4

John's great body thudded to the ground and Claire ran towards the crevice, refusing to believe she'd just witnessed the death of one of her closest friends.

She suddenly felt a grip on her upper arm as she was roughly spun around

"You're not going anywhere, bitch! " Janet spat at her through bloodied lips

Claire brought the arm holding the pistol up quickly and smashed it against Janet's head. Claire then planted a hard kick into the woman's stomach, pushing her back far enough to get loose.

Claire once again made for the crevice, she skidded quickly before going over herself and dropped onto her front near the edge, desperately searching the darkened tear in the earth, and crying out for her friend.

There. She spotted him.

Luckily, a jutting of rock had caught him, but still, Leon had fell quite the distance. She quickly observed that he was lying on his back. What she couldn't see was if he was conscious... or breathing

"LEON!" Claire shouted again "DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING OUT LIKE THIS!

YOU HEAR ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!"

Claire felt her eyes welling

"GET UP GODDAMN IT!"

Again, Claire felt a grip on her upper arm as it pulled her up. She had the thought that she should have shot the bitch but then her breath caught in her throat when she beheld the intact face of John

"That wasn't very nice of you" he hissed through teeth that she could see knitting together as his broken face finished it's healing

"No..." Claire whispered

She swiftly recovered from the shock of being face to face with John and brought the pistol up quickly, but this time John wrestled it easily from Claire's grasp and cast it away whilst his other powerful hand sent waves of pain into her upper arm from his angry grip.

Janet got back up onto her feet and advanced with the syringe gun, and no amount of struggling could help Claire with what came next.

The gentle vibration of an engine. Darkness...and a slight difficulty to breathe.

Claire felt these sensations as she shook the drowsy feeling of unconsciousness away.

She lay as still as the uncomfortable position of sitting upright with her hands tied behind her back would allow. She did not want the brutes shoving another of those syringes into her neck again, which they seemed to do every time she came awake, so Claire shook her panic away and slowly settled her breathing into a steady rhythm.

Her captors wouldn't know she was awake because of the horrid, hessian sack they had shoved over her head. It stank and she wanted it off, but, she wanted to stay awake more, hoping perhaps, that she could overhear her captors and their plans.

Disappointingly, she heard nothing but the hum of the engine and the occasional snoring and rustle of clothing. Claire surmised she was in an aircraft with John, who by the sounds of things, was asleep.

Claire wiggled upright, sensing an opportunity, and started to experiment with the bonds behind her back. Coarse rope bound her hands, that had been tied around the cold metal bench that she was sat on. Claire started to rub the rope against the metal, hoping the rough edges might - at the least- loosen the bonds a little. She doubted she would get free, as the metal certainly didn't feel sharp enough to cut through rope this thick, but at least she might get the feeling back in her hands.

"Settle down" a voice growled

shit...Claire thought as she stilled

She heard John approach and braced for another painful syringe, but instead she sensed his weight to her left, and then, felt a strong tug on the bonds.

"We're almost there" John grunted as if he could see her questioning look "so be a good girl and behave, eh?"

Claire sighed, upset that she still had no idea what was going on or what these people wanted. They had made it very clear that they had no interest in apprehending Leon. Her thoughts returned to the memory of being dragged away from her injured friend. She refused to believe he was dead. Leon was made of sterner stuff and if anyone could make it out of seemingly impossible situations, then he could.

Claire depended on it.

Pain.

That was the first sensation he felt as his consciousness slowly returned.

Leon opened his eyes and it all came flooding back

"Claire..." he whispered, pained

The ex agent turned, preparing to roll onto his right side then suddenly stopped himself, quickly realising the danger he was in. The jutting of rock that had been his saving grace was only a little bigger than he, so he carefully got onto his hands and knees and sat steadily upright, feeling the after effects of the fall.

The back of his head throbbed painfully and he was surprised not to find blood after bringing his hand away, but when he ran his hand through the front of his hair he felt the dried blood from the split above his eyebrow, there was a lot, but thankfully, it seemed to have stopped bleeding.

The big bastard had hit him like a truck.

Leon took a breath, then, gripping his ribs against the pain, the ex agent pulled himself up onto his feet with the aid of the crevice wall and then glanced up at the climb he was faced with. He hoped the pain in his side was bad bruising and nothing else, otherwise this climb was going to be hell.

The sun was setting when Leon pulled himself over the last edge of the crevice and he collapsed onto his hands and knees, taking laboured breaths.

"I'm getting too old for this shit!" he growled to himself, angry it had taken so long to climb back up.

The day was almost spent and his trek back down the trail would now be dangerous in the failing light...and Claire, how the hell was he going to track her down? That is, if she wasn't already dead.

Leon Immediately shook that thought from his head.

He remembered that the woman who had attacked them had been trying to inject Claire with something. Possibly a sedative.

No. Claire wasn't dead.

These people wanted her alive.

Leon glanced again at the sun. He'd been out for hours and the people that took his friend would have a hell of a lead.

A buzzing sound suddenly caught his attention and his eyes fell on the shining case of a mobile phone. Leon stood, and limped over to Claire's phone, he lifted it and noted the 8 missed calls, and then it starting buzzing again in his hand.

The words 'big bro' plastered on the screen.

When Leon finally made it back to the country house where he stayed, he spotted a couple of police vehicles and an ambulance parked outside. After several conflicting thoughts he decided to hide out in the surrounding trees until they disappeared. Enlisting the aid of the local authority would only bring more harm than good.

Chris was now aware of the situation after Leon had decided to answer Claire's phone after the 13th missed call. To say the conversation with the older Redfield was difficult was an understatement, but at least Chris could pick up the trail. The BSAA agent had ties to organisations that Leon could no longer access due to his desertion, an act Leon now deeply regretted. If he was still an agent of the DSO then he could have had Hunningan get straight on the signal. Hell, he would have had the firepower to bring down the man that almost killed him, instead of being forced to go toe to toe with the abnormally strong bastard.

He could have Immediately chased after Claire.

But now, here he was. Hiding in the goddamn bushes.

Chris Redfield was on a flight within the next three hours of the call. He wanted it done quicker, but that was the best his 'privileges' could get him. Chris was a boiling mass of rage as he sat waiting for the plane to take off.

Anger at Claire's kidnappers.

Anger at Leon for not protecting her better.

Anger at Claire for lying to him about Leon in the first place...he was desperate to punch... something...

After waiting a while, the local police started to leave the grounds and Leon made his way quietly towards the house. As he entered the staff entrance, a member of the bar staff locked eyes with the injured ex agent.

"My god, James! Are you alright" she exclaimed at his condition when she came running over

"I'm fine Kate" -he waved her off- wanting only to get up to his room "I saw the police, are you all okay?"

"I'm glad you caught them before they left, the police did want to chat with you if you came back..." Katie replied, misunderstanding what the ex agent had meant, not that Leon would correct her.

"But no, we're not okay" Katie continued as she suddenly sobbed "Maggs was also hurt"

Katie took Leon to the lounge of the house where he spotted Margaret sitting upright on the sofa as a nurse finished stitching the wound above her swollen eye

"Maggs..." Leon spoke gently as he entered the lounge. The older woman turned at the voice and a smile crossed her broken face

"James, darling. You're alright. I'm so glad" she commented and patted the seat next to her "Katie dear, would you continue to turn tonight's patrons away? That's my girl"

Katie smiled, turning away to her task as Leon took a seat next to Margaret. The kindly woman continued to watch the entryway

"Where is...?" Margaret's good eye fell back on Leon mid sentence and in the light of the lamp she could now see his injuries "oh my love, those brutes...they found you!" her voiced hitched "it's my fault...I'm so sorry" she cried

"No" Leon stated gently "it's not your fault, those people that hurt you? People like that? it's a constant trend in my life. No matter where I go, trouble always seems to find me...and it never ends. I brought trouble here. It's my fault, Maggs, not yours"

"James, love. What are you talking about?...are you and Claire in trouble with someone?" Margaret questioned as she placed her hand on top of Leon's

Leon glanced to the nurse in the room as he was putting his instruments away, the nurse noticed the hesitation "Don't mind me" he commented "patient confidentiality and all..."

"I'm not the patient" Leon replied

The nurse approached the pair and took Leon's jaw gently, observing the cuts and bruising on his face, paying extra attention to the deep split above his eye

"Well you are now, that cut needs some attention" the nurse stated as he turned back to his things

Leon looked back at Margaret's battered face, knowing he owed the kind woman an explanation

"Well, first of all" he began "my name's not James..."

Chris settled back into his seat, trying to calm his frustrations a little as he went through everything he had put into place to try and get a lead on Claire's kidnappers. Contacts working in the UK airspace division had sent some information through regarding an anomaly picked up in the area in which Claire had been taken. The strange signal had headed north east away from Wales and across England and then, out into the north sea.

So, Europe it was then...unless they had an underwater base. Nothing surprised Chris these days. His friends back home were currently working on tracking the strange signal further out to try and pinpoint an exact location, and then, they were going to come out and try to help, assuming they got clearance.

Chris didn't stick around long enough to see if his permission was cleared.

Claire was his sister.

They could throw him in disciplinary when he got back for all he cared. Nothing was going to get in his way of finding her.

Leon made his way through the train station the next day, mentally prepared for the wrath that would be Chris Redfield. This reunion would not be the same as the pleasant one he'd recently experienced with the younger of the siblings. Leon just hoped he was quick enough to avoid Chris' anger in whatever form it was going to take. He was done with getting bashed up for the time being.

Leon dumped his small rucksack down on the floor and eased into a lean against the station wall. Leon glanced down at his bag. It held only a few personal belongings. Leon hadn't had time to settle here. He had wanted to, but that dream was short lived after feeling like he had no choice but to share his true identity, and a few details of his past, with Maggs. So, yet again, he said goodbye in order to keep others safe.

After a time, Leon spotted Chris coming through the crowds, slightly surprised that he was alone. He expected to see members of the BSAA at the least.

Leon braced as Chris came adjacent, but the big man didn't stop

"Come on!" Chris growled as he passed

Leon watched him pass, then, when he realised Chris wasn't slowing, Leon quickly threw his bag over his shoulder and caught up with Chris, matching his swift pace

"Going to tell me where we're heading?" the ex agent questioned, looking slightly annoyed

"I've received new Intel, so we're taking the next train to Cardiff airport" Chris responded "and then, I want every detail of what happened on that mountain!"