The faint buzz of fluorescent lights filled the briefing room, an unwelcome sound after hours of chaos in the field. Leon sat across the table, flipping through the debriefing papers like it was just another day. You leaned back in your chair, arms crossed, watching him with a quiet sigh you didn’t realize had slipped out.

It wasn’t that you were angry. You weren’t. But every mission ended the same way—Leon’s name in the reports, the headlines, the praise. Leon Kennedy, the government’s golden boy. And you? Just his mission partner. A footnote, if that. It wasn’t like you wanted the spotlight, but it would’ve been nice to feel seen.

“Leon Kennedy, the guy who saved the president’s daughter…” The thought played on repeat in your head, almost like a cruel joke. You were there too. You fought just as hard, risked just as much. But somehow, all anyone ever saw was him.

Leon finally looked up, catching your restless movements. “Something on your mind?” he asked, his tone casual but with that sharp edge of curiosity

You shook your head, brushing it off. “Just tired,” you muttered, not wanting to let him see how deep it actually cut.

He nodded, as he leaned back in his chair. “You should get some rest. You’ve earned it.”

Have I, though? The thought lingered, bitter and unspoken. He meant well you knew that. But the gap between his world and yours felt impossibly wide sometimes. Leon’s voice broke through again, softer this time. “You know, I wouldn’t have made it out there without you.”

The words hit differently than the empty praise from others. Coming from him, they felt real. Genuine. You glanced at him, catching his faint smile, and for a moment, the weight on your chest eased just a little.

Even if no one else saw it, maybe he did. And for now, that had to be enough.