Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its original characters, settings, etc. I am only borrowing them for entertainment purposes only.
Author Note: I don't have any idea where I got the idea for this but I am glad that I did. I can easily see myself working on this for a long time. No guarantees on regular updates though. I work nights, 40+ hours a week and I don't get a lot of sleep. That being said, enjoy.
Summary: Leon has not been feeling like himself lately. Little things are starting to get to him and he doesn't know why. To top things off, he isn't the only on who's noticed.
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Resident Evil: Aftermath
Chapter 1: The Meeting
Leon looked at his watch impatiently and sighed in frustration. "Come on Claire. Where are you?" He dropped his hand on the table and leaned back in his seat. His day was not turning out to be what he wanted. It all started with his shower. Not hot water. He had complained to his landlord but he knew that it was probably no use. He knew that his small apartment was crummy. He didn't see the need to have a big and nice apartment since he spent most of this time at work or off on a mission somewhere. But after the way his morning had gone, he was seriously thinking about looking into another apartment.
"Excuse me Sir. Would you like a refill?" A pretty young waitress asked, suddenly appearing beside him.
Leon looked down at his glass of water. It was empty. He didn't realize that he had drank it all. He grabbed the glass and slid it to the edge of the table. "Sure."
When Leon looked up at the waitress, she smiled at him, blushing. "Then I'll be right back." She picked up the glass, gave him another quick smile and walked off.
Leon stared after her for a moment, not quite sure what had just happened. Whatever it was, it seemed to be happening to him a lot lately.
He looked at his watch again, frustration really getting to him. "Come on Claire, you're never late. What's the damn hold up?"
A shrill laugh from the front of the small restaurant startled Leon. He stared for a minute as a young girl, maybe in her early twenties, followed a waitress to her seat, babbling to another young girl about some guy she met at a club.
Leon blinked, suddenly realizing how normal it was. And as he scanned the crowd of restaurant goers, he realized that everyone there was normal. Everyone but him. The last time he talked to a friend was when Claire called but there was nothing normal about how they knew each other. They met in a zombie infested city on his first and only day as a cop. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had fun…or if he even knew how to have fun anymore.
He could feel his heart start to pound. It seemed to happen a lot lately. He closed his eyes to try and calm down when it happened. The memories flooded his mind. The zombies, the T-virus that created them, the G-virus. And then there was the Plagas parasite in Spain. Spain was one of the worst. Alone in a hostile village with nobody to keep him company except the occasional calls from Hunnigan.
Leon opened his eyes, trying desperately to blink the images away. Ridding himself of the images wasn't enough though. Because when he opened his eyes, he was alone. No friends around him.
The loud giggles from the two girls that walked in continued and Leon was finding it harder and harder to stay calm.
"Hey." Claire's familiar form slid into the seat across from him. "Sorry I was late. Got stuck in traffic and then the cab driver got lost." She paused, seeing the blank expression on Leon's face. "Hey Leon, you awake?"
Leon blinked a couple of times, trying to shake his anxiousness so he could focus on Claire who had finally showed up. "Yeah."
"Is everything okay?" Claire had to ask. Any normal person could look at him and not be the wiser but she knew him. He was a pretty calm and collected guy and when he wasn't, something was up.
"The day's been kind of shitty, that's all." He hoped it would curb her curiosity but knew deep down that it wouldn't.
Claire knew that it was more than that but she let it go, for the time being anyway. She gave him a guilty look. "I wasn't that late, was I?"
He couldn't help but smirk. And as he looked at Claire, he could feel his tension slipping away. "No. It wasn't you. When I got up, I was hoping to start off the day with a hot shower but there was no hot water."
The pretty young waitress came back with Leon's glass of water and was surprised to see two people at the booth. The other, a young woman maybe a little older than her with auburn hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. When he had first walked in, she thought he was hot. She wanted to flirt with him but now knew that she wouldn't have a chance. She set Leon's glass of water down on the table and forced a smile. "Can I get you guys anything?"
Leon picked up on the hint of impatience in her voice but brushed it off and looked at Claire. "You hungry?"
Claire shook her head and looked at the waitress. "I'll just have a black coffee."
The waitress glanced at Leon but didn't make any eye contact. "How about you?"
"I'll have the same." The waitress jotted down the orders and walked off without another word.
There was a silence that hung in the air for a few minutes until Claire imagined how surprised Leon must have been when he found out that there was no hot water. The thought made her giggle.
"What's so funny?" Leon asked, surprised by her laughter.
Claire stifled her last giggle. "It's nothing. You just remind me a lot of my brother sometimes." Leon gave her a confused expression which urged her to explain further. "You both make a good size pay check, yet you both live in crummy, run down apartments. I just don't get it."
"What's the point of having a nice apartment if I'm never home to enjoy it?" Leon asked, not expecting an answer, just to make a point.
Claire smiled. Her comeback definitely trumped his. "What's the point of going home at all if your apartment is almost as bad as the places you get sent to?"
Leon opened his mouth, ready to come up with a better excuse when he stopped, realizing he didn't have one. "Good point." He paused. After today, I'm going to look for a new one anyway."
The waitress brought their coffees back and left quickly without saying a word.
Leon sipped at his coffee and looked at Claire. "So when you called, you said you needed to talk to me about something."
"Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me." She paused for a second, hoping that he wouldn't react like she knew her brother would. "I resigned from Terra Save."
"What? Why would you do that?" Leon asked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"At Harvardville a couple of months ago, you said something that really made me do a lot of thinking. About me choosing the role of rescuer rather than fighter. The problem is, we really didn't rescue anybody. We just made things a whole lot worse."
"Claire, that wasn't your fault." Leon said, knowing that it didn't sound as reassuring as he wanted it to.
"I know that." Claire answered. "But it doesn't change the fact that Terra Save screwed up on an epic scale." She paused and looked up at Leon's concerned expression. "There is a new Anti-Bio Terror task force forming. I made some calls and after hearing about my field experience, they want me to join."
"Have you told your brother yet?" Leon asked having the distinct feeling that Chris had no idea what was going on.
"No, not yet." She sighed and smiled slightly at the thought of his reaction. "He's going to blow a gasket when he does find out but it's my decision. After all, it doesn't seem to detour him from going on a mission when I get upset or worried."
"Where is this Anti-Bio Terror task force going to be based?" Leon asked.
"Here in D.C. actually." Claire answered with a smile.
Leon felt a wave of giddiness wash over him. The thought of Claire being so close made him almost want to jump for joy. "You know that means you'll have to move to D.C."
"I already did." Claire answered, noticing Leon's expression change. "I already have an apartment. I'm just waiting for the moving truck to arrive. It's supposed to show up later this afternoon but I'm not going to hold my breath."
"Let me know when it gets there. I'll help you move things in." Leon offered.
"Wont you have work?" Claire asked, a little surprised by the offer.
"No. I just started my vacation two days ago. I have plenty of time to spare." Leon explained. He really did have the time. He also didn't know what to do during his vacation and spending time with Claire, one of his closest friends, seemed like a great way to pass the time.
"Well, the moving truck should be there by tomorrow at the very latest. I'll give you a call when it does." Claire could see that Leon was happy to help but she couldn't understand why. She had a lot of heavy boxes and furniture. She wasn't going to complain though. Having someone like him helping her would make it go a lot faster. Plus, she couldn't deny the fact that she enjoyed the idea of his company. It had been a long time since she had spent any length of time with him and this would be something normal for a change. She had a feeling that she was going to really enjoy D.C.
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To be continued…