#merlinobsessionist

His ears were ringing, and he was desperately dragging in air-trying to replace what had been forced from his lungs. It was only his years of experience and learned muscle memory that he managed to force himself up and get his legs underneath him despite his screaming muscles. The Tyrant was right there however and he was only able to bring his arms up to protect his face before a large hand slammed into him, wrapping painfully tight around his torso and tossing him into a pillar. 

He landed hard on the cobblestone street. Black spots danced in his vision and he couldn’t quite bring himself to force air back in his deflated lungs. Pain radiating up his spine and back made him think he might have been put out of commission permanently. He was getting too old for this shit. Still he forced himself up onto his arms. He wasn’t going to go out lying down. 

“Oh you’re gonna wish you hadn’t done that.” He coughed out, still managing to sound somewhat threatening. Not that the Tyrant thought so, they didn’t feel fear. They just got mad. 

Leon caught one giant boot step forward before his vision was obscured by a red coat. 

Dante.

As much as he hated it when the man followed him on his jobs no matter how many times he told him not to, he was glad to see him now. He’d lost count of how many times he had caught glimpses of the man while on his missions for the government. No matter how many times he would tell him to stop worrying about him and go do his own damn job, the devil just wouldn’t take no for an answer. In the end they had settled on a compromise that if he were to follow him, he wouldn’t get involved unless absolutely necessary. Honestly Leon was surprised he’d waited this long given the last few days he’d been having. 

“Hey buddy, why don’t you try taking on someone more in your weight class.” Dante’s voice was casual, almost carefree, but there was an underlying note of coldness to it that Leon barely caught from months of being around him. Leon watched as the blue monstrosity pulled back one of it’s large fists, swinging it right at Dante. If the devil hunter moved, it’d probably end up turning Leon into paste, and Dante didn’t look like he was even going to defend himself. At the last second Dante raised one of his arms, catching the blow in his hand, stopping it like it was nothing. Though the pavement beneath his feet cracking and caving under him from the force made it clearly evident it was anything but. 

“Whoo strong swing you got there. If I hadn’t ‘a blocked it that might have hurt a bit.” 

Dante shook out his arm with a flourish as the Tyrant pulled back with a frustrated growl, getting ready for another swing most likely. 

Dante let out a laugh, "Awe Mr. Big and Blue getting upset already? We haven't even started having fun yet!" 

Then Dante pulled back his own fist and slammed it into the Tyrant's muscled stomach and Leon watched in shock as it went flying across the road, colliding with a parked car before continuing into the next building. He knew Dante was strong, but it was one thing to hear about Dante's fights and another to see them in action. 

He must have been in a bit of a daze because Dante was now standing over him with his hand outstretched.

"You doing alright Leon? You hit that pillar pretty hard.”

Leon took the proffered hand, using the leverage to lift himself off the cobblestone sidewalk. 

“Just great. Barely even felt the impact.” 

“Is that right?” Dante responded dryly before patting Leon directly on his spine. Leon let out a hiss of air through his teeth, before turning to glare at the man. “Seems you felt it a little.”

“We can’t all have super special demon powers to heal us instantly, Dante.”

“But it’s so handy.”

Before Leon can retort, a deranged yell echoes from beneath a pile of rubble and a blue hand bursts out. The Tyrant looks worse for wear, large cuts and scrapes cover its massive body and in the middle of its stomach is a large bleeding hole. Leon hadn’t noticed any blood on Dante’s hands but given the force of that punch, it was the only way the wound could have gotten there.

“Geez this guy just doesn’t know when to give up. You really gotta find better friends Leon.”

“What can I say, they’re attracted to my charm.”

“Wanna help me take Mr. Blue out,” Dante asked? Leon sighed, slightly disappointed. 

“As much as I would love to, I have to get Buddy and get him out of here. He’s the key to stopping this civil war.”

Dante shrugged before rolling out his neck, “Yeah, yeah go save a country hero boy. I’ll take care of ugly here.”

“Hey Dante,” Leon said pulling Dante in for a quick kiss, “thanks for stepping in.”