Faithful Freefall (24.5)

It took Leon a couple of seconds to actually process what was happening, and by the time he realized Bella was kissing him, she'd already pulled back. Almost uncharacteristically looking away, she said, "Sorry, I just…Couldn't help myself."

"I—I mean, I'm not complaining," Leon laughed nervously, "I really am not but…Why?" 

She looked back at him, "Just…I saw that look in your eye when you saw me from above. You weren't even scared of jumping down, it was just pure relief and comfort. Like you knew you didn't have to worry about anything else now that I was here."

Leon looked down, "It's true, though. I know you'd never let anything happen to me. I'd done everything I could, and everything was up to you. And I know you won't fail us. You won't fail me."

Bella let out a breath shakily, "The fact that you trust me that much…It's just—I really like taking care of people, you know that, right? The fact that you're so easily vulnerable around me when I already like you…"

"I—I like you, too," Leon stuttered, his face bright red, "I, um, can you…Kiss me again? I was kind of in shock, and I didn't really get to…To…" He looked down, biting his lip.

Bella gently tilted his chin up and smiled, "Of course, Blondie, whatever you want," And then she leaned forward, kissing him again.

This time, Leon melted into it, wrapping his arms more securely around her neck and letting her take the lead and gently guide him. It was a soft, sweet, gentle kiss, but there was something a little bit more simmering underneath it. Bella pulled back and rested her forehead against his, taking a deep breath as Leon tried to catch his.

"Good?" She asked.

Leon blushed even more as she put him down and nodded, "Y—Yeah, good. That was—That was really nice—"

"Glad it finally fucking happened, but can you two get a fucking move on?! We're being chased, in case you forgot!" Fenix yelled, grabbing both of them by the arm and running, "Congratulations, by the way, took you both long enough!"

The blonde boy stumbled in surprise before crying out in pain. Bella and Fenix immediately stopped and looked over at him as his legs gave out, "Uh…I'm sorry, guys," Leon winced, "I think the adrenaline is wearing off and I can feel the absolute pain my body is in again."

The ginger-haired siblings looked at each other before Bella scooped him up into her arms and Leon yelped again, clutching onto her tightly, "Okay, where the hell do we need to go?" Bella asked, "The others already got away, right?" 

"About that…"

They heard the sound of an engine revving—No, multiple engines revving, and turned around to see Lumina, Mina, and Owen in all their glory, driving motorcycles. Fenix's jaw dropped as they drove up to them, "When you said you were getting a ride, I didn't expect this! Hold on, since when could Owen drive a motorcycle?!"

"I can't!" Owen yelled out, seemingly trying to regain the seventy years of his life he had just lost, "Jesus Christ, someone please take this death machine from me!" He came to a shakey stop and swung his leg over the motorcycle, moving away from it as if it had burned him.

Hearing the yelling coming from a bit behind them, Bella looked over, "Ah, fuck, we really got their attention, didn't we?" She sighed, rubbing her forehead, "Okay, Leon's out of commission, we need someone to go ahead with him, the rest of us will hold them off as we escape, make sure their attention is on us."

Fenix looked over everyone that was there, and suddenly, an idea came to mind, "...Hey, Owen?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you trust me?"

"...Depends on where this is going, yes?"

Fenix turned to the others, "Bella and I take one bike, Mina and Lumina take the other. We'll hold them off, Owen gets Leon out of here. I love you, Owen, but out of all of us, you're the least handy with long-range weapons," They said.

The younger boy's eyes widened and he shook his head, "Oh no. No, no, no. I just got off of that death trap, please do not put me in charge of someone else's life on that thing—"

"I trust you, Owen," Leon said quickly, "Besides, it's not how smoothly you drive that matters," He grinned, "You just got crank the speed up on that baby. If you're really unsure, I can drive—"

"Oh, absolutely not. Your arm is most definitely at least fractured, you're not going to be able to steer—You know what, fine, fuck it. I'll drive, now come on, let's go!" Owen said exasperatedly. He jumped onto the bike and Bella carefully placed Leon on it behind Owen.

"Can you hold onto him with one arm or do we have to like…Tie you two together?" Mina asked, looking at them with concern.

Leon rolled his eyes, "I'm not a fucking rag doll, I can hold on to him. Besides, my legs still exist, if I squeeze them tight enough around the sides of the bike, it's a pretty good grip. Don't worry about me, I'll manage. We need to go!"

As soon as the two were settled and began driving off, Lumina, Mina, Bella, and Fenix looked behind them to see the large crowd of scientists and guards beginning to close in on them. Mina hopped onto one of the bikes and Lumina got on behind her, standing up and facing the back of the motorcycle, unveiling her whip, "Well, it's time for us to have some fun, wouldn't you say?" She grinned.

"Mina, I totally get why you were in love with her for like…Nine years," Bella called over to the blue-haired woman.

"Didn't you like, just kiss Leon?" Fenix asked, hopping onto the bike as Bella got on behind them, pulling a small contraption out of her pocket. They looked at it in confusion before realizing it was one of the compartmentalized weapons that the rebellion had created. 

Bella smirked, "Hey, just because I'm in love with someone, doesn't mean I can't point out other people are attractive. I mean, Risále was in love with Leon before she met Hyunwoo and me, and she still thought Mina was cute. Obviously, she didn't actually want to do anything about it but she did have the smallest crush on her."

"She what—" Mina whirled around to look at her. 

"Wait, did you really not know?" Lumina looked at her.

"You did?!"

"Not the point," Bella interrupted, "Anyways, is Owen basically out of sight now?" She asked.

Fenix nodded, "We're good to go, but what is—Holy fucking shit, is that a fucking bazooka?"

Bella grinned as she sat on the motorcycle backward behind Fenix, aiming the bazooka at the crowd of guards and people in white coats, "When I give you the signal, start driving as fast as you can."

"If you had a fucking bazooka this whole time, then why the hell did you not use it earlier?! Anyways, what signal?!" Lumina yelled over the sound of Mina's motorcycle revving up. 

The ginger-haired woman held up the bazooka and lined it perfectly before squeezing the trigger. The kickback was strong enough to slam her backward into Fenix's back. All of them turned away at the bright flash of the explosion, and Bella yelled, "That's your cue, start driving!"

Fenix revved the motorcycle once before they sped off, Bella swinging her leg over so she could face the front of the bike, "Be careful, you could fall off doing that!" Fenix yelled back before swerving hard to the right, and she grabbed their shoulders. It then occurred to her that she hadn't asked a very important question.

"Klahan," She said seriously, "You do know how to drive this thing, right?"

Further ahead, Leon had a tight grip on Owen, and he was simultaneously gripping onto his sanity, "Hey, remember I said I trusted you?!" He yelled, "Yeah, you do know that trust instantly disappears the more times you almost get us beheaded, right?!"

"Shut up, I don't want to do this anymore than you!" Owen yelled back, "By the way, be careful of the bag tied onto the back of the motorcycle. It's got something…Delicate in it!"

Leon grabbed the bag and held onto it securely, before he paused, "Owen," He said, "What's in this bag?"

"Nothing you need to worry about!" Owen yelled back.

"Owen, there better not be a fucking grenade in this bag—"

"Why the fuck would there be a—Of course, it's not a grenade?!"

"Then what the hell is it?!" 

"Trust me, it's a long story, I'll explain when we get out of here!" 

Leon looked over his shoulder, "Oh, boy," He muttered, "Looks like the other bought us as much time as they could, Bella and Fenix are starting to catch up."

Owen looked in the mirror, "Oh, boy," He repeated, "Well, hold on tight then and pray that I can keep control of this thing."

The blonde boy's next words were stolen from his throat by a scream as Owen sped up to a speed that definitely was not legal.