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December twenty third, he could be at home, drinking his mind away until Christmas Eve. It would be easier that way, a simple way of living and oh his liver would hate him for that. But he wasn't at home, and he wasn't drinking, and that made him feel like shit, because he just had to be called out on a mission, didn't he?
He buckled up his holster, taking the weapons he found necessary and stuffing them into his pockets and shoes. Leon has already showered and dried off, trying to have a quiet moment of peace before putting in his ear piece, because he knew Hunnigan's voice would just beam into his ears as soon as he did so.
He could be in his apartment right now, doing whatever he wanted without stressing so much, have the small couch in his living room all to himself as he mindlessly drank all his sorrows away and watched some random show on TV. It was stupid, he could be doing something better than that, but going on a mission was not what he wanted to do.
Last Christmas, he was with his girlfriend, and they had the time of their lives. Last Christmas, it was their first one together, and it could've been the best one he's ever had. Last Christmas, it was all ruined because he was called for an emergency mission. Last Christmas, he was forced to leave her at midnight for said mission. Last Christmas, that was the last time he saw her. Last Christmas, it was his last memory of her.
Obviously, he's dealt with her leaving him so many times before, it wasn't new. But he felt like shit for leaving her so randomly and then coming back to her completely gone, with no trace of her ever being there that night, if it wasn't for her the unopened gifts and items in his house.
He spent so long preparing for their first Christmas together, only for it to be completely ruined. He wasn't even home on Christmas day to make up for it, and he made it so clear to his coworkers that he wasn't available during the week, yet they still called him, and he hated it.
He prepared so much for it, a nice dinner that they both enjoyed, he took so long to make it, made sure it was Ada's favourite, and even had lots of gifts for the next day. All wrapped in pretty paper, with little notes for her in every single one. And she didn't even get to open any of them at the time.
At that moment, he was furious, not with her, but with himself. At the moment, he hated his job more than any other thing he hates. At that moment, it was the first time Ada had left ever since they started dating. At that moment, it was the first time Leon had gotten so pissed off at something.
And they rarely fought. Every time Leon would come back to his apartment feeling like shit, randomly yelling about things, Ada wouldn't argue back. She never did. Even if Leon yelled at her, she'd just let him, because arguing back never made any progress into the problem, it just made it worse. And she always understood how annoyed one could get, and she never pushed him… she was too good for him the more he thought about it.
So she didn't argue back then, not when he got pissed, she didn't even comment when Leon got so frustrated about the sudden call, and she didn't say anything when he started saying random shit that he doesn't remember all too well. But then he came back home the next night, and she was gone, and he blamed himself for it.
Leon had a feeling she'd come back, Ada always came back to him. Except this time, she didn't. He waited for days, she wasn't there. Weeks, months, and now a whole year, she still didn't come back. Maybe that is what an actual break up feels like, because all the other times Ada had left in the past weren't real breakups, because they weren't even dating then.
He huffed, grabbing his ear piece and putting it in, partially ignoring the instructions he was given because they were exactly the same on every single mission. He practically had them all memorized like the back of his hand by now.
"Don't be reckless, don't get yourself killed, your safety before the mission, don't get distracted in your head and-" he never really followed any of those rules, he found them stupid. Ada would have called him a dumbass, and Leon would have laughed about it. But he wouldn't now because she wasn't there and it hurt to even remember her.
He didn't like remembering her, but everything around him seemed to remind him of her in somehow or someway. Even the smallest things around him, because she was just everywhere around him and it was slowly choking him.
Sometimes, he could just be walking by shops around his neighbourhood, and just the sight of a pretty dress would make him think of buying it as a gift for her. Or even the small teddy bear key chain in his house keys. Or the park he passes by when driving to work, making him think of a date idea for the both of them. All for him to remember that they weren't even together anymore, and he'd go back home and drink his thoughts off his head.
Half of his closet was for her, although she wore his clothes more than her own. He'd act pissed off when she did, but he loved seeing her in his shirts that were all too big for her, and he found it cute, even though Ada denied it. Her things were all over Leon's house too. All of her skin care items lined up in the shelf of his bathroom, and her makeup in his night stand drawer, even the most random things that were once hers and he couldn't even move them from their original place because she was the one who put them there.
He couldn't deny he missed her, and even his coworkers had noticed when he first came back after a week-long break, and it was obvious to him. Even Helena had talked to him about it, and he sat back, answering all of her questions as if it were an interrogation, and he absolutely hated it because he didn't want to remember everything that happened a whole week after he -kind of- forgot all about it.
Leon huffed, glancing at his phone one last time, scrolling through his recent calls and it was all Ada. She never picked up though, not a single time. Maybe her phone was closed, or maybe she lost it, or maybe she changed her number. She most probably changed it, she was definitely avoiding him, maybe.
Whatever. He has more important things to do anyway. There was a mission he was assigned and he needed to focus of that, not his ex-girlfriend that he can't get over, even though it's been months and she most probably didn't give two shits about him anymore.
-
Apparently his mission was of two parts, number one, find the location of something, and number two, go to said location and retrieve a top secret file containing very much classified information. He assumed that he would have to steal a flash drive, and so, he was made to dress formally, totally not what he prepared for, because he thought he was just going on a normal one.
Claire laughed her head off when she saw him in the suit, that outfit doesn't suit you , she would've said if Leon didn't stop her by saying the line ever before she did. Helena ended up joining along, because that was just Helena for him, and he didn't have any other choice but to deal with it until he left.
It was an early Christmas event, one located in a large mansion owned by some guy who had the information Leon needed to retrieve. It was an event of people going to give their blessings and all that talk that he didn't pay attention to, he didn't really care about it all. He just wanted to get his mission done and leave .
Leon fixed his earpiece and hid it under his hair as he walked into the hall. The information room should be somewhere upstairs, all he has to do is get up there, somehow , and insert a flash drive into the main computer, leave it for Hunnigan to do her thing, then he can leave.
Everyone looked fancy, nothing too out going, but everyone looked the same to him, same faces, same clothing styles, everyone huddled up into their own groups with friends, families or partners. Leon was fine with being a loner, he didn't care for it right now, he just wanted his mission to be done.
He slid over to the drinks section, away from the crowd, grabbing something for himself to drink as he looked for a way to get upstairs without being unnoticed. Leon did end up finding a way, one through the back stairs of the mansion, he just had to go out through the back door, which was right there . It was so close but so far.
He walked over to it, slowly so that no one suspected the fact that he was heading towards it. It wouldn't look too good for him, considering he spotted the host if the party laughing among a group of guests and… Ada.
Ada Wong. His Ada. Well, not his anymore, more of… his ex girlfriend, Ada. But it was still her, and she was right there, and dressed just as gorgeous as she always did, and it made Leon ever so slightly weak in the knees. He looked away, unable to bring himself to look at her anymore. He had a mission to get over with, not just stare at his ex.
Rude of Ada to look so good, just standing there when Leon was on his mission. As if she was just there to taunt him of what he'd been missing for the past year. He glanced towards her once again, trying to stop himself from eyeing every single detail of her that he could notice, before he caught himself and looked away once again.
Focus on the mission, Leon. The damn mission. He walked towards the door once again, sipping on his drink as she looked around the crowd then stopped by the door, leaning his back on it. Glancing over the crowd again, he saw Ada once more, a blank look on her face as the man next to her doubled down in laughter at some joke. It made him slightly smile, knowing he was the only one who had been able to make her smile or laugh.
In an instant, he slipped out of the back door, closing it behind him and heading towards the emergency ladder at the back of the mansion. He went up it two steps at a time, trying to speed up before it was noticed that he went up to the second floor in the first place.
He pushed a window open and slid into it, grinning to himself when it was the information room. Leon pulled out the flash drive he was given, putting it into the side of the computer in the middle of the room, then tapping his earpiece twice.
"I got the drive in, do your thing, but make it quick, I doubt we have time" Leon muttered, sighing as he looked at the computer, hoping Hunnigan was there to start working quickly.
"Copy that, Leon," her voice replied, and Leon nodded, mostly to himself since Hunnigan couldn't even see him. He sighed, leaning against the window he entered as he waited for the signal to leave, and he so very hopes it'd be done fast, so he can leave without having to run into Ada.
"Done" the voice beamed I to his earpiece again and Leon nodded once more with a hum, taking out the flashdrive from the computer, and making sure everything was in its place before turning to the window again, seeing it slide open and she was there.
Ada's movements stopped when she saw him, and her eyes flickered around the room then back to him, then she clenched her jaw as he met his eyes. Leon did the same, backing away from the window slightly.
"Why didn't I expect you'd be here?" Ada chuckled, getting into the room from the window and walking towards the laptop, entering her own flash drive and tapping away on the keyboard. "Can't get rid of you that easy"
Leon stiffened. Why did she remember that? It's been so long since he said that line to her back in Raccoon City, there's no way she hates him if she remembered random things he said that didn't have a meaning and- what if she remembered them from her hatred towards him? That was possible.
He watched her in silence, his eyes flickering around the way she tapped on the keyboard and how she stared at the screen, as if he was not even there, as if she hadn’t seen him in a whole year. It was like she stabbed him in the heart and twisted the knife a few more times just to make sure that his heart was broken for sure.
"You're staring" She muttered out, not even glancing back at him as she stood back straight again, taking the flashdrive out of the computer and hiding it away in her purse. Leon looked away, clenching his jaw slightly and stepping back towards the window.
"It was good to see you again, Ada" he said quietly, but he knew she heard him, because her lashes flickered as she looked down at her purse. Leon sighed, turning around when he heard Hunnigan's voice in his earpiece,
He jumped out of the window, getting onto the emergency ladder at the back of the mansion, going down it with a long exhale. Leon could hear the steps of Ada's heels behind him. It made him speed up his steps for some reason, he didn't want to have to face her, not after that.
-
December twenty fourth, he still thought that he could be at home, still thought about drinking his mind away until Christmas Eve. It was like an easier way of living, an easier choice to do. But he wasn't at home, and he wasn't drinking, and he was sent on yet another mission to finish his first one that he hated all too much.
Leon stepped slow, his footsteps heavy as he walked, although he tried his best to keep them quiet. His hands hovered over his holster, just in case. He had a feeling something would come up at him, it made him feel on edge, and he slightly hated it. But that's what he gets for being an agent.
He felt a shiver run up his spine as he stepped into a room. This should be it, this should be were he gets that information and then he can leave, easy peasy, and he didn't need to stall any longer, because that would just get him into unnecessary trouble, that he really doesn't need right now.
The second part of his mission was to get a file of information, he didn't know what it was about exactly, it was classified, as Hunnigan said, so he didn't really bother to ask about any more information. Leon thought it was rather unnecessary to send him for the retrieval of the file instead of anyone else, but maybe they wanted to get his mind off drinking, or maybe they just wanted to give him something else to do, other than rot in his own bed for days at a time.
The wooden floor creaked under each step he took, it made him feel uneasy, but he ignored the thoughts and looked around the room. Large bookshelves aligning the three walls of the room, the last one containing a large window, and a few statues in every corner, the place looked like an ancient research room, and oh it reminded him ever so slightly of when he met Ada back in Spain. Maybe the world just hated him enough to make everything resemble her in some how or someway.
Leon traced his fingers over the bookshelves, slowly and cautiously, over every row of books, and even along the wood of the shelves. Surely, a safe with the information should be hidden somewhere, he just needed to find the opening for it and act quickly, so he can get over with this and leave .
His foot mistakenly stubbed against the floor of one of the statues, causing him to wince slightly but he heard a lock turn, which caught his attention more, seeing one of the bookshelves move slightly, but stopping with a loud creak.
Leon raised an eyebrow, looking down at the floor piece of the statue. Whoever made that was smart, yet painful for whoever opened them. He moved over to the shelf, putting his hands at the side of it and pushing it enough to let him in.
He eyes the small area, moving to the safe and putting his ear to it, turning the lock around until he heard a tiny click, then opening the door. Leon quickly grabbed the files, as well as a flash drive, stuffing them into his pocket before zipping it up for extra measure.
"A sight for sore eyes, aren't you, Leon?" A voice called out, her voice. It made Leon stop what he was doing, yet still not looking up from where he had been staring at the floor. He could hear her footsteps move slowly behind him. He wanted to look back, face her after all this time, but he couldn't get himself to move a muscle.
"You're always coming back to me, aren't you, Ada?" Leon asked back, trying to regain some confidence to speak, throwing away any thoughts on his mind, just for the sake of getting over with this and so he didn't have to go through this for long. Just like last time, don't do anything stupid.
"You just have to be everywhere I go, don't you?" Ada raised an eyebrow, walking around to face him fully. Leon held in his breath, she looked as gorgeous as always, just like the last time he saw her, and he felt like he wanted to sink to the ground, but he had to continue his act of not caring .
"You're stuck in my loop, it's not my fault" He shrugged, looking up at her fully, leaning back and closing the safe behind him. It seemed like she took note of that, her eyes flickering to the safe behind his back before going back to meet his eyes again.
"You have something I want " She walked closer, her hand hovering over the holster on her hip, in a way one wouldn't notice unless they stared for too long. Leon narrowed his eyes, staring behind her at the exit back to the research room.
"And you have an explanation I need " Leon replied back, tilting his head to the side lightly. She squinted at that, just for a second but he still noticed it. He wanted to read her, but he never could, and it seemed like she was the only one able to do that type of thing, because somehow, she could read him like an open book.
"Give me the file, Leon. I don't want to hurt you" Ada mumbled, pointing out her gun to his chest, still taking slow steps around him. He didn't move, his eyes just followed her every step, watching the way her boots clicked behind her, and it all reminded him too much of their time in Spain, and a little bit of Raccoon City. He hated it.
"You already did, when you left" He squinted at her, reaching for a knife he had in his back pocket, holding it still behind him until he waited for her to attack. Obviously Ada wouldn't make the first move, she was waiting for him to lose his patience enough so he could attack her first, but he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
"To be honest here, you left first" She raised her eyebrow at him once again, her eyes still flickering around him then back to his eyes quickly. Leon clenched his jaw at that, it was true, but he had a reason, and Ada heard the phone call then.
"You knew my reason, I still don't know yours" Leon mumbled back, biting his inner cheeks to calm down. He wanted to hear her out, he wanted to know her reasons, he wanted to get an idea of why. But she wasn't one to talk, and she always gave some excuse, and maybe his curiosity and worry was always one sided.
"You're being attached," Ada murmured, her voice low but he still heard it. Maybe that was his thing all along, he got all too attached and worried to people that didn't give that feeling back, he paid too much attention to people who most probably didn't give two shits about him.
"You're being selfish" He stared into her eyes. It was like saw something flicker in them, maybe she finally felt something, or maybe she was deciding if she'd play with his feeling again. He wasn't going to let that happen, not again.
"Just hand over the file, Leon. I don't have time for this" She grumbled, clenching her jaw and cooking her gun towards him, yet her flickers weren't even on the trigger. They never were, out of all the times she had pointed her gun at him, back in Raccoon City, Spain, even in Eastern Slav.
"You never have time, do you?" Leon asked, not wanting to get his feelings involved, but he just couldn't help asking the question. Maybe it was his curiosity, or maybe it was how much the topic affected him, he hated talking about it really, but he just had to know.
"I'm a busy person, it isn't my fault that I can't make time" Ada stepped closer, until she's at arms length from him. Her head tilted to the side as she looked up at him, and he furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes flickering between her own as he tried to find any sort of answer for what he wanted.
"How come I made time and I'm a busy person too?" I made so much time for you, he didn't say, and it made him feel like pulling his hair out because how come after all this time, after everything he's done and she just acted so normal about it? Like what was between them never happened, and he had to keep himself up with his stupid act of him not caring either.
"You and me, we're not the same" She kept her gun up, he could see her fingers tapping against the side of the gun, touching it, but still not on the trigger. Maybe there was a reason she never shot him, maybe she felt like she didn't use him enough , so she kept him for another time. He was just a joke to her, wasn't he?
"Yeah, and I'm the fool, right?" Leon scoffed, putting his hands into tight fists, till his knuckles were white. Maybe he was right, he was stupid all along, letting her use him like some lost puppy, ever since he first met her, following her around and regretting every time she used him and left him.
Ada just shook her head and sighed, dropping her gun to her side as she stared at him. Her eyes were dull, and he furrowed his eyebrows at her action as she walked over to him, tilting her head up at him.
Her actions now reminded her all too much of Raccoon City and it hurt, it hurt to see it again, someone he once knew and trusted turning her back to him only to be the opposite of what he thought of her. He thought she wouldn't leave, yet she did, and he was left to hurt about her, while she was right there, and looked like she didn't give two shits about him.
"Hand over the file, leon" She insisted, putting a hand out towards him. Leon squinted slightly, reaching for his pocket knife again, yet not grabbing it just yet. He didn't want to hurt her, he didn't want to do something stupid and regret it all later.
"I have to be somewhere" he shook his head as he eyed her for any sort of suspicious movement. Ada approached him slowly, a rather pissed off look on her face, he took a step back, hitting the wall that the safe was placed in.
He sighed, shaking his head again and walking past her to the exit. Leon stopped at the door when he heard her boots shifting on the ground, yet she didn't move from her place, nor did she try to go after him.
-
Leon let out a long breath he was holding in, settling back onto his couch and flicking open a bottle of whiskey, taking long sips and holding the liquid in his mouth before swallowing it all at once.
There was an hour and a half until Christmas Eve, and he decided that he'll just drink until then, just like he wanted to earlier and now there was absolutely no one there to stop him and-
There was a turn of a lock, and Leon fluttered his eyes open. He took another sip from his glass, shifting on the couch to peak out at the front door. Maybe it was Claire, or Helena. They had his house keys for emergencies, and also to check up on him if he was gone for too long without anyone being able to reach him.
It wasn't Claire, nor Helena, because either of them would've chimed a welcome as they entered and walked into the living room to check on him, but no. Because there was no one speaking, and a slight shuffling at the entrance of his apartment before a soft gasp.
Leon sighed and got up, shifting his feet on the floor as he leaned around until he reached the entrance of his apartment. Of course, as he expected, he found her . She was turned with her back to him, doing something that made a slight shuffling noise. There was snow in her hair, and he had to fight the urge to not brush it off.
She didn't have his house keys, never did, not even when they dated. She didn't even bother asking for them, because she always entered through his window, or just picked the lock of his front door. Although the door was more risky since anyone could see her, but she did it anyway and then called him reckless.
"Can I help you?" Leon mumbled out, leaning his head to the wall, as he watched her turn around and face him, that shuffling thing behind her back. Ada stood still, taking off her sunglasses and hanging them on the collar of her shirt.
"Thought I should see you… your window was locked" She replied, a soft sigh leaving her lips as she leaned to the side, looking into the living room and letting out a small frown when she saw it. "No Christmas tree?"
He shook his head, eyeing her for a moment then going back into the living room, settling on the couch where he was earlier. Ada tugged off her boots at the door, following after him and settling on an armchair near the couch, placing a small wrapped box onto the coffee table.
"Well… Happy Christmas to you, I thought I should… you know" Ada shrugged, taking off her jacket and folding it onto her lap. She reached into the pocket of the jacket, taking out a hair clip and placing it on top of the wrapped box. "thought I should return this too, there's other stuff I should give back, and-"
"Why?" Leon asked, cutting her off and eyeing the hair clip as he reached for his glass, taking a sip. He didn't look at her, just stared at the item on his coffee table like something was wrong. Because he gave that to her, and he didn't know why she was returning it back to him.
"Um… they're yours?" She raised an eyebrow, staring at his face, yet he still didn't look back at her. Ada sighed, looking around the living room again. It was dusty, clearly he hadn't been here lately, and there wasn't pretty decor like the last time she was here. She frowned again at that, because if she remembered right, Leon loved getting Christmas decor.
"But I gave them to you, you shouldn't return gifts you receive" he told her, reaching for the clip and nudging it in her direction again. She hesitated as she reached for it, but she took it eventually, caressing her fingers over the carvings on it, before stuffing it into her pocket once again. "Wear it"
Ada looked up at him when he muttered that, meeting his eyes and watching him too around her face. He had a hint of whisper and please in his voice, like he was nicely asking her without the question part. She nodded, clipping it to the back of her hair and hearing it make a small click.
"Leon…" Ada mumbled out, staring into his eyes once again, he hummed in return, and she hated it. Hated how he acted to cold and distant, she was the one who was supposed to be like that, not him . Was that how he felt when she acted like that towards him? "Can you at least accept my gift?"
She nudged the wrapped box, and Leon's eyes flickered towards it, then back to her eyes. She nodded once, pushing it towars him with her fingers a little more as she continued watching him. With a sigh, he took it, and carefully started opening it, because that's just how he was.
He didn't tear apart wrapping paper, not dod he throw it away. Leon always opened it carefully as set it aside because 'it may be useful later on' and she thought that was cute, because as always, he did the exact same action, sliding the item out of the paper and putting it aside.
It was a book, one he talked about before. Ada knew he had a love for reading, he even owned a whole shelf in his office for it, yet never got the chance to read any of the books he owned because he always had something or another to worry about. But he used to read to her. Every day or so, when they were together, he'd read to her out loud because Ada just couldn't stand staring into a paper and reading it out. She also thought Leon was cute in his reading glasses.
"Thank you. I… wait" Leon mumbled, standing up, and placing the boom down carefully at the coffee table, away from his glass as he walked off into the apartment. She heard a shuffling but didn't peak into the room he was in, unlike how she usually did.
He came back, holding a fee things in his hands. They were little gifts, not too big, and the wrapping paper was a little old, she remembered seeing them before, last Christmas when she was last here at his place. Leon placed them in front of her, smiling awkwardly as he sat back on the couch, drinking the last of his whiskey and pulling the glass away.
"If I knew you'd come over, I would've rewrapped them" He spoke up after a beat, tapping his knees lightly and letting out a long breath. Ada nodded softly, trying to imitate his image of carefully opening the wrapping so it wouldn't tear, but the tape had melted onto the paper that it was difficult to do so. "Just rip it"
She nodded again at that, tearing it down and stopping when she saw what it was. Leon grinned at her action, it was subconscious of him to just grin like an idiot whenever he got a reaction out of her. She gave him a look, one that clearly read out ' you're so stupid and I hate you' , and he loves her too.
"You're an idiot" Ada spoke softly, although her actions said otherwise because she continued opening the wrapping paper and looked down at the logo of a designer brand she liked. She opened the box, tracing her finger over the little necklace inside. Of course it was a blue butterfly, he was so predictable and she loved that about him, he knew she did.
"I know" Leon mumbled back, standing up and taking the necklace from the box, tying it around her neck. And she let him, and she made absolutely no action to actually stop him, because even if she should expected the gift, and even if she wasn't surprised by it, she liked it, and she'd keep it on, just like the clip. "We need to have a long… long talk, you know that, right?"
"Let me just enjoy my Christmas with you first" She whispered, pulling him down, even though he was already kneeling to tie the necklace around her neck, but he let her, and he didn't mind how she had him so low by the shoulders. Leon accepted her kiss gladly, putting his hand on the back of the arm chair to support his weight.