#almost done!

The bandage covered the entirety of Leon Kennedy’s back. He swore it didn’t hurt, then changed his tactics and said it didn’t hurt more than he could handle when Piers almost panicked. That earned him his third lecture of the hour about spinal injuries.

Leon was sleeping now, head resting heavily on Piers’s chest. They were both shirtless, so Piers could feel Leon’s soft breaths against his skin, see how big the white bandage was. Obscenely big, in his opinion, covering more of Leon’s back than not. Moonlight white in their dark bedroom. Piers rested his hand on Leon’s shoulder, absently rubbing the bandage with his thumb. His other hand was low on Leon’s back, below the bandage, holding Leon close.

Shrapnel. Who knew from what. Everything had been shattering, exploding. Leon’s screams carried over it all.

Piers had never heard Leon scream like that.

Leon snored now, a low rumble against Piers’s chest. Piers smiled through his worry and stroked the unbandaged skin. Not untouched. A streetlight shone through the window, dim, enough to see the bruises marring Leon’s skin but gentle enough to disguise the marks as shadows. A scrape against Leon’s shoulder, close to the infamous scar. A long, shallow scratch gliding down Leon’s back to the soft curve of his ass. Not deep enough for anything more than a cleaning and antiseptic. Piers traced alongside it with his fingernail. Leon grumbled but didn’t stir.

Blood everywhere. Leon awake through it all, staring at Piers with wide eyes as Chris screamed for medics. Leon kept looking at Piers like he couldn’t look away, like Piers was all he could see.

Piers gently kissed the top of Leon’s head. He had washed Leon’s hair himself earlier before applying the fresh bandage to his back. Blood had soaked it, enough blood Piers had frantically reviewed what he knew about arteries and their locations.

Leon was looking at six months’ minimum for recovery time. Chris promised to look into leave for Piers, other options if that wasn’t available. Six months would be plenty of time to review things.

A G, Leon told Piers in the hospital, drugged and drowsy. His eyes were so dilated that Piers could barely see any blue. Leon hadn’t seen one in years. Piers had never seen one at all until that day. One of the biggest, oldest baddies of them all. Nearly indestructible. Everyone was struggling to either dig out the truth behind this virus’s resurrection or bury all the evidence related to it.

Hunnigan told Piers that she would keep him updated. As a thank you and apology both for Leon. It was going to be a pain in the ass keeping Leon down, major injuries or no.

Piers smiled fondly, kissing Leon’s soft hair again. Those injuries hadn’t stopped him from waggling his eyebrows at Piers earlier and asking for a “massage.” Asshole.

Something to distract Leon later. He hadn’t reacted when he was told about the six months for recovery time. He just hummed at Piers when he started talking about medical leave. Piers knew he had heard Leon on the phone earlier, but Leon assured him it was nothing and asked if there were any updates from Chris.

The largest piece of shrapnel in Leon’s back had been less than an inch from his spine. Piers gently traced the spot with his fingertips. He forced himself to stay relaxed and calm. Even if they weren’t pressed together like this, it was too easy to wake Leon up. Leon needed rest, and unfortunately, Leon seemed to despise rest the most when he was injured. Stubborn asshole.

Leon hadn’t seemed surprised about the G. Hadn’t seemed surprised by any of it. Thoughtful, perhaps. Everything else was hidden behind Leon’s walls.

Piers didn’t hold it against him. Not usually, anyway. Piers hated it, yeah, but it made sense. Leon being his stubborn asshole self, trying to save the world. Trying to save Piers from the darkness of his world. Fortunately for Leon, Piers was one stubborn sonuvabitch, too, and he wasn’t very good at playing damsel in distress.

Piers’s phone lit up on the nightstand. Once. Twice. Hopefully, some of Piers’s people reaching back out to him. Letting him know not only what they found about G but the US government’s role in it. Nothing made Leon as leery and protective as their own government.

With a third, final flash, phone went dark again, leaving the street lamp as their only light. Piers refocused on the man in his arms. Still sleeping with his quiet snores. The best evidence he was still asleep and not faking it. Leon tended to just be quiet when he was faked sleep.

Safe and sleeping in Piers’s arms. At least for now. Piers kissed Leon’s hair again. Piers swore to go after all manufacturers of BOWs and to keep his loved ones safe. It was the first time that meant going after the US government, but you didn’t join the BSAA without being open to new experiences.

One last look at Leon’s peaceful face and Piers let his eyes finally fall shut. In the morning, he would wage war: both against Leon and for Leon. That was the morning, though. Now, it was just him and Leon and the streetlight outside.

“Good night, Leon,” he whispered against his lover’s hair. “Love you.”