Chapter Text
November 2nd 2004
Ada sat on her bed, her posture a ghost of the detachment she had mastered over the years. Shoulders slumped, hands trembling, eyes lost in the void, barely hearing the voice of her long-time friend talking to her. The long stick in her hand felt both weightless and impossibly heavy at the same time.
“Ada? You ok?”
The mercenary looked up, dark brown eyes meeting icy blue ones filled with concern. Nova knelt in front of her, resting her hands on her knees and giving them a grounding squeeze before carefully plucking the stick from her hands and putting it on a napkin despite the disinfection it went through.
“What the hell am I going to do, Wesker?” Ada finally asked, burying her face in her hands with a whine.
The blonde stood up to join her on the edge of the bed, brushing her back in circles. When she spoke up, her voice was unusually gentle and unsure.
“I don’t know. Maybe you should take some time to take it all in before thinking about what to do.”
The mercenary didn’t say anything, her face still well in her trembling hands. When she had agreed to take the test after hours of Nova insisting, she had expected a single red line, maybe a faint shadow.
Two lines, well defined. Final.
And Ada’s world, everything she thought she knew, had crumbled down at the sight. Emotions she had always managed to keep at bay surging like sharks in bloody waters, followed by the raw, unsettling truth. Ada Wong was pregnant.
She finally took her hands away from her face, pale as a ghost, and met her friend’s worried gaze. As she was about to speak up, someone knocked at the door before opening it. Luis stood there, a tray in hands, empathetic smile on his lips as he brought it over to them.
“Thought you two might want to eat a little treat.” He murmured, settling the tray on a table he moved for them so they wouldn’t have to move.
Nova smiled weakly, reaching for her husband’s hand to pull him in a tender hug as a thanks before turning towards her friend, who was looking at the avocado toasts and banana smoothie with her name on it like it personally wronged her. Wesker chuckled, nudging her carefully.
“Hey, you okay? You don’t have to eat yet. I know you’re probably…”
Ada didn’t reply, reaching for a toast carefully and examining it under every angle. The couple exchanged a glance, Luis uneasy while his wife simply shrugged as if it was a Tuesday — well, it was. The eldest finally took a bite of the toast, then another, until it was fully swallowed. The blonde finally took a bite of her own toasts, marvelling at the taste.
“See, that’s part of why I married this man. Such a great chef.”
“Those are just toasts, Nova.”
“Toasts you’re downing in seconds, Ada. You’re welcome.” The Spaniard chimed in, winking at them.
The Chinese woman looked between husband and wife, suspicion on her face, before turning to the latter.
“Did you already tell him ?”
“Absolutely not. I stayed with you, remember ?”
“Relájate, ladies. Ada, I’ve watched my wife eat the most atrocious things for the past five months. Believe me when I tell you that you ordering a pizza had everyone considering you might be pregnant.”
“A pizza.” Nova doubled down, a hand on her forehead like a Victorian widow. “I’ve never seen you eat anything else than overpriced healthy stuff.”
“Absolutely terrifying.”
Ada glared at them both, a hint of annoyance in her gaze, folding her arms in front of her. “Are you two done?”
The couple immediately went silent, realising they might have gone too far. Luis simply squeezed his wife’s shoulder and pressed a kiss on her forehead before clearing his throat.
“Lo siento. I’ll… leave the two of you alone. Scream if you need me.”
“Will do. Take care, love.” Nova called out as he stepped out before turning to her best friend. “Feeling better?”
The spy didn’t answer at first, taking a sip of the smoothie in front of her while looking in the void. Her work burner phone vibrated with an incoming call, the third in an hour. She declined it again.
“If I’m doing this… I can’t work for a while…” She murmured, turning her phone upside down on the blanket. “It’s unreasonable. Dangerous…”
Her friend only nodded, well aware Ada needed her to listen, not to find a solution. She held her hand in a grounding gesture, letting her speak.
“It’s a lot of responsibility, my work life isn’t compatible with a child…”
And yet, she was hesitating. For the first time in her life, Ada Wong didn’t know what to do, despite having always been so sure of herself and how she wanted to evolve. Realistically, she knew she was at a crossroad. Her job was a threat for the little soul growing inside of her. One had to go.
“What’s making you reconsider?…”
The question made the Chinese woman pause, a sigh escaping her, exhausted, uncertain, filled with uncharacteristic worry.
“It’s Leon’s.”
The phone laid untouched on the nightstand, light ominously reflecting from its screen. On the bed, Ada laid impossibly still, looking at the ceiling as if it held the solution to all her problems. Her mind felt too loud and the room too silent. Questions, over and over again ?
Should I call Leon? How would I tell him? He chose to leave Spain without me.
Do I keep the child despite the risks? Do I give them away to better parents?
But the worst question, the one keeping her up, wasn’t practical so much as it was emotional, uncharacteristically so.
Can I even do this ?
With a desperate groan, she pulled the pillow next to her and hid her face in it, hoping to find solace in the darkness. For a woman so practical and grounded, she felt too lost. She took the pillow away, glancing at her phone on the nightstand. Unlocked, on a familiar number.
Rookie.
The nickname didn’t feel right anymore. Nothing did. Perhaps it was her hormones making her so scared. Perhaps it was the understanding of a situation lingering for too long. She knew the second she had kissed Leon on their way to the NEST that she was dooming herself to an eternal game of push and pull. It was meant as manipulation, to make Leon focus on what she needed and not why she did.
It only pushed her to focus on him more. Six years of silently keeping tabs, because he was useful. He was cute, it was easy to read him and his plans. He’d question her yet he’d help anyway. But despite her lack of morals, using him left her feeling bitter. Letting him die on the field was an impossible plan. Even when he didn’t choose her…
She reached out for her phone, her fingers tracing the small bear charm she had attached to it, almost identical to the one she left on the water-bike key she gave him when he refused to get in that helicopter with her. She barely noticed herself scrolling down his contact information and pressing the call button, bringing it to her ear.
It’s 2am, there’s no way he’ll reply…
Just as she was about to take the phone away from her ear to cut the call, it went through, Leon’s voice coming from the other side, filled with suspicion and caution.
“Hello?”
For a split second, something like panic rushed in Ada’s blood, the phone falling from her hand, a surprised gasp leaving her lips, and she quickly cut the call, going to her bathroom to splash water on her face. Her reflection was awful. Hair tousled, skin paler than usual, bags under her eyes and now messy eyeliner. Nothing like the woman she was used to see in her mirror.
She sighed, sliding down against the wall until she felt the cold tiles under the fabric of her gown. Her phone buzzed on the countertop. An incoming call. Then a second one. By the third time it vibrated, she made the effort of reaching out to take it, watching the number displayed on the screen. She had unlocked a door, she probably shouldn’t be so surprised Leon wanted to open it.
Exhaling shakily, she watched as the third call stopped and a message appeared in her inbox.
Rookie: Ada Was that u?
She sighed in annoyance. Of course he couldn’t bother to write a full message.
Rookie: I know it was u. And you’re reading this.
Ada: So you can write “you” fully.
Leon didn’t reply to her text for a while and she debated just sending him another one. She didn’t get to type it before he called again. This time, she picked up, hesitantly.
“Ada?”
“Leon…”
She heard him pace, probably in his apartment, until a door closed. Not alone? A date maybe?
“Sorry, You’re clearly busy. I’ll leave you to i-”
“Don’t. You never call. The others can wait.” His voice was dead serious, insistent. There was no escaping the topic.
Well, at least it didn’t sound like a date. She sighed, leaning back against her bathroom wall, trying to find the words. What would she say? How?
“Ada, what’s wrong?”
“We need to talk. Can we meet up?”
She heard him shift on the other side, his breath stilling for a couple seconds before resuming.
“Depends. Are you going to stand me up?” A pause. “Wait, are you calling me from the throne?”
“Leon.”
“Alright, alright. Meeting up. Just… Tell me when and where. I’ll be there.” He murmured, realising how serious she sounded.
She thought for a minute, pondering. She never really thought about that. She needed a place where the DSO wouldn’t have eyes.
“I’ll text you the address. Just… Come when you can.”
Leon hummed, letting the quiet establish itself between them. Long, heavy with unspoken things about to move both of their worlds. Then, he spoke up again.
“Not sure what’s up but… I’m here, Ada. We’ll figure it out.”
“Damn Kennedy… You suck at this.” She scoffed halfheartedly, despite the words hitting exactly where they mattered.
“Hey, you called.”
“I know… Just… Come when you can.”
Before he could reply, she cut the call abruptly, sliding her phone away and burying her face in her knees.
I’m here, Ada. We’ll figure it out.
The words echoed in her mind, both a soothing balm to her worries and a source of them worsening, bringing unwanted emotions. She aggressively wiped her cheeks, forcing herself to stand and holding herself up against the wall when the world became a bit too blurry.
“Shit…” she hissed, picking up her phone and holding herself up out of the bathroom and to her bed. “What hell did I put myself in…”
She laid on her bed, putting her pillows under her legs to keep them elevated, one arm over her forehead as she tried to settle down the anxiety lingering inside of her. She quietly texted the address for their meeting. Her address.
We’ll figure it out… I hope…
Leon stepped out of his bedroom, putting his shoes on as he read the text Ada sent him. That didn’t look like any public place he knew. A hotel maybe? That would resemble her.
“Hey, you okay?” Claire asked from the couch, setting her glass down and watching him.
“Yeah, Leon, you look like shit.”
“Chris, don’t be an ass.” Jill interjected, elbowing her partner, both sitting at the dining table.
Sensing his seriousness, the youngest Redfield stood up, walking towards her friend and signalling to her brother to behave, before tugging Leon towards the hallway.
“Who was it? You look worried…”
“It’s fine.. Just an errand to run.” He replied, reaching for his jacket to put it on.
The young woman shrugged, raising her hands in surrender, then leaned back against the wall, watching him ruffle for his car keys. When he walked to the door, she pushed off of it, ready to close it safely behind him.
“You two be safe, even if it doesn’t seem to exist in Ada’s language.” She shot him discreetly, laughing at his groan of annoyance.
The DSO agent stomped to his car, using his stubbornness and little to no guidance to find the address Ada gave him. Was it even reasonable ? It was already 2.30, almost 3 in the morning, she might just dig him a second ass for coming this soon. But her words looped into his brain.
Just… Come when you can.
It was serious. Too serious. A new virus? Stolen data? Wesker having another self-centered chaotic idea ?
By the time he finally arrived to the address, there was no motel, no park. Just a house, small enough for a couple but big enough that it had to be expensive. At first, he thought he had it wrong and checked it again. Definitely the house.
She wants to meet at her place? Definitely serious.
Anxiously, he cut the car engine and stepped out, his pace silent on the pavement as he walked towards the door. He quickly texted Ada to let her know he was there, stopping in front of the house. His hand hesitated by the doorbell…
The door opened, Luis smirking up at Leon.
“ADAAAAA! Your boyfriend is here!” He called out towards the stairs behind him before stepping aside to let the man in. “She’s up there, you might want to join her.”
The agent blinked a couple times at the man in front of him. Luis? At Ada’s place? He didn’t get to ask about it, the Spaniard nudging him towards the stairs.
“Go on, amigo.” He insisted, smiling until a blonde woman gently tapped his arm in mock scolding.
Obeying his friend, the man finally climbed up the stairs, startling when the duo picked up their bags and stepped out of the house. He shook his head, focusing on the hallway in front of him and walking towards the slightly ajar door at the end, where light faintly glowed.
“Ada?” He called out, gently knocking at the door before stepping in.
She was laying in bed, a book in hand, drinking a smoothie with her feet elevated and just a red nightgown. She looked up at him, tired brown eyes locking on greyish blue.
“Leon… Come in…”
He hesitated only for a minute before complying, pulling a chair from the desk to sit beside the bed, watching the mercenary’s serious expression. She settled her glass on the nightstand, next to a small white box. She looked sick, so much so that the DSO operative immediately thought the worst.
“What’s wrong? are you infected with something? Do you need a medic?”
“Leon…”
“I’m sure there’s someone we can call. Gee, Ada…”
“Leon.”
“You look so out of it. Is there something I can do? I’m not the best cook but-”
“Le-on.”
He stopped blabbering, noticing her annoyance mixed with something purely nervous. That looked bad. She reached for the box on her nightstand, hands trembling around it as she handed it to him. As if she needed him to have a proof of what she was about to say. When he opened it, he tilted his head in confusion, glancing at her.
“So… What virus is that test for, exactly?”
She whined in annoyance, pulling a spare pillow from under her nightstand and hiding her face in it. He could be as adorable as he could be an idiot.
“Leon. I’m pregnant.”
The world suddenly felt like it was narrowing around him, his gaze moving between the box and the woman who kept stealing his heart. This time, his racing heart had nothing to do with her smile or the way she kissed him under the moonlight. She was pregnant. And if she was telling him…
“Are you sure it’s…”
“Yours? Yes, Leon. I think if I had slept with any other man these past few months, I’d know it.” She replied sarcastically against her pillow. Her shoulders were trembling slightly, a sight he’d never had before.
Instinctively, he moved to sit by her side on the bed, not yet reaching out but taking the pillow away carefully. Tears. Another thing he’d never expected to see on her. He reached out carefully, brushing a tear from her cheek before taking her chin to tilt her head up.
“Leon… I have no fucking idea what to do…”
He simply pulled her into his arms, keeping her head against his shoulders, nose buried in her hair. The woman he admired for her composure was breaking down and he felt powerless. He knew how to deal with BOWs, viruses,… But her tears? They felt like an unbeatable enemy.
“Me neither… It’s not really up to me…” He murmured, fingers absently brushing through her hair. “But whatever you do… I’m here.”
Scared shitless, but here nonetheless.
So much for being safe.