The Woman Who Wasn't There
Chapter II


"Hello, Leon. It's good to see you again."

Leon didn't answer. He stared ahead, his mouth slightly agape. Ada Wong was dead. Ada Wong was standing seven feet in front of him.

"You look good, Leon. How's your shoulder?"

Ada had grown her hair out since he last saw her. It hung at shoulder length, neatly framing her face. The face he had spent the last six months trying to forget.

"Leon?" She looked concerned. She sounded concerned. But Leon had seen it and heard it before. He had come to believe it was all a lie then and he had his doubts now.

"What do you want me to say, Ada?"

She gave him a small, wistful smile. "I was hoping to hear how happy you are to see me. I guess that's asking a little much though."

He didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure how he felt about seeing her. He went over all the old arguments in his head. She had lied about what she was doing in Raccoon City. She had lied about her encounters with the Birkins. She had left him to go off and complete her mission as soon as she got the chance. In the end, she had partly confessed the truth to him, along with claims of love. Then she died in his arms. As it turned out, that had been a lie too.

But if he had to be completely honest with himself, he was happy to see her alive.

"Come on, Leon. Say something. If you want to tell me how much you miss me, do it. If you want to yell at me, do it. Just don't stand there staring at me." This was definitely the Ada he remembered - in command of the situation, demanding to be noticed.

"How are you even alive? That Tyrant thing...Ada, I saw you die."

"You're a cop, not a paramedic. But in a way, I think you're right. I did die a little that night."

The obtuse answer reinforced his doubt. "Cut the cryptic bullshit, Ada. If you can't be straight with me, I'm not even going to bother."

"Oh, Leon..." Ada trailed off. She started glancing around the parking lot as if she was looking her car instead of the right words to say. She was used to this sort of thing though. In her line of work, one doesn't get very far without the ability to read a situation and adapt. Leon wanted honesty. Ada decided to give it to him. "Fine, you have the right to know what happened. I think I owe you that. But not here, Leon. I've got a hotel room about ten minutes away. We can go there and talk privately."

"I've got people waiting for me."

"Then I'll give you a ride home. We can talk in the car."

"So you can find out exactly where we're staying?"

Ada rolled her eyes. "You have a brain, Leon, use it. I've been following you for week. If I wanted to turn you and your little friends in, you'd be in custody now."

She had a point. And he wanted to know what had happened to her. But he wasn't completely sure he could trust her. He decided on a compromise. "There's a park two miles down the road. It's got a lot of secluded scenic overlook spots. We can talk there."

Ada's smile returned. "Ok, fine with me. Look, Leon, I'll answer any questions you have as best I can. I want you to trust me but I know I haven't exactly given you a reason to. But here's a start. I admit I didn't track you down just to say hello. I did it because I need your help."

Of course, she wants something he thought, but he didn't say anything to Ada. As he walked towards her Miata, he looked into Ada's eyes. Behind the arrogance, the calm demeanor, there was sincerity. He remembered the last time he had seen that look in her eyes...

He tossed the grocery bags in the back seat before getting in the passenger's seat. He wasn't thinking about Claire waiting at the townhouse. He was thinking about Ada. Maybe his first instincts had been right about her. The anger and doubt he felt towards her had come after the fact, when he had time to overanalyze every word she had spoken, every action she had taken. Maybe his paranoia in general had just transferred to paranoia towards Ada in particular.

Ada sat down in the driver's seat. Placing her hand on Leon's knee, she turned to him and said, "You don't know how glad I am to have found you."


***


Chris hesitated in front of the door to the bedroom he shared with Jill. He knew she was inside. When they had gotten back from lunch, she had gone straight upstairs. Not that he blamed her. Now that he had had time to cool off, he realized what a jerk he had been. He recalled his father's advice for dealing with an angry woman - "Always apologize. Sooner than later. Even if you're right." He was wrong this time, so he knew he better get to it.

He gave a soft knock on the door before opening it. Jill was on the bed, reading a book and absently eating from a bag of Doritos.

"I think Claire's starting to make dinner. You don't want to ruin your appetite with that junk."

"It's not like I had a whole lot of time to eat my lunch today." Jill's tone was neutral. It wasn't a jab at Chris so much as an opening for him to start talking about what happened.

"Umm, I'm sorry about the diner. I was angry with Barry, not you. It's just..."

"You're frustrated," Jill said as she put down her book and moved closer to Chris. He sat down on the bed beside her. "You're frustrated," she continued, "and Barry's leaving this morning just reinforced the fact that we haven't been able to do as much about Umbrella as we wanted."

"No kidding." Jill wasn't about to let him dwell on it though. She moved behind him and began massaging his shoulders. Jill understood. She always understood.

"I know you hate hearing this, but just give it time. Umbrella will slip up. Wesker will show himself. We will nail them both." Jill put her knuckles into the job. Chris was really tense. After he relaxed a little, she said, "You know, in a way it's good that we haven't heard anything about them. It means they're not up to their old tricks."

That we know of Chris thought. As if sensing the negative thought, Jill dug her knuckle deep between his shoulder blades. Chris let out a small yell of protest, but in truth, it felt good. Jill continued on with her work without comment.

"This is good," Chris mused. "Real good."

"I could work your muscles a little better if you took off your shirt."

Chris turned and winked at her. "Only if you take off yours first."

Jill laughed. This was the Chris Redfield she loved. She savored having him back.


***

Leon and Ada watched a pair of joggers go by. They were sitting on a park bench surrounded by a cluster of trees. Save for the joggers, they had the area to themselves.

Leon waited until the joggers had disappeared around a corner before he spoke. "I guess we should start with the big question - how are you still alive?"

Ada played with the hem of her shirt. This was not a memory she liked revisiting. "A co-worker of mine found me. Fixed me up."

"Co-worker?"

"Albert Wesker." Ada spat out the name in much the same manner as Chris Redfield. "He found me, gave me an injection that brought me around." Ada paused upon seeing Leon's horrified look. "No, it wasn't the T-Virus. It was some kind of pharmaceutical cocktail whipped up by the Company. God only knows what's in it. It didn't heal me, it just kept me alive long enough for Wesker to drag me out of there. He told me that even though I had fucked up royally with the virus, he thought that I might still prove useful. Bastard. I was just a commodity to him." Ada leaned backwards, folding her arms across her chest. "Wesker used to work for Umbrella. He knew of another exit besides the underground train. He carried me out on his shoulder like a sack of flour, going on about how much I owed him all the while. I think the Company had already started the experiments that altered him back then. Anyway, he had arranged for a pick-up just outside of town. We rendezvoused with an agent and went back to HQ. I spent the next month and a half in the infirmary."

"Ada, you keep mentioning a company..."

"No, the Company. And let's just leave their name at that." Ada cut off Leon before he could object. "I know I told you I would answer all your questions, but you have to trust me on this. The less you know about these people, the better off you are. You've encountered them before. Men in Armani suits and sunglasses that are neither Will Smith nor Tommy Lee Jones."

"Yeah," Leon answered, "I've seen them. They made me a job offer."

"So I heard. You made the right choice. Believe me, I know. I don't want to alarm you, but you pissed off some very powerful people by walking out. They are looking for you. That's why I don't want to tell you who they are. You start making inquiries about them, and they will be all over you before you can blink. You do not fuck with these people."

"I doubt they could be any worse than Umbrella." Leon stopped as Ada laughed sharply. "Ok, so you think they're worse than Umbrella. Why are you still working for them?"

Ada flashed him an impatient look. "Don't you get it, Leon?" She went on angrily, "It's not my choice. The Company thinks they own me. I think they may be right."

Nobody said anything for a few seconds. Leon listened to Ada's rapid breathing. She was clearly upset. Finally, he asked softly, "Ada, you said you found me because you wanted my help. What are you here for, Ada?"

She looked up at him. Leon was taken aback by how vulnerable she looked at that moment. Then, in a voice more pleading than Leon thought Ada Wong was capable of, she said, "Because I want out."


***


Claire looked out the front window for the eighteenth time. Leon should have been back by now. She had gone outside and noticed Chris's parking job, so she knew he was on foot, but still...he should have been back by now. She sat down on the couch and ran calculations on walking speed, idiots that bring a full cart into the express lane and grocery store clerks that think paper or plastic is a metaphysical debate. They all added up to an answer she had already reached - Leon should definitely be back by now. She tried distracting herself with a rerun of the Simpsons with poor results.

Something was wrong. She could feel it.


***


Ada was leaning forward, elbows on her knees, her head resting on her interlocked hands. She hadn't meant to sound so pathetic and she told Leon as much. "I'm sorry. You know I'm not usually like this. Maybe it's you, Leon. I feel safe around you. Like I can let my guard down."

I wonder if I can do the same with you Leon thought. Already, his anger towards her had subsided. Her story made sense, he believed she was telling the truth about Wesker. And he believed her about her current employers. Still, one thing bothered him.

"How did you know where to find me, Ada?"

"I was in town on business. The Company wanted me to check out an old storehouse of Umbrella's. It served as a way station between Raccoon City and the mansion in the mountains. I'm supposed to see if Umbrella left anything behind." Ada sounded bored just describing the mission.

"Wouldn't have Umbrella cleaned that out a long time ago?"

"Exactly. Ever since I was deemed healthy enough to go back to work, the Company's been sending me out on crap mission after crap mission. I think it's so I can prove what a good, obedient little girl I am. I haven't been there yet, though. I made a detour first. That's how I found you. I'm surprised you didn't see me there; you were searching the crowd so intently. I've been trailing you since."

Leon knew instantly what she was talking about - the memorial service for Raccoon City. How had he missed her?

Ada went on, "I saw your friend there first. The one with the ponytail?" She made a dismissive gesture. "Someone ought to tell that girl to get a new hairstyle."

The mention of Claire made Leon wince. It wasn't Ada's condescending tone either. He suddenly felt guilty for just being here. He should be going back to the townhouse now. He had been gone more than long enough to arouse concern and he didn't want Claire worrying about him. One more question for Ada, then he would have her take him back to the grocery store parking lot.

"You said you needed my help, Ada. What do you want me to do?"

"Let me get you up to speed, Leon." Ada's eyes sparkled. Whatever she was planning, it was far more interesting than investigating an abandoned warehouse. "Umbrella has a facility in the Florida Keys. They weren't using it in Wesker's day, but he knew about. For the past two months, activity's picked up in the area. The Company's confirmed that Umbrella's set up shop."

"How would they know that?"

Ada put her hand on his shoulder. "You can be so naïve at times. Do you think I'm the only spy working for the Company? As I was saying, it's a standard MO. I've already made contact with a lab tech there via a chat room. In one week, I'm going down to Florida to meet him. I'll be his Internet fantasy come true. Soon, I'll take an interest in his scientific genius and weasel my way into the lab. I'll have the latest strain of the virus before he finishes reading his 'Dear John' letter." Ada seemed rather pleased with the whole deal.

John - her last boyfriend's name Before he could stop himself, Leon asked her, "So, what are you going to do, sleep with this guy for the virus?"

Ada's face turned icy. Leon thought she was going to slap him. "I'm not going to answer that and you are never going to ask me that question again." All the excitement had drained out her voice. Leon had hit an obvious sore point.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't really fair," he said sheepishly. Ada calmed a little but said nothing. After an awkward pause, Leon continued, "So where do I come in during all this?"

Ada glared at Leon before responding, "After I get the virus sample, I'm supposed to meet up with Wesker in Miami. I was thinking you and your friends could crash the reunion." She let the full implications sink in for Leon. "In exchange for my freedom, you get a virus sample that could bury Umbrella once and for all. In exchange for my freedom, you get Wesker on a silver platter."



Author's Notes - Well, now you know what Ada's offer is. Hmm, I wonder if Chris will be interested? Two chapters down, ten or so to go. Hopefully, I can stay on track with a chapter a week. Interesting fact - positive feedback can be inspirational for maintaining a schedule (hint, hint). Next up - the gang goes over Ada's offer and Ada visits the (theoretically) abandoned storehouse.