Chapter 1: Should've Said No
This was not how Leon imagined he would spend his afternoon, hiding in the corner of his office and then pressing a gun into his superior's back.
He was looking through the agenda for a meeting scheduled at the end of the week when he heard the mechanism for the hidden entrance to his office begin to activate.
The blonde only had a few seconds to react and he swiftly padded over to the blind spot off to the side and readied his weapon. Steadying his breathing, he slowed his heart rate and waited for the intruder to make his appearance as the bookshelf rolled to a stop.
A slightly older, bespectacled man stepped into view and Leon could see strands of grey hairs speckled on the side of his temple. He carried himself confidently and looked a little familiar but Leon couldn't quite remember where he had seen his face before. The stranger's eyes were doing a slow sweep across the room from right to left. Taking no chances, Leon released the safety with an audible click and laid the end of his pistol next to the man's left shoulder blade. "You have one minute to explain yourself."
The man sighed before slowly raising his arms, "I need your help, Agent Kennedy."
Leon cocked an eyebrow, "You could have made an appointment or gone through the main door instead of sneaking into my office."
"I had to be discreet. Do you mind lowering your weapon so we can talk like gentlemen?"
"And do you mind showing your ID?" Leon retorted.
"I knew I could count on you," the man replied proudly before raising his staff card and resting his thumb on his portrait. The border of the card flashed green after a second which signalled he was indeed an employee. Leon managed to catch a glimpse of his name, 'Reginald Martin'. It still did not ring a bell.
Satisfied with the man's identity, the blonde engaged the safety and lowered his gun, returning to his seat. "How can I help, Mr. Martin?" He gestured towards the chair in front of his desk but his colleague opted to remain standing.
"I need you to go on a mission."
"First, Ingrid Hunnigan is the field support agent who assigns missions to me. Second, you're a few months too late. I've been grounded from missions since the start of the year."
Reginald laughed, "I know. I signed off on your request."
Leon could only stare at the director of the DSO with a dumbstruck expression. So that's why he had looked so familiar, the director was always present for major meetings and events but mostly kept to himself, allowing his subordinates to speak. He swallowed nervously before finding his words. "I'm sure there are other capable agents who could take on this assignment. I might be rusty."
"On the contrary, what you've demonstrated so far shows that you're still as sharp as ever."
"That doesn't explain why my fellow agents aren't able to handle this," Leon said carefully.
"As I said, I had to be discreet." Reginald finally took a seat and began to whisper, "I believe I have a leak. You're the perfect candidate as you have been off the field. No one would be wiser."
"My peers and my wife would be quite concerned by my sudden disappearance."
Reginald grew impatient, "That can be easily explained away." He leaned in closer towards the desk. "I have a short window of time to act, Agent Kennedy, before the leaker catches wind of my plans. Listen carefully…"
Leon was in a hurry as he scrambled to gather his gear at home. He wished he could leave Ada a note, but he was under strict orders to keep his mission top secret. No one was to know where he had gone, not even his wife. He was not sure what the mission really entailed anyway, other than he had to go do it ASAP. Reginald had kept things vague during his briefing.
The blonde would have a lot of explaining to do when he got back from it. All he had time for was to give his cats Cobalt and Ebony each a quick pat goodbye. "See you two in a few days," he told the felines. "Be good to mommy."
When he had everything he thought he would need, Leon headed right out the door, to his director's car, and soon was being driven off.
He had left behind two things; his watch and his wedding ring, which Leon would rather not lose in a foreign war zone or a self-destructing lab. Normally he would have brought the watch, but his orders were not to bring any sort of device that could be tracked.
The watch given to him was a wedding gift by Ada and had GPS capabilities, so she could find him in case something happened. The agent knew leaving it would upset Ada, but the orders were specific. Whatever the assignment was, Leon hoped it was as damn important as his superior made it out to be. He loathed leaving Ada in the dark like this.
Returning home after an uneventful day at work, Ada had just stepped out of her heels before she turned towards the nearest shelf with her arms outstretched. A black kitten leapt into her embrace a moment later. It was a daily ritual for Ebony to perch on the shelf and jump onto her owner.
The raven-haired woman gave the kitten an affectionate scratch on the head and set her cat down on the floor. Ebony scampered off and Cobalt then came to her, meowing and rubbing her legs. "It's good to see you too," Ada cooed at the ginger feline as she ran her hand down the length of its body. Cobalt responded by arching his back and purring loudly.
Ada stood up and headed to the kitchen, noting that it was still unoccupied. She had spotted her husband's Cadillac in the garage and surmised he was exercising in their backyard gym. It was something he did after work but he would have been marinating a slab of meat or warming up the oven to save on meal prep time.
No matter, it probably slipped his mind. She proceeded to wash her hands and make dinner. They would be having some leftover stew for tonight. The pot was bubbling a few minutes later and after setting the heat to simmer, Ada left to take a quick shower.
Her blood ran cold upon entering the master bedroom. There, lying atop a chest of drawers were Leon's ring and watch. The ring was not an unfamiliar sight, he always left it behind whenever he was sent on missions. It was the watch that set off alarm bells in her head. No matter where her husband went, he always wore his watch and so did she. That was the promise they made to each other when she gifted the device to him. It wasn't that she distrusted him, it was a backup plan just in case things went awry.
After all, both of them had a history of going off the grid. It was not something they would want a repeat of in a marriage.
Ada inhaled a deep breath to steel herself. Immediately, her jittery mind was a picture of serenity.
It is always important to remain calm and collected, even in the most extreme situations.
The mantra that was drilled into her head years ago surfaced once more.
There had to be an explanation for this. For him to leave his car and suddenly be sent on an assignment after months of being in the office, it had to be urgent. The only person who knew Leon's whereabouts was his trusty operations support agent. Ada fired off a text to Hunnigan.
[txt] Where is he deployed to this time?
The end of a workday was one Ingrid always looked forward to. It meant that the office finally became quiet as fellow agents and staff filed out of the building like ants, getting into their cars and scattering into various directions during rush hour.
She stood and walked over to the window, closing the blinds to cut off the harsh glare of the setting sun. There were still some things she had to tend to and the silence was a much-needed respite from her usually hectic day. When she was not on field support, her inbox and phone continuously rang non-stop, filled with queries from co-workers who needed advice immediately. Paperwork usually took a backseat whenever she needed to guide her colleagues.
Plus, if she waited an hour, the gridlock would have eased up by then and shortened her commute. Ingrid was halfway through reading a referral form for one of the newest DSO agents when her phone chimed in three melodious tones. She ignored it for a brief moment before registering that the tune was one she set for her personal cellphone.
Ingrid hoped it wasn't yet another matchmaking attempt by her mother. She glanced over at the screen and saw she had a message from WONG-KENNEDY, ADA before it faded to black. They seldom texted each other and she doubted Leon's wife was casually saying hi.
Coloured curious, she picked up her phone and unlocked it to read the message. A puzzled expression appeared on her face as she flicked her eyes upwards, lost in thought. Did she see Leon today? She couldn't recall. Either way, she was not certain what Ada could be talking about.
[txt] I'm not sure what you mean.
Author's Note: I've been bitten by the writing bug so here is a post-RE6 Aeon AU fic. This is based off an RP I did years ago with some revisions. It'll primarily be focused on Leon & Ada but we'll have a bit of Hunnigan's POV at the beginning of the story. I have no idea how many chapters this story will take or how long each chapter would be but let's sit back and enjoy the ride. ;)