Hello everyone, I wanted to start off with again thanking everyone who has left comments and reviews on the story your encouragement goes a long way. Specifically the comments about pacing, as pacing out a good story is just as important as hitting the major plot beats. So I had hit a small snag when writing this chapter as I realized there would be an issue with pacing the story from here on out. Before I posted the first chapter, I wrote a small outline about how I wanted the story to go, who was involved, and how it would end. As I started writing those details were tweaked and added along the way as the story took on a life of it's own. Unfortunately, when I reviewed my notes I realized had I continued to follow my original outline there wouldn't be enough time to pace out the romance story alongside the mystery - and both elements are important to me.

I realized I had two choices: follow the original outline which at a certain point will become as fast as a thrillride, or: alter the outline to allow some more room to breathe and slow things down before it gets to the crazy elements. I decided those moments to breathe would be important to the story, and to the budding romance, so I have altered my original outline:

I have extended Lobo to 15 chapters instead of the original 12. With the hope that the extra three chapters will allow some more down time, but still keep the pace of the story that I wanted. Time will tell if this will work out, but that was my thought process.

But you're not here to listen to me gab about behind the scenes stuff XD! No, you want the content! Well, without further delay here is Chapter 4 of Lobo.

Chapter IV: Say No More

There was no way Ashley could sleep now. She had just bid Leon goodnight as he went back to his place, she had left him be to review the security footage whatever he found [or didn't find] upset him. His place was a half hour from them and she wanted to offer him to spend the night so he wasn't driving tired, especially since he was going to try to be here early. But he insisted he needed to go back to his place, likely to get items that would be useful. She wondered if that meant he would try to seek a hotel? Most of the agents who worked here were local, but the few that weren't had lodgings covered to a degree. Somehow the idea of Leon being in a hotel, even one that was fifteen minutes away, was too far away for her. She decided that tomorrow she would offer Leon the guest bedroom, it just made sense in her mind. He wouldn't have to drive so much every morning, he would have his own space and he would be able to do his job better.

Yeah. No other reason.

It had its own bathroom with shower, a bed and he would just be down one floor and across the hallway from her. Even that sounded too far away for her, but it was bearable distance. That was a fair compromise she surmised. Ashley had laid back into her bed, trying to settle to sleep but all she could think about was Leon. The joy of seeing him again, the sadness of seeing how he aged so much in her head and…yet, she didn't deny, he looked good. She didn't think that facial hair, or well scruff, was something she could imagine on Leon but he wore it well at his age. He looked older, but this was the good kind of older, the kind that Ashley didn't know she liked. She bit her lip at the thought of him and realized that at this point there was only one way she was falling back to sleep…

Leon never felt like he needed sleep more than he did than right now. He had been trained to go long hours without sleep and keep moving. He didn't need to drive because he was chaperoned by Mikhael all day, so he had a Taxi come and pick him up. The driver wasn't the chatty kind, thank god, it allowed Leon to sit and think about what he saw on the camera footage: which was a whole lot of nothing. He knew that if the camera footage held the ace in the hole then they wouldn't have needed Leon, but he had hoped he could gleam at least something from it. But of course the cameras all blacked out right at the moment of the attack, turning only back on after everything was cleared out. Leon at least did learn the positions of all the cameras: one on the front door, back patio, one on each side of the house, one that overlooked a street entrance near the back of the house, one inside the foyer and banister hallway. The living room, bathrooms and bedrooms didn't have cameras on them. Bathrooms and bedrooms made sense, he didn't want to see what was going on in there but the living room was a blind spot. He was going to push for more surveillance into the living room and tighten the corners on the outside cameras. He tipped the taxi driver and walked toward the door to his house, he was about to place his hands on the false cover of the knob for the scanner when he stopped.

His front door was open ajar.

He narrowed his eyes and drew his gun, clicking off the safety and slowly pushing open the door. The inside of the bar was dark, he reached for the light switch blind and found it, hitting it with a sharp click: nothing happened. Door open + no power = bad. Slowly Leon pushed into the bar, letting the light from outside guide him until he moved over the bar counter. He reached below and found the spare flashlight, clicking it on he saw his sawed off shotgun was still in it's spot. He would go for the shotgun for spread, but it would be hard to stabilize the light with it. He felt visibility was more important than blind fire so he kept his pistol. Sweeping the bar with his light he saw nothing amiss, nothing moved and no one hiding behind any corner. But he checked everywhere, he wanted the bar to be cleared before moving up: no surprises. Once the are was cleared he began to shift his focus to the steps, as he approached the steps he stopped. If there was an intruder still here they could see his light and hide, he scoffed and turned the light off with a click. He knew the steps well so it was a simple path upstairs toward the door to his actual place. It was also ajar, he kept his pistol level and quietly pushed the door open. Pausing to listen for sounds of footsteps, breathing, looking for silhouettes in the window's light. There he saw it, a shifting shadow by the TV. He slowly moved himself into position and kept his eye on the movement which seemed to be idle. He raised his flashlight and pistol, kept them level and clicked the light on-

To find his broken shelf, splintered wood dangling in the air.

His place was a wreck, but not much of a wreck because Leon owned so little. His shelf that had his surveillance equipment was destroyed, his card table thrown across the room. His bed was intact as was his gun cabinet, the latter not surprising it was built to withstand damage. He turned over to the kitchen and found his refrigerator…ripped from the wall and crumpled. Leon let out an audible gasp. His fridge may have been empty, but it was still heavy. Ripping it from the wall, no, crumpling it up even was strength beyond what a normal human should be able to have. His shock aside he focused on making sure the apartment was clear, he did a sweep of the main room and found it clear. However, when he got to the bathroom he found that while the bathroom was intact his bathroom mirror was defiled in something reddish pink.

ASHLEY GRAHAM IS MINE.

Leon narrowed his eyes at the writing and down at his kitchen sink and found, in the bowl, was a used stick of lipstick. Likely what was used to write the message on his own mirror, he looked at the shade of lipstick and thought it looked really familiar. As he stared at Ashley's name written in reddish pink he realized he did see this before: on Ashley's lips. This was the same shade she wore today, he remembered it when he saved her at the campus. He doubled back to the kitchen and took a ziplock bag, used a pencil and nudged the lipstick into the bag and sealed it tight. It was a long shot, but maybe he could pull some prints from it. He stepped out into the living room and sighed tiredly, it was so late in the morning and he was so goddamn tired. He took the armchair he had and dragged it toward the door to the steps and propped it in front of the door. He stumbled over to his bed, making sure there weren't any surprises in his bed he collapsed on the bed. He had no energy to find a hotel, go there and maybe get a few hours of sleep. He kept his gun close to his bed and laid down. He looked down at the direction of the kitchen with the busted fridge and all the food he bought sprawled out.

To no one in particular he said into the darkness. "At least I didn't buy furniture yet…"

The first sign something was wrong is when they learned that Ashley had ordered everyone away from the kitchen that morning and insisted they eat outside. Out of all the members of Secret Service, there were three that were closest to her: Mikhael, Carter and Clara. With Cole, her usual driver, a close second. Ashley was very close with the three of them and they would be with her a lot during her day ventures and public speaking events. So all three of them knew that Ashley was extremely nervous as they watched her from the outside, they could see her frantically running around the kitchen. Ashley wasn't a horrible cook, not at all, she could make a few meals and had maybe two recipes she killed it at. If they could name an area where she was great at, it was breakfast. She would occasionally make food for the three of them if she had the time in the day to do so, usually she would be going over schedules with Emma. This morning however she told them she would be busy in the kitchen and shouldn't be disturbed. They were seriously wondering if they should break that order when they saw her running around the kitchen like she was trying to stop a bomb.

"I have never seen her that frazzled." Clara observed, Carter nodding in agreement.

"Can't blame her though, the guy pulled some moves yesterday and hell I wish half the ladies I met made me breakfast." Carter commented, turning to Mikhael. "So when is this guy getting here? We should be at our posts."

"He'll be here soon." Mikhael assured, even though he stopped to check his phone. "He should be here any minute."

Carter looked over at the kitchen and the other three agreed, which one of them would be the one to tell her that? They hoped she was almost done at that point and they feared if they told her she would be sent into a bigger panic. Turns out the three of them didn't need to do anything because Ashley had finished making everything and was bringing it out. There were trays of pancakes that, while weren't perfectly circle, were many. There was also sheets of oven cooked bacon, crispy and hot, a bowl of fruit for the pancakes, whipped cream and syrup, a large pitcher of Orange Juice and a fresh pot of black coffee. By the time Ashley finished arranging the table in the back, Mikhael was informed that a taxi pulled up with a gentlemen matching Leon's description. Ashley about panicked and ran back into the house, telling Mikhael to send him through the side yard as she went to touch up her face.

"She's going to slip on something." Carter said, watching her run into the house. "I just know it."

"Probably on a pancake." Clara teased, which caused the both of them to chuckle as Mikhael pulled up another seat for Leon. "So is this guy really all that? I mean, he seemed impressive don't get me wrong but I don't know.."

Carter snuck some pancakes onto a plate, the good ones of course, as the others were busy distracting themselves with getting ready for this guest. "I mean, I walked with this guy and he was in control the entire time. Cool under pressure and those moves he had, the way he ran at our girl? I don't think I have ever seen anyone look like that…"

The side gates to the backyard opened and Leon Kennedy strode through, dressed in black dress pants, a white button up shirt and a dark blue blazer over it. Looking absolutely as tired as hell, like the man ran through a marathon and remembered to put something nice on. Carter, mid adding a pancake to his plate, remarked.

"He definitely didn't look like that."

Mikhael stood up, as did Clara and Carter as Leon approached. His appearance was a little concerning, but Mikhael knew they both had a very long night. He just didn't know how long of a night Leon had. "Leon Kennedy, I believe you have met Clara Jane Redmond and Carter Jones before."

Leon held his hand out to shake with the both of them before dropping down onto his chair gratefully, he took a moment to take a breath and was glad to be sitting. The drive up here was rough, very rough, he wasn't as young as he used to be and had a harder time enduring longer hours of lost energy. The other three let him have his minute, even if they were unsure why exactly he needed that minute, but they were about to find out. Leon reached into his pocket and took his phone out, pulling up the gallery and letting showing them a series of photos he took of his own apartment. The three of them looked and they all, more or less, had faces of astonishment.

"Damn, who lived there?" Carter asked, looking while cutting a piece of pancake.

"I did." Leon answered, prompting Carter to make a noise of surprise. Mikhael took the phone and looked through the photos himself, studying the shots Leon took which covered as many angles as he could on the place. He passed the phone to Clara who looked through them as Leon slowly began adding food to his plate. Lazily taking some pancakes and some crispy slices of bacon. "That's what I came home to. Someone broke through my locks and tore apart my place, they didn't take anything I think they were trying to make a point."

Clara made a face before passing the phone to Carter, "Why did they destroy the refrigerator?"

"Probably cause there is nothing else here," Carter scoffed, looking at the photos. "Leon, my man, you need to see an interior decorator because your sense of style is bad."

Leon had no energy to be offended and honestly Carter was right, his home was so bare it was a reflection of Leon's mentality to it all: empty. He just gave a tired nod and took an absent bite of what he had picked up, which he found was a pancake. Which made him upset for a second because he wanted bacon but was too tired to put it down and decided to just commit to eating the pancake. At that moment the back door opened and Leon turned his head slightly to see Ashley step out. She looked…really nice. She wasn't dressed in anything as nice as she was yesterday, she wore a yellow shirt that was sleeveless and had frills around the shoulders with bright blue jeans that looked as if they were tailored to her shape. She stepped outside, looking at the four of them with her gaze lingering on Leon. The cheer on her face slowly shifted to confusion and then concern. She looked at Leon and saw Carter looking at Leon's phone, she didn't say a word she just marched over to be behind Carter. Who tried to pass the phone back, but Ashley picked her pace up and snatched it before he could. She looked at the photo and her eyes widened, swiping them over she covered her mouth with her free hand and looked back up to Leon.

"Is…is this your place?"

No use trying to hide it now, he nodded lamely and finally found a piece of bacon to chew on. "I'm getting a hotel nearby, better for me to be closer anyway."

This was kismet, Ashley realized. It was horrifying that Leon had to go through this and yet, there could be no perfect opportunity than for now. He needed a place to stay, she had a place available…that was also her place, see it worked out? Ashley didn't let it show though, she let her concern keep to the surface as she handed the phone back to Leon and sat in the chair across from him. She calmly filled her plate with food and kept her voice even, "I'm not going to have you pay for a hotel for something that happened because of me. You'll be staying with me."

Leon suddenly perked right up, all those tired lagging motions suddenly were hit with an adrenaline shot as he lifted his head up at her. The reactions from her secret service were somewhat similar, if a bit more laced with skepticism, like they knew something he didn't. The idea of staying with Ashley was a logical decision, he would be able to watch her and she was comfortable with him being around. Leon did wonder if this started to cross the borders of professionalism with…something he couldn't name right now. His gut instincts wanted him to protest and insist he would get a hotel for awhile. But he rationed out it would be better if he was around more, especially since he didn't tell them about the threatening message that was left for him in the bathroom mirror. As soon as he came to this realization he slowly nodded.

"It…makes sense. I could couch surf here for a bit."

Ashley nodded, as if it was decided, but she held a mischievous grin on her face as she added. "Oh you're getting more than a couch Mr. Kennedy…"

"And voila!"

Ashley gestured to the room with a flourish, Leon stepped into the room and looked about. As far as guest bedrooms went this was pretty nice, it had a queen size bed, a full dresser and a bedstand with a clock. There was a small writing desk in the corner of the room with a desklamp, it had a window that overlooked outside. Leon made a mental note to keep the curtains drawn at all times. Next to it with a small bathroom with a shower, with a set of guest towels at the ready. Despite him seeing all this, Ashley still continued to give him the tour of the room.

"You have your own closet, for your uh…clothes." she kept a smile as she moved through the room, "And a bathroom for when you get uh…wet."

She closed her eyes for a second, wincing for a moment before opening her eyes and resuming her cheerful demeanor. "For when you shower, obviously, is when you get wet."

Leon nodded patiently as she cleared her throat and stepped around him, which was a bit of a narrow space between the bed and the dresser. She flushed a bit as she was brought so close to him but managed to slip through, heading back to the door and standing under the frame. "If you need anything let me know, we'll get it sorted out."

Leon's phone rang and he checked the caller ID to see it was Hunnigan, remembering she called yesterday she probably had information on Fedorov. Ashley got the cue and gave him one final smile before closing the door. He waited until he heard footsteps move away before answering the call.

"Hunni-"

"Oh look who knows how to pick up the damn phone!"

Leon winced and moved his ear away from the phone, gingerly returning it back to the receiver he moved into the bathroom and closed the door. Just to reduce the chances of anyone listening to his conversation from outside the hall. "Sorry I was…busy. Did you run the name?"

Hunnigan gave a strangled growl that indicated she wanted to scream at him but held it back with a thin veneer of professionalism, she took a moment to compose herself and continued. "I did. Mikhael Fedorov, his parents immigrated from Ukraine. Bi-lingual in Ukrainian and English, straight A student, joined the police academy and served in Chicago for a long time until he left to go into the private service. Becoming a bodyguard for hire and then applying for secret service, he was hired in just as President Graham's term was ended and was assigned to Ashley's detail."

Leon sat down on the toilet seat, lid down, and mused over this information: so Mikhael really was Ashley's bodyguard since the family left office. He's been with her for a long while, getting to know her and her habits. It all seemed good and true, maybe even proving that Mikhael was indeed a good man and no longer a suspect. But even Leon knew that not all records were squeaky clean. "Is that all that's on him?"

"No of course not." He could hear the pride in Hunnigan's voice, "His records look pretty but I dug a little deeper. Mikhael didn't 'leave' the police force, he was discharged for usage of excessive force on multiple subjects. He was known for being polite on the surface, but had a temper that came out on the job."

"How the hell did he get hired for Secret Service with that on his record?" Leon asked, lowering his voice: just in case.

"Might have an answer for that too. One of his last clients before being hired with an early Senator Davis, who was a supporter of President Graham. Senator Davis pushed for Mikhael's application to be accepted."

Leon narrowed his eyes, Ashley's lead bodyguard was a man who hid a deep temper under a layer of pleasant professionalism. It didn't fully rule Mikhael out of the suspect list, if the man was still soured by his failures as an officer and was known for a history of misconduct then he could be persuaded to go against Ashley. Mikhael stayed on his suspect list, all that remained was the other two. "Thank you Hunnigan, I have the two names for your to run."

"Go."

"Carter Jones and Clara Jane Redmond."

He could hear her muttering the names as she scribbled them down, "Got it I'll…oh shit, gotta go."

Hunnigan hung up as Leon guessed a superior was passing by her desk, he winced hoping Hunnigan didn't get caught. He didn't want to get her in trouble as well as lose any potential information on the other two agents. He took a moment to consider the information, so Mikhael had a past of aggressive behavior on the job that got him fired - he meets Senator Davis on a job and boom gets recommended into Secret Service. Leon vaguely recalled a Senator Davis, representing Ohio…or was it Indiana? One of the midwestern states. He wasn't so much a supporter of President Graham as much as eager to watch monsters get killed. If he recalled the time he met Senator Davis was an event on Bioterrorism and they wanted him there are they basically reaffirmed their commitment to the event. Senator Davis got sloshed and made some inappropriate remarks on The First Lady and was later found throwing up on the lawn. That's the most he could remember about Senator Davis. But did any of that translate into Mikhael being a suspect? While there was no obvious connection of animosity to Ashley, Leon thought about Derek Simmons and Jack Krauser and realized people have done terrible things for less.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

Ashley lightly banged her head on the wall of the second floor, having just shown Leon where he would be staying for the duration all she could think about was the moronic thing she had said. She had been so giddy, so high on how everything just fell together that she could have said anything with a cheerful smile and be caught on the post moron-clarity regardless. She felt aggravated that she was trying so hard to be this mature, classy, woman in Leon's eyes that she actually felt like she drank way too many beers and someone dared her to walk in a straight line. Everywhere she turned she stumbled over sentences or intentions. She knew this wasn't a vacation or a walk in the park, but she really wanted Leon to feel comfortable here. Because if she did, maybe he would talk to her more. She was initially relieved to hear the front doors to the house open up, and spied Emma walking hurriedly into the house. She was dressed nicer than Ashley was right now, but she rarely saw Emma in any casual setting despite being so close. Ashley pulled away from the wall and stepped toward the bannister.

"Emma, thank god you're here, save me from myself…" she trailed off when Emma turned to her, the expression on her face was not a jovial playful mood but a stoic one.

"We have trouble. Come down to the study."

Without an explanation Emma walked inside, Ashley was a little surprised by the sudden turn in tone but made her way down the steps and into the study. When she arrived Emma had her tablet out and was pulling up something before pressing it into her hands. Ashley gave her a look but looked down at the tablet and what she saw made her body shake. The page was the cover of a popular gossip news program, the ones with initials for their names, and their story for today showed a photo that while it was hard to see exactly what was in it the photo showed Ashley giving someone a hug on her front porch. The headline read 'ASHLEY GRAHAM'S SECRET RENDEZVOUS AFTER MAJOR TRAGEDY.' Ashley expected outlets to cover what had happened yesterday, the media storm of it all would be a hard one to ride but they had prepared for it. An official statement was released condemning the violent actions of the stalker and reaffirming Ashley's commitment to her efforts in bringing awareness of Bioterrorism vulnerable countries and towns. They expected news articles about the event. Ashley was not expecting this. She knew the man in the photo was Leon, she recognized what she was wearing in the photo and knew it had to be him. The photo didn't capture Leon's face luckily and the article didn't name him officially, just had him listed as a 'secret lover'. Ashley pulled some of her hair back and handed the tablet back to Emma.

"Okay this is…annoying, but I don't see how this will be an issue."

Emma stared at her, shocked as she believed that Ashley missed the most crucial part of that article and she showed her the photo again. Ashley looked at the photo, wondering if there was something she had missed but when she didn't answer it fast enough Emma supplied the hint. "Look at the angle of the photo! How did they get it?"

Ashley already felt dumb before, now she felt even dumber as she realized that it wasn't just the content of the photos it was nature of its existence. Someone was watching them, someone took these photos from afar at 1 something in the morning which meant someone was lying in wait. Was their stalker selling photos to websites? Ashley felt so perplexed, why would anyone stalk her this aggressively, then suddenly turn violent on her and trash Leon's place within the same day? None of this was making sense and she was beginning to feel overwhelmed, she stepped away from Emma and found herself leaning on the same cabinet that she had done the night before. When it was just her and Leon in the study. Like before she began to fiddle with the glasses, picking them up and rearranging them. Her therapist told her it was a coping method she created after Valdelobos, she would find herself organizing things when she got nervous or anxious. This was something she struggled with since then, but what happened next was far more recent. A slight stabbing pain in her head, she winced and pressed her hand gingerly to her head. She turned around and found Emma five feet from her, she had a sleeve of medication in her hand to which Ashley took.

"You're still having migraines?" Emma asked as Ashley popped the tabs open and, realizing she didn't have water on her, walked toward the kitchen. Emma kept in pace with her.

"Yeah, every other day or so." Ashley winced, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and pouring a cup of water. She took the medicine and swallowed a gulp of water to take it down. Emma looked at her with concern and leaned against the counter.

"Maybe now you should see a doctor?" Ashley shook her head, much to Emma's dismay.

"No, it's just stress. It will pass."

"What will pass?"

Ashley turned around and saw Leon entering the kitchen, he looked at the two of them and his attention focused on Ashley. The latter shook her head, she didn't want this to be something people were concerned over - especially Leon. For the past couple of months Ashley had been getting migraines, this conceded with a massive shift in her workload as she took on a big project that required more hours than she usually did for it to work. It was a passion project for Ashley, but the work was taking its toll and she began to have migraines. She took all sorts of migraine medication and they worked for the moment, but they kept coming back. She saw her doctor and they just believed that she needed to take some magnesium and try to relax her mind. It worked for awhile, but when the situations with the stalker started happening the migraines began to increase on an on and off frequency. It was annoying but she could live with it, but she didn't want people to fuss over her like this. Especially Leon, he was already protecting her despite her hope that he would see her as an equal: not a damsel.

"Just a headache." she waved it off, downplaying the stabbing pain. "Leon, this is Emma. Emma, this is Leon."

Leon seemed unsure as Ashley seemed to be wincing with every word she uttered, but let it drop and turned to Emma. Who had this stoic expression as soon as Leon turned to her, she didn't seem to be even looking at him but past him. For a moment Leon thought someone was behind him, throwing a glance over his shoulder just to make sure someone wasn't sneaking up behind him. No one was there, he looked back at her and Emma suddenly shifted her head away. She walked past Leon and muttered something about having to make a few calls and didn't even say a 'hello' to him. Leon watched her leave the room confused. What was that all about? He wasn't exactly sure what he did to receive such a cold shoulder from her, they never even talked until today. So why the empty stare? He filed that thought away for later and walked to Ashley, looking over toward the hall.

"Did I…not say hello fast enough?"

"She's probably stressed." she reasoned, looking to Leon for a moment and felt her headache ebb away slightly. She felt calm when he was nearby, she was appreciative of that. Reaching into her pants pocket she pulled out her phone, knowing that he was going to see this at some point and may as well rip this bandaid off. She handed Leon her phone with the article on the page, Leon took her phone and when he saw the photo he did something she didn't expect: he smirked. She expected him to be stoic, be upset, maybe even become protective. She didn't expect him to smirk.

"What?" she asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.

Leon moved over to stand right next to her, leaning close to her to let her look at the phone. She kept herself as absolutely still as possible, she could smell his scent which wasn't a clean scent but it was a familiar one. She smelled worse from him in Valdelobos, far worse than even this. She realized he was talking to her and missed everything he just said, she blinked and looked up at him, "I um, what did you say?"

Leon patiently repeated himself, "I said: I know where your stalker is.