Just My Luck
Prologue
The wind breezed through the open window as he forked another morsel of food into his mouth. "Mmm, I'll have to reward Jacob for this. This is absolutely delightful." As he raised his napkin to clean his lips, he heard on a knock on his door. He frowned and threw the napkin onto the table; no one disturbed him while eating. "This had better be important."
A young man dressed in a long robe nervously entered the dining room, dimly lit by the assorted candles that were set about the room. "S...sir, I'm very sorry to interrupt your meal, but we have news from our Spanish outpost, sir." The man smiled and took a sip from his chalice.
"What is it?"
The young man looked at him, afraid to speak. The man growled and set his chalice on the table. "I suggest you spit it out, Demetrius, before I begin to lose my patience." Demetrius looked at him, clearing his throat and shifting his hands restlessly.
"Sir, the Spanish outpost...I've just received word that it was completely destroyed. Lord Saddler is dead, as is Salazar and that American who joined our cause." The man's brow furrowed as he leaned forward over the table.
"What about the labs?" Demetrius shook his head.
"The entire island has gone up in flames. We don't believe there's anything left."
The man sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "What of the special sample that Sera took?" Demetrius shrugged, unable to answer.
"Lord Saddler did send word that he retrieved the sample from Sera, but we have no idea if it was stolen again or destroyed along with the rest of the island. As soon as the flames die down, we will send a team to inspect every inch of the island."
"Who did this?" Demetrius looked at his master, puzzled by his request.
"Excuse me?" The man growled and slammed his fist on the table sending its contents into the air and clattering to the floor.
"Demetrius, I am growing very tired of your imbecility! Who destroyed the island!" he exclaimed loudly. Demetrius shuffled nervously and tried his best to calm down.
"We don't know yet, sir. All we know is what Lord Saddler sent to us in his weekly report. It appears the Americans sent an agent to retrieve the girl that Lord Saddler had kidnapped."
"Impossible. One man could not even defeat Bittores, let alone kill Salazar, the American, Saddler, and destroy the entire island. They must have sent a team of men and only one survived."
"Well, I beg your pardon, my Lord, but Lord Saddler made it quite clear that the Americans sent one man." The man shook his head before waving his hand at Demetrius. "As soon as the fire is dead, send two teams; one to inspect the island, the other to check the castle and that nearby village. Anything that can be salvaged, I want brought back here immediately, understand?" Demetrius nodded before bowing and turning to leave the room. "Oh, and one more thing, Demetrius," he said, stopping Demetrius at the door.
"Sir?"
"Contact Marco. Tell him to see if he can find anything on this agent that the Americans supposedly sent." With a quick nod, Demetrius left the room, allowing the door to close with a loud click.
The man sighed before picking up his fork and starting to eat again before he stopped and threw the fork onto the plate.
"Perfect. Now I've lost my appetite."
"Hang on, ma'am. We're coming through some rough turbulence, so I suggest you strap yourself in." The woman nodded and pulled the restraining device over her, securing it with a click. Her eyes drifted over to the side of her and landed on a small case, a large biohazard symbol adorning its face.
The rough air blew through the open helicopter, whipping her short black hair over her face. Great. Looks I need to cut my hair again, she thought to herself as the machine's engines began to whine. The helicopter shuddered as it began its sudden descent into the large base, jerking her around in her harness roughly. She glanced outside of the chopper and saw the ground beneath them as the machine finally set down on the helipad.
"Nice landing, ace," she said sarcastically as she released her harness.
"Sorry ma'am. First day on the job." She chuckled as she grabbed the case and hopped out of the helicopter, the whirring blades above her just starting to slow down, but still giving off a strong wind. "Well, be careful. This place isn't exactly kind to newcomers."
The pilot chuckled and tossed his helmet to the passenger side of the helicopter before opening the hatch and climbing out himself. "Thanks, ma'am. I'll remember that." He gave a quick salute before turning back to his machine and began his post-flight check of the equipment.
She turned around just in time to see a group of scientists clad in white rushing towards her. "Have you retrieved the samples?" a scientist, who appeared to be the leader, asked excitedly. With a roll of her eyes she held the case up.
"Obviously. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to come back empty-handed? But you're not going to see them. I answer only to Wesker. Where is he?" The lead scientist folded his arms and pointed up to a tall building in the middle of the large complex.
"Where else? He's in that control room. He's been waiting for you."
"Good. I'm sure after Wesker's done with it, you can have all the fun you want with it." With a nod, she left the group of scientists and headed into the large complex. As she entered the medical facility, she shuddered at the horrors this company had created.
Walking across the metal walkway high above the facility, she had a birds-eye view of the B.O.W.s that they had created, or Bio-Organic Weapons. Rows and rows of tanks held Hunters, Tyrants, Zombies, Crimson Heads. They had even figured out to mass produce the Lickers, even if they were created entirely by mistake.
She continued through the facility, climbing flights of stairs, giving half-hearted greetings to the workers there before she finally stopped in front of a large, white door. With a sigh, she stepped forward, the door automatically opening with a loud hiss.
The room was dark, lit only by the numerous video screens that littered the wall. Geez, I knew he liked to be in the know, but this is ridiculous. A large black chair sat in front of her, sitting in front of a table, its back to her. "So, how was your trip, Ada?"
His voice was low, barely audible throughout the control room, yet held a very commanding tone to it. Ada shrugged and placed the case on the table between them. "It was a little bumpy, but overall I thought it was ok."
He chuckled, his back still to her. "Did you enjoy your reunion with your old friend?" Ada stepped back for a moment, surprised that he knew, but quickly regained her composure. "Don't worry. I'm glad that you let him know that you're working for me. You just alleviated my plans quite a bit for letting him live, and for that, I believe you deserve a reward."
Ada looked at his back strangely. People weren't exactly thrilled to receive a "reward" from Wesker, unless they were demented psychos who wanted to become a B.O.W. themselves. "I think I'll have to decline, Wesker. You know how I feel about injecting people with those 'abilities'," she said, preparing for the worst from him.
"Oh no. Those abilities are wasted on you, so I have something special in mind," he chuckled, whirling around in his chair to reveal himself to her. With a finger, he pushed his sunglasses up on the bridge of his nose and grinned.
"But first, tell me what you've observed about this parasite..."
"Agent Kennedy?" Leon awoke from the rough shoving that the woman above him was giving him. "Agent Kennedy, I know its boring having to wait for your debriefing, but you cannot fall asleep." Leon rolled his eyes at her and leaned back in his seat. She had no idea what he had been through in the past week. Escaping from that hellhole in Spain, traveling all the way back to Washington; he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a week. Hell, he hadn't even been to his own apartment yet.
Yet here he was in the White House, waiting for his debriefing. He had to nearly bribe the agents there to let him take a shower and change into fresh clothes. "Agent Kennedy, are you even listening to me?"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. No sleeping. How much longer am I gonna have to wait out here?" The young secretary shrugged and strolled back over to her desk.
"It should be any minute now." Leon scoffed and rested his head on his hand.
"That's what you said almost half an hour ago." He shifted his weight, feeling his Blacktail rub against his chest. He smiled and patted the small firearm; how many had this thing saved his life in a jam? It was the only weapon from Spain that he had left; the Secret Service confiscated the rest of his weapons as soon as he touched down on American soil with Ashley. You'd think I'd be able to at least keep a souvenir for saving Ashley, he thought cynically.
Ashley...he hadn't seen her since they arrived back in Washington; as soon as the chopper set down, the Secret Service burst in and took her too, saying they needed to take her to the hospital for a check-up. His thoughts were interrupted as the telephone rang loudly throughout the empty waiting room.
The secretary picked up the receiver and nodded before placing it back down. "Agent Kennedy, the President will see you now." It's about damn time, he thought to himself as he rose from the chair and walked through the double doors. The Oval Office was filled with men in suits, staring directly at him.
"Agent Kennedy, I'd like for you to meet my cabinet. I thank you very much for the return of my daughter, and I am deeply indebted to you," an older man who appeared to be in his fifties said from behind a desk. His temples were starting to gray and his skin wrinkled slightly as he smiled at Leon. "I know it's been a very hellish week for you, so I'm going to make it as brief as possible.
"Mr. President, before we get started with the debriefing, I'd like to know how Ashley is doing." President Graham nodded as he pulled a file from under his desk and handed it to one of the members of his cabinet.
"Well, other than a bruise and a few cuts, she perfectly fine, thanks to you. Now, according to your report, Ashley's kidnapping was the fault of a religious cult, the Los Illuminados?" Leon nodded as President Graham continued. "Why were they after her?"
Leon cleared his throat. "Well sir, it was part of a conspiracy to take over the country. They were going to use Ashley in an assassination attempt on your life. In the resulting chaos, the Los Illuminados would come in and take over the country."
The cabinet chattered loudly about this before the President raised his hand for them to cease. "How exactly were they going to make my own daughter kill me? Brainwashing?" Leon chuckled.
"Excuse me, Agent Kennedy, but do you find something funny about this?" one of the cabinet members haughtily demanded.
"Yes, because if I told you, you wouldn't believe me anyway." President Graham leaned over his desk and folded his hands.
"Agent Kennedy, while this administration wasn't in office during the crackdown on Umbrella, I have seen files on their experiments. Trust me, right now you could suggest aliens or Elvis, and I would still believe you. Now what were they planning?"
With a deep breath, he explained the entire aspect of the Las Plagas and the Los Illuminados in front of the President and his cabinet. He even went into detail what exactly went on during his mission in Spain. By the time he finished his recollection, every man in the room was wide-eyed, unable to believe what he had explained.
"Well, Agent Kennedy, I'm sending a team to go back to Spain and check out the area. Now, obviously you've been through a lot. I would suggest that you go with them, but you need your rest. You can stay here in the States if you want."
Leon nodded. "Yeah, I'll want to stay here." The President nodded at his cabinet. "Hayes, I want you to prep a team immediately to go to Spain. Agent Kennedy, you're dismissed. You've got two weeks paid vacation." Leon looked at the President with surprise.
"Two weeks, sir?"
The President nodded.
"Yeah, two weeks. God knows you need it."