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Ada closed her eyes, trying to collect herself. If she'd been infected, there wasn't anything she could do about it now – and really, what an irony that would be – if it was Birkin who'd stabbed her and he was still hot, she'd end up collecting a G-Virus sample in an extremely personal way.
Deep breath, keep it together. You're not in the transport anymore, what does that tell you? "Where are we?" she asked, opening her eyes. Leon shook his head. "I'm not sure. Like you said, it's an underground lab or factory of some kind. The transport is just outside. I brought you to the closest room."
Ada turned her aching head enough to see the small windows, over a cluttered counter, looking out into the transport bay.
Gotta be fourth level, where the lift stops…
The main synthesis lab was on the fifth level. Leon was staring down at her so sincerely, his bright blue gaze so achingly tender, that for just a few seconds, Ada thought about aborting the mission. They could go down to the escape tu
… and then what? Call Trent and tell him that you'll offer a refund? Sure. Then maybe you can meet Leon's parents, get a ring, buy a little white house with a picket fence, have a couple of kids… you could take up crochet, and rub his feet when he comes home from a hard day busting drunks and making traffic stops. Happily ever after…
Ada closed her eyes again, unable to look at him as she spoke.
"My head hurts pretty bad, Leon, and the tu
He'll be okay. He'll get lost trying to find the tu
Ada counted a minute and then sat up slowly, grimacing at the pounding in her skull. A bad knock indeed, but not a debilitating one; she could function. There was a noise outside, and Ada stood up, walking to one of the small windows. She knew the sound even before she looked, and felt her heart sink a little; the transport was heading up, probably recalled to the factory by an Umbrella team…
… which means I don't have a lot of time. And if they find him…
No, Leon would be okay. He was a fighter, he had the sense to run from danger, he was strong and decent – and he didn't need to have someone like her in his life. She'd been crazy to consider it, even for a moment. It was time to wrap things up, to do what she'd come to do, to remember who she was – a freelance agent, a woman with no qualms about stealing or killing to complete a job, a cool and efficient thief who could take pride in a career with no misses. Ada Wong always walked away with the goods, and it would take more than a few hours with one blue-eyed cop to make her forget it. Ada pulled the key cards and master from her pouch and opened the door, telling herself that she was doing the right thing and hopeful that in time she'd come to believe it.
TWENTY-SIX
A
The lab's going to blow up, and I've wasted four,
almost five minutes now and where's the goddamn
disk?
"Easy, take it easy, you're okay, it's okay…"
A gentle echo, a whisper of reason in the shining hall. She'd simply have to take the elevator from a different level; she had the master key, she had a weapon, she had time. Not as much, but enough. Breathing deeply, A
No!
A
It isn't theirs.
It was so clear, so crystal clear. She couldn't run from pain, because pain would find her wherever she ran; she had proof, dripping down her arm. William had understood, but had lost himself before he could explain, before he could tell her what she really needed to do. She had to confront her attackers, and make sure they understood that the G-Virus wasn't theirs, because it didn't belong to them.
But will they understand? Can they?
Maybe, maybe not. But she was so overwhelmed by the profound simplicity of the truth, she knew that she had to try, to make them see. The work was William's. It was his legacy, and now it was hers; she'd known that before, but now she knew it, a ray of light in her mind that made everything else trivial.
Not theirs. Mine.
She'd have to find them, tell them, and once they accepted the truth of it, they would have to leave her alone and then, if there was still time, she could go her own way. But first, she needed another shot. Smiling, her eyes wide and starry, A