#safe haven

“10-4.” He was more awake than you were but you vaguely wondered if he was used to that. He would sleep then pop up and have to be ready. You’d never had quite this schedule. 

“Shh, shhh–” You were bouncing J.D. on your hip as the bottle warmed and then Leon held up a diaper bag in the entrance to your kitchen.

“Where do you want it?”

“Couch or, uh, floor? I don’t want him to roll off because I’m tired–”

“I won’t let him roll.” Leon put the diaper bag on the couch and indicated the screaming baby, “Do you want me to change him?”

“I forget, have you done that yet?”

“I’m great at learning on the job.” He smirked and you let him walk over and take the baby while you fiddled with the bottle warmer. You watched over your shoulder– it was hard to not watch when you didn’t know if someone had any experience whatsoever. 

Leon settled the baby against his chest and said, “Chill, man, chill– I’m working on it. You’re whining like you’re a baby or something.”

He chuckled at his own joke but J.D. squawked in that deep guttural cry of a newborn and Leon startled, “Woah, man, come on, that’s not cool….let’s see what sort of diaper we’re working with. Please let it be pee, I’m still learning.”

He laid the baby down gently, eyed the onesie for a moment before pulling at the snaps, and then watching how it went together before pulling the baby’s leg free, “Who designed this? Why is one leg so high and the other is so low? That’s stupid, this is not easy.” 

“They make some that go down both legs. Personally, the snaps are not my favorite, I like the zipper but none of the zippers are two legged.”

“None of that made sense to me yet, but I’m sure it will–oh! What the…” 

“Everything ok?” You called out.

“Uh, yeah…mustard. You were right. It’s like mustard.”

“Yeah, they don’t smell as much in this stage, but they can get rank.”

“Wait this is low odor?” Leon scoffed, “Uh, hang on bud, hang on, don’t roll.”

“He can’t roll on purpose but he can on accident–”

“I got one hand on him.”

You emerged with a bottle and saw Leon did have the situation handled– one hand on a baby that was naked and becoming progressively more upset. One hand digging through a diaper bag and then triumphantly pulling out a diaper. As he turned to put it back on J.D. the baby shrieked and a stream of pee flew into Leon’s face.

“What the fuck?!”

“Oh shit! I should’ve…” You were giggling, what else was there to do as a response? “I should’ve warned you, they…boys can really pee.”

“It’s in my eyes!”

“If it makes you feel better it’s much cleaner than getting poo in your eye which would almost certainly give you pink eye.”

“Can I get a towel?”

“Wet wipe first–” You reached out and took a wipe, wiping down Leon’s face. It was the first time you were this close to him and you suddenly realized you were in pajamas, no make up, nothing to hide behind. Even now? The man was gorgeous.

He blinked, “Thanks–” His eyes settled on you and he smiled, warmly, “Uh, I might need a hand–”

You put the bottle in the baby’s mouth to soothe them, “No you’re doing fine, he just needs to stop fighting you.”

Leon waited and saw the baby calm and when he did Leon got to the task of putting the clean diaper on and getting the onesie buttoned back up. At that point you nodded, “Want a turn feeding him?”

“How do I–?”

“Scoop up–” You nodded to the baby and waited for Leon to do it before handing him the bottle, “--and just angle it into his mouth. Then hold position until he’s done. Then burp.”

“Easy-peasy.” 

You watched Leon effortlessly walk around your little living room holding that baby and felt the same squeeze deep inside that all the nurses had gone through. It was a sight. It was a good sight. And what’s more? You weren’t alone on this first night, and the first night was the scariest.

“Hey?” You said and he looked over at you, so you cleared your throat, “Thanks. For, uh, staying. It’s…it’s been an overwhelming day. I’m happy to have company.”

A smile erupted on his face, “Thanks for not kicking me out…let me know if I overstay my welcome.”

You checked your watch, “It’s 2 am, which means–”

“You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here?” Leon tried and you snorted.

“It means I can’t get bagels until 5am. So we have another stretch of sleep, then food’s a possibility…can I convince you to stay for food? I don’t want to keep you from anything…”

“Eh, my fish’ll be fine. They got those little food bombs, they’re going to be set for another few days. Where are you getting bagels? I only like Nadine’s even if that makes me a snob.”

“I can arrange Nadine’s…”

He fed and burped a baby and tucked him back in your room before he put his thumb behind him, “I’ll stop sleeping in your bedroom, if it’s cool I’ll take the couch?”

You were overtired and nearly invited him to just share the bed but held back at the last minute, “I’ll get the air mattress up next time.”

“You have nice couches, they’ll be golden.” 

When he was gone you looked at the baby and sighed, “Oh my…that’s…well…just as unexpected as you, little man.”

Leon was many things and you came to learn a lot of them. Those first few days you became acquainted with his efficiency. You got up with the baby at 4:15am and Leon was up too.

“I have a hair trigger for a few days after a job. It’s truly fine.” He offered to get the bagels and you protested.

“You bought dinner–”

“You have your hands full–” He winked, “Tell me your order.”

He took it and got it precisely right. When he came back in he had a bag in hand, a small duffle, and he said, “Can I impose and use your shower or is that too much?”

J.D. was sound asleep on your chest and you were flipping through the channels, “No problem. I have to go to work by 10 and–”

“You have a baby!” Leon protested.

You shrugged, “You heard Richter. I didn’t see sympathy or a side of maternity leave. Let’s just see if we can get that pack and play into my office.”

“I’m off– I don’t mind keeping him.”

“I don’t mind you keeping him but—” You hesitated and didn’t want to be rude, “and please– I appreciate everything you’ve done. You are amazing. But if you were here, alone with him and he choked or needed a hospital…do you have a carseat?”

Leon nodded, “I get what you’re saying…at least I had some practice getting yours in. I can pick one up.”

You were blown over, “Has anyone mentioned that you are…”

“Handsome? Charming? A terrible poker player?”

You shook your head, “You don’t know him or me but you are being just…incredibly generous with the help. It’s humbling. Truly. I don’t know that I’ve ever met someone that willing to just put boots to the ground to get the help done.”

He fucking blushed, “It’s no trouble.”

He said that a lot but you imagined none of this was as easy for him as he played it.

He was out of the shower, at a store by 9am and had a carseat fully installed and was back to your house before 9:45am meaning you were only about 5 minutes late to work.

“You really made it.” You were impressed. You pointed to the fridge, “There’s liquid formula and the empty bottles are just here on the counter next to the bottle warmer. Warm not hot. He is just a baby. You give it to him too hot and it will just burn him.” Leon nodded, “And those pre-made ones?”

“More should be coming, I was doomscrolling and filled out a bunch of sample requests so brace for impact. They love sending samples hoping people get hooked.”

“You make them sound like drug dealers.”

“I mean—” You shrugged, “I worked with a lot of babies and a lot of first time parents. First time parents are panicky. They’re being tasked with keeping a baby alive and it’s scary. They are easily persuaded that only this specific thing will do. You can use those premade bottles, just warm them. It’s simple now– milk, diaper, sleep, repeat.”

“It is a little scary. He cries.”

“He does.” You consented, “I’ll be back on lunch…what do you like for lunch?”

“I’m easy. Food is food.”

“Just not with bagels?”

“Those other things aren’t bagels.” He shook his head, “Rolls with holes.”

“A perfect name for a punk band.” You clapped your hand over your mouth, “Sorry, sometimes– sometimes things pop out.”

He was laughing, “That’s right though– perfect name for a punk band. Uh…say bye J.D.”

J.D. was awake and not crying and not eating– a combo that was new and didn’t tend to last long. Leon was holding him and even so you leaned down to kiss the baby’s head putting you inches from Leon’s chest.

You tried valiantly not to think about the chest, but you couldn’t help thinking about the baby. You were distracted the whole way to work and when you got there Rebecca didn’t help. She was waiting for you at your office door with a coffee, “How’s the little guy?”

“J.D. or Leon?”

“J.D.?”

“The, uh, baby. We thought calling him the baby wasn’t…great. And–”

“John Doe sounds weird.” Rebecca nodding, catching on. “J.D. is cute. Like J.T.T., remember him?”

“Don’t we all?” You accepted the coffee and Rebecca persisted.

“Nothing weird happened? No…like weird things?”

“He’s a newborn, it’s all weird. He pooped? Which is good. He’s eating and crying. Might need to try a little more gentle cleaning of the umbilical area because he had that late–”

“But nothing weirder, right?”

You narrowed your eyes, “Like what?”

Rebecca had worked the field and new what sorts of horrible things could await you, but she didn’t want to scare you. Not yet, “Where’s the baby now? We’ve never had a baby…is he ok?”

“He’s with Leon.”

Rebecca let go of a breath, “Perfect. He’ll be safe with Leon.”

That part you absolutely agreed with.

It took you a moment to realize Rebecca wasn’t worried about you taking care of the baby, or Leon taking care of the baby, but some other ominous thing. You swallowed, “You…were you worried? About…” You circled your finger around the office and Rebecca did put her finger to her lips for silence.

“Let’s take a walk, shall we? Come on Flossy.”

“I hate that name.”

“It’s adorable. You sound like a collie.”

“I don’t think that helps.”

“OK what are you more– Back to the Future? Come on Marty, we gotta get back to the future—” Rebecca pulled at your arm until you were both in a breezeway. It connected the two buildings of your DSO department and was for outdoor breaks, eating, etc. Once there Rebecca sighed, “They can’t hear as well out here, the ambient noise.”

“You think…who, Richter? Was spying on us?”

“Probably not before yesterday but we caught her with her pants down, sort to speak. We surprised her, and I bet it was bad for business. That is definitely bugged, I’m going to run a sweep covertly later.” 

“How do you–”

“Don’t worry.” Rebecca nodded, “I know how to, nothing will get broken.”

You smiled and shook your head, “You know what? I trust you. I never did any of the other kind of work….but you really think she’s done that?”

“Oh yeah.” 

“Jeez…he’s just a baby.”

“He’s been exposed. They destroyed a town. It makes for super bad press. It shows they never really did get a handle on bioweapons? Worse– makes kids look like they’re in danger.” Rebecca ticked off each reason on her finger, “We’ve all…seen that side of the bureaucracy. Sherry and Leon and Claire and Chris and Jill and….they keep us alive because we’re useful. We are some of the only people who get out of those situations. We also just…we’ve seen too much. We know too much. It’s here or dead– I think we all know that.”

You felt cold just run down your spine.

It was a hard day to focus while you worked and Rebecca was a goddamn champion in the process – she was acting like nothing was wrong and she was sympathetic with you.

“It’s…a balancing act. The stress and the fear and the getting shit done anyway. It’ll make sense to you. It’s like residency in that way.” Rebecca tried to bridge that gap for you but the space between your experience and theirs was wider than a canyon. All you knew was that you’d volunteered to protect this baby and you were in it now– you’d have to learn and adjust.

“Will you, uh…tell me when you…what? Swept the office?”

“Yeah no worries.” Rebecca confirmed, “And just…if Leon needs to go and you need hands you have my number, and I’ll text you Sherry’s. We are in this together–you need someone watching out for him. You were tough with Richter but if they send someone in who is big and muscly and intimidating? I want you to have back up. Not that I don’t trust you, but you deserve back up and we will provide it. We already talked about it.”

For some reason that hurt your feelings.

Why had you let yourself believe that Leon S. Kennedy would simply volunteer to help you just because he liked you? 

It’s just about the baby and this other nonsense and that’s completely fine… 

Still, though, it stung.

It stung when you went back to work

It stung when you picked up subs for lunch.

It stung when you got home and he started awake on the couch with the baby sleeping on his chest, one hand securing the baby and the other patting the cushion next to him as if he expected a gun and a worse person in the room.

They really are scared the higher-ups will do something crazy…

“Hey! Sorry to scare you–” You held up the bag, “I brought sandwiches?”

It made him smile at you, “Amazing. I was just resting my eyes.”

It wouldn’t kill him to be less charming, but it might break a little piece of you if he couldn’t bring the general level of charm down to a safer region. It was like radiation at this point– and you were in danger of getting poisoned. 

A/N: Also it should be repeated-- it will be made clearer later but J.D. is not white-- I think of him as Latino. Not only will Leon be raising a baby that is not his, but it doesn't remotely look like him and he couldn't care less, that's his boy.

Not Beta Read. We edit 6 months later at 2am.

Resident Evil regulars, I'm new here! I don't know your tags well, help a girl out and RB please. I see several RE communities but have no idea who takes fanfiction-- help a girl out.

So I updated with speed like I was being stalked by Mr. X and have done nearly 100k on Leon in a month. I don't know. There are other stories on the Leon Masterlist (it's linked up top)

First, Do No Harm (complete) Leon x Reader (slowburn, wife)

Resident Evil Miami: A DLC style fic where Leon meets his wife (an OC but very reader adjacent)