Sorry for the long, loooong wait, but here goes another chapter ! I've deviated quite a lot from the original draft, but eventually it'll tie back together before the end. Enjoy !

Chapter 10. Warning

Ashley gasped. Why was she at the lab ? Why was Simmons on the floor – coughing his lungs out, and why was everyone else looking at her like…that ? And was she on a table ? "Leon ?" She said meekly, confused and scared.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm right here." He said as he came towards her, putting a comforting hand on her arm. She realized she was wearing his coat, but under it her pajama was still on. Come to think of it, she didn't even remember waking up, and least of all coming here. "Are you okay ?"

Instead of answering, she asked, "Why am I here ? Leon, what's going on ?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but someone's laughter cut him off…Simmons'. He got off the floor on unsteady feet, and his eyes had taken a disturbing gleam – frantic, as they landed on her face. "Marvelous ! The Plaga inside your body seems to have developed a kind of defense system, keeping you protected even in a vulnerable state."

"Dr. Simmons, are you all right ?" Emily reached for her superior, but he pushed her away.

"What is he talking about ?" Ashley turned to her bodyguard, a little more than stressed by what was happening.

"He–"

"I wonder, what limits has your body surpassed ?" The scientist kept talking. "Surely, this was only one of several changes. We must find out–"

"We must nothing." Leon was the one who interrupted, this time. "Ashley needs a minute to process, so back off a little."

"…my apologies. I got ahead of myself." Simmons apologized after a pause, to her surprise. Leon then proceeded to explain everything that had happened, from the moment he'd tried to wake her and failed, to the moment her body had acted on its own, without her consent, to choke the life out of Derek Simmons.

She told them about the dream she'd had – the discovery she'd made, and the conclusion she'd come to, because it seemed like the only plausible explanation that linked to this morning's…events. The decision she'd made in the dream world had affected her more literally than she had ever expected it would, and she wasn't ready to deal with it right at this moment. "I want to go home." She added quietly, glancing into her bodyguard's dark blue eyes. He nodded.

" Go home ?" Simmons repeated incredulously. He'd started pacing a while ago, and hadn't stopped. "Do you have any idea what we could learn from this – from you ?"

"You'll learn as much as you want tomorrow." Leon declared with no window for arguments, and helped her up. "Can you walk ?" She nodded.

"This is the prime time to run some tests !" He insisted.

"Doctor, perhaps Ashley would like to take some time off to recover. Whatever happened today, I don't think her body – altered as it appears to have been, will revert to its original state by tomorrow. Right, Mr. Shepherd ?" Emily said, to Ashley's surprise. Was the woman standing up for her ?

Her subordinate looked bored again, wiping his glasses. "I agree." He answered nonchalantly. "I doubt anything will change in a day – unless her body is still undergoing metamorphosis, in which case she will continue to change, perhaps even gain further abilities than the one she's already shown. We won't know until tomorrow." Emily deflated. That didn't seem like the conclusion she had hoped he'd come to.

"Fine. If you wish to waste precious time – then be my guest !" Simmons yelled as he stormed out of the room, making Ashley flinch as he stormed past her. She'd never seen him openly angry, and she wondered what that meant for their mission…they'd barely started, she didn't want to fail it just because she wasn't strong enough to suck it up and bear another day of prodding. But when Leon placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her to the exit, she didn't resist.

…

"Can you ride ?" He asked as she climbed on the motorcycle behind him, pausing halfway to circle her arms around his waist. He was being so careful with her. Gentle. She must've really worried him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She smiled.

Nodding, he started the vehicle. "Ashley…I'm sorry, but I can't take you home. It's too risky with everything going on, but I can bring you back to my place. I know it's not much, but at least you'll be safe there."

She blinked at his broad back, and maybe she should've laughed at the misunderstanding, but instead her cheeks warmed a hot pink – embarrassed at herself. When Ashley had said she wanted to go home, he thought she'd meant her parents' home, the estate. But really, all along she meant his home. "Oh, um…I actually meant… your place, from the beginning." She mumbled, blushing even harder.

Leon didn't say anything for a couple of seconds too long, processing the meaning behind her words, when he said, "My home is your home for as long as you need it." She could tell he was smiling even though she only saw the back of his chestnut head. "It was never much of my home to begin with – as I spent most of my time in HQ dorms, but I'm glad it's finally being put to good use."

A series of questions bloomed in Ashley's head at his words, like why he had an apartment if he didn't use it, why he was living in a dorm – and most importantly, why he was doing so much for her, but she didn't have the opportunity to ask as Leon revved the engine and drove them away from the facility.

…

"Here," She returned his coat once they were back at the apartment. He took it, but instead of hanging it up, he ran his hand all over it – looking for something. She was about to ask what, but he let it drop on floor and suddenly grabbed her shoulders.

She gasped in surprise at the unexpected motion, but she didn't say anything as he placed a finger in front of his mouth. She swallowed nervously, holding her breath as he ran his hands like he did with his coat, but over her camisole, her shorts – which were both really thin, so she could feel every caress, the subtle pressure of his fingers over her sensitive skin…but then he reached her head, searching in her poufy hair. Given how serious he looked, she tried to keep on a straight face – but the corners of her mouth betrayed her, and not before long she was laughing, unable to contain herself. "Leon, you're tickling me !"

He stopped, smiling at her expression. "Sorry, but I had to check if they had bugged you."

That stopped her laughing immediately. " Bugged me ? Do you think they'd do that ?"

"I don't know, but with Simmons, I prefer to expect the unexpected than be taken by surprise."

"What about you, then ? Should I check ?" She tried not to let her excitement show.

"They didn't touch me…but better be safe than sorry." He shrugged. Smirking faintly, he added, "I'm all yours." Oh, this man would be the death of her.

Face flushed, Ashley looked everywhere but at him as she let her hands roam over his body. First his shoulders, then down his muscled arms. Then his chest, his stomach – where her fingers might have lingered just a second longer than necessary, his waist, and the totality of his back. Done with his upper body, she bent down in front of him to check his legs…and suddenly realized the vulnerable positions they were in. She only had to look in front of her to…nope, nope, nope. She wasn't going there. What am I doing ?! Her inner voice screamed at herself.

She caught movement from above, and looked up just in time to see Leon turning his head sideways, staring at the wall with sudden interest. Was it her or...were the tip of his ears a little red ? Her heart stuttered at the sight, but she forced herself to focus on the task. She ran her hands over each of his legs, searching through the thick fabric of his cargo pants. A couple minutes later, she stood up. "I think you're in the clear." She grinned to hide how flustered she was.

"Thanks."

Silence suddenly fell between them, effectively ending the conversation, and Ashley – thanks to everything that had happened this morning, in her dream, started to feel…inadequate, for a lack of better word. Inadequate, because she actually didn't know what to feel. She sat down on the couch, staring at the lines in her palms, searching for anything new, weird, some indication that her body had been altered, like Emily had said. But she found nothing, not even those reddened veins. "What are you thinking ?" Leon asked as he sat beside her, a few inches away.

"Just that…there's really no going back, this time. There's no antidote, no machine to fix me up. At least not one that won't kill me in the process."

"We don't know that yet. It can take months – years , for doctors and scientists to find a cure, sometimes."

She shook her head, flexing her fingers. "Even if they did, I don't think it would help."

"Because you…feel different ?" He guessed.

"Yes and no. I feel like me, and yet…there's something different, too. Something that wasn't there before. I can't figure out what, exactly, but I can tell I can feel it's presence, kind of. I don't know, it's hard to explain." She tightened her hands into fists.

There was a pause, and then Leon said, "I'm sorry."

She turned to him. "For what ?"

"For not…preventing this. I know what you're going to say, that this isn't my fault – and part of it isn't. Saddler is the cause of all this chaos, even in death. But I was meant to rescue you, and once I did, it was supposed to be over. You were supposed to have a normal life."

"You couldn't have known." She whispered. Ashley wanted so much to reach out and touch the back of his hand, but…would that be crossing a boundary ? They'd both just touched each other all over the place, but somehow this felt more intimate.

He shook his head. "I should've known. I should've checked."

"Neither of us knew the machine was flawed. You can't beat yourself up over this, Leon."

He nodded, to her surprise. "You're right. I can't change the past…but I can still change the present. And I promise you this, Ashley," He gave her look that could burn buildings. "I'll stop at nothing to give you what you deserve."

I'll stop at nothing to give you what you deserve. He must've realized what he said – because he looked away, and so did Ashley, with her heart in her throat. He wasn't making it easy not to fall for him, this man. "Thanks," She tried to sound casual, but the word came out breathy. "But why ?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"I mean, I know you said we were friends and that you wouldn't just dump me, but…why go this far to help me ?" Leon turned to face her, and his expression was…vulnerable ? Ashley's heart thudded in her chest. His lips parted, but no reply came. His mouth closed again, the silence heavy with things neither of them said. Could it be…? She didn't dare to hope, and yet…

"Well, isn't this cozy." Said a sultry voice that belonged to neither of them. Ashley and Leon tensed at the same time, but it was the latter that jumped to his feet, putting himself in front of his charge to shield her from the intruder.

The woman in red smiled at them.

…

"Ada." Leon muttered, more annoyed than surprised to see the woman in his kitchen, casually leaning against one of the counters. "How did you get in ?"

"Is that really the question you should be asking ?" She smirked. He didn't reply, only watched her as she crossed into the living room.

He felt his charge stand up and sidestep around him – to see better, he guessed, but it was an effort not to hide her from view. "What are you doing here ?" Ashley asked.

The amusement in Ada's face faded, replaced by cold steel as her gaze zeroed in on the blonde girl. "I'm here to pass on a message; whatever game you think you're playing with Derek Simmons, stop it. You don't know what you're dealing with."

"What's it to your boss ?" Leon asked, but the better question was, how had the information about their mission gotten out ? Did Mr. Thompson have a mole on his side, too ?

"My employer is the enemy of your enemy, which means he'd be very displeased if someone like Derek found a means to utilize your mutation for his own gain – and trust me, he will."

"How does he know about my…mutation ?"

"What you should be asking is, who else knows ? The information is out, and it'll continue to spread. While your biggest concern right now is Derek, give it time and he'll be nothing more than a little fish in a sea of sharks where everyone wants a taste of you."

Ashley threw her hands in the air. "I don't understand – what's so great about this mutation ? What can it do for them that they're all so interested ?"

"How about we don't find out ?" The Asian woman replied, one of her thin brows arched.

"Help us stop Simmons, then." Leon said. "If what you're saying is true, then we're going to need all the help we can get."

"And like you said – your employer wouldn't be happy if Simmons somehow found a way to utilize my mutation, so all the more reason to help us !" Ashley chimed in helpfully, nodding her head.

Ada looked between the two of them and rolled her eyes. "That's not my job…but I'll see what I can do." And then she was out the window, taking with her every trace that she'd been here.

"That's one dramatic exit," Ashley commented, and Leon sighed. He was used to them.

To be Continued…