New Horizons, XII
By: Hotaru

Warnings: Steve bashing, strong language, RE: Code Veronica spoilers


~^~


"Aw, they're so in love." Claire said with a sigh, as she watched Chris and Jill.
"What makes you say that?" Leon questioned, drawing circles in the sand.
"It's so obvious. Chris is infatuated with her, but can't get it out and make it be known. Poor Jill is totally clueless."
"Oh really. Why don't you just see if she likes him?"
"What for?"
"Well if she does then all of Chris' noble efforts won't be in vain, right?"


Claire shrugged and removed a pointy stick from Katie's hands, and threw it to the side. "So how are you feeling?" Leon asked. Claire shrugged again. "I know I don't want to lapse back into how I was the other day..but I guess I'm okay now." She replied after awhile. Leon reached for one of her hands and held it tightly. "I'm really sorry about all that shit Steve said." He apologized.
"You have no reason to be sorry. It's my fault for ever falling for him in the first place." She replied, feeling slightly nervous.
"Don't ever say it's your fault! He's the jackass; he's the liar, not you! Don't ever punish yourself for the things that happened to you." Leon said intently.

A fistful of sand was thrown in Leon's face. "Katie!" Claire exclaimed, grabbing her daughter's hands. Leon dusted the sand from his face and rubbed his eye irritatedly. "Dammit, I'm sorry. I should have realized this would happen sooner or later." Claire apologized, standing up and pulling Katie, who found the whole situation hilarious, out of the sand box. Leon staggered towards the water-fountain Jill and Chris were at just minutes earlier and flushed out his eye. Frowning slightly, Claire took Katie over by the swings. "What happened?" Chris asked. Claire sighed and put Katie in a baby swing and started pushing her.

"Katie thought it was totally imminent that she throw a handful of sand in Leon's face." She replied, as Leon headed over towards then. Jill muffled a giggle. "You alright?" Claire asked, as Leon sat on one of those swings that has two seats facing one another. He nodded, and rubbed his eye again. "Hey Chris, wanna go feed the ducks?" Jill asked suddenly. Leon resisted the urge to smirk, and Chris nodded. "Sure, if you want." He said.

He and Jill went off towards the pond, leaving Claire and Leon alone again. "So when do you think you'll be going back to work?" Claire asked. Leon shrugged. "It's up to you. Do you feel well enough to be by yourself?" he asked, moving to a swing closer to Claire.

"Yeah, I guess so. I know my brother and Jill are eager about going back to work, and I'm sure you are too. I don't want to make anyone upset about wanting them to stay longer." She replied.
"I'll stay as long as you want me to. Besides, I can always work nights if I start to run out of cash." Leon remarked.
"But then you'd sleep during the day. It'd be as if you were working days anyway."
"That's true. But it's all up to you."
"No, it's up to you." Claire insisted, "You're the one housing four times as many people as you were a month ago, and you're the one paying for everything. It shouldn't be my decision."
"Sheesh, I didn't know you felt so strongly about it."
"Well, I'm so used to accommodating other people that I don't care how it affects me. So don't worry about it."
"Claire…"

Claire pulled Katie from the swing, and started walking nowhere in particular. "Claire, wait! Come on, what's the matter now?" Leon called, the chains of the swing clicking together as his weight was lifted. Instead of letting Leon catch up to her, Claire started to run. /Dammit! What's she doing now?!/ Leon wondered, starting to run after her. The trees began to thicken, and Leon lost sight of Claire. "Shit." He muttered, coming to a halt and leaning against a tree. After catching his breath, he began to look around.

A little while later, he arrived at the lake. Looking around, he spotted Jill and Chris on a bridge that was over the water. "Hey guys..?" Leon called, jogging over to meet them. "Hey Leon. What's the matter?" Jill questioned. Leon sighed and wiped his brow.
"I don't know where Claire is." He reported. Chris muttered a "dammit", and began to look around nervously.
"Where was she the last you saw her?" He asked worriedly.
"We were by the playground, and I guess I made her mad at me, and she started to run away into the woods. Do you think she's around here?" Leon explained.

Jill looked around, and caught sight of the rowboats. "Maybe she's down there?" She suggested. The trio marched on, and were relieved to find Claire and Katie waiting impatiently.
"Come on, hurry up!" Claire whined, jumping into a boat.
"Claire, what are you doing!?" Chris asked. Jill pulled him into a boat, after paying the boatman of course.
"Come on Chris! I haven't ridden on these since I was a kid. It'll be fun!" she urged. Chris groaned and pulled a life jacket on.

"Chris has always been wary of water. Such a baby, ain't he?" Claire explained as the boatman pushed them further onto the lake. "Shut up! I am not!" Chris retorted, pedaling the small watercraft. At first, the two boats stayed together, occasionally bumping into one another, or splashing the passengers. But Chris and Jill's boat turned around and headed to where all the ducklings and swans awaited their daily bread crumbs.

Leon and Claire stopped pedaling briefly and let the water current move the boat. "You know, you really scared me back there." Leon said, squinting at the bright sunlight.
"Oh, pssht. I know I never would have gotten you or Chris to agree to go on the boats unless I did something drastic. But see, isn't this nice?" Claire replied, leaning back in the plastic chair.
"Yeah I guess.." Leon replied, trying to ignore the sun that beat down behind them.

"Should I get a job?" Claire wondered out loud.
"A job?" Leon repeated.
"Yeah. I haven't worked in so long. I wonder if I still have any skills."
"I'm sure you do. What was it you did, exactly?"
"Well…I was a mechanic for a hot minute, but the fumes and men just drove me crazy. Then I was sucked into going to schools and doing crafts and stuff."
"Yeah?"
"Mm-hmm. Went to summer camp with the kids, and eventually I was a group leader so to speak. But that all ended."
"You want to do that again?"

Claire sighed deeply. "No." She admitted, letting her fingers dip into the water. "I don't think I could handle all of that again. Back then…I was different. Energetic and eager."
"What's changed since then?" Leon questioned.
"What do you think?! Do you honestly believe that I could spend my summers with teen-aged boys again?! Back then, the flirting was fine and even fun but I'd have to resist the urge to beat them down if that happened!"

The boat rocked slightly at Claire's outburst. "Okay, okay, calm down! I'm not a mind reader, Claire, I don't know what happened back then. You barely tell me anything." Leon said angrily. Claire crossed her arms.
"I'll tell you when I feel up to telling you." She retorted
Leon turned to the side and crossed his arms as well. "Look, if not knowing is upsetting you this much, then I'll just tell you." Claire said exasperatedly. Leon turned to her and put his arm on her shoulder.

"No, don't do it like that. I want you to be ready to tell me. I want you to want to tell me." He said firmly. Claire shook free of his grasp and looked away. "Well, like I told you before, it all started a few months after Chris and me escaped from Antarctica. He helped my buy a house that had been seized by the government or something. It didn't matter to me, because it was cheap and something I could afford. Chris helped me pay off most of it and I still owe him. But anyway…at first the house was just plain and boring. I figured that there was no point in making it all pretty if I wasn't going to be home a lot, except when I was sleeping. That's how involved in work I was."

"But then one night, it was raining I think, there was a pounding on the front door. I was scared because I've heard strange noises at night on more than one occasion, so I went and got my gun. I pulled the door open…and there he was. Soaking wet, leaning against the wall. He looked…sickly almost, so I let him in and gave him some dry clothes and offered him some dinner. He made himself right at home—watching t.v., raiding the fridge…he really annoyed me those first few days. I actually had started to work on the house, painting and stuff, and there were already stains on the walls. It's a good thing I didn't put any new carpet down or else it would have been ruined. I tried to scold him, and tell him to clean up his messes, but he'd always just…stare at me like I was asking too much. So I gave in and cleaned up after him."

"Pretty soon, he starting making advances on me. I refused of course and told him that I didn't know a damn thing about him, and that nothing would happen between us until he told me how the hell he was alive. But he just…would flop back on the couch and mutter some insult. And one night…I was uh…in my room after we had had an argument and suddenly he was on top of me. I fought him off for as long as I could but I could barely stay awake, he had hit me on the head so much. He had this sick, twisted, maniacal look on his face that made me want to throw up but he was covering my mouth to muffle my screams."

Leon stopped her then, and hugged her tightly. "Okay…it's ok, you don't have to say any more now." He whispered into her hair. Suddenly, something crashed into them from behind. "What in the hell!?" Leon exclaimed, swirling around in his seat.
"Aw, did we interrupt?" Chris taunted.

Claire jerked the control stick thingy-mabob and started pedaling towards the other boat. "Come on Leon! We can't let 'em insult us like that!" She exclaimed, roughly wiping away her tears. Leon grinned and they chased Jill and Chris towards the other end of the lake. "What now, big man?" Claire teased, not allowing the other boat to get past them.

Chris reached into the water and splashed some water on Claire and Leon. "Hey!" Claire screamed, shielding her face from the murky water. In a flash, Chris had shoved the other boat away from his, and was pedaling away. "You bastard! I know where you live!" Leon exclaimed, as the two hurried to turn around.
"I live with you smart-ass!" Chris retorted, pedaling quicker as the other boat came nearer.

~^~

The five returned home, four completely soaked. "Ok, who's gonna shower first?" Leon asked, pulling pond scum from his hair.
"I guess you should since it's your apartment." Claire replied. Leon smiled warmly and shook his head.
"Aw, Claire that's so sweet of you. Why don't you go first?" he offered, gently moving her in the direction of the bathroom. Claire smiled, and scampered off, leaving Jill and Chris with scowls on their faces.

"What an ass-kisser!" Chris remarked, shaking his fist.
"Oh shush! It's obvious why she got to go first, ain't it?" Jill replied.
"Well yes, but…" Chris said slowly before being interrupted by Leon.
"Hey hey hey! What are you talking about!?" Leon questioned, pulling off his soaked shirt.

Jill and Chris smiled innocently. "Tell me!" Leon begged.
"Oh, Leon, don't play stupid. We all know how you feel about her." Jill replied.
"Aw would you cut it out!? God, I already told her that I like her, and I told you too! What's the point in-in-in all of this!?" Leon questioned, stuttering for the first time in a while.
"No, it's not quite that. You're just eager to impress her."

Leon sighed deeply and closed his eyes. "Alright, you should talk, Jill. It's plenty obvious that you're in love with Chris, and yet you go day by day, just acting like—"
"Leon! What the hell are you talking about!?" Jill exclaimed.
"Maybe you should just tell him now, while we're all here." Leon suggested.

Blushing profusely, Chris escaped into the kitchen. Jill raised her eyebrows, and allowed Leon to go into the kitchen. "What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Chris hissed, pacing back and forth. Leon held up his hands defensively.
"I'm just trying to help you two along." He said.
"It isn't helping!! You just embarrassed the shit out of Jill, and she probably thinks that I put you up to it!" Chris retorted.
"Why would she think that?"
"Because! Women just..think like that! She's gonna think that I'm like…some pervert and told you to wrench a confession out of her so that I could…I don't know! Do things a pervert would do!"

Leon shook his head, and put his hand on Chris' shoulder. "You're over-reacting, Chris. Look, I'm gonna take a shower now, and you two can talk this little thing out, ok? I'm sorry if I upset you but it's killing me to see you two apart." He replied honestly.
"It's killing you!? Just…get out of here." Chris replied, waving his hand.

After a while, Chris shuffled into the living room where Jill was standing at the window. "Hey." He said sadly. She looked up, with that look on her face that was just Jill. "What's the matter?" She asked, patting the place next to her on the radiator. Chris slowly walked over and joined her. "I…I don't know. Leon just…well he was being obnoxious." He said, running a nervous hand through his hair.

"Chris, you shouldn't get mad at Leon. He's just trying to play match-maker. He's just like that I guess." Jill replied comfortingly.
"It's not him I'm worried about…I just think that you like…hate me now or something." Chris said so softly, that Jill could barely hear him.
"Me? Hate you? Oh Chris, I can't hate you! You-you- you're just too sweet and caring that I—"
"You what?" Chris asked gruffly.

Jill licked her lips painfully slowly and tilted her head up to meet Chris in a kiss.







TBC