The temporary shelter smells like blood, smoke, and wet earth — the remnants of a brutal ambush that left everyone bruised, breathless, and grateful for five minutes of silence.

You sit on a broken crate near the fire, your arm wrapped in gauze. A bite grazed too close, but you handled it. You always do.

Leon stands across from you, hands on his hips, scanning the shadows. Not once has he looked your way.

But he’s looked at her — a lot.

Ada leans against the stone wall, pristine as always, not a scratch on her, like she walked through hell and came out styled. Leon’s eyes dart to her every few seconds. Watching her. Checking her. You saw him brush a leaf off her shoulder earlier. Silently. Carefully.

It’s like you aren’t even here.

Luis strolls in with a half-smirk and a cigarette tucked behind his ear. “You all look like you fought a minotaur and lost.”

“No thanks to you,” you mutter, but he just winks.

Leon doesn’t laugh. He’s already stepping toward Ada. “You hurt?”

She gives him a coy smile. “You always ask that.”

“I always mean it.”

You feel that one in your throat.

Luis raises an eyebrow your way but says nothing. Smart man.

You shift your weight, trying not to show the tension coiling in your stomach. You and Leon have fought side by side since this nightmare started — through every cult ambush, every parasite-ridden villager. You’ve dragged each other out of near-death more than once.

But you’ve never gotten a “You okay?” the way she does.

Maybe it was always her.

Leon and Ada talk in hushed tones by the broken window. You can’t hear what they’re saying — but you’ve seen this scene before. The charged silence, the unspoken history. The ghost of something that should’ve ended six years ago in Raccoon City, but clearly never did.

Ada betrayed him back then. You know the story. Everyone who’s worked with Leon knows the story. She pretended to be FBI, but in truth, she was working for a covert organization to steal the G-virus. Leon didn’t find out until it was too late — she aimed a gun at Annette Birkin, and the truth unraveled fast. Then, during a confrontation, a platform gave way, and Ada fell. No final kiss. No promises. Just a haunting silence and a goodbye he never got to give.

And still, he looks at her like she’s gravity.

You shift, wincing slightly. Leon doesn’t notice. Luis does.

“You’re bleeding through that bandage,” Luis says quietly, sitting beside you. “But I suppose we’re all bleeding somewhere, eh?”

You nod, eyes never leaving Leon.

“You know,” Luis adds, lowering his voice, “he only sees what she shows him. Not the knife behind her back.”

You glance at him, surprised. “You don’t trust her?”

Luis smiles tightly. “I know her.”

There it is — the truth under the charm.

You grip your knees. You won’t cry. Not for a man who can’t see what’s right in front of him.

Leon finally turns your way — but only to speak.

“We move out in ten.”

He doesn’t wait for your nod. Doesn’t ask how your arm is. Doesn’t notice the dark look in your eyes.

Just turns back to Ada, who’s already disappearing into the fog like she owns it.

Luis leans closer, murmuring into your ear, “Mind if I take care of that bandage?”