Suspicion
"I wish you could've been there" Leon was chatting away happily as he stirred the soup on the stove. Chris wasn't particularly listening to his boyfriend's drivel. After all, he was damn pissed off. Leon had been kept pretty busy with the Secret Service and he'd been kept on his feet with the BSAA. They'd been like ships in the night for months but recently, they'd managed to score some time off together. Chris had had a lot of plans for their time off, mainly involving as many sex acts as he could think of. Only there was one problem, Leon evidently had other plans. Sure, they'd managed to have sex, a lot of sex actually, including one particularly amazing incident involving his old S.T.A.R.S uniform and Leon's old RPD outfit. But still, Leon seemed much more interested in doing things with Claire.
Ugh. Claire. Chris pulled a face. Ok, so she was his sister and, of course, he loved her but it seemed that at the moment, Leon couldn't go five minutes without mentioning her. She and Leon had been going out a lot together and the selfish losers hadn't even bothered to ask him along for the ride. It was the sort of behaviour that could not only make a perfectly reasonable and mature person extremely peeved but also jealous to boot.
Not to mention damn suspicious.
Chris had a theory. Claire wanted Leon. He blocked out Leon's wittering as he thought more about it. It all made sense. The annoying way she would hang off his arm, the way she would constantly be hugging him and the secret meetings they were having. Hell, even the way she threw her head back as she laughed at his jokes. Leon wasn't in the slightest bit funny, Chris could attest to that. He was the funny one in the relationship, not Leon. Everybody knew that!
Chris glared at his lover as, once again, he mentioned Claire's name. Chris narrowed his eyes and studied his lover's face. Yep, there was absolutely no denying it. Leon's whole face seemed to light up when he said it. But it wasn't just the look, it was the way he said it too. Like Claire was a rare copy of a video game or a particularly good comic book. Chris frowned as Leon set two bowls of soup down on their coffee table before sitting next to him on the leather sofa.
"So yeah, I hope you don't mind, but I won't be here tonight" Leon was obviously finishing what he was saying, gently stroking Chris' thigh as he spoke. Usually this was Chris' weak spot but he refused to give in this time.
"You're going out again"? Chris demanded, swatting Leon's hand away, it was dirty and smelt like garlic anyway. Leon looked at him with a raised eyebrow, obviously totally oblivious as to how much of a douche he was being.
"It's not a problem is it"? He asked, picking up his bowl of soup. "It's just Claire and I-"
Oh? So it was 'Claire and I' now was it? Chris snorted as he picked up his own bowl of soup. He took a spoonful of it to disguise his annoyance. Fuck it was hot! Not that he was going to let Leon know. Not that Leon would even care.
"I'm going to have to eat this and run" Leon continued, glancing at the wall clock. He put his spoon down and sipped straight from the bowl, downing half of the soup within seconds. What the hell? Did the Secret Service give him a mouth of steel? Chris moped as he took another spoonful of the too-hot soup. Leon gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he grabbed his leather jacket and was out of the room before Chris could even say anything. Chris slammed his bowl back down on the coffee table and folded his arms across his chest. It had taken him a while but finally, he'd worked it out.
Leon and Claire were having an affair!
Carlos grinned as Jill left their shared apartment for the evening. She and Rebecca were having some sort of girly night and Carlos had been rather interested until he'd been told that Sex and the City was actually a TV show. No matter. With Jill out of the apartment it meant that he was free to do whatever he wanted and that meant rock music and plenty of it. He slipped his favourite CD into the stereo system and as the opening chords began to pump out of the speakers, he cranked up the volume.
As the music filled the apartment, Carlos started to shed his clothes. As soon as he was down to his underpants, he strutted around the lounge, hammering out of the bass line on the coffee table, ignoring the handprints he left on the glass, singing along loudly. He was just about to shed his underpants when Chris Redfield walked in, looking pissed off. Carlos sighed heavily and cut the music, rueing the day that Jill had introduced him to her former S.T.A.R.S colleague.
"At least you kept your underpants on this time" Chris said acidly as Carlos grabbed his combats off the floor and stepped into them. "Someone should tell you the Risky Business look is over Oliveira"
"Says you" Carlos pulled on his t-shirt. "Top Gun" He sneered. "So anyway, what brings you here this time"? He ran his hand through his chestnut locks. "Actually no, let me guess. It's got something to do with Kennedy right"?
"Yes" Chris said. Carlos rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"I'm not a marriage councillor. You do know that right"? He asked.
"I know that" Chris snapped, resenting the 'marriage' remark. "If you keep speaking to me like that, I won't let you help me" He took a deep breath. "I think Leon's having an affair" He smiled smugly when he saw Carlos face turn from one of resignation to one of utter shock. Ha! He hadn't been expecting that one! It'd teach the guy to be less of an arse…
"Um…are you sure"? Was all the former UBCS soldier could say.
"Yep" Chris nodded adamantly. "I've worked it out. It all fits" He leant against the back of the sofa. "And I'm gonna need your help to get it out of him" He grinned. "And it may involve being a little underhanded"
"Awesome" Carlos grinned back at him. "As you know, deviousness is a speciality of mine" He added, looking proud of himself. Chris smile widened, it was true, and Carlos was particularly good at the undercover stuff. And as for his deviousness, well, that was pretty much a prerequisite of anyone who'd once been under Umbrella's employ. The other good thing about Carlos was that he didn't make stupid suggestions. He was almost certain that if Jill were here she would come out with something completely pointless and useless like telling Chris to just ask Leon what was going on. What good was that?
"Ok, so here's my idea…"
Carlos listened carefully as Chris started to explain his plan.
The following morning, Chris and Carlos were ready to put their plan into action. It involved hanging around in Chris and Leon's shared apartment, waiting for the younger man to come back from Claire's. Carlos couldn't help but feel a drop of admiration for Chris. He was taking the idea of Kennedy having an affair quite well. Rather than moping around the place and drowning himself in drink, something he personally would do, Chris seemed strong and determined to get to the bottom of things.
"I'm back" Leon called out happily as he walked through the door that led into the lounge area.
"Ready?" Chris muttered to Carlos. "Time to put my plan into action"
"Hey! I thought this was our plan"! Carlos complained.
"Shut up"! Chris snapped. The general idea behind the plan was to make Leon jealous. Chris' theory behind this was that Leon would get so jealous; he would confess his 'dirty little secret'. Carlos wasn't entirely convinced owing to Kennedy's general laid back attitude but Chris had been adamant.
"I was gonna get you something for breakfast on my way home" Leon was chattering away again, totally unaware that Carlos was even in the room. "But then I remembered we had bacon so-" He paused as he approached the sofa. He was greeted by the sight of Chris with his arm flung around Carlos' shoulders and a very weird smile on his face. Leon was used to his boyfriend acting weird, it was all par for the course when you were dating Chris but even he had to admit that this was kind of odd. It didn't help that Carlos didn't look entirely comfortable with this close bodily contact. "Hey Carlos" Leon nodded at the older man before turning his attentions to Chris. "Are you alright"?
"Totally" Chris replied, feeling a little bit miffed that Leon didn't seem to give a damn that his arm was around Carlos' shoulders.
"Do you want some bacon Carlos"? Leon asked happily. Chris frowned, getting increasingly frustrated. Why wasn't Leon saying anything? He thought hard. He should've really known that Leon would be a hard nut to crack. After all, he was in the Secret Service and had probably had some kind of elite training to stop you confessing. No, something more was needed. Chris was going to have to up his game if he was going to get to the bottom of his boyfriend's behaviour. He was going to have to be a lot more direct about it.
"Have you got anything planned for later"? Chris asked, trying to keep his voice light and melodic.
"Yeah, Claire and I-" Chris couldn't help but smirk at Leon stopped abruptly at the sight of him discreetly moving his hand from Carlos' shoulders, down his back, to settle at the top of his bottom. He raised an eyebrow. "Are going to go shopping" He finished as if what he'd seen just hadn't happened. He stood up. "I'm just going for a shower…"
Chris' smirked turned to a full on grin as Leon made a hasty retreat for the bathroom. He turned to Carlos, expecting to see the same look on his friend's face. Carlos however, didn't look the slightest bit convinced.
"Don't worry, he'll confess in no time" Chris assured him. "He's got a meeting with his boss later and if his boss says what I think he's gonna say, then we'll be able to put part two of my plan into action"
"Our plan" Carlos corrected him.
"Shut up".
Later that afternoon, Leon received a phone call from his boss. He'd been assured that it wouldn't be anything too heavy, just a small job that would barely take any time at all. Leon couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. He figured he was going to be left alone for the duration of his leave.
"It's a pretty simple job Leon," His boss was telling him in that same condescending manner in which he always spoke to him with. "More diplomatic than anything. You are to attend a meeting with Miss Graham and her new…partner"
"Ashley"? Leon felt all the colour drain from his face. Ashley Graham, the president's daughter…the one who had honest-to-god smacked his ass more than once. "You mean, you want me to baby sit"? He asked. This was not how he had imagined spending his time off. Although, he supposed, if Ashley had found a new guy to drool over, it might not be as bad as he thought.
"She has concerns over her safety following the incident in Spain" Leon's boss explained, crossing one expensively clad leg over the other. "I'm sure you can appreciate that. Although, I understand how this may not be an ideal situation given the fact that you are supposed to be on leave. Miss Graham has requested you personally and I'm sure you wouldn't want to upset her. Their meeting is taking place at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city and as remuneration for your accepting this mission, I have arranged for it to be possible for you to bring someone along to accompany you" Here, Leon's boss took a deep intake of breath. "However, may I recommend you find someone other than Mr Redfield"? He looked at Leon levelly. "The restaurant is a highly exclusive place and I'm sure the media will be in attendance. Mr Redfield would most likely be uncomfortable in such a situation…"
Leon knew what the man was getting at. It was kind of insulting but he could see where he was coming from. He couldn't really imagine Chris in an expensive restaurant either. Not only would he probably be very uncomfortable, Leon wasn't sure Chris even owned anything remotely suitable for such an occasion. There was no way Chris would want to go. But Leon did have a good idea of someone who would…
If Carlos was a superstitious sort of person, he could've sworn that he was cursed. He'd just been forced to sit through what felt like hours of Jill and Rebecca discussing the latter's upcoming wedding to some guy called Billy. He'd had to listen to guff about dresses, flowers and classical music before finally the two women had departed. Before that, he'd spent two hours with Chris who'd been fuming when he'd found out that Leon was going to some expensive restaurant and would be taking Claire with him. Carlos had pointed out that Chris hated that sort of place but the older man refused to budge. He saw it as further evidence of his boyfriend's infidelity.
Finally, he'd been left alone and was just about to settle down on the sofa and have a good scratch when the door burst open and in walked Chris. Carlos sighed heavily and resolved to actually locking his door once in a while.
"Once again Redfield, your timing is spot on" He remarked sarcastically as Chris made a beeline for his drinks cabinet.
"Shut up" Chris snapped, pouring himself a healthy measure of the most expensive brandy that Carlos owned. Without even offering to pour Carlos one, he downed it quickly and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before flopping down in one of the armchairs.
"Please, make yourself at home" Carlos said sardonically.
"I've got a new plan" Chris replied, completely ignoring his last remark. "Our last one didn't work"
"Our last one"? Carlos snorted.
"Ok, your last one, whatever" Chris shrugged. "Anyway, I've got a plan and because it's one of mine, I know it's gonna work. I think we need to follow him"
"Follow"? Carlos felt his stomach sink. Chris had actually lost it this time. How exactly were they going to follow someone who'd spent a lot of years in training in order to make him difficult to follow? Chris however, hadn't appeared to have noticed this slight flaw in the plan.
"We'll have to go in disguise…" Chris continued, obviously lost in what he probably deemed to be an ingenious plan. He looked at his watch. "We haven't got long before they get to the restaurant so how about we meet at the taxi stop in half an hour"?
Without waiting for confirmation or a reply from Carlos, Chris hurried out of the apartment, obviously to attempt to throw together some kind of disguise. Carlos leant back on the sofa, his face in his hands. He was now convinced that Chris Redfield had gone totally insane.
Carlos tapped his foot, an irritated look crossing his features. He was standing near the taxi rank waiting for Chris to arrive. It was slightly past the half hour they'd agreed on which was annoying considering that it was Chris' idea in the first place. It didn't help that he was also completely uncomfortable. They were going to be going to one of the most expensive restaurants in town so Carlos had figured he should make the effort and was wearing the suit he'd worn to his little brother's graduation. The only problem was, his brother had graduated five years ago so the suit was a little tight. He'd done his best with his wild hair, slicking it down with gel and, to further disguise himself, he was wearing his reading glasses, something he would never normally let the public see. He hoped that Chris would be grateful and that he might get something, possibly alcohol, out of him as a reward.
Carlos was still tapping his foot when a large, hairy woman joined him at the taxi rank. He tried hard not to stare, as he covertly looked her up and down. She was dressed in a pale blue floral dress with a matching wrap around her shoulders. The dress was fairly low cut so there was a considerable amount of chest hair on show. What was even more disconcerting was the hair on her legs, so long that it poked out of the black tights she was wearing. She'd paired the outfit with a pair of blue ballet flats, which looked too small for her feet so that she was standing funny. She'd gone overboard on the perfume, so much so that Carlos could almost taste it. Her hair looked strange too, sort of fake…
"Hey" She greeted in a gruff voice. Carlos did a triple take. That was no woman! That was Chris! "What do you think"? Chris asked, even going as far as doing a little twirl for Carlos' benefit. "I found this dress in Claire's wardrobe, it was the only thing that fitted me, strange cos it looks like it'd be massive on her…"
"What I think is that you're completely fucked up"! Carlos exclaimed. "There's no way in hell I'm going to the most expensive restaurant in town with the world's worst cross dresser"!
"Well you look like a git" Chris replied sharply. He pretended to regard Carlos for a moment. "Yeah, its those glasses. Definitely got an aura of gittishness about them," He said smugly. "I knew you'd mess up your disguise, so here, put this on"
Carlos hadn't even noticed that Chris had been holding a plastic bag until it was thrust into his chest. He delved into the depths and pulled out a black velvet top hot. It looked a little scuffed and stained and smelt faintly like cigar smoke. He held it aloft.
"Where the hell did you get this"?
"Always so ungrateful" Chris shook his head, snatching the top hot out of Carlos hands' and thrusting it on the former UBCS soldier's head. "I woke up a couple of months ago wearing it, that's all you need to know" He looked at the hat for a moment. "It's actually all I want to know…" He added thoughtfully.
Leon had actually managed to forget quite how much he hated Ashley Graham. She was so damn boring! Here he was, dressed in his best suit, an uncomfortable bow tie around his neck, sitting in the most expensive restaurant in town listening to Ashley yammer on about how long it had taken her to do her hair. Claire, bless her, looked resplendent in a red dress and was doing her best to make conversation with the hyper teen. Ashley's date, some vacuous oaf on her college's football team, was fiddling with the cutlery and looking as bored as Leon felt. At least he and Claire were getting a free meal out of this and getting dressed up was just what Claire needed right now. He offered her a smile across the table and she grinned back at him, flipping her sleek hair over her shoulder.
"Is this table suitable"? Leon heard a waiter ask behind him. Out of sheer boredom, Leon turned around to see who these new diners were.
"Yes, thanks" A man who looked remarkably like Carlos Oliveira took a seat at the table. He was wearing a stupid top hat and was a lot more well groomed than Carlos but, apart from that, he could be the man's double. Leon made a mental note to tell Carlos and Chris when he got home. He was about to turn his attentions back to the others when he saw the man's partner. She had to be the most well built, hairiest woman he'd ever seen in his life. Realising that he was opening staring, Leon turned back to the table just in time for Ashley to start another monologue about how she'd found the perfect dress…
Meanwhile, at the next table, Chris was silently congratulating himself that he'd managed to get a table close enough to Leon and Claire so that he could see and hear what was going on. He was also acutely aware that he was attracting a lot of attention. Dressing up in Claire's clothes had seemed like the best way to look completely different but now he wasn't so sure. He was commiserated by the fact that, from where he was sitting, he had a great view of Leon looking sexy in his suit.
"Oh my god"! A sudden cry erupted from Leon's table. "Chris"?
It was Claire. She was stood up now, staring over at his and Carlos' table. Her face was a dangerous mixture of incredulous and completely annoyed. Ashley and her boyfriend were staring at him, as was Leon, a look of realisation crossing his features before quickly turning to horror. Claire stormed over to the table and stood before Chris, her hands on her hips.
"What on earth are you doing in my new dress"? She demanded.
"How did you know it was me"? Chris asked, feigning innocence. A lot of the diners and staff had stopped what they were doing and were looking over at their table. Ashley looked horrified and Chris figured it was because the attention had been taken away from her momentarily.
"Because I've seen you in my clothes before, remember"? Claire replied, a little too loudly for Chris' liking. Upon hearing this, Leon's look changed from horror to amusement. Chris had a feeling he was going to be asked to elaborate later on.
"It was Carlos' idea" Chris said pathetically, he turned around the point at him but found that Carlos had already made his escape. Smart guy. Claire harrumphed. Chris smiled at her nervously, the ball was in her court now and being his sister, she knew a hell of a lot of things about him that he would rather kept quiet. She looked at him teasingly for a moment before obviously deciding to let him off the hook.
"Well at least this is better than listening to Ashley" She muttered to him. "But if you ever put any of my clothes on again, I'll tell Leon exactly what's in that box you asked me to look after for you" She added with a satisfied smile.
Leon had watched the scene unfold and agreed that it was a hell of a lot better than listening to Ashley, who had, by now, had something of a tantrum and disappeared with her footballer in tow.
"Love your new look," He teased, approaching his boyfriend.
"Oh shut up," Chris moaned into the expensive tablecloth. His plan couldn't have gone more wrong.
After making sure that Claire got home alright, Leon arrived home to find Chris sitting on the sofa, thankfully back in his normal clothes, looking very sheepish. He had no idea why the older man had decided to cross dress and turn up at the restaurant. It seemed a little far-fetched to be a practical joke.
"We need to talk" Chris said as Leon took a seat next to him. Chris had a glass of brandy and was swirling the amber liquid around in the glass. Leon felt somewhat nervous. Chris rarely looked this serious and when he did, it never led to anything good. "Look, I don't really know how to say this so I'm just gonna come out with it" He took a deep swig of the brandy, obviously to fortify himself. "Are you having an affair"?
Leon was glad that he was sitting on the sofa at that point. Had he not have been, he might very well have fallen over from the shock.
"What? An affair"? He exclaimed incredulously. He could barely believe that the words had come out of his boyfriend's mouth. Was this the reason that Chris had been acting so weird lately? Touching up Carlos Oliveira and turning up at the restaurant in drag. "Is this what the restaurant thing was about"?
"Don't deny it" Chris replied, taking another sip from his glass. Leon noted that Chris' hands were shaking slightly. "I know you're having an affair with her"!
"Who"? Leon demanded, frowning. This was getting stranger by the second. Unlike Chris, who was bisexual, Leon was completely gay. If he was going to have an affair, and it was a very very big if, it certainly wouldn't be with a woman.
"Claire"! Chris spluttered, completely ignoring how angry Leon looked. He was done with trying to find out the covert way. It hadn't worked and he was pissed off so he figured he had nothing to lose and might as well ask him directly.
"What"? Leon raged. "I can't believe you'd think that! Claire is a friend, a good friend and she's your sister. For a start, she wouldn't dream of doing that to you. Neither would I as a matter of fact" He took a deep breath. "If you must know, she's just found out she's pregnant and she needed someone to talk to. Believe it or not she's actually a little worried about telling you and she wants me to be the baby's godfather. I'm hurt that you think I'd cheat on you" Leon held up both of his hands and shook his head. "You know what? I have to get out of here…"
With that, Leon stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door hard behind him. He left Chris behind, sitting on the sofa with his brandy, feeling incredibly stupid.
After a few moments, the front door opened. Chris looked up hopefully but it was only Carlos, now free from his suit. He patted Chris' shoulder lightly and offered him a comforting smile.
"I heard everything" He said gently. "You should've said that you thought it was Claire he was sleeping with" He shrugged easily. "I knew about the baby. Kevin told me"
Two seconds later, Carlos had to duck to avoid the remote control that was aimed at his head.
It was after midnight before Leon finally returned to the apartment. He'd been out for a walk and had cooled off a lot. If he really thought about it, the situation was actually pretty funny. He didn't know many people who would go to such strange and amusing lengths to find something out and he supposed that he could make an effort to spend more time with Chris.
He found Chris still sitting on the sofa looking absolutely devastated. Leon smiled at the sight of his boyfriend and couldn't help wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close. Chris rested his head on Leon's shoulder and hugged back, equally as tight.
"I'm so sorry" He whispered into Leon's neck. "I don't know what came over me…I really don't want to lose you. Ever"
"Don't worry" Leon replied soothingly. "You won't" He assured him, stroking Chris' muscular back.
"You want me to sleep on the sofa tonight"? Chris asked mournfully as Leon pulled away. Leon shook his head and pulled the older man up from the sofa, taking him by the hand and heading towards their bedroom.
"Nope" He smiled. "I want you to get me out of this suit…"
THE END.