Chapter Text
When Leon returned to the room, wearing nothing but his boxers and a towel around his neck, he noticed Ada was still there, laying on the original bed with hands on her dressing contemplating. His water-soaked hair dripped onto the towel as he poured himself a glass of water.
"I thought you'd be gone by now," Leon said.
"I was starting to think that you found your body more interesting than mine." Ada implied.
“I don’t touch myself, Ada.” Leon replied, walking over to the bed and looming above her with his tall frame. She could see his scarring from years of incidents on his bare skin, even hidden in the shade cast by his shadow on her face.
"Why did you stay?" He asked.
“Your jacket is too warm and this bed is too comfortable.” Ada said.
Leon sighed. Sometimes he hated Ada’s games, but he could not complain since it was the first time she had chosen to stay for the whole seven years. "Guess my best behavior worked," he said.
“Surely do.” Ada replied.
Both of them knew it was only a half-truth, at best.
Her gaze drifted to his wet hair, and then she offered him her hand. Leon brought her torso up as she was still sitting on the bed; his arm felt hot against her bare skin.
Ada nodded towards the ground right in front of her, indicating for him to sit down. He complied cautiously, taking care not to touch her wound. Ada grabbed a towel for his neck and had him sit quickly by pushing on his shoulders.
“Hey!” Leon protested and Ada slung the fabric on top of his head, then started rubbing. She was unexpectedly gentle. “I won’t bite, Leon.” Ada said.
“Would I be dead tomorrow so that no one can live and tell the story of the soft Ada Wong?” Leon said.
Leon quipped. She kicked him lightly on the knee with her bare feet. Leon shut up obediently.
They stayed in silence once again and filled the room only with the shuffling noise from Leon's hair rubbing against the towel.
“Can I ask a question?” Leon said.
“I can’t promise if I would answer.” Ada replied.
“Why did Krauser hate you so much? Didn't you both work with Wesker?” Leon’s voice echoed in the room. Ada stopped and he could hear her brain thinking.
Ada was quiet as her finger trailed through Leon’s hair to see if they were completely dry or not. Just when Leon thought she would not give him an answer, Ada said. “We were colleagues in competition, and he held a grudge against me for my involvement with the Scared Snakes... Let’s say he partly blamed me for his early retirement from the US military.”
Leon quickly put all the dots together. “"You tipped us off that time, didn't you? Did you tip us about Ashley too?”
“That’s another question, Leon.” Ada deemed Leon’s hair was dry enough so she took the towel in her hand.
“Touché.” Leon replied. They stayed like that for a while, with Ada twirling locks of his hair. And Leon let her.
It felt like the finale they should have had if they had both made it out of Raccoon City together. It felt right and something warm and comforting filled his heart with nostalgia, it was as though he was back to being that wide-eyed inexperienced rookie again instead of the exhausted agent he now was.
“Have you ever thought about what would have happened if we had escaped Raccoon together?” Leon asked. As his words evaporated in the air around them, her fingers stopped entwining through his strands.
“There’s no use to dwell in the past, Leon.” Ada replied quicker than Leon expected. He thought she would come up with something to evade the weight of his what-if fantasy.
“I know. You made it clear on that highway months ago. “ His eyes traveled to her calves and tried not to think about how smooth her skin might feel. “But I think there’s something meaningful about how we play those what-ifs in our heads. Come on, humor me.”
Ada brushed his hair once again before she ran her fingers over his back scars. She simply stated. “They would kill us.”
“They could’ve recruited me.” Leon suggested.
“You wouldn’t accept their offer. Even if you did it unwillingly because of Birkin’s daughter or Redfield, you would eventually break under the guilt from the things they asked you to do.” Ada moved her finger to the gunshot wound that made her stay by his side in the very beginning. Her finger stayed on that spot.
“Hmmm.” Leon's mind raced - this was why she had never reached out after the incident.
“And if I refused, they would ask you to kill me. ” He swiveled to face Ada as he gave another possibility out, his bare back touching her calf, which felt almost like burning. Ada just stared at him blankly and Leon continued. “But you'd refuse, so they would kill us.”
Ada blinked and put the towel aside. “Why do you think I wouldn't kill you?”
Leon knew it was her attempt to make him hate her at this point. He simply said “Because I’m still useful.”
Again, the sense of remorse Ada thought she had long resigned herself to came flooding back when he gave her the exact same words she claimed about their relationship back to her. She studied him for several seconds, his gaze was peaceful, as though he completely accepted the idea without a single problem. Ada pushed him away by pressing on his shoulders. “I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
He wondered if he should regret highlighting her thoughts. Leon quickly stood up at the same time as Ada, saying, “No, you haven’t,” he saw Ada pressed her lips into a thin line. He continued. ”Look, it’s cold outside and you are exhausted and wounded. You’re already sitting on a comfortable bed, I can take the sofa if you—“
Ada sighed. At this point, she could not tell if it mattered whether she stayed the night or not. And it was physically hurt to see Leon’s face as she realized all he wanted from her was simply just to stay.
Leon stunned to silence as Ada’s hands slowly reached his cheeks, He looked like she had grown an extra head. She pulled his head carefully down to rest on her shoulders. She put a hand on his neck, another on his waist and felt his heart beat faster.
“What are you doing?” Leon asked quietly, but he made no effort to move away. In fact, he even wrapped his arms around her middle with caution so as not to disturb her cut.
Ada hid her face into his broad shoulder, breathing in the scent of shower gel and the heat radiating from his skin was melting.
"Leon." Ada whispered.
"Hmmm?" Leon asked.
Ada hesitated, feeling Leon's heart thudded against his chest and echoed in Ada's ears, slowly coming to a steady, synchronized beat with her own.
"Don't waste your breath trying to save me. You knew I'd end up like one of those thugs someday. That's what I signed up for in this line of work." Ada's voice was gentle and solemn, yet powerful and firm, as she snuggled herself into his arms.
Ada could sense Leon tensed up again with his elevated heart rate, and the hug he had around Ada seemed almost confining.
"Not on my watch." Leon's arms were tight around Ada's waist and shoulder, like a protective cage that prevented her from slipping away and vanishing into the darkness. He tilted his head towards her and looked at her with a deep understanding, as if he knew why she chose to stay behind.
"Leon." Ada warned again, and he heard the unspoken message in his name. His face was close to hers, and as he looked into her eyes he could see her gaze was unwavering. The intensity of their silent moment is palpable.
"No. You know I will probably end up with an empty grave, and that did not stop you from saving my sorry ass. Why would you think I would let you die in some abandoned alley?"
Ada said nothing and allowed Leon to cling to her ever more tightly. This wasn't the first time she had thought he was too kindhearted for his own good. She had noticed that time and time again, no matter how much she manipulated him, he stood by her side. His inability to the way that she manipulated him after saving him was at once both irritating and innocently endearing.
If she tallied up how much time they had truly spent together, it added up to only a few dozen hours - with over three quarters of these occasions Ada had been pushing him for her own benefit. Yet, when she suggested she would die alone in a deserted alley, the fear in his voice made her heart soften inexplicably.
The idea that she might be embracing someone simply for the purpose of comforting them never would have crossed her mind before then. But it didn't seem strange when the person she was hugging was Leon.
Leon had anticipated a tirade of various reasons why he should not trust the woman in his arms; instead, all he could make out were their quickened breaths slowing down as they synchronized with each other's, how Ada’s hair brushed against his ear as she absentmindedly nestled her nose into the crook of his neck.
In the quiet of the room, the subtle beat of their synchronized heartbeats is like a slow, steady drumbeat. The room was illuminated only by the soft nightstand light, moonlight was visible and filtering through the window. The air is still and tranquil, yet full of unspoken emotion that hangs in the air.
“I’m tired.” She finally said. She heard her voice muffled as her lips brushed his skin.
“I can surely tuck you in.” Leon replied. Ada could sense that a smile appeared on his lips against her neck.
“How sweet of you. “ Ada gave a light laugh as she pulled away from their embrace.
“You made it clear that good behaviors work and you said you have a soft spot for the sweet ones. ”He reluctantly let go of the embrace and stepped away.
Ada draped Leon’s jacket over the side arm of the sofa, grabbed her knife from her purse, and put on his shirt. Leon felt empty as she left for the sofa. Leon observed her as she walked to the other side of the bed and slipped her knife under the pillow, she asked. “Do you mind?”
Leon simply replied, “Not at all.” Ada had chosen this side of the bed because his gun was on the nightstand near him.
She settled in under the blanket as he went to turn off the light and reach for his firearm. Before he could pick it up, she remarked, “Kennedy, are you shy or something?”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” Leon explained.
“I thought you said sex was off the table.” Ada said teasingly.
“You know that’s not what I mean.” Leon sighed. At least Ada was well enough to be able to joke around again. He felt lucky that he turned off the lights so he could cut himself some slack with his heat on his cheeks.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t even lie down on that thing. but do as you wish.” Ada found herself couldn't care less as her body gave out seconds after she was under the blanket.
Right before she lost her consciousness, she heard Leon shuffling into the blanket and his warmth slowly sipped to her side.
It was a rare night that Leon could sleep without being disturbed by nightmares. The mid-day sun sneaked its way around the curtain as the breeze came through the slightly opened window.
There was no surprise that the other side of the bed was already cold and empty. Leon rubbed his face as he walked into the bathroom. She scavenged a piece of paper from the gauze package and stuck it on the mirror.
“See you next time, handsome” with a red lip mark next to it. When he turned it over, she had written “Don’t waste your time on the puppet Senator”.
It wasn't until after hearing news of Wesker's death years later that Leon realized he had been chasing the wrong lead. However, he found out those thugs were murdered by their own people that morning. He thought Ada probably had already seen this coming when she left that alley.