AN: Thank you all for the kind reviews. Knowing that you guys love it gives me motivation to write faster. I hope you enjoy this chapter.


Chapter Four: Hitting the Nerves

Hunnigan snapped out from her sleep. The coffee in her hand spilled all over her desk from her sudden jerk, earning a disheartened moan from Hunnigan. She quickly walked over to get paper towels for her desk. She gazed at her computer screen. The results were overwhelming. She was a fastidious person and re-read them twice as so not to overlook anything so she had only gone through 27 of them last night.

"Just a few more to go," Hunnigan sighed as she wiped her desk.


Helena and Leon made their way through the extremely crowded flea market. The two stayed close within each other's sight, in fear that the hitman was close by and also, not to lose each other from the crowd. Leon swung the duffle bag over his shoulder.

"So tell me again why the hitman is still after us?" Leon asked.

Helena dodged a bucket from hitting her in the face. "Ugh! He's trying to stop us from interfering with his plans-"

Helena was suddenly pulled back by a swarm of tourists pushing their way into the markets. "Damn it!" Helena cursed out as she reached out randomly to grab hold of something. She felt her hand being grabbed and pulled from being pushed back any further. Helena found herself pulled into Leon's chest as he placed his arm around her.

"If I lose you here, I'll probably never see you again," Leon said smirking.

Helena rolled her eyes, turning her face away from Leon. "I am not a child, Agent Kennedy." Helena felt her face heating up just by being so close to Leon. She was thankful Leon had his attention focused on getting out of this crowd.

The two were on their way to meet with Helena's arms dealer. There was an alley in the flea market they were supposed to meet him in. Helena had the money wired to the man's account already and all they had to do was pick the goods up.

Helena fought her thoughts from drifting away to the hitman's warning. She knew she was putting Leon in danger by having him with her. She had to do whatever it took to protect him. Even if it meant she had to use her own body to shield him.

A large man bumped into Helena, causing Leon to pull her closer to him. He looked at her. "Are you all right?"

Helena turned away. "I'm fine. I wasn't paying attention." She tried to distance herself from Leon to avoid any more awkward encounters from herself. However, Leon wouldn't budge his hand that was firmly wrapped around her shoulders.

Leon took notice of her discomfort. "I know you're uncomfortable right now, Helena. Just power through it until we get there."

Helena pouted a bit. She wasn't uncomfortable. She liked how close they were. She was just too embarrassed.

"...Although I am a little bit hurt you don't like being close to me," Leon added with a hurtful expression.

Helena couldn't help but giggle at the cute face he made. Leon smiled and the two finally escaped the sea of people.

Leon released Helena from his grasp to her disappointment. He glanced around, looking for the alley where they were supposed to meet Helena's dealer. They found a dark little corner between two houses. They glanced at each other wondering if this was the right place. "How does he even look like anyways?" Leon asked.

"He's your average shady dealer. Just look for a guy with sunglasses and holding a large baggage."

Leon glanced around. There were multiples of people matching Helena's description. "...Right."

"Don't worry, I met him before."

Leon stared at her. "You've done this before?"

Helena gave Leon a baffled look. "Of course not. Leon, I work for the government just like you. This is my first time buying weapons from an unregistered seller," she said as they walked into the alleyway.

"So where did you find this guy?"

"I met him at a coffee shop," Helena said simply, as if meeting an illegal arms dealer in a coffee shop was not a big deal. "He overheard us talking about our favorite guns and he offered me his services. I'm just glad I kept his contact info instead of turning him in."

Leon let out a short, amused laugh. "You're a magnet for weird characters."

Helena smirked at Leon. "So that explains you."

Leon held his hands up, surrendering to Helena's remark. "I guess so." He chuckled.

Suddenly, a large thud was heard in behind them. Helena and Leon both stopped laughing and turned to the direction of the noise. A black bag was dropped in the middle of the alley. Leon glanced up to see a black figure staring down at them. Helena's eyes widened as her eyes recognized the figure.

Jaeger tipped his hat at the two and walked away. "The hitman?!" Leon turned his attention towards the bag in front of them. He looked over to Helena whose eyes were firmly planted on where the hitman once stood.

"Helena," Leon called.

Helena snapped out of her thoughts and turned to him. He motioned to the bag with the tilt of his head. Helena stared at it with worry. The bag had blood soaking through the fabric and wet the dirt around it. Leon took a step towards it and Helena grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I don't think we should," Helena said in a low voice.

Leon held his eyes locked on the bag. "We need to see what he gave us," he told her. He walked closer towards the bag, each step strengthening the uneasy feeling he had in his stomach.

Helena watched from far as Leon bend down on his knees and slowly opened the bag. Leon's fingers slowly pulled down the zippers, revealing the horrifying contents inside.

A man's torn body was rudely shoved into the small bag. There was a bullet mark on the man's cheek and his eyes were gouged out. His open blood stained mouth revealed smashed teeth with bits of white still stuck in the bleeding gums. Leon noticed regrettably that the man's hands and feet were disfigured to the point he couldn't decide what they were at first glance. The man's chest was ripped open and his organs were missing. Leon zipped up the bag and turned away in disgust and solace for the victim. He looked over to Helena, who saw the content from afar, and held her hands over her mouth in shock.

Leon walked over to her, grabbed her arm, and led her away from the blood soaked bag. He felt her trembling.

"...That was our dealer..." she whispered. "Damn it! How did he get to him so fast?!"

"We need to go after the hitma-"

Suddenly, there was a growl behind them. Leon and Helena looked back to see the bag rustling violently. The two agents stood frozen as the snarls coming from the bag sounded too familiar. This time, they both walked over to investigate.

Leon kneeled once more to unzip the bag. He looked up to Helena, who had her gun with the silencer out, armed and ready. Leon slowly unzipped the bag, revealing a snarling face. Leon took a step back and Helena immediately aimed her gun at the infected head. The head twisted and turned, trying to take a bite out of the air with its toothless mouth.

"It's infected," Leon breathed.

Helena, wasting no time, shot a bullet into the head point blank. The growling ceased immediately and black blood profused out of the wound. Helena quickly inserted her gun back to her hidden holster. "We need to take this body with us and dispose of it well," she said. She glanced around if anyone was near them. "We should hurry before someone comes along."

He nodded and zipped up the bag. "We need something to cover up the blood," Leon said.

Helena pulled her windbreaker out from the duffle bag on Leon. "We can use this. It'll be big enough to cover it and stop any blood from leaking out." Leon took her coat, placed the heavy body bag on it, and zipped it up. He tied the sleeves together to make a makeshift handle. Leon handled the duffle bag to Helena and carried the windbreaker bag instead.

"We're down to the guns we have," Helena said in an upset tone.

"We have enough if we're careful," Leon said.

Helena shook her head. "We need guns that can pack a punch. Even a shotgun would be better than what we have now."

Leon noticed Helena's grave face. "Exactly why do we need a shotgun to take down a hitman and some soldiers?"

Helena bit her lips. "There's something in the submarine I haven't told you yet."


"I trust you," Helion muttered to the receiver as he paced around the office. He stopped and stared at the sunset that basked his office in orange warmth. "...But, not as much as her."

Helion glanced back at the figure standing outside his office. He narrowed his eyes. "We're done talking." He hung up with a click and stared at the phone before stepping out.

Seanna wore a frown the entire time the call was going through in Helion's private office. As soon as Helion stepped out, Seanna huffed.

"I can't believe we going so low to catch a hitman," Seanna ranted. "If any of the higher ups found out that we were doing this...the 'dented slate' that you want to smooth so much is never going to get fixed."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Seanna."

"Are you so obsessed with fixing the DSO's image that you can't even realize that you're putting their reputation at risk, sir?" Seanna said worriedly. "How will you get yourself out of this when it fails?"

"I don't have to," Helion simply said as he took his seat behind his desk. "I have done this before. I am confident that our secret weapon will do fine against the hitman."

Seanna stared at him. "What do you mean, you've done this before? You hired a hit on someone?"

Helion chuckled. "My dear Seanna, do you think so low of me? I was the one who was hit. One of my political rivals wanted me out of the race. He hated me so much, instead of defeating me at the race, he decided to have me off permanently."

Helion turned his chair over towards the large window behind his desk and stared at the city's view. "I wasn't willing to die without a fight of course. So I hired one to protect myself."

Helion stared down at the tiny speckles of people moving around as Seanna quietly listened on. He narrowed his eyes. "...Obviously, our hired hitmen eventually met with each other." Helion glanced over to her. "You can see who won in the end."

"But...this..." Seanna sighed as she shook her head. "This is against the law."

Helion turned his attention towards the front. He looked a bit hesitant as he stared into the space in front of him. "Will you expose me?"

She stared at him, surprised to hear those words. She opened her mouth but pursed it. Instead of responding to his question, she moved her hand and placed it upon his that was rested on his arm rest.

Seanna smiled as Helion looked at her with a comforted face. He moved his hand to hold her hers gingerly.

"I would never, sir," she spoke softly. "If this is what you believe is for the best, then I will...support you to the end."

Helion smiled. "What will I do without you, Seanna?"

Seanna laughed lightly. "You would probably be yelling at 'Charles' for pointing out the obvious and not doing his job well."

Helion chuckled at her words and stared lovingly into her amber eyes. A sudden ring from Seanna's phone ceased their moment. She picked up the phone with her other hand and glanced at it.

"Got business to take care of, Seanna?" Helion asked, letting her hand go.

Seanna nodded. "I'll return shortly."

Before Seanna could leave, Helion grabbed her hand again. She turned and looked at him with surprise. "Don't let me down, Seanna. There are only a handful of people I can trust." He squeezed her hand.

Seanna smiled in response and Helion released her hand. Seanna left the office, swiftly walking past suits and not paying attention to the envying eyes from her workers. Her sole attention was on the contents of her phone. She gazed at it deeply and after memorizing the words, she tucked her phone back into her blazer and continued on in a steady fashion.

"That sly bitch," Seanna snarled under her breath.

She stopped at Hunnigan's temporary office and looked in, curious to see how the woman was doing so far.

Hunnigan sat in front of her computer screen, with determination in her eyes. Seanna smiled at the sight. "How's it going, Ms. Hunnigan?" Seanna asked, popping her head in the doorway.

Hunnigan was startled by the sudden greeting but calmed down with a smile on her face. "Ms. Seanna!" Hunnigan rubbed her eyes. "I'm doing...fine." Hunnigan yawned before finishing her sentence.

Seanna giggled at how tired Hunnigan was as the said woman quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment. "You should take a break before you faint Ms. Hunnigan," she scolded. "Come on, it's lunch time." Seanna motioned Hunnigan to come with her hands. "Come have lunch with me. I'll buy."

Hunnigan glanced at the watch and was met with a loud grumbling noise from her stomach. Blushing, she stood up, sorting her desk before joining Seanna. "I suppose a short break won't do too much harm," Hunnigan said, prompting a smile from Seanna.

Seanna made way for Hunnigan to pass. "Excuse me, let me use the bathroom first." Hunnigan said as she made her way to the women's restroom rather quickly. She should not have drunk so much coffee in one sitting. Seanna watched as Hunnigan disappeared around the corner. She quickly entered her office and took out her phone. She pulled a wire from the back of the computer, unplugged to what it was plugged to before and plugged it to her phone. She then began furiously typing into the keyboard.

[System Restore: C/?]

[Restoring original content: C/?]

[Press 'enter' to C/?]

[Please enter passcode: _ _ _ _]

Seanna touched a button on her phone. Immediately, the phone dialed thousands of diferent combinations of the passcode into the computer and within a few seconds, it came up with four numbers.

Seanna typed the numbers in and pressed 'enter'. "Time's a running," she whispered to herself.

[System Restore Granted]

[Now Restoring Deleted Data]

[Press 'F1' for Advanced Options]

Seanna quickly glanced around to see if anyone was watching her. She pressed 'F1' and entered the advanced options. She quickly typed in the contents from her phone.

[Searching...Searching...Searching...]

Seanna bit her nails as the computer ran through thousands of deleted files from the past, searching for the file she wanted. Hunnigan's laptop hummed loudly as the process went through.

[File Found: Restore? Y/N]

Seanna pressed 'enter' and the computer screen blacked out with names of files roaming down the screen in a manner. Seanna eyes darted to the side as she heard the sound of Hunnigan's heels returning and Hunnigan calling out for her. "Ms. Seanna?" Seanna returned her attention back to the screen and turned the screen off. She quickly disconnected her phone and placed it back inside her coat. Seanna quickly stepped outside and smiled at Hunnigan. "Ready to go?" she asked as she closed the door to the office behind her.

Hunnigan smiled at her. "Yes, let me just get my laptop first and then we'll head out."

Seanna stood in front of the door firmly as Hunnigan stared at her with confusion. Seanna smiled and held Hunnigan's hand. "Do you have to take your laptop everywhere you go, Ms. Hunnigan? You're making me wonder if you're married to your work like most people here," she teased.

"It's not that. You may never know when a catastrophe might hit at any moment. My laptop is my only weapon. I need to take it with me everywhere."

Seanna narrowly glanced behind, her lips puckering in annoyance. She quickly smiled to cover it. "Well, I guess it can't be helped." Seanna moved aside for Hunnigan to step in. Hunnigan quickly stepped in, closed her laptop; while Seanna watched all of her moves silently. Hunnigan tucked her laptop under her arm and grabbed her purse. Seanna smiled coyly. "Let's go, Ms. Hunnigan."


Leon and Helena stared at the rows of ships at the dock they arrived at. Leon smelled the rotting scent getting stronger by the second. He needed to dispose of the body quickly.

After the encounter with the hitman, the two made a straight beeline towards the docks. All they needed was a boat, with enough gas to get them to their location. The pair decided to steal a boat as soon as it was safe. They just needed the sun to go down.

The two agents stepped onto the boarded walk and started heading towards the boats. The sun was just setting and basked everything in the color orange. The coast was still crowded as it was Saturday and a lot of the families were out, having fun. Leon felt out of place of the happy place they were in. Here they were, heading to a dangerous mission and life was still going on. They walked in silence until Helena suddenly spoke, "...Do you think we can do this Leon?"

Leon gazed at her face, full of distress and fear. He turned back to the path in front of him.

'What do you mean it's infested with B.O.W?!" Leon snapped.

'There was a reason why Simmons wanted to activate it far away from it. The submarine is filled with all kinds of the infected roaming around the submarine. That was why I wanted more protection.' Helena cradled her head with her hand, feeling the stress of the mission growing on her. 'I was going to tell you when I got the guns. I never meant to keep it as a secret, Leon.'

Leon snapped back to reality as Helena waited patiently for his answer. He didn't know what to say. He was uncertain at this point if they were even going to survive. Whenever he was facing B. of all kinds, he had a wide range of weapons at his disposal. Now...all he had were handguns only capable of taking down humans, not armor plated B. . Leon was more frustrated at the fact that Helena was still hesitant in telling him information. She had waited yet again until she had enough assurance that he would believe her when he would have believed her the moment she told him. He trusted her but did she trust him?

"No," Leon flatly said.

Helena lowered her eyes. Her heart started beating even faster. She regretted bringing Leon with her terribly. Now, she was going to be at fault if he got killed. If only she had just followed her original plan and went alone-

"I know we can do it."

Helena looked at Leon with a brightened face. He looked at her with a smile. He put his hand on her shoulder and clasped it strongly, giving her his assurance that he was there for her. "We can do this. Trust in me, Helena."

Helena smiled and looked down, unable to look at Leon properly. She was so thankful to have a partner like him. She didn't know what to say in response and just kept smiling. She struggled to keep her smile from turning into a quivering frown.

The guilt inside her was eating her alive.


Jaeger sat on the bench, overlooking the ocean's beautiful sunset view. He quietly stared at the people through his black sunglasses when his phone rang. He picked up his phone and held it on his ear. "Hallo?" he responded.

"((Did you get rid of Harper's partner yet?))" The woman asked.

"No."

"((What? What's taking so long?))"

"I am going to let him get on board the ship," Jaeger replied. "I will get him my way."

"((Don't waste your time! Kill him now and get Harper!))"

"Why so upset? Nothing bad will happen, okay?"

"((You don't understand. We are in deep shit if you don't act fast!))"

"Everything ok, okay? Masa is on ship now."

"((I know that you fucking dipshit! We have a problem, do you know about it?!))"

"Yes, now please stop being pissy and hang up. I go now to take care of it."

"((Jaeger, you idiot! You fucking idiot! What are you doing right now?!))"

He paused for a moment. "I am watching the sunset."

"((I swear to god, if I find you I will strangle you-

Jaegar hung up his phone and tucked it back inside his pocket. The man besides him chuckled.

"Was that your girlfriend?" he asked.

Jaeger turned to him, glanced at him up and down, and returned to the sunset. "No."

"Sister then?"

"No."

"It must be your mother."

"No. My mother die when my father beat her."

The man became startled. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Jaeger held up his hand. "No. It's old. Do not care now."

The man smiled. "You sound like you are from Europe."

"Yes, I am."

"Which part?"

Jaeger stared at the man. He brought up his finger and pressed it against his lips. "Shh." He then pointed to the sunset and resumed staring at it.

The man smirked. "Well, you're a lively one. I myself came from Kentucky. A real nice place. Too bad not a lot of tourists like to visit there."

Jaeger stared at the man and turned back to the sunset. The man continued to talk.

"I think it was in Washington or maybe Oregon but when I moved out here, I stopped at one of those states-man! There's this restaurant you have to go to! They got the best steaks, the best desserts, and the best beers." The man sighed. "I think it had the word 'Bombay' on it. You should visit there sometimes. Real nice place to take a girl and impress her."

"I take your advice. Now please, shh."

"Actually, I think it was in Washington when I found that place. I was lost from the touring bus and-"

With a swift movement, Jaeger pulled out a knife from under his sleeves and stabbed the man in his waist. The man abruptly stopped talking, stared at Jaeger with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what had just happened. He watched stupefied as the blood poured out of his body and his vision faded to black. Jaeger and the man stared at each other as Jaeger pulled the knife back out. With a low grunt, the man leaned onto Jaeger, his head resting on his shoulder as life faded from his lively eyes. Jaeger quickly took off his coat and covered the man's body like a blanket; and resumed watching the sunset with the dead body as his company.