Chapter 2: The Red Butterfly

Léon was back in his loft, he had answered the agents' questions and written his report for the D.S.O, the big question of Ada's presence on the scene remained unanswered. The man came out of the shower with a towel on his shoulders, without Ada the situation could have been much more critical, Léon may have been strong but taken by surprise by five armed and trained men, it would have been complicated. He thought back to what she had said to him, "I owed you, I came to pay it back." What did that mean? She knew what was going to happen and she had come, but if she personally came, it was surely not for Hunnigan or the president's spokesperson, it must mean that the person targeted in this attack was him ? But why, and how had she known, why would she come to protect him? "It's impossible to understand women… and even more so Ada" he mentally sighed. He dried off, changed and went to sit on his couch. It was now dark and the streets were covered in snow. He turned on the television and the news channel was just talking about the foiled attack on the spokesperson. If he was really the target, it wouldn't hurt that people would think it was a political attack. He suddenly thought of the USB stick in his pants. He got up and went to retrieve it then went to his work computer. A computer encrypted to be untraceable. He put the key inside, but not surprisingly, it was protected, despite all his attempts the key was far too well encrypted and protected. He sighed as he leaned back in his seat, of course coming from Ada, it couldn't have been easy to read it, regarding her, if we had access to something it was because she wanted we have access to it, if she didn't want it, no one would ever have access to it. He hesitated to give the key to the DSO who had more resources and skills to be able to read it, but he had no proof of what it might contain.

Somewhere else.

Ada sighed heavily as she fell into bed in her luxurious hotel room. She had finally showered and changed, she now just wanted to sleep, but she still had work to do. The woman stood up, wearing only a loose t-shirt and decided to order some food, heading towards the phone she looked at the street below, the snow had now stopped but the trees, buildings and streets still had this magnificent white veil. She shivered as she remembered that only an hour ago she was on a motorbike in this snow, only a boiling shower had been able to warm her up. The woman grabbed the phone and ordered her meal then decided to continue reading the documents she had retrieved. She went to the motorcycle jacket she had used and wanted to take out her USB drive, but the pocket was empty. She frowned then checked the other pockets. After a while, she realizes that she no longer had it with her.

-Shit ! How could I have been so reckless? She knew she must have lost it in the fight. She decided to go back and check on the same place if she could find it, but this was almost impossible because the area had to be scrutinized by the investigators, and if the USB key was in their hands, she would not be able to find it. recover easily, she was not afraid for its content because it was so well protected that it would take days for the IT teams to succeed in deciphering it, but she badly needed its content, she had not had time to copy it to another medium.

Back at Léon's.

It was almost two in the morning now and the man was lying in bed checking his latest emails on his phone, he couldn't get to sleep, his mind was focused on Ada and why she was here. He sighed loudly and got out of bed, he needed to clear his mind and what better way than a night walk for that. He put on a sweater over his t-shirt, jeans and a pair of socks then left his room, the man went to his coffee table, put on his shoes and grabbed his pair of keys. As he was about to grab his jacket…

-You can not sleep ? The agent froze when he heard a soft voice behind him. He stood up and felt the cold barrel against his back. He started to raise his hands before suddenly turning around and disarming the Asian woman behind him, he grabbed her arm and tried to pin her behind her back, she then pulled out a knife and turned around before placing herself behind his back then put the knife to his throat.

-The knife is not so bad in close combat. She whispers in his ear.

-What are you doing here, Ada? He hissed through his teeth, he hadn't heard her enter at all.

-Aren't you happy to see me? You should review your lock, I have rarely seen locks so easy to force. The man looked out of the corner of his eye at the woman behind her.

-At the same time I don't see why they would need to be forced... but thank you for your concern I will put that in the back of my mind. She removed her knife and sheathed it, then walked away to pick up her handgun from the ground.

-You have something that belongs to me Léon and I would like to get it back. His voice was surprisingly calm and serious..

-What tells you that I have something that belongs to you? He knew very well what she was talking about, but he wanted to dig into this subject. He decided to ignore the fact that she had entered his apartment, nothing surprised him anymore with her. You couldn't have waited until daybreak to look up my address and break in. It must have been important if she came in the middle of the night. She approached him and he could see her better, she looked tired.

-Don't beat around the bush Leon, I know you have it, I saw you pick it up on the surveillance cameras. She didn't even have her usual sensual smile, she was the most serious in the world. He sighed and raised his hands in defeat, this key must have been really important to the woman if she had gone to get the surveillance camera videos and had come straight here at this late hour. The officer grabbed the USB drive from his desk and handed it to him, but the woman didn't grab it, she jumped on him throwing him to the ground as the front door burst into many pieces.

-You didn't tell me you had guests planned this evening. She said to him, getting up from him, Léon quickly got up. The woman quickly analyzed the situation looking for a solution, she found a rather simple one, she took out her gun and fired a bullet into the window which exploded then the smoke began to disperse and numerous footsteps could be heard in the living room, she grabbed the USB stick from the floor.

-Follow me ! She ran to the window and grabbed her grappling gun. Hold on to me. The man started to weigh his options but he didn't have much choice. The mercenary took out her grappling hook and fired it at the building opposite then let herself go towards the building. The force pulled her and Leon to the other side. The men who had entered the apartment were shooting at them from the window. Once on the other side, she quickly stood up.

-We need to move out of there. She started to run but stumbled slightly before catching herself and trailing ahead.

-Friends of yours? asked Leon. The woman placed herself behind the ventilation of the building. And caught his breath while looking at Léon who was having difficulty understanding what had happened.

-Not that I know. She could thank her keen hearing and instincts for noticing the attackers before he blew down the door. Don't put me in the bag, I have more finesse than that. She got up and headed towards the fire escape. My car is downstairs, let's go.

-Will you tell me what happens at the end? She sighed.

-When we get into the car, follow me, my darling. She started to run, Leon behind her but he noticed that she was surprisingly slow, he knew her to be faster, her breathing was rapid and her eyes narrowed, she also seemed to limp.

-Stop, Ada. She did so without thinking much about why.

-What's going on ? The man approached her and looked at her then he saw what he feared, her jeans were covered in blood in one place.

-You were shot and you didn't find it useful to say it?! She sighed as she turned around and continued on her way.

-It's nothing. He frowned.

-It's not nothing Ada, you're bleeding a lot, the bullet has can be touchedwas an arttime.

-Listen Léon, the priority is not my injury, we have to leave before they find us! She began to move, the adrenaline allowed him to overcome the pain. Léon sighed heavily and followed in the stairs. He saw a black sports car further down the street, it stood out from the others, it was surely that of the young woman, she took the keys out of her jacket pocket and the car sped away. She climbed inside and Leon did the same. She quickly turned on the ignition and merged into the heavy traffic. Once far enough away, she sighed and sank back into the seat, her leg burned and pressing the pedal felt like hell, not to mention the blood that continued to flow. After 10 minutes the man's voice was heard.

-Stop, I'm going to drive.

-It'll be OK.

-Ada stop, we need to stop bleeding and changing drivers. She didn't have the strength to fight, it had been two nights without sleep plus the injury, it had totally exhausted her. She put on her turn signal and stopped in the parking lot of a convenience store. closed, She checked and The there was not none camera. Now that the adrenaline was draining from his system, the stress and fatigue were falling on him like a stone. She closed her eyes and leaned on the steering wheel, giving herself a two minute break, at least she had retrieved the USB stick.

-There is a med kit in the trunk. Leon got out of the car and opened the trunk. He then took her to the driver's seat. She stood up and grabbed it.

-Need a hand ?

-I know you would dream of it, handsome, but I manage. She grabbed the bottle of antiseptic and put some on a compress before placing it on the wound on her leg, she did the same operation on the wound coming out at the front of her thigh and wrapped a bandage around it, over it. the jeans then got up from the seat, but while trying to lean on her bad leg, it gave way, causing her to fall. She expected to hit the ground but then felt strong arms catch her.

-I'm really going to take the wheel. She didn't have the strength to make fun of him so she just let him take her to the other seat, so she sat down keeping her leg straight. Where are we headed?

-We're going to go to my hotel room, no one can know its location. She gave him the address then leaned her head against the window watching the landscape go by, the two sleepless nights began to catch up with her and then tired, and feeling safe with Leon she closed her eyes. The agent looked at her out of the corner of his eye, he had a lot of questions to ask her, but the exhaustion could be seen on his face so he decided it could wait, it was almost three in the morning after all. Ada had saved his day again, he could well give her a rest. The hotel she told him about was about twenty minutes from the convenience store.

To tell the truth, he had never driven in such a luxurious car, he took advantage of the travel time to examine the car. After about ten minutes he noticed that the young woman seemed to have fallen asleep, he smiled softly seeing her calm face, although her eyebrows seemed slightly furrowed because of the pain.

After a while, Leon saw the hotel in front of him. He made a niche in the street, in front of'hotel and noticed that stopping the car didn't seem to wake Ada. He reached for her shoulder but stopped short, he didn't know the reaction she might have in that case. He sighed, it was a risk to take. He gently placed his main on his shoulders and how simple gesture seemed to wake her up because she blinked slowly with your eyes.

-How many nights have you not slept? the man asked him worriedly. She must really be exhausted to be able to fall asleep like that. She yawned slightly.

-I would say 56 hours without sleep.

-A good night's sleep won't be so bad then. He got out of the car, walked around and opened the door for him, the man held out his hand to help him up.

-A true gentleman… Follow me, my room is on the fifteenth floor. She hides her firearm behind her back behind her leather jacket and does the same with her grappling gun, before slowly limping towards the hotel entrance.

-I'm going to move the car further, go to the room already, I'll join you. Ada nodded, understanding that leaving the car outside the hotel was a very bad idea.

-Room C104. Knock three times. With that, she went back into the room. Once inside she cut the bandage and took off her jeans which were already starting to stick on to the wound. She then undressed completely and slipped into the shower. She turned on the hot water to wash away the blood that flowed all along his leg, the water stung his skin but it was bearable. Once clean she got out of the shower and dressed in a black shirt and shorts, she wondered where Léon had gone to park the car because it had been almost fifteen minutes since she had . Just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard a knock three times. She checked who was present, weapon to the hand and it was indeed Leon, she opened it for him and went sit on the couch. Léon looked frozen, after all he was only wearing a sweater on a winter night

-The shower is available, go and warm up. Leon took off his shoes and stretched.

-And you should go and take care of yourself. The man looked at her worriedly as a trickle of blood ran down his thigh again. The woman went to sit on a chair and grabbed the care kit she had placed on the living room table.

Leon looked around the room, well the rooms, it was a luxurious suite with a sofa, a television, a large bathroom and a large bedroom with a double bed in the center. He noticed Ada taking out some medical thread and a needle.

-You want me to do it?

-Don't worry my darling, I know how to handle myself, I've done it more times than you can imagine. But he noticed that his hands were trembling slightly, probably from fatigue. He knelt down in front of her and grabbed her hand to stop her before the needle pierced her skin.

-You're trembling, I'll do it okay, and anyway you won't be able to sew up the back of your thigh alone, okay? She leaned back in the chair letting him do so. He put on sterile gloves and grabbed the needle.

-If it's too painful, tell me. She just nodded and watched his movements, he pierces carefully her skin and began to bring closer both edges of the injury after having disinfected it properly.

-The wound is beautiful, I don't have the impression that there are any splinters. She whistled softly at to the shine of pain. Léon then looked at her gently.

-On would say that we are even. She raised a eyebrow, lost by this phrase. I took a bullet for you in Racoon and you took one for me here.

-It's not really for you but rather because of you.

-The result is the same. After having him request to turn around to make the second wound he bandaged everything and stood up.

-All nice and clean, now shower and sleep. The questions will be for tomorrow. She was surprised by the fact that he did not ask her precisely none questions. I'm going to sleep on the couch, go and rest.

-You don't want to sleep in the same bed as me. His whisper-t-She. He didn't say anything to her and went to the bathroom to warm up.

-Good night Ada. On ce, the stops the door behind him.

-Good night Leon… She whispered For herself.

She got up, grabbed some pain pills, and limped into the suite's bedroom. Once warm in bed, she reflects on the day. Who were these men who were informed to the point of knowing Léon's address and coming back a second time after their first failure? She groaned, placing her arm over her eyes. She still had a lot of work ahead of her.

On Leon's side

He let the warm water caress his freezing skin. The day had also been extremely exhausting, with all the adrenaline he hadn't had time to think about the situation, and god knows there was a lot to think about. Why was Ada there? Who were these men who came to his apartment and tried to kill him twice. What is this USB stick and why was it so important to Ada. He also thought about Ada's injury and his heart sank. It was the first time he was going to stay with her for so long. Even spending the night in the same accommodation.

Once washed, the man got out of the shower and simply put his boxers and t-shirt back on before heading towards the sofa, he noticed that a blanket, a cushion and a handgun were placed on it. He smiled and settled in, he put the gun under the pillow. Even though Ada had said he was safe here, it was better to be considerate. Tomorrow he would have to contact the DSO to explain to them, he should even do it now, but he didn't want to interrupt this time with Ada. The agent closed his eyes, trying to drift off to sleep. He knew he had no reason to distrust Ada.

~To be continued~