The email
The apartment had never felt so empty. He hadn't known how much of Amy's stuff had been in his life until he saw the back wall of his wardrobe for the first time in years. He himself barely needed space in it. His living and dining room sent back a frightening echo as well once the girl had removed all her candles and photographs from his shelves and walls. The box with the stuff he'd had in her apartment wasn't even full. A couple of t-shirts, underwear, an unused toothbrush in its blister and a bottle of his shampoo were everything he'd ever left at her place. Piers began to understand why Amy had said she felt like he didn't want to commit, but, in his defense, he hadn't much more stuff in his own apartment either.
He dropped his bag carelessly onto the ground of the hall and walked into the kitchen. The refrigerator offered him nothing but beer, an already wrinkled lemon and a ketchup packet. That was far from an ideal welcoming. The emptiness in his kitchen and cabinets had nothing to do with Amy's departure, admittedly. He had always been practical when it came to grocery shopping as he never knew when and for how long he would be home. Piers grabbed a can and walked back into the living room, pondering what kind of food he should celebrate his new, official freedom with. Standing in front of his balcony in the moonlight, he opened the can and took a long, refreshing sip, letting his mind flow from one ephemeral thought to the next.
The doorbell rang the silence away. Piers turned around and sat the beer onto the table next to his couch before switching on the lights and walking to the door. The peephole revealed the visitor's identity, blowing a short smirk onto his face.
"Good evening, Mrs. Wilson." He greeted his neighbor as he opened the door.
"How many times did I tell you to call me Beth?" Mrs. Wilson was in her fluffy white cotton robe, holding a large tray with delicious-smelling meatballs in her hands. It made Piers' mouth water. "I heard you were back, kid, and I thought I bring you some of my leftovers. You always look like you're starving."
Piers opened the door a little wider and smirked.
"You know me too well, Beth. Mind joining me?"
The old lady nodded in agreeance and teetered past him, directly into the kitchen.
"That's very nice of you, Piers, thank you. I have brought that skinny girl's keys too." She put the tray onto the counter and turned to him. "I mean, your keys." After pushing her shaking hand into the pocket of her robe, Mrs. Wilson pulled out a set of keys and left it next to the tray on the counter. Piers chuckled.
"Thank you, I hope she didn't catch you sleeping."
Amy was a nurse and worked crazy shifts sometimes, so the chances she'd come either early in the morning or late at night were better than good. Luckily, Mrs. Wilson shook her head.
"Oh, no. She came in the afternoon," she said, smiling as she put the meatballs onto two plates. "I'm so sorry you two broke up. You were a beautiful couple."
Piers couldn't hold back the indignant laughter that burst out.
"Please! You always complained about her," he replied as he opened the refrigerator. "I can only offer you beer, I'm sorry."
Beth pressed her lips together as she thought.
"I'll take a beer, then. And I was just saying that you looked good together. You also look good in your uniform, young man, but that doesn't mean I like that you wear it."
Piers threw a warm look at the older lady, who proceeded to warm up the food in the microwave. Beth, as most other people, only knew he was a soldier, oblivious to the fact that they weren't fighting human enemies. And, even if she had known, she wouldn't have approved. Beth was a peace-loving being and even though she understood that there were good people who tried to protect others from the bad guys, she hated both sides equally.
They had dinner together in Piers' dining room while Beth gave him an extensive update about the latest happenings in their block.
"Mrs. Mayer from the second floor is having her bathroom refurbished these days, so don't go to bed too late. They start working early in the morning and the noise won't let you sleep during the day." She had served herself only one of her meatballs, leaving the rest to Piers. Watching the healthy appetite the young man devoured the three balls of the size of tennis-balls with, she happily sipped her beer. "What else? Oh, yes! The young lady from the floor above has kicked her boyfriend out. Maybe you should go and talk to her."
Chewing, Piers rolled his eyes.
"Why would I do that? If she's just getting over a breakup, it's better to leave her alone."
"I am just saying that you can pay her a visit someday. She seems to be nice and you're both single now. You never know where the love of your life will be waiting for you."
Piers chuckled. As if things were that easy.
"It's not what I am currently looking for anyway," he added, slicing his way through another juicy meatballs.
"I see, yes," Beth said nodding. "I haven't asked you. How do you feel about Amy?"
Piers took a deep breath and shrugged. He himself wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about Amy. Angry? Disappointed? Or just happy that the uncertainty was finally over?
"Well," he said. "I guess she just didn't understand my job."
Beth nodded in annoyed acceptance, certainly aware that he hadn't answered her question.
"Not everyone can be with a soldier," she said and lifted her beer. Piers frowned.
"It's not just what I do for a living," he added. "It's all the consequences. The shifts, the travels, the fact that I can't make plans much more ahead than the next weekend. Not everybody is willing to accept this."
"So, you need someone from your same line of work," Beth said and almost made him chuckle. "Aren't there any women in your job?"
Piers nodded, laughing.
"Yes," he huffed. "Of course there are women."
Merah had been a woman and a talented B.S.A.A. soldier. Jill Valentine was one of the founding members of their organization. Rebecca Chambers, even though she was just an advisor to the B.S.A.A., was also working for the same cause. And Claire…
Age seemed to make people wiser and more observative. Beth caught the traitorous smile that popped onto his lips almost instantly. Her narrowed eyes began to twinkle.
"Seems like there is someone you have in mind."
Piers licked over his teeth and snickered. Pushing his empty plate away and folding his hands on the table he gave his neighbor a dark, resolute smile.
"It's nothing. We just met our captain's sister on this past mission and my teammates were all going crazy over her." He laughed but Beth just kept staring at him, obviously amused.
"You too?"
His laughter rolled loudly through the dining room. Where had Beth taken those bizarre thoughts from?
"Of course not, Beth. She's my captain's sister. That would be very unprofessional."
Mrs. Wilson kept smiling as she stood up and removed the empty plates, carrying them into the kitchen. "I'm just saying that…" she muttered as she walked away. Piers tried to listen to the fading words.
"Sorry?" He frowned as he kept trying to understand what the old lady was telling him, but there was just silence until she came back from the kitchen.
"Oh, son, I'm just saying that life is too short to be professional all the time." She stroked his cheek almost motherly, leaving him alone at the table as she turned to the door. "I better get going, it's late already." Beth said as she walked away. "Thank you for the beer."
"Thank you for the meatballs," Piers said as he got up and followed her to the door. "Don't talk to strangers on your way home."
Piers waited in the door for the lady to reach her apartment on the other side of the hall before locking his door and walking back into the living room. Beth's words didn't let go of him. Life was short, huh? Admittedly, it was hard to tell which day would be your last if you were a B.S.A.A. soldier. He thought a while as his look drove to the commode next to the TV, where he'd kept Kyra's number before leaving for Colombia. Maybe it was time to make some calls.
"You look like you had sex last night!" Moira exclaimed as she watched Claire walk through the reception hall. The redhead furrowed a brow as she stared back at her friend and all the colleagues who had overheard young Burton's suspicions.
"If you keep telling me that every morning, the day I will have actually had sex people won't believe it," Claire replied in a low voice as she pushed the elevator button. "Also, trust me, the fucking begins now." She chuckled at the face of disgust Moira was making. "I see the board of directors this morning. I think it's because B.S.A.A. Director Johnson requested an explanation why he hasn't been informed about the warehouse in Colombia."
"What?" Moira yelled in irritation. "But why did we need to inform him about that? Colombia is territory of the South American Branch."
"It is!" Claire tilted her head and shrugged a shoulder as she waited for the elevator doors to open. "But Barry has surely told you about Johnson's obsession to control everything. He complained to the directors."
Moira's eyes widened.
"Didn't they know that Johnson hadn't been informed?" She yelped, at which Claire shrugged.
"Of course they knew. But admitting that would apparently affect the good relations they have with the B.S.A.A., so they need someone to blame." The elevator arrived and Claire and Moira walked inside. "The day the B.S.A.A. gets a new director, I will throw a party."
Moira laughed, launching an interested glance at her red-haired friend.
"I hope you invite your brother's men if you do so."
Claire couldn't stop her eyes from rolling at Moira's comment. Three weeks had passed since she had visited her brother's unit in Colombia and Moira had somehow discovered that Captain Redfield's Alpha Team was full of young men in their twenties.
"And I thought I was the one who needed sex urgently," Claire observed laughing as she watched the numbers on the elevator panel flash up.
"Barry will be in headquarters this afternoon," the younger woman mumbled to herself, eyes narrowed, as the elevator came to stop and the doors slid open. "Maybe it's time to pay my father a visit."
"Don't make it too evident that he's not the one you want to see."
Claire shook her head as she left the elevator and walked towards the room where the directors were awaiting her. Before she reached the door, she looked back at Moira, who was turning her thumbs up.
"You'll do great, Claire!"
Claire sent her friend another weak smile before watching her disappear into the Operations office. She turned to the door in front of her and inhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves. She wished she could believe Moira's words and that everything would be fine, but the real problem was the internal struggles of the B.S.A.A. And that wasn't a problem she could solve. She knocked on the door and waited for a response. He didn't own the organization, but there had to be something Chris could do about that loser of a director they had.
"Come in," a voice from the inside commanded and Claire opened the door.
"Good morning, gentlemen."
Claire watched the round of six men in dark suits that sat around a large table and who looked amusedly displeased at the redhead. After Neil's treason, Terra Save had decided not to leave the leadership in the hands of one single man ever again.
"Miss Redfield," Mr. Grey, a blond man in his late forties, with a long, pointy nose and glasses on it, spoke up and pointed at the empty chair in front of them. "Please, have a seat."
Claire nodded in restrained gratefulness and sat at the table.
"I'm sure, Miss Redfield," the man proceeded as the colleague to his right took up a paper sheet, "that you know why you are here."
Another nod followed a silent sigh.
"I heard that the B.S.A.A. North American Branch has presented complaints about our deal with Mario Rodriguez' men to offer them the spare space in survivor camp S-52486-LATAM, which they requested as a warehouse for their weapons."
The third man from the left lowered his glance and wrote something onto the papers in front of him. He hummed affirmingly as the speaker cleared his throat.
"We know, Miss Redfield, that you had the best intentions for S-52486-LATAM."
Her burning look shot to the man in front as she ground her teeth. That was going too far.
"Best intentions?" She shook her head resolutely. "Sir, I don't think this is the right word. The procedure was a complete success as the B.S.A.A. teams were able to bring down the terror group they were after thanks to the strategic storage we offered. I understand that Director Johnson would have wanted to be informed about the mission the North American Alpha team was going on, but I think we agree that this was none of Terra Save's responsibilities as we had all needed talks with the South American branch." She took a second to breathe and continued. "And if Director Johnson doesn't want to understand that, someone will have to explain it to him!"
The men in front of her smiled; all six of them. Claire swallowed. Apparently, they found her words amusing.
"Miss Redfield. I think you understand where we are taking this."
Piers stopped in front of Chris' door and gave it a loud knock with his knuckles. Only four days had passed since Alpha team had come back from their mission in Colombia with the South American branch, but they were already getting ready for a new mission and Chris had called for his second in command to discuss the upcoming trip to Canada.
"Come in, Piers."
He found the captain sitting at his desk, bent over a paper. His expression showed he wasn't particularly happy about the content.
"Captain?" Piers approached the desk and tried to glimpse onto the sheet. "Is everything okay?"
Chris furrowed a brow as he gave Piers a dark look from below and turned the paper to him. It was a notification from director Johnson.
"The director himself writes to you? What an honor," the younger man joked with a chuckle. However, his expression changed into astonishment as he read through the lines. "He blames Terra Save for their cooperation?"
Chris huffed as he shrugged in displeasure.
"I just hope I haven't gotten Claire into trouble." He sighed. "Wouldn't be the first time."
Piers knew what Chris was talking about. Claire herself had told them the story about how she had driven into an infested Raccoon City searching for her brother, who had left the country without telling her he wouldn't be available for a while. The stories and rumors about it were as numerous as they were famous. However, this was a different situation. The operation Johnson was complaining about had been led by the South American branch and had, officially, nothing to do with their own team. As Piers shook his head in disbelief, Chris pulled out his phone.
"Damnit! It's off." Throwing the device away, he opened the first drawer. "If you give me a minute, I just want to check quickly how things are going on Terra Save's side." He found a small business card with the Terra Save logo on its back and pulled the office phone on his desk closer. Shortly after dialing, he activated the loudspeaker, so he had his hands free to inspect the papers on his desk. Someone answered.
"Redfield."
"Claire, it's me."
Piers leaned forward as he heard the sweet voice of the younger Redfield. She didn't sound angry or stressed. Maybe she didn't know yet about how much of an ass their director was.
"Chris! What a surprise. How come you call me at the office?"
"Low battery," he replied and chuckled. "Look, I just got a concerning notification from Johnson and wanted to ask if you're alright."
"Yeah," she replied, sighing. "They want me to write a report saying that we had to act quickly to justify that we couldn't waste time informing non-implied branches. Our deal was with Rodriguez and your Alpha team just happened to be around. Bad luck!" She giggled shortly. "At least, I won't have to meet with him."
"I'm so sorry," Chris sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"It's okay, Chris. I can handle this, but I give you five bucks if you get that guy fired." Her laughter filled the line and made Chris smile eventually.
"So generous? Have you won the lottery or something? I think your last Christmas present to me was cheaper than that." They exchanged more laughter until Chris turned more serious. "You need any help?"
"You mean with the report writing? Are you kidding? Remember that Barry told me my report on Sushi was the best he'd ever read?"
Piers frowned.
"Report on Sushi?" he asked in a whisper and Chris chuckled, writing something onto a paper and sliding it over the desk. It said Sushestvovanie Island. Right. Claire and Barry Burton's kid had been kidnapped and brought to that island the year before. Piers nearly burst into indecent and unprofessional laughter. Claire had an interesting sense of humor. Chris chuckled.
"Okay, okay. You know I'm just worried about you. Are you sure you'll be fine?"
Piers didn't doubt it. Smaller administrative issues were no trouble for a resolutive Redfield, it seemed.
"I am. Don't you worry big brother. What's next for you?" Claire's voice sounded a little concerned as she asked her brother about his next move. Chris cleared his throat.
"We'll be leaving again soon. Canada this time. I'll be right around the corner."
Piers watched his captain as he spoke to his sister. Something shimmered in Chris' eyes when he heard how worried Claire seemed to be.
"Well, not far doesn't mean not dangerous," Claire snickered. "Tell Piers to take care of you, okay?"
His eyes snapped up in surprise when he heard his name, fighting down the gratified smirk that was threatening to crawl onto his face. Claire Redfield remembered him. The Captain chuckled amusedly at his reaction, and Piers just hoped he wasn't having the same thoughts Beth had expressed the other night.
"I will. Take care, Claire bear."
"Don't call me that. I love you."
"I love you, too." With those words, Chris ended the call and smirked at his second-in-command. "So, looks like she'll be alright. I'll buy her dinner someday to make it up to her. Let's discuss the trip now."
Piers nodded in acceptance. They still had a lot to prepare for the next mission near to Vancouver.
"Yes, sir."
After flicking through some papers, Chris got up.
"Excuse me a second. Jill wanted to hand me in some more reports on the person we are after." He quickly walked to the door and headed down the hallway towards Jill Valentine's office. Piers stayed behind, eventually allowing himself to smile amusedly at the recent phone call. Claire Redfield not only remembered his name; she also trusted him to take care of her brother. What a nice and attentive woman she was. Looking around the office, Piers saw that Chris had left his sister's business card on his desk — face up.
The card stared at him indiscreetly, with those big blue letters saying Claire Redfield and her email address below.
"C dot Redfield," he whispered. "Terra dash Save dot org."
Maybe he could write her an email someday and thank her for her visit and how kindly she'd treated the boys, not letting their childish behavior distract her in any way. Even weeks after their meeting, the guys were still talking about her visit. Piers sighed inwardly. He kept lecturing them on the importance of respect and obedience, but they wouldn't listen, still enchanted by the beautiful redhead. And who could blame them? Claire was, probably, the most complete package of a woman they'd ever gotten to know. She was beautiful, smart and had a heart made of gold. He chuckled. Perhaps she would accept to meet him again someday, far away from work, if possible. That tiny thought was enough for his mind to trick him with images of a dimly lit bedroom and the smell of lube, causing him to blush at his own stupid fantasy. When had he become so infantile?
The sound of the door startled him. Chris came back in and sat at the desk, facing the young lieutenant. Piers cleared his throat and forced himself into an upright position, focusing on work after having been caught with his head in the clouds.
"Alright, let's get this done."
From behind half-closed eyes, he watched Kyra pull up the straps of her bra. The brunette looked ravishing in the shadows of the room with her perfect back covered in taut, sun-kissed skin and a tribal sign resting like a guardian on her right shoulder blade. It looked good on her, but Piers had concluded that he neither knew nor cared what it could possibly stand for. Kyra bent down and allowed him a generous glance of her tiny little butt, making him smirk at the view. She was collecting his shirt from the ground and pulled it over her head. Admittedly, it looked much better on her than on himself.
"Oh!" The brunette exclaimed when a notification made her phone vibrate on the nightstand. "Oh, I can't believe it. Charlie will be in Manhattan tonight."
Piers pouted.
"Who?"
Kyra smirked at him in excitement.
"Perry Charles." She explained, gesturing exaggeratedly. "The most promising new fashion designer of the country." She started jumping like a little child that was about to go to the amusement park. "He's giving a show tonight. Do you want to come with me?"
His mouth dropped open. Wouldn't he rather rip his own arm off?
"Sorry," he said head-shaking. "Even if I wanted, I couldn't. I still have work to do."
Kyra sighed as her shoulders dropped in disappointment.
"It's okay," she said, ignoring the excessive sincerity in his words, and began removing his clothes again. They exchanged short glances as the girl got dressed in silence and eventually sat back on the bed. "But, if I am allowed to say this...I think you work too much."
No, she wasn't allowed. She wasn't fucking allowed to complain about anything, as he and Kyra had met only a couple of times since their first night. It was nothing more than a few drinks and quick sex either in his or her place and an early goodbye once the sweat had dried. Nothing committing, and even so, the girl began to nag about his job.
In her defense, Kyra didn't know how important his job really was. Nor did she know that his crazy schedules were just one reason for his evasive demeanor. It wasn't like he didn't like Kyra. There was no straight man in the whole world who would not like Kyra. She was fiery and funny. She could drink like a pirate and she gave very intense blowjobs. But, despite all of her wonderful traits, Kyra was probably the shallowest human being on Earth and Piers had absolutely nothing in common with her. The girl hated watching the news and wasn't interested in politics. Kyra was into fashion and beauty recipes. She spent her mornings in the gym and posted a couple of selfies of every work-out session on her social media profiles. She ordered her fries with diet mayonnaise and she never, ever ate desserts. The sex was good, but it wasn't enough to betray himself and all his ideals by attending a fashion show in Manhattan.
"You know it's complicated," he whispered apologetically, trying to hide how displeased he really was.
She shrugged.
"Yeah, I know." The long mane was pulled out of the blouse and left curling over her shoulders. "Well then. I call you tomorrow."
The tiny kiss she placed onto his lips before she left his bedroom made Piers consider not taking her call ever again. It was impossible for him to commit to someone like Kyra, as Amy had been troublesome enough. Amy, at least, had been a very stimulating companion outside the bedroom, too.
Once he heard the door fall shut, he got up and walked into the kitchen, guided by his rumbling stomach. Luckily, Beth had brought him some more leftovers a little earlier, making him wonder what he would do without the older lady. She had taken care of him like a mother ever since he'd moved to that building, and Piers suspected she saw in him the son she'd never had. He overheated a piece of lasagna in the microwave, burning his fingertips up to a point where his chances to get caught for future crimes descended to zero.
"Ouch."
With a full plate and a beer, he walked back into the living room. On the table in front of the couch sat his laptop, as quiet as usual. He flipped open the device and the blue start screen stared at him defiantly. His job was following him everywhere.
Two clicks later and the email was open, two bold subject titles showing him the unread messages-one from Chris contained the planning for their upcoming trip and the other from the PR department to announce the annual B.S.A.A. meeting in the European headquarters. He, as first lieutenant of the North American Branch, was expected to attend together with his captain.
But that was everything. No more work to do that night except for the packing. Great! He'd finally have some free time and could check the boring late-night-TV program, or he could work out a bit. He could even go out and have a drink. Maybe one of the boys had the same idea. Piers chuckled. Before he could follow any of those plans, his fingers ran the mouse almost automatically to the New Message button. There was that one thing he really wanted to do.
"To C dot Redfield…"
It was almost ten when she got home. Kicking the door open like a warrior, Claire threw her shoes into the closest corner of her apartment, sending them off with a deep sigh of relief. The day had given her nothing but crap and she was just glad she had gotten home without killing anyone and that she could shut herself away from more annoying social interactions. After she'd finished the completely unnecessary report for that B.S.A.A. director, she'd been informed that Audrey Jefferson had decided she wanted to settle down and have children instead of working for Terra Save. What a selfish bitch.
Claire and Audrey had never gotten along well, but the redhead had to admit that the older woman had been very good in her position and her departure was an important loss to Terra Save. On top of that, Claire had been given the job to find a new head for the PR Department. She hadn't been in PR since her second year in the organization and was actually not qualified for the task, but the directors seemed to consider it part of her punishment. Terra Save's policy preferred promoting someone from among the employees, but Audrey had kept all of her team away from important decisions and procedures, making sure that no one of them would ever be able to take her place.
Anyway, Human Resources wouldn't send her a list of possible candidates until the following morning, so she decided she would have pizza for dinner and watch one of those bad action films Chris loved so much. At least then she wouldn't have to think much and could doze off without missing anything important. Claire grabbed her laptop, the pizza box and her phone and proceeded to assemble a makeshift home cinema on her bed. The mouse hovered over the list of available footage when an email came in. It was a notification from her Terra Save account. The initial anger was blown away when she read who the message came from.
"Piers Nivans," she whispered to herself and opened the email.
Dear Claire,
On behalf of our unit, I just wanted to say it was really nice to get to see you the other day. Thank you for taking the time to talk with everyone. The guys really appreciated it.
A smirk blossomed on her lips as she read the first lines. Piers was such a nice kid. It was hard to believe Chris had actually taught his men some manners. Grabbing a slice of pizza and leaning against the headboard of her bed, she kept reading.
I know you were surprised by the men's reaction upon first seeing you. Let me explain. When we heard that Terra Save would be arriving on location, well, the men knew that you'd be coming and so they got a bit excited over the idea. They'd only heard stories about you, and since you're the Captain's sister, well...let's just say they were expecting someone more along the lines of his build. I tried to tell them otherwise, but their imaginations got the best of them.
The laughter almost made her choke on her food. So she wasn't what they had expected. Cute. She wondered if people imagined she looked like Chris in high heels when they heard about her. Her phone started ringing. Chuckling, she pressed the answer button as soon as she saw the name on the screen.
"Leon."
"Hey you!" He greeted. "How is my favorite redhead today?"
Oh, she was his favorite something now? Suspicious. Claire chuckled a bit as she kept scrolling through the email.
"Hah! I'm good. A little tired maybe. Had a tough day, but I'm home now. What about you?"
"In a hotel room in Eastern Slav Republic," he replied. "My night was shitty, too."
"You're in ESR?" She exhaled. Actually, she should have known that the government would send him when she'd read the news about the civil war there. Terra Save had been suspecting them to use bioweapons for a long time, too. "What happened? Are you alright?"
He chuckled.
"Nothing that a drink and a chat with Claire Redfield couldn't ease," he explained snickering. Charmer. Claire smiled. "Just tell me about you and cheer me up."
About her. Claire found herself sighing as she stared at her surroundings and the greasy pepperoni pizza she was sharing her bed with.
"Oh, I don't know if my current state cheers up anyone," she replied complaining. "I'm having dinner in bed and I'm currently reading the email one of my brother's men sent me."
A dark chuckle came through the line.
"You brother's men write you emails?"
She clicked her tongue almost instantly, as if she'd expected him to make dumb conclusions.
"It's not what you think. We had to cooperate recently and I met Alpha team. He thanked me for… well."
"Well what? What did you do to them, you naughty girl?" Leon teased and made her laugh embarrassedly.
"What would I do to them?" Head shaking, she grabbed another slice of pizza. "You'll see. They behaved a little weird around me as they didn't expect me to be…"
"Not like Chris at all?"
"Yeah."
Leon laughed.
"I don't blame them. Have you ever gone through your resume? Survivor of Raccoon City, Rockfort Island, Antarctica, employee of Terra Save for ten years, savior of three people in Harvardville, lone survivor of fish roll island…"
"Moira and Natalia survived, too," she corrected him about their experience on Sushestvovanie. "But you're probably right. No wonder I don't match their expectations."
She kept reading.
So then, when you arrived...well, aside from not being what they expected, we don't get to interact with a lot of pretty women in our line of work, so that's why they had the reaction that they did. Then they had to remember that you're the Captain's sister, and it made them all awkward... I'm sorry about that, ma'am.
She blushed a little. He had called her pretty. What a charmer. Leon mumbled something she didn't hear.
"Claire? Are you there?"
She laughed a little, caught off guard.
"Yes, sorry. What did you say?"
Leon chuckled.
"You haven't told me what he was thanking you for."
She licked over her lips, amused by Leon's insistence. Couldn't he understand that communication was very important in her job?
"For talking to everyone. He's being nice." Claire shook her head. "Of course, you don't understand that, as you're just nice when you want to bed some chick."
Leon cleared his throat. "Exactly."
Exactly, what?
"Excuse me?"
Leon's laughter had become dark, his voice was nearly failing.
"Claire, sweetheart. That guy wants to have sex with you."
Claire inhaled sharply when Leon expressed his filthy thoughts.
"Oh. Shut. The. Fuck. Up." She hissed offendedly into the phone. "You're the worst. He just wants to be nice."
The line rattled under Leon's laughter.
"Seriously. How many thank you emails have you gotten after other cooperations?"
Pouting, Claire swallowed the piece of pizza she'd been chewing.
"None."
"And have any of your brother's other men written to you?"
"No," she whispered and couldn't hold back a smile. "But that's absurd. He's like twenty."
"So what?"
"Seriously, stop it!" Claire giggled. Admittedly, the idea of being the target of a younger soldier, especially if it was a good-looking kid like Piers Nivans, wasn't entirely unpleasant. And he had called her pretty, after all. She giggled as she scrolled through the email.
You probably saw it for yourself, but we all have a lot of admiration and respect for the captain. In addition to being a very capable leader, he treats us like family. He's an inspiration to us all.
"As I said, he's just being nice, Leon. He respects Chris a lot and probably thought it would be polite to thank his sister for her visit."
She could practically hear him roll his eyes.
Speaking for the men, we're all looking forward to the chance to work with you again. Our paths may not cross often, and I know you're busy, but it'd be nice to talk every now and then, even through email.
Just polite, although he thought it'd be nice to talk. Talking — not fucking. Leon was showing again the poor people skills he had. As soon as her look jumped to the following line, she sucked in some air.
"Oh."
"Oh, what?" Leon asked laughing. "Is he asking what you're wearing right now?"
No, he wasn't. Claire felt her lips twitch in disappointment as she read the paragraph again. "You were wrong, my friend. Listen to this." She cleared her throat before she started to read aloud. "Just between you and me, if you have any pictures of the Captain when he was younger, I'd sure love to see them! I hear he was very different back then, but he won't show us anything..."
The line went silent after she'd read the petition. It seemed Leon was as disappointed as herself.
"Oh," he finally replied chuckling.
"Admit that you were wrong!" She exclaimed loudly, trying to yell the disenchantment away, which wasn't easy when you had the most sincere version of Leon Kennedy on the line.
"I admit that you're not the Redfield he wants to have sex with, yes."
Claire sighed. Once the words had been spoken aloud, they hurt unexpectedly much. She shook her head and forced a smile to cheer herself up.
"Anyway, I don't think he'll be any luckier with Chris than he'd have been with me." Disappointed, she put the notebook away and grabbed another slice of pizza instead.
"Hey, don't let that ruin your day! You're too good for a kid with bad taste who wants to jerk off to pictures of your brother."
Wasn't he lovely? He could be such a good friend when he just tried. Claire laughed and shook her head. No, she wasn't going to let this get to her. There were more important things in her life than being admired or not by a man half her age.
"Don't worry. My day was already ruined before that," she replied, shrugging. "I'll be alright. A kid like him can't compete with pizza in bed anyway."
"Well, that's what I call a one-night stand." His sarcastic tone made her laugh.
"You're just jealous. I'm sure they don't even have pepperoni pizza in ESR."
Leon clicked his tongue and Claire heard the particular jangling of ice cubes in a glass.
"No, but they have vodka!" He laughed and made Claire's heart ache a bit. Hundreds of times she'd seen him on the ground, and hundreds of times she'd tried to help him up. Fortunately, he usually got up on his own, but she was always the one he'd call first, so she could watch and suffer.
He still blamed her for leaving him and Sherry behind after Raccoon City; had let her know often enough that he hadn't forgiven her selfishness. And yet, he was still there. They'd become pretty good friends over the years—best friends, if not. However, past mistakes still stood between them.
"Leon, what happened?"
He cleared his throat.
"I don't want to talk about it now," he replied and Claire heard how he emptied his glass. "I will have some free time from next week on. Maybe we could meet. But I have to hang up now."
She nodded to herself.
"Yeah, sure. Just give me a call."
"Take care." Leon ended the call and left Claire staring at the device in her hands. All of a sudden, the pizza wasn't looking tasty any more. She closed the box and opened her laptop again, where the last lines of Piers' email were still waiting for her to read them.
There's a lot more I'd like to say, but it's time to get ready for our next posting. These missions aren't easy, but it's nice to know we've got allies such as your organization backing us up. Keep fighting the good fight.
1LT Piers Nivans
BSAA North American Branch
Claire smirked. No matter what his intentions were, Piers seemed to be a good man and his admiration—or maybe love—for her brother was heartwarming. Opening a new window, she quickly replied to the message.
Dear Piers,
Thank you for your kind message. It was a pleasure meeting you all the other day and myself, I am looking forward to working with the B.S.A.A. again, too.
Claire thought a while as Director Johnson came to her mind. Maybe she wasn't referring to all the members of the B.S.A.A.
I want to congratulate you on your achievements and the dedication you are showing. Fighting bioterror isn't just a normal job, I know that. So, it makes me incredibly happy to see how many young and talented soldiers have chosen to follow my brother's leadership. I know he's a great soldier and I can truly understand how he's serving as an example to follow to you guys. I have always been looking up to him, too.
Yeah, that didn't sound bad. Now, she just had to add some gratefulness.
So, thank you for your work. The world needs people like you guys in Alpha team.
Fantastic. Claire clicked through her hard drive and found several scanned pictures of Chris when he'd been younger. Because she'd been moving and travelling a lot, she'd digitalized all of her important pictures so she wouldn't lose them. She chose some pictures of Chris in his younger days as an Air Force pilot, one next to Jill Valentine after the creation of the B.S.A.A., and the picture of the two .R.S. teams before everything went to shit. She attached the pictures to the email and kept writing.
You'll find attached some of the pictures you requested. I'm sure you'll recognize some of the people on them. If he, Jill Valentine or Barry Burton ever find out you have them, I'd appreciate if you didn't tell them it was me who sent them to you. I hope this satisfies your curiosity.
She read her lines again. He had asked for pictures about a younger Chris, hadn't he? Well, that's what she was giving him. But, maybe, if Leon was right and Piers was asking for other types of pics, these wouldn't really satisfy anything. Claire bit her lip and switched to her image folder again. Without thinking much, she attached a picture of Chris and Jill dressed up as sailor and pirate for a Halloween party from 2005. Jill looked stunningly hot. Chris, to be honest, looked like he had lost a bet and was forced to wear that tiny Village People costume.
I'd appreciate if you just deleted them after their use ;)
Best regards
Claire Redfield
Head of Operations
Terra Save
I want to thank all of you for reading, favoriting and following this. Special thanks to irithyll, Rosewick and UsaMoonbunny for your wonderful reviews. You made my day!
