The Beast Beneath the Skin
This fic is technically the alternate Remake version of chapter three of Blood for Wild Blood and will probably make the most sense if you read that first. However, I think it stands on its own as well.
Title: The Beast Beneath the Skin
Fandom: Resident Evil
Pairings: Leon/Luis
Warnings: near death experiences, canon-typical gore and injuries
Word Count: 1757
Disclaimer: If I owned it, Luis would be alive.
Summary: Luis has one last secret to reveal.
“We're out of that hellhole!” Luis exclaims, shaking off the weight of the mines as he strides out of the elevator. “The fresh air is calling our names. We're free.”
The Spaniard can hear Leon following him, those strong and steady footsteps familiar by now, and he turns back to grin at him. “Because, if we made it all this way, you know it means we're almost...”
Luis never finishes his sentence as something slams into his back, sharp pressure then icy pain.
“Almost what?” Leon asks, but he can't answer. Not when the pain is spreading from that first point of impact, the ice quickly transmuting to burning agony. The Spaniard coughs, blood spilling from his lips and he sees the other man's expression turn horrified.
“Luis!” the agent shouts.
Leon rushes forward as the Spaniard's legs give out and he collapses to the floor. It takes everything Luis has not to pass out where he lies, the sweet relief of darkness calling him. He thinks he's going into shock. Everything is a little hazy but he needs to talk to his poor Sancho before he runs out of time. Luis needs to tell Leon about his lab just in case and he's determined to hold on to consciousness until the other man reaches him.
But then someone drops down next to the Spaniard's body and the agent stops short, still a few feet away.
“Long time no see, rookie,” the stranger growls.
“Major Krauser? What the hell? Why?” Leon demands. He clearly recognizes the new arrival, anger, worry, and confusion warring in his eyes. It's nice to know that the man cares about him at least a little, even if Luis didn't want to know the truth like this.
Then the Spaniard feels rough hands on his body, patting him down and stealing away the amber that he fought so hard to get.
“Recovering stolen goods,” the man - this Krauser - says and Luis swears that he can hear the bastard smirk. “And killing a few rats along the way.”
With that, the weapon is torn from his back, another spike of pain that sends him spiraling. He fades out for a minute, losing feeling, losing time. But the Spaniard can't give up, not when he can hear Leon fighting for his life.
Luis cares too much about this man. He'll rip out his own heart to save him if that's what it takes. Because Leon knows about his past, enough that he should hate him, and yet the agent trusts him anyway. Despite his initial suspicions, the other man has fought beside him. Leon has saved him more than once, cutting through ganados and novistadors with the same lethal skill.
But it's not the agent's strength alone that draws the Spaniard to him. Nor just the pretty face that made him stick around.
If it were just attraction to a hot man with a gun, Luis probably would have done some flirting and then abandoned Leon at the first opportunity. He wouldn't risk his own life for some faceless secret agent. The Spaniard is not that kind of knight.
Luis is fighting for the man who runs himself into the ground to save a total stranger; the man who comforts Ashley and truly seems to believe it when he says that they'll survive. He wants to help this person who tells him to be quiet but still smiles, just un poco, at his jokes. The one who hides his wounds behind a stern mask of professionalism and doesn't seem to realize that the Spaniard truly means it when he flirts.
That man could be pack someday. That man needs a hug. But first he has to live.
So Luis turns his focus inward, calling to the other half of his split soul. He tries to ignore the pain and the creeping cold of blood loss, tries not to panic when his call goes unanswered for the first time in his life. Luis has waited too long; the last of his strength is fading, slipping through his fingers like fallen grains of sand.
But then he hears a cry of pain and his heart screams Leon. The Spaniard has to save him, nothing is more important, and this time when he reaches, his other self howls back.
Madre de dios! The shift has never hurt this much, every breath an agony. However, Luis just locks his jaw to stop himself from screaming as his body twists and bends. Slowly but surely his form changes, Leon's need a lodestone even through the pain.
Moments later, the wolf rises from the place where Luis fell. He jumps onto some wooden crates and from there he can see Leon, lying on the floor and breathing heavily. Luis can smell his blood, sharp and bright like iron, and a growl fills the space when Krauser lifts his blade again.
The wolf leaps and the man staggers, nearly knocked straight off his feet as Luis lands on his back. He digs his claws into Krauser's shoulders, teeth snapping and ripping at his arm. Tainted blood fills the wolf's mouth but he just bites down harder. No one hurts his pack and gets away with it.
“Damn mutt!” Krauser curses. “Get off me!”
The man's plaga makes him strong and eventually he manages to get a grip on the wolf's fur. Luis is thrown against the crates, his claws leaving bloody furrows when Krauser rips him free. He twists in the air, his still tender back slamming into wood, and he collapses with a yelp. But the wolf has done enough. Leon goes for his shotgun and a few well-placed shots send Krauser leaping back.
“Enough play, rookie,” the bastard sneers from a stack of boxes, refusing to admit that he's been beaten. “You haven't changed a bit. What a disappointment.”
Then Krauser jumps up to the rafters as the wolf lets out another growl; he wants to rip out the man's throat for insulting Leon, and he's ready to put down this twisted predator with the agent at his side. But when Krauser melts into the shadows, Leon doesn't chase after him.
Instead, he just slings his shotgun back across his shoulders and looks around frantically. “Luis? Luis! Where are you? Luis!”
With every word, Leon sounds more panicked, his movements shakier. The growing scent of fear snaps the wolf out of his blood-lust; he'd forgotten that the other man doesn't know this truth as well.
So Luis runs forward, whining at the agent to get his attention before he shifts again. The change still hurts but not as badly and he'd endure ten times that pain to see the relief on Leon's face.
“Surprise, cowboy,” Luis says, not entirely sure how the other man will take this revelation.
“Luis? You're that dog?” Leon stammers, starting at him in shock.
“Wolf, mi amigo. Wolf,” he corrects with a gentle grin. He's expecting questions or suspicion, a return to the closed-off secret agent that he met earlier. But instead the Spaniard's arms are suddenly full of Leon as the other man lurches forward and hugs him desperately.
“I thought you were dead,” Luis hears, the words muffled against his neck. “I thought I'd failed again.”
Leon's voice cracks into a sob and he holds the Spaniard tighter, both of them shaking as he starts to tremble violently. So Luis wraps his arms around the agent, worried he might topple, and gently eases both of them down to the floor.
“I'm all right, I promise,” he tells Leon, letting the other man curl further into him. Luis strokes his back and murmurs words of reassurance, content to hold the agent for as long as he might need. Truthfully, the Spaniard isn't sure exactly what he's saying, a mix of English and Spanish spilling from his mouth; he just wants to comfort Leon any way he can.
But then the agent lifts his head and Luis is struck speechless. Because this is Leon without the masks, with his defenses shattered, and his fragile bleeding heart shining in his eyes.
“I can't do this, Luis,” the man whispers, a few stray tears spilling down his cheeks. “It has to be different this time. I can't lose someone that I care about again.”
“Oh, amigo,” Luis murmurs. He can't stop himself from reaching out to cradle Leon's face between his hands, thumb stroking gently across the agent's skin. “I'm not going anywhere, not if I can help it. And as you've seen, I'm very hard to kill. I'm with you, mi principe. Me tienes para siempre, mi amor.”
The words make Leon's eyes go wide and with sudden panicked comprehension, Luis realizes that the agent speaks more Spanish than he'd thought.
However, before he can apologize or try to make excuses, Leon wraps one hand around his neck and tugs him down again. Soft lips press into his, the angle a little awkward, but sweet nonetheless. Luis lets the agent take the lead, keeping the kiss gentle even as a spark of joy grows within his heart. The feel of Leon's lips, his quiet gasp of pleasure; these things set the Spaniard alight with a glowing core of happiness.
Luis knows he's grinning like a loon when Leon finally pulls away. But he just can't help it, his smile only growing when the other man meets his gaze and blushes prettily.
“We still need to save Ashley and remove the parasites,” Leon says. “But once we're finished, maybe....”
The agent ducks his head, overcome by shyness or simply unable to ask for what he wants. So Luis reaches out and takes Leon's hand again. He laces their fingers together and then raises their joined hands to press a kiss to the man's skin.
“Anything you want, amor,” the Spaniard promises. “Now let's go save la princesa.”
Luis climbs to his feet and tugs Leon with him. He kisses the agent one more time before releasing him so he can search the area. While Leon looks for supplies, the Spaniard shifts a few more times to fully heal his injury. Then he grabs his gun and the other items that were dropped when he changed forms.
“Ready, querido?” Luis asks as Leon comes to stand beside him.
“Ready,” the other man agrees and the Spaniard wants to howl with joy when Leon takes his hand again.
End
If you came from Blood for Wild Blood, chapter 4 is here.
It's nice to have this idea out of my head at last. I actually found it interesting how different the two versions of this chapter ended up. Apparently remake!Leon is way more fragile in my head, though that's partially because the two Luis death scenarios aren't that much alike and he's dealing with the whole Krauser revelation too.
Title: The Beast Beneath the Skin
Fandom: Resident Evil
Pairings: Leon/Luis
Warnings: near death experiences, canon-typical gore and injuries
Word Count: 1757
Disclaimer: If I owned it, Luis would be alive.
Summary: Luis has one last secret to reveal.
“We're out of that hellhole!” Luis exclaims, shaking off the weight of the mines as he strides out of the elevator. “The fresh air is calling our names. We're free.”
The Spaniard can hear Leon following him, those strong and steady footsteps familiar by now, and he turns back to grin at him. “Because, if we made it all this way, you know it means we're almost...”
Luis never finishes his sentence as something slams into his back, sharp pressure then icy pain.
“Almost what?” Leon asks, but he can't answer. Not when the pain is spreading from that first point of impact, the ice quickly transmuting to burning agony. The Spaniard coughs, blood spilling from his lips and he sees the other man's expression turn horrified.
“Luis!” the agent shouts.
Leon rushes forward as the Spaniard's legs give out and he collapses to the floor. It takes everything Luis has not to pass out where he lies, the sweet relief of darkness calling him. He thinks he's going into shock. Everything is a little hazy but he needs to talk to his poor Sancho before he runs out of time. Luis needs to tell Leon about his lab just in case and he's determined to hold on to consciousness until the other man reaches him.
But then someone drops down next to the Spaniard's body and the agent stops short, still a few feet away.
“Long time no see, rookie,” the stranger growls.
“Major Krauser? What the hell? Why?” Leon demands. He clearly recognizes the new arrival, anger, worry, and confusion warring in his eyes. It's nice to know that the man cares about him at least a little, even if Luis didn't want to know the truth like this.
Then the Spaniard feels rough hands on his body, patting him down and stealing away the amber that he fought so hard to get.
“Recovering stolen goods,” the man - this Krauser - says and Luis swears that he can hear the bastard smirk. “And killing a few rats along the way.”
With that, the weapon is torn from his back, another spike of pain that sends him spiraling. He fades out for a minute, losing feeling, losing time. But the Spaniard can't give up, not when he can hear Leon fighting for his life.
Luis cares too much about this man. He'll rip out his own heart to save him if that's what it takes. Because Leon knows about his past, enough that he should hate him, and yet the agent trusts him anyway. Despite his initial suspicions, the other man has fought beside him. Leon has saved him more than once, cutting through ganados and novistadors with the same lethal skill.
But it's not the agent's strength alone that draws the Spaniard to him. Nor just the pretty face that made him stick around.
If it were just attraction to a hot man with a gun, Luis probably would have done some flirting and then abandoned Leon at the first opportunity. He wouldn't risk his own life for some faceless secret agent. The Spaniard is not that kind of knight.
Luis is fighting for the man who runs himself into the ground to save a total stranger; the man who comforts Ashley and truly seems to believe it when he says that they'll survive. He wants to help this person who tells him to be quiet but still smiles, just un poco, at his jokes. The one who hides his wounds behind a stern mask of professionalism and doesn't seem to realize that the Spaniard truly means it when he flirts.
That man could be pack someday. That man needs a hug. But first he has to live.
So Luis turns his focus inward, calling to the other half of his split soul. He tries to ignore the pain and the creeping cold of blood loss, tries not to panic when his call goes unanswered for the first time in his life. Luis has waited too long; the last of his strength is fading, slipping through his fingers like fallen grains of sand.
But then he hears a cry of pain and his heart screams Leon. The Spaniard has to save him, nothing is more important, and this time when he reaches, his other self howls back.
Madre de dios! The shift has never hurt this much, every breath an agony. However, Luis just locks his jaw to stop himself from screaming as his body twists and bends. Slowly but surely his form changes, Leon's need a lodestone even through the pain.
Moments later, the wolf rises from the place where Luis fell. He jumps onto some wooden crates and from there he can see Leon, lying on the floor and breathing heavily. Luis can smell his blood, sharp and bright like iron, and a growl fills the space when Krauser lifts his blade again.
The wolf leaps and the man staggers, nearly knocked straight off his feet as Luis lands on his back. He digs his claws into Krauser's shoulders, teeth snapping and ripping at his arm. Tainted blood fills the wolf's mouth but he just bites down harder. No one hurts his pack and gets away with it.
“Damn mutt!” Krauser curses. “Get off me!”
The man's plaga makes him strong and eventually he manages to get a grip on the wolf's fur. Luis is thrown against the crates, his claws leaving bloody furrows when Krauser rips him free. He twists in the air, his still tender back slamming into wood, and he collapses with a yelp. But the wolf has done enough. Leon goes for his shotgun and a few well-placed shots send Krauser leaping back.
“Enough play, rookie,” the bastard sneers from a stack of boxes, refusing to admit that he's been beaten. “You haven't changed a bit. What a disappointment.”
Then Krauser jumps up to the rafters as the wolf lets out another growl; he wants to rip out the man's throat for insulting Leon, and he's ready to put down this twisted predator with the agent at his side. But when Krauser melts into the shadows, Leon doesn't chase after him.
Instead, he just slings his shotgun back across his shoulders and looks around frantically. “Luis? Luis! Where are you? Luis!”
With every word, Leon sounds more panicked, his movements shakier. The growing scent of fear snaps the wolf out of his blood-lust; he'd forgotten that the other man doesn't know this truth as well.
So Luis runs forward, whining at the agent to get his attention before he shifts again. The change still hurts but not as badly and he'd endure ten times that pain to see the relief on Leon's face.
“Surprise, cowboy,” Luis says, not entirely sure how the other man will take this revelation.
“Luis? You're that dog?” Leon stammers, starting at him in shock.
“Wolf, mi amigo. Wolf,” he corrects with a gentle grin. He's expecting questions or suspicion, a return to the closed-off secret agent that he met earlier. But instead the Spaniard's arms are suddenly full of Leon as the other man lurches forward and hugs him desperately.
“I thought you were dead,” Luis hears, the words muffled against his neck. “I thought I'd failed again.”
Leon's voice cracks into a sob and he holds the Spaniard tighter, both of them shaking as he starts to tremble violently. So Luis wraps his arms around the agent, worried he might topple, and gently eases both of them down to the floor.
“I'm all right, I promise,” he tells Leon, letting the other man curl further into him. Luis strokes his back and murmurs words of reassurance, content to hold the agent for as long as he might need. Truthfully, the Spaniard isn't sure exactly what he's saying, a mix of English and Spanish spilling from his mouth; he just wants to comfort Leon any way he can.
But then the agent lifts his head and Luis is struck speechless. Because this is Leon without the masks, with his defenses shattered, and his fragile bleeding heart shining in his eyes.
“I can't do this, Luis,” the man whispers, a few stray tears spilling down his cheeks. “It has to be different this time. I can't lose someone that I care about again.”
“Oh, amigo,” Luis murmurs. He can't stop himself from reaching out to cradle Leon's face between his hands, thumb stroking gently across the agent's skin. “I'm not going anywhere, not if I can help it. And as you've seen, I'm very hard to kill. I'm with you, mi principe. Me tienes para siempre, mi amor.”
The words make Leon's eyes go wide and with sudden panicked comprehension, Luis realizes that the agent speaks more Spanish than he'd thought.
However, before he can apologize or try to make excuses, Leon wraps one hand around his neck and tugs him down again. Soft lips press into his, the angle a little awkward, but sweet nonetheless. Luis lets the agent take the lead, keeping the kiss gentle even as a spark of joy grows within his heart. The feel of Leon's lips, his quiet gasp of pleasure; these things set the Spaniard alight with a glowing core of happiness.
Luis knows he's grinning like a loon when Leon finally pulls away. But he just can't help it, his smile only growing when the other man meets his gaze and blushes prettily.
“We still need to save Ashley and remove the parasites,” Leon says. “But once we're finished, maybe....”
The agent ducks his head, overcome by shyness or simply unable to ask for what he wants. So Luis reaches out and takes Leon's hand again. He laces their fingers together and then raises their joined hands to press a kiss to the man's skin.
“Anything you want, amor,” the Spaniard promises. “Now let's go save la princesa.”
Luis climbs to his feet and tugs Leon with him. He kisses the agent one more time before releasing him so he can search the area. While Leon looks for supplies, the Spaniard shifts a few more times to fully heal his injury. Then he grabs his gun and the other items that were dropped when he changed forms.
“Ready, querido?” Luis asks as Leon comes to stand beside him.
“Ready,” the other man agrees and the Spaniard wants to howl with joy when Leon takes his hand again.
End
If you came from Blood for Wild Blood, chapter 4 is here.
It's nice to have this idea out of my head at last. I actually found it interesting how different the two versions of this chapter ended up. Apparently remake!Leon is way more fragile in my head, though that's partially because the two Luis death scenarios aren't that much alike and he's dealing with the whole Krauser revelation too.