Waiting

Chapter 1: Little girl, big city

It sure was different stepping out of the familiar country side and into the city. It just wasn't something she did very often that's for sure but today was the first day of Spring Break and Claire wanted to pay her older brother a visit at the RPD. Childish? Perhaps but what harm could really come of it? Worst she figured they would probably do to her is just ask her to leave and tell her that she wasn't allowed to be hanging around unless there was a serious reason as to why.

Claire didn't quite yet have her driver's license, so she had walked to the nearest bus stop and hopped onto one as it came around. She had planned on only going til she was right inside of the city. Pulling the stop cord the driver pulled over and left her off as she waved good bye. Her next task was finding the RPD seeing as she wasn't too terribly good with directions and didn't wander around Raccoon City very often on her own. Since Barry and his wife had taken Claire and her older brother, Chris in after the loss of their parents, trips to Raccoon City just weren't that exciting for Claire. She was happy to be out and about roaming the 5 acre lot that Barry owned. Sure she'd gotten lost a couple of times, but that was the fun of it!

- . - . - . -

Big city lost though is different from that type of lost. More possibilities in Claire's opinion of why you would go missing in the city. Not that she should really be out and about here by herself to begin with, Claire was only just 16 but Kathy trusted her enough to let her go on her own, not without words of wisdom of course. "Don't talk to any random guys," she said, "Or women. You never know what they may try to hand you. Or get you to do." The older woman scrunched up her nose a bit at the thought of poor Claire being suckered into a life of prostitution. Or worse! "I promise I'll stick to the sidewalks and go straight to the RPD!" Claire gave a big smile of reassurance, "I won't even go into a music store."

"Well alright, I know you're a smart girl, Claire. Just like your brother and don't forget to say hi to Barry while you're there. You know he's on the Alpha team, too."

"I will!"

"Oh Claire wait!" Kathy waved her hand at her before she had a chance to skip out the door. "Take these for Barry and your brother." She handed Claire a plastic shopping bag with two smaller brown paper bags and a small white box inside of it. "They'll say 'we don't need that' but they'll be lying, just sit that on either of their desks, alright?" Claire nodded and was out the door and down the steps and on her way.

- . - . - . -

"No talking to strangers and no stops at any-" Claire looked in the glass window of a store she was passing by and noticed a nice pair of boots. "Ooohhhh... Those look nice!" But then she remembered with a groan, "I can't go inside I have to go straight to the RPD." Turning away sadly she continued on her way before an idea struck her. "I know! I'll ask Chris if I can look around when I leave. Just a peak I'm sure he won't mind!" She made a mental note of the store's name as she made a turn at the corner of the street. Admittingly she had gotten a tad bit lost for about fifteen minutes, but she knew she had found it once she saw the large cast iron gate with the giant RPD letters at the top of it. "Finally!" She said with a sigh of relief as she walked up the pathway to the large wooden double doors.

Stepping inside was quite the sight. It was huge! And quiet. It was around noon by now so she had to wonder if her brother was even here or if he was out or maybe even on a possible lunch break. 'Do they get lunch breaks?' Claire wondered. 'What if they had just sat down and suddenly got called away for something serious and then they didn't get a lunch break?' Now that thought was just plain down sad. Claire couldn't imagine having to get up and go take care of something right as she'd be getting ready to eat. That's just utter blasphemy!

"Umm excuse me?" Claire's head snapped in the direction of a female voice. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Can I help you with something, Dear?"

"Uh yeah, actually, I'm here to see my brother."

"And who is your brother?"

"His name is Chris."

The woman just looked at her rather blankly for a moment, as if she was supposed to know who exactly 'Chris' was. Could've been an inmate for all she knew. "Chris who?"

"Oh, Chris Redfield! I'm sorry." Claire replied rather sheepishly.

"Oh! Well you can have a seat right over there. I saw him head out with some other members of the Alpha and Bravo teams so I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"Thank you!" Claire gave a small smile and took a seat in one of the chairs across from the receptionist's desk. But as Claire sat there she started to feel a bit uncomfortable. As criminals were being brought in they'd look at her and chide. "Oohhh baby! Look at that piece of tender meat over there!"

"Oh yeah!" Two guys both lanky with dark hair and eyes looked at her as their officer wrote them in. Claire turned away from their stares as they were dragged off. "Hey baby! Come by later we can have some fun!"

"Yeah we'll letcha know where to meet us, eh?"

They were pulled through a door and Claire sighed making the receptionist look up from the computer. Glancing around she called out to the poor girl, "Hey, sweetie." Claire looked up. "Yes, ma'am?"

"If you want you can go and wait in the S.T.A.R.S office for your brother since he and the others haven't come back yet." The receptionist didn't want to send her away since she'd already been sitting there for a little while now and she also felt bad that she was being whistled at and called out.

"Really, I can do that?"

"You sure can, just go through that door and once you reach the top of the stairs you'll go to the end of the hallway and it's the last door on the left."

Claire smiled brightly jumping up from her seat. "Thank you!" And she was off through the door. Humming a little tune as she went while waving to some of the officers as she went past them she attempted to not seem so out of place even though she actually was. Occasionally she caught them whispering, trying to figure out who she was and what she was doing there. But once she stepped into the S.T.A.R.S office it was quiet again.

"No one's here..." She said a bit bummed. "Ah well." Placing the bag on the desk she had identified as her brother's (his name was on the placard), she sat in his chair and spun a few times before getting back up and wandering around a bit. She read the names and the boards before stopping at one desk that sat at the head of the office. "Captain Albert Wesker." She read aloud.

"And who are you?"

Claire spun around nearly losing her footing and tripping in the process. She went to speak but it was as if her throat closed up on her and her mouth was just agape as she looked at the man in front of her. He was tall, much taller than herself with a slightly bigger build than her brother had, blonde hair slicked back and a pair of black shades hid his eyes from her.

The man stood straight backed, looming over her. Claire almost had to crane her head to look up at him. "Uhm... I'm... uhhhh..." She fumbled the words on her tongue whether from fear or amazement she wasn't sure. Those damned teenage hormones kicking in and now of all times!

"You're name is 'uhm'?" His voice wasn't exactly holding onto any humor as he spoke but rather a bit serious. "I'll ask you again, who are you and why are you here?"

Claire blinked at the more serious tone. "I'm Claire."

He continued to stare at her. At least, she thought he was staring at her not that she could exactly tell with him wearing sunglasses but she assumed that he was. "Claire... Redfield?"

The man inclined his head slightly at her name. "Chris' sister, I presume?"

She nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Well at least you seem well mannered." He stepped around her to the back of the desk now sitting in his chair as he placed a small stack of folders in front of himself. 'I seem well mannered? Rude!' Claire thought as she turned around following him with her eyes. "If you're looking for your brother he won't be back any time soon." The man said as he flipped open one of the folders, "He's gone out with the rest of Alpha and Bravo team for lunch."

Claire groaned as she turned and stepped down from the man's desk. It hadn't quite clicked to her who he was just yet. "Is there a problem, Miss Redfield?"

"Nooooo." She said with a sigh before sitting down in one of the other desk's chairs and spinning. "I just assumed he already had lunch and would be back soon." Well technically she had figured he might not be around once she arrived and saw what time it was but she had also kinda hoped that if he was on his lunch that he would have taken it here in the station.

"Well best not to be assuming such things considering what your brother does here."

She glanced over her shoulder at him from where she had stopped spinning the chair. He wasn't looking up at her, rather enveloped in whatever was in the folder and despite him looking down she couldn't see over his shades enough to see what his eyes looked like. Just then she remembered the placard on the desk. 'Captain Albert Wesker.' Then it fully hit her, 'Captain! Oh my God! He's my brother's Captain!' Suddenly she turned her head away from him, fear creeping up her spine. 'What if I just got Chris into a lot of trouble?' His Captain didn't seem like the type of guy who enjoyed random visits from family members that were uninvited. "Something the matter, Miss Redfield?"

"Huh?" She turned around in the chair to look at him only to find him looking right at her.

"I asked if something was the matter." He watched her as she turned away from him slightly, clearly a bit embarrassed, "Do those who ask you a question have to repeat themselves often?"

She stood up with a slight huff, "No, they do not." She responded in a rather rude tone making him raise a brow at her as she turned on her heels and walked back to her brother's desk. Wesker watched her as she walked, she didn't have the exaggerated hip sway some of the women in the department and the facility did. If he were to be honest he found it a bit attractive. 'In fact,' now that Wesker was thinking about it. 'She isn't dressed like most of the women either.'

Claire sported a simple black tank top with denim shorts that hugged the curves of her hips rather nicely and a red plaid long sleeved button down shirt tied around her waist and a pair of old dusty cowboy boots. She had a few scrapes on her legs clearly from being more outside then in. At least from her appearance that's what he was gathering and Wesker was very well experienced in analyzing.

Still, he couldn't deny that she was a rather attractive young woman. For being Chris' sister at that they didn't seem to share too terrible a resemblance to one another. 'Well thank God for that.' Wesker thought almost spoiling his previous train of thought. If she cleaned herself up a bit and maybe dressed more casually she'd be a decent partner to take around town. Maybe if she let her hair down, too, perhaps?

Claire had just leaned over Chris' desk with her backside to him. Not on purpose in all honesty, she was just annoyed and didn't want to look at him face to face. But Wesker just sat quietly in thought taking her in. 'He's so rude!' Claire thought as she picked up a pen from Chris' desk and twirled it around her fingers. 'Honestly how does Chris put up with that? I mean I get it the man is his boss and everything but damn!' The teenager let out a small sigh, so wrapped up in her own thoughts she hadn't noticed that Wesker was now standing behind her.

She went to stand up pushing off of her brother's desk and Claire felt her backside press against something and she straightened up. It took a brief moment for the action to sink in. 'Oh my God! He's behind me, isn't he?' She slowly turned her head to glance over her shoulder and sure enough, there he stood.

"Something wrong, Miss Redfield?"

"Uhm.. well you're kinda, sorta..." Claire found herself fumbling over her words again and Wesker simply looked down at her awaiting an answer though he knew the obvious. "You're really close." She finally swallowed her breathing becoming shallow. He was very, very close! "Am I invading your personal space?" He reached an arm around her to pick up the pen from her brother's desk that she had been previously messing with and as he did this he pressed his chest against her slightly making her curve her back pressing her own into him.

Her breath caught in her throat and her heart started to hammer against her ribs. 'He's so close, too close. But it's nice. Very nice. So very wrong but yet so very nice. Damn he's big compared to me. I'd vanish beneath him wouldn't I? Wait! No, stop that! Claire Redfield you stop thinking about that right now!' Claire's head swam with thoughts and images. 'He's so... old! Look at him!' And she did and you know what? He didn't look that old. 'He really does take care of himself, doesn't he? Plus he smells so good.' You would have had to of had your nose cut off to not be able to smell how great he did. 'Noooooo! This is awful!' Claire felt her face flush as her body got warmer. 'I'm awful, this is awful, terrible, awful, everything...' But where was the harm really? It's not like he'd do anything with a girl like her, right?

He backed away from her and looked her up and down for a moment before tilting his head slightly at her, still lost in her thoughts Claire hadn't fully noticed he was no longer pressed against her. Curious longing still lingering in her mind and body.

Claire's chest heaved a bit as she tried to bring her brain back down to Earth where it belonged. A smile spread across Wesker's lips as he watched her. "What ever is the matter, Dear Heart?"

She blinked a couple of times before looking at him then turning away. "Th-that was very rude of you!"

"How so?" He asked feigning a bit of surprise at her reaction.

"It just was!" She tried to swallow and found her throat dry. But now he had grabbed a hand full of her hair and yanked her head back, sliding his other hand over her chest and up her throat he pressed his lips against her own. A bit in shock Claire just stood there for a moment before kissing him back. How terribly inexperienced she was but that didn't matter. Or did it? Would it? She hoped not because she wasn't gonna shove him off or scream, despite being in a police station and knowing anyone could and most likely would come running. What was wrong with giving into some uninhibited want? Wesker was a full-grown man, he wouldn't take her all of the way, would he?

But that didn't matter in Claire's mind as she pressed her backside against him, ready and willing.

- . - . - . -

Claire was sitting in her brother's chair now running her finger's through her hair trying to get rid of the tangles as she pulled it all back up into another messy pony tail. 'Oh how could I?' She thought a bit shamefully. 'Now I'm like those girls that sit at the table in the far corner of the cafeteria and all they talk about is... sex.' This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't how the day was supposed to end up. At all!

The timing that Alpha and Bravo team both had was remarkable also. Claire hadn't realized that when Wesker had entered the S.T.A.R.S. office that he had locked the door behind himself. Did he plan on the events that had taken place to happen? Either way the team's knocking came right as Wesker had put his tactical vest back on and finished smoothing out his hair. Claire herself had just slipped back into her boots and turned in her brother's chair as Wesker unlocked the door allowing his team back in.

"Hey Captain! Those damn secretaries giving you hassle again?" Brad laughed before asking, "You trying to get more work done in here in private, eh?" He stepped inside past his Captain. "Oh! Hey there!"

Claire waved with a smile as the rest of the team filed in behind him. As Chris stepped in his face lit up. "Baby sis!"

"Big bro!"

Claire jumped up giving her brother a big hug. 'Ahhhhh I hope he doesn't smell me. I don't smell bad. Do I? I sure hope not... Please don't smell me... Please don't smell anything!'

"Claire?"

"Yes?"

"You smell awful."

'Oh God, no!' An alarm fired off in Claire's head as she glanced at Wesker over her brother's shoulder, his expression unreadable behind his shades but she was certain he was eyeing her, waiting for her response. Thinking quickly, Claire had the perfect response, "You're a mean big brother!"

He pulled away from her. "What? How?"

"You're embarrassing me in front of your friends and team!" She hissed at him as Jill placed a hand over her mouth to silence a laugh before agreeing, "She's right Chris, you're terrible." Then she let the laugh out. "You're so annoying some times." Claire added crossing her arms.

Barry shook his head as he peeked into the bag that Kathy had given to Claire to take with her for them. "It's an older siblings job to be annoying, Claire."

"I know." She sighed before looking at the clock. "Uh-oh! I gotta get back home!" She hugged Chris one last time then Barry before waving to everyone good-bye. "Claire ask Bethany at the receptionist desk up front if you can borrow the phone, call Kathy and let her know you're alright and on your way home."

"Ok I will." And with that she was out the door. "Aw Chris, your baby sister is cute." Brad said leaning on the older Redfield. "Hey if you don't mind my asking, how old is your sis?"

Chris gave him a bit of a threatening look which made Brad remove his arm. "She's only-" But he didn't get a chance to finish as the phone rang and Jill answered it. "What? Alright, I'll let the Captain know right away." Jill turned to Wesker who had already made his way back to his desk but was still listening to the conversation between Brad and Chris. How old was Claire exactly? That was something he actually hadn't thought about and he probably should have. "Captain Wesker!" He looked up at Jill who was standing in front of his desk now.

"There's a situation down town, a riot has broken out in front of one of the bigger businesses. Looks like it started out as picketing and has progressed into something way worse now and the Chief wants us on the site, ASAP."

"Very well then. Alpha Team will handle this, Bravo can stay behind this time." He stood and as did the rest of his team before making their way out the door.