A/N:
Avogadro602: Hello Everyone! I bring to you now the companion to Collateral Damage as promised: Shadow Games. This will be from Ada's perspective and can stand alone if necessary. Reading Collateral Damage first is recommended, but it shouldn't be required to understand the story (assuming I did my job right). It's been very interesting getting inside of Ada's head… I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil. If I did, Chris and Jill would TOTALLY be together by now.
Chapter 1:
Triple Agent
Ada swiveled in the plush leather chair and let out a small sigh. She had the information she needed stored safely in her PDA—the electronic documents had been sent to their intended recipients ten minutes ago. Now she was only waiting on the call to confirm that they'd received it.
It'd all been far too easy for such damning information. The company had little security from their internal offices, so it'd been pathetically simple to copy the files in question once inside. She'd replaced the originals with an empty duplicate of the same name; unless they had a habit of opening up all of their files on a regular basis, they'd have no idea they had been stolen from. No one had seen her come in;no one would see her leave. No one would know she was here.
She had just started filing her nails (with a file taken from this unsuspecting employee's desk, of course) when she felt the soft buzzing of her phone against her thigh. She reached one gloved hand down, pulling the phone from its holster and pressing it to her ear.
"Did you receive the package?" she asked, mildly disinterested.
A soft male voice replied, "Yes," and then, "Does Orion know?"
She shifted the phone between her shoulder and cheek to free up her hand so that she could start filing her nails again. "They have no idea," she assured, "I sent them faulty information, as requested. Permission to leave the area?"
"Granted," the man said. The line went dead a second after.
She set down the file to slip the phone back into its holster. "Not even a goodbye?" she asked the empty office, but no one answered her. Instead, a quiet beeping noise started from the hidden pocket inside her bra. She rolled her eyes. There went phone number two…
It was a small thing, about as thin as refrigerator magnet and only as long as the speaker and receiver required it to be. She slipped it out from the top of her dress and pressed the button to answer. "Did you receive the package?" she repeated in the same voice as before.
"Package received," a deep voice replied. It was obviously altered electronically, which left her unable to identify anything about the person on the other line. Paranoid, anyone? She thought to herself and waited for the voice to continue. It was ridiculous to think that she even cared about the identity of her handler, anyway. "What is the status on The Liberati?"
"Clueless," she answered casually, "They have no idea I'm working for you."
"Keep it that way," the deep voice ordered.
She sighed again. So rude… "Permission to—"
The line cut off before she could finish. Her lips pressed together in a small frown. Do any of these people have manners? She hid the phone back in her bra and stood up.
Though the most prudent course of action would have been to leave immediately, she had one last stop to make. After leaving the office, she headed down a wood paneled hallway and over to the stairs. The sound of strings floated up from below and she felt compelled to enter the ballroom, drawn in like the tide to the shore. Aparty was waiting for her on the lower level and beyond a sturdy wooden door. Also waiting for her was a tantalizing prize: him.
A smile found its way onto her face and her heart picked up its pace as she drew closer. She paused just before the door, wrangling her excitement before stepping out.
The room was packed with people, and all of them—save one, perhaps—would have been glad to see her dead if they knew who she was. Yet, the only stray looks she got were lustful or appraising in nature; the red gown and butterfly mask she'd used to sneak in blended in perfectly with the crowd. Her scooping neckline caught yet another eye and she laughed under her breath. An anti-bioterrorism masquerade ball, she thought, amused, for all of their bravado, they're just like everyone else: blind at the first show of cleavage.
She had reached the edge of the dance floor at the room's center when she spotted him—he was at a table in the corner. A thrill rippled through her at the sight of him. Found you, she thought, grinning.
Leon Scott Kennedy. What a man—a trained government agent with the skills and intelligence to turn even the weakest odds in his favor. Even without his naturally flirtatious humor, he was a catch. Boyishly good looks had served him well even into his thirties, and the dirty blond locks that fell over his forehead led back into a full, touchable head of hair. He was touching that hair now—absently wiping it out of his face with the back of his hand—as he spoke to the woman next to him.
The faint twinges of jealousy that tugged at her heart surprised her. It wasn't like her to be possessive; she rarely stayed in one place long enough to develop a sense of ownership over a toothbrush, let alone a friend or lover. Besides, she recognized the attractive blonde woman sitting next to him—it was that Birkin girl from Raccoon City all those years ago. Leon had met her as a child; Sherry was far too young for him to be seriously interested in. And even if he was, she admitted, I'd have no claim on him.
She and Leon walked very different paths; where the law was concerned, they were polar opposites. There could never be anything between them. But then again, that wasn't a surprise. She'd always been this way.
Leon was a man of truth and integrity, while Ada was a woman of lies. A good liar based his fictions on truth, but a great liar blurred the lines of reality so well that only the author could tell the difference. At one point in her life, she'd been a great liar. But deceit was a dangerous art, and she'd gotten too good at it. After so long hiding the truth, she could barely tell the difference between the falsehoods she created and what was real.
Of course, he had changed all that. Such foolish idealism and naivety; when she met him in Raccoon City it was like being woken up for the first time in years. He surprised her with his perseverance and how fiercely he fought for the things he believed in. It threw her so much that she started behaving strangely and making stupid mistakes. Just as she would've predicted if she'd been in her rational mind, it ended up in her nearly dying.
But not before she'd said more than she intended to, and stolen a kiss from that beautiful mouth.
"I'm just a woman who fell in love with you. Nothing more."
She heard her own words in her head and suppressed a frown. Why had she said that? Love wasn't a part of her life. It was a silly, abstract thing that other people spoke about. She didn't believe in love.
But the way he'd made her feel…the way she'd acted so recklessly because of it… It was such a rush to feel alive again that she'd forgotten about who she was. She didn't care about the secrecy or the rules anymore, she just wanted him to live. And for once, she'd put someone else's needs above her own.
But that had been in the heat of the moment, with death staring her in the face. The rules of her life did not change just because she cared whether someone lived of died. Or because that same someone had given her second thoughts about the things that she did. No, the world remained the same ruthless, filthy, backstabbing place it had been before and she remained a liar.
She may not have a claim on him, but she had enough respect for the man to warn him of the iceberg headed his way. If the information she'd been digging through earlier had been correct, then the Agency Leon worked for had some very big, dirty plans that could turn his life upside down.
A waiter dropped a tray of dishes in front of her and she saw Leon's head snap up as he looked in her direction. She smirked as their eyes met. Not as clueless as the rest of them, are you Leon? He stood up and mumbled something to Sherry, then started making his way toward her. She felt like a fisherman reeling in a line.
Up close she could see his features more clearly, and they were no less becoming. His pale blue eyes bored into her, captivated by her every move. Oh how I missed toying with him like this. "Hey there, handsome," she greeted when he was in ear shot, "Enjoying the party?"
"I've never been one for parties," he replied. I didn't think so, she commented silently, eyeing up the taught muscles in his shoulders. His body was tense, his eyes never straying from her. He was clearly waiting for an explanation, but she had no intention of rushing this. It's far too much fun, she thought deviously and had no trouble maintaining her smile. After a moment he extended a hand. "May I have this dance?"
The low, alluring tone of his voice had her stomach quivering with pleasure. What chivalry. "What kind of person would I be if I said no?" she asked, taking his hand.
To her delight, she discovered he had some idea of what he was doing when it came to dancing. His palm was warm and strong when it slid up to her back and guided them in a steady rhythm. She didn't complain when he pulled her closer and whispered against her cheek, either. "What are you doing here?" his voice came, hushed and weighted with his confusion. She could feel his pulse throbbing in his hand and shoulder. He's nervous. How cute.
She pulled him closer to hide her growing smile and whispered into his ear. "Can't a girl have a little fun?"
His pulse sped up against her hand and his breathing became slightly shallower. Liked that, did you? She silently teased and considered nibbling on his ear lobe for good measure. However when his lips brushed against her hair and breathed out their next words, she reconsidered. "Fun where you're concerned usually involves people dying, Ada."
So you've finally noticed, she commented in her mind with a hint of melancholy. But rather than express it, she locked the reaction up and allowed a playful note of surprise to escape her throat. "You judge me too harshly. I only ever wanted to help…"
The muscles of his shoulders flexed beneath his shirt and the grip on her back became rigid. "If you're planning something tonight, you know I have to stop you."
A laugh forced its way through her self-control, unexpected and thoroughly savored. As if you could. "Ever the Boy Scout, aren't you, Leon?" she taunted, amused. When he didn't seem to appreciate the joke, she reluctantly admitted that she had delayed long enough. "If you insist," she said while grasping the back of his neck and forcing him to be still, "I'll get straight to the point." She moved suddenly, raising one knee to press against his thigh and using it to brace herself as she leaned backwards in his arms. He obliged, lowering her down into the dip. Wrapping her leg around him for leverage, she rolled her body back up against his chest and held him close. "You're treading in to dangerous water, Leon. Be careful who you trust in the weeks ahead. Sometimes trouble comes from where you least expect it."
He pulled away slightly and turned his head to catch her eye. "Is this a warning?" he asked, his voice rough and tight with the threat of danger.
I'm running out of time, she realized when she caught sight of the same blonde from earlier—Sherry—looking their way from across the room. Already she was mentally assessing her escape route through the window in the hallway. Putting on her best smile, she stepped away from him. "Take it how you want. Now if you don't mind, I have an appointment to keep."
She heard him call out to her as she left and turned back to wink at him. Three steps more and she was through the doorway and running down the hall, counting the seconds it'd take him to catch up to her. When she reached the window (which she'd intentionally left open for just this purpose), she leapt over the ledge with no hesitation. Unafraid of the weightlessness that came with falling, she aimed her grapple gun and fired.
Moments later she was landing, knees bent, on the roof of the adjacent building. She retracted the grapple and holstered it back inside her dress where it'd been hidden before. The rooftops around her were empty and she was alone once again.
She sighed. While she loved leaving Leon begging for more, she had hoped she'd get a little more time. With the vague warning she'd offered him, the message hadn't sunken in. I'll have to fix that, she thought and started drafting a backup plan. She still had the information she'd stolen, and there might be a page or two in there that might give Leon a clue. If she could get to a printer, she could leave a gift for him in his apartment tonight while he was out…
Mind made up, she approached the opposite end of the roof and planned her path through the city.
Just as she was about to jump a soft, barely noticeable chime came from the bracelet on her wrist. Pausing, she lifted her arm and examined it for a moment. It was simple, but classy—a black ringlet studded with small crystals and a curious pendant in the center. No one would guess that it served as a direct phone line to the devil. Her finger hesitated over the small, circular pendant now as another chime sounded. After another moment she pressed down on it, feeling something close to apprehension for the first time all evening.
A light flared out from the pendant and formed a holographic image just above her palm: three separate lines glowed blue white to form a familiar logo. They didn't trust her enough to show their faces, but she should have expected that.
"Miss Wong," A calm woman's voice greeted her, "I trust you are doing well?"
Ada kept her voice level, preferring to stare out at the city rather than the logo branding her hand. "It was a wonderful party. How kind of you to ask."
"It's our pleasure, Miss Wong," the woman's voice continued, "But I'm afraid we have business to attend to."
"The information has been sent," Ada said, looking up towards the sky as thunderclouds rolled in. Best get inside soon…
"And Orion? The Liberati?"
She smiled wryly into the air. "Clueless, as always. Both believe I'm working as a double agent for the other. Neither have any idea of the truth."
The woman made a pleased humming noise before speaking. "Very good, Miss Wong." Ada's brow twitched ever so slightly. She hated the way they said her name. Hopefully, her lapse in control would go unnoticed—on a cloudy night like this one the satellite should be blind, if they were transmitting a video at all. Whatever the case, the woman made no mention of it. "We will contact you again soon. Have a pleasant day."
The hologram disappeared and her bracelet returned to normal. She let her arm fall back to her side slowly, feeling the wind rise up and listening to the noises of the city below. "I'm sure you will," she whispered.
With her grapple gun at the ready, she stepped off the ledge.
