Note: O.O Wasn't insulting you Melina. I was just..erm..playing?! ^_^' Ehh
Sowwy sowwy! And Tifa, lol, don't worry! I don't think it's in character
for Claire to sleep with Leon like that, and especially since Chris, her
BROTHER, is against it. Ya know what I mean? ^_^ Ok, everyone else! Thank
you for your encouraging reviews and in return to each and every one of
ya's, I'm writing still! Not to mention that, but I already have the
Epilogue complete. ^_~ I still don't really like this fic though, it just
isn't Resident Evil-ish. Even with the nightmares and everything. :? Ah
well, I still kinda enjoy it though.
"Leon! Your face is bruised horribly! What happened?" Rick gasped as Leon and Claire arrived back at their temporary home.
"Claire's brother..", he grumbled and rubbed at a cut that ran along his jaw line now.
"Oh..problems I see", Rick whispered.
Claire didn't stay around for the rest of the conversation, but instead walked out to the backyard with a sigh and a heavy heart. She slumped against a little brown bench that sat out in the grass. It was obvious that it had been painted over, the newer coat was peeling off already. Claire found interest enough in this and began to pick at the peelings.
"Hi", a soft voice said from her left.
This startled her a bit, and she jerked her head up to see the thirteen year old daughter of Rick, Katrina.
"Can I sit down with you?" Katrina asked just as quietly.
"Of course", Claire answered at once.
Katrina sat down slowly and looked up thoughtfully at Claire before speaking again, "You're bleeding all down your arm I hope you know."
"Huh?" Claire looked down at her left arm and saw that there was a trail of liquid red dripping from her bicep to nearly her wrist. The blood was thick, she had bled a lot. Claire mentally kicked herself for not checking for injuries like this one.
"If you don't mind my asking...What happened earlier? Did..ya know..Leon hurt you?" Katrina asked in a monotone.
"No! Leon wouldn't do that to me! It was...", Claire stopped for a moment before answering, "my brother, Chris. He saw me and Leon kissing in public and lost his cool."
Claire stared down at the paint peelings again. Something about Katrina seemed, maybe too calm and mature for a child. It was odd, something about the girl made Claire think of Sherry Birkin. Maybe it was because they both were young girls that seemed to have grown up too fast.
"Why would your brother hurt you for that?" Katrina continued.
"I don't really know...I guess because he thinks I'm too young to be in love?" Claire said unsure.
"Have you ever talked to him about it?"
"No", Claire finally looked over at the girl who's gaze had been fixed on her the whole while.
"You should talk to him about it, let him now how you feel", and with those final words, Katrina stood up from the bench and walked back toward the house.
The moment seemed odd indeed. A child walk in, hear a problem, give the obvious suggestion, and leave as if it were just that plain and simple, yet...It was just that plain and simple. Claire sighed once more and decided that she would have her final showdown with Chris before the day ended. She wouldn't sleep knowing her and her brother were fighting over something so immature.
Standing up and stretching, Claire headed back for the house too; and in a more confident state of mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chris, just let it go already!" Jill growled from underneath a pillow she had stuck over her head to block out Chris's constant jabbering and babble.
"But how could Claire do that to me?! Is she growing apart from me? Am I growing apart from her?" Chris groaned.
"If you would just let her have more freedom none of this would have ever happened. You have to believe me on this one Chris", Jill answered.
He nodded in silence.
"Maybe I should let Claire go", Chris sighed, "and she does mean a lot to me, being my only blood left but..."
A knock on the door stopped Chris in mid-sentence. Jill walked over to the door and opened it slowly (just in case).
"Speak of the devil", Jill said in amazement.
"Hey Jill, is Chris hiding out in there?" Claire asked from the doorway.
"Claire?" Chris pushed himself up and moved quickly to the door to let his sister in, "What are you doing here? How'd you find us so easily?"
"Leon told me you and Jill were staying here. And I'm here because I wanted to apologize to you about earlier", Claire kicked at the ground like a nervous horse as she spoke.
An awkward silence fell upon everyone. Quickly ending it, Jill pulled Claire in and shut the door behind her before speaking up.
"Well Chris? Don't you think you should apologize for over reacting?" Jill asked, watching Claire carefully.
"I'm sorry for over reacting like that Claire", he mumbled.
"And for causing a scene at", Jill shivered at the thought of it, "Burger King?"
'I hate fast food restraunts', Jill grumbled in thought.
"And I'm sorry for making a scene like that", Chris answered.
"And for punching her obvious boyfriend, Leon?" Jill continued.
"And for punching Leon."
"And for not letting her have her space?"
"And for not letting you...DAMNIT JILL! Knock it off! I can do this myself", Chris snapped as Jill desperately tried to muffle her laughter at his slow realization for things.
Claire smiled brightly and grabbed Chris into a bear hug, "Let me be with Leon. That's all I ask of you. K?"
A sigh escaped from Chris and he frowned deeply at Claire, "o...k..."
"Thank you!" she cried in joy and squeezed her brother into a blood- circulation-cut-off of a hug. He gasped for air in response to this and struggled to pull his sister off who was now crying out thank you's by the second.
"I'm going to go tell Leon I can be with him now!" Claire yelled in joy now. Without further word she ran out the hotel apartment and danced off.
"Ok, now she's just a little to happy about this. She wouldn't 'do' anything with Leon, would she?" Chris said in a bit of a worried tone.
"Nah, even I wouldn't be that brave", Jill shook her head.
Chris cocked an eyebrow and pulled Jill closer to him, "trying to say I'm dangerous?"
"You know it", she whispered as she kissed Chris and yanked him over to the bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Leon!" Claire screamed at the top of her lungs.
"What's up?" Leon turned around just in time for Claire to jump at his chest and knock him down to the floor.
"I can be with you! I can be with you!" She cheered in joy and covered Leon in several quick, peck kisses.
"Wha'? Who said you couldn't be with me in the first place?" Leon said in a startled manner. He felt pretty winded after the leap at him by Claire.
Claire rolled her eyes as she normally did, and stood up off of Leon. She casually brushed at her clothes as if there were some invisible dust on them and moved about her business. As Claire was heading up the stairs of the house she looked up to the top of the steps to see Katrina smiling down at her. Quickly, Claire climbed the steps up to the younger girl.
"Hey", the girl greeted, "I take it your brother let you slide?"
"Luckily he did", Claire nodded.
Katrina flashed another smile before heading down the steps and out of view.
Claire stuck her nose high in the air and marched off to the room she was staying in where she fell out across the bed in happy thoughts of her and Leon officially together, and Chris being content about it at last.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was sparkling with sunshine, pouring through the occasional fluffy cloud in the sky. Claire was walking down a street slowly, enjoying the suburban scenery. She turned the next corner happily enough until she was stopped by a rather disappointing end to her fun.
"Hi Denny", she greeted politely.
It had been arranged when the others were asleep. Claire knew she was jumping into a problem foolishly, but being headstrong and determined was her nature. She figured maybe it would be doing a favor for everyone to have a little "chat" with Denny before the wedding, just to make sure he had his priorities straight now.
"Hello Claire", he answered back, "Now what exactly did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to talk to you about your marriage, and I know it isn't really any of my business. But it is my concern that you're being vicious towards other certain people", Claire narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
"You had me come out, all the way here, for that?" Denny said skeptically.
"Yes Denny. Jill was right, Fran is crazy about you, but if you don't really love her then you should just call it all off before you cause another big problem", Claire snapped quickly.
"Oh shut your mouth. You're just another one of 'em feminist bitches, telling me who to be attracted to and who to actually fall in love with. Well for you 411 I do love Fran, but there is no denying being attracted to Jill", Denny answered back just as fiercely.
"You can't go around cheating on people! It doesn't work that way anymore! Get with the times Denny, you actually have to respect your wife now", Claire yelled and threw her hand out to make impact with Denny's shoulder.
"Respect! Ha! Don't even know what the word means", Denny hissed and pushed Claire in return, "and keep your hands off me little girl."
Claire glared and stood erect, not letting her eye contact with Denny falter one bit. She had to hold her ground now, or Denny would trample her. It was crazy to have trusted Denny to change his mind about being immature and disrespectful.
"You know on second thought", Denny whispered, "I think you'd be fun to waste some energy on."
Time seemed to stop with Denny's last comment, was it a threat? Was he trying to scare her off? It was almost working except, Claire knew she had dealt with worse things. So she clenched her fists ready to block off any quick jabs or punches.
"I fought off the living dead just to help my brother, and I'll kick your ass just to help Fran. Someone who obviously deserves better than you", she countered.
"No, I don't waste my energy on fighting cute girls", Denny said slyly.
Again, another pause, and Claire backed up slowly, and carefully. Now she wasn't sure what to expect at all. He was psycho. Or maybe beyond that. There was no time for her to analyze the perfect term for Denny though. She had to stop him.
"Denny, please don't try anything crazy like before", Claire pleaded quietly.
"I still haven't gotten revenge. A shovel to the head is very painful you know."
"I wasn't trying to-", Claire stopped as her foot slipped off the curb of the sidewalk and into the gutter of the street. She now began to wish that she had picked a more populated street to talk to Denny on.
Claire felt her hand grabbed quickly and Denny pulled her up before she could fall and hit the pavement. She landed in his arms, but quickly snapped herself away from him and out into the street. Denny was laughing from where he was standing. When he recovered from the joy he walked into the street with Claire and grabbed her arm.
"Ms. Redfield, you shouldn't be playing out in the street like this. It's not safe", he laughed on.
"Denny! Let go!" Claire yelled.
"Come on baby, I wish you ladies would stop being so modest", Denny laughed and Claire managed to tug her way to the sidewalk again.
"Are you trying to get killed?!" Claire bellowed.
"No, I just like scaring you. You're so cute when you get angry and struggling."
Denny grabbed Claire one last time before she ran at him and flung him back behind her into a telephone pole where yet again metal got to the back of his head, but at this cost Claire has slipped into the street again.
A loud screech and awful blare filled Claire's ears last before a swirling redness took over. It happened so fast, and she, as much as Denny, never saw the car taking the corner so quickly. She could feel her feet flying out from under her body as she felt something large crash into her. It felt as if a bull had came charging down at her.
At last Claire dropped her head in pain and fell unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Jill! You have to come to the hospital quickly! Don't ask! Just get here!" Leon cried on the other end of the telephone line.
"What the hell...", Jill thought to herself.
"What is it?" Chris asked when he saw her face contract in deep worry.
"I don't know, Leon just called. He wants us over at the hospital, and the odd thing is he didn't even say what had happened", Jill frowned.
"Claire!" Chris jumped up to his feet and grabbed a coat, "It has to be Claire. Oh God, please let her be alive."
End of Chapter Note: Ok, thankies. Plz R &R without flaming. Not much to say, I'm too tired to type any longer. Tis very late and I'm only doing this to keep me up 'til Cowboy Bebop comes on. Well like I said.R & R plz!
"Leon! Your face is bruised horribly! What happened?" Rick gasped as Leon and Claire arrived back at their temporary home.
"Claire's brother..", he grumbled and rubbed at a cut that ran along his jaw line now.
"Oh..problems I see", Rick whispered.
Claire didn't stay around for the rest of the conversation, but instead walked out to the backyard with a sigh and a heavy heart. She slumped against a little brown bench that sat out in the grass. It was obvious that it had been painted over, the newer coat was peeling off already. Claire found interest enough in this and began to pick at the peelings.
"Hi", a soft voice said from her left.
This startled her a bit, and she jerked her head up to see the thirteen year old daughter of Rick, Katrina.
"Can I sit down with you?" Katrina asked just as quietly.
"Of course", Claire answered at once.
Katrina sat down slowly and looked up thoughtfully at Claire before speaking again, "You're bleeding all down your arm I hope you know."
"Huh?" Claire looked down at her left arm and saw that there was a trail of liquid red dripping from her bicep to nearly her wrist. The blood was thick, she had bled a lot. Claire mentally kicked herself for not checking for injuries like this one.
"If you don't mind my asking...What happened earlier? Did..ya know..Leon hurt you?" Katrina asked in a monotone.
"No! Leon wouldn't do that to me! It was...", Claire stopped for a moment before answering, "my brother, Chris. He saw me and Leon kissing in public and lost his cool."
Claire stared down at the paint peelings again. Something about Katrina seemed, maybe too calm and mature for a child. It was odd, something about the girl made Claire think of Sherry Birkin. Maybe it was because they both were young girls that seemed to have grown up too fast.
"Why would your brother hurt you for that?" Katrina continued.
"I don't really know...I guess because he thinks I'm too young to be in love?" Claire said unsure.
"Have you ever talked to him about it?"
"No", Claire finally looked over at the girl who's gaze had been fixed on her the whole while.
"You should talk to him about it, let him now how you feel", and with those final words, Katrina stood up from the bench and walked back toward the house.
The moment seemed odd indeed. A child walk in, hear a problem, give the obvious suggestion, and leave as if it were just that plain and simple, yet...It was just that plain and simple. Claire sighed once more and decided that she would have her final showdown with Chris before the day ended. She wouldn't sleep knowing her and her brother were fighting over something so immature.
Standing up and stretching, Claire headed back for the house too; and in a more confident state of mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chris, just let it go already!" Jill growled from underneath a pillow she had stuck over her head to block out Chris's constant jabbering and babble.
"But how could Claire do that to me?! Is she growing apart from me? Am I growing apart from her?" Chris groaned.
"If you would just let her have more freedom none of this would have ever happened. You have to believe me on this one Chris", Jill answered.
He nodded in silence.
"Maybe I should let Claire go", Chris sighed, "and she does mean a lot to me, being my only blood left but..."
A knock on the door stopped Chris in mid-sentence. Jill walked over to the door and opened it slowly (just in case).
"Speak of the devil", Jill said in amazement.
"Hey Jill, is Chris hiding out in there?" Claire asked from the doorway.
"Claire?" Chris pushed himself up and moved quickly to the door to let his sister in, "What are you doing here? How'd you find us so easily?"
"Leon told me you and Jill were staying here. And I'm here because I wanted to apologize to you about earlier", Claire kicked at the ground like a nervous horse as she spoke.
An awkward silence fell upon everyone. Quickly ending it, Jill pulled Claire in and shut the door behind her before speaking up.
"Well Chris? Don't you think you should apologize for over reacting?" Jill asked, watching Claire carefully.
"I'm sorry for over reacting like that Claire", he mumbled.
"And for causing a scene at", Jill shivered at the thought of it, "Burger King?"
'I hate fast food restraunts', Jill grumbled in thought.
"And I'm sorry for making a scene like that", Chris answered.
"And for punching her obvious boyfriend, Leon?" Jill continued.
"And for punching Leon."
"And for not letting her have her space?"
"And for not letting you...DAMNIT JILL! Knock it off! I can do this myself", Chris snapped as Jill desperately tried to muffle her laughter at his slow realization for things.
Claire smiled brightly and grabbed Chris into a bear hug, "Let me be with Leon. That's all I ask of you. K?"
A sigh escaped from Chris and he frowned deeply at Claire, "o...k..."
"Thank you!" she cried in joy and squeezed her brother into a blood- circulation-cut-off of a hug. He gasped for air in response to this and struggled to pull his sister off who was now crying out thank you's by the second.
"I'm going to go tell Leon I can be with him now!" Claire yelled in joy now. Without further word she ran out the hotel apartment and danced off.
"Ok, now she's just a little to happy about this. She wouldn't 'do' anything with Leon, would she?" Chris said in a bit of a worried tone.
"Nah, even I wouldn't be that brave", Jill shook her head.
Chris cocked an eyebrow and pulled Jill closer to him, "trying to say I'm dangerous?"
"You know it", she whispered as she kissed Chris and yanked him over to the bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Leon!" Claire screamed at the top of her lungs.
"What's up?" Leon turned around just in time for Claire to jump at his chest and knock him down to the floor.
"I can be with you! I can be with you!" She cheered in joy and covered Leon in several quick, peck kisses.
"Wha'? Who said you couldn't be with me in the first place?" Leon said in a startled manner. He felt pretty winded after the leap at him by Claire.
Claire rolled her eyes as she normally did, and stood up off of Leon. She casually brushed at her clothes as if there were some invisible dust on them and moved about her business. As Claire was heading up the stairs of the house she looked up to the top of the steps to see Katrina smiling down at her. Quickly, Claire climbed the steps up to the younger girl.
"Hey", the girl greeted, "I take it your brother let you slide?"
"Luckily he did", Claire nodded.
Katrina flashed another smile before heading down the steps and out of view.
Claire stuck her nose high in the air and marched off to the room she was staying in where she fell out across the bed in happy thoughts of her and Leon officially together, and Chris being content about it at last.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was sparkling with sunshine, pouring through the occasional fluffy cloud in the sky. Claire was walking down a street slowly, enjoying the suburban scenery. She turned the next corner happily enough until she was stopped by a rather disappointing end to her fun.
"Hi Denny", she greeted politely.
It had been arranged when the others were asleep. Claire knew she was jumping into a problem foolishly, but being headstrong and determined was her nature. She figured maybe it would be doing a favor for everyone to have a little "chat" with Denny before the wedding, just to make sure he had his priorities straight now.
"Hello Claire", he answered back, "Now what exactly did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to talk to you about your marriage, and I know it isn't really any of my business. But it is my concern that you're being vicious towards other certain people", Claire narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
"You had me come out, all the way here, for that?" Denny said skeptically.
"Yes Denny. Jill was right, Fran is crazy about you, but if you don't really love her then you should just call it all off before you cause another big problem", Claire snapped quickly.
"Oh shut your mouth. You're just another one of 'em feminist bitches, telling me who to be attracted to and who to actually fall in love with. Well for you 411 I do love Fran, but there is no denying being attracted to Jill", Denny answered back just as fiercely.
"You can't go around cheating on people! It doesn't work that way anymore! Get with the times Denny, you actually have to respect your wife now", Claire yelled and threw her hand out to make impact with Denny's shoulder.
"Respect! Ha! Don't even know what the word means", Denny hissed and pushed Claire in return, "and keep your hands off me little girl."
Claire glared and stood erect, not letting her eye contact with Denny falter one bit. She had to hold her ground now, or Denny would trample her. It was crazy to have trusted Denny to change his mind about being immature and disrespectful.
"You know on second thought", Denny whispered, "I think you'd be fun to waste some energy on."
Time seemed to stop with Denny's last comment, was it a threat? Was he trying to scare her off? It was almost working except, Claire knew she had dealt with worse things. So she clenched her fists ready to block off any quick jabs or punches.
"I fought off the living dead just to help my brother, and I'll kick your ass just to help Fran. Someone who obviously deserves better than you", she countered.
"No, I don't waste my energy on fighting cute girls", Denny said slyly.
Again, another pause, and Claire backed up slowly, and carefully. Now she wasn't sure what to expect at all. He was psycho. Or maybe beyond that. There was no time for her to analyze the perfect term for Denny though. She had to stop him.
"Denny, please don't try anything crazy like before", Claire pleaded quietly.
"I still haven't gotten revenge. A shovel to the head is very painful you know."
"I wasn't trying to-", Claire stopped as her foot slipped off the curb of the sidewalk and into the gutter of the street. She now began to wish that she had picked a more populated street to talk to Denny on.
Claire felt her hand grabbed quickly and Denny pulled her up before she could fall and hit the pavement. She landed in his arms, but quickly snapped herself away from him and out into the street. Denny was laughing from where he was standing. When he recovered from the joy he walked into the street with Claire and grabbed her arm.
"Ms. Redfield, you shouldn't be playing out in the street like this. It's not safe", he laughed on.
"Denny! Let go!" Claire yelled.
"Come on baby, I wish you ladies would stop being so modest", Denny laughed and Claire managed to tug her way to the sidewalk again.
"Are you trying to get killed?!" Claire bellowed.
"No, I just like scaring you. You're so cute when you get angry and struggling."
Denny grabbed Claire one last time before she ran at him and flung him back behind her into a telephone pole where yet again metal got to the back of his head, but at this cost Claire has slipped into the street again.
A loud screech and awful blare filled Claire's ears last before a swirling redness took over. It happened so fast, and she, as much as Denny, never saw the car taking the corner so quickly. She could feel her feet flying out from under her body as she felt something large crash into her. It felt as if a bull had came charging down at her.
At last Claire dropped her head in pain and fell unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Jill! You have to come to the hospital quickly! Don't ask! Just get here!" Leon cried on the other end of the telephone line.
"What the hell...", Jill thought to herself.
"What is it?" Chris asked when he saw her face contract in deep worry.
"I don't know, Leon just called. He wants us over at the hospital, and the odd thing is he didn't even say what had happened", Jill frowned.
"Claire!" Chris jumped up to his feet and grabbed a coat, "It has to be Claire. Oh God, please let her be alive."
End of Chapter Note: Ok, thankies. Plz R &R without flaming. Not much to say, I'm too tired to type any longer. Tis very late and I'm only doing this to keep me up 'til Cowboy Bebop comes on. Well like I said.R & R plz!