Nodding lightly, Ada started making her way over to the four men with Leon following a step behind her. As they got closer, Ada could feel something off about the three supposed agents as well. Yet she needed a closer inspection to figure out exactly what. Thus, Ada let Leon step ahead of her to talk to Mikey while she took a closer look at the three men - all dressed sharply enough, professional posture and demeanor, and yet...

"Mikey?"

Leon's uttering of his friend's name made Ada turn her gaze to the two, while still managing to keep the other three men in her peripheral vision. As it was, Mikey himself didn't look good - his eyes bloodshot, his ginger hair messy, scraggly five o'clock shadow across his face, his clothes looking freshly slept in.

"Leon", Mikey replied, giving Leon a tight hug that he promptly returned. "God...it's horrible...I can't believe.."

"I know, buddy, I know. That's why we're here", Leon replies. "I just wish we could do more for you, that's all."

Letting out a light sigh, Mikey managed to say, "Just make sure you find the people who did this and put them away. That's all I ask, Leon."

"We will. I promise."

It was then that Ada noticed one of the agents, the blond man, glancing over at her with a familiar glint of desire in his eyes, one that she'd seen many times from many other men in the past. And the Ada of old would've taken delight in teasing him and making him think he had a chance.

But Ada also knew that those days were behind her, as she raised a hand - the hand bearing her gilded butterfly wing given to her by Leon - to brush away her ebony bangs. Immediately, the agent let his gaze fall back to Leon and Mikey, even as his longer-haired counterpart stepped toward them.

"Listen, Mr. Simon?" The man said, his voice deep, yet soft. "We appreciate you taking the time to help us. We're really sorry about your daughter as well - rest assured, we'll find out what did this."

"I hope so", Mikey replied, "but I'm also putting my trust in these two as well. Leon's been my friend for a long time, and he's never been one to stray from helping those in need, right?"

But before Leon could even speak, the blond agent piped up, his voice a light growl with a touch of condescension, "That's nice, but we can handle this by ourselves, ok?"

Her head cocked at the agent's attitude, Ada couldn't help but feel more strongly that something seemed wrong with these three. No matter what kind of help someone like federal agents got, as long as it was professional, they usually accepted it as long as the authority was right. All she could think was how these guys didn't know about them yet. But they'd been around long enough and solved enough cases for their half of New York State to know them well, even this peninsula. So how...?

"That's a shame, considering he hired us", Leon stated, flashing his professional ID at them. "Leon Kennedy, Kennedy Investigations. And who are you guys?"

The agents responded by flashing their ID's, the trenchcoated man checking his to see if it was facing right before doing so. "Agents Lee, Lifeson, and Peart, FBI", the blond man stated authoritatively.

Ada barely managed to get a clear glimpse of their badges and IDs before they were promptly slapped shut and put away, even as Leon let out an involuntary chuckle.

"There something funny here, ah, Kennedy?"

"Nothing. I just wondered why I felt a weird rush when I got here", Leon cracked.

"Well, just make sure not to let that feeling go to your...head", the blond agent fired back, flicking his gaze toward Ada.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, considering your last name..."

The trenchcoated man began to step between them, his voice a thinner and lighter growl as he turned to his blond friend. "Agent Lee. Relax. They're here to investigate what's going on here, just as we are. Arguing about this won't get us anywhere."

Ada nodded quietly, looking over at Leon. "He's right - this childish attitude will only make things worse. We'll get this figured out later tonight, alright, Leon? Just relax, and let's just see what they can do. Ok?"

Leon let out a deep breath in a sigh before finally answering, "Alright...we shouldn't be arguing about this here. You're right."

"I know I am, handsome", Ada smartly fired back, a cheeky grin on her face. "That's why we listen to each other."

Leon playfully rolled his eyes before matching eyes with the tallest of the three, the brunette-haired agent - 'Agent Lifeson', Leon figured. For some reason, there was something familiar about this man. Very familiar.

"So...what exactly do you guys have so far?"

"Not much at this point, I must say", Lifeson replied. "A couple of strange puncture marks in each kid's arm, all of them dead. As to the cause, we're still debating about that."

"That's what we're still trying to figure out as well", Ada replied, "Have you heard about the ghost stories surrounding this place, agents?"

"You mean, the whole fountain-of-youth story, vampires and other demons of sorts guarding this place?" Lee clarified. "Yeah, we've heard about those...we tend to take them seriously in our line of work."

"But why take simple ghost stories so seriously in this case?" Ada asked, keeping her interrogative interest veiled. Leon was right - there was something strange about these two. Nothing evil, but…off.

"Most of them are usually based from some root of fact, and they rarely start up without reason as well", Lifeson replied. "Sometimes it feels like we're constantly chasing ghost stories, and whenever we solve one, another seems to crop right up."

Ada's eyebrows wrinkled - what the hell did that mean? Storing the moment in her head, she responded, "Maybe if we found how these stories started, we'll find out who - or what - has been killing these kids, and why."

Leon nodded lightly in agreement as he stated sardonically, "Seems like a regular vacation for us. All that's missing is the red wine and the beach."

The trenchcoat-clad agent - Agent Peart - turned over to them, a sternly perplexed expression on his face. "In what way is this considered a vacation for you?"

"Just being sarcastic, Agent", Leon states softly. "Plus, considering what we've been through" - signaling to Ada, wrapping an arm around her waist - "this should be an easy enough case to solve."

"And what exactly have you been through?" Agent Peart asked, his steel-blue eyes squinting slightly with curiosity.

They hesitated for only a minute before Leon finally answered, "Well...Raccoon City, for one thing."

The reaction among the agents was immediate - Lifeson's eyes widening, Lee letting out a low whistle, and Peart gravely nodding.

"Raccoon City, you said?" The brunette finally managed to ask. "Huh...weird."

"What's weird?" Ada inquired.

"Nothing, it's just...I remember someone telling me about their experiences in Raccoon City a while back", the brunette answered, before turning his gaze back to Leon. "Looked a lot like you actually. And that name, Kennedy, really rings a bell."

"You sure you don't mean 'bangs a gong'?" Agent Lee cracked, to which Lifeson only rolled his eyes.

Ignoring him, Leon responded cautiously, "I'm not quite sure...but I definitely get that vibe myself. Then again, maybe we just have that type of face."

Agent Lifeson pondered this for a minute before nodding lightly, letting the matter go for now. "Yeah, I suppose that's fair. Still though..."

"I know, that feeling. Plus, apparently Kennedy's a popular name." Then he turned to the blond, his eyes sparkling humorously as he turned to face Lee. "Isn't that right, Cinderella Man?"

"Ah...what?" Agent Lee stared at Leon, while Lifeson tried not to laugh and Peart looked at them both with a "what the hell?" look.

"Men and their egos", Ada muttered, shaking her head before focusing her gaze on the mansion in the background. There was something familiarly foreboding about it, almost as if...

Spencer Mansion. Arklay Mountains.

The thoughts came into Ada's head and refused to leave - she couldn't shake the vibe off of her, as she was strongly reminded of the decrepit old mansion back in the mountains surrounding Raccoon City. A mansion that had housed a complex of secret laboratories directly below it, where evil men had experimented with the bio-organic weapons and viral agents that had shaped her life, and Leon's after her.

And yet, something about this mansion made the feeling worse. It was as if this place threatened to suck out the very souls of those who dared to enter. And if they came back out...

"Ada?"

At the sound of her name, Ada turned to see Leon looking at her with concern, the other three agents glancing after them.

"I was just saying that maybe we ought to figure out how to investigate this? Maybe research the past incidents further to get a better angle?"

It took Ada a minute to shake off the foreboding feeling long enough to answer, "Maybe. You think there might be something we missed?"

"It's possible. Plus..."

"What?"

Leon took a look back at the three agents before responding to his wife, "You get the feeling that there's more to this place than just these murders? Like they're a part of something even bigger than just being random murders?"

Taking a look back at the darkly looming mansion, Ada let the initial shock of Leon's question dissipate - of course he'd feel the same way she would about this. "Now that you mention it, yes", she stated, making her way back over to the men.

"You guys didn't investigate these incidents before we came here?"

"We came here straight from another case, so we didn't have the time", Peart responded, a tone of mild annoyance in his quiet growl. "We'd only just heard about it from the paper of the town we were at, and the stories about this place from one of the cops."

"A regular bunch of ghost riders, huh?" Leon quipped.

At this, both Ada and Lee gave the former DSO a look reserved for the desperately insane, which Leon met with a shrug and a raised eyebrow before he continued, "Anyway. Maybe we should split up and head back to dig up some more information about what's been going on? Maybe there's something we missed here."

"Yeah, maybe", Lifeson agreed with a light shake of his brown mane. "Plus, there's not really much to go on as far as now goes. Do we even know who owns this place?"

"Well, it's a crazy house. Maybe it belongs to this guy", Lee answered, raising a pointed finger at Leon.

"And you're pointing a finger at me because...?" Leon asked.

"Because you've been acting weird ever since we got here", Lee fires back, getting into Leon's face. Even if he had to look up into it a bit. "All these weird names and that tough-guy swagger - what do you know that we don't?"

The tension became so thick that it blanketed everyone - Lifeson and Peart looking as wary as was possible, Ada with her arm braced back to possibly reach for her gun.

It snapped apart like a whip when Leon responded, "That you should probably get that whiskey breath away from my mug and back down, Dirk?"

Lifeson and Ada couldn't help but let out an involuntary snicker, Peart's eyes squinting as a smile flickered at the corner of his mouth.

"And the weird nicknames too - what the hell?"

"Boys", Ada insistently cut in, placing a hand on the chests of the two men and pushing them apart. "Let's save the dick-measuring for later, after we've figured out everything that's been going on with these murders and this place, huh?"

Raising his arms in surrender, Leon took a step back and let out a breath, cracking his neck as he did so.

"I mean, I know whose I already have - the same that I'd rather prefer - but still", Ada finished with a wink before whispering to Leon, "Seriously, what are you doing though?"

"I'll let you know when we get home", Leon responded just as quietly, flashing one last nod at the trio of agents. "Meet back here later then?"

Lifeson managed to flick Leon a card with their info on it before they got too far apart, the latter catching it deftly. "Let ya know if you find anything else and when you're getting back here. We'd appreciate it."

"Will do", Ada stated with a twinkling look and a light nod. "Agents."

"Dicks", Lee returned, only a tone of half-begrudging there.

Leon and Ada turned their backs fully to the agents and made their way to their own cobalt-blue Impala, the small number of drying fallen leaves crunching beneath their boots. They managed to maintain the silence between them right until the doors of the car creaked open and they sat inside, feeling the gentle warmth of the car's interior.

"Ok, seriously, honey. What the hell was that all about?" Ada inquired as Leon started up the car and started them on the trip back to their place.

If they had looked closer through a nearby copse of trees, they would have noticed another familiar-looking Impala, this one a shade of jet black that masked a few small dents and dings well, and bearing Ohio license plates.