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“You have Raccoon City Syndrome. End of Stage 2 to Stage 3,” Leon rasps into the phone in disbelief.
“You— we’ll die by the end of tonight.”
The line goes silent, and Leon hears Ada suck in a deep breath before her voice crackles through the phone again. “Not like we had much time left anyway, old man,” She remarks dryly, and despite everything, Leon finds himself laughing. “Well, let’s make the most of it, then. RPD tonight. 8pm. Let’s go out,” Leon blurts before he realises it, and when Ada falls silent again, he doesn’t know whether or not to applaud himself for catching the mercenary off guard for the second time in five minutes. “Meet me at the old station. 8pm,” He repeats, swallowing. “I— I miss you. Let me see you again for one last time. Please?” When Ada doesn’t talk again, he starts to doubt. He’d shown himself to Ada countless times, she’d seen him as a fresh-faced rookie, she’d seen him naked in her bed, she’d even seen him spitting out accusations at her only to press his lips to hers moments later. And every time, she had closed herself off to him, even though Leon had gotten close to uncovering the mystery that was Ada Wong.
Would this be the same again? Would she keep playing this sick game, like she has for the last two decades, until their inevitable deaths?
Leon clears his throat, snapping himself out of his train of thought. “So. Are you coming?” Ada hums in response. “I will, only if you return my keychain. I was starting to miss it,” She teases before hanging up, and Leon breathes out a sigh of relief. Even after 20 years, she still had that feisty streak.
The apartment is deathly silent and uncharacteristically Leon when he leaves. The beer cans are in trash cans, the place is neatly tidied up, and Leon only carries a sad excuse for a bouquet and Ada’s bear keychain when he locks the door for good. Damnit, he knew he was getting old, but knowing that this would be the last time he would ever walk out these doors, the last time he’d ever twist the key into the keyhole— it all seemed so bizarre to him. Honestly, for a man like Leon Kennedy, he would’ve expected his death to be more gruesome. He’d always envisioned death to come in the form of bioweapons ripping him apart, turning him into a monster like everyone else. He didn’t expect death to grant him the luxury of a less violent death for a man like him. The virus would kill him painfully, but albeit less painful than being torn apart limb to limb by zombies. Leon sighs at the thought, his boots echoing in the hallway as he leaves the apartment forever.
The station is almost completely destroyed by now. Pieces of the roof lie outside the door, and compared to the almost monochromatic station, Ada’s red dress stands out from where she leans against the crumbling pillars.
“If it isn't Leon Kennedy,” Ada laughs when she sees him, stepping closer to him. “Still as handsome as ever.”
Leon scoffs at her, hiding the smile on his face before clearing his throat into the crook of his elbow. “Don't try to flatter me, Ada.” He pulls the bouquet out from behind his back, and Ada’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “I, uh, tried to get you flowers but no one sells flowers anymore. This was all I had.” He hands the slightly wilted roses to her, and he watches her face soften as she straightens up. “I know you like red. And you deserve some flowers for your funeral,” He adds jokingly, trying to lighten the mood as he sees Ada chew on her lip.
“Thank you, handsome.”
Ada smiles at him: a real, genuine smile that takes Leon aback— and clutches the flowers tightly in her hands, roughened and worn down with time.
“I do like red.”
She looks at him in a way that sends Leon back years, sends him back to this very building where they'd met for the first time and he was just a confused rookie and she was a brand new mercenary on her first mission. He still remembers the perfectly manicured nails framing the FBI badge which she'd shown him, and he begins to wonder when her hands had gotten so wrinkled from age.
“Well, we should get going.” Leon pushes the gates to the station open before holding it open. “After you,” He smirks, and Ada rolls her eyes. “How chivalrous.”
The inside of the station is exactly how Leon remembers it as, albeit more run down than when he'd seen it for the first time. He winces as he sees human bones in the lobby next to some medical equipment, and the memory of killing Marvin hits him like a brick. Ada glances over at him, hesitantly reaching out for his arm and squeezing reassuringly. “You have a twisted idea of romance if you're bringing a girl to a run down police station for a date,” She teases, gently tugging Leon somewhere else. “Let's go look at your office.” He smiles weakly at the distraction, and gestures to the direction of the west offices, letting Ada pull him along to wherever she wants.
The tattered ‘Welcome, Leon’ banner is the first thing he sees, and it almost feels like death itself welcoming him. Ada is quietly inspecting the desk. Leon notices her arms, black veins a stark contrast against her pale skin, and he slips his gloves off quietly to reveal similar marks on his skin. "What's so interesting about my name plate?” He remarks as she picks up the dusty metal plate. “...You didn't deserve this. You should be rotting away from boredom at an office job, not… from whatever this virus is.” She gestures at his palms as she speaks, gestures at the spiderwebs of black blooming on his hands. Ada coughs, and Leon almost flinches at the stark reminder of her oncoming death.
“Well, that's life,” Leon mutters as he kicks at the banner on the ground. “Can't really choose if you want to be in a zombie apocalypse.” He reaches over, gingerly taking the nameplate out of her hands and setting it back on the dusty table. Ada laughs when he sneezes at the dust, and he shoots her a teasing look before dusting off his hands. “Nothing much to look at now,” He points out, gently leading her out of the door of the west office with her hand in his. He brings her around the station, retracing his steps from decades ago.
Ada laughs when Leon tells her how he got startled by zombies breaking in through windows in the East Halls. They try to shoot at broken windows with guns from decades ago. Ada rests, catching her breath. Leon coughs. Leon laughs when he trips over a piece of rubble. Leon rests, catching his breath. Ada coughs. They dodge the broken pieces of walls on the ground, quipping at each others’ athletic ability. Leon coughs.
Leon coughs.
Leon coughs again, the sound wet and sick in his throat.
And then Ada gags, and before Leon knows it, Ada is vomiting up her insides.
“Ada!” Leon screams, his throat raw. He keeps a hand on her back as she slumps down against a wall. “Ada, please,” He whimpers softly. Ada throws her head back, wiping her mouth with her forearm. “Stage 3. It… should be starting now.” Her voice is barely audible and shaky, and fear grips Leon. “Okay. Okay. It’s going to hurt soon, okay. Let’s sit down.” Leon gingerly pushes her away from the pool of blood to lean against the wall before taking in his surroundings. He was in the hallways of the cells, next to the morgue. The basement. Where he’d first met Ada decades ago.
They were going to die together, in the same place where they met each other.
The realisation sinks in, and Leon finds himself slumping next to Ada. She smiles weakly as she picks up on his thoughts, shakily taking his hand in hers. “Well, Leon, I guess this is how it ends,” Ada says simply. “Dying here. Where we first met.” A hint of vulnerability passes over her face, and Leon can’t help but smile despite the fatigue and pain that was beginning to cloud his thoughts. “You know, you’ve never shown me your real self before. Whoever is under the mask that is Ada Wong.” Leon gags on his words before turning to the side, vomiting up blood. He turns back to press his temples to hers. “What’s your real name?” Ada pauses for a while before sighing.
“It’s Adeline. Adeline Wong.”
Leon smiles in relief, the fatigue beginning to set in. “Adeline. You have a pretty name.” He reaches for the bear keychain, his fingers untangling from Ada’s to shakily undo the zipper on the back. A ring clatters onto the blood slicked ground between them, and Leon picks it up, triumphantly presenting it to Ada. “Well, Adeline. Marry me.” He says the words simply, as if he was just asking her for something else, something superficial. The blood covered ring glimmers white and red, and Ada reaches out a trembling hand to snatch it from Leon. She shoves the ring onto her finger with as much strength as she could muster, and shoots him a weak grin as she lifts up her hand. “Who am I to back down?” Leon chuckles dryly, wincing at the pain that shoots through his ribs. The hallway is deathly silent, save for their labored breathing, and Leon pries the roses out of Ada’s firm grip to place them between their bloody palms. “I love you, Ada,” He mutters as he feels her body rise less and less with each breath.
Leon looks at Ada’s barely conscious body, pressing a kiss to her cheek before his eyes flutter shut and his head falls limply against hers.
Maybe this was the peace that Leon so deserved.