Best Laid Plans III - The Goblet Of Truth
by Ticklefish
In another bathroom in another country, Chris's sister, Claire Redfield, sat in a shower cubicle.
The water was on full and rained down upon her head and down her back. Claire's hair had been brushed in front of her face and, slick with water, effectively blocked off sight of everything but the plughole between her feet.
It was a habit she had kept ever since her childhood. For a time she could almost convince herself that the outside world didn't exist. When she was growing up, there were times she desperately prayed for the world to just disappear. Now she was older, she had gotten a better grip on things but there were still times that she just needed to separate herself from everything.
It had been two days since Claire and a man called Leon had rented the motel room. Despite the large bed, and its coin-operated vibrating feature, the room had been used as nothing more than a makeshift base for their investigation, which didn't best please Claire. Leon was Leon Kennedy, a special agent reporting directly to the President and a man she had dealt with before. Claire had recently signed up with the Bioterroism Security Assessment Alliance and was helping him investigate an unusual kidnapping.
Actually, Claire thought, that probably wasn't true anymore. The BSAA hadn't authorized her to do any such investigating and didn't even know where she was. She hadn't heard from them, but it was only a matter of time before they decided to fire her for going AWOL. Her brother was one of the most senior agents with the organization and could get away with anything but his sister had no such leeway.
Still, it was worth it. Claire had a personal connection with the kidnappee and almost had a personal connection with Leon.
She sighed.
Almost had a personal connection. Almost, but not quite. She wanted him, more and more with every moment they spent together, but Leon seemed to be completely oblivious. His entire attitude was coldly professional and Claire had come so close to writing him off completely a dozen times. But a dozen times something about him made her want to persevere.
It was driving her to distraction.
But that wasn't why she was hiding in the shower.
The girl who was kidnapped was Sherry Birkin, the daughter of two prominent scientists with the Umbrella Corporation. The corporation was long since gone, her parents with it, but Leon felt that Sherry's disappearance had something to do with it. The BSAA was too official so he'd turned to Claire. Before joining the BSAA, she had worked with Terra Save. Terra Save was a group with similar interests to the BSAA but they were more maverick, more underground, more willing to ignore the rules to do what they needed. Leon felt that because of this, they might know something and wanted her to get in touch again.
But there was a catch.
There was a reason why Claire left Terra Save. And there was a reason why she really didn't want to talk to them again. Which was why she was sitting in the shower, with her hair hiding her away from the world. Sooner or later, she would have to get up and face things. But while the water was still hot, here she would stay.
