Pugaliciousdish
The Rookie
Chapter 1
September 29th, 1998, Raccoon City. After five hours of driving, Leon finally reached the city. In the back of his jeep was his life for the last few months, from toothbrush to underwear. It was getting late, but his first task was to check into the station. He was to meet with Chief Irons, head of the station. From the outskirts, the city looked so peaceful. Especially at night. As he drove off the off ramp onto the street road he rolled up to a stop sign. Several people were out and about. Leon had never been here before, so the experience felt new and fresh. From the passenger seat of the jeep, Leon's phone screen glowed. He picked it up and read the message. It was from the police station. He followed the address given arriving to front gates of the overwhelming large establishment.
"Holy crap." He found a good place to park nearby and got out. He was exhausted, walking through the front gates he reached the big green doors. If the outside wasn't enough then the inside sure was. He was greeted by the change of air and a huge goddess like statue in front of him. There were officers going in and out doors on all floors, for eight o'clock it was for sure busy. There was a woman typing away behind the large statue. He started there.
"Uh hi there, I'm Leon Kennedy. I believe your expecting me?" She looked up from her computer and made eye contact with Leon. She looked like the average secretary, her brown hair was up in a bun. She had glasses with the strap attached that wrapped around her head. She looked back at her computer and start clicking and typing.
"Let's see… Yes, here you are. Leon S. Kennedy. Rookie Officer. You're a half hour early. I'll go see if they are ready for you."
"Yeah traffic was forgiving. Sorry."
"No worries." She got up and walked around her desk, heading inside the door behind him. After a few minutes she came back out. "They're ready for you Mr. Kennedy." She smiled and walked past him. Leon reached for the door knob. Upon opening it, the room was pitch black.
"Um hello?" He was confused.
The lights flipped on. "Surprise!" There was a roar of cheers and squeaks of cheap party utensils. A man approached him. "Greetings Leon, I'm Officer Branagh. Just call me Marvin. Welcome to the Raccoon City Police Department." He held out his hand and Leon shook it.
"Thank you, sir." There were four other officers behind him with party hats on and decorative balloons placed around the room. Leon was surprised none the less. "Is this party all for me?"
"Why of course, when the chief mentioned we'd be getting a rookie we were shocked, it's been awhile since we got anyone new in this office. I speak for all of us when we say we look forward to working with you and instructing you on what it's like to be in the force." He nodded.
Leon stepped over towards a desk at the end in between the two rows. There was a card with his name on it and a letter. After reading the letter, he looked up. "Thank you all." He went around the room and met with everyone to get to know them. They all seemed like they were truthful, but Leon had a gut feeling this week wouldn't go by without a little hazing.
After an hour everyone but Marvin and Leon left for home or out on patrol. "So, am I still supposed to go meet with Chief Irons?" Sitting across from Marvin, he looked to him.
"Heavens no. He never meets with recruits anymore. That lazy man is so caught up in himself and his position to even care. I only meet with him if it's important. For now, you best be getting to that new apartment of yours." He grabbed a set of keys off his desk and tossed them to Leon. "That's your new apartment and mail key. Be sure not to lose it."
"Thank you, sir. What time should I be here tomorrow? And what about parking?"
"Oh yes, be here at eight am and you got spot seven-c in the parking garage below the station. I know the station can be kind of overwhelming so here's a map." He handed him a rolled-up map.
"Okay thank you, I will be here tomorrow at eight sharp." Leon got up and left the room. He waived to the secretary who was packing up her stuff leaving as well. It was even darker out now, he walked back and got into his jeep. He put his elbow on the door panel leaning his head on his hand. With the other hand on the wheel he drove down street after street following the address to his new apartment. It was a relief they were paying for the first three months of rent, this gave him time to start bringing in some money. He thought about getting a roommate but that might be more trouble than it's worth.
It was only a five-minute drive from the station thankfully. He pulled up to a curb and got out. It didn't look to shabby, the outside at least. He stepped up the stairs and walked through the door. There was a set of mail boxes to his right all labeled accordingly by numbers one through eight. He looked at the number on his key. "four huh?" He opened the box, it was of course empty. He began up the flight of stairs until he reached the second floor, across the hall was three and there was his door. Number four. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was big for a single bedroom apartment. There was a decent size living room and kitchen with the bedroom and bathroom in back. He could see his jeep from the kitchen window. Above him he could hear yelling. "Great." He thought.
After an hour of unpacking the car, he finally relaxed onto the empty floor atop a blanket he brought. He stared at his ceiling, wandering what the next few months would hold. He'd finally made it as a cop. He was doing what he wanted. He knew the risks but looked past them. He figured after work tomorrow he'd be best to get some furnishing if he's going to live here for a while. After that last thought he drifted asleep.
The next morning, he stopped by a nearby bakery and grabbed breakfast. When he got to the station, he nodded to the nameless secretary. His official first day, he stepped inside the office. Right at seven fifty-five.
"Kennedy! Good to see you, hope that bagel is to-go because you and I are going out on your first patrol this morning." Marvin swirled keys to a patrol car around his pointer finger. "Follow me back down to the garage!"
Leon with a bag in one hand and a half-eaten bagel in his mouth eagerly followed. Tossing his bag near his desk. He took the bagel out of his mouth. "Yes, sir."
"First things first, we need to get you and myself equipped with the right gear. They continued back into the main hall, through another door, and another, then a huge office, then another hallway. Finally, to a staircase then another hallway. The station was infamous for the walk. Marvin pulled out a red card key and swiped it. The door unlocked. Inside were weapons and vests plus other tactical equipment. "This blue attire is what we'll where when we're out on the streets. This vest will stop a bullet or two if you're lucky. Here's a VP70, it has a bit less firepower but holds more. Maybe if you're lucky one of these days you'll get the attachment for the gun. "
Leon checked to make sure the safety was on. It was, then holstered it. After getting equipped they left and towards a door across the hallway. Once in the garage they unlocked the patrol car and drove out into the daylight. They spent the first hour going over basics, what to look for, where the routes were. The usual trouble spots and when to get out and make stops.
The rest of the day flew by, nothing special. Driving and watching. Then the first week passed by. Leon had gotten ahold of the basics. He was either out on patrol, in car or by foot. When he wasn't, he was at his desk doing paper work or twiddling his thumbs. Sitting at his desk writing, Leon heard the call of his name. He got up and walked into Marvin's office. "Yes sir?"
"Marcy at the front desk needs one of us to guide a guest up to the Stars room up on the second floor. Mind going to help out?"
"Course sir." After a week, he'd finally learned her name. "Marcy." He felt accomplished. He walked out the door into the main hall in front of him was a red-headed girl with short shorts and a biker vest on with Made in Heaven on it and a seductive female on it. She had a black under shirt and long brown boots. She looked out of his league for sure. He tried to reassure himself he was good looking though. "Excuse me Ms. Are you the one who needs to be escorted to the Stars room?" She turned around and met eye contact. She took a quick scan of him.
"Yes. Hi I'm Claire, Claire Redfield. I'm here to see my brother." She smiled.
"Okay just follow me." Leon tried to think back to what the layout of the station was. He knew the room was on the second floor, but which way was the fastest? He pulled out his map from his pocket.
"Are you new here?" She asked.
"Yes, how'd you know?" He felt dumb asking that.
"Well your holding a map and you didn't search me for any weapons or bombs." She laughed.
He felt like a fool now, how could he not think to check her?! He'd been too distracted by her looks. He tried to think of something clever. "No, I didn't forget to check, I just… had a gut feeling that you were okay. And I'm just double checking to make sure I know where I'm going."
She laughed again. "Your gut. I'm sure it was." They continued through several hallways and up a set of stairs. Into another hallway, there was only one door. There was a large logo that read S.T.A.R.S.
"Well here we are." He opened the door and walked inside with her. There were four people inside, from left to right; a blonde man with dark tinted glasses that matched his clothes, a brown hair bearded fellow in red with a beefy build, a dark-haired guy in green with muscles but not as big as the beefy guy, and lastly a pretty woman with short brown hair dressed in blue. According to Marvin they were the best. They all looked at Leon and Claire.
The blonde guy stood up. "Can we help you two?" He seemed annoyed by them.
"Sorry to interrupt, we're here- "Leon was cut off.
"Chris!" Claire yelled. "What the hell is with this letter you sent to mom? You won't be able to see the family for a while?" She stormed over to the man in green who Leon now knew as Chris. She threw the letter at him. "Some big case you got going on here! You had her so worried! She called me the night of and was panicking. Do you know what it's like to have your phone ring at one in the morning?" Leon took a step back and stood in the door frame watching the entire thing unfold.
"Claire! I- I- Uh. Look…" Chris had a puzzled look on his face, Leon could tell he was thinking of any excuse he could. After a moment he relaxed and sighed. "Truth is Claire, I wanted to stay up here for the next couple of holidays. I wanted to spend more time with Jill. Plus, this allows me to work more. I'm sorry. "
"Then why didn't you just tell her that? Mom knows we're moving on with our lives, she'd understand if you needed some space." She bent down and hugged Chris. After a moment she looked like she recollected herself. "Glad I came all this way for that. Sorry about the commotion everyone. Hey Jill." She waived and laughed. "I'm Chris' sister he talks a lot about you."
Jill stood up and shook her hand. "He talks about you as well, it's nice to finally meet you too."
The blonde guy made an abruptive cough. "Now that that's over can we get back to work?" He sat down. They all apologized. After a few minutes, Claire hugged Chris goodbye and walked out of the room with Leon.
"Well my escort, shall you escort me back to the main hall?" Her mood was lighter and more playful now.
"Yeah sure. This way." They walked back. "So, what do you plan to do now? I mean it sounds like you came a long way to see him. Are you going to stay in town a few days?"
"Whose asking?" She smirked confidently.
Leon blushed. "Just a curious cop, that's all."
"Well maybe this curious cop can take me out for coffee on one of his days off?" They continued into another hallway.
"What!? Is she serious?" "Well sure, I mean I have tomorrow off and then the day after so-"
She cut him off again. "Perfect!" She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper, call this number tomorrow and take me somewhere." They finally reached the main hall again. "Well I'm off to find a hotel, see you tomorrow Mr.…? "
"Kennedy, Leon Kennedy." He replied. "See you tomorrow Claire." He nodded.
She smiled. "Cute name." Then turned around and walked out.
Leon was still a little in shock, he had no idea how he managed to get her number and a coffee date with a girl like that. He took a second to think. "Guess I'll have to wait to buy my couch another day." He made a little laugh to himself.
"Someone's excited." Behind him Marcy the secretary was laughing. "Lovestruck rookie?"
"What? No! Be quiet… What kind of name is Marcy!?" They both laughed. Leon walked back into the office and sat down. Marvin stepped out and headed towards him.
"Well, how would you access your first week?" He leaned against Leon's desk, arms crossed.
"Well, kind of nerve racking, sort of slow, exciting, and pretty good." Leon smirked.
"Ha, well Officer Kennedy welcome to the force. Enjoy your two days off. Once you get back we're letting you go on your first solo patrol." He patted Leon's shoulder. "It's five, go home early. See a movie or something."
"Thank you so much, sir." Leon stood up and packed his bag. "See ya!" He waived to the guys and left the office.