Big thanks to Xaori for editing my work. Read her stuff because it's rather well written… Even if she is into Incestfield. Blegh.
Just kidding, I love you Xaori… kind of.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
In 1998, a small midwestern town by the name of Raccoon City suffered unimaginable horrors. The dead rose throughout the streets and ate or turned the living. The few survivors of the incident did not walk away without scars though.
After all, how could one walk away unscathed after facing such hell?
Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, and a little girl by the name of Sherry Birkin all escaped together. The three of them weren't meant to be together long since Claire was still in search of her elder brother, but they did not immediately part ways.
They had found a small motel in a middle-of-nowhere town after escaping. It was clear they all needed rest, so they stayed the night despite.
But the monsters would not leave Claire, nor Leon alone. They could see them when they closed their eyes, hear their raspy moans behind them when they relaxed their bodies.
Knowing neither could sleep easily, they decided to simply sit beside one another on the old couch in their room while Sherry slept soundly.
Hardly a word was spoken that night, but being next to someone alive was the perfect remedy for the fear they felt. They just held onto one another, hands shaking every so often as memories of the dead city filled their minds, tears being held back as they faced their own mortality.
After eventually parting ways on what could hardly be considered the best of terms, the two would eventually meet again at various times throughout the years. Those meetings were often friendly, but they would sometimes reveal how poorly they were holding themselves together, and yet, one was always able to help pull the other to their feet. Eventually, they each became reliant on the other to pull them out of the darkness. It was an unspoken deal between two people who had seen it all.
There was nothing romantic about their meetings, nor anything sexual. The two would simply allow themselves to break down in front of one of the only people they could trust enough to be weak with.
Sometimes, they would laugh about their pain, other times, they'd cry for hours, but more often than not, they would simply sit in silence as they held one another close so as to feel some sense of security.
Claire Redfield was now in Los Angeles, working in her office at Terrasave's headquarters with a rather luxurious position. Boring, but luxurious for the time being.
She stared at the schedule on her computer, tiredly blinking while resting her cheek on her fist. Sighing, she turned to look over the skyline as the sun lowered itself just behind the horizon. "Almost done for the day…" she soothed herself. "God, I'm going to a bar and getting so wasted after today, I swear." She missed the days out in the field, but at Chris' insistence, she decided to give office work a six month trial run. Never before had she regretted a choice with such fervor. Even searching for her brother in Raccoon City was something she had less regrets about. Then again, she earned a great friend and a surrogate daughter from the experience, so it was somewhat difficult to regret entirely.
"Haven't talked to Sherry in a while." she mused within the empty office. "I need to pester her for details about that Jake kid Leon told me about."
Her phone began pinging inside her bag, dragging her attention away from her misery.
She reached inside and saw Leon's name flash across the screen. "Speak his name…" she joked with herself before answering. "Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, Claire." he greeted, somberly. "I'm in LA. Think we can get together?"
Claire took a moment as she analysed his voice. It was so much more grim than usual. There wasn't any playfulness either, which spelled out that something was wrong with him. "Is this what I think it is?"
"No, I just have some off time." Claire could tell he was lying by the tone in his voice. "I'm flying back to DC tomorrow night, but I figured I'd at least try to get a hold of you."
She took a look at her schedule and noticed an important meeting coming up within an hour. Claire picked up the phone that rested atop her desk and called her secretary, as well as her boss, telling both that she was taking off early, though she did hang up before her superior could even express any sort of approval. After all, Claire wasn't requesting anything, she was informing them that she was leaving. She was too important to fire, and she knew it.
Grabbing her things, Claire brought her cell phone back up to her ear as she walked out of the office. "I'll be at my apartment in twenty minutes or so."
She could hear his smile pick up ever so slightly over the phone. "I'll see you soon."
Claire sped home, worried she'd keep Leon waiting. There was rarely ever a time that Leon had denied why he wanted to meet with her, but it wasn't unheard of. Usually, it was when something unrelated to his job that was bothering him, or because he didn't want to risk putting her out.
Thinking about it now, it made her laugh. He was still that selfless, innocent cop that she met all those years ago. When he was on a mission, some would say he was cold or hardened, but when he was back home, he'd be just as fragile as everyone else. She was sure that was part of the reason Leon was never in any sort of committed relationship. Aside from his meetings with Ada, of course, he had just seen too much to be around anyone. He had nightmares. Bad ones that would leave him screaming his head off in the night. It wasn't uncommon for someone to yawn in a strange, guttural way and set him off.
Most of the survivors had those moments. Chris had apparently almost punched a child in a convincing zombie costume on Halloween because he had forgotten about the holiday. Claire nearly shot a man who had stopped an elevator door from closing by pulling the doors open because it flashed her back to the moment the Tyrant that stalked her in Raccoon City almost caught her and Sherry.
But she still couldn't complain about her own mental state. Lord knows how many nightmares she had about her experiences, but it was nothing like Leon, Chris, or Jill. Claire was at least able to put on an act of being a normal person when dating someone, though they usually figured out that there was more to her whenever they'd put their arm around her and feel a gun at her side. There weren't too many concealed carriers in California, but she'd be damned if she was going to live in a city bigger than Raccoon without being ready for hell to break loose. Her last boyfriend asked if it was even legal, to which she laughed and told him that she didn't keep her illegal guns on her person. She didn't own anything illegal, but it was fun messing with him all the same.
A smile tugged at Claire's lips as she recalled Leon's words during the Harvardville incident.
Terrasave had been protesting WilPharma, causing a slow distribution of their T-Virus vaccine, leading to the deaths of untold numbers within the Harvardville airport. When she learned that, Claire's heart sunk to her feet. She was supposed to be the good guy. She was supposed to be fighting the good fight.
The deaths of those people still weighed on her mind to this day, but Leon's words were what soothed Claire then and even now. The true culprits behind everything were the people who manufactured the virus, he said. Terrasave, misguided as they had been at the time, was doing what they thought was best with what information they had.
Worrying about Leon and reflecting on her own traumas had occupied Claire's mind so thoroughly that she hadn't even realized she was home until she began pulling into her parking space. She focused her thoughts on the present and hurried from her car to her apartment building, noticing a familiar looking man in a leather jacket and hair signature to him and only him. "Leon…" she all but whispered.
The man turned around and gave a tired smile. "Claire." He sighed, blissful to finally see her.
Smiling, she gestured that he follow her inside. The walk through the lobby, as well as the ride up the elevator featured a gnawing silence that ate at Claire. It only cemented her belief that he was there because he needed her company. Had he been there to catch up, Leon would have given her a warm hug the moment he set eyes on her.
Whenever his troubles brought him to Claire, Leon always kept some small distance between them until he was ready to break down.
She opened the door to her apartment and welcomed him inside while putting down her things. "So," she began. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Water's fine." He breathed in sharply. "Trying to cut back on the alcohol."
Claire bit her lip, facing away from Leon before deciding to rip it off like a band-aid. She turned around and leaned against her kitchen counter for support. "I know you're not here just because you wanted to see me, Leon."
He huffed out a quick laugh before looking around in confusion. "What do you-"
"I know when you're lying, Leon." She pushed herself towards him. "And you know that you can trust me." Claire's arms snaked around Leon, leading the agent to let out a shaky breath as he returned the gesture. His embrace was tight, but not painfully so. He pressed Claire into his body, not like he was scared to let go, but rather like what a man dying of thirst would do when presented with water. He needed this type of contact. He was desperate for it.
"Think we can just pretend like I'm only here to hang out with an old friend?"
"Whatever you need." She released him, smiling comfortingly. "But don't be afraid to change your mind and tell me what's wrong."
Claire walked over to her couch and fell down on it, patting the cushion next to her, signaling Leon to sit down.
He did so with an audible sigh of relaxation. His house felt so empty, so unlived in. His furniture consisted of a couch, a television, a bed, and a dresser. He had no reason to decorate it with photos and mementos given that the longest he had lived there in recent memory was just over a month. Claire's house was different though. It was warm and welcoming with photos of her and Chris throughout the years. What's more, Claire had things she ought have thrown out or put in the sink by now. What would usually annoy or provoke some sort of judgemental reaction in most filled Leon with a senseless joy. His dwelling was so sterily clean because he never had a real chance to create a mess. Being here made him forget things about his life because it was everything his house wasn't. A home.
He was getting so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Claire had turned on the television. He was only pulled away from his mind when he felt Claire's head leaning on his shoulder,
He soaked in the atmosphere within the room, not even caring for whatever the two were watching. All he cared about was the tranquility he felt in that moment. The living room's lights were off, but the dim light in Claire's kitchen lit up the room enough to feel like they were relaxing by a fire.
The rain falling from the sky clattered against the window inaudibly, but still relaxed him. The way the drops would cascade down the glass, the look of city life below, all of it brought him a sort of comfort.
And then there was Claire's soft breathing.
She had hugged his arm the moment she first leaned against his shoulder, both for her comfort and for his. She was worried about Leon the moment he had asked to meet, but was placated ever so slightly when she felt his head rest on top of hers.
The silence they sat in was beyond filling for both of them. For Claire because her job consisted of talking to people in public relations who consistently pressured her to make more appearances at their fundraisers and speaking events. 'Everyone loves a survivor' they'd tell her. A statement that was almost always true. Politicians typically didn't care for her once she refused to endorse their campaigns. Watching something in silence, even with someone by her side, provided a feeling of escape.
For Leon, this moment's respite was akin to a single oasis in a vast desert. Day-in-day-out, he endured briefs, debriefings, combat training, live weapons training, and a multitude of other progressively taxing annoyances. Not to mention actual missions that would take him to the hot zones of viral outbreaks.
Thoughts of work began to cloud his mind. Not the mundane aspects, but the true horrors of his job. Zombies and other B.O.W.s. And of course, reflecting on those monsters made him think back to Raccoon City.
Suddenly, the dim light in the kitchen that reminded him of a campfire became a burning car. The pouring rain outside mimicked the weather when he first entered the lost city. Claire's breathing became the raspy pants of the infected, shambling after him to partake of his flesh.
Claire could feel Leon's hand tensing into a shaking fist. She didn't know what was causing it specifically, but she knew something was wrong.
Taking her left hand, she gently coerced Leon to open his fist, first wrapping her slender fingers around it, and then slowly bringing those fingers to his palm and digging them underneath his clenched digits.
Sure enough, Leon let his hand relax, allowing for Claire to take his rough, calloused hands. Her skin could hardly be considered soft, particularly her hands. Despite not fighting like Leon or her brother, she still opted to train with her gun and her hands when the opportunity arose. Still, compared to Leon's, her skin was smoother than silk.
"I used to love the rain," he said without warning.
"What?" she asked, turning her head up to him.
He never even averted his eyes from the television. He wasn't watching it. Rather, he was using it to anchor his sight. Keeping focused on a single thing helped to calm him sometimes, though not always. "I used to love the rain." he repeated. "When I was a kid, I loved the sound it made against my window while I was sleeping. I loved how cold the air would get, and more than anything else, I loved the smell of the asphalt after it rained."
Claire returned her head to Leon's shoulder and asked, "What about now?"
"Now," he chuckled bitterly. "Now, it just makes me think about what sent everything down hill for me. It just reminds me of the god damn night."
He let go of her hand and reached into his jacket, pulling something from his side. "I ever tell you about how I got this?" he asked her, presenting his old Matilda that he had used to escape Raccoon City.
Claire shook her head, prompting Leon to continue. "After I graduated from the academy, my dad got me this as a surprise. Called it the Silver Ghost. I can't say I've ever gotten a gift at a better time in my life."
"A good present, huh?"
"Yeah…" His words somberly hung in the air. "And I've never been able to thank him properly for it."
Claire's face became puzzled, not sure as to why he couldn't thank his father. "Did… Did something happen?"
Again, he chuckled bitterly. "Raccoon City happened," he answered as he put away the handgun. "After Sherry and I got taken in by the government, I went completely off the grid. Knew too many things for them to just let me talk to my family or friends."
"You're kidding me?" she horrifyingly gasped.
Leon grew a spiteful frown, shaking his head. "For over twenty damn years, I've been doing there fucking dirty work! I've been putting my ass on the line, seeing good friends die deaths that no one deserves to have, I've killed people and the monsters they've made or become, but that just isn't good enough for them!" Leon clenched his fist again, but this time, Claire didn't even try to calm him. She felt that she needed to let this happen. "
"I just don't know if I can keep going, Claire. I can't keep putting myself into hell and be thanked with another trip back into it."
"Leon," Claire interrupted, placing her hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"
He looked into her concerned and worried eyes, and sagged his head. "Have I ever told you that I have siblings?"
Claire couldn't help but let a confused smile tug at her lips. "You do?"
"Yeah. And for over twenty years, I haven't so much as spoken to them or my parents." Leon brought a tired hand to his eyes and rubbed them firmly. "My younger brother, Alex, he just graduated college and is becoming a doctor. The last time I saw him, he was still shitting in diapers, and despite two decades of saving countless people, coming this close to dying I don't know how many times, good old Uncle Sam can't let me tell my family that I'm actually alive."
"Leon, that's- I don't even know what to say."
"A couple of years back, I found out that my sister graduated from the police academy. I asked an old reporter friend of mine, Ark Thompson, to do some digging and give me an update on how they're all doing since Hunnigan just kept stonewalling me whenever I asked," he continued, partially ignoring Claire's sympathy. "I'm lucky to have contacted him at all. Back when I first became an agent, I got a message to him to investigate Umbrella, but I got reprimanded to hell for it. Had to spend quite a bit of time tracking him down and finding a dead drop location that the higher ups wouldn't be able to find. Anyway, my sister apparently joined the force because she wanted to be 'just like her big brother' who died in the Raccoon City incident." A bittersweet smile escaped Leon. "My older brother, Gabe also tried to search for any signs of my escape after Raccoon was nuked, but for obvious reasons he didn't find anything. It's hard to search a radioactive crater for anything, especially since authorities aren't going to let unprotected civilians into ground zero of a nuke. Or even protected civilians for that matter."
"I'm so sorry, Leon." Claire mourned, wrapping her arms around the exploited agent.
He sighed, completely exhausted from everything that he'd endured throughout his life. "When I learned Gabe went to Raccoon to search for me, I didn't even know what to say. I used to hate his guts. We were like polar opposites. I used to say that the thing I was looking forward to most about moving out of the house was being away from him, and it wasn't a joke, but hearing that he was so damn worried that he tried to search for me…. I don't know. It just made me feel like a piece of shit for feeling the way that I did."
"Leon, you can't blame yourself for not getting along with your brother." Claire consoled him.
"You don't get it, Claire!" he yelled. "Your parents died. The only thing you and Chris had was each other. You had to get along with him because you had no one else to turn to. Gabe thinks that I died hating him. You have any idea how shitty that makes me feel?"
Claire just shook her head and averted her gaze. She and Chris had their arguments, but imagining what he'd feel if she died while he thought she hated him left her with a painful feeling in her chest.
Leon sighed and continued on with his rantings. "There used to be a time that I thought I'd be living the American Dream. White picket fences, nuclear family, that sort of thing. Now, I just think about what monster is gonna end up getting lucky and put an end to my fucking misery. Hell, sometimes I just wonder if I should just finish the job myself."
Those words… They completely destroyed Claire's heart. She understood better than almost anyone why he felt that way, but that didn't mean that she had to accept it. Leon had never been the sort of person to act like belief in a better tomorrow was all one needed to keep fighting, but hearing how detached he was from the concept of his own death filled Claire with an indescribably dread that she never desired to feel again.
This was the same man who absolved her of the guilt she felt for the Harvardville incident. His tone back then was hardly one of compassion, but there was a sort of hope in his words. A true belief that one day, the world would be a better place thanks to his actions. He swore to her that he'd be the one to scrub the T-Virus and any like it from the face of the earth. This man in front of her was completely different from the one she met in Harvardville, and she wasn't going to let this imposter wear her friend's face any longer.
Claire stood abruptly, striking Leon across the face. "Don't you dare say something like that ever again, Leon!" she yelled.
He didn't even bother looking at her. Leon just slowly raised his hand to touch the cheek that Claire had slapped with a bored expression on his face. "Why not?" he whispered.
He rose to his feet unexpectedly, looking down on the NGO member. "It's just an inevitability at this point, isn't it?" he asked. "You think I'm just gonna kill the last B.O.W. and the last scientist that can develop them? Even if that happened, what then? After everything I've done in my life, do you think I can just quit the secret service and the DSO? Find a girl and have a normal life?"
"Why not?" Claire angrily retorted.
Leon's voice became hushed, but no less irate. "Claire, I've spent over half of my life fighting, running away from death. Can you really say that you'd be able to just have a normal life after something like that? Can you imagine living for over twenty years in Raccoon and then being normal?"
"I can imagine not letting those bastards responsible for it all beat me and take away my will to live!"
Leon moved past her and started walking to the front door. "Then I envy you, Redfield."
Leon calling Claire by that name struck a nerve like no other. He only ever called Chris by that name. He respected Chris, but Leon wasn't close to him like he was to Claire. Suddenly, the stories Chris had told her about the A-Virus incident hit home. Leon was just becoming a broken person, cracking like glass and so close to shattering completely.
She rushed past him and blocked his way. "I didn't make it through Raccoon City with a twelve year old in tow just to hear the bright eyed cop that I was praying to escape with tell me about how he's phoning it in."
Leon gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his wet eyes to hers. "That cop died a long time ago, Claire."
She placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back with all her might. "After all these years, I've never seen you so low. So, you know what? How about instead of just feeling sorry for yourself for never getting a chance to be a normal person, you call Hunnigan, tell her and the rest of the DSO to go to hell, tell your family you're alive, and try to have that perfect life you used to dream about?"
"I just told you that I can't!" he screamed.
"You're telling me that the legendary Leon Kennedy can fight tyrants and other B.O.W.s, with nothing but a pistol and a knife, but he can't do something as mundane as work a nine-to-five job and come home to a wife who loves him? Sorry, but I don't buy it. You know what I think?" she asked. "I think that you're scared that it'll be too hard. I think you're afraid that it's easier to kill zombies than it is to reassimilate into society, and you think that that makes you some sort of monster."
"Tell me it doesn't!" he screamed again. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that killing hundreds, thousands of infected without batting an eye doesn't make me a monster! That shooting every single one of them in the face without ever even considering the fact that they were once like you and me isn't some type of evil!"
Claire calmly walked into him, holding him close as she rested her head against his chest. "Being afraid of something like that is the exact reason you're not." She whispered softly. "People at Umbrella didn't care about being good or evil. They only cared about furthering their agenda. That's what made them monsters."
Leon's arms dangled by his sides. Claire could hear him let out a breath that he seemed to have been holding in forever. He uneasily pulled her closer and whispered shakily, "I'm so damn tired, Claire."
"I know, Leon." Claire pushed herself out from his embrace and smiled gently. "I get tired too. We all do."
Leon swallowed a lump in his throat and apologized for how he had been acting. After which, they both just stood there for a few moments in the silence of Claire's apartment.
Claire inhaled sharply before suddenly speaking. "If you're really this tired, you should get some rest."
Leon huffed out a laugh before holding onto her just a little tighter. "Need to find a place to crash first."
"My bed's big enough for two." Claire offered without hesitation.
"Are you sure?" he asked, pushing away from her so as to look Claire in the eye.
"I'm pretty sure sleeping next to someone will probably help you out more than sleeping alone."
Leon chuckled every so slightly. "One of my ex-girlfriends might disagree with you there."
Claire held back a laugh and looked at him expectantly.
Leon rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed by the story's retelling. "A couple years back, me and this girl were having some fun in bed, and she decided to…" Leon uncomfortably cleared his throat. "Well, she decided to nuzzle me a little bit. Instincts kicked in and I sort of punched her…"
Claire gasped in surprise before nearly dying from the side splitting laughter. "Oh my God! Was she okay?"
"She was fine." He assured her with a sheepish laugh and red cheeks. "A little bruise, but nothing permanent. After that happened, she broke up with me. Can't say I blame her."
Claire cupped Leon's cheek and looked into his eyes with a sarcastic but soothing smile all the same. "Well, don't worry about that happening." She smiled lovingly. "I'll be much more gentle."
Leon scoffed and shook his head, but still pushed out a laugh. Not one mired in regret and self loathing, but a genuine laugh. One that he hadn't experienced in what felt like a lifetime.
The two retreated to Claire's bedroom where they kicked off their shoes and stripped down enough to be comfortable. Leon freed himself of his jacket, leaving him in his jeans and a white t-shirt. Not particularly comfortable sleepwear, but he rarely slept well to begin with.
Claire had the benefit of being in her own house, allowing her to change into whatever she wanted. As such, she changed into a black tank top and some pink hot pants in the bathroom.
When she came out, however, Leon couldn't help but stare at her from the side of the bed. She was attractive. He knew that since he first met her, but there was something about her wearing such casual clothes that made her even more captivating. Perhaps because he never really had the opportunity to see her dressed like that. Regardless of the reason, he was enjoying the view.
That being said, Claire wasn't blind. She crossed her arms and gave him a threatening smile. "Careful, Leon. Don't want my brother hunting you down, do you?"
Leon waved away the warning. "Please," he scoffed. "You think he'd get mad about the two of us being together?"
"Do you want to find out?" She raised a brow.
"Well, I can always get a ring for you," he joked. "You get some nice jewelry, I get to prank your brother."
"And he gets to kick your ass," Claire added. "It's a win-win-win."
Leon just shook his head and got underneath the covers. "I'm just saying, we're already sleeping together, might as well tie the knot, right?"
"Who knew sleeping with Leon Kennedy would bring so much drama into my life," Claire joked as she joined him under the covers.
The two wished each other goodnight and sunk into the bed.
A few silent moments passed when Claire suddenly felt Leon shift ever closer to her before draping his arm across her. "Thank you, Claire," he whispered gruffly. "I needed this. I needed you."
She grabbed hold of his hand and caressed it softly. "Anytime, Leon. Whenever you need me, I'll be there."
He didn't respond with anything other than holding her hand a little bit tighter.
Nearly an hour later, they still held that position, but Claire was already fast asleep. Leon, on the other hand, was still wide awake. He held her hand as softly as Claire had held his before whispering into her ear. "I always need you, Claire. Always."
Time passed so slowly. Hours felt like days, but that was a blessing like no other to Leon. His eyes seemed to weigh a hundred pounds but he'd hate himself if he wasn't able to properly appreciate the situation he was in.
The living room had brought him back to Raccoon City, but as he listened to the near imperceivable pitter-pat of the rain drops hitting Claire's window, he was pulled away ever so slightly. Feeling Claire in his arms pulled him even further.
Of the two women in red that Leon knew, he felt safest in Claire's arms.
Ada was someone that would always have a place in both his heart and his mind. There was something about her that he could never walk away from, but she didn't offer him this. Maybe if she gave up the mercenary life, but that was as likely as a snow storm in Hell.
Claire Redfield. The tomboy biker that was as beautiful as she was kind.
Ada Wong. The mysterious spy who was as tantalizing as she was dangerous.
"And they both look great in red…" he smiled to himself, whispering so as to not disturb Claire. But as he focused his eyes onto her sleeping form, that smile grew more serious. "But only one is here with me. And I'm pretty sure Ada wouldn't stay like this very long."
Leon had his fair share of rendezvous with the sultry Asian spy, and they were filled with wild, mind-blowing sex, but they didn't have this. They didn't have anything where they talked about how the other was. The only question ever asked was how much time they had to enjoy themselves. And they never wanted for time.
Ada cared about Leon just like he cared about her, but she didn't care enough to stay. Whoever Ada Wong really was, she wasn't someone who trusted a single person enough to be weak in front of them, including him. He didn't know why she was like that, but shockingly enough, he didn't really care either. Trying to get her to change would be like talking reason into a zombie.
When Leon pictured married life, both as a young man and now as an agent, he saw having someone that he could be vulnerable with. Someone who knew him and lifted him up when his burdens became too much to bear, and Claire fit that bill rather nicely. It didn't hurt that she was extremely easy on the eyes.
A vibration in his pocket tore him from his introspection. He knew who it was. It could only ever be one person.
He carefully departed from the bed and answered the call as he left the room. "What do you want?"
"Leon?" Hunnigan asked, confused as to his attitude. "Is everything all right?"
"What is it, Hunnigan?" he ignored her. "Where am I going?"
"There was an attack in Wales. A small port town has been quarantined after-"
"Save the details," he cut her off. "I'll be at the airport in half an hour. Brief me then."
"Make it twenty minutes, Leon. The higher-ups think this could be bigger than it looks."
"They always do."
The DSO agent ended the call and looked back to Claire's room, tempted beyond belief to throw his phone out the window and reunite with his old partner in bed. But he had a job. A job he did for people like her.
It didn't matter how many times he returned to that dead city. As long as he could return to Claire, he knew deep inside that he could endure it.
What these sudden feelings were for his friend, he didn't know, but he would be damned if he were to die before figuring it out and telling her.
He grabbed his things and left.
But not before leaving a small note to Claire.
It simply read, "Duty calls. - Yours, the bright eyed cop from Raccoon City, alive and well."