Author's Note: *sigh* I've finished Darkside Chronicles today... God, it was epic! In spite of a few major and frustrating changes, it was a good game.

Anyway, this is another short story, which was inspired by the game's scenario "Operation Javier". It was really nice to see how they've built Leon's and Krauser's friendship; too bad they're not the Dynamic Duo they were anymore. But whatever, they're an awesome team xDDD

I've used both past and present tense and both of their point of views; the first part is told my Jack, the second one by Leon, 'kay? I hope you enjoy this story as much as I liked writing it!^^ Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters.

Resident Evil
The Two Sides Of A Coin

Early February, 2002
United States Secret Service HQ, Washington, D.C

It was this month, this day, when I would realize how different he and I were.

I had been called specifically today to be debriefed on my next mission and, also, to meet the new partner of which I'd have to take care; at least, that's what I thought at first. After seeing him, it was the first time I was reluctant and unwilling to take a mission in company; I had thought that I'd even handle it solo much better than with a partner. I seriously didn't see in which ways I would need him and I would have very well told him to go to hell if it wasn't for what awaited us in South America.

It had all started a normal day in which, as I've mentioned, I would get ready for my next mission. Upon arriving to HQ, I met old comrades again and chatted with them as I made my way to the conference room, keeping my distances and trying not to respond in any way that would cause me a problem. My old partners saw me just like always, a normal and not-so-normal guy, but in truth I was desperate. I had never felt like this, nothing had ever made me lose my patience and be so nervous, and it was certainly stupid coming from me. I would soon know the reason why.

"Rumour has it you've got a new partner now, don't you?" One of my old partners, James, didn't surprise me with his words; he along with his friends, who I had all worked with, were complete impertinent dupes and, even if something was meant to be top secret, in less than two days it was a hot topic of conversation between them. Even so, that helped me to know what the Service was up to sometimes and slack my way out of things which I was involved in but wasn't interested in.

"You're just a damned gossip, aren't you?" I shot back, deadpan. "Yeah, it's true, and it's getting under my nerves not knowing anything about him."

"They didn't tell you anything? They sure want to keep it secret, huh?"

"And I'm sure than in less than an hour you'll have everything discovered and spread around, won't you? Well, just so you know, I'm not going to say anything."

"You're screwing with us!" he cursed. Matter-of-factly, I shook my head.

"No I'm not. I'm dead serious and now, if you don't mind, I have things to do." James tried to stop me, but I ignored him and took a right, disappearing around the corner and paying no attention to the others who came after I was gone. As I approached the room, my boss's secretary, Juno, walked up to me and almost gladly presented me with a thin folder, which contents I could easily guess.

"It's your briefing for this mission, straight out of the printer." Juno was a slacker as I was an idiot; she was very well known for her hard work and dedication. "The boss mentioned something about a drug dealer or something, but I'll leave you to find that out. Oh, and the newbie's inside already." I didn't say anything as Juno walked away and returned to her post, skimming over the files.

So, an early riser, huh? This guy is going to get under my skin, that's for sure.

Wasting no more time, I went inside, knocking first of all. I was granted permission to enter and I instinctively looked around for somebody else aside my boss, finding nobody. It was two seconds later that I noticed him slowly raise his gaze from the file he was reading and stand up at the same time as my superior. The sight of him was like a hard slap to my face.

Contrary to my initial beliefs, he didn't seem too much of a helpless idiot. I say this because even my first partners had looked even worse than him, though I would've picked James or someone else before him. I'm not going to waste time on describing his appearance, since it was his demeanour what caught my attention. Above everything else, this man seemed cocky; that's all that needs to be said. Then, he looked at me straight in the eye, examining me as thoroughly as I was examining him. I had the impression we didn't exactly like each other at first sight and it was obvious we would clash until we finally set our differences aside. I wasn't going to be the first to do that, and that was a fact.

"Jack, he will be your partner for this mission." My boss, Adam, had started the conversation and formalities, but I wasn't up for that. The new guy offered me his hand.

"Leon Kennedy." His welcome was concise, if not blunt. As reluctant as I was, I couldn't fail Adam's expectations, so I curtly shook his hand, stating my name in the same tone he had. So, Leon Kennedy… Well, if he kept his head low and didn't do anything stupid, I believed we'd get along fine… but I still had to see that.

We sat down, silence reigning over us, and then we started talking about the mission. It was immediate, since there was no time to lose and I wanted to go straight to the point; introductions and pleasant conversations could wait for another moment.

We were told about a Javier Hidalgo, a South American drug lord in command of a powerful and extended cartel named "The Sacred Snakes". He had taken de-facto control over a large area of the jungle, which also included a village named Mixcoatl and another zone, Amparo; that was where he was hiding. With methods not even the Service had managed to discover, Hidalgo had avoided every single attempt of bringing him to justice and, moreover, he had gathered even more criminals that had helped him to import the drugs into America.

The interesting fact about this guy is that he had tried to approach Umbrella for whatever reason, and that a former researcher from the company had helped him accomplish whatever they were cooking. We didn't know about that, but our objective was to question that researcher for information related to Hidalgo's relationship and activities with Umbrella.

"Why such an interest with Umbrella?" I asked at a certain point. Up until then, I had never known anything about the company more than it being a pharmaceutical enterprise. Now, Leon looked at me, almost deadpan, but with a certain gleam in his eyes that told me 'Are you kidding?'. Of course, I didn't give a damn about that.

"You know about the Raccoon City disaster of course, correct? Four years ago?" He said, and I nodded my head. How could I not know about that? An entire city being wiped out with "Mission Code XX", a virus outbreak, 'zombies'…

"What about it?"

"Umbrella was deeply involved and the company was the cause of Raccoon's destruction." Kennedy almost talked with resent, and I instantly knew we were getting into some deep shit. "The 'zombies' a lot of people have heard of overran the city, all because of the virus that was spread through the sewers, the T-virus. It was developed by Umbrella as an experiment but due to an accident, it was released. It didn't just turn everyone into zombies, no, but it also showed us what it could do: with it, all kinds of BOWs were created. In short, Umbrella is responsible of the lives of 100,000 people."

"BOWs?" Adam asked.

"Bio-organic weapons, sir." Leon replied. "Everything the T-virus touches and even brushes is as good as dead, unless it's only for an experiment with people."

"With people?" As much as Adam couldn't believe what Kennedy was saying, I remained silent.

"Yes, sir. A Hunter is the example of combining a fertilized human ovum with reptilian DNA and then implanting the T-virus into the resulting creature. There's also the Tyrant, an example of implanting the virus directly into a person. It all results in an enhanced human being and, in spite of being tremendously strong, agile and fast, it's very unstable."

Well, he had really done his homework. This was all new to me, since I had never heard of something like what Leon had mentioned now. For a person as experienced as me who had seen almost everything life had to offer, Leon's words would've seemed like a hilarious joke. Despite that, I had the feeling he wasn't kidding.

"What did you mean by us?" I asked, recalling what he'd said before.

"I am one of the survivors of the incident and I've faced those monsters whilst trying to get out of the city with my head still on my shoulders, along with other two people." He said solemnly. That really did catch me by surprise, but I was still sceptic; it couldn't be any worse than anything I had faced.

"Now that we know this, is it possible that the one of the drugs Hidalgo is trafficking is the T-virus, Mr. Kennedy?" inquired Adam. If it was, I thought, it was going to be bad.

"It could be very possible, since Umbrella is almost everywhere. Not only that, but there are other variations of the T-virus, many wanted by the black market." Leon said, crossing his arms.

"Anyway, that's what we have to find out, right?" I intervened. I was known for the nonchalance I sometimes talked with, even if it was the most dangerous or the creepiest of missions, and I believe Adam hadn't seen my remark coming. I smiled inwardly; even bosses could lose their wits momentarily.

"Indeed, that is one of your objectives." He nodded, leaning forward. "The second one, also of top priority, is to find Hidalgo and stop him. With your intervention, we might be able to do something."

"Alright, when do we go?"

Surprisingly, Leon asked that question before even I had the time to think about it. He was starting to cause another impression on me, one a lot more different. That slight resent, that determination and that strength that his gaze harboured was like nothing I'd seen before, if I must be honest. I was a soldier, and I had been able to read many people's eyes with only a glance at them, save for a few who had even more experience than me.

"Everything should be ready tonight." Replied Adam. "With the trip and all, ETA is approximately tomorrow morning at dawn."

"Very well, let's go." I stood up, Leon doing the same seconds after and Adam wished us luck. Only Leon replied to that whilst I silently made my way outside. And as I left, I could feel Leon's gaze against my nape, almost drilling a hole.

This mission was going to take a lot of patience to carry out.

X

I'm already set now, and I'm only waiting for Leon to finish packing and the helicopter to take off. We haven't spoken a word to each other since our meeting this morning, and I guess he's not a very talkative guy. That's fine for me; as long as he isn't a pain in the ass, it's alright. I don't want any problems, not at all.

He's done and we're finally taking off, heading for what awaits us in South America. It doesn't matter if it's BOWs or whatever Leon mentioned; it's all the same to me and he's noticed that. I look outside as the chopper speeds up and drives us to the southern country. As I turn my head to Leon, I find him checking his gun, serene and focused.

"You don't believe anything I said this morning, right?" he asks me with only a short glance. "It matters nothing to you, it seems."

"You can't expect me to believe it right after hearing it, or did you really think I'd believe such a story?" I reply with certain annoyance. He smiles, very faintly, much more like smirks cockily.

"At least I expected a little bit of cooperation." He says, his gun clicking. "I've been told about you and I've seen your resumé, which has quite the history. I know you've been through a lot of things, but you haven't seen all of life."

Goddamit, this guy is cocky after all! He's going to be a pain, I'm sure. "And you have, Leon?" Leon cocks an eyebrow and tilts his head, clearly annoyed by the edge in my voice.

"Well, not as much as you, I can guarantee." He tells me with a shrug. "You've been out in the field for God knows how long, ergo you have much more experience than me, but I don't think that you've faced BOWs in any of your missions, have you?" His expression changes, becoming more serious. "These monsters shouldn't be taken lightly, whether you're experienced or not. I've seen a lot of people die because of them."

"We'll see about that once we get there." I say.

"You're hard to convince, aren't you?" he says out loud. It is as if I wasn't there; even though he's modest, he speaks his mind. "You won't believe it until you see it, correct?"

"Exactly." I reply. "FYI, I don't trust you yet. You'll have to show me what you're made of when we fight these BOWs you speak of." Once again, he smirks.

"I hope I please you, partner." He then stares at me, his gaze against mine, and I frown at his tone of voice. It has the same edge as mine previously, which tells me he's got something more hidden. In spite of that, I still think he's an idiot.

Only time will tell.

A day later…

We've returned from South America and, miraculously…

I'm still alive.

One month later…

March 25th, 2002.
Zürich, Switzerland

With the wind against my face, I stare at the snowy Alps in front of me, the Zürich Lake looking almost right at the mountains' feet.

I had always loved that place. In fact, I once did an exchange with a boy from around here, with which I was good friends. I stayed two months with his family and he returned from America much sooner than expected, which caused our encounter and acquaintance. There was a second time when I came here, when I was sixteen and I was about to complete my secondary studies on Social Sciences. Those were memories I thought about whilst I enjoyed a calm afternoon there. But then, I couldn't help thinking about this past month.

The mission in South America hadn't gone as bad as I originally expected. Once we knew what Javier was up to, I dreaded the results of the operation. Contrary to my expectations, we were successful and Javier's cartel, along with the other criminals, was brought to justice. Upon our return, I lost all kind of contact with Manuela and I was kept informed of her state through other people. At first, I had been worried, since I thought she would suffer the same destiny as Sherry, but I was wrong.

What had had me much more worried though was Krauser.

After returning and for almost five days, I didn't hear anything from him. I strongly hoped that he was doing fine, since I could clearly notice how concerned the wound in his arm had him. Five days later, I was finally authorized to see him and, when I did, his appearance was striking. I'm not referring to his physical appearance, since it was pretty obvious how bad he looked after being healed, but it was his countenance what was important. I had kept silent, waiting for him to talk, until he explained everything that had happened.

He had been taken out of commission.

To be honest, I was enraged. It was then that moment that our boss, Adam, entered through the door and saw me with a nasty and upset expression. He was firm on the decision made by him and the executive board, but I couldn't accept it. I still remember how I reacted and it was quite out of character coming from me…

xxxx

"It's unfair!" Leon couldn't hold his complaint. "Alright, your arm hasn't fully recovered after the treatment, but that doesn't mean you're completely crippled! Dammit, they can't do this to you…"

"You're no madder than I am, Leon; that, I assure you." Jack said with a shake of his head. Leon sighed.

"I guess I'm not. Unfairness is everywhere you go, huh?"

In that moment, Adam stepped inside the room, a solemn expression on his face that was slightly altered when he saw Leon's conspicuous scowl. The younger agent couldn't help it: he was horribly mad.

"So, you know the news, right?" Adam asked, much more like stated. Leon's scowl didn't disappear, although he couldn't believe Adam's nonchalance. Leon crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I've heard them. Why did you do this to him? It's not like he's completely lost his arm, right? He can still do something!" Leon's behaviour was completely off, and Krauser knew it. He had never seen his partner so angry, with such a lack of control, and that somehow hurt… even if he had certain intentions in mind.

"Mr. Kennedy, orders are orders." Adam stated bluntly. "Let's go."

"He's staying here."

Leon swivelled his head around, staring at Jack. "Krauser, it's--"

"I don't give a damn about it, whether he told you to leave or not." Jack's words were bold and had a defying edge to them, something Adam didn't take lightly. "Since I'm out of commission now, you don't give a damn about what I say either, am I right? I'm not a member of the SOCOM anymore, so it doesn't matter."

Adam was outside the room within seconds, having glared fiercely at Jack before leaving. Leon turned his back on him, lowering his head.

"Sorry about that, Krauser, I--"

"There's no need to apologize, Leon." Jack interrupted him bluntly, and Leon turned his head to him again.

"That'll get you into trouble."

"And it'll be no worse than the one you'll be in, dumbass, so don't speak to me about trouble." Jack smirked faintly. "Besides, facing Adam is piece of cake when compared to damned BOWs, don't you think?" This earned him a sad smile from Leon, who sat down in a chair next to Jack's bed.

"Hah, you've got a point there." He said. "Now we have something to console ourselves with; if we haven't been through all life has to offer, what's left to see?" His smile disappeared from his face. "Hm… in spite all of this, I'm still worried."

"About?"

Leon hesitated at first, but then replied. "I'm worried and distrustful, Krauser. You do remember Manuela is in custody, but there's somebody else who is, and it's also a little girl. Out of everything that's taken place and knowing what Umbrella can do, I have a very bad feeling. I hope nothing goes wrong."

"Then take this tiny bit of advice then." Jack said. "Watch your step."

"I wouldn't like to experience what happens if I don't." Leon said frankly. Then, he sighed again. "Anyway, I'll let you rest now; you'll need it."

"Please, I've been lying here for five days straight now. What I need is to stand and run for a while till I get tired." Leon smiled.

"Next thing we know, you'll be running a marathon." He teased, then shook his head. "Don't listen to me; as Brits say, I'm a bit under the weather. Get in contact once you're up and ready again, okay?"

"I'll make sure of that, boy scout." Jack shot back with a salute.

Leon left him alone.

xxxx

That's in the past now though.

We eventually found out that it was just Adam's ambition what had made him state that request to the executive board. The members of the board specifically told Krauser that he could be re-admitted into the SO Command and, much to my surprise, he told me he had declined the offer but had been admitted into the Service temporarily; he would soon retire. He's due to leave on May, so he still has a few months left before leaving the Secret Service.

For now, we're R&R'ing, recovering from the mission. I've been here for four days and it's been almost heaven to have some peace. I think Krauser has gone somewhere else; I'm completely oblivious to his state and whereabouts. I've received no calls, no messages, no news from him. It's like he's disappeared from the face of the Earth and I can't blame him; I think being alone is the best he can do now, just to put his mind at rest. I wonder, is he running as much as he told me he would? Maybe he is, just to get used to moving again; he felt so very numb when he finally left the hospital… I really hope he's okay, no matter where he is.

"Hey, boy scout!"

I'm surprised as I turn around, only to find him walking up to me with his usual serious expression. I smile faintly, stepping forward and greeting him with a warm welcome.

"I never thought you'd show up one of these days!" I tell him, shaking my head. "Where were you? I've been worried."

"Ah, found a few monsters in my way." He says, and I really don't know if he's serious or not; he's a very hard person to read. Then, he chuckles and I look at him in disbelief. I notice how shocked I've become, since I feel my eyebrows have shot up and I'm speechless. "Boy, you should've your face! C'mon, for God's sake, I'm only joking!"

I also laugh, turning my head away. "I admit it, I can be quite gullible sometimes. You'll catch me unawares many times, so be prepared to laugh." I reply with a short glance at him over my shoulder. He looks the same as always, even though it's been a short time since we last saw each other. For a short moment, we stay in silence, until I ask, "Tell me, how's that arm of yours doing?"

Krauser shrugs. "Not bad, not good either." He responds, a bit crestfallen. "I still can use it, but it's as good as useless now when it comes to lifting things or doing chores that require effort. I've tried to exercise it but I can't even lift a single weigh." I grimace.

"I'm sorry for you. Still, you have to admit it could've been worse." I tell him positively. "Although the damn thing could've missed for once…"

"Heh, that's life for you, Leon."

"Yeah, you can't always expect things will go according to what you want." I smirk. "And if you do, you're a complete idiot…" Krauser chuckles again.

"What, you're melancholic now? Man, you really have mood swings, don't you?" he quips and I shake my head.

"No, it's not that." I reply. "It's just… these days have made me think, and…" I find myself unable to continue, since I have no words to explain how I feel.

"Don't rack your brains now; it's not worth it." He tells me. I lower my head, a smile appearing on my face as I look at the water down below. Once again, we remain in silence, a deep silence not uncomfortable for us. I cross my arms, trying to keep myself warm, and I glance at him. Jack seems deep in thought and in some kind of reverie, and I leave him to think and ponder about whatever's going through his mind.

Jack has proved he's something more than that rude, sceptic man he at first showed he was. He is open and contrary to what he seems, he actually can understand people very well. I've seen his old partners a few times but I've never actually spoken to them; what I noticed though was how they… how many people actually admired for who he was, luckily not for what he did. I've also noticed it and, through our conversations, I've indeed seen how well he can understand a person's feelings and the reasons of, for example, their beliefs. He once told me it was like a sixth sense he'd developed over the years, a talent he'd discovered when he was a kid.

But now, he seems more distant, even though we get along very well. It's like… he's thinking and thinking something over and over again, something that doesn't leave him alone and I can't figure what it is. He won't tell me, and I won't insist; he is hard-headed after all. Since we returned, he's been like that. Nobody can blame him though: I would've felt the same as him… if it was all because of the state of his arm. Jack is a very mysterious man, unreadable and unpredictable, which makes him dangerous and valuable.

I don't know why… but I feel we're complete opposites, just like light and darkness, and I somehow sense he's stepping into it.

We're like zero and one, alike but different…

The two sides of the same coin.

A/N: Aha! As you can see guys, I'm on a roll, but I can't waste opportunities and even more when I am inspired. It was awesome to write this, really, and explore Jack's character a little more (mind you, he has officially become another of my fave characters xDDD). Oh well...

Reviews are appreciated!^^