6 months earlier shortly after Claire's capture….
The cellar was damp and smelled of mold. The lights barely worked when you turned them on. That was probably the reason why nobody liked going down there. But it was the only way you could get down and change the fuses in the breaker box. There was no telling what nasty, creepy and crawly things you would find down there if you actually had a full working bright light. But, it was best that nobody thought of it when they were down there. As you walked down the wooden steps, the boards would creek and crack, which was not unlikely for old stairs like these, but still, they made one feel like you would fall through any second.
The door to the cellar opened and the thud of footsteps came slowly treading down the stairs. The person flipped the switch at the bottom of the stairs and the lights flickered on dimly. Continuing forward, the shadow of the person could be seen on the walls just barely and one could make out the shapely and sexy figure of a female as she turned the corner slowly. She stopped in front of a metal box and opened it. Rebecaa Chambers, former member of S.T.A.R.S. was standing there with a flashlight, looking at the panel. She felt something land in her hair and she quickly brushed it off.
"I hate this place." She exclaimed as she turned her attention back to the circuit breaker. She followed the chart down to the correct breaker and pulled out a fuse. She then, after reaching into her pants pocket, placed the new one in and turned the switch in the on position. Up above her she could hear joyous applause coming from everywhere as she shut the panel door and turned back around. Just as she turned around she screamed as she came face to face with an attractive, but rather inebriated gentleman.
"AH!" She yelled. "Dammit, Randy! You know you aren't allowed down here!" she finished as she caught her breath.
"But, I thought you wanted me to follow you down here. You know, for a little…alone time?" Randy said as he let out a small burp. Rebecca just stared at him and made a face.
"You're drunk. You reek of booze. Go back upstairs and drink some water." She said to him as she pointed towards the stairs and quickly took off towards them herself. She made her way back up the stairs, followed quickly by Randy and then shut the door as he walked back out down the hall and into the bar. Rebecca stopped by a window and looked out that rain that was pouring down.
"Cow peein' on a flat rock." She said jokingly as she turned back around and walked to the bar.
The bar was filled to the brim with people. At one end, there was a table of people, who were downing pitchers of beer as fast as the server could bring them. They were chanting and yelling, enjoying there evening after a long drawn out city-league basketball game. Off to there right, a couple were happily selecting songs from the old beat up jukebox. It had seen its wear and tear. Then again, if you constantly had beer and booze spilled all over you, bottles broken against your side and people thrown into you, you wouldn't look too good either. Down at the other end, people were enjoying games of pool and darts. But at one table, sat a group of 3 people, 2 females and one male. They were talking rather quietly and motioned for Rebecca to come over to there table for a few minutes. She gladly obliged, stopping by the counter to pick up a few glasses of beer. She stopped at the table in the midst of the patrons conversation.
"How long has it been?" asked one female.
"Almost 3 weeks." Answered the other.
"Still no sign nor word from her. I'm starting to get really worried. It isn't like her to just dissapear like that." The male said.
"Don't worry Chris," Jill said. "She's probably just wanting some alone time. God knows how long it's been since she has seen Leon." She finished.
Jill just looked at Chris and then at Sherry who was trying to hide a blushing face. Chris looked over at Sherry, who was nursing her beer and smiled. Sherry was still single. She hadn't had a relationship in a long time and he could see the way she looked at him. He knew she was into him, no matter how much older he was then her. "Christ," he thought to himself, "she's old enough. She's 25, she knows what she wants. It isn't like I'm old enough to be her father." He would tell himself any time he would catch her looking at him.
"Rebecca, have you heard anything?" Jill asked.
"No. In fact, this is the first I have seen of you three in about the same time. You really shouldn't be strangers around here you know." Rebecca said as she sat down next to Jill.
"It's not like we haven't been wanting to come here. It's just that…" Chris paused.
"It's just that, when she turned up missing, we weren't sure if it was safe to be seen again." Sherry finished for him.
"You still don't think she was taken do you? Because, I highly doubt that after everything we have been through, it isn't possible." Rebecca said firmly.
"You do realize that we were blamed for the murder of Senator Denton right?" Jill said staring at Rebecca with piercing eyes.
"No, radicals were blamed for his murder." Rebecca said, getting up.
"Then what are we?" Sherry asked her.
"Ex-militia." Rebecca answered as she walked back to her bar and behind the counter.
The night was winding down and people were slowly shifting out after Rebecca announced last call at 2:15. The last person, other than Rebecca's friends still in the building was Randy. He was just sitting at his table, alone. This wasn't uncommon for him. He had been coming into Steve's Bar ever since it opened. Well, ever since he saw that the owner was an attractive female, who happened to be an ex-cop. Just about every night he would come in, sometimes just to sit and visit with some of the regulars without drinking. Some nights, he would come in and have way too many and begin to constantly beg Rebecca to let him take her out. Even through all the declined invitations, he kept at it hoping that one day, she would eventually crack.
"Ok lover boy, time to go." Rebecca said to him as she started to take away the empty bottles from his table.
"Oh c'mon, Becca, just one more? Please? For the road." He stammered
"I think you have had enough for tonight." She said helping him up and towards the door. She put his arm around her and walked him to the door slowly. She was careful not to bump him into the other tables and the pool tables. She finally got him to the door and with her other free hand, flipped the open sign off and then opened the door for him.
"You didn't drive tonight did you Randy?" She asked him.
"No dear, I walked." He said.
"Good, now listen, go home, get some rest. I will see you tomorrow." She said to him.
"Ok …" he started, cutting himself off quickly to let out a small hiccup. "then we can talk about that date." He finished.
"Just get some rest. I will think about it." Rebecca said to him as he walked out the door, stumbling. As soon as she watched him turn the corner in the rain she quickly shut the door and locked it. She pushed a couple chairs up against the door and walked back over to the three people still left in the bar. She stopped to bring a few more bottles of beer over and sat down.
"Ok listen, I've been thinking," she started, "what if she was kidnapped?" she asked.
"Becca, if she was kidnapped, then there would be a way of telling." Sherry said lazily.
"Not necessarily. Did she ever say her supposed informant was?"
"No" Chris said. "But she knew the dangers of going alone to that abandoned facility. Shit, I was amazed to see that Seattle even had an Umbrella facility." He finished as he took a swig of his beer.
"It wasn't open for very long. It was closed just shortly after the Raccoon City was destroyed and the President went public cutting Umbrella's threads." Jill said.
"You don't think that Leon knew anything about it did you?" Rebecca asked as she lit up a cigarette. In fact, it wasn't just her that lit one up. Jill and Chris both lit one up. Sherry was the only one that didn't smoke. She was the only one with any brains, at least that was what she had been told by Claire.
"If Leon knew something, surely he would have said something." Sherry said, as she waved some of the smoke from her face. "Besides, nobody has been able to get in touch with him since we last saw him. He is rather busy." She added.
"It just seems too strange. Senator Denton found dead in the abandon facility, Claire's informant, her missing. Senator Denton was a big supporter of Bio-technology and then he is found dead? It just doesn't add up at all." Chris said as he put his smoke out.
The three of them sat in silence for the next few minutes as they finished their beer. Occasionally, Rebecca would bring up other theories of what she thought might have happened. They all had a good laugh when she said she thought she and Leon went off to Vegas to elope. They talked long into the rest of the evening and into the early morning hours as they all worked together to restock the bar and clean it up. It wasn't until 4 when they finally got everything finished and all headed off home. Sherry and Rebecca were in one car and Chris and Jill followed behind them as they headed home to rest and hear word from their missing compatriot.
6 months later…
"Leon, the director will see you now." Said the secretary as she put down her phone.
Leon Kennedy quickly stood up and walked into the doors in front of him. He shut them and was greeted by the director of the CIA, Steven Dawson and the Vice President, Roger Timbel. Both men stood up and rushed over to greet him.
"Leon, nice to see you again. Hope the wait wasn't too long." Dawson said as he stuck out his hand.
"No, not too long. Could've waited longer." He replied as he shook back.
"I trust you know Vice President Timbel?" said Dawson.
"We've met." Leon said as he shook hands with the Vice President.
"Mr. Kennedy. Nice to see you again. Why don't you go ahead and have a seat. Can't say how grateful the president and his family are of your actions a few years ago." Vice President Timbel said rushingly.
"My services were required and I did my job." Leon replied harshly. He stared at the man who set him into the hell hole that was Europe. He was not happy with him for this. Of course the orders came directly from the President, but it was the Vice President that handed them to Leon and warned him not to try anything funny. "Who does this guy think I am? A traitor?" Leon had remember saying when he left the building to get on his plane.
"Right. Well we have some business to attend to and we thought you might be able to give us some of your insight and possibly your assistance." Timbel said to him.
"Ok, but I am not quite sure I can be of any help really. I still don't know why I was called in on my day off. In full dress no less." Leon said snidely. He remembered it perfectly. Home from a long day of work following the President's daughter around, her personal bodyguard, constantly for 12 hours. Then sitting down to have a few beers and finally a good night of rest. He had not planned on getting up for anything. Until a phone call on his cell phone woke him up at 6:30 and told him to be there in 2 hours. Then having to wait another hour just for some stupid meeting in which his service was required? Talk about a shitty day off.
"Leon, what do you know about Umbrella?" The Vice President asked. This hit Leon from out of left field and he was dumbstruck. It was obvious because it took him a second to respond.
"Umbrella, sir?" He asked, just to make sure he was correct in what he thought he heard.
"Yes, Umbrella. What do you know about them?" Timbel asked again.
"Sir, not to be rude, but have you read my file?" Leon asked him.
"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Kennedy here was one of the survivors of the Raccoon City fallout in 1998. He was a rookie cop, first day on the force." Dawson interjected. "He has since moved on from that experience as you well know." Dawson added.
"I understand that. Then he must also know that Umbrella is no more." The Vice President said as he looked back over to Leon.
"Yes sir, I do. Happened just a few years after the city was eradicated by the President. There were some radicallistic movements shortly after the city was destroyed, trying to expose Umbrella and the United States government in some sort of conspiracy." Leon said. He still hadn't figured out why the Vice President was asking him about Umbrella. They were no more. At least he thought they were no more. Nothing had become of them since. The next thought that crossed his mind was Claire and everyone else's safety. He still hadn't let anyone know where they were. He was going to keep that secret with him to the grave. He hadn't talked to Claire in almost six months and still couldn't reach her. He had hoped that Jill or Chris might have tried to contact him, but, every time he tried to get through to them, he couldn't.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking," Leon started, "but what exactly is going on? What does this all have to do with me?" He finished.
"Leon, we seem to be having a little problem here." Dawson said. "Do you know anyone named Clinton Portis?"
"No sir. The name doesn't ring a bell." Leon answered still confused. "Is it someone of importance?" he asked this time to the Vice President.
"Well, yes and no. You see Leon, Clinton Portis is an ex CIA field agent. 3 years ago, he was on assignment in Chicago, assisting with a supposed terrorist cell and vanished. Nobody has seen him since. Then all of a sudden, last Sunday, a man by the name of Clinton Portis, flashed is ID badge at a receptionist for clearance to see a patient at some mental hospital in Seattle. Perhaps you know her, Claire Redfield?" The Vice President had struck a nerve with Leon. He knew he had. He could instantly tell by the Leon's blank and ghost faced stare.
This explained why he wasn't able to get a hole of Claire. He had hoped nothing bad had happened to her. He hoped she wasn't hurt or dead. He knew that deep down, she wasn't dead, but the fact that she was in some mental hospital wasn't great either. Leon just stared at the wall for a second before directing his attention to the Vice President and Director Dawson. It took him a moment before he could speak. When he did, he cleared his throat.
"What about Claire Redfield?" he asked. He thought it was a dumb question, but it was all he could think of.
"Are you or are you not romantically involved with her?" Timbel asked.
"I don't see what business that is of yours. It's nobody's business what I do in my personal life." Leon snapped.
"Oh you are quite wrong." Timbel replied.
"Leon, just because you have a personal life, doesn't mean the government doesn't keep tabs on its best agents. There is nothing that can be hidden from us when it comes to our own people." Dawson said to him sympathetically.
"Then why couldn't you keep an eye on Portis? Wasn't he some sort of specialist then?" Leon asked now getting furious.
"It's not like we didn't try. But once he disappeared, he dropped off of our radar. We thought he was dead. In fact, he was listed MIA." Dawson said.
"Leon, do you have any idea whey Ms. Redfield would be in a mental hospital? Did she do something wrong." Vice President Timbel asked him. Somehow, Leon knew there was more to this story than what was being said.
"No, she was perfectly healthy." Leon answered without a doubt.
"And you know about the late Senator Denton as well? How about Ms. Redfield supposedly being connected to his murder?" Timbel asked again.
"You know, for someone who thinks he knows a lot about people, you really make shitty small talk." Leon replied smartly.
"Now listen here you little pissant. If you think for one second you can try to throw me for a loop, think again!" Timbel replied hotly.
"Oh yeah, looks like a little loop throwing would do you some good." Leon said as he made a reference to Timbel's portly appearance.
"Why you son of a bit…!" Timbel was cut off by Dawson.
"Now gentleman. Leon, it would be wise to not address the Vice President that way. Mr. Vice President, perhaps you can explain to him where you were going with all of this." Dawson said trying to calm everyone down.
"Yes please. I want to know why the fuck you drug me in here on my day off." Leon shot out.
"You want to know? Fine, listen up cowboy. Clinton Portis, as I stated before seems to have paid your little lover a visit with an unidentifiable male. Seems Portis, drugged her. Got her talk about something. Shortly after that, she went into a seizure. The video tape, showed Portis using some rather, unjustifiable methods to get her to talk. We still aren't sure what she talked about, but we know that the reason she was committed in the first place was because she kept spouting something off about Umbrella being back in business. Add that to the fact that she was found snooping around an abandoned Umbrella building in Seattle and the fact she was found standing over Senator Denton's body. You have yourself something that just reeks of sleaze. Now would you happen to know anything about that? Or has your little rescue mission a few years ago made you mental?" Timbel finished red faced and huffing.
Leon stared at him for a minute. His eyes were wide. Had he not been rational, he might have thought about punching this man's sorry ass in the face. He then directed his attention to Director Dawson who was looking intensively at him, waiting for some sort of an answer.
"No sir. Absolutely no idea." Leon answered matter of factly.
"You wouldn't be lying to me. Would you?" the Vice President asked gazing at him fiercely.
"No sir. I don't know why. I do have a question though. Who was this other person with Portis? Why did nobody talk to him?" Leon asked.
"We aren't sure but we have our speculations. That isn't important right now. What is, is what she told him." He said.
"So what are you asking me to do?" Leon asked. With that, Director Dawson stood up from his desk and walked around to face Leon. He reached behind him and grabbed a file off of his desk and threw it in Leon's lap. Leon didn't waste any time and opened it. Inside were various documents on Clinton Portis, a dossier and a few photos of him as well as a few photos of Claire. There was also CD-Rom disc which was labeled 'Redfield Interrogation'. Leon held it up and then looked at Dawson.
"Effective immediately Leon, you have been reassigned. You leave for Seattle tomorrow morning. You are to find out what Clinton Portis wanted with Ms. Redfield and what she told them. With any luck, since she is still denying the murder of Senator Denton, it might help us find out who may have really did it. Also, we want you to find out why she was snooping around the Umbrella facility in Seattle. This is strictly confidential. Not a word to anyone. You report to only myself or the Vice President. No back up. Sort of black ops, hush, hush, if you get my drift. Do you understand?" Dawson finished staring back down at Leon through his bifocals.
"Yes sir." Leon started, "But I don't understand what you are hoping to find." He finished.
"Just the truth. Something seems to be brewing in the nest pot of Bio-Chemical Engineering. Plus with President Graham being up for reelection this year, we don't need any other incidents." The Vice President responded as he stood up. Leon stood up as well and turned around to leave the room, but was quickly stopped by Timbel's pudgy hand on his shoulder.
"Leon, I trust you will be extremely professional in this matter and not let your personal feelings for Ms. Redfield get in the way. Think of it this way, she's expendable after you get what you need from her. If she causes problems, take care of the situation. No ands, ifs or buts. Understood?" he said to Leon sternly.
"Are you asking me to kill my girlfriend when this is all over?" Leon asked as he started to get pissed off again.
"No son. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you." He replied as he took his hand off Leon's shoulder and sat back down.
Leon headed for the door and left the office. He made his way out of the building thinking about everything he had just heard. Did Claire really kill Senator Denton? Why was she still snooping around in an Umbrella facility? Why was she still chasing after something that was no more? What did she tell Clinton Portis and who the hell is he and what the hell did he do to her? Who the hell was this other unidentifiable male that was watching all of this? Leon had way to many questions he wanted answered and somehow knew, that with this assignment, it was going to turn out with only one possible solution; someone isn't going to make it out of this alive.