Fluffy and Awesome!

Chapter 2: You Were Always Destined To Be Mine

“Argh….my head” Diedra let out an agonizing groan, moving her hand to grip her forehead but her arm couldn't move. 

“What?” she gasped, her eyes adjusting to the bright surgical lights that illuminated the area she was in. She then glanced down, her eyes widening at the sight before her. She was strapped to an examination table, her wrists and legs bound tightly, preventing her from making any sort of movements. 

“H-Hello?” She shakily called out, looking up and scanning her surroundings. 

She was in a strange laboratory, filled with specimens, opened cadavers, and vials and syringes filled with black writing veins. This place seemed inhuman and very much dangerous. 

Turning her head more to the right, her heart sunk in her chest at the sight before her. 

“Thomas!” She screamed. 

Thomas had been flipped upside down on an examination table, two IVs stuck in his arm, collecting his blood in a sealed container. 

“Let us go!” She shouted at the top of her lungs. 

Suddenly, heavy footsteps entered the laboratory, a sign that someone had heard her shouting and came to investigate.

“Professor Diedra Wilson” a low, rumbling voice rang along her ears. 

“W-Who are you?” Diedra stuttered. 

“It is such a pleasure to be meeting you once again, Professor.”

“Again? I've never met you in my entire fucking life! Let us go now!” 

The towering shadow loomed just beyond the darkness of the lab, their enormous silhouette moving carefully, studying her every reaction. 

“You don't recognize me? What a pity. I remember you though. Professor Wilson…the woman that introduced me to someone very close to my heart….y/n.”

Diedra's jaw dropped at the mention of y/n, her favorite student and alumni from a couple years back. 

“V-Victor…?” She gasped. 

Gideon emerged from the shadow's, a wicked grin plastered along his face. “Aww, so you do remember me. I should feel honored” he slowly approached her, his heavy footsteps sending a chillful wave down Deidra's spine. 

“Victor…what happened to you?” She questioned in shock, his appearance confusing her the most. 

Gideon approached the side of the examination table, his body leaning forward so that his face could stare down at her.

“Where is she?” He calmly asked.

“Who?” 

“Y/n.”

Diedra stayed silent, not wanting to give him the location of where you worked. She couldn't do that to you, especially when you two had gone your separate ways.

“Y/n please!” Victor's voice called to you as he followed closely behind you 

“Victor, leave me alone, okay!”

Victor quickly leapt forward, his hand grabbing your arm and spinning you around. “Why can't you tell me what I did wrong?”

You snatched your arm away from his grasp, anger clearly written across your face. “Fine, I'll tell you. The reason why I've been ignoring you is because you accepted that job at Umbrella. I told you, that place is bad news. I know for a fact they are doing experiments on people and building weapons to hurt innocents! But you didn't listen…you just went ahead and got the job.”

“Y/n…I did this for us!” Victor shouted, frustration cracking through his voice.

“So we could finally have a future together!”

His breathing became uneven as he stepped closer toward you.

“Don’t I get a say in my own damn life?!”

“No!” Tears burned within your eyes as you shook your head violently. 

“No, Victor….you did it because you are obsessed with human evolution.”

Your voice trembled with heartbreak, “You genuinely believe that the weak deserve to perish so the strong can rise!” 

Victor's expression hardened instantly, “You don't understand..”.

“No…I don't need nor want to understand you anymore. You don't care about us….”

Those words cut deep within him, his body sinking deep into the ground like the roots of a tree.

“You only care about creating something beyond humanity.” 

“Y/n…” was all that came from his mouth. 

“We're done.”

After you entered your home, he turned around and headed to his car. As he got inside, he gripped onto his steering wheel tightly, a boiling rage rising within him. Then he shouted to the top of his lungs, punching the glass window beside him, cracking it, and cutting his knuckles. 

“Ah…I'll show you y/n….”

“I'll show you the incredible things that I can create” his expression darkened with determination. 

“I will save this miserable world….even if you refuse to understand that” he breathed out slowly and then started his car, driving off into the night. 

The next morning came quicker than Victor expected as he entered Professor Diedra's office.

“Oh, hello Victor. I wasn't expecting you today? How can I help?” Diedra smiled pleasantly as she stood from her chair. 

“Uh…I um…was hoping you can uh email me my transcript for this class.”

“Oh…uh….of course….I will send you all the information tonight.”

“Thank you so much” Victor nodded in thanks and turned around to leave her office. 

“Victor, are you feeling alright?” Diedra asked with concern laced in her voice, hinting at his bandaged hand. 

“No…I'm not” he turned his head to her. 

“Oh, what happened, if you don't mind me asking?”

“Y/n…left me….”.

“Oh, I'm so sorry Victor.”

“I am too.” 

His fingers tightened around the strap of his bag.

“But it’s alright…” He lifted his gaze toward her again.

“She’ll come back to me once I create something capable of changing the world.”

A strange grin slowly spread across his lips. “Something extraordinary.”

Goosebumps crawled violently across Diedra’s skin.

The look in his eyes no longer resembled the brilliant young man she once taught. It looked fanatic. Obsessive.

Victor calmly adjusted the sleeve of his coat before heading toward the office door.

“I will await your email, Professor Diedra” He paused briefly.

“And thank you…”A faint smile crossed his face once more.

“For the wonderful four years you’ve given me.” 

Then he left the office. Leaving Diedra standing there in stunned silence as unease slowly settled into her chest.

“…My God.”

“I don't know where she is, Victor.” 

A long sigh escaped Gideon's lips after hearing her blatantly lie to his face. 

“I wonder what would happen if I entered a mutagenic strain into your body? Would it change your genetic make-up….or further degrade your body and twist it into something inhuman?”

The very words he spoke sent a tremor down her body. This wasn't the same Victor…he changed…. .

“You're fucking crazy….y/n made the right choice to leave you.” 

Gideon's expression darkened as he stood to his original height, a slow burning fury igniting in the pit of his stomach. 

“She saw what you were becoming!” Diedra snapped. 

“You were brilliant, Victor, but completely consumed by your obsession with evolution!” 

“And now look at you!” 

The laboratory fell silent again. Then Gideon let out another sigh. 

“How…disappointing” he turned toward the nearby table where several syringes rested within metal trays. Dark fluid moved unnaturally inside each vial. 

Diedra's fear immediately returned, “No….”. 

“Do you know why I've always been fascinated by human evolution, Professor Wilson?” Gideon flicked the vial with his index finger before turning around to approach the examination table. 

Diedra struggled violently against the restraints, tears overflowing down her cheeks, trying everything she could to get out of this situation. 

THUD. THUD. THUD. 

He leaned in close to her ear, his lips creaking into a devilish smile. “It's because humanity has always resisted progress…and yet….they always submit eventually.” 

“No!” Diedra screamed as the syringe entered her vein, agony exploding through her nervous system.

Blackened veins rapidly spread beneath her skin as her body convulsed violently against the table restraints. 

Philip entered the laboratory, standing by Thomas's drained corpse. Watching. Waiting. Listening. 

Slowly, Diedra's scream faded, her body going limp. Then her head slowly lifted, blank eyes staring forward. She was connected now to Gideon. 

Silence settled over the laboratory once more. Philip then stepped forward slightly and lowered his head toward Gideon. 

“Doctor Gideon,” he spoke calmly. 

“I have identified several additional subjects with promising compatibility.”

A faint smile spread across Gideon's lips as he pulled the syringe out of her vein. “Excellent, I'll prepare the blood samples generously provided by Thomas.”

As soon as Philip turned to exit the laboratory, Gideon leaned in close to Diedra's ear. “Where does she work?”

Diedra loudly gasped, her pupils dilating further as Gideon searched deep into her memories. 

“I wanted to tell you that I got a job at the CBR as their chief medical examiner!” 

“Oh my gosh that is amazing y/n! I'm so proud of you!” Diedra hugged you tightly.

“Thank you!” You giggled happily. 

“Ah. And how is Victor?”

Your smile faded at the mention of his name, “I don't know if you heard but he and I are no longer together.”

“Oh” Diedra nodded, already knowing this information, but tried to downplay it. 

“Yeah…he chose to work at Umbrella when I specifically told him not to. They're corrupt and the way they operate is inhumane. I'm shocked that they are still running.”

“Hmm, yeah, they are a shady corporation. I'm so sorry sweetheart that you're going through that.”

“Thank you Professor Wilson. I feel so ashamed to say that I miss him but…I don't know if I want to even ask him to come back…”.

“That is for you to decide my dear~”

Gideon’s eyes drifted open, a radiating warmth filling his cold body, “She yearned for me. Wanted me to come back…”. 

Diedra blankly stared at Gideon, her free will being controlled by his mind. “Do you wish for me to find her?” 

“Yes. Go to where she works. Document each finding and bring them back to me” he ordered her, determination written across his face. 

“As you wish, Doctor Gideon” she nodded obediently.

“And….bring me a lock of her hair” He released her from the restraints and turned to continue his experiments. 

“Ah, home at last” you sighed deeply, shutting your door behind you and kicking off your shoes. 

Yet, your mind kept racing with thoughts and questions. How was this possible? How can corpses with no vital organs and blood flowing could come back to life and mutate? 

Shaking your head, you went upstairs to change out of the dirt-ridden clothes you wore. 

“Jeez, what a fucking day” you let out a deep sigh, returning to your seat on the couch and pulled your laptop onto your lap. 

Typing away at your reports, you began to compare the notes Leon had provided to you. You jotted down the similarities, the location of the incision sites and markings, anything that could prove patterns. 

You had to collect enough data to present to your boss. You knew he told you to basically stand down, but that wasn't you. You had to do something before things got out of hand. 

“I fucking knew it!” You shouted to the top of your lungs as if the whole world could hear you. 

“I knew it had something to do with the T-Virus. Can't believe Umbrella after being gone for all this time is still fucking us in the ass.”

Gathering your belongings, purse, keys, laptop, hoodie, you rushed out of your home; of course locking it behind you to not let the creeps in.

As you got in your car, you called your secretary. “Hey Diana sweetheart, I am so sorry to be calling on a Saturday but do you know if the DSO came to pick up the cadavers?”

“Oh hello Doctor y/n! No worries at all! No, the DSO hasn't come to pick up the cadavers. They said they're gonna do it first thing Monday.”

“Gotcha, okay thank you! Enjoy your Saturday!”

“Oh? Alright, have a good afternoon doctor!” 

After you hung up, you turned on your car, and sped out of your driveway to head to your workplace. 

Once you arrived at your workplace, you shut your car off, pulled on your hoodie and grabbed your belongings.

“I can't believe I'm here at work on a mother fucking Saturday” you chuckled, proceeding toward the front entrance.

“Do my eyes deceive me?!” 

“Oh shush Walter, I am only going to be here for an hour at most” you smiled cutely at your favorite security guard. 

Walter let out a chuckle as he stood from his chair and handed you the key to the upstairs offices. “Just don't make a mess. Carla just cleaned.”

“Oh don't you worry, I'll make a mess and tell Carla to make you clean it!” You laughed, grabbing the key and flashing him a wink.

“Get outta here” he shooed you away with a laugh and sat back down to continue monitoring the security screens.

You soon approached the elevators, pressed the top floor button, and patiently waited for the doors to open. 

As you waited, a woman who seemed off entered the building. Her movements seemed erratic, inhuman even. 

Walter immediately stood from his chair, placing his hand cautiously on his weapon as she approached his counter. “Can I help you?”

“I'm…looking for…Doctor y/n” the woman spoke in a calm yet eerily manner. 

“I think you got the wrong place ma'am” he lied, not wanting to put you in any sort of imminent danger, especially when she looked suspicious. 

Overhearing the conversation, you turned your head towards them, your heart sinking in your chest when you realized who it was. 

“Professor Wilson?” You gasped, rushing towards her. 

Diedra turned to look at you, her pupils were pin point and her face seemed like it was drained of all its color. “It's been such a long time y/n” she smiled. 

“Uh…I got this Walter…thank you” you placed a gentle hand against her back and guided her to the elevators. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, don't worry" you gestured for him to relax. 

“I wanted to see how you were doing after all these years.”

“I'm doing fine Professor, why don't you come up to my office and I'll get you a bottle of water.”

“Oh you are too kind,” she smiled. 

“Of course, how can I not be to my favorite professor” you smiled and then looked up to see where the elevator was. 

As you were distracted, Diedra pulled scissors out of her pocket, took a hold of a long strand of your [Your hair color and what type like curly, straight, braided, etc.] hair and cut it. 

“Huh?” You turned to her, noticing her shifting in her stance and shoving something deep in her coat pocket. 

A couple minutes passed as you allowed Professor Wilson into your office and offered her to take a seat on any chair she preferred. 

“Here we go,” you smiled, handing her a cold water bottle from your fridge. 

“Thank you my dear” she smiled, opening the water bottle and taking a few sips. 

“So, how are things?” You gently plopped down on your office chair and awaited her response.

Her expression changed suddenly. Her pupils dilated further and her head hauntingly tilted to the side. 

“I haven't seen your radiant beauty in so long that I needed to see you for myself and of course…see how you were flourishing in your new job.”

Your soft expression disappeared at the way she spoke and tilted her head. It seemed all too familiar of someone you knew a long time ago. 

“Professor Wilson…are you feeling alright?”

“I am doing-” 

“-Just fine” Gideon hummed hungrily as he saw you before him. 

You looked absolutely ravishing and surprisingly adorable with the glasses you had on. [You can add your own special item if you don't like the glasses idea! Like imagine your character having something particular to your outfits or your likes lovies!]

“I've found you at last” he opened his eyes, a wicked grin curled at the corners of his mouth. He couldn't believe his very eyes when he saw you through Diedra's vision. 

“Okay” you nodded worriedly, standing from your chair and kneeling in front of her. 

You slowly grabbed a hold of her cheek, pulled down her lower eye lid and noticed strange black tendrils wriggling around. 

“Oh shit….”

Before you could react, Diedra’s hand suddenly snapped around your wrist with horrifying strength before slamming you backward against the nearby wall.

“Ah!” you gasped for air, struggling against her grasp. 

“Submit yourself to me willingly. If you continue resisting…” Diedra’s head tilted eerily to the side. 

“I will continue creating strains capable of infecting every person unfortunate enough to cross my path.”

Your eyes widened, breath hitching in your throat, “V-Victor?” 

Diedra’s lips curled into the same malicious grin that you once knew all too well, sending a wave of goosebumps across your skin. 

“Come back to me y/n” her voice softened. “And no one else needs to suffer.”

“No…this isn’t possible” you struggled against her grasp before using your legs to shove her backwards. 

Scrambling to your feet, you ran out of your office and down the hall to your lab. “Shit, shit, shit!” you cried out as you grabbed your ID and scanned it against the scanner. 

After the doors opened, you pulled it shut, looking through the reinforced glass window to see where Diedra was. 

Diedra slowly stood at the end of the hallway, Victor’s unsettling grin still stretched across her face.

“Y/n…..you continue resisting fate…”. 

“....yet you were always destined to return to me~”  

Quickly ducking down to your knees, you grabbed your phone from your pocket and called Leon.

“Hey, look who’s calling m-”

“Leon!” you cried his name.

“Y/n! What happened?!” he worriedly asked, his playful demeanor shifting to a serious one. 

“I need you to come to my workplace….my professor…she’s trying to hurt me or something!” 

“What? I’m coming, hold on!” 

After he hung up, you heard soft tapping against the glass window of the laboratory doors. 

“Oh fuck me…” your head slowly looked up to Diedra staring down at you. 

“Let me in~”

You rushed to your feet, slowly walking backwards as she tried to open the sealed laboratory doors. “Go away!” 

“Awww, my sweet y/n. I won’t stop until you are mine~” Diedra balled her hand into a fist and punched the reinforced glass, cracking it. 

You let out a yelp, rushing deeper into the laboratory and hiding behind one of the gurneys in hopes that she wouldn't find you there. 

BOOM

The loud sound of one of the laboratory doors bursting open echoed along your ears, soft taps of shoes entering after, a sign that Diedra had made it through. 

“Y/n, where are you~?” her voice hauntingly rang through space. 

You covered your mouth tightly, body shaking uncontrollably, a million thoughts running through your mind. You didn’t know what to do, especially to someone you’ve known for years. 

Diedra shuffled towards one of the gurneys, her balance now showing more unnatural movements. With a quick pull of the white sheet, she was presented with a male cadaver laying lifeless on the stretcher.

“Hmm” she let out a soft chuckle, using her hands to open his mouth. “I know those beautiful eyes are watching me, y/n….”. 

“....let me show you how much I’ve accomplished over the years~”

Shortly after she spoke, Diedra regurgitated a black viscous fluid into the male’s mouth.

You watched carefully from afar, a grotesque expression crossing your face. “What the?” you whispered to yourself.

As soon as she stepped away from the body, it began to convulse violently. Then a loud groaning sound erupted from his throat as he was brought back to life.

“Do you see it now, y/n?” Victor’s voice echoed through Diedra’s throat with unsettling calm. 

“Do you finally understand what I have become?” 

“For years, humanity has rotted beneath the weight of weakness…” her head tilted slightly.

“Humans have always been fragile. Calling me insane for envisioning something greater.” 

The corpse suddenly sat upright with a violent groan. 

“But look closely, beloved…” Diedra’s voice softened at the name she had given you. 

“This is not death” her fingers brushed carefully along the side of its face almost lovingly. 

“I have rewritten the limitations of the human body itself” a low growl vibrated through her chest. “I command life, infection, the very thing humanity fears most.”

Diedra’s eyes slowly lifted towards where you hid, “And through all these years…” A smile spread across her face. 

“....every discovery….strain…evolution….was built with you in mind~”

You watched her carefully, your body and face frozen with fear. 

“I wanted a world where nothing could ever take you away from me again” her voice lowered into something almost painful.

Silence filled the room briefly until Diedra’s smile widened further.

“But you abandoned me…” the lights in the laboratory flicked ever so slightly. “...you left me alone in a world too small to contain what I was becoming..” 

“Now look at me…...look at what your absence created” her expression darkened with obsession. 

“I have longed for your presence my beloved…..” a deep rumbling growl escaped from her chest. 

“....and now….I found you…..and I don’t intend on letting you slip through my fingers again~”

Without you noticing, the male corpse took a hold of you from above the gurney you were hiding behind.

“Ah!” You screamed, struggling against the corpse’s grasp as he pulled you onto your feet and dragged you towards Diedra. 

“There you are~” Diedra hummed as Victor would, using the back of her hand to carefully caress your cheek. 

“This can’t be real…you….you aren’t Victor…” you cried softly. 

“Oh….” Diedra tilted her head once more, Victor’s grin still etched across her face.

“I know you ache for me to consume every part of you…” her voice slithered warmly through the dim room as she leaned dangerously close to your ear. 

“After all…” A soft chuckle escaped her throat. “...I know your body better than anyone else ever could~”

A pleasurable chill shot violently down your spine, your legs trembling uncontrollably as a result. 

“Ah…” you let out a soft moan, a deep blush forming across your cheek. “No…it…it can’t be….you’re a monster!” you screamed. 

BANG

The head of the corpse holding you whipped back, their body toppling backwards onto the cold marble floors. 

Diedra’s head snapped towards the direction of the shot, her expression hardening. 

“Leon!” You gasped in relief.

“Y/n, come on” Leon gestured you to come on over to him with a tilt of his head. 

Ushering past Diedra, you rushed into his arms, holding onto his chest tightly. 

Leon immediately wrapped an arm securely around you, pulling you tightly against his body while keeping his gun trained forward. 

“You okay?” he asked lowly. 

You nodded shakily against him, your fingers desperately grasping at the fabric of his jacket. 

But the moment Victor witnessed you run willingly into this stranger’s arms…something inside him snapped. 

Deep within the hive connection, a violent surge of rage erupted through Gideon’s body. The emotion bled directly into Diedra like poison flooding into her veins. 

A deep animalistic growl rumbled unnaturally through her chest as Victor’s fury overtook her completely. 

“You cling to him…” Diedra’s voice trembled with restrained wrath. 

“....as though he could ever protect you from me” her hollow eyes stared directly onto Leon. 

Leon’s jaw tightened instantly, “Yeah? Wanna test that theory?” he flicked the switch of his Requiem weapon, a sign that it was loaded and ready to be fired. 

A distorted laugh suddenly escaped Diedra’s throat, but beneath the laughter was unmistakable jealousy. 

“I guess……..the next move is yours……Leon” Diedra shrugged her shoulders and walked over to a tray of surgical equipment. 

“Professor please, you have to tell us what we can do to help you” you pleaded with her, naively thinking that this whole situation was because she got infected with a virus and was exhibiting signs of delirium. 

Her eyes looked towards you, her hand picking up a scalpel ever so gently. “Do you know why I take delight in utilizing a scalpel, Leon?”

He remained silent, his expression unreadable but he was determined to protect you no matter the cost. 

“Because they carve through the human flesh without the slightest difficulty” Diedra smirked and traced the sharp scalpel across her neck. 

“No!” you screamed, pulling away from Leon and charging towards her.

“Wait y/n!” Leon gasped, rushing to stop you.

Blood dripped from her neck like a never-ending waterfall, her body going limp and falling to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.

“No, no, no!” you cried softly, cradling Diedra’s head to comfort her in her last moments. “Please god no!”

Leon holstered his weapon, eyes heavy with sorrow as he watched you cradle her close to your body.

“Diedra…” you cried, tears dripping down your eyes. 

“I'm sorry y/n…she's gone…” Leon kneeled down beside you and gently caressed your back. 

“Who could have done this to her?” You looked at him with tearful eyes.

“I don't know..”.

“I looked under her eyes and saw black tendrils moving. They looked exactly like the tendrils in these cadavers here.” 

“Are you sure?” His brows raised in suspicion. 

“Yeah….I think she was infected with something.” 

Suddenly, black tendrils slowly slithered their way out of Diedra's neck. 

You gasped, watching in curiosity as they moved and squirmed around as if trying to find a new host. 

“Shit. I've seen this before” he leaned in closer to you to get a good glimpse at it.

“Really? Where?” you curiously asked. 

“In Valdelobos, Spain. I was sent there to rescue the president's daughter, Ashley.” 

“Holy shit. Wait, maybe if you search the cameras of the local airports, you could see who took a trip to that town? Find out who's been extracting the viruses from there and spreading them?” 

“I would have to search through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, y/n. We don't have that kind of time, especially with this bio-terrorist on the loose.”

“Get Sherry to do it. I'm sure she can come up with an algorithm to find specific characteristics in people that seem out of the ordinary.”

“How do you know about Sherry?” Leon cracked a curious smile.

“I do my research, Leon,” you chuckled. 

“I can see that. And what specific characteristics would you want so that she can set the parameters?”

“Look for strange mutations and odd behavior. Typically, bio-terrorists give themselves away simply by looking different than the normal person or they act extremely nervous.”

“Are you sure you aren't a DSO agent?” 

“Leon” you sighed cutely, playfully shaking your head. 

“Just tell Sherry to do that. Now, help me with Professor Wilson's body…”.

Leon nodded, carefully grabbing her corpse and lifting her up to place her on an empty examination table, being careful not to let those black tendrils come into contact with his skin. 

“I'm going to step out for a second to call Sherry. Are you going to be okay?” Leon softly asked. 

You fell silent for a moment as you placed Diedra's cold hands on her chest, tears beginning to form in your eyes.

“No..” You fell apart quickly and rushed into Leon's arms.

“Oh” he gasped, not expecting your hug but ultimately wrapped his arms tightly around you.

“Hey…hey shh…it's okay…you're going to be okay” he whispered calmly to you, rubbing your back gently to ease your sadness. 

“I knew her for years. We’ve talked so many times. She even invited me to her fucking anniversary party….and now…she’s gone..”. 

“I know, but it’ll be okay.” 

“Oh my gosh, Thomas!” You gasped, pulling away from his embrace. 

“Who’s Thomas?” 

“Her husband…I-I gotta call him…he’s gotta-” you began to panic. 

“Y/n!” Leon grabbed a hold of your arms tightly. 

“Huh?” you snapped out of your racing thoughts. 

“Breath with me” he inhaled softly, pressing his hand gently against your chest.

You nodded, taking a hold of his wrist and following alongside him and taking a deep breath in. 

“And out” Leon let out a gentle exhale.

You also exhaled, shutting your eyes and trying to calm yourself down. 

“Good. Now, take a second to collect your thoughts and then call Thomas.” 

“Okay” you opened your eyes to look into his soft blue ones. 

“You can’t let yourself get this way, y/n. I cannot bear to see you get hurt because of this” he soothingly caressed your cheek. 

“You’re stronger than you realize~”

You smiled through your gentle tears, bringing him into another hug. “Thank you Leon….you’ve always been there for me and….I just…can’t thank you enough…”. 

“You need to thank me. Your presence brings me all the comfort I need” he chuckled, leaning his cheek against the top of your head. 

“Argh!” Gideon grabbed one of the surgical trays and launched it across the room with such force that it cracked a section of marble on the wall.  

Philip heard the commotion from the lab and rushed in, “Doctor Gideon, everything alright?”

“No…” Gideon growled lowly. 

“Nothing is alright, Philip.”

The laboratory fell silent. 

“Professor Diedra was merely a means to an end. She failed to obtain the information I required and now she is wasted flesh.”

Gideon’s breathing deepened, “But that is not what concerns me.”

The metal beneath his grip groaned loudly, “Leon Kennedy…” The name dripped from his lips like poison.

Gideon said nothing for a split second as Leon’s name echoed in his thoughts, then-

CRACK

The corner of his laboratory table folded inward beneath the sheer force of his grip.

“He held her!” a deep growl rumbled from his chest. “He touched her…and she ran to him” the words seemed to physically pain him. 

Glass vials along the table began rattling from the force of his agitation.

“When she was frightened…” Gideon’s eyes narrowed. “When she needed comfort…” his voice dropped even further. 

“She sought him….”.

Suddenly, his hand swept across the entire table, glass shatting across the laboratory floor, experimental samples bursting apart and equipment clattering against the walls. 

“That should have been me!” He roared in seething rage. 

Gideon’s chest rose and fell heavily for a moment….but then slowly.… a cold, calculating, and terrifying smile peered across his lips. 

“Very well~” he straightened to his full height. 

“If Leon Kennedy insists on placing himself between us…” A low chuckle escaped him as he turned to face Philip who remained silent but observant.

“Then I shall learn everything there is to know about him. His habits. His weakness. His fears” his smile widened even further.

“And then….” a hungry growl escaped him. “I will decide what to do with him.”

“Hey Sherry, can you do me a favor? Yeah, can you search through the CCTV footage of the airport in Spain after I rescued the president’s daughter, Ashley?” Leon spoke through his phone. 

“No, just find anything out of the ordinary. Like things that would tie someone to committing acts of bio-terrorism.” 

“Thanks Sherry, I still owe you one.” 

After Leon hung up, he looked towards you as you frantically called Thomas’s phone.

“Is he answering?” 

“No” you looked up at Leon who approached you. 

“Hmm…something must’ve happened to him. Do you know their address?”

“Yeah.”

“Send me it.” 

“Oh no, you aren’t going alone.”

“Y/n…” Leon tiled his head slightly. “You need to stay here.”

“I am not staying here and besides…I don’t want to find out what Carla is going to do to me after she finds the laboratory doors have been blown open” you chuckled, rushing past him to head to your office and make some calls about the damages to the lab.

After a few minutes of calls and getting reprimanded from your boss about the lab nearly being torn apart, you and Leon had finally arrived at Diedra’s address.

“This the place?” Leon asked as he put his Porsche in park in front of the home. 

“Yeah” you leaned down a bit to take a good look at the house for anything out of the ordinary. “There’s lights on but…why isn’t Thomas answering?” 

“Come on,” Leon said as he stepped out of his car and shut the door behind him. 

Doing the same, you shut the door behind you and followed him. However, this whole scenario was strange. Thomas worked from home and he always had his phone on. So, why wasn’t he answering?

As you both reached the door, Leon made the first knock, leaning back to check for any signs of movement.

“Thomas?” you called, reaching to grab the doorknob but the door hauntingly opened by itself. “What the fuck?”

“Stay close” Leon sternly said, pulling out his requiem weapon and loading it. 

“Okay” you nodded, following closely behind him, making sure to look for any clues of what had happened to Thomas.

Leon soon caught the sight of the blood as he entered the living room and lowered his weapon when the realization hit him.

“He was here…” his jaw tightened. 

“But someone made sure he didn’t leave on his own.” 

“What do you mean?” you ushered past Leon and stopped in your tracks when you noticed a pair of eyeballs on the floor and a pool of blood.

“Oh my gosh….” you covered your mouth in shock. 

A sudden ring emanated from Leon’s pocket, giving him a heads up that someone was calling him. 

“Hello?” he answered his phone, his eyes lighting up at the sound of Sherry’s voice. “Hey, that was quick. What’d you find?” 

You turned your body to face Leon, waiting for him to tell you who was responsible for so much destruction.

“Okay” he nodded, moving his phone away from his ear after putting it on speaker and scrolling through his messages to find the email Sherry had sent him.

“Y/n was right about the characteristics. I found one odd person that entered the airport and sent his photo to your email Leon.”

“Did you get a chance to get a facial recognition scan?” he questioned. 

“Yep. And I found out that his name is Doctor Victor Gideon.”

Your heart sunk deep into your chest at the sound of that name. “What?” you rushed over to him and looked at his phone, noticing a tall figure in a snake print coat ominously passing through the airport. 

“Oh fuck me…” you murmured underneath your breath, your body beginning to tremble. 

“Hey, you okay?” Leon looked at you worriedly. 

“Ah….” you shut your eyes tightly, the memories flashing through your mind of what happened in the lab.

“I know you ache for me to consume every part of you…~”

Those words echoed along your mind, but instead of Diedra saying it, you saw Victor standing there in the lab with you. Saying those exact words bit by bit. 

She wasn’t just infected with a virus, Victor was controlling her….and apparently he had finally found you. 

“Y/n? Do you know him?” Leon’s soft voice brought you back to reality. 

“No…” you lied, opening up your eyes to look at him. “I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

“Are you sure? You were shaking after Sherry mentioned his name.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Leon let out a gentle sigh as he took Sherry off speaker and asked her if she could find any relevant information about his place of business and if he owned any properties. And to also send a team of agents to his location to scan for any evidence that could be used to locate this Doctor Gideon. 

Once he hung up, he placed his hand against your back, “Do you want me to take you home?”

“Yeah….I’ve had a long day and….I want to be home.”

“Okay, let’s go” he flashed a reassuring smile to you before helping you out of Diedra’s house.

Once you made it back home, you changed out of your clothes and sat on your bed with a worryful expression written across your face.

How was this possible? How could Victor do all this? And why….did you lie to Leon about not knowing him? You knew everything about him. You dated him for fucks sake….but you couldn’t stomach telling him that…especially when you now knew that he would stop at nothing to obtain you. 

“Oh Leon” you cried out his name as you gripped onto your stuffed bear, wishing that you had the strength to tell him about Victor but you didn’t want him to worry more than he already was.

“How many subjects do we have so far, Philip?” 

“About forty, Doctor Gideon.” 

“Excellent” Gideon chuckled as he looked down through the observation window into a room that contained around forty chambers filled with Thomas’s spliced blood. 

“Begin by transferring the subjects into the chambers” he ordered, casually grabbing a file that contained the necessary sequences he had to follow to properly administer the strain into each subject.

“Also, make sure to properly connect the oxygen masks to their mouths, I wouldn’t want them to suffocate before integration with the strain.”

“Yes, Doctor Gideon” Philip nodded and went about to do just that. 

Gideon let out a low, hungry chuckle at the sight before him. He was on the verge of creating something far greater than Elpis. Something that would reshape the future itself. And when that future arrived….he would finally reclaim the one person who had haunted his every waking thought. You. 

Chapter 1: The Echoes of Victor Gideon

“Hey Victor, wait up!” 

“Oh, well look who decided to show up to get some coffee with me” Victor laughed. 

“I'm sorry, it isn't my fault that exams are hitting me hard” you chuckled, hugging his arm gently because he was….well…you could say a rather tall individual. 

“How are they going anyways?” He continued forward down the line of people waiting to get their order taken by the barista. 

“They're good, and yours?” 

“They're…decent but I can manage” he smiled, pushing a strand of your hair behind your ear. 

“When we graduate, I want to introduce you to my family…”.

“Really…you'd think they'll like me?” He asked nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

“They won't just like you, they'll love you,” you smiled, standing on your tippy toes to give him a kiss.

That memory of you still lingered in his mind. You were all he thought about for years. Even after his body mutated and contorted to something inhuman, his heart still belonged to you. 

“Y/n…” Gideon whispered to himself as he looked down at the syringe he was filling, the memories distracting him from his work. 

“Dammit!” He slammed the syringe down on his laboratory bench and stood from his chair. “I need to find her….or I will never get my work finished…”. 

“Good morning Doctor Y/n.”

“Good morning Diana, what is the scope for today?” you smiled as you walked into your office and grabbed your lab coat. 

“Uh, well the director sent us around 20 bodies all with the T mutations and 1 singular body that has a rather strange growth that he wants you to examine” Diana scrolled through the IPad in her hand that contained the information sent by him.

“Oh fuck me” you groaned as you reached for the IPad and took a look at the information. 

“Oh I also wanted to let you know that a Leon Kennedy called in regards to the dinner reservation he made for tonight.” 

“Oh shit I also forgot about that too” you sighed deeply. “Thank you Diana, I'm sorry I just keep forgetting shit!”

“No worries ma’am, it happens to the best of us.” 

“Thank you. How's Jimmy by the way? I heard he just turned 10?” you chuckled, shutting off the IPad and slipped it underneath your arm to carry it. 

“Yes his birthday was yesterday and I want to thank you so much for the gifts you got him. You did not need to buy him that PS5. That is way above what I can afford.”

“Oh shush Diana, you and your son deserve the world” you smiled, rubbing her arm and then walked past her. 

“Now you had better bring me some cake the next time I see you,” You laughed as you headed down the hallway towards the labs. 

“I will!” Diana called to you as she returned to her reception desk.

Another deep sigh escaped your lips as you grabbed your ID card and swiped it over the card reader. Once it turned green, you opened the door and began to suit up with the proper PPEs needed. 

“Morning boss, how did you wake up this morning?”

“That's none of your business Xander” you chuckled, setting the IPad at one of the desks and approaching the first body laid on the examination table. 

“Ooo she got you there Xander!”

“Fuck off Ben!” Xander laughed as he rolled the examination trolley over to you. 

“Boys, boys. We can play house later, for right now we got an order from the director and I don't want him up my ass complaining that we didn't finish these bodies.”

“Sorry boss” they both said in unison as they began to work. 

Soon enough, you grabbed a scalpel to begin cutting away at the skin of this mutated person. 

“Ben…please make a note that subject 2169A has a strange growth of roots across their lungs.” 

“Roger that boss” Ben typed away at the keyboard of the computer that was in the lab. 

“So Doctor…you free tonight for some dinner?” Xander raised a brow. 

“Ben can you also make a note about people needing to mind their own fucking business and to stop trying to get into women's pants.” 

“Yes Doctor,” Ben laughed hysterically. 

“Ugh…fine missus stuck ass!” Xander pouted behind his face shield and grabbed the medical scissors for you.

“Careful Xander, I'm still your boss” you smirked playfully, handing him the scalpel and then grabbing the scissors. 

“Errr Xander got burned again!” Ben called from behind the computer screen. 

“Okay boys seriously back to work” you shook your head and continued the examination. 

In due time, you and your team finished examining each body, including the one singular body that the director asked you to personally look at.

“Phew, good job boys, my ass is now safe from being devoured by the director.”

“Woah, major pause!” Ben shook his head with a chuckle. 

“Yeah, you gotta be careful with those words boss” Xander finished sewing up the last body and made sure to walk over to the sink to wash and disinfect his hands.

“Oh hush both of you” you walked over to the IPad and checked to make sure that everything was done. 

“Ben, did you make sure to sign the bottom of the page?” 

“Yep, signed and dated it.” 

“Okay…good” you mumbled underneath your breath and walked over to the entrance of the lab to get changed and disinfected. 

“Xander, you also made sure to check and mark each tag on the body's right?”

“Yeah” he nodded, drying his hands with the paper towels he grabbed. 

“Alright. Good work boys, I'll see you next week and try not to party too hard.”

“I know I won't, but Xander is another story.”

“You just don't know how to party bro!” 

“Oh suck it” Ben flipped him off jokingly. 

“Good night boys” you laughed, exiting out of the lab and heading back to your office to gather your things. 

“Okay, purse, hoodie, car keys, and tumbler” you checked to make sure that you didn't forget anything and proceeded out of your office.

“Have a good night Diana” you smiled, waving goodbye to her. 

“Good night y/n!” Diana waved back to you before she went back to typing the end of day report. 

As you headed towards the elevators, you grabbed your phone and dialed Leon's number. 

After a couple of rings, a deep, gravely voice answered. “Hello?”

“Hey Leon! I'm sorry about the delay, I'm gonna head to the place right now “

“Well, well, nearly a whole day and now you decide to call.”

“Uh excuse you, I've been busy with work. What have you been doing? Jacking off? Ugh…kill the visual Jesus” you playfully faked vomiting after what you said. 

“Oh, ha ha. Very funny, y/n,” Leon spoke with a soft chuckle. 

“And for your information, I have been working. I actually picked up a new case. Bodies have been turning up with these… strange markings and cuts.”

“What?” Your brow raised in confusion, remembering the first body you examined having inflicted markings on them, same as what Leon was describing. 

“Yeah, I don't know but they're saying that someone or something is creating these wounds.”

“Tell me more when I get there, okay” you entered the elevator and pressed the garage floor. 

As the elevator began its descent, your mind raced with thoughts about the new information that just came into light. Who was this new character in town, creating and spreading infections to harm innocent civilians? Why were they opening up cadavers and etching markings on their inner organs? And…why now?

The elevator doors soon swung open, allowing you to exit into the garage. 

With quick steps, you reached your car and entered the driver's side once you unlocked it. 

“I'm gonna have to schedule a meeting with Eric…there are far too many bodies dropping” you went to grab your phone and dialed your boss's number.

“Hello?” A gruffly voice spoke on the other end of the call. 

“Hey Eric, I'm sorry to bother you so late at night but we need to schedule a meeting in regards to the mutations.” 

“Good evening y/n, I'm doing fine, how are you?” Eric chuckled. 

A soft sigh escaped you, “I'm sorry Eric, how are you really?”

“I'm fine y/n, thanks. I know you're doing fine by the sound of your voice. But more importantly, why do you need to schedule a meeting?”

“I think we need to discuss our next steps in regards to the mutations that we've been seeing.” 

“Care to elaborate?” 

“Well, the body you told me to examine had very strange markings and I think it stems from someone experimenting on them. I also heard from a DSO agent that they have a new case that's similar to the body's that we've been-”

“Let me guess, you got the info from Leon?” 

“Umm…well..”.

“Y/n…how many times have I explained to you that we can not share sensitive information to other DSO agents until we know exactly what we are dealing with.” 

“But Eric, I know for a fact that someone is intentionally infecting individuals. I saw the inflicting wounds when I was doing the autopsy on the body.” 

A long sigh escaped Eric's throat as he ran the details through his head. 

“Okay, why don't we do this. Until we get a direct message from the lead DSO agent that there's a pattern to these virus infected people, we will not make any assumptions or declare this a pattern. Sound good?” 

“Alright…alright…” you rubbed your forehead in frustration. 

“Relax, enjoy your weekend. And try not to do anything crazy, okay?” 

“Thank Eric. Have a good night” you hung up your phone and dropped it onto the passenger seat. 

“Mother fucker!” You shouted, slamming your hand against the steering wheel. You didn't understand why Eric always acted like this. If you see a pattern of infection, the right thing to do is to declare that to protect the innocent lives who could be harmed. Yet, you couldn't do Jack because you weren't in charge of the department. He was the director and he was your boss. 

BANG

“Holy shit!” You screamed, turning your head towards the sound and noticed that it was Xander knocking at your window. 

“Couldn't you have at least knocked on the glass in a different way that wouldn't scare the living crap out of me” you grumbled after rolling down your window. 

“Heh, that would defeat the purpose of scaring you” he smiled, leaning against your door. 

“Uh huh” you shook your head. 

“What's wrong? You seem pissed?” He asked with concern. 

“It's Eric. He doesn't want to declare what we saw in there as a pattern because I am sure he thinks it would cause mass hysteria. Which I totally get, but if this is serious….and there's someone out there spreading a virus….we need to stop them.” 

Xander shrugged his shoulders, understanding that the situation was complicated. “I hate to say this but that dumb fucker doesn't know what an infection is if it sprouted on his dick.” 

You couldn't help but laugh at his joke, softly holding onto his hand. “Yeah but he's my boss and he pays the bills Xander.” 

“Yeah, but I saw the autopsy report y/n. Whoever is doing this knows the human body in depth and how to manipulate the genome.” 

“I guess we're gonna have to just wait till an infection breaks out and the country blames us for not fixing it.” 

“Guess so” Xander chuckled and then moved his hand away from you to grab his car keys. “Have a good night y/n, drive safe.” 

“You too” you waved good night to him, closed your window, and put your car in reverse to head out of the parking garage. 

“Ngh—!” a loud grunt escaped Gideon's lips after breaking down the boarded up doors to the medical college he attended. 

“It's been such a long time….” he hummed in amusement as he entered the halls, his mind flooding with memories of you. 

“Come on, Victor…” Your soft voice echoed faintly in his mind.

For a brief moment, a grainy image of you appeared at the edge of his vision. Your hand wrapped around his arm as you pulled him forward with a laugh. Then it vanished without a trace. 

Gideon’s expression hardened almost instantly as he continued down the corridor.

In a couple of strides, he arrived at the main office where they kept all the important files of the students. 

“Let's see” he murmured to himself, ducking down when he reached the doorway and standing to his original height when he stepped foot in the room. 

“Disorganized as always…” Gideon sighed softly, stepping over the debris.

“Somewhere in this chaos…there must be something left of her.” 

Without warning, he stepped on a picture frame. His curiosity took the best of him as he knelt down to grab the frame to look at the picture. 

His heart melted at the sight before him. It was a picture of your graduating class. The school always kept a picture of the most recent graduating class to show the incoming freshman the success that students have when they attend this college. 

Despite the excitement and noise surrounding the other students, Gideon only saw you.

There you sat in the front row, eight graduation tassels hanging proudly from your gown, wearing the same radiant smile he had adored from the moment you entered his life.

He shut his eyes for a brief moment, remembering that day as if it was yesterday.

“Victor! We did it!” You laughed as you charged towards him, embracing him tightly. 

Victor laughed proudly as he hoisted you in the air and spun you around excitingly. “You are brilliant!” 

“Not as brilliant as you” you smiled, caressing his cheek and then leaned in to kiss him.

Victor deepened the kiss, his arms tightly embracing you as if you were to disappear. 

After he pulled away from the kiss, he set you down on your two feet and softly knelt in front of you. “I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?” You asked curiously. 

“I got a job offer at the Umbrella corporation as their lead specialist and researcher.”

Your smile slowly faded, “Victor…..”. 

“I know, I know. You don't like them because there have been stories of corruption and viruses escaping. But they're gonna pay me significantly more than the Darto Corps.”

The distance between you widened as you slowly stepped away from him. 

“I…I have to go. My family's waiting for me,” you said softly, clutching your graduation cap tightly against your head. 

“I'll call you later” you turned and hurried across the field toward your family. 

Victor slowly stood from the grass field, frozen in place. The cheers of the crowd around him became muffled and distant, his ears ringing violently as the realization slowly settled into his chest. He barely even noticed his friends approaching him, congratulating him, shaking his shoulders excitedly, celebrating the future that awaited them all. 

This was because all he could focus on….was you leaving him behind. 

Gideon's eyes suddenly snapped open. His grip tightened around the cracked picture frame in his hand until the glass shattered violently against his palm. 

He still couldn't understand your reasoning. He was helping mankind. Regardless of the corporation's methods, his work would have elevated humanity beyond its pathetic limitations. Human evolution was necessary. 

The weak would perish….while only the strong remained. 

Gideon let out an annoyed sigh as he pushed himself off the ground and entered the records office. He searched through each file that littered the floor until he noticed a list of professors, staff, and students that taught the classes you attended. 

“Hmm, looks like I know who to ask now” he chuckled, folding the paper carefully and placing it inside his pocket. 

Suddenly, a low vibrating hum sounded near him. He let out an annoying sigh as he grabbed his phone from his other pocket and answered it. 

“You're interrupting my work. Speak.” 

“I thought we had an agreement Victor” a cold, authoritative voice spoke on the other end of the call. 

“We did….I am simply attending to business that does not concern you.” 

“Hmm, it does concern me when I am the one bearing the responsibility of payment for your experiments.” 

“And I assured you Zeno, that my work is unquestionable. If you can't believe me, then that is your mistake…not mine.” 

Zeno let out a frustrated sigh, despising that he couldn't simply dispose of Victor because his work was impressive and the results he provides is impeccable; but the way he operates is sloppy and erratic, something that he did not tolerate. 

“I've given you results, Zeno. That mutation I made in that body has led you to four different sites, each containing mutation factors that allow the user to grow significantly in power.” 

“I detest when you question my abilities,” Gideon said coldly. “If I choose to pursue something, that decision is mine…not yours.” 

Zeno let out another soft chuckle, “Careful Victor…..I think these little obsessions of yours are beginning to cloud your judgment.” 

Gideon let out a low growl, gritting his teeth in seething anger. “Is that all? Or do you want to continue pestering me with your lectures?” 

“Hmmm” Zeno chuckled. “That is all….for now.” 

With a quick swipe of his finger, Gideon ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket. He was full of rage, but he didn't want that to cloud his primary objective…finding you. 

“Let's start with Philip Nyra…he was a close friend of y/n… . Maybe he might know where she could be” he laughed wickedly before exiting the office to find Philip's address. 

“Hey Leon!” You waved to him and approached the booth he was lounging in. 

“Hey y/n!” Leon smiled, standing up from the booth to hug you.

You returned the hug to him and then pulled off your purse to sit comfortably in the booth. 

“So, how was work?” 

“Oh it was fine, I did work on a couple of bodies, and found something odd.” 

“Odd? What do you mean?” Leon scooted into the booth and continued drinking his ice-cold coke. 

“Well, when I opened one body in particular….it had deliberate markings…like it was done on purpose.”

“Like someone experimented on them, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I know we aren't supposed to be sharing this information with each other but you need to see this” Leon grabbed his phone from his hand and swiped through the autopsy report of the bodies he had found. 

“Here” he handed you his phone. 

Reaching over, you grabbed his phone and began to read through the report. “What the fuck…” you gasped as you swiped to the side to see the same markings you saw on the body you had opened. 

“Exactly. Whoever is doing this, could bring a whole new virus strain to this place. It could be Raccoon City all over again.” 

“We don't want another fucking incident like that Leon” you sighed deeply, handing him the phone and rubbed your head in frustration. 

Suddenly, a waitress came over to the table and looked at you. “Hello, my name is Sara. What can I get started for you today?”

“A Malibu bay breeze please.” 

“No problem” Sara jotted down your drink on her notepad and then turned her attention to Leon. “And sir, have you decided what you want to eat?”

“Uh, I'm still deciding,” Leon chuckled. 

“No worries. Take all the time you need. I'll be back with your drink sweetheart” Sara smiled as she walked away to get you your drink. 

“A little late for drinking hmm?” 

“Oh fuck off Leon. I need a drink after all this shit.” 

Leon extended his hand out to place on top of yours, his expression softening, “Y/n…you can't let this get to your head.”

“Leon…I took an oath to protect this city and the many innocent lives that are at stake if this virus spreads” you looked into his gentle eyes, your worry slowly slipping away. Leon always had that effect, bringing calm when there's a ranging storm outside. 

“I know you did. But that doesn't mean you should tear your hair out”  Leon said with a small smile.

“But don’t stress yourself to death over it.” His grin turned teasing.

“And for the record, your bald ass head would probably freak me out.”

“Hey!” you laughed, grabbing his finger and bending it backward.

“Ow! Okay, okay, uncle!”

You giggled, releasing his hand and grabbed the menu to look over at what you wanted to chow down on. 

The smile on Leon's lips never left as he grabbed his menu to also look over. You always knew how to make him smile, even in the darkest of moments he's experienced. 

Beyond the glow of the city skyline, the same pouring rain dripped from the murky heavens, cloaking the homes of those who had no idea what was to come. 

A lone shadow loomed just beyond their homes, their warm breath hung in the air like steam. They looked quite ominous standing there, scanning each home with their eyes like a predator stalking their prey. 

Yet, their movements shifted at the sudden approach of a red Lexus driving down the road. 

The shadow's lips curled into a malicious smirk when they realized who was in the car. 

“Ah, fuck me…another long day at the courthouse” Philip groaned as he grabbed his brief case from the passenger side and his umbrella. 

Unexpectedly, his phone rang in his coat pocket. “Who the hell is calling me this late at night?”

Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed his phone and answered the call. “Hello?

“Is this Philip Nyra?” A strange voice asked, their voice low and curious. 

“Yes? Who's this?”

The call hung up as quick as it rang, causing Philip to groan in annoyance. “Fucking spam callers.”

Pushing aside his anger, he gathered his belongings and got out of his car and headed towards his quaint little suburban home. 

“Hey hun, I'm home” Philip called to his wife, kicking his shoes off, hanging up his jacket and briefcase and then grabbed the mail on the table by the door to give it a look over.

“Hun?” He called again, wondering why she wasn't answering. 

Philip continued down the dark hallway of his home and proceeded into the living room where his wife was probably watching her crime documentaries. 

But he froze the moment he stepped into the living room. His pulse immediately quickened.

The lamps were on and his furniture slightly disturbed.

Muddy footprints stretched across the hardwood floors like something enormous had wandered through the house at its leisure.

Then his eyes landed on the figure standing near the fireplace.

His blood ran cold.

Victor Gideon towered unnaturally within the dim light, one massive hand calmly holding a framed photograph of Philip and his wife.

The creature’s head tilted slightly as it studied the image.

“Your wife appears healthy,” Gideon murmured thoughtfully. “Strong genetics… admirable resilience…”

Philip slowly stepped backward, “What the fuck are you?”

A faint grin spread across Gideon’s lips. “Mm…” he lowered the picture frame slightly. “An old acquaintance of y/n’s.”

Philip’s stomach dropped instantly at the mention of his best friend, “How do you know y/n?”

Gideon’s eyes slowly lifted toward him, “She spoke very fondly of you.”

Something about the calmness in his voice made Philip’s survival instincts scream.

He turned suddenly but it was too late.

THUD THUD THUD

The entire room shook beneath Gideon’s speed.

One massive hand violently wrapped around Philip’s throat before slamming him against the nearby wall hard enough to rattle the picture frames.

Philip gagged, clawing desperately at Gideon’s wrist. The sheer density behind the creature’s grip felt inhuman.

Gideon calmly observed him struggling.

“You care for her,” he murmured. “That is useful.”

Philip’s vision blurred rapidly.

“Ngh…!”

Darkness consumed him moments later, his hand falling limp at his side. 

Gideon let out a pleasing chuckle, grabbing his limp body and throwing it over his shoulder. “Rest now.” 

A little while later, a sharp sting fell across Philip's neck and jolted him awake. 

As he opened his eyes, he was blinded by bright clinical lights.

“Where the hell am I?” He gasped, his arms jerking instinctively, only to realize that they were restrained tightly against an examination table. 

A surge of panic ran through him as he struggled viciously against the restraints. But then his eyes shifted up, looking at his surroundings. 

The room looked disturbingly clinical, metal tables, metal instruments, glass containers filled with dark fluid and standing directly across him was Gideon who was calmly organizing his surgical instruments. 

“No, no, no…fuck!” Philip shouted as he struggled violently against the restraints again. “What the fuck do you want from me!” 

Gideon sighed deeply as though the outburst inconvenienced him. “I am looking for y/n.”

Philip's breathing became uneven as he spoke, “I don't know where she is!” 

“Mm” Gideon picked up a scalpel, examining it carefully. “A disappointing answer.”

The blades glinted beneath the clinical lights above him as Gideon approached.

Philip's heart pounced behind his chest, panic continuing to surge through him. 

“You misunderstand your situation,” Gideon said quietly. “I am not asking for speculation. I am asking for certainty.”

“I fucking swear I don't know!” 

A faint irritation crossed Gideon’s face. He then traced the scalpel against Philip's throat, just enough to make him freeze. 

“You humans always confuse pain with cruelty” Gideon murmured calmly. “But pain is information.” 

Philip's body shook violently against the clinical table as the cold edge lingered against his skin.

“Where does she go when she's distressed?” Gideon asked softly. “Who does she trust? What locations bring her comfort?” 

“I DON'T KNOW!”

The scalpel pressed slightly deeper, Philip wincing sharply as a result. 

“Please….” He begged with a whimper. 

Gideon's expression remained unreadable until he slowly stepped away. “How unfortunate.”

Philip watched in fear as Gideon approached one of the laboratory tables. Several syringes rested nearby, each filled with a dark crimson fluid threaded with black strands moving unnaturally beneath the glass. 

Philip's stomach twisted, “What the hell is that…?”

Gideon carefully lifted one syringe, flicking the glass with his index finger. “My latest refinement” the faintest smile spread across his lips. 

“A neuro-biological adaptation strain. One consciousness…..spread across many hosts.” 

“No…” fear flooded across Philip's face. 

“You should feel honored Philip" Gideon murmured calmly while approaching him. “Very few are compatible enough to survive integration." 

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Philip struggled violently against the restraints, trying with all his strength to pull them off him. 

Gideon ignored him completely. He then used a sterilized wipe to clean his antecubital area and tapped the area to look for a suitable vein. 

“STOP!” 

Gideon soon grew annoyed as he grabbed his neck with his free hand, “Keep struggling and it'll be the most excruciating pain you've ever experienced.”

Releasing his neck, he pierced his vein with the syringe.

Agony erupted in his nervous system instantly, a loud piercing scream erupted from him. Veins blackened beneath his skin as the virus spread rapidly through his bloodstream, his body convulsing violently against the restraints. 

“Nghh…ahhh!!!”

Then, without warning, Philip remained completely still and silent, his pupils dilated unnaturally. 

“Impressive…” Gideon murmured intriguingly, observing the reaction carefully before retrieving another syringe, but empty. 

He carefully extracted a sample of Philip's altered blood before lifting the syringe toward himself. Then without hesitation, Gideon injected himself with the infected blood. 

A low growl rumbled deep within his chest as the virus merged with his altered biology almost instantly. 

For a brief moment, Philip's memories flashed violently across Gideon's mind. You were laughing, crying, speaking, smiling…it was incredible. 

Gideon slowly closed his eyes, his lips curling into a smile. “Better” he whispered softly. 

Beside him, Philip's head slowly lifted, his expression blank, obedient, connected to Gideon. 

Gideon laughed malevolently, “I've done it” he spoke in awe, not believing that he actually created an impossible strain that could control anyone. The strain he produced allowed the user to be in a hive mind connection, allowing for multiple hosts to be at his beck and call. 

“Philip.” 

In a split second, Philip's head snapped towards Gideon's direction, awaiting for him to speak an order. 

“Break through those restraints.” 

Without a word, Philip viciously broke through the restraints tightly wrapped around his wrist and carefully approached him. 

“Good. Very good.” 

Gideon turned around carefully, grabbing a scalpel, and handed it to Philip. “Cut the palm of your hand.” 

Again, without hesitation, Philip opened his palm and cut through the delicate skin. Although, what was more intriguing was that his wound healed instantly, raising curiosity within Gideon. 

“Mm” Gideon nodded, his heavy footsteps echoing along the clinical walls as he jotted down in his notebook the results of the experiment. 

“Truly fascinating…” Gideon tilted his head, transfixed on his results. 

Though, irritation boiled beneath his skin at the sound of his lab door hissing open, a sign that an unexpected guest had come to visit him.

“How's your burger Leon?” Your words came out muffled as you chewed through your burger. 

“It's damn good,” Leon hummed pleasantly. 

“I can see that” you giggled, swallowing the chunk of burger. 

“Mmm, so, what's your plan? You gonna talk to your boss again, or?”

“Tch, he shut me down the moment I mentioned a pattern. He wants the lead DSO agent to notice the said pattern and then directly deliver that message to him.”

“Oh…I see.”

“It's fucking annoying! I see a pattern and want to stop whoever is doing this before more innocent civilians get hurt.”

Leon casually set his burger down on his plate and grabbed a couple of napkins to wipe his hands. “Y/n…you know I'm the lead DSO agent for this case right?” 

“I know you are Leon, but my boss knows that I'm close to you and that you're the lead DSO agent on the case. So, if you do go to him with this information, he won't believe you because he'll think I told you to lie and tell him there's a pattern.” 

“We're all adults here, I'm sure he'll understand I'm not lying when I show him the photos from the scene.”

“Still…I hate to admit it, Leon. But we need more proof that there is a pattern. Maybe a dozen more bodies somewhere….or the lab where this person is experimenting…”.

Leon's brow raised in concern, “Y/n…a dozen more bodies? Are you serious?” 

“No….I don't want it to get to that point.”

“Listen, why don't I ask my team to give me all the notes they have on the bodies we found and give it to you to have a look over.” 

“I can't Leon…my boss will be furious” you sighed deeply. 

“He won't know. But why don't we do this, you let me know tomorrow morning if you want the files. You're not in this alone y/n, I got your back.”

“Thanks Leon” you smiled, wiping your hands on some napkins and taking a sip of your Malibu Bay Breeze. 

A short while passed as you and Leon exited the restaurant, bellies full and hearts filled with joy.

You laughed happily beside him, hugging his arm gently as he walked you over to your car. 

“Are you sure you're not drunk?” He joked. 

“Oh you know I don't drink to get drunk Leon. Not like you” you giggled, a soft sigh escaping your lips as you grabbed your keys from your purse. 

“Will you be okay on your own?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you so much Leon. And you know on second thought, send me those files.”

“Alright, I'll send it to you by email when I get home.” 

You nodded, leaning in close and hugged him tightly. “We need to protect the people of this city, Leon. We can't let whoever is doing this continue” you whispered. 

Leon's strong arms wrapped around your curvy figure, a shaky breath escaping his lips. A flood of old memories flashed in his mind. Of Raccoon City, of the friends, families, and innocent people losing their lives over the T-Virus and Umbrella's grave mistake. 

He didn't want that to happen again. He would rather die protecting this city than have them go through the same pain he had been carrying for all these years. 

As you pulled away, you gently caressed his cheek, “Good night.”

“Good night y/n” he flashed you a smile before pulling away from you to make sure that you got safely in your car. 

After you left, Leon grabbed his phone, dialing up a number. “Sherry?” “Hey, yeah…it's Leon. Need a favor.” 

A low growl escaped Gideon's chest as he saw who came through the doors. “To what do I owe the pleasure of you visiting my laboratory unannounced, Zeno.”

Gentle, calculated steps echoed through the lab as Zeno approached close to Gideon, his coat loosely draped over his shoulders. “I've come to check on your progress in finding Elpis, Victor.”

“Hmm…oh forgive me for forgetting about the lost cause” Gideon chuckled as his heavy footsteps trailed over to his notebook filled with his experimental reports. 

Zeno’s expression hardened in aggravation upon hearing Gideon's remarks towards finding Elpis. “I thought we had an agreement, Victor?”

“We did. But you explicitly told me to find a bio-weapon that could enhance the user's capabilities ten-fold. Therefore, I am doing just that.” 

Zeno nodded slowly as he pulled out a cigarette, lit it with his lighter, and pulled it close to his lips. “You're looking for her again, aren't you?” 

Gideon’s head turned slowly toward Zeno with an unnatural stillness that sent tension crawling throughout the laboratory.

His grip tightened around the edge of the metal table, the surface bending slightly beneath the sheer force of his hand.

Though his face revealed nothing, a dangerous rage simmered violently beneath the calm exterior he fought so hard to maintain.

Zeno let out a soft, disappointing chuckle, already knowing the answer simply from Gideon's reaction. “Why am I not surprised?”

“You have no right to question me, Zeno.” Gideon’s voice lowered dangerously.

“I thought we already established that… or do I need to repeat myself?”

Zeno released a soft sigh through his nose. “I have warned you time and time again, Victor. These obsessions with the past will become your downfall.”

Gideon’s expression darkened instantly. “You are a fool, Zeno,” his hands tightened around the edge of the laboratory table again. 

“I will continue searching for her whether you approve of it or not” He stepped forward slightly.

“Her intellectual capabilities surpass even my own. She could create anything you desire…” A dangerous grin slowly spread across his lips.

“Perhaps even something far greater than Elpis.”

For the first time, genuine curiosity flickered across Zeno’s face as his head tilted slightly.

“You truly believe she could create a bio-weapon superior to Elpis?” He asked with doubt lingering heavily within his voice.

Gideon responded to Zeno with a sinister laugh, “She will become the angel of death and chaos.”

His grin widened unnaturally, “No one will be capable of stopping evolution… or the power we will hold within our hands.”

Zeno’s lips curled into an approving smile, “I'll leave it in your capable hands then.”

As Zeno turned at his heels to leave, Gideon stood to his original height to call to his subject, “Philip.”

Philip soon appeared beside Gideon, awaiting his new orders from him. 

“I need you to find Professor Diedra Wilson. She knows where y/n is, I am sure of it. They were close weren't they?” 

“Yes, they were Doctor Gideon.”

“Hmm. How close?” He asked, approaching Philip and shut his eyes to search through Philip's memories. 

“Professor Wilson!” Your distorted voice rang along Gideon's mind. 

“Oh y/n! Hello!” Diedra smiled as she embraced you and rubbed your back gently. 

“How are things?” You smiled, pulling away from the hug to hear her clearly. 

“Oh they have been good, stressful, but taking it one day at a time” she chuckled. “And you?”

"Things have been good, I actually wanted to tell you that I got a job at…..”.

All at once, your voice vanished. Everything dissolved into darkness.

Gideon’s eyes snapped open instantly, a low growl rumbling deep within his chest. “You did not hear the conversation?”

Philip immediately lowered his gaze. “No, Doctor Gideon…” he answered quietly. “I was close enough to observe her but… someone interrupted me before I could hear what she said.”

Gideon remained towering directly in front of him, his massive frame casting an overwhelming shadow over Philip’s body. His expression remained eerily unreadable.

Yet the fury burning behind his eyes was unmistakable. 

Slowly, Gideon leaned closer toward him. “Then perhaps I should remove the part of you that continues to fail me.”

Philip stiffened at his response. 

“You will find Professor Wilson…” His voice lowered into something cold and venomous. “Or I will rip out your tongue and break every bone within your weak body.”

Philip immediately nodded in understanding, not daring to look away. “I will find her for you…and y/n…”.

Gideon adjusted his posture and stormed away to continue his experiments. 

Morning came quicker than usual as you went to the kitchen to brew yourself a cup of coffee. 

“Hmm” you tapped your chin as you scrolled through the reports Leon had sent you. 

“They're exactly the same. The markings on their internal organs…the way the bodies were opened….” You sighed deeply, rubbing your forehead in frustration. 

Once your coffee machine beeped, you walked over to your fridge to grab the creamer. 

Your mind raced with questions and concerns about this whole ordeal. It was complicated, especially when your boss didn't want to do anything until he received evidence from the DSO. 

“Argh!” you growled in frustration, pouring your creamer in your ceramic cup. 

“I have to do something…I can't just stand idly by while millions of lives are at stake…..” You turned at your heels and rushed into your living room to get to work on your laptop. 

“What do we got Sherry?” Leon spoke over the comms.

“We got four more bodies by the railroad tracks. Officers are at the scene and I told their dispatch that you'll be coming.”

“Jesus….four more bodies?” 

“Yep and by the looks of it…..” Sherry swallowed hard. “......They're hollow inside.”

Silence. 

“Run that back again, Sherry?” Leon held in a gasp. 

Sherry let out a low worryful sigh, “The bodies don't have their internal organs nor any blood left in their system. They're completely empty.” 

“Fuck me…” Leon grabbed the gear shift of his Porsche and shifted it, stepping on the gas pedal to arrive at the scene as quickly as possible. 

After Leon arrived at the scene, he stepped under the police tape and followed the first officer who was on the scene. 

“Government agency you say?”

“Yeah and that's all I can say Office tamine” Leon kneeled down in front of the first covered body to examine it.

“Tch, always fucking secrets with these goddamn agencies. People are dying left and right and all they care about is their secrecy.” 

Leon remained silent, his expression hardening when he saw the body's chest completely open, everything within them was gone. 

“Did you find any internal organs around the body?” Leon re-covered the body and stood to his original height. 

Officer tamine shook his head, “No, we didn't find anything. Not even a drop of fucking blood. Whoever this serial killer is…he's a fucking lunatic.” 

“Shit” Leon sighed deeply as he grabbed his phone and dialed your number. 

[Your ring tone for your phone]

The sound of your phone ringing beside you rang along your ears. Extending out your hand, you grabbed it and answered the call. 

“Hello?”

“Hey y/n, it's Leon. How's your morning been?”

“Good, just doing some work at home. Care to explain why you're calling so early?” You giggled. 

“Heh…yeah uh…is there any possible way you can…come to my location?”

“You okay, Leon?” you asked with worry. 

“Yeah I just…we found more bodies…and…it doesn't look good.” 

“Fuck…send me your location and I'll be there as quick as I can” you hung up your phone and rushed off your couch to get dressed. 

“I found her Doctor Gideon.”

“Who?” Gideon asked as he carefully removed the heart of one of his experiments.

“Professor Wilson. I know her location.”

“What are you waiting for then? An invitation?” Gideon coldly scolded Philip. 

Philip's gaze lowered upon hearing Gideon's response, “I'll bring her here then.”

Silence. 

As Philip turned around to leave for Professor Wilson's home, he grabbed a worn tool bag filled with everything necessary to transport a body undetected. 

“Argh…” A low growl escaped Philip's throat as a violent surge of anger suddenly rushed through his body. His hand tightening painfully around the strap of the bag. 

Gideon's head slowly tilted toward him. The fury simmering within Gideon had begun bleeding through the connection they shared. 

After Philip left, he cleaned the blood off his hands and jotted down a few notes. “This hive connection is impressive. My emotions can travel to another host easily…hmm…”. 

“Professor! Professor!”

“Hello Vivian! How can I help you?” Professor Wilson smiled as she began to pack her things. 

“I just wanted to clarify that our homework is due next week, correct?” Vivian grabbed her notebook and waited for her response.

“Yes, Chapter 4 homework is due on BlackBoard next week at midnight.”

“Perfect, thank you so much Professor! Have a wonderful weekend” Vivian smiled as she waved goodbye after writing down the due date in her notebook. 

“Of course and if you need any help, please reach out to me by email” Diedra finished packing her things and proceeded out of the classroom. 

“Pshh, wonder what I am going to eat for lunch when I get home?” she mumbled to herself, her heels clacking loudly against the marble floors. 

“Diedra, hello~”

“Oh Tiana, how are things?” Diedra rolled her eyes secretly, despising that she had to be annoyed by her boss before she headed home.

“They’re fine. I am so sorry to be bothering you as you're heading home, but Daniel needs the copies of your syllabus to make sure that they are up to date with necessary information” Tiana followed closely beside her. 

“Oh dammit, I forgot to send him that. When I get home, I’ll log into my computer and send him the files. Thank you and have a great weekend” she huffed, pushing open the university doors and rushing down the steps to head to her car. 

From afar, a lone man sat waiting in a red lexus, watching as Professor Diedra strutted over to her car. His expression was stern and focused on her, like his life depended on it. 

Within minutes, she backed out of her parking spot and drove down the road. The man followed closely behind her, but kept it subtle as to not alert her that someone was following her. 

“Leon” you gasped as you stepped out of your car, locking it behind you and rushed towards him.

“Hey” Leon waved to you.

“Where are the body’s?” 

“They’re down here, come on.”

“Hey, hey, who’s she? I thought I made myself clear of no outside civilians” Officer Tamine raised a hand to stop you both from entering. 

“She’s not a civilian Officer, she’s a chief medical examiner and is part of my team” Leon sternly spoke, having enough of his attitude. 

Officer Tamine looked you up and down, as if you were a rare sight, but kept it under wraps. “Jesus….fine…but no more surprises, Mr. Kennedy.”

“He seems to like you” You giggled as you walked under the yellow tape and trailed beside him.

“What? Mr. Hard ass over there? Yeah I think not” Leon let out a low chuckle.

You shook your head playfully, carefully walking down the small hill towards the railroad tracks, your heart sinking deep into your chest at the sight of four bodies covered in a white sheet. 

Leon turned his attention towards you, noticing the color draining from your face, “Hey…you don’t have to go down there…if you don’t want to?”

“I’m fine Leon, thanks. I just….wasn’t expecting four bodies already” you gulped, shakily grabbing onto his arm.

“Fuck, you’re shaking y/n. I don’t think you should-”

“Shush you blondie” you flashed him a nervous smile, releasing his arm and continuing forward. 

Carefully kneeling down in front of the first body, you pulled the sheet off, noticing the body was of a 25 year old woman with a surgical incision that ran from her neck to her groin and it seemed that her cardiovascular system had no trace of blood whatsoever. 

“What can you determine?” Leon stood beside you, arms crossed, concern rising within him. 

“It looks like-” you paused in your words, pulling on a medical glove to examine the body more closely. 

“She is missing all her vital organs and her blood” you pushed your fingers near the incision site and opened the body slightly. 

Suddenly, the woman’s body began to jitter and shake uncontrollably. “Huh?” you gasped. 

“Y/n, move!” Leon shouted as he hooked his hands underneath your arms and pulled you back.

The woman groaned in agony, her body contorting and writhing in strange movements. 

“What the hell is going on?!” You cried out, scrambling onto your feet and holding onto Leon tightly.

“Fuck me…they turned into zombies!” Leon quickly grabbed his firearm and loaded it. 

“Oh shit!” Two officers noticed the disturbance from afar and grabbed their pistols to open fire.

“What the hell is going on with her, Leon?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen a zombie mutate without any sort of internal organs or blood circulating their system.”

Then, the woman screeched loudly, the surgical incision that ran along the front portion of her body growing razor sharp teeth.

“Calling all units, we need to back up…argh!!” One of the officers from afar screamed as one of the other bodies jumped onto him, tearing into his flesh.

“Find cover!” Leon ordered you as he began to fire at the creature in front of him. 

The woman zombie roared in distress as it was fired at by Leon. This alerted the other three zombies, their attention shifting towards protecting her. 

“Shit, shit, shit!” Leon shouted as he was tackled by one of the zombies. 

“Leon!” you gasped, stopping in your tracks and rushing over towards one of the officer’s bodies and grabbing their pistol. 

“Fucker!” he grabbed his axe and sliced it deep into the zombies neck, killing it instantly. 

“Ah!” you shouted as you shot at the two other zombies. Surprisingly, you head-shotted both of them, their bodies falling limp on the ground. 

“Nghh~” the woman zombie came towards you, grabbing you and lifting you off the ground. 

“Let me go!” You screamed in fear. 

A low rumbling growl emanated from her enormous mouth, readying herself to devour you whole, but stopped suddenly.

“W-What?” you looked at her terrified, but something seemed off. It was as if she was studying you, like you were something important. 

The woman zombie turned towards the railroad tracks, quickly carrying you away.

“Leon!” You struggled against this creature, trying with all your might to shoot at her.

Leon looked around to check if there were any zombies left, his chest tightening at the sight of officers' dead corpses scattered across the crime scene. Though, his attention snapped towards you being taken by the enormous woman zombie.

“I’m coming!” He shouted to you, grabbing a lone shotgun that rested in a crate and charged towards the beast. 

“Hey!” Leon yelled at the zombie, shooting a fatal shot to her back, causing her to drop you.

As your body hit the hard soil ground, you crawled away quickly, holding the pistol close to you in case you had to defend yourself. 

“That’s right…..” Leon shot at her once again, her unnatural body writing in pure agony. 

Then, with the final shot, the zombie fell limp to the ground, the sheer weight causing the very ground to shudder. 

Leon panted heavily, tossing the empty shotgun and rushing to aid you. “Hey, hey, you’re alright” he tried to reassure you. 

“What just happened Leon?” you looked up at him, fear clearly written across your face. 

“By the looks of it, a trap” he helped you up, softly caressing your side. 

“Dammit, why all this fucking traffic” Diedra growled in annoyance, rolling down her window to ask the officer who was directing the jam.

“Excuse me officer, what seems to be the issue?” 

“Just a crime scene ma’am, please move along” the officer gestured to her to keep driving forward.

“Hmmm, hope everyone is okay” Diedra rolled her window back up and continued down the line, unbeknownst to her that someone was following her. 

Philip drove closely behind her, his hand twitching uncontrollably, his patience running thin. 

Although, just a few centimeters to the left was where you and Leon were. You were approaching your car, clearly taken aback by what had just occurred. 

“Thank you Leon, for saving me. I-I don’t know why…I just…froze..and-”

“You didn’t freeze up y/n. You head shot two zombies from afar. That is clearly impressive work for someone who has never held a gun before in her life.” 

“Hey” You teasingly shoved him, grabbing your keys and unlocking your car. 

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, how about you? You almost got eaten by the walking dead out there.”

“I’ll live” he joked, turning his attention to Officer Tamine who miraculously survived the whole ordeal. 

“Call me when you get home, okay?” Leon hugged you goodbye before returning to the scene.

Philip drove up closely behind Diedra’s car, a loud sigh escaping his lips, hoping that by the time he gets out of this long line, he can finally capture her.

“This is taking fucking forever…” he grumbled, rubbing his forehead in frustration. He then decided to roll down his window to get some of the fresh air. 

Although, his head turned towards a woman who was entering her car to the left of him. She seemed familiar, but he shrugged it away, driving forward and down the road, finally getting out of the traffic jam. 

At last Diedra finally entered her home, rain hammering softly against her windows and the sound of a car parking just outside her residence.

“Thomas?” she called to her husband while slipping off her coat. 

“Hey sweetheart, how was work?” Thomas called from the kitchen. 

“It was good, I'm gonna go upstairs to change and then you can tell me how yours was!” Diedra chuckled as she rushed upstairs to their bedroom to slip off her chalk covered dress. 

Thomas grinned at how sweet she was, continuing to chop the vegetables on the cutting board. 

Crash!

Thomas jumped at the sound of glass breaking, his hand gripping the handle of his knife tightly. “Who's there?” He called. 

Slowly but surely, he trailed into his dimly lit living room, the knife held in the air as he was ready to strike whatever came at him. 

The wind howled against the broken window, the curtains elegantly flowing forward as the cold air entered the room. 

“Hello?” He asked again, turning around and his gasp was silenced by someone charging at him all of a sudden. 

“Phew, today was a long day Thomas” Diedra yawned, entering the kitchen and picking up a slice of pepper from the cutting board.

“Thomas?”

No answer. 

Her brow furrowed slightly as she slowly walked out of the kitchen and entered the living room, noticing the lights were off. 

Although, her eyes noticed a faint silhouette standing by the broken window. 

“Oh Thomas, who broke our window?” She sighed deeply, turning on the light and approaching him. 

“Hun, are you okay?” Diedra placed her hand on his shoulder and turned him around. 

Diedra screamed loudly at the sight of her husband, his eyes were gone. Dark hollow sockets stared lifeless back at her while fresh blood stained the collar of his shirt. 

Her body staggered backwards in horror, “No…no…no!!!”

Then another voice spoke from behind her, “Professor Wilson.”

Diedra's body spun around, her breath catching in her throat, “Philip?”

Philip stepped closer to her, but something was off about him. His movements looked stiff, controlled, and his pupils unnaturally dilated. 

“You were always kind to y/n” he said calmly. 

“She appreciated that greatly.”

Fear crawled up Diedra's spine upon hearing her old student speak in this way, “Philip….what happened to you?”

A faint smile spread across his lips, “We are becoming part of something greater.” 

Diedra acted quickly as she ran towards the kitchen to grab something to defend herself, but it was too late. 

Philip surged forward and struck her hard, darkness consuming her vision as she fell onto the ground unconscious. 

“Hmphm” he chuckled deviously, walking over to his bag and pulling out some rope. 

“You over there, help me.” 

The Stranger Pt. 1

“Leon, keep your eyes peeled, we need to find out what this new infection is that has been dropping bodies more than we can cope with.”

“Yep, already on it” Leon relayed his understanding to Hunnigan through his ear piece. 

Suddenly, he noticed a strange man holding a woman on his shoulder. It seemed suspicious, not to mention the man being a literal giant.

“Hey!” He shouted, charging towards his initial direction, but stopped when a car nearly hit him. 

“Sorry! Sorry!” Leon gasped as he maneuvered around the cars and then noticed that the man had disappeared without a trace.

“What the hell?” He breathed in deeply, not understanding what he had seen. 

“Hey, excuse me?”  

“Hmm?” A young woman smiled as she approached this dashing blonde man. 

“Did you get a look at a tall figure walking by and see where he went?”

“Uhh…no I did not see anyone who looked like that. But you know who probably did see it-”

“Jenny!” A loud, dominating voice rang out behind the woman. 

“Jake, hey.”

“What did we say about telling people about them? They don't like anyone knowing their name, especially cops.”

“You're a cop?!” Jenny gasped, her facial features shifting from a kind expression to a disgusted one. 

“No! I'm not! I…ugh…I just want to know where that figure went. They had a girl on their shoulder and she looked unconscious.” 

Jenny let out a deep sigh as she heard him, “It can't hurt to help someone Jake, and this woman might be in trouble for all we know.” 

An annoying growl escaped Jake's throat as he grabbed a crumpled up piece of paper from his back pocket and wrote down an address. “Everybody calls her Reø, her true name I don't know.” 

“Who is she exactly?” Leon grabbed the piece of paper from him and read the address. 

“She's one of the best hackers in Raccoon city. This girl could literally hack the IRS if she really wanted to. But, more importantly, she can hack some of the CCTV cameras around here and give you a general direction of where this person went.” 

“Thanks, I truly appreciate it” Leon nodded in respect before ushering past them to head to the address written on the paper. 

“You really think he's a cop?” 

“I’m not sure… he’s got this kind of allure to him. But whatever that man went through… it sucked the cop right out of him. Turned him into something I don’t think I can even put into words” Jake sighed, rubbing Jenny’s back as he pulled her closer.

A couple hours passed when Leon arrived at the address. “Huh…I think this is the place-Oh” 

Just below his gaze, he noticed stairs that led to a basement. And next to the door, there was a pink neon sign that read “Darkness's Lair “ [or a name of your choice lovies]

"Subtle” he cleared his throat, slowly walking down the stairs and approached the door. 

Just as he was about to knock, a voice rang out from a speaker hidden somewhere. 

“Password?” 

“Uh…shit…uh” Leon quickly scrambled to look at the paper to see if Jake had written down any sort of password or code. 

“No password. No entry.” 

“Wait, uhh Jake and Jenny they gave me your address and said you can help me.” 

“Why should I help you?” 

“Because a woman was taken!” 

The speaker soon cut out, the sounds of multiple locks unclicking and shifting behind the door could be heard ringing along Leon's ears. 

Then the door swung open, a woman standing just below his height gazed up at him. She was…beautiful……enchanting even. 

“Are you a cop? Because as far as I know, I don't help your kind” you huffed, pushing up your glasses to get a good look at this man (I added the glasses as an extra but if you don't want the glasses you can ignore it lovies :3 )

“I'm not a fucking cop. I just need help…Reø….please” Leon sighed as he crossed his arms. 

“Hmm” you grabbed your phone from your pocket and took a picture of the man. 

“Argh, what the hell was that for?” 

“Come on in. Don't touch anything and take off your shoes before you enter my place.” 

 “...Okay.” Leon’s brows furrowed slightly as he bent to untie his boots. Once they were off, he picked them up, stepped inside, and shut the door behind him, setting them neatly by the entrance so he wouldn’t forget them later.

He glanced around, taking in the space. “Cozy place you’ve got here… lot of, uh… stuffed animals.”

((You can imagine the room you desire lovies, I just wanted to add the soft kind of character that you are that balances out his traumatized self. Like needing a grounding force for him)) 

“That's coming a lot from you Leon S. Kennedy.”

“How'd you-” 

“I read your file…interesting work…especially with all those infections and viruses you had to deal with” you quickly jumped into your chair, setting your phone down and transferring the screen to your laptop to continue reading. 

Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly. “This an interrogation?”

You let out a quiet chuckle, already pulling up the CCTV network. “No. Just keeping some insurance… in case you decide to hand me over to the actual cops.”

He exhaled through his nose, not quite amused. “Yeah. Not my style.”

You didn’t look up. “What time did you see the woman?”

“Uh…” Leon paused, thinking. “Around nine. Maybe a little after.”

“Okay” you typed away at your keyboard. “Wait, uh where was this?”

“Under a bridge, by some construction and scaffolding.” 

You nodded to his response, and then leaned back against your chair, a smirk plastered across your face. 

“There's your girl.”

“Fuck me” Leon gasped as he looked at the strange man carrying the unconscious woman. 

“Can you get a look at his face or possibly the woman's?” 

“I can try, but the CCTV cameras aren't state of the art…so getting a look at faces is gonna be a bit tricky” you adjusted your posture in your chair and began typing again.

Leon leaned in close to you, his attention dead set on your screen, hoping to see who that woman was or that man that held her. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed him lingering beside you, his gaze fixed on your screen. Your lips curled into a soft smile.

It had been years since you’d had a real conversation, one that wasn’t purely transactional. Part of that was by choice; you were never much of a talker. You kept to yourself, an introvert by nature, especially with your love for hacking, a lonely path few chose to walk.

Still, for those skilled enough, it paid well. You knew that better than most.

“Huh, my facial recognition algorithm could work around this…and….” You pressed the enter button and out popped two files. 

“Woah, okay so this girl over here is called Grace Ashcroft. The other weird looking dude…is…oh-” You pushed your glasses up higher to get a good look at this man. 

“That man is known as Doctor Victor Gideon. He worked at the Umbrella Corporation as a researcher for some time. Then after his place of work went into bankruptcy, he bought the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center and worked as its director.” 

“But what I don't understand is why the fuck he looks like that?” You chuckled, turning your gaze towards Leon. 

“Hmm, I think I know where to start. Thanks for the help” Leon turned at his heels to head out of your basement home and head to find Ms. Ashcroft. 

“Wait uh-” 

“Hmm?” Leon turned back to face you. 

“I don't think you should go in blind.” “Wherever this Grace Ashcroft is, she has to be in a secure location, probably being watched.”

Leon’s gaze narrowed. “First you act like I’m some kind of nuisance…. and now you want to help?”

He crossed his arms, studying you. “Not sure I should even let you come with me.”

You met his stare, unflinching. “You don’t have to trust me. Just don’t go in blind.” 

A deep sigh escaped Leon's lips as he rubbed the back of his head. “Fine. But you had better stay close to me and not slow me down.” 

“I-I won't” you gulped, slightly regretting your decision of going with him but something about this man going in alone, with no back up or help, seemed a bit sketchy. 

A few minutes had passed as Leon waited outside your front door as you gathered your things to bring with you on this ‘mission.’ 

Soon enough, you stepped outside your door, closing it behind you and making sure to lock it well so as to not allow anyone to break into your place. 

“Okay, let's go” You smiled softly, bookbag strapped tightly to you. 

“Follow me” he spoke bluntly, walking up the steps to head onto the sidewalk. 

“So, where are we headed?” You followed closely beside him. 

“Some mansion.” 

“Okay” you nodded, pushing your hoodie up as it began to rain.

“Are you a cop still? Or?” 

“Used to be” He paused in his words, taking a breath in. “Now I do things that are far worse than that.” 

“Oh…sounds dangerous” you gulped. 

“You get used to it.” 

“I mean it doesn't seem like a life to live Mr. Kennedy. Living on the edge all the time, being exposed to dangerous toxins, chemicals, and god knows what else.” 

“How would you know?” his eyes narrowed. “Have you ever been out there?” 

“Well no…” your voice lowered to almost a whisper. 

“Hmmm” Leon tilted his head slightly. “We're here” he looked around, approaching the beautifully made mansion doors. 

“Shit, it's biometrically locked. Gonna have to break it open.” 

“Pshh barbarian” you chuckled, grabbing your phone from your hoodie pocket and putting it against the lock. 

Leon watched you closely, a bit taken aback when you called him a ‘barbarian.’

“And…there we are,” you grinned, turning to face Leon. “You see, you don't need to use brute force for everything.”

Leon huffed as he pulled out his gun, clearly impressed by how quick you unlocked the door. “Stay close.” 

“Roger that Mr. Kennedy” you chuckled, putting your phone in your hoodie pocket again.

“You can call me Leon. ‘Mr. Kennedy’ makes it sound like I'm about to be called in as a witness” he glanced around out of habit, checking the area. 

“Oh thank god…I really hate saying mister or missus because it just sounds so formal and I just want it to be simple” you smiled.

“What about you Reø, do I get a first name? Or?”

You let out another chuckle as you pushed your hoodie back, “Sure…after you pay me for the service I provided you.” 

Leon tilted his head slightly, one brow lifting, more intrigued than surprised. There was something about your demeanor he couldn’t quite place… but he liked it.

“Well,” he said, a faint smirk tugging at his lips, “I don’t exactly carry cash on me.”

His heart skipped a beat. “Can I owe you?”

“Hmmm, fine. And my name is….” You paused in your words, taking the lead and then turning around to face him. “Is y/n” you smiled, waving your hands in the air cutely. 

“Heh, are you sure you aren't an extrovert?”

“Yeah I'm sure. I prefer my solitude but I only slip out of my shell when I feel…somewhat comfortable” you shrugged, turning around to face front and then noticed a surveillance room sign.

“Hey Leon, follow me” you gestured to him and did a light jog towards the room.

“Wait y/n slow down!” he gasped, chasing after you and entered the room just after you.

“I can check the surveillance cams and see where your girl went.” 

“Are you sure this place has cameras?” Leon questioned, closing the door to the room just as a precaution. 

“Then why would they have a surveillance room Leon if they didn't have cameras?” you chuckled, sitting down at the desk and began hacking away at the computer. 

“I just find it odd that a mansion like this has cameras.”

“Eh probably for security or to keep watch on someone….or something…..” your words trailed as you brought up the surveillance log and went back a few hours.

“Leon..”.

“Hmm?” Leon quickly strode over to you and leaned against the chair, looking at the screen before you. 

“Uh..look…there's your Doctor with Grace” your cheeks turned flush at how close Leon was to you. 

“Oh shit, she's just down this hallway, come on” Leon pushed off the desk and sprinted towards the door. 

“Okay, okay hold up” you quickly got off your chair and rushed behind him. 

After Leon opened the door, he made sure to check left and right before proceeding down the hallway with you. 

Suddenly, you heard a soft click sound, your eyes darting to the ceiling when you noticed a metal grate was about to come down. 

“Move!” you shouted, using all your strength to push him forward, the gate slamming down in front of you, separating the both of you. 

“Y/n!” Leon gasped as he approached the gate, trying to pull it up with his arms.

“Well, I didn't think this would happen” you chuckled, surprisingly calm in this situation. 

“Just wait here. I'll find something to pry this gate open.”

“No, No, go find Grace. I'll be fine in the surveillance room.”

“Y/n I don't know what's in this place. I can't leave you alone” Leon worriedly spoke. 

“I won't be alone. I got my stuffie in my backpack, a can of soda, and a whole lot of time to hack into files I know I'm not supposed to look at” you chuckled. 

Leon sighed deeply, “Fuck me…” he said as he grabbed a radio from his belt and handed it to you. 

“Switch to channel three.” He spoke with a worried tone, but tried to keep it subtle. “Check in when you’re there.”

“Got it” you grabbed the radio and then noticed his hand reaching for something else. 

“And take this as well” he pushed his hands through the bars and handed you his axe. 

“Woah..” You gasped, taking a hold of the heavy item. 

“You know how to use it?” 

“Yeah, swingy swing to fucking kill whatever is in front of me that wants me to die” you glanced up at him again with a cheeky smile but it quickly went away when you noticed the immense amount of worry in his eyes.

“I'll be okay Leon, I might not have outside street smarts but…I can handle this.” 

“Alright. I'll try to find another way back to you when I get Grace.”

“If you're lost or stuck or need to get into a room that has a biometric lock, just let me know over the radio. I can help and guide you.” 

“Understood. Be safe” he turned around and continued down the hall to find wherever Grace was. 

Once he left, you quickly rushed into the surveillance room, closed the door behind you, and began to set up your equipment. 

“Okay, channel 3 and-” You turned the dial to the specific channel that Leon was on and pressed the talk button. “Leon, can you read me?”

“Yeah, I can read you loud and clear” his voice spoke through your radio. 

“Phew, good. I'm set up in the surveillance room. Let me know if you need any help.”

“Good and yeah I'll let you know. Over and out.”

As Leon went radio silent, you began to type away at your computer that was connected by cable to the surveillance system and the designated system of this place. 

“Huh….interesting” you cracked your can of soda and began to take little sips of it.

“What in the seven shades of hell am I reading?” You rubbed your chin in curiosity. 

“Y/n!” Leon's voice came shouting through the radio. 

“Fuck!” You jumped violently as you grabbed the radio. “What happened?!” 

“Open the door! It says A3!” Leon turned around, pushing Grace behind him as he began to shoot at an enormous mutated woman. 

“Uh okay okay” you set the radio down and typed away at your computer, making sure to have a split screen that showed both the surveillance feed and the electrical biometric system that connected to each locked door to this mansion. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” You typed away as quickly as you could and then pressed enter. “Leon, go now!” You shouted through the radio. 

Leon gasped as he went through the door with Grace and then shut it behind him, the door locking once it closed.

“Shit…” Leon panted heavily as he leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. 

“W-Who are you people?” Grace trembled in fear. 

“Leon Kennedy, DSO. And you must be Grace?” 

“Y-Yeah Grace Ashcroft FBI.” 

“FBI?” He questioned and then heard a loud screeching sound. “We need to move, now” he reloaded his weapon and continued down the room he was in. 

“Who's the woman on the radio helping you?” Grace curiously asked. 

“Heh, just one of the best hackers I've ever seen” Leon chuckled, leaning against the other door to check for any movement. 

“She must be the best because the encryption this place has is state of the art.” 

“She’s good,” he said simply. Then a faint smirk peered across his lips. “Better than most I’ve worked with.”

“That's good to hear so we can get out of this place.” 

“Wait, before we go. Why does Victor want you?” 

“What?” 

“He kidnapped you for a reason? Why?”

“I don't know,” Grace shrugged, not understanding why she was needed. 

“Alright. We'll figure this out later. For right now, stay close to me and follow my every move.” 

“Okay” Grace nodded, understanding what she had to do. 

Back in the surveillance room, you made sure to check the cams to see where Leon was at and see if you could do anything to help him.

But, your eyes kept shifting to the other part of your screen that had the confidential documents that listed almost every experiment that Doctor Victor Gideon had done. 

“What kind of a fucking psychopath does this to innocent people” you shook your head, finishing up your soda and tossing it in the trash. 

Without any warning whatsoever you sat up quickly at the sudden shadow that passed by one of the cameras. 

“Oh fuck, fuck.....” You quickly unplugged everything, gathered your things, shoved them in your backpack and rushed into one of the lockers that was there.

As you hid in the locker, you tightly held the axe that Leon had given you, your body trembling in fear as to what was going to come through those doors. 

Soon enough, the doors to the surveillance room opened slowly, a tall figure ducking under the door and then standing to their original height to look around the room for any sudden movement. 

A soft growl escaped their throat as they approached the desk you were lounging at, trying to find out who was messing with their system. 

Then a flash of lighting struck outside, illuminating the somewhat dim room for a split second. 

You quickly covered your mouth to mask the gasp that escaped your mouth when you saw who it was. 

It was Doctor Victor Gideon in the flesh. He looked mangled and somewhat terrifying, especially him being as tall as a tree.

“How much do they know?” An unfamiliar voice asked.

Victor didn’t hesitate. “I don’t think it was Leon or Grace who breached the system, Zeno. Someone else is here. They accessed the files.”

A sudden pause. 

“That’s unacceptable,” Zeno said, his tone calm, but cold. “No one from the outside can learn what we’re doing. If you find them… bring them to me.”

A low chuckle followed. 

“And why should you get all the fun?” Gideon’s voice cut in, amused. “I’d like a turn with our little ghost.”

Clink.

“Oh shit..” You whispered worriedly, your heart racing because you mistakenly tapped the metal axe against the inside of the locker, creating that sound. 

The sudden sound made Gideon tilt his head hauntingly towards your direction, their lips curling into a dark smirk.

He then turned at his heels, heavy footsteps trailing towards your direction. 

And at the critical moment, his body leaned down to check the locker that you were in, another soft chuckle escaping his lips. 

You felt your heart sink, tears dripping down your cheeks, hand tightly pressed against your mouth and nose to not make a sound as he examined the locker. 

Then another sound rang from outside the surveillance room, causing Gideon to turn his attention to it. 

“Argh!” He growled angrily, his heavy footsteps dragging out of the room as he went to go after whatever made that sound. 

Once the coast was clear, you stepped out of the locker, wiping the tears that stained your face. 

Never in once in your life you had that feeling of fear and death all at once. What the hell did you get yourself into? 

“Hey, exits this way” Grace tugged at Leon's jacket, pointing towards the front doors of the mansion. 

“Yeah I know. Let me just get someone first and then we'll go.”

As you quickly jogged out of the room, you turned your attention down the hall, your lips curling into a relieved smile. “Leon!” You chuckled. 

“Y/n..…you alright?” Leon smiled, breathing a sigh of relief as he slowly walked towards you. 

“Yeah got a bit of a scare but I'm-” you went silent when you noticed Leon's expression change from relaxed to shock. 

“L-Leon?” 

“Run!” Grace and Leon shouted to you but it was too late. 

“Ah!” You gasped loudly when you felt strong hands wrap around your throat, hoisting you up, your legs wriggling underneath you. 

“Let her go!” Leon shouted, pointing his weapon directly at Gideon's head. 

“Ah…ah!” You gasped for air, trying to pry his hands off your neck. 

“So, you're the hacker that has been sneaking around, reading information that doesn't belong to you” Gideon whispered against your ear, sending a chill down your spine. 

Leon noticed you jolt, causing him to tighten his grip against his gun. “I'm warning you Victor, drop her!” 

“Oh…” Gideon’s grin stretched wider, amused by the edge in Leon’s voice. “Touchy.”

His gaze flicked to you. “Hand over Grace… or I’ll have my fun with her.”

“Ah…L-Leon…ah don't…don't you dare give him that poor girl ah!” You cried out when his grip tightened. 

Leon’s jaw clenched, his stance shifting just slightly, protective, unyielding.

“You’re not touching her.”

“No, let her go!” Grace intervened, pushing past Leon and approaching Gideon. “I'll go with you, just let her go…please.”

“No, he's…he's fucking crazy…he's done so many experiments that ah!” You gasped for air again. 

“Careful,” he said softly, leaning just close enough for his voice to brush against your ear. “I can be very gentle… or very thorough. It depends on how difficult you make this.”

“Mmm” you let out a soft whimper, tears dripping from your eyes.

Leon let out a frustrated and worried growl as he tried his best to compose himself. He didn't want to make any sudden moves that would result in your death, especially when his hand gripped your throat. 

“Let her go..” Grace repeated as she raised her hands up, giving Gideon a sign that she was surrendering to him.

“Hmmm” Gideon slowly set you down on your two feet and released your throat. Then, he leaned in close to your ear again and whispered solely to you. “Run to him,” he murmured. “I won't stop you.” 

You slowly stepped forward after he released you, your body trembling until you dashed towards Leon and embraced him tightly. 

Leon instantly wrapped his arm around you protectively, his gun still pointed at Gideon. 

“Awww how sweet” Gideon let out a low chuckle, amused, his hand grasping onto Grace's shoulder, giving the notion that she couldn't escape now. 

“Protecting what you can still reach.” 

“I'm sorry Grace” you sniffled, turning around in Leon's arms to look at her. 

“It's okay…..you'll find a way back to me. You're the best hacker after all” Grace smiled as she connected the dots of you being one that Leon was talking about before.

Then in a flash, Gideon disappeared without a trace, along with Grace. 

“Fuck…” Leon pulled away from you as he tried to think of a way to get her back. 

“I fucked up…I fucked up so bad…I…panicked…I..fucking…I'm so fucking stupid…” you cried softly, falling onto your knees and then pulling them close to your chest. 

“Hey” Leon kneeled down in front of you, his hand gently resting on top of your knee. “This isn't your fault. You are not to blame. I didn't see Gideon behind you, that's my fault to carry, not yours.” 

“But I…I should've used your axe or something…I should've just let him take me and not her.” 

“Would you have been happy to be in that situation?” 

“Well…no but-”

“Exactly. So, take a deep breath in and out, and we'll restrategize.” 

“But Grace is in that situation, he's going to experiment on her or something.”

“I don't think so. From the looks of it, he needs her for something important. So I highly doubt he's going to experiment on her.” 

You nodded, wiping the tears away from your eyes as you composed yourself. 

“I think I should've just stayed in my basement…”.

Leon let out a deep sigh as he gently lifted your chin up with his hand, looking over the bruises that spread across your neck. 

“If you would've stayed in your basement, you wouldn't have saved my ass or Grace's when we were being chased by that fucking monster.” 

“Heh” you let out a soft chuckle, your gaze softening and a wave of relaxation taking over you. “Yeah…you would've both been flat pancakes” you giggled. 

“Yep” Leon nodded, releasing your chin and standing up from the ground.

“Come on” he smiled, extending out his hand for you to grab. 

You obliged, grabbing his hand and standing up from the ground. 

A soft gasp escaped your lips when you miscalculated your steps and your body accidentally pressed against his chest. 

“Sorry…” you blushed deeply, your eyes looking up into his own blue ones. They were filled with such pain and sorrow that brought an ache to your heart. This man has been through so much and you saw it…deep within him. 

“You okay?” He asked softly, his arms gently holding you. 

“Yeah…I just…think I should go home. I can help you from there. I'll just take the radio and give you a small pinned camera that you can wear so I can see your every move.” 

“Oh-” Leon nodded, not moving right away. He only looked down at you, really looked at you, memorizing something he didn't trust himself to keep. 

He then exhaled slowly, grounding himself. “Yeah…okay.” 

“I'm sorry…I just feel like I'm slowing you down Leon” you gently rested your hand against his shoulder. 

“And besides I'll still be guiding you and helping you unlock doors you shouldn't be opening” you joked, pulling away from him to head towards the exit. 

But you paused in your tracks and turned your head towards him. “You don't have to do everything alone, Leon. I got your back.” 

Leon's jaw tightened at your response, trying to contain the overwhelming feeling that was rising within him. “You aren't slowing me down y/n….I just….can't…lose someone else….”.

“I just-” he slowly approached you and cupped your cheek. 

“Leon?” You softly asked, wondering what was wrong with him. 

He let out slow, shallow breaths as he towered over you. He didn't want to leave you alone, especially now that Gideon knows how you look. 

“You can't go home y/n. Gideon knows how you look and he's bound to search for you again.”

“Uh…..but wasn't his main focus Grace? Why would he want me?”

“Because you read classified files and he said it himself that you were the hacker that read them. Therefore, I don't think it's wise to leave you alone.” 

Your heart skipped a beat at his words. It had been a long time since someone cared for you. It felt refreshing. 

Warmth spread across your face as his hand gently caressed your bruised neck. 

“Ah” you let out a soft moan, pain radiating through your skin. 

“Sorry…I think we need to patch you up first…before we continue our search” he respectfully pulled away from you and then walked towards the front door. 

But you didn't move a single inch, the feeling of his hand caressing your neck lingering for longer than you wanted. 

“Leon?” you called to him again. 

“Yeah?” he turned around to face you, brows raised in curiosity.

“Nothing…let's just go” you pushed past him and exited the mansion, clutching at your chest as you tried to regulate your breathing. 

“I've got Miss Ashcroft, Zeno. And I also know who the hacker is” Gideon spoke to him over the phone. 

“Hmm, are they going to be a problem?”

“No. But I think she will be a perfect specimen to use as leverage over Leon. He cares quite a lot for her.”

“I'll leave it in your capable hands then Victor.”

Gideon chuckled as he hung up the call and turned to Grace who laid on the couch unconscious. 

“Ouch! Can you fucking go easy on those bandages!” You winced as Leon wrapped your neck with mediated bandages. 

Leon chuckled quietly as he did another loop around your neck, “Big baby.”

“Hey!” You pouted cutely, but tried as much as you could to hide the smile forming across your lips. 

“There. Now your neck is going to be sensitive to any form of touch, so try to steer clear of that.” 

“Yeah that's probably not gonna happen, but I’ll try my best” you softly rubbed your bandage covered neck, letting out a soft sigh. 

“Where do you want this?” Leon chuckled. 

“Oh, just put it in the cabinet underneath the bathroom sink please” you smiled, pointing towards your bathroom. 

Surprisingly, you two decided that it would be best to rest up for a spell at your place since it was close by and had all the necessities like water, food, and other things. 

But you weren't going to stay for long because Leon was right. This Victor Gideon knew your face, it would only be a matter of time before he found where you live and you did not want to run into him again. 

“Mmm” you let out a soft yawn, slowly laying down on your bed and cuddling close to your blanket. 

Leon stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to you, about to speak but stopped himself when he noticed your sleeping form. 

His lips curled into a soft smile as he quietly approached you, carefully grabbing the blanket you cuddled and draping it over you. “Sleep well.”

Pt. 2 {The Choice}

“Dammit, I should've known that this would've happened.”

“You can't blame yourself Leon. You need to focus. If you want someone to blame, blame me. I brought you both into this shit storm” Hunnigan sighed softly. 

“I just hope that she's safe or at least escaped from whatever took her.” 

“Argh” you groaned loudly as your eyes opened again. 

“Ah! Fuck!” You winced as you felt a slight discomfort down below. 

Turning your gaze to the side, you noticed the same man from before typing away at his computer terminal. Your gaze lowered, anger surging through you. This man…no this thing…violated you…used his dirty fingers to finger fuck you and you couldn't do anything about it.

“Hey! You piece of shit!”

Silence.

“Don't act dumb you fucker, I know you can hear me! Let me go!”

Gideon drew in a breath and let it settle before releasing it as a soft sigh as he finished typing away at his computer terminal. Only then did he turn.

“Such a temper…” he murmured, almost to himself. 

His gaze soon settled on you, not in anger, but studying you continuously as before. 

“I'm curious what it would take to break that.”

He stepped towards you, each movement measured and deliberate. 

“If I introduced a mutagenic strain…” he continued softly. “Would it destabilize the organism within you…?”

He then tilted his head, his lips curling into a malicious smirk. “...or force it to assert control over you?”

Your chest rose and fell in steady breaths, trying everything to keep yourself calm as Leon had taught you. But this, this was something different…something that you've never experienced before. 

Gideon’s smirk deepened at your sudden silence. “How unexpected….I was beginning to think you were incapable of silence.”

“I uh-” tears began to drip from your eyes as you turned your head to the clinical lights above you. “I'm going to die, aren't I?” You whispered to yourself. 

“Oh no, no, no” Gideon approached you closer, looming over you like a hunter staring down its prey. 

“Death would be a waste….” His eyes traced the faint veins beneath your skin. 

“You’re going to be part of something more valuable….you are the chosen one…a special carrier that holds the key to my research.”

“Please…let me…let me go….I  don't want to be here…”

“You're not going anywhere” he spoke quietly, his hand gently grasping your hips. 

“....I won't allow it…..”.

You inhaled sharply, shutting your eyes tightly, hoping that when you opened your eyes again, it would all be a dream. 

“Shall we begin your treatment again, y/n?” he released your hips, his hand hovering closely to your neck. 

Suddenly, the lab doors slid open with a sharp hiss. Light footsteps could be heard entering. 

“You call this urgent” an unfamiliar voice spoke, more arrogant and bashful than Gideon’s.

“Come see” Gideon didn't turn to face the newcomer.

A low grumble escaped the newcomer's mouth as he walked towards you. 

“Who's this?” 

You quickly glanced to the side, noticing a well-dressed man with dark glasses analyzing you. 

“Y/n is her name and she is the key to the mutations that we've been monitoring.”

“The key? What do you mean by that?”

“She is infected with the virus, Zeno. But it has zero integration with her and no mutations whatsoever.”

“No mutations? That's impossible, everyone who has been in contact with the virus has shown mutations.” 

“Observe” Gideon leaned in close to you to begin the ‘experiment.’

“Don't touch me!” You struggled again in the restraints. 

Gideon ignored your pleas as he caressed your neck, trying to provoke the organism within you to give a response. 

And with that, the same low growl from before escaped your throat again, black veins writhing against your neck. 

“You see……it defends her…..that is something to be studied closely.” 

“Impressive” Zeno spoke in awe, approaching closer to you as well to get a glimpse at the black veins spread across your neck. 

“Argh!” You screamed loudly, breaking through the restraints and kicking Gideon back harshly. 

You then perched animalistically on the clinical table, not aware of the veins below your cheeks as your eyes turned a dark black. 

Instead of a growl escaping your throat, it was an eerie hiss that would send waves of fear to anyone who heard it. 

Zeno reacted as quickly as he could as he pulled out his weapon. 

As he went to fire, your gaze darted towards him and then you zipped through the air like a panther. You pounced on him and then quickly ran out of the lab, using this immense strength you never knew you had buried deep within you to escape. 

Just before you reached the door, Zeno shot in your direction but Gideon stopped him, causing him to miss his shot. 

“Are you mad! She is not to be harmed…she is too valuable to risk.”

“Ugh…well your specimen just got away. I'm starting to think this fixation you have on her is getting in the way of your logic.”

Gideon remained silent as he ushered past Zeno to chase after you. 

“You saw her capabilities …..a single host” he murmured, eerily turning his head to the side. “Capable of neutralizing infection…”.

A pause. 

“.....or weaponizing it on a scale beyond Elpis…”.

Zeno remained silent as gathered his thoughts of the capabilities you held within your body. 

“You can question it,” Gideon said calmly. “It won't change the outcome.”

Another pause. 

“....or her importance” he then turned and exited to chase after you.

You let out small laughs as you jogged down the hospital halls, trying to find a map or someway back outside. 

Stopping in your tracks to catch your breath, you noticed a similar map you saw before on the wall. This was an enormous hospital, how the hell did you not notice that when you were on the outside with Leon. 

“I have to find a way to Leon and then get the hell out of here.” 

You continued down the hall quietly, your steps light to not alert whatever was lurking in the darkness. This place brought chills down your spine, especially seeing butchered corpses on gurneys, a sign that they were failed experiments. How could someone do that to innocent people? They came here, thinking they were going to be cured from whatever ailment they had to be then restrained and experimented on by that wicked doctor. 

Unexpectedly, you paused in your tracks, noticing an enormous mutated dog tearing away at a rotten corpse. 

“Phew..” you tried to control your breathing, slowly taking steps back. But without your knowledge, you stepped on a couple of shards of glass, your head spinning back in shock.

The dog's ear raised in notice of the sound, their head turning towards your direction. 

“Oh shit…” you gasped as you looked at it. 

The dog then began to bark uncontrollably, until it carefully stalked towards you, readying to sink its ravenous teeth in you.

Then, without you noticing, the veins on your neck grew dark, writing once again. Your eyes shifted again back to its black color, your body kneeling down on the ground in the same  animalistic pose as before. 

The mutated dog watched you carefully, surprised that you didn’t run away like others have done.

Your hands perched carefully on the ground, your mouth opening slightly, a loud hiss ringing from your throat. 

A soft whimper came from the dog as it bowed its head to you, as if bowing to an alpha. 

You growled back at the dog, crawling on the ground like an animal towards it and then nudged your head against it, understanding its submissiveness. 

“Y/n!?” A familiar voice called to you from behind.

The mutated dog jumped at the sound of another voice and sprinted away. Yet, you stood from the ground, head tilting to the side hauntingly as if something possessed you.

“Y/n, hey….it’s me Leon?” Leon’s voice calmly spoke to you, slowly holstering his gun and carefully approaching you. 

“Huh?” you gasped, snapping back to reality and turned around to face Leon. “Oh my gosh, Leon!?” you rushed towards him, embracing him tightly.

Leon stumbled back slightly, not anticipating your hug, but ultimately wrapped his arms around you. “It’s alright, you’re okay” he whispered to you gently, caressing your back. 

“Are you alright? Did anyone hurt you?” he worriedly asked, pulling away from you to check to see if you had any cuts, bruises, or marks. 

You shut your eyes tightly, the memory and feeling of Doctor Gideon’s fingers entering you returning. “Don’t worry about me, I just want to go home” you opened your eyes, looking up at him pleadingly. 

Leon sighed deeply as he pulled out his weapon and nodded at your request, “Alright, follow me then.”

As you followed alongside Leon, you noticed he was carrying your backpack. “Hey, you got my things?” 

“Huh? Oh yeah, I decided to take them with me because I knew you were going to need them for your future in street hacking.”

“Hey, it’s not street hacking” you chuckled, shoving him playfully. “But wait, if I wasn’t on comms, how’d you find me?” 

“Hunnigan assisted me. I tried my best to retrace your steps or the steps of whatever took you.” 

“Oh..”. 

“I know you didn’t want to talk about it, but can you at least tell me who or what took you?” Leon curiously asked, quickly checking left and right of the hallways before proceeding forward.

“His name is Doctor Victor Gideon. He’s a fucking psychopath. He told me that I had some kind of parasite or organism in me that has become one with my body. Like, I’ve been infected with the virus but I’m showing no mutation or integration.”

Leon quickly paused in his tracks and turned his gaze towards you in shock, “What do you mean you’re infected?”

“Huh?” you quickly looked up at him. “I-I didn’t know till now that I was infected.”

“Fuck y/n….why didn’t you get tested or…or called one of us to help you?!”

“I didn’t call any of you because I didn’t show any signs!” You shouted back at him, clearly hurt that he wasn’t sympathizing with you. 

“When did this happen?” 

“It was about a year ago. I broke into the city’s ruins to see if I could….find some interesting tech that I could add to my collection. And when I wasn’t looking, I tripped and fell onto shards of glass. I cut the palm of my hand, but I made sure to wrap it carefully so as to get infected by anything around me.” 

Leon used his free hand to rub his head in disappointment, not believing that you could be naive enough to go into the ruins that probably had remnants of the virus. “All for some tech? I hope it was worth it.”

When Leon turned back around to continue walking, you stayed silent, not wanting to upset him further. But, you stopped in your tracks suddenly, a strange smell wafting into your nasal cavity.

“Y/n you following me?” Leon called to you, turning at his heels to face you and noticing that you had stopped walking. “You okay?”

“You blame me for getting infected…….but why didn’t you tell me that you’ve been infected all this time?”

“How’d you-”

“I can smell it on you Leon! You blame me for all this shit when you never said a word about your infection!” 

“I didn’t want to worry you!” 

“We are supposed to be friends Leon! And you can’t even trust me with that!” you yelled at him but suddenly felt the floor shake. 

“Move!” Leon gasped as he shoved you away and went crashing down with the floor.

“Leon!” You screamed, trying to reach for him but you were too late as he fell down to the basement of the hospital. 

“Argh dammit….” he groaned in pain, trying to gather his strength after that massive fall. “Y/n….y/n are you okay?” he coughed, waving away the dust and smoke that filled the air. 

“I’m okay!” you called to him, breathing a sigh of relief that he wasn’t injured. “What do we do now?”

“Listen, keep going down the hall and head down those emergency stairs. Keep going till you reach the main entrance. I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, got it! Be careful!” 

“You too” he whispered to himself, hoping that you would make it there safe and sound. He cared a lot about you, and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to you after leaving you alone for those four years. 

Doing exactly as Leon told you, you approached the door that led to the emergency stairs. “Uh, okay, down a few flights and just wait by the entrance.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Huh? Ah!” You flinched as someone grabbed you by your throat and pinned you against the blood splattered walls.

Zeno stepped in close, his expression unreadable, eyes scanning you like he was already deciding the outcome. 

“Gideon calls you ‘chosen,” he said flatly. 

“L-Let go!” you cried out, trying to pry his hand away from your throat. 

Zeno didn’t, instead, he leaned in just enough to study your reaction, his grip tightening slightly, not enough to crush, but just enough to remind you that there was nowhere to go. 

“I don’t see it. You move well, you think quickly, but that isn’t power. It’s merely survival and survival is common.”

Soon, a large shadow descended upon you two. 

Your eyes widened in fear as you noticed who it was, looming over both of you like a creature of the night. 

“Zeno” Gideon’s voice cut in. “You’re interfering with my work. She is not yours to test.”

“I wanted results, all you’ve shown me was that she could survive” Zeno’s brows furrowed in frustration and annoyance.

“That’s because I haven’t introduced the mutagenic strain. Once I inject her with it, the organism within her will take full control of her nervous system, showing us her true potential.”

With that, Gideon approached beside you and grabbed your arm. He then took out a syringe and pierced your antecubital region (top surface of your elbow joint). 

“Ah!” You screamed in pain as the needle pierced your skin.

“There we go…… easy now” Gideon spoke softly against your ear. Once he took enough blood from you, he pulled out the syringe and flicked the vial with his index finger. 

“With proper analysis, this sample could become either a cure….or the foundation of something far more effective.”

“Y-You won’t get nothing….I promise you that.”

“How could you make that claim when you clearly don’t understand the full scope of the situation” Gideon let out a quiet chuckle. 

“No…I-I..just want to go home….” you cried, every ounce of strength in your body failing you.

Zeno slowly set you down on your two feet, releasing your neck the moment he noticed your compliance. 

“I’d truly like for you to come with me” Gideon carefully grasped your hand and caressed the back of it. 

“Everything that we could accomplish. What’s inside you could change the very course of this city. You are the key y/n” he set your hand gently at your side and then pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear. 

Zeno watched carefully, awaiting to see if you were to finally accept what you were capable of and the lasting impression you would leave. 

“I-” without warning, the same mutated dog from before charged at Zeno, biting his arm as a distraction.

“What?!” Gideon quickly tried to pry the dog off of Zeno.

Seeing the opportunity, you rushed towards the emergency stairs and ran down them as fast as you could, adrenaline pumping through your veins. 

Bursting through the doors, you accidentally bumped into Leon. 

“Y/n!? What happened?” Leon gasped as he took a hold of you. 

“We need to go now!” you exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the exit.

Without question, Leon grabbed a hold of your arm as well and rushed outside the hospital with you. 

“They’re after me, we need to get out of here!” You rushed towards the gates with Leon. 

But just as you both tried to reach for the gates, Zeno appeared in front of you both. 

Leon quickly raised his weapon, making sure that you were behind him to protect you from whoever this was. 

“Mr. Kennedy, I wonder if anyone has taught you not to meddle in affairs that do not concern you.”

“Why do you want y/n? She isn't of importance to you or whatever this Doctor Gideon is claiming.” 

“On the contrary Leon, she is every bit important to my research” Doctor Gideon's voice echoed behind him.

You shakily grabbed Leon's jacket, trembling in fear for what was about to happen. “Leon please…don't let them take me…”.

“It's alright y/n, I won't let them” Leon promised as he tried to side step to the right to get a clear view of the two. 

“How can you be so sure Mr. Kennedy? She has already been taken by Victor once, what makes you think that she won't be taken again?” Zeno casually approached the both of you. 

“There's nowhere to run y/n, come with me…and I promise no harm will come to Leon” Gideon hummed pleasantly as he also approached. 

“What do we do?” You worriedly asked Leon who was searching for a way out of this dicey situation. 

[Which Ending will you choose?]

"Come with me~"

Without warning, Zeno zipped past you and took a hold of Leon. 

A soft gasp escaped your lips as you saw Zeno grab Leon and press a gun to his head. 

“No! Let him go!” You shouted, trying to think of everything you could do to save him. 

Gideon then used the distraction to his advantage and took the syringe with the mutagenic strain and injected it into your neck.

“No!” Leon shouts as he struggles against Zeno’s grasp.

You stood there in shock, grasping the syringe that was plunged deep into your neck, pulling it out and tossing it on the ground.

Gideon let out a quiet chuckle as he watched and awaited your transformation.

“L-Leon” you gasped as your bones began to crack, break, and rearrange within your body. 

“Ah!” You screamed in immense pain as your knees succumbed to it, your hands catching your fall. 

Leon could only watch in horror as your body twisted and contorted into something inhuman. 

Then within the second, you turned your gaze towards him, mouth and teeth sharpened to a point, your spinal cord completely ripped through your back and a tail seemed to have grown from your tail bone.

A low hungry growl escaped your throat as you hauntingly stood on your elongated feet. “My, what power surges through me” you hummed hungrily. 

“As I foretold” Gideon approached you, making sure to keep his words simple so as to not upset whatever organism had taken control of you.

“Mm, you must be the one that unleashed me” you hummed, approaching Gideon and gently caressing his chest with your sharp nail. “You are a magnificent creature” you hummed and brought him down for a hungry kiss. 

Gideon's body jolted in shock for a split moment, unsure how to respond to this sudden kiss from you. It was different, you were acting inhuman and something that he wanted to continue studying further. 

After you pulled away, a long tongue protruded from your mouth, licking up the excess saliva that stained your chin.

Then, in an animalistic way, you crawled like a dog towards Zeno and Leon.

“Y/n….c-can you hear me” Leon looked at you with a gaze that felt heavy with regret.

“Y/n. Y/n?” You repeated after him, your mouth curling into a hungrily smile. “She isn’t here any longer…she’s dead” you laughed and then tore your hand right through Leon’s chest, taking out his heart and began devouring it.

Zeno quickly pulled away from Leon’s butchered body, shock written across his face.

“We need to contain her Gideon, this is no longer a standard infection protocol” Zeno used his gloved hand to wipe the blood from his white suit. 

“Yes” Gideon carefully approached you from behind you to sedate you in order to put you in a containment chamber.

“Mmm, mmm” you moaned in hunger as you chewed viciously at Leon’s heart, his body laying lifeless on the ground. 

“Argh!” You hissed angrily as you felt someone wrap their arms around your neck, holding you steady. Soon enough, you felt sleepy, your eyes slowly fluttering close.

“We need to take her inside.”

“There we are, shhh, rest” Gideon murmured against your ear. 

“No, this place is compromised. Follow me to my helicopter, we’re going to take her to my laboratory.”

“Hmm, lead the way” Gideon hoisted you over his back and carried you away with Zeno. 

A little while later, you were deep underground in a facility created by Zeno. It was there that they were running tests on you, drawing your blood samples to see if they could manipulate the genome of the organism within you, and…where Gideon could study you more closely.

“Ah, ah” You moaned loudly. 

“Your response is increasing……interesting” Gideon murmured against your ear, his hand carefully placed on top of your womb, guiding your hips. 

“I want more~” You begged as you rode his enormous shaft, your tail wagging in pure bliss. 

“If you want more…..then you must provide usable data ” Gideon held your hips to prevent you from moving. 

You let out a soft whimper as you extended out your right hand over a clinical vial and used your sharp nails to pierce the palm of your hand. Once you felt something warm drip, you rested your hand gently on top of the vial to allow your hand to free bleed, providing Gideon another sample of blood.

“Hmm” Gideon let out a pleasing hum as he saw you providing a sample. “Good” He leaned close to your ear and then began to move your hips up and down on his cock.

“Ah, ah, yes, yes ahh!” You cried out happily, resting your head against his shoulder.

“More…more I want to feel you deep inside me….I want my womb to be filled with your seed!” you begged him as you felt his pulsing heat brush against your stomach. 

Gideon’s lips curled into a pleasing smile, relishing the progress of his experiment. 

His other hand carefully slithered down to your clit, his middle finger gently rubbing at your sensitive bud. 

As Gideon was busy with his experiments, Zeno casually approached the chamber pods filled with mutated dogs who seemed agitated and restless responding to stimuli that no one has mapped yet. They weren’t reacting to the facility, they were reacting to you. 

What they couldn’t explain was twofold.

Your body emitted a subtle biological frequency, one that certain organisms responded to instinctively, as if it were a command embedded in nature itself.

And your blood…was wrong in a different way.

Not just resistant to infection. But capable of rewriting it.

Depending on how it was processed, it could stabilize a virus, or tear it apart into something far more destructive.

Zeno turned at his heels, watching from the corner of his eyes as you rode Gideon, your face filled with pleasure. He let out a soft chuckle, grabbing a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it, blowing a puff of smoke into the air, pleased with how this resulted. 

You now belonged to Gideon as a specimen, and Zeno was going to extract every bit of your soul till you gave him what he desired.

“Leon” you cried out, the other side of you fighting for control as a soft delicate tear dripped down your cheek, your body trembling when Gideon released his warm seed within you.

Gideon paused in his thrusts, breathing heavily behind you after he heard you call ‘his’ name. “You’re still waiting for him, aren’t you?” 

“That instinct….to believe someone is coming back for you.”

He spoke softer, almost whispering, “He won’t.”

“Not because he wouldn’t try…but because he can’t.” “You and I both know what happens to people who get too close to this.” “I didn’t take him from you.” “He chose a path that ended exactly where it always does.”

“There is no one left who understands what you’ve seen….what you’ve become.” “Except me~”

After hearing those words you let out an agonizing scream as Gideon took a hold of your cut hand to further drip more blood into the vial. 

“You seem to be regressing to your old self, let’s continue introducing more of the strain to let that organism come back to control you~”

A low growl escaped your throat as you turned your head to the side, “More….it’s not enough yet~”

Gideon’s expression shifted into a thin, knowing smile. “Shall we begin your treatment again?~”

Without warning, Zeno zipped past you and took a hold of Leon. 

A soft gasp escaped your lips as you saw Zeno grab Leon and press a gun to his head. 

“No! Let him go!” You shouted, trying to think of everything you could do to save him. 

As Gideon saw you distracted, he was going to use it to his advantage to inject you with the mutagenic strain. 

But you noticed this, and quickly dodged his attack, rushing towards Leon’s axe.

“Argh!” Leon growled as he hit Zeno in the face with the back of his head, giving him the chance to escape his grasp.

“Catch Leon!” You shouted to him, tossing him the axe and then rushing over to grab something else to protect you from Gideon. 

Zeno quickly tried to recompose himself after being hit in the face but failed miserably when Leon slashed at him with his axe.

“Ngh—!” Leon used all his strength to slash at this imitation. 

Zeno winced as he tried to block some of the attacks, but couldn't as he fell to his knees. 

“Any last words?” Leon towered over Zeno, preparing to strike him with the killing blow. 

“Heh….you can't protect her Mr. Kennedy…wherever she goes….she will bring death to her door and anyone else's….”.

In one quick slash, Leon killed Zeno, his body falling limp to the ground, his words scaring deep within his soul. 

“Get away!” You screamed, your voice echoing along Leon's ears. 

“Shit!” Leon quickly ran towards the direction your scream came from, completely forgetting about Doctor Gideon. 

With quick thinking, you ducked under this grate, crawling down a tunnel that you had no idea where it led. 

“Y/n?” Gideon called to you with a bone-chilling whisper, his calm and gentle voice sending chills down your spine. 

“Y/n!!!!” He shouted your name this time, your body jumping at the sound of it. 

After hearing heavy footsteps move away from your position you continued crawling into the tunnel until you reached a strange lab. 

“Woah…this must be his lab” you said as you approached his work table and gasped, noticing your blood in a centrifuge. 

“Huh? What does it say?” You typed away at the computer and noticed two options on the screen. Make a cure or make a virus. 

Your hand hovered over the enter key, waiting for something to tell you to stop, but nothing came. So, you chose what you thought was best……a cure.

After pressing the button, your blood sample was injected with another mutagenic strain and then it went down in the centrifuge to be spun. Once it was completed, it popped out and got loaded into a needle to be injected. 

“Huh, who would've known that my blood could be turned into a cure” you chuckled as you readied yourself to inject the cure within you. 

“I wouldn’t advise that,” A low voice spoke from the shadows, their tone calm but final.

“Huh?” You looked towards the direction of the voice and noticed Gideon slowly appearing from the darkness with Leon in his grasp, his enormous hand wrapped around his throat, ready to strangle him in a millisecond. 

“Leon!?” you called his name worriedly. 

“Ugh,” Leon groaned as he struggled against his grip. 

“Put the syringe back and I won't strangle this ignorant fool's neck” He leaned in close to Leon, trying to send fear through you so that you would comply with his orders. 

“Jesus……when's the last time you brushed your teeth” Leon turned his head to the side, trying to get away from his breath. 

You carefully covered your mouth, trying to suppress the giggle that was about to escape your lips. But that quickly went away when you noticed Gideon’s hand tighten around his neck. 

“Okay, okay! Just let him go please and I'll….I'll stay with you so you can complete your research!” 

Gideon’s gaze slowly looked towards you, his lips curving into a smirk. “How would I know that you will stay and not leave with him?” 

“Y/n…argh…don't!” Leon gasped for air. 

“Quiet!” Gideon adjusted his grip on Leon's throat, forcing him to be silent. 

You turned towards the examination table and set the cure down carefully before grabbing an empty vial.

“This is how” You grabbed a broken shard of glass and cut the palm of your hand. You winced softly as you squeezed your hand, warm blood dripping into the cold sterilized vial. “I can give you more of my blood to make whatever weapon you want, just let Leon go.”

“Hmmm” Gideon let out an intriguing hum as he moved his hand away from Leon’s throat. “Make any sudden moves and I will kill you” he warned Leon before pushing him away.

“Thank you” You said as you slowly approached, glancing over to Leon who rubbed his throat in pain.

But then, you paused in your tracks, Gideon’s head tilting to the side in a confusing manner. “It’s over Doctor Gideon……”.

All of a sudden, sounds of low hissing and growling could be heard from behind you. It was the same mutated dog from before but this time he brought friends to play with. 

“Tear up the place” you ordered, one of the dogs howling before beginning to tear apart the lab.

“No!” Gideon shouted as he charged towards you.

“Leon, come on!” You gestured to him, quickly grabbing the cure and rushing past the dogs. 

Leon was shocked by the whole ordeal, but followed closely behind you, trying to not touch the dogs as he shuffled past them. 

Finally, at that last moment, you and Leon were able to escape the abandoned hospital. 

“Well, that was unexpected” Leon panted heavily, gasping as he quickly shielded you from the explosion that took the whole building down. 

You jumped slightly, holding onto Leon tightly when he shielded you from the blast. “Yeah….that was….” you chuckled.

“I think that definitely took him out, if not, then that fucker is a damn vampire” Leon joked, releasing you from his embrace to rub the back of his neck.

“I hope he’s dead…” you growled, taking out the syringe and pulling Leon close.

“Woah, what the hell are you doing?” 

“This is a cure Leon, you need it.”

“No, no, no, you need it more than me, take it for yourself.”

“I made enough for two, dumbass” you chuckled as you pushed aside his collar and injected him directly into his neck.

“Ah…” Leon let out a soft pleasant sigh, the dark spots on his neck slowly disappearing.

“There you go” You smiled as you pulled out the needle and then proceeded to inject yourself with the cure. 

You also let out a soft pleasant sigh as the infection within you slowly disappeared, making you a normal human being instead of a dog controlling woman. 

“Feel better?” 

“Yeah, much better now that Doctor fuck face can’t use my blood to do whatever he wants” you laughed, tossing the empty needle on the ground.

“Heh” Leon laughed as he pulled you into another hug. “I’m so sorry that I left you for all those years.”

“It’s okay Leon, you had your life, so did I.”

“Well, if you ever decide to move again, you can later explain to me how the hell you were able to control those infected dogs?” 

“Oh fuck off” you pushed him away and casually walked towards his porsche that was miraculously still in one piece. 

{A Month Later}

“Phew, I think that’s the last box.”

“Thanks Leon” You smiled as you grabbed the box from him and set it on your kitchen counter. 

“So, country house? Never expected you to like the countryside?”

“Well, I wanted a change in scenery and living in another garbage ridden city wasn’t an option for me.”

Leon laughed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Alright, well I have to get back home, I got a long drive.”

“Thank you Leon, I truly appreciate you helping me.”

“Of course, and you have my number. Don’t forget to call me sometime, alright?” He gave you a hug and then proceeded out of your house.

After waving him goodbye, you decided to turn in for the night and continue putting all your things away in the morning. 

“Mmm” you yawned softly as you headed upstairs to your room and opened the door. Quickly as you could you plopped on your bed and closed your eyes, sleep over taking you.

But, as the birds went silent, the waves of the ocean calming, a soft click sound came from your front door.

Someone had entered your home, their footsteps heavy and slow. Each step came closer and closer, till it reached your bedroom door. 

A soft low hum escaped their lips as they approached your sleeping form, their heavy calloused hands gently caressing your cheek. 

“You thought you could hide from me my dear y/n? Think again” Gideon’s voice whispered close to your ear. 

“After you destroyed my lab, cured that idiotic fool and yourself, I set out to find you. Quite resilient you are hiding in the countryside, but you forget my dear…..there is no one within a mile radius that can hear you scream.”

“Mmm” you groaned in your sleep, gently pulling one of your pillows close to your chest.

Gideon let out a faint hum as he pulled you closer, not harsh, but controlled. 

“I’ve only just begun to understand you,” he said softly. “There’s still more to understand.”

“Ah” you moaned quietly in your sleep as you felt hands roam across your body, their finger tracing circles around your nipple. 

Gideon watched closely as you squirmed and writhed underneath him, it almost sent a pleasurable chill down his spine. “Come now, you’re still in there, I know,” he whispered.

A soft whimper escaped your lips as your hand quickly grasped Gideon’s wrist, but it guided you lower and lower till it went past your pants and your panties; fingers gently caressing your clit just as before. 

“You are mine~” Gideon’s voice echoed through your skull. 

The voice jolted you awake, a scream escaping your throat as you sat up from your bed. Soft pants escaped your lips as you looked around your room, not noticing anything out of the ordinary or out of place. 

“What the fuck?” You rubbed the back of your head but noticed as you shifted in your bed, you felt something warm and wet in pajama pants. “Argh…did I have a wet dream?” Fuck me” you groaned in annoyance as you got out of your bed and went to your bathroom to take a shower to clean up whatever mess you had made.

As you went to clean yourself, Gideon slowly walked down your stairs carefully so as to not alert you of his presence. This wasn’t over, not by a long shot. Taking one last look at your home, he let out a dark chuckle, the same chuckle that he had done when you were at the hospital.

“Pleasant dreams my dear~” Gideon said under his breath. The air shifted faintly as he left, like a passing breeze that never fully touched you.

The Specimen that changed it all Pt. 1

“What do we have to work with?”

“Well she’s new, but she is our resident hacker, best in the world if I say so myself.”

“Hunnigan, best in the world, sounds like she’s a child.”

“Leon….” Ingrid sighed as she rubbed her temples and knocked at your door.

Sounds of scrambling and shuffling could be heard from behind your apartment door. “Who is it?”

“Open up y/n.”

“Oh shit” You quickly opened the door, adjusting your glasses. “Hey….Ingrid…”.

“I told you we were coming to visit your place hours ago? What happened? Forget already?”

“No I just….uh….got hooked on a new series and kind of forgot” You chuckled nervously, leaving your door wide open for them to come inside as you quickly rushed to put the half eaten tub of ice cream back in your freezer.

“Hmm” Leon was the first to step in, closing the door once Ingrid stepped inside after him.

“So, uh….remind me again why you’re here with this blonde dude?”

“Jesus y/n….show some professionalism please.”

“You say that while I’m wearing pink unicorn pajamas and in my home? I don’t think professionalism matters.”

“I really have to work with her?” Leon crossed his arms, fearing that his missions were going to be a lot harder than it already was.

“Oh, so this is the person I'm going to work with? Leon S. Kennedy, an orphaned child who was saved by a cop and decided when he was just a itty bitty boy that he also wanted to become a cop. He then went on to graduate from the police academy at 21 and after surviving the incident that happened years ago….he worked with the government….and here you are….questioning my abilities.”

Leon was astounded by the knowledge you knew, very few knew and only those with extensive access or abilities to hack into such files knew about his previous life.

“Told you, you guys are a perfect fit for each other” Ingrid smiled as she patted Leon’s shoulder.

~4 years later~

“Where can I find her?”

“She moved a while back, after you left she decided to find another suitable job that didn’t involve the government.”

“Let me guess, street hacking,” Leon joked as he pushed the brake pedal on his Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT at a red stoplight.

“I honestly don’t know, she covered her tracks very well because even our own elite trackers couldn’t find her.”

“I think I may have a general area of where to find her.”

Within a minute, Leon parked his Porsche in a roadside parking lot and got out, looking around at the city before him. It had been a long time since he had been back to the ruins of Raccoon city, but here he was, back again because there was another problem that needed fixing (his problem to be exact).

“Please be here y/n…” Leon murmured underneath his breath as he adjusted his coat and casually approached the quaint little café that had a decently sized fireplace and an old school set up that wasn’t like any other café that sold coffee.

As Leon scanned the room, his eyes landed on a hooded figure looming in a dark corner booth of the café, sipping on their coffee and glued to their computer screen.

“Still haven’t changed huh?” A familiar voice rang against your ears.

Quickly turning around, you looked at Leon S. Kennedy himself, with a beard and a look of dread that you have never seen before. “L-Leon…” you gasped, standing up from the booth to hug him.

Leon obliged, hugging you back carefully, before letting you go to sit down.

“Shocked that you found me that easily, I usually make sure to hack the cameras around me so that our silly little government can’t find me” You chuckled, sitting back down in the booth and closed your laptop.

“I remember you told me about a cafe that you frequented, said it had an old vibe that you enjoyed.”

“Hmm, shocking that an old man like yourself has the memory of a 20 year old” you joked as you took a sip of your coffee.

“I’m not that old y/n” Leon cracked a smile.

“Hmm sure.”

“How has…uh-”

“How has life treated me? I mean after you left me with no reason whatsoever, I had to scrape by, doing odd jobs here and there…since our government decided to fuck me over.” “But not fucked as much as when you left me for four fucking years.”

“You didn’t go out and make friends?”

“I’m an introvert Leon….I don’t like to talk to anyone……and if I have to…I just suck it up and do what I can.” “You were the only friend that I could open up to…..and you just left me…”.

“I-I know I’m….I’m sorry I just…I couldn’t be in this fucking city any longer…”.

You shook your head, pushing your glasses up and grabbing a hold of your computer to put away in your bookbag. “I have to go.”

“Wait!” Leon gasped as he grabbed your arm before you could gather your things.

“What?” You pulled your arm away.

“Sorry I just….I need your help.”

“Oh so that’s why you came back after four fucking years…to ask me for help…fuck you” You said as you gathered your things and proceeded out of the cafe.

“Please y/n listen to me…it’s about a bio-weapon…” Leon chased after you, standing below the flickering café sign, rain beginning to drip from the sky.

You stopped in your tracks, turning your head back towards him, eyes wide in shock. “Another one?”

Leon nodded slowly, hating that he had to bring you back into another shit storm, but he needed your hacking skills, because this place had top tier level encryptions that any simple government hacker couldn’t hack themselves.

“You sure this is the building?”

“I’m sure Leon, we’ve tracked the readings to this place.”

“Good to hear your voice again Hunnigan” You chuckled as you pulled your hoodie over your head.

“Can’t believe Leon tracked you, he has some skills” Hunnigan laughed through the comms.

“He just got lucky” you smiled, glancing down to notice the ring on his finger. “No way, did my friend get married?!”

“For the love of god, not now” Leon rolled his eyes, stepping out of his Porsche and closing the door behind him.

You also stepped out, closing the door behind you and rushing to his side. “Nice car, nice girl, my, you got the total package” You chuckled, approaching the locked biometric gate.

“Shit….its biometric…”.

“Keep your pants on, I got this” you shook your head, grabbing your second phone and began to text away.

Without warning, the biometric system short circuited and turned green. “I still got it” you chuckled cockily, the gates slowly beginning to open.

“Hmm, I’m impressed” Leon chuckled, pulling out his pistol and entering the hospital courtyard.

Yet, as you proceeded beside him, your legs turned to mush at the sight before you. “Woah…” you gasped.

Leon turned his gaze towards you, noticing your shock. “Hey, it’s okay. If you want, you can wait in my car. It’s safer there, and you can work from there if you need to?”

“I-I’ll be okay…I-I just….I’m not used to seeing so many….dead bodies and….decay…. . I’m usually in a blacked out room with a computer screen in my face. I’m not used to field work.”

“I think it’s best if you stay in my car, you aren’t used to field work and I’m not about to put you at risk.”

“Leon, the hacking required for this specific area is the highest level I have ever seen. I can’t simply hack from your car. I need to be up close, otherwise you’ll be stuck or won’t have access to any level in this place.”

“Alright, but stay close to me. I don’t know what’s in there, or what could be lurking in the shadows.”

“Hmm, a squirrel” you joked, putting your phone away and following him towards the eerie lit hospital.

From a distance, a lone camera hidden from you two turned towards your direction, a sign that someone or something was watching you.

“I should’ve never moved to this damn city” You sighed as you carefully went underneath the broken glass door, taking a hold of Leon’s hands to keep yourself steady and so as to not fall onto the shards.

“Hmm, having second thoughts?” Leon chuckled as he held his pistol close to his chest, making sure to scan each and every part of his surroundings.

“Well yeah, with my skills I could basically go anywhere. But….I had to choose wrong” you sighed, walking over to a wall and began to read a map.

“Found something?”

“Yeah, it’s a map of the hospital. Oh, we need to go here, the surveillance room. I can connect there and guide you through the levels of the hospital.”

“Sounds like a plan” Leon nodded as he turned on his flashlight and began to traverse the dimly lit hospital with you.

“Spooky…” you gulped, clutching at the straps of your bookbag.

“Don’t worry, just stay close to me and try not to make a sound.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Unexpectedly, you heard soft crying from a room to your right. “Leon” you tapped his shoulder, pointing to the room where you heard the noise come from.

“Stay behind me” Leon turned off his flashlight and cautiously approached the room, leaning in close to the doorway to hear the sound.

Without warning, a decaying woman charged towards Leon, trying to bite him.

“Leon!” You screamed.

“Argh!” Leon struggled against the woman, trying to angle his gun to fire at her.

Using some of your strength, you grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and knocked the woman off of him.

With quick movements, Leon fired his pistol at the woman, her body falling onto the floor with a thud.

“Thanks” Leon panted heavily, trying to catch his breath. “You’ve been working out?”

“Heh” you let out a soft chuckle as you tossed the extinguisher onto the ground and walked over to the woman. “Why does she look like that?”

“It’s a virus that spreads quickly. It…transforms you into….a-”

“Nevermind, don’t tell me, because after this…I’m sticking to only at home hacking” you shook your head and turned at your heels to continue down the hallway to the surveillance room.

Leon followed right behind you, turning on his flashlight to illuminate your way.

After a short while, you two arrived at the surveillance room of the hospital. “Okay, let me just set up my things” you walked over to a decently comfortable chair, but noticed strange vials by a screen that pointed towards the outside gate of the hospital.

“Huh?” you questioned, leaning forward to read the vials. A few were marked ‘unstable,’ and only one was marked ‘stable,’ but it had nothing inside it.

“Everything alright?” Leon curiously asked.

“Yeah, just looking at something” you returned back to your task as you set your bookbag on the adjacent chair and pulled out your laptop.

“How long will it take you to connect to the surveillance system and the biometric locks of this place?”

“Let me see how long it will take me Leon.”

“Make it quick,” he sighed. “I don’t like how quiet it is.”

A faint smirk tugged at your lips. “You say that every time.”

“Yeah. And I’m usually right.”

“Okay, just a little shift of the code here” you murmured to yourself, your fingers flying across the keyboard, lines of encrypted code flying across the screen.

“I’m in” you chuckled, grabbing your headphones and pulling them onto your head. “Can you hear me through comms Leon?”

“Loud and clear y/n” he chuckled, pushing his earpiece further into his ear to hear you better.

“Awesome. Okay, so while you explore the hospital further, I’m going to see if I can hack into the database and see what they were working on here. Or find out what the hell the readings that Hunnigan was seeing on her screen were.”

“Alright, just be careful. Barricade the door behind me and don’t let anyone in.”

“Be careful and try not to get eaten by those weird fuckers out there” You joked as you stood from your chair and followed him to the door.

“Funny” Leon shook his head as he exited out of the room and waited for you to shut the door.

Once you closed the door, you grabbed a metal pipe that was propped against the wall and pushed it into the handle to make sure that it couldn’t be opened from the other side.

“Alright Leon, just let me know when you need me to hack into anything.”

“Got it.”

After Leon left, you jumped back into the seat and began typing away at your computer. “Shit….this level of encryption is balls” you sighed, rubbing the back of your head in frustration.

“Having trouble? That’s shocking, I thought you were the best hacker in the world.”

“Oh, fuck you Leon” you laughed, using a different encryption code and it surprisingly worked. “Ha! Jokes on you bitch, I got it.”

“Hm, what’d you find?”

As you scrolled, your heartbeat slowed, then spiked. “….Leon…”.

“What?”

“This isn’t weapons data….”.

“What is it then?” Leon paused in his tracks, waiting to hear what you had found.

“Subjects…test logs…” you whispered. “Viral integration…failed cases….failed…failed…” your fingers froze.

Yet, one file remained, labeled as [STABLE CARRIER].

“Something was going on here Leon, testing and subjects brought here for some odd reason. I think this isn’t an actual hospital, but a cover used to gather viable test subjects to experiment on them.”

Without warning, your screen glitched, a loud beep erupting from it as the screen turned red. “What the fuck?!”

“Y/n, what’s going on?!” Leon shouted through your headphones.

[BIOMETRIC MATCH CONFIRMED]

“Leon!” you screamed, quickly standing from the chair.

Without an ounce of thought, Leon turned at his heels and ran back towards the way he came. “I’m coming, hold on!”

You quickly approached your laptop, using all the codes that you memorized to get back your program.

Then, a sudden knock came upon the door. It was slow, genuine, seemed like it came from the gentlest of hands.

“Leon is that you?”

Silence.

“Leon, please don’t play games with me” you cautiously approached the door.

“Y/n…don’t….open….door…I’m…chzzzzzzz….”.

“Argh” you pulled off your headphones, setting them on the desk beside you. “Fuck….Leon the comms are out…we’re going to have to approach this a different way” You pulled the metal pipe out of the handle and set it aside.

With one quick swoop, you opened the door, and your heart sunk into your stomach at the sight before you. “Fuck me sideways….” You said in shock, your mouth hanging open as you struggled to believe what you were seeing.

“You must be y/n. How remarkable. No signs of necrosis…no cellular rejection…and yet, full viral integration.”

“W-Who the hell are you?” you gasped, hand trembling as you tried to reach for the metal pipe.

“Oh, forgive me. Doctor Victor Gideon~” His soft voice echoed along your ears, his tall form ducking under the doorway and straightening once he entered the room.

“What do you mean no signs of necrosis?” you gulped nervously, clearly disgusted by the way he looked.

A quiet chuckle escaped his lips as he pushed his hood back to reveal his face. “You’ve been walking freely this entire time…and you didn’t even know what you were.”

Without thinking, you lunged towards the metal pipe.

“Ah, ah, ah” Gideon smirked as he grabbed a hold of your neck, lifting you up from the floor, your legs wriggling under you.

“L-Let me go…ah!” you gasped for air, using your hands to slam against his wrist.

“Careful” His voice continued. “You might hurt yourself, and I can’t have such a unique specimen be damaged.”

“S-Stop…ah….” Your vision began to blur, your strength failing you as the air was cut off by his hand around your neck. “L-Leon” was the last word that slipped out of your lips as you fainted in his arms.

“Shh, rest now y/n.”

“Y/n!” Leon shouted your name as he quickly charged into the surveillance room, his heart racing as he saw your things scattered and not a trace of you to be found. “Son of a bitch!”

“Hunnigan, I need your help….y/n was taken.”

“Taken by who?” Hunnigan gasped, worried about your well-being.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to need help to find her.”

“Already on it”

Soon the faint hum of machinery surrounded you, but it was louder.

“Argh” you groaned, your eyes opening slowly.

Above you were dimly lit lights. They seemed surgical, almost clinical.

As you were about to rub your neck, you felt your hand tug at something. “Huh?” you gasped, looking down at your hands and noticed the restraints tight around your wrists.

“Leon? Leon!” You screamed, struggling against the restraints.

A soft sound soon echoed in the room.

Footsteps. Measured. Unhurried.

Then he stepped into view. Doctor Victor Gideon.

His demeanor was calm and composed as he watched you like you were something rare behind glass.

For a moment, he said nothing. Just studied you.

“….Extraordinary…” he murmured.

You tensed against the restraints, “Keep staring any longer and I’ll fucking rip your damn eyes out you fucker.”

He didn’t react to the threat. If anything, he seemed….amused.

Slowly, he approached you. Every instinct in your body screamed at you to pull away, but you held your ground, eyes locked on his.

“I’ve seen countless subjects,” Gideon said quietly. “Countless failures. Mutations. Degradations.”

He stopped in front of you, his hand lifting, “But you….”. For a second, it almost looked gentle. Then his fingers brushed against your cheek.

And without any sort of warning, something inside you snapped. A low animalistic growl tore from your throat.

Gideon froze immediately at the sudden growl that escaped from you and at the sight before him.

Black veins spread across your skin, thin at first, then branching, stretching beneath your skin like living ink, crawling across your cheek, your temple, your neck, and possibly across your body.

Your breathing deepened, not of weakness, not of pain, but of something stronger within you. It was like something dormant had just been disturbed.

Gideon’s breath caught, not of fear, but in awe. “Impossible…” his fingers hovered just above your skin now, not touching, like he was afraid to interrupt it.

“Perfect integration…” he whispered.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch me” you growled angrily, your body struggling viciously against the restraints, possibly bruising your wrists.

“You are a magnificent specimen” Gideon hummed with intrigue, his head tilting slightly. Then, something shifted, his mouth parked just a little too wide.

“Back off!” you shouted in disgust.

Gideon did not respond to your pleas as a thin, unnatural tongue slipped out, not human. It was longer, sharpened at the tip.

“What the fuck are you?!” You jerked against the restraints, but his hand snapped up, gripping your jaw just enough to hold you.

“Don’t,” he said softly. “You might damage something…irreplaceable.”

“Please….let me go…” you begged, tears forming in your eyes.

And then, his tongue dragged slowly across your cheek. It was cold, deliberate, testing.

Another low, involuntary growl erupted from your chest, deeper this time, more primal. Your veins flared again, spreading sharper and darker beneath your skin.

Your body tensed once again, muscles pulling harshly against the restraints as the same inhuman strength surged through you.

Gideon froze mid-motion, then he slowly pulled back. He took in a sharp inhale of hunger. “Alive….” he murmured. “It reacts….it defends…”.

His grip loosened slightly, but he didn’t step away, he couldn’t. “You’re not a carrier, you’re a….host.”

Your eyes stared him down, breathing steadily despite the tension that still twisted in your body. “I am not your test subject or whatever the fuck you think I am!”

For a moment, he remained silent, contemplating his next moves, and then….he smiled. It was slow, possessive, and certain.

“Oh,” Gideon said softly, voice laced with something darker now. “you misunderstand y/n.…”.

“You are not a subject anymore. You are mine to study. So, you’ve already been taken…you just haven’t accepted it yet.”

He then extended out his hand, fingers gently caressing your left arm, intrigued by your resilience to the virus. “You are truly remarkable.”

“Stop touching me you freak!” you hissed at him.

Gideon let out another quiet chuckle as his hand slithered down your body and moved dangerously close to your crotch area.

“Ah! Don’t you dare” you warned him, but fear slowly began to rise within you.

“I’ve taken note that the parasite within you defends you, so…I wonder if I do this…what will it do?” he questioned as his fingers slipped into your jeans and took a hold of your clit.

A loud gasp escaped your lips as felt his cold calloused fingers play with your clit. “W-Wait…p-please” you whimpered.

“Hmmm, intriguing, it seems the parasite only answers to violence, not sexual touch” Gideon whispered to himself.

“S-Stop please…” you begged, shutting your eyes tightly to avoid showing him any sort of reaction whatsoever.

“You’re soaked my dear y/n. You’re reacting exactly as I predicted….which means you’re already becoming mine in more ways than one.”

“Ah, mmm!” you arched your head back against the cold examination table, your body trying to fight this pleasure but ultimately failing.

“I wonder what happens if I do this?” Gideon hummed as his two fingers slipped into your entrance.

“Ah!” You let out another low growl, the veins on your neck pulsing and growing darker than before.

“Ah….I see. How interesting” he murmured, his voice low as he leaned closer to you. His inhuman tongue brushed against your skin in a slow, unsettling motion once again.

“Leon!” You cried out for him, wishing that he was here to save you.

“Call him if you want…..it won’t change anything~” he softly chuckled, breathing deeply against your ear as he fingered your entrance, enjoying how warm you were inside.

“Fuck you!” you turned your head to the side, trying to restrain yourself as best as you could.

Then, without warning, he used his other hand to force you to look at him. His face was inches away from your own, leaning in closer and closer until he stopped just short of your lips.

You couldn’t move, your eyes wide in shock and fear.

“Hmm” he hummed softly as his other hand released your face, his fingers tracing the veins along your neck with precision. “How intriguing that you are a stable carrier for this parasite.”

“Mm…mmm..” you whimpered softly, your vision becoming blurry once again as you slowly fainted on the table.

With gentle movements, he slipped his fingers out of your entrance and lapped up the juices that stained his hands. He let out a soft pleasing hum as he tasted your essence. “Rest now y/n~” he softly whispered before turning at his heels and proceeding to his computer to run a scan on you while you were unconscious.

All you could do was lay there unconscious, awaiting for Leon to come to rescue you, if he could find you before this thing took everything from you.

“Y/n……” a low whisper rang in your subconscious, the voice sounding like Leon, begging you to hold on.

"How high are you to go on the bid?"

"The CEO is offering twelve billion for the rarest one that I can find."

"My, I wish my employer could give me access to that much money" the man let out a soft chuckle as he approached a well dressed man.

"Good evening gentleman, do you have your entrance tickets?"

"Of course we do" the two men chuckled as they pulled out their phones and opened an app that had a purple barcode on it.

The well dressed man extended out his hand, using the scanner he was holding to scan both barcodes. Once they lit up green, he gestured to the other well dressed man beside him to open the curtains.

"Enjoy your stay at the Vareta. Please be advised that if you want to purchase an item at the auction, you must grab an IPAD first and input the necessary information that is displayed on the screen. If you require assistance in inputting your information, just flag down one of our workers wearing a purple sash on their arm, they will be able to assist you."

"Sounds great, thank you" the two men ushered past the well dressed men and entered a great hall with a enormous stage.

Their eyes were instantly filled with a view of half naked girls in chains being auctioned off to bidders, men and women bidding on said girls, and workers with purple sashes handing out drinks or assisting those that did not understand how to use an IPAD.

"Well, good luck in finding that rare gem."

"Thank you, and have fun."

As the two men parted ways, another gentleman entered the hall, adjusting his attire as he looked around for a place to sit down.

"Can you guys hear me?"

"Loud and clear Jamie."

"Jamie, remember, you are there to find y/n. Once we have her, we can shut this place down."

"Got it, I'll keep my eyes peeled for her." Jamie nodded as he tried to hide his ear piece as much as possible.

"And try to blend in."

"What, you doubt my abilities Ayana?" Jamie chuckled as he walked over to a beautifully dressed woman wearing a purple sash.

"Thank sweetheart" he winked at her, grabbing a glass of champagne.

"No, I just want you to be careful. We've been at this for 6 months, and now that y/n has been taken by these assholes, we can finally nail 'em."

"Yeah...I do hope she's okay though....I haven't seen her in a long time...." Jamie took a sip of champagne from his glass and casually walked over to an empty chair, taking a seat and setting down his glass on the mini table beside him.

"She's strong Jamie...I'm sure she's fine" Ayana held back the frog in her throat, worry filling her body.

You weren't necessarily a police officer, you were a Confidential Informant (CI), helping the police in any way possible. It paid heavily and you would do anything for it, especially after all the damn student loans you had from school.

Yet, you hadn't meant to get captured by these human trafficker's but at least now you know that Ayana and her team had been tracking these assholes for the longest time. With you in this position, it could give them loads of evidence of what they had done and what they're still doing. Hopefully, the ADA can prosecute each and every one of these people for what they were doing to these innocent girls, including yourself.

"We got the girls in place?"

"Yeah James, we got them lined up, well dressed, and ready to be bided on."

"Good, make sure the girl with glasses is dressed up in something more revealing. She is our golden ticket."

"Why you say that?"

"She's a virgin Sam, these creepy fucks will do anything to get their hands on a virgin."

"How the fuck you know that? We just caught her like a month ago?" Sam questioned curiously while crossing his arms.

"I had Diana take a look at her for me. She said her cherry looked still intact and also the fact that she told her to suck a dildo for her and she did it unskillfully."

"Damn...I wish I had her suck my dick..." Sam grumbled, shifting his pants uncomfortably.

"I doubt she would, she had to beaten twice just to comply. She's a feisty one, but that's what we want" James chuckled.

"So no one has touched her since?"

"No, I made sure Diana put her to clean or do some other shit. Can't have our prized possession tarnished by idiots like you."

"Hey, at least I'm an idiot with class" Sam joked. "Alright, well make the announcement on stage for those horny bastards while I go see if Diana has the girls ready."

"Alright, and make sure you don't lay a finger on that girl we talked about, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah" Sam turned at his heels and jogged to the back to ask if Diana had the girls ready.

Meanwhile, James fixed his collar in a hurry as he stepped behind the wide purple curtain.

In a flash, the purple curtain opened, the lights in the great hall diming to give the illusion that they were all in a movie theater, while a main light illuminated the stage.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the Vareta, where all your desires come true~"

Laughter erupted from the crowd, along with a handful of clapping.

"I hope that our workers have kept you well fed and provided you with our IPADs so that you can bid on our auction items."

"Shit I didn't-"

"Here you go, sir."

"Oh, thanks" Jamie smiled awkwardly as he grabbed an IPAD from the woman and looked down at it.

"Do you acquire assistance in inputting your information?"

"Uh, no need, thank you" Jamie nodded softly to the woman before his gaze returned to the IPAD.

After the woman left, Jamie discreetly touched his ear piece, "Guys, what the hell do I put in these boxes?"

"Hold up Jamie, I'm working on that right now."

"Well hurry up Lynx, the bidding is about to start."

"Jesus fuck Jamie, give me one second" Lynx sighed angrily as she typed furiously on her keyboard. "Okay, in your pocket there is a small USB stick, insert that into the IPADs charging port."

"Alright" Jamie quickly grabbed the USB and inserted it into the IPAD.

Within a few seconds, the IPADs screen glitched and a screen of random numbers and symbols appeared, giving Jamie the heads up that Lynx was hacking it.

"Got it" Lynx laughed as she pressed the 'enter' button.

"Okay Jamie, Lynx just gave you access to the bidding information, all you have to do is just bid on y/n" Ayana ordered.

"No problem guys" Jamie held the IPAD close to him, noticing the screen returning back to the auction page minus the boxes that asked for personal information (bank account, routing numbers, etc.).

"Diana! Are the girls ready?" Sam quickly burst through the door, already biting his lips at the sight of the half naked girls.

"For fucks sake Sam, don't you ever knock" Diana sighed as she put the finishing touches on one of the girls.

"No, because I want to see some of these fine ass girls" Sam growled hungrily, spanking one of the girl's asses, causing her to whimper in fear.

"Hey, hey, hey, hands off my girls" Diana stood from her chair and approached Sam, trying to usher the girl away from him. "Why are you here, anyways?"

"The bidding is starting, I need to line up the girls."

"Oh, I see. Ladies, please, line up outside of the room for the auction and remember to smile, or there will be consequences."

As the girls rushed out of the room, wanting to avoid more punishment than they already have endured, Diana growled in anger.

"You little slut, you had better be ready or I will fucking kill you!"

"What's the matter?"

"James prized possession has been a pain in the ass ever since he took her. She won't hurry up and get dressed."

"Let me talk to her, I'll get her to get dressed."

"Okay, but no bruises, or slipping your dirty dick inside her, ya hear?" Diana whipped her hair to the side as she stepped out.

Sam licked his lips as he pushed past the curtain and noticed you putting the last touches to your revealing outfit.

"I hate this so much" You sighed deeply, looking at your curvy body in this revealing outfit.

"Why? You look fucking delicious."

"Huh?!" You gasped, spinning around to notice Sam standing there like a wolf in hunger. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Diana told me that you were being a gigantic pain in the ass. So, I'm here to straighten you out."

"D-Don't you dare come near me Sam...I-I'll...uh" you backed away in the corner, trying to hold back the tears forming in your eyes.

"Shh, I'll be gentle," Sam approached you hungrily, grabbing onto your face and hungrily kissing you; his hands roaming down to your ass to grasping it roughly.

"Mm, mm!" You tried to shove him away but to no avail.

After Sam pulled away, you felt dizzy, your head spinning and stomach churning.

"Mmm, feels nice huh?" Sam whispered against your ear.

"W-What did you give me...." you gripped his chest, your body beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

"Just a little drug called Fountain. Special to our crew. This drug will make you feel so good and it'll force you to be a good little girl~"

"You fucking bastard...ah..." you held in your whimper.

"Let's get you out there so that you can make us millions."

"Ladies, please grace us with your presence" James smiled, his head turning towards the side, his hand gesturing for the girls to come out and display themselves.

"Go, and smile" Diana's gaze darkened, giving the girls a stern warning to not ruin this opportunity for them to make a boat load of money.

Quickly and quietly the girls stepped out onto the stage, their gazes stuck to the ground as they stood all in a line, awaiting for men and women to bid on them; like animals.

"I don't see her" Jamie said as he looked down at the IPAD, noticing the bidding started already.

"Maybe they have another line of girls to show, just keep at it Jamie" Ayana spoke through the coms.

"Just to entice you all to bid on my beautiful girls-" James lips curled into a dark smirk as approached a girl.

"This one here is called Jasmine, like the tea. She has excellent throat muscles and-" James laughed as he went behind her and pulled down her dress to reveal her breast to everyone.

"Has an exquisite set of breast~"

Everyone was in awe at the sight of her breast, many of the men giving silent whistles or others shifting in their seats because of their erections.

"Come on Jasmine, moan for them" James bite down gently on her ear.

"Ah!" Jasmine let out a soft moan, her cheeks becoming flush in embarrassment.

"Fuckers..." Jamie growled angrily, his blood boiling at what he was watching.

"Easy Jamie, we don't want to arouse any suspicion. He'll get his dues soon enough."

"I know...I know...sorry..." Jamie tried to compose himself.

"Ah, I see we have some takers" James smiled as he left Jasmine exposed, not even having the decency to cover her up.

"Sam!" Diana shouted from the back, wondering where the hell he was?

"I'm coming" Sam huffed as he dragged you by your neck to Diana.

"Ah!" you winced, trying to stay composed but failing miserably. "Let me....let me go...ah...".

"What the hell did you do to her?" Diana grabbed your chin to examine you.

"Eh, I helped you that's what."

"Sam, did you give her Fountain?!"

"Yeah, what's the big deal?"

"You fucking idiot! Now what will the buyer think when they see her?"

"That she is submissive and won't fight back. You should be thanking me Diana, not chewing my ass out!"

"Ugh...whatever, whatever!" Diana shooed him away as she released your chin and grabbed you by the back of your neck. "Follow my every lead and if you so much as cry for help, I will hurt you."

"Mm" you let out a soft moan, wincing softly at her grip on your neck.

"Beautiful! Now I do hope you haven't spend every last penny you have on these delicious girls, because I have a special prize for all of you. This girl is named y/n. She is relatively young and a virgin."

"I think he's talking about y/n."

"Well get ready to bid Jamie, you have all the money at your disposal" Lynx told him through the coms.

"One downside of her is that she needs glasses to see, but I'm sure that might excite each and every one of you" James chuckled as he looked over at Diana and nodded to her.

Diana soon pulled you onto the stage, every single man in the room hungrily groaning and humming at the sight of you.

"Ah, ah" you let out soft breathes as Diana handed you over to James, the asshole that had kidnapped you.

"Thank you Diana" James took a hold of the back of your neck, already noticing that you had been drugged, which sent a wave of anger down his spine.

"Of course, enjoy" she quickly rushed off the stage and went to the back to give the spotlight to you and James.

"Now gentlemen, ladies, this is our VIP bid. We won't be starting at a low number, so the first bid is starting at four million."

"Shit, shit, shit" Jamie quickly began to bid, trying to keep up with the dozen of men bidding on her already.

"Come on gentlemen, you know you want her" James grabbed your chin, using his tongue to lick your cheek.

"S-Stop" you gasped, another moan escaping your lips that shocked even James.

"That fucking...asshole..." Jamie growled, bidding once again.

Suddenly, the bidding stopped, "What the hell? Did I win her Lynx?"

"One sec" Lynx typed away at her keyboard, but stopped abruptly when she saw who had won. "Ayana...."

"What?" Ayana leaned forward to the screen to see who had won. "Oh shit..".

"What's going on guys?" Jamie whispered worriedly.

Diana soon walked back onto the stage and leaned close to James ear.

"Ah, alright thank you" James nodded as he grabbed the chain from his pocket and clipped it onto the collar that was on your neck.

"Mr. Dominic Socal, please step forward."

Within the second, a sharply dressed man stood from the crowd of chairs and walked onto the stage.

"Guys....I lost...didn't I?"

Silence.

Dominic smiled as his eyes scanned you. "Hello."

"Congratulations Mr. Socal, here is your prize" James extended out his hand to give him the chain connected to you.

"Thank you" Dominic smiled as he approached you closer, his hand gently pushing a strand of your hair behind your ear. "You are beautiful~"

This gesture confused you, you thought this man was going to devour you right then and there. But he just called you beautiful and pushed a strand of hair behind your ear? What was wrong with this man?

"Ayana, we need to shut this place down now or this man will take y/n."

"We're breaching right now Jamie, get ready."

Jamie rested the IPAD on the mini table in front of him and grabbed his gun from his holster.

Without warning, the NYPD quickly burst through the doors, shouting for everyone to freeze and to not move a single muscle.

"Freeze!" Jamie shouted as he rushed the stage and pointed his weapon at Dominic.

"Jamie" You breathed a sigh of relief at seeing him.

"It'll be okay y/n, I got you."

"Do you?" Dominic's lips curled into a malicious smirk as pulled you close to him and held a gun to your head.

"Gun down Mr. Socal, you aren't going anywhere" Ayana came to Jamie's defense, noticing her other team members grabbing up James and the rest of his crew.

"That's what you think Sargent Ayana, I bought this lovely darling, so she technically is my property."

"Guys please...." you gripped onto the man's arm gently, trying to struggle out of his grip.

"Let her go you dickhead or I will shoot you between your fucking eyes!" Jamie warned.

Unexpectedly, one of Dominic's body guards came swooping in with a baseball bat, knocking Jamie's and Ayana's gun out of their hands.

"Jamie!" You screamed as Dominic lifted you up over his shoulder and rushed out of the building.

"No, dammit! Ayana cover me!"

"On it" Ayana said as she dodged the incoming attacks and then used a wooden plank on the side of the wall to hit the burly body guard.

As quickly as he could, Jamie busted through the back doors and ran after you.

"Y/n!" he shouted your name.

"Jamie!" You cried out for him, unable to move a single muscle due to the drugs in your system.

In a flash, Dominic stopped in his tracks, grabbed his gun from his pocket and turned towards Jamie, firing a direct shot to his leg.

"Fuck!" Jamie shouted in anguish as he fell onto the ground, gripping his wounded leg.

"Detective Parker, I've heard a lot about you" Dominic causally approached him, his gun pointed directly down at him.

"Please don't hurt him" you begged the man, gripping onto his back tightly, hoping that he would spare him.

"Why shouldn't I hurt him my dear? He's been a problem for my business associates for the longest time."

"I'll go with you willingly, please...just don't hurt him" you sniffled, tears finally pooling down your cheeks.

"Y/n...argh...don't....go with him.....argh!" Jamie winced in pain.

Dominic soon set you down on your two feet and tapped the gun to your side. "She has already decided Detective Parker, no matter how much you plead her not go with me."

"I'll be okay Jamie, please just help those girls, they got it worse than me" you sniffled, cupping Jamie's cheek gently before pulling him into a tight hug.

"No I can't let you go" Jamie wrapped his strong arm around you, not wanting to let you go because deep down within him, he loved you.

"Let's go my dear, we're burning daylight" Dominic ripped you away from Jamie and pulled you in close.

"Be good and stop drinking" You chuckled through tears as you ran alongside Dominic and into a black SUV.

As the SUV sped off, Jamie shakily touched his ear piece, "L-Lynx....I need you to track a black SUV that just left the area....".

"On it, are you okay?"

"No...I just got shot and y/n was taken by Dominic."

"I'm sending an ambulance your way, you can't-"

"Dammit Lynx, forget about me, just fucking track the SUV!"

"Jamie!" Ayana's voice shouted towards him, rushing to help him up. "Dammit, you're losing a lot of blood! I need to take you to the hospital!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine...just find y/n....leave me."

"Like hell I will" Ayana quickly put Jamie's arm around her shoulder and helped him up.

"Argh!" Jamie shouted in pain as he tried to shift his weight as to not put pressure on his bleeding leg.

"I got it, it's heading down Lexington" Lynx spoke through coms about the black SUV.

"All units, I need you follow a black SUV heading down Lexington now" Ayana used her radio to radio in other units to help track you down.

"You made the right choice my dear" Dominic smiled as he grabbed a champagne glass from the tray table in front of him and poured himself a glass.

"I had to, otherwise you would've hurt him" you sighed softly, gripping your head gently, the drugs still making you dizzy.

"Hmm" Dominic hummed softly as he took a sip of his glass and scooted close to you. "You had to" he repeated what you said.

"Yeah...I-" you went silent as you noticed his hand tilting the champagne glass, the cold drink spilling into your dress. "Ah!"

"Mmmm, my apologies, my hand slipped" Dominic chuckled as he set the glass down and began to ravish your neck.

"Stop please...I don't...ah....mmm!" you moaned cutely, tilting your head back as his hands caressed your thighs.

"You mouth says no, but your body says yes" Dominic's lips traveled down your neck and to your chest, lapping up the liquid that still remained from what he had spilled on you.

"Wait, wait, wait!" you gasped as his hand pushed itself past your panties and began to caress your clit.

"Oh my darling, you are soaked to the core" he whispered against your ear.

"Please, please, I don't want to cum...I don't-" you covered your mouth quickly, trying to cover the moan that was about to slip out as he pulled you into his lap.

"My, your sensitive for a virgin my dear. I like that" he chuckled darkly as his middle finger slipped inside your entrance.

"Mr. Socal!" you cried out loudly, your head arching back onto his shoulder as you released a pleasurable orgasm.

"That's a good girl~"

"Boss, we have a problem. The cops are after us" Dominic's driver warned him.

"Lose them now" Dominic ordered as he bite down on your ear and continued to finger you.

"M-More...more....make me cum again please~" you begged, the drugs finally taking effect and forcing you to become drugged in bliss.

"Hmm, a change of heart I see, good. I'll make sure that you won't miss that Detective back there. I will fill you with absolute pleasure and your soft little virgin pussy will curve to the size of my cock."

"Yes, yes" You cried out cutely, turning your head to the side, mouth wide and ready for his luscious lips.

"Yes, you want that hmm?" he used his other hand to pull you in for a hungry tongue kiss.

"This is unit 7 responding. We're in pursuit of the Black SUV going down on Samson street."

"Approach with caution unit 7, we have one of our own in that SUV" Ayana handed off Jamie to the EMT who began to assess his wound.

"10-4 Sargent."

"They're in pursuit Jamie, now you get yourself checked out okay, while Lynx and I try our best to get her back."

Jamie nodded, adjusting himself on the gurney and allowing for the EMT's to bandage him. "Looks like a through and through."

"That sounds good."

"Yeah, we'll just patch you up and send you to the hospital."