Chapter Text
Ashley flicked her keycard against the reader. The BSAA labs seemed quiet, though she didn’t have much of an idea of what they were like on a normal day, if there even was such a thing. She checked the map she had downloaded on her phone. The layout was straightforward, and she knew the room number in the west wing she needed to get to.
The conversation with Hunnigan echoed in her mind as she walked.
“While pursuing Chief Security Advisor Simmons, Leon became infected with the C Virus. He’s OK, don’t worry. It’s just we’re still running tests to make sure he’ll stay ok.
I know the report I gave you didn’t have much to go on in it, I’m sorry. I wasn’t allowed to provide you with much more information. You’ll just have to wait until you can see him for yourself.
He’s happy to talk with you, you can go down to the labs today if you’d like.”
“He’s happy to talk? You mean I can’t see him?”
The warm smile was betrayed by the sorrow in Hunnigan’s eyes.
“He’s still adjusting to everything. He’s spoken to a couple of our doctors and he’s dealing with a lot of internal negative emotions right now, about what people think of him. I don’t think the tests are helping.”
Hunnigan reached out and gently held Ashley’s hand, squeezing it lightly.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be happy to have you visit. It’s what he really needs right now. Trust me.”
-
A million questions raced through her mind, she tried to block them all out as she strode down the corridor, counting down the room numbers until she reached the right one.
Standing outside the viewing room door, holding her keycard at the ready, she steeled herself. The way the security staff described the setup, Leon had access to a shutter system on the viewing window, giving him control over how and when visitors could see him. It allowed him much needed privacy given his life since coming home was endless tests and scans and scientists.
Tapping her card against the reader, the light flicked green and she heard the lock release. Pressing down on the cold handle, she slipped inside. There was a small coffee table near the viewing window, she noted that the shutter was down. A few chairs were on the far wall, she pulled one up to the window and sat down. On the table there was a remote control, it looked custom made for the setup. It only had a handful of buttons, the most important of which was a ‘call’ button that she was told would allert Leon that someone was in the room, and a ‘mic on’ button. The room had an inbuilt microphone and speaker system to allow comfortable communication even if large groups were there.
It felt uncomfortably sterile. Worse than a hospital. She looked up to the top left corner of the room, where a security camera stared back. She was also told Leon had access to the feed. She wondered if he was watching now? Hunnigan said she’d call ahead. Was he waiting for her to do something first? Would he be upset that she was so hesitant?
Shaking off the feeling she hit both buttons on the controller and flashed a smile and a wave towards the security camera, for good measure.
A moment passed before she heard a light clicking sound on the intercom, before a voice emerged.
“Ashley, hey…”
She was surprised that he sounded so… Normal. She wasn't sure what she expected, no one had given her any information other than that he’d been infected but he hadn’t lost his mind. There was an extensive report written about the events that went down, she’d been able to convince the BSAA to let her read a copy of it but it was heavily redacted. Particularly the parts pertaining to Leon.
“It’s… good to see you.”
She was relieved to hear the sincerity in his voice, despite how slightly rough around the edges he sounded. He was Leon, that hadn’t changed. But she could tell he was different all the same.
“It’s good to, uh, hear you, haha..”
Her feet shuffled, she started bouncing one leg. Looking longfully at the window glass with the shutter still closed. She was fine with phone calls but this was making her nervous. It hadn’t been that long ago that they’d last spoke, that they’d last caught up in person.
“I’m sorry, about your dad. I’m sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral. I’m sorry for everything, Ashley.”
“It’s ok, Leon. You did everything you could.”
Despite the lack of contact, the uncomfortable fog in the room was palpable for both parties. Her leg bouncing rate increased. Shuffling could be heard over the intercom speaker. They each heard the pain in the other’s voice. The wound was still fresh and very deep.
Not wanting to have that conversation to a wall, Ashley attempted to change the subject.
“So how are you holding up? I mean with the tests and everything. Hunnigan said you shouldn't have to be in isolation much longer.”
“Uhh yeah… It’s fine. I’m doing fine.”
She let out a small sigh.
“You can’t bullshit me, Leon.”
Silence.
“You’ve been stuck inside that room for almost three months now. You must be tired of it, and lonely.”
She paused, before continuing.
“When I got back from Europe after you rescued me, they kept me in isolation for precautionary testing for two weeks. They were paranoid I guess. I know for you they didn’t need long to clear you of any issues. Those two weeks were the worst of my life.”
“Worse than being injected with a mind-controlling parasite?” he joked back, dryly.
“Much, much worse.” she playfully replied, “I didn’t have a strong, capable, and handsome government agent to save me from a bunch of creepy scientists in hazmat suits.”
She heard what sounded like a muffled laugh. A smile crossed her face.
“Unfortunately for me the only ‘strong, capable, and handsome’ government agent I know is limited to Visitors on Wednesdays only.”
This made Ashley giggle suddenly, the first time she’d properly and genuinely laughed since before the C-Virus incident even occurred.
“When I came home, Dad was so worried. He just wanted to make sure I was gonna be ok. He was always so busy and worked so hard. He just wanted to make sure he could change something for the positive. In the end you made sure that happened. You and Helena.”
A tear rolled down her cheek and gently dropped off her chin. Followed by another.
“I’d known Simmons for just about my whole life, he’d had family dinners with us, we’d visit his house frequently. Dad had confided in him about so much I just… I can’t believe he’d betray us like that. I can’t believe he would be so selfish.”
The tears were making it hard for her to see, her words were mixed in with sharp breaths as she began to sob.
“He killed Dad and all those people, after everything, he just fucking killed him and killed everyone else and burned it to the ground all for what!! And now he’s gone and I don’t know what to do, Leon I just don’t know what to fucking do!”
She cried for a moment, letting the anger and the grief flow. Purging her system, letting it out. As she started to calm down she pulled a packet of tissues from her bag, to clean her face.
“I want to make a difference. I want to do something, like Dad did.” she said slowly through strained breaths.
“I never want to feel helpless and small ever again. After you rescued me in Europe, after everything you did to stop Simmons, I want to do something for the world too.”
She glanced up at the security camera, as if it would respond back somehow. Hoping he was watching.
“You and Dad made me realise what I wanted to do with my life, what I cared most about. I even changed my college degree to International Relations when I got home but I mean, you already know that. Now with the BSAA here, I’ve asked Hunnigan if she can help me shift my career slightly, and work with you and everyone else here.”
“Really? You want to work for the BSAA?”
She nodded, not knowing if he could even see. Taking the moment to have a drink from her water bottle to gather herself.
“... I’ll put in a personal recommendation, if they’re still accepting those from me after everything.”
“Thank you Leon, I’m sure they will.” Ashley smiled.
“Well if they let me do anything, once the tests are cleared, I’d like to go visit your old man with you. If you don’t mind. I couldn’t be there for the funeral so…”
“Of course Leon,” she wiped a tear from her eye, “I’d love that. I’m sure Dad would too.”
“I think you’d be great here, we need more people like you, Ashley.”
“Of course, someone needs to be around to stop you getting into more trouble, right?”
She was hoping for a smart-ass response, a laugh, a quip, something. Leon Kennedy, the man of many one-liners. Her comment was met with silence. Her heart sank.
“What happened to you, Leon?”
He avoided responding, she could hear more slight shuffling noises.
“I know you feel uncomfortable, god knows I would too. Everyone’s talking about you, saying you’re a hero. You and all the others that worked together to stop the C-Virus from spreading. You saved people's lives.”
“... I don’t think you’d be calling me that if you could see me right now.”
The most she’d gotten to read about the effects of the virus on him were small comments about carapace and ‘external structural changes’. In all honestly she had no idea what he looked like, if he was even recognisable. She didn’t really know how to ask, besides the fact she really only knew Hunnigan well enough to be confident posing the question to anyone aside from the man Himself.
“I wouldn’t know. No one’s shown me any photos of you. I have no idea.”
He was silent again.
“But you’re still you, in the end. Does it matter what you look like?” she said with a hopeful tone.
“It does when you look like a monster.”
She recoiled slightly at the tone of his voice.
“When I was in China, when it happened. It didn’t really matter to me. People's lives were at stake, Simmons was out there, I embraced it in the moment because I couldn't let people down. I needed to do something. I couldn't just give up and avoid facing the world. But now? I’m stuck in this cell and every few days I get more needles poked into me and more scans and more people asking me stupid fucking questions and I just-”
He paused suddenly. Breathing for a few moments.
“I can’t deal with all of this. I’m as good as a lab animal now. And why would anyone think any differently if they saw what I’ve become.”
“C’mon, don’t say that.”
Suddenly the shutter began to move upwards, a brighter light from the room beyond the glass spilling in. It took Ashley a moment to adjust before she could fully stare at the figure sitting opposite her.
“If you were in trouble and the thing that came to help you looked like this, would you still call it a hero?”
The tone of his voice strung. He was leaning forward sitting backwards on the chair, arms folded on top of the backrest. His head on a slight angle, looking at her with a questioning stare. He was watching for a reaction, shock, fear, surprise.
They both sat there, still, staring each other down for a few moments. Ashley was calm, she didn’t jerk or flinch, she simply stared at him. He couldn’t read her face, the longer she made eye contact the more his nerves creeped back. Without thinking he’d opened the shutter on the window. It was an emotional response to his frustration, but it wasn’t fair to reveal himself to her like this. To put this pressure on her after everything she’d gone through. His mandibles twitched despite him trying to remain still. Regret was seeping in.
Speaking slowly and looking away from her, he broke the silence.
“This was… A mistake… I’m sorry.”
He leaned over to his right and reached for the control panel to close the shutter, Ashley interrupted him.
“Hey wait wait wait!”
He held his hand over the button, but his left eye looked back at her. She smiled back, it was comforting, and it sure as hell wasn’t faked. She had a slight sparkle in her eye.
“With those things you really can’t bullshit me now, so don’t even try.” She grinned while raising her hands, index fingers and thumbs outstretched, to the side of her face in a mimicking style.
He stared at her with an unimpressed look, breathed out through his nose and retracted his hand. Shifting in his seat, he turned to face her properly again, mandibles instinctively flexing and twitching in response to her widening grin.
Not much surprised her, after the things she’d seen in Europe and the general report on the effects of the C-Virus she’d snagged a read of, Leon had gotten pretty lucky to look as much like his old self as he did. His eyes looked exactly the same, it was the dead giveaway that he was really the same old Leon Kennedy he’d always been. If a little bit less cheery than she’d remembered.
“You know this conversation is reminding me of a scene from that movie Shrek.”
His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing as his face scrunched up in disgust.
“Are you saying I look like Shrek…?”
Ashley laughed, “No not at all!”
He reached for the button again.
“No no no please! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She struggled to stop herself from laughing.
He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly towards her, finger hovering just out of distance. She assumed it was on the button.
“I’m done, I’m done. Seriously, I’m good.” she breathed in and smiled, desperately holding back more laughter.
She grinned again as she noticed a small smirk cross the corner of his mouth as he moved his arm back to rest on his chair comfortably.
“You make one more Shrek joke and I’m pushing the button.” He said with an exaggerated, serious tone. She could tell though by the way he looked at her that he was warming up to the conversation.
“I promise, Scouts honor.” She said placing one hand across her heart.
He stared at her intently, one eyebrow still raised.
“One,” he raised an index finger, “more joke.”
He noticed her staring at his hand, looking at it himself he remembered the claws.
“Don’t you dare!” he said pointing it at her, as she looked like she was about to push her luck.
“You think I’d go against Scouts Honor? Leon, I’m offended.” she folded her arms and gave him a smug look.
He smiled at her, properly, the kind of warm comforting smile he’d given her when they first met. Moving around he sat up more straight in his seat, feeling more comfortable in his own skin again. He’d spent their whole conversation up until this point hunched over and hiding behind the seat from her as much as he could.
“So is the shirtless thing a bold fashion statement? It suits you.” she smirked as his expression dropped.
It was hard to tell, she thought she spotted his cheeks flushing ever so slightly as he fumbled, mandibles suddenly flicking outwards in surprise before folding in to hug his face as he turned away slightly, hunching back behind the chair.
“I uhh… Sorry I’m… That’s a bit of a problem at the moment.”
Leon Kennedy, embarrassed. She almost did a double take. The most confident person she’d ever met, was uncomfortable about being shirtless. Luckily he didn’t see her incredulous expression as he’d turned around, counting her lucky stars as she was afraid he might mistake it for being a reaction to his physical appearance. He had his back to her now and raised a hand to gesture with his thumb at the row of spines in a line down his back.
“Ohhhhh.” she said in understanding.
“Not really sure uhh, what I’m gonna do about that.” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.
“I’m sure we can modify some of your old shirts for you, but it's fine. Don’t stress about it.” she responded in a comforting tone.
He looked up at her again and smiled. She could definitely see the red in his cheeks now. She maintained her composure, not wanting to embarrass him more.
“Thanks Ashley, I really appreciate that.”
“Tell you what, I’ll come back tomorrow and bring my chess set.” she had a mischievous look in her eyes.
“I hope you haven't gotten rusty though…” she smirked.
“Are you kidding me? You still owe me a re-match and I intend to regain my honor.” he smiled back with an intent stare in his eyes.
“I look forward to it.” she grinned.