11. Leon

Leon had been half asleep and ready to get up at the slight sign of danger; his years of service had taught him to be always on his toes, and so he had become a very light sleeper. He was used to being awakened by random unpleasant surprises. However, the way he had woken this time made him lose a few years of life-spawn.

There was a loud crack, followed by a soft female groan, and then the cave began shaking like an earthquake. His eyes snapped open, and he was immediately on his fit with his handgun in hand. His eyes quickly scanned the cave. Claire was gone, the cavern entrance's cover laid broken on the ground, and he could hear gunshots coming from outside.

"Shit…" he mumbled, getting his gun and making his way outside.

He expected the usual groans and screams that usually came with Plagas, but instead, the roar he heard chilled his blood.

"Leon S. Kennedy! Don't you dare come out now!" he heard Claire shout at him.

Don't come out? Was she insane? He wasn't going to let her fight whatever that thing was on her own.

Leon reached the entrance and saw the youngest Redfield standing a few meters away from him. Her dark hair was messy and filled with leaves and branches that had gotten stuck after she had rolled on the ground. She had her rifle aimed in his direction, and her expression was a mix of horror and shock.

"Leon, that thing is right over you. If you come out to know, it won't be good..." Claire shouted again, "I'll lure it away! As soon as the path is clear, you can come to give me a hand!"

Like hell, he would. Claire had moved further away, and he waited a couple of minutes for Claire's sign, but as it never came, he gripped his handguns and ran out of the cave as fast he could. What he saw outside was worse than what he'd imagined. The creature wasn't the same they had seen earlier. It was bigger, uglier, and even more threatening. It moved like a human-spider crawling over the surface; just like the others they'd seen so far, the creatures had no features in its face except an over-sized mouth filled with fangs. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of red that he recognized as Claire, running right to him.

"Leon! Thank god, you're outside safely," she gasped.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he examined her under the dim moonlight. She didn't look hurt, and That sent a wave of relief over him.

"I'm fine, but we don't have time for that, Mr. agent. We have an issue here..."

"I noticed...a new friend?"

"Sure...and the bastard isn't leaving me alone without a fight. Want to be a nice friend and help me?"

" What are friends for?"

The fight against the thing was hard, they wasted a lot of ammo, and the beast didn't seem to flinch. The silence of the night got broken with the sound of gunshots, roars, and screams. The creature was strong, and after a few minutes of the fruitless fight, Leon knew that they had little chances to defeat it. They were wasting themselves and precious ammo.

"Shit…" he groaned, putting more ammo in his gun, "This one is no joke. "

"Any plan, Mr. Agent?" Claire gasped, covering him.

Run, that was all he could think at the time. With some luck, they could use the trees and the terrain to their advantage and lose it. Maybe they'd stumble with some of the locals, and that would distract the horrendous thing. It was a high bet, but it was better than wasting ammo and having the thing kill them eventually.

"Let's run. Save the ammo unless it is necessary…"

Claire nodded at him, and both turned around and began running as fast as they could through the woods. They could hear the groans and steps of the monster chasing them, but either of them wanted to stop and see how far it was. Their race came to an abrupt end when they found themselves in front of a high cliff. The only way across was an old hanging bridge that wagged too much for his comfort.

Fuck comfort, Leon thought as he and Claire ran through. The damn thing kept moving and moving, making it hard to advance without tripping and falling into certain death. Either they were caught and killed, or they fell off the cliff and died. None of the options were appealing.

The creature had already caught with them; it seemed to hesitate with the bridge, but Leon knew that its hesitation wouldn't last for long.

"We are almost there, Claire. Hurry."

The woman didn't answer. She was almost breathless when they reached the end of the bridge. The monster was half of it, and without hesitation, Leon pulled out his knife and cut off the ropes. The effect was instantaneous, the bridge broke down under the weight of its horrible body, and they saw, with some relief, how it vanished into the darkness of the cliff.

Well, at least that worked.

Leon checked himself. His wounds were numerous, but all of them were mostly scratches and not life-threatening. He was relieved to see that Claire was in a similar condition. Her clothes had gotten torn in many parts during the struggle. He saw blood on them and several injuries, but, like his, they seemed to be small scratches. However, there was something that still worried Leon. Claire's concussion was already an issue, and he didn't know if the new hits had added more damage.

"Claire…"

She didn't answer as she was catching up her breath with her look completely distant.

"Claire, talk to me," Leon insisted. He needed to evaluate her condition, and talking was one of the simplest ways.

"I'm all right," she replied in a shaky voice that made him frown, "Just a little shocked and breathless. Give me a minute…"

Leon nodded. Her reply seemed reasonable. While Claire was recovering, he decided to scout around for a bit. It was too dark to make out anything, but they needed to find a safe spot for the rest of the night. After that thing's attack, he wasn't in the mood to cross paths with another unfriendly monster. He found a small building a few steps from them that seemed like a storage shack. The door was locked with a chain, but Leon broke them without effort and pushed the door open. The place was small, dusty, and filled with boxes with undistinguishable contents in the darkness. It wasn't pretty nor comfortable, but it looked safe enough, at least until dawn.

The young agent made sure to lock the door before letting himself fall to the cold floor next to Claire; he rested his back against the wall and looked at the redhead on his side. She seemed to be recovering her breath slowly and was busy trying to fix her reddish locks; he could see her shoulders move as she tried to ease the rhythm of her breathing.

"Nice look..." he whispered in a teasing way as he pulled a stick out of the mess of dark locks.

"Haha..." Claire said sarcastically, "I think I lost my hair tie. Just great..."

"I find it nice. You should wear it down more often..."

"You gotta be kidding me..." Claire blurted out. She shook her head and laughed, "We're in a crisis here, and you can still flirt?"

"I am not flirting," Leon chuckled, "Just being honest here..."

Claire shook her hair a little, throwing a bunch of leaves over his lap.

"Don't mock my hair, Mr. Perfect-hair-all-the-time," she snorted while she rubbed her arms, an action that didn't pass unnoticed by his sharp eyes.

Of course, she's cold.

Unlike him, Claire had failed to bring a jacket, and her current outfit wasn't exactly warm. Hughesville had been in the middle of summer, and naturally, Claire had been wearing a casual and fresher attire that didn't suit the cooler weather of their current location.

Claire bent over in a sudden coughing fit, but he could do anything more than rubbing her back in a comforting way.

"Thanks," she said, "I don't know what was that for."

"You're cold…" he commented.

"A little, blame Hughesville for being in summer. I regret leaving my jacket in my office."

"You can have mine then…" he replied, taking off the piece of clothing and putting it over her shoulders.

"You'll be cold now…" she complained, but he noticed the soft hint of gratitude in her voice.

"I'll bear with it."

"You're going to make me feel guilty. At least stay close. We can warm each other."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Don't push it, Kennedy, Chris isn't the only one with a good hook."

Leon laughed. He'd never doubted Claire being a dangerous woman to mess with, but somehow, he felt like teasing Claire was a way to relax, considering their current predicament. Even if she had made herself sound angry, he could feel her body relax by his side.

"Are you okay? You didn't hit your head again when I wasn't looking, did you?"

"I don't think so…" she replied, " Not that hard, at least."

She had laughed at the last statement, but he wasn't weren't dangerous, but if she kept getting hits, that concussion could grow into something worse. Leon felt Claire's head fall on his shoulder, but he was aware that she was still awake.

"Sorry...my headache is killing me. I am starting to feel dizzy again."

"That's fine. You can pay me back with your lap next time."

She laughed, and the sound of her laugh was sort of comforting.

"How long will it take Chris to come? Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying my time with you, but I'd rather do this somewhere without B.O.W's and without a killer migraine piercing my skull."

"I have to admit I'd love that, too. We still need to meet up in normal conditions, Claire."

"I am starting to suspect that the meeting will never happen."

"We will make it happen. Maybe we can grab a bite when we are out of here?"

"That sounds splendid…" she chuckled, but he soon heard her laugh die away. "I am sorry, Leon."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"You shouldn't be here. It was me who these people wanted…"

"Don't be stupid. I am glad that I am here with you. That way, I can make sure that you'll make it home."

"Yeah...of course." she said softly, "Barry still owes me that lunch. I just hope it won't be a sandwich."

Leon snorted. He had heard about that inside joke from Claire. Barry and his sandwich references were gold.

"You can get it when we return. Oh, and you should treat me for dinner, too. After all this mess, I might deserve it."

"Sure. I can do that…"

"How about some home cooking? Chris was bragging about your amazing cooking skills, and yet I've never tried it before."

"What's Chris doing bragging about my culinary skills?" she sighed, "Well, fine, I will cook for you, but I warn you, don't expect anything too fancy. I haven't cooked in a while."

Their talk about food made him remember how thin she was. Claire hadn't been fat, to begin with, but something about her appearance now was unsettling. She was a little underweighted, or at least that's what he felt. Maybe she had been skipping meals due to work; he just hoped it wasn't something serious.

"Want to sleep?" he whispered.

"Not yet. I need the adrenaline to go down first. We could talk in the meantime. Of course, unless you want to sleep..."

"Nah, talking doesn't sound bad. I don't usually get friendly chatting during missions, but I can't say it isn't a nice change."

"Then tell me about the misadventures of the great agent Kennedy. I bet you get to save tons on damsels in distress each time. You seem to have experience saving my butt."

"I don't think the title damsel in distress and Claire Redfield go well in the same sentence. You are the one saving my ass all the time."

"Maybe years ago, but I can't beat your experience, so...what was your last mission?"

Leon knew that Claire was probably doing casual chatting by asking about his job. She would always do that and avoid the subject of her misadventures. She probably had her reasons to avoid the topic, but he was as curious as she was about what she had done in the last past years, and he probably wouldn't get a chance to talk to her that openly when they got home and her brother hoarding over her.

"It wasn't anything interesting. Just the usual. After the incidents from two years ago, I've only gotten minor tasks."

"It was a tough thing for you, guys. Chris was in bad shape when he came back, physically and mentally. I imagine you were, too. I heard about what happened in Tall Oaks. We lost many of our people there, and I wished we could have done more, but the organization was in chaos at the time, too."

"That's fine. I think I've gotten over it."

It wasn't entirely true, though. Leon hadn't quite gotten over it. He'd had his mourning period, but that didn't mean that the memories didn't hurt. He had lost more things than he could have ever imagined in one single night.

"I am sorry I made you remember that. I can see it still hurts. "

Leon wondered how Claire could see that. He knew the woman was very sharp, and even when she didn't hit the nail all the time, she was usually never too far from it.

"What about you, miss head of branch?"

"Don't sweat it. I didn't want that job to begin with, but after many circumstances, I decided to accept it."

"Got tired of hunting zombies and mutants?"

"Not quite. I just realized how many glitches TerraSave's structure had. It was nothing that I could fix with the power I had at the time, but I could do it if I accepted the role as head of the branch. Power and ranks make a difference. It was tough at first, convincing the higher-ups and everything, but in the end, they all saw the reason behind it, and I think they were pleased with the results."

"Your promotion was a recent thing, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, a little less than a year. My last mission was on an island in South America. Another testing field concocted by Umbrella's remaining lackeys."

Leon remembered hearing something about that. He hadn't read the report, though, but Hunnigan had said something. A group of famous Japanese models had been slaughtered on an island by a viral outbreak and B.O.W's running rampage. He had heard about all the chaos and tragedy it had involved, but Hunnigan never mentioned Claire's name.

"You...were there?"

"Yeah. I got myself in a bad spot and ended up being saved by Parker and the B.S.A.A. Some months after that, I was named head of the NA Branch. I haven't been active in the field since then, but I don't plan to stay like that. As soon as I finish with all the work I've got, I'll be back fieldwork."

He could somehow picture it. Just like Chris, Claire was a person of action and not someone who stayed all day behind a desk signing papers. Leon wondered if it was a family trait and if perhaps their parents had been like that, too.

"It took me a couple of years to see things better. TerraSave needed a change if we wanted the organization to fill the purpose it was created for, helping the people. So far, it wasn't doing such a great job, and it felt a little disappointing. I guess we were all biased and unable to see the breaches we had. It took me a couple of hard hits to come clear with it, and that's how I ended where I am."

"Maybe that is the reason you got targeted," Leon reasoned, "If you were making major changes, some people might have seen you as a threat."

"TerraSave is a salvation organization. We are not a threat to terrorists, like the B.S.A.A or the DSO are. Even with our research, we posed no threat."

"That's enough to them, Claire. Maybe you had something they did not want you to have."

"Maybe? By now, I wouldn't be surprised if we had a traitor on our side. It wouldn't be the first…" she sighed bitterly, "Unfortunately, that is not something I can control. I am not psychic to see what goes into everyone's heads after all, but I've learned my lesson. I won't put my whole trust into people."

Leon was perplexed about that, but he then remembered a report he had read years ago, one concerning Claire and TerraSave. A group of people had gotten abducted during a party and taken to a B.O.W development facility. There had been only three survivors from that incident, among them, Claire. According to the file, the abduction had been orchestrated by a man named Neil Fisher, who was the former head of the NA Branch and Claire's predecessor.

"You wouldn't be referring to the events of Sushestviviane, are you?"

"You got me there. That's why I meant. I can blame it on Neil that I am no longer able to trust people, as Moira likes to point. I cared about him and trusted him with my life, just to get sold to Wesker for a sample of Ouroboros."

Leon caught the bitterness in her words, and he couldn't help but wonder if there had been something more than a mere friendship there, but as he knew Claire, he chose not to ask.

"There are still people you can trust, though."

People like me.

"Yes, I know. Feel proud, Kennedy. You are among the top ones in my list, right next to Chris."

"Do you trust me as much as you trust your brother?"

"Well yeah, who knows if I would be here without you, rookie..."

Claire had suddenly fallen quiet. She seemed to have gotten lost in her thoughts, and unlike Claire, he wasn't that good at reading people, so he had no idea what was going through the woman's mind.

"So...Mr. Agent, what now?"

"Same plan as before. We get to that house, figure out what's going on here, and we leave."

"I don't like being the pessimist here, but what if we find more of my friends there?"

"We can handle it. What's another B.O.W to us? I'll watch your back, and you'll watch mine, that worked pretty well in Raccoon."

"Bet on that. You know I will take a bullet for you."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want that, so you better don't go doing anything crazy, Redfield."

"Goes the same for you."

Leon did not reply. He pulled his mobile from his pocket and began fidgeting with it. Just as Leon expected, the signal was off, which meant he had no means to contact Hunnigan. He managed to pass a small message, but the agent was doubtful if it was clear enough.

"There must be something interfering with the signal."

"Well, guess that shouldn't surprise us. " Claire replied, peeking over his shoulder at the mobile "How's that they didn't take it from you?"

"I guess our terrorist group isn't bright." he replied, pushing the mobile back into his pocket, "You need to rest now."

"Yeah, I'll take that offer…"

Leon felt Claire curl at his side, and it took her a couple of sighs before the woman had fallen deeply asleep. He took a look at her sleeping form and stroked a couple of hair strands from her face. Took what it took, he would bring Claire home safely.