The upbeat rock song - Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" - coming out of his car's speakers only helped to keep Leon Kennedy's spirits up even higher than they already were.
At that point, he was driving down the divided highway by himself, the dark blue Chevy Impala racing through the crisp late summer air on its way to New York City. It was there that Leon planned to spend his hard-earned vacation - he'd always wanted to at least visit the Big Apple, and since his superiors in the DSO had practically demanded he take some time off for himself, he now had his chance. So it was that he was quite enjoying the rather long drive.
Things were made even more interesting when the biker pulled up to drive right alongside him. Leon could see that the biker's figure was feminine, dark fabric and leather covering her from head to toe, but a helmet of deep scarlet on her head as she drove a matching scarlet Harley-Davidson in perfect tune with him.
Yet it was the gilded butterflies across the thigh of her pants and on her shoulder that got Leon's attention. He didn't need a bolt from the blue to know who she was.
Certainly Ada Wong knew who was driving the Impala she'd pulled up beside, and his look confirmed it. Smiling broadly behind the helmet, she lifted her hand up in a wave and was met with a matching wave and a wink by the agent.
In the car, Leon noticed Ada touch a hand to her helmet just before his phone began to ring, a heavy metal song blaring from its speaker.
He picked it up, noting the number. "Hello?"
"Hey there, handsome. Going my way?" Ada's voice responded from the other end of the line.
Leon, letting out a laugh, responded, "Depends where you're going, Ada. I'm on my way to New York myself."
"Ooh, nice choice. It just so happens I'm on my way there too", Ada replied, her voice showing a piqued interest. "I'm guessing you're vacationing up there."
"Indeed. You?"
"Right there with you, handsome. What a coincidence, hmm?" she answered, and Leon could hear the sly smile Ada was speaking with. He had to wonder what she had planned up her figurative sleeves. It was always hard to tell with her - even back in Raccoon City where they'd first met, it was hard to exactly know what her plans had been until he'd learned that she was a spy from a mysterious organization sent to steal a viral agent. But she kept running into him, he saving her life and watching out for her until she returned the favor.
It cost her her life back then.
Or so Leon thought until he found her again on a mission in Spain. She hadn't changed much since, still working for that organization and using him to accomplish her objectives, but still watching out for him at the same time.
Then that night in Paris...and at that, Leon had to ask. "Any insidious plans of yours I should know about, Ada?"
She chuckled at the other end, just as the rumble of another car grew behind her. "That depends if me kidnapping you for a while counts, if you're not too busy."
"Kidnapping me for what?" Leon teased.
"Well, you'll just have to find out, won't you?" Ada fired back playfully, before looking at the car behind her - another Impala, this one black. "And it seems you may have competition - these guys behind you seem pretty eager to get me too."
"What?" Leon spared a glance at the fellow Impala just behind Ada as she sped up and pulled in front of Leon.
"Plaza Hotel, room 1207. I promise you, Leon, you won't want to be late", Ada teased before the connection went dead. Leon saw her speed up, noting the black Impala follow suit next to him.
Leon then looked out the window to see two men in the Impala, a short-haired blond man with a soldier's demeanor driving and a brunette lumberjack-looking fellow with hair down to his shoulders next to him. They looked almost related - probably were, or so Leon thought. The expression on the driver's face was one of shock and awe as he watched Ada speed off, the passenger turning to talk to him.
The driver then turned to look at Leon, the passenger following suit with a nod of greeting. Leon returned it before focusing on the road ahead, beautifully impeded by the dangerous woman in front of him.
Then she sped up, as if teasing him into giving chase. Story of my life, Leon thought.
But he couldn't resist, shifting the Impala into a higher gear and letting his boot ride a little harder on the gas, a smile coming to his rugged face. The kid in him demanded some harder music for this, and he flipped through his iPod as carefully as he could before settling on the harder, driving sounds of Halestorm's "Don't Know How To Stop".
"Sounds about right", Leon stated out loud, shifting the gears to catch up with the speeding Ada Wong, seeing the black Impala with its two occupants - or three? Another man seemed to appear in the back seat, his mild and blank face above a trenchcoat hovering between the two - slowly drift behind.
Leon saw the driver of the black Impala look straight back at him after eyeing his car and give him a thumbs-up of approval. But Leon also saw the driver shoot him a friendly look of competition along with it. He returned it with a nod before driving up the speed of his car more, a chuckle escaping his lips at the thought of the impromptu challenge.
The dark cerulean car sped on ahead, leaving its night-colored brother in the dust with a roar of its motor. Ahead of Leon's bundle of horsepower, Ada managed to keep a fair distance ahead on her Harley, the slightly higher whine of its motor ringing out as she began to speed off.
His instinct and reflexes taking over, Leon threw down the clutch and shifted into a higher gear, the motor thrumming smoothly as it roared just behind Ada. Behind him, he could see the jet black Impala just behind and to the left of him, the driver smiling lightly and his brother rolling his eyes with a chuckle, the man in back still staring blankly with an upraised eyebrow.
But just ahead, a bright glint of red from the back of Ada's Harley caught Leon's eye, and in the split second he realized she'd slowed down, he'd already maneuvered into the other side of the right lane, the screech of tires betraying the calm he maintained. Leon looked out the passenger side window, seeing Ada briefly flip up her faceplate to shoot him a sly wink before she roared off again.
Then, as if on cue, the black Impala growled up just beside him, and Leon was able to get a better look at the driver - there was the short blond hair, coupled with a fair amount of scruff on his tough, familiar-looking face. A smile was there though, and the driver extended his arm, seeming to say, "After you. Go get her."
It seemed like Leon would always be trying to do just that, and yet there was no better feeling than precisely that one today.
Whatever happened, there'd be a sort of freedom to catch up to. That's what it seemed Ada Wong was pursuing so quickly, and Leon Kennedy meant to catch up with her and find that same liberation, hopefully to share it with her.
Maybe, Leon thought, those other guys were after some sort of freedom too. Whatever the case, what lay ahead in the river of highway that flowed beneath the cloudless sea of sky would certainly be worth the trip.