7. Leon

Leon had watched Claire like a caring friend the whole night. The woman had fallen asleep so fast that Leon knew she was exhausted. He let the woman rest on his lap, and he found his eyes wandering absently to her face.

She looked pale under the dim light, and her auburn-hair locks fell lazily over her face. Leon pushed one behind her ear, and she barely moved under the light touch.

Leon froze, fearing that he had awoken her, but the woman continued to sleep quietly.

"You must be truly tired if you let your defenses down like this," Leon whispered with a smirk.

It was not the first time that they shared sleeping quarters. During the early months after the Racoon City incident, Leon, Claire, and Sherry had stayed together. The trio had remained hidden, fearing that Umbrella would try to catch them. In those days, Claire and Leon alternated their guarding duties, and he remembered that the woman was a very light sleeper. The slightest sound would send her on her feet and ready to shoot. He had found that cute and admirable.

Tonight, however, Claire was sleeping soundly, and not even his touch had woken her. He was not sure if he should feel concerned or happy that she felt safe enough to rest with him.

After some hours, he tried waking her up, as he had promised. Claire woke up when he shook her, but she soon fell asleep again, and he did not have the heart to wake her again.

Claire did not look too happy when she found out he had not woken her, but she forgave him after he explained what had happened. They left the cottage and walked through the forest. The casual chat was helping them both to stay calm, but he had not expected the conversation to turn to the subject of her luck with men.

Claire was a beautiful woman; she was not like other girls. She had grown with Chris, so she was not the sort of a woman to lay low waiting for the prince in shining armor to come to her rescue. No, Claire was the kind of girl to save herself. She knew how to stand her ground, and some men would feel intimidated by that. In his personal opinion, that was just what he had found so attractive in her.

Claire was a strong woman, and that was appealing. If someone was not able to see that, well, that bastard certainly was an idiot. When the conversation turned about him and Ada, he quickly brushed it off.

He and Ada had a complicated relationship. There was an attraction, but he doubted there was anything beyond that. When Claire pinpointed the group of Plagas infected, Leon chose to take cover behind the bushes. They were not hard to handle, but he did not have infinite ammo, and he did not want to waste them without reason.

"I think the wisest move now is to avoid conflict unless it is necessary," Leon said.

"I am with you with that. You'll want to save your bullets for the big ones," Claire nodded, looking at him.

"Big ones?" Leon asked with a frown.

"Yeah, nasty things. They took me by surprise yesterday, and I blew up the town in panic. The explosion was a little bigger than I thought, but well, I was desperate, and I wasn't thinking clearly."

Leon looked at the woman feeling a bit guilty. He had seen the woman's condition the night before. She could barely stand, and Leon hated imagining her facing those monsters. He was somehow amazed that she had managed to come out alive.

You never stop surprising me.

"I didn't meet any last night," Leon said, "but I trust your word, any idea of what it is?"

"Nope. I've never seen anything like it. I dare say it might be a new strain. I guess we get the privilege to test them."

"What an honor," Leon said sarcastically.

Leon looked around them. Considering the situation, they needed a plan to survive. The first thing they needed was knowing their surroundings. Usually, he could count on Hunnigan's assistance in these cases, but she was out of reach, which meant they would have to do it the old way.

Leon noticed a rocky formation in the distance. It was probably high enough for them to look around.

"Alright, so plan. We need to figure out the terrain, so I think we should try to find a good vantage point to look at what we are facing. There's a rocky cliff in that direction, do you see it?"

"Yup, I do."

"I hope you are in the mood for hiking."

"Leon, if you know me the way you say you do, you'll know I'll never be in the mood for hiking."

"But I'll do what I've got to do."

"That's the spirit," he said, "Don't worry. I can carry you if you get tired."

"Excuse you. I might dislike hikes, but I don't need anyone to carry me."

"Of course. It's nice to see that good old Claire is still there."

"The old Claire has always been here," she said, winking at him. "Just improved..."

Leon let out a soft chuckle. He was glad that Claire's humor was still there. He loved that part of her. How she could make things look less grim with a funny comment or two. Her manners had become more mature, and perhaps, a little reserved, but she was still herself; sweet and lovely Claire. He could not ask for a better partner in the current situation.

Leon took the lead mainly because he wanted to ensure Claire's safety. The woman assured him that she was ok, but her appearance said otherwise. She was too pale, and the hesitance of her steps did not go unnoticed to his watchful eye. Claire was coherent. He could scratch out any head damage due to the concussion, but there could be other injuries that he had not noticed. He would need to check in their next stop.

"Strange..."

Leon stopped for a moment, looking around. He listened but heard nothing more than birds and the whistle of the wind through the woods.

"I expected more hostiles, but we've barely encountered some Plagas infected. Don't you find it odd?"

He saw Claire look around them as well.

"Well, it is a very different scenario from last night," Claire agreed, "Perhaps they are more active at night."

"That's not a common trait when it comes to Plagas, but you might be right," Leon reasoned, "Well, then maybe we should restrict our moves to daytime. It might slow us down, but between speed and safety, I vouch for the latter. Especially if there's limited ammo in the equation."

Making stops during the night and limiting their moves to the day would make them lose some time, but he had reasons to prefer to go slower this time. Claire could use the rest breaks.

"Yeah, that might be the best," she sighed.

"Don't worry. We'll make it out of this one."

"Yeah, I know," she nodded, "Leon..."

"Yeah?"

Leon looked at her. Her cerulean eyes locked with his. They were the same blue eyes he'd met that night in Raccoon, but for some odd reason, there was something different in them now.

"Thank you."

That caught Leon by surprise. A thank you was not something he expected to hear from her now.

"What for?" he asked, confused by the sudden thank you.

"Eh, well. I don't know. For being here now, I mean," Claire said shyly, "I suppose it was hard to reach me, and you didn't have to, yet...you are here."

So that was what she meant. Leon did not know why she felt like she had to thank him. They were friends, and he would have never let the terrorist take her like that.

"Don't be silly," he said, "You don't need to thank me for that. If it hadn't been me, it would have been your brother, but neither of us would let them take you away so easily."

Claire smiled.

"Yeah, you might be right."

Leon snorted. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. Claire was silly to be thanking him for something as simple as that. She was cute without even noticing it, and that thought made him remember something that had been bothering since all began. Why were those bioterrorists after her?"

"I wanted to ask you," he said as they began to walk again, "Do you have any idea of what they would want to kidnap you?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," she sighed. "I receive a lot of hate mail, so maybe it is someone who holds a grudge against me. I don't know. It could be someone targeting Chris, too. Both of us have rubbed some people the wrong way for a while."

That was an understatement, especially if they were talking about Chris Redfield. Leon could easily list all of the people who were plotting any possible revenge on Chris, but Claire was different. Even though Claire worked as hard as he and Chris did to fight bioterrorism, she was a lot more discreet. Claire kept her name as low profile as possible, but she was a Redfield, and the family reputation preceded her.

They reached the base of the cliff, and Leon let out a displeased sigh. It was practically a 90° vertical climb up. Even with equipment, the climb-up was dangerous. Now, without equipment, the climb-up was technically suicide.

Leon could probably handle it, but he feared for Claire.

"Well, I guess that will be an intense hike," Claire sighed, looking at him.

Leon smiled at her. He looked around, trying to find an alternate route, but he found none.

"Don't look at me like that, Leon," Claire said. "I can tell what you are thinking. I am fine. I can do it."

Leon disagreed, but he knew Claire, and if she had something in common with her brother, it was her stubbornness.

"Look, I know you can, but it is still dangerous. So I want you in front, in case you fall, I can catch you."

Leon knew that Claire was not happy with the arrangement, but she accepted and did as Leon asked her. Leon helped Claire up the cliff, and he made sure she had a good grip on the rock before following her up. The climb was not easy, even for someone with the physical condition that Leon had. He watched her back carefully as they ascended.

When they finally reached the top, Claire left herself fall on the grass gasping for air. He could see the sweat drops forming over her unusually pale skin, and he kneeled by her side.

"Are you ok?" Leon asked, rubbing her back.

"Barely," she smiled, "I hate hiking..."

"Yeah, sorry that I made you go through that."

Leon smiled apologetically. He stood up and looked around. At least their effort had not been in vain. The cliff gave them a clear view of their surroundings, but they only saw trees, kilometers, and kilometers of trees and greenery.

"Well, at least it isn't an island this time," Claire signed by his side.

Leon frowned.

Think, Leon. This time it isn't only your ass you are trying to keep alive. You must get Claire home safely.

Leon snorted. If Claire could hear his thoughts, she would be mad.

"Hey, Leon. Look over there!"

Claire's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The woman was pulling his arm and motioning her head at something behind them. The agent looked back and immediately understood.

There was something that stood amidst the leafy sea of forest, and its shape reminded him oddly of a tower.

"Why aren't I surprised?" he said bitterly.

"Looks like trouble, but it might be a good place to start."

"Guess we won't know until we check."

"Yeah, and that usually leads us to more monsters."

"I am sure you are used to that already," Claire smiled, patting his back. "Judging by the sun, it is almost noon. If we are planning to stop for the night, we should think of looking for a place to hide, and maybe something to eat and water."

"Luckily for us, we are in a forest. There should be a water source nearby, and how good are you in botany again?"

"Good enough to not poison you. I'll keep my eyes open for eatables."

He smirked at her comment. Claire was simply adorable sometimes.

"Ok, let's go then."