29.6.2014

Updated! Almost three years have passed and finally I got this finished! All thanks goes to Itachi's little Weaselette who kindly recommended updating and did the beta reading on this chapter. I will probably write again some other chapters as well and meanwhile write the newest. This is also my way to thank all those people who had followed me from the start and tolerated all the misspellings and grammatic errors. I'm not yet dead, people! The story goes on!

This is where it all began...

Chapter 1

Deal

Wong had failed.

Krauser had failed.

Neither of them had succeeded to erase the harm they had on their way – on his way.

He wasn't impressed, not even in the slightest. His orders had been simple. Retrieve the sample. Kill Leon S. Kennedy. Still it seemed to be easier said than done. Krauser hadn't succeeded to kill the agent despite the virus and all the skills he had. On the contrary, Kennedy had managed to defeat Krauser against the odds and that fact could have impressed him if he hadn't known the reason behind the success. Wong had been helping him. He had no hard evidence to blame the woman, but he knew what was going on between those two.

It was about high time for Wong to leave the island. He called her and as he had thought, she was reluctant to take the order to leave. He tolerated much from the woman, but not disobedience. After suggesting that he knew what she had done with Krauser, she understood to give in. Very wise of her. He wasn't in the mood to have more unnecessary troublemakers than he already had. He would deal with Wong later.

Both of his pawns had forgotten the reason why they were in Spain in the first place. Kennedy was merely a nuisance that had to be eliminated before he could cause more harm to their mission. He needed that sample. It was their priority.

And he was going to get it.

He took his silenced pistol, the sniper and the magnum and left for the island where Kennedy and Saddler were supposed to be now. He hadn't been on the field for some time and he quite enjoyed the thrill that was in the air. It wasn't hard to see where Kennedy had just been: the silence told it all. It didn't take much effort from him to kill the remaining ganados that had either been wise enough to stay out of Kennedy's way or had just been lucky to dodge the bullets. Either way, they were now dead and Wesker walked on, searching for his target.

Wong had told him that Saddler had taken the sample from Luis Sera, killing him on the same occasion. Could he trust Wong's words any longer? She had protected Kennedy, he wouldn't be surprised if she was still doing that. So, who had the sample? Saddler or Kennedy? Who should he pay a visit to first? Kennedy had no interest in the sample – if he even knew what it really was – so it would be easier to get it from him. It didn't even matter if he didn't have the sample: he was going to put him down anyway if their paths crossed. Krauser had played around with Kennedy, he wouldn't make the same mistake.

Kennedy was the same as dead.

Walking past the ruins and empty military bases, Wesker finally heard noise. The alarm was on and there was a chopper, helping Kennedy with ganados which kept on coming everywhere. Getting closer to the battlefield, Wesker could note quickly that the agent was in for the fight of his life. The ganados were armed and armored which made surviving alone near impossible. It seemed like one man was against a whole army.

He watched from the safe distance of the sniper scope as Kennedy handled the situation as an expert, shooting ganados in the head and taking cover just at the right moment before he would have ended up being shot or hit. Even though the young man was his enemy, he had to admire Kennedy's skills. He could make a good subordinate, he noted in his mind, but he knew that wouldn't be easy to arrange. Kennedy was a friend of the Redfields', or at least one of them, and worked for the government. It would be a lot easier to just kill the man: a single shot in the head and that would be it.

He didn't think twice.

He pulled the trigger and the bullet shot out from the barrel, flying through the air and heading to Kennedy's whereabouts. But it didn't hit Kennedy, not even close to the man's head. The ganado that had succeeded to find its way behind Kennedy, soon fell on the ground, a bullet right between its eyes. Yes, he should kill Kennedy now when he could and just take the sample from him, if he had it, and then continue his mission of destroying this place. Killing Kennedy would be all too easy now and he already had other plans for him. This trip might end up being more entertaining than he had first thought.

He and Kennedy would be having a nice little chat.

-XXX-

Leon had no idea that he was followed. Keeping himself alive was enough for him to be concerned about when he made his way out of the battlefield. Mike was a great help with his chopper and he was glad to have him around on this crazy mission even for a while. Ganados had only managed to scratch his skin so far and he really wished it would stay that way. He didn't even want to know what was still ahead of him.

As he reached another ruins out of the battle zone, he sighed in relief all too fast. When everything had seemed to go well, it went from bad to worse once again. Saddler and his brainless followers shot the chopper down with a rocket launcher and he couldn't do anything to save his friend from the explosion. Mike and the chopper were now gone, and so was his help in his mission. He was alone once again, just him and his weapons, trying to save Ashley Graham and himself from this hellhole. He still had the Plagas in his veins and his time was running dangerously short. While he still had that he couldn't face Saddler and save Ashley. If he didn't find a way to cure himself soon, he would be Saddler's new servant before the sunset.

"Don't turn around or make any suspicious moves." Leon's heart jumped to his throat when he felt the handgun pressing against his back. Who the hell? He hadn't heard anyone follow him, neither seen. How had this man gotten behind him? "Raise your hands," the voice ordered.

"Who the fuck are you? One of those braindead men of Saddler's again?" He snapped back at his captor as he raised his hands, trying to figure out the best alternative to escape. Maybe it wasn't wise to talk like that to the man who pointed a gun to your spine but he couldn't hide his frustration anymore.

"My name isn't something you need to be concerned about.", the man behind him spoke calmly and somehow Leon felt like the calmness was worse than anything. The man sounded powerful and well, he was the total opposite to Krauser's obsessed and furious voice. There was no emotions, just calm coldness and danger. "I don't have anything to do with Saddler, only business," the man added.

"And what does that have to do with me?" The situation didn't seem too good for him and time kept ticking away. He didn't know how much time he had left with Las Plagas but he knew that it wasn't enough to be wasted. "What do you want from me?"

The man let out a slight chuckle but Leon didn't see anything amusing in this situation. "I believe that you may have something I want. The sample that was previously in Sera's custody." Even though the stranger didn't add that Leon should give it to him or he would shoot his brains out, the voice was enough for Leon to know that the man wanted it and the right time would be now.

"What if I don't have that?" He inquired, his mind rushing in thoughts. "I know what you mean but I don't have it. Saddler took it when he killed Luis. That's it," he said, talking the truth. Who the hell was this stranger? Why was he interested in that sample? "Now, is there anything else you need to know? If not, I'd really like to go now and continue my mission, except if it's in your plans to put a hole in my spine." He played a roulette with his words but he didn't care. He didn't have much time for a chat and every second brought him closer to death – or brain control – as he just stood there.

Much to the Leon's surprise, the man didn't shoot him, on the contrary, he felt the gun be withdrawn from his back. "Perhaps we can help each other," the man said, his voice unreadable. He took a step back from him, giving his enemy some space. "I don't have much time either and I know about your lack of time with saving the president's daughter. I can ensure you that you will die while trying to kill Saddler in your condition– if you even get that far. I suggest a deal."

"A deal? You help me to save Ashley and for a return I help you to get that sample from Saddler?" Leon asked in disbelief. This only got weirder and weirder. He hadn't expected this to happen. And how did the man know that much? Who the hell was he? He turned around even though he had been ordered not to do that, but without a gun against his back it felt safer to do so.

He faced a blond man wearing black sunglasses that matched his dark suit. The stranger put his gun into its holster and crossed his arms over his chest, smirking slightly. Not seeing the older man's eyes, it felt near impossible to know what he was thinking.

"Exactly as you said. Will you take it or leave it?" The blond male stated, still remaining unreadable. Could he say no? What would happen then? The deal sounded good, or at least better than anything else during the past few minutes. He was out of choices if he wanted to get off of this island with Ashley.

"Sure, it's always better than a hole in my head, I think," he mumbled, still not sure if it was a good idea after all. His eyes wandered on the other man's dark-clothed body and the facial features, stopping on the glasses once again. Something about the man seemed familiar to him. "Tell me, have we met before?" He had to ask.

The stranger answered with a coy smile. "No, we haven't. Now, if we have a deal, I suggest that we continue our missions." The other man didn't wait for Leon to answer anything to that – if he even wanted an answer, and walked toward the door which obviously lead out from the ruins, "Last chance," he reminded when Leon just watched, not moving even an inch.

Leon wasn't satisfied with the lack of information he had of the man, especially because he knew there was something familiar about him. He knew him from somewhere... After thinking the deal shortly through again, he nodded and followed the man to the door. He needed this deal and he had to play the stranger's rules if he wanted to survive.

He supposed he could trust the other man for now; not much but enough that he knew the man wouldn't kill him instantly. That was better than nothing and extra ammunition wasn't bad either. Now he also had someone to watch his back in the incoming fights. But there was still something wrong in the whole deal and he couldn't figure out what. This was too good to be true and then again it probably was. Above all, one thing troubled him out of his mind.

Where had he seen this man before?