Chapter Text
Switzerland
It was a typical gray day, with occasional drops of rain that foreshadowed a heavy downpour. Leon drove his Porsche along that long road, crossing a forest and mountains, heading towards the address indicated on the GPS. It wasn't just any address, nor was it the home of just anyone. Carmen was her name, the former government agent, a D.S.O one, who also dedicated herself to fighting the monsters Umbrella created, and who was also the reason she fled to Switzerland, after its downfall, and after groups of Neo-Umbrella also pursued her. Carmen is no ordinary woman; she has a peculiar personality. She is strong, observant, direct, unfiltered, regardless of who it hurts. She protects her own, she kills to defend them, she is a woman who has suffered, a woman who also lost her family to those damned mutations she swore to kill. Leon knew her potential, and he hadn't just come to Switzerland because she was the key to solving the problem that the D.S.O and the BSAA had been having recently and what was coming to Manhattan, but because he wanted his partner fighting alongside him with all her grit, that strength he admired. And at this moment, only she could help him.
The large gates of the rustic stone mansion opened and his car entered. He parked the car in front of the large property and got out, looking around at all the ostentation and closed the door. He approached the door and hesitated for a moment, but then he remembered his mission and knocked. The door of the house opened, and he even expected it to be someone who worked at the house, but it was none other than Carmen herself.
They looked at each other for a long moment, which awakened many memories of events from a few years ago. She noticed he had more wrinkles, stubble, a tired look, some gray hairs mixed in with the blond ones that seemed to have darkened. But to her, he had aged like fine wine. And she realized this when she saw how broad his shoulders still looked under his leather jacket. He, on the other hand, was also happy to see her again, now with a more mature look at 32 years old than five years ago, which was the last time they saw each other. And she was so beautiful back then, a brilliant and astute agent, and also... dangerous and seductive. And even more so now, now that she was at the peak of her power, her elegance, and her beauty. She wore a tight, long black velvet skirt and a strap corset that accentuated her silhouette and gave her a pretty cleavage. Her black hair, which used to be tied up during missions, was now loose and fell to the middle of her back, wavy at the ends. Her brown eyes hadn't lost their sparkle, and he felt a certain relief because of that. There was still a part of that young prodigy inside her.
"Kennedy?" She called with a voice that carried a certain surprise and relief at seeing him there too
"Carmen." He called her, recalling memories of the past
"What is such a...robust American doing at my front door?" She asked, licking her lips, and he gave a half-smile
"I was told that it's usually very cold in Switzerland, and I came to see if you needed someone to keep you warm on cold days?" He said with that charm that enchanted any woman, and she giggled with a lip bite
"You're still the funny guy as always, aren't you?"
"Are you going to let me in, or are you going to let your robust American catch a cold in this rain and cold weather outside?" He questioned, resting his forearm on the door frame, getting closer. “Because I'll have to take off my wet clothes later, and I think it would be a little impolite to have a man my age completely naked in a young lady's house."
"And do I look like I'm complaining, by any chance?" She asked, not letting herself linger and looking him in the eyes, but then taking a step back and opening the door. "Come in then, Mon beau."
Leon entered and looked around the large room, where everything had such an old-money vibe and everything was so sophisticated. From the leather of the couch to the carved wood in the furniture. He even felt sorry for having come there to tell her that he had to go back to America, to the middle of that chaos that never stopped being chaos, and that each mission brought a new weight to his shoulders and left all that luxury behind. She closed the door and went to the living room to join him, noticing that he was observing everything around him.
"Should I offer my old comrade a glass of whiskey?" Carmen asked, picking up the expensive bottle of Scotch whisky and looking at him
"Thank you, but I'll pass." He said, taking off his leather jacket and leaving it on the arm of the sofa
Carmen poured a glass of the drink, took a sip, licked her red lips, and sat down in the living room armchair, placing the glass on the side table. She took out her cigarette case, took a cigarette, lit it and took a drag, crossing her legs with a certain elegance.
"Sit down, Kennedy. Make yourself comfortable. We don't need formalities after working together for so long." She gestured for him to sit down, and he sat on the couch. "Would you like a cigarette?"
"No, thank you, I don't smoke." He refused again, and she gave a tiny smile, amused by his professional expression
"Then at least take off your shoes or loosen your holster so you can be more comfortable."
"Carmen, I'm fine like this." He said, looking at her, and she took a drag, blowing out the smoke and licking her lips
"You don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't want to put yourself at ease." She murmured to herself and then looked at him with that unfiltered and shameless tone he always knew so well. "And sex? Do you have sex? Or does age no longer allow it?"
Leon looked her in the eyes, and even he, who had spent enough time by her side to know how things worked, ended up being a little taken by surprise by the unfiltered question. He adjusted himself on the sofa, almost in slow motion as he processed the question and chose the right answer, and sighed.
"My doctor told me not to do strenuous activities." He replied, and she laughed
"Sure, because Leon Scott Kennedy is the kind of man who can keep his ass quiet for five minutes without drawing his gun from its holster because he has to face some fucking mutant, or without being sent on missions before having breakfast." Carmen laughed while smoking and drinking. "Please, Kennedy, spare me your hypocrisy and answer me: What is my favorite American man doing in my house?" She was direct with the question, and he leaned over, picked up the briefcase he had left on the coffee table, opened it, and looked at her
"This briefcase carries a mission for you."
"For me?"
"A few years ago, about a year after you came to Switzerland, because the guys belonging to the neo-Umbrella group were still searching for the people fighting the mutants, it was discovered that one of the scientists working for Umbrella was developing a cure for a virus that they were working to create but which would only be released much later. That same scientist was your friend. Francis, the one you knew and who also provided you with valuable information about what those bastards were doing in the lab. He was found dead at home days after discovering the cure. Predictable." Leon said, taking some photographs from the folder and handing them to Carmen, who took them and analyzed them. "These photos contain the recipe for the cure and the vial, and also photographs of the guys who were plotting this from the beginning." He explained
"Sons of bitches..." She muttered, looking at the photos of the individuals. "Francis's death is the price you pay for knowing too much."
"You could say that's it." He said, analyzing the other reports in the folder."We've been trying to understand the effects and form of this virus known as the Z-Virus, but we still know very little about it." He said, and she handed him the photos again, put out her cigarette, and stood up, walking slowly to the window
The room fell silent as she looked at the gray sky outside and pondered what Leon had just told her. She remembered her friend and when he would call her to tell her about what Umbrella was doing and about the cure he was trying to find so they could stop this before it was too late. She could never forget the panic in his voice, the worry of something happening with her or her friends.
"Carmen..." The agent's deep voice snapped her out of her trance. "I need you to help me learn more about this virus and the cure. You knew Francis, you talked, and he told you where he kept the cure for this."
The silence grew even more tense, and Carmen remained turned towards the window without answering. He stood up and took two steps toward her.
"The D.S.O. searched through all sorts of old files, searched European laboratories looking for something, and they found nothing."
She then turned slowly, coming face to face with him. Her eyes traveled up his broad chest until they met his blue eyes, and she gave an enigmatic half-smile.
"Maybe because they looked in the wrong places. Francis knew that Umbrella and the government would search all of Europe... so he hid it where no one would think to look. In a bulletproof vault, protected by biometric encryption, in the old catacombs beneath Grand Central Terminal. In Manhattan." She replied, making his gaze shift from surprise to restrained admiration
"Manhattan... Right under everyone's nose."
"Exactly. He left me the access before he died. He knew that, if the day came, I would be the only person with the stomach and ability to go there to get the cure." She explained, taking a step towards him. "But about the characteristics of the virus, I have a very interesting case for you to take a look at and I think it will help you."
"I hope so, we have a certain lack of information."
"Of course, you're all idiots. It took coming to Switzerland to get a simple piece of information. Anyway..." Carmen said, passing by Leon and starting to unfasten her corset. "Give me ten minutes, I need to take a shower before we go. Wait in the living room and don't break anything, you hear?"
"Me? Never."
At that point, when Leon thought she was going straight to the bathroom to undress, she started taking off her clothes right there, becoming completely naked, which made Leon, an agent who had seen it all and with his experience, widen his eyes and not know what to say. While she seemed completely at ease with it, she even folded her clothes and left them neatly folded on the sofa, drank the rest of the whiskey she had in her glass, put it down before turning around and walking with the utmost grace to the stairs and up them to go towards the bathroom.
Leon remained motionless by the sofa, his gaze fixed on the staircase, letting out a long sigh, running a hand over his face and shaking his head with a half-smile.
"I have to start coming to Switzerland more often..."
After ten minutes, as she had said and broken her promise, Carmen appeared wrapped only in a short white towel, her damp hair falling over her shoulders. She walked to the top of the stairs and looked down, where Leon was still standing, arms crossed, now looking at her after noticing her there.
"Kennedy, go upstairs." She ordered, resuming her walk, and he sighed and went upstairs
She entered her bedroom and he followed soon after, leaning against the door frame, keeping his distance and trying, out of gentlemanly courtesy, to look away at the room's decor while she, with the utmost naturalness, let the towel fall and began to dry herself and put on her underwear in front of him. He cleared his throat, keeping his eyes fixed on a painting on the wall, but the tension in the room was almost palpable, but of course he couldn't stay silent and keep the jokes to himself.
"You said ten minutes, but we can always take a little longer." He said, looking at the painting on the wall
She stopped what she was doing. She turned slowly, in lingerie, with a focused look and an enigmatic smile on her lips. She loved the fact that her favorite American was so self-assured, always with that charm he had. And she decided to play a little, walking towards him with slow steps and making him look at her, and without hesitation, in a direct and unfiltered movement, she took her hand between his legs, feeling the immediate and inevitable reaction of his body. She tilted her head slightly to the side, without breaking eye contact, and put her hand inside his pants and squeezed his bulge, and he shuddered and let out a small grunt.
"Don't start wars you can't finish, blondie." She whispered to him, her lips close to his ear, her voice carrying a certain seduction and danger that he knew well. "Don't forget what your doctor said about “strenuous” activities at your age." She teased, now looking him in the eyes with a teasing air
He lets out a low laugh through his nose, amused by her audacity, and in a firm movement, his right hand rises and encircles her neck, without trying to hurt, but with a warm, decisive, and terribly charming pressure, and his other hand gripped her wrist, stopping her hand where it is inside his pants. The fact that Leon doesn't let himself be shy and responds to her provocation with such confidence makes her feel shivers all over her body. And that's exactly why she's crazy about him.
"That also makes it a little difficult to avoid them." He said in that deep, low voice that made her bite her lip and lower her gaze
She gave a small smile, feeling defeated, and removed her hand from his pants and stepped away, putting on her clothes. He adjusted his pants and looked away again.
"You say I'm dangerous, but you're dangerous too, you know, Kennedy?" She said, zipping up her pants and putting on her tank top and then her black trench coat
"I think I can agree, at least for the mutants I think so, but they don't talk."
Carmen smiled as she adjusted her leg holster and shoulder strap holster, placing her pistols in each, knives in her belt, and another in her boot. She dried her hair a little more, touched up her lipstick, and placed it on the table. Then she turned to Leon, who was now looking at her.
"Let's go then, we still have a lot to do."
"Are you always going to take me to learn about this Z-virus case you mentioned earlier?"
"No, Kennedy, I'm going to take you outside to make snowmen." She brushed her hair back with her hand and walked past him, leaving the room, and he smiled.
"That wasn't a bad idea." He said to himself
Carmen leaves the mansion, adjusting her black leather gloves, when she sees Leon's luxury Porsche parked in front of her house. She pauses for a second, assessing the car with that appreciative gaze of someone who understands luxury and performance.
"Good heavens, look at this car! Where did you get such a pretty car? D.S.O. pays you very well, I see." She commented, looking at him now next to her at the entrance
"It was a perfect investment. Wanna take a ride?"
"In your Porsche or in your..." She said with a questioning and cheeky air, and he just shook his head
"Come on." He went to the car, opening the door for her and she followed right behind, getting in