Thea got pulled back into consciousness by a hard pull on her wrist.

With a pained groan, Thea felt her body get tugged so harshly it made her fall on her side. The harsh concrete under her body was cold and moist, the momentum causing it to take pieces of her skin with it. Her dark hair fell in her face, hiding the grimace that took over her features, the ends of her dark pieces grazing the floor.

The woman often forgot how her hair grew over the years. She just didn't really care to do anything about it, but in cases like this, it was really annoying. It's not like she got chained up in a moist basement daily, but she would've killed for a hair tie right now.

With an annoyed huff of breath passing her lips, Thea threw her hair back above her shoulder, blinking against the harsh light that attacked her sensitive eyes. The woman raised a hand to her forehead, a pulsing headache making her life more miserable than it already was. A heavy weight pulled against her slender wrists, causing her to frown at the thick handcuffs wrapped around them.

Her last memory was crashing into a building and so much fire she thought she landed straight in hell. The Keller girl had no idea how the fuck she ended up in chains.

"What the fuck?" the words rolled off her tongue as her eyes followed the thick chains, squinting against the light as she followed it to its source.

And when her eyes met a striking blue one, all the air was knocked from her lungs. Her entire body froze, not being able to move a single muscle. All she could do was stare straight into his eyes, her lips apart and all the words in the world stuck in her throat.

The only thing being able to snap her out of it was when he stumbled back, his face abnormally pale even under the poor lighting, his chest heaving.

He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Oye! Look who's awake!" a voice from the left called out, his voice shattering the silence around them so harshly, it made her flinch. Thea forcefully tore her gaze away from the blue pair to look at the source of the noise. "The senorita wasn't dead after all!"

Thea's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her eyes scanned the other man in front of her. The man was wearing a white shirt with a brown vest over it, matching brown pants completing the whole look. His slightly longer dark, almost black hair looked a little disheveled but just the right amount. The little smirk tugging at his lips only made him appear more attractive. His Spanish accent was thick, which would probably make him more appealing.

But the second her green eyes met his dark ones, Thea couldn't keep her face from scowling at him. His smile disappeared fairly quickly.

The man murmured a few words in Spanish under his breath as he got up from the floor, the chain linking the three of them together clinking against the hard floor.

"Mierda... You're just as pleasant as the gringo," he narrowed his eyes at her before looking back at the blond man. "Hanging with you? Not healthy-"

Whatever he was going to say next got cut off by the wooden door slamming open behind him. All three of their heads snapped towards the noise, Thea drawing in a sharp breath through her teeth as her eyes zeroed in on the figure stumbling inside. Her whole body tensed up, a chill running down her spine at the sight of the stranger.

Then she noticed the heavy axe weighing down his right hand.

"Watch out!" the sharp words flew from her lips in a desperate cry, trying to warn the dark man, but it was already too late. She was late again.

But thankfully, Leon Kennedy was there to save the day, like always.

He acted quickly, wrapping a hand around the thick chains and yanking it towards him, pulling the other man out of harm's way. The way the brunette man fell to the floor would've made Thea laugh in other circumstances, but the intruder swinging that axe around so violently made all humor leave her body.

Her head was pounding, the light was too harsh and her whole body pulsed with adrenaline, leaving no room for her mind to work properly. It was so weird to have such an out-of-body experience, watch as Leon wrapped the chain around his hand with a determined look on his face. He looked like he already had a plan; like he knew what he was doing.

That's great because the young woman was still stuck on the fact that she didn't die. She would need more than two minutes to process that.

Not like they had more than a few seconds left to breathe if they didn't act fast enough.

Leon swung the chains linked to their arms with such force, that it pulled Thea a foot away from her previous spot. Pain shot through her arms and ended in a sharp stab near her shoulder. The pain stole her breath away as she was now lying on her stomach, her whole body pulsing with pain.

The heavy metal hit the swinging man square in the face, causing him to stumble back, a hand rising to cradle his bust-in face. Everything happened so fast and Thea felt so useless it was ridiculous. The brunette struggled to get on her feet, only pushing herself up with her hands (which wasn't that easy, considering they were bound together), just for them to get yanked from under her with another harsh tug, forcing her back on the ground.

I'm so fucking done with this, Thea thought to herself as she let out an annoyed breath, sending a sharp glare toward the men.

In a matter of seconds, the whole situation had turned around. Kennedy being Kennedy, he acted quicker than her thoughts could catch up with her. Leon used his body as a God-given weapon, twisting the chain with his body weight to achieve his plans.

The loud snap of the intruder's neck echoed through the small room, the body dropping to the floor with a thud. For a few seconds, the only noise besides heavy breathing was her blood rushing in her ears. Her jaw hung open in shock and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the enigma that Leon Kennedy was.

After all these years, this is the way they meet again for the first time. Him committing manslaughter. It was almost funny.

However, there was no time for the girl to laugh or even move a muscle as the mystery man with the Spanish accent darted towards the body lying in the middle of the room, snatching the keys to the cuffs on his hands. Leon was busy catching his breath as he stood up slowly, while Thea watched every move of the other man.

Feeling eyes on himself, the man in the white shirt raised his eyes to meet with the emerald pair. A small mischievous smile curved his lips upwards as the cuffs snapped from his wrists, the metal falling on the ground with a soft sound. The noise alerted the blond man, his whole body tensing against his restraints as he darted towards the now free man, dragging the dark-haired woman with him.

"Fuck off!" Thea grunted as her temple smacked against the ground, the sound of rapid footsteps alerting her.

"Hey, we're not done here!" Leon bellowed at the man, his momentum getting stopped by the heavy dead body trapping the chains under itself.

Now positioned between the two men, Thea's eyes shifted between them as she watched the darker man back towards the door, his hands raised in the air like he wanted to make them believe this was the only way.

Is he really going to leave them here?

The thought made rage bubble inside Thea, making her eyes shine brighter under the pale lights. Suddenly, her body didn't even hurt that much. Her thirst for blood overpowered everything.

"Later, amigo," he shrugged his shoulder, taking another two steps towards the door behind him. His eyes connected with the woman's heated gaze, a somewhat guilty spark lighting up his dark brown eyes. "Good luck, hermosa."

And with that, the man threw the only key to their freedom further into the room, and before any of them could say anything, he was already out of the room, getting swallowed by the darkness lying beyond the threshold.

Thea let out a scoff, not believing her eyes. This ass of a man really ditched them after Leon saved his life. And the audacity to not even hand them the key but throw it further into the room was the main reason her lips pressed together into a hard line.

Then, she let her eyes wander over to the blond man. Like he sensed her gaze on him, his head turned in her direction, eyes locking so naturally it made her heart skip a beat. She wanted to take a minute and take him in – he looked so different compared to her memories.

Truth be told, her memories were fucked. They were scattered, torn up, and didn't make sense most of the time. She was sort of confident in the fact that parts of her memories came back during dreams, most of them being nightmares.

But she remembered Leon Kennedy the most. He was the only person whose face remained intact and her feelings didn't change.

But the Leon Kennedy standing in front of her was like a different man. Not only did the physical difference throw her off, but the look in his eyes made her heart twist. Something different darkened his eyes, something that made a chill run down her spine.

The Keller girl always had a great gut feeling, and she usually listened to it. It was the main reason she was still alive. But the energy radiating off of the obviously pissed man standing only a few feet away from her rang some alarms in her head. Something was off.

She needed to get out of here.

With the speed of light, Thea darted towards the key, stumbling over the dead body with little grace. Just as she spotted the little metal key lying on the dirty ground, her heartbeat picked up the pace. Of course, her joy was short-lived as a harsh tug jerked her body back, the handcuffs digging into her soft flesh harshly.

The brunette fell back on the ground with a thud, pain shooting up her arms as they took the brunt of her fall. An annoyed groan left her, rage burning bright in her veins. She was getting really sick of getting thrown around like a ragdoll.

Rapid footsteps approached her as she started clawing at the ground, dragging herself closer to the key. Her right arm reached out in desperation, her fingertips brushing against the cold, rusty metal just as what felt like a ton of bricks dropped on her back. The remaining air got pushed out from her lungs and she got crushed between the floor and the body pressing down on her. In annoyance, Thea kicked a leg out, hoping she would cause some damage.

She only earned a slight groan from Leon before he wrapped a muscular arm around her throat, putting her in a chokehold.

Her airways got crushed under his sheer power, a gasp tearing from her. Her hands clawed at his forearm, trying to get him off of her but with little to no avail – his arms wrapped around her like heated iron, the strong muscles in his arms tensing and bulging while she tried to fight him off.

Her vision started to darken, the dark spots in her field of vision multiplying faster than she would've liked. Red marks marred his skin where her fingernails sliced at him, his hold only tightening on her.

This was fucking ridiculous. She didn't just spend more than a year trying to find this man for him to choke her out in a moldy basement without even speaking a word to her. Thea was beyond annoyed at this point.

In a desperate attempt to free herself, Thea wiggled her body under his, trying to push him off or at least off-balance him. Pushing her hips up against his body, she was finally able to free her hands from under herself. Angling her wrist in the right way, she gave blow after blow on his side, the sharper part of the handcuff striking his ribs with unruly strength.

Her efforts were rewarded by a pained groan, some of his body weight shifting off her, trying to get out of the way of her attacks. Twisting her body under his, Thea drew her elbow back sharply, striking him in the shoulder. The momentum was finally enough to loosen his grip around her neck and grasping the opportunity, she slipped from under him. The brunette pretended like she didn't kick him in the shins intentionally.

The young woman pushed herself on her knees, coughing harshly as air filled her lungs too quickly. Her lungs burned, her head was swimming, and was ready to punch the next person to touch her. Him being the person she sought for so long or not, she wouldn't hesitate to break his nose.

"What the fuck, Leon?" Thea rasped between coughs, using the wall to pull herself to her feet. She grabbed the key as she stood, taking a step back away from him.

The pure hatred burning bright in his blue eyes forced her to take another step back, her heart hammering loudly against her chest.

This is not how she imagined their first meeting after all these years.

Based on the few memories she managed to hang on, she knew that they weren't best friends but this reaction was a little over the top. She didn't expect him to shed tears and chat about what happened in the past years above some coffee, but damn, she was not ready for an attempted murder.

With careful eyes, she watched as he staggered to his feet with a hand holding his right side. His slightly hunched form spoke louder than words about her attack, a slight frown appearing on her face. She didn't want to hurt him too badly.

"What are you?"

The venom dripping from his voice made her feel unwelcome in her own body. Usually, Thea was pretty confident and knew what she wanted, and how she wanted it. But as she looked him in the eyes, it felt like she was an intruder in his life, nothing but a parasite.

His voice brought forward a few memories, ones that weren't so pleasant. The heated glare was sort of familiar, but not to this extent. He was nothing like the Leon in her memories, and the woman had no idea how to deal with it.

Taking her silence as an answer, a grunt came from Leon, a scowl appearing on his face as he let his eyes roam her body. Like he was searching for an answer but didn't find any.

"It's me, what-"

"What the fuck are you?" Leon's voice snapped the air like a whip, causing her to flinch.

Footsteps from above them stole her attention away, and her heart sank to her stomach. Of course, there were others here. Someone had to bring them here and chain them up. That wasn't a one-man job, to say the least. There could be others coming for them, and they had to get out now. The girl doubted she could take another blow to the head.

"I'll tell you everything, but we need to get out," Thea flicked her gaze back to his. Leon scoffed at her, clearly not keen to work with her. The brunette rolled her eyes and started working on her bindings. She couldn't wait to get rid of the fuckers. "I know things don't make sense, but please, believe me. I'll tell you everything I know."

It didn't take a genius to figure out Leon trusted her as far as he could throw her. That was clear. He gritted his teeth together with such force, that a muscle pulsed in his jaw, his whole body tense under the weight of her gaze. He looked like a cornered lion, ready to strike and take her life away.

With a snap, she was able to free her hands from the thick cuffs, the skin red and raw underneath it. There were already bruises forming on her wrists. Just fucking great.

Despite her better judgment and her common sense screaming at her, she threw the key towards him, his hand flying out with the speed of a serpent and catching it mid-air.

Maybe it wasn't the best move to free the man who almost killed her with his hands tied and limited mobility, but oh well. She had to fight off worse. With her hands-free, she was pretty sure she could take him.

He freed himself faster than her, the heavy chains falling on the floor. Some marks littered his skin as well, the cuffs leaving an angry red mark in their wake. At least she wasn't the only one sporting a reminder of whatever the fuck they had just been part of.

With his eyes still watching her every move, Leon stepped back towards the door but obviously didn't want to go first. Either he actually feared her or just didn't trust her even a little bit. Or both. But both of those assumptions seemed ridiculous, the brunette not being able to hold back a scoff as she walked towards him.

"After you," the deadness of his voice made her scowl at him, clearly not amused by his antics.

He just tried to kill her and here he was, pretending to be the victim after all. Like she would turn on him at any given moment. What did he expect, anyway? That she would plunge a knife in his back if he took his eyes off her? How absurd.

"What a gentleman," Thea sneered back at him, soothing a hand over her sore throat.

The young woman was too busy being mad at him for his shitty attitude to notice the guilty look on his face mixed with such a deep-lying confusion it could shatter worlds.

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when he almost kills you >>>

please tell me about your day, i'd love to hear about you! (and it hopefully went better than mine lol)