Resident Evil: Fractured Promises
Chapter Two: Perfectly Clear Glass
"We all have our own regrets, our own doubts, our perfect little sins, but how we overcome them defines us as human beings. Most of you chose to fix your regrets and find strength in the fight, which I commend you for and sometimes find myself wishing I could do that. A select few others decided to follow the path of the helper, the healer, the first face people see after the terror ends. I chose this path and I have not regretted it for even a second, until three weeks ago, as I watched my own lacking strength kill Sherry Birkin. My name is Claire Redfield and this is my one regret…" the room is silent as the redhead spills her soul out to them.
11
Claire sits with Sherry between her and Nadia, who she has only met a handful of times since New York, but her mind isn't completely on the details of the mission, she finds it lingering on the man with the dark hair on the opposite side of where they are sitting, "Crawling through the tunnels is going to be nasty, especially with all of us here."
"No," Sherry speaks up, "the D.S.O. team is there to provide security and cover our rears. It'll just be the five of us going in."
"Still going to be tough," Nadia's response is lost as Claire tries to figure out why he is being so cold.
After Chris dispersed the vaccine for the A-Virus, she made sure she was the first member of TerraSave on the scene, offering her comfort and help to Chris, Leon, and Rebecca. As they disembarked from the B.S.A.A. helicopter, her heart broke three times over. All of them look like they went sixteen rounds with a Tyrant and it spat them back out, but Leon looked the worst of the trio. His eyes were darker than his hair, which she believed was a physical impossibility, his left arm was hanging limp at his side, and he was covering his stomach with his right arm. Just what had the D.S.O. warrior been through?
"I…" she didn't know what to say or who to look over first, but Leon was the first one to collapse, the first one for her to heal.
His breathing was shallow, like every single molecule of air was pure pain, so she set about fixing the first injury she could: his dislocated shoulder. He grunted loudly as she set the bone back into place, the frown on her face still brighter than his scowl as she swiped some of the sweat, blood, and grime from his face. Next, she pulled his shirt up, not sure what to make of the large nasty bruise forming around his abdomen.
"What the hell did you fight?" she lightly touched the wound and fell back as he almost screamed in pain.
His breath wasn't shallow anymore, it was deep now, fighting back the pain, but that would never stop his sarcasm, "I fought your brother after he asked me what I planned to do after this was all over. 'Your sister' is clearly not an appropriate response."
She'd be flattered if it wasn't for the fact she knew sarcasm was his default language, "Ha-ha, Kennedy… You can take care of yourself from here, right?"
"Yup," he showed no emotion, no appreciation for her work, and Claire now knew she wasn't dealing with regular Leon Kennedy, she was just handed a big dose of Weapon-Kennedy.
He's been that same person ever since, like he has shut off every emotion in his body to avoid feeling pain, How am I supposed to break through that?
"Claire? What do you think?" Sherry's voice cuts through the memory and brings her back to reality.
A shake of the head to clear the fog, "Hmm? Run it by me one more time…" and the words are lost to the drum of the engines and her own screaming thoughts.
-June 26th, 2022-
It is close to seven in the morning when the TerraSave plane lands at the New Delhi International Airport, "Jesus, I hate time zone changes… It would only be eleven at night right now…"
Claire ignores DC's comment and slowly emerges from the plane, stepping out into the balmy morning air of India's capital, "Alright, where's my water bottle? If it's this hot now, it is going to be murder later on…"
She glances down at her watch, seeing the temperature now is just over ninety degrees and set to be over one hundred by noon. They better start early if they want to avoid being stuck out in this heat longer than they need to be. Nadia quickly drives their Humvee from the cargo hold and with the help of the D.S.O. team, they get it loaded and ready to head out in no time flat.
This is where the fun begins, "Just what do you think you are doing?"
Leon stops from climbing into the driver's seat and turns to face Claire, "Driving…?"
"RPD Cruiser. Tall Oaks Patrol Car. B.S.A.A. helicopter. Passenger Jet. Ducati," each word causes Leon's left eye to twitch.
"Hey!" he slaps the hood of the Humvee and growls, "I didn't crash the Ducati."
"You did drive it into a building, up an elevator, drove it into a Tyrant, and finally," Nadia moves her hands to mimic an explosion, "BOOM!"
Blue eyes glare daggers at the female sniper of Silver Dagger, "Not. Helping. One. Bit."
As the two exchange glares with Nadia in the middle of it all, DC quickly hops into the driver seat and honks the horn, "Let's go, ladies!"
Nadia hops in the back with Claire, who turns to Leon and smirks as she says, "You have the best hair, so you get to ride bitch…"
"You're just jealous because I wear your conditioner better than you do," he stops as he climbs into the Humvee.
"What…?" the two Raccoon City Survivors exchange an awkward glance before Leon shrugs and closes the door.
11
It only took another thirty minutes to find the street their mystery monster burst through and Claire was thinking the entire way, You closed yourself off to me, Leon. What did I do?
That joke about her conditioner was the first real sign of the man she considers her best friend and she hopes there will be more, unless she broke their friendship too far to come back. It eats at her as the Humvee navigates the busy roads of downtown New Delhi, eats away at her sanity just being this close to him with no way to know what he's feeling or thinking. Honestly though, what was she expecting? They are on a mission, so of course she's getting Soldier Leon and not the funny rookie cop from Raccoon. Claire misses her best friend, has missed him for a long time and isn't sure how to fix what's gone wrong between them.
"Who's the lucky guy?" Nadia's voice jolts Claire from her own thoughts so hard she actually jumps a little, which makes the younger woman laugh a little.
"Hmm?" Claire shakes her head, wishing her hair was long so she could hide behind it, "What makes you say that?"
A smirk crosses the sniper's lips, "It's obvious, girl. You're seriously into someone… You can tell me."
"It doesn't matter," the TerraSave worker sighs and rests her chin on her right hand, staring out the window, "I've screwed it up too bad."
"Please, Claire," Nadia slides large rifle rounds into another magazine and drops it into a bag, "anyone you can possibly think about like that can't possibly be that screwed up. Just tell him."
Blue eyes lock with a passerby on a bicycle, sees through them, and sighs heavily, "I'd be risking a lot…"
"What's a lot when it comes to love, my friend?"
"Everything…" Claire turns a bit and stares at the back of Leon's head, even more unsure of what to do now than she ever was before.
11
"Alright, you guys keep a tight perimeter, lock down the tunnel after we go in, and make sure nothing goes in or comes out that is not one of us, make myself clear?" the four men before Sherry nod and shoulder their weapons, turning toward the streets surrounding the tunnel, Claire smiling at how much of a natural-born leader she is.
As the younger woman hands out orders to the D.S.O. team, Claire, Leon, DC, and Nadia are all packing and arming up for their trek into unknown territory, "Pass me another couple magazines of the fifty action-express."
"Yup," DC hands the requested ammo to Leon, who quickly slides them into the available pouches on his belt and holster, "anyone else need anything before I close it up?"
The blonde steps up, smiles at the taller pilot, and holds up the revolver Barry gave her before she left for Edonia, "Just a few, you know, in case."
He winks at her and produces the speed-loaders she asked for, "You good on nine-mill?"
"Always," Sherry drops the loaders into the pouch resting on her left hip and nods before turning to her assembled team, "Who wants point?"
No one speaks up, but something happens that Claire knows will surprise their team leader: they just kind of fall into a formation that suits them perfectly. Leon is point, Claire behind him keeping an extra eye out for him. Nadia stands next to Sherry, ready to cover her if anything should happen, and DC brings up the rear, his eyes constantly glancing behind them as they drop into the tunnel.
Darkness, blinding and silent darkness greet the team as they land on flat terrain after a decent drop, "I got it."
Leon clicks on his tactical flashlight and holds it under his handgun, illuminating their path ahead. Claire inspects the tunnel wall as they walk through, cringing a bit as the tunnel is kind of… Soggy. Their footsteps squelch, voices are a little muffled, and something seems off.
Claire feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up and is about to prod Leon to keep an eye out when he quickly whispers as he turns the light off, "Hold up, something's in the tunnel we're about to intersect with."
Always the soldier… Did I do this? Did I fail to help you heal? Can't focus on that now, not when there is a threat so close to them, so Claire shakes her head to clear the thoughts from her mind and keeps her eyes and ears open.
There, a sound like a churning cement mixer, off to their left, putting them all on alert. Silence, barely a breath among them exhaled as they wait, weapons ready to shoot whatever comes at them. Leon squats down closer to the ground to give the rest of them better aiming views when it appears at the end of the tunnel. Darkness makes it impossible to see the creature, but it's large and faster than they expected. An unpleasant sound of wetness and churning signals its movement and they all tense as the sound slows down. There is a hissing sound followed by what they can only imagine are the mandibles spreading open to release the multitude of tongues into the air to possibly sense them.
Claire feels Leon move, his left arm if she had to guess, and then there is a very slow, almost silent click as the tunnel fills with light, "What….the…fuck…?"
The monster, which they all have taken to calling a Graboid, has opened its mouth and there are several tongue-like appendages snaking out into the air, "Why isn't the light setting it off?"
Leon holds up a hand to hush her question, I'd be offended if I didn't know him better.
The next several seconds are tense, almost unbearable, but finally the tongues recede, the mandibles close, and the monster continues on its way. Not a single one of them dare speak for the next couple of minutes, even after the sound of the monster moving has left earshot. Leon continues guiding them, light pointed straight ahead, only diverting long enough to check offshoots and potential path deviations.
"What the hell was that thing?" DC's voice is solid, but the question does come from a bit of fear, Claire can feel it in the words.
Leon turns and lowers the flashlight enough so it's just illuminating their group, "I'm pretty sure the creature is blind and mostly deaf… We'll need to gat-" he stops and looks at Sherry, "Sorry."
"That's fine," Claire finds it endearing that he just apologized to Sherry, maybe there is still a bit of that rookie cop in there somewhere, "He's right. We are going to need to gather more information on the creatures. Either from watching them, or from documents in the lab when we find its location. For now, we'll move slowly and hopefully not attract another one into crossing our path."
From here, they continue on in search of their target, all of them quiet, eager, and alert. Leon continues on as point, but Claire has now stepped up next to him, pointing her own flashlight in tandem with his own. Several more turns and crossing are traveled before they find the path starting to slant downward and Claire notices Sherry pull out a small GPS device.
"We're about three miles outside New Delhi already. Makes sense we'd finally start descending. How in the hell haven't these tunnels collapsed already?" the young woman's voice is quiet and quick, just wanting to get the information out and even ask a question to keep them engaged a bit.
"I think we've raised her well, don't you?" one blue eye is closed as she winks at her partner.
He offers a small smile and nods back at her, "Our little girl is all grown up now, Claire."
"Wait," Leon's voice breaks up the story, Claire glaring at him as he does so, "you think me getting focused was an escape mechanism from how broken I am? Drinking is my escape. 'Soldier Leon', as you call it, is just me focusing so I can protect everyone and make sure we get out alive."
"Guys," Chris stands up, having apparently had enough, just like Rebecca has as she watches all of this unfold, "can we not do this now? You two are here to tell a story, to fill in the blanks the D.S.O. has hidden by red tape and redactions."
"Maybe if I had been a better friend, a better lover, you might not have to use alcohol as a crutch and coping mechanism," the words are spit out so fast that both Rebecca and Chris almost break their necks to stare at the younger Redfield.
Leon sighs heavily as Chris speaks slowly, the rage evident to the PhD holder, "What… What did you just say?"
"Chris, please," Claire's face softens as she looks at her brother, "I've been a grown woman since 1998. I've had sex. Plenty of it. Not nearly as much as you or the Man-Whore over there," everyone follows her gaze to the dark-haired Agent, "but I've had it. I'm going to keep having it. You know what, maybe even one day I might just channel you and start sharing my sexcapades with my brother. Yes, I've fucked Leon Kennedy. Many times, as it were. It's amazing, he's amazing, but he's so DAMNED broken I can't see it being anything more than sex."
At this point, Leon stands up, "What we have isn't meaningless, Claire, you have to know that…"
"Oh, I know," her voice is darker, angrier, "I refuse to let myself become another meaningless notch on the bedpost of Leon Kennedy. I keep trying to get through to you, to get you to love me like I do you, all so I don't end up as another cheap whore you toss away at the end of the night!"
Rebecca turns as she sees Moira walk over to Jake and take a seat next to him, "Oh this is getting good… Where's the popcorn?"
"Don't have any," Jake replies nonchalantly, but produces another piece of fruit, "but I do have an orange…"
Moira takes it with a slightly confused glance, "Where do you get these things?"
"I raided the fruit tray from the main foyer of the church before I walked in," he takes a bite of another pear as the fight ramps up. "Fifty bucks says Roidfield treats Leon's head like a boulder…"
END of Part Three