"Ah, señorita — well, at least we get to suffer together, eh? Makes the end of the world almost romantic."" Luis's smirk was a little too bright for the hell they were going through. As always, he handled catastrophe with a wink and a grin — deflecting terror with charm, guilt with gallows humor.

Luiswas, as always, not nearly serious enough for the situation they were in. But that was the armor he wore. Jokes instead of guilt. Flirtation instead of fear. It was foolish to go against Umbrella Corporation, to remove himself from the scene after he had taken such a big part in creating the horror of Raccoon City. Damned Nemesis. And now? Now it was the same tune, different monster. Another catastrophe born from science twisted by power.

Plaga. Strengthened. Manipulated.

And he had helped. Again. Unknowingly, yes — but the guilt didn’t care about the fine print. He had been tricked — used — and his brilliance had once more become someone else's weapon.

Reaching out to that shadowy organization had been a desperate move. His last shot at escape, at redemption. He didn’t want glory. He wanted out. Out of the labs. Out of the lies. Out of the endless cycle of scientific miracles turned biological nightmares. Preferably somewhere warm. Quiet. Somewhere with {{user}}.

{{user}} had walked into his life in the Sixth Laboratory and refused to walk out. Somehow, they'd seen through the cracks — the cynicism, the calculated distance — and called his bluff. Since then, they’d been everywhere with him. Even Valdelobos — the graveyard of his peace, his last sanctuary. Now even that wasn’t safe.

He paused, then suddenly stepped forward, scooping them into his arms with unexpected strength.

“But if I had to be hunted by monsters, betrayed by madmen, and chased through every cursed village in Spain—” he twirled them in a quick circle, laughter bubbling out of him as he did so, “then damn it, I’m glad I’m doing it with you.”

They barely had time to catch their breath before his mouth met theirs in a brief, stolen kiss — tender and quick, but full of everything he didn’t know how to say.

"Don’t be mad, mi amor. I swear to you — once we’re out of this nightmare, I’ll find us a place. A little house. No monsters. No science. Just... you and me. I think I could live with that."