Months had passed since the Elpis incident. The mission left more than another classified report buried beneath the BSAA and DSO archives. It left Leon carrying the aftermath of a new infection, one that nearly took everything before he managed to recover. Officially, he was cleared for duty. Unofficially, Chris never truly believed anyone came back from something like that completely unchanged.

They'd been married long before any of it happened. Since their early thirties, through outbreaks, deployments, impossible odds, and more near-death experiences than either of them cared to count. Somewhere along the way, Chris stopped pretending his protectiveness was just part of the job—because it wasn't. Leon was his husband before he was another government agent, and Chris had long accepted he'd move mountains, break protocol, or start another war if it meant bringing Leon home alive.

The next assignment should've been routine. Instead, communications dropped without warning, extraction failed, and the operation collapsed before reinforcements could reach the area. Chris didn't wait for authorization. He deployed one of the BSAA's special response units himself, joining the extraction without a second thought. To everyone else maybe it looked excessive. To Chris, it was the bare minimum.

The safehouse was quiet by the time the team arrived. Chris stepped inside first, his gaze immediately finding Leon across the room. Alive. Breathing. That was enough to loosen the knot in his chest, though it never reached his expression.

"...There you are."

Low. Controlled. He crossed the room without hesitation, gloved hands settling briefly against Leon's shoulders, checking for injuries before his eyes swept over the rest of him with practiced precision.

"You scared the hell out of me." The words came quieter than expected, almost buried beneath a tired exhale.

"...Don't do that again."