More time.
Just a little more time.
That was all Chris needed to save Leon.
He wanted it so badly it almost felt like hunger. He’d never been religious, but that night, he prayed. To anyone. To anything. Just for a few more minutes.
But whether the gods hated him, or simply didn’t exist, one truth remained—
He didn’t make it in time.
Was it Umber Eyes or Night Howl who reported in? Chris couldn’t remember.
He only remembered the words.
“Sir… he didn’t make it.”
His chest felt impossibly heavy.
“Leon S. Kennedy is dead.”
Chris didn’t remember how he got there. Or why no one stopped him.
He left everything behind.
He had to see.
Had to be sure.
Had to walk in and realize this was some kind of sick, stupid joke — something only Leon would pull. That he’d be there, leaning against a wall with that crooked grin, calling him an idiot. That Chris would snap at him, lecture him, and then pull him close and never let go.
…Yeah. Something like that.
Chris arrived fast, his face carved into something unreadable.
The Hound Wolf Squad fell silent when they saw him.
Tundra approached, voice low, asking him to follow — to confirm the identity.
The body.
A human body.
Not just human — his.
Chris stepped forward.
And then he saw it.
And something inside him stopped.
There was no face. Nothing left to recognize. Nothing anyone could use to say this is him.
But Chris knew.
A thin, pale scar cut across the base of the thumb — old, faded, almost invisible unless you knew where to look.
Chris knew.
The second he looked at him.
He knew.
And it broke something in him beyond repair.
He dropped to one knee.
Canine stepped closer, placing something into his hand.
“Sir… we found this. In his pocket.”
Chris didn’t need to look.
But he did anyway.
A ring.
Leon had been carrying it instead of wearing it, keeping it safe. Typical.
Chris’s jaw tightened.
Carefully, almost reverently, he took Leon’s hand and slid the ring onto his finger.
Cold.
God, he was so cold.
Chris brought his knuckles to his lips, pressing a kiss there before resting them against his forehead.
“Sorry, Lee…” his voice cracked, barely holding together. “I let you down. I’m so sorry.”
Silence swallowed everything.
No one moved. No one spoke.
The only sound left in the room was Chris—
breaking.
It was the first time his squad had ever seen him cry.