Notes:- This is a mash-up of canon and non-canon. All will become clear in later chapters but as a quick guide to get you started, the events of RE and RE2 happened with the exception that Leon didn't meet Ada or Claire. Enjoy reading and remember, reviews are love!

The Facility

Chapter One – Spain

"I knew you'd end up forgetting something," Jill teased as she handed the passport over. Chris offered her a lop-sided grin and took another drag of his cigarette.

"Where would I be without you"? He replied, blowing out a smoke ring as he spoke. Jill coughed and waved the smoke away from her face. She rolled her eyes at Chris and nodded towards the airport building that stood a few yards away.

"What time's your flight"? She asked.

"Soon" Chris answered with a shrug, dropping his cigarette and grinding it into the pavement with his boot. He stuffed his passport into the back pocket of his jeans and watched as Jill started to rifle through the bag at his feet. It was his turn to roll his eyes. She was probably checking that he had his plane ticket. Looking down at his old friend he wondered how the hell he'd ever found her attractive. Sure, she had a hot body that included an ass that wouldn't quit, but she was so damn irritating. All she seemed to do was nag him. Nag him about leaving his clothes on the floor, nag him about the washing up, about all sorts of things that frankly he couldn't really be bothered with. They'd dated for a few months before he'd finally ended it. Things had been awkward between them for a while but when he'd helped her and Barry found their new organisation, The BSAA, the awkwardness had melted away and things were almost back to the way they'd been when they were both S.T.A.R.S all those years ago.

"Good luck out there" She said, standing up and handing him his ticket. "I hope your new partner treats you well"!

"I'm sure he'll be fine" Chris picked up his bag and the two of them headed for the airport entrance.

Chris sat back in his seat as he accepted a bag of free peanuts from an airhostess. He'd made his flight on time which, of course, he'd always expected that he would despite what Jill insisted. As he ripped open the bag and helped himself to a large handful he knew that instead of watching the dumb romantic comedy currently playing, he should come up with some sort of plan for his task ahead. If truth be told however, he hadn't actually been told that much. Barry had phoned him a week or so ago informing him that the government were prepared to offer the BSAA some minimal funding. As much as Chris hated the government and the current president, he couldn't exactly thumb his nose at money. All the government was asking in return was that the BSAA send out an agent to aid one of their agents who was currently undertaking some job in Spain. Barry had happily volunteered Chris.

He crammed another handful of peanuts into his mouth and crunched loudly. He didn't mind being volunteered. The pay was good and if there was one thing Chris thoroughly enjoyed it was getting a big fat cheque for a job well done. He just hoped that his assurances to Jill regarding this new partner would be true. The last thing Chris needed or wanted was to be stuck with some asshole for the duration.

"I hope this partner you're assigning me is good. I don't want to be landed with some asshole"

"Relax Leon" Dennis looked up from his computer. "Barry Burton is a personal friend of mine, he knows good men," He added reassuringly in his clipped English tone as Leon helped himself to a cupful of water from the cooler in the corner. Leon took a sip and regarded his colleague for a moment. Dennis was dressed like your typical government official in a smart suit and dark blue tie. His greying hair was neatly gelled back, and his black wire framed glasses sat on the end of his nose. Dennis had been tasked with getting him settled in Spain and briefing him on his missions. Theirs had been a brief acquaintanceship, no longer than a few months, but Leon had a quiet respect for the older man. The one thing that irked him however was Dennis' penchant for withholding what Leon considered to be important information. He knew that he was about to undertake a difficult and possibly life threatening mission but all the while Leon had a feeling that there was something he hadn't been told. It had been this morning when Dennis had chosen to tell him that he'd be having a partner. "Don't tell me you don't need a partner," Dennis continued as if he'd read Leon's mind. "The government are considering sinking some money into the BSAA and they want their money's worth. May I remind you that your particular mission is quite dangerous and that it would be prudent to have some backup"? He said with one eyebrow raised.

Leon was about to reply when the sound of the door opening interrupted him. A man strolled in with the largest muscles Leon had ever seen. He was tall as well with chestnut brown hair in floppy messy spikes. He was dressed in dark jeans and a green t-shirt and had the sort of lop sided smile that would probably drive most women crazy. Leon however, was distinctly unimpressed. The man looked like an oaf.

"The polite thing to do in these sorts of situations is knock" Leon said acidly. The guy turned to him and wiped his hand on the leg of his jeans before holding it out.

"Chris Redfield" He replied, seemingly unfazed by Leon's hostile reception.

"Ah Chris" Dennis stood up and shook Chris' hand. "He's a good guy Leon. I'm sure you won't have any problems" he turned back to Chris. "I don't know if Barry's told you but you'll be supplied with the best weapons as well as having somewhere to stay" He offered Chris a smile. "I suggest that the pair of you take the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other. Leon, perhaps you'd like to show Chris around"?

Chris noticed that this Leon character was glaring daggers at the other guy. He took the opportunity to size his new partner up. He was fairly short and had nowhere the muscle mass of his own impressive body. He had what Jill would probably describe as a swimmer's build. His hair was blonde and floppy, the sort of hair that women would lust after. It was easy for Chris to imagine that his new partner was some sort of James Bond style lady-killer. In Chris' mind it was all just a bit too perfect. At least he wasn't wearing a suit. If there was one thing Chris couldn't stand it was a stuck-up asshole in a suit. Leon was dressed instead in black combats and a fitted grey t-shirt. He was wearing an expensive looking leather jacket despite the heat inside of the small office. Posing bastard.

"Are you going to get moving or stand there looking gormless"? Leon's harsh tone broke through Chris' thoughts. He was standing by the open door, motioning towards the corridor. With a nod at the guy in the suit, Chris had no choice but to follow Leon as he strode off quickly. He didn't speak again until they were outside the building, standing in the sticky heat. As Leon tried to flag down a taxi, Chris dug in his pockets for his cigarettes. He'd had a bit of trouble finding the right building. From the outside it looked nothing like an official building. Unlike the fancy architecture he was used to, the building was grey and squat. It was three storeys high with ugly square windows and a large oak front door. It reminded him somewhat of the old RPD building only with less pomp. A slightly tattered-at-the-edges American flag hung stiffly from a short flagpole beside the door. Chris lit up his cigarette and took a deep drag.

"You took the time to get your body looking like that and now you want to give yourself lung cancer"? Leon asked sardonically. "Unless it's all down to steroids," He added with a raised eyebrow. Chris took another drag of his cigarette and made a great performance of savouring it before blowing it out. So he smoked. Big deal. He knew the risks. Jill was just as uppity about it.

"Don't know why you're acting all high and mighty" He replied. "It's not like you're any better than me, so why act like you are"?

"I'm not acting" Leon said simply as he flagged down a taxi. "I am better than you. I don't need a partner and I don't need a friend. You're someone to be tolerated until you can be shipped back to America and I can get on with my work here" He shrugged and clambered into the taxi. Chris took one last drag of his cigarette and followed him in. He was surprised at how hostile this new guy was. He wasn't exactly struck on having a partner himself but he wasn't going to act like an asshole about it. It looked as if the best thing to do would be to stay out of Leon's way until they needed to do something for the mission. It shouldn't be too hard, he theorised, and that government guy had promised him somewhere to stay. He just hoped that it would be a halfway decent hotel with a halfway decent selection of pornography.

"I trust Barry told you that you'd be staying with me for the duration of this mission"? Leon asked as the taxi sped along the busy city streets. Chris regarded his partner for a moment to look for any signs of it being a joke. It was highly likely however, that Leon didn't tell jokes.

"That guy in the suit said I'd have somewhere to stay" Chris replied. "I was thinking a nice hotel with all the facilities"

"I can assure you my house has all the facilities you'll need" Leon said. "You can try to book yourself into a hotel but I think you'll find that most of the tourists got there first"

"Great" Chris replied sarcastically. Leon looked like he was the sort of person who liked to get up stupidly early. Even when he was in the Air Force, Chris had a problem with the early starts.

"I'll tell you right now, I'm not your mother" Leon continued, almost as if he was reading Chris' mind. "On the days where we're not doing anything it's up to you what time you get up and what you do. I can show you a couple of places of interest but as far as I'm concerned we can stay out of each other's way. We don't even have to eat meals together if you want" He shrugged and offered Chris a sarcastic smile. "The only thing I care about is that when some mutant creature wants to take a chunk out of me you're there with a magnum to blow its head off"

Chris leant back in his seat. Ok, so Barry had really let him down with this one. His old friend had assured him that it would be a simple enough mission, a quick in and out job that would secure the BSAA's funding. What Barry hadn't told him was that there'd be a chance he'd run into mutants and a partner with a serious attitude problem. As the taxi continued its journey to god knows where, Chris made a mental note to kick Barry Burton's ass the second he got back to America.

As it happened, Leon's home turned out to be much nicer than any hotel Chris could imagine. Unlike its owner, it was actually cosy and radiated an aura of homeliness that reminded Chris of the apartment he used to share with Jill. The building itself was nestled between the small mountains and resembled a log cabin. There was a balcony across the front that looked as if it offered splendid views of city in the distance. Once inside, the rooms were tastefully decorated with neutral creams and pine. There were a few personal possessions about and a couple of photographs on the wall in the lounge. There was a pair of glass panelled double doors that looked as if they led out onto a large decked area with what looked like a small hot tub. Chris could imagine himself resting his aching muscles in there at the end of a hard day. As soon as they got in, Leon had seated himself on the black leather sofa and was flicking through a file folder. Chris had stood around awkwardly for a few moments before settled into one of the matching armchairs.

"Nice place you got here" Chris commented, feeling slightly awkward at the silence that had descended. Chris always liked a lot of noise in his life, whether it be general chatter, the TV or a games console. Silence to him was somewhat of an alien concept.

"It belongs to the government really" Leon replied, not looking up from the paper he was holding. Chris wondered if it was the mission brief. Leon didn't seem to be in a hurry to share any information.

"You seem like a nice guy," Chris blurted out without really thinking. Leon had showed no signs of being remotely nice and as soon as the words had come out, Chris felt incredibly stupid.

"Really"? Leon looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "And how exactly do I seem like a nice guy"? He challenged. When Chris simply shrugged dismissively, Leon closed the folder with a snap. "Please refrain from saying any old crap that comes into your head. I'll find it incredibly tiresome" He continued. "I've just had a look at the brief that Dennis provided and it would seem like we can easily get this done within a day or two. In fact, if you're as good as your Barry Burton insists you are, we could have it done and dusted within a matter of hours which would certainly suit me"

Chris nodded and resisted the urge to reach over the coffee table and grab his new partner by the throat. If it weren't for the fact that Leon could easily leave him homeless in a strange country, he would certainly like to teach the snide man some manners with his fists. He watched through narrowed eyes as Leon wandered into the open plan kitchen area and pluck an apple from a wooden bowl on the counter top.

"This is just money for me" Leon continued, taking a bite out of the apple.

"That makes two of us" Chris replied, trying not to sound as defensive as he felt. He wondered if Leon could hear his stomach rumbling. Was he expected to just help himself or was there a decent takeaway around? He fumbled in the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet and then it hit him. "Shit! I left my bag in the taxi"!

"Pretty stupid thing for you to do" Leon said calmly, taking another bite from the apple. Chris suspected that he'd just slid even further down Leon's estimations of him.

"Well…it means I'm gonna need some things…toiletries and clothes and stuff" He added somewhat sheepishly. Now he had more things to rely on his host for. Leon shrugged and tossed his apple core into the bin.

"Write a list. I need to get some things tomorrow anyway"

Chris watched the other man leave the room. He leapt out of his armchair and grabbed the bunch of bananas from the wooden fruit bowl. He was starving! He hurriedly unpeeled one and crammed half of it into his mouth before grabbing a pen and a notepad that were neatly laid out beside the phone on the pine coffee table.

Leon frowned as he tried his best to decipher Chris' list. He hadn't expected much from the oaf but legible handwriting would've certainly been nice. When he'd woken up that morning there'd been no sign of Chris so Leon had assumed that he was still languishing in bed. Leon had eaten a quick breakfast and made the trip back into the city to the local supermarket.

He wandered the aisles and tossed various things into his basket barely pausing to look at what he was grabbing. Leon hated shopping. It was one of those things that he needed to do but he preferred to do it as quickly as possible. He wasn't friendly with any of the locals and many of them looked upon him with suspicion. Dennis had told him that many of the residents didn't trust Americans but that suited Leon just fine. He'd learnt enough Spanish to enable him to get by with the basics but hadn't bothered to learn any of the conversational stuff. The language barrier made it so much easier for him to distance himself from people.

Chris leant his head back against the cushioned corner of the hot tub. It hadn't taken him long to figure out how the thing worked and it had taken him even less time to shed all his clothing and climb in. The bubbling water felt great against his skin and the heat was soothing his muscles just as he'd imagined it would. He'd never been in a hot tub before but he resolved to seek one out when he returned to America.

He'd had a great night's sleep in his new bed. The mattress was nice and soft and the pillows had been plump. The sheets had smelt fresh and clean which was a far cry from his own sheets back home. His clothes that he'd been wearing had been carelessly discarded on the carpeted floor and he'd made the trek from the bedroom to the hot tub entirely naked after making sure that Leon wasn't around.

He briefly wondered if Leon would mind him using the hot tub but then dismissed that notion right away by deciding that he didn't really give a damn. His presence in the house was obviously such an annoyance to his new partner it wouldn't really matter what he did. Chris stretched and scratched his stomach. It was time to start considering breakfast. He hauled himself out of the water and gave his hair a quick scrub with a nearby towel. He turned to face the glass double doors and was shocked to see Leon standing there holding a brown paper shopping bag. Chris jumped back slightly but made no effort to cover his nudity.

"I had no idea you were a peeping tom," He said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"At what point did I give you permission to use my hot tub"? Leon asked coldly. He averted his eyes so that he no longer had to look at his new partner's genitals. Chris didn't seem to be in any great hurry to cover up. "Naked" He added.

"I was all sweaty and achy," Chris answered simply with a shrug. He bent down to retrieve the towel and wrapped it around his waist. "I don't get what your problem is. I don't have anything you haven't seen before. We're both guys. Is that my stuff?" He took the bag from Leon as he passed him and wandered back into the house leaving Leon standing there, frozen.

Much to Chris' surprise, Leon announced that he would be cooking for them both. Leon hadn't said anything about it, but Chris guessed his new partner still felt a little uncomfortable about seeing him in the nude. Not that he could blame the guy, Chris smirked to himself, he was pretty impressive to look at. He imagined that Leon felt a little threatened by having someone around the place who could so easily kick his ass. He looked up from the mission file to see Leon serving up what looked like a very delicious stew. Chris dropped the file and hurried over to the table.

The stew tasted as delicious as it looked and smelled. Chris was on his second bowlful when he decided to break the silence. Leon hadn't said a word to him since he'd said 'dinner's ready' and Chris had to assume that it was to do with the hot tub incident.

"You're not still bugged about the hot tub thing are you"? He asked in between mouthfuls of stew. If this one meal was anything to go by, Leon was a great cook. Way better than him and almost as good as Jill.

"Why would I be bothered"? Leon asked smoothly. He'd been reading a newspaper as he ate but was now looking at Chris with thinly veiled irritation. It was a look that was becoming all too familiar.

"I dunno. You just looked it" Chris shrugged. "I'm sorry I didn't ask your permission to use it or anything. I figured you wouldn't really care. As for the whole naked thing, well, I didn't wanna just take something of yours cos it doesn't seem right going commando in another man's fatigues" He shrugged again. "Unless that's your sort of thing of course," He added as he drained his bowl. Leon opened his mouth to reply but was cut off. "Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against gay guys Y'know everyone's entitled to get theirs it's just personally I prefer women" He stuck his finger in the now empty bowl and ran it around the edge before licking it clean noisily. "I don't think the gays would really go for a guy like me" He pushed the bowl away and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, and began crunching loudly before continuing. "You've probably noticed that not only do I stink, I smoke a lot and can never turn down a beer"

"Some guys would really like that" Leon replied quietly. He wondered why Chris was so eager to talk to him. He'd never known anyone talk so much so suddenly. And what the hell was this little monologue on sexuality about? Was it just him or had that come completely out of left field?

"Jill didn't like it" Chris continued, still munching on the apple. "She's an old friend. We dated for a while but it didn't really work out. I think I was too much of an oaf for her," He said with a grin. "Anyways, enough about me. How come you're here"?

"When you say it like that you insinuate that I'm not here by choice" Leon answered, pushing his own bowl away. He wasn't finished but the sights and sounds of Chris devouring an apple would be too much for the strongest of stomachs.

"Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall you know that"? Chris had now finished the apple and was lighting up a cigarette. "We're supposed to be getting to know each other"

"Says who"? Leon challenged. "I told you, this is just money to me. Nothing more. I don't need friends," He said getting up from the table and gathering together the bowls and cups. "I'd ask you not to smoke in the house but chances are you'd ignore me. I assume the toiletries I got for you are to your liking"

"Yeah they're great" Chris stubbed his cigarette out onto his side plate. Leon was probably right with the ignoring thing but at least for now he'd abide by his host's rules. "What about clothes"?

"I'll wash those for you" Leon replied, nodding at Chris' clothes. "Just leave them outside your room when you go to bed. I'd say I hope you don't mind sleeping naked but I wouldn't mean it and I know you won't mind it" He turned the tap on and started to wash the bowls.

"Of course not" Chris said with a grin.

END OF CHAPTER ONE.