Chapter Text
It took a few weeks to adjust, especially with Leon’s self esteem dropping from seeing the scarring on his face everyday that he woke up. Thankfully, the DSO gave him a large vacation after that, and he was hoping it would go uninterrupted.
He was out of bed quickly, yawning as he made his way to the kitchen to start coffee for all of the adults in the house since their friends came over and stayed. And he realized after spending years with them that if he didn’t start cooking breakfast now, everyone was going to be grumpy when they got up.
He opened the fridge, bending down to pull everything out—and thank god him and Claire went grocery shopping together, because he wasn’t sure what would be in this fridge otherwise.
He pulled out eggs, bacon, sausage, whatever he could find breakfast related to cook and he started on it, and gradually, people started waking up and filing out.
Chris was the first one, and Leon wasn’t surprised when he felt an arm wrap around his waist, along with a kiss pressed to his jaw. “Good morning, baby.” Chris muttered, sleep still evident in his voice.
Leon turned his head slightly for Chris to give him a proper kiss, before pulling away. “Good morning to you. Coffee is already started, your cup is in the right cabinet.”
Chris grinned slightly, snorting. “Guess I really did get you to stay organized.”
Leon huffed at that. “I was never not organized, just had organized chaos.”
“It was just plain chaos. I still remember tripping over a bucket and bruising the living shit out of my foot, only to find out that you threw a bunch of dumbbells in it.” He teased, and Leon rolled his eyes, ticking his jaw.
“You’ll live. Now you just have to worry about stepping on a Lego piece.”
Chris grumbled at that as he moved to grab his cup, pouring coffee into it and taking a sip of it. “Isn’t Grace and Emily supposed to be flying in today?”
“They are. Will arrive around noon, was thinking about just ordering catering to accommodate everybody.”
Chris leaned against the counter, his crutch clinging loudly against one of the drawer handles as Leon flipped the sausage, listening to the grease sizzling. “From where?”
Leon shrugged, humming. “From that Italian place up the road. It’s good food.”
Chris groaned softly. “We’ve been eating that for the past week. Why not somewhere else?”
Leon thought for a second, then turned to look at him. “Like where?”
Chris pulled out his phone, squinting at the screen to type, and Leon gave a goofy grin in response to it while he set the sausage patties onto a plate. “Go get your reading glasses. You can’t read right now.”
He sighed, immediately slipping his phone back into his pajama pants. “I’ll go get them.” He left the kitchen, just for Claire to walk through the front door, holding iced coffee in her hand with a smirk as she walked into the kitchen.
“Got me, you, and Rebecca some extra sugary coffees.”
Leon looked over as Claire handed it to him, a straw already in it with the wrapper still on the top to prevent anything from getting into it. “Chris is going to kill me.” He said as he took the coffee, pulling the paper off and taking a sip, sighing in content from the flavor.
Rebecca walked behind Claire, smiling as she held up croissants she found. There was a large container of them. “I figured they could go with breakfast?”
Leon let out a chuckle, pointing to the counter. “Guess it’s turning into breakfast sandwiches. Was going to try to opt for pancakes or something.”
Rebecca shook her hot coffee, obviously being careful not to spill it. “You can do pancakes another time. By the way, did Jill and Carlos stay here?”
Leon shook his head no, setting the coffee on the counter as he added more butter to the pan, grabbing a bowl from the cabinet for eggs. “No, they’ll be coming later tonight. Grace and Emily are on the way though.”
Claire nodded, taking the bowl from Leon to crack the eggs into. “We should make omelets instead. Tastes better.”
Leon shrugged, walking over to the fridge and opening it, right as Chris walked back in, his glasses on this time. “I didn’t hear you both come in.”
Leon snorted, leaning up to look behind him. “Guess age has taken your hearing.” He teased, and Chris dramatically clutched his chest like he had been wounded.
“I’m only four years old than you!” Chris exclaimed in mild offense, and everyone laughed, right as Caroline came walking in, rubbing her eyes. “Dad?” He almost had expected for Rose to come out with her,
Leon turned around almost immediately, his playful personality cutting off momentarily as he reached down to hug her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Hi princess, how did you sleep?” He asked gently, raising his tone a little so it would sound softer, and Claire and Rebecca were smiling at each other while Chris just leaned against the door frame, just watching his husband and daughter interact so sweetly.
“Good…where’s the food?”
Leon snorted, looking up and winking at Chris. “This is your fault.”
Chris bent down and swooped her up into his arms, and she started laughing. “Alright Cari, let’s help dad set the table for everyone, yeah?” He explained, turning back to blow a kiss at Leon before turning towards the dining room.
“Don’t drop her, your leg is still injured!” Leon called out.
“I’ll be fine!” Chris yelled back, and Caroline grinned mischievously, waving as Chris walked out, and Claire and Rebecca shrugged.
“Want help finishing breakfast?”
“Sure, yeah.”
———
By the time they were finished eating, and Leon having to tell Chris and Caroline to stop trying to toss food into each other’s mouths, Leon was on his way to pick up Grace and Emily from the airport, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel as Sherry spoke to him through the phone.
“This is a lot of food, Leon, are you sure we’ll need it all?”
“Well, there’s me, you, Jill, Claire, Chris, Carlos…”
“And Caroline, Rebecca, Grace, and Emily. And then possibly Chris’s squad. Got it. Sounds like enough.” She teased as she placed the floorboard of her backseat, not exactly wanting it to disappear.
“I consider Chris two people, he usually will eat on it for a while and I want to make sure he has enough throughout the week.”
Sherry laughed at that as she shut her car door, getting in the drivers seat. “Sounds about right, how close to the airport are you?”
Leon watched as his gps directed him to the next left turn, and he cut his turn signal on as he pulled into the turning lane. “About to turn now. I’m gonna let you go.” Waiting for the next car to pass before he turned into the airport, pulling up to the curb where Grace and Emily just walked out.
“Okay, sounds good to me! See you soon.” She then hung up right as he parked his car and got out, walking to the other side to open the doors for them.
“Need a ride?”
Grace recognized him immediately, taking Emily’s hand and running over to him. “Leon! I-it’s so good to see you!” A big grin was on her face, and it made him happy to see her smiling so much after everything.
Leon offered a smile back, holding his hands out for the luggage. “Here, let me get that.”
Her eyes widened slightly at it. “A-are you sure? I don’t want you to have to—“ he cut her off, not out of rudeness, but in an attempt to reassure her.
“Grace, it’s okay. You just had a long flight. Let me help.”
She hesitated, but eventually pushing her and Emily’s suitcases over to him and he took them, opening the hatch carefully laying them down since he didn’t know if there was any electronics. He then walked back over to her side to see Emily trying to climb into the car, but Grace was still waiting patiently. He shook his head in amusement, gesturing to the door. “Wherever you feel comfortable sitting. It’s a good-sized car.”
Grace seemed to look for a second before getting in the passenger seat, and he shut the doors after making sure both Grace and Emily were comfortable. He then began his driving, touching the screen to turn the music on. He heard Grace snort in the corner and he turned to look at her. “What’s that about?”
“Just not surprised that you listen to divorced dad rock.”
Leon scrunched his nose up at the term, not really understanding why it is called that. “Well, I’m not divorced. But I am a dad.”
“Still is dad rock, what, do you drink whiskey or beers, too?”
Leon opened his mouth to say something, but he closed his mouth when he realized she had effectively humbled him. Emily was buckled up, but she tilted her head. “Leon, what is whiskey and beer?” He didn’t consider the aspect of Grace having to introduce her to things since she spent a lot of her time as an experimrnt that’s when Leon got a chance to look at her through the rear view mirror and realized that some doctors or researchers got the cataracts out of her eyes.
Leon smiled a little, focusing on the road. “It’s alcohol. Drinking kind, not medical.” He added, and Emily seemed to accept that answer.
“How many people is going to be there?” Grace asked, and he leaned back in his seat, realizing he was tensed up in his seat.
“So, there will be me, Chris and Caroline. Then also Sherry, Jill, Carlos, and Piers are coming later. Rebecca and Claire are already there. I think Chris might have invited the squad, not exactly sure on that one. Good amount of people, though.”
Grace went silent for a second, fiddling with her hands out of anxiety. “Do you think they will like me?”
Leon looked over at her, reaching over and nudging her gently. “Like you? They’ll love you. Especially Claire and Sherry. I think you will get along with them very well.”
Grace nodded, looking out her window to see them merging onto an interstate, where Leon hit the turbo button under his steering wheel and started weaving through people. And Grace hummed. “I…wanted to thank you again.”
Leon glanced over at her, before focusing back on the road. “There’s no need. Then we’ll go back and forth saying thank you since we saved each other’s lives.”
Grace huffed out a laugh, and then the car went silent for the rest of the car ride. Other than Emily playing with a toy she had.
It wasn’t long until Leon turned into the driveway, reaching up to hit the button as the garage door began opening, and he parked the car inside. The garage door then shut behind him as they got out, Leon grabbing their things. “I’ll show you both to your guest room, don’t worry.” He said, walking up to the door and opening it to see everyone talking to each other, plus some playlist that Claire had put on.
Him, Grace, and Emily walked inside, and everyone’s attention immediately turned to them. Claire ran over, shaking Grace’s hand with a signature mischievous smile. “Hi Grace! It’s so nice to meet you. Here, let me show you around.” She said, pulling her away before anyone could say anything, and Leon bent down towards Emily, offering a soft smile. “Do you want to meet my daughter? You’re around the same age and she would love to play with you.”
Emily nodded, and Leon held out his hand as she took it, walking outside where Caroline was swinging. When she noticed Emily, she stopped the swing, almost tripping over herself as she ran over.
After the two interacted, he let Emily’s hand go as they ran off to play with each other. He walked back in to see Chris sitting on the couch with a beer, and he walked over and bent over the back of the couch to kiss him.
It was short and sweet, and when Chris pulled away, he offered a fond smile. “How was the drive?”
“Typical. People being people.” He stated, and Chris grabbed him, dragging him onto the couch to see Jill sitting there, his legs having landed in her lap.
But she only smirked, shaking her head as she took a swig of her own beer. “Welcome back, Leon.”
Leon groaned, punched Chris in the shoulder. “What if I would have kicked her in the face?”
“But you didn’t.” Chris retorted, tapping Leon’s nose and in return, received a deadly glare.
“Want to lose the other leg?”
Chris cupped his cheeks, rubbing his face all over Leon’s and Leon groaned, trying to push him away.
Claire and Grace walked back in to witness this, and Claire laughed. “And this, is the two sickeningly sweet husbands.”
Leon finally escaped, right as Chris put a wet kiss onto his cheek and he groaned loudly. “Sorry, Grace.”
She just offered a polite smile. “I’m glad you have someone…at first I thought you were married to a bottle the first time we met.” And Leon’s mouth dropped, right as everyone started laughing hard.
Yeah, she would fit right in.
Sherry opened the door, struggling to balance the food, and Chris and Jill were off the couch in seconds to help her, Piers following right behind her.
The moment the food was set down on the counter, it was like a bunch of feral animals going after it. Leon made sure to focus on making sure Emily and Caroline ate, and tucking one of the containers in the fridge since he knew Chris was a big leftovers person.
Everyone sat where they could, talking and laughing, and when the Hound Wolf Squad plus now Ada arrived, now it truly was a house full of people.
Leon sat on the couch to get away from the noise after a while, holding a glass of some liquor in his hands as Grace took a seat beside him. “Been having fun?”
“I have, it’s just, uh, a lot.”
Leon hummed, leaning back into the couch and crossing one leg over the other. “What kind of movies do you like?” He asked, grabbing the tv remote and holding it out to her, and she turned it on, turning on some shitty noir movie. He gave her a big toothy grin.
“You have good taste, I see.”
Grace shrugged, but gradually leaned into the couch, watching as it started. “The classics are the best, I mean, what’s there not to love about them?”
“You got that damn right.” He said, and they sat on the couch, watching the movie. He assumed everybody was playing some sort of card game based on the way they were all cussing each other out in the dining room. The girls were in the gaming room that Piers insisted on there being, alongside Chris, and Jill, and until eventually he was out numbered. But he couldn’t complain, he loved watching them all play shooter games and each of them lose when it came to applying real life tactics.
He glanced over, noticing Grace seeming off in space, probably reflecting on everything that happened. They were in the same boat, in that case.
He reached over, carefully grabbing her shoulder and shaking it. “Hey, look at me.”
It took her a second, but she snapped out of it, looking over at him. “What’s on your mind?”
She chewed on the inside of her cheek, before looking down at her hands. “My mom loved this type of thing…she would have been so happy to see other Raccoons City survivors thriving.”
Leon softened at that, opening his arm and she moved to lean into it, as he gave her a side hug. “She would be proud of you, Grace. You saved people…you didn’t fail. That’s something to be proud of.”
“I wish I could have saved her.”
He knew that feeling all too well. “It’s not your fault…you didn’t know it was going to happen. You didn’t know that creep was going to go after you.”
“Yeah, but…” she trailed off, and he sighed.
“I know what you’re feeling. There was a lot of people I could have saved if I done different.”
“But…you’re an agent, surely they wouldn’t blame you for that.” She tried, and he shook his head.
“Because I was an agent, it mattered more that I failed. You’re human, hold onto those emotions. God knows we need more humanity. You’re the reason why the entire world knows about what Umbrella did and the people behind it.”
Grace nodded her head, understanding what he was saying. She took a deep breath, furling her fists up before exhaling and unfurling them. She then looked at him, offering a small smile. “Thank you, Leon.”
“No problem, kid.” He said, ruffling her hair. They sat there and watched the movie as everyone started slowly piling in and quietly taking their seats to watch it, not complaining about it.
It was starting to get late and everyone had either fell asleep on the floor or had some energy to get up and go to the guest rooms. Grace was knocked out on the couch, and Chris brought a blanket, draping it over her. Leon offered a smile and took the hand that he was offered and slowly got up. He might be 49, but he still has his ability to be stealthy.
Chris walked him back to their room and they stripped down, hopping in the shower as Chris hugged his back, both of them just standing under the shower head.
“She seems to of really adjusted to being here.”
“Yeah…I hope so. She’s a good kid, I don’t know how she did it alone all these years.”
“The same way you did.” Chris murmured, pressing a kiss to his throat.
Leon nodded, turning around and wrapping his arms around his neck. “Do you think we did good?”
Chris kept his arms wrapped around him, leaning forward a little to block the spray from hitting Leon’s face. “Yeah, we did. Probably will be fighting against bioterrorism, but with Umbrella’s last researcher being dead, now we just have The Connections and the adjacencies to deal with.”
Leon leaned forward to rest his forehead against his chest, pressing a kiss to one of the freckles that was sprinkled across his chest. “You think Ada will ever tell us her real name?”
Chris chuckled, shaking his head. “Hell no. It keeps her mystery to her if she doesn’t reveal it.”
He accepted that, and Chris smoothed his hair back, holding him. “I guess for now…we rest until one of us gets a mission. Might not be for a couple of years, not with the biggest scandal itself being released.”
“Yeah…I guess you’re right.”
Chris tilted his chin up to look at him, grinning from ear-to-ear. “How about that vacation? No interruptions, just me, you, our kid, and drinks in a pineapple. Or a coconut.”
Leon smirked in return, running his hands up his chest. “Thought you would never ask.”