**So, you might not have noticed, but I enjoy (though fail at) writing out fight-scenes. It's why I created such a heartless bully! Once again, I present another chapter with a bunch of random stuff, which switches from fun to cute to action-packed! I hope you like it!**
"So, you're saying you have no idea who the killer is?" Jill asked.
Chris shook his head. "It's impossible to know for sure, that's why it takes two hours for these things to actually make sense," he said.
Jill grinned. "For you, maybe, but I've already figured it out," she said.
Chris looked to her. "What do you mean?" he asked.
She pointed to the body on the floor. "That guy there; he's only pretending to be a corpse, but I'm telling you he's definitely the killer," she said.
Chris sighed. "We'll see," he said. He grabbed the DVD remote and fast-forwarded through the entire movie. Finally, he came across a scene where the body on the floor got up, revealing a man in fake blood. He sighed again, looking over to his proud-looking partner. "I guess you're right," he said.
"That's two milkshakes you owe me," Jill said, grinning. They'd spent their day off watching movies neither of them had seen, and bet milkshakes on who was right about how the movie ended. So far, they'd watched two movies and Jill had won both bets.
"Yeah yeah...Bet you can't do three in a row," Chris said, holding up the case for the next movie.
"You're on, Redfield."
Chris grinned and got up to change the DVD, but paused when he heard footsteps outside the apartment door, followed by laughing. The door opened and Leon walked in, carrying Claire, who was holding her keys and laughing. "You're such a show-off," Claire said. They looked at Chris and Leon froze in place.
"What's going on?" asked Chris. He set the DVD case down and folded his arms over his chest. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He looked at her and finally realized something wasn't right. "What happened to your face!" he asked.
"Some asshole," she said.
Chris sighed. "I told you to stop swearing, please. And what asshole?" he asked.
"A guy at school, he started it I swear!" Claire said.
"It's true," Leon said.
Chris looked over to Jill, who was pretending to read a magazine, hoping to stay out of the conversation. He looked back to Leon and Claire, and waved her over. Leon put her down and she made her way to her brother, looking at him with a faint smile. He sighed and lifted her chin, examining the forming bruise on her cheek, the small cuts and scrapes, and grinned. "There's more dirt than anything else, I think you'll live," he said.
"If you let me," Claire said.
Chris sighed again and looked up at Leon. "And where did you come from?" he asked.
"Well, I had a half day so I went to have lunch with Claire, and this guy showed up out of nowhere. We dealt with him though," he said.
Chris glanced over to his sister, who shook her head. "He jumped me, and Leon just punched him out, I didn't fight!" she said. She knew if Chris caught her fighting, she'd never hear the end of it.
"Why would he jump you? What did you do?" Chris asked.
Claire glared at him. "I didn't do anything; this guy's just a dick."
"It's that Landers kid again?" Jill asked, looking up from the magazine.
Claire nodded, and Chris looked back to Jill. "You knew about this?" he asked.
Jill bit her bottom lip. "Well, sort of. It's the kid who came into the diner the other day. He was causing trouble with Claire so I forced him to leave, right before you got back to the table," she said.
Chris looked slightly confused. "It's weird, but I never saw that guy as a bully," he said. He looked back to Claire and frowned. "I'm sorry, I should've noticed something," he said.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it's taken care of now," she said, smiling.
Chris glanced up to Leon. "Speaking of, I never thought gay guys were so tough," he said with a grin.
Leon blinked, and Claire nearly laughed. "Chris, Leon's not-"
"Like the other ones!" interrupted Leon. "I mean, most of us are pretty strong," he said. Claire gave him a confused look, to which he shook his head and smiled. "I could explain later," he said, directing that to both Claire and Chris.
Chris laughed. "No need, I get it! Sorry if I put you on the spot," he said.
"It's okay, I've, uh, already come out. You know, announced it and all. I'm as gay as gay can be!" Leon said. He saw that Jill didn't believe him, but Chris seemed to buy it.
"I don't see anything wrong with that, right?" Chris asked to Claire. She smiled and nodded, then grabbed Leon's arm.
"We'll be right back," she said. She dragged Leon to her room and pushed him in, then closed the door. "Okay, NOW you can explain..." she said.
Leon sighed. "I panicked! I told you he thought I was gay, and if he finds out it's a lie he'll probably kill me!" he said. "Though I'm pretty sure Jill knows."
Claire shook her head. "What the hell are you planning to do, act gay every time Chris is around?" she asked.
Leon shrugged his shoulders. "Pretty much," he said.
"Why? I mean, I don't think he'd care if you weren't. He doesn't have any reason to," she said.
Leon looked away. "He does if I like you..." he said. Claire froze, which made him laugh. "Oh man, it's so cute when you make that face, too bad it's all covered in dirt."
Claire blinked and rushed to the washroom that separated her room from Chris'. She grabbed a face cloth and cleaned up what she could, sighing. She looked back up in the mirror and jumped when she saw Leon standing in the doorframe. "So, what do you think?" he asked.
"I think you shouldn't scare the shit out of people like that," Claire said, drying off her face with a towel.
"No, I mean about what I said before," Leon said, stepping inside the bathroom.
Claire turned and grinned. "I think I like you too, and mind-fucking Chris will be really fun," she said. As she started out of the washroom, Leon blocked her way with his arm. She looked up at him and sighed. "What?" she asked.
"I don't think any of this is a good idea...the more you mess with him, the more he'll want me dead if he finds out," Leon said.
Claire shook her head. "You're just paranoid, thinking he'd worry about anything. Why would he?" she asked. She ducked under his arm and started for the room, but Leon grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"He'd worry, because I'm much stronger than you and he knows it," he said. He saw Claire grin, and put on his most serious glare. "I'm not joking, a lot of my friends had little sisters, and they'd never let them go anywhere alone, or even HAVE a gay friend."
"I know what you mean, but I find it funny that you think you're stronger than me," Claire said, still grinning.
Leon grabbed both of her arms and lifted her off her feet, then held her there. She kicked in the air, laughing. "Okay, okay! Put me down!" she said.
"Aren't you planning on fighting back?" he asked.
Claire brought her foot up and kicked him in the chest, but not too hard. He let her go and she laughed even more. "Score one for Red," she said.
Leon looked at her for a second, then crouched down and rushed forward. Before she knew what was going on, Claire got tackled. She lost her footing and fell backwards onto the bed, thankful it wasn't the floor. She tried getting up but Leon grabbed her sides and started tickling her, sending her in a laughing fit. "I get an extra point for the tickling so it's two-to-one now!" Leon said, laughing.
"St...Stop it!" Claire yelled in between laughing and nearly crying. "You...win!"
Leon grinned and stood up, still laughing. "You know, being ticklish is a really bad thing when trying to start a fight," he said.
Claire sat up on her bed, holding her sides. "Can't control it," she said. They heard someone clearing their throat and both turned to look at the door. Jill stood there, arms folded, leaning on the doorframe. She looked at Leon, then over to Claire. "You're lucky Chris went to the store, 'cause if he'd heard that just now he'd probably be throwing Leon out the window," she said.
"Heard what?" Claire said, playing innocent.
Jill glared at her. "Gee, I don't know...a loud bang followed by your screaming 'Stop'?" she said.
Claire blinked and looked at Leon. "I guess it would sound pretty bad from another room..." she said, and looked back to Jill. "But nothing happened, we were just fighting!" she said. Jill burst out laughing, which slightly angered Claire. "What's so funny?" she asked.
Jill looked up, still laughing. "Fighting? That's the funniest term I've ever heard for it!" she said.
"It's true!" growled Claire.
"I know, I know...I saw him tickling you, don't worry! Gees, you're such an angry little thing!" Jill said.
"Besides, I'm totally into guys," said Leon. Both girls looked at him, and started laughing again.
"Give it up, Leon...I know you're not gay, it's so obvious!" Jill said.
Leon's eyes went wide. "Oh man, I'm so dead!" he said.
Claire got up and walked over to him, grabbing onto his arm. "Don't worry, Chris isn't that bright," she said.
"He's bright, but he has no clue. You're safe, but I'm self-appointing myself the guardian," Jill said. "Anything happens, and you WILL die."
Leon nodded. "Thanks, Jill," he said.
"I'm serious, Kennedy. I find out there's anything above PG-thirteen going on, and you invoke the mighty Valentine wrath!" she said, trying her best not to smile.
Claire grinned. "That sounds like someone being violently sick after Valentine's Day..." she said.
Jill sighed. "Think of that, but with a lot more blood and gore," she said.
"I'd never even consider it," Leon said. Jill nodded, and turned to head back to the living room.
Claire hopped after her, flopping down on the couch. "So where'd Chris go?" she asked.
Jill shrugged. "He said he had something to pick up at the store, so he should be back pretty soon."
Claire pulled out her cell phone and punched in the numbers for Chris' phone. She sat up on the back of the couch and waited.
On the table, Chris' cell phone started vibrating and turning in circles. Claire sighed and flipped her phone closed. "Damn, I wanted him to get some ice cream," she said.
Jill grabbed her wallet off the table and stuck it in her pocket. "Well why don't we all go? We'll leave a note for him to call if he needs us, unless we're back first," she said.
"Sounds like a plan," Leon said.
"Okay then, let's go!" Claire said. She slid down the couch and stood up, walking to the door.
"But it's way faster if we cut through!" Claire argued.
"Doesn't matter, Claire, it's dark out and I still don't know this town well-enough to take chances like that," Jill said.
"You're just scared," Claire said. She headed for the dark alley, but Leon pulled her back.
"She's got a point, it's not safe," he said.
"You guys are both chicken-shit! I've been cutting through alleys at way later times than this, and not once has anything bad ever happened!" she said.
Leon lifted her chin with his hand, passing a finger over a small cut she'd gotten earlier that day. "You really think you're the pro when it comes to safety?" he asked, smiling.
Claire turned her head away, and looked at Jill. "We're three, and you're a cop!"
Jill shook her head. "It's my day off, I don't have anything on me," she said.
Leon grinned. "That's a lie," he said.
Jill rolled her eyes. "Okay, I have a stun-gun and tear gas...but I'm not taking the risk of actually having to use either!"
"You won't," Claire said. After deciding the argument was going nowhere, she simply turned and headed down the alley, knowing the others would simply follow. She turned around, and saw that she was right. They both ran up to walk next to her, and together they started down the dark alley. "You know, horror movies always start off like this," Jill said.
"And so do action movies," Leon said, nodding ahead. Jill followed his gaze and saw two shadowy figures standing halfway down the alley, blocking it. They appeared to be holding pipes or something. She turned and noticed two more figures blocking the way they'd just come from. "Yep, perfectly safe," she said.
"Ain't nowhere in this town that's safe enough for you assholes anymore," said one of the figures.
"Landers," said Jill, recognizing the annoying boy's voice from the diner.
Leon felt Claire's hand gripping his tightly, and could feel her shaking. He wasn't scared, and knew Jill was probably more annoyed than anything...but Claire seemed terrified. He squeezed her hand, hoping to reassure her, but he looked at her and noticed she seemed distracted, probably not even aware she'd even taken his hand at all. He looked back up, glaring at the two guys ahead. "You know, you seem to talk a lot for a guy who went down after just one punch," he said.
Jill nudged Leon, wanting him to shut up. "Don't make this worse," she said.
"Yeah, listen to your little friend...who doesn't seem to be dressed in her police costume today, guys!" said Landers.
"Ain't that a shame?" said one of the guys behind them.
Jill sighed. "Seriously, what do you want?" she asked. "We're kind of in a hurry."
Landers brought up the pipe he was holding, and took a step forward. "You can go, Brace, we just want revenge on the other two," he said, pointing the pipe at Leon and Claire.
"Sorry, they're kind of with me," Jill said.
Leon turned to look at Landers. "Besides, haven't you done enough damage already? I mean, come on! You're the one who started it earlier, and you were beating her face into the ground!" he said. He felt Claire's grip tighten again, and regretted even leaving the apartment now.
"Bitch kicked me in the balls! That's bad for the rep, man, not to mention getting knocked out by a queer!" said Landers.
"I'm sure Claire knows that embarrassment all too well by now," Jill said to Leon.
"...Are you calling me a queer?" Landers asked. He gripped the pipe tightly, and nodded.
Jill blinked and turned around just in time to see one of the other two guys running to her, steel-pipe raised. She jumped and rolled to the side, avoiding the hit just in time, and brought her foot up to his face. He fell to the ground as the second guy ran towards her. At the same time, Landers and his buddy ran forward, and the alley soon became a battle-ground. Leon had picked up a broom and cracked off the end of it, and was now staring down one of the guys, waiting to see who would strike first.
Claire ducked out of the fight and sat next to a dumpster, out of sight. She watched as two more guys came running in the alley and joined the fight. Great, backup, she thought.
Leon and the other guy were taking violent swings at each other, a few of them hitting Leon's arms, but he was mostly beating the other guy. He managed to hit the pipe out of the guy's hand, and knocked him down for good with one quick swing at the legs. Soon after, another guy came running and kicked the broom handle out of Leon's hand. They started fist-fighting, and Claire admired Leon's quick-dodging ability.
She looked over to Jill as she sent a roundhouse-kick into a guy's chest, causing him to slam into a brick wall and fall unconscious. She then turned just as Landers tackled her to the ground, and sat on top of her to pin her there. Claire saw her desperately try to reach her ankle, which she assumed was where the stun-gun was hiding, but Landers was stronger and countered most of her movements. "Get off me, asshole!" she said, clearly pissed off.
"Hey, you're the cop, aren't you supposed to be specially trained for this shit?" he asked, grinning. He reached into his coat and pulled out a switch-blade, and Jill's face switched from anger to terror. "And by the way, I hate cops!" Landers said. He brought the knife up, but was suddenly tackled off of Jill and onto the ground.
Jill rolled to her side and looked up, confused. Claire was on top of Landers, holding his hand that held the knife, and in seconds he'd flipped over and was now on top of her, trying to bring the knife down. Jill got up but something hit her in the back, knocking her back down to the pavement.
"Jill!" Leon yelled out, and looked aside. The guy he'd been fighting had pulled out a knife of his own, and was standing between him and the others. He didn't seem like he was about to go down easily, either.
Claire held Landers' arm with both of her hands, trying to keep the knife away from her. He'd managed to get it close to her neck, but somehow she'd pushed it back. "What the hell is your problem!" she asked, her voice strained. He was much stronger than she was, and her strength wouldn't hold out much longer.
"Just fucking die!" said Landers, pushing down even more. He used his free-arm and elbowed the side of her face, but even then only managed to get the blade slightly closer. At first, he'd just wanted to severely beat her and Leon, but now he was out for blood and didn't care about consequences. He grinned and slammed his fist into her gut, and almost laughed when she gasped for air. One of her hands let go of his arm, but the other still managed to stop the blade from getting her.
Claire's hand fell to her side, and she felt something touch her fingers. She grabbed it and quickly glanced at it, glad to see it was what she'd thought. Jill had somehow rolled the tear-gas to her.
She brought the can up and pushed down on the spray, sending a powerful mist between her and Landers.
"Claire, close your eyes!" Jill shouted, but it was a second too late. She heard Landers and Claire both cry out as the chemicals blinded them. She tripped the guy that was after her, and got up quickly. Her back was hurting, but it wasn't so bad. She sent her foot into the guy's balls, and quickly pulled out her stun-gun. She saw that Claire had crawled backwards away from Landers and was at a safe distance, while the boy blindly swung his knife around and shouted. She turned and brought the gun up, firing it at the boy Leon had been fighting. He yelled in pain as the shock went through him, and dropped to the floor, still twitching. Jill looked around and all of the guys were either unconscious, blinded, or had ran away.
"You okay?" she asked Leon. He nodded and ran to Claire, who was still crying against the wall from the chemicals.
Jill looked down at Landers and kicked the knife out of his hand, then slammed the boy into the pavement, pinning him in an arm-lock. She looked around again, then back to Leon. "Take her phone and call the station," she said. "Tell them it's from me, and we need at least two cars fast, along with a medic."
Leon nodded and did as told, while Claire had her face buried in his shoulder. He looked down, and sighed. "I think she passed out," he said to Jill. He got her phone from her pocket and punched in the numbers, then said exactly what Jill had told him.
"That's to be expected," Jill said.
"You're all dead!" Landers yelled out, but she pulled on his arm a bit.
"Empty threats, kid, empty threats..." she said. She kept him pinned there until the backup showed up.