Chapter 4 – Revelations

As Claire pottered around in her kitchen making coffee; and binning her burnt chips, she could feel Leon's eyes burning into her back, analysing her every move.

"You know it's rude to stare." She stated whilst still having her back to Leon.

Leon blushed profusely, "Sorry, it's just it's been a while since I saw you, you haven't changed one bit."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Claire replied.

"It's a good thing." 'Definitely a good thing' he thought to himself. Leon couldn't help but admire how Claire had kept in shape the past 3 years but hadn't lost any of her femininity; she was still the curvaceous Claire he used to know. Leon had to stop himself from staring at her behind for too long, his eyes snapped back up just as Claire turned around and walked back over to the living area. She handed Leon his mug of coffee, their fingertips brushing slightly as she did. Claire blushed and looked away hoping Leon wouldn't notice, she quickly spoke to divert their attention.

"I knew you were coming you know."

Leon chuckled to himself. "I knew Redfield wouldn't keep his mouth shut. But to be honest Claire you looked pretty surprised when you saw me."

"Just caught me off guard I guess." She answered nonchalantly, all the while thinking 'well I knew you were coming but I didn't expect you to look so damn hot!' She then realised Leon was staring at her with a confused look on his face.

"Err…Claire? You okay? You kinda glazed over for a second there."

'Shit, rumbled.' Claire cleared her throat before speaking, "Err..yes I'm fine…so, what's this news about Sherry? Is she alright?"

Leon paused and looked down at his coffee, he'd been dreading the moment he had to tell Claire this and he just hoped she wouldn't hate him too much. 'Here goes nothing.' He spoke without lifting his eyes from his mug.

"Sherry's gone Claire."

He waited for a reply but there was only silence. He looked up and could see Claire staring at him intently.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?

"I mean she's missing Claire."

Claire dropped her mug, tears forming in her eyes within seconds, suddenly she stood up.

"What happened! You said she'd be safe!" She cried.

Leon couldn't bear to look at Claire, he'd promised her Sherry would be safe, he'd given up his life to keep her as safe as possible, he'd even given up Claire to keep her safe from his work.

"It was all for nothing." Was all Leon could bring himself to say.

"What do you mean all for nothing! Leon, stop talking in riddles and spit it out!" By this point Claire had tears streaming down her face, her fists were clenched and she looked ready to punch Leon in the face at any moment. 'I suppose I deserve that.' Leon mused to himself, he took a deep breath and spoke.

"I returned from a mission in South America just over a week ago, when I got back to my apartment I'd received an email from a reliable source in the government and good friend of mine. The email contained a photograph of Sherry; it looked like she was in some form of stasis tube. There was some information with the photo, it claimed that Sherry had gone missing two weeks ago on her way home from school in California and nobody had seen her since. My source said he'd managed to do some digging around after he'd seen her photo lying around the office where he works and he knew I'd want to know as I was completely oblivious to all this cause I was on a mission at the time." Leon was interrupted by Claire.

"Get to the point Leon!" Her anger still not subsiding.

Leon sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumbs; Claire made a mental note that he looked exhausted.

"Claire, my source discovered that Sherry is being held captive by none other than Albert Wesker."

Claire stopped breathing. 'Wesker? It can't be.' She managed to snap herself out of it and focused on Leon who was looked at her wearily. She slumped back into her seat, tears stopping almost as soon as she heard Wesker's name.

"I'm so sorry Claire, I broke my promise but I honestly thought she would be safe. The government swore to me that she'd be kept safe if I helped them and they went back on their word. That's why I'm here now, jobless and begging for your forgiveness."

Claire glanced up at Leon, 'he looks so lost and distraught, how can I stay angry at him? It wasn't even his fault.'

"It's okay Leon, I know it wasn't your fault, I'm sorry I snapped at you."

Leon let out a long breath he'd forgot he'd been holding from the anticipation of hearing her answer.

"Thanks. It doesn't make me feel any better though. I still feel I could have done more to help her and keep her out of harm's way."

"Leon, you were given orders to leave her alone and do your job, it was entirely the government's fault, not yours." Claire paused for a moment before realising something. "Leon, Chris told me you resigned from your job, why?"

Leon glanced back down at his coffee, it had a gone cold whilst they'd been talking; it was faring better than Claire's though, hers was still spilt all over her laminate flooring and she showed no signs of attempting to clean it up.

"You shouldn't leave that to soak in for too long, it'll rot the wood."

Claire looked at the coffee and then back at Leon, "Leon don't change the subject, why did you quit your job?"

'Cause I wanted…no, needed, to see you again and it just happened that this was the perfect opportunity' was the one thought that ran through his mind. He knew the reason should have been solely about Sherry but he just couldn't help himself. This was Claire Redfield, the girl he had admired from afar since that fateful day in Raccoon City, he then realised that's the only way he was ever going to get to admire Claire Redfield, from afar. 'She'd never go for a guy like me, especially since I can't even keep the one promise I've ever made her, she deserves better.' Leon sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that time then spoke.

"I quit because my superior wouldn't support my "vigilante mission" as he called it. He said the police were dealing with it and I should just focus on my own job instead of trying to do his. He also said it wasn't their fault that Sherry was allowed to be taken by Wesker, he overpowered the security agents that were keeping an eye on her and just took off with her before they could react."

Claire butt in. "All the more reason to look for the government to look for her I say, this was their mistake by not being prepared for something like this."

"Exactly, that's what I said." Leon carried on.

They stayed silent for a couple of minutes, letting everything that had just been said sink in. Claire was the first to break the silence.

"That still doesn't explain why you quit your job and came back."

Leon snapped out of his daze. "Huh?...Oh yea. Well because he wouldn't support my ideas I decided I'd quit, seeing as though they'd broken their end of the deal I felt I was allowed to also. I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to find Sherry, I was gonna have to do it myself. So here I am, asking for you, Chris and Jill to help me, I can't do this on my own, but I completely understand if you say no."

Claire sighed inwardly, she'd been secretly hoping he'd come back to sweep her off her feet and say how much he'd missed her. She'd always had a soft spot for the ex-rookie cop since he'd saved her life back at the diner in Raccoon City. She felt selfish for thinking this while he was asking her to help him find Sherry, she loved that little girl like her own…correction; teenage girl like her own, she was almost a woman now, but Claire had also come to realise something else, maybe it wasn't just Sherry she loved, 'do I love Leon?' This thought shocked even Claire herself, sure she'd always thought he was handsome with his boyish looks, and he had a personality that could charm the birds off the trees to boot, but did her feelings for him actually run that deep? Her thoughts abruptly came to an end when Leon waved a hand in front of her face.

"Hellooo? Anyone home?"

Claire swatted his hand away whilst he chuckled to himself, "you keep glazing over, are you sure you're okay?" Claire looked at his face, he genuinely looked concerned, and this made her heart melt even more.

"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking." She offered him a small smile.

Leon almost swooned right there and then, this was the first time he'd seen Claire smile in three years, 'she's beautiful.' He then cleared and throat and spoke.

"So, what do you say? You up for a good old fashioned rescue mission?" he said trying to lighten the mood.

Claire grinned and looked Leon in the eyes. "Since when was Claire Redfield ever not willing to dive head first into danger to save someone she loves?"

Leon smiled at this and nodded his head.

"Well I better go, it's getting late and I have to unpack and everything. Would you be able to ask Chris about helping out? I mean I would do it, but knowing Chris he'll probably smack me as soon as he sees me for ignoring your calls. You might actually get somewhere with him."

"Yea I know what you mean, he tends to act first and think later the big goon. Yea sure I'll ask him for you, I know he'll be up for it though."

With that, Leon stood up and stretched. Claire couldn't help but stare, he had changed so much in three years. That government training had really made him beef up. She caught a glimpse of his abs as his t-shirt lifted up; they were perfect. Her eyes were just about to wander downwards when he stopped stretching and picked up his jacket. She snapped back to reality and blushed a deep crimson colour. She quickly jumped up and headed for the door to let him out. As he was walking past he stopped in front of her.

"It's really good to see you Claire."

"It's good to see you too. At one point I actually thought you were dead you know. Silly really considering what a tough cookie you are." Leon grinned at Claire's comment before enveloping her in a massive hug. Claire was dumbstruck at first but as she felt his strong, muscular arms around her, she melted into his hug. They stood there for what seemed like hours just holding each other, both of them thinking how much they'd missed the other, and both of them wondering how deep their feelings went for each other.

Leon was the first to break the hug, as reluctant as he was to do it, he didn't want Claire thinking he was coming onto her at a time like this. He was almost certain she didn't feel the same way. Leon stepped back and gave Claire a smile before walking away.

Claire sighed, closed her eyes and leaned against the closed the door behind her, she was grateful to have Leon back in her life after so long; she just wished it was under different circumstances. She then headed towards the phone and dialled Chris's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Chris it's me…Leon came by earlier and before you bust a blood vessel he had some important news to tell me, is it okay for you and Jill to come over? I know it's late but it's pretty urgent."

"Sure, we'll be right over, see you soon."

Claire hung up and sat on the sofa, this was gonna be a long night.