Separate Ways

A Resident Evil fanfic by CrimsonButterfly89

Chapter 1 – A Night to Forget (part 1)

"Evil is a part of Everyone. The only thing that stops us from becoming evil is control. Therefore, evil is not a sign of power, but of weakness."

Ada woke to a blinding light, closely followed by the sounds of another person's presence in the room; shallow breathing and tapping feet nervously on the floor, the squeak of an office chair swivel. The light stung her eyes and before her vision had adjusted to her surroundings, she sat up as quick as she could. It only leads to searing pain in the back of her head and on her left shoulder. She let out a soft yelp of pain and lay back down on the small, creaky cot she had been placed on. Whoever had brought her here had tried to make her as comfortable as possible. She had pillows piled under her head, her wound had been cleaned, and extra blankets lay at the bottom of the bed in case she got cold. Crude medical supplies lay on top of a metal cabinet near her feet, a potted green plant among them. She soon found out who her savior was – footsteps hurried to her side in an instant, he then crouched by her side so they were face to face.

"Welcome back!"

He definitely sounded relieved, although he tried to cover it by adding a light-hearted tone and a goofy smile. Ada tried to move again but groaned at the effort. Leon put a hand on hers, which lay on her heaving stomach in an effort to comfort her.

"Hey! Take it easy"

She was in Raccoon, she slowly recognised where he had brought her as her sore tired eyes scanned the room. – At last, they had made it to the labs. A thought that both relieved and saddened her as to what was to come next. She was in some kind of security office; her guess was that the central walkway lay just ahead. There was a single door in the far east corner, an old rusty trunk and an ancient typewriter, dozens of lockers and drawers lined the room. Opposite her was a large control desk, a few 10-inch monitors buried in them – none were working. Leon had noticed her checking the room and shuffling restlessly.

"Were in Umbrella's secret labs; I'll go find something to treat that wound. You just stay here in the meantime"

Ada knew there was no way she could leave in the next few minutes, she needed the rest. Unfortunately, time was something she didn't have, but Leon was right. If she wanted to continue her mission she had to be in the best condition she could be in, stealing a top-secret bio-weapon that could destroy humanity meant she had to be on her toes - especially in a place like this. But she had to get rid of Leon to do that.

"I…I'll only slow you down with these injuries…"

She looked into his eyes as she took a deep breath.

"Go…save yourself…"

Ada was surprised at how genuine her words had sounded, although what she was saying wasn't a complete lie. If he got involved with her he would get into trouble eventually, and she didn't think he had what it takes to survive with the extra strain she would burden him with.

Although they had made it this far…

Leon simply moved his hand up to her forehead, brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked at her with sympathetic affection – but he didn't budge an inch.

"I told you, it's my job to look after you."

This one was incorrigible

Ada was touched at how much he seemed to care for her, but she couldn't let kindness and caring stand in her way. And she couldn't bring herself to make a decision she didn't have to make if Leon was safely out of the way.

"But you'll be in danger if you stay with me."

She swallowed her pride as she continued and prepared for his reaction.

"I know I've only known you for a short period of time but, I really enjoy being with you"

For once Leon looked speechless. It was kind of touching to see the slight blush in his cheeks.

"I…"

Ada quickly cut in, now was her chance to say what she wanted, it was probably the last time she would see him face to face.

"I know I'm not capable of caring about anyone, but… I don't want to lose you."

Instead of blushing, Leon's face turned into a solid expression of determination, a bright flash of hope bloomed behind his blazing blue eyes. His brow tightened and his nose crinkled - he had made up his mind. His mission was her. His lips formed his words very carefully and purposefully.

"We're leaving this place together. Wait right here for me, I'll be right back."

As he left, he let his fingers drift along her face before settling them on the bed to steady himself as he stood. He rose to walk out the door to secure their escape route; she knew he would be traveling alone, cursing her name under his breath forever letting himself trust her. He lingered his gaze on her for a second before opening the door and rushing out of the room. If he ever returned he would find it empty. Ada lay there, counting the minutes until her strength returned to her. How was it that he was so optimistic about this? Even after all that happened to them in that last 24 hours, and could only get worse in the hours to come, he was still adamant they were escaping together without a hitch!

Talk about foolish.

If that boy had any sense in him, he would turn around and run as fast as he could away from anything or anyone that had anything to do with Ada Wong. Still, Ada counted herself lucky that Leon S. Kennedy lacked that particular attribute.