FINALLY this chapter is done. I had to rewrite it multiple times till I was more or less satisfied, but here it is ! I've said it multiple times, but I'm so glad people are enjoying this fanfiction so much.

Also, it's crazy how my readers are making better assessments of my story and writing than I am, I'm always like, oh yeah that makes sense xD


Chapter 9. More Than A Bodyguard

Limbo. That's what this place was – this place of infinite darkness, with the red eyes that continuously stared at her. "You again." Said Ashley.

"You." Answered the garbled voice, and the toothy smile appeared once more.

"What are you ?"

"You."

She scowled at the creature. "What do you want from me ?" This time there was no response, so Ashley took a risk; she stepped closer. Well, as much as 'stepping' made sense when you didn't actually have a physical form.

The red orbs didn't react to the movement, continuing to stare at her. She took another step, and another, until her own eyes were level with them. "If you're me…then show yourself."

The eyes seemed to blink. And then the darkness shifted around them, revealing not light – but both of their bodies, taking shape. The creature was identical to Ashley. "Hello." It said, the voice no longer garbled, a copy of her own but with…something else. An inhuman edge to it.

Ashley resisted the urge to retreat. It wasn't reaching for her, or doing anything that warranted fear…for now, so she stood her ground. "Are you the parasite that was once inside me ?"

"I'm you."

"Stop saying that !" Ashley snapped. But as her burst of anger sizzled out, she remembered something that Leon had told her. He said you didn't have the Plaga anymore. That…you became it, were his words. Her eyes widened as she stared at her creepy doppelganger. "You were the Plaga. Now you're something more, a part of me…but why are you conscious – how can you talk to me ?"

The 'other' Ashley grinned, and it chilled her to the bone. "Because you're rejecting me. But not for long." Her arm jabbed forward – straight into the center of Ashley's chest, reaching inside for her heart.

She gasped, clutching empty air where the arm had been just a moment ago…and found herself back in Leon's bed, the covers a tangled mess in her limbs. You're okay, Ashley told herself as anxiety rolled over her like a wave. Nothing's happening.

But something had happened, and it wasn't just a bad dream. She acknowledged that, even if part of her was still terrified to face her fears. But there would be no more hiding, no more dismissing the things she saw as fabrications of her mind, and waiting for things to magically fix themselves – because where had that gotten her ? In a lab, strapped to a torture device.

She had to tell Leon about this…but where was he ? She looked to the empty side of the bed, and Ashley's eyes widened as the things that had occurred – from the way he'd held her in his arms to their kiss(es), and every other moment in-between, flashed in her mind. "What was I thinking ?!" She hissed, pulling the blanket up to her reddening face, the uneasiness from her dream replaced by a flurry of other emotions.

But her shoulders sagged as quickly as her embarrassment had risen. Why did I deserve to make it out alive, and not them ? The words echoed in her head now; it was the saddest thing she'd ever heard. Nodding to herself, Ashley pushed the covers aside and made her way into the living room – even if she had no idea how she'd face Leon, but worry trumped over any awkwardness.

But just as she made it through the doorway, a strange sound caught her attention, stopping Ashley in her tracks; was someone…retching ? She turned to the bathroom – the only place Leon could be, hearing another, "Blergh–"

"Yep." She muttered, turning away. That was to be expected, with how much he'd drunk. Deciding to give him some privacy as he was probably going to a while, Ashley walked to the kitchen and started cleaning up yesterday's mess. She scowled at the dried-up remain of whiskey that had spilled when the bottle broke; he could've gotten alcohol poisoning.

Thankfully the place was rather small, so she found all the tools she needed to clean nearby, and by the time she'd passed the broom and wiped the floor, the toilet flushed and Leon walked out.

He looked terrible. The circles under his eyes were even more pronounced now, emphasized by his pale complexion and colorless lips. "Good morning," She greeted, even as her heart started to sprint.

Leon seemed to startle, flinching slightly, as though he hadn't expected to see her there. "Morning…" He muttered, his gaze falling to the sponge in her hand, and then to the shiny tiles. "You don't have to –"

"I know, but I already did." Ashley shrugged, smiling. "Here," She turned around and got a glass of water, adding ice to it from the fridge dispenser. "You need to rehydrate."

Without commenting, Leon sat down on one of the kitchen stools and sipped on the water. What now ? Ashley wondered as silence ensued, uncomfortable. She wouldn't have minded it normally, but memories of what had happened kept replaying in her mind, she couldn't help glancing at his lips.

"I'm sorry." Her eyes rose back to his eyes at his sudden apology. "About yesterday. It was a mistake."

Ashley felt her body grow as cold as the floating ice cubes. "…which part ?" Her voice came out smaller than she had intended to. She cleared her throat.

Leon looked up from his glass, his dirty blonde brows drawing together in confusion. "The part where I got drunk, and you had to help me to bed. It was…extremely unprofessional of me, and it won't happen again."

Ashley blinked at his words, and then scowled. "Leon, you're not a machine. You're allowed to have feelings, to be human."

"I'm your –"

"– bodyguard ? Yes, I know. But you should also know that you're more than just a guy hired to rescue or protect me, Leon. I mean, didn't you say we were friends ?" She tried not to grimace at the word; saying 'friends' was like putting up a barrier that you couldn't cross, but what else could she use to describe their relationship ?

His mouth lifted into a smile – not the hint of one, but an actual smile. "I guess I did say that, huh ?"

"Yeah. So the next time you feel the need to escape, you come to me, all right ? Not a bottle of whiskey." She lifted her index finger as a playful warning, but she meant every word.

He chuckled, and his smile stretched a little wider. "Yes ma'am. Message received."

"Good." She grinned. She wanted to say more, but the doorbell rang just as she opened her mouth. Leon tensed at the sound and stood up, gesturing at Ashley to stay put.

But as he made his way to the door, he stopped abruptly in the middle of the living room. There was split-second pause before he clamped a hand over his mouth and ran for the bathroom – slamming past the door to dip his head into the toilet bowl. Well, it looked like her bodyguard was out of commission.

Ashley walked to the door and paused a distance away from it, apprehensive. What if someone was back to take her ? She glanced in Leon's direction, whose form was still hunched over the toilet bowl. He was in no shape to protect her…but she couldn't just ignore the doorbell and hope for the best. You're done with that, remember ?

Clenching her teeth, Ashley peeked through the eyehole, and saw…exactly nothing. Nada. Zip. "Great," she muttered, because that wasn't creepy at all. Reaching for the handle anyway, she counted in her head, one, two, three – and yanked the door open.

She exhaled in relief at the pile of packages standing on the doormat, and then laughed at herself; her things had been delivered !

Leon could hear Ashley rummaging about. One moment she was in the kitchen, glass tinkling and water rushing, and the next she was in the bathroom with him, opening the medicine cabinet. He wanted to tell her to leave, that she didn't need to see this pathetic side of him, but when he could finally lift his head and breathe – Ashley was already crouched beside him, looking at him expectantly as she held out his glass of iced water and a couple of pills. "Swallow these. They're for nausea and headaches."

"You don't have to –"

"Again with this ?" She snapped before he even had a chance to finish his sentence. "You took care of me. Now let me take care of you."

Even though he wanted to protest, Leon didn't have the strength to do it. He took the pills without another word, and let the cold water wash away the sour taste in his mouth. Ashley then offered her hand, and didn't let go of his as she pulled him to the couch and had him sit down. Their roles had been reversed, somehow. Because I was dumb enough to lose my cool.

She strode to the kitchen and back, bringing Leon a plate of toasts – but his attention had turned to the packages sitting by the front door. So that's what the doorbell had been about…

"Try to eat this, okay ? It'll help." Ashley said, placing the toasts on the table. Doing as he was told, he grabbed a slice and nibbled on a corner – all the while observing Ashley from the corner of his eyes. She seemed normal now, as she took a seat next to him, and yet…something about the way she'd reacted earlier was still nagging at him.

I'm sorry. About yesterday. It was a mistake.

Which part ?

Ashley had looked almost…scared, by his words. But why ? Leon remembered little to nothing about the night before, his head conveniently foggy – and not knowing was starting to frustrate him, especially if…well, what if he'd said something inappropriate to her – or worse, done something inappropriate to her ? He wasn't sure he trusted himself, at this point. "Hey, Ashley ?"

He noticed her twiddling fingers, the thing she always did when she was nervous. "Hm ?"

"Did I do anything, yesterday ?"

Ashley's eyes went round at the question, but he didn't have time to read the meaning behind them as she averted her gaze, hands tensing. "W-What do you mean ? You were drunk so I helped you to bed, and then you drank some water before you went to sleep. That's all." She shrugged, but he could see through the casual act. The pitch of her voice had gone an octave higher, cracking at certain parts; she was lying.

"Really ? Then why were you sleeping next to me, this morning ?" The first thing he'd seen upon waking up had been Ashley, lying on her back beside him – her pink lips slightly parted, the picture of peace. He had assumed she'd stayed out of worry for him, and then fallen asleep in the process, but…what if there had been more to it ?

There was currently nothing peaceful about Ashley's face, however, as it whipped around, the normally pale skin going a spectacular red. Leon froze at her reaction; he really had done something…but what ? "B-Because…because…"

Leon's phone started ringing from the other room, saving the day – for who, he didn't know. "Wait," He said to Ashley and went to fetch it. Flipping the thing open, Hunnigan was written in bold letters across the lit screen. "Hey."

"You never called me back." The woman skipped through the greetings and went straight to the point.

"Sorry. Shit's been happening." Part of it he didn't even remember, it seemed…

"It's fine. I did some digging on Derek Simmons."

"What did you find ?"

"At first nothing. You wouldn't believe the things I had to do to find his files…they're hidden deep in the system. But even those are locked, and I can't break into them without getting in trouble. Whatever the man's hiding, he doesn't want anyone to find out."

Leon frowned. "But only someone high up would have the power to block access to his files."

"Exactly."

"…shit." Ashley appeared in the doorway just then, hovering in-between as she looked at him expectantly. "I have to go, but thanks again for your help, Hunnigan."

"Sure thing. Let me know how things unfold. If my suspicions are right, whatever Derek Simmons plans on doing with Ashley, it's going to affect the whole organization."

"Not if I have to say something about it." Replied Leon – more to himself than Hunnigan or anyone else, trying to keep the growl out of his voice.

"You're just one man, Leon. Try not to overdo it." No promises, he thought.

"What was that about ?" Asked Ashley, once he'd said his goodbyes and hung up.

Leon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It looks like we have a breach in the D.S.O."

"As in…someone corrupt in the D.S.O is working behind the scenes with Simmons ?"

"It would seem so."

A visible chill trembled through Ashley's delicate shoulders. "Then I guess it's even more important that we find out what he's up to, huh ?"

Leon didn't like it, but he acquiesced with a nod. The D.S.O was the only barrier between civilians and the various monsters he'd fought over the years, and if some crazed scientist and his corrupted allies had any influence over that – then they had to put a stop to it, no matter how reluctant he was to put Ashley in the hands of said crazed scientist.

Ashley fidgeted. "So…maybe, now would be a good time to mention my dream ?"

To be continued…