Resident Evil - Scars and All
There they stood, a mere few feet away from each other, the coarse grains of beach sand crunching underneath their feet and between their toes, the weight of both their forms balanced on the balls of their feet. Just beyond the point where the ocean met the sky, miles away from their forms, a storm was beginning to brew.
How appropriate it was that such a day would find them there - he clad in a tight grey spandex shirt and loose blue sweatpants with a logo for the Raccoon Police Department on one thigh, she in a sports top and cutoff shorts in matching shades of red with a gilded butterfly decorating the right leg's side. The only pieces of outerwear they had in common were the full length pads strapped around their calves and forearms, ready for the practice battle ahead.
"You ready for this, handsome?" the woman, Ada Wong, asked tauntingly yet playfully to the man across from her. A smirk as light as her tone slowly expanded across her face to her almond-shaped eyes, her ebony hair flowing in the growing breeze.
The response from her husband, former RPD officer and DSO agent Leon S. Kennedy, seemed to be typical of the easygoing yet patiently stubborn manner that he so effortlessly possessed. He returned the smile with one of his own, shaking his own blond locks from his chiseled face. "Bring it on, gorgeous. I'm ready for whatever you've got."
It had only been a few short months since they'd started their joint investigative and security business from New York, where they also lived; yet this particular day found them just outside her vacation home in Bermuda, a relic from Ada's days as a spy for a mysterious organization. It had taken the couple almost two decades since they first met that fateful night in Raccoon City, but after a vengeful mission against the remnants of Umbrella and the Family in which she'd thought Leon had been killed - only to find him merely imprisoned and a clone of him dead instead - they'd both taken stock of their lives and finally decided to break the boundaries between them. Yet even with their eventual marriage and their starting Kennedy Investigative and Security Services, the drives that they had - which had served them well through Raccoon City, Spain, Tall Oaks, and Lanshiang, and he for Harvardville and she for her last mission - had never seemed to stall as the years went on.
Both Leon and Ada could feel that energy practically burning in the air, and they tensed with it for one final moment.
Then the sparring began.
Leon brought his arm up just in front of his face as Ada led with a left hook, her arm pad bashing hard against his from the impact. He followed with a left side kick, leaning away from the impact, but it was effortlessly blocked by her own leg, the muscle flexing beneath the thin armor.
The jabs and crosses from Ada's arms seemed to fly at his face, yet Leon managed to block and parry every single one of them, his concentration locked on Ada's form as she came at him.
Even when sparring with him, keeping each other on their toes, she still remained the most beautiful woman Leon had ever met. That thought held sway even as one of her jabs came at his left shoulder - the one where he'd taken a bullet for her in Raccoon City, the first time they met.
Leon leaned away from the jab, feeling the backs of her fingers graze the fabric of his shirt, and he let out a knowing chuckle as he figured out what she was trying to do. "You're going for my weakest point again, you bitch", he said in a teasing voice.
Ada's response was a light shrug followed by another failed hook attempt to his face, bringing her form in front of his, her back brushing against his chest. Her extended arm reached up and behind to caress his grizzled cheek as she whispered, "You call me that like it's a bad thing, you handsome jerk." Leaving a teasing peck on the opposite cheek, she weaved away across the sand, her back end moving teasingly against his hips as he attempted to grab her.
Ada flashed down and swung her arm out for Leon's abs, but her hit was deflected by his shin block, and she had to dodge to avoid a hook of his own going for her shoulder.
Too late did she realize she hadn't watched her opposite side, as he managed to grab her arm and bend it behind her back just enough to trap her there with no serious pain. Ada could feel his hot breath across her skin as he whispered back, "I've got to be honest though, I missed watching you work. "
Letting her smile come back, Ada worked herself free from Leon's hold and grabbed onto his arm, restraining it behind his waist before grabbing his other arm and doing the same thing as it came out at her.
He was effectively trapped in her grasp.
"Mm, even when you end up losing when we spar?" Ada teased.
"Oh? And who says I've lost?" Leon fired back.
She felt the force of one of his legs hook behind her ankle and trip her back, yet she still had a hold on him that he couldn't escape from. The result was both of them falling hard into the light grainy sand, a small noise escaping from his lungs.
Before he could react further, Ada gave herself a better hold on Leon's wrists and pinned his body down on his back, holding his wrists above his head.
There they stayed, both breathing heavily and sweat just beginning to pour down their faces, Ada's own face slowly lightening with another teasing look. "Got ya, big guy", she proclaimed. "Feels kinda familiar, doesn't it?"
Chuckling lightly at her words, the memory of that hotel room in Paris flashing through his mind, Leon returned her sexy smirk with one of his own. "Any excuse just to restrain me, is that it?"
"Is that a problem?" Ada asked rhetorically.
Then, suddenly, her whole world turned sideways for a brief moment as Leon heaved himself out from under her and onto her front, his wrists breaking free before his hands found her sides.
He let out a small hum of thought before playfully acquiescing, "Nah, not really. As long as you're fine with it too."
They both let out another light chuckle, right before nature followed suit with a rumble of thunder, louder than a cannon report. The storm was getting closer.
At the sound, Leon's gaze flashed toward the source, the look on his face darkening as his body tensed up with apprehension. It had been a few years since Leon fully found what it was he was battling, and it was never easy to deal with. After what he and Ada had been through - the traumatic events and the deaths of friends that came with it - how could it be? Immediately, Ada knew what that visible feeling could possibly mean.
Leon's hands dropped away and clenched tightly, his eyes slamming shut as his lips went down into a grimace, and Ada could feel the worst of it beginning to boil inside him. Thinking fast, she brought him back down to her, one of her hands gently caressing the back of his soft blond locks while the other warmly covered one of his. "Leon...breathe, handsome. Deep and slowly, that's it. I'm right here. It's just a storm, nothing too dangerous. All of that's passed, and you're with me. You're ok."
At her touch, Leon slowly began to relax, letting out a few shaky breaths through his mouth as his gaze locked onto Ada's, their faces only inches apart. He continued to breathe deeply, every bone in his body slowly seeming to unwind.
"You alright, honey?" Ada asked from beneath him. He nodded lightly, answering her honestly, "I will be...I will be."
He closed his eyes gently, rolling them onto their sides on the beach as he held her close, and yet Ada could practically see the gears in his head still turning as he settled down. "You sure you're gonna be alright?"
Leon nodded lightly at her words, managing a shaky smile that slowly turned nostalgic and wistful, his blue eyes shining into hers of brown. "Actually...this reminds me of another storm we shared a few years back. Remember?"
Ada couldn't help but laugh - back when he was still a DSO agent and she a spy, he'd come home through a storm to find her waiting for him in his room, lit by many spiced candles that showed off her smashing figure in a way that he could've only fantasized about before then. That was back when they were still fighting off the demons of Umbrella's future, back when such a night was dangerous. Now, though, the danger had passed.
"Oh, I remember that very well", Ada chuckled, moving a hand to gently rub over his chest, sand sprinkled over his thin shirt. "Were you hoping for another night like that, by chance?"
"It'd be nice", Leon admitted, "but there's something else I want to do first. Something..." He let out one last breath, as if preparing to tempt the fates. "Something I could definitely brave this storm for."
"You sure, Leon?"
He let out a small sigh, bracing himself. "Positive."
Gently, Leon placed his hands in the sand on either side of her and heaved himself to his feet before offering a hand to her. "Come here."
Ada gently took his offered hand and stood up with Leon's help, then wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Leon's went around her shoulders, and here Ada, for all her strength, felt the safest here - holding her man close and letting him know she was there for him. It was tough, what he had - indescribably so - yet that wouldn't stop her from loving him, no matter how bad. And if he was willing to brave this growing storm...
"What is it, Leon?"
"Just wait", he replied, raising a hand. He didn't need long, for a split moment later, the rain began to fall. Leon couldn't help but let out a small laughing sigh as the rain, warm and pleasantly relaxing, came down upon them both. He closed his eyes, letting the warm wetness of the rain fall over his face, the feeling of him loosening the last stubborn knots of stress from his body, his mind fully catching up with where he was.
And who he was with.
Leon opened up his eyes to gaze at Ada - her head was slightly raised against the rain, her mouth half open as it fell onto her face and soaked the ebony bob of her hair, her hands unconsciously and gently clenching into his shirt. Slowly, he placed a hand on one of her smooth cheeks, getting her attention before capturing her moistened lips deeply with his.
Ada found herself taken by mild surprise before her grip around Leon's strong build tightened, her toned arms flexing warmly around his hips. It was as if she was attempting to pour all the affection, all the passion she could muster, into leaving a searing hot kiss on his lips - so hot, even the falling rain seemed to heat it further. The feeling persisted as their embrace tightened, the falling rain seeming to wash away all the wound up and terse emotions that existed only a few moments prior.
At last, however, it wound down to its end, and they slowly broke away, their eyes opening and locking, warm blue onto sparkling brown.
"Well... you certainly know how to take a girl's breath away, Leon", Ada sighed breathlessly.
At this, he smiled in that easy, calm way of his, and responded, "What can I say? I want you to be happy - God knows you deserve that, Ada."
"Hey, no less than you do, handsome", Ada responded with a sly wink, one of her hands slowly trailing down his backbone before playfully squeezing his ass.
"Whoa, hey now!" Leon responded in shock, even as his hand found the toned curves of her own derrière and squeezed back. Ada's face reflected mild surprise before the smile on her face turned sexy and seductive in the way only she could pull off. It only lasted for just a second before the two of them began to laugh, a few sounds of joy that made them feel like two lovestruck teenagers.
Releasing him from her embrace, she took one of his hands and pulled him to follow her inside their vacation home, the rain beginning to come down even harder now as thunder crashed and lightning began to break the sky. They managed to make it inside just as that first bolt of lightning struck through the sky.
Ada gently held Leon close, her fingers tracing over the contours of his cheekbones. "You alright?"
Leon gave a small nod in response, smiling gently. "Fantastic. No worries. But thanks for checking on me."
"Of course, handsome", Ada replied, a teasing tone in her voice as she gave him a sexy wink. "You think you'll be alright waiting out here for...oh, a few minutes at most?"
At this, Leon couldn't help but wonder exactly what Ada had in store for him this time - would it just be the same as the last time she found him in a storm? Would she spice things up somehow? Or would he? But one look into her sparkling, mischievous gaze was somehow enough to reassure him. His condition be damned, he'd power through the very coming of Lucifer himself for her.
"Yeah...for a few minutes I'll be alright, Ada." He leaned in to leave another soft kiss across her lips. "I promise."
Another smile, teasingly sexy, flashed across Ada's beautiful features. "Then you just wait right there, handsome. I'll let you know when I'm ready for you." With that and a playful brush of her finger across his nose, she turned and left toward their room upstairs.
Letting out a soft sigh, Leon turned his gaze to the approaching storm, the rain coming down harder against the glass of the sliding door they'd just come in through. Even with the crashing thunder, the still-gentle rhythm of the rain against the door was relaxing him now. As he let his eyes wander over the flowing rivulets, he took that time to reflect on how his life had turned lately.
If anyone would've told him that he'd eventually end up starting a security business with a former corporate spy and assassin as his wife - after surviving a citywide virus outbreak that turned people into zombies, an encounter with a religious cult that used parasites to control people, and another outbreak planned by his boss in the DSO - he'd have thought that person was crazy.
But he'd lived it, and had the scars to prove it - the old bullet wound from Raccoon City, the many he'd received from Spain and Tall Oaks, and the deaths of many people and friends that weighed on his heart.
And yet...of all people to lighten his heart, Ada Wong had done it the most. For a spy and and killer who lived on danger, he was her only soft spot, and it was only recently he found out just how soft of a spot he was to her, and how soft of a spot she was to him.
Although neither of them would've admitted it for those first long years, even after 'that night'.
Whenever they'd run across each other again, it was always for a night at a time - she'd push him through his boundaries while taking him for her own, and then leave with the morning with only a kiss left on a note in her place. Yet for all her manners of seduction which he constantly fell under, deep down, Leon always felt she didn't just do what she did for herself, but for him as well.
Now, after sixteen years of cat-and-mousing each other, and a few months into this marriage (about time, Leon thought) they finally had each other for good.
She certainly loved to remind him of it too, Leon thought, as he heard the lovely dulcet tones of her voice ring from their room. Slowly, he made his way up, undoing the pads from his legs and arms as he walked. He could already smell the spices of burning candles again, and the memory of the last storm they'd spent together flowed to mind.
But it was nothing compared to this.
The surface of every shelf, table, and dresser seemed covered with enough candles to send flickering light across every inch of the room, lightning flashing outside creating a titillating contrast against the room.
The flash reflected off of Ada's curves, even as they waited beneath the fabrics of her red sports top and shorts - no corset or dagger heels this time. Her hair was still a bit disheveled from their exercise, her face still rather flushed. But when she ever so slowly raised up an arm, crooking a beckoning finger to him, Leon knew he'd never seen her so beautiful before, as if he were fully seeing her for the first time.
As if obeying, Leon slowly walked over to her until he stood a few inches in front of her, hands loosely at his sides and his eyes locking onto hers once again with a light smile.
Then he felt the soft warmth of Ada's hands traveling up his arms, helping him release some of the tension he didn't even realize was built up inside his body. A light shiver ran up his body as every muscle seemed to unlock.
"Relax...like I said outside, it's only us here, handsome. You're safe in here with me", Ada whispered soothingly, taking one of his hands and leading him around the candles over to the soft queen-sized bed, laying down on it and bringing him on top of her.
"You're actually gonna let me touch you right away this time?" he teased. "Because if that's the case, there's something I've been wanting to do with you."
"That so? And what might that be?" Ada inquired, her tone teasing once again, her hands entangling themselves in his locks.
Leon's response was to lightly peel away her sports top, leaving her toned abs and perfect breasts bare before him.
It was the that he finally got the closest look at her form, and the fair share of scars that were scattered there. He definitely wasn't the only one who fought hard in their life.
"Never got a good enough look, handsome?" Ada asked softly.
Gently shaking his head, Leon's eyes stayed over her scars as he answered, "I wish I had sooner."
His gaze traveled up her torso and back over her face to her eyes as he lowered himself down onto her, his lips gently kissing over a stray scar at her collarbone, as if apologizing for what had caused it.
Watching him as he set about his task, Ada could feel her skin tingle where Leon kissed her - and at first, she didn't know what he was doing, slowly dotting around her body. Then she remembered that night in Paris again and how she'd read who he was by his body, and she understood. The thought was enough to make her tear up a bit.
She still wasn't going to let him see that just yet. "So? What can you tell about me, Mr. Kennedy?"
"Well...you definitely take good care of yourself", Leon started. "You're a hardworking, strong woman who does whatever it takes to get a job done, only diving into the fray when you absolutely need to. Sometimes it came to you...and sometimes you came into it. But whenever you and the fight found each other, you always fought with all the strength and smarts that you had at your fingertips. And you've definitely got the souvenirs to prove it."
"But?"
"But..." Leon continued, softly kissing a few scars that dotted across her abs - leftovers from hostile Ganados back in Spain - "you also tend to throw yourself into harm's way to fight it off when the life of someone you care about is on the line. And when it comes to you, there's very few people who you trust that deeply, but only because you feel those few have truly earned it." He cast his gaze up the top half of her perfect body until they reached her eyes again, seeing them sparkle as if she was seeing Leon in a different light.
"And as far as the struggles go, you've never let them define you or hang over you for too long. You're always leaving them behind as quickly as they come. Well, at least, you've left behind the fights that you've gotten into, even if the scars don't leave you."
"Scars never go away, right?" Ada asked softly yet rhetorically, her fingers combing through his hair as he descended to her waist, peeling her shorts away.
At this, Leon shook his head with a soft smile before saying, "But, hey..." Gently, Leon let a hand run over the side of her abs, where a few soft purple marks stretched across the left half of them. He remembered the cause of it well - they'd been in Raccoon City, descending into the bowel's of Umbrella's secret lab, when the creature that had been chasing them - the only remaining vestige of Birkin, infected with the G-virus - had clawed her. He'd been so afraid she was going to die, certainly if that creature had gotten anywhere closer to her, and Leon had sworn to protect her at all costs right then because he couldn't bear to leave her behind then.
"I thought I was going to lose you that night, Ada."
Slowly, Leon wrapped his arms tightly around Ada's waist, as if he were afraid to let her go for fear that the night might be just a dream created by his battle-scarred mind. But once he felt the smooth warmth of Ada's fingers through his hair and across his scalp and cheeks, he knew that this was his reality. Sometimes, what he had got in the way.
But in the end, he also knew that she'd always be there to help protect him from himself. "You haven't lost me, Leon. And this time, you never will", she replied, smiling warmly down at him.
Nodding up at her, Leon's own smile came slowly back up to his face, and he leaned up to tenderly leave a kiss just above her breast, feeling her heart beating fast beneath the soft, warm skin. He could feel her body heating up beneath his.
"Thank you, Ada", he whispered, softly kissing down the middle of her abs and lightly nipping at her navel, earning a soft chuckle from her. "You're right though...scars never go away", Leon lightly stated. "But, we never have to face that scarring aftermath alone." He punctuated the point with a light kiss over a scratch on her thigh, left there by an executioner's axe back in Spain.
"Sometimes...we find someone to help us cope?" Ada managed to shudder, her cool exterior beginning to falter. "Someone who we bare those scars for, but won't judge us by them?"
Leon smiled up at her, his hands gently rubbing across her waist. "Exactly." He lost himself in thought for a brief moment before finishing, "But when I see yours, I see memories of how strong and loving you really are..." He delivered the last as a whisper, gentle and smooth. "...Miss Wong."
Chuckling softly at the mention of her old name, Ada sent another demure smirk Leon's way. "Maybe I'm still learning from the best?"
That caught him off guard - all his life, he'd never heard anything like that before. It hadn't really mattered to him before, he always gave his best wherever and whenever the time called for it, but hearing her words made him realize how often he still may need to hear it.
"You really think that about me, Ada?"
For once, the cheeky facade left Ada's face, replaced with a sweet smile. "As far as I care, nobody does it better." Then she reverted back to her prior manner as she finished, "Well, not yet anyway. I mean, you are my hero, Leon."
"As you are mine, Ada", Leon replied, chuckling softly as he gently moved down, softly and warmly kissing along her waistline, teasing her a bit. "Perhaps...I can show you how much I've learned from you though?"
The pleasure in Ada's voice was palpable, but she kept it reined in, her tone still light and teasing, "Bring it on, handsome", she responded gamely.
One by one, the candles slowly began to snuff out. Another bolt of lightning, with thunder loud as cannon fire, flashed across the sky, illuminating the curves of Ada's form and Leon's stony, smiling profile before he dove down between her legs.
A soft moan of surprise escaped Ada's lips as she felt his lips and tongue on her - inside her - and she grabbed his hair tightly as he found his rhythm. "Oh...god..."
He barely lifted his head up enough to crack, "No...just me." A sly wink later, and he dove back in, tasting more of her and unable to get enough.
"Gah...Leon..." Biting down on her lip, Ada held her moans of pleasure back at first, but with the way Leon was pleasuring her in this moment, she knew she wouldn't be able to hold back for long. She felt his hands rubbing gently over her abdomen and sides along with his mouth on her, and her body began to shake with the heated, inescapable feeling, only further augmented by the emotional context that had only recently been fully freed to them both.
Unable to take any more, Ada moved a hand down between her legs, gently rubbing herself and grinding her hips against Leon's face, clenching one of his hands with her free hand, feeling the pleasure increasing by waves within her. She let out a series of moans, his name in them like a prayer to let the pleasurable, loving waves within her be gentle with her, even as they began to grow in magnitude before they threatened to engulf her. But with one look down into Leon's eyes, she fell gracefully beneath the crest.
"Leon!" She screamed as she hit her peak, shuddering lightly as he slowly moved away, licking away the last of her juices. "Oh...God...how do you do that?"
"How do I do what, beautiful?" Leon asked, breathing heavily as he moved away from her legs before kissing his way back up her flawless form.
"Make me melt...that's what..." she breathed, holding back onto him as if she were trapped with him in the stormy ocean outside and she would drown if she didn't hold on tightly.
Then she felt his eyes on hers again in the growing darkness, and his voice whispered against her lips, "Maybe I learned from the best too?" He saw Ada chuckle softly through the last shudders, her eyes rolling in the dim light. "Consider it...repayment for watching over me all of these years", he finished, his tone teasingly facetious.
"Oh, you cheeky bastard", Ada chuckled, wrapping her legs quickly around his waist and turning him around so she was on top of him, her hands clasping his just above his head. She then practically ripped his shirt and pants away, tossing them to the floor as his own toned form was freed from its confines.
She regained her sensual, teasing tone as she asked, "And how much more do you plan on repaying me, handsome?"
"As long as you want, Ada", Leon answered honestly. "Forever, if we can swing it."
"Oh..." She was caught unaware by her answer, and for the first time in years, she felt the warmth of a blush coat over her face, her hands down his arms and to the muscles of his chest. Ada leaned her face into his gentle hand as it came to her cheek.
"It's alright, Ada...you're safe in here with me too."
Leaning down low enough to tease his lips with hers and repositioning herself just above him, Ada slowly moved down to fully take him inside her, both of them letting out a light moan of pleasure as they fit together.
Holding her there, Leon let his eyes slowly wander up Ada's lovely form - her taut abs, pert breasts, toned arms, lovely face caught in the moment.
As if agreeing with the thought that she was beautiful, the moon finally began to shine into the window from behind the storm clouds, the storm itself beginning to settle. The soft moonlight reflected off the side of Ada's face, accenting the gentle lines of her cheek and lighting up her dark hair.
Leon couldn't have pictured a lovelier way to see her. He heaved himself up to wrap her tightly in his arms, groaning lightly as the move made him fill her even more. "Ah...I've got you..."
Then he felt Ada's fingernails making his neck and back tingle, knowing she wouldn't hesitate to be rough if they were both alright with it. "Don't get any ideas", he growled teasingly, starting to thrust up into her. She responded by rocking back against him, both of them finding their rhythm.
But even with that, a mischievous smirk cross Ada's faced, barely held there through the growing pleasure. "Nnn, I wouldn't dream of it...", she whispered, holding him closer as she dragged her nails teasingly down his back.
Their hands wandered over each other's bodies as if memorizing every curve, slope and valley, their holds never slackening as they kept making love - as if they were trying to make up for all their time apart between their meetings and before they finally made things official. Ada's fingertips grazed across Leon's back, shoulders and arms, his lips peppering hot kisses down her neck and collarbone, feeling her breasts bounce against his pecs as they held each other tightly, the only sounds from either of them light moans of pleasure and each other's names, whispered like a prayer. With every movement, it seemed like they wanted so much more of each other, to fully meld into each other in that way which only two people truly in love could do.
He felt her tighten around him a second time, and Leon looked up into her eyes as he caught her fevered moan of his name. "Leon...I'm gonna..."
"I know", Leon nodded, leaning up to lock his lips with hers deeply, holding her hips down against his, feeling her tighten like a vice. The feeling only drew him closer to his own peak, his fingers tightening their grasp as if to ask her permission.
Ada's answer was to break from the kiss and nestle her face into his neck, running her digits through his sweat-soaked locks, hearing her name on his lips as feverishly as she'd been uttering his. The intensity increased before building up to a final fevered pitch right before their peaks finally came for them, and the cries of each other's names rang out through the darkened, humid room. They managed to hold each other there for one last moment before they both fell onto the bed, Ada on top of Leon, both of them breathing heavily from the act of making love.
"You...you ok...?" Ada managed to pant, her fingers over Leon's pounding heart.
"Yeah...just fine. You?" Leon responded, one of his arms around her shapely waist.
She looked down into his eyes, answering "Never better" before she collapsed against him again, both of them falling asleep.
It was later in the morning, still in the last slices of darkness, that Leon felt something tingling across his abs. Opening his eyes blearily, he looked down to see Ada tracing a finger across his torso, her face set in concentration.
"What on Earth are you doing?" he asked with a gravelly voice, gently rubbing between her shoulders.
"Trying to figure out the best way to sneak into this industrial plant", she cracked, her voice alight with only the slightest hint of facetiousness. "I forget where all the entrances are though."
Leon rolled his eyes with a sly grin before he responded, "Front and back are heavily guarded, but there's a ventilation shaft that leads into the upper levels.
"What about the shaft in the back that leads into the security offices?" Ada asked, playing along.
"I don't like it", he answered.
"Why? Too close to the real danger?"
"No, just a bit too tight."
"Well, I hope you're not getting personal", Ada flirted. "That might be a problem in obtaining the precious payload this plant's protecting."
"Oh, so is that what my heart is now?" Leon asked with a light chuckle, playfully tickling up the side of her neck.
Ada turned her head to nip at his fingertips with a sweet, musical chuckle before answering, "No, but your abs and chest make a pretty good floor plan."
"Is that your way of saying you like them?"
"No..." She looked up at him, her sleepy gaze mischievous yet loving all at once. "I love them. And everything else about you", she replied.
"Aw, stop. I told you years ago, that attention's gonna end up going to my head."
"I still hope so", Ada fired back with a sly wink, brushing the side of her hand across his abs. "You're right...your heart's not for me to steal right now." Then Ada leaned into his ear, whispering, "I already broke in and did that a long time ago anyway."
"Something tells me I stole yours in return, lovely lady", Leon whispered back, teasing yet lightly inquisitive.
"The perfect crime, right?" Ada responded, nibbling at his earlobe and earning a soft moan of pleasure from him.
She came back up to him, brushing away a few stray strands of hair to look down into Leon's deep, blue eyes. His expression, however, suddenly seemed to grow quiet and pensive. She gently leaned her forehead against his and whispered, "I love you, Leon" with a gentle, bright smile.
"And I love you right back, Ada", he responded, his voice thick with emotion before he slowly managed to return the smile with his own. Then, he whispered, "We don't need any plans for this, do we?"
"Never", Ada breathed, kissing him again...
The rain, softer and gentler this time, woke her up first.
Ada opened her bleary eyes to see the dim, warming sunlight come in through the window, the sparkling of the rain flashing against its light - the first sunshower she'd seen in a long time.
It seemed so beautifully alien to her, yet fitting as well, considering everything hat had happened in her reasonably short 40 years of life. There'd been many storms with nearly no shelter to come into from the cold. But now, that searching was hopefully over.
Besides that, she was still as skilled, strong, and beautiful as ever, in part because of the former cop and government agent who reminded her of it every day. Whoever it was that sang about life beginning at 40 must have been on to something.
She heard a soft hum of awakening, and she turned to gaze at Leon's sleep-ridden face. "Good morning, sunshine."
Leon blinked his eyes free of sleep, as if unable to believe them. "So you are still here. That's new", he joked.
"Oh, shut up and get up here", Ada let out with a chuckle, gesturing toward the view outside. She caught a glimpse of Leon bracing himself up with his arms before her gaze turned back to the bright cloudburst. Then he felt one arm loosely press against her lower back as he looked with her.
"Wow...that's beautiful..." Leon whispered. "I don't think I've seen one of these since I was a kid...when my parents were still alive."
At this, Ada turned to look over at Leon, his gaze distant in reminiscence. It was rare for him to mention his parents even just casually, and Ada knew all about them and the accident that had claimed their lives before Leon took on the job at the RPD. He'd had a hard time accepting it at first, but with her help, he'd hopefully found his peace with it.
Ada decided to test that theory. "Oh? What did they think?"
Leon softly chuckled, lost in that memory, before responding, "My mom always thought that it was the angels looking down on everything good happening below them, crying because of how beautiful everything seemed. To her, sunshowers only came when something so amazing happened, the angels didn't know how else to express their feelings."
Ada let another jab of affection for this man hit her square in the heart - the way he spoke about it, he'd believed that his whole life without realizing it until now. But that whole time, his distant gaze hadn't been on the sunshower.
It had been on her.
"Leon..." She let the words spoken by her man sink in for a second, letting herself imagine the beauty and affection behind them. The feeling seemed to take on another, higher level of understand as she realized what that other level meant from him.
Even after everything they'd been through, all the bad things she did in a past life and how they affected her, Leon considered her an angel. She couldn't help but smile at him as some of the better actions crossed her mind - protecting him back in Raccoon and Spain, helping him escape that B.O.W. facility in the Eastern Slav Republic, all those passionate nights in-between.
And now, here was where they had led - the two of them finally married, having stolen each others' hearts.
All of this flashed through Ada's mind in a second that felt like forever. Then her affectionate gaze took on a more playful and snarky twinkle once again - some things would still never change. "Did you have this all planned out, handsome?" she asked, her tone as sassy as her gaze.
"Oh, come on. I couldn't have planned it out this perfectly even if I tried", Leon chuckled back, holding her closer and rubbing her back. "Besides...I told you, I love it the most when you're vulnerable."
"And whys that?" she asked.
"Because..." Leon looked her straight in the eye. "I get to see you. Just as you are with no walls to hide behind."
Ada cocked her head with a lopsided smile, failing to hide her blush as she lightly pushed him away. "You're a huge sap, you know that?"
"And that's a bad thing?" Leon fired back facetiously, pulling her back down to him as she exclaimed, "Whoa!"
She landed on his chest, laughing into it before he joined in, sounding for all the world like two lovesick teenagers again.
"Oh..." Ada sighed lightly as the laughter faded away before she caught Leon's eyes, scooting herself up to look down directly into them.
"You should know, that's how I love you the most too - when your guard's down and you let me in as far as I've done with you", Ada confessed.
He smiled up at her, holding her close as a peaceful smile came to his face. "Then you should know, you're the first person I've told any of that to", he replied, before being met with Ada's comment of "Aw, it seems I'm loved after all."
"And what's not to love about you?"
Ada had just gotten to the point of blushing furiously before Leon's gaze widened with realization, and he reached underneath the pillow to pull out a small, flat disk with an etched design of a butterfly and flourishes around the edges.
"I can't believe I forgot about this...Helena gave it back to me right after Lanshiang. I meant to return it too, but-"
His words were cut off by Ada gently draping a hand over his, deftly moving the compact - the last reminder of her past life, the life of a stranger now - into her hand before lightly tossing it away.
"Maybe", Ada said, "for another rainy day. I don't need it for now though, Leon."
"Oh?"
She hesitated, still a habit with her heart after these last few months, before finally whispering, "Would it help if I said that when I'm with you is also when I feel the most beautiful?"
Leon smiled up at her lightly, gently rubbing up one well-toned and feminine arm. "Honestly?"
Nodding softly, Ada finished, "Down to the very last scar on me."