Pairing: Leon Kennedy × Reader
Summary: He walks through your door pretending he’s bulletproof. You make him human again.
Warnings: Graphic depictions of blood/injury, aftermath of violence, crying, emotional vulnerability, caretaking. No smut.
The door doesn’t slam. Leon never slams the door.
It clicks shut behind him, soft as a trigger pull. You hear his keys, his vest, his sidearm hit the table in that order. Ritual. Then nothing.
He’s just standing in your living room.
You find him there, still in his boots. Still wearing three days of blood and failure like a second skin. There’s a cut above his eyebrow that’s scabbed over. A split lip. His hands are curled into fists at his sides because if he relaxes them, they’ll shake.
“Baby.” The word falls out of you.
He squeezes his eyes shut. “Don’t.” His voice is shot. “Don’t baby me. I’m fine.”
You’re his girl. You know that’s a lie. You know it the way you know your own name.
So you make it hard for him to keep lying.
You walk to him. Slow. No sudden moves. He’s a live wire. One wrong twitch and he’ll bolt or shut down completely. You stop when your toes almost touch his. Close enough to smell gunpowder and copper on him.
“Okay,” you whisper. “Then prove it. Look at me and tell me you’re fine.”
His breath hitches. That’s all it takes — you asking him to meet your eyes. His whole body locks up, bracing against the sob he won’t let out. Because Leon Kennedy doesn’t cry. Not in front of anyone. Not even you. Especially not you.
That’s the rule he made up.
You’re about to break it.
You lift your hand. Give him time to pull away. He doesn’t. So you cup his cheek. Your thumb finds that cut above his brow, skims it so light he gasps.
“Leon,” you say, soft like you’re talking to a spooked animal. “My brave boy. You don’t have to be fine here.”
That’s the thing that undoes him. Not the blood. Not the mission. Your voice calling him yours.
A tear slips. Just one. He scrubs at it angry, like it betrayed him. “Stop it. Please.”
“No.” You catch his wrist. Kiss his knuckles. One, two, three. Little presses of your lips against skin that’s scraped raw. “I’m not gonna stop loving you. Not even when you’re like this.”
You guide him to the bathroom. He goes because he can’t do anything else. You sit him on the closed toilet lid. Kneel between his legs to work his boots off. His head is bowed. You can hear him trying to breathe normal. Failing.
The second boot thumps to the tile. You don’t stand. You look up at him from the floor, hands on his thighs.
“You’re safe,” you tell him. “I’m not gonna let anything hurt you tonight. Not even yourself.”
He makes a noise. Wrecked. Wet. His hand flies up to cover his mouth like he can shove the sound back in.
You crawl up. Into his lap. Straddle his thighs and wrap your arms around his neck and hold. He’s stiff for half a second. Then he breaks.
He folds into you. Face in your neck. Big, silent shakes wracking through him. No sobs. Leon doesn’t get sobs. He gets these quiet, devastating tremors while baby tears soak into your shirt.
“That’s it,” you murmur into his hair. “Let me have it. I can take it.” You rock him, slight. “I’ve got you. I’ve always got you.”
You make it impossible for him not to cry. Every point of contact is deliberate. Your nails scraping gently at the nape of his neck. Your lips in his hair. The way you whisper “you’re home, you’re home, you’re home” like it’s a prayer.
When he can breathe again, you start the water.
“Up,” you coax. “I need to get you clean, love.
He lets you undress him. There’s no heat in it. Just care. You peel the Henley off and catalog the new bruises. Kiss each one. His ribs. His collarbone. The scar on his shoulder from Nanan that never faded right.
“Stop,” he whispers, but he’s leaning into your mouth.
“Never.” You press one last kiss to his sternum, right over his heart. “Get in.”
The tub is deep. The water’s hot enough to turn his skin pink. He sinks into it with a hiss, then a sigh that sounds like it was dragged out of his soul.
You don’t give him space. You grab a washcloth and kneel behind the tub.
He obeys. Eyes closed. Throat exposed. Trusting you with all the soft parts of him.
This is where you wreck him, carefully.
Warm water first. You pour it over his hair, slow. Watch the blood and dirt swirl down the drain. Then your fingers. Shampoo, lather, massage. You dig your thumbs into the base of his skull where he carries everything. Small circles. Then harder. He makes a sound — not quite a moan, not quite a cry.
“Don’t stop,” he chokes out.
You don’t. You work down. His neck, his shoulders. The knots there are years old. You use the heel of your hand, the flat of your knuckles. He’s crying again. Quiet tears mixing with bathwater. Because no one touches him like this. Like he’s worth the effort.
“Tilt.” You guide his head. Rinse. Repeat with conditioner.
Your hands never leave him. When you wash his chest, it’s with the washcloth first, then your palm. Broad strokes. Over his heart. Over the scar tissue. You drop a kiss to his wet shoulder every thirty seconds, just to remind him you’re there.
“I can do it,” he mumbles. Weak protest.
“I know,” you say. “But you don’t have to.” You take his hand. Lace your fingers. Bring it to your lips. “Let me.”
You wash each finger. Under the nails. Around the calluses. These hands that have killed and saved and held you — you treat them like they’re made of glass. He watches you, tears still falling, like he can’t believe you’re real.
You move to his back. He leans forward, forehead on his knees, and you take the opportunity to press your mouth to his spine. One kiss for every vertebra.
“You come back to me,” you whisper against his skin. “You always come back to me. Do you know how strong that makes you?”
A full-body shudder. He turns, blind, and finds your face. Cups it with wet, pruned hands.
“I’m sorry,” he breathes.
“Don’t be.” You kiss his palms. “Not to me. Never to me.”
By the time the water’s lukewarm, he’s wrung out. Empty in the good way. You drain the tub. Wrap him in a towel yourself. Pat him dry like he’s something precious. Because he is.
In bed, he’s still shaky. You pull the covers up and slide in behind him. Chest to his back. One arm around his waist, hand splayed over his stomach. Your lips find the back of his neck.
“Sleep,” you tell him. “I’m right here.”
His hand covers yours. Squeezes.
Not the twitchy, gun-under-the-pillow sleep he usually does. Real sleep. Deep. His face finally, finally slack against your arm.
One of his hands stays fisted in your shirt. Like even unconscious, he’s afraid you’ll disappear.
You press a kiss to his hair and whisper it into the dark: “I’ve got you.”
And for tonight, he believes you.