Leon S. Kennedy

Special agent.

Rescuer of the President's daughter.

The absolute best in his class.

And yet apparently not good enough for a ride home in the President's private jet.

Leon watched from the ground as Ashley Graham walked up the portable staircase to board her father's plane. She turned to him when she reached the top, giving him what looked like an apologetic smile, he couldn't really tell from far away, and waved. Leon pasted a grin on his face and waved back, still slightly taken by surprise by the fact that he would be taking a commercial flight home. Ashley stepped through the door, which closed behind her and the stairway began to move away. Leon turned and began walking back towards the small airport. Looking down at the ticket that one of the President's bodyguards had handed to him upon arrival, Leon couldn't help but laugh humorlessly. He had dragged that girl all over an enemy infested terrain, saved her life countless times, which often resulted in personal injury, and even removed a parasite that threatened to take over her mind, and he wasn't even worth a first class seat. Leon slipped the ticket into his inner jacket pocket. Seeing the empty gun holster beneath his coat brought a new wave of annoyance. Since he was flying commercial and no one had bothered getting him a permit for bringing his 9mm onto the actual plane, he'd had to put the gun in his case to be stored in the plane's luggage compartment, along with the veritable arsenal of other weapons he'd picked up while on the rescue mission.

Leon walked through the doors of the airport and looked down at his ticket again. Gate sixteen at 9:30pm. Looking down at his watch, Leon sighed. It was only 6:42. Given the past couple of days, Spain was the last place he wanted to be right now. It was like Raccoon City all over again, and he knew what to expect. Nightmares. He was sure they'd haunt him again, just like last time. They'd go away, eventually, but being in the country where it all took place made the horror seem a lot closer, a lot more real. Leon shook his head. He knew he probably wouldn't have been able to cope with the things he'd seen here if he hadn't been in Raccoon City when the outbreak had occurred. Looking up and pulling away from his thoughts, Leon realized that he was already at Gate sixteen. Only a couple of people occupied the seats there, making it even more painfully obvious how long he had to wait. Leon walked to the closest chair and sat down. He stretched out and rested his feet on the chair in front of him. A couple of hours of sleep would be nice, after all, it had been an exhausting trip.

Leon woke to the sound of people arguing, the angry tones of their conversation pulling him back to consciousness. Glancing down at his watch, Leon felt his stomach clench. It was 10:12 pm, almost forty-five minutes after his plane had been scheduled to leave. Standing quickly, he looked around. Everyone that he'd seen waiting at the gate were still here, and he hadn't been woken up by a loudspeaker to announce boarding. Everyone seemed to be gathered around the boarding desk, speaking in angry and frustrated voices to the attendant on duty there. Leon looked up at the chart displaying the plane status. His eyes moved quickly over the chart until he found his flight. 9:30. Madrid-Washington D.C. Delayed.

"Story of my life," Leon muttered under his breath for what felt like the hundredth time in the past forty-eight hours.

"You're tellin' me, buddy," said a balding man sitting next to Leon, whose stomach was causing the sweat stained dress-shirt he was wearing to stretch slightly at the buttons, "Do you have any idea how unwelcome this country can make you feel?"

"I couldn't possibly imagine," said Leon, praying that he sounded uninterested enough that the man wouldn't continue.

"I was here for business myself," the man continued, causing Leon to look upward with annoyance. "Got to the hotel and they wouldn't even bring my bags up to the room, can you believe that?"

"Shocking," said Leon, without really caring how bored he sounded. "Listen, I need to go find out what's happening with this flight."

The man opened his mouth to talk again but Leon had already gotten up and walked quickly over to the gate attendant's desk. The attendant looked up from the computer screen she'd been eyeing.

"May I help you, sir?" she asked, a Spanish accent barely audible in her voice.

"Yeah," Leon answered, "I was wondering how long the flight was going to be delayed for."

"Unfortunately the flight was delayed indefinitely, sir, there were mechanical problems with the plane."

"I see, thank you for your time, miss."

Leon turned away from the desk, the clenching feeling in his stomach getting worse. Even though he knew that any immediate threat of Las Plagas had been destroyed with Saddler, he still had an uneasy feeling, as if something was wrong. Leon began walking towards the ticket counters, hoping that he could find another way home. As he walked, he looked around at the people in the airport. Normal people, all of them, and yet he'd seen what they could become. He shook his head to rid his mind of the most recent horrors he'd seen. Funny, killing these things was almost starting to feel like a routine.

Leon reached the ticket counters a few minutes later. Pleasantly surprised that there was no lineup, he headed straight for he nearest available sales counter.

"Hello," said the attendant.

"Hi," said Leon, "Listen, my flight was just delayed indefinitely, but I need to get back to the States today. Is there anything you can do for me?"

The attendant asked him for his name and passport. Leon gave them. The man typed something into the computer in front of him and pulled up what Leon assumed was the information on his flight.

"It says here that you were scheduled to be on a flight directly to Washington, correct?"

"Yes."

The man hit a few more keys.

"Well, there weren't very many flights out to the States today, and none that have connecting flights to Washington."

Leon groaned.

"Damn it…..Well is there anything at all leaving for the U.S. today?"

The man looked at him, seeming a bit offended that Leon wanted to get out of the country so quickly.

'If you only knew, pal,' Leon thought.

"There were three flights scheduled to depart for America today, and unfortunately, Mr. Kennedy," said the attendant, glancing at Leon's name on the screen, "Yours was the last of them."

"Wait, what do you mean 'was'? The gate attendant told me the flight was only delayed."

"Well according to what it says here, the flight has been cancelled due to situations outside the airline's control."

'Of course it was,' thought Leon.

Keeping himself composed, Leon scratched the side of his head in frustration. This was exactly the kind of luck that had landed him in the Raccoon City outbreak on his first day as a cop. He breathed deeply before looking up at the attendant again.

"When does the next flight to Washington leave?"

The attendant looked down at his computer screen and clicked the mouse a few times.

"Not for another three days, sir."

Three days. The clenching feeling was back in Leon's stomach again, It was starting to feel like someone was actually working against his leaving the country.

"What about my luggage?"

"Well, sir, we can either keep it for you until you decide on a flight, or you may take it with you."

Somehow, Leon didn't feel comfortable leaving a case stocked with weapons and ammunition sitting in an airport for three days.

"I'll take it with me, thanks."

Leon walked to the side of the counter to wait for his case. His mind began to wander again, re-creating the scenes from his latest encounter with things that shouldn't exist. Again, Leon put a hand to the side of his head, trying to get rid of the images. Strangely enough, the memories weren't making him uncomfortable.

'Wow', he thought, 'Am I really this out of touch with reality?'

It was a good thing, in a way. At least this meant that he might not have the nightmares again. But it was also kind of disconcerting, how warped his view of reality had become. True, a lot of people knew about the viral outbreaks and their effects, but few, very few, had ever survived seeing those effects up close. And now there was this, a completely new form of monster. Las Plagas had never been witnessed before, not to Leon's knowledge at least. He sighed. His thoughts drifted to Ada, and that was when he started feeling discomfort. That sample. It had been almost two days since she'd gotten away with it, and if she really was bringing it to Wesker…

"Your bag, sir," said the a voice next to Leon.

Leon turned to the man carrying his case.

"Thanks," he said, taking the case from him. The simple action somehow made it feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"You're very welcome, sir," the man replied, "It is my job to inform you that those that have been inconvenienced by this cancelled flight are to be put up in the nearest hotel by the airline."

Leon raised his eyebrows. Finally a bit of luck.

"Thanks for telling me. Where's the hotel?"

"A shuttle bus will be leaving the airport in about ten minutes from the main entrance, sir."

Leon thanked the man again and headed towards the front doors of the airport. He arrived at the front entrance and was greeted by about a hundred people gathered around three busses. Leon stepped into line and then onto a bus. He somehow found a seat in the back and sat down wearily.

"Been a rough trip has it?" said a female voice beside him.

Leon looked around at the source. She was a woman about his age, maybe a bit older, attractive, with short brown hair and glasses. She was dressed professionally, as if she was there on business.

"You could say that," said Leon.

The woman smiled.

"Alright, I won't pry. But I can't believe we have to wait three days to catch a plane, it's ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," Leon replied, "But with the days I've been having, I can almost say that I'm not surprised."

The woman laughed.

"I'm Dana Altridge, by the way," she said, offering her hand.

"Leon Kennedy," responded Leon, taking it.

For a split second, Dana's eyes widened, her mouth seemed to twitch downward. But then it was gone and she was smiling fully again. Leon pretended not to notice and kept talking to her about their business in Spain, making things up as he went. But behind the lies he was making up about being on business, his mind was racing. That expression, it had almost looked like recognition. Did this woman know him somehow? And also, Leon could have sworn he'd seen something else on her face when he said his name. It had almost looked like…fear.

They arrived at the hotel a few minutes later. The bus pulled up to the curb and stopped.

"Well, Mr. Kennedy, it's been nice talking to you."

"It's Leon. And you too, Miss Altridge."

The smile she gave seemed a little too forced, a little too happy. She turned and walked off towards the entrance to the hotel. Leon bent a grasped the handle of his case.

"Man this thing's heavy," he said to himself.

Walking into the air conditioned lobby of the hotel was a relief, but it was quickly followed by dismay when Leon looked toward the check in counter. Apparently the airline hadn't spread the passengers out among a few different hotels, they'd just sent everyone here.

'Perfect,' thought Leon, 'And that almost definitely means…."

As if on cue, a man dressed in a suit walked out from behind the check in desk with a megaphone.

"I am sorry everyone, but all of our rooms are now occupied. I would advise you all to go to the hotel just a few minutes up the street. Again, my apologies."

The lobby erupted into complaints and yelling. Leon sat down in one of the chairs lining the walls. This was just great. Stranded and now he didn't even have a place to stay. He looked around at the people still in the lobby. Some were leaving with angry looks on their faces. Others were still shouting at the hotel manager. He saw Dana having what looked like a quiet argument on her phone. Leon put his face in his hands for what felt like seconds but must have been longer because he was suddenly jerked back to consciousness by someone tapping his shoulder. He looked up to see Dana standing over him, a smile on her face.

"Couldn't get a room, huh?" she asked, the smile still in place, the same as it had been before. Happy. Forced.

"Yeah, bad trip, cancelled flight, and now nowhere to stay, I guess bad things really do come in threes," said Leon. 'Or in my case, hundreds,' he thought to himself.

"It would appear so. Well, I'm sure that I could find some space in my room, if you can't find anywhere else, that is."

Leon couldn't stop staring at that smile on her face.

"You got a room? But you got here the same time I did."

"I have my ways."

Still with that damn smile.

"I can't, I'd feel like I were intruding," said Leon, hoping that she'd take the hint. There was definitely something off about this woman, and the last thing Leon felt like doing was falling asleep within a few meters of her. She knew who he was, he was sure of it, and it didn't feel like she was making this offer out of the goodness of her heart.

"Oh, it's no trouble, I'm sure there's a couch in the room somewhere. And you don't have to worry about me," she said, with a wink that made Leon sick to his stomach, "I won't bite."

'It's not biting I'm worried about,' thought Leon. Still, maybe there was something that was worth investigating here. This woman clearly wanted him to spend the night, and he had a feeling it didn't have anything to do with attraction, no matter how many times she smiled and winked.

"Well alright," said Leon, "It's a lot better than sleeping in the airport."

Dana nodded in agreement and turned towards the nearest staircase. As Leon stood to follow her, he slipped his 9mm out of his case and quickly put it into the holster under his coat. He didn't want to take any unnecessary risks, and it was definitely strange that someone he'd met less than an hour ago would allow him to stay in her room, much less want him too.

Making sure that the gun was secure, Leon took a deep breath and followed Dana up the stairs.