Chapter Text
The first nail in Ada’s coffin was when she saw Leon S. Kennedy on Valdelobos.
One could argue that the first nail was technically hammered back in 1998, but Ada had been trying to get her mind off that night for the last six years, so she wouldn’t count it herself.
But up on that decrepit windmill, looking down and watching Leon fight his way through infected villagers? Well, she couldn’t deny this one even if she tried.
“Why am I not surprised?” she asked herself wryly.
Of course they’d send him to rescue the president’s daughter. Leon may excel at killing bioweapons, but all he ever truly wants to do is save people. It’s in his nature.
“So kind of you to keep our friends busy,” she said to the air between them.
Thankfully, their missions didn’t clash for once. It meant they could help each other without risking their own objectives. Ada smiled to herself at the thought.
Wesker, on the other hand, would be furious if he found out. But at the same time, Wesker was also impossible to please, so why bother to try?
It wasn’t until she was on her way to the church that she realized that Leon’s presence would likely undo those six years of work. Six years of telling herself that this was who she was. That there was no point in trying to be someone else. That people don’t change, so why bother?
The nugget of warmth in her heart turned cold.
The second nail in Ada’s coffin was the way Luis’s eyes lit up at the sound of Leon’s name.
“Yes!” he said, no longer afraid of the gun in his face. “Leon, and that young woman… They are both infected. They need this medicine.”
Ada let Luis back away from her slowly as he rambled. As she mentally adjusted her understanding of the man.
When she had read his file prior to the mission, she had been pleased to see that he was probably like her. He had done morally questionable things in the past, for both Umbrella and Los Illuminados, and seemed mostly concerned with protecting his own skin.
Granted, she wasn’t completely sure what it was Luis had done. He wasn’t listed as an active researcher on any of the top projects, yet he was listed as a “primary source”, on every single file they had found. It was an impressive resume, if not mysterious.
There were few constants when it came to the chaotic way Umbrella’s researchers operated. To see the same name repeated so often was unusual to say the least. And with how careful he was to evade the authorities, she thought she had found someone pragmatic, like her.
And yet here he was, delaying his own extraction, his own safety, to help two people he must have only just met.
Leon truly had no idea the power he seemed to wield.
“And why does this matter to me?” Ada asked, knowing damn well that she also wanted Leon to be free of his parasite.
Luis hesitated for only a moment as his eyes softened.
“Because— you too are infected.”
The third nail in the coffin.
“It’s what I researched for all these years, Ada,” Luis continued, voice soft in a way that felt far too comforting. Too reassuring, as if she was a hissing cat that he wanted to help. “I can see the symptoms already showing in your eyes.”
Ada let him turn away as he continued talking, waiting for the shoe to drop. Wesker had made it clear that she had become a liability by being infected, and now Luis had a magical solution to fix her? The question now was, what would a man like Luis do with something like that?
Some small part of her almost wanted the shoe to drop. At least then she would know who she was dealing with.
“The medicine will stop them for a time. Just trust me,” Luis said as he knelt over a trap door leading further into the castle. His expression was gentle and pleading, as if he didn’t have all the power in this situation. “You have a lot to gain… and nothing to lose.”
A heavy silence fell as he waited for Ada to respond, and she felt the knot in her chest cinch just a little bit tighter.
He should have asked for more. He was offering her salvation and all he asked for was a little bit of time? What sort of bargain was that?
Wesker would have most certainly held this above her head. He had already threatened her once today, for the unforgivable crime of needing his help, and she knew she would hear about that little slip up again for a long time.
In contrast, Luis was merely asking for permission to delay the delivery of the Amber, in exchange for her life.
Maybe he would ask her for something more later. It would be annoying, but far easier to weasel out of, and certainly not surprising. Ada fought the urge to sigh.
“Okay. But this is your last chance,” Ada said, trying to ignore the smile that lit up Luis’s face. “We do this first, and then the Amber.”
She lowered her gun as Luis stood up, pulling out his comm.
“I’ll let Leon know,” he said with a crooked smile.
He never did ask for anything more.
The fourth nail in Ada’s coffin was when Leon held a knife to her throat.
She hadn’t really been sure what to expect, when she decided to reveal herself to him. To attempt to talk.
If this were five years ago, perhaps he would have been happy to see her, shooting her that goofy smile of his that reminded her so much of a puppy. But it wasn’t five years ago, and Leon has had plenty of time to grow world weary and untrusting.
Still, as the cold touch of steel hovered just a breadth away from her neck, she knew everything was fine. She angled her head and smiled at him, the sort that always disarmed the more careless of men.
“Not a bad move,” she said, voice like silk, “Very smooth.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Leon wasn’t swayed. His eyes narrowed, as hard as the steel in his hand.
“So who are you working for this time?”
Right. That betrayal must have stung particularly hard for Leon. Especially the Leon of six years ago, who wanted to trust her so badly. The Leon who still hadn’t figured out how the world they lived in actually worked. She should have expected it.
“Oh Leon,” she purred, swallowing her disappointment, “you know I don’t work and tell.”
He took a deep breath in, frustrated but unsurprised. Then he removed his knife and released her wrist. Because of course she wasn’t actually in danger, despite the very real threat that Leon could pose.
Because despite the world they lived in, Leon was still Leon.
Even so, she waited until he had turned away and sheathed his knife before speaking again. There were only so many buttons she could push.
“Leave the girl,” she advised, “She’s lost no matter what.”
Leon turned and glared at her, but didn’t move. It emboldened Ada to keep trying. Her own little way of trying to protect him.
“You walk away now, and who knows,” she said sweetly as she began to walk away herself, heading for the window so she could continue her own mission. “Maybe you’ll live to meet me again. And then I might get you that ‘greeting’ you were looking for.”
“You think I’m gonna give up that easy?” Leon asked, prompting Ada to look back over her shoulder at him, any hope that he’d listen dying immediately.
“Right…” Because Leon was still Leon. She wasn’t sure why she had bothered to try. And there was that warmth again, despite him denying her. Despite her efforts to stay grounded in the reality of their world.
“How about we continue this conversation another time?” she suggested, keeping her expression casually neutral.
Leon simply nodded, accepting the suggestion without hesitation as he turned around to pick up the gun he had dropped.
By the time he looked back again, Ada was gone.
The fifth nail in Ada’s coffin was when Luis refused to leave her behind.
The suppressant wasn’t working fast enough, and the monster who had infected her was fast approaching. It was after her, not Luis, so there was no question what she had to do. Besides, it would keep the Amber safe.
“Take the Amber and go,” Ada said, leaning against the battlement just to keep herself standing. “Once the parasite is sedated, you can give me back that damn stone.”
But instead of leaving, Luis just stepped closer.
“I can’t leave you here! Not like this!” he insisted, stage whispering, as if that would help hide them from the monster who had been tracking her all day.
Ada could have laughed, if she weren’t so dizzy.
The last time someone had told her that, she had kissed him to shut him up. She didn’t think that would work in this situation, especially since she’d likely stumble while trying. Instead, she just waved her hand dismissively.
“Spare me,” she said with a weak but reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. You’ve got another promise to keep.”
For a moment, it looked like Luis would refuse. He leaned towards her, movements expressive and as dramatic as ever, if not shaky and tense, biting his lip in frustration.
“Alright,” he hissed, “But you come find me as soon as you’re done here.”
He sounded so serious, and refused to leave until Ada gave him a shaky nod in acknowledgement. Then, finally, he turned and ran off, disappearing into the haze.
Ada was too disoriented to feel anything in particular right then, and yet for some reason, she was smiling. When she thought back to the moment later, she felt warmth in her chest again, settled beside the knot, as if trying to ease it.
The sixth nail in Ada’s coffin was when Luis was dying.
She tucked her comm away in her pocket as she began to rush through the caverns towards where Luis was supposed to be. Despite that, the man kept talking, even though it clearly pained him to do so.
“I’m sorry. I’m not going to make it,” he said through gritted teeth. Ada’s heart was pounding in her chest as she flew through the air, the whirring of her grapple hook hissing in her ear.
See, this is what you get for trying to help other people. This is what happens when you prioritize morals over self-preservation. Ada hated how tight her chest felt.
“I’ll send you my files. They should help…” Luis continued, likely shortening his remaining time alive, with how much he was talking and moving. Because of course he still wants to help.
“The Amber, Luis. Where is it?” Ada asked, because her mission was supposed to come first. She needed to keep focused. Why couldn’t she keep focused?
“Thank you,” Luis said instead, “for the chance to do good again.”
Ada’s heart felt like it stopped, even as she kept running.
“What are you saying?” she asked, even though she has a pretty good idea what the answer is.
“I’m grateful…” Luis said before coughing. It sounded wet, as if it was more blood than air. “Like I said, I’m just your good ol’ Samaritan.”
She would shake him, if she could. Just take him by the shoulders and shake him like the idiot he is. The knot around her heart was so tight now, and she couldn't stand it.
“How about you help Leon when I’m gone, eh?” Luis asked, when she didn’t respond. “Speaking of, ugh, sounds like he needs me.”
She realized she wasn’t moving fast enough as Luis called out Leon’s name. Gun fire was the last thing to transfer through the call, and she heard it echo through the caverns around her not a second later. She wasn’t moving fast enough, but she was still almost there.
She arrived right in time to see Luis slide onto the floor, while Leon rushed over to the crates he was leaning against. She could only just barely hear Luis’s voice from her vantage point, high above them and covered in shadow.
“I’m not looking good, ey my friend?” he said through a mouthful of blood. “And such a loss to the ladies of the world.”
Because of course he’d still be trying to make light of the situation. Of him dying. Ada was frozen in place, her heartbeat echoing in her chest as Leon told him to stop talking. It looked like he was about to try to check Luis over, his hand reaching for his shoulder when Luis stopped him. He pressed something silver into Leon’s hand, holding it tightly with a shaky grip.
“Take this. Get to my laboratory,” Luis grit out before letting go and pulling out a cigarette. “Go there and remove those damn parasites. Help… Ashley.”
He tried to flick on his lighter, but his fingers were clumsy and he dropped it. Ada found herself feeling grateful when Leon picked it up in his stead, lighting the cigarette for their mutual friend.
“You know, I’ve led a pretty shitty life,” Luis muttered through the blood and smoke, looking at Leon with those same soft eyes he had used on Ada earlier.
“But now, ey? What do you think, Leon?” His voice was getting weaker, but he seemed determined to get the last question out. “People can change, right?”
The cigarette dropped from his mouth as his head slowly slumped towards his chest. His final words echoed in Ada’s ears. People can change.
No. Just no. She refused.
Her grip on her grappling hook was tight as she waited for Leon to leave. Krauser was getting away, and she knew that she should be going after him.
But she refused to let this be the end.
The seventh nail in Ada’s coffin was when she and Leon were flying through the water towards Saddler’s sanctuary. Neither of them were in a particularly good mood, though Ada was confident that Leon couldn’t see that on her face.
She knew it was coming, when their conversation shifted towards change. She hid her tension behind humor and a sly smile as she denied Leon’s assertion that he had changed in the years since Raccoon City. And she did actually mean it too.
Sure, he was less naive than before, and far more deadly with a knife, but at his core, Leon was still Leon.
He was still that paragon of good who had the terrible ability to make people want to do better. To be better. And he didn’t even realize it.
“So here’s my question…” Leon said, having no idea of the devastation he was causing, “Have you changed, Ada? Or are you just trying to use me again?”
You’ve ruined me, she wanted to say. Instead, she glanced at him with a knowing smile, that betrayed none of the turmoil that still choked her heart.
“What do you think?”
“I’ve obtained the Amber,” Ada said the moment she heard the call connect.
“Excellent.” There was no hint of gratitude in Wesker’s voice. There never is. She could tell that he was already thinking about the next few steps in his scheme.
“Just one question,” Ada said as she glanced at the body tucked securely at her feet. “What are you planning to do with this?”
“I do not pay you to ask questions,” Wesker snapped. And before today, Ada never would have. That’s what made her good at her job. What let her sleep at night. But apparently it was enough, as Wesker began to speak again.
“All you need to know is a new dawn is breaking,” he said, voice full of self-importance. “A hundred will give their lives so that just one may live. I am expediting that change.”
“So, we’re talking millions of casualties.” It wasn’t a question, and yet Ada still got it wrong.
“Billions.”
Ada would be lying to herself if she said this was the final nail.
No. This was the first shovel full of dirt falling onto her coffin.
“How ambitious,” she said as she all but ripped off her headset and stood up.
Her life was already ruined. She may as well get something nice out of it, even if it was just a flash of satisfaction. That tiny nugget of warmth in her heart. A brief moment wondering if they would be proud of her. She lifted her gun and pointed it at the back of the pilot’s head, sealing her fate.
“We’re changing course. Now.”