The Long Dark

IX.

The Spy Who Kissed Me

It was time to see if she still knew how to tail someone without getting caught.

Intrigued by it, Jill returned to her room, stuffed her feet into her boots, and shoved her arms in her parka. She ponytailed her hair and stuck a hat on her head as she followed him.

He cut through the bonfire in the town and headed down an alley between two buildings. Jill hung back, tracking, watching.

He came around the corner, and a pair of hands gripped his parka. Jill nearly surged forward to protect him, and the person shoved him against the wall. They struggled, and then?

The person trying to fight him planted a big kiss on him. He turned his head just enough that the kiss slid down his cheek, but the effort wasn't lost on her.

Smooch.

The woman laughed at the subtle rejection - unfazed.

Jill froze. She blinked. She watched the floppy white hat woman lean in and press those big red lips against his. He didn't kiss her back, but he didn't push her away either.

Leon's hands shifted to the arms of the woman as he carefully set her away. She looked impish and not in the least put out. They talked, the words lost to the fire and the distance, and the woman brought something in her hand.

He glanced at her face, down at the device, and back at her eager expression.

When she turned, Jill caught sight of her face.

Beautiful, naturally, the bitch.

Red hair flamed out from a gorgeous set of blue eyes and a dusting of freckles on porcelain skin. She pulled something from her coat and set it on his head. What did they call that kind of hat? An ushanka?

He rolled his eyes as the woman touched a finger to the dent in his chin.

She said something and leaned up like she'd kiss him again when she caught sight of Jill watching her.

It was an interesting moment.

The woman transformed from vixen to valkyrie. She pulled a gun from somewhere in the fluffy coat she wore and aimed it in a swift move. She was still too slow, though, as Jill beat her to it.

They stared down the barrels of each other's guns until Leon soothed, "Easy. Easy. Kat? She's with me."

Which one? Jill thought with a jerk of jealousy. Which one was with him? The second she thought about it, she put it aside. There was no place for jealousy in their business. None. It was stupid to feel it.

"Kat" tilted her head. "Is she?" They studied each other before the redhead added with a trace of a Russian accent, "...you usually have better taste."

Jill kept her gun on the other woman as she answered, "Funny- you stole the words right out of my mouth."

Mouth twitching, the redhead mused, "You interrupted a private party, devchushka."

Jill eyed her, all five foot ten of her, and rolled her eyes, "I figured I just missed my R.S.V.P."

Leon attempted to defuse the situation, "Jill - this is Katarina Makarova; my contact."

Jill gave him a bland look as she returned, "You usually fight with your contacts in alleys before they kiss you?"

He gave her a pleading look, "Stand down, Jill."

Jill responded blandly, "I will, when your contact there does."

Kat laughed softly, "Leon...Leon...you always find the jealous ones. Who can blame her? You are, after all, something to covet."

"Kat," Leon cautioned in a long-suffering tone, "No games."

"But they are so fun," Kat cooed, "What is life without games? Boring, I think. I've missed our games, Leon."

She was trying to rile up the other woman. Jill knew it. She felt it. Ignoring the bait, Jill mused, "Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but somebody better start talking here."

Kat made a kissy noise, "Say, pretty please. Let me see those big lips pout so pretty."

Leon said again, softer now, "Lower the gun, Jill. Please?"

Interesting, Jill thought; he appealed to her, not the Russian beside him. Why? Was "Kat" unreliable? A flash of something in his eyes had her feeling like a bitch. The quiet censure on him also had her lowering her gun. As she did, the other woman mimicked her.

Kat cooed, "There now. All friends, yes? But you should scurry away, little mouse, and leave us to our...conversation. This is not for children, I'm afraid. Or jealous mice."

Jill and Leon held eyes as the brunette shook her head. She holstered her weapon inside her coat and stated, "Whatever you have to say to him, you say to me too. It's not just his mission this time, honey. It's mine too."

Kat smirked, "What does he need with a fat mouse...when he has a Kat?"

Jill arched a brow, "What did she give you?"

Maybe ignoring this bitch altogether was better than exchanging snarky comments.

Kat simply answered, "None of your business. Away with you."

When Leon held Jill's eyes and didn't answer, she figured he wasn't going to say anything either. After a moment, Jill shook her head, "Fine. But we can stand here all night until one of you talks."

Kat tapped her toe and finally sighed dramatically, "It is data I discovered from my contacts at the Kremlin. It lends evidence to the development of biological weapons based on things cultivated in these caves. I think we are looking at something larger scale than just a little town in Alaska."

Jill glanced at Leon and tilted her head. "You think Russians are involved here?"

He said nothing.

Kat chuckled, "Not anymore, Mickey Mouse. This land is no longer our problem."

"Convenient," Jill returned calmly, "Wanna claim you didn't know what was in there when you sold it?"

Kat pursed her lips and shrugged, looking innocent and coy simultaneously.

Jill glanced at Leon, "You covering for the Russians?"

Jill finally shook her head with a scoff when he kept holding her gaze. "Fine. Plead the fifth."

Kat smiled happily, "Not for mice, darling. Shoo."

And Leon urged, "Jill...please?"

He wasn't going to answer her with Kat beside him. That much was clear. She had a choice, make a scene or trust him to do his job. After all, he wasn't in danger, so she wasn't needed here. She was going to make things worse by hanging around.

With a pointed look, Jill finally spun on her heel and left them together in the darkness.

She crossed by the bonfire and kept going. When she hit the edge of town, she headed up an embankment and took a spot in the snow on her butt. She watched the flicker of colors in the sky with a chip on her shoulder the size of Raccoon City.

Maybe they were on the same side here, but the look on his face had been clear - she wasn't going to be let into whatever secrets he was sharing with that Russian operative. At the end of the day, he was an agent, and an agent didn't bring in a foreign operative to a meeting with an asset.

She knew that.

She understood it.

It didn't stop her from feeling like she was being cut out.

Annoyed, she toed at some snow with her boot as she listened to the revelry behind her. What was she doing here? She was smarter than this. She knew you didn't mix work with emotions. She knew that better than anyone. She knew it was a mistake to get involved with him.

It had been a mistake the first moment they'd met.

He wasn't a guy you tried to keep.

Worse yet, he wasn't a guy you tried to catch.

What happened when this was over? The same that had happened after Spain. They'd go their separate ways. They'd part with a mountain of unresolved feelings between them.

What was the right answer?

Would one good fuck get it out of their systems?

Or would she just become another of his forgotten one-night stands?

Upset because she was afraid that would be exactly what she became, Jill considered what to do about it. Logically, there was only one answer. She had to end it. Whatever this was or would be or was trying to become, she had to end it.

You never, ever shit where you ate. She knew that. She followed that guideline like a champ. She was professional to the point of being considered cold. She didn't flirt, didn't fling herself at coworkers, didn't fuck her friends. She was and had always been the job.

She was getting distracted by personal shit.

She knew he played it fast and loose with his boundaries. There were whispers in the right circles about his sexual prowess. Clearly, he was out there charming the panties off spies and agents alike. She knew he wasn't a saint.

She'd known that the first time she'd met him.

She wasn't a woman who generally played with fire.

She couldn't seem to help herself when it came to him.

But that was an easy fix. Time to put the brakes on this crippling attraction. She'd been mastering her wayward vagina since adolescence. Surely, she could control herself here. Hell, as much as she might want to take a night and just let go - what waited beyond that didn't change. She was here for a job. She needed to do the damn thing.

She slid down the hill and headed back to her hotel, pausing to get a bottle of whiskey on her way. She tucked it under her arm as she unlocked her door and tossed her parka on the chair by the desk. She used a little paper cup from the bathroom, filled it to the brim, threw it back, and hissed with appreciation.

She was on her third shot, hitting up contacts on her laptop about Leon's Russian spy, when the knock on her door had her pausing.

Treading to the door in her t-shirt and bare feet, Jill opened the door until the chain caught.

He stood there politely until she simply said, "You here to share intel?"

He gave her a wounded look, "...it's complicated."

With a droll expression, Jill returned, "No, it isn't. Because unless this is business, we can stop this conversation right here."

A muscle ticked in his jaw as Leon urged, "Come on, don't be a girl here - listen before you react."

With a flash of anger, Jill scoffed, "...seriously? You playing the woman card on me?"

"Depends...you gonna act like one and pout or let me in?"

Almost amused, Jill laughed, "...fuck off."

She closed the door, and his hand flattened against it to stop it from sealing shut.

"Damnit, Jill. Open the door and listen."

Jill shoved the door closed on him, and it clicked quietly. God save him from, he muttered, "...women."

The door rattled and opened a moment later, catching on the chain. Apparently, she wasn't the only master of unlocking. He demanded, "Open the door, Jill. Please?"

It was curious he felt the need to defend himself. He hadn't done anything wrong. He'd done exactly what he was trained to do, dealt with his asset under the guise of secrecy. Jill had inserted herself where she didn't belong and was acting like the injured party. It was uncalled, misplaced, and for some stupid reason...made him feel guilty.

It's why he hated women...and wanted so badly to understand them. They were emotional when they needed to be disciplined and logical. They were heart-shaped asses, sparkling eyes, and big boobs, and he wasn't entirely sure why he bothered with them.

Because, occasionally, one picked you up when you were down and let you keep your dignity by making it seem like she wasn't dragging your ass to safety.

And Jill? She wasn't freaking out and throwing things. She wasn't having a fit or being a bitch. She was just quietly judging him.

For some reason, that was so much worse. He wished she'd go full female rage on him and start screaming her jealousy to the Inn so he could drop her like a hot potato. Instead, she was using that cool censure she was known for to keep the door shut in his face for cutting her off out there.

Honestly? He might have done the same in a reverse situation. He couldn't really blame her.

She went back to the computer, downed another shot of whiskey, and cursed with a mutter of annoyance as she stalked back to the door and slid the chain free.

She eased open the door and met his earnest expression. He didn't look combative. He looked...what? He looked pretty damn calm, considering how raw she felt about him shoving her aside.

Annoyed by it, Jill snapped, "You don't owe me an explanation, Kennedy, ok? This? This is work. I get that."

Leon arched his brows, "You gonna let me in?"

She made a pfft sound before she invited, "Sure. Why not? It went so well the last time."

She stepped back, and he joined her in the room, closing the door quietly behind him. "I cultivated Kat as a contact in Russia about four years ago."

When she said nothing, just poured herself another shot and tossed it back, he went on, "We worked together to help clear out a sanctuary camp there. She's useful."

Jill gave him a stern look. "Oh, I bet she is. You involved with her?"

A muscle ticked in his jaw again and had her laughing angrily, "Yeah. I'm not stupid, Leon, and worse yet - I'm not blind. Just tell me what I need to know. No games."

"Her intel suggests the Russians had more than one plant here in this region, relaying intel back to the Kremlin regarding the plagas in the caves. Kat's on the good side here, but the other isn't. I need her to help me sniff out who."

"Then work with me so we can get it done."

He shifted where he stood. "She won't work with other women when it comes to me."

Jill's hard look made him add, "It's one of her rules for trading intel. Just me. I have to work with her...even if it means I have to leave you to the side while it happens."

Jill lifted her hands in surrender, "Great. So do that. You know the B.S.A.A. has no authority on domestic soil. So, I can't call in help without your clearance. You can cut me out right now, and there's nothing I can do about it."

When he said nothing, she arched her brows, "So do it. Cut me out. Finish it so I can go home."

He tilted his head, "And do what?"

"What else? Petition the White House for clearance to bring a team back and sanitize these caves. Carefully. I don't need your permission. I sure as hell don't need your cooperation. Hell, I can go to the Kremlin directly for support on foreign soil. Russia and the B.S.A.A. have a long-standing cooperation in place. I can let them know your girlfriend out there is batting for both sides."

Leon gave her a cold look. "I brought you in...and you'd go around me just because I can't cut you in on everything?"

The look she gave him would have frozen a lesser man's balls to his ass; it was so cold. "No. Because what you're cutting me out of just might be what stops what is happening in that cave. How can you trust her, Leon? She's part of the reason those caves exist. The Russians knew, they knew, and they sold the land to the US to cover it up. Hell, maybe she wants you to go in there and open it up and finish the job. You ever think of that? Maybe she's playing the game to get you into those caves and let loose the mess. Action through inaction - the spy's favorite pastime."

He shook his head. "You're wrong here, Jill. Kat isn't playing sides. You sell her down the river as a traitor, and they'll take her out if you do that."

Jill shrugged, "So? She's a double agent, right? How else can she be working with an American agent? I doubt it would go over well in the Motherland to find her selling secrets to the other side."

Leon stared daggers at her as she gruffed, "She's not a double anything. She's working with me for the safety of both nations. It's what we do in this business. Maybe it's all blood and bioterror for you, but the rest of us work together for the greater good. You shoot your mouth off to the Kremlin that she's defected; you'll mark her as a traitor. She isn't. She's a patriot. You want to burn her because you're jealous?"

Jill held his cold look with her own. "No. I want to do my fucking job here. My job is to stop what's happening in those caves. If I have to go around you while you play games with a traitor, I'll do it."

"Did I not say it plainly enough before? She's not a double agent; she's an asset. She's not the enemy. Kat isn't working against the Kremlin. She's not working against US interests, either. She's trying to help me stop a bigger mess. And you're reacting like a spurned lover - you're being emotional when I need you to be logical here - this? This isn't personal."

Jill laughed harshly. "You think this is about whether or not you're screwing her? It's about whether or not you're screwing all of us playing games with the bad guys."

When he said nothing, she clarified, "You want to play spies with her, that's fine. You do that. But I came here to protect people. I can't do that if you cut me out. It's not about us; it's about the job. I'm trying to do mine. I can't if you don't meet me halfway. If you want me to stay on the sidelines, you gotta make it clear to me why. I don't just sit and stay like a dog because you tell me to."

She added when he held her look, "I know what needs to be done here, Leon. And don't mistake me - I will do the job, with your help or without it."

Quietly, he responded, "We're on the same fucking side here, Jill. I promise you. Don't threaten me. Especially since you're playing with half a deck. Going around me? That'll get us all killed."

"I want to believe that," When he just held her look, she added, "But it's give and take. If it's not personal, then cut me in. If we're on the same side, prove it. Don't make me go around you to get what I need."

"I'm not at liberty to discuss certain aspects of my job with anyone, Jill. Anyone. That's just how it is."

They glared at each other until he added, "I have to protect national interests here. Even at the expense of limiting what I can say to you. It's not personal."

She laughed roughly, "Isn't it? Playing a little slap and tickle open those assets up for better intel?"

"I don't touch them."

"You just let them touch you? That it?"

When the moment thrummed, he clarified, "I don't cross the line."

"Ever?"

After a heavy second of breathing, he answered, "Not with assets."

"What about partners?"

She gave him a look he hated as he avoided that question and clarified, "It's not personal with Kat."

Jill gave him a dull look, adding, "Damnit, Jill. She flirts. She likes it. I let her because it doesn't cost me anything. But it's harmless."

When she just kept staring at him, he snapped, "I'm not fucking her! Is that what you need to hear here? She offered. She's offered before. I turn her down. She likes that too. It keeps her chasing me. I don't fuck my contacts."

Jill kept looking at him as he defended, "Goddamnit...I'm a bastard, but I'm not an idiot. Ok? I don't screw assets."

"Just coworkers?"

A double entendre there, he thought. Did she mean it figuratively, literally, or metaphorically? He went with literally.

"...not until you. Apparently, around you, I'm a fucking myself. It might be funny if it wasn't so goddamn frustrating."

That worked. That single set of words took the steam out of her anger. It was hard to be mad when he was right.

The snap of anger between them annoyed her. And made her feel like shit. Because he didn't deserve it. She was being catty and a bitch and making him a bad guy because he'd...what? Had other women? Of course, he had. He was a man. He wasn't even her lover. She had no claim on him. They weren't a couple. They weren't really anything.

She was in the wrong here. It was that simple.

Jill finally offered him the little cup in her hand. He took it and tossed it back with a hiss. After a long moment, she intoned quietly, "...damnit...I owe you an apology."

His jaw flexed as she added, "I do. You're right. This isn't about us. It isn't. And it's not even my business. You don't have to explain a damn thing about your private life to me, Leon. Not a word. I just need you to keep me in the loop on the business. I can't help if you cut me out."

Leon gave her a steady look. "I'm not cutting you out. She's just clear that she'll only work with me—just me, Jill. If I let you get involved back there, she'd have shut down, and I'd have gotten nothing out of her. It's how I hold onto her as an asset. I play her game."

Jill tracked her eyes over his face with a sigh. "Ok. And now?"

"Now I try like hell to work with her while keeping you in the loop as far as I can."

"Fair enough." Jill walked to the door and opened it, leaving it gaping as she went back to the desk. "We have an early start tomorrow. Should probably call it a night."

Dismissed, Leon headed toward the door and finished with a simple statement, "I don't fuck around, and I always finish the job. I don't let it get close enough to affect the mission. It's not personal in this job for me, Jill."

When she stood there looking at him, he added, "It is with you. It always was. I'm trying to figure out what that means."

Quietly, she answered, "...me too. And you're right - I let hurt feelings blind me to what's happening. I let whatever this is with us...cloud what needs done here. I don't get involved either, Leon. Ever. I let it happen here too. So that's on both of us."

"Ok. We're on the same page, then." He paused and added, "Lock this behind me."

When he stepped out, she started to close the door, and he floored her with a final statement, "I'm asking you to overlook the games I have to play. Because I won't play them with you. Ever. I haven't forgotten what you did for me in Spain. I won't ever forget. And I will do whatever it takes to prove to you that it was worth it."

Her hand shot out and gripped his arm as she avowed, "You already have. You don't have to prove anything to me."

"No...but I have to prove it to myself. And I will work with any spy out there to make that happen."

Into the silence, Jill finally pressed, "I need you to get clearance for Chris to come in."

She nodded when his eyes scanned her face, "He can help. It's what you wanted, right? So...make it happen."

After a brief pause, Leon nodded, "I'll make the call. But he needs to understand that what happens here goes through me first, ok? No dick measuring, no pushing against my command. If he can't...he needs to stay clear."

Jill nodded, "I'll handle him."

He scoffed. They kept looking at each other for a handful of tense moments.

They held eyes as she finally queried softly, "Are you ok?"

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Peachy, Valentine. Don't I look it?"

Jill returned gently when they held eyes for so long that it seemed the moment might drag out all night, "I wish we'd met before we were eyeball deep in death."

He tilted his head at her as he returned, "Me too, gorgeous. Me too." She dropped her hand as he started down the hallway and called, "Goodnight, Jill. See you in the morning."

When he was almost to the end of the hallway, she called, "Leon?"

He glanced over his shoulder, and she added, "I'm sorry."

"...for?"

"...everything. It's hard for me to trust anyone...I'm working on it."

He held her eyes and returned, "...I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"...being one more thing you feel like you can't trust. I'm not always right, Jill...but I'm trying like hell to make up for it."

"For what? What have you done that needs absolution?"

And he simply answered, "...I lived."

With that sad remark, he disappeared around the bend.

He was a guy who wore the cloak of those he'd lost and left behind like a mantel made of ghosts. They haunted him. And he was willing to do whatever it took to pay back a debt he didn't owe.

He was such a noble man. It was hard not to want to believe in him.

And she stood there watching him mourning the arrogant guy in the bar who'd made her laugh and kept her laughing through one of the worst nights of her life.

He was right. He deserved better than to be judged for rubbing elbows with spies. It was part of his job. And she had no idea what that entailed.

All she could do was table the suspicion and follow his lead - there was no room in the fight for feelings, even if it was clear that theirs were woven together like threads in a blanket made of lousy timing.

But there was one thing she could do to even the playing field: contact another spy and start digging into what the rest of the world knew. Should she? Should she contact Ada Wong and see if the woman lived up to her warnings in Spain?

Should she see if the gray side was willing to play in the dark with her?

Ada had made it clear in communications since Spain that she was willing to trade intel with Jill for the right reasons. Was this one of them?

Contacting Wong could backfire, leading to a mess of Ada's organization becoming involved in what happened in those caves. A single tug on that line could unravel everything Leon was trying to do here.

It was dangerous.

And she wasn't ready to cross that line until she had a reason.

Here was hoping he was right, and she just had to have faith in him. Sadly, she'd lost most of her faith in a burning city filled with the dead. Finding it again was almost as hard as separating professional from personal.

She had to place her trust in a man who'd built a career on lies.

The last one she'd trusted blindly had nearly gotten her killed and left her to rot in a dying city.

Leon Kennedy was no Albert Wesker, but the tightrope he walked was similar. How far could he slip without falling into the mess he was balancing above?

And could she really catch him if he fell?

One thing she knew for sure, she'd seen him battle like a hero in Spain. He'd rescued her and Ashley and helped uncover a conspiracy that had saved the US from terrorism. He was a man worth the faith he was asking for. He was a man worth protecting.

She'd do what she could to put that trust to the center in myriad mixed-up emotions. She'd support him. He'd earned it.

She just had to find a way to do it without losing sight of herself in the process.

And hope like hell the secrets he kept weren't the kind that would bury them both.