30. Leon

After several minutes of interrogation and concerned looks, the meeting had ended. Leon's gaze had been following her movements around the room, unconsciously, since the beginning of the meeting. It had become a habit. Sometimes, he would find himself staring at her as she worked or read. That day, however, he was noticing in every small detail in her demeanor.

After Claire revealed the news of the virus that had infected her, and Hiwamura gave her two coins about it, too, everyone was speechless. The blonde agent had no idea of why he felt like by watching Claire he could protect her from any harm. It was stupid considering that there were no threats in the place and that there was probably anything he could do to help with her health issues. Still, just by watching her, moving around and throwing one or two random jokes made his heart feel much more at ease.

Claire's revelation had left everyone in the room too grim to talk. The rest of the meeting consisted of an exchange of technical questions and discussion between Claire and Rebecca.

Leon had stopped paying attention midway through it, as his thoughts were simply too preoccupied with other things. Hiwamura had already given Helena and him a warning beforehand, but that didn't make the surprise any less bitter.

The meeting ended, and Leon walked back into the central corridor after dismissing Hopkins, Adams, and Chambers with Dhriti. Rebecca was anxious to review the data Claire had passed her so that she could start on a vaccine that could help her condition. The youngest Redfield had skipped the dismissal saying that she had a running test that she needed to look at, and so, she had hidden inside her office.

He was surprised to find Jill, Barry, and Helena standing in the corridor, looking as if they were waiting for someone to come out from surgery. He stood by Helena's side, and the woman greeted him with a nod.

"Where is Chris?" he asked casually, as he noticed that the man was nowhere to be seen.

"Where else?" Barry replied, shaking his head, "Giving the brother talk to Claire."

"I don't hear screams, so I guess she's handling him okay," Jill sighed.

Leon looked at the corridor that led to Claire's office. If he was upset after hearing the news, it was natural that Chris would be worse; and the older Redfield sure had his fits when he was upset.

"I'm sure Claire can handle Chris's temper. She's done so for 38 years, no?" Barry waved off, "Chris just needs to cool off. He's a little bit edgy, but hey, who can blame him? I'm just surprised he hasn't put Claire inside a fucking reinforced bunker or something. I'd do that."

"Like Claire would let herself be locked in," Jill sighed, "if she wasn't too happy to have Leon as a bodyguard, you think she would have quietly stayed locked? Besides. It's not like locking her up would make any difference."

Leon knew, exactly, what Jill meant, and the thought gave him a bitter after taste. It didn't matter what they did now the damage was there. Claire was sick one way or another. All they could do was work hard on finding a cure and look after her when she needed it.

"So...did you know about this, Leon?" Jill asked, tilting her head.

"No, Hiwamura informed me that she had some blood anomalies in the tests, but I knew nothing about the infection..."

"So we pretty much knew the same," Jill nodded, "Chris told us about that."

"I think she just found out a little while ago," Helena said.

"Yeah...maybe that was it…" Barry nodded, "you two spent a lot of time with her. How has she been? Healthwise…"

Leon reviewed the past days in his mind. He had kept a close look on Claire because of his mission objectives and also because of personal matters. Claire had been lively, but he had noticed that some days, she seemed paler than usual. She was tired, and even though she ate, her appetite wasn't the best. Other than that, Claire seemed to be her usual self: hardworking, demanding, and overly sarcastic.

"She's been a little low some days," Leon said, "but besides that, she's been normal…"

"Then, that can only mean two things. Either Claire is one hell of an actress, or she's honest when she says it isn't as bad as we think."

Leon had the suspicion that it was probably the first option. After spending so much of his time with Claire, he'd come to learn of Claire's surprising acting skills. The woman could easily disguise a mortal wound if she put her heart into it.

The thought made his heart cringe. How much pain could Claire be enduring? He had to pay more attention now. Maybe it was his rediscovered feelings for Claire, but the necessity to make sure that Claire was safe and sound had become a priority objective that had anything to do with his assigned mission.

"It is...kind of unfair…" Helena mumbled, "I haven't known Claire for long, but the little I know is that she is a kind person. It just feels unfair that someone so nice has to suffer something like this…"

"Well, girl...Life is a shit bag that doesn't quite know the meaning of fairness.." Barry said, "If it did, we wouldn't have some many assholes fucking the world all the time. "

"And messing with people's lives…" Jill agreed.

Suddenly, one of the doors in the corridor opened, and Hiwamura walked out, holding a thick folder. The woman seemed quite surprised by the presence of the group in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh, hi…" Hiwamura said, "I thought you'd be gone already. What are you doing out here? The offices are much comfier…"

"Just here waiting. In case we need to intervene in a family argument, "Jill replied, pointing at Claire's office.

"Ah...the brother, yes." the doctor nodded.

"Can we ask you something?" Jill said softly.

"I don't see why not…"

"Claire….Is it as bad as it sounds? I mean, the virus…"

"It... could be worse…." Hiwamura replied, "I am a doctor, and of course I'd prefer her to be healthy, but looking at all the possibilities, this is by far the best scenario we could have asked. Claire will probably have to take chronic treatment even after we get rid of the virus, and she might suffer some nasty symptoms through the rest of her life, but seeing the things that happened to some of the assays we did. I am just glad she ended up with just that."

"What happened?" Helena asked curiously.

Even if she and Leon had spent a lot of their active time ( and extra time in Leon's case, whenever Claire decided to stay a little longer) in the research facility, they rarely paid attention to what the people there did. Sometimes Claire would offer to explain them, but most of the time, things they did were far too complicated, and they preferred to be spared the details and hear the results.

"From 100% dead cells, to mutations and tissue collapses. It seems we should thank the T-Phobos this time…"

"The T-Phobos?" Barry asked, " Why?"

"The mutation-induced by it seems to be the key to why the virus behaved differently in Claire. IF it hadn't been there, Claire wouldn't be here…" Hiwamura replied, "Her sampled cells are the only ones to withstand the infection. Not all of them, of course, some die, too, but overall, her results are the best. It seems that, in her case, the virus is in a continuous latent-awake cycle, which slows down the progress of infection; but because of that, we are a little tied up when it comes to treatment."

"Why?"

"Her condition is immune. Due to the infection, her antibodies are destroying most of her blood cells, causing anemia and thrombocytopenia. In a normal situation, the best option, in this case, is to use corticosteroids or any other immunosuppressants. However, since Claire is in an active infection status, we can't risk it by lowering her defenses. We are trying to replenish her blood cells by giving her transfusions."

"Is the damage permanent then?" Barry asked.

"I'm afraid so. Claire's immunological system already recognizes those cells as malign and marks them for destruction. There's nothing we can do to fix that…" Hiwamura replied, "But a lot of people can live with those disorders like normal people. The problem now is whether the virus could cause other damages. That's why we are keeping daily control over the infection. If it starts deteriorating her bone marrow, then we would have trouble."

"Trouble like what?" Barry asked.

"From aplastic anemia to myeloproliferative disorders, even Leukemia….The deal is trying to prevent that from happening, and we'll do everything in our hands to do it."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Helena offered.

"Well, if you by any chance have O- blood type, you're welcome to be a donor. Our dear Claire has such wonderful luck that she happens to have a rare blood type, too. In case of emergency, it'd be nice to know we have somewhere to get blood from."

"Chris is O-." Barry said.

"Yes, I know. He was the first one to sign up as a donor after all."

"We'll ask around …" Jill said.

"So will we…" Leon added, "We'll ask around, too…"

"Ask about what?"

The group turned to look at the person who had asked the question and found Claire and Chris standing at the entrance of the genetics lab. The woman was holding on to her brother's arm, and her free hand was holding a cup of steaming tea. Leon felt relieved to see that Claire was smiling and that Chris didn't seem to be in an explosive mood after all.

"Wait for a second…" Barry groaned, "Here we were, worried about you and Claire getting into an argument, and you two were just having tea?…."

"Sorry, Barry. We got a little too into our talk and forgot. I owe you a cup of tea now..." Claire chuckled, "So what were you going to ask around?"

"Nothing special, just wondering if we could get more O- donors. You know…." Hiwamura shrugged "just in case. By the way, here are the results from the assay X201 and X209. I was going to leave it on your desk, but since you're here…"

"Augh...I forgot about them." Claire growled, releasing Chris's arm and picking up the folder, "Thanks, I'll review them later…"

"Anything we should know about that?" Chris asked, turning to his sister with a demanding look.

"It's one of the cell lines I was testing. I need to review this before I can give you a report, Chris. You'll have to be patient."

"You know patience is not my greatest virtue…"

"Yes, but science is about patience….and little bit of faith." Claire said teasingly at him, " You'll have to wait. I'll call you when I have them ready. I promise…"

"You better do." Chris frowned at her, " I'm not taking more of those sneaky secrets anymore, Claire. I'm letting you off the hook this time, but I want you to report to me every day, okay?"

"Call you every day? Geez, Chris, people will think I'm cheating on Leon with you…" Claire joked, and Leon couldn't help but feel amused by the grimacing look that the soldier did at the comment.

"You can call from my phone if that makes you feel better," Leon commented.

"You're not helping, Leon…" Claire said, rolling her eyes and punching him on the arm, "But fine, I will report to you, sir…"

"You better do. Make sure she does, Leon."

The loud beeping from Chris's comm interrupted the soft giggles from the present. The man pulled it out and looked at the message he'd received.

"Jill, Barry...We should go. Their files from Wales have arrived, so we should start looking through them."

"Fucking paperwork. Lovely…" Barry sighed. The man turned to Claire, who was smiling, amused, and pulled her into a hug, "Take care, Claire. Eat more, or I'll have Kathy force feed ya."

Claire smiled as she hugged the older man back, and Leon felt his lips curve. He had to admit that watching her smile was something he'd begun love; something was soothing and beautiful about it. Leon had always found Claire's smile to be one of her best physical traits after her beautiful eyes. It was something that came to his mind when he thought of Claire. It wasn't too long before he felt Helena elbow him with a smirk on her face.

"Lovestruck looks again…" She whispered, "Want to be more obvious?"

"You're loving this, aren't you?"

"Teasing you? You have no idea…" Helena smirked, "Honestly, I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd get the chance to tease you for being in love…"

"Honestly, neither did I." Leon sighed.

"Ah...that was a long day. I am glad it is over."

Leon watched Claire drop onto the couch with Midnight curled in her arms. It had been a long day for her, indeed, and tiredness was pretty clear in her pale face. Considering that Chris had probably given her enough talk, Leon had decided to spare her his. The youngest Redfield had stared at him with gratitude the whole ride home.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, just a little weary. The day just drained me. Dealing with people does that, especially if I have to appease an irritated Chris."

"He didn't look that mad. I am not sure what you did there."

"I can be very persuasive…" Claire winked at him, "He just needed to remember priorities."

"Priorities?"

"Yeah. I mean, what if I'm sick? I can live with a chronic disease if I have to. The important thing now is that we need to prevent anyone else from getting infected, and that is Chris's job, right?"

"So you gave Chris a duty talk? That's playing dirty."

"No, that's being realistic and objective…" Claire waved off, "Let's be serious, Leon. If you had to choose to save the world or me, what would you choose?"

"You didn't ask Chris that, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I know the answer…"

"Then you should know mine too…"

Claire shook her head.

"Leon, you can't be serious."

" I chose the world once, Claire, and I spent eight months regretting it."

Claire stared at him, speechless, and Leon realized that he had just said that aloud. He hadn't meant for her to hear that, and for a few seconds, he thought he'd seen a blush tint her pale cheeks.

"Regretted?" she whispered, "Why?"

Leon couldn't believe how stupid that question was. He didn't feel like he needed to explain it, but then again, perhaps the answer wasn't that obvious after all. It hadn't been at first to him, so he couldn't blame Claire if she didn't know.

"Because I let you go…" he replied simply.

"Me? Leon, you didn't let me go. I chose to stay behind because it was the right thing."

"It wasn't the right thing, Claire. You should have left with us, and maybe all this wouldn't have happened."

Leon stopped himself from finishing the phrase as he realized that, in a way, if all of that hadn't happened, he would have never come clean with his own locked feelings for a certain auburn headed.

"I made my choice then. There was no way we would have made it out on time if you tried to save me, and I am sorry that it made it hard for all of you. I truly am, but I'd do it all over again if it meant to save the people I loved. I'm sure you'll do the same, too."

The worst part of it was that Claire was right. He'd do the same thing if it meant keeping the people he loved safe, so he was in no position to judge Claire's actions. That was something they all had in common: the lack of a sense of self-preservation and selfishness. Claire was staring at him with victorious air as she knew she had hit the nail.

"So if you were in my place…" he asked.

"I know you would kill me if you knew I let the world die to save you, wouldn't you? Because I'd kick your ass if you chose me above humanity…"

Claire scratched the cat's head as she looked at him. She had long removed the green lenses, and the eyes that stared at him were her cerulean ones.

"Let's hope there won't be a day that we find ourselves forced to make that decision, but in the meantime, let's make a deal…"

"A deal? What?" Claire chuckled.

"We won't go around throwing away our lives, okay?"

"Leon…"

"I'll promise you that I won't if you promise me the same or else, the next time you throw one of those antics. We'll go down together..."

"You're blackmailing me."

"No, I am not. Claire, most of the time, there are other alternatives that I'd prefer to take before going into sacrificing someone. "

"Even if the other options' probability of success is impossible?"

"Even so. Do we have a deal?" He said, stretching his hand to shake hers.

Claire groaned, but she eventually chuckled and took his hand. The cat had slipped off from Claire's lap and was now curling under their locked hands purring.

"Midnight, I don't think that deal includes you," Claire said, rolling her eyes, and Leon snorted.

Leon stroked Claire's rough hand with his thumb. Unlike other women he had shaken hands with before, the young Redfield's hands were scarred by battles and weapons. Even Helena's hands were softer than her; but, for him. Those scars only made Claire more beautiful. They were a sign of her character, her courage, and her strength, and like any other war scar, they were marks that should give pride. Leon looked at Claire closely, noting each of the details of the woman's face. His heart began to beat hard, and his conversation with Helena replayed in his head.

Now you have lost it, Leon. You really are in love with her, He thought, letting out a chuckle.

Maybe he had been too focused on thinking otherwise, but the hints were so clear that he felt like hitting himself for not realizing it earlier. Even Helena had seemed to figure it out before him.

"What's so funny?" Claire asked him with a frown.

"I just...realized something."

"Okay, should I ask? Or is it another of your perversions?"

"When have I ever thought of a perversion?"

"Okay, fine...so what did you realize?"

"That I should have done this a long time ago…"

"What? What are you…?"

Claire would probably kill him for doing what he was about to do, but he figured that he'd never be able to say what he wanted to tell her, using only words. He was a man of action, after all. Leon pulled Claire's hand to him, and before the woman could react, his lips pressed against hers. He sensed Claire's shock and hesitation at first, but as he pulled her body closer, he felt her relax and respond to his kiss. The moment had lasted a couple of minutes, but those minutes felt as if time had come to a halt; even though he was reluctant to end the moment, he eventually let go.

"Yeah...I should have done that a long time ago…" he whispered. Their foreheads were resting against each other, and he could sense Claire's rapid heart beating.

"Are you playing with me, Leon?"

"No, I'm sincere," he chuckled, "Contrary to your beliefs, I am quite slow at these things…"

"These things? Define these things, Leon..." Claire replied, looking at him, and he smiled, seeing how flushed she was, " You...kissed me…."

"By these things, I meant coming to terms with my own feelings…" he replied, "and yeah, I think it is quite obvious I kissed you…"

"Okay...now I am confused…"

Claire was nervous. The woman was trying to stay calm, but he had seen her get embarrassed often the past days, and he was now able to read her nervous movements: from her flushed cheeks to her breathing.

"Aren't you supposed to be smart? "He snorted.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I don't know how to interpret your actions."

"I like you…."

"So you...wait, what did you just say?"

Leon could have laughed. Was Claire really that dense?

"I said...I liked you, romantically speaking. Is that clear enough?"

Claire was speechless again. Her eyes were wide open in shock, and it made him want to pull her and kiss her again just to make sure she had gotten his point.

"You...serious? What? How? I thought you liked Ada…"

"That's complicated," he sighed, cursing the fact that Claire knew his backstory with Ada, " I am serious, Claire. I do like you. If you want it to sound corny, yeah, I am love. Do you need another kiss to make it clear?"

Claire didn't know what to say, so he added teasingly:

"And before you say it because I know you are thinking it...no, it isn't random. It took me nine months and three weeks to figure out that what I felt for you was more than just friendly-worry. So yes, I am sure…"

Claire stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I…" she replied, shocked, "but all this time...I thought…"

"Yeah, that's my fault for giving you the wrong impression ...but I am honest now." he replied, cupping her face, "will you give it a shot?"

Claire took a few minutes to think; suddenly, she leaned in to kiss him once more.

"That's my answer…" she smiled and then let out a giggle, "Oh-oh...Chris is gonna kill you…"

"Yeah, about that, I think we shouldn't let him know yet..." Leon snorted. He wanted to see the face that the older Redfield would do once he heard the news.

"Right, I guess we can wait…" she laughed.

Leon smiled. His arm surrounded Claire's back and pulled her against him. He had taken a leap of faith, and somehow, he felt that it was the right decision.