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Their ordeal was finally over. The craziest day of her life had somehow passed, and she had lived to tell the tale. Grace couldn't help but stare at Leon with affection, despite having known him for only a few hours. She hoped they could meet again one day, under less stressful circumstances.
As Leon walked away Grace saw him pull something small and shiny from his back pocket and move it toward his hand. She wondered what it was. She stared at him for a minute until he turned next to some crates and disappeared from her line of sight.
She sighed and stretched her neck, a wave of pent-up exhaustion suddenly hitting her. She wondered when she would be able to rest after the insane events of the evening.
Not long passed before she saw another agent dressed in black approach her. She could feel his anxious energy from 3 feet away.
"Hey! You're Grace, right?"
Grace nodded at the strange man.
"Awesome. Uh, have you seen Leon? Got some stuff for him to sign."
"He just left to go somewhere over there." She pointed with her chin, hoping not to seem too rude. She just couldn't muster the strength for much else.
Suddenly one of the agent's teammates yelled and motioned at him. Grace could hear exasperation in his voice.
"Fuck," the agent in front of her muttered under his breath. Suddenly he turned to look at Grace intently.
"Hey, Grace! So, I know you just went through something awful, and you must be feeling terrible, but… Could you go get Leon and tell him we need him to sign this stuff ASAP? I just have to go back to do some other things, and my boss is, you know…" He made a gesture akin to hanging himself.
Despite her tiredness, Grace knew all about difficult bosses. Feeling bad for the guy, she agreed.
"Awesome! I owe you one!" As he walked away hurriedly, he continued yelling. "Tell him to go to that yellow tent over there, ok?" He gave her one last wave before fully turning around and trotting back to his impatient teammates.
Grace sighed and stood up, retracing Leon's steps past those crates she had seen in the distance. Sure enough, she found a small room tucked away in the back of the compound. As she approached, she heard two voices coming from within. Right as she was about to call Leon's name, she stopped in her tracks and hid. A tall man with silver hair had just pushed Leon against the wall. He looked really intimidating and was even wider than Leon. He kind of reminded her of Zeno, but less reptile-like and more rugged. This guy also had some scary-looking scars on his face, so profound that they made her shudder. Was Leon in trouble? She considered going and getting help, but she couldn't hide her undeniable curiosity. Against her better judgment, she stayed and continued watching.
"You look like shit, Kennedy." The intimidating man was really close to Leon's face, grabbing him by the collar. Grace assumed it was some kind of mobster intimidation tactic. She had seen guys like him in her files at work.
"Nice to see you too," Leon replied in an angry tone of his own, not backing down or trying to walk away.
Grace saw their weird and tense exchange continue.
"You just had to ruin your new shirt too. Careless idiot."
"Selfish asshole," Leon snapped back.
"Dumbass," said the other man.
"Prick," Leon responded immediately.
Leon's… companion waited a minute before squinting his eyes and getting closer to Leon's face than ever.
Hissing, he finally gave his reply:
"Pretty boy."
Grace was not expecting that last one.
She didn't have much time to dwell on it before both men closed the distance between them into a fiery kiss. It was passionate, but it also looked like they wanted to kill each other. It had caught Grace so off guard that she hadn't realized she had been leaning against some loose wood, which decided to snap right at that moment and make the most obnoxious sound she had ever heard.
Immediately both men turned and reached for their respective weapons, Grace realizing the other man had a very sharp-looking knife. She decided she would be safer by just revealing herself. Raising her arms, she spoke apologetically.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Leon, some guy asked me to come look for you and I saw you come here and then I… I didn't want to interrupt and I'm so so sorry, really…" Her characteristic nervous rambling was overflowing as she tried desperately to seem less guilty of eavesdropping than she felt.
Leon was the first to put his gun back in its holster, giving a light chuckle.
"Oh, Grace! Sorry, didn't see you there. Did we scare you?"
Grace was happy Leon didn't seem mad, but she hesitated to respond as the intimidating man still had his knife pointing at her. Leon suddenly realized this and hit the man with his elbow.
"Put that away, asshole."
The man did as instructed, not taking his penetrating gaze away from Grace.
Leon sighed as he started to explain, sensing the confusion in the woman's face.
"This is my personal pain in the ass, Grace. Jack Krauser."
"I'm his husband." The other man replied dryly, extending one giant right hand to Grace, holding up his left for her to see. Grace gulped as she looked at the ring on his finger. It looked like the same thing Leon was reaching for earlier.
Letting go of her hand, the man continued. "Mind you, he proposed to me, and he still acts like this." He produced a slight smirk, as if knowing Leon would not like that statement.
"Yeah, well, I finally felt bad for you after seeing you following me around like a hungry dog for a million years." Leon was quick to reply, a vein tensing on his forehead.
Grace stayed completely still, not quite sure of what to make of the whole situation. Leon was married? To this guy?
Leon interrupted her train of thought again.
"So, you were saying something about some guy looking for me?"
"Oh… Yeah! He had some documents for you to sign. Said to go to the yellow tent ASAP."
Leon sighed and rolled his shoulders, clearly exhausted from the day they'd just had. Grace knew that better than anyone.
"Guess there's no helping it. Thanks for letting me know, Grace!" He turned to the man Grace couldn't believe Leon had proposed to.
"You gonna survive without me for 5 minutes?" Grace could have sworn he stuck his tongue out, but she refused to believe Leon could manage such a childlike gesture.
"I'm coming with you." Krauser set off for the tent on his own as Leon sighed again.
"Of course you are… See you later, Grace." Leon ran to catch up to his husband as Grace waved at him. Once he caught up, he saw Leon bump his shoulder against the other man, who returned the shove with twice the strength, eliciting a laugh from Leon. As odd as Grace seemed to find the pair, it was nice to see Leon smile.
Grace started to make her own way back, managing to think of nothing else but the scalding hot bath she would take once she finally managed to get home. There were still so many things she would be expected to do after her ordeal. Reports, briefings, checking on Emily. But tonight, it would just be her and that bath. Maybe even a bottle of whichever cheap wine she could find at the gas station. She wasn't much of a drinker but today it was just one of those days…
The thoughts of the bath were so alluring that Grace didn't hear it at first. She thought she imagined someone screaming her name, a familiar voice. As her illusions of relaxation cleared, she was able to hear the next shout loud and clear.
"Grace, get down!"
It was Leon. Grace turned in his direction only to find a black shadow moving toward her faster than she was comfortable with. Thankfully, her instincts took over, as she threw herself on the ground and rolled. As she got back on her feet, she saw it, the disgusting creature with one gigantic claw on each hand and the most repulsive, longest tongue Grace had ever seen.
"Fuck, these guys are still alive?" Leon shot without an ounce of hesitation at the creature that had just pounced on Grace. For a second, Grace couldn't move, memories of the previous night fresh in her mind.
"Leon, 9 o'clock. I see three of them." The man called Krauser was now standing with his back against Leon, knife in hand. His posture indicated he was ready for anything that would dare come at him. Soon enough, the man raised his voice, commanding and direct.
"Listen up, everyone. There's an unidentified number of BOWs at large. Find an enclosed space and stay there until we tell you to."
Everyone around looked dumbfounded, clearly not expecting to run into danger at this point.
"Now!" The commanding man roared, and as Leon fired two more shots, everyone around them scrambled to find a place to hide.
"Grace! That goes for you too!" Leon turned to her and gave her a nod.
"We got this."
In that moment Grace decided she had had enough of being a hero for one night and, returning the nod, ran to join the others. One of the big trucks the officers had arrived in was open, so she climbed in and slammed the door. Surely the creatures couldn't break in there, right?
Grace stared in awe as Krauser moved to engage the creatures directly, knife firmly in hand. She saw nothing but precise movements and not a glint of fear in those eyes. As he swung and moved, he continued giving pointers to Leon, even finding time to throw jabs at him when one bullet hit one of the monster's shoulders instead of its head.
"Getting sloppy on me, rookie?" He growled as he dove his knife straight into a brain without faltering.
Grace wondered how he could even see anything Leon was doing from his position… Who exactly was this guy? As Grace pondered, he saw Leon turn around and shoot Krauser's next target right in the middle of its head.
"Least I'm not getting slow, old man." He grinned with satisfaction as the other man growled.
They both continued taking care of the remaining monsters, working in perfect unison, and before long, silence took hold once again.
"Coast is clear!" Krauser roared again as he sheathed his knife.
As the others started to leave their hiding spots, Grace opened the door of the truck, hoping that there wouldn't be any more surprises that night. She really couldn't take anything else that day. Her hands shook as she stepped down, seeing Leon running towards her.
"Grace! You alright? Seems like those assholes just couldn't wait to see us again, huh?" Grace admired that Leon could crack a joke after the night they'd just had. She forced a smile as she nodded to confirm her well-being.
"Leon… Krau… Your husband. The way he fought, is he a soldier or something? Does he work with your department too?"
Leon chuckled.
"That guy? Nah. Well, he used to be a soldier, but now he's just a dork who gets off on giving orders."
He made sure to raise his voice as the imposing man approached them.
"I remember you being very eager to follow those orders once, Kennedy."
Grace couldn't help but laugh as Leon protested, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. Grace could feel herself stop shaking, feeling calm and safe around the two men. Despite her initial shock, she could tell Leon's husband was just as reliable as he was.
"Stop avoiding your paperwork, Kennedy," Krauser finally said, grabbing the smaller man's elbow. He nodded at Grace one final time.
"Duty calls, Grace. I'll be in touch. Go home and relax; you deserve it." Leon shouted as Krauser dragged him away. Yanking himself away from Krauser's grip, Leon spanked the older man with a cheeky grin, which was returned by Krauser with a soft bite to Leon's cheek as he gently placed a hand around his waist.
They had only just met, but suddenly the couple made perfect sense to the young FBI agent. Grace felt like she would be able to clear her mind and relax that night. She knew, after all, that Leon would be well taken care of too.