Leon burst into the room, his presence halting the meeting that was going on. His eyes were filled with panic and unspeakable anger; and they glared at every single soul in the room. His fists were curled up and his nostrils flared at the betrayal of the people before him.
"Where is she?!" he shouted.
Helena gasped and choked in a sob as she kept her body weight against the zombies behind the door. Each slam by the zombies pushed Helena away from the door, but by the next split second, she would slam back against it to prevent any of the infected from getting to her. She covered her mouth with her arm to stop her sobbing as she desperately looked around the closed room for a way to escape.
Unable to think of a plan to survive, Helena lowered her head and burst into tears uncontrollably, cradling her head with her hands as she prepared herself for her inevitable death, by the infected tearing down the door as seconds passed.
"You brought her again."
Ada glared at Leon. Her eyes drifted to Helena who was far away from them, but within eye range. Ada watched silently as Helena kneeled down to help up a fallen DSO soldier. She turned back to Leon in distaste. "Why?"
Leon gave her a firm gaze. "Because she is my partner. She will go wherever I go, vice versa."
Ada scoffed and smirked slightly to hide her obvious irritation. "Don't you miss our private rendezvous like in the old days?"
Leon ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Isn't this enough? How much more do I have to do?"
Ada shot him a glare and turned around to walk away. "Don't bring her again, Leon. You will regret it."
Ada stopped and turned around. "Don't act like you have a way out, Leon. It's either her or me, and we both know you only have one answer." She narrowed her eyes. "Do it fast, or I will choose for you."
Leon narrowed his eyes in contempt. "Ada...are you-?"
Ada was already gone.
2 months later
"I'm ending our partnership."
Helena lowered her eyes. She took the paper and glossed over it. She could hardly care less about what was written in the papers. Leon's words were enough. He was terminating their contract.
Wordlessly, she picked up a pen from the desk nearby and placed the paper against the glossy table, that reflected a grief stricken Helena, unknown to Leon. She uncapped the pen and signed it quickly.
"It's for the best."
She narrowed her eyes at his words. "Of course, Agent Kennedy." Helena didn't call him by his first name for the first time in the 2 years of their tightly-knit partnership. It sounded foreign and awkward when it came out of her mouth. Leon felt it too, as his brows frowed. But he let it pass and took the signed paper Helena gave him.
"I underestimated your bond with her," Helena muttered.
Leon stared at Helena as she walked past him quickly. He watched her close the door behind her without turning around. Leon glanced down at the paper. Where Leon's signature was, was a smudge made by a drop of water. His heart dropped and at that moment, he felt like the biggest piece of shit in the world.
Leon looked at Hunnigan as he tried to take the termination paper from her hands. She refused to let it go and gave him a hard stare.
"What are you trying to do, Leon?"
He avoided her eyes and pulled the paper from her hands, forcibly. Hunnigan rose from her desk and slammed her hands down.
"You're making a huge mistake! You do this and you will never get it back!"
Leon quietly left Hunnigan's office and closed the door behind him. They will never know.
Helena placed fresh flowers on Deborah's grave. She wiped her eyes, that was already red from before. She had cried hard in her car, unable to know what to do. Whenever she was upset, she would go down to the shooting range to clear her head and release tension. But this time was different. She didn't want to shoot, she wanted to cry to release the knot that squeezed her heart, making it hard for her to breathe properly.
Helena took one glance at Deborah's tombstone and quickly lowered her head in shame as tears returned to her eyes; as if she did not want her sister to see her in this state. Her sister knew Helena as a strong woman and it would embarrass Helena if her sister were to see her in tears over a man.
"Deborah..." she quietly sobbed as she dropped to her knees. She buried her face in her hands. "I feel like I made a huge mistake. And this time...I can't fix it."
The head of the DSO quietly glanced at the two agents standing distantly from each other. He recalled how there were mere centimeters in between them when they used to be partners; so close, their hands would brush against each other frequently. Now, they had at least a foot or two apart from each other with their hands firmly by their sides. Their eyes were focused on him, rather than on each other. Their faces were devoid of lively emotions, now replaced by a stern expression from Leon; and a destroyed Helena standing silently.
"Is...is this what you both want?"
"Yes." Leon spoke immediately.
The head looked at Helena sadly. "What about you, Harper? Are you fine with this?"
Helena took a moment before answering him. "Yes. Agent Kennedy made it very clear when he gave me the termination form with his signature already on it."
Helena turned around and took her leave, shutting the door behind her. The head sighed and rubbed his temples.
"The termination form is to be signed together, Agent Kennedy. You've insulted Agent Harper by doing this." He gave Leon a sharp stare. "What have you done?"
Leon gave a nod and walked out the office without saying anything.
"My business with Ada has nothing to do with you!"
"It does when it puts people's lives at risk! Because of her, we've lost more than 60 people! When are you going to stop this, Leon?! How many more people have to die just so you can continue to chase after her?!"
"It wasn't her fault!"
"How can you be so blinded when it comes to her?! She led them to us! So we could take care of them for her! Because she knows you will! And while we were taking cover, she ran off with the virus sample we were supposed to destroy! Because of her, innocent people got killed, Leon! Have you forgotten who you are?!"
Helena strapped her Bowie knife to her thigh and tied her hair up into a low ponytail. She put her bullet proof vest on and tied her boots tightly after tucking her pants into them. She rolled up her sleeves as the doctor came in with a syringe.
"Are you ready, Helena?"
"Yes."
After he injected her with an anti-venom, the doctor took his leave for the other agents heading where Helena was going: to the Black Desert.
"Location, Black Desert, South America. Not an actual desert. Nicknamed that way due to the black dirt and the dry climate. This isn't a complicated mission. It should take you 2-3 months to finish at least. I will be sending the 4 of you to infiltrate our target, Javi Mulong. He isn't any terrorist leader we've experienced before. He's one of the new ones but we've been monitoring him, and he's onto something highly toxic. We need you to end his research. Try to bring him alive if you can. Also, visit the doctor for your shots. Black Desert is home to many of the poisonous plants and bugs."
Helena stepped out and picked up her prepared duffle bag full of firearms. She met up with the other 3 agents. Their names were Harris, Benny, and -
"We lost Misha!" Harris shouted as he watched a DSO agent with a limb missing, running around frantically with a bloodstained mouth through the sniper hole. "Misha's running with the infected!"
"God fucking damn it!" Benny cursed as he slammed his hand to the ground, repeatedly. "I told that bitch to run!"
Helena picked up her shotgun and quickly loaded it. "Let's get out of here! We'll be swarmed soon if we don't!"
It was week 2 into their mission and they had already uncovered Javi's army of super zombies. They outran humans with a 5 minute headstart and had twice the strength. However, with their super strength and speed, they were easier to kill compared to the normal zombies. A shot to the chest wouldn't even slow down normal zombies but it effectively stopped Javi's zombies. That was their one of the two upsides to the enhanced zombies. The other was, they infected at a very slow rate. Infected through a bite from Javi's zombies took up to half a day to fully turn the victim into a walking dead. To counter this, Javi used a special concentrated gas to accelerate the process in his farm.
Helena and the other agents decided to speed up their plan. They broke into the ranks and assassinated Javi in his sleep, too afraid and too cautious of the hypothetical results if he escaped. The DSO agents had the upper hand with the element of surprise; and was able to take down Javi's guards easily. All was going well until they entered the zombie breeding farm.
Helena and Misha wanted to free the captured innocents that were being used as zombie feed. After much bickering, they decided to save the people; until Javi's surviving guards set off the alarm. There was an emergency shut down that brought down steel walls all around the compound, trapping the captured people in the farm. While Benny was setting up explosives to open the walls, Helena watched silently in confusion as Javi's helicopters rose into the air and departed quickly. Her blood froze when Misha pointed out that she hasn't seen a single guard coming to stop them. Helena turned back to the farm, her face ghastly white. She felt her world slow down as she opened her mouth to stop Benny from pressing the trigger.
What happened next, felt like a blur.
"Jesus fucking Christ, god fucking damn it, fuck! Fuck me! Fuck me!" Benny grabbed his remaining guns and quickly followed Helena out. Harris aimed his gun at Misha and shot her cleanly through the head.
They knew Javi's zombies were unstable and too dangerous. Javi knew it himself. So he always had the zombies exterminated after the experiments. It was easy because he had unlimited supply of both humans and the gas that turned the people into the zombies.
"Rest in peace," Harris whispered. After one last glance, he quickly stood up and turned to follow his allies. He stopped short at the sight of a zombie looking around in front of him. Harris froze in his place, his fingers slowly finding the trigger on his gun. The zombie slowly turned his head towards Harris and growled, revealing black teeth stained with blood. Harris quickly shot the zombie in his head. The zombie collapsed by his feet. Harris breathed heavily and smirked. "Better luck next time, son."
When the compound closed down, the gas was expelled into the screaming people inside, turning them all into zombies in a matter of seconds.
Harris stepped over the zombie and then dropped his gun at the sight of a swarm of zombies standing in the doorway. Harris stood still with his eyes widened. Sweat drops tickled down his head.
Javi never liked it when he was on short supply because it halted his project. So he kept hundreds of kidnapped victims at bay.
"Mother fuc-!"
Helena and Benny turned around as the agonizing scream of Harris echoed behind them. "Fuck!" Benny stared at the large swarm of zombies coming towards them. Their dried up bodies and blackened mouths ready to tear into their flesh ran towards them in great speed. "FUCK!" He and Helena took off. "THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! WHAT THE FUCK!"
Helena glanced back. The zombies were faster, smarter than the ones she encountered before. She turned back to her front. She felt her eyes water as she felt her legs slowly tiring. She let out a heavy gasp that sounded like a sob. How much longer can she run?
"You can't run anymore, Ada."
Helena aimed her gun at the beautiful Asian woman standing before her with a breathless smirk.
"My, my...someone actually caught up with me."
"Cut the crap. You're under arrest."
Ada's eyes trailed around her burning surroundings and came to the conclusion that her only escape was through Helena. "And you are arresting me for?"
"You've caused enough destruction for this city." In cue, a building collapsed far away from them, debris and fire falling down to the barren streets. "Because of you, we have casulties in the hundreds! I'd ought to kill you right here and now for what you have done."
Ada scoffed. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I did no such thing."
"You led the monsters here. You set them free from their prisons in the sewers." Helena scowled. "And I am sick and tired of cleaning your messes."
"I never asked you to, Harper."
"Leon can't do it alone!" Helena snapped.
Ada smirked coyly. "How interesting. I don't recall ever asking Leon to do a thing like that-"
A gunshot passed Ada's ear and pierced the wall behind her. "Shut up."
The smirk on Ada's lips faded away. She threw her knife at Helena who quickly dodged. Ada pulled out her gun from her back to Helena's shock. Helena was sure Ada had lost her only gun in the fire. "Only one of us will walk out of here alive, Harper," Ada taunted, pointing the gun at Helena. "But of course, you can change that. Turn around and walk and we will both live."
"Why would I even consider that?"
"Because I don't want to kill you. After all these years chasing after me with Leon, I've grown fond of you. I've always enjoyed leaving scars on you," Ada mocked. "However, kill me and-"
"And what? End chaos? Save thousands of lives?"
"Leon will never forgive you."
Helena was taken back a bit but regained her composure. She wasn't some love struck fool who was going to let thousands of people die for a man's affections. "He'll get over you sooner or later."
The two women aimed their guns at each other; each with their fingers teasing on the trigger, daring each other to make the first move with their glaring eyes.
"ADA!"
Ada was momentarily distracted with the call of her name. Helena took a shot which struck Ada's shoulder. Ada fell to the ground from the impact and shot her own gun. The bullet struck Helena on her thigh. Helena fell on her knees with a painful gasp but kept her gun on Ada. Ada wasn't able to hold her gun properly after Helena had shot her on her shoulder. She scowled at Helena who slowly stood up with the gun aimed at Ada's head.
"Good bye," Helena spat. Helena's gun was thrust to the air as she pulled the trigger. The bullet shot a burning billboard. Helena stared at Leon as he pushed her and grabbed the gun from her hands. Helena fell to the ground with a grunt. Ada smirked as Leon stared at her, with a horrified gaze at her injured shoulder.
He turned back to Helena with an angered face. "You were going to kill her just now, weren't you?!"
Helena stared at Leon with a baffled face. "Of course I was," she seethed. "LOOK AT WHAT SHE DID TO THIS CITY!"
Leon felt a hand grab his waist. He looked back and saw Ada seemingly embracing him with a smile. She grabbed her grappling gun from him and quickly shot it into a tall building. "Thanks again, Leon." Ada flew up into the air and landed on top of the building, quickly disappearing from the agents' sight.
"Stop her!" Helena shouted.
Leon turned to Helena with a glare. "I thought I told you this a thousand times before. You will not kill her!"
Helena scowled as she struggled to stand. "HOW MANY MORE FUCKING CITIES NEED TO BE SACKED BY THE INFECTED FOR YOU TO OPEN YOUR EYES?!"
With a tearful glare filled with betrayal, Helena turned around and limped her way away from Leon as fast as she could. The last thing she'd want was to have Leon see her cry like a frustrated child.
Helena ignored Leon as he sat besides her hospital bed.
"How is your arm?"
"Leg."
"What?"
Helena glared at Leon and threw the covers away, revealing heavily bandaged legs. "She got me in my legs as well."
Leon sighed deeply as Helena dragged the covers back. "I know how much you don't want to hear this-"
"Then please, stop talking."
Leon sighed inwardly. "Ada works in mysterious ways. She will kill off hundreds if it will save millions. You have to see it through her eyes to understand she does what she has to do."
"I suppose locking me in a burning factory with the infected will save the Pope in the future. But I'm still alive. So finish the job."
Leon closed his eyes and silently stood up. He left the room without giving her a second glance. If only he had turned around, he would have seen Helena's tears dripping down from her eyes like a stream.
Leon grabbed as much as ammo as he could gather and threw them in his pack. He grabbed rifles and shotguns of all sizes and threw them in with the ammo. He swung the pack over his shoulder and darted past his co-workers, begging him to stop. "Agent, please! This is suicide!"
He turned to him, grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards him. "AND YOU SENT HER THERE!"
He threw the man against the wall and continued his way to the transportation unit. "Agent Kennedy, please!" A woman in uniform marched quick to keep up with his pace. "We underestimated Javi, severely. We need to come up with a plan instead of barging into his land. Please! Please, reconsider this! We're begging you!"
Leon stopped in his steps. People stared at him nervously, wondering what he was going to do. Leon gripped his bag tightly, so hard his nails dug into his skin through the fabric. "If you or anyone tries to stop me..." Leon's hand wrapped around his pistol. "I will use any means necessary to get to her."
"Leon."
Leon's eyes darted to a large man standing behind suits. Leon's eyes narrowed. "...Chris."
"Please, Captain Redfield, convince Agent Kennedy to reconsider!" a man pleaded.
Leon stared at Chris, trying to find his answer in the large man's eyes. With a simple nod from Chris, Leon turned around and continued his way with Chris following. The suits quietly stared at the large bag filled with guns that hung over Chris' shoulder.
"I'm fine, Agent Kennedy."
Leon forced a smile at Helena's cold attitude.
2 days after the announced resignation of Helena Harper
Her resignation came off as a shocker to Leon. Helena Harper was one of the best agents of the DSO. She was married to her work; she hardly gave any interested men a chance with her.
Even long after they retired to their homes, Leon would come to work in the next morning, only to see Helena asleep with piles of scattered papers. She would always tell him the same thing: that she forgot something in her office and decided to spend the night there. Leon hated paperwork and he could always rely on Helena to help him out. In return, he took her out to lunch or massaged her shoulders while she worked.
People often teased them about them being 'married to each other'. Their lives revolved around each other so it wasn't surprising Helena and Leon came off to strangers as a couple. Helena would always blush whenever people came up to them and compliment on their relationship. Leon was the one who told them that they were just friends with a wink.
Leon glanced at Helena's uncomfortable state. He felt a sting of homesickness. They had grown so apart over the past months. He wanted to relive the days where they were best friends; ripping off on each other's expense and laughing about it together. Helena stood firmly 5 feet away from him, standing straight with an averted gaze that was preoccupied with the red velvet carpet they were standing on.
They were at Helena's farewell party. Helena insisted that she didn't want one but couldn't stop relentless Hunnigan's willpower. Many came to bid their farewells to one of DSO's talented agents and showered her with loving gifts. Helena thanked them with tears and smiles; but when Leon approached her, it was gone in a flash.
Leon handed her a wrapped gift. Helena eyed it for a second and extended her hand stiffly to accept it. Leon narrowed his eyes and handed it to her after a moment. It pained him to realize the damage he had inflicted. But he knew it was for the best.
"Thank you, Agent Kennedy."
Leon frowned. "Must you call me that at our-possibly-last encounter?"
Helena opened her mouth to say something but paused, as if she made up her mind at the last moment. She brought up a hand to rub her eyes tiredly. She wore little makeup as always, so she was careful not to smudge her eye liner. It brought the situation awkward silence.
"It's for the best," she spoke dryly.
"You're in love with her."
Leon glanced at Helena for a second and then returned to the fire in front of him. The two had finally found a shelter from the rain after a long day of dealing with the infected. They had escaped into the deeper parts of the forest where they had found an abandoned post. Fire was a dangerous way to get caught but only if the zombies possessed brains to even figure out the difference between a smoke and a cloud. They were high up as well, so it was hard to see the bright fire.
"Is that you always let her escape?"
Leon smirked. "Partly."
Helena smirked back. "How romantic. I didn't think you had it, Leon."
Leon frowned, acting like Helena's words had venom. "You're hurting my feelings, Helena. I'm not a stone cold agent like you."
Helena let out a baffled scoff but was soon replaced by a smirk. "You guys look good with each other."
"Leon...she killed these people."
Leon stared at the bodies of the scientists scattered all over the room. "...Ada doesn't kill innocents. We were just too late to inform her."
Helena narrowed her eyes, trying her best to believe Leon. She knew if Leon trusted Ada, Helena can do the same. Even if her guts were saying something else.
"What is wrong with you?! Stop her!" Helena darted past Leon and ran after Ada.
"Helena, wait!" Leon quickly took a hold of Helena's arm and prevented her from taking another step. Helena looked at him with a baffled stare.
"Leon, she's taking off with the virus!"
"It's best that we let her."
"Why?!"
"We can trust her."
Helena stared at him. She violently thrust her arm from Leon's grasp and glared at him. "I've had enough of your excuses for Ada. I've watched her run with the virus samples for the past months. And I've watched myself in regret as I lied about destroying the virus samples in our overview. Why are you defending her?! Can't you see that she is a harm to society?!"
"Helena, please believe me. Ada is not our enemy, nor will she ever be. She saved your life before."
Helena turned her head to the side sharply and clenched her eyes shut at the memory of her infected sister reaching out towards her, only mere centimeters away before Ada shot her with her crossbow.
"If your sister had touched you, who knows what could have happened."
Helena pursed her mouth tightly and turned away, walking away from the opposite direction from Ada. He was right. Ada did save Helena's life. It would have been easy for Deborah to grab her and snap her neck in her new form. But Helena didn't want to acknowledge it. All she got from that memory was Ada hurting her beloved sister. Helena stopped.
Maybe Leon was right. After all, all the virus samples Ada had collected were never seen again in physical form. Maybe she could trust Ada to keep him hidden forever.
Helena came face to face with an old forgotten face of the MX7-Type.
How could she forget this infected Balthazar when it almost killed her last time if it weren't for Leon's timely rescue? MX7 were larger than the lickers, albeit slower but strength was something they had too much of. She recalled them chasing her through an empty school. They crashed through walls to get to her and not even steel walls stopped them. Leon had saved her by luring them into the swimming pool, where they drowned due to their massive bodies.
Helena let out a relieved sigh when she realized that the infected was dead and encased in a tube filled with liquid. When Helena realized that the tube was a mere womb for the MX7, her blood ran cold once more. She darted around, scanning her surroundings in seconds. The numbers of tubes developing these titanic beasts were in the dozens. Helena's fists clenched as her face flushed with anger. There was only one way someone could have gotten the the only intact DNA sample left in the entire world.
"Ada..." she seethed. Helena quickly walked over to the mainframe that connected all the tubes. Helena inserted the key card she killed dozens of terrorists to get, and turned it. A red sign flashed on the screen. Helena pressed 'enter'. An loud alarm rang once as all MX7s slowly faded away to oblivion and melted with the liquid, as the tubes were drained. She let out a deep sigh; partly, to be glad to have gotten rid of the nightmarish creatures; and to prepare herself for the uncomfortable argument about Ada once again with Leon.
"I believe you."
Helena stared blankly into space. She didn't know what she was expecting. Of course Leon would agree with Ada's lie of having the sample stolen from her. But a mere small part of her believed that Leon would finally point out Ada's bullshit now that there was solid proof.
Ada smirked and turned her attention to Helena, waiting for her usual explosion of emotions. Leon followed suit and stared at Helena who was surprisingly silent. Helena knew it was futile to pretend that she was on terms with Ada. She was tired and done with arguing about Ada with Leon. Frankly, she was ready to pretend and jump over to the Ada fan club just to avoid any more confrontations with Leon.
"...Obviously..." Helena started. She shot Ada a annoyed glare. "I don't believe an ounce of your bullshit." Ada smirked and took her leave. Helena stared at Ada intensely until she disappeared. "Our undercover agent said it himself, she sold the samples to his client. He was the middle man for the transaction." Helena turned to Leon with pleading eyes. "And you still believe her?!"
Leon wore a sad expression. "...Yes."
Helena truly envied Ada.
It was blind luck that Leon was in South America when Helena arrived for her own mission. He was working on a case with Chris when he heard Helena's arrival. He was concerned more than surprised when she arrived fully decked out like she was going to war. He didn't bother to approach her. He knew his presence would do nothing. When her guide revealed to her that her ex-partner was in the same building as her, Helena showed no change in expression. It was void and uninterested. He watched silently as the guide awkwardly continued their tour. Thankfully, Chris had talked to Helena before and was able to satisfy Leon's peaked curiosity to why she was here after she resigned.
"What mission is she here for? Wait, why did they choose her after she resigned? And who is she working with?"
Chris chuckled as he held up a hand. "Leon, easy. You're getting too worked up over her. She's a good agent, remember? You don't need to worry over her. She's just here to some recon missions for the CIA."
"She works for the CIA now?"
"Yeah. Honestly, she downgraded. I guess she isn't meant for our kind of job. It's a shame. She was a natural at it."
"You told me that she was doing a recon mission."
Chris looked up at Leon's strained face overlooking the scenery from the helicopter they were in. Chris rubbed his hands together and sighed. "That's what she told me. She was here to take recon photos and do some spying."
"Companies don't send their best agents to do recon."
"...I'm sorry. I didn't think she would have lied to me."
"..." Leon narrowed his eyes. "So did I."
"How did you find out she was taking this mission, anyway?"
Leon paused for a moment. "Have another friend who is worried as I am."
"The way I see it, he's an ass."
Helena choked on her drink and stared at her friend with an amused grin. Her friend raised an eyebrow. "He's not, Sam," Helena said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "He's just really obsessed with her."
"Mm-hm," Sam nodded, eyeing her up and down. "You sound just like him."
Helena gave Sam a disapproving glare and Sam held up her hands in defense. "I say it like I see it, Lena."
Helena sighed as Sam continued on, "He's in love with you. Lena, I've seen him run through rain and wait in traffic for two hours just to please you." She took a sip of her White Russian. "You remember when you broke your leg cause of his girlfriend?" Helena shot her another glare for referring Ada as Leon's girlfriend; which Sam smirked in reply. "You know what, I've started to notice that Ada hurts your legs a lot. Almost like she doesn't want you walking."
Helena rolled her eyes and took a sip of her glass of water. She didn't drink since it was too early and she was due back at the office in an hour. She watched her alcoholic friend gulp down her liquor and make a satisfying sigh. "Where was I? God damn it, Lena. You know I hate it when you throw me off track."
"You were talking to me about my broken legs."
"RIGHT. So you broke your legs. And what does Leon do? Brings you all the goddamn flowers in the world to fill up yer gaddamn room and does he even consider I might have allergies? NOPE. Nope-y-nope-nope." Sam dropped her head on the counter with a loud thud, earning worried and amused stares from the people around them. Helena sighed in annoyance as Sam slowly lifted her head up, rubbing her reddened forehead. Sam was a gifted genius from France who was working on her final thesis to become a microbiologist. But she had an alcoholic problem and every time she drank, she became a emotional fool with no controls of her limbs.
"Are you okay?" Helena asked.
Sam shook her hand in the air. "Listen here, roommate. When a guy does all kinds of beautiful shit that brings tears to my eyes, god bless his soul; he's in love." Sam placed her tiny, pale hand on her cup to take another sip and frowned when it was empty. She sighed in frustration. "But when he throws you away to chase another woman, he's trying to get your attention."
"No, he's not." Helena laughed a bit.
"Oh yeah? And what's the reason why he hasn't caught up to her yet?" Sam jabbed her finger into Helena's chest, albeit missing and poking her breast. "Cause he wants yo ass more."
"Helena!"
Helena looked up to see Leon staring down at her in panic. "I-I'm all right!" Helena picked herself from the nasty fall off the ladder. Thankfully, her fall was cushion with a dirty mattress. "Go, Leon! Ada's getting away!" Helena attempted to stand but fell back down, realizing that her ankle was dislocated. Helena winced at the touch and groaned. How was she supposed to catch up with Leon now?
Just in cue, Leon appeared and swung her arm over his shoulders. With his arm around her waist, he pulled her up and sat her properly. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her body, looking for any severe damages.
Helena's words came out as a stammer, too happy inside to talk properly. "I-I'm-I mean-Ada-Ugh!" Helena's face twisted in pain as Leon gently touched her ankle. He looked at her face and gave her a reassuring nod as he took her ankle into his hands. Helena placed her hand on his shoulder and grasped it tightly as Leon snapped the ankle back into it's original form. Helena gasped as the pain subsided.
Leon stood up and gave her his hand. He pulled her up and gave her a smile. "Come on, we can still catch up to her." Helena smiled in reply and nodded.
Leon stared at Ada, both with caution and curiosity.
This was the first time Ada had called him out to talk. He was both worried and afraid of what was going to happen. Ada greeted him in her usual attire of a red silk blouse and black leather pants with matching boots. Her holsters and weapons were missing, which was for the best because they were in a open, public place. When he approached her, he didn't smile or give her his usual greeting consisted of a dry joke. He knew Ada was always strictly business, never leisure affairs. She also couldn't stand in the public for too long; as an infamous femme fatale, she had enemies and infatuated terrorists everywhere.
"Even with her cute declarations of death threats towards me, she never attempted to kill me. She always aimed too low or too high. She revealed so many openings and chances for me to seize. She never wanted to kill me. Because she loves you too much."
Leon looked at her. Ada sat across from him, watching the people with uninterested eyes. They had retreated to a quieter place in the cafe, far from prying eyes. "She almost killed you once. You're too important, Ada. You helped me save thousands of people. Helena will never understand what you do. I had no choice but to let her go. She's better off without me, anyways."
Ada glanced briefly at Leon's bitter words. His tone was starting to show his true feelings and Ada took notice. "Do you love her, Leon?"
Leon stared at her, unable to find his words. He turned his gaze down and stared at the untouched food on their table. "Because she is in trouble."
Leon turned back to Ada with a shocked expression. His eyes widened and his breath hitched. "She's heading to Javi Mulong's estate. I've been there Leon and she and her little posse group won't survive for long."
"...Why the sudden interest? You're worrying over her more than I am."
Ada narrowed her eyes and smirked a little. "You're right. She grows on you."
Leon and Chris forced their way up to an abandoned post. Blood and severed limbs decorated the walls and the floors, leaving a ghastly sight for the newcomers. Leon and Chris picked up sounds of zombies and quickly made their way up.
The DSO wasn't going to stand by and let their best agents get killed; and sent two large teams of their units to assist them. The units came in handy and within hours, they were able to recapture the swarmed estate of Mulong. Most of the super zombies had wandered off out of the estate, so it was easy for them to retake the area. As the DSO units were preparing for a large scale hunt of the runaways, Chris and Leon ran off looking for Helena.
"Helena's GPS signal ends here." Christ looked up at the second floor of the house, staring at the creaking boards and sounds of rustling feet. "She will be up there."
Leon loaded his gun and slowly climbed the stairs, with Chris and armed men following close by. Leon's eyes were locked on the several bullet holes on the walls as he walked through the desolated hallway. His eyes drifted to a smashed door, making his heart drop a bit. Chris looked at his GPS monitor and stopped in front of a crowd of zombies, swarming before a barricaded door. "She has to be in there," Chris muttered, bringing out his machine gun.
"Helena!" Leon shouted, bringing up his gun as the zombies turned around and launched towards them in a frenzy. "Get down!"
Helena sat quietly with her book, seated next to Leon who was sleeping peacefully. They had returned from a long mission a day ago and while Helena was fully rested within a day, Leon took longer to recover. Helena had taken upon herself to cook his meals for today while he rested. She wanted him to get well soon as they rarely had days off. She had planned on a picnic this week, if all went well. Leon enjoyed picnics with her and she nonetheless appreciated his company.
She stared at the rain through the large windows besides Leon's bed while thinking of what kinds of food she should pack. Traffic was heavy and there wasn't a lot of people wandering in the streets. The sound of rain was relaxing to her and the coolness that seeped through the window felt nice. She wondered if she should pack roast beef sandwiches instead of turkey, bacon, and avocados. She would also pack some pickles with cream cheese and roast beef, recalling how much Leon liked them. Helena frowned. She had too much roast beef in the menu.
Helena returned to her book, Norwegian Wood, pushing aside the picnic ideas for later. She rarely had the luxury to sit down and read a book, much less find a day when she took care of Leon. It was always the other way around. Leon doted on her a lot and even though time to time, it was suffocating, she loved it. It made her feel special and because it was from the man she loved, she felt she had something special with him.
Even with his strange obsession with Ada, Helena loved him. He was important to her and for that, she was suspicious of Ada's hidden intentions. Just as Leon was overprotective or her, Helena was too with him. She never trusted Ada and never stopped trying to figure out her true intentions. She had spent countless nights in the office trying to figure out her pattern. It was hard; the woman was clever and never revealed much. No matter how much Leon insisted that Ada could be trusted, Helena never let her guard down near the woman. Helena didn't know if it was jealousy that made her hate Ada. She never dwelled too deep in that thought, as she hated being jealous.
Helena was usually content with the things in her life and never felt the need to gain better of what she had. So, it was hard for her to get jealous. Even when her sister was proclaimed prettier than her by the school, Helena was more proud than jealous. When Helena was rejected for a promotion back in her old days of being a CIA agent; instead of getting jealous and hating on the new promoted agents, she used it as a motivation for next year when she would get a second chance.
People called her mature and admired her for it. Helena didn't think it was an outstanding quality as everyone matured within time. If anything, she was a bit embarrassed by it. She felt out of place especially during her teenage years. Many guys were turned off by her mature personality and rarely approached her as a love interest. However, she was admired greatly by the females and the teachers. She was regularly nominated for the class president and even was the valedictorian in her university, or she would have been, if she didn't drop out.
People had pointed out that she was like this because she lost her parents at such a young age. Helena thought about it a lot and she eventually agreed with it. Her parents abandoned her and her sister when they were 13. Her parents had acquired a massive debt to the loan sharks and took off, leaving Helena and Deborah behind. Helena and Deborah lived with their grandparents until Helena got an apartment of her own after graduating from high school. Helena had taken upon herself to watch over her sister, virtually becoming her second mother.
She always pondered if that was why she was considered so mature. But that all came crashing down when she met Ada. She recognized the look Leon wore whenever she came into view. She saw it in romance movies, Deborah's eyes whenever she talked about her favorite fictional character, and in her own self whenever she thought about Leon. When the jealousy feeling entered her, it was like a boiling hot sauce inside her. It was spicy, hot, and unbearable. She wanted to let her rage out on Ada-she wanted to throw Leon on the bed and strip her clothes off. It made her crazy and alive. But she hated it. Only because it was one-sided.
She had plenty of one sided crushes before but she never felt jealous about them. Leon was the first one she wanted to fight for and win in a battle that she already lost.
"Do you swear that you have no ill relations that would harm the public?"
"No."
Leon sat in front of an interviewer with a lie detector strapped to his chest. It was some kind of a new test to weed out the corrupted agents. Leon thought it was a fine idea but Helena thought it was stupid.
"Do you swear to protect the people and society?"
"Yes."
"Do you love me?" Helena joked.
She stood by the doorway and was watching Leon take his test. They were going to lunch together afterwards. The interviewer gave a sharp look to Helena as Leon smirked.
"Yes."
Helena laughed as she exited the room. Leon took off the straps. "So, how did I do?"
The interviewer glanced at the strip of paper that was printed from the machine. It held the results of how honest Leon's answers were. "Perfect score. All questions were all answered truthfully. Not a surprise coming from you, Agent Kennedy. You may leave. Thank you," he said flatly.
Leon nodded and stood up, quickly leaving to catch up to Helena.
"Benny, no, please, no..." Helena sobbed.
Benny gave Helena a firm nod as he pressed the trigger, blowing himself up with the large swarm of zombies around him.
"BENNY!" Helena screamed.
His plan had worked, a significant amount of zombies were blown away and the rest were knocked to their feet. Wiping the tears in her eyes, Helena quickly jumped down from telephone pole she had climbed to escape the zombies. Taking one last glace at where Benny once stood, she quickly took off once more.
She felt her heart weight upon her. She was so tired. She felt her lungs were swollen from breathing too fast and too hard. She wanted to die than take one more step. But one screech from a zombie sent her adrenaline pumping, squeezing whatever strength was left within her to force her to continue running. Her eyes caught a large wooden house. She looked back to see zombies chasing after her, gaining on her with each second. She bit her lips as she pushed herself to run faster; and swore if she died, she would hunt down Javi in hell and kill him again.
She burst through the doors open with her body, ending up crashing on the ground. She wasted no time groveling over her swollen arm and quickly ran up the stairs. The zombies followed fast and were right behind her, pushing each other aside to get to her first. She darted past the corners and ran into an armed man. They crashed and fell onto the ground. The man shouted at her in a language she did not understand. He grabbed her only gun and she quickly let go of it, not wanting to lose the precious seconds to fight to get it back. She jumped back on her feet and dove into the room in front of her, shutting the door behind her.
The man brought up his gun to shoot down the door when he heard snarling noises behind him. Helena gasped heavily, taking in all the air and finally resting her aching legs that were strained and bruised. The man's scream pierced her ears and Helena shut her eyes to keep the noise out. She was afraid.
Her heart beat fast not because of adrenaline; but because the room she was in was had no exits and all that prevented the zombies from entering, was a wooden door.
"You know you can trust me, right?"
Leon looked up to Hunnigan. She had her hands on his, wrapped protectively, as if she was trying to shield his hands from the cold.
Leon was at a cafe when Hunnigan ran into him. It was weeks after Helena had resigned from the DSO and took up as a CIA according to the rumors. Leon didn't bother to check up on her because he knew it would just make things harder for him. When he met Hunnigan, the last thing he wanted to do was let her follow him to his home and have her interrogate him about Helena.
It was already hard for him to live his life without her. And knowing that he was the one who drove her away made his entire world gray. He lost passion and the driving will to get through his day.
"I always knew this wasn't your choice," she spoke softly.
"It was."
Hunnigan glanced at Leon sadly and then gazed at their hands. She tightly squeezed his hands. "I'm here for you, Leon. I always have been, wasn't I?"
Leon narrowed his eyes. "You can trust me."
Leon shut his eyes.
'Make her hate you.'
"I drove her away."
'...so she can live another day.'
"Because she isn't fit to be my partner."
"They want you, dead."
Leon stared at Ada quietly. "And they will use anyone to gain leverage. There is a reason why I've been aiming at Helena's legs instead of her other body parts. I'm trying to protect her, like you. But you keep letting her walk with you, no matter how many times I tell you to stop." Ada stared at him. "Do you want her dead, Leon?"
Leon clenched his fists and glared at Ada for saying such a thing. She knew he would rather die himself a thousand times than let Helena die. It should have been obvious to Ada that he wanted to protect her his way. Leon knew the people aiming at his life. They were always people trying to kill him for destroying their hard worked plans. And when Ada told him about a certain terrorist group aiming at Helena to get back at Leon, he had done whatever it took to never let Helena out of his sight.
"Break your ties with her. It's the only choice."
"They're not stupid, Ada. They will still take her and use her against me."
"Then convince them that you are done with her. Make her hate you so she can live another day."
Leon dropped his gun at the sight. His breathing stopped and everything seemed to slow down.
Inside the room were carcasses of more than 5 super zombies, with their heads bashed in with what it looked like by a blunt object. Leon's eyes staggered down to a broken plank and a metal pipe stained with blood. In the corner of the room was a shaking body. Her worn out hands were clutching her head that was hidden by legs. Many parts of her clothes were shredded, revealing bleeding limbs whose parts of flesh was missing. Leon felt his heart drop at the sight of Helena.
Chris was standing right besides him, yelling at him about something but he couldn't hear. But he heard Helena's soft sobs, echoing in his ear. His eyes were fixated on her bitten body, covered in scars, bruises, and blood. She was missing a finger or two on her left hand. Her uniform had been torn, shredded pieces hanging on her open body riddled with bite marks.
The super zombies had jumped on her all at once. And she was forced to let them tear into her skin while she barricaded the room to prevent anymore from getting in. Then she fought them using planks and pipes. Bashing each head in quickly before they got the better of her. He could picture it all too clearly. And if he was even a second late-
A violent grab jerked Leon out of his trance. "LEON! Get Helena out of here! The infected are back!" Chris shouted. He then took off with the soldiers, their heavy steps fading away with the sounds of gun shots and violent screams.
Leon took a step. The first one was hesitating and slow. When he took the first step, he felt a rush of guilt invade his thoughts. It was because of him, she was in this state. It was because of him, she might die. It was because of him, they were in this situation.
When he took the second step, he didn't stop until he had Helena in his arms. He knew it was his fault this had happened, and he accepted it. Now, he had to get Helena to safety and whether she hated him for the rest of her life or not; he didn't care. When he pulled Helena into his arms, she grabbed his shoulder roughly and pushed him away. Her strength knocked him to the ground and she earned a shocked expression from Leon.
"What..." she started with a scowl. "...What are you crazy? I heard you were slacking off but I didn't expect you to become stupid."
"Helena, I-"
"Shut up!" Helena lifted her head up, revealing infected eyes. Her brown eyes were gone, now replaced by the black abyss that refused to reflect Leon. "I will become one of the infected in a matter of seconds. You will kill me."
Leon stood up. "Helena...I can save you-"
"No! It's too late!" she snapped. "I won't die like those things! You owe me this, Kennedy!" Tears sprung from her eyes as her scowl turning into a quivering sob. "Kill me!"
Leon raised his gun. His hands shook and his eyes were ready to grieve for her death. She was right. There was nothing he could do to save her. He didn't have a cure. No one did. Not even for the first infected he encountered when he was a police man. There was no such thing as a cure for the infected. His shaking eyes took him to the numerous bites on her body. She was bitten too much, her infection would have been accelerated. There was nothing he could do.
Why does it have to be her? Why? A tear fell from his eye. Helena looked at him, almost with surprise. "Helena..." he called out.
Helena closed her eyes as the burning pain from the infected bites overtook her. "I love you, Leon."
A shot passed Leon's shoulder and hit Helena directly in her heart.
Helena woke up in a white hospital room, filled with flowers. It was a sight all too familiar with her. She wondered if she was in heaven, replaying one of her old favorite memories. She looked to her side and saw Leon, smiling down at her.
He had his hand on her hand and when she woke, he gave her a gentle squeeze. "Welcome back to the real world, Helena."
Helena felt her eyes water. She quickly wiped them away in embarrassment. She was alive? How could she? She was bitten everywhere. Surely she is dead and this is all some kind of a surreal afterlife. The last thing she could recall was Leon coming in to save her and feeling a sharp pang on her chest, like someone shot her.
"Ada...she saved you. All the virus samples she's been collecting...she's been using them to find a vaccine for them. She's far from creating one for all of them, but she's doing her best."
Helena was at loss. She felt guilt that was expressed by a heavy sigh. "...She was the one who shot me with the cure?"
"Yeah. She came just in time to save you."
Helena smiled weakly. "Well, looks like I need to write a speech to apologize to her."
Leon chuckled. "Save it. Ada hates those things. Just don't shoot at her the next time you see her."
Helena laughed softly. She gave a genuine smile at Leon. "...Thank you for coming for me."
Leon smiled and gave a squeeze on her hand. "I would never let you die, Helena."
Helena blushed and looked down, her smile disappearing fast at what Leon was wearing. He was wearing a bullet proof chest with his standard DSO combat uniform. She gave him a horrified look. "I, I don't understand-"
"Javi's zombies escaped. By the dozens. Right now, we've quarantined at least 2 cities. They need me to go and pull out civilians from the infected cities and get the infected under control."
"I'm coming with you," Helena said. But as soon as she attempted to move, a sharp pain from her legs and stomach prevented her.
"You've pushed yourself far above the limits of your body. It would be suicide if you didn't rest." Leon gave a gentle pat on her hand. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Helena narrowed her eyes. "Is anyone coming with you?"
"Yes, Chris." Helena smiled weakly.
"I can trust him to watch your back. Still, be careful, Leon. Don't make me strap on a machine gun and come looking for you."
Leon chuckled and stood up. "I will be back before you know it. Just focus on getting better, okay?"
Leon's cell rang and he quickly pulled it out. His eyes narrowed and a small smile tugged at his lips. Helena took glance and lowered her gaze, unable to stop herself from asking, "Is that Ada?" Leon looked at her and closed his cell, putting it back in his pocket.
"Yeah, she's just informing me about the situation for the city I'm entering." He chuckled. "It's hard to tell when she's warning you or just informing you. She was never the type to get concerned over..." Leon glanced at Helena. "...anyone."
Helena smiled back. Leon felt a hint of discomfort coming from Helena and asked if something was wrong. "Honestly, I'm..." Helena started but stopped. She let out a laugh at her own silly jealousy. "I'm jealous of you and Ada. But...Ada will always be a part of you and I will learn to accept it."
Leon narrowed his eyes. "Ada might be a part of me, but you are half of me."
Helena stared at him, unable to find the words to describe her rising happiness.
"I can live without Ada but I will die without you."
With that said, Leon gave her a kiss on her lips. The kiss was hot and passionate, as if they were finally letting out the pent up feelings they had with each other. She felt her hands come up and grab Leon's hair as if she was afraid he was just a mirage. Leon placed both his hands besides Helena to keep balance and deepen the kiss. Another ring from Leon's phone broke up the kiss. The moment was too short for both of them but they knew time was too precious. As Helena recollected her breath from the steamy kiss, Leon kissed her forehead before walking out of her room with one last smile. Helena smiled and tried to calm her fluttering heart before the nurses came rushing in, wondering why her heartbeat was so fast. She knew she could finally trust Ada. And with Chris, she knew Leon would return to her soon and finally restart their life together.
However, Leon would never return to see Helena in her hospital room.
End.
AN: A quickie to get back into my writing mode. Hope you enjoyed.