Chapter 13

"Kennedy, you keep looking at your watch," Fischer pointed out, sounding a little irritated. "Waiting for something to happen?"

Leon glanced up from his wrist. Now that he thought about it, he realized he had checked it four or five times in the last couple of minutes. Two o'clock was coming slowly. Very slowly.

"Sorry, sir." He forced his hand back to his knee and gripped it tightly, trying to relax into the chair. The fabric of his dress pants wrinkled beneath his fingers. "Just a little nervous about this."

President Graham frowned behind his desk. "Are you having second thoughts, Agent Kennedy?"

Plenty, but this is our only option. "No, Mr. President. This is our best course of action. We don't have any other leads or options."

His nerves were a combination of several things: planting false intelligence that Ada had gotten away when she was actually in the city right under their nose, involving a new and relatively untested counter-bioterrorism agency, and most of all, acting on information given to them by Ada herself. He wanted to trust her. He really did, but with her there was always a 'what if'. It didn't help that he was sitting the Oval Office with Graham and Fischer, two people he looked in the eye and lied to.

Lying to the man whose family he had sworn to protect didn't sit well with him.

"Too late to be backing out now," Fischer said. He was sitting across from him in front of Graham's desk. "The BSAA won't back down if we send them away empty-handed after we built this up."

Graham's phone buzzed on the desktop. He pressed the intercom. "Yes Susan?"

"The agents from the BSAA are here, Mr. President," said his secretary from the other side.

"Thank you, please send them in."

Fischer and Leon rose to their feet. He caught a "here we go" type of look from his boss, the same type of look you gave someone before you jumped out of an airplane for the first time. He straightened his tie a little; it helped him look only a little less tired. Fischer had been pulling some rough hours the past few days. The trip to escort Graham back home was especially taxing for him.

He was wondering who the BSAA would send the entire morning. Neither he or Fischer asked Graham for details. He had been prepared to deal with someone fresh out of boot camp, but as soon as the secretary opened the door and ushered in two people, he immediately smiled. "I should've known."

It was none other than Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.

"Yes, you should have," Chris said, returning his smile and offering his hand. He looked a little out of place in a suit and tie with his thick, tank-like stature. He was clean shaven, but his hair was still mussed, just like when he last saw him. "It's been a while, Leon."

"Too long," he agreed, taking his hand and shaking it before turning to Jill. Like Chris, she was dressed in a tailored suit, but she'd grown her hair out to just past shoulder length since he last saw her. "Good to see you too, Jill."

"Hi Leon," she smiled, turning their shake into a friendly hug. "Good to see you."

If there was anyone that made him feel better about dealing with Spencer, it was Chris and Jill. They, like him, were some of the few that were there from the beginning in Raccoon City. If they worked for the BSAA, then maybe his reservations about them being new and inexperienced were ill-founded.

But as they exchanged pleasantries, and as he introduced them to Fischer and Graham, he noticed something just a little off about them. Chris still stood at his full, respectable height, and moved with a slight swagger that was an artifact of his build. Jill was still warm and friendly, moving with a subtle energy and a bounce in her step. Nothing appeared different, but he figured it out when they sat down with Graham at his desk between Leon and Fischer.

They both looked tired.

It wasn't a physical fatigue. Leon barely noticed it on Jill when she glanced at him and smiled as she settled into the comfy leather chair. Hidden deep within her blue eyes was a dull, fazed expression. All that was missing were circles under them. She was still young and in the prime of her life, and he would even call her attractive, but that look put years onto her face. Chris wasn't much better.

It was the look of someone traveling constantly under stress. Of someone constantly fighting. It was also the grim look of loss. He knew they had both seen a lot of things they tried to forget each day. Diving headfirst into it almost every day wasn't the best way to do that.

He caught himself staring and snapped himself out of the funk as the meeting started before Jill noticed his look.

"Thank you both for coming on such short notice," Graham began, sitting behind his desk once the four of them settled in their seats. "I realize we didn't give you very much information as to why we asked you to come, and I apologize for that."

"We felt it was a necessary security measure," Fischer chimed in. "What we have is very important. We can't afford leaks."

"It's okay, Mr. President," Jill said, crossing her legs and smiling pleasantly. "We're used to going to less-desirable areas on a lot less. This is a nice change of pace."

"What did you find?" Chris asked, being a little more direct.

Fischer glanced at Leon, and automatically, everyone followed suite. Fischer had said that he should be the one to do most of the talking, since Ada had been the one to share the information with him. They also agreed that she be left out of it; there was too much bad blood with the organization, and it was part of the original deal as well. Anything they could do to foster more trust out of her was critical.

"We received information about the possible whereabouts of Ozwell Spencer," he said, after a slightly awkward pause.

Silence, then Jill let out a breath and glanced at Chris. He didn't meet her gaze; instead, he stared hard at Leon in disbelief. "You're kidding."

Sounds familiar…"No. We can't verify or guarantee we have his location, but we have enough that it's probable."

Jill leaned towards Chris and whispered excitedly in his ear. "Chris, if we can get to Spencer–"

"—he might be able to point us to Wesker," he finished, quickly glancing back to her, and then looked to Leon again. "How reliable is this? Who gave you his location?"

Leon glanced to Fischer, who raised an eyebrow. Stick to the plan. "The party in question requested to stay anonymous. The information should be reliable…but…"

"But…?" Jill echoed.

"But we still have reason to believe it might not be all legitimate," he finished with a sigh. "As in, we can't guarantee the BSAA won't be heading into a tight situation. The party wasn't able to specify what kind of opposition we're dealing with."

"You think it might be a trap?" Chris asked.

He shrugged, spreading his hands. "Could be. It came at an awful convenient time. The truth is, we just don't know. What I do know is we have to decide whether we use it, and quickly. It's going on forty-eight hours since the information was extracted, and the party in question probably didn't do it discreetly. Spencer could get wise to the leak, and we might not be the only ones looking for him."

Chris turned to Jill, who only shrugged and gave him and odd look. He appeared to think for a minute, and then turned back to Leon, Graham, and Fischer. "What are the details?"

"Well, we haven't had time to do a thorough investigation." Leon took a folder from the President's desk and handed it to him. "Some initial satellite photos and research on the area. It's in an area of western Romania. Private property, away from anything settled, but we've identified a single structure at the coordinates given."

"Western Romania?" Jill echoed, peering over Chris's shoulder until he handed her one of the maps. "As in Transylvania?"

Chris gave a hollow laugh. "Kinda figures, I guess."

"Like I said, strength of opposition is unknown, and we can't confirm for certain if Spencer is hiding there or if he's moved out." He sighed. "Which means if the BSAA goes in, they go in blind."

Silence fell over them. Fischer crossed his arms, waiting patiently. Graham leaned back in his chair with a creak, looking thoughtfully at the two agents. Chris and Jill looked at each other. Jill leaned in close again to whisper in Chris's ear, but Leon couldn't make out what she was saying, even so close to them. Chris whispered back to Jill, and she nodded. Finally he looked up. "We can be ready to move out in three hours."

"Three hours?" Fischer repeated in a surprised tone.

"Like you said, Spencer might be getting ready to relocate," Chris said. "We need to hit him now, and we are going to lose a lot of time with the flight over there."

"Do you need to contact any of your other teammates?" Graham asked. "You can use any of the resources we have."

Jill shook her head. "No sir. Chris and I are the team."

"Whoa," Leon said, holding up a hand. "You're not going in alone."

Jill was firm. "Having two people infiltrate is much more discreet than an entire team. If we back Spencer into a corner, the situation could turn ugly, especially if we don't know what's waiting for us. The more people, the more casualties."

Yeah, only you two die instead. Real comforting.

"Don't worry," Chris assured him. "Jill and I have more experience with this than anyone in the BSAA. Bringing someone inexperienced might complicate things." He looked to Graham. "With your permission of course, Mr. President."

This time it was Leon and Fischer's turn to look to Graham. But the President simply nodded his head. "I have been advised by Director Fischer and Agent Kennedy about the whole situation. This is something that needs to happen. You have a go."

Just like that, the meeting was concluded. Chris and Jill exchanged polite good-byes with Graham, and they left with Fischer and Leon to go prep for the mission.

"If you'd like, Agent Valentine, I could help you arrange some transportation," Fischer offered as they walked down the hall. "The faster you can get in the air, the faster the op can get underway."

"Thank you, Director," Jill said graciously. "That would be great. HQ can supply our equipment once we get to Europe, but if you have any way to expedite the process, we'd be very grateful."

Fischer and Jill began to outline a few details regarding flights from DC to Eastern Europe. Fischer pulled his phone out, and soon, the two of them were taking turns talking through it. Chris and Leon walked behind them, slowing their stride to put a few paces between them so they could work undisturbed.

"So how's Claire been?" Leon asked Chris. "I haven't heard from her in a while."

He chuckled. "Still married to her job. I'm not around much anymore, so I guess she has to keep busy somehow."

"She's still with TerraSave, then? Where do they have her this time?"

Chris rubbed his chin. "Ah…India, I think. Organizing some protests. She was there last week when she called. I'm starting to lose track of where she's been. The week before it was Belize, and before that Nigeria. One of these days, I'm going to make sure she gets back to school and graduates."

"Well, as long as she stays out of trouble, that's the main thing."

"Try telling her that," Chris said with a dry laugh. "I was on an op in Kuwait with Jill during Harvardville. I freaked when I heard about it."

"I'm just glad I was able to help out," Leon said sincerely. "Things got a little hairy there."

"And I'm glad you were there," Chris said just as sincerely. His eyes went dark for a moment. "I can't imagine what I'd do without her."

The conversation about Chris's sister trailed off there. She was well, and he was glad for that. He'd like to get together with the both of them and have a few drinks, but nights out with people he knew were becoming a rarity.

"Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of this?"

"About the mission?" he clarified, then rubbed his chin again. "I'll agree, it sounds a little too good to be true, but it's too good to pass up all the same. Spencer is ultimately responsible for turning Wesker into the man he is, so he's as good a place to start as any. Plus, with him in custody, the UN might be able to get a handle on some of the B.O.W outbreaks with the information he has. It'd also give the world a little closure for once."

Leon nodded in agreement. There was the physical of reward of getting Spencer in a cell: the bioterrorism network would lose a major hub, and the BSAA would gain part of their playbook. Then there was the emotional reward, as Chris had said: it would give a chance for people like Claire to sleep better at night, and give them hope that the systems being employed would actually make their lives safer.

A lot was riding on this…riding on Ada's word, and she was someone he thought he could never trust, no matter how much he wanted to. Now he was trusting someone else's lives to that word.

He pushed the discomfort aside and changed the subject, catching up on a few things since they last saw each other. It wasn't like they were sending in the army or someone inexperienced; Chris and Jill were as every bit as professional as he was, with just as much experience, if not more. If there was anyone who was qualified for the mission, it was them.

The GSA had a helicopter waiting for them on the White House's south lawn. Leon bade them one final good-bye and good luck as they boarded, waving as it lifted off. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, the uneasiness wouldn't leave his gut.

He should have listened to his instincts.