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Claire

She was annoyed. Her headache had suddenlyreturned and it began to pierce her skull as they walked through the forest. She didn't say anything, though. THe last thing she wanted was to worry Leon and delay their way even more; she'd bear with it; it wasn't the first she had to dismiss the pain. Unfortunately, her body didn't seem to cooperate and her legs felt like jelly and she was struggling to keep herself standing.

Just great. I'd been all right up until now. Why did the headache have to return?

She blamed the the stupid hiking. She had never liked the activity and the effort she had done to climb the rocky wall was probably the cause of her piercing headache. She had a funny sensation going through her body and she could almost feel her limbs starting to grow numb.

"It's getting dark. We should find a place to rest for the night." Leon's voice made its way through her messy thoughts.

Claire was certainly surprised by Leon's sudden words. They still had somehours of light, but the man was suggesting to retire early?

"What?" she repeated unsure that she had heard right.

"You heard me, it's been a long day and we are both tired. We need to keep our strength in order to fight. It'd be stupid and reckless to push ourselves to the limit."

Claire reflected on his words for a moment. When he put it like that, he was actually right. A fatigued body wasn't as effective and, in their current predicament, they needed to be sharp. Leon's suggestion was pretty reasonable..

"You are right. All right Mr. Secret agent. I will follow your lead.""

If she was to be sincere, she was actually thankful by Leon's decision of calling it a day. The headache was starting to make her nauseous and she wasn't sure how long would her legs hold her weight. Leon scouted around wiith alertness and caution, the man was impressive. After so many years, this was the first time Claire saw Leon work as an agent. Gone was the confused and scared rookie she had once met in Racoon City. He finally came across a small cave. It wasn't a five star hotel room, but at least it was covered,pretty well hidden and most importantly, monster free. After settling down inside the small space, Claire saw Leon pull up a bunch of branches and plants, and begin setting them methodically at the entrance. She had to admit the man was cunning. Putting that would most likely keep the cave's profile low and prevent the visit of unwelcomed guests. She was surprised, years ago, the Leon she knew wouldn't have been so thoughtful, but the Leon in front of her now was an experienced agent who had faced endless dangers during his years of service.

"So that's what the government teach their agents?" she joked teasingly.

"It's rule number 4 in how to be an agent 101."he replied in the same playful mood.

Claire laughed as he followed her joke. At least that hadn't changed from the rookie, now experienced man; however the laugh sent an electric pain up her skull and she had to rest her head against the cave's wall closing her eyes to prevent herself from throwing up. The pressure of her ponytail was starting to hurt, so she unmade her hair with a quick move and started to comb her hairs with her fingers softly. At least that way, the pain was considerably less.

"Oh, Chris would kill me if he heard us now." she sighed softly. She could picture Chris's stern look in her mind, and the thought almost amused her.

"How come?"

Leon had taken sit in front of her. She could see the curiosity lingering in hi gaze.

"Keep yourself focus. No time for jokes" Claire whispered trying to imitate Chris's manner of speech and only half succeeding "I always told him that sometimes a little humor is what you need to keep yourself going."

"Sounds about right. I can't picture him joking around, but may be he should learn to let himself loose a little. You could teach him."

Claire found ironic that Leon would say that, sometimes he wasn't too different from her brother after all. She didn't get the chance to see him regularly, but the few times she had got a hold of him, she noticed how the the man was more and more reserved and quiet. He was still Leon, but sometimes it felt like a different one and sometimes it felt the same; but all the people she knew seemed to change every time she met them.

Am I the only who hasn't changed?

"Wrong...You have change and you know that…" a soft voice in the back of her mind whispered sending a sting of pain through her head.

"You are one to talk, Mr. I'm agnet down to business Kennedy..."

"Then I guess I need some lessons, too. What do you say, Redfield? Will you teach me?"

"Just what are you saying?" she chuckled "To tell the truth, sometimes I wished I was like you guys.

"You're fine the way you are, Claire. It is enough with one Chris or me in this world, no need for you to add another one into the equation. To tell the truth, it feels like there should be more people like you instead."

"Like me? If there were more people like me, the world would be doomed. I've messed up too many times in so many things... if only you knew, you'll probably understand what I mean." she sighed.

"It sounds to me that you're being too hard on yourself." Leon replied softly.

"He doesn't get it, does he?" the same voice whispered in her head. "Would he say the same if he knew all the pain you have caused?"

Claire grabbed her head, what the hell was she thinking right now? She tried to ignore the buzzing in her ears as she looked at Leon. She caught him deep in thought, and for a moment she was comforted to find him there.

"And you guys are just too soft on me." Claire snorted bitterly "When I think back of all the things that could have been avoided if I had just been less naive.

She looked blankly at the wall in front. She knew Leon's look was on her, she could feel his intense gaze locked on her, but she chose to avoid him. The pain in her head was becoming stronger and she feared that the blonde man would see it.

Luckily for her, the young agent's attention had fallen into something else. SHe saw him grab his gun with all signs of alarm in in his body language. She understood as soon as she hear that distant roar. She recognized it, she had heard that same roar the night before when those horrible creatures had appeared in that town.

She followed the man to the entrance, she wasn't sure of what she was seeing until the horrendous creature appeared and began devouring the smaller ones. As if the scene of the monster masacring the others wasn't enough grotesque, the creature's body began to contort and change into an even uglier shape.

"This one won't do either…it's mutating"the voice in her head giggle amused, and she had to let out a soft groan.

"It's...mutating…." she repeated unconsciously.

Claire's look was locked on the deformed creature; she stared in horror the blood that dripped from the creature's mouth and how the tissue of it unnatural body began to stretch and tear apart revealing the raw muscle underneath the grayish skin. The image was simply disgusting; Claire felt sick, and it had nothing to do with her headache.

When the monster crawled into the darkness she was finally able to release the breath that she had been holding. She felt her heart beating fast against her chest. WHy was she so agitated?

"One of your bigger friends, I take…"

Leon's voice made her snap out of her trance. She turned around and found him staring right at her. For a second she saw the worry in his face.

"Not...exactly." she replied "This one is...different."

"We didn't see anything like it during day time, so either we were lucky or our assumption is correct."

"That only come out at night. Talk about nightmares. I am just glad it didn't find us, but I've got the feeling that our luck is not gonna be for long."

Claire bit her lower lip in thought.

"Well face it when the time comes, until then, don't worry about it." Leon told her soothingly " How are you feeling?"

"Me?" she said surprised.

"You can't fool me, Claire. You've been struggling since that climb we did."

She should have known that Leon would notice. Claire let out a weak snort and shook her head.

"Told you I didn't like hiking." she replied with a half smile"I'm okay. My head bothers me when I'm tired. You know how concussions work..."

Leon's expression was unreadable. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but Claire had the feeling that he hadn't quite believed her.

"Yeah, try resting a little. "

"I had my share of sleep yesterday. You must be exhausted though. You're the one who should be taking a nap."

"I work better with less sleep."

Now he was the one lying. Leon could be the best agent in the U.S ,but he was still human.

"Liar…Get some sleep idiot."

"Only if I get to use your lap as pillow..:"

Claire's lips curled into an unconscious smile as she playfully smacked his arm. Leon was still a charmer after all. He knew how to sweet talk, and she had to admit that his looks were an useful tool, too.

" You're such a flirt. Go to sleep, Leon. "

Leon laughed and his laugh somehow made her feel better. It was silly, but if he could still laugh, it meant that things could actually be okay, or at least, that was what Claire hoped.

"You know that's not the case. You could die in here or even worse...he could die in front of your eyes."

Claire rubbed her face. That little voice in her head was beginning to annoy her and she doubted that it was an effect of the concussion. The stress was probably starting to play tricks on her. She'd just ignore it.

"I missed this." she heard him sigh.

She let out out a sarcastic chuckle before giving him one of her usual retorts.

"Sleeping in a cave surrounded by bloodthirsty parasites and other horrors, mmm...yeah, I really needed it, too."

Claire heard Leon mutter something, but she could make out what his words were; when the man did not talk again, she knew he had fallen asleep. A victorious smirk was drawn in her face and it was a pity that he was asleep and it'd been to dark for him to see it.

Well of course you'd fall asleep. Liar… she thought, but she didn't resent it. The man had let her sleep through the night yesterday, he now deserved the she kind of felt lonely. The silence felt ...uncomfortable.

Claire hugged her knees and rested her back against the rocky wall. A few rays of light crawled into the cave through the holes in Leon's improvised door and a shudder ran down her back. Somewhere out there was that horrible monster, or even worse, many of them. Why were these people so fascinated with the idea of creating such horrible things? For all she knew B.O.W's couldn't be controlled; they didn't recognize enemies from foes, they killed anything in their way and they destroyed everything. What made of that a good weapon?

Her gaze soon went from the light at the entrance to the sleeping blond in front of her. She felt a little guilty for dragging him into that mess, but at the same time she was happy that he was there. If she was on her own she'd probably lose her mind.

"You're happy, but you know he could die and if he died here, you'd know it was all your fault." the annoying little voice said in her head "He's only here because he tried to save you. You were the one they wanted, not him. Now he's stuck in here…"

Claire shook her head trying to clear up her mind; that little voice was making her anxious, and it didn't help that she knew it was right. Leon wasn't supposed to be here. THe abductors had come to get her, he just got caught by an unfortunate coincidence. Another thought suddenly crossed her mind: Chris and the others, what if they too had been dragged into troubles because of her?

Get a hold of yourself, Claire. Thinking like that is not gonna help you. She scolded herself as she looked at his sleeping partner. How do I end up in these horrible situations all the time?

Claire didn't get the chance to reflect on that thought. She felt a cold shiver ran down her back and her head automatically turned in the direction of the entrance. She listened carefully, she could hear Leon's soft breathing, but the rest was quiet. No howls, no screams, no animals...Everything seemed tranquil. Then why did she feel alarmed?

Her ears soon caught a sound that she hadn't noticed until then. It was a soft distant whistle. The sound was soft and hypnotic; almost as if it was calling at her. Without realizing it, she had gotten on her feet; but before she had reached the entrance, she snapped back to reality. She stood there confused staring at the complicated net of branches and leaves that Leon had knitted earlier.

What am I doing? she thought.

Unable to explain how she had suddenly appear standing in front of the entrance, Claire was about to return to her spot at the end of the cave, but before she had even given a step, she heard a loud crack of breaking stone and she felt her body been pulled strongly outside. Her body has crashed against the cave's cover door and the branches managed to scratch the patches on naked skin unprotected by clothing leaving red marks over the milkish skin. The woman rolled a few feets before stopping and pushing herself up. As she stared up before her, her eyes went wide in horror and her hands gripped the rifle that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Without thinking twice she aimed and shot.