Chapter 121: Unlikely partnership

It’s been a year since the failed raid of the second Spencer Mansion. When Rick had marched into O’Brian’s office the minute he learned of Jill’s disappearance, he was turned down flat by the man before he could utter a single word. Rick was needed to train new recruits and not among the research team for Jill. Were it not for Rachel convincing him albeit with lots of difficulty to trust in his comrade to find her, Rick would have gone regardless.

So without any other choice, he trained any recruits that signed up for his course. Teaching them everything they needed to know about how to survive in an urban and hostile environment. How to forage properly, equip themselves properly and what to keep and what to discard. Of course how to deal with each and every type of BOW known was also part of the curriculum. As a result he got quite the reputation of being a hardass instructor that everyone hated being under for how harsh and uncompromising he was.

Yet within three months of some recruits graduating, the death rate dropped more than quite a bit. All agreed, Rick may have been an asshole instructor but he knew his stuff and without his instructions they would have died multiple times. It was made evident when other BSAA members they were partnered with and who didn’t undergo the special training, didn’t make it back home. In the end, O’Brian made it mandatory training for everyone.

Rick’s instructing career came to end within six months however. Exactly the day the BSAA stopped the search for Jill and declared her dead. This time he had walked into O’Brian’s office and said he was continuing the search on his own with the BSAA support or resigning.

This time O’Brian agreed.

For the last six months he has been travelling a lot, following rumors and gossip shared on the BSAA network or through Sherry who discreetly helped him in his investigation. His objective was none other to find Albert Wesker and the man was more slippery than a heel and invisible like a ghost. Rick had changed his method of approach within a month and aimed for another target.

That brought him to this very moment.

He was standing on the roof of a building in Marrakesh, Morocco. Right above the top of the elevator. A vantage point on his target who was a dozen feet away, binoculars in hand and scouting her own target.

Deciding he had observed long enough, he used his superspeed to cross the distance in a literal blink of an eye. Leaning forward, he whispered, “Did you find it?”

His target’s answer was immediate but done in two fold. His warm breath into her ear made her body tense then his words registered. Her reaction then had been a mule kick straight into his private parts. A trivial thing for him to dodge by moving to the side when the kick was slower than a snail. That left his target wide open for a devastating counter attack to her side but he refrained from doing so. He was there for a talk and injuring her wasn’t the best method to get the information he wanted.

She didn’t like men playing rough after all.

Still, her assault didn’t stop there. Her heel kick having failed, she pivoted on her support foot and struck with her elbow which Rick caught effortlessly in his palm and locked it with strength.

“Femboy.” He greeted her.

“Street rat.”

Ada Wong in her usual deep red attire finally recognized the man who had crept on her without her noticing. It wasn’t the first time they had met since Raccoon City but it has been a few years.

“How’s your stomach?” He asked suddenly.

“Good, how’s your jaw?”

“Brand new.”

“That’s good.”

Their banter stopped there. Reminiscing about their last encounter in Afghanistan where Rick kicked her in the stomach so hard she went through a window after she succeeded in breaking his jaw, a feat that no one but Teresa could have done at the time, was just to break the ice.

“I need information.” He slowly put less pressure on her elbow until he opened his palm and let it go.

Ada, still standing on one foot, set her leg up in the air back to the ground. She didn’t put more distance between them however “Information? Why don’t you ask your government friends? I’m sure they’re far more knowledgeable than little old me.”

“They didn’t work with Wesker.”

The name of the sociopathic blonde made her frown. It was clear she didn’t like the man one bit. A good thing in Rick’s opinion as she may be more amenable to give him what she knew.

“For, not with.” Ada corrected his assumption. “I’m a mercenary, you know that. I don’t work with people, I work for people.”

“That’s not what I read from the report on Los Illuminados.”

In his search for Wesker, Sherry had shared with him the details of Leon’s mission in Spain to rescue President Graham’s daughter. A cult of lunatics using ancient parasitic mutating organisms who intended to infect the young girl and send her back to the USA while totally subservient to the cause, just so she could infect other people in high position and take over the world. Silly plan aside, Leon reported Ada’s appearance, help and connection with Wesker who had also been present at the time.

“Aah, Leon…” She said dramatic fondness. “What can I say? I’m a sentimental woman and I don’t condone animal abuse. I couldn’t help myself and helped the poor puppy. I would hardly call that working with.”

“Potayto, Potato.” Rick shrugged. “In the mood to help a street rat, then?”

“Hmmm.” Ada raised her hand and put it on the side of his face. “Blond, blue eyes, handsome but… Nuh-huh, it’s not the same. You want information from me, you gotta pay.”

“I figured. What’s your price?”

“Ah!” She exclaimed with happiness, removing her hand. “See, that’s what I like about you. You always know how to talk to me. A shame you like playing rough.” A purr escaped her throat.

“A shame you're not my type and I have standards.” The sudden frown that marred her face, pushed him to explain himself further. His words could easily be misinterpreted. “I don’t go for friends’ girls.”

“I’m not Leo—”

He interrupted her with an eyebrow cocked. Clearly he wouldn’t believe what she was about to serve him. “Uh-huh.”

Ada sighed in surrender. “You’re handsome but not cute at all.”

“You only say that because I’m not falling for your charms. Plenty of ladies say otherwise.”

“But I’m not ‘plenty of ladies’ now, aren’t I?” Her reply was nothing but coy.

Rick didn’t comment and chose to smile instead. “Price?”

This time Ada didn’t sigh but she did take a deep breath. “At least you go straight to the point when it’s about business.” Taking a few steps back she turned to look over the roof, to a building on the other side of the streets handheld out her hand with her binoculars in it.

Rick didn’t need them but took them nonetheless to have a look. “Oasis Remedies?”

“As you already probably gathered, it’s a new pharmaceutical company. It started eighteen months ago and began making some waves.”

“Develop or sell BOWs on the downlow to finance themselves and their above the table product?” It was presented as a question but Rick knew it was more of a fact. Experience was talking.

“Yes. My client, who will remain unnamed, asked me to steal some important data. Digital but also a sample of what they believe to be a variant of the T-virus.”

“And blow everything up?”

She nodded and took back her binoculars when Rick was done with them. “In broad words: yes. Although I would prefer erasing the original data and simply destroying their products. Explosions are messy and I’m not fond of them.”

“And the reason you’re telling me all this is because you need my help or because you like the opportunity of not working yourself?”

He got a smirk from her but also an honest answer. “Both.” Her expression turned cold and serious. “It is a time sensitive matter and on top of that there is a double security. By that I mean you need two people to give their credentials at the same time to do anything, anywhere.”

“I guess it’s your lucky day, then.”

“Oh, I could do it myself but it would take too much time that I’m comfortable with.”

“You do know I’m a BSAA agent right?”

Ada turned away from the building to look at him. “Is that so? I would have thought you’d still be working for the government.”

“It’s the government.” Rick gave her a flat look that explained everything that wasn’t said explicitly in his answer.

That made her chuckle. “I suppose a street kid never forgets how corrupt the whole system is.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Then he thought of something. “Or perhaps you do.”

“And what makes you think that?” She asked in sudden interest.

“My guts. I think you were raised as a Chinese spy by the Russians to be a sleeper agent in the US then told everyone to fuck off when you were old enough to handle yourself on your own. There is too much ‘street’ in you.”

“Interesting theory.” The smile on her face was enigmatic. “Definitely better than your femboy one.”

“Both are not mutually exclusive.”

Her smile dropped a little then. “One of those days someone is going to rip that tongue of yours.”

Rick shrugged and went back to the topic at hand. “I’m still BSAA, Ada.”

“My mission is to steal data, samples and destroy everything. If someone else made a copy before me, then that’s not my problem but my client's. They didn’t act fast enough and someone beat them to the punch. That’s life.”

Thinking about it for a moment, Rick began to plan his cover story for his unauthorized infiltration of Oasis Remedies. Of course he couldn’t pass up on collecting samples and data, not when another Pharmaceuticals company will appropriate them. The issue was that he would be acting outside the BSAA’s prerogatives and in consequence couldn’t hand everything to them. That left only the US government but he wasn’t sure they would cover for him.

He pulled his phone from his jean’s pocket. “I need to make a call.”

“Nuh-huh.” Ada suddenly had a gun in hand and pointed it straight at Rick’s face. “You’re not warning—”

“I’m not. I’m just checking the repercussions of me collecting the data. They won’t know anything about you or your involvement.”

A tense silence settled between the two. Eyes locked onto each other. Rick waited for Ada to lower her gun but it was clear she wouldn’t budge. He went with it anyway. He punched Teresa’s number and brought the phone to his ear, never breaking eye contact. Ada’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t do anything else.

“Hello, ma’am. Sorry to wake y—”

“...”

“Let’s say I raid without cause, beyond my guts telling me to, a pharmaceutical lab and appropriate important data and samples… Could uncle cover for me?”

“...”

“Well, I didn’t want to appear as if I’m abusing my privileges, ma’am.”

“...”

“Oh, that’s good. Also, could you deal with this call? It wouldn't do if… Yes, ma’am. Thanks, you’re the best. See you when I’m back from my vacation.”

Rick ended the call and looked smugly at his new partner. “See? No one will be on your ass. A bit of a shame because it’s nice.”

Eyes still narrowed, it took Ada a few seconds to lower her gun. “You’re really not cute at all.”

“You’ll change your tune once we’re done.”

Her face had relaxed but only to the point of giving a flat look. “I doubt that.”

“I suppose we’ll see soon enough. Now… how about you fill me in about your plan.”

Inhaling sharply, Ada sighed as loudly as possible. With a jolt of her head, she signaled at the elevator to their left. Rick followed her, wondering how difficult infiltrating Oasis Remedies would be.