33. Leon

Contrary to popular belief, Leon never considered himself skilled when it came to romance. Sure he could be a flirt, but flirting was something completely different from real and sincere feelings. Now he understood why he had never flirted for real with Claire before. It wasn't because he didn't think of her as an attractive woman; on the contrary, it was because what he felt for her was much deeper than what some teasing comments could ever express.

He knew he had made a high bet by kissing Claire that night and telling her his feelings. Leon had even thought of saying he loved her, but that would have probably made Claire freak out, and he wasn't expecting Claire to return him the feelings, but she had.

At first, he had thought that it might have been a thing of the moment, but when she had kissed him the next morning, he knew that she really returned the feelings. Perhaps that was exactly what had gotten him a little more protective of her than he usually was. Even if Claire said that there were very low chances that someone would think of attacking her in the building, Leon couldn't help but feel restless. Hadn't they thought Terra Save HQ was safe eight months ago just to see Claire being taken away in front of their noses? Mobius was a smart group, and he wouldn't take any chances.

When Helena left with Claire, Leon was slightly less worried. Helena would sure take care of Claire, and if anything were to happen, she'd immediately give him a call. He shouldn't worry, but still, he did.

Leon let out a sigh and turned his attention to the files that Chris had sent him, and as he was staring at the screen of his computer, he noticed the small flytrap plant sitting quietly inside its pot. There was a small note stuck onto it, and Leon picked it up to see what it said.

The handwriting was Claire's, and a smile ran through his lips as he read the short innocent words:

Hello, Mr. Kennedy. I am Abby, the Venus Flytrap.

I am here to make you company.

: )

PS: Don't forget to feed me

So Claire had named the plant after all. Chris had been right. Leon looked at the small plant and laughed as he put the thing back on the desk. Those were the kind of things that Claire did that made everyone love her. They were small silly things that would easily make you smile. Why had it taken him so long to realize how much he cared about her?

His thoughts were interrupted when his cell phone started ringing with an incoming call, and Leon did not need to see the screen to know it was Hunnigan.

"Hey, Hunnigan…" he greeted her while he toyed with the plant.

"Good morning, Leon. Am I interrupting?"

"Not really. I was looking through some docs..."

"You are alone?"

"You sound surprised about that…"

"Well, you are usually with Clara these days. That's why I asked."

"She's with Helena now. They should be back in a while, though..."

"I see..." Hunnigan replied softly, "Leon, I just got some info from that engineer that works with Clara. He managed to track down the IP from the person who attacked BSAA's Welsh Base."

"He managed to track it down?"

"Yes. He's... quite impressive. Either way, the IP address led to a public network belonging to a coffee shop called Cuppers. It isn't too far from our office building…"

Leon knew the small establishment and had even eaten at it a couple of times. It was a small cafeteria, and its owners were an elderly couple.

"They are...here?" Leon said. The fact that the "attacker" was so close had instantly set the alarm in him. He had expected Mobius to be based somewhere in Europe.

"As far as we know, there are no signs of the group showing that they know about Clara's whereabouts. Their presence here is probably a mere coincidence. "

"I'm not sure about coincidences, Hunnigan."

"I already requested access to security cameras in the area. If we are lucky, we might catch a look at the culprit." Hunnigan said gravely "Needless to say, though. You have to be alert. Mobius seems to be closer than we anticipated…"

Leon did not need to be told twice; Now that he knew about the group's presence near them, Clara's safety priority had gone up another level. Leon would need to discuss that with Helena as soon as he had the opportunity.

He knew that Claire wouldn't be too fond of the extra security, but perhaps their current status would spare him her rants.

"Any other news?"

"I'm afraid not. BSAA is still trying to put thing's back up. All clues pinpoint that the group research facility should be somewhere around the Irish Sea. BSAA Alpha Elite is currently working on that…"

"Chris is not having luck, huh?"

"I'm sure that it isn't because he's not trying…"

"If it's for Clara, I can see him tearing the world apart, so I'm sure he's trying."

"I've been trying to search as well, but the information I have right now is too limited to get any concrete answers. I am afraid that right now we could use a little help from Clara…"

"No…" Leon said, "she doesn't remember, and we can't force her. I won't do that..."

"I know it sounds unfair, Leon, but that could be our only lead…"

"Yes, maybe, but I won't push her to remember unless it is our last resort. She doesn't need that…"

"I understand that, Leon. Do as you consider better then. I'll call if I find out anything else."

"Alright...thanks, Hunnigan…"

Leon put down the phone and looked at the plant on his desk. Mobius could be next door, but he wouldn't let them lay a finger on Claire again.

The next days passed in a blink, and before he'd realized, three weeks had passed, and the slight awkwardness that had come with the sudden change between them had worn off, and he was pleased to see that Claire seemed to be more and more comfortable with him. Leon couldn't remember the last time he'd been into a "relationship" that could be called serious, but he considered what he and Claire had was one.

So far, they have managed to keep it secret. It wasn't like it was a bad thing, and to be frank, Leon thought that many of their friends would be more than happy to receive the news. Helena and, he suspected, Hunnigan, were betting on it. Sherry had been hoping for it since she was 12 years old, and he couldn't talk for the rest, but as far as he was concerned, it seemed that none of them, except maybe Chris, would have something to say against their relationship. However, Chris was reasonable, and with some persuasion, he would accept it.

Claire was sitting against him on the couch. Her laptop was open over her lap, and she was typing into it as she watched some of the videos that Rebecca had sent her earlier. Midnight was half asleep between them, and he could hear the cat purring softly.

"How are those coming along?" Leon asked, resting his chin on top of her head as he looked at the set of complicated diagrams that she was going through.

Claire had been working diligently with Rebecca's data. Both women were doing their best to find a vaccine, but by how he'd seen Claire sigh some nights, he could guess that the task was growing more and more difficult.

" Want my honest answer or the usual one?" she said, turning to look at him. She wasn't wearing make-up, which was a rare view these days, a luxury that was usually reserved for him.

Claire hated wearing make -up. She only tolerated it because she needed to stay low profile. She looked beautiful with it, but if Leon was honest, he liked her in her natural look; however, tonight, the lack of make-up accentuated her paleness.

" I can take the honest one," he said, playing with one of her auburn locks.

"Not that good. None of the prototypes seem to be working well enough…" Claire sighed, " I'm trying, but the blanks in the data so far aren't helping. If I remembered more…"

It wasn't the first time she had said that in the past few days. It was obvious that the stress of the vaccine was starting to take a toll on her, and she was growing angry with herself. Leon pulled her closer, and she felt her relax against him.

"I am starting to believe he likes you better than me…" Claire said, and he saw her scratch the cat's head, " I never got him to curl like this before…"

"Nah, maybe he likes us together, that's all," Leon smiled as he patted the cat, "and about the memories, don't overthink it. What you need to remember will come back eventually, and if not, that's just fine..."

"I guess. What about you? Is Chris making any sense on that report, or is it all Jill's?"

"I'd think Jill had a hand at this by the way it is written…" Leon replied. Chris could be a genius on the battlefield, but he certainly lacked the talent of writing a decent report. "Want to take a look at it?"

"Later...maybe. I have an idea of what it says, anyway…" Claire replied, tilting her head, "Nothing that helps my way, at least. Besides, Chris pretty much spoiled it for me after that call yesterday…"

Leon snorted. He had heard the older Redfield give Claire the longest brother-lecture he had ever heard. Claire seemed to be about to throw herself through the window, and she had looked at him pleadingly several times. It wasn't too long before Chris aimed his speech at him, and those were the two longest hours in his life.

However, even with all the drama and paranoia from Chris, Leon understood him far better than the soldier could imagine. He would do whatever it took to protect Claire.

"I can't blame him for being concerned, Claire. The culprit of the BSAA server breakout was merely a few meters from us. Even I am edgy about that…"

"I already have you on my tail all day. The guy would have to be suicidal to try anything against me. Besides...it's a hacker. I bet one as geek as Wallace, and those aren't made for physical work…"

Leon would have to disagree. He knew a particular hacker that was a very good fighter as well. Not like he would mention Ada to her right now.

"We don't know that Claire, and as far as we are concerned, he might not be the only one around."

"You're over worrying, Leon. I'm sure they think I'm hiding under the watchful eye of the BSAA since Chris would have me cradled tightly under his overprotective wing. Let's admit it, Leon. The last place they would think of looking would be in the DSO offices. That's probably why they attacked the BSAA in the first place. "

Claire's argument was reasonable. It would make much more sense that the BSAA would take Claire under their protection. Her connections to the organization were far stronger compared to the ones she had in the DSO. In fact, her only two contacts there were Leon and Sherry, and even like that, they weren't strong enough for anyone to think they would take her in.

"We better be cautious, though…" Leon replied, hugging her a little tighter. "just in case…"

"All right...all right. I'll be a good girl, and I'll listen to you…"

Now that was weird. Claire usually argued a little more when it came to him or Chris being overprotective, but now, she was being quite obedient.

"Huh...if Chris heard you. He would probably beat me up and demand to know what I did to have you be so agreeable."

"Ah...yeah, let's not have Chris know I said that."

"Why not?" Leon smirked.

"I don't want to have to go rescuing you…" Claire replied, tapping his nose, "I'm not sure Chris would approve your methods of persuasion."

Leon chuckled. His methods of persuasion, as she called it, were more in the lines of kissing her until she agreed. He would have never expected such a simple thing to work, but he didn't mind playing the persuasion card with her.

"Exactly why…" Claire mumbled, and he chuckled before kissing her again.

Chris would kill him if he knew he was spending most of his evenings snogging his sister, but the risk of dying under the older Redfield's wrath was worthy. Besides, Chris couldn't say much as long as it helped keep Claire safe.

"Well...if it works to keep you safe, I don't see why Chris would have to complain about it."

"Haha...you really think Chris would be that cool knowing you are kissing me to bribe me into behaving? "

" Well, if you put it like that…"

"Oh, no….no, no. I don't want to know what dirty idea went through that head of yours just now."

"Hey, what do you take me for?" he laughed. " I am a gentleman."

Their relationship was an innocent one; he wasn't pushing it too fast. He knew Claire needed time; in fact, he needed it, too. It'd been too long since he had had a relationship. There were times in which there was sexual tension between them, but it passed fast, and it usually ended up with a good-hearted joke.

Claire laughed, but her laugh was interrupted by a soft groan, and he saw her bring her hand to her temple, and Leon felt her shift. Something seemed wrong.

"Oh, shit…"

Claire's sudden moan made Leon look at her. Claire was covering the lower part of her face with her hand, and Leon noticed, with some horror, the thin crimson thread that slid down between her pale fingers.

Leon took the tissue papers from the box on the table next to them and handed them to Claire. The woman looked at him gratefully and took the tissue and used it to try to stop the bleeding from her nose. Leon watched as the white piece of paper was quickly dyed crimson.

Claire leaned her head a little forward, pinching with her fingers and trying to stop the bleeding, but her efforts were frustrated by the continuous flow of blood. Leon did not need to be a doctor to know that it was too much blood for a normal nosebleed.

"Well, hush...just ruined a good shirt…"

"I'll get you an ice pack…"

Leon hurriedly pulled out an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it with a towel before pressing it gently but firmly onto the bridge of her nose.

"That's too much blood…" he said, concerned, "I should call Hiwamura."

"It's just a nosebleed…" Claire mumbled in reply, "People don't die of nosebleeds…"

"People with blood problems die with nosebleeds, Claire…" he replied, passing her another paper tissue, "and you do have blood problems. Hold it in there. I'll call Hiwamura."

The agent watched the woman as he waited impatiently for the call to get answered. The blood kept flowing, and Claire seemed to be paler if that was even possible, and she was closing her eyes as if the light was bothering her.

"Claire? What's wrong?"

"I think I just got a migraine…"

Headaches and nosebleeds were never a good combo, and that instantly raised the alarm inside his head. He could only wait anxiously for the doctor to answer her phone.

"Good evening, Leon. What can I do for you?" Hiwamura replied on the other end of the line.

"Hiwamura, something is wrong with Claire," he said, trying not to sound too rushed.

"What? " The doctor replied in alarm, "What happened?"

"Her nose started to bleed out of sudden, and she says she's having a migraine…"

" A headache and nosebleed...those aren't good signs. Alright, I'm on my way. I'll be there in 10..."

The Doctor hung up the call, and Leon left the phone on the table as he sat next to Claire to give her another set of tissues. While the woman tried to clean the blood as best she could, he rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Light's too bright…" She said, closing her eyes "way too bright…"

"I'll turn them off a second…"

The agent lit the pair of table lamps in the room and turned off the main light. The lights on the lamps were much dimmer, so he hoped that they would not bother Claire as much as the other light did.

"Better?"

"My hero. What would I do without you?"

"At least you're still up for the jokes…" Leon replied, brushing away a strand of hair from her face. Her skin was a little too cold for his liking.

"I think the bleeding is kind of stopping...or at least it's a little less?"

"You're still bleeding, Claire. One way or another..."

"Well...I guess red is my color, right?"

"Even if that's true, I don't think I like this kind of red…too bloody."

"Bad memories? Does it make you like me less?"

"No, it doesn't; but there's no way I can like you covered in your own blood," he replied, helping her wipe off some of the blood. Claire was right, the bleeding was beginning to slow, but she had already lost a significant amount.

It was about ten minutes before the doorbell announced the arrival of Hiwamura, and Leon hurried to open the door. The doctor did not waste time with the formal greeting and entered the house in a hurry. The first thing she did was check Claire, and after reviewing some of the routine neurological responses. Leon saw the woman take out a syringe and a vial.

"What's that…?"

"Platelet-Rich-Plasma, PRP for short…" Hiwamura replied, injecting Claire, "it should help. Alright, Claire, stay still for a minute. "

"As if I could move…"

"So, does it work?" Leon asked, watching Claire.

"What? The PRP shot?"

"Yeah."

Leon had heard a couple of things about PRP shots before. He wasn't that much into medicine or topics alike, but PRP shots were quite popular these days, especially among sports practitioners. He had heard people say that it promoted healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints and that it could be applied to various musculoskeletal wasn't quite sure of how such a thing could help in Claire's case, though.

"Well, it takes a little while for it to take effect, but the results seem pretty good so far. Right now, the experimental treatment we are using is PRP three days a week and Platelet Transfusions twice a month. We need to see concrete results yet, but so far, the response seems good. Usually, PRP shots wouldn't be considered a treatment, but somehow it seems to ease some of the symptoms she suffers by temporarily replenishing a bit of the cell she loses..." Hiwamura explained.

"How does that work?"

"I call it "Decoy" mechanism…" Claire replied from under her ice-pack, "infected cells start destroying the new foreign cells, and so the rate of cells I lose decreases. It isn't exactly the best method, but hey, if it works."

"Her next shot was supposed to be in another two days, but well...due to the circumstances. I think she needed it. We were lucky we still had a sample from Chris's blood at hand."

"Chris's?"

"Yeah. The normal procedure would use Claire's blood to prepare the serum, but her platelet count is low, so we are using donors instead. Naturally, Chris was the first choice considering they are the same blood type and they're siblings. I'll have to call him tomorrow..."

"Yeah, he'll be there in a snap. Chris would be more than willing to pull out his heart for me…"

"He isn't the only one who would. I am sure of that." Leon said, looking at Claire with a frown, " Unfortunately, I am not O negative…"

"Actually, that's not exactly a problem when it comes to platelets…" Hiwamura replied, "If you would like, we could test to see. Honestly, we can use any donor, and we can't rely only on Chris…"

"You're trying to persuade Leon to become a platelet donor?" Claire said, pulling off the ice pack and checking her nose. To Leon's relief, it seemed that the bleeding had finally come to a halt."

"No persuasion needed. The man looks as willing to cut off his arm for you as Chris does. If you know what I'm talking about, let's be honest, Claire. We need donors if we want to make your existence less miserable..."

"Well...thank you…" Claire said, rolling her eyes, "Auch…"

"I'll take a look at this and make sure everything is just fine," Hiwamura said, taking a blood sample from Claire's arm. She then turned to Leon. "Drop by my lab tomorrow. I'll take a sample and run a compatibility test, okay?"

"Sure, I'll talk to Helena too. She might want to help as well…"

"Great…" Hiwamura smiled in approval " Well, the bleeding stopped. How are you feeling, Claire?"

"Drowsy...just the usual?"

"Head?"

"Hurting..."

"Okay...how many fingers do you see here?"

"Two…"

"Do you feel any of this?" Hiwamura asked, palping her face.

"Yeah, no numbing or anything…" Claire said, rolling her eyes, "My neurological activity is just fine…I just have a headache."

The doctor chuckled at Claire's irritation and shook her head before turning back to Leon.

"She should be okay now. She did lose a bit of blood, so it's not surprising if she's a little drowsy. Keep an eye on her anyway. I'll be leaving one of these in here just in case…" Hiwamura said, passing him a small steel box "There are two vials of PRP in there. Claire knows how to do it, so if she starts bleeding, again she can use it."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks..."

"Don't worry about that. What kind of doctor would I be if I left my patients unattended, right?" Hiwamura replied with a smile.

"Considering that I am your only patient…"

"Don't be a smartass, Claire. That's not cute. " she laughed, "So you were working, I see…"

"Just checking some of the things that Rebecca sent me…you know, cross-checking results."

"Leave that for your office time, Claire. Get some rest when you're home."

"No rest for the wicked…"

Hiwamura stayed for a few more minutes before she decided that it was getting a little late, and once again, it was only he and Claire. He could feel his heart beginning to ease down now that he saw Claire without the blood staining her face. Her sudden bleed had caught him by surprise, and he had to admit that, for a minute, he had felt like panicking. It was only thanks to his years of experience and training that he had managed to keep his cool back there.

When he turned back to Claire, he found the woman looking at him apologetically. He hated when she looked at him like that; why did she have to be apologetic?

"Sorry, I gave you a scare, didn't I?"

"Well...you would be scared too if it had been the other way around."

"Yeah, I would…"

She took his hand and squeezed it affectionately. Claire was quite reserved in terms of affective gestures, almost shy, and in a way, Leon thought it was an adorable detail. Leon smiled as he pulled her hand so that Claire fell into his arms. The woman feigned irritation, but her lips showed a smile as she laid comfortably in his hold.