Continuation of a series of many renders that are based on a Fan Fiction Jilleon story:

The Bench
by
TheLadyFrost

Summary:

She'd lost everything. She'd come back a shadow. She had nothing left to lose. Sometimes saving yourself is as simple as sitting down. He just might have the answers she's been searching for since the moment she died.



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She jerked where she sat. He nodded and mused, "Yeah. It's recess."

Kids.

An orphanage full of them.

Jill watched them run and jump and play ball. She felt her eyes tear up. He leaned back on the bench and told her, "It's easy to forget what I'm doing sometimes. I get wrapped up in the action and the money and the fame. Had my head up my ass for a long time there."

Jill, finally, murmured, "So, why come here?"

"...my Mom worked in a state home when I was growing up. She liked to say being around all those kids reminded her that life is full of surprises. Hell, she even brought one home with her once."

Jill glanced at him and he nodded, "Yep. Adopted. Though I never felt like I was."

She sighed heavily, "So why not just adopt a few?"

He twisted his lips a little, "I couldn't give them any kind of life. Not with what I do. I could retire I guess, but I made a promise to a little girl in a dying city once...I keep my promises."

"...and what did you promise your Mom?"

He blew out a hard breath, "That any time I was starting to doubt who I was, I'd find a bench and remind myself."

They sat in silence for a while until Jill inquired, "...what happened to your Mom?"

Leon shifted on the bench, "She died after Raccoon City. I wasn't there. I wasn't able to see her or tell her I was alive."

Jill gave him a sad look, "I'm sorry...she was sick?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. She could tell he was uncomfortable, but to her surprise, he answered, "She swallowed a bottle of pills."

Suicide.

That explained his wanting to stop her on that roof. He'd lost his mother to it. Jill felt a twinge of guilt and told him, "I'm sorry."

Leon nodded lightly, "Yeah. After my Dad was gunned down growing up, she never really came back as she'd been."

Jesus. Jill turned her entire attention to him. "...your Dad was...?"

"A cop." He laughed once with ire, "Irony, right? He died in the line of duty. Drug bust gone bad. I took up the shield to follow in his footsteps...served one whole day on the force and ended up in this mess."

After a long quiet moment, Jill wondered, "No other family?"

He shook his head, "Just me. No brothers or sisters. No wife or rugrats. Just me...and this bench."

So to honor his father, he'd become a protector. To honor his mother, he'd held onto the innocence that came with watching children play. Moved a little by him, Jill sighed, "...I lost my brother in the Gulf War."

Leon tilted his head, "...rough. Army?"

She nodded, "His convoy was delayed and under fire. He took a stray bullet to the femoral artery and bled out in the field."

Leon studied her profile, "Sucks."

"Yeah...sucks." She blew out a breath, "My Mom died of cancer about two years before that. I never knew my father...so there's my whole sad story."

He leaned back on the bench, "Pretty short story."

"Not much to tell. I left the military after Mark died and joined S.T.A.R.S...any file out there has the rest."

Leon pursed his lips. There was more to that story, but there was plenty of time to tell it. Today? It was about this bench. It was the first time he'd ever shared it with anyone. What had possessed him to invite her?

He'd seen his mother on that roof?

Maybe it was that simple. Maybe it was just his pathological need to save someone. Maybe he was just that lonely. He considered that. Was he lonely? Of course, he was. He'd been busy busting asses and saving lives. He'd lost so much he was still trying to piece together what was left.

Maybe it was as simple as two lost souls looking for a place to sit and just exist.

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Created using DAZ Studio 4.22.1 using character, poses, props and environment which I searched for on the net and https://www.daz3d.com/shop. Setting up the scene was a new learning experience since this was the first outdoor scene during the day. Took 16200 seconds to render which I limited to.

No AI involved, just a lot of hours sitting on my backside.
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