Chapter Text
"Ada," Leon said, "it's been a while, hasn't it?"
Ada smiled. Her skin looked whiter than he remembered, and dark veins were beginning to appear beneath its surface, like spiderwebs. Her hair still reminded him of the starless night sky, and her eyes were still as clear as the sweetest honey. She was beautiful, still. Looking at her, he felt himself back in Raccoon City. That lack of light, the smell of smoke and rot, along with the softer scent of storm rain, gunpowder, and the metallic scent of blood. He saw a red-haired, quieter Claire and the blonde hair and soft voice of Sherry. Almost everything about that night was gone at this point. They were one of the few constants.
And then there was Ada.
"I've missed you, Leon."
"No, you haven't." Leon sat down across from her; he instantly felt the cold metal of the chair, piercing through his clothes, even through his jacket. "Why me of all people? To waste time?"
Ada leaned forward, the chains rattling. The sound could almost be heard where the rough metal of the cuffs rubbed against the soft skin of her wrists. "I've heard about you, Leon. I've heard that you've been under the protection of every anti-terrorist agency in the world lately. I'm told it was because you won the love of someone important. I didn't really expect much from that girl, but your tastes were still very varied."
"You've heard rumors about me," Leon said. "But you just had to ask me directly. You've never had a problem showing up in my life when I don't expect you, and yet I haven't seen you even once. We've been separated by a wall of ice, Ada."
"I wasn't the one who built it." She opened her clear eyes wide. "You know I've always loved you."
"You abandoned me," he said. "You made me your pet and then abandoned me. If love were food, I would have starved to death from the bones you threw at me." He spoke without emotion; it had been so long.
"We've always been very busy and distant people," she replied, protesting, "You know I'll always come back to you eventually."
"Ada," Leon said, gathering his patience. "What do you want?"
Ada's chest rose, then fell sharply. Leon realized that the gesture was basically meant to emphasize what she was going to say next.
"I know that even the president himself is listening to you," she said. "I want you to speak to him on my behalf."
"You want me to close a deal with them on your behalf," Leon translated.
She stared at him.
"Your way of speaking was always pitifully simple."
"They say you've kidnapped three agents and their families and stolen a sample," Leon said. "Is that true?"
"It's just a job," she replied. Her lower lip trembled. “You know I just do what I’m hired to do.”
“And you did it for that? For money?” Seeing that she remained silent, Leon said next, “You know very well what the government does to those who get in their way, Ada.”
Ada’s eyes were shining.
“I need you to intercede for me, Leon. I want immunity. I want the government to promise me in writing that they will let me go free and not pursue me in exchange for information."
“They will never let you go free.”
“Then they will never know why their colleagues had to get out of the way.”
“Get out of the way?” Leon thought for a moment. “A very interesting way of putting it, Ada. Would I be wrong to say that there is more to all this than meets the eye?”
Ada remained silent, her chest performing a theatrical rise and fall movement. Everything about her was theatrical, from the way her dark hair framed her face to the curve of her neck to even the blood on her wrists.
“If you want me to speak for you,” Leon said. “You’ll have to tell me at least some detail. As a show of good faith.”
She responded with a bright smile.
“I knew you would speak to them for me, Leon. I knew the past wasn’t quite dead for you.”
“Consider it undead if you want,” Leon said. “But tell me the truth, Ada.”
Ada licked her bottom lip.
“I can tell you,” she said, “that when I got rid of them there was no payment involved. I've done this before, but I would never have risked so much unless someone far more powerful than me had asked me to."
Leon's heart raced. He didn't like the way this was going at all.
"Who?"
But Ada shook her head.
"Immunity, Leon."
"Ada…"
"They'll lock me in a godforsaken cell and lose the key," she said. "You know they do worse things to those who defy them."
Leon stood up slowly.
"I'll do what I can, Ada. But I make no promises."
"You would never," she murmured, her eyes narrowing. "Come here, Leon, come to me."
He no longer loved her, but Ada was a dream from the past, so he moved closer to her until she was almost within reach.
"Do you remember?" she said quietly. "Racoon, Valdelobos, London. That house where I let us live together."
Leon remained impassive, refusing to lose himself in the memories of those few nights of them.
"Pretty girls were always your downfall," she said. “But tell me, what can your rookie give you? A year before some mission ends her? Hopefully five before she decides this life is too much? I can give you even more.”
He stroked her cheek; it was colder than metal.
“You could give me the past,” he said sadly. “But she is my future.”
“Leon…” She began.
At that moment, the door to the interrogation room opened, and Chris appeared in the doorway. You stood beside him, arms crossed, and Leon wondered if you had heard any snatch of the conversation he had just had with Ada. Had you heard it?
“Leon,” Chris Redfield said. “Have you come to an agreement?”
Leon dropped his hand.
“I’m not quite sure if you could call it an agreement,” he said, turning to Chris. “But I think we have things to talk about.”