Plea Bargains
Oct. 11th, 2021 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Buffy/Devil May Cry/Resident Evil/Background NCIS Crossover
Chapter Summary: Things always gotta be complicated.
Word Count: 560
Rating: Teen
Pairing: background Leon/Xander
It becomes clear, quickly, that Xander isn’t human. At least, he’s not fully human. The fully enhanced agents aren’t that much stronger, really, but they’re definitely fast and capable. Leon tries to keep his cool during a fight and even wastes a few quips on zombies, even if they don’t exactly have the mind to respond. But he’s only human—or, well, human enough, anyway, minus the lingering effects from the Plagas. He might sarcastically joke through the pain, maybe consider a bottle later, but he’s no monk. He can’t just…will the pain away. Xander either hadn’t felt the pain, from—from what would have been a fatal wound, if he were anyone else, or he’d simply been able to ignore it. Somehow.
“Why, that’s quite kind of you, but I don’t feel like ribs today,” Xander quips, barely moving out of the way of another Minos, and Leon simultaneously snorts and shoves down the slight hysteria that’s threatening to make itself known again.
Ada, he decides, gunning three zombies down as Redgrave spins, flashes a very nice smile, and slams a sword into a fourth, had only partially been good training for this. (And oh, he’s got it bad, he realizes as he shoots a Minos in the ribs, distracting it and knocking it away, buying a few precious moments with some serious enmity. Because the thought of Ada feels fading, distant. He still loves her, he’ll probably never stop, but it doesn’t feel as immediate, as pressing. His relationship with Xander might be more complicated…or less, he’s not sure, but either way his brain is trying to simplify it down and make it work and maybe it was a good thing he’d told the man he’d need time to think. Xander might be inclined to give him the time he needs, but Leon’s own brain sure isn’t, and just brushing these things aside would be doing them both a disservice.) She’d been slightly reckless and terrifyingly competent, but Redgrave takes it to a whole new level, outright laughing when one of them misses them, and hardly missing a beat when he’s surrounded by a group of undead and one of them manages to chomp down on his arm.
There will be tests, Leon reassures himself, even as he knows, logically, that they’ll come up negative for every virus. The man might seem like he’d take that kind of risk, but he’s not the type, apparently.
Because that’s the thing, watching him. Xander might look like he’s just doing whatever whim strikes his fancy, but the speed and ease with which he intercepts any attack that threatens to get through the witch’s shields says otherwise. It’s improv choreography, if that’s a thing. He might be acting casual, like he’s just strolling through a field of flowers, but he’s aware of the location of all the enemies and allies and he’s using his battlefield awareness to his advantage.
Leon reminds himself, I’m a good fighter, even as he takes out a few more zombies, because apparently it’s easy to feel inadequate next to skills like that. It’s not like Redgrave is better, or rather, he is, but it’s not because Leon simply isn’t trying hard enough. The healing's faster, he's slightly faster and stronger, and it's all biological. The rest is just a matter of style. It’s nothing formal, he’s sure, but the man approaches battle like a martial artist, flowing between attacks and enemies. It takes years to hone that kind of skill, especially without a teacher. Leon, meanwhile, is a professional, and while he’d like to look all fancy, the closest he gets are some knife tricks, and he’s not going to try melee unless he has to. Unlike Redgrave, he’d probably end up with a few broken bones.
At least the others aren’t taking advantage of the chaos to try a few pot shots. That had been a concern, even if Kennedy’s people tended to listen to him, for the most part.
And then things get really weird, because the Minos just turn around and slaughter the rest of the zombies and hiss frantically, and Xander holds up a hand, calling for a ceasefire. Boren definitely squeezes off a few shots after that, but lowers his rifle with a glower as Leon puts a hand on the metal.
And Xander hisses back, expression frustrated and then alarmed.
Florian gasps, but Andrea rolls her eyes. “For those of us who don’t speak snake, you wanna fill us in?” Isabelle nods in agreement.
Redgrave rubs under his eyepatch. “Okay, Umbrella must have some serious clauses in their paperwork to help circumvent worker’s comp. They raided a Minos nest and stole the eggs. These snakely beings are desperately trying to follow orders to get their young’uns back, but are kind of sure that they’re not going to see them alive and unexperimented on, so seeing as we’re kicking their asses, they’re thinking about turning turncoat as long as we promise to help retrieve their eggs, if they’re, y’know, not mutated. They’re probably kind of hoping we’ll throw in the Umbrella personnel as a bonus snack.”
The Minos watch, unblinking, unmoving, and this particular mission definitely took a turn for the interesting.
“As tempting as that sounds, we’ve been trying to get one of their workers to plea bargain for years. I don’t think the higher-ups would be happy if we just let them get eaten.” Sure, saving actual man-eating babies isn’t exactly on his list of things he particularly wants to do, but having inside knowledge and not having to fight five more of these things would be nice. He’s much more comfortable fighting Umbrella and its creations anyway.
“I figured. I’m going to see if I can’t get them to agree to stop eating humans if I’ll hunt them some demons they can eat.” He shrugs at the look Landon gives him. “They only go after humans because they’re the simplest, safest prey.”
“Demons,” Sierra comments with a shiver.
Buffy/Devil May Cry/Resident Evil/Background NCIS Crossover
Chapter Summary: Things always gotta be complicated.
Word Count: 560
Rating: Teen
Pairing: background Leon/Xander
It becomes clear, quickly, that Xander isn’t human. At least, he’s not fully human. The fully enhanced agents aren’t that much stronger, really, but they’re definitely fast and capable. Leon tries to keep his cool during a fight and even wastes a few quips on zombies, even if they don’t exactly have the mind to respond. But he’s only human—or, well, human enough, anyway, minus the lingering effects from the Plagas. He might sarcastically joke through the pain, maybe consider a bottle later, but he’s no monk. He can’t just…will the pain away. Xander either hadn’t felt the pain, from—from what would have been a fatal wound, if he were anyone else, or he’d simply been able to ignore it. Somehow.
“Why, that’s quite kind of you, but I don’t feel like ribs today,” Xander quips, barely moving out of the way of another Minos, and Leon simultaneously snorts and shoves down the slight hysteria that’s threatening to make itself known again.
Ada, he decides, gunning three zombies down as Redgrave spins, flashes a very nice smile, and slams a sword into a fourth, had only partially been good training for this. (And oh, he’s got it bad, he realizes as he shoots a Minos in the ribs, distracting it and knocking it away, buying a few precious moments with some serious enmity. Because the thought of Ada feels fading, distant. He still loves her, he’ll probably never stop, but it doesn’t feel as immediate, as pressing. His relationship with Xander might be more complicated…or less, he’s not sure, but either way his brain is trying to simplify it down and make it work and maybe it was a good thing he’d told the man he’d need time to think. Xander might be inclined to give him the time he needs, but Leon’s own brain sure isn’t, and just brushing these things aside would be doing them both a disservice.) She’d been slightly reckless and terrifyingly competent, but Redgrave takes it to a whole new level, outright laughing when one of them misses them, and hardly missing a beat when he’s surrounded by a group of undead and one of them manages to chomp down on his arm.
There will be tests, Leon reassures himself, even as he knows, logically, that they’ll come up negative for every virus. The man might seem like he’d take that kind of risk, but he’s not the type, apparently.
Because that’s the thing, watching him. Xander might look like he’s just doing whatever whim strikes his fancy, but the speed and ease with which he intercepts any attack that threatens to get through the witch’s shields says otherwise. It’s improv choreography, if that’s a thing. He might be acting casual, like he’s just strolling through a field of flowers, but he’s aware of the location of all the enemies and allies and he’s using his battlefield awareness to his advantage.
Leon reminds himself, I’m a good fighter, even as he takes out a few more zombies, because apparently it’s easy to feel inadequate next to skills like that. It’s not like Redgrave is better, or rather, he is, but it’s not because Leon simply isn’t trying hard enough. The healing's faster, he's slightly faster and stronger, and it's all biological. The rest is just a matter of style. It’s nothing formal, he’s sure, but the man approaches battle like a martial artist, flowing between attacks and enemies. It takes years to hone that kind of skill, especially without a teacher. Leon, meanwhile, is a professional, and while he’d like to look all fancy, the closest he gets are some knife tricks, and he’s not going to try melee unless he has to. Unlike Redgrave, he’d probably end up with a few broken bones.
At least the others aren’t taking advantage of the chaos to try a few pot shots. That had been a concern, even if Kennedy’s people tended to listen to him, for the most part.
And then things get really weird, because the Minos just turn around and slaughter the rest of the zombies and hiss frantically, and Xander holds up a hand, calling for a ceasefire. Boren definitely squeezes off a few shots after that, but lowers his rifle with a glower as Leon puts a hand on the metal.
And Xander hisses back, expression frustrated and then alarmed.
Florian gasps, but Andrea rolls her eyes. “For those of us who don’t speak snake, you wanna fill us in?” Isabelle nods in agreement.
Redgrave rubs under his eyepatch. “Okay, Umbrella must have some serious clauses in their paperwork to help circumvent worker’s comp. They raided a Minos nest and stole the eggs. These snakely beings are desperately trying to follow orders to get their young’uns back, but are kind of sure that they’re not going to see them alive and unexperimented on, so seeing as we’re kicking their asses, they’re thinking about turning turncoat as long as we promise to help retrieve their eggs, if they’re, y’know, not mutated. They’re probably kind of hoping we’ll throw in the Umbrella personnel as a bonus snack.”
The Minos watch, unblinking, unmoving, and this particular mission definitely took a turn for the interesting.
“As tempting as that sounds, we’ve been trying to get one of their workers to plea bargain for years. I don’t think the higher-ups would be happy if we just let them get eaten.” Sure, saving actual man-eating babies isn’t exactly on his list of things he particularly wants to do, but having inside knowledge and not having to fight five more of these things would be nice. He’s much more comfortable fighting Umbrella and its creations anyway.
“I figured. I’m going to see if I can’t get them to agree to stop eating humans if I’ll hunt them some demons they can eat.” He shrugs at the look Landon gives him. “They only go after humans because they’re the simplest, safest prey.”
“Demons,” Sierra comments with a shiver.
