’s home wouldn't hurt, right?
After all, you've known each other for years.
At first it was just a joke, but when Leon said he was going to join the police, you couldn't help but laugh.
Leon as a policeman? you had to see that.
So you signed up as well out of solidarity.
A short time later, you both found yourselves in training.
In fact, it went better than expected.
When the time was right and the training was done and you were both rookies, the separation came.
Leon transferred to Raccoon City to work at the Raccoon Police Department.
You, on the other hand, didn't want to go there, there were reasons why you didn't want to, for one thing the city always seemed strange to you, for another, you never really wanted to go to the Midwest so you transferred to another region.
You remember Leon calling you from his car and telling you that he had overslept and that his girlfriend had broken up with him the day before.
You felt sorry for him, only for the oversleeping part, after all you never liked his girlfriend, so for you it wasn't worth thinking about her.
And then it was quiet.
Leon and you had no contact for some time.
You tried to reach him the same day, but no one answered.
The first day for him was probably harder than for you.
After all, you were just sent around for the time being and had to do paperwork, while Leon was probably already on a mission, lucky guy you thought.
After a while you came to terms with it, Leon was the reason why you went to the police in the first place, but he seemed to care less about you.
So you worked your way up and left the rookie days behind you, while there was complete silence between you two.
After some time you got a call, it was actually Leon, he wanted to meet you.
At first you didn't want to, after all he ignored you for months and suddenly he calls and wants to meet up…
However, he was your best friend, so you met.
It was in a café, how out of character for him.
It was awkward, at least that's how you felt.
You asked Leon to explain everything and remained silent until he gave his answers. He was talking around something, something was wrong.
How can you not even get in touch after your first day, you asked, but Leon softened the question a little and talked about an offer he received shortly afterwards.
Later, you found out that Leon trained as a special agent and worked differently from then on.
Every now and then he would actually contact you and even move into the flat opposite.
Unfortunately, he was rarely home and when he was, he wanted to be alone.
And while you never really changed your career and were a loyal police officer, Leon apparently travelled the world as a special agent and saved people from whatever they needed be saved from.
And so the years passed.
First one, then two, then five and so on…
At one point in your life you no longer cared about him.
He became the no matter, the best friends you used to be years ago, was no more.
You became strangers, the phone calls became less and less and when you saw each other on the street, you just gave each other a quick smile and went your way again.
You lived your life and he lived his.
In fact, you found a partner and you even got engaged.
Unfortunately, the engagement didn't last long.
Your job is too dangerous, your partner said.
You can’t start a family like that if there is a risk of one of the parents getting hurt or even dying, your partner said.
And so it went on, you often had arguments and came to the decision that it would be better to go separate ways from now on.
And so time passed.
You were barely 22 at the beginning of your career, and now you were 37.
With this thought you shook your head and took another sip of your now cooled tea.
Have you been in thoughts for so long?
Once again, the light in his flat caught your attention.
He was still travelling, wasn't he?
At least that's what he told you a fortnight ago.
Without thinking further, you put the cup down and walked over to your flat door.
Throwing on the hood of your hoodie and slipping quickly into your boots, you took your keys and ventured through the rain to the opposite apartment building.
Once there, you used the key Leon had given you years ago when he had just moved in.
Soaking wet, you made your way up to his flat.
Once there, you took a deep breath.
Is it right to visit him now?
After all, you were glad that things had been going well between you two again for a few months now.
The contact was never like before, but it existed again.
He even told you once how he was feeling physically and mentally, which was really rare for him after all this time.
And that was also the moment you were glad you weren't a special agent.
Shortly after you rang the bell, but after a few moments no one opened the door, so you rang again and knocked as well, but nothing.
"Leon? It’s me (y/n). You’re there?“ no answer.
Okay, maybe he's asleep or not there at all and some light has gone on because maybe a fuse has gone on and off, you thought before you knocked again one last time.
When still nothing came, you put the key in the keyhole and opened the door a few seconds later.
And immediately a smell came towards you, man what died in here? with that thought you went further in and closed the door behind you.
Out of habit, you took off your boots and placed them near the door, only now turning your gaze towards the corridor.
It was all dark, and by all dark you meant dark.
No slit where light can pass through, no light from a window if a streetlight would be close, no television giving off light or anything.
Just darkness.
"You’re home?“ you couldn't hear anything except for the slight noises the refrigerator made.
As you made your way down the corridor, you stopped at the door where actually the only light was coming from, the light you had also seen from your window.
Maybe not pure darkness after all.
Slowly you opened the door and saw the chaos there.
The mirror was broken and the broken pieces were scattered on the floor.
Toiletries were scattered in places on the floor, the carpet was also where it shouldn't be and was that blood?
When you turned around again, he was standing right in front of you.
"Fucking hell! Are you out of your goddamn mind Leon?“ you put a hand to your heart and took a deep breath.
"Wha-..what are you doin' here..?“ you looked at him sceptically "Are you drunk?" he shook his head and had to hold on to the door frame with one hand "Nah, not drunk..“ he pushed himself off the frame again and turned back around, walking a little unsteadily and with a stumble or two towards the kitchen.
"Leon wait..." you quickly turned off the light in the bathroom and turned on the switch in the corridor, which was conveniently next to the bathroom, and walked after Leon with quicker steps, without paying attention to the chaos in the corridor.
"You've been drinking, I can see and smell it...hey put that away." Leon took a bottle of beer from the fridge and was about to open it "Nope." he plopped the p at the end and took a sip of the said bottle as he somehow got it open.
"Leon..." you took the bottle from him and he resisted a little, but you just pushed him away a bit and he had to hold on to something while you poured the bottle out in the sink.
"Hey..that’s mine..“ he tried to stop you but you held his arms tightly "That's enough, you sit down for now." you pushed him over to the chair in the kitchen while you threw the bottle away.
Not paying attention for a second, he was on his way to the corridor again.
"Le-..Leon..." with a sigh you went after him and quickly caught up with his stumbling snail's pace.
"Let go of me..." Leon tried to walk away from you "I'm not even holding you" you looked at him confused and without saying anything else he just walked over to the couch and sat, more fell down on it.
Like a parent, you now stood in the living room and looked at him.
What is wrong with him?
With a shake of your head, you put the lights on in the living room or rather in the flat before giving Leon your full attention.
Only now did you notice his condition.
He looked older than the last time you saw him.
Sure, for his age, 36, he could look worse, but he definitely didn't look the same.
His almost too innocent rookie look had washed away and a hardened look emerged.
His hair was no longer the blond that had earned him the name Sunny Boy.
His eyes radiated anything but a good sense of well-being.
His body was covered in a plain shirt and a pair of sweatpants.
This made it easier to look at his physical condition.
He was definitely more muscular than before, or the one or other time you happened to run into him.
His arms were partly decorated with light scars, probably due to the job, also a plaster on his arm and on his hand and also slight red abrasions could be seen.
On the whole, it was easy to say that it was no longer 21-year-old Leon Kennedy, but a 36-year-old grown man with problems.
"Leon? Hey..." you nudged him with one hand and two blue eyes looked at you. "Huh?.." he closed his eyes again and sank further into the couch.
"Leon..." you nudged him again and he looked at you again.
"Can you explain to me what happened?" you started to clean up the table in front of the couch, full of empty bottles and leftovers.
"Couldn't sleep..." you stopped in your movements "Nightmare?" he looked at you but his eyes never met yours "Always." You both remained silent for a few minutes "Let me just clean this up and throw it away..." you quickly cleaned everything that could be cleaned in a hurry and then threw the leftovers in the rubbish before you went back to him and opened a window for some needed fresh air.
When you looked at him again you saw a few tears running down Leon's cheeks. "Hey..." you rushed to his side and sat down next to him, he just looked at you slightly "Why are you crying?" he looked slightly questioning before wiping his face with one hand and noticing the wet "How am I crying..." he seemed to be as surprised about it as you were.
"Maybe because you're drunk. How much did you drink anyway?" a glance wandered through his flat "One or two beers...or was it five?..." he talked more to himself.
"Anyway...since...since when are you here? You were going to call me before, remember?"
"Since...uh...what day is it?" he tried to find something with today's day on it "It's Wednesday." "Then um..since..." he narrowed his eyes briefly and seemed to be calculating "Last..last week..Friday." he looked at you again "Okay..." you rubbed your face for a moment "Anyway...at least I know you're home now." you exhaled "You should still get some sleep..even if you had a nightmare..I'm here okay?" he looked slightly at the ceiling "I can't." "Why?" you looked at him gently "I can't tell you why..it's bad every time..over and over again..." his voice was getting quieter towards the end "I know you can't tell me everything because of your job, I understand that, but you can trust me, if something is wrong I'm here and I can help." he turned his gaze back to you "I'm sorry..." you tilted your head a little "What are you sorry for?" he exhaled "Look at this..." you tried to make sense of it "This here..." he was referring to his well being and that of the flat "Forget it..everyone has bad days, it happens. Don't worry about it." he laughed briefly and then looked at the floor again "Come..you lie down now and I'll clean up everything that's left." you rose again and were then gently held by your wrist "Stay." he looked at you with his tired and almost sad looking eyes "Okay, I'll stay..I can clean up later." and you took your seat again.
Shortly afterwards he leaned his head gently on your shoulder and you looked at him a little, "This can never be comfortable.“ you chuckled briefly whereupon he raised his head again "I didn't mean it like that..come on." you slid a little more to the side to the edge of the couch and grabbed his shoulders, bringing him into a more or less lying position.
You grabbed another pillow and put it on your legs, whereupon he put his head there and his legs more on the couch.
For a moment it was quite weird.
Two adults who have not seen each other for a long time suddenly sitting close together on the couch.
"You're thinking..." Leon's voice sounded after a while, a bit more tired sounding "Mh?" you looked down at him a bit "You're thinking about something...you were never that quiet..." "People change right?" he gave a short "Yeah" while you looked into the room again.
A few minutes passed and you started to go through Leon's hair with one hand.
At first it was out of reflex, as if there was a dog and you just started stroking it without really thinking, then you realised what you were actually doing.
It felt weird, not in the sense of being disgusting or anything, it felt more, intimate.
You stopped briefly, but Leon made a short noise, whereupon you continued and he was quiet again.
"We should talk about the whole thing again tomorrow, yeah?" he nodded very slightly "Good..." you looked at Leon again more closely, it reminded you of earlier when you were still best friends and you went to parties together and then ended up somewhere.
You had to smile, maybe the conversation between you would be another step forward, who knows.
And so the time passed.
Leon fell asleep at some point with a feeling of security and actually did not wake up again because of a nightmare.
You, on the other hand, disappeared in thoughts again.
All those years you became strangers and now it feels like all the events never happened.
Suddenly you're trainees again, rookies.
You were best friends.
No matter what happened to Leon, it was not good.
Maybe it would have been different if you went to Raccoon City as well.
Maybe you could have changed something the day Leon called.
Maybe everything would have been different.
After all, you never knew what had happened that first day or all those years in general.
He was someone else, even if he wasn't allowed to say why, he wasn't the Leon Kennedy who convinced you to become a police officer in your early twenties.
No matter why or how, you would get answers.
He really owes you that after all this time.
Something is wrong, but that was the least of your worries now.
Rather, the concern was how to sleep in this position…