Part Two - Chapter Three: Old Friends, New Secrets
Leon squinted against the sudden flash of light, unable to see anything beyond the blinding beam.
His gun remained raised at the potential threat, his finger resting along the trigger guard.
“And who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”
“Drop that damn gun, Leon. It’s me. Chris.”
“Leon?!” Her voice was enough to make his steady pulse quicken.
He lowered his gun immediately as Jill stepped into the beam of light, revealing herself against the bleak surroundings of the abandoned facility.
For a moment, it felt like no time had passed at all and Leon forgot where he was.
Jill was standing right there.
A little dust covered her tactical gear, strands of hair had escaped her ponytail, and exhaustion lingered beneath her eyes.
She looked exactly like someone who had spent the past hours clearing an abandoned mine.
She had never looked more beautiful to him.
And then her face lit up.
A bright smile appeared on her lips, one he hadn’t realized how much he had missed. He couldn’t help but return it.
God, how he wanted to close the distance between them and pull her into his arms.
But they both knew better.
They were still in the middle of an active operation, surrounded by an unknown threat.
So they stayed professional. For now.
But Chris couldn’t miss the immediate change in Jill.
The way her entire expression softened.
The way that smile brought a familiar spark back into her eyes.
A smile he'd spent years trying to bring back.
Chris stepped forward, moving beside Jill — almost slightly in front of her. A small, instinctive movement. Protective.
The beam of Leon’s flashlight caught him, leaving Jill standing partly in Chris’ shadow.
“What are you doing here?” Chris asked, his voice calm but guarded. “This is a BSAA operation, Kennedy. Unless the President personally sent you here, you’re outside your jurisdiction.”
“Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” A faint hint of arrogance slipped into Leon’s voice. “And believe me, I do act on the President’s orders.”
A brief pause. “Classified.”
The way he said it wasn’t accidental and Chris noticed the edge behind his words.
The tension between them kept building, neither willing to look away, both too stubborn to give in and reveal anything about their mission.
Then a loud metallic crash tore through the strained silence, followed by a ragged groan.
Jill, Chris, and Leon immediately raised their weapons toward the sound.
At the door, Mitchell and Derek secured the hallway, keeping watch while the others focused on the threat ahead.
Chris was about to move forward when Leon stepped past him.
“Out of the way,” he said quietly.
Chris’ expression hardened, ready to argue, but Jill’s hand lightly caught his arm.
She shook her head. Not now.
Leon moved toward the source of the noise with quick but careful steps. His eyes scanned the room as he advanced, taking in every detail. The abandoned laboratory revealed itself piece by piece in the beam of his flashlight — old metal worktables, outdated scientific instruments, and industrial shelves lining the walls, all covered in dust and decay.
A sudden movement caught Leon’s attention.
A hand emerged from beneath one of the metal shelves, grabbing his ankle.
Leon reacted instantly. Instead of pulling away, he used the momentum to drag the person out from underneath the collapsed equipment.
A man in a white lab coat slid across the floor.
Chris’ weapon immediately shifted, his trigger finger moving into position. His orders were clear: Eliminate every potential threat.
“No!” Leon said firmly. “I need him alive.”
His flashlight moved across the man’s clothing until it found the name tag attached to the coat.
Leon managed to free his foot and secured the scientist on the ground, keeping him from moving.
He directed the beam of his flashlight toward the man’s face. Black veins spread across his neck, crawling upward toward his eyes. His pupils moved unnaturally, his body twitching as if fighting something inside himself.
The sound coming from his throat grew louder. A broken, desperate gurgle. As if he was trying to force words out.
Leon leaned closer, trying to understand.
Most of it was meaningless. Fragments. Noise. Pain.
Until one name cut through.
“…Hargrove…”
Leon’s expression changed, he lowered the flashlight slightly.
The scientist repeated it, barely audible.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Leon slowly looked up to Chris, then to Jill.
Both of them staring back at him with the same disbelief.
“Secretary William Hargrove,” Leon repeated quietly.
Frowning, he turned back to the scientist. “What about Hargrove?” he demanded. “What are you trying to tell me? Is he here? Is this his doing?”
The questions came one after another, each carrying a little more urgency than the last.
Leon searched the scientist’s face for any sign of recognition, any indication that the man behind the infection was still there.
But there was nothing left.
The black veins continued to spread beneath his skin, his grotesquely twisted eyes staring without focus as another violent convulsion ran through his body.
Leon had seen this far too many times to hope for another ending.
Before the transformation could fully take hold, Leon pressed the muzzle of his pistol against the scientist’s forehead.
“I’m sorry.” He pulled the trigger.
The contact shot ended the man’s suffering instantly, destroying whatever parasite had already consumed his mind.
Silence settled over the laboratory once more.
Leon lowered his weapon, his gaze lingering on the body for a brief moment, hoping he could rest now.
They searched the laboratory thoroughly, making sure there were no more surprises waiting in the shadows. With no sign of further hostiles and no way of knowing what awaited them deeper inside the mine, Chris decided to use the room as a temporary command post.
The discovery of Leon had changed everything. What had started as a routine BSAA containment mission no longer looked like an abandoned Umbrella offshoot. It looked like something much bigger.
The five of them gathered around the least damaged workbench in the room, spreading out maps of the mine and the few documents they had recovered.
Leon remained silent for a moment.
And he trusted Jill more than anyone.
But Mitchell and Derek were strangers.
DSO briefings didn’t come with a need-to-know policy for nothing.
Chris noticed his hesitation.
“They’re good,” he said. “You can talk.”
She gave him a small nod. That was enough.
“My orders came directly from the President,” Leon began hesitantly. “Intelligence believes someone inside the U.S. government has been using this facility for years.” He paused, carefully choosing his words. “Officially, the project doesn’t exist. The site is far enough from the United States to deny all involvement if it was ever exposed. The working theory is that a senior government official reopened this abandoned Umbrella laboratory to continue bioweapons research.”
Mitchell frowned. “For what? Selling B.O.W.s?”
Leon shook his head. “No. According to the intel we have, the research is being justified as a national security program.”
“A deterrent,” Jill concluded. “A way to ensure the United States could respond to bioterrorism with weapons of its own if it ever came to that.”
Leon glanced at her. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Even after a year and a half, she still understood him with only half the information. Some things, it seemed, hadn’t changed.
Silence settled over the room. Chris crossed his arms. “Far away enough from the USA to deny all involvement, sure, but also to lose control quickly. And now a containment failure.”
Leon nodded. “Looks that way.”
His thoughts drifted back to the scientist’s final words. “If Hargrove’s name wasn’t just delirium,” Leon said quietly, “then we’re no longer dealing with rogue scientists.”
He let the words hang in the air for a moment. “We’re looking at someone with unrestricted access to classified military programs.”
His gaze shifted from Chris to Jill.
“We’re dealing with the Secretary of Defense.”
The final plan came together quickly.
Recover any hard evidence Leon could bring back to the President. Contain the outbreak. Neutralize every biological threat they encountered.
The possibility of finding any survivors was slim to none, but it remained part of the mission nonetheless.
Radio communication was nonexistent beneath the mountain. The thick layers of rock blocked every signal, leaving them completely on their own.
No contact with HQ.
No backup.
No prepared evacuation.
Just the five of them.
While Mitchell and Derek checked their weapons and repacked their gear, Chris quietly made his way over to Jill.
He waited until the others were out of earshot.
“So…” he said, keeping his voice low. “You and Kennedy.”
Jill looked up from the magazines she was reloading. “What about us?”
Chris glanced across the room. Leon was studying the mine layout spread across the table, completely absorbed in the mission.
He looked different from the last time Chris had seen him.
Older. More worn. Not weaker—just carrying more.
The years had sharpened him. The young rookie who had once been thrown into a nightmare in Raccoon City was gone. In his place stood a seasoned operative who had survived things most people never even knew existed.
He wore a dark blue long-sleeved shirt beneath a tactical vest, the fabric stretched over the lean strength he had built through years of combat. Spare magazines and equipment were secured across his gear, his radio clipped in place, always ready for the next order.
Dark combat pants and worn tactical boots completed the familiar image of someone who had spent far too much time in the field.
Even standing still, Leon looked like he was waiting for the next threat to appear.
“I knew you stayed in touch after he moved out.”
She gave a faint smile. “Our jobs don’t exactly make keeping in touch easy.”
Chris nodded. He understood that better than anyone. „But…” He looked back at her. “I didn’t know.”
Jill frowned. “Know what?”
“That he means this much to you.”
“I saw the way you looked at him.”
“I’ve known you for a long time, Jill.”
“I’ve seen that look before.”
Her expression softened. “So have I.”
Chris let out a quiet breath. “I guess I just never expected to see it directed at someone else.”
Jill rested her forearms on the table. “It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“No,” Chris said with a faint, almost amused smile. “It never is.”
Those words hit harder than she expected. “It wasn’t a secret.”
She searched for the right words. “I didn’t even know how to explain it myself.”
Chris looked down at the magazine in his hands before sliding it back into his vest.
“We’ve always told each other everything.” There was no accusation in his voice. Only quiet disappointment. “Or at least… I thought we did.”
Jill lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He gave a slow shake of his head. “I’m not looking for an apology.” His eyes met hers. “I just realized… somewhere along the way… I’m not the first person you turn to anymore.”
A sad smile crossed Jill’s face. “No.”
She let out a quiet breath. “When you brought me back… from Wesker… something changed.
It wasn’t just that I had to find my way back to myself. I carried so much guilt. For what I did… for what all of you had to go through because of me. I spent years trying to make up for it. Trying to prove that I was still me. Trying to be the person everyone needed me to be.”
“I became so focused on making peace with my past… that I forgot to build a future.” Her eyes drifted toward Leon. “Leon never tried to fix me. He never expected anything from me. He never asked me to be who I used to be. He was just… there. He gave me something I hadn’t had in years. A normal life.
For the first time since all of this began… I wasn’t just Jill Valentine, the soldier. I was simply… Jill.”
She looked back at Chris. “You’ll always be one of the most important people in my life. And nothing will ever change that.”
Chris smiled faintly. “I know.”
His gaze wandered across the room until it settled on Leon, still discussing the route through the mine with Mitchell, completely unaware of the conversation.
“But some things already have.” He let out a quiet breath. „And maybe… that’s a good thing.”
Jill followed his gaze, her eyes lingered on Leon for just a second too long. “…We never really had a chance.”
Chris looked back at her. “You wanted one.”
She smiled almost imperceptibly. “I think so.”
Chris let out a quiet, knowing chuckle. “Figures.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Chris gently squeezed her shoulder. “I’m glad someone finally managed to give you something we never could.”
Jill looked at him. “What?”
“A place that felt like home.”
When everyone was ready, Chris naturally took point.
Mitchell and Derek fell in at the rear, leaving Jill and Leon in the middle of the formation.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, Leon spoke quietly. “As surprised as I was to see you today… I’m glad I did.”
Jill glanced sideways at him, a warm smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “So am I.”
For a brief moment, their eyes met before they returned their attention to the dark tunnel ahead.
“Are you doing okay?” Leon asked. To anyone else, it would have sounded like nothing more than casual conversation. They both knew it wasn’t.
Jill nodded. “Better than before.” A faint smile crossed her face. “I turned your room into my office.”
Leon couldn’t help but chuckle. “My room, huh?”
“I never looked for another roommate.” There was a hint of pride in her voice. “I didn’t need one anymore.”
Leon smiled to himself. “Well… hard to find someone who could live up to me.” He shot her a quick grin. “Guess you got spoiled.”
Jill rolled her eyes, trying—and failing—to suppress a smile.
After a moment, Leon’s expression softened. “I never found a replacement either.”
“Truth is… I never looked.”
Chris suddenly raised a clenched fist. The team came to an immediate halt.
A reinforced steel door was set into the rock wall to their right.
Chris motioned toward Jill, then pointed down the corridor. She nodded, taking up a position to cover the hallway.
Two quick hand signals followed. Mitchell moved to the opposite side of the corridor while Derek dropped back a few steps to secure their rear.
Chris positioned himself beside the door, one hand resting on the handle.
He looked at Leon who aswered with a silent nod.
On a silent count to three Chris pulled the door open and stepped aside.
Leon entered first, weapon raised, slicing the room into sectors with practiced precision. His flashlight swept from left to right, lingering on every corner, every shadow, every possible hiding place.
Nothing moved.
No breathing.
No footsteps.
No threat.
Only abandoned equipment covered in dust.
Keeping his gun trained ahead, Leon found a light switch with the beam of his flashlight and flipped it.
Fluorescent lights flickered overhead before finally bathing the room in a cold, sterile glow.
Only then did the others enter the room.
The room appeared to be an archive.
Rows of filing cabinets lined the walls, while computer terminals and towering data servers filled the center of the room.
“Bingo,” Leon muttered. Without wasting another second, he made a beeline for the nearest terminal.
If Hargrove was involved, this was where Leon expected to find it.
Emails.
Authorization logs.
Personnel records.
Funding.
Anything that tied the Secretary of Defense—or anyone else inside the U.S. government—to the facility.
He tapped the keyboard. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then the monitor flickered to life.
“Mitchell, Derek—check the files,” Chris ordered. “Anything with names, project designations, funding records. Bag everything.”
The two soldiers spread out immediately, pulling open filing cabinets and stacking thick binders onto the nearest table.
Chris joined them, carefully sorting through folders marked with faded Umbrella logos and newer classification stamps.
Meanwhile, Jill let her flashlight wander across the room.
Unlike Leon, who was focused on the servers, she searched the archive itself.
The details. The things people overlooked.
Her beam swept over shelves lined with dusty storage boxes before stopping at a corkboard mounted beside one of the desks.
Pinned to it were shift schedules…
A grocery list.
A faded birthday card.
...And a child’s drawing.
It showed a family of three standing in front of snow-covered mountains, the figures drawn with uneven crayons. In the corner, a smiling sun peeked out from behind a cloud.
Across the bottom, written in careful, childish handwriting, were the words: For Daddy.
“This wasn’t just a research site,” she said quietly.
The others looked up. Jill carefully removed the drawing from the board.
“People lived here.” She glanced around the room once more. “Long enough to bring their families.”
Silence settled over the room, no one seemed to know what to say.
Jill carefully placed the drawing back onto the corkboard, exactly where she had found it. Her gaze lingered on it for another moment before she reluctantly stepped away.
While everyone’s attention remained on her, Leon’s eyes returned to the monitor.
Everything he had been looking for: Authorization logs, Funding records, encrypted correspondence.
Enough to raise questions he wasn’t prepared to answer yet.
Without drawing attention to himself, he removed the encrypted drive from the terminal and slipped it into the pouch on his vest.
As he looked up, Chris’ eyes briefly met his.
Just long enough for Chris to notice the subtle movement.
Not long enough to know what it meant.
Leon broke the silence. “We should keep moving.” He nodded toward the only remaining door. “If there’s an archive, there’s a good chance the research labs are further in.”
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