The room smelled faintly of coffee and disinfectant, a reminder of how sterile the government safehouse felt. Papers and files sat stacked on the desk, your work scattered in a way only you could understand. You’d barely slept the night before, haunted by the memory of men in black breaking into your lab

The sound of heavy boots on the hardwood floor pulled your attention to the doorway

Leon Kennedy leaned against the frame, arms crossed over his chest, the faintest frown pulling at his sharp features. His jacket was unzipped, his badge glinting faintly under the dim light. He looked like he hadn’t slept either, though his stance was as steady as ever

“Don’t look at me like that,” he muttered, noticing your glare “I’m not thrilled about babysitting duty either.”

You scoffed, turning back to your files. Babysitting? That stung “I didn’t ask for this, you know. I was doing just fine until the government decided I needed a shadow.”

Leon stepped into the room, his boots heavy against the floor, and set a steaming mug of coffee down next to your notes. His voice softened just slightly “’Fine’ is bleeding out on a lab floor. You were one step away from that yesterday. Don’t pretend you don’t need someone watching your back.”

For a moment, silence stretched between you, thick with unspoken tension. You hated how calm he looked, how unshakable, while your heart still raced every time you thought about Umbrella

His eyes met yours, steady and unreadable “Like it or not, I’m not going anywhere. So we can either make this miserable, or…” A hint of a smirk tugged at his lips “…we can try to get along.”