#dso agent

CHAPTER 1 - Red Lipstick

CHAPTER 2 - Rumour has it

CHAPTER 3 - Carry out

CHAPTER 4- I'll be there

CHAPTER 5 - Kills

CHAPTER 6 - No one like you

CHAPTER 7 - Coffee

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You have been working for the DSO for three years now, and you could say you got used to the desk job, despite craving that adrenaline rush from your army days. You couldn't complain much, as the pay was good, allowing you to live in a residential neighborhood in the middle of the city. For a twenty-five year old, it was impressive. Your ass still hurt from sitting on that spinning chair for too long, though.

Today was no different from the rest of your work days; you arrived to work at 7 AM sharp, your burgundy suit sitting perfectly on you, red lipstick complementing your skin tone, manicure freshly done to match this month's color: red- well, mostly burgundy, but you got the idea. Every month, you made this habit of wearing a different color, and you never strayed from it. The frames of your glasses(prescription or blue light) always matched your nails, that matched your suits, that matched your handbag, that matched you phone case...Well, you got the idea. Some might call you a perfectionist that has weird fixations. As much as you wanted to deny that statement, whenever you passed a mirror and admired yourself, you couldn't help but agree with them.

Sitting down on your spinning chair, the one that you spun on until you got dizzy whenever you were bored out of your mind, you took in the sight of papers you had on your desk and sighed. It wasn't the amount of papers that pissed you off, but the way whoever placed them there did it so carelessly, it messed up your whole desk order. You liked keeping things tidy, in their place. Order meant a lot to you, so whenever someone messed with that, you closed your eyes, jaw tight, counting to ten and then back to one.

You never understood why people weren't paying more attention to their surroundings. There was an empty space at the end of your desk specifically left empty for new papers that would come through for you when you weren't there. The empty space was conveniently placed at the end of the desk, so it could be easier for them to leave it there. But no, they decided to dump it in the middle of the table, on top of other papers that had absolutely nothing to do with what they gave you. That meant more work for you, work you weren't particularly excited for.

It was one thing to go on field missions, retrieving or getting rid of stuff, and a completely another to sort papers all day. "So careless" You mumbled under your breath, lifting some of the papers to look for the ones that weren't related to the newly acquired work.

As you did so, you didn't notice the presence of one of your colleagues, too engrossed in mumbling curses and sorting papers out. When the guest knocked over the wood of the desk, your eyes immediately snapped to the knuckles hitting the table. They trailed up until they rested on the figure of Sherry Birkin, an important informant for field agents. The woman is six years older than you, yet she looks so youthful, you'd guess, between the two of you, she was the younger one.

Her blonde hair was cut in a pixie cut, a hairstyle you think suited her very well, helping her maintain her youthful appearance. She didn't have too much make up on, just a little blush, some mascara and a soft pink lip gloss on her lips. Her white dress shirt had no wrinkles in sight, her black pencil skirt fitting her perfectly.

Seeing you finally noticed her, she crossed her hands across her chest and raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile playing on her lips "What's got you so pissed off today? The day hasn't even started and you are already mad and swearing."

"Was I that loud?" She nodded and you grimaced, but then saw the papers and got mad again. "Someone put a bunch of reports on top of papers that are not related to each other. And now I have to sort them out."

"Why don't you just start writing on them and once you get to the unrelated ones, you just... move on?" She suggested and you shook your head.

"You know me, Sherry. Won't be able to rest until I have them sorted out. Plus, the papers that were here before the new ones were bough had to be given today to Reynolds."

"Speaking of Reynolds, he told me to send you to his office. Got something important to talk with you. Said it's urgent." She winked and left, smiling on her way back to her desk as she heard your loud groan.

"I'll go nuts in this agency." You mumbled and got up, your heels clinking against the tile floor, the loud echo making your colleagues throw you interested glances, although when they saw the look on your face they looked back at their work. It was nothing new to see you(or anyone, really) with a sour expression on your face as you walked towards the director's office, as nobody really liked being called by him. He wasn't a bad boss or anything- on the contrary, with you, he was quite understanding- but he had the tendency of yelling so loud, the whole floor heard his scoldings. Which wasn't the funnest thing.

"Good morning, sir." You greeted as you entered his office, the old man meeting your eyes with a happy nod, a smile plastered on his face. That was strange. He only smiled when he was drunk -which you've only had the honor to see once, when he got promoted to a higher position, closer to the president-, and he certainly never did that during work, let alone on a random morning. He was very professional and stern, the only time you saw him smile was in the photo he had on his desk, a sweet picture of him, his wife and 10 year old daughter taken in a beautiful park.

"Morning, Miss L/n." He gestured to the chair in front of him. "Take a seat, please. I got something to discuss with you."

You looked at him suspiciously, a frown on your face. " Right... If this is about the reports on the Denver facility, I apologize for the wait, I had a small mix up with other reports, but I'll see to-"

He raised a hand and you stop mid explanation, waiting for him to talk. "I don't care about the Denver facilities right now. I have something bigger for you, L/n."

"For me?" You raised an eyebrow and pointed to yourself, not expecting this news so early in the morning.

"Yes, for you. Do you think I've kept you here for so long just to write contracts?" You nodded and he scoffed. "Oh, please. The daughter of America's greatest general is not supposed to be sitting locked up in her office when she has so many useful skills." He boasted and you rolled your eyes.

"Seems like her skills were on stand-by for three years, then. Because I can tell you the exact number of papers I have signed since I came here." You heard a soft scoff from somewhere to the side, and that's the moment you realized it wasn't just you and Reynolds in the room. You turned your head sharply in the direction of the sound and frowned at the unknown man sitting so relaxed in the far corner of the room.

He was tall and muscular, his worked abs visible through his white compression blouse. You wouldn't deny, the man was hot: blond hair cut in a weird way that weirdly suited him, soft jawline and beautiful steel-blue eyes that, when catching the light, would turn sky-blue. He had this carefree energy too, oscillating between amused and tired, a soft smile on his lips. You nodded your head in salute and he responded in kind.

"You surely know or have heard about Leon Kennedy, yes?" Reynolds said and realization hit you. Of course you have heard of him. He was kind of a legend around the office. Whenever the man returned from a mission-which was quite often-everything everyone would talk about was his amazing performance and handsomness. You've never seen him, but by the way everyone-men and women- was talking about him, you expected quite the beauty. Apparently, you were right. He is quite pleasant to look at. Well, maybe more than a little.

"Yes, sir, I have."

"And you have heard of General L/n's daughter, Y/n, haven't you, Kennedy?" Reynolds addressed him now, the blond nodding curtly. "Good then. Means you won't have problems making conversation."

Both you and Leon shared confused glances at his words. "You called us both here to make conversation?" You wanted to laugh in his face, but let him explain first.

Reynolds nodded, all serious and stern again. "Yes. I think it's important for partners to have a good relationship before I send them on deadly missions together. You know, so they won't cut each other's throats before they even get to the location. Or not be able to cooperate and fuck everything up."

"W-what do you mean, partners, sir?" You asked, stumbling over words, confusion fogging your brain.

"I mean exactly what the word means. The missions are getting rougher, Kennedy is getting older. I figured a partner to watch his back would guarantee his return home. And since your whole life you trained for moments like this, I figured now's the time to put your skills to use. As I said, I didn't recruit you for a desk job."

"About that-"

"You can begin to pack your stuff from your desk. I already have someone to take over your job. You'll be moving to the highest floor, Birkin will show you the way. From today on, you and Kennedy will train together, learn each other's weak points and combat styles. I don't need to explain why, do I?"

"No, sir." You said sternly and he nodded proudly.

"That's all, then. Welcome to the DSO, agent L/n."

"You are free to work from home, just make sure to announce Reynolds or me, so we know you haven't gone M.I.A." She continued and turned her head to give you a smile. You smiled back and nodded curtly in understanding.

"This will be your desk. That one over there is mine." She pointed to the table in front of yours. "And that's Leon's." She glanced at Leon's desk, the one next to yours. Leon placed your box on the empty desk, not a drop of sweat or groan in sight despite it being very heavy. You glanced at how his biceps strained against his shirt, veins poking out on his forearms.

"Tomorrow I want to see you fight. I have no doubt you are good in combat, but I need to know who has my back and how they fight." Leon said, his deep voice leaving no room for contradiction as he finally looked at you, noticing your eyes were already on him. You nodded curtly and he moved to his office, passing you a fleeting glance as he walked past you. He gave you a small smile as he met your eyes, but you could tell the man was tired as hell, so you didn't hold against him how he barely said two words to you since your promotion was announced.

"Welcome to the team, agent L/n." Sherry said with a smile, patting your shoulder and going back to her desk to pick her work back.

---

As Leon requested-or more like ordered-, the next morning you showed up dressed in sport clothes- a black compression tshirt and burgundy sweatpants-, ready to show your partner exactly what you were capable of. Leon was standing in front of you, dressed in a white compression shirt that showed his muscular complexion and grey sweatpants.

It was so early in the morning that it was only the two of you present in the room. That didn't bother you though, on the contrary, it was much better. More space for you to fight.

You stood in front of him, arms held up in front of you, back straight and legs shoulder-width apart. Although your stance was supposed to be tense, Leon couldn't help but notice how relaxed you seemed. That delighted him in a way, although he expected you to be confident. Given your upbringing, it was no wonder you were used to exercises like these.

Meanwhile, you analyzed your partner. His stance was mirroring yours, but you couldn't help but notice the tight set of his jaw, the tense muscles, how his biceps contracted, how his knuckles whitened.

Wasting no time, you threw the first blow, your right fist trying to make contact with his jaw, but his forearm shot up just in time to make contact with you. "You look quite tense. Am I intimidating you, Mr Kennedy?" You said with a smile as you ducked from his retaliation blow, a steady punch to your solar plexus.

The man scoffed and his leg shot up. You managed to dodge the kick to your thigh by spinning out of the way. "Intimidated? By you? Nothing scares me anymore." He said with a smile but it soon faded as your fist almost connected with his nose. He got his head down by millimeters, eyes wide, surprised at how fast you were. One second you were a few meters away from him, the next right into his personal space. "You are fast, Miss L/n."

"Took you by surprise there." You smiled and continued throwing punches and kicks, while all he did was defend himself. "Thought I was a weak little girl that barely knows how to throw a punch?"

"Oh, I could definitely tell by your body language how disciplined you are. Your punches are steady, your back always straight, breathing always even, eyes always focused." He said as he caught hold of your right wrist with his left hand and his right leg hooking to your left calf, tripping you. He managed to catch you just in time before you fell, his other hand shooting up to rest on your waist, preventing you from connecting with the mat. You could feel the heat of his skin through your shirt, how calloused his palms were.

Instinctively, your hands caught onto his shirt for support, and you couldn't help but notice his heavier breathing and the fast pace of his heartbeat under your palm. You smiled smugly, proud you managed to get him tired. "Have I tired you out already, partner?"

"I'm getting old, you know. But by the way I have you held right now, I'll say I'm still in pretty good shape" You hummed in agreement, looking into his eyes. Such a beautiful shade of blue, unlike any you've seen before. "You're getting distracted, partner." He said softly. Your grin stayed on your face as your leg -the one that wasn't entwined with his- shot up, and, since you were in a good mood today, your knee hit his thigh, the joint making contact with the hard muscle of his leg with great force.

His eyes betrayed no surprise, but the way the grip on your wrist loosened was confirmation enough. The moment your partner began to lose his balance and fall backwards, almost taking you with him, you twisted, using the leg he had hooked as an anchor to regain control.

Now standing up, back straight, free from his hold, you looked down at him with a proud smile. It was quite the achievement to trick the Leon S. Kennedy and have him fallen at your feet, looking up at you with something akin to admiration.

"Didn't expect that, huh?" He stood up, hands smoothing over the creases from his sweatpants.

"Should have. I must say, Miss L/n, you do live up to the rumors." He praised and reached his hand in front of him, inviting you to shake it. You eyed it suspiciously, eyes narrowing at the gesture. He didn't lower his hand, waiting for your response. He raised an eyebrow the moment you met his eyes, a teasing smile on his lips.

Sighing, you gave up and accepted his shake, his calloused palm closing against yours. When you met his eyes again, he gave you a firm nod, one that meant understanding and respect. The shake of your hands might not have meant much, but it was a sign of trust, a confirmation you could be partners, have each other's backs. And he appreciated that.

Leon was aware of your trust issues. The military taught you trust is important, and you were perfectly capable of working with partners, but that didn't mean he had your full trust when you barely knew each other for twelve hours. He had to earn it, and this was a good start.

"So what do the rumors say about me?" You said as you caught up to him, a bright smile on your face. Whether it was from the victory of the fight or the curiosity of local gossip, he couldn't tell.

Throwing you a bottle of water and taking one for himself from the fridge in the training room, he took a big gulp, loving the feeling of the cold liquid running down his throat. You did the same, but for some reason you couldn't help but glance at his neck, noticing the drops of sweat on his tanned skin, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

Adverting your eyes and putting the cap back on, you looked ahead, waiting for him to answer your question. "That you are an excellent fighter. Very fast and cunning. And an amazing shooter, although I can't confirm nor deny that information. Haven't got the chance to see you with a gun."

You laughed then, the sound echoing in the empty room. "It's better you didn't. I was a nightmare in the army."Leon cocked his head to the side, a small frown on his face, looking at you with a smile."I would hit all the targets before the others even got the chance to pinpoint their positions.. And then came the real missions..."

"Let me guess: headshots." You nodded, a nostalgic smile on your face.

"My colleagues and higher ups were always impressed." You shrugged simply, putting the bottle that you were holding in your hand on the table behind you. "When you have General L/n as a father, headshots are something you should have mastered by the age of five." He smiled at that, taking it as a joke. In truth, it wasn't. "So tell me, Mr Kennedy, did you know of Reynolds's idea? Of giving you a partner?"

"Just call me Leon. I'll get a headache is you call me Mr Kennedy for the rest of my career."

"Got it. Then you shall call me Y/n." You smiled kindly and he returned it, albeit it was more tired.

"To answer your question, I wasn't aware of anything. Reynolds is quite unpredictable. And even if he wanted me to know before telling you, he couldn't have, as I just returned from a mission."

You grimaced at his explanation. "He called you straight to a meeting after a mission? God, he's messy." Your partner nodded in agreement, lips pursed. He didn't have any expectations from the higher ups, but he still seemed disappointed.

"You train outside work, don't you?" You raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

"What gave me away?"

"Well, for starters, you have an office job. Your fighting is too good, too practiced. Plus, I'm assuming, given your upbringing, you still have that habit. You also strike me as the kind of person that chases adrenaline. And since you are not getting it here..." He trailed off and you smiled.

"You are good at reading people. I have a gym in my apartment complex, so yes, I train daily. Helps me let off some steam and take my mind off of things. And, as you said, since I was raised that way, it's quite hard to let go of it." A small pause, and then. "What about you? You are pretty fit yourself, and as often as you go on missions, I don't think that's your only way of keeping in shape. So? What's your secret?"

"Same as yours. My building also has a gym that I tend to spend more time in than in my own bed. Very relaxing out there." He explained and you nodded, expecting such an answer.

"I-" You wanted to ask more questions, keep the conversation going, and by the way he answered, he seemed eager to continue talking, but the door to the training room opened sharply and Sherry popped her head in. Her eyes immediately found Leon, then yours, and she signaled for the two of you to come outside.

You and your partner shared a confused look but complied, walking towards the door. "Hey. I see you are getting along and I'm really glad. Hate to break your bonding time, but I have a message from Reynolds, and you won't like it." She looked at Leon apologetically when she said that, and by the look of disbelief on his face, you knew what this was about. Your heart began thumping loudly in your chest, adrenaline taking over.

"Well, just spill it. We would've found out about it soon anyway." Your partner said softly.

"Tonight, you are leaving for a new mission. Reynolds will give you more details in today's briefing. Don't be late." She looked at Leon pointedly, probably knowing he is keen to being late to things, and left, closing the door behind her in the process.

Mind now slightly less foggy than before, you looked around and realize you were, indeed, not at home. You sat up, hand on your hips, right leg bouncing, staring into nothingness. That's how Leon found you anyway. You didn't even notice when he came in, so you startled the moment he touched your shoulder to get your attention.

"You alright? Why are you so confused" He asked.

You looked up at him and asked directly. "Where are we? Everything okay?"

He frowned and nodded his head, sitting on the edge of your bed while holding a plastic bag. "Of course, everything's all right. You fell asleep after the mission and I- we encountered an accident on the road and instead of staying in traffic for God knows how many hours, I decided it'd be better if we rested in a motel. Luckily, there was one right around the corner, so here we are. I tried to wake you up so you could walk by yourself, but you were too tired, so I just carried you." He shrugged simply.

"I thought something bad happened."

"Not to us. I'm an amazing driver." You raised an eyebrow, not believing him.

"I've heard otherwise." You sat down next to him and he handed you the bag he was holding. Looking inside, you found some granola bars and bottles of water.

"There's a vending machine downstairs. I didn't know what you liked, but since you were in the army for so long, granola bars seemed a good option."He shrugged and you smiled.

"They were the only option, actually." You handed him a bar and opened the other, taking a bite. "During missions, that's what we mostly ate. My grandma would make them at home and she would add chocolate or strawberries and make them taste better, but most of them were given to us by the army. They were stale, but they did their job." You shrugged simply and crumpled the plastic that covered the granola, throwing it in the trash on the other side of the room. It landed perfectly inside.

"I thought you had rations?" He asked and finished it too, throwing it straight into the bin.

"We did, but would eat it really fast. Most of the times we were told we would be in a two day mission, so we didn't think to keep more food aside. And then that two-day mission turned into a two-week mission, and all we had left were granola bars."

"Couldn't they send you more?"

You shook your head. "We were undercover, and, oftentimes, on a different continent. Nobody knew we were on a mission, so we couldn't exactly go anywhere and ask to be given rations. Going to restaurants or fast foods was considered a distraction, so we weren't allowed to do that either. And it would have been a waste of time anyway. But it's a good thing I was trained to survive days without much food. I managed to ignore most of the cramps and all that stuff. My colleagues, on the other hand..." You trailed off and got up, looking down at him. "Let's get some coffee, I have a feeling I'll need it."

You and Leon walked down the creaky stairs of the motel, clearly old and in need for renovation. He gestured where the vending machine and the coffee maker were and you followed his instructions. He held open the door for you to walk into what was supposed to be a small lobby with a microwave, a fridge, a stove and the vending and coffee machines. You stood in front of the snacks, staring intently at the bags of chips. There weren't many options or flavors, but anything would do. You could feel your stomach rumbling, asking for food.Of course, chips weren't considered food, but it was better than nothing, nonetheless.

"How does this thing work." You mumbled, confused at how you would get anything out of it. "I swear, if it took my money and I'm not getting my chips-" Leon's hand reached towards a certain button that he pressed -a bit harder than you normally would press a button- and there it was! The bag of chips you paid for fell. You reached for it and turned to him with a smile. He was holding two cups of coffee and nodded with a small smile, nodding his head towards the sliding doors that lead outside.

The two of you took a seat at a table for two that was placed right next to the room you came out of. Opening the bag of chips, the smell of chemicals hit your nose. Grimacing, you reached for one chip and, tasting it, your face contorted in a expression akin to disgust. Leon chuckled when he saw it, and you took a gulp of the coffee, not caring about the hotness of it.

"Oh, this tastes like piss. Jesus, this is terrible. The chips are so stale and old and almost...sour? This is not how normal chips taste like. And the coffee. Don't even get me started. God!" Leon handed you your bottle of water, the one he bought for you a few minutes ago, and you drank the remaining water, wanting to get rid of the taste of bad coffee and stale chips from your mouth.

"Don't worry, we'll get in the car and stop at a gas station on the way back, buy some chips that are not as old as these ones, hopefully." He joked and you pressed your lips together.

"I don't think anything could taste as terrible as these." You eyed the coffee and chips on the table in front of you and he chuckled, taking one more sip of his coffee. "You like that?" You eyed the cup in his hand suspiciously, a grimace on your face.

"Hell no, it's terrible. But I'll take any coffee I can get."

"Speaking of, where did you sleep last night? There was only one bed? Please tell me you booked another room and slept on a proper bed and not on that rusty armchair from the room." You pleaded and by the look on his face, he confirmed your fear.

"I actually didn't sleep much. It comes with the job, you know?" He tried to reassure, but realized it sounded even worse, so he just pressed his lips together and looked to the side when you looked at him pointedly.

"I know you hate to hear this, but sleep is very important. Did you know that if you stay 19 hours without sleep, your brain is in the same state as if you were drunk? And given that you 'didn't sleep much', I assume your brain is in an alcoholic coma." He snorted at that and nodded.

"Won't argue with you on this one. It surely feels like it is, anyway." Leon said and drank the last bit of his coffee, then stood up. "If you're done with the chips, let's go and get some proper food."

Twenty minutes later, Leon parked his Porsche at a gas station and you followed after him in the store, looking around the aisles for dried fruits. They were a sweet, healthy snack that you enjoyed. Not really allowed to eat many sweets, not even as a child, you basically grew up with those things.

You smiled when you found a mix of dried strawberries, bananas, berries, pineapple and nuts. You went to the cashier to pay, handing them the bag. As you reached for your card, Leon's arm reached in front of you and he pressed his card to pay.

"Hey!"

"And these coffees." He said to the cashier, lifting the support that held two coffees. He looked down at you, grinning at your protests. "No 'hey's' or 'but's'. It's the company's money, so don't feel bad." He whispered and you took your bag of dried fruits, following him back to the car.

"I have the same card, Kennedy. And I can buy my own coffee and snacks."

"Never said you couldn't. You know, a thanks would have been enough. But thanks for the funfact." He winked and opened the car door for you, holding the cardboard support with the coffees in one hand while holding the door open with the other.

"Thanks."

"It's like they were expecting us. We got in pretty easy too." You commented, remembering how easily Leon opened the back doors. No code, no verification. Just the press of a simple button and you had access inside the building. No guards patrolling the grounds, only a few cameras placed at weird angles... It was weird, which only made you more wary. "What are the chances of coming face to face with infected?" You asked, glancing at Leon.

"I'll say maybe 90%? We already encountered a few on the way here, so I wouldn't be surprised if they already started a new breakout, like they intended to. Stay focused." He warned and you nodded curtly, eyes filled with determination.

You took in your surroundings. Long hallways that seemed to go everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Automated sliding doors and floor to ceiling glass walls that allowed you to peer inside rooms. From what you could see as you passed by, most of them were research labs, filled with desks, papers and medical equipment you didn't know the name of.

You walked ahead, going through what you assumed were the main entrances, until they finally lead you to the center of the facility. All of the doors that lead to other offices and labs were connected. You realized you were standing on a sort of circular platform. Going to the metal railing, you held onto it as you leaned to look down, counting about 5 more floors underground. All of them exact replicas of the one you were on. When you looked up, you saw two more floors. So you had seven more floors-not counting the one you were on- and seven minutes left to find that self-destruct button.

You looked around, eyes squinted, mind running with possibilities. It could be anywhere, and since Leon mentioned that Umbrella didn't have a designated spot where the button was always placed, it could be anywhere.

"Wanna call off the bet, L/n? You look lost." Leon commented with a cocky grin. You side-eyed him and shook your hand, hands on your hips, right leg bouncing, the sound of the hard heel of your shoe hitting the polished white floors echoing in the strangely empty facility.

From your experience, those companies were sleek. They wouldn't hide it in plain sight, because they wouldn't want anyone to have access to it. They trusted their workers, but not that much. Anyone could press it and they wouldn't risk it.

It was clearly in a place where only the most important and trusted superiors had access. A clearly restricted area. With many passwords, guards and cameras. The question was if it was on the top or lower floors. Logically, it needed to be close to an emergency exit. If it was underground, it could have been a bunker that lead outside. If it was in the upper floors, it was definitely on the roof, where an helicopter was easy to call.

You turned to Leon so fast, he startled. "Do you have a map layout of the surroundings?" He shook his head, confused. You pressed the button on your earpiece that connected you to Sherry, your and Leon's intel support. She was assigned to your team the moment you moved in the office. You knew that Hunnigan used to be Leon's mission coordinator, and you still wondered why she didn't remain in that position after you came. Nobody really understood Reynolds, so you didn't bother to ask. Plus, you and Sherry get along well, so you were sure you would have a successful cooperation.

"Sherry, do you have a layout of the surrounding area? I need a satellite map, please." You heard the woman chuckle.

"So polite. I sent it to you on the tactical tablet." She said and Leon opened the small tablet given to you by the DSO, the one where you got sent documents, images and messages related to the missions. It was a thin device, small and practical, and Leon carried it in the internal pocket of his bulletproof vest.

You approached your colleague, standing next to him, craning your neck to see the image. Leon turned it towards you so you could see it properly and you glanced up at him with a smile, then looked back, analyzing everything.

"What are you even looking for? I think it would have been more efficient if we would have asked for a layout of the building, not what surrounded it." Leon asked, genuinely confused at your request. How would this even help your case? You were in the middle of a field, surrounded by grass and grasshoppers. Nothing else.

"A bunker." You mumbled and he became even more confused.

"A bunker? What are you-"

"Think about it." You started, not looking up at him, zooming in and out on the map. "The self-destruct button needs to be near an emergency exit, but it can't be accessible to everyone. You need a place to escape in case it goes off, one only the most important people know of. In our case, it's either a door or elevator that leads to the rooftop or a bunker that leads to-" A smiled spread on your face as you zoomed in on a particular brown square on the map, then looked up at the man standing next to you. You could see the moment he realized what you were saying. His eyes widened, mouth slightly agape. "There it is. The button is somewhere in the underground."

You heard Sherry laugh in the comms. "She's quick and smart. I like her."

"But how do you know exactly which floor it is on? There are five floors that we will have to search thoroughly to find it."

You walked back to the railing, eyes narrowing. Leon followed you, confused as ever. "That button needs to be put in a place that is easily accessible. Meaning, there has to be a floor that is used more often than most, so in case something goes out of control, they would be able to reach it fast."

"Okay. And how do we know which floor is the most used one?" Leon asked, following you as you began to walk ahead. You drew your gun and positioned in such a way that it would shoot straight in the ceiling parallel to where you were staying. You pulled the trigger, the sound of the gunshot echoing loudly across the whole facility. "What are you doing? If there are any infected here, we have given us away-" He whispered, panic overtaking him.

You walked back to the railing, looking around carefully. "Look." You pointed to where infected began to appear. Some weirder looking ones even managed to crawl on the walls, skinless beings walking on all fours that had long, sharp tongues sticking out of their mouths.

"Lickers. Great." Leon whispered. "They are sensitive to sound." He said and you nodded, telling yourself to be aware with your steps.

"Tell me, partner, what do you observe?" You asked and he looked at you, as confused as one could be. He didn't understand where you were going with this and, with the zombies now approaching, your location given away, he wasn't in the mood for guessing games.

"That we will become infected food if we don't start moving." He said plainly and you snorted. You began to walk and he followed.

"They all come from the lowest floor. The fifth one. And if you look closely, despite the layout being very similar on every level, the lower ones are slightly different. The doors are farther apart, meaning the rooms are larger. Why would you need an office so large unless you were planning on putting together or depositing experiments? The lower floors are labs. And who in their right minds would put the self-destruct button there? What if an infected accidentally presses it? It wouldn't end well for anyone."

"Go on." Leon said as you pressed the button to the elevator, waiting for it to come up from the fourth floor.

"The two floors below us are an exact replica of this one. Same door placement, the corridors are the same size. They are clearly offices, just like the ones we passed by on this floor." The elevator doors opened and you and your partner stepped in. You pressed the third floor confidently and Leon looked at you with some sort of admiration in his eyes. "Which leads us to the third floor. It makes sense for the labs and admin offices to connect. And what better way to do that than through a whole floor. A floor that's responsible for control."

"How do you know the control floor is not on the first or second floor?" He asked and you shook your head, dismissing the idea.

"You can't take control of a situation if you are not near it, if you don't know how bad it is or where it started from. The closer you are to the labs, the faster you can take action in case something goes wrong. And if the situation is too bad, out of control, you can always just...Blow the place. It would be a pain in the ass for them to have to go to the upper floors when dangerous experiments are roaming around ready to kill." The elevator dinged and the doors opened. You wanted to walk ahead, but Leon stopped you with a hand on your shoulder, going out first instead.

His gun was drawn, ready to shot the first zombie that came in sight. You followed closely behind him when he nodded his head, gun drawn as well. You looked around, thinking of where you would place that button if you were a higher up. You squinted your eyes, glancing at every corridor. They all seemed the same length but-

"This side." You said, walking towards the closest corridor. It didn't go as far as the others. You placed your ear to the wall, further confirming your suspicions. You signaled for Leon to do the same. The confused man complied, not bothering to ask anymore, just waiting for your explanation instead. "There's a low hum coming from this side." You gestured to the area you were in. "And the doors-" You stepped in front of an automatic sliding door and it opened. "-They are reinforced doors. Made from a thicker, heavier material that I don't know the name of."

You entered the room, and indeed, it was larger than the ones on the first floor. Leon looked around, noticing control pannels, dozens of computers, all open, all showing a different angle of the facility. He noticed how many buttons were there, the amount of wires on the ceiling. It was the power and control room.

He watched as you touched the walls, trying to find a secret passage, something... And then your eyes landed on the drawing on the wall. It was a drawing made by a child, the jagged lines depicting a happy family of four. It was the only decoration on the wall, so of course it made you stop.

You took it off the wall carefully and a smile spread across your face. There it was: the self-destruct button, placed behind a small door of glass, inside the wall.

"Exactly nine minutes and fifty seconds. Guess I owe you dinner, L/n." Leon said with a fond smile, pulling the sleeve of his dark blue shirt back over his expensive watch and looking back at you, not hiding his impressed gaze anymore.

"Told you I would find it." You said with a proud smile and took a letter opener from a desk nearby and threw it towards the glass door. It shattered without much force and you looked at Leon, who nodded in confirmation. You pressed the button and in the next second, a robotic voice was heard in the whole building, talking over the blaring sound of an alarm.

"All of the staff is asked to evacuate the building. Do not panic and evacuate the building calmly. Self-destruct has been activated."

"This is our cue." You said and looked around. A door the same color as the wall opened, showing a tunnel that led underground. You glanced at your partner and smiled, going ahead at a rapid pace, wanting to be out by the time the facility exploded.

The tunnel was quite large and lit up with the same lights as the ones in the facility. You didn't expect anything else, to be honest. It was Umbrella, after all. From all the stories you've heard about them, they loved being eccentric.

"We completed the mission, Sherry. Heading back to the car now." Leon announced through his comm and you heard Sherry hum,

"You did a good job. I must admit, I am impressed, Y/n. You are very observant." The woman praised and you smiled.

"Thanks, Sherry. Spending a lifetime with my dad kinda helped." You said simply and she chuckled.

"Made you an amazing agent, you know? After reading the report of the mission, I'm sure Reynolds will be sending you in as many places as he can."

You groaned at the word. "Report? Don't tell me I have to write another report? I swear I can't escape them even here." You heard Leon chuckle deeply behind you and turned to glare at him.

"Let's make a deal. Whoever takes out more zombies will be free of this burden. It's obvious who will be writing the report for this mission, so you don't have to worry about it." Your partner said and you nodded.

"Deal, Kennedy. You will begin to hate those reports as much as I do, trust me." You announced, challenge in your tone, and he smiled.

"Right. We'll see, L/n."

"You two are beginning to make a lot of deals. Is that your way of bonding?" Sherry asked, invested in this...banter? Whatever you two have developed in the day and a half you have known each other.

"You can say that. I must admit, it makes the mission more interesting." You said and Leon approved with a hum.

Finally arriving to the door, you pushed it open easily, despite how heavy it was. Leon didn't even have time to touch it properly and you already opened it.

"Alright, wonder woman. Another skill I didn't know you possessed?" He raised an eyebrow as you walked outside, towards the car that was parked by the side of the road.

"Oh, you haven't seen half of them, Kennedy. Trust me, you'll be surprised." You winked and he grinned.

"Will I? I'm curious now." He mumbled as you reached the car. He ran in front of you, opening the door for you and closing it the moment you got inside.

He got in too, put his seatbelt and started the engine. Just as you pulled out and drove off, a loud explosion was heard, shaking the ground from the impact. You looked through the side view mirror and saw how the building lit up on fire, hopefully every creature gone.

Sighing in relief, you finally allowed your body to relax. You slumped in your seat, eyelids becoming heavier as the seconds passed, the soft rocking from the drive and 90s RnB music lulling you to sleep.