February 2011: With Friends Like These
Leon paused midway to entering Derek Simmons' office', surprised to see President Adam Benford with his friend. Noticing him, the president straightened and cleared his throat, while Simmons flashed a welcoming smile.
"Ah, Leon! Good of you to drop by," Simmons greeted, gesturing for him to enter the office.
"I can come back," Leon quickly offered, turning to the president. "I'm sorry for barging in, Mr. President. It was presumptuous of me to assume Advisor Simmons was free at this hour."
"No need to leave, Chief Kennedy, I was just on my way," the president said, glancing at Simmons once before approaching Leon. "I'm actually glad to run into you. It was fine work you and Agent Harper did in Eastern Slav. To manage without any backup and communications, very impressive of you both."
"Thank you, Mr. President," Leon responded, an edge in his voice. "I'll be sure to forward your regards to Agent Harper."
"Chief," the president began, hesitating. "I realize we put you and Agent Harper at great risk, but-"
"I'm sure you had your reasons, President Benford," Leon cut in dismissively.
Though visibly conflicted, the president relented with a nod.
"Right. I appreciate that, Chief Kennedy."
With the parting words, President Benford left Simmons' office, Leon not sparing the president a glance. He took a seat wordlessly, Simmons following suit.
"Don't be so hard on the man, Leon," Simmons said. "It's not easy, that job of his. Has to make difficult decisions, even ones I advise against. President Belikova forced his hand when she issued that evacuation order."
Leon shook his head, looking disgusted.
"From where I was standing, it looked like he created an opportunity with Russia by not sending the DSO to Eastern Slav sooner. We could have gone in the moment the CIA spotted one BOW, Derek, isn't that why the DSO exists?" he ranted, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Ivan Judanovich and his people wouldn't have had to suffer, Agent Craig Sanders wouldn't have died in a parking lot, and President Belikova would actually be alive to be tried for her crimes."
"A list of consequences that very nearly included your life and Agent Harper's," Simmons added, sighing, "but that, that is on me. I had almost sent my two best field agents to their deaths."
"You didn't make the call to bomb the Presidential Palace, Derek," Leon pointed out.
"I can't argue with that," Simmons admitted, cracking a smile. "Now, enough of this aimless gloom. I trust you enjoyed your vacation, despite my putting it on hold for a mission? Sherry's been in especially high spirits since you returned."
"Yeah, we picked right up where we left off when I got back," Leon said, managing a smile of his own. "We even tried to get Helena to stay with us, but she just wanted to get home to her sister."
"I'm sure you can't fault her for that," Simmons remarked. "Speaking of Agent Harper, though, how did she do in the field?"
"Passed her first test with flying colors, I'd say," Leon answered, and then chuckled. "But now I get why Hunnigan worries about her so much. She's a bit too quick to put her life on the line for the mission, even for my tastes. Kid shouldn't tempt fate so much."
"Yes," Simmons agreed, laughing with Leon, "that would be in her best interest."
March 2011: A Party Invitation
"What's with the face?"
Claire Redfield looked up from her phone to see her brother Chris regarding her with both curiosity and amusement.
"What face?" she asked, scowling when he snickered.
"The one you make when a guy hits on you," Chris said plainly, sitting next to her on the couch.
"I make a face?" Claire wondered out loud, this time making her brother laugh.
"Yeah. Yeah, you do," he teased affectionately, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You know how Piers looks whenever you beat him at target practice? Imagine that, except less constipated and more nauseous."
Claire scoffed and lightly smacked her brother, only succeeding in making him laugh again.
"It's Moira, actually," she began, and he immediately quieted to listen. "She just told me she's joined TerraSave."
"That probably didn't go over too well with Barry," Chris guessed, concerned for Barry and his ever worsening relationship with his eldest daughter. "Jill's been telling him to give her some space, but you know how he is. On the other hand, I can't blame him for wanting to keep his family away from bioterrorists and BOWs."
"There's just no stopping them sometimes," Claire said, her expression distant.
"Hey," Chris said softly, pulling her closer, "you did everything you could to try to talk Sherry out of it. I think it's complete bullshit that it took them two years to figure out they couldn't do anything with the G-Virus in her body, but she's past that now, Claire, and I think it's about time you move on from it, too."
Claire sighed, leaning on her brother.
"I know. And I am," she told him. "I just get to thinking sometimes that I could have done more. Now, she's going out in the field and fighting BOWs. I just worry."
"She's out of that lab, she's surrounded by people who'll look after her, and she can take care of herself. I know you still worry, but that's how it is," he said, giving her a look and smiling at her. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I'm speaking from experience."
"Please," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "You've been training me since I was ten. You were probably planning to get me in the BSAA, I just beat you to it."
"Actually," he quipped, "it was Jill's idea."
Claire stared at her brother, wide-eyed.
"It was?"
"Yeah," he affirmed, grinning, "said you'd be a natural fit in the BSAA, and look at that, she was right. The only reason she was telling you to think over joining was because she didn't want you to do it for the wrong reasons."
"Wow," Claire breathe in awe.
Chris chuckled, letting his sister bask in the revelation. When he felt he had waited enough, he nudged her and asked, "So what did Moira say that made you make that face?"
"Oh," Claire mumbled, unknowingly making the face, which Chris didn't comment on despite the temptation. "She's making me go to this TerraSave party that's happening in a few months, said that the people there miss me and would like to see me and," she paused, the face she was making intensifying, "she wants to set me up with this guy. Nate Forman or something, I don't know, I don't remember his name."
Chris laughed heartily, amused with his sister's displeasure.
"You never do. Remember that guy we met on Rockfort Island?"
"Hey, I remember him. Shaun, right?"
"His name was Steve, Claire."
"What? No, his name was Shaun," Claire insisted, grabbing Chris' phone and going through his contact list. "Damn it."
"Well, at least you got the first letter right this time," he teased, earning another playful hit. "I could go with you. We're both due for some time off, anyway. I can tell Moira what your type is. Curvy, brunette… well, blonde nowadays-"
"Oh, shut up," Claire cut in, shoving away her giggling brother. "She's just a kid, she doesn't need to know any of this."
"Claire, she's 20," Chris pointed out with a chuckle, and then his face lit up again. "Or Jill could go, too, and I can show Moira exactly what your type-"
With a fierce war cry, Claire lunged at Chris and tackled him, commencing a Redfield sibling wrestling match.
April 2011: On One Harper Family Dinner
Helena was happily wolfing down the delicious steak dinner Deborah had made when she finally noticed that she was being stared at. To her right sat her sister and to her left sat Luis, both of whom regarding her strangely.
"What?" she grunted. "Do I have something on my face?"
"You do now," Deborah said, taking a napkin and wiping the side of her mouth. "There, all gone."
"Thanks," Helena murmured, eying her sister suspiciously, "but you're still looking at me funny."
Curled up by her feet, her pet wolf Lightning grunted in obvious agreement, backing her claim.
"Well, Helena," Luis started after sharing a look with Deborah, "if you don't mind my saying, but you've seem… different since the Eastern Slav mission."
"Different?" Helena echoed. "Different how?"
"You're not sulking anymore, for one," Deborah said, "and, okay, you still work too much, but something's changed about it, like you're working too much because you actually like it and not because you don't know how else process something more complicated like…like..." she trailed off, eyes going wide.
"Deborah, could it be," Luis whispered in wonder, "that our little Helena has finally gotten over her first heartbreak? I'm so happy, I think I'm going to cry."
Helena looked at her sister and her best friend, and then her wolf, who blinked at her, and then back again at the pair.
"You two are spending too much time together," she told them, taking another steak and proceeding to enjoy it.
"So, what's her name?" Deborah asked, smirking knowingly.
"Her who?" Helena mumbled in disinterest, her mind on her food.
"The girl you like," Luis pressed, grinning.
"There is no girl," Helena said before taking another bite, "and you two are spending too much time together," she told them again.
"Aww, she's shy," Luis cooed.
"She'll tell us when she's ready, Luis," Deborah chimed, nodding sagely.
"I'm right here," Helena grumbled, completely ignored.
June 2011: The Women in Chris Redfield's Life
The news confirming what he had feared the most, Chris Redfield slumped and buried his face in his hands. Claire was missing, along with Barry's eldest daughter Moira and other TerraSave members, gone on the night of the TerraSave party Moira had invited Claire to.
"I should have gone with her," he rasped out, shutting his eyes when he felt movement at his side. "I should have gone with her, Jill," he said, louder this time.
"If you did, we'd probably be looking for you, too, Chris," Jill told him, her voice calm and soothing.
"And I'd be wherever she is and I could help her get out," Chris argued, finally facing his partner.
Jill looked him in the eyes, the expression on her face matching the tone of her voice.
"Claire will be fine. She's a Redfield, and you Redfields are too stubborn to get rid of that easily," she said, the bit of humor and affection she added managing to make him smile briefly. "She'll do her part and stay alive out there, Chris, take care of herself and Moira. And us? We're going to figure out where they are, and we're going to bring them home."
Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, Chris nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, we'll do that."
"We will," Jill affirmed, pulling him into a hug.
Chris sighed, feeling some of his tension fade, and leaned on his partner.
"I have to tell Mom," he mumbled, voice muffled against her neck.
"Tell her we'll find her," Jill said with conviction, "tell her we'll find her, like how you and Claire found me."
July 2011: The Benefits of Knowing Ada Wong
"Sherry, I'm serious," Helena growled into her phone as she paced back and forth her room, "if I call again and you're still not home, I'm driving back there and dragging you out of the comms room. You've barely slept the past month- no. No, I can't say I know what you're going through, but I do know that you're not helping anyone if you keep going like this. Get some rest, Sherry. We'll start looking again tomorrow. Do you want me to drive you? Are you sure? Okay. Call me when you get home. "
Hearing the response she wanted from her friend, Helena ended the call and placed her phone on the nightstand.
"That's new," came a remark, "since when were you against overworking?"
Following the voice, Helena faced the bed, greeted with a surprising sight. It wasn't that Ada Wong was in her bed, it was that Ada Wong had a fully grown wolf on her lap whom she was petting affectionately.
"Sorry," Helena mumbled, still staring at the pair.
"What for?" Ada asked, scratching behind Lightning's ear.
"For, uh," Helena started, again taken by surprise, "for letting Lightning on the bed. Do you want me to make her go?"
"Not just yet," Ada said, smiling when Lightning nudged her hand for more petting. "She kept me company while you were too busy to pay attention to me. She deserves a little reward."
Helena sat at the edge of the bed, watching the pair in awe.
"This is weird," she admitted, "seeing you two get along."
"Is that so? Is that why you send her out whenever I'm here?"
"That's one reason," Helena said, looking away and blushing, "and I also don't want her around when we're…" she trailed off, turning redder.
Ada laughed, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.
"You and Lightning didn't exactly get along in Spain," Helena stammered, shivering when she felt Ada's hot breath against her ear.
"What can I say, I eventually have my way with wild animals," Ada purred before finally taking pity on her and pulling away. "So, tell me, what were you ignoring me for?"
The next day at work, Helena was nearly tackled by an unusually enthusiastic, energetic Sherry.
"Helena, I found her! I found Claire!"
Sherry went on to excitedly tell her the details, that Claire and Moira were on an island in the Baltic Sea. Helena tuned out the rest, unable to help but feel it was no coincidence that she had talked to Ada the night before and Sherry finally picked up a signal on the bug she had put on Claire after a month of getting nothing but severe interference.
In her stupor, she barely noticed Leon and Simmons join them in the communications room.
"Advisor Simmons," she said in greeting.
"Agent Harper," he responded in kind.
"I already told Chris and Jill," Sherry announced, practically bouncing over to them after throwing herself at Leon as she did with Helena. "We're leaving ASAP."
"Good," Leon said, grinning from Sherry's infectious happiness. "The sooner we bring them home, the sooner we can talk about your habit of putting tracking devices on people without them knowing."
"Yes, that is something we need to talk about, young lady," Simmons added playfully, but sobered in an instant. "Leon, I'm afraid I can only send Sherry on this unofficial mission."
"What?" Sherry murmured, her face falling. "But this is Claire, Derek!"
"I know how dear she is to you, Sherry," Simmons said, "and it's the reason you're going at all. Operative Redfield's circumstance is BSAA business, and I'm already bending the rules for you. It would be too much to extend the allowance to Leon."
"Advisor Simmons, I'll fill in for Chief Kennedy while he's gone," Helena readily offered.
"Admirable, but it's just not so simple, Agent Harper," Simmons regretfully informed them.
"But-" Sherry began to protest, but was stopped when Leon put a hand on her shoulder.
"Sherry, it's okay," he said, and then smiled at her. "Just promise me you'll bring her back."
Sherry didn't turn away from Simmons just yet, appearing to make a final plea to her guardian, and when that only yielded an apology from the man, she looked at Leon and nodded.
"I promise."
August 2011: The Benefits of Amusing Ada Wong
"Are you heading back or staying there for a while?" Helena asked Sherry over the phone, who was currently in the BSAA's headquarters with a quarantined Claire and Moira. "Is Advisor Simmons flying over to see you? Oh, he isn't? Well, tell me when they're allowing visitors. Keep me updated, Sherry. Call me if you need anything."
Repeating the motions the previous month, Helena placed her phone on the night stand, Ada Wong watching her from the bed. This time around, Ada had neither Lightning on her lap nor clothes on her body.
"Sounds like good news," Ada said, beckoning her with a smile.
"It is," Helena affirmed, approaching the side of the bed, "all because of you."
"You think so?" Ada asked, fingers hooking on to the waistband of her pants and tugging her closer. "Well, if you insist on giving me credit, do you intend to thank me?"
"Soon as you let me go and let me take a shower," Helena rasped out, voice faltering when Ada's curious fingers slipped further in her pants. "Ada," she breathed, her body welcoming the touch. "Ada, I just got back from a jog. You wouldn't want me in bed with you until I'm clean."
Ada laughed, grabbing a fistful of Helena's shirt and pulling her down for a kiss.
"Try me."
October 2011: A Secret to be Kept
Hunched over his desk, flanked by scattered papers and a spilled cup of coffee left forgotten, Luis berated himself as fast as his fingers typed. Page after page of encrypted agent records flashed on the screen while he murmured a quick prayer, his search over in a manner of seconds.
"Oh, no," he whispered when he found the recent updates on Helena's data, that tests following her latest mission had been run and logged.
Taking a breath, he accessed Helena's medical report, and blinked, surprised to see that the results appeared as normal as he had doctored them the last seven years. He sat in stunned silence for several minutes, staring at the page so intently that he didn't hear the door open.
"Luis?" Sherry called out, approaching him when he didn't even blink. "Luis!"
Luis started, nearly jumping out of his chair.
"Sherry!" he squawked, pale and wide-eyed. "What have I ever done to you to deserve that?" he whined, putting a hand on his chest as he tried to calm down.
"I'm sorry, Luis," Sherry said, putting a hand on his shoulder in apology.
"No harm done," Luis assured her, waving it off with a smile. "Now, what can I do for you?"
Sherry didn't answer, instead glancing at the screen. Luis inhaled sharply, realizing that he still had Helena's medical report open.
"Sherry..." he started to say. "I can explain-"
"Did I do it right?" she asked, skimming the page. "That's it, isn't it?"
Luis stared at Sherry exactly as he did with Helena's doctored file.
"Yes. Yes, it is. It is, exactly," he mumbled absently, continuing to stare at her.
"Oh, good," Sherry said, still eerily calm.
"Yes," Luis agreed, and with some hesitance, he cleared his throat to get her attention. "If you don't mind my asking, Sherry, why is this good? What, ah, what is going on here? Because I am very, very confused. Also very relieved, make no mistake, but very, very confused."
Finally looking away from the screen, Sherry faced Luis.
"I know what you've been doing, Luis."
"I gathered that," Luis said, gesturing at her to take a seat, which she did on his desk. "How long have you known?"
"Not long," Sherry confessed, "a little after I joined the DSO. Until now, I actually didn't have any proof you were the one who's been tampering with Helena's medical files. When she dropped Leon off with me and Claire back in February, I finally got a chance to test her blood, and after what I saw, I knew it was you. Well, you or Hunnigan, or you and Hunnigan, I'm still not sure about that, I just know it's someone looking out for Helena."
"You realized that short list now includes you, Sherry," Luis pointed out, seeing Sherry nod, "and that you see this as protecting Helena."
"Is that what we're doing, Luis?" Sherry asked, regarding him seriously.
"Protecting her until I finally find a way to cure her," he said, answering the question she was really asking. "I have no hidden agenda beyond that, Sherry. I see how hard that is to understand given my personal hand in the development of the plaga, of the lives I threw away in the process, and I'm sorry if all I can give you is my word, but I continue to live with that every day of my life. I lost my village and my family to the plaga and my ego, and I'm not about to make the same mistake with the family I have found here.
I love Helena like she were my kin, Sherry. She and Deborah, they accepted me into their lives when they had every right to shun me for putting Helena at death's door. I brought the plaga back into this world, I'm the reason for Helena's condition, and I'll be damned if I just sit back and allow her to suffer in our laboratories for nothing. I saw what Leon and Claire went through, I saw what you went through, Sherry, and I'm too selfish a man to see it again."
"You don't trust Derek," Sherry murmured, like she was realizing something that had been in front of her all along.
"I don't trust anyone in a position of power with Helena's data," Luis said, and before she could respond, he added, "Your case, Sherry, you had noble intentions. Had it been possible to replicate your amazing regenerative abilities, it would have saved so many lives and I'm not challenging that, believe me. Helena's…" he trailed off, drawing closer to her and looking at her imploringly. "You saw it yourself, didn't you? You read the Spain files, what it had done to her. Incredible strength, incapable of feeling pain and thus endure through grave, even mortal injuries, susceptible to dominant-strain control-"
"It'd be weaponized," Sherry finished for him, coming to the same conclusion.
"Especially in the face of President Belikova's findings," Luis added. "If she found a means, others will in time, in their own way. It will be P30, perfected, on an army scale," he said, referring to the drug that Wesker had used on Jill to turn her into his personal super soldier, which had been severely limited by the need for frequent injections into the system via a device that, while difficult, was very possible to remove.
Sherry sat quietly at first, and then asked, "Does Helena know?"
"I think she suspects," Luis guessed, "not enough to approach me about it, but I think she knows that she's not quite the same. It's nothing like when the plaga was inside her body, but I've noticed she's stronger than she should be, and she's as durable as she is stubborn, which doesn't help the already reckless behavior, really. The effect is similar to yours in that her body had changed, adapted. I can't explain it any more than I can explain why Ashley had been cured, but Helena's reaction to the plaga had been unique from the start. Who are we to say so soon, though? Jill was cured, but it wasn't until years later - if not for Wesker - that we learned the T-Virus was still very much there. Is it really gone now, for good, especially with everything else she had been exposed to? Only time will tell, I say, as I say for Claire and Moira with T-Phobos."
"Natalia, too," Sherry seemed to say to herself, referring to the young girl Claire and Moira found on Sushestvovanie Island. "Hm."
"Sherry?" Luis called out, noticing she seemed lost in thought. "I have to know, are we in… agreement about Helena?"
"We are," Sherry answered immediately, not hesitating for a second.
"I'm glad," Luis said, sighing in relief. "Now, has anyone ever told you it's rude to take blood samples without consent? It's as rude as tagging tracking devices on people unaware of it. Shocking, I know, but that's how the world works. Those are spy skills you're developing there, Ms. Birkin, not agent skills. Granted, it's saved lives so far, but as your quirky work uncle, I feel it's my responsibility to put this up for discussion."
Sherry smiled, looking relieved herself, and happily humored Luis.
February 2012: Cat's Out of the Bag
It was late when Deborah finally came home from the hospital, where her most important patient - a grumpier than usual DSO agent - lay bedridden following yet another near death experience.
Unlike eight years ago, when her sister seemed to be taunting death at every step and turn in Spain, this time, Helena hadn't been trying to get herself killed. According to Hunnigan, Helena was being extracted via helicopter following a fairly routine mission in China when a massive BOW leaped after the vehicle in the air and brought it down. Even stranger than the attack was that Helena came out of it with nothing more than a concussion and broken ribs, which, while far from minor, could have easily been worse.
Thanking her good fortune, Deborah entered the house and went straight to Helena's room, finding a note from Luis at the door. She read it, smiling at Luis' exaggerated narration of the grave trials he endured to get Helena to eat dinner and ready for bed.
Deborah pocketed the note and opened the door, gasping when she saw a woman looming over her sleeping sister. Before she could even think about screaming, the woman was suddenly right in front of her, covering her mouth with a gloved hand.
"Shh, she just fell asleep," the woman murmured, her voice silky and melodic, her amber eyes seeming to glow in the dark.
Deborah attempted the shove the woman away, but she had already stepped back, a finger on her lips as a reminder to be quiet.
"Who the hell are you?" Deborah whispered fiercely, glaring at the woman standing between her and her sister. "What are you doing in my house?" she demanded, unnerved by the sight of Lightning sleeping at the foot of Helena's bed with a stranger in the room.
The woman smiled, giving her a look over.
"Helena was having trouble sleeping, so I gave her a hand," she said, stepping aside.
"What?" Deborah growled, rushing to Helena and checking on her. Finding no signs of foul play and seeing that her sister was fine, Deborah whipped around to confront the woman, but she was gone.
June 2012: Unfunny Valentine
Sprawled across Jill's lap like an oversized cat, Claire stared blankly at the ceiling.
"I'm so bored," she mumbled, looking at Jill with something akin to awe. "How are you still sane? I haven't been out in the field in less than a year and I'm already losing my mind. I can't even begin to imagine what a three year rehab is like."
"I'm just happy to be out of the labs," Jill said, gently patting Claire's head. "I think the BSAA did more tests on me than Wesker ever did. I've been more petri dish than human the last six years."
"Your sense of humor is terrible," Claire muttered, making Jill laugh.
"Barry thought so, too, after the email I sent him, but he was more polite about it."
"Yeah, well, your sense of humor is terrible," Claire drawled, getting another laugh. "I wish we got cleared for active duty sooner, we could have gone with Chris to Ellnaul."
"Yeah," Jill agreed, leaning back against the couch and sighing. "Already a new virus when we've barely looked at T-Phobos. I hope they can contain this one before it gets out, or at least not get infected like we did."
"Is that last part a joke?" Claire asked, eyeing Jill suspiciously.
"Was it funny?" Jill asked back, grinning.
"Try it with Barry and find out," Claire said, making Jill laugh yet again.
"They'll be fine out there, Claire," Jill assured her. "Chris will be fine. He loves us both too much to make us go through what he did when we went missing. Well, when you went missing and I was technically dead for three years."
"Stop," Claire groaned.
"I'm just trying to make you laugh," Jill said innocently.
A woman who, by looks alone, could be none other than Claire's mother, walked into the living room with a tray of snacks.
"Tickling her should do the trick, Jill," she advised, indicating she had heard the most recent of their conversation.
"Mom!" Claire cried out in horror, looking betrayed.
"Her sides are your best bet," her traitorous mother went on.
"Oh, just like Chris," Jill said, looking pleased with the revelation.
Seeing the devious glint in Jill's eyes, Claire attempted to make her escape, but Jill was quicker, nimble fingers finding her sides and tickling her.
"No! No, Jill! Stop, stop!" Claire wheezed between giggles, squirming as she tried in vain to swat away Jill's quick hands.
"Say please," Jill teased, grinning. "Beg for it."
"Never!"
Looking pleased with herself, Claire's mother set the tray down and headed for the kitchen, leaving her daughter in Jill's mercy.
"When you girls are done playing, help me with dinner."
October 2012: Ingrid Hunnigan's Blind Spot
At Rebecca Chambers' extravagant Washington estate, a Halloween party of sorts was under way. The attendees included DSO and BSAA members, notably Sheva Alomar and Josh Stone, who had flown in all the way from Africa to attend the event. Also present were Moira, Deborah and JD, who had shown up with their respective family and friends.
Leon surveyed the room, first finding their gracious host Rebecca having a conversation with Sherry and Luis. He caught her eye and raised his glass to her, a gesture she returned in kind. He easily spotted the BSAA operatives, the group having taken over the entertainment center and currently watching Claire and Piers square off in a video game. He then turned just in time to see JD, the only one to follow Halloween tradition and show up in costume, approach him with a huge grin on his face.
"Leon, there you are!" JD exclaimed, dragging him into a hug. "This party is so awesome, it's like I'm surrounded by superheroes! Real. Life. Superheroes! Thanks for bringing me here, Leon!"
Leon chuckled, earnestly hugging JD back.
"Wouldn't have come here without you, JD. Glad you're having fun."
"I'm having a blast, man! Hey, I'm gonna go over there and watch Claire and Piers. You wanna come with me?" JD asked, eyes already glued at the screen.
"Maybe later, JD," Leon said, chuckling again.
"Okay, later!" JD cheerfully agreed, backing up towards the entertainment center. "Hey, Leon, next time, tell everyone else to have costumes, and tell them I'm gonna take them to the movies, okay?"
"You got it, JD," Leon promised, and grinned when he saw JD dive into the BSAA group and startle Piers.
Alone and free to look about again, Leon immediately caught sight of Hunnigan, who was drinking at the bar, her hair down and her glasses off. He approached her, seeing her glance his way as he slid next to her.
"Hunnigan, didn't think you'd show up," he said in greeting, topping off her drink as he did the same for his. "A party never seemed like your kind of thing."
"And why is that?" Hunnigan asked, humoring him.
"Too..."
"Fun?"
"I was going to say personal," he told her, earning a smirk for his efforts.
"I have a personal life, Leon," she said, taking a sip.
"I know that," he affirmed, "but you've always skipped on these things. In all the years I've known you, this is the most personal I've seen you."
"Maybe you haven't looked hard enough," she remarked.
"Well," he started, scooting an inch closer, "you never did give me your number-"
"The answer's what it was then, Leon," she interjected, and the two of them shared a laugh.
Noticing Hunnigan glancing away, he followed her gaze and found that it led to Helena and Deborah, the Harper sisters withdrawn from the party, not so unusual for Helena but especially so for Deborah, who, while far removed from her party animal days, still enjoyed get togethers.
"I'm guessing Deborah's still aggressively trying to find Helena a girlfriend and that's not working out so well," Leon said, making Hunnigan look at him.
"It is not," Hunnigan confirmed, sighing.
"It's none of my business," Leon started, making Hunnigan raise an eyebrow at him, "but I don't think Deborah's going to find a girl for Helena."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because I'm pretty sure Helena's already got her eye on someone."
"And that someone is?"
"Ada Wong."
Hunnigan paused, putting her drink down and looking Leon in the eye.
"Ada Wong," she repeated, as if trying to make sure she had heard him right.
"Had a feeling it was her I talked to back in Eastern Slav," Leon said casually.
"I see," Hunnigan responded in a similar tone. "If you're right, what kind of relationship can come from that?" she asked, her eyes on Helena.
"You never know," Leon remarked, and when Hunnigan remained silent, he spoke again. "I always found it weird you never found anything on Ada Wong. You're good at your job, Hunnigan, way better than you should be. Too good at it, even."
"I guess you could say the same for her," Hunnigan murmured absently.
"Maybe," Leon somewhat relented, "or maybe you're not looking hard enough." He met Hunnigan's gaze when she turned to him, and then he glanced at Helena and said, "Maybe you're looking the other way."
November 2012: To be in Her Place
"Helena!" Deborah roared, following her sister out of the house. "Where the hell are you going? You're going to her, aren't you? Don't you walk away from me, Helena, tell me where you're going!"
"Away from you," Helena muttered darkly, stalking over to her car. "I can't be around you when you're like this."
"When I'm like this?" Deborah yelled incredulously, grabbing Helena's arm and forcing her sister to look at her. "I'm not the one who's sleeping with that woman!"
"She has a name," Helena growled, shrugging Deborah's hand off her arm.
"Does she?" Deborah challenged, matching her sister's scowl. "Do you know it, Helena? Her real name? Do you fucking know it? Do you know what she does for a living, do you know where she even lives? Do you know she won't kill you in your sleep when she feels like it?"
"Enough about Ada!" Helena snapped, finally raising her voice. "I've been hearing about this for almost a year now and I'm sick of it! From you, from Luis, from Hunnigan, I'm sick of it! I know what I'm doing, so drop it, all of you!"
"If you know what you're doing, you wouldn't be letting a Goddamn stranger inside our house and into your bed!" Deborah snapped back. "You're putting all of us in danger and for what?"
"Ada wouldn't do anything like that," Helena said, slightly disarmed.
"Listen to yourself, Helena," Deborah implored, taking her sister's face in her hands to make their eyes meet. "Everything you're saying, I've said about John, and I believed every stupid word of it, trust me, that's why I kept fighting you, but look what happened, Helena. Look what happened."
Helena tensed, set on edge by the reminder of the man who put Deborah in the hospital.
"This is different," Helena muttered, pulling away from Deborah.
"What, because she's breaking your heart, not your bones?" Deborah challenged.
"She's not," Helena said, facing her. "I know what I'm doing."
"So you're just going to settle for whatever the hell this is you have with this woman? Damn it, I love you, but you can be such an idiot about these things," Deborah groaned in frustration, pulling at her hair a little before pushing it away from her face. "You deserve more than this, Helena, you deserve to be with someone you can actually get to know, someone you can actually be with, not someone who just shows up whenever she feels like it."
"I know what I'm doing, Deborah," Helena said again, with the same conviction.
"Yeah," Deborah sighed, no more fight left in her for the night, "that's what I kept telling myself, too."
Notable Changes:
Simmons has put Leon at odds with President Benford.
RER2's events have been altered (one change is that there's no six month gap), and will be covered in a separate reboot, along with RE5, which will include Claire.
The Unfunny Valentine snippet mentions Ellnaul, the location of Marhawa Academy, which is the site of the first C-Virus weapons test and also where the events of Marhawa Desire take place.
Claire is gay. She's as gay as RER2 made her stupid and out of character over Nance Fishbone. She's so gay that Shaun didn't die.