Hello everyone. My name is Michael Fri, it has been a very long time since I have written fanfiction, almost ten years. Now I am back into the game fresh off of beating RE4 Remake and feeling inspiration pump after returning to the game that got me into Resident Evil and was a very nostalgic time for myself and my younger siblings. I'm also very excited to see several new RE4 themed stories come out around this time too, its a great time to jump back into this series.

Now, back before this remake, the very idea of pairing Leon and Ashley was...niche, we shall say politely. Especially versus pairings like Ada, Claire, or hell even Helena Harper from RE6. However, with the many improvements the Remake had made to the core game one of was Ashley in a major way. She is a way better character and her banter with Leon is adorable, so with that I will be very much following the Remake's story so if you haven't beaten the Remake yet this is your chance to turn around.

If you have or if you really just don't care either way, then I invite you to please stick around and enjoy my humble shot at writing a Leon and Ashley themed story set ten years after RE4 and one year after RE6. I hope you enjoy the story of a budding romance between two adults in the middle of a secret plot filled with danger. Without further ado, I present the first chapter of Lobo.

Chapter I: Stranger At My Door

"Mr. Kennedy, to be perfectly frank I have to congratulate you: you're somehow still alive."

It wasn't the sentence that was shocking as much as the genuine tone in which it was delivered, Leon Kennedy sat on the examination room of the DSO's private medical facility for his annual check up. Doctor Tenhouser wasn't Leon's preferred doctor but he rarely bullshitted anyone and was known for getting straight to the point. It had been a year since the Tall Oaks outbreak and everything with Neo-Umbrella, while Leon was initially cleared for active duty there were still of course concerns of lingering viral elements. Leon wasn't infected during his fight against Simmons, but they were more concerned from the infection he got ten years prior: in Valdelobos. The Las Plagas was deemed eradicated from Leon's system, but there was a concern that the C-Virus might have revealed something that was previously undetected so they required a set of annual checkups to check him over. This such visit seemed to be routine, except for his usual Doctor Vega he got Doctor Tenhouser instead. The older man, with his receding white hairline and perfectly framed round rimmed glasses somehow made that look absolutely emotionless. Which is why the tone of his declaration threw Leon for a small loop.

"I'm sorry Doctor, I really did my best to die." Leon joked, "Threw myself in front of every zombie bite."

Doctor Tenhouser was not impressed as he typed something on his computer, the silence was palpable and for once Leon almost preferred it. Sure enough the second he started wanting something, the universe responded to him. "I'm sure you will try harder next time. Until then however, I'm sending my official recommendation for time off."

Leon had dealt with a lot of scary things, things that sent the most revolting sensations down his spine and continue to haunt him today. Yet, he never been more chilled with that single statement. "You're putting me on leave?"

"Medical leave." Doctor Tenhouser corrected. "For 3 months."

Leon stared at him as Doctor Tenhouser continued to type into his computer, likely completing the paperwork needed to get Leon started right away. But he typed with the casualness of discussing when it rained today. When the Doctor didn't supply anymore information, Leon knew he had to drag it out of him. "Doctor is there something wrong with me?"

Doctor Tenhouser stopped typing with such sharpness that it cut into Leon's core, he looked over at him as if Leon just wasn't getting what was going on and had to explain it to him like a child. "Mr. Kennedy...you have never once taken a single leave of absence for your own health in the past ten years. Not even for a cold. I'm also well aware of the sheer amount of hours you put into your job to an unhealthy amount of overtime. You have no personal life outside of work and quite frankly you are a human resource's nightmare. It is my strongest recommendation you are placed for three months of medical leave, with no work."

Leon's jaw dropped, he had expected some sort of horrible discovery on some essential organ or even something off on one of his charts. Instead he was just dumped on by the world's driest physician that he didn't get enough beach time. He didn't even like the beach! He almost preferred to be sent to some war torn country, send him there! As Doctor Tenhouser finished up his report he stood up and gave him a printed copy which was a summary of their visit, which Leon took numbly. As the doctor was about to step out Leon found his voice, forcing it through his throat he called out. "Wait, what...what am I supposed to...do?"

Doctor Tenhouser hesitated for a moment, half turning to face him but not moving away from the door frame. "Do you have a favorite sport?"

"What?"

"Do you have a favorite sport?" Temhouser repeated. To which Leon unscrambled his brain just long enough to come up with a lie.

"Um, baseball."

"Okay." Tenhouser responded, "Do you have a girlfriend? A boyfriend?" Leon shook his head but that didn't seem to deter Tenhouser, "Okay Mr. Kennedy, then what I would do is go to a baseball game and meet someone. I don't care if it's a casual fling or if you get married. If you aren't enjoying life Leon then quite frankly, someone like you trying to keep the rest of alive scares me."

Without another word Doctor Tenhouser closed the door to the examination room, leaving Leon alone with his thoughts as he stared at the clipped papers with the summary of his visit. Three months of medical leave...what the hell was he going to do with all that time?

Leon had a place in DC, he maybe visited it four times a year. He probably spent more money on cleaning services to keep the place from falling in disarray than he did trying to make the place more homely. His living space was actually a decommissioned bar, with the top floor renovated into a living space. He bought the place cheap and paid more knocking the walls out on the top floor to make it an open space. Because of the nature of his work the place was tricked out with security systems and cleaners were highly vetted before allowed to be in his place. Leon didn't keep any sensitive information there anyway so there was little risk of something being leaked, but it didn't mean that there wasn't a danger that someone placed an explosive trying to kill him when he came home. But no such excitement tonight as Leon stepped out of the car, paying the driver and walking over to the front door. The door seemed to have an old fashioned knob and lock system, but this was a façade as Leon walked up to the doorknob and removed the false cover where the fingerprint scanner was. He pressed his thumb to it and the door clicked. He put the cover back on and pushed it open, the inside of the bar looked immaculate. Which was easy to do when all you had to do was the occasional wipe down for dust. The place was still built like it would host people coming in to drink beer and watch the game, with the bar in the center of the room and booths lining the walls. It still had the barstools even though they were unused. The bar was stocked, but rarely replaced. Leon strode past it to the back of the bar where he opened the door and walked up the flight of steps toward his place, same as the front of the bar the door leading to his actual place was a thumb print lock. He pressed it in and stepped inside to the open space. It was...horribly bare. He had one chair, a TV that was almost ancient compared to 2014 standards, a king size bed placed next to a small window that overlooked the alleyway where delivery trucks likely came in to bring stocks. He had a small kitchen and a single card table that he used to eat meals off of. DSO paid very well, but Leon hadn't had time to actually be home to make the place homely. He stepped inside and looked at the bare and empty place, the prospect of him waking up to this every morning for almost three months was suddenly more scary than facing some mutated monstrosity on top of a moving crane. But he had three months, so it was a good time to go furniture shopping.

Yep. He'd rather face a Biohazard.

Upon the realization that his fridge was unplugged and empty, he plugged the fridge back in and used his phone to look up local pizza places that deliver. After placing an order in he took stock of his clothes and was pleasantly surprised they were well cleaned and kept preserved. He changed into an undershirt and gym shorts and with nothing else to do he opened his cabinet to his small DVD collection because the silence in the place was killing him. He was just realizing he would have to activate his internet service because he had been gone for so long when there was an electronic chirping noise. Leon stiffened, there was no way the pizza got here that fast. Even with a name like Speedy Sam's. The chirping was his alarm system warning him someone was at the front door to the bar, he walked over to a cupboard in the corner of the wall and opened the doors. He removed the false backing to the screens with the cameras at the doors. At the front door Leon could see someone who was definitely not a pizza delivery person, this was a man who Leon guessed was in his fifties with long dark hair tied into a low ponytail adorned with slicks of gray at the side of the temples. He wore a jacket that was clearly covering a side arm and his shoulders were perfectly straight. He wore himself proudly, but alert, someone who was in a career in which he likely had to use that weapon. He narrowed his eyes, no one should have known he was home and he only just called the pizza place ten minutes ago. He swiftly walked to his gun cabinet, expertly spinning the combination and taking out a small pistol and knife. He checked the pistol, adding a clip into the ammunition and checking the chamber to make sure a round was ready. He threw on a pair of jeans so he could hide the small knife on his person and kept his pistol low and out of sight. He strode down the steps, making sure the door to his place was locked behind him. When he got to the bottom of the steps he quickly skimmed the room with his eyesight, looking for anything that was unusual. The bar was never changed, so if something shifted even a slight bit he would know. Nothing was out of place, so he crossed the bar toward the front door.

He didn't open it, he spoke through the door. Which had a small glass window so they could see each other.

"Who is it?"

"Leon Kennedy?" the man asked, he sounded unsure. He spoke as if English was his second language, but still spoke it fluently enough.

If I wanted to knew who I was, I would have asked. Leon thought, but still kept his tone neutral. "Who is it? I won't ask again."

He could hear the person on the other side of the door sigh slightly before he answered, "Mikhael Fedorov, I'm here to speak to Leon Kennedy. It's important."

Leon wasn't quite sure if he wanted to confirm his identity to this Mikhael Fedorov. The name was not familiar to him and he made a point to learn key names in the Bioterrorism watch list. But that didn't exonerate him entirely, he did not unlock the door.

"You're at the wrong place pal. Check your GPS again." Leon was keeping his grip on the pistol on his side ready, lowered toward the door in case Mikhael here tried something smart.

"It's about Ashley Graham."

The second the name left those lips Leon felt light headed, Ashely Graham, daughter of former U.S President William Graham. A decade ago she was taken by a cult as she was being transported from her college back home for a visit. He was sent in alone to save her and they both barely made it out with their lives. Leon was an active man but he reported to the serving President often, he had built a rapport with President Graham that was only bolstered when he saved her daughter almost single handily. Not discounting the work done by Ingrid Hunnigan or even Ada Wong. Since saving her he would see Ashley every now and then when she was on break to visit, it was always a warm visit when she was around. She would tell him what she was working on while at school, he would listen and they would sometimes talk about what they went through. He didn't like talking about it, but he knew she needed to talk to someone. Someone who understood what they went through and that pool was very small, a therapist could do their best but they didn't live the nightmare. When President Graham finished his last term, they met one last time before Adam Benford was sworn in. He hadn't spoken to her since then. He could be lying, he may have just said the name to appeal to him.

But what if he wasn't?

Leon weighed his options, but knew it was pointless. He made up his mind the second her name was said. He unlocked the door and let him in, keeping his pistol below his waist and a bit behind his back. Mikhael didn't step in at first, he waited a moment before cautiously moving in. Leon noted how his eyes also skimmed the room to see if there were any threats, when he was fully inside Leon closed the door.

"Lay your service weapon on the table. Hands where I can see them."

Mikhael hesitated a moment before doing as he said, slowly taking his service weapon from inside his jacket and placing it on the bar top.

"Your knife too." Mikhael reached from the other side of his jacket and laid down a small pocket knife. "And the ankle gun."

Mikhael made a sound that indicated he was astonished, slowly reaching down and removing his ankle gun and also placing it on the counter. "You're good. I'll give you that."

Leon smirked and moved around slowly to be behind the bar, he set his own pistol down on the counter after turning the safety on. "I'm what I need to be."

Mikhael made a noise that Leon couldn't detect what it meant, "In that case, is bartender one of those things?"

Leon stared at him for a moment before slowly reaching under the bar counter and grabbing two shot glasses that was next to the mounted sawed off shotgun pointing at Mikhael's gut from under the counter. He placed the shot glasses on the counter and he hesitated, Mikhael sensed his hesitation and prompted him with, "Is there a problem?"

"No..." Leon started. "I'm just trying to figure out if you are a whiskey or a vodka guy."

Mikhael raised an eyebrow and pointed to a bottle on the shelf, "I'm that kind of guy."

Leon didn't turn around to see what he was pointing at, instead he reached behind him casually to grab the bottle from the shelf having learned where everything was he took the bottle of Tequila and poured it into shots. He would have offered salt and lime, but he didn't have any limes to offer. Not that Mikhael seemed to care because the second he finished the shot, he pounded it back. Not giving any sign that the alcohol affected him.

"You had your drink. Now talk." Leon cut straight to business.

Mikhael made it clear that he moved at his own pace, he didn't ignore Leon nor undermine his requests. But he moved at the pace he dictated, it irritated Leon but he begrudgingly respected it. To a point. To which it seems Mikhael understood that because he set the shot glass down and started. "I'm a part of the Graham family's secret service. Specifically, I'm with the detail watching over Ashley. Myself and two others. I've been with the Grahams since they left office and for the last two years I've been following Ashley while she speaks for events."

Ashley had switched her major to Humanitarianism when she had returned from Valdelobos. It was a surprise to everyone, but not to Leon. After the mission they had some time to kill as they were picked up to transport home, Leon had read some of the information he had collected from Luis's lab on the Island. He found articles detailing how Saddler had manipulated Salazar into joining his cult and gaining access to the Plagas. How Salazar came from a long line of royals who swore to contain the 'demons' underneath the castle and Ramon Salazar was born a cruel evil child and was easy to control and take over the village. They converted the village chief and turned everyone away from Catholicism to Saddler's cult. Ashley had listened to Leon recount the information, she was quiet the entire time and when Leon finished she only said one thing to him.

"Why?"

She wanted to know why this happened to these people? It was easy to hate them for how viciously they went after them, but now Leon pitied them. They weren't themselves, they had been taken over by something else. But Ashley didn't pity them, she empathized with them. She had been controlled, twice, and after the first time she described the experience as feeling her own body being moved by something else. Her voice, her lips, her movements, they were not her own. Not even her own thoughts. When she was released she was horrified. The second time Saddler controlled her she fought with all her strength, but she still nearly killed Leon. He remembered her being driven to tears, desperately fighting Saddlers control...and failing.

"Because no one cares. No one cares about villages, countries, that don't have any obvious benefit for themselves. So it's easy for someone like Saddler to step in and use and abuse them. It's what bioterrorism thrives on. The places people don't care about."

Leon had later learned that she switched her major and as the years passed he could see her passion and dedication into learning about places that were vulnerable to corruption and manipulation for the Bioterrorism threat. When she had finally graduated she had began to take interest in countries that had been ravaged by Bioterrorism out of the U.S, especially in the incident in Kijuju. She became a speaker on aid and awareness for countries ravaged by Bioterrorism and the conflicts that go widely ignored. People wrote her off as padding her resume for an inevitable election campaign, but he knew she had no interest in the presidency. Or at least when they last talked.

"Over the past few months, we've been getting messages on her website. We get weird messages all the time and report them when they come in. But this one was odd. The sender started off sweet, pretending to be interested in Ashley's efforts and wanted to meet her to discuss her beliefs. When her team went to schedule a location the sender stopped responding. We had figured it was a troll or someone thinking they were going to lure her out in some sort of attempt at a 'gotcha' piece. But a week after that we had an incident, a car tried to run hers off the road."

Leon's eyes widened but Mikhael continued, "She was fine, we managed to get away. We reported the incident to the local authorities, passed along information to them and thought that would be the end of that. Turns out we were quite incorrect. Wherever we seemed to went there was always an incident, a breach in security or somehow people knowing her itinerary culminating in a few nights ago there was an attempted break in at her residence here in town. Someone tried to break into her home, Ashley was taken to her panic room while we swept the area but found no sign of a break in."

Leon frowned as he listened to the story, these events sounded erratic. First someone tries to set up a meeting, then run her down the road, then attempt to break into her home? The order of escalation was all over the place. "They sound unrelated. Someone first tries to meet her, then run her down, then break into her home but not even try to enter? It sounds like you're dealing with unrelated events."

Mikhael was silent for a moment before he said, "There was no sign of break in, because they didn't need to. Whoever it was strode right in the front door and right past security."

Leon stared at him for a moment before he grabbed the second shot of Tequila he poured and pounded it back, he gave a grunt as the shot glass dully clunked on the bar top. "Next time don't bury the lead."

"There's going to be a next time?" Mikhael asked.

Leon didn't answer at first, while he had some small doubts about the connection to these listed incidents. He didn't deny that someone who was just able to walk through the front door was dangerous, not to mention perplexing. But what wasn't perplexing was the danger Ashley was in, if this person was with her secret service and they were coming to him then they must have been desperate. This was a little out of Leon's field, he dealt with biohazards not being a bodyguard. Then again he just now recently found himself with a lot of free time available, and it wasn't technically work because there were no biohazards involved.

"If I'm doing this...I get to bring one person aboard. Someone who I can trust." Mikhael nodded, he seemed to be in no position to make demands, after all he came to Leon for help. "And I want to be kept aware on her schedule, where she is going and who she is meeting. The real one. Not the public one."

"She's speaking at Washington University in two days. I'll come get you in the morning and we'll meet the team there."

Mikhael paused for a moment, eyeing his gear and eyeing Leon, seeking permission to retrieve his items. Leon nodded and took his own pistol back as the older bodyguard retrieved his gear. Leon had thought for a moment before he stated.

"Ashley doesn't know you're talking to me, does she?" Mikhael paused mid returning his pistol to his holster, but nodded. "So how did you get the idea to come to me?"

The older man chuckled, as if he knew some sort of secret that Leon – as perceptive as he has been – has not caught onto. "Because...whenever Ashley is stressed or feels scared, it's your name she hovers over in her contact list. Leon Kennedy is still her savior, even ten years later."

Leon didn't have a response to that as Mikhael opened the door to the bar and stepped outside, leaving him alone inside the wide empty space of the bar. He leaned against the counter of his own bar and pondered for a moment. The concerning details were the attempt to drive her off the road and someone being able to just strode past her security, if someone was able to do that then they were either a very skilled individual or someone was feeding them inside information. Someone close to her. Even if it was nothing, even if it was just some radicalized person who didn't like the things she was speaking about he couldn't just sit here and do nothing. Ten years ago Ashley was just a mission, but over time the two of them became close. He watched her change from scared and unsure to confident and passionate about her newfound beliefs. He also felt a pang of guilt, he hadn't spoken to her much since the Grahams left office after the second term. Then after Tall Oaks he really fell off the grid with people, he couldn't even recall the last time he spoke to someone outside of work. Doctor Tenhouser told him he needed to meet with other people...

There was a knock at the front door and Leon stiffened, his grip on his pistol tightening as he saw a shadow outside the door. A small voice called out:

"Um, I have a triple cheese pizza for...Tony Redgrave?"