-1Chapter Two

Washington D.C., September 30, 2006

Billy padded through the house on silent feet, his instincts drawing him to Leon's bedroom. Although he loathed the thought of violating the other man's privacy, he followed his gut and pushed the door open. It wasn't Leon standing beside the bed, a silver-framed picture in his hands. It was Leon's ghost, his 'woman in red' as Hansen insisted on calling her. Ada Wong had once again circumvented Leon's state-of-the-art security system to gain access to his private domain.

"I expected you earlier," Billy said quietly, watching with hidden amusement as her slender shoulders stiffened, the only outward sign that he had surprised her. "What kept you?"

Ada Wong set the picture down carefully and turned around in the same graceful movement. "I'm afraid a had little trouble with the government patrols outside Raccoon City," she said with a slight smile. "It took me longer than expected to lose them."

Billy nodded curtly, his cobalt gaze going to picture as she moved away from it. He hated the picture of the resurrected S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team, in which Rebecca had her arm around the man who had replaced him. Leon knew this, and usually kept it turned towards the bed, just in case Billy came to his room for something. It rarely happened, though. Billy wasn't one to ask for help unless he truly needed it.

Ada approached him with warily. It wasn't that she was afraid of Billy Coen. She knew that he still had flashbacks from his time in Africa, and he was capable of lashing out quite violently while in the throes of one. She was simply being cautious. "How have you been?" Ada inquired solicitously.

One corner of his mouth curled in a slight smile. "I'm okay, sweetheart. How about you?" he asked just as carefully.

"The same." She shrugged delicately. "You know how it is, walking that line."

"Yeah, it's a bitch, and I'm nowhere near as good at it as you are." Billy backed out of the bedroom, and waited for her to pass him before closing the door. "Leon knows that you were there yesterday."

Ada nodded, the barest hint of a smile gracing her lips. "I heard him through the monitoring equipment. I believe he's finally getting used to me," she added almost wistfully.

"I don't think he minds the surveillance either, if that means anything to you." Billy led her into the kitchen, gesturing for her to sit at the breakfast bar, and dug a beer out of the refrigerator. He didn't offer her one, as he knew she didn't drink beer. He twisted the cap off and took a long swallow. "So, are you going to hang around this time?"

She looked away briefly, her dark blue eyes focusing on something only she could see. "I'd like to," she said at length. "I just don't know how safe it would be. You know what I risk I'm taking just being here, now."

"Don't you think you should tell him what's going on with you?" Billy asked in a low voice. "I think it would help him to know that you're on his side."

"Maybe." Ada's sapphire eyes narrowed slightly on the other man. "What about you? Are you ever going to tell him that you know me, or that--"

"No," he responded flatly.

She smiled mockingly at his quick response. "And you expect me to trust him with the truth?"

"That's not what I meant," Billy scowled.

"Oh, really?" Ada questioned coolly. "And just what did you mean, handsome?"

"Fuck." Billy pushed away from the counter in an angry motion. "Don't mess with me, doll face. I'm not Leon, to take that kind of shit from you. You know damn well what I meant."

She sighed heavily. "He'd never forgive me if he knew the truth, Billy. He barely trusts me, now. I won't risk what little he's given me for anything."

"Exactly," he told her evenly. "I appreciate all the help you've given me over the years, but Leon's the only friend that I've got. I'd like to keep it that way, if it's all the same to you."

"I understand." Ada stood in an uncharacteristically restless motion and crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you think you could disappear for a while tonight? I'd like some time alone with him."

One dark brow shot upwards in surprise. "What about the danger?" he asked tauntingly. "I thought you were worried about that?"

She shot him an annoyed look, and he flashed her a shark's smile. "Have fun, sweetheart. Just don't break his heart, or I'll break your beautiful neck."

Ada laughed involuntarily as he walked out of the room. She had first approached Billy Coen because of Leon's obvious worry over his friend. She had surprised herself by actually coming to like the taciturn soldier. She had helped him over the years, supplying him with false identification, giving him money when he needed it, and helping him escape the authorities when they got too close. She had even managed to find him a safe haven--of sorts. They weren't exactly friends, but they had an understanding when it came to Leon S. Kennedy, and neither was willing to breach it.

Ada went to the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of wine that she had left there two weeks ago. Leon didn't normally drink wine, but he'd laughed when he'd found it, and he'd left it where it was. She'd been watching from the rooftop across the street, and she had laughed with him, knowing that he was closer to accepting her than he had ever been before.

She grabbed two fluted glasses from the cupboard--also compliments of her--and took them into the living room. Leon was due home any minute now, and she wanted to have everything just so. If things went well tonight, she and Leon would finally come together, and just maybe come to an understanding of their own.

She started a fire in the fireplace and settled back on the sofa to wait. Hopefully, he wouldn't work too late tonight. Eight years apart had been long enough.

Leon entered his home with a relieved sigh. He locked the door behind him and dropped his keys on the sidebar. He turned to the key pad above it and punched in a sequence of numbers. The little light turned green, indicating that it was disarmed, and he reset it with a self-deprecating smile. He never truly felt safe anymore, not even in his own home, and it showed.

He took a few steps towards the living room and froze. The little hairs on the nape of his neck stirred as his instincts screamed that something wasn't right. Leon drew his handgun and approached the end of the hallway with slow, cautious steps. A fire burned in the fireplace, on the opposite side of the large room. He knew damn well that he hadn't lit it, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew who did, and it wasn't his withdrawn roommate.

Just in case, he kept the gun out and stepped quickly into the room. The sight that greeted his blue eyes wasn't exactly a welcome one, but he had to admit that it was one he'd fantasized about for eight long years. "Ada," he greeted, his voice husky despite his efforts to steady it. "How did you get in here?"

Ada Wong smiled mysteriously from her place on his sofa, her midnight blue eyes moving over him with obvious interest. "A good agent never reveals her secrets. You should know that, Leon."

He smothered a laugh at her typically cryptic response and lowered the gun. "Okay," he said slowly, "let's try something else. Why don't you tell me why you broke into my house--again."

She made a graceful gesture with one slender hand, and his gaze followed the motion to the coffee table. Her handgun, her PDS communicator, and the slim piece of metal that passed as her survival knife lay innocently on it's wooden surface. A bottle of wine and two fluted glasses sat beside the small arsenal, and Leon knew that she wasn't there in any professional capacity.

"Is that answer enough?" Ada asked in her sexiest voice, crossing her legs so that her long red skirt fell away, showing them to their best advantage.

"I suppose that it is." Leon holstered the .9 millimeter and shrugged out of his jacket. He draped it over the arm of the sofa and seated himself carefully beside her. His crystal blue gaze swept over her body, lingering on the smooth length of her legs, before coming up to meet hers. "Why now?"

"Why not?" she countered, shifting so that she could pour them a glass of wine.

Leon watched her with greedy eyes, eagerly cataloguing each and every fluid movement she made. He accepted the glass that she gave him, waiting until she had settled back to say, "You didn't answer my question, Ada."

"No, I didn't." Ada considered proposing a toast, but she didn't think that he would appreciate it. It was enough that he was taking her presence in the fortress he called a home so well. She wasn't going to push her luck.

"Ada. . ."

His voice trailed off warningly, and she lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. "What can I say, handsome?" She took a small sip, keeping her eyes trained on his. "Our paths haven't crossed in nearly a year. Maybe, I've missed you."

Leon laughed aloud at that. "Since when?" he questioned, his smile holding. "You've had no problem walking away every other time we've met. Or staying away, for that matter. What makes the last eleven months so different?"

The enigmatic smile that had always driven him crazy died at his words, leaving her looking disturbingly vulnerable. "Maybe, I finally got tired of waiting," she said at length, her gaze dropping to the glass in her hand. "Does it truly matter why I'm here, Leon? Isn't it enough that I am?"

He frowned at both her baffling words, and the sudden lack of eye contact. "Of course it matters," he said, setting his untouched glass on the table. "What were you tired of waiting for, Ada? Why won't you look me in the eye?"

"Leon." Ada placed her glass alongside his and forced a smile to her lips. She lifted her head and met his gaze boldly, as she always had in the past. He seemed to relax, apparently reassured by the façade she had always shown him, and she knew that she'd made a mistake. "Coming here was a mistake. I should go."

Leon watched with disbelief as she reached for her weapons and rose to her feet. "Wait!" His hand shot out, capturing her deceptively dainty wrist in a firm grip. "Damn it, Ada, what's going on here?"

She shook her head and tugged on her wrist, once, as a warning. "Let me go, Leon."

"No," he told her stubbornly, pulling until she found herself sprawled inelegantly beside him. "Talk to me, Ada. Tell me what's wrong."

Her sapphire eyes narrowed dangerously on his, and Leon had the insane urge to laugh, which he was sure would piss her off even more. "Please," he added, his free hand coming up to cradle her face, "talk to me, honey."

Ada went completely still as he willingly touched her for the first time in eight years. She closed her eyes briefly, savoring the sensation of his skin against hers. He whispered her name once more, and she opened her eyes to his. "I really have missed you, Leon."

His breath caught at the sincerity underlying her words, and he suddenly knew just what it was she had grown tired of waiting for. "I've missed you, too," he admitted, his heart beating heavily in his chest as he wondered if--finally--he would get what he had dreamed of for the last eight years. "So, where does that leave us?"

"Wherever you want," she told him, her smoky voice wrapping itself around his senses. "A kiss would be a good start, don't you think?"

Leon chuckled roughly even as he shifted closer. "You're not dying, are you?" he asked in a murmur. "I don't think I could go through that, again."

The only kiss they had ever shared had been in the bowels of the secret Umbrella lab below Raccoon City, just after a mutated William Birkin had broken nearly every bone in her body. She had confessed her love for him, and he had kissed her all too gently. She had blacked out, death mere moments away. She had awakened a short time later, only to find Albert Wesker been standing over her. She had been terrified, though she hadn't let him see it, as he'd explained to her just how it was that she had survived.

Ada pushed those memories away as she covered Leon's hand with her own. "No," she assured him huskily, "I'm not dying. Now shut and kiss me, handsome, before I embarrass myself by attacking you."

A slow smile spread across his normally angelic features, and Ada was stunned by the predatory air it lent him. Excitement stirred in her as she realized that she had been right. As nice as Leon Kennedy undoubtedly was, there was a lot more to him than he showed to the world. Maybe, her tame little tiger really was a lion in disguise. God, but she hoped so!

Leon smoothed his hand down the sleek line of her neck, keeping his eyes on hers as he gripped the back of her neck gently. He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers, his mouth lingering over the kiss, before pulling back to gauge her response. She sent him a little mocking half-smile, her expression full of challenge, and his own lips quirked in response. Whatever was happening here, Ada was fully prepared for it. Leon only hoped that he was, too.

"Are you sure?" he asked, utterly serious now. "There's no going back from here, Ada."

"I know," Ada acknowledged quietly. She gazed him for a long moment before the smile resurfaced. Gripping the straps of his shoulder holster, she yanked him closer and pressed her lips to his. "Put your back into it," she suggested, and gasped as he did just that, wrapping his arms around her and slamming his mouth to hers.

He pulled her under him, his hands mapping the sleek contours of her undeniably feminine body. She moaned his name as her hands did the same, and Leon gave himself over to the woman who had haunted him for so long.

Leon stirred a long while later, barely able to lift his head, exhausted beyond belief. Ada lay sprawled atop him, her chin propped up on her hands, her midnight eyes locking on his. Her sleek sable hair was mussed from his hands, and he smoothed it down with a trembling hand. She sent him a smile, one surprisingly free of its usual mockery, and he returned it openly.

"Are you okay?" he questioned hoarsely.

"Mmmmm, I'm wonderful," she responded languidly, purring as his hand tunneled deeper into her hair. "How about you, lover? You didn't strain anything, did you?"

Leon laughed even rich color flooded his face. "You're incredible, Ada. Though I'm sure you know that," he added wryly .

Ada's smile froze at his words, though she was sure he didn't mean them as they'd sounded. "I can't take all of the credit," she said, keeping her tone light. "After all, I can only be as good as my partner, right?"

"Thanks," he returned in his driest voice. "I know I got a little rough, though. I'm sorry, about that."

"Don't be, Leon. I'm not." She crept carefully up his body and pressed her lips to his throat. "Eight years of foreplay was more than enough for me."

"God, yes!" Leon shuddered and wrapped his arms around her, his exhaustion suddenly replaced by the desire that had always been present around Ada Wong. "I'm just glad you finally came to me, Ada, whatever the reason."

"So am I," she whispered just before her teeth sank into his neck.

Leon groaned deeply and let it go. Soon enough, he would ruin this with demands for answers she wouldn't be willing to give. For now, it was enough that she was here, in his arms, her lithe body moving sensuously against his. It was more than he had ever hoped for, though it was only the beginning of what he wanted from Ada Wong.

The floor creaked above them, reminding Leon that they weren't alone in the house. His blue eyes were wide as he grasped Ada's waist and twisted them both into a sitting position. "Billy's here!" he gasped, his face coloring with embarrassment. "I can't believe I forgot about him!"

Ada uttered a low laugh as she stood, unashamedly nude. "Don't worry, Leon. He knows I'm here," she assured him as she gathered her clothes and weapons. "Grab the wine, lover. At least, one of us will drink it."

Leon stared after her, dumbfounded, then slowly did as she suggested. He followed her through the house, uncomfortably aware that he was bare-ass naked, and his male roommate was home. He wondered why Ada wasn't nervous, then laughed at himself. Of course, Ada wouldn't be nervous. She was more comfortable with her sexuality than any woman he'd ever known.

Her confidence was part of her charm, he thought as he hurried through the second floor hallway and ducked into his room. She was as beautiful as she was deadly, and she knew it. In all the time he'd known her, the only time that self-assurance had been shaken was when she'd dealt with him. Her hesitation when she'd held him at gunpoint in the Umbrella lab below Raccoon City had been the first crack in her cool composure. The second and only other time had been two years ago in Spain, when the Las Plagas parasite he'd been injected with had taken over. He'd nearly strangled her, and a part of him had enjoyed it.

Leon shuddered and pushed the disturbing memory away. She hadn't held him accountable for that, for which he was infinitely grateful. He closed the bedroom door, smiling as she immediately sprawled gracefully onto his California King, and followed. He set the wine and the two untouched glasses on the nightstand and paused. A frown pulled his tawny brows together as he realized that the picture of S.T.A.R.S. that he kept there had been laid flat on its face.

He reached for it and hesitated, his hand hovering it, as he glanced to his right. Ada was watching him with cool midnight eyes, her guard firmly in place. "Why?" he asked finally, dropping to the edge of the bed.

Ada tilted her head slightly as she studied him. "Why do you think?" she countered carefully.

Leon just sighed, his disappointment obvious. "Do we have to do this every time I ask you a question, Ada? Can't we ever just talk, like two normal people? Does it always have to be a game?"

"Leon. . ." She sat up and pulled her legs under her, her dark blue eyes never leaving his. "Surely, you know why I object to that picture?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't ask," he snapped, incensed over what he saw as yet another evasion.

Two dusky black brows shot up at the burst of temper. There was no doubt in her mind. Her tiger was a lion, after all. "I watched you after Raccoon, you know," she began almost idly. "I saw just how much you came to care for that Redfield girl. I simply do not like being reminded of it."

"Clare?" he questioned, his frown deepening.

"Yes," she answered simply.

"Okay," Leon said slowly, turning to face her fully. "So, that's what bothers you? The fact that my ex-girlfriend is in the picture?"

Ada shrugged, feigning a casualness she didn't feel. "One of my little quirks, I'm afraid."

"You call that little?" he muttered under his breath, stunned to discover that for all of her self-possession, she was as insecure as any other woman when confronted with her lover's former partner. "Ada--"

"Leave it alone, Leon." Her words carried a warning even as she reached for him. "I don't need, or want, any explanations."

He shook his fair head even as he pulled her closer. "You're jealous," he murmured with wonder, unable to hide his delight in the knowledge. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, her entire body stiffening against his, and this time he gave into the impulse to laugh aloud. "You shouldn't be, you know. Claire was a long time ago."

"And you still keep her picture at your bedside," Ada responded flatly.

She began to wriggle away from him, and Leon had had enough. He pulled her more firmly against him and used his superior weight to push her back on the bed. He covered his body with hers, pulling her hands up above her head, to keep her in place. She glared at him hotly, her sapphire eyes promising retaliation, and his breath caught with excitement.

"I keep a picture of S.T.A.R.S. next to my bed, Ada." He rested his forehead against hers, trying to control the sudden hammering of his heart. "Yes, Claire's in it, but she isn't the reason it's there."

"No?" she questioned, her voice cool despite her fury at being subdued so easily.

"No," Leon stated forcefully. He freed one hand and slid it into her silky black hair, his thumb sweeping over the high arch of her cheek. "What happened in Raccoon City was a turning point in my life, Ada. Helping S.T.A.R.S., even though it was only for a short time, was very important to me. If you've watched me as long as you've said, you have to know that."

Ada gazed up at his earnest expression, and felt her resistance begin to drain away. "Yes, I know how important they are to you," she conceded reluctantly.

"Then, you should be able to understand why I keep the picture," he said in a quiet voice. "I lost everything when the G-virus was released in Raccoon. My parents, my friends, everything was just. . .gone."

The pain in his crystalline eyes made her wince. "Leon--"

"No, let me finish," he rasped. When she remained silent, he sighed and released her hands. "I met you, Claire, and Sherry that night. I couldn't save you, no matter how hard I'd tried, and it fucking hurt, Ada. Elza was already gone. I knew even when I went back to look that she hadn't survived. If nothing else, I'd managed to get Claire and Sherry out of that hell, and that helped some."

"Working with S.T.A.R.S., even if only feeding them information, helped even more," Leon continued, determined to be completely honest in this. "Yes, I loved Claire, but I got over it. I didn't have a choice if I was going to survive. Then, you came back into my life, and everything changed."

Ada went still at his words, and the soft glow that had softened the stark depths of his too-blue eyes. She tilted her head to one side but didn't speak. She was afraid that if she did, she would ruin the moment, and whatever might come next.

Leon eased himself to her side and pulled her close, stubborn in his resolve that she understand just what she meant to him. "For the first time in six years, I felt alive," he murmured into her hair. "As disappointed as I was to discover that you were working with Wesker, it was. . .good to see you again. You were as wily as ever, honey. Walking and breathing and trying like hell to kick my ass. It got my juices flowing, I have to tell you!"

He laughed softly, smoothing one hand over the smooth skin of her shoulder. "God, you pissed me off, using the those stupid sunglasses with the flash charge to get away. I wanted nothing more than to follow you, and demand an explanation. But I knew better," he stated humorously. "I had a teenage girl to rescue, and a castle full of traps and parasite-controlled monks to navigate. I didn't have the time to go chasing after you, no matter how badly I wanted to."

"The knife surprised me," Ada offered, watching with barely concealed awe as he flashed her a surprisingly child-like smile. "It was the last thing I'd expected from you."

"I know. I get that a lot," Leon said, chuckling. "Must be because I look so damned young."

"That's part of it." Ada shifted until she was looming over him, running her fingers over the small, nearly invisible scar on his right cheek. "I wanted to kill Krauser when I saw this. I didn't like that he'd marked you, and that I hadn't been there to stop him."

Leon nodded, his smile dimming at the memory. "I thought I was a dead man, Ada. Have I thanked you for saving me?"

"I think we're even," she said with a small laugh. "After all, you saved me from my own overconfidence with Saddler."

"That scared the hell out of me," he admitted with a shiver. "When I looked up and saw you hanging there, I was sure you were dead, and that it was my fault."

"You got the child out away from him," Ada reminded him somberly. "That's what was important."

"That child was a twenty year old girl who's still got a crush on me," Leon returned, rolling his eyes.

"Mmmm, she has good taste," Ada murmured with appreciation. She raised a hand to his handsome face and sighed breathlessly. "I don't think it's because you look young, Leon. I think it's because you're so damned pretty."

Leon scowled at that. "I am not pretty, Ada."

"Sure you are." She grinned at his obvious displeasure, loving that he felt comfortable enough with her to allow her tease him this way. "It's okay, Leon. I like my men pretty."

"Witch," he muttered, unable to suppress a smile. He flipped her beneath him and brushed his lips across hers. "You'll pay for that."

She laughed freely as she hugged him to her. "A girl can hope," she whispered outrageously.

Leon laughed with her even as his body sank into hers. "You'll stay, won't you?" he asked on a moan.

Her breath caught in an audible gasp. "Yes, I'll stay."

He slanted his mouth over hers, deepening the kiss, and the time for talk came to an end.

Leon awoke the next morning abruptly, not sure what had disturbed him. He glanced at the clock, which promptly blurred out of focus. Swearing under his breath, he rolled over and buried his face in the pillow. He didn't care what time it was, anyway. If he was late for work, they could fire him. He just didn't care. He felt like shit, and he was going back to sleep.

The pillow beneath his head moved, and he went completely still. He raised his head slowly, and encountered a pair of sleep-heavy sapphire eyes. A smile crept across his lips as the night before flashed through his mind, and the woman who's breasts he had so innocently appropriated smiled back.

"Ada," he murmured, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Good morning," Ada greeted, her voice even huskier than normal. "Sleep well?"

Leon laughed shortly and dropped his head back to her chest. "Need more," he mumbled, giving up the fight and closing his eyes once more.

"Sex?" she asked in a suggestive tone, only half-teasing.

"Sleep," he clarified just before slumber reclaimed him.

Ada laughed silently as his well-muscled body relaxed against hers. She was feeling the effects of a night with virtually no rest herself, but she didn't want to go back to sleep just yet. She'd spent the last hour just watching him sleep, drinking in all the subtle nuances of Leon Scott Kennedy. She hadn't thought she'd ever get the chance to observe him like this, with all of his defenses down, and she didn't want to waste a single moment of it.

He didn't snore, which surprised the hell out of her. Every other man she'd ever known had. He didn't kick, or flail about in his sleep. He slept as heavily, as innocently, as a young child. The nightmares he'd had for so many years after Raccoon City had apparently gone.

Of course, this was the first night she'd ever spent with him, and he hadn't slept more than a few hours. It was possible that he had them more often than she realized. After all, her nearly constant surveillance of him didn't extend to his bedroom. He deserved his privacy there, at the very least.

She ran her hands through his thick golden hair with a small sigh. God, she had wanted to touch him like this for years. Ever since he had so stubbornly insisted on protecting her in the basement of the R.P.D. He'd been so young and idealistic, so certain that the shiny new badge he sported put him in charge. She had shown him differently time and again, but he hadn't wavered in his determination to protect of her. He had even taken a bullet meant for her, and she had gone running after the woman who'd shot him, leaving him to fend for himself in the monster-infested sewer.

Ada still cringed when she thought of it. Her assignment had been to retrieve a sample of the G-virus at all costs, and she'd believed that Annette Birkin had it. She'd found out differently later, but not until Annette had tried once again to kill her. She had been forced to disarm the crazy bitch, who had fallen off the walkway during the struggle.

She and Leon had met up once again in the underground garbage dump, where he had saved her from the giant mutated alligator that had taken up residence there. She'd bandaged his wound and stayed with him until she herself had been injured, and he'd been forced to secure their exit alone. She had waited until he was gone, then went hunting for the sample.

They'd met again over the barrel of her gun, and for the first time, she had wavered in her duty to the organization. She hadn't been able to kill him for the sample, and she had paid the ultimate price. William Birkin had burst into the room, in all of his grotesque, mutated glory, and she had made sure that he came after her. And he had. He'd slammed her into that console so hard that she'd felt her bones breaking simultaneously. It had hurt like hell, but it had been worth it, because Leon had been spared.

She had apologized to him, and confessed her newfound feelings for him. He'd begged her to stay with him, but she hadn't been able to stay conscious. Her last memory had been of him, and the feel of his lips on hers.

Then, she'd woken to find him standing over her, the ever-present black sunglasses gone, his unnatural reddish eyes boring into hers. He'd explained that she was like him now, that he had used the T-virus to bring her back from death, and that she belonged him. He'd offered to take her out of Raccoon City then, but she'd had other plans, and told him so.

For some reason she would never fathom, Wesker had let her go. He'd dropped a rocket launcher at her feet and simply walked away. She'd gone straight to the trolley station, knowing that she'd find Leon there. And she had, in the midst of a seemingly hopeless battle with a further mutated William Birkin. She'd yelled his name and tossed the grenade launcher to him.

She still remembered the disbelief in his rich voice as he'd called her name. Wesker had appeared out of the shadows then, and beckoned her to him. She had gone with him, knowing that she really didn't have a choice, and together they had fled Raccoon City.

To this day, she didn't regret dying to protect Leon Kennedy. He was still a good man, though his experiences had hardened him. He'd forgiven her for betraying him not once, but twice. She didn't fool herself into thinking there would be a third time. When he discovered just what she had hidden from him, their bizarre relationship would come to a bitter, perhaps even violent, end.

Which was what made this time with him so important, Ada reminded herself. This was the only chance she'd ever have to be with the man she had sacrificed so much for. He would never believe it, but she loved him as much as she was capable of loving another person. It might not be enough for him, but it was all she had to give.

Someday, after they had gone their separate ways, she would work up the courage to do the impossible--kill Albert Wesker. She had wanted him dead ever since he'd used that damned virus to resurrect her. So far, she hadn't shown any of the signs that he had, but she hated knowing that she wasn't quite human anymore. She was only grateful that it hadn't been the G-virus, or even worse, the T-Veronica virus. Both were incredibly unstable. Once you were infected with either, there was little chance that you would retain your human form.

So far, the only side effect of the virus had been an accelerated healing rate. It was something that had worked in her favor in the years since Raccoon City. As much as she hated the presence of the T-virus in her system, she was infinitely glad that it hadn't turned her into a monster. Something to be grateful for, she supposed.

Ada closed her eyes and let herself drift to sleep, on hand still tangled in Leon's soft hair. With any luck, her own nightmares wouldn't resurface, and ruin what had been a near-perfect evening.