A/N: A new story which follows "We Need Help" another Claire/Leon fic I've done prior to this. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of this new fic!
He heard a low moan coming from behind him. He swivelled his head to the source of the sound, it was too familiar. The song of the undead, as he'd like to call it. One by one, zombies came towards him shattering every sense of peace he had left in him. He shouldn't feel the way he does now with all his experience with zombies, but somehow he feels like how he felt the first time he had encountered them in racoon city. Scared shitless- but wasn't allowed to show it. One bite was all it took for him to become one of them, and as he stood there wondering what was his next move, 20 odd more zombies appeared.
He didn't know how the restaurant suddenly managed to be filled with the undead, but it just happened in a quick second and he had to get out of the restaurant. He dashed quickly to the main door which was guarded by two zombies. He kicked them both out of the way; cautious enough to make sure he was not anywhere near their jaws, or heads, for that matter. He ran out of the restaurant and was flung onto the once busy street of the District of Columbia. He had to think of a place to find shelter and a place to call for backup. For the epidemic that is about to happen, Leon seemed really calm.
Out of nowhere he heard a faint murmur behind him.
"morir es vivir"
He knew that voice too well, and was surprised that they were found here, in DC. The Palagas as he knew were long gone after his encounter with them in Spain. He wasn't prepared for them... well, he wasn't prepared for the zombies either, but the Palagas were bioweapons of a different rank altogether. They had the mental capabilities far superior to the ones the encountered in the restaurant.
Leon backed up against a light pole that had been flickering and shot the zombies closest to him through their skull.
Before he could shoot the Palaga that was behind him, a zombie jumped from the building above and affixed itself onto the pole he had been leaning on and clambered down quickly. Leon had no time to be stunned by the idea of a zombie being on his back, or the indescribable smell that was coming from it. He shrugged the zombie off as quickly as he can and pulled out his trusty handgun from his holster. He shot the zombie thrice in the head and backed away slowly.
As soon as he shot the zombie, he felt a sharp pain surging through his neck and he immediately grabbed it. He spat out a string of expletives. His hands were covered in his own blood as he traced the bite mark that had been left behind by the zombie. Whilst in agony, he had completely ignored the Palaga that had been right behind him and was totally unaware of the flail in his hands. With one swift move, the Palaga brought down the flail onto Leon's head.
Leon's eyes flung wide open in shock. He looked around him and realised he was surrounded in darkness with the exception of a tiny light source coming in from the crack in the door, which he had left slightly ajar. His eyes swept across the room again to realise that he had been having another bad dream and he was in fact, in the comforts of his own room with no one out there to kill him. His breath was hard and jagged, almost as if he had just finished a marathon in a sprint. His heart hammered in his chest. The brows above his eyes did their best to wick away the sweat that had formed during his night terror. The room wasn't particularly warm but his entire body felt like it was on fire. Fear and dark memories, in particular, did this to him.
He muttered more expletives under his breath for having the night terrors, knowing he was way too old to be having nightmares. He tried to fall back to sleep again but he knew it all too well that it was just too hot and too hard for him to fall back into a deep slumber. Laying on his bed for a good 10 minutes, he realised that the heat wasn't going anywhere and his mind was way too alert to let him go back to sleep on his bed. He took his pillow and went into his bathroom which had marble flooring and laid there for a while, arms outstretched. It seemed silly, but that was the only way he could cope.
He closed his eyes momentarily to get his thoughts cleared up. The coolness of the marble soothing his burn. The thought of taking a cold shower was inviting but he thought that might just make him feel more awake, something he didn't want to feel, not at 4 in the morning.
Sleep finally overpowered him after an hour or mindless pondering. He fell back into a dreamless sleep, waking up only to be greeted by an orange ball of light from his bathroom window and a splitting headache from all that had happened, plus the horrid sleeping arrangement. He rubbed his eyes and frowned at the magnitude of the headache. It was like a jackhammer trying to break a piece of diamond. He pulled himself up and swung open his medicine cabinet to look for his aspirins. After downing two tablets, he fished for his unopened packet of cigarettes at the back of the medicine cabinet. Slowly, he unwrapped the plastic and plucked out one stick from the entire heap, knowing he was only going to smoke one. Desperate times called for desperate measures. He found a matchbook, slightly damp, beside his toothpaste, which might be a little troublesome, but he decided that that would have to do.
Leon stumbled out his bedroom door looking like a truck had ran over him, twice.
The smell of pancakes and perfume assaulted his nose instantly, and it wasn't a bad smell to wake up to at all. "Morning." A lady spoke from the breakfast counter. Leon briefly glanced over and noticed a woman with wild red hair pulled into a sloppy pony tail flipping pancakes on the stove.
"Claire." He mumbled his acknowledgement to her greet without looking directly in her eyes and stumbled onto the balcony directly across the kitchen.
Claire was about to criticize his look before she noticed the single unlit cigarette in his hand and the matchbook. She decided that it's best if she reserved her questions and criticism for later.
Out in the balcony, Leon noticed old Mr. Boyd who was reading his newspapers. Leon never knew why Mr. Boyd found that relaxing since his balcony was overlooking another row of apartments, not your typical overlooking-a-garden sort of balcony.
"Ey, Kennedy!" Mr. Boyd called. "Morning Mr. Boyd" Leon said, striking the match for the 9th time before it actually alighted due to the dampness of it.
"You know that smoking thing? It isn't good for you, son. You shouldn't pick up something because you think it's cool like all you hipsters today." Mr Boyd lectured.
"Ooh, smoking? Leon's smoking?" a voice called out from the balcony on the left of Mr Boyd's. Bethanie is a 17 year old girl who lived with her brother and parents next to Mr. Boyd's apartment and has a crush on Leon. She's going through a phase where sometimes she could act so mature for her age, and sometimes she was just downright childish. This was one of her childish moments.
"No, Beth, I'm not, I'm just..."Before Leon could explain, Mr Boyd starts again.
"It's because of that girl that in your apartment isn't it? You're trying to be cool and you're trying to impress that little red head aren't you, young man?"
Leon lifted his head ever so slightly, he was indeed intrigued that his neighbours noticed Claire, but he didn't really have to effort to acknowledge the fact, and explain her to them.
"What red head, where?" A little too enthusiastic remark was heard from Bethanie who was still in her boxer shorts, started jumping up and down to catch a glimpse of Claire who was partly covered by Leon.
Leon glanced back to make sure Claire wasn't listening onto this. She was preoccupied with the pancakes to notice.
"No, Mr. Boyd I assure you, she's not..." Leon started again but was cut off by Mr Boyd yet again.
"See me? All old and sore? This happens to people who smoke. Do you want to die, Kennedy? Don't smoke." Mr Boyd said.
"No, sir, I..." Leon left the sentence hanging and took a drag knowing someone else was going to cut him anyway. He really didn't like the noise around him, especially when his head was spinning; however, it was either the balcony or walking outside, which to him, was just too much effort just for a cigarette, also, he had a rule where he wouldn't smoke indoors.
"Bernard! Stop scaring the poor boy! Can't you see he's all stressed?" An elderly woman's voice called from the apartment balcony above Mr. Boyd's. Miriam Boyd nee Alridge, was previously married to Boyd until they got a divorce a few years ago in which Bernard Boyd moved out of his apartment. He couldn't find a more suitable place to move into so he bought the apartment right below his old apartment (which was now occupied by his ex-wife) and stays directly below her.
"You eavesdropping on me, Miriam? What are you doing spying on me?" Mr Boyd asked looking up above at his ex wife.
"Oh, Bernard you're so self-centred. Stop thinking about yourself and look at the boy! He looks like he could use some cheering up. Not an old man nagging at him, that's for sure." Miriam huffed.
"Look who you're calling old," Bernard scoffed.
Leon closed his eyes and inhaled slowly and deeply, trying to block out their voices.
"Why making all noises?" Another head popped out from the right of Bernard's balcony. It was Pasqual, a Spanish man whom had recently moved into the apartment. He had a short fuse but when people are nice to him he is twice as nice towards the person.
"Sorry, Pasqual, I'll be heading indoors in a bit." Leon apologized nonchalantly.
"So, who is this girl, Leon? What's she like? Is she your girlfriend?" Bethanie asked, whilst combing her wet hair.
"She's real nice, Beth." A partial answer came from Leon. The hammering in his head had quietened down and so did the hammers in his heart. He felt a little calmer, as he always felt after a smoke. Smoking was never something Leon was proud of doing when he was younger. In his late 20s, he decided that it wasn't natural to depend on something so much and hence went cold turkey. He suffered for a bit but it all worked out, by his early 30s, he was able to go without smoking. However, he still had the odd pack or two for situations like these.
"Aww shucks our boy is turning red like a beetroot." Miriam gushed.
"What's this... beetroot?" Pasqual asked curiously.
"Something Miriam uses way too much in her cabbage soup." Bernard looked up from his newspaper and spoke.
Miriam pretended not to hear her ex-husband, which was quite impossible since Bernard was one of those who projected his voice.
"Are you okay, Leon?" Pasqual asked, eyes wide with concern. There was a short silence when every one of Leon's neighbours realised they had not really asked how he was until then.
Leon paused and took a long last drag at his cigarette before crushing it and picking it up again.
"I'll be fine, Pasqual, thanks. I'm heading in guys." Leon said turning his back before he finished his sentence.
"A good boy, that Lenny." Miriam's voice could be heard before he closed the sliding door.
Claire was flipping the last of the pancakes into a plate when Leon walked in.
She looked up as he threw away the bud into a trashcan and sat on the island stool in front of her.
He looked up into her eyes and she reciprocated the stare. In an instant, Claire stopped herself from asking Leon a question she already knew the answer to. He knew that she knew what was wrong with him and that was one thing he liked most about her. She always understood.
She carried on serving breakfast as usual without a skip in her step knowing making it obvious would only make situations worse.
"The syrup's on the top cupboard, here." Leon said, reaching up to the tall pantry to grab the half used bottle of maple syrup and handed it to Claire.
The bottle was sticky, a clear sign of it being used often. Claire thanked Leon whom had responded with a little nod.
"Hey, I'm just going to..." Leon began, "Yeah, go for it. I'll just make us some coffee." Claire read his mind and saved him the agony of explaining to her that he had to gather his thoughts and take a shower.
Leon slipped back into his room to take a long shower and to freshen up. In a few minutes, he emerged feeling almost completely well.
Claire didn't know whether she should go straight in to tell him about the news she had received in the morning or whether she should wait for him to tell her about the nightmare.
Leon sighed as he emerged from his room and looked at the breakfast island, as though this was the first time he was out of the room that morning.
"Claire you really didn't have to. We could have gone out to eat, I'm so sorry it took me a while." Leon said, sitting down next to her whilst she passed him a mug of coffee.
"No worries. Hope they aren't too burnt." Claire pushed the short stack she had built towards Leon.
"They're prefect." He complimented her whilst taking a bite.
"If they weren't, I'd have to sue Panmix Co. It says satisfaction guaranteed here on the instant package." Claire said, modestly.
"Nothing you'd have to worry about. I'm well satisfied. You, being here, make it a lot more satisfying." Leon added the last part very quietly, almost inaudible.
The redness in Claire's cheeks flared ever so slightly. "I have some news, Leon." She said, finally, thinking Leon's episode this morning was already buried six feet under and was to never be discussed ever again.
"What is it?" Leon asked, paying close attention.
"I got a call from the government this morning." Claire began
"Didn't pay your tax or what, Miss?" Leon smirked.
She disregarded his joke and instantly Leon knew this was serious. He mumbled an apology before she continued.
"They got a hold of my report I had done for the BSAA which Chris had asked me to do right after the warehouse incident."
"And?" Leon asked, too preoccupied to finish his pancakes.
"They read the report and thought it was... satisfying. So they pulled out additional reports on me and fished my whole bio data. They found out about my involvement in Arklay, and in Racoon City. It was puzzling to them that I've managed to survive all that despite my lack of training in any department." Claire continued.
"So what are they trying to do here? Are they going to evaluate you to see if you're really Claire Redfield, the girl with no formal training?" Leon commented.
"No, Leon. They've offered me a position to work with the government. They can assure me full protection of my well being, and they just want me to be sort of an apprentice in these few weeks first. Learn the ropes, do some report reading and perhaps in the future, help the government take down Umbrella. I hadn't said yes, or no. I haven't even told Chris because he would downright have said no. I just came to you first to ask you for your opinion." Claire said in one breath and then in turn, looked at Leon for his reaction.
"Oh, they offered you to work in the government, huh?" Leon said after a short pause. He didn't know how to react to it. On one hand, he knew this job would be very beneficial for Claire, in terms of position and pay; however, working with the government was not the safest of jobs, especially when dealing with certain operations.
"I know this is a great opportunity for you, financially and statistically but Claire, I am really worried about your safety. See, Wesker was all out to kill me that night; you might form an enemy of your own just by working in the company. It's not hard making enemies when you're bonded with this side of the law." Leon said, in a less compassionate way as he would have liked it to have been.
"... and then there's the issue of the headquarters. They want me to work here, in DC." Claire said, re-reading the letter she had printed out from her e-mail.
"Yeah, the small 1x1 m cubicle they call office in Chicago is pretty depressing. You probably wouldn't want to work there anyway." Leon commented.
"I can't really tell you what to do. I'm just warning you about your safety when you work there. The government can promise you the moon and the sky when it comes to safety, but when you're out there, actually carrying out a task, who knows what might just shoot you with a sniper? Who knows which deadly zombie might chew your leg off? After that, sure, the government pays compensation, but that's not it, you're already infected, or dead." Leon said, quickly realising he might be a little too harsh.
Leon closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he hadn't said that. "Sorry, Red I just had a really bad—"
Claire nodded her head, "I know, it was my fault, I shouldn't have brought it up now." She folded the unsigned email back into her pocket and tried to finish her breakfast.
Their conversation picked up again, but about random things they were going to do over the week not once on the topic of the Government or the nightmares.
Whilst finishing his third pancake, his phone beeped, he frowned and put it back on the table. "Don't seem too happy there, Kennedy" Claire said, being ever so nosy.
"Some work related thing which is due on Monday." Kennedy unintentionally brought back the subject of the government to the table.
Leon sighed, "Claire, I really don't want to tell you what to do with this offer, but promise me one thing."
"Name it."
"Please just take this letter, sit on it for a bit. Just give it a thorough thought and then when you're ready, send them your reply. Don't get yourself into a job you'll regret later on, and well, I guess, don't make rash decisions where you'll regret NOT getting yourself into that job." Leon said.
"I will, I promise. I plan to weigh out the conditions and I can only accept this offer after a month. I need to give my other job a month's notice IF I wanted in." Claire reminded him.
"Tell me one thing, though. Did you ever regret working for the government?" Claire asked.
There was a long silence before anyone said anything.
"I... I'm so sorry but that's something I can't tell you." Leon said after the longest of pause.
"Why ever not?" Claire frowned.
"...the circumstances... I really can't say much, Claire. If I do, they'll kill me and you and I both know that. All I can tell you now is that my job offer was a lot different from yours. So I really can't answer on that question." Leon explained.
Claire wanted to press on but she didn't really want to get him in any trouble. She'll find out soon enough and she knew it.
