A resigned sigh fled his lungs before he finally answered. "Sherry, trust me. If there's a cure for this goddamned illness, I want to find it as much as anyone. But, undertaking a mission for the DSO without her isn't sitting right with me. I need her by my side for this." The "her" Leon was referring to was Jessa, a woman he'd stumbled upon during that night in Raccoon City. It quickly became evident that she was a bioweapon engineered by Umbrella, held in their custody and subjected to brutal experiments since she was a child. Maybe that was the reason that he allowed her to accompany him that night. Or maybe it was because, unlike the other abominations he'd witnessed, she was still virtually a human. Whatever the case, his vehement refusal to allow the government to experiment on her—or Sherry-any further following the destruction of Raccoon City forced him into taking an ultimatum to become a government agent lest the three of them be killed. The government also decided that Jessa was his problem to deal with and, strong-arming her into his custody, named him her handler, meant to kill her if she became a danger. And that is how Jessa had become a constant in Leon's everyday life with him taking every opportunity he could to show her the world outside of the confines of a laboratory.
The pair found comfort from their trauma in video games, especially the Pokémon franchise. They'd even gotten tattoos of their personal favorites; Arcanine for him and Mewtwo for her. It wasn't until several years later, while on their mission to rescue the President's daughter from a dangerous cult in Spain, that he realized that he'd developed feelings for her. The pair entered a secret relationship after returning stateside, scared of, because of their bioweapon and handler status, any government repercussions should their romance be made public. Things were a little complicated for a time because of Leon's complex relationship with Ada Wong, but they eventually settled down once he realized Jessa, rather than Ada, was the one he loved. He rather spontaneously proposed to her in response to Helena Harper questioning his supposed feelings for Ada while in Tatchi and the pair eloped some time after returning to the States.
Leon's government pay eventually landed the couple a nice house in the Chicago suburbs with some cats, a couple German Shepherds, a basement dedicated wholly to their continued passion for gaming, and a pool. But while on official duty for the DSO, they played the role of handler and bioweapon to perfection by hiding their wedding bands in their pockets and acknowledging each other tersely. Only a handful of people-Ada Wong ironically being one of them-knew the truth. Things had been great and Leon was finally happy with his life. That was, until earlier this year, when government agents-led by a man looking eerily similar to Albert Wesker-arrived on their doorstep and took Jessa from his custody, telling him that while he'd done admirably as her handler, she was now their property. And that was the last he saw of his wife, having had zero contact with her for about eight months at this point.
Jesseon exposition, anyone???
#leonxoc | #jesseon | #mywriting
