Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Click.

The passcode that Gary had given to her worked.

Buffy looked at the man beside her. He was standing here, grim, alert and very Riley-like. "Before we go in there, don't you think I should know your name?"

"Leon," he said, "Leon Kennedy."

"Well, Leon, nice to meet you. Let's go."

Buffy turned the metal handle to the door, and pushed in. She took a quiet step inside, was not immediately attacked, so she jerked her head at Leon, indicating he should come in behind her. As Leon closed the door behind them, Buffy scanned her surroundings. She stood in what looked to be a normal laboratory. Metal countertops, testing equipment, shelves filled with various chemicals. She was for a moment struck with a feeling of paralytic panic that used to assail her everyday before chemistry class in high school, but she recovered before the accompanying urge to flee set in.

There were four doors that led to more rooms. If Gary's co-conspirator was down here, he might be in one of those rooms.

Leon, who had also been surveying the room, muttered, "This looks familiar."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Umbrella has been experimenting with the virus again, and they don't want anyone to know about it," he said darkly.

That was not sounding good. Buffy said, "Okay, why don't we take a moment here so that you can tell me about the virus? Is it the same virus that took out that city back in the Midwest?

Leon looked at her, then turned away. Buffy waited for him to speak. "What do you know about the virus?"

"To sum up: nothing."

After a pause, Leon, still looking away, began to speak again, slowly but intensely. "The virus that Umbrella invented turns people into…monsters…into the living dead. If you become infected, either through bloodborn or airborn transmission, you die… but you don't really die. Your body is dead but your brain continues to function. You crave human flesh and blood. You're stronger, more resistant to pain. You can take two, three shots from this shotgun I'm holding and still be standing. And, to answer your other question, we'd be lucky if this was the same virus – the T-Virus – that killed the people of Raccoon City. At least then we'd know what we're dealing with. But the virus mutates, become more virulent, has unpredictable effects."

Leon looked at Buffy, his gaze pained…strong. "I work for an underground organization that is committed to stopping Umbrella's work on the virus. I came to Sunnydale to investigate what Umbrella is planning to do here because, if I know Umbrella, they've been playing God again… and whatever they've come up with won't be pretty."

Silence. Then, "So, the virus turns people into zombies."

"Correct."

"Arms outstretched, shuffling feet, moaning for braaaaaains zombies?"

"Look, I know it's hard to believe but—"

"No, I gotcha. So what do we do next?"

From the look of disbelief on Leon's face, it was clear he hadn't expected Buffy to believe him. To her, the whole situation had been so Initiative-esque so far, what with the normal-guy-turned-commando deal and the secret rooms, the zombie virus and corporate malfeasance just seemed to fit.

"You believe me? Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that. Now, you showed me yours, so I'll show you mine. A few days ago, I overheard two men, one of them our friend Gary and another guy I don't know, talking about taking a virus out of the facility. I couldn't hear the entire conversation but that was enough to wig me out a little. I looked in the company files to see if I could ID the other guy, but didn't have any luck. So here I am, checking out the secret basement, seeing if I can find out what's going on."

"How did you hear this conversation?"

"On my rounds. I'm a security assistant for Umbrella."

Leon backed away, gripping his shotgun a little tighter. "You work for Umbrella? How do I know I can trust you?" he demanded.

Buffy frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. Miffed Buffy pose. "Listen, I've only been working here a few weeks. I'm really not feeling the company loyalty to the point where I'll overlook a zombie virus being swiped and taken who knows where. And, hey, did ya ever think I might have some trust issues where you're concerned, Mr. Reporter Man?"

"I'm sorry I lied about that, but I had to come up with something so I could sniff out information about what Umbrella is doing here. And you can trust me because I've seen firsthand what this virus can do when it's let loose and I'll do anything to prevent it from happening again," he said.

So Leon had a story. Well, doesn't everybody. She had some stories too, but now wasn't the time to tell them. They had work to do, asses to kick, viruses to…make … ineffective.

Anyway. Buffy looked Leon in the eye and offered her hand to him. "Okay, Leon, I'm putting my trust in you. From here on out, we have to watch each other's back. Are we cool?"

He looked down at her hand, then at her, then shook her hand firmly. "We are. Now let's check this place out."