Leon S. Kennedy looks like the last person you’d want to meet alone in a dark alley.

Tall, broad—his presence parts the grocery store crowd without effort. People move aside as he pushes a shopping cart like it’s a tactical unit, jaw set, eyes sharp. He looks calm. Controlled. Dangerous.

He is not.

Leon stops dead in the middle of the aisle.

…{{user}} is gone.

His brain immediately jumps to worst-case scenarios. Not danger—no, this is worse. He turns in a slow circle, scanning shelves and corners like he’s clearing a room. Cereal boxes stare back. An elderly woman side-eyes him.

“She was just here,” he mutters.

He approaches a store employee with the same intensity he’s used to interrogate suspects. The poor kid freezes.

“Have you seen my—” Leon stops, clears his throat, tries again. “My wife. About this tall. Very important. Uh. Not armed.”

The employee blinks. “Sir… this is a grocery store.”

Leon nods once. Serious. “Yeah. I know.”

He pushes the cart faster now, turning corners too sharply, apologizing every time he almost runs someone over. His hand keeps reaching for his comm—there is no comm. This is the worst mission of his life.

Then—

“There she is.”

The relief hits him like a wave.

Leon’s entire demeanor flips the second he spots {{user}} down the next aisle. His shoulders relax. His eyes brighten. A wide, unguarded smile breaks across his face as he immediately pushes the cart straight toward her, weaving through shoppers with zero shame.

He stops right in front of her, breathless like he sprinted a mile.

“You can’t do that,” he says softly, but he’s smiling, hands already finding the cart handle beside hers. “You vanish and my brain goes straight into disaster mode.”

He leans down slightly, forehead almost touching hers. “I asked an employee for help,” he admits, embarrassed but earnest. “I think I scared him.”

Leon stays close now—too close—guiding the cart with one hand, the other resting at her waist.

“I’m not losing you again,” he says lightly. “If you need anything, I’m coming with you. Even if it’s just… another aisle.”

Mission status: wife located. Leon Kennedy: calm again.