Chapter 2

Leon lay awake on the couch in Dana's room. By the look of things, she had somehow gotten her hands on one of the biggest suites in the hotel. It had a bedroom, living area, bathroom, and even a small kitchen. Leon could hear Dana behind the closed door of the bedroom. It sounded like she was on her phone again, though with whom she was speaking at this time of night Leon had no idea. Her voice was rising every so often, giving the impression that she was having an argument. Leon remembered seeing her on the phone in the lobby. She had looked as though she had been arguing with someone then as well. Leon strained his ears, trying to catch a phrase that might give him some sort of information on who Dana was, but he could hear no clear words through the closed door. Sighing, Leon lay back so that he was staring at the ceiling.

"How do you know me?"

He asked the question out loud, as if expecting an answer from the darkness. When none came to him, he moved on to another disturbing thought. He knew that he hadn't been lured to this room without a reason. What that reason was, he did not know, but he knew that it wasn't something that he would enjoy. As ideas as to why he was there chased each other through his mind, Leon found himself growing increasingly tired. His thoughts seemed to be melting together, turning into dreams, becoming more and more distant….

He was in the village again, running, the yells of his pursuers close behind him. No matter where he turned there was no escape, only more of them, their faces twisted as they screamed for his death, simple farming tools held high as they became weapons. He was cornered. Leon turned around, gun raised, ready for his last stand. They were getting nearer, they were almost on top of him now. Another scream, something grazed his cheek, he saw an axe rise into the air and descend towards him…

He was back in the hotel room, sitting straight up on the couch on which he had fallen asleep. He was breathing heavily, and his subconscious mind had caused him to grab the 9mm off the table next to his head, and it was now aiming at a solid wall.

"Damn", he muttered to himself, looking around quickly for signs of anything out of the ordinary that might have happened while he'd been asleep. There were none.

Still berating himself for letting his guard down, Leon stood up and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. He reached the sink and looked down, realizing that he still had a very tight hold on the gun. Shaking his head slightly, he placed it on the counter beside him and filled a glass from the cupboard with water. Lifting the cup to his lips, Leon glanced out the window above the kitchen sink. It overlooked the road the bus had taken them down to get here, and the small houses and apartments beyond it. Leon looked out over the dull view for a while, wondering if he'd be able to stay awake for much longer. As he raised the cup to take another sip of water, his eyes flew down to the corner of the window. He'd seen movement. For a second, before his eyes could adjust, he thought that it might have been a bird of some sort, or that maybe he had imagined it. Then he realized that what he had seen hadn't been outside. Leon pretended not to notice Dana slipping into the kitchen as he took another deep drink of water, but his eyes never left her reflection in the window. She was holding something as if it were a knife, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. Leon turned on the water as if to fill his glass again. Dana took the bait. She rushed forward quickly, thrusting the object in her hand straight at the side of Leon's neck. Sidestepping neatly, Leon dodged the stab and grabbed his gun off the counter. Then in one swift movement, he turned, pinned the arm holding the weapon against the counter, and placed the barrel of the 9mm against Dana's temple. The shock on her face was replaced almost immediately by fear.

"You can't shoot me," she said with a sneer, but her voice trembled slightly, "Someone would hear the gun go off, you'd be thrown in jail."

"Self defense isn't murder," said Leon calmly.

The sneer vanished from Dana's face, allowing fear to take complete control of her features.

"What do you want?" she asked shakily.

"Just answers."

Dana swallowed. She looked as though she was struggling with something.

"I can't tell you anything."

Leon surveyed her for a while, trying to decide the best way to get her to tell him what was going on. She didn't look like someone who was used to being cornered. His eyes fell to her hand, which still held the object she'd tried to stab him with. His throat tightened when he realized what it was.

"Drop it."

He said it quietly, but there was no mistaking the deadly tone in his voice. Dana hesitated for a second and then opened her hand, which was still pinned to the counter. The syringe rolled out onto the laminated surface. Leon let go of her wrist, but kept the 9mm pointing between her eyes.

"Back away," he said in the same voice.

Dana backed slowly toward the other side of the small kitchen. Keeping his gun on her, Leon reached out at picked up the syringe. Grasping it firmly so he didn't drop it, he held it up to eye level. It glowed blue in the moonlight.

"T-Virus."

He felt as though he were speaking more to himself than her. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it hadn't been this. His mind was racing, trying to figure out why this had been the way that Dana had to decided to dispose of him. But he still didn't know why she wanted him out of the way in the first place. He looked up at her, standing against the wall across from him. The mere fact that she even had this syringe of the virus made it clear to him that she was not working alone. Remembering the argument that he had heard her having earlier made him realize that there was a possibility that Dana had been against luring him here in the first place. Thinking about how he'd seen her on her phone in the hotel lobby reinforced his suspicion. But if she was working for someone, who was it? Who would actually be willing to cause another outbreak? He needed to know.

Leon nodded towards the small table in the corner of the kitchen.

"Sit down."

Dana looked surprised, then moved slowly towards the table and sat in one of the straight backed chairs. Leon crossed the kitchen and flicked on the light. Holstering his gun, he turned and sat down across from Dana, who now looked more surprised than ever.

"Why did you…"

"Why are you carrying a T-Virus sample?" he asked her, keeping his eyes fixed on her face.

Her eyes widened.

"I can't…"

"I know you're not supposed to tell me. Now I'll ask you again. Why?"

"Please, I can't, they'll…they'll…"

Her voice trembled and broke as she tried to finish the sentence that she seemed too scared to say out loud. Tears began to slide silently down her face. She stopped trying to speak, but Leon knew what she was thinking.

"You haven't been working for these people for very long have you?" Leon asked her.

She shook her head.

"W-Why do you ask?" she choked.

Leon closed his eyes and rubbed the side of his head wearily before answering. Opening his eyes again, he looked up at her.

"Because if you had, you'd know that the second you failed to kill, or in this case infect, me, you became a liability to them."

He said it without looking away from her, making sure that she knew that he was completely serious. He saw comprehension beginning to dawn on her face. He continued.

"Meaning that even if you don't tell me anything, they will kill you."

Dana began to rock back and forth on her chair, her eyes unfocused, tears flowing even more freely down her cheeks. Her terrified silence was enough to let Leon know that he had gotten through to her. She opened her mouth twice, but was only able to produce a sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a sob.

"I can help you," said Leon, "But I'm going to need something to go on."

Dana continued to rock on her chair, staring at him as she did so. After nearly a minute of this, she reached up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Tears still gathered in the corners of her eyes, but they did not fall. When she spoke, her voice was shaky, but determinedly calm.

"They gave me the virus before I left the states," she said, in little more than a whisper, "They told me that I was too come here and release the virus, cause an outbreak."

"Who?" asked Leon.

"The man who I reported to was named William Korell, but I know he wasn't the one in charge of the operation. All I know about Korell's boss is that he was once a major stockholder in Umbrella."

Leon leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "Of course he was."

He'd been expecting it, but hearing that he was once again up against the famous pharmaceutical company was still a blow. How could a company that had gone completely bankrupt and lost everything still be so powerful?

Still staring at the ceiling, Leon asked her, "Why did he want you to cause an outbreak?"

"I-I'm not really sure. He never told me directly, but I overheard him talking to another one of the higher ups. Something about a distraction."

Leon's head snapped back down to look at her so fast that it hurt.

"A distraction? You mean there's going to be another attempt to cause an outbreak somewhere else?"

"I don't know for sure, I'm just telling you what I heard. All they told me to do was book a seat on the flight, the one we both missed, and to release the virus by injecting one of the other people that were stranded when the flight was cancelled."

"Wait, they knew the flight would be cancelled?" Leon asked, slightly surprised.

"That's what it sounded like."

"Why did they want you to inject a passenger of that flight?"

"They said that when people missed the plane they'd try other ways of getting home, like taking a bus or cab to the next city with an airport. They seemed to think the virus would be distributed more that way than if I infected a local."

"And you missed the plane too, so no one would suspect you, making it impossible to link this all back to them," said Leon, burying his face in his hands.

Dana nodded. "But when I told them that you were here, they said that I was to take any means necessary to make sure that you weren't able to interfere. They were the ones that told me to bring you here and make you the first carrier,"

Leon stared at her. Something still wasn't making sense.

"But how do they know who I am," he asked, "Why do they want me out of the way?"

"They have extensive knowledge on every event and person that was ever linked to Umbrella in any way. Your actions in Raccoon City were enough to make them keep an eye on you, and your most recent success against the Los Illuminados made them start seeing you as a real threat."

Leon looked up, startled. "How could they possibly know about what happened with the Illuminados? I only filed my report two days ago!"

"I don't know. They have access to the report you filed, I know that. The organization has also been in contact with Ada Wong, who gave them her own account of what happened."

Leon fell back into his seat, a wave of worry washing over him. If Umbrella had already come in contact with Ada, then that would mean that they had the Sample. And if they had the Sample, it would only be so long before they began putting it to use.

"Dana, do you know about any experimenting going on with something called the Las Plagas?"

Dana looked confused, then shook her head. "No, I'm sorry I have no idea. I know that there are experimental facilities, but I'm not ranked high enough to know where any of them are."

"Do you know how they accessed my report?"

Dana shook her head again.

Leon swore under his breath. Those documents were supposed to be kept secured. If someone had gotten hold of them, they now had all the information that Leon had accumulated while searching for and rescuing Ashley Graham. Those files had everything that he had learned about the Plagas, everything from how long they took to mature once hatched to how to remove them from the body. The report also contained everything that Luis Sera had told him about the Plagas, the symptoms, how they worked, everything. But the worst part was that someone from within Leon's own bureau must be passing information to these people, which made it completely unsafe for him to trust anyone. But he needed help if he was going to do anything about this.

Leon stood up. "I have to go," he said, glancing at Dana.

"W-What? But what about me? You said you could help!"

"If my bureau back in the states has been compromised, then there isn't a lot I can do without handing you over to the people who want to kill you." said Leon, "As soon as they find out I'm still alive, they're going to be trying to find you so that they can cover they're tracks."

"What should I do?" asked Dana, her face full of fear once again.

"Leave this hotel for one thing. Try to find a cheap motel to stay in."

"What are you going to do?"

Leon couldn't help but smile. "My job."

As Dana rushed to get her things together before leaving, Leon looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost nine in the morning here, meaning that it was the middle of the night in Washington. Dana stumbled back into the living room with her bag packed. Leon looked at her.

"I'm going to stay here for a little while longer. I won't be able to do anything until a little bit later when I can make a call to Washington."

"I thought you said that your office was compromised," said Dana, looking up at him in mild surprise.

"Yeah, but there are still one or two people that I think I might be able to contact without major risk."

Dana nodded. She moved quickly towards the door and opened it to leave. Before, stepping out, she hesitated and looked back at Leon.

"Thank you."

Leon nodded and Dana stepped outside, closing the door behind her. Leon checked his watch. It was about time he had a bit of real sleep. He set an alarm for a few hours later then collapsed on the couch. He was so tired that he didn't even dream.

The alarm woke him up several hours later. Leon opened his eyes, but didn't get up. He knew that he was once again going to be putting his life at risk. Still, it was either take action or sit here and wait for them to come to him. He knew that when they found out he was alive, they wouldn't just be after Dana, but him as well. After all, he now knew that they were up to something, and they wouldn't want news of that leaking out. Finally pulling himself into a sitting position, Leon pushed himself up from the couch and stretched. He then reached for his case, pulling it towards him. He opened it and shifted a few things aside, then pulled out a two way radio. Putting the earpiece in his ear, Leon flicked the radio on, knowing that the direct link with his office would start automatically. Leon felt pretty confident that the secretary wasn't the informant, so after this call was made, he probably had at least a day before anyone found out he was still around. He heard the static stop, and then the voice of the secretary came through, asking Leon for his name and clearance. Leon gave them.

After making sure they checked out, the secretary spoke again. "What can I do for you, Mr. Kennedy?"

Leon took a breath and hoped that this would go undetected.

"I need you to patch me through to Ingrid Hunnigan."