Something Old, Something New

Summary: This is a COMPLETE reboot and remake of my Full Circle series. For anyone that remembers that series anyway.

Author Note: I figured with the new reboot coming out soon, I figured "Why not dust off the old series and give it new life?" And if anyone is wondering what happened to me? Well, I eventually fell out of fan fic writing for a while. Focused on work and school. Then one day, I was looking over my old files that I kept and realized I wanted to get back into writing. But rather than fan fics, I started writing fictional stories. I also joined a writer's group that meets once a month and we compare stories and make critiques on them. I enjoy it very much and while writing this, I eagerly await this month's meeting. And the rest is history. Also, quick shout out to The Lady Frost for inspiring me to write this story. So, without further ado….

Chapter 1: New Faces, Same Situation

Leon Kennedy, fresh faced recruit to the Raccoon City Police Department, was puking his guts up in alleyway off the main drag. Service issue pistol clutched feverishly in one hand while the other braced itself against a brick wall, Leon reached up with the hand clutching the pistol and wiped his mouth clean. He felt his stomach heave alittle, he willed himself not to purge again. He tried to breath evenly as he closed his eyes to avoid looking at the puddle of puke.

"Easy, Kennedy." He mumbled. "Get a grip."

At the mere mention of the words, his bile rose quick to his throat again. Leon clamped his mouth shut and tried to swallow it back down but when he felt vomit in his nostrils, he folded like a deck of cards and opened his mouth. A wave of beer and remnants of 'Congratulations' cake flooded out. Leon felt his insides give another push and the last contents of his stomach emptied out onto the street. Leon heard slow moving footsteps heading towards him. He wiped his mouth again.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He whispered. He looked up, expecting one of his fellow police officers. He was sadly disappointed.

The woman had been beautiful once. Her raven black hair tied into a slick ponytail. She wore a simple white tank top and jean shorts due to the warm weather lately. But the tank top was drenched in blood, Leon couldn't tell if it was hers or someone else's. But her face…Leon would never forget her face. Eyes bloodshot, blood smeared around her nose and mouth. But the worst of it, the right hand side of her cheek was gone. It had been ripped away in an attack, the only part of her body that had been marred.

Leon didn't hesitate. Not this time. Not again. He thought as he brought his pistol up and fired. The slide on the pistol snapped back and locked into position, the last round in the magazine had been fired. The bullet struck the woman in the forehead, she had moved at the last second so the bullet hit her above her left eyebrow instead of dead center. The woman let one final groan escape her lips before she flopped backwards onto the pavement. Leon stood there, looking at her body. His hands quickly and automatically started to reload his pistol. The empty magazine clattered to the pavement with a metallic thunk as his left hand plucked the last magazine from the double magazine holster on his belt. He slotted it into the magwell and slammed it home with the heel of his hand. Leon's eyes never left the woman.

"Not me." He said to himself. "That's not gonna be me."

Claire Redfield jumped as she heard the gunshot. That was close by. Another survivor? She pondered as she looked around the deserted diner that she sought refuge in. She leaned against the counter and caught her breath. How many blocks did I run? Ten? Twelve? Claire closed her eyes for a moment as the memories of the past two hours came back to her. She had been at the local football game, it was a home game tonight and she was hoping to see some familiar faces that night. The game was nearing half time when a drunk guy stumbled out onto the field. At least…he looked drunk. He had stumbled towards the players, he looked hurt from where Claire could see him. She watched as the refs and paramedics rushed towards him. Her wonderment turned to shock as the injured guy tackled one of the paramedics that had been close to him. Her shock turned to horror as she could clearly see the injured man sink his teeth into the paramedic's neck. One of the refs jumped in and pulled the guy off the paramedic only to get his hand bitten in return.

Claire was on her feet along with everyone else in the stands. She watched the injured paramedic go into a seizure as his coworkers tried to stabilize him. Then he went limp. His body was still for no longer than five minutes when it abruptly sat up and the wounded paramedic sank his teeth into the leg of one of his fellow medics. The other medic screamed in agony as the injured paramedic latched onto the leg like it was drumstick. After that, it was chaos. People were running in all directions, Claire saw several people get trampled in the confusion. Claire stood stock still as the people who had been bitten on the field attack new victims that had either tried to restrain the attackers or were trying to subdue them. Her brain kicked into gear when she heard sirens. Chris! She thought at the time. It's gotta be Chris! He'll know what to do! Claire ran down the metal staircase, taking care to avoid one of the attackers as he entered the crowd area before jumping on one of the trampled people.

Claire ran for the exit, thankfully the crowd had dissipated at this point. Claire could see several squad cars and two SWAT trucks pulling up. "Oh, thank God." She said as she ran towards the flashing blue and red lights. Claire was in a crowd of people moving towards the cops when screams were heard in the crowd. The guys attacking people had made it into the crowd of people. The crowd moved faster toward the cops, now running full tilt. She could hear an officer yelling through a bullhorn to try and make them stop. Then she heard gunfire. Claire immediately dropped to her hands and knees as bullets whipped past her head. Oh my God, they're shooting innocent people! She crawled forward towards the cops, hoping that no one would notice her and put a bullet in her.

She had made it to the police cars when an officer dressed in riot gear noticed her and pointed his weapon at her.

"Hold it!" He yelled. Claire could see he was visibly shaking.

"Don't shoot!" Claire slowly rose up, hands over head.

The officer was breathing heavily. "Okay! Move over there!" He gestured to Claire's right with his gun. Claire complied and got to her feet. She slowly moved over to the sidewalk as the officer watched her. She saw movement to her left. One of the drunken looking attackers charged at the officer.

"Look out!" She screamed and pointed at the attacker.

The officer turned and was tackled by the man. Both fell to the ground. The man tried to lunge at the officer's face, teeth gnashing. The officer put one hand around the man's throat to push him off. He looked up at Claire. Claire didn't know what to do, she didn't have a weapon on her and she was scared beyond belief.

"Run!" The officer yelled as the man's teeth inched closer. "Run!"

Claire ran. She made it twenty feet before she heard a gunshot. She didn't look back.

Claire was brought back to the present when she heard a groan in the diner. "Hello?" She called tentatively. "Is someone there?" She heard a groan in response. It's coming from behind the counter. Could be one of the employees. Claire rounded the counter and stopped short. One of the waitresses at the diner was eating the cook. The waitress had a mouth full of the cook's cheek in her mouth as she slowly turned to look up at Claire, chewing on the hunk of flesh. "Oh, God." Claire said quietly as she started to back away. The cannibalistic waitress got to her feet slowly, hands reaching out towards Claire.

Claire bolted for the door she came in. She threw her shoulder out and slammed the door open…and was met face to face with a pistol. Claire chanced a look back, the waitress had closed half the distance. Claire looked back to the gun. "Shoot it!" She dropped to her knees. A second later, a gunshot echoed over her head. Claire heard a thud and looked back, the undead waitress lay dead on her back, a bullet hole etched in her forehead. She looked back up at her savior.

Oh my God. "LEON?!"

"CLAIRE?!"

"What are you doing here?!" They both said at the same time. Leon quickly bent over and helped Claire to her feet.

"Thanks." She said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was at the football game, waiting for you." Leon had told Claire that he and a few other officers would be working security that night at the game.

"Well, we were going to and then we got a call about a domestic disturbance and then…one thing led to another." He looked her up and down. "You okay?"

Claire nodded. "Still in one piece." She felt Leon's arm snake around her waist and pull her close to him. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She moaned quietly, closing her eyes and leaned into the kiss. She wrapped both of her arms around his neck as the two continued to kiss, oblivious to the world around them. Claire's eyes flashed open as she could taste something on Leon's lips. Is that…Oh God! Claire quickly put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back, breaking the kiss. "Oh my God, Leon! Did you just blow chunks?!"

Leon wiped the spit from his lips. "What?!"

"You taste like vomit!"

Leon blushed. "S…Sorry! It's been a fucked up night."

Claire put her hands on his chest. "Hey," She said quietly. "You saved me. This night is starting to look up." She looked him over. "Are you…okay?"

Leon shook his head, a hollow look in his eyes. "I…" He sighed. "I don't…think so."

"It'll be okay." Claire whispered. She put her arms around his neck. "We'll be okay." She pecked his cheek. She looked around. "We should go. My apartment is not far away."

"Okay." Leon nodded.

"We need to call Chris. Find out what is going on."

"Okay." Leon nodded again.

Claire unwound her arms from Leon's neck but not before giving him another kiss on the cheek. "And we…are getting you some mouthwash." She said with a small smile.

Leon broke into a grin. "That bad?"

"You taste like cheap beer."

"The cake was good though."

Claire rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder lightly. "You're such a dork." She kissed his cheek again. "Come on, top cop."

End of Chapter 1

A/N: So, yeah. I always had this idea: What if Leon and Claire knew each other and were already dating when the Raccoon outbreak went down and here we are.