*note- I wrote this fanfic almost a year ago, and I didn't realize that
there are NO 7-11's in the city! Now that I live there, I see it's all
about the Dunkin Donuts..yea, I know, silly note, but I just thought I
would bring it up (
Chapter 3 "And So We Meet Again..."
It was big, it was loud, and it was bright, but Claire loved New York City. It reminded her of Raccoon a little bit, but the big apple was definitely something else. After returning from Antarctica, Chris and Claire were lucky enough to run into Jill. She was more than happy to let the two stay at her apartment- especially Chris. It frustrated Claire to no end when she thought about the two of them; "Why can't they just tell each other how they feel? They're both gonna drive me crazy!!!"
Chris and Claire weren't the only ones having "adventures" with the undead; Jill told them all about the horrors of escaping Raccoon in its final hours. The way she described the...thing that followed her... it was terrifying.
Claire quickly shook the thought out of her head. The mental picture of the "Nemesis" loomed in her mind's eye.
"And to think...I was running around Raccoon WITH that thing- no, not a thing. More like another victim of Umbrella's misdeeds."
How could Umbrella intentially do that to somebody? From Jill's vivid description it was at one point in time, in fact, a human being.
"...S.T.A.R.S..."
She was doing it again.
"Claire! Stop it! Stop thinking about it!"
Maybe Chris was right all along. Should she "take it easy," maybe go back to her college?
No- not possible. Not now.
Above the sea of people, Claire could make out the glowing neon "7-11" sign. Picking up her pace, she weaved in and out of the crowd.
"Shesh...I feel like I'm in a video game..."Frogger," or something like that..."
(author's note- Zen, I'm sorry! i can't do the space between the paragraphs anymore! it's driving me nucking futs! [pic] and it's kinda disrupting the flow of my writing style..sorry! i'll try it again next time...)
Finally- the door.
As soon as she stepped in, Claire was bombarded with the heavy scent of freshly-brewed coffee. Making her way past the Slurpee machine, she grabbed a large styrofome cup.
"Do they even KNOW how long it takes for this stuff to break down?"
Enough with questioning the ethics of the cup- she needed a nice, hot cup of tea. Two sugars and two creamers, just the way she liked it.
"I guess I should make one for Chris, too. I feel like such a total ass..."
Without looking, she reached for another large cup. When her hand collided with someone else's, Claire jumped, nearly dropping her precious cup of two sugar/two creamer tea to the floor.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see you there and I-"
Claire's heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw who her hand clumsily crashed into. He wasn't a ghost, although the pale look on her face suggested something else. "Maybe it's not him," she thought. It had to be him though; How could she forget those eyes...
"...those blue eyes..."
"Claire?"
That voice...
"Claire? Oh my god, it's really you!"
For a while, Claire was beginning to think he had forgotten about her, but here he was; Standing right in front of her, talking to her.
Hugging her.
Any attempt Claire had made bafore to save her tea from colliding with the floor was for naught. The shock of seeing Leon again- after so long!- caught her completely off guard.
"Leon...I-I can't believe it's actually you! Where have you been?"
"Around."
Claire laughed softly. "Around? Well, that's not at all cryptic, is it?"
He couldn't help cracking a smile. "Yea, well, around is a lot more complicated than it sounds."
"I can imagine."
Glancing down at the floor, Leon spotted the fumbled styrofome cup. He picked it up and, jokingly, handed it back to Claire.
"Miss Redfield, I belive this belongs to you?"
She quickly snatched it out of his hand. "Why, thank you, Officer Kennedy. What ever would I do if you weren't around?"
Their laughter was abruptly cut short when a fairly tall girl with long, brown hair (braided into pigtails) seemed to materialize from thin air.
"Leon, who's this?"
"Leon, who's this?!"
Who was this girl? Why was she with Leon? The joy of seeing him again was shattered just like that.
"Maybe he did Forget about me."
"Oh, Claire, this is Marcy. She's a friend from, ah, work. I'm kinda showing her the ropes- she's on her first formal assignment."
...phew...
A smile re-appeared on Claire's face as she shook Marcy's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Marcy. I'm Claire, Claire Redfield."
"Ohhh, so you're THE Claire Redfield. I've heard about you..."
Blushing, Leon hurried the conversation along. Claire and Marcy exchanged knowing looks- the kind of looks that get their meaning across without any spoken words.
"Okay, so maybe he didn't forget about me, after all!"
"ahem, ANYWAY...you live in NYC now?"
Claire nodded her haed, ponytail swaying. "Yup. Actually, we- Chris and I- live with a friend. What about you?"
Marcy and Leon both looked to the empty spaces on either side of themselves."
"Leon?"
With a serious tone and demeanor, Leon slowly leaned in closer to Claire. His voice was barely audible- no louder than a whisper.
"Actually, we're here on a mission."
"A...a mission?"
Marcy glanced in back of her, above her- all around. Claire immediately knew who whe was looking for.
"It's Umbrella, isn't it?"
Leon nodded and gently spoke again.
"Yea..."
Claire quickly attached the the lid onto the surviving tea.
"Well, then, we can't talk about it here. Come on..."
Turning to the now-intrigued Marcy, Leon motioned with his hand as he followed Claire to the exit of the 7-11.
"Let's go."
* * * * * * *
"I work for an underground anti-Umbrella organization... it's been nearly 8 months since I've joined. Marcy is from another branch of the organization."
"This is actually my first field experience,"chirped Marcy. "I usually stay at the base gathering information, hacking- stuff like that."
A pensive Chris stared out of the apartment's window into the night sky. It was heavily polluted with light from all of the surrounding signs. He hadn't spoken a word since Leon started explaining his organization and it's goals. The mission that he and Marcy were on- it was a risky one. He could just tell by the way the former cop and his partner spoke. Leon continued...
"...so we've been given this small window of oppurtunity. This mission is key to bringing down Umbrella and combatting them with less risk."
Reaching into his back pocket, Leon pulled out a small, fold-up map of Long Island (author's note: that's where I live..it's right next to NYC just in case you didn't know [pic] ). Pointing to a circled point on the map, Leon explained even further.
"Right here is the location of one of Umbrella's 'secret' lab facilities-"
Claire immediately recognized the area he was pointing to. "Leon, that's not an Umbrella lab... that's Stonybrook University. You know, a college? With students and teachers? I have a few friends that go there."
He didn't answer. Jill couldn't believe what he was saying.
"Leon, you don't mean-"
"Yes, I do. Umbrella is using the college's advanced laboratory technology for it's ,ahem, 'research and development.'"
"Those bastards," Claire whispered under her breath, "haven't they done enough damage in Raccoon?! When will it stop!?"
"It won't."
All eyes turned to Marcy, who stood silent until now. She slowly stepped next to Leon. He still had the crumpled map in his hand.
"It won't stop...that's why we have to do something about it."
Looking right into her determined eyes, Claire could see Marcy wasn't in this as a service to somebody else. No, she was in this as a result of her own decision. Behind the determination, though, Claire sensed something else- something that went deeper. A while back when she was still searching for Chris, Claire had seen this same look in her own eyes when she looked into the mirror.
"She's been hurt by Umbrella...and badly..."
"Leon and I were instructed to hack into Stonybrook's computer system, upload any security codes, and find the exact location of the lab on the campus."
Jill shook her head in disbelief. "This has gone too far. Leave it to Umbrella to use a college campus as it's cover-up."
Marcy paused before continuing. "After we gather any information we need- and do it, hopefully, without being caught- our main objective is to infiltrate the lab."
Her last sentence grabbed Chris' attention. "Infiltrate the lab?"
Claire knew her brother was referring to her own unsuccessful actions when she snuck into Umbrella's HQ in Europe.
"Infiltrate the lab, you said? That's a lot easier said than done."
"Mr. Redfield," Marcy calmly retorted,"we are fully aware that dealing with Umbrella is, excuse the understatement, not a simple task. This mission won't leave us wandering the facility- we need to get in, complete our objective, and get out."
Chris grew even more suspicious by the minute. "And, what exactly is your "Mission Objective," may I ask?"
That sarcastice tone in his voice- Claire couldn't stand it. Why can't he see they are on the same side as him?
"The objective, Mr.Redfield, is to retrieve several samples of the T- Virus anti-virus serum. According to our knowledge, Umbrella originally developed the anti-virus as this location." All eyes were on Marcy. "With the anti-virus not only will we have a way to deal with infection, we'll be able to conduct our own research. Commander Brady said it was even possible to develop a stronger weapon designed specifically to deal with T- Virus infected organisms."
"What about you?"
Claire glanced at her brother.
"Me?"
"Yes, you, Marcy. What do you personally have to do with Umbrella? I'm going to assume you must care if you're willing to risk your life for your cause."
Even Jill was fed up with Chris' attitude. "Chris-"
"Ms. Valentine, it's fine. If you must know, I personally would like to see Umbrella destroyed- nothing more than a pile of rubble where it's conglomerate forces once stood. We'll have proof, providing this mission works out."
"Why?"
Leon exchanged glances with an extremely agitated Claire. "Chris, that's eno-"
"They killed my sister. They stole her from me...and as far as I know, they've killed my brother, as well."
"killed her sister...and probably her brother, as well..."
This frail-looking girl that stoof before them was probably stronger than all four of them put together. She had just revealed to them the source of her will and determination and her horrible past experience with Umbrella, and yet there she stood- much calmer than the rest of them. Chris' demanding attitude switched to that of a more brotherly one. "Marcy...look, I'm sorry..."
"Don't pity me...I don't feel sorry for myself. You shouldn't either."
"Killed her sister...brother is missing..."
"Marcy, I'm not pitying you...I just- I wish we could help. We need to keep a low profile for now until the rest of our team is assembled."
"No," Claire's mind screamed, "No- he can't be serious..."
"Chris, this is our chance! Me wanting to go out, running into Leon, bringing him back here with Marcy- it's a sign! We have to-"
"I'm sorry, Claire." Chris was just as anxious as his sister, but he couldn't reveal himself to Umbrella- not yet. "We need to meet up with Rebecca and Barry, first."
Shaking her head, Claire snapped back at her brother. "Do you even know how stupid you sound!? W're so close!"
Enough. Chris couldn't take this anymore. "Claire, we'll discuss this tomorrow...good night. Leon, Marcy- it was nice to meet you both."
Without another word, he disappeared into his room. Claire heard the click of his door's lock.
Chapter 3 "And So We Meet Again..."
It was big, it was loud, and it was bright, but Claire loved New York City. It reminded her of Raccoon a little bit, but the big apple was definitely something else. After returning from Antarctica, Chris and Claire were lucky enough to run into Jill. She was more than happy to let the two stay at her apartment- especially Chris. It frustrated Claire to no end when she thought about the two of them; "Why can't they just tell each other how they feel? They're both gonna drive me crazy!!!"
Chris and Claire weren't the only ones having "adventures" with the undead; Jill told them all about the horrors of escaping Raccoon in its final hours. The way she described the...thing that followed her... it was terrifying.
Claire quickly shook the thought out of her head. The mental picture of the "Nemesis" loomed in her mind's eye.
"And to think...I was running around Raccoon WITH that thing- no, not a thing. More like another victim of Umbrella's misdeeds."
How could Umbrella intentially do that to somebody? From Jill's vivid description it was at one point in time, in fact, a human being.
"...S.T.A.R.S..."
She was doing it again.
"Claire! Stop it! Stop thinking about it!"
Maybe Chris was right all along. Should she "take it easy," maybe go back to her college?
No- not possible. Not now.
Above the sea of people, Claire could make out the glowing neon "7-11" sign. Picking up her pace, she weaved in and out of the crowd.
"Shesh...I feel like I'm in a video game..."Frogger," or something like that..."
(author's note- Zen, I'm sorry! i can't do the space between the paragraphs anymore! it's driving me nucking futs! [pic] and it's kinda disrupting the flow of my writing style..sorry! i'll try it again next time...)
Finally- the door.
As soon as she stepped in, Claire was bombarded with the heavy scent of freshly-brewed coffee. Making her way past the Slurpee machine, she grabbed a large styrofome cup.
"Do they even KNOW how long it takes for this stuff to break down?"
Enough with questioning the ethics of the cup- she needed a nice, hot cup of tea. Two sugars and two creamers, just the way she liked it.
"I guess I should make one for Chris, too. I feel like such a total ass..."
Without looking, she reached for another large cup. When her hand collided with someone else's, Claire jumped, nearly dropping her precious cup of two sugar/two creamer tea to the floor.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see you there and I-"
Claire's heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw who her hand clumsily crashed into. He wasn't a ghost, although the pale look on her face suggested something else. "Maybe it's not him," she thought. It had to be him though; How could she forget those eyes...
"...those blue eyes..."
"Claire?"
That voice...
"Claire? Oh my god, it's really you!"
For a while, Claire was beginning to think he had forgotten about her, but here he was; Standing right in front of her, talking to her.
Hugging her.
Any attempt Claire had made bafore to save her tea from colliding with the floor was for naught. The shock of seeing Leon again- after so long!- caught her completely off guard.
"Leon...I-I can't believe it's actually you! Where have you been?"
"Around."
Claire laughed softly. "Around? Well, that's not at all cryptic, is it?"
He couldn't help cracking a smile. "Yea, well, around is a lot more complicated than it sounds."
"I can imagine."
Glancing down at the floor, Leon spotted the fumbled styrofome cup. He picked it up and, jokingly, handed it back to Claire.
"Miss Redfield, I belive this belongs to you?"
She quickly snatched it out of his hand. "Why, thank you, Officer Kennedy. What ever would I do if you weren't around?"
Their laughter was abruptly cut short when a fairly tall girl with long, brown hair (braided into pigtails) seemed to materialize from thin air.
"Leon, who's this?"
"Leon, who's this?!"
Who was this girl? Why was she with Leon? The joy of seeing him again was shattered just like that.
"Maybe he did Forget about me."
"Oh, Claire, this is Marcy. She's a friend from, ah, work. I'm kinda showing her the ropes- she's on her first formal assignment."
...phew...
A smile re-appeared on Claire's face as she shook Marcy's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Marcy. I'm Claire, Claire Redfield."
"Ohhh, so you're THE Claire Redfield. I've heard about you..."
Blushing, Leon hurried the conversation along. Claire and Marcy exchanged knowing looks- the kind of looks that get their meaning across without any spoken words.
"Okay, so maybe he didn't forget about me, after all!"
"ahem, ANYWAY...you live in NYC now?"
Claire nodded her haed, ponytail swaying. "Yup. Actually, we- Chris and I- live with a friend. What about you?"
Marcy and Leon both looked to the empty spaces on either side of themselves."
"Leon?"
With a serious tone and demeanor, Leon slowly leaned in closer to Claire. His voice was barely audible- no louder than a whisper.
"Actually, we're here on a mission."
"A...a mission?"
Marcy glanced in back of her, above her- all around. Claire immediately knew who whe was looking for.
"It's Umbrella, isn't it?"
Leon nodded and gently spoke again.
"Yea..."
Claire quickly attached the the lid onto the surviving tea.
"Well, then, we can't talk about it here. Come on..."
Turning to the now-intrigued Marcy, Leon motioned with his hand as he followed Claire to the exit of the 7-11.
"Let's go."
* * * * * * *
"I work for an underground anti-Umbrella organization... it's been nearly 8 months since I've joined. Marcy is from another branch of the organization."
"This is actually my first field experience,"chirped Marcy. "I usually stay at the base gathering information, hacking- stuff like that."
A pensive Chris stared out of the apartment's window into the night sky. It was heavily polluted with light from all of the surrounding signs. He hadn't spoken a word since Leon started explaining his organization and it's goals. The mission that he and Marcy were on- it was a risky one. He could just tell by the way the former cop and his partner spoke. Leon continued...
"...so we've been given this small window of oppurtunity. This mission is key to bringing down Umbrella and combatting them with less risk."
Reaching into his back pocket, Leon pulled out a small, fold-up map of Long Island (author's note: that's where I live..it's right next to NYC just in case you didn't know [pic] ). Pointing to a circled point on the map, Leon explained even further.
"Right here is the location of one of Umbrella's 'secret' lab facilities-"
Claire immediately recognized the area he was pointing to. "Leon, that's not an Umbrella lab... that's Stonybrook University. You know, a college? With students and teachers? I have a few friends that go there."
He didn't answer. Jill couldn't believe what he was saying.
"Leon, you don't mean-"
"Yes, I do. Umbrella is using the college's advanced laboratory technology for it's ,ahem, 'research and development.'"
"Those bastards," Claire whispered under her breath, "haven't they done enough damage in Raccoon?! When will it stop!?"
"It won't."
All eyes turned to Marcy, who stood silent until now. She slowly stepped next to Leon. He still had the crumpled map in his hand.
"It won't stop...that's why we have to do something about it."
Looking right into her determined eyes, Claire could see Marcy wasn't in this as a service to somebody else. No, she was in this as a result of her own decision. Behind the determination, though, Claire sensed something else- something that went deeper. A while back when she was still searching for Chris, Claire had seen this same look in her own eyes when she looked into the mirror.
"She's been hurt by Umbrella...and badly..."
"Leon and I were instructed to hack into Stonybrook's computer system, upload any security codes, and find the exact location of the lab on the campus."
Jill shook her head in disbelief. "This has gone too far. Leave it to Umbrella to use a college campus as it's cover-up."
Marcy paused before continuing. "After we gather any information we need- and do it, hopefully, without being caught- our main objective is to infiltrate the lab."
Her last sentence grabbed Chris' attention. "Infiltrate the lab?"
Claire knew her brother was referring to her own unsuccessful actions when she snuck into Umbrella's HQ in Europe.
"Infiltrate the lab, you said? That's a lot easier said than done."
"Mr. Redfield," Marcy calmly retorted,"we are fully aware that dealing with Umbrella is, excuse the understatement, not a simple task. This mission won't leave us wandering the facility- we need to get in, complete our objective, and get out."
Chris grew even more suspicious by the minute. "And, what exactly is your "Mission Objective," may I ask?"
That sarcastice tone in his voice- Claire couldn't stand it. Why can't he see they are on the same side as him?
"The objective, Mr.Redfield, is to retrieve several samples of the T- Virus anti-virus serum. According to our knowledge, Umbrella originally developed the anti-virus as this location." All eyes were on Marcy. "With the anti-virus not only will we have a way to deal with infection, we'll be able to conduct our own research. Commander Brady said it was even possible to develop a stronger weapon designed specifically to deal with T- Virus infected organisms."
"What about you?"
Claire glanced at her brother.
"Me?"
"Yes, you, Marcy. What do you personally have to do with Umbrella? I'm going to assume you must care if you're willing to risk your life for your cause."
Even Jill was fed up with Chris' attitude. "Chris-"
"Ms. Valentine, it's fine. If you must know, I personally would like to see Umbrella destroyed- nothing more than a pile of rubble where it's conglomerate forces once stood. We'll have proof, providing this mission works out."
"Why?"
Leon exchanged glances with an extremely agitated Claire. "Chris, that's eno-"
"They killed my sister. They stole her from me...and as far as I know, they've killed my brother, as well."
"killed her sister...and probably her brother, as well..."
This frail-looking girl that stoof before them was probably stronger than all four of them put together. She had just revealed to them the source of her will and determination and her horrible past experience with Umbrella, and yet there she stood- much calmer than the rest of them. Chris' demanding attitude switched to that of a more brotherly one. "Marcy...look, I'm sorry..."
"Don't pity me...I don't feel sorry for myself. You shouldn't either."
"Killed her sister...brother is missing..."
"Marcy, I'm not pitying you...I just- I wish we could help. We need to keep a low profile for now until the rest of our team is assembled."
"No," Claire's mind screamed, "No- he can't be serious..."
"Chris, this is our chance! Me wanting to go out, running into Leon, bringing him back here with Marcy- it's a sign! We have to-"
"I'm sorry, Claire." Chris was just as anxious as his sister, but he couldn't reveal himself to Umbrella- not yet. "We need to meet up with Rebecca and Barry, first."
Shaking her head, Claire snapped back at her brother. "Do you even know how stupid you sound!? W're so close!"
Enough. Chris couldn't take this anymore. "Claire, we'll discuss this tomorrow...good night. Leon, Marcy- it was nice to meet you both."
Without another word, he disappeared into his room. Claire heard the click of his door's lock.