Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 7

"Was that really necessary? I could arrest you for trespassing, home invasion, assault, assaulting a police officer!" Leon struggled to stand up. He picked his gun up off the ground. "What are you doing here?" He aimed it back at her.

"Oh put that away." She rolled her eyes.

He kept his gun up. "I will arrest you if you don't start talking."

"Leon, I need your help." You're the only other person I can trust in this city." She walked towards the window and scanned the outside.

His aim followed her. "What makes you think that I'll trust you? You haven't been exactly the easiest to find, not to mention the number one suspect in a murder case. I should cuff you."

"If you bring me in, Umbrella will have me killed."

"The pharmaceutical company? What about them?" Leon lowered his weapon a little.

"Let's go." She walked out of the room and to the front door.

"What?" Leon followed her. "Where are we going?"

She remained silent and walked out of the apartment and started down the stairs. "If she tries anything funny, I'll cuff her. I hate when women do this, can't she just get to the point?" They exited the building and she opened the passenger door of his jeep and got in. "Hey, you have to give me some answers before we go anywhere." He opened the driver door and got comfortable.

She pulled out her phone and opened up her photos. She turned it to him. On screen was a picture of a vial. "You see this? It's a chemical that could potentially harm a lot of people. Now drive and I'll tell you more."

He turned on his jeep and started driving. "What does it do? How do you know about this?"

"I got a tip from the people I work with." She signaled to him to take a left.

"And Ben?"

"He was a lead; dead when I got there. It must've been the same people that got John."

"So, you expect me to believe that you're magically connected to both murders based on coincidence?" He turned his head to her and she shrugged. They continued to drive for a while until he said something again. "Say I do believe you, where are we going right now? At least tell me that."

"We're almost there Leon, just take a right up here." Leon turned down a long street, there was a construction yard up ahead. "See that parking meter? Park next to it." He pulled off the street and parked.

"No more games. What are we doing here?" It was pitch black outside, not a soul up or down the street.

"Leon how much do you trust who runs Raccoon City? Someone like the police chief for example?"

"Well to be honest, he's kind of a dick. Gives me the creeps." He thought about Chief Irons, he wasn't someone he'd want to work directly under. The guy was loud and big, his face screamed pedophile to Leon. "But that's between us."

"But do you trust him?" She returned to her phone.

"Well yeah of course, he's the chief. He didn't get this far on handouts I imagine. Supposedly he was big back in his day, several busts and what not."

Ada showed him another photo. "This is Irons meeting with some representatives from Umbrella." He was in the back of a limousine with two other guys. The angle of the photo made it hard to see the two men, but Leon could make out Irons pretty clearly.

"How do you have this? Aren't you just a lawyer?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Leon, I could lose my job for this but, I feel like I can trust you." She reached into her bag and pulled out a badge. "I'm undercover, FBI."

Now he was really confused. "Why are you trusting me? I'm just a rookie police officer, surely there's other people at the station more capable of working with an undercover FBI agent."

"I like you Leon, you seem like an honorable guy. You can't trust your station either, it's very likely tapped. Someone like Irons is bound to have others on his similar payroll. Umbrella has controlled Raccoon City for years. You and I are going to expose them."

"So, John, he was your "in" at Umbrella? And now he's dead. How do I know they won't come after me next?"

"We keep this under wraps, everything stays between the two of us. If Umbrella gets any word I'm back in in the city, they'll start a manhunt for me. Which is why you play a big role in this too. You need to keep me out of the books for right now. Whatever evidence you can bring me in on, ignore it. Search other leads. Just find a way to halt your progress until you and I can get in and expose them."

What she was asking was a big dilemma that would go against his oath as an officer. "What if they discover him? That he's been lying to cover her? What if she's lying?" He thought back to Irons, there's nothing worse than a crooked cop. "Okay Ada, I'll do it. On one condition, no more late-night manhandling." As he said it, he realized his poor choice of words. "I mean no late night-."

She interrupted him. "I got it, I'll call you beforehand. Answer your email and we wouldn't have had this problem." She rolled her eyes again.

He scratched his head. "Anyways what are we doing here?"

"Follow me." She got out of his jeep and he followed. They walked over towards the construction yard, it was lined with wire fencing and do not enter signs. From what Leon could tell, it was empty, and nobody was there.

"What are you doing? This is trespassing."

"Think of this as for the greater good Leon." She climbed the fence and dropped over.

He let out a sigh. "I'm going to get fired for this." He climbed and dropped after her. They made their way across the open lot and towards an area full of sewer pipes. "Where are we going?"

"Umbrella has a secret facility underground, they've been working on their products down here and shipping them up to the main facility for testing. When I went with John to the main facility, I discovered years' worth of unfinished experiments. They all started down here." She walked into a large sewer pipe. It started out dry but as they got further in, the smells started to seep into Leon's nose and shoes.

"That's gross." He gagged a little.

"You'll be fine." She let out a little laugh.

"How can they run an entire facility down here without anyone knowing?"

"Remember, they run this city, politicians, news reporters, there's always someone on their payroll. Chief Irons is there latest bag from what I can tell." The tunnel came to a halt, there was a drop off point. She went to the side of the drop off and descended down a ladder. "We're about there."

Leon hopped off the ladder and followed her further. They reached a metal door; the Umbrella logo was in the center of it. Next to it was a digital panel that said, "Access Denied." He looked around for any other way in but was to no avail.

"Shit. This wasn't locked last time." She folded her arms. "Well let's go back, they'll be running security checks through here in a couple hours and it's best we don't get caught by one."

Leon checked his watch, it was getting late anyways. He still had to sleep, work, and help Claire move in later. "Alright then. I'm going to want more answers though Ada, you haven't given me too much to go on here."

"You have enough for now Leon, just know that Umbrella is bad, and they want to hurt people, ironically. We'll find a way in to that facility at some point but let's dig up more stuff later."

"Okay fine." They made their way back out of the sewers, they both remained silent for the most part till they were back inside the jeep.

"So where should I drop you off at?" Leon asked.

"Drop me off? Leon I'll need to stay with you until this whole thing blows itself out into the open." Now she raised an eyebrow.

"What? Are you serious? I'm supposed to be helping my-." He didn't' know what to call Claire. "-Friend, move in with me."

"Leon this is the case of a lifetime, we can't have anyone getting in the way of this."

"Shit…" He was in a sticky situation now, he really wanted to help Claire and he couldn't make out his feelings for her. "The trouble with women…" He thought to himself and for the second time tonight, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay fine but you can't interfere with her and I, got it?"

"Oh, so it's a lady? Is Mr. Kennedy interested in her?" Now she was just being playful, as if her mood turned completely one-eighty.

"What? No, it's not like that I-. It's none of your business." He pulled up next to the curb of his apartment and got out. They went back upstairs and sat down at his small kitchen table. "Some rules need to be set, just cause we're working together on this, does not mean I fully trust you. That means no snooping into my private life or my room. I leave at seven-thirty-ish for work, when I get back varies so don't make a mess of the house while I'm gone. And don't eat everything."

"Sir, yes sir." She mocked him.

He had one question for right now. "Ada, how long do you think we'll be on this case?"

She took a moment before speaking. "I'm not sure, could be a day, week, a month. I'm honestly not sure yet."

"Okay well, the couch pulls out so help yourself. Blankets are already next to it. They were supposed to be for Claire."

"Sorry Leon, your girlfriend would understand though so don't take it too much to heart."

"She's not my-. Whatever, goodnight Ada." He got up and went to his bedroom and shut the door. He was tired and had to be up in a couple of hours for work. All he wanted was sleep and for this case to be over already.

The next morning, he woke up and got ready quickly. When he went into the living room, he noticed the couch hadn't been pulled out, nor were the blankets touched. Ada was gone. He looked onto the kitchen counter and noticed a note.

"Be back soon…" It was signed with a heart. He crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash. He went over to the door and tied his shoe laces then grabbed his bag and was out the door.

The first couple hours of work were boring, he tried to think of other things to bring to Chris, so it didn't look like he was slacking on the case. Eventually a new case would come about and this one would be left in the drawer along with other cold cases. It wouldn't be too great a record for Leon but within due time, his and Ada's efforts would solve an even larger case. Something like this could land him closer to being in Stars. He checked his phone, no new messages or calls from Ada. He started coming up with excuses he would have to tell Claire. "I'm sorry but a psychopathic FBI agent is staying with me now and she can't be around people, I'm sorry but there's another person I need to stay with me right now, I'm sorry but my landlord won't let me have another person living with me right now." The last one was probably his best bet. It would let her know that eventually she could stay with him. He hoped it wouldn't' hurt her feelings. He dialed her number, after a few moments there was a pickup.

"Hello? Leon?" Her voice sounded ambient and excited.

"Claire, hey so I just spoke with my landlord and-." He hesitated. "We're all set for tonight!"

"Okay that's great Leon! I'll be over at six! Gotta run, bye!"

"Okay bye-." She hung up. "Shit, what did I just do." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Ada can stay with me too, they both can, right? No, they both can't. Just one. Claire, it has to be her. Her college is important to her and work. Dammit! I hope Ada is home by now." He packed up his bag and checked the clock. It was only one o'clock. He walked into Marvin's office before leaving. "Hey sir, I'm not feeling great, I think it might be the flu." He covered his stomach then his mouth.

"Oh damn, well you best be getting home then. Flu is hitting everyone right now, Jo-jo just called in earlier. Feel better Kennedy."

"Thank you, sir." He made his way out of the office.

When he finally made it home, his apartment was still empty. There was another note on the kitchen table however.

"Leon, I'm following another lead. I might be gone a day or two. Sorry for the short hiccup. Talk soon…" Signed again with another heart. He again threw it away and laid down on the couch.

"Is she just playing games now? What if she gets back and Claire sees her? We just started working together and now she's already leaving for days on end. Women…" He closed his eyes and rested. When he opened them again it was to the sound of his doorbell. "There's no freaking way, I just went to sleep." He checked the clock and sure enough it was six-thirty. He went over and opened the door.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late! Took longer to finishing packing then I thought." Leon rubbed his eyes as he finally took in what he was seeing. She had on a red leather jacket and black tank-top underneath. She wore her regular pair of jeans with boots.

"it's alright Claire, you look great."

"Oh, thanks Leon!" She dragged a suitcase across the floor into the living room, she took her backpack off her back and set it next to the couch. "Did you just wake up?"

"Is it that obvious?" He laughed.

"Just a little. Hey, I have more stuff downstairs in the cab, will you help me grab it?"

"Of course!" They walked out of the apartment and downstairs outside to a guy unloading two more suitcases out of the trunk of his cab.

"Thank you so much sir." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty and handed it to him. "You can keep the change." She smiled at him.

"Oh, you are very kind mam. You two have a wonderful night." He got back into his cab and drove off. They finished taking the luggage upstairs and finally sat down on the couch.

"Well that's out of the way now."

"Yeah maybe tomorrow we can drop by the furniture store and we can buy you a small dresser that way you don't have to live out of suitcases for the next couple months."

She turned herself and put one leg up on the couch to face Leon. "Yeah that would be awesome, but don't you think a dresser in the living room is a bit tacky?" She laughed.

"Only if you think about it too hard." He smiled.

For a second the room was quiet, they both just kind of stared at each other.

"Claire there's been something I've been meaning to ask you about-." Claire reached for Leon and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Does that answer your question by any chance?" She smirked at him playfully.

"Yeah sort of, I-." His phone buzzed rapidly. "I'm so sorry I think it might be work." He sighed and pulled out his phone, it was an unknown number. Reluctantly he accepted. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Leon it's me." It was Ada's voice. "Something's happened…"