The letter arrived on Monday via normal mail delivery. This surprised Ashley; finding a letter marked with a Mandarin character in the stack of bills, ads, scams, and a political ad. Throwing out the junk and throwing the necessary evil onto the coffee table, she opened up the letter. As she expected, the standard size letter was mostly empty save for the middle section with a few short sentences.

Ashley:

The date is arranged. Thursday the 21st. Ten o'clock til five…six if Lester doesn't call. Invite your folks over on Wednesday and have them stay awhile to keep them from walking in on us later. I'll arrive by three knocks, a five second delay and then a single knock.

~ 'Wife'

Ada's handwriting had been improving, or she had regained her full strength to write without trembling. Ashley quickly rushed the letter into her bedroom and stuffed it in-between the mirror and makeup box to make sure no one would read it. Ada would appreciate that.

Ashley had to hold back from shouting out her joy. Finally! At long last, she and Ada were going to have a face-to-face meeting! And it took nearly two months! Ashley sat down at her desk and started to work on the plans for later. What would they do, besides talk about and play with Nai? Seven hours, hitting eight if lucky…short amount of time and Ashley needed to plan out everything to fill in every second.

Wednesday came and went. Her parents were annoying as usual, but Nai seemed to grow a liking for them. Ashley at least learned a few tips to make her job as a mother easier. And wanting to make sure they wouldn't make surprise visits, Ashley made sure they left with everything they came in so they wouldn't come back in and interrupt the two. If she had to pull the sick card to keep them away, Ashley would play it. This meeting meant a lot to her, and she wouldn't let her parents ruin it.

Thursday. Ashley hardly slept all night, getting only six hours of sleep. Oh well, she would go to bed early tonight after Ada left and Nai was given dinner and sent to bed. Ashley spent the morning tending to Nai's many needs and cleaning the apartment. She took her mail up to her room and waited in the chair facing the door with a small cup of tea.

Ten minutes after ten. Ashley had broken out into small beads of sweat, but then came three hard taps on the door. Ashley counted out 'Mississippi' seconds, and when she hit around six, came a single powerful knock on the door. Sighing a breath of relief and plastering on a huge smile, she rushed up to the door and swung open the door.

"Sssh." Was Ada's first physical word. "Not until you closed the door." The cloaked figure walked past Ashley and stood there waiting. Ashley closed the door and locked it. Once the familiar sound of the locks clicking, Ada promptly collapsed onto the couch and groaned. "I apologize." Muttered Ada. "I've been running around like a loon setting this whole thing up…"

"Hold on." Ashley waved her hand. Ashley went over to Ada and took off the cloak. Ada didn't resist and let Ashley remove her wet clothes. Ashley gulped as she noticed the amount of bandages and scars all over Ada. The spy had chosen to wear a sleeveless dress today, but it revealed the amount of damage she had been going through. A horrible thought passed through Ashley's mind. What if Ada had became infected? Would she honestly risk becoming apart of the living dead just to see her daughter?

"I thought we should discuss this." Started Ada as she moved herself to sit up. "Don't worry, I can't contract any zombification virus now. One close encounter in Raccoon City made sure of that." She rapped her fist gently against a shoulder bandage. "But when a zombie attacks, it hurts like a bitch." She chuckled before coughing.

"Need any medicine?" Ashley asked.

"Already stuffed." Ada shook her head. "I think I might be pushing what I take…but it's keeping the wounds from yelling in my face." Ada pointed to a wavy scar on her right leg. "Got that while escaping with Nai. Tore up my leg going through a plate glass window. No wonder I hate action movies, I live in reality…with actual zombies…" She groaned once more as she rolled her head. "Don't worry, I'll be fine within a few minutes. Still got to wait for the…stuff…to pass through my system."

It took about five minutes and two glasses of water to calm Ada down. Her breathing became more regular and she stopped fidgeting. "Do you need some new bandages?" Ashley then asked as Ada took a deep breath after finishing her glass.

"If you got enough to fix my chest." She pointed to a few loose strips poking out of her dress. "A Hunter, one of those nasty monsters, came close to tearing me in half. Remind me to get a shotgun, I heard those things are effective against them." She reached around to grab the zipper. "My research showed you have a minor in medicine. My wound requires some attention more than just wrapping it." She sighed as she got the zipper down, revealing her heavily bandaged and bloody chest. "I didn't have enough time to rush down to a clinic and get some treatment, and I hope you can handle this."

"S-sure." Ashley stuttered. "Are you okay-y with me seeing you…"

Ada replied by tearing off the bandage and allowing Ashley to see her messed up torso. While her breasts avoided taking damage, the underside and the part close to her stomach weren't so lucky. A three-clawed gash going three inches in seemed to glow red and threatened to blow out bloody chunks at any second. Ashley could see a small green streak going inside the topmost gash. Ada bit her lip as she could feel the wound swell now it had been exposed. "Ashley, I'm not asking you to perform surgery…just a patch job…just enough for me to keep going a few days until I find a place that will keep me safe." She laid down on the couch again. "Ashley, I know I ask you for a lot, but I…"

"Just lie still." Ashley ordered by shoving her palm out. "I'll get the first aid kit."

Ashley tore into the medicine cabinet and removed the kit from the back of the cabinet. Before returning to Ada, Ashley shoved a plastic bowl into the sink and turned on the tap to get hot water going and then ran into the laundry room and dug into the towel basket and found some white towels. Before getting to work, Ashley returned to the kitchen and retrieved her bowl of hot water and a pair of scissors. After returning the supplies to the living room, Ashley cleaned her hands thoroughly and put on some plastic gloves.

First, disinfecting. Ashley dabbed a towel into the water and motioned over to the statuesque Ada. She nodded. Ashley lightly rubbed the towel against the gash. Ada muttered out the pain as pain shot all through her. Ashley continued to wash as fast as she could. At least the wound looked better now and didn't look ready to bleed out. To keep the thing from bursting, Ashley took out the antimicrobial spray and covered the wound.

Now came the wrapping. Ashley remembered the pleading of her teacher; project, not seal. She started with the roll of elastic adhesive for the basic cover. After that, Ashley started to cut up the spare towels to serve as a through bandage. Two towels were sacrificed to protect the wound, one now and one later for the change. The whole process took ten minutes.

"That's all I'm trained to do with these materials." Ashley sighed as she removed the stained gloves. "It should keeping you going for a while…I'll change the dressing before you leave. Make sure to change it at least twice a day."

"Thank you." Ada sighed as she gently put her dress back on and zipped it as far as she could go without bumping against the dressing. "I apologize for not wearing a bra. It got slashed off and I haven't had time to find a replacement."

"It's fine." Ashley smiled and shook her head. "I've seen full naked bodies before. Apart of the whole medical training…thing "

Ada didn't respond, but got up on shaky legs. "I want to see Nai now." She started to walk down the hall towards the baby room. Ashley followed behind to make sure she didn't fall over or any other wounds didn't open up. Ada seemed to be doing better now but did have to lean against the wall for support. But she did manage to get herself into the baby's room soon enough.

"Hello." Ada sighed as she stared down onto her daughter. "It's been a while, Nai." She reached down into the crib and stroked Nai's head. Recognizing the character before her, Nai started to giggle and reach up for the person above her. Ada dived into the crib and held up her daughter and kissed her on forehead. Ashley let out a breath of relief as the meeting went off without a hitch.

"She remembers you." Ashley stated.

"Of course, I'm her mother." Ada laughed. "Is it time to feed her?"

"Not yet, but you can feed her favorite: peaches." Ashley nodded. "That's a hour from now, so why don't we sit down and talk for a bit?"

Ada nodded and took the baby out of the room with her back into the living room. Ashley motioned over to the couch as she started to clean up the medical supplies and removing the dirty bandages. She got out a black trash bag and threw in the old bandages and kept them down at the bottom so she could hide the bloody rags without someone noticing and asking questions. When she got back, she saw Ada bouncing Nai slightly. Ashley wondered if perhaps Ada learned that from material instincts or from some book or TV show or something. It did look a bit off a bit; Ada hadn't properly shouldered the baby.

As the hours passed, Ada felt herself getting comfortable in this environment. She didn't need to look behind her every minute or so and so the pistol she stored in a hidden pocket in her dress. All her fears were diminished within the passing of a single hour; Nai remembered her mother despite only spending only a few days following her birth and Ashley supported Ada the whole way through and didn't make any fuss. The two adults played games with the giggling Nai with Ashley teaching Ada a few tips she learned on taking care of a baby. Ada struggled at first, but quickly learned as she went along.

Other than the baby, the two spent their time talking about various things. Ada didn't want to make Ashley needlessly worry all the time so Ada offered only little details about her life and mostly let Ashley talk about her experiences following her adventure in Spain. Nothing too interesting, but to Ada it was something different than the usual survivor's stories. Hearing about the life of a former college student and everyday stories with the occasional weird occurrence made for a great change. It was just nice to hear a actual human voice discuss normal things instead of a groaning shamble of former life or a cold voice telling her details of her next mission.

But the best part had to be the photos. Ashley raised a eyebrow when Ada produced a dusty and rather bloody looking disposable camera but once she heard Ada's intentions she helped out. Various pictures of differing qualities were taken. Some were silly faces, (To which Ada had some difficulty in doing. Reminded her of old Umbrella boyfriend that tried to make her do the same without success.) and others were group shots. Ada felt like a fool, but still went through as she would have these photos on her as she trudged through the zombie-infested wastelands as a way of keeping her sane.

Ada almost track of time! Thankfully she had remembered to set a alarm on a digital clock in the living room when Ashley was scourging for her first aid kit. Ashley had become focused on Ada and Nai to notice the glowing light on top meaning that the alarm had been set. It surprised her around when the alarm blared and sent Nai into a crying fit.

"You set that alarm?" Ashley asked as she dived for the clock and switched it off. "Yeah, Nai doesn't like surprises…"

"I apologize." Ada cleared her throat as she tried to bounce Nai off her fit. "But I must be going now…Lester mentioned that Neo Umbrella wouldn't take long to start looking at various old friends of mine if I got off radar for too long. Lester did mention that he overheard a conservation between Leon and his contact telling him his house had been bugged."

"Yeah!" Ashley suddenly shot out. "Yeah, you should get going then. Let me change you real quick…" Ada quickly removed the makeshift bandage and once more laid down and let Ashley cover it back up with the carefully-cut towel. The process didn't take as long as before. "Make sure to change this within six hours…before you go to bed. You may want to find a more suitable bandage…"

"I noticed you hiding my old wrapping at the bottom of a garbage." Ada spoke up. "Smart move. I made the right choice in the end…"

"I wasn't the first?" Ashley asked.

"Originally, I thought about leaving you and your family in the dark and just dropping Nai off with someone like Claire or even Leon. I couldn't find Claire and Leon's government contacts would most likely take Nai for their own purposes, like they did with Sherry Birkin."

"That's the first girl Leon escorted, right?" Ashley asked.

"Pretty much."

"She was less of a hassle than me I'm guessing."

"Sherry was only a kid when Raccoon City happened. I do recall, however, Leon groaning when you got brought up."

"Figures."

Once the bandage was on secure, Ada got dressed up again and headed towards the door, but instead of immediately darting down the hall towards the stairs and contacting Lester to put her back online to get Neo Umbrella's attention, she stopped halfway with a single foot out in the hall. "Ashley." Ada spoke up. "I want to do this again…same time, next week?"

"If you can." Ashley responded.

"I will."

And with that, Ada made her exit. She didn't have time to say good-bye, she needed to go and make the arrangements to get back into the war. Ashley sat down and held Nai in her arms. Perhaps the future would be better…