The Woman Who Wasn't There
Chapter IV
Claire hit the ground with an ungraceful thud, but quickly recovered. She rose to her knees and brought her gun to bare in one fluid motion. The Hunter stood swaying before her, apparently thrown off-balance by her dodge. The shot to her side was simply luck on the Hunter's part. Claire wasn't about to let it get another chance. She fired two shots to its head in rapid succession, felling the Hunter.
She had no time to celebrate her victory. The other Hunter was still in the room. She heard its breathing but couldn't make out its location. She remained crouched down, shuffling sideways as quietly as she could, trying to avoid the pooling blood of the dead Hunter while searching for the one that remained.
The sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway caught the attention of both her and the Hunter. Leon and Ada were coming but Claire wasn't sure when they'd finally reach the office. The Hunter didn't want to wait for victims. It let out a screech and jumped across several desks before landing in front of the door. Claire calmly stood up behind it. The Hunter felt the pressure of a gun barrel on the back of its head and then the back of its head was sliding down the glass front of the door.
Claire was nauseated, but relieved. She couldn't hear any more raspy breathing or thumping sounds. There were no more Hunters in the vicinity. She looked at the bodies on the floor. Claire couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right. Those two hadn't put up much of fight as far as Hunters were concerned. Already, the pain in her side where the one had hit her had receded. A small bruise would be the only sign of the attack. It didn't make sense. Both Hunters had had a clear shot at her from behind, but only one really went after her. Not that she was complaining, but Claire felt she had gotten off rather easy this time. Too easy.
"I see you've been decorating." Ada entered the room with a look of disgust on her face. The look deepened when she caught the scent coming from the rear office. She stepped over the Hunter's body as lightly as she could. Claire noticed her gun was still securely in its holster.
Claire pointed out the lack of preparedness on Ada's part. "You were going to come rushing to my aid with what exactly? Acidic bon mots?"
"I heard you yell 'Hunter' and then when I was in the hallway, I heard gunshots. Since Umbrella's monsters don't generally 'pack heat', I assumed that you were taking care of yourself," Ada said impatiently.
Yeah, because you've shown you have so much respect for me and my abilities, you knew I'd be okay Claire sarcastically thought to herself. She didn't say anything more to Ada though. She didn't think it was worth it to get into a fight.
Leon rushed into the room then. His gun was drawn, concern showed on his face. He looked from Claire to the Hunters and back to Claire again. "What the hell happened here?"
Claire smiled to assure him that everything was all right. "I guess it's just a good day for old friends to drop in," she said wearily.
Ada frowned. She wondered if Claire had deliberately compared her to the Hunters. Leon didn't seem to notice, but he did look to Ada.
"I thought you said this place would be empty."
"What?" Ada cocked her head to one side. She didn't detect an accusation in Leon's tone, but she didn't like the statement regardless. Not leaving an ambiguity in her tone, she said firmly, "I thought it was empty. Why would I have any reason to suspect there would be Hunters or anything else here? According to my sources, this place has been abandoned for months."
"Oh, the section you volunteered to search was empty." Claire said it softly enough that all Leon and Ada heard was a mumble. When the two turned towards her, Claire just shrugged her shoulders. As much as she wanted to repeat it, Claire thought better of it. She didn't like Ada. She sure as hell didn't trust Ada. But she had to tolerate the woman for now and she figured she should try to do it with as much restraint as possible. Starting now.
Foregoing the cynical remark she had planned, Claire instead tried to smooth things over. "We all thought there wouldn't be anything here. And, well, it looks like we were all wrong. I came up with two Hunters and whatever is making that smell in that office over there. Did you two find anything?"
Leon shook his head no. Ada used silence as her reply.
"Okay then." Claire pointed to the office behind her and asked, "Who wants to be the lucky one to play 'Name That Stench'?"
Again, Claire was greeted by silence. Finally, Leon headed towards the remains of the inner door. Claire took a deep breath with her mouth and followed. Ada trailed her, looking less than enthused. After picking their way through shattered glass and splintered wood, they came to the source of the odor.
It was a third Hunter. What remained of its body was in a state of decomposition. Large tracts of missing flesh ran up and down the corpse, surrounded by claw and tooth marks. With no other food to sustain them, Darwinian law had kicked in and the two stronger Hunters had eaten their weaker companion.
Without a word, the three revulsed humans withdrew from the room to the more hospitable hallway. They were all thinking variations of the same questions - how had the Hunters gotten there and how long had they been waiting.
***
"It's me, Barry." Chris didn't get an answer. He knew it wasn't his cell phone's fault. "Come on, Barry..."
"I heard you, Redfield. Fuck. What do you want now?"
"You need to get back here."
"I knew this wasn't a courtesy call. Jesus, Chris, I just got here an hour ago. I just can't head back."
"We got a break, Barry, a big one. We can't let it go."
"You're not hearing me. I just got home. I'm with my kids. I'm with my wife."
"Then explain it to them..."
"Fuck off, Redfield. You tell my girls why they never get to see their daddy."
"We all have to make sacrifices..."
"So says the man who gets to have his girlfriend and baby sister around him twenty-four seven."
"We are in this together, Barry."
"Together, huh? Is that why you're always giving orders?"
"I don't have time for this shit, Barry. We've got an opening here. If we use it, you can spend all the time you want with your family. A few more weeks for the rest of your life, that's a damn good exchange."
"Shit..."
"Come on, Barry."
"I'll be there in a few days."
"A few days? I said..."
Click.
***
"I'm starting to think Jill's on to something with that whole vegetarian thing. I mean, red meat's supposed to be so bad for you anyway. I hate seafood already and chicken's kinda bland..." Claire wasn't talking to anyone in particular. She just wanted to think of anything except the events of the last ten minutes.
Unfortunately, Leon wasn't thinking of anything but. "I don't get it. What the hell would Hunters be doing here?" he said in frustration. "They had to of been here for awhile. The one in the office has been dead for days and the two Claire killed didn't exactly look like they were in great condition either."
"No kidding," Claire agreed. "But I can't knock a gift horse and all that crap. Still, something seems really off about this whole thing. The Hunters must've been planted recently or they would have died of starvation. But it couldn't have been too recently or they wouldn't have gotten the munchies on their friend."
For her part, Ada didn't seem to be listening. She was lost in her own train of thought. She had her theory about the origin and purpose of the Hunters. She just wasn't sure how much she should share with Leon and Claire. The Redfield girl didn't trust her - that much was obvious - but, if everything was going to go according to plan, she would eventually need change that. Claire had already taken a baby-step towards being civil to her, the least Ada could do was reciprocate.
"The Company put them here," Ada announced.
"Your company, not Umbrella."
"Yes, Leon. My Company."
"And they would do that because..."
"Because, Ms. Redfield, I think they were trying to test me."
Claire laughed. "And I thought finals were a bitch." She didn't know how to take this latest tidbit from Ada. Her instincts had been screaming "set-up" all along, but she hadn't considered that Ada may have been the one being set-up. She just assumed she and Leon were the ones being played. She was the one who got the room with the Hunters while Ada took the empty storage areas. But Ada hadn't known that she was going to be here tonight. And she hadn't been very happy when she first saw Claire either. Ada's mysterious Company may be powerful, but they certainly weren't precognizant. Claire had to concede there was a chance that Ada was right.
Leon's frustration was growing. "Testing you? They toss you in a building with a bunch of Hunters and call it a test? What kind of sick bastards do you work for, Ada?"
Ada was glad to hear the rage in Leon's voice. Not only did he believe her, he was being protective towards her too. "Yes, this was a test," she explained calmly. "The Company has no use for a weak field agent. It's a risk to them. I've already failed on one important mission and neither the Company nor I myself can afford to let that happen again. The Company was gracious enough to give me a second chance - something they just do not do for everyone - and they want to make damn sure that I can get the job done."
Claire was taken aback by the matter-of-factness of Ada's tone. She could have been killed tonight, but she was acting like this was just some kind of performance review she needed to go through before getting a promotion. There was being cool under fire and then there was being a fucking iceberg. Claire was getting a distinctly Arctic vibe from Ada.
Leon picked up on it too. Before, in Raccoon City, he had actually admired Ada's composed demeanor. In the face of the nightmare all around them, she never gave into fear. He thought it had been a show of how much she wanted to live. Panic in that situation meant death, so she had erected a cool façade to get her through. But listening to her now, rationally describing why her employers would try to kill her, doubts started to creep in. A few hours ago, she had seemed so vulnerable and open to him. There was no trace of that in the woman who stood before him.
Ada noticed the shift in mood of her two companions. They were both looking at her now like she was worse than the Hunters. She knew they wouldn't be reacting that way if she was being emotional and weak about the situation. Ada found it ironic and annoying that a quality that had gotten her through her less than easy life would be getting her into trouble now. Sometimes, being so damned practical isn't very practical at all she told herself. But if they want pathos, I guess I have to give it to them.
"I know it sounds horrible...no, it is horrible...but that's how these people operate." Ada said. A slight shakiness was added to her voice before continuing. "That's why I won't give you their name. That's why, more than anything, I want to get away from them. This is how I've spent the last six months of my life - living on the whim of a group of people who value money and power a hell of a lot more than human life. I'm sorry if I seem a little...cold...to you, but that's the only way I've been able to keep my sanity."
Ada stopped, either unwilling or unable to say more. Leon, feeling guilty for having doubted her, went over to comfort her. "Come on," he said reassuringly. "Let's get a tissue sample from the Hunters and then just get out of here." Ada nodded her head in agreement. Her face had more color in it, her eyes seemed to shine.
As Leon set to work on the bodies of the Hunters, Claire debated amongst herself if she had just witnessed a bit of humanity in Ada Wong or proof that the woman was more devious and calculating than she had originally given her credit for.
***
Jill stared at her phone. She wanted to make the call, but at the same time, felt doing so would be going behind Chris' back. Not that he hadn't already done that with her. She told him not to call Barry, that he should wait a few more days until they had more information on Ada Wong and her plan. She didn't see any point in dragging Barry away from his family if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Chris had said "Yeah, Jill. Sure", which she had interpreted as "Yes, Jill. I surely agree with your opinion". Then he called Barry fifteen minutes later.
She made her decision. Chris was getting obsessed with this and needed someone to watch his back. So what if she had to go behind it to do it. Besides, if he caught her on the phone with the RLF, she could say she was just checking in with them.
She hit their number on the speed dial. She let it ring five times, then hung up. She dialed again, this time letting it ring three times before hanging up. The third time she called, she got an answer on the first ring.
"Password please."
"Oh, for Christ's sake," she said in exasperation. "You do know this is how stereotypes about nerds get formed?"
"Password please."
"Which one is this? Dennis or Wayne?"
"It's Clark, Jill." He sounded a little wounded that she hadn't recognized his voice.
"Oh, Clark. Yeah, sorry I didn't know it was you. I've had a rough day." Jill thought she heard a sigh a relief on the other end of the line. "Listen, Clark. This is really important."
"Everything we do is important."
"Um, yeah, sure. Anyway, I need you guys to do an exceedingly thorough background check on someone for me. I'm talking the height of anal-retentiveness here."
"Be careful what you wish for. You got a time frame?"
"I need it in a couple of days." Jill hoped Chris would at least wait until Barry came back before agreeing to anything.
"Oh, a challenge. That's cool. Wayne and I've been playing around the FBI..."
"Please don't finish that sentence. I used to be sort of a cop, you know."
"Yeah, but you don't give us attitude like that red-haired guy. So, what you got?"
"Just a name, Ada Wong."
"Is it too much to hope for that that's her real name?"
"Probably. She works for some nameless evil company as a spy or something."
"This just gets better and better. Physical description?"
"I've never actually seen her, but Leon's described her to me. Dark hair, dark eyes. Slightly Asian looking. Medium height."
"How vague."
"If I see her, I'll take a picture and have her write her social security number on the back."
"Get a copy of her driver's license too."
"This isn't funny, Clark. I need to know everything about this woman that I can."
"Life and death stuff, huh?"
"Yes."
"Leave everything to us."
"Right." She hung up the phone not feeling any better than before. She was depending on the RLF now. Things were getting really desperate.
***
Leon and Claire drove back to the townhouse in silence. After leaving the facility, Ada had gone back to wherever it was that she stayed with a promise to call Leon tomorrow. Claire had wanted Leon to mention meeting with her brother to Ada, but Leon told her he didn't want to push her considering what had happened. That led to a small disagreement between the two that consisted mostly of sarcastic comments from Claire about how poor, widdle Ada had been so deeply traumatized. Thankfully, Ada had been getting into her Miata and hadn't heard any of it.
They left soon after and hadn't spoken since. Leon sensed that something more than the Hunters was bothering Claire. He figured he might as well extend the olive branch. "I know you don't like Ada or anything, so I thought what you said back in the office was pretty big on your part. You know, when I was questioning her about the Hunters and you tried to..."
"I know, Leon." She said quietly.
"I trust her. I do. And I just think if you get to know her better, you will too."
"You mean as well as you do? Cut the crap, Leon. I saw that look on your face when she was going on about her stupid Company. You thought she was this misunderstood soul who needed your help and the second she slipped into Ice Queen mode, you lost faith."
Leon tried to explain. "It's complicated. Ada's a complicated person. You can't judge somebody like that just because they don't react how you would."
"And you can't judge somebody because they wear a tight, black catsuit," Claire snapped back, a lot more harshly than she intended.
After several attempts to form a cogent response, Leon gave up. He couldn't keep having this argument over and over, whether it be with himself or Claire. He had made his decision about Ada. Now, he just needed to believe in it.
***
Author's Notes - Ah, the real chapter IV. Sorry about the screwed up chapters. It's just when one sees an error message that explicitly states that the chapter did not upload, one tends to try to load again. Go figure. I'd like to apologize to my friends Clark, Wayne and Dennis for using their names for the RLF. They're not really nerdy conspiracy theorists, they just look like ones. Next up - Ada, meet the gang. Gang, meet Ada. And Barry complains some more.
Chapter IV
Claire hit the ground with an ungraceful thud, but quickly recovered. She rose to her knees and brought her gun to bare in one fluid motion. The Hunter stood swaying before her, apparently thrown off-balance by her dodge. The shot to her side was simply luck on the Hunter's part. Claire wasn't about to let it get another chance. She fired two shots to its head in rapid succession, felling the Hunter.
She had no time to celebrate her victory. The other Hunter was still in the room. She heard its breathing but couldn't make out its location. She remained crouched down, shuffling sideways as quietly as she could, trying to avoid the pooling blood of the dead Hunter while searching for the one that remained.
The sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway caught the attention of both her and the Hunter. Leon and Ada were coming but Claire wasn't sure when they'd finally reach the office. The Hunter didn't want to wait for victims. It let out a screech and jumped across several desks before landing in front of the door. Claire calmly stood up behind it. The Hunter felt the pressure of a gun barrel on the back of its head and then the back of its head was sliding down the glass front of the door.
Claire was nauseated, but relieved. She couldn't hear any more raspy breathing or thumping sounds. There were no more Hunters in the vicinity. She looked at the bodies on the floor. Claire couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right. Those two hadn't put up much of fight as far as Hunters were concerned. Already, the pain in her side where the one had hit her had receded. A small bruise would be the only sign of the attack. It didn't make sense. Both Hunters had had a clear shot at her from behind, but only one really went after her. Not that she was complaining, but Claire felt she had gotten off rather easy this time. Too easy.
"I see you've been decorating." Ada entered the room with a look of disgust on her face. The look deepened when she caught the scent coming from the rear office. She stepped over the Hunter's body as lightly as she could. Claire noticed her gun was still securely in its holster.
Claire pointed out the lack of preparedness on Ada's part. "You were going to come rushing to my aid with what exactly? Acidic bon mots?"
"I heard you yell 'Hunter' and then when I was in the hallway, I heard gunshots. Since Umbrella's monsters don't generally 'pack heat', I assumed that you were taking care of yourself," Ada said impatiently.
Yeah, because you've shown you have so much respect for me and my abilities, you knew I'd be okay Claire sarcastically thought to herself. She didn't say anything more to Ada though. She didn't think it was worth it to get into a fight.
Leon rushed into the room then. His gun was drawn, concern showed on his face. He looked from Claire to the Hunters and back to Claire again. "What the hell happened here?"
Claire smiled to assure him that everything was all right. "I guess it's just a good day for old friends to drop in," she said wearily.
Ada frowned. She wondered if Claire had deliberately compared her to the Hunters. Leon didn't seem to notice, but he did look to Ada.
"I thought you said this place would be empty."
"What?" Ada cocked her head to one side. She didn't detect an accusation in Leon's tone, but she didn't like the statement regardless. Not leaving an ambiguity in her tone, she said firmly, "I thought it was empty. Why would I have any reason to suspect there would be Hunters or anything else here? According to my sources, this place has been abandoned for months."
"Oh, the section you volunteered to search was empty." Claire said it softly enough that all Leon and Ada heard was a mumble. When the two turned towards her, Claire just shrugged her shoulders. As much as she wanted to repeat it, Claire thought better of it. She didn't like Ada. She sure as hell didn't trust Ada. But she had to tolerate the woman for now and she figured she should try to do it with as much restraint as possible. Starting now.
Foregoing the cynical remark she had planned, Claire instead tried to smooth things over. "We all thought there wouldn't be anything here. And, well, it looks like we were all wrong. I came up with two Hunters and whatever is making that smell in that office over there. Did you two find anything?"
Leon shook his head no. Ada used silence as her reply.
"Okay then." Claire pointed to the office behind her and asked, "Who wants to be the lucky one to play 'Name That Stench'?"
Again, Claire was greeted by silence. Finally, Leon headed towards the remains of the inner door. Claire took a deep breath with her mouth and followed. Ada trailed her, looking less than enthused. After picking their way through shattered glass and splintered wood, they came to the source of the odor.
It was a third Hunter. What remained of its body was in a state of decomposition. Large tracts of missing flesh ran up and down the corpse, surrounded by claw and tooth marks. With no other food to sustain them, Darwinian law had kicked in and the two stronger Hunters had eaten their weaker companion.
Without a word, the three revulsed humans withdrew from the room to the more hospitable hallway. They were all thinking variations of the same questions - how had the Hunters gotten there and how long had they been waiting.
***
"It's me, Barry." Chris didn't get an answer. He knew it wasn't his cell phone's fault. "Come on, Barry..."
"I heard you, Redfield. Fuck. What do you want now?"
"You need to get back here."
"I knew this wasn't a courtesy call. Jesus, Chris, I just got here an hour ago. I just can't head back."
"We got a break, Barry, a big one. We can't let it go."
"You're not hearing me. I just got home. I'm with my kids. I'm with my wife."
"Then explain it to them..."
"Fuck off, Redfield. You tell my girls why they never get to see their daddy."
"We all have to make sacrifices..."
"So says the man who gets to have his girlfriend and baby sister around him twenty-four seven."
"We are in this together, Barry."
"Together, huh? Is that why you're always giving orders?"
"I don't have time for this shit, Barry. We've got an opening here. If we use it, you can spend all the time you want with your family. A few more weeks for the rest of your life, that's a damn good exchange."
"Shit..."
"Come on, Barry."
"I'll be there in a few days."
"A few days? I said..."
Click.
***
"I'm starting to think Jill's on to something with that whole vegetarian thing. I mean, red meat's supposed to be so bad for you anyway. I hate seafood already and chicken's kinda bland..." Claire wasn't talking to anyone in particular. She just wanted to think of anything except the events of the last ten minutes.
Unfortunately, Leon wasn't thinking of anything but. "I don't get it. What the hell would Hunters be doing here?" he said in frustration. "They had to of been here for awhile. The one in the office has been dead for days and the two Claire killed didn't exactly look like they were in great condition either."
"No kidding," Claire agreed. "But I can't knock a gift horse and all that crap. Still, something seems really off about this whole thing. The Hunters must've been planted recently or they would have died of starvation. But it couldn't have been too recently or they wouldn't have gotten the munchies on their friend."
For her part, Ada didn't seem to be listening. She was lost in her own train of thought. She had her theory about the origin and purpose of the Hunters. She just wasn't sure how much she should share with Leon and Claire. The Redfield girl didn't trust her - that much was obvious - but, if everything was going to go according to plan, she would eventually need change that. Claire had already taken a baby-step towards being civil to her, the least Ada could do was reciprocate.
"The Company put them here," Ada announced.
"Your company, not Umbrella."
"Yes, Leon. My Company."
"And they would do that because..."
"Because, Ms. Redfield, I think they were trying to test me."
Claire laughed. "And I thought finals were a bitch." She didn't know how to take this latest tidbit from Ada. Her instincts had been screaming "set-up" all along, but she hadn't considered that Ada may have been the one being set-up. She just assumed she and Leon were the ones being played. She was the one who got the room with the Hunters while Ada took the empty storage areas. But Ada hadn't known that she was going to be here tonight. And she hadn't been very happy when she first saw Claire either. Ada's mysterious Company may be powerful, but they certainly weren't precognizant. Claire had to concede there was a chance that Ada was right.
Leon's frustration was growing. "Testing you? They toss you in a building with a bunch of Hunters and call it a test? What kind of sick bastards do you work for, Ada?"
Ada was glad to hear the rage in Leon's voice. Not only did he believe her, he was being protective towards her too. "Yes, this was a test," she explained calmly. "The Company has no use for a weak field agent. It's a risk to them. I've already failed on one important mission and neither the Company nor I myself can afford to let that happen again. The Company was gracious enough to give me a second chance - something they just do not do for everyone - and they want to make damn sure that I can get the job done."
Claire was taken aback by the matter-of-factness of Ada's tone. She could have been killed tonight, but she was acting like this was just some kind of performance review she needed to go through before getting a promotion. There was being cool under fire and then there was being a fucking iceberg. Claire was getting a distinctly Arctic vibe from Ada.
Leon picked up on it too. Before, in Raccoon City, he had actually admired Ada's composed demeanor. In the face of the nightmare all around them, she never gave into fear. He thought it had been a show of how much she wanted to live. Panic in that situation meant death, so she had erected a cool façade to get her through. But listening to her now, rationally describing why her employers would try to kill her, doubts started to creep in. A few hours ago, she had seemed so vulnerable and open to him. There was no trace of that in the woman who stood before him.
Ada noticed the shift in mood of her two companions. They were both looking at her now like she was worse than the Hunters. She knew they wouldn't be reacting that way if she was being emotional and weak about the situation. Ada found it ironic and annoying that a quality that had gotten her through her less than easy life would be getting her into trouble now. Sometimes, being so damned practical isn't very practical at all she told herself. But if they want pathos, I guess I have to give it to them.
"I know it sounds horrible...no, it is horrible...but that's how these people operate." Ada said. A slight shakiness was added to her voice before continuing. "That's why I won't give you their name. That's why, more than anything, I want to get away from them. This is how I've spent the last six months of my life - living on the whim of a group of people who value money and power a hell of a lot more than human life. I'm sorry if I seem a little...cold...to you, but that's the only way I've been able to keep my sanity."
Ada stopped, either unwilling or unable to say more. Leon, feeling guilty for having doubted her, went over to comfort her. "Come on," he said reassuringly. "Let's get a tissue sample from the Hunters and then just get out of here." Ada nodded her head in agreement. Her face had more color in it, her eyes seemed to shine.
As Leon set to work on the bodies of the Hunters, Claire debated amongst herself if she had just witnessed a bit of humanity in Ada Wong or proof that the woman was more devious and calculating than she had originally given her credit for.
***
Jill stared at her phone. She wanted to make the call, but at the same time, felt doing so would be going behind Chris' back. Not that he hadn't already done that with her. She told him not to call Barry, that he should wait a few more days until they had more information on Ada Wong and her plan. She didn't see any point in dragging Barry away from his family if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Chris had said "Yeah, Jill. Sure", which she had interpreted as "Yes, Jill. I surely agree with your opinion". Then he called Barry fifteen minutes later.
She made her decision. Chris was getting obsessed with this and needed someone to watch his back. So what if she had to go behind it to do it. Besides, if he caught her on the phone with the RLF, she could say she was just checking in with them.
She hit their number on the speed dial. She let it ring five times, then hung up. She dialed again, this time letting it ring three times before hanging up. The third time she called, she got an answer on the first ring.
"Password please."
"Oh, for Christ's sake," she said in exasperation. "You do know this is how stereotypes about nerds get formed?"
"Password please."
"Which one is this? Dennis or Wayne?"
"It's Clark, Jill." He sounded a little wounded that she hadn't recognized his voice.
"Oh, Clark. Yeah, sorry I didn't know it was you. I've had a rough day." Jill thought she heard a sigh a relief on the other end of the line. "Listen, Clark. This is really important."
"Everything we do is important."
"Um, yeah, sure. Anyway, I need you guys to do an exceedingly thorough background check on someone for me. I'm talking the height of anal-retentiveness here."
"Be careful what you wish for. You got a time frame?"
"I need it in a couple of days." Jill hoped Chris would at least wait until Barry came back before agreeing to anything.
"Oh, a challenge. That's cool. Wayne and I've been playing around the FBI..."
"Please don't finish that sentence. I used to be sort of a cop, you know."
"Yeah, but you don't give us attitude like that red-haired guy. So, what you got?"
"Just a name, Ada Wong."
"Is it too much to hope for that that's her real name?"
"Probably. She works for some nameless evil company as a spy or something."
"This just gets better and better. Physical description?"
"I've never actually seen her, but Leon's described her to me. Dark hair, dark eyes. Slightly Asian looking. Medium height."
"How vague."
"If I see her, I'll take a picture and have her write her social security number on the back."
"Get a copy of her driver's license too."
"This isn't funny, Clark. I need to know everything about this woman that I can."
"Life and death stuff, huh?"
"Yes."
"Leave everything to us."
"Right." She hung up the phone not feeling any better than before. She was depending on the RLF now. Things were getting really desperate.
***
Leon and Claire drove back to the townhouse in silence. After leaving the facility, Ada had gone back to wherever it was that she stayed with a promise to call Leon tomorrow. Claire had wanted Leon to mention meeting with her brother to Ada, but Leon told her he didn't want to push her considering what had happened. That led to a small disagreement between the two that consisted mostly of sarcastic comments from Claire about how poor, widdle Ada had been so deeply traumatized. Thankfully, Ada had been getting into her Miata and hadn't heard any of it.
They left soon after and hadn't spoken since. Leon sensed that something more than the Hunters was bothering Claire. He figured he might as well extend the olive branch. "I know you don't like Ada or anything, so I thought what you said back in the office was pretty big on your part. You know, when I was questioning her about the Hunters and you tried to..."
"I know, Leon." She said quietly.
"I trust her. I do. And I just think if you get to know her better, you will too."
"You mean as well as you do? Cut the crap, Leon. I saw that look on your face when she was going on about her stupid Company. You thought she was this misunderstood soul who needed your help and the second she slipped into Ice Queen mode, you lost faith."
Leon tried to explain. "It's complicated. Ada's a complicated person. You can't judge somebody like that just because they don't react how you would."
"And you can't judge somebody because they wear a tight, black catsuit," Claire snapped back, a lot more harshly than she intended.
After several attempts to form a cogent response, Leon gave up. He couldn't keep having this argument over and over, whether it be with himself or Claire. He had made his decision about Ada. Now, he just needed to believe in it.
***
Author's Notes - Ah, the real chapter IV. Sorry about the screwed up chapters. It's just when one sees an error message that explicitly states that the chapter did not upload, one tends to try to load again. Go figure. I'd like to apologize to my friends Clark, Wayne and Dennis for using their names for the RLF. They're not really nerdy conspiracy theorists, they just look like ones. Next up - Ada, meet the gang. Gang, meet Ada. And Barry complains some more.
