:: Author's Note ::
Since my latest fanfiction, SAO: Advent of the Steel Mind has been such a success so far, I decided I'd go ahead and start posting this one as well. This project was one I started working on way back when I was still writing Arc Three of my Devil's Colt series. While writing a section for the series, I was inspired to play one of my all time favorite games again, Resident Evil 4. Long story short, playing through that game again, and reliving the nostalgia of the very first M rated horror game I was ever allowed to play through as a child inspired me to write this.
I know Leon and Ashley is not the most popular ship in the world, but you have to understand, RE4 is where I started in the series. I had never played the original Resident Evil, RE2, or any of its children when I was a younger. Mostly because I didn't own a Playstation. But what I DID have was a Gamecube! As well as parents who weren't afraid to let their twelve year old play hideously violent horror games. (The rule in my house was as long there was no nudity or sexual themes in the game, my mother was okay with it.)
RE4 was my very first foray into truly violent horror games. And I'm not ashamed to admit that, at the time, it absolutely freaked me out. But at the same time, it was such a fun game to play. Frustratingly difficult, but still fun all the same.
It took me almost two years to beat RE4. And I'll admit that was as much me being a bit of a scaredy cat growing up as it was just the game being brutally difficult. RE4 was special in that it always had some new punch to throw your way. Be it a new monster, or a new mechanic, or what have you. It was a game so unlike anything else being done at the time, and the adventure I went on with Leon and Ashley is one a remember fondly to this day.
This fanfiction is a sort of love letter to the original RE4 game. I'm not sure how popular it'll actually end up being given it's a Leon x Ashley pairing, as those seem to have mixed results. But rest assured, I have gone into this fanfiction with the same level of dedication and respect to the original canon as I provide for all of my works.
I hope you all enjoy!
:: End Note ::
The sun was high that fateful afternoon. High and unbelievably hot. The burning rays pounded against their pale skin and heated their already exhausted bodies. Despite this however, they felt good. Leon welcomed the sun after what he had been through.
She was still nestled up behind him, collapsed from pure exhaustion yet strong enough to grip his waist all the same. Every now and then he heard her sigh contently and it jolted his senses awake, reminded him why it was that he was still alive.
It was all for her.
He wasn't sure at what point the parameters of the mission had changed. It was still a rescue op, yet somewhere along the way it became...something much more personal than that. Looking back at the lightly snoring golden haired young woman resting on his shoulder, Leon couldn't help but feel he owed his ward his life as much as she owed him hers.
Were it not for the President's daughter, were it not for Ashley Graham, Leon Kennedy would be dead right now. Of that he was certain. After all, she was the reason he kept going, past the limits of what his mind and body could take, driven purely by instinct and sheer willpower. All of it was so that he could bring her home safely. It wasn't just about the mission anymore. He needed to get Ashley back where she belonged.
And after seventy two hours of literal hell, at last, he had done it. As the jetski zoomed along the coastal waters of Spain, Leon focused what little energy he had left into just staying awake long enough to get them to shore. Compartmentalizing the injuries was no longer possible. His whole body had been reduced to just one giant ache and exhausted was nowhere near strong enough a word.
Even as the shore came into view, and Leon gazed upon the distant helicopter waiting for their arrival, he still kept his guard up. He would not stop until he was a hundred percent sure. As the jetski reached the sandy shore, he willed his body to move and dismounted, his feet splashing into the briney surf below. He took the unconscious girl on the back of the boat off and lifted her into his arms, feeling the sting of bruised ribs where he was nearly crushed to death by a giant.
He held her so that her head fell into the crease of his shoulder, listening to her quiet breathing as she slept peacefully in his arms. How many times had he let her rest against him in a similar manner during their time together? Too many times. He'd grown fond of her quiet breathing.
With slow deliberate movements he carried her towards the helicopter. A soldier dressed in grey fatigues and carrying a rifle saluted as he approached.
"Agent Kennedy!" he shouted over the loud roar of the helicopter blades. "My name is Staff Sergeant Briggs of the United States Marine Corps. We have orders to escort you and the President's daughter to a secure vessel before…before…."
His voice trailed off as Leon blew straight past him. The agent was dead set on getting into the helicopter. There would be time for debriefings later. There would be time for formalities later. Right now, he just needed them to get this girl as far away from here as possible.
They had just been through a war.
The President gazed out his oval office window, lost in thought. Two months had passed since that terrible day. When the secret service told him that his daughter had been kidnapped, it began what would forever be remembered as the longest seventy two hours of him and his wife's entire life. For the three days that Ashley was missing, the United States did not have a President. Ashamed as he was to admit it, no work got done while his daughter was gone. How could he work? How could any father be expected to do their job when their only child was missing?
The suffering he endured was second only to what his wife was going through. The First Lady was a shell of her former self for those three days. She didn't sleep. She didn't eat. She just sat at his desk, waiting for that phone call to arrive. Waiting for any news as to the whereabouts of their daughter.
And when the call finally arrived, when they heard that their little girl was safe and coming home, it was as if the weight of the world had released itself from their hearts. The President had never kissed his wife quite the way he had at that moment. Tears were rolling down both their faces, both parents completely beside themselves with relief, grateful beyond words that the nightmare was over.
Yet for all they had suffered it was paltry when compared to what Agent Kennedy and their poor daughter were forced to endure. The dossier containing Leon's report made that painstakingly clear. To think that something as hideous as Las Plagas could truly exist in their world. He wished he was more surprised, but then he was reminded of Raccoon City.
Even still, some of what was listed in Agent Kennedy's report was almost too impossible to believe, too hideous, and even at times, too silly. Such as the giant moving statue that purportedly almost crushed him to death. Were it not for his psyche eval coming back with a perfect score, the President would have accused the young agent of suffering from delirium.
Not that it mattered. Even if only a fourth of what was in that report was genuine he'd still owe Agent Kennedy a hundred times over. There was no price on Earth nor Heaven that could adequately compensate him for doing what he did. Which was why President Graham felt so guilty there wasn't more he could do for Leon. While his daughter was spared the needless stress of a forced quarantine, the agent who saved her life was not so lucky. He'd been in there for two months without so much as a thank you. Truly, there was no justice in this God forsaken world.
A knock on the door broke him from his thoughts. A member of the Secret Service entered the Oval Office and stood formally before him.
"Mr. President, as per your orders I'm updating you on your daughter's status. According to our agents at her university she just retired to her dorm for the night."
Round the clock updates and double the security were the only ways the President would agree to letting Ashley go to her old school again. Her doctor insisted she needed to go back to her normal routine if she ever hoped to move past the horrors she had endured. Not that it was easy for him to relent. After what they had been through, President Graham was half tempted to never let Ashley out of his sight again.
"How is she doing?" he asked with his back still turned.
"Our agents in Massachusetts assure us she's fine," the Secret Serviceman spoke in a calm professional tone. "With the new security in place, something like what happened last time is all but impossible."
"That's not what I meant." The President turned around. "How is she doing...emotionally? Any improvement now that she's back at school?"
The Secret Serviceman frowned. "She goes to class. She listens to the teacher. She walks with her friends every day. Our reports say she's living a normal healthy life."
"You're still not answering my question, Scott," the President insisted. "How is she?"
Scott sighed before removing his shades. "Sir, you know as well as I do that this isn't something she's going to just snap out of. You read the report, same as the rest of us. We should just be thankful she's even still alive."
He turned back to the window and nodded in agreement. Truly, more than anything, they were just happy she was alive. Yet still, he was discontent. The reunion with their daughter was joyful and emotional beyond words. From the moment she woke up in the hospital her mother wrapped Ashley in her arms and refused to let go. And while Ashley was just as overjoyed to be home as they were to have her home, as the weeks went on, both the President and the First Lady couldn't help but notice something off about their daughter.
Relieved as she was to be home, she still seemed so...distant. Like a part of her had been left behind back in Spain. Ashley still behaved like a normal twenty year old university student, yet there wasn't as much...life in her eyes as there used to be.
And then there were the nightmares. Shortly after coming home, Ashley began routinely waking up in the middle of the night shrieking in terror. The Secret Service was always in her room faster than either he or her mother could manage. Having already woken her up well before things got out of hand. Yet every time this happened, the President's men would tell him the same thing. Whenever she started screaming, it was always for the same person.
Leon. She was always screaming for Leon.
"What's the status of Agent Kennedy?" the President asked insistently.
"He's still got a month before he's free from quarantine," Scott replied, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Why?"
The President didn't respond. Finally, with a heavy sigh he dismissed him from the room, returning to his thoughts. With any luck, the doctor would be able to give them more information after Ashley's next appointment.
Ashley Graham sat with her legs tucked up to her chest and her eyes lazily staring out the window. The quiet ticking of the clock in her doctor's office served as a constant reminder to her presence in the current moment. Yet despite the reality of her situation, Ashley felt so far away. Her mind was still in Spain, with the man who saved her life. What happened? After she fell asleep on the jetski, she woke up just to find herself in a hospital and with her savior nowhere to be found.
She wanted to be happy again. She wanted to live a normal life again. So why couldn't Ashley move on? Why was her heart so dead set on keeping her rooted in that horrible horrible place? Deep down she knew the answer. She was just too frightened to give it much but a passing thought. Ashley would still internally cringe whenever she thought about what she said to Leon shortly after they escaped that island.
Would you like to come back to my place for some overtime, Leon? She thought to herself, shuddering at the thought. Would you like to come plant a baby in me? I'll drop my panties the moment we hit land if you're up to it. Though the former was what she really said, the latter may as well have been said as well for how fucking subtle she was being. All her feelings for him, all the emotions that had been welling up inside her, reduced to a cheap invitation for meaningless sex.
If she'd been coherent enough maybe she could have come up with something more articulate. As it was she was three days without sleep, half starved, and hardly thinking rationally. Ashley should have been relieved, overjoyed that they were soon to be home again. Yet the closer they got to the beach, the more her panic started to rise. The thought of never seeing Leon again, after everything they'd been through together, was just too much to bear. No...it was more than that. Truthfully, she was just scared to leave his sight again. When they were fighting for their lives, being away from Leon meant danger. But when he was near, it meant they were that much closer to safety. She wasn't ready to let go of that.
She wasn't ready to say goodbye to her guardian angel.
"So how have you been feeling?"
Doctor Williams always asked her this. Every single session without fail. She hated that question. Mostly because she could never answer honestly.
"I've been alright," Ashley replied weakly.
The brunette woman sitting across from her frowned softly. "Just alright?"
She didn't respond.
Dr. Williams sighed. "Ashley, we're just gonna keep going in circles unless you open up. There's only so much I can do on my own. You have to engage."
"What do you want me to say, Doctor? I'm happy to be back home. I'm happy to be going to school again. What else is there to talk about?"
Dr. Williams scrunched her face reflexively. Ashley was proving to be a considerably tough nut to crack. Not that she could blame the poor girl. She'd read the file of Ashley's ordeal, or at least what little she was allowed to see. Even redacted as it was, the few pieces that were there were beyond horrifying. Kidnapped in the dead of night. Exposed to deadly pathogens that caused hideous mutations. Locked in a cage on multiple occasions. Forced to endure hellish conditions and a warzone like environment. And that wasn't even touching on the possibility of sexual violence when she was in captivity. All while being starved and sleep deprived for seventy two hours straight.
The fact that her mind hadn't completely cracked under the stress was a miracle in of itself. Yet since returning home, Ashley had proven to be a stone wall of emotion. She just wouldn't open up to anyone about what she had been through. All her thoughts seemed to be somewhere else entirely.
"I want to get you to a better place mentally," Dr. Williams insisted. "How do we do that? How do we get Ashley Graham to that better place?"
She turned her head away and tucked her knees to her chest tighter. After a moment of silence, she responded.
"Could you convince my father to let Leon out of quarantine?"
Now this was new. Ashley had mentioned Agent Kennedy before, but not quite like this. She sounded, for lack of a better term, homesick. From everything Dr. Williams had read, Agent Kennedy had proved himself to be the one bright spot in Ashley's life during that seventy two hour period. This wasn't just about the PTSD. He played a major role as well.
"Do you miss him?"
"Of course I do." Ashley blushed. "I haven't gotten a chance to see him since...since…"
She still wasn't ready to talk about it. Very well then, shift gears. Stay on Agent Kennedy, the doctor decided.
"His quarantine won't be for much longer. Then I'm sure he'll come visit you."
Ashley remained silent. She was worried about something. It was clear.
Dr. Williams decided to play on a hunch. "What are you thinking about right now? As we have this conversation?"
Her face turned red. This was good. Ashley was embarrassed. Embarrassment wasn't shame. It wasn't fear. This was the look of a normal college age girl with a secret. Not a victim of severe physical and mental trauma.
"You'll just think it's silly," Ashley insisted.
"There is no such thing," Dr. Williams insisted vehemently. "Not in this office, Ashley. You can be open with me. You know this."
After a moment of silence, and some fidgeting on her part, Ashley finally relented.
"When we were on the jetski, heading towards home, I...propositioned Leon." It was clear by the tone of her voice she was incredibly embarrassed about this. "I don't know what came over me, I just sort of blurted it out."
Finally, they were getting somewhere. "Did you feel some sort of guilt? Or that you owed him something?"
"No!" she insisted shakily. "Or I mean...that's not why I said it." Her expression darkened. "I just wasn't ready for him to leave me yet. But he rejected my offer and now I'm worried he doesn't want to talk to me again."
And with that last statement, it all started to click. They'd been going about this all wrong. To think that after everything she had endured it was something so textbook that was bothering her. Though it was all but certain, Dr. Williams needed to dig a little deeper to make sure.
"Let's shift gears for a moment. Tell me about Agent Kennedy."
"I've already told you everything," Ashley insisted.
"No no. I know you did," the doctor assured. "I just want you to describe him. Not what he did, just...who he is."
And then something miraculous happened. Ashley smiled for the first time since entering her office. It was small, and timid, much like her. But it was still there. That bright spot was still alive.
"Leon is...he's incredible. There were so many times where I was sure we were going to die in Spain but he always managed to keep us moving forward. No matter how many times I fell into despair he picked me right back up again." Her eyes started to well up. "And he was so kind to me. Despite the fact that I know he was suffering just as much as I was, he went out of his way to make me smile." She choked up. "I remember at one point he came up to me. We had just fallen down a chute into a pit of garbage...he dislocated his finger and had to pop it back into place. Then he reached into his…" She covered her mouth with her hand and shut her eyes, shaking her head at the memory. "...he reached into his mouth and pulled a tooth from his back jaw then spat a huge clot of blood onto the ground." The more she talked the more emotional she got and the more the tears continued to flow. "He got up, his thigh was still bandaged and bleeding from where a regenerator took a chunk out of his leg. He limped over to me, and he helped me up. Then he looked me right in the eye, and asked with a completely straight face if I was okay."
Dr. Willams didn't say anything, simply nodding her head and allowing her to continue.
"And I remember saying something like, yeah I'm fine." She sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "But what I wanted to say was what about you? What about you, Leon Kennedy? Are you okay?"
She finally offered Ashley a box of tissues who took them gratefully, blowing her nose and giving herself a chance to calm down.
"I don't know how he did it." She wiped her inflamed cheeks again. "I honest to God don't know how that man did it. How he kept going through everything they put us through. But there were so many times I was ready to just lay down and die just for him to pick me up every single time and assure me he wouldn't let that happen. I owe that man so much more than just my life, and I...I haven't even gotten the chance to thank him."
So many different emotions Dr. Williams was getting here. Guilt, frustration, sadness, joy...but most of all, buried deep beneath all those external reactions was something far more personal.
Finally, the nut had cracked.
"Thank you, Ashley." Dr. Williams placed a reassuring hand over her patient's. "Thank you for being honest with me."
"So…will you talk to my father?" she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice.
Dr. Williams leaned against her desk with a thoughtful look on her face. "I'll see what I can do."
The President and the First Lady sat in the Oval Office, connected via his personal laptop to a video call in Massachusetts. On the screen was Dr. Williams, seated in her office having just finished her session with their daughter.
"So what can you tell us, Doctor?" the President asked insistently.
"We could really use some good news," the First Lady admitted with a hint of desperation in her voice.
"Well I'm happy to say that we did have a breakthrough today in our session," she announced while adjusting her spectacles.
The President sat up straight in his seat. "She finally opened up to you?"
Dr. Williams shook her head. "No. She still refuses to talk about her time in Spain. However, I do believe I've come close to discerning what's been truly bothering her."
The President motioned for her to continue. "Please tell us. Any updates at all are preferable to nothing."
She removed her glasses and wiped them with a cloth on her desk. "Mr. President, are you at all familiar with Stockholm Syndrome?"
He gave the doctor a confused look. "Vaguely. It's a psychological phenomena in which a person being held hostage develops an alliance with their captors."
"But what does this have to do with Ashley?" the First Lady insisted somewhat impatiently. "Surely you're not saying she misses that place."
The doctor shook her head vehemently. "I'm not saying anything of the sort. However, there is new research coming out in psychology that suggests that this sort of attachment can develop with more than just a kidnapper."
"Could you...elaborate, Doctor?"
"It makes sense if you think about it. If a person can develop a codependency with their captors to the point of conforming to their ideology, then why couldn't they do the same thing with the person trying to rescue them?"
The First Lady gasped in surprise, it suddenly dawning on her what the doctor was saying. The moment she realized, she immediately turned towards her husband, a sour look on her face.
"Ashley refuses to talk about anything that has to do with Spain...but the moment I mention Agent Kennedy, suddenly I find it difficult to get a word in edgewise. I should be clear, I don't think this is purely a crush or simple infatuation. She has very clear cut symptoms of severe Stockholm Syndrome. Depression over his incarceration, guilt over not being able to thank him for what he did, anxiety over his opinion of her. At one point she mentioned how she was 'not ready for him to leave her yet' which to me is a clear cut sign of codependency."
The First Lady glowered even more.
"And you're…certain that this is what's really been bothering her?" the President asked, starting to sweat under the collar.
"Well there's no way to know for absolute certainty without her opening up to me. But let's consider what we know. Ashley was exposed to a horrific environment she was neither mentally nor physically prepared for. Over the course of seventy two hours she endured significant psychological trauma in addition to frequent bodily harm. During that time, Agent Kennedy was the only positive force available for her to cling to. He was a constant source of hope and motivation during an incredibly high stress experience, with the possibility of death being a very likely outcome." She pulled a file from her desk and flipped through it. "Not only that, but from what I've read, it would appear Agent Kennedy rescued her from captivity a total of...three times over the course of the seventy two hour period?"
"Four," the President admitted softly, still not looking his wife in the eye.
"Four," she confirmed, making a note of it in the file. "To me, that speaks to the potential of a very strong guardian complex. He was, for lack of a better term, her White Knight during this ordeal."
"We haven't forbid her from seeing him again," the President insisted. "Once Agent Kennedy is free from quarantine he's more than welcome to..."
"Yes, that's all fine and well Mr. President, but the point I'm trying to make is that Agent Kennedy is the only other person who understands exactly what it is your daughter has been through. He's her safety net. And without him, I don't think she'll open up to me."
The President groaned. He could practically feel his wife's eyes on the back of his head.
"It's my professional opinion that until Agent Kennedy is released from quarantine, therapy will continue to yield very little results from her," Dr. Williams insisted. "What you do with this information is entirely up to you Mr. President. I've made my stance on the matter perfectly clear. My only concern is seeing your daughter recover from this ordeal and move on with her life."
"I understand. And believe me when I say we appreciate everything you've done," he assured.
She nodded in understanding. "If that's all, I'll be signing off now. I'm sure you two have quite a bit to discuss."
"Yes...we most certainly do," the First Lady spoke through gritted teeth.
The moment Dr. Williams logged off, his wife slammed the laptop shut and glared at him. "I told you."
"Lenora..." the President protested.
"Don't 'Lenora' me David! I told you that she has feelings for him, but you refused to listen to me."
"It wasn't that I didn't believe you, but the protocol is very clear on these matters. We're talking about national security here."
"We're talking about your daughter," she insisted, her hands firmly on her hips. "Whatever happened to your campaign speech? Should I be elected I'll always be a father first and the President second. That's what you promised isn't it?"
He remained silent. Lenora's eyes softened and she placed both her hands on her husband's cheeks.
"Our daughter is suffering alone, David. And the only man who can help her right now is locked away in a cell. It isn't fair to her and it isn't fair to him. You have the power to make her happy again and set things right for Agent Kennedy."
"It's just one more month," he insisted.
She frowned at him in disappointment. "Have they not been through enough already?" With that, the First Lady kissed her husband and walked to the door, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
The President strummed his fingers against his desk thoughtfully, gazing at the picture of his little girl resting on its surface. The picture was taken at her university campus shortly before she was abducted, and was used for the search party that went after her. Ashley looked so happy in that photo. Her smile was so bright. Of course, that picture was taken before everything went to hell. What he wouldn't give to make it all better.
What he wouldn't give to see that smile again.
His mind made up, the President picked up the phone and punched in the number to the Agency. "It's David. Listen, I don't care what it takes, I want Agent Kennedy out of quarantine by first thing tomorrow morning. Consider that an order."
He didn't even wait for a reply. David immediately hung up after making his stance clear. With a weary sigh, he chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.
"I'm curious...who really runs things around here?"
Leon Scott Kennedy gazed out the window of the black tinted limo he was riding in. The bulletproof glass was hard to see out of but he could still make out the lights and streets of Washington D.C. Dressed in his jeans, jacket, and a new pair of hiking boots, Leon's ensemble consisted of everything he was able to get his hands on after such short notice. Though they let him back to his apartment to get out of those crappy medical scrubs, the Secret Servicemen who picked him up insisted he throw something on and quickly.
It was strange, his attire almost reminded him of the day he left for Spain. The drive up that mountain. The city of Pueblo…
He shook the image out of his head. No sense in getting worked up over a completed mission. There would be plenty of time to compartmentalize and repress that hideous assignment into oblivion. With enough drinks and a new assignment he'd soon have the village of Pueblo and all its God forsaken inhabitants filed away next to Racoon City under the section, shit I just don't think about anymore.
Not that he was going to be able to forget everything about that assignment. There was one small ray of sunshine that was going to be permanently etched into his subconscious whether he liked it or not. Then again, if there was any silver lining to that whole ordeal it was her.
Ashley Graham had never once left his thoughts since he wound up in quarantine. Maybe it was the lack of anything better to do, but there was something about being stuck in a small metal box for two months that really made it impossible for him to think about anything else. He'd tried so hard in Spain to keep himself emotionally distant, for her sake as well as his. After all, if he let things get too personal, then his judgement would have been affected. There were times he had to put Ashley in danger so that she could help them out of a tight spot, and for those few moments he needed to remain objective, as opposed to constantly worrying about her health and wellbeing. Not to mention all the times she was forcefully taken from him. He couldn't waste time dreading what might be happening to her. He had to focus, keep his mind clear.
Which was probably why her proposal on the jet ski took him so completely by surprise. God, he hoped he didn't hurt her too badly with his reply. She seemed to be a pretty good sport about it, yet in retrospect, it was clear Ashley was disappointed. As if to make things worse he then blabbed about Ada immediately after. A woman he no longer trusted nor intended to let back into his life, not after using him the way she did.
But that was all in the past. Now Ashley was safe and he was out of quarantine. Would he have a chance to see her again? Would she even want him to? Would the President have his testicles on the Oval Office wall if he ever found out the sort of things Leon thought about during his alone time in his cell? While the first two questions he could only guess at, the answer to the third was probably a given.
To be fair, he wasn't even sure this meeting had anything to do with Ashley. He just sort of assumed the President would want to thank him for his efforts. But to get him out of quarantine a month early? Something new must have come up. And honestly, it was making him worried.
The sooner Leon got to the White House, the better.
"How much longer?" he called to the driver's seat.
"We're pulling up to the front gates now, Agent Kennedy," the driver assured. "The President wants you in his office the moment we make it inside."
He went back to his view from the window, an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Was it even a good idea to see Ashley again? Leon was an Agent for STRATCOM, everything about where his head was at when it came to the President's daughter screamed bad bad bad idea. But of course, the more he tried to suppress those thoughts along with everything else, the more they came back to rear their ugly heads.
Why did every woman in his life have to be so damn dangerous?
First there was Claire Redfield and her extremely overprotective older brother Chris. A man with tree trunk arms and Krav Maga skills that could easily match his Systema. It's a good thing they all turned out as friends, Leon wasn't looking forward to having his skull crushed any time soon.
Then there was Ada. Christ, where to even begin with her? First she's dead, then she's not, then she's working for Umbrella, then she's helping him kill another Umbrella agent, only for her to turn right around and betray him all over again. That woman definitely had an agenda, and if Leon allowed himself to go any further down that particular hole, he'd quickly realize it was nothing but his own grave he was digging.
But of all the women Leon had history with, Ashley was probably the most dangerous. Because at the end of the day, Claire and Ada were still just women. Granted, they were both women with an insane amount of baggage, but they were still just people. They didn't have a title like, President's Daughter, slapped onto their identities. The worst he would have to endure for messing with them was bodily harm.
Ashley Graham had the power of an entire first world country backing her. Whatever his personal feelings might have been, that was not something that Leon could safely ignore. Especially not in his current position. There were a lot of crazy things he had done in his life for the sake of the fairer sex. Risking unemployment and a possible burn notice was not one of them.
"Sir, we're here," the driver announced.
Leon took a deep breath and sighed. With any luck the President would just shake his hand, promise some promotion that would never see the light of day, and he could get back to his normal life of day drinking and paperwork.
And he certainly wasn't going to keep obsessing over Ashley. Yep...there was no way in hell.
Leon was escorted to the Oval Office by a member of the Secret Service after going through all the regular rigmarole involved in passing through White House security. The last time he was here he was with his boss shortly before shipping out to Spain. Ashley had only been gone for about twelve hours by then but Leon could still remember President Graham's tired sunken in eyes and the First Lady's silent numbness to everything around her. He'd been chosen for the assignment because of his past experience with Racoon City and the fact that he'd been selected to be part of Ashley's security detail shortly before she was kidnapped.
What was supposed to be a boring thankless posting turned into a rescue operation he'd have nightmares of for the rest of his life. Or at least until he hit the forties and killed enough useless brain cells. Nothing good came out of him thinking anyway. It was mostly just remembering all the shit he'd gone through in life or getting himself in trouble with gorgeous women.
Speaking of which, he mentally reminded himself to keep his eyes above the neckline at all times if Ashley was present in the room. He wasn't in quarantine anymore, the last thing he needed now was to have to explain to his boss why he was ejected from the White House for staring at the President's daughter's breasts. He was going into this as a professional, purely and totally emotionally and physically detached from the situation. There would be no thinking about Ashley or her sunshine smile or that golden blonde hair…or...
Yep, he was in trouble alright. Serious trouble.
"Well...let's get this over with," he muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and entering the Oval Office. Waiting for him inside was the President and the First Lady, both of them with eager warm faces.
"Mr. President," Leon greeted with a crisp salute.
The President shook his head vehemently and stood up, offering Leon a hand. "We'll have none of that, Agent Kennedy."
Okay, so they were grateful at least. Leon noted with some disappointment that Ashley was not present. Ultimately, though, he decided that was for the better. He then approached the desk and shook the President's hand. Yet one more thing he could check off the bucket list, he supposed.
"Please have a seat," he offered graciously.
Leon took the seat that was offered to him and sat up straight, a habit instilled in him during his time as an Agent.
"Before we go any further, there's something I feel that's long overdo," the President insisted. "On behalf of my wife and I, we wish to extend to you our sincerest gratitude for bringing our daughter back home safely."
"We truly can't thank you enough," the First Lady spoke up, the sincerity in her voice driving home how grateful she truly was. "What you've done for this family goes above and beyond the line of duty."
"I was just doing my job, Ma'am," Leon replied with as straight a face as he could muster.
"Nonsense," she insisted vehemently. "There were so many times you could have pulled out. Declared the mission FUBAR and left. But you didn't. You committed to finding our daughter, placing yourself in mortal danger and braving hideous conditions to do so."
"That's...very kind of you, Ma'am." Frankly, he was just surprised the First Lady knew what FUBAR meant. Then again, he had heard that Lenora Graham was a particularly outspoken woman of the White House. Something Leon attributed to her being a marine brat.
"I'd also like to personally apologize for keeping you in quarantine for so long," President Graham spoke up, a guilty frown on his face.
"It's standard procedure, Sir. I'm well aware of that."
"Perhaps. Yet we both know that those extended quarantine procedures are more a formality than anything. We knew there wasn't a trace of the parasite left in you after a week," the President explained, a hint of regret in his voice. "But you know how the Agency is, they're very particular when it comes to protocol. Especially since Raccoon City."
Leon chuckled in amusement, relaxing a little. "My boss wasn't happy, that's for sure."
The President sighed wearily. "Yes, I'm sure he wasn't. Few men in the Department of Defense like having their head gone over like that. But with you, I felt an exception needed to be made."
"We both felt that way," Lenora insisted, placing a proud hand over her husband's. "This goes beyond duty to your country, Agent Kennedy. We personally owe you a debt that can never fully be repaid. Getting you out of quarantine early is the least we can do."
There was something in both of their eyes. A wary nervousness that made Leon's warning signals go off. They weren't telling him everything.
"With all due respect, Sir. As grateful as I am that you felt it necessary to thank me in person, I get the distinct impression there's more you wish to say."
David and Lenora both frowned at each other knowingly before nodding and turning back to him.
"You truly are perceptive, Agent Kennedy," the President commented, clearly impressed. "I really did choose the right man for the job it seems." He sighed, resting his elbows on the table and untensing. "Listen...Leon, is it okay if I call you that?"
Okay, this was getting weird. Why was the President looking at him like a concerned father about to confess he'd just caught his son using the family laptop to look at porn? A hideous knot formed in his stomach as a horrifying thought occurred to him. Did the President know? He hadn't told anyone about all the details involving Ashley and his time in Spain, but maybe she said something.
"Sir, if you're worried about anything that may have happened between Ashley and me in Spain, I can assure you that everything I did was purely for the sake of the mission," Leon insisted, a bead of sweat already forming on his forehead.
The President and First Lady both gave him a confused look. "N...no...we're not worried about that in the slightest. Whatever happened in Spain, the fact that you got Ashley back home safely is all we truly care about."
"Leon, it's true we called you here to discuss something with you," Lenora spoke up. "But whatever apprehensions you may have, please put them to rest. We're not here to criticize or complain."
He visibly relaxed, internally breathing a sigh of relief. "If I may ask then, what is it you wish to discuss with me?"
Again, the President and the First Lady exchanged nervous glances. "We...we need to ask for your help again."
Leon's worst fears were made manifest and his skin turned deathly pale. He shot out from his seat as if it had just caught fire and slammed his hands down on the desk. "Where is she?! When was she last seen?! What leads do we..."
"She's fine," the President assured, placing two hands up to calm down the panicked agent. He knew exactly where Leon's head had gone. "She's at her old university in Massachusetts as we speak. I apologize for scaring you."
This time, Leon audibly sighed in relief before slowly sitting back down and allowing the adrenaline to wear off. "What is it you need me to do, Sir?"
The President frowned thoughtfully, his arms resting on the desk again. "I assume my wife and I can be assured that you won't repeat this information to anyone."
"That goes without saying, Mr. President," Leon insisted assuredly.
"This isn't a professional favor, Leon. What we're asking is a bit more personal this time," Lenora explained. "This is a request, not from the President and the First Lady, but from Lenora and David Graham. Two concerned parents who are worried about their daughter."
Confused as all hell, Leon nodded his head and continued to listen regardless. "Whatever you need, I'm more than happy to help."
Lenora smiled, placing a hand to her chest. "That means the world to hear you say that. I truly can't thank you enough."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, dear," the President insisted. "We still haven't told him what it is we're asking."
"What is it you're asking, Sir?" Leon asked curiously.
The President seemed to fidget reluctantly for a moment before finally looking him in the eye and saying it.
"We want you to look after Ashley for a little while."
Leon gave the President an incredulous look. "You want me...to be her bodyguard after all, Sir?"
It was Lenora who shook her head. "No, that's not what we're saying. We don't just want you to protect her. We want you to look after her. This isn't just about guarding her person, we want you to...be there for her." The words came out as awkwardly as they sounded. "Does that make sense?"
His mind was reeling. They wanted Leon to be there for her? What the hell was that supposed to mean? There was a very specific image popping into his brain right now, and he highly doubted that it was anything remotely close to what they had in mind.
Dammit! He told himself he was going to get his head out of the gutter! Wholesome thoughts, Leon! Now is not the time!
"I know that this must sound completely insane," the President spoke up. "And more than a little unprofessional. But if what the doctor has told us is true, you're the only one who can help her right now."
"We've tried everything to get Ashley to open up about what she went through." Lenora sounded desperate, as if she herself had been losing quite a bit of sleep over this. "But none of it is working. The only thing she's concerned with is you. Leon, our daughter misses you terribly, and I don't think she's going to get any better until she sees you again."
And there it was. The confirmation that Leon had been wondering about during his entire stay in quarantine. His heart splashed into his stomach and the room started to spin. That was...going to take some time for him to process. More importantly however, by the tone of the First Lady's voice, it was clear that Ashley was not handling the post stress of what they had been through very well. That was his immediate concern.
"So when do I see her?" he asked without the slightest hint of hesitation.
President Graham and his wife both shared looks of surprise with one another before speaking.
"So...you'll look after her? This isn't an assignment, Leon," the President insisted. "We don't know how long you'll be there and we're not sure if we can even pay you for doing this yet."
"But rest assured you won't spend a dime so long as you're with her," Lenora quickly added, her voice teetering between hopeful and worried. "We'll take care of everything. Living expenses, accommodations, all of it."
Leon shook his head dismissively. "I'm not concerned with any of that. If it means helping Ashley, I can forego a standard paycheck."
Their faces both lit up. For the first time since he arrived, both the President and the First Lady seemed to genuinely smile again.
"Words cannot express what this means to us," President Graham spoke with overt gratitude. "This family is forever in your debt, Leon."
"You don't need to thank me, Sir," Leon assured while standing up and offering his hand. "I'm more than happy to help."
"I know this goes against regulation, Son," the President replied, seemingly more comfortable being open in Leon's presence. "But if you're worried about your position you have my assurance that you'll get no flak from the Agency or from STRATCOM for this. As far as we're concerned, you are hereby on an extended leave of absence for recovery and restitution."
Feeling a bit bold, Leon shook the President's hand and added. "With all due respect Sir, fuck regulation. I don't know what Ashley told you, if anything, but I assure you you don't have the full story. I know how difficult it is going through something like this alone, and I don't wish that on her. Not one bit. Because the truth is…"
He stopped mid sentence. Both the President and the First Lady were looking at him expectantly. Okay, he thought. Back it up hotshot, before you open a door you can't fully close again.
"The truth is...I care deeply about your daughters safety and well being," he finally finished.
As if on cue, a pair of surprisingly strong yet lithe arms wrapped themselves around him. There was no way to really react to this appropriately. The First Lady, wife of the President of the United States, was sobbing on his shoulder. He could feel the tears hitting his black undershirt while he stood there stiff as a statue. Finally, reluctantly, he put his arms around Lenora.
"So when do I leave?" he asked, wanting to get his mind onto something else.
"First thing in the morning," the President assured.
"God bless you, Leon Kennedy," the First Lady whispered through small emotional sniffles. "Heaven sent their champion when they brought you to us."