Bye, Comrade...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story besides the story itself.

Summary: Leon runs into Krauser and they have a final word before they go their separate ways.

The area was silent. Dead silent. Not a cricket chirped, nor was there the distance howling of one of those large-mouthed wolves.

The silence slowly, but surely, gnawed at Leon Kennedy's nerves. It made him almost paranoid, like something was keeping silent in order to sneak up on him and rip him apart while his guard was down.

So far nothing was leaping out at him and the area seemed clear of any enemies.

Even though it seemed safe enough to let his guard down, the brunette kept his handgun equipped and walked cautiously. He learned early on that in this place, it was better to be safe rather than be sorry.

Leon noticed as he got near a small cliff, someone was standing at the edge of it. Keeping his gun pointed at who ever it was, he crept over to the figure.

When he was only a few feet away, he instantly recognized the camouflage pants, skin tight black shirt, and red beret.

"Krauser..."

The larger man turned to see who said his name, and upon seeing it was Leon, he turned back to the view beyond the cliff.

"Go ahead and shoot me." The blond man spat. "This life isn't worth living, anyway."

Instead of taking the challenge, the agent returned his gun to the holster on his thigh and stood next to the larger man.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I'm not like you, Krauser."

Krauser chuckled. "I know you're not, but that's not necessarily a bad thing."

Leon kept quiet, thinking about what the older man had just said. He took another glance at him, looking him up and down. Aside from a few new scars, he had not changed much since that time before the accident. That time when they were the best of friends.

Smiling, the brunette remembered the joyful times he had with Krauser from days long ago. The time they went drinking in celebration of completing their training, the time they challenged each other to various competitions to see who was the better man, and even the time they were star gazing while telling each other their dreams.

'I'm gonna get married and have kids.' Krauser's voice rang through his head. 'At my wedding, you'll be my best man.'

'Oh, come on, Krauser. You have the worst luck with women.' His own voice echoed through his mind.

'Yeah, you're right, Kennedy.'

The sounds of their laughter at Krauser's last comment echoed louder than anything else. It made the brunette want to scream until his voice was gone and wish the present wasn't real. Maybe if he said it enough times, it would become true. This would all be a nightmare he'd wake up from and everything would be okay.

This wasn't right. It wasn't right at all. Things weren't supposed to be this way. They weren't supposed to be sworn enemies.

It tore Leon up inside. The pain of hearing that his best friend had died wasn't as bad as this. Here stood Krauser, alive and well, yet he had completely changed.

The older man's gruff voice brought him back to the harsh reality.

"Huh?" The younger man looked at Krauser.

"I said what's wrong?"

"Nothing..." He looked away from the man. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Krauser, do you remember when we were-"

"Best friends?" He chuckled. "How could I ever forget...All the hell you put me through."

"Yeah..."

They both shared a heartfelt laugh, reminding Leon of the past once again.

After the laughter died down, Krauser went back to looking at the horizon while Leon watched him. The look in the older man's eyes seemed so...dead. Like a part of him died long ago. Those weren't the eyes of the Jack Krauser he remembered. The Jack Krauser he remembered was a happy man who loved joking around as much as he loved his booze.

The younger man didn't know what to say. His best friend stood before him, but at the same time, it was not his best friend. It was some man who just looked like him, and that was all.

Finally, words came to his lips.

"Krauser...what happened? What made you this way?"

"I changed, Kennedy, that's what happened. I've gone down a bad road and I can never go back."

"What are you saying? Of course you can go back! You can be the way you used to be!"

The blond finally looked the brunette in the eyes, giving him a perfect view of their lifelessness.

"I can't be the way I was. Like I said, I've gone down a bad road and I can never go back, even if I wanted to."

"What are you saying, Krauser? Of course you can go back. Anyone can go-"

"Kennedy, look at me. After kidnapping the President's daughter and betraying my own country, can you honestly say I can go back to the way I was?"

Leon just stared at him. He did have a point. How could anyone go back to the way they were after doing things that bad?

"Yeah, but Krauser..." The brunette's voice had an almost hurt tone to it. He knew the blond was right, but he was forcing himself not to believe it.

Krauser remained silent. He didn't want to continue arguing over something so stupid when he knew the end was near. The end of him.

Leon had enough of this. He turned and as he began to walk away, he said a quick, "Good bye, Krauser.", not expecting to get a response. But the moment he heard the words, "Bye, comrade," uttered, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at the older man.

Krauser was staring right at him, but his eyes weren't dull and lifeless like they were before. They looked more like the eyes of the Jack Krauser he knew. He was even grinning the way he used to.

"Good luck, Leon."

Leon grinned back and gave his old comrade a thumbs up before he continued walking away.

Away from his friend and back to his mission.

I'm not sure where this came from. I just came up with the idea and ever since it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down! Well, hope you enjoyed it.