21. Leon

Leon had woken up that morning to the smell of fresh coffee and breakfast, something he had yet to grow used to, but he had no reason to complain. Claire was pacing around the kitchen space, busying herself with preparing the morning meal, and he stood there for a while watching the woman work.

The agent's thoughts had been a little messy over the past few days. On numerous occasions, Leon found himself looking at the woman from afar, paying special attention to her features.

The last three nights living together had allowed him to see different facets of Claire. Some of her mannerisms were familiar, little things that he knew from years of being her friend. Some other things were very Claire, but that he had never had the opportunity to see properly; then, some things were different and too unlike the young Redfield.

He had noticed that the light in Claire's room was usually on. Even late at night, the lights were bright, which meant Claire slept with the lights on. Claire was still terrified of the darkness even though she was in a place where nothing could harm her. He was worried, but he knew that it'd take time to fix some things, especially when he had no way of knowing what she had gone through.

Teasing Claire was not the way to fix things, but he couldn't help but enjoy the flushed and flustered panicked face Claire would do whenever she felt embarrassed. Their little scene in the elevator had served its purpose, now his colleagues knew Claire's relationship with him, and that would keep them away from her. It was a moral code between agents: no flirting with someone else's girl. The farther they were from Claire, the less likely they'd find her out; at least that was what he kept telling himself instead of admitting he was actually annoyed by them flirting at Claire.

The meeting was over almost as fast as it had begun, and with nothing more to interest them, Claire and Leo had left the meeting room quietly. Their next stop would be his office, which would soon become Claire's, too. Hunnigan had arranged for Claire to share offices with him. It was a good plan considering that Claire would practically not use it since she would spend most of her time in her own office in her laboratory, but having her name assigned to an office made it more credible.

"We're sharing offices. None of us will spend much time here anyway," Leon said.

That wasn't a lie, he'd settled in that office the moment he had joined the DSO, and up to the date, Leon used it very little, mostly when he had to write down reports.

"You know...you guys are making me look like the clingy kind of wife...eh…"

Leon smiled at her words. No one would dare to judge Claire as a clingy woman, but Clara was a completely different story.

"As if...as far as I can tell, I am the clingy one…"

"You know that, and I know that...but the rest of the world doesn't know."

"Huh, want me to put a more obvious clingy act?"

"Don't you dare, Leon S. Kennedy. I'm still going to make you pay for that little trick you put on the elevator…"

"Sorry, that came too natural…"

"Natural? What?"

Leon just smiled and guided her through the corridors until they reached a small office. Leon had never bothered to personalize his office, so the place was dull and lifeless. Now that he thought about it, Claire had similarly described his apartment when she had first stepped into it.

"Well, it has a nice view…"

Leon smirked as he picked a couple of folders from his table and turned back to Claire.

"This is a copy of the report on the retrieval of the viral sample that Dr. Chambers was studying. I'm not sure if it'd come in handy, but I thought you might want to have it."

"You know me well." Claire smiled, taking the folder and flipping through it.

Leon shook his head as he watched her look through the papers. The woman's cerulean eyes were scanning through it fast and smooth; the light that came through the window made her look like a beautiful ethereal creature, and the agent had to shake his head to clear his thoughts.

Focus, Leon. What the hell are you doing?

"We'll head to your lab soon, and then, you can start with your nerdy stuff," Leon said. He crossed his arms and leaned casually against the desk.

"Ah, you're calling me a nerd now?" Claire replied, pointing at his chest, "Since you are my clingy husband, who knows...maybe you'll learn something, too."

"Biology was never my best subject…" he replied frankly.

In fact, he had never been much of a science fan. He did well with sports and math, but sciences? It wasn't that he wasn't smart enough. His grades at school were pretty decent, perhaps not enough to reach Claire's level, but he wasn't a bad student. He just never liked sciences.

"You don't have to be a biology lover to learn. I warn you, I'll be spending a lot of time down there, and if you…" she added playfully, "are as clingy as you claim to be, you'll get stuck with me a lot. Which reminds me, I gotta tell Wallace to grant you and Helena access to the lab..."

Leon saw Claire pull out her phone and look at the screen silently. She didn't move and stood there looking at the small device's screen as if in a trance.

The blond agent uncrossed his arms and reached out to caress her shoulder. However, before his fingers could even touch the fabric of her blouse, a modest knock on the door startled them.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

Leon looked at the door where Hunnigan was standing with a curious look.

"Hunnigan...what a surprise. You don't usually come to visit me," he said with a frown.

Hunnigan adjusted her glasses and stood dignified. After so many years of working together, the woman was still excessively cordial when they interacted.

"I made an exception today…" she replied, "I wanted to meet your wife personally. That's all. I am Ingrid Hunnigan, pleased to meet you…"

Hunnigan smiled and extended her hand at Claire. The redheaded was shocked, but she quickly took the operator's hand and shook it politely.

"The pleasure is mine...I believe you already know my name so, I won't introduce myself." she replied, shaking her head, "I've heard much about you. I am glad I finally got to meet you."

"The feelings are mutual. Leon has spoken a lot about you…"

"He has, has he?" Claire asked with a frown.

"Yes, about the many times you have saved him from making a mess, of course."

"Don't we share the credit for that? I know from a trustful source that you have saved his reckless little butt countless times…"

"Look who's talking about recklessness. What happens if I can't shoot it, I blow it up?"

"That's different; reckless is part of my charm…" Claire replied to him with a wink, a gesture that was simply Claire's trademark.

Claire and Hunnigan started chatting like old friends, and even though Leon knew that he was probably the topic of conversation, he could not help but smile.

Claire could socialize easily, compared to her brother, who would usually scare off any attempt of social interaction. Actually, Leon had always suspected that Claire would get on very well with Hunnigan if they ever met, and he found some satisfaction at seeing he hadn't been wrong.

"I believe that, from now on, I, too, will be on your care, Ms. Hunnigan…"

"Please, you can call me Ingrid. Leon is just too stubborn to use my first name."

"Not at all. He is just acting shy…"

Claire giggled, and despite knowing he was getting teased, instead of being annoyed, he felt actually very content. There was something that felt strangely good about having Claire meet his colleagues.

"All I can say...is welcome," Hunnigan said with a friendly smile.

"Thank you."

"So...did you come all the way here just to get acquaintanced with Clara?"

"Technically….yes. " Hunnigan nodded, "I must admit I was curious after certain ... rumor I heard earlier…"

"Rumour?" Leon asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes, some people were commenting about meeting you and your wife in an interesting situation at the elevator this morning…" Hunnigan said, looking at Leon with a frown.

Claire dropped the folder and choked. The agent looked at the woman, and a smirk crossed his face when he saw Claire's panicked face.

"I knew that would spread faster than the C-virus…" Claire said as she picked the folder.

"C-virus?" Hunnigan asked, shocked by the metaphor.

Leon snorted. Only Claire Redfield would have the guts and the humor to compare the situation to a virus outbreak, and he loved that about her.

"Oh, this is your fault" Claire glared at him, "Why are you smiling?"

"Because you're all worked out about this…"

"And why aren't you?"

"If I was concerned about that, I wouldn't have done it in the first place, don't you think?"

"I don't believe you…" Claire moaned.

"Besides… I told you, you look cute when you're flustered…."

"Leon...don't …"

"If I didn't know better.." Hunnigan chuckled, shaking her head, "I'd say you two are in the just married mood…"

Leon chuckled, and he noticed a couple of secretaries outside of his office eavesdropping on their conversation. The blond smiled mischievously; he knew Claire was probably going to be upset, but it was a good opportunity to add fuel to their actuation and see her a little more flustered.

"Alright, sorry about that. Don't get mad…" Leon said apologetically, "I promise you can have your payback when we get home. I am all yours…"

"Leon…you just made that sound so wrong..."

The loud screech that came from outside his office let him know that Claire hadn't been the only one to take his words the wrong way. Claire's face was priceless as she realized what he had just done.

"I think you two should be going now." Hunnigan said, shaking her head, "Helena must be wondering why you two haven't arrived."

"She's waiting for us?"

"Yes, in your laboratory…"

"Well, what are we waiting for, Leon? Let's go, honey." Claire said, grabbing his arm, "Thanks for coming. Pass by our home sometime. We could have a cup of tea or something."

"I'd be delighted…"

"See you later…"

Claire smiled at Hunnigan amiably as she tugged on Leon's arm. The blonde said goodbye to the operator with a hand gesture and walked, away guided by Claire.

Hunnigan watched them go with an amused look,

As he expected, Claire's anger didn't last long. By the time they had reached the car, the woman had most likely forgiven him. Another woman would have quickly accepted his words, but Claire was so immune to his flirting that she wouldn't take him seriously.

They arrived at the lab after 20 min of traffic. The laboratory was hidden in a subterranean structure camouflaged as a small flower shop in the vicinity of the Terra Save HQ building. He knew the place; when he still believed that Claire was dead, he had visited the store often to buy flowers for her memorial.

Leon was impressed with the level of security that the place possessed; It was like a much-improved version of the systems used by Umbrella. But on second thought, he shouldn't have been so surprised; the system had probably been Claire's idea, and with the experience that the woman had infiltrated those laboratories, it was not surprising that the security system was an improved one by far.

"You give me too much credit…" Claire said when he commented about it while she inputted a security code and opened a hidden elevator, "I just made the suggestions. All the security system was Wallace's doing. He might be an extremely awkward guy, but he has his merits. He's a brilliant computer engineer."

"You had a computer engineer as your security guard?"

"Cybersecurity, to be more reasonable, but it was his idea. He didn't want to be in the high post, and he was happy working there with minor stuff. Of course, his primary job was with me," Claire shrugged, "It's good to have him on our side. I am good with lab work, but I suck with computers."

"So what other brilliant people are part of your team? It seems that special gifts are a requirement to get a place in here…"

"We are not a college fraternity, Leon. As long as you have a will to work and morality, you are more than welcome to work with us. Of course, everyone knows the risk that comes with the job."

"I see… so Hiwamura, too, right?"

"Yes, Saya is our medical support. It isn't exactly her major, but she's a wise woman. She is valuable on our team."

"And who else…?"

"Dhriti Sanaya. You'll meet her soon enough. She's an epidemiologist I met some years ago. She's good at tracking epidemic sources…"

"Those are very few members. You have it rough with workloads, I suppose…"

"Nah, we are quite efficient...though we are a peculiar team, I admit. Just think about it: a Biologist, a psychiatrist, an epidemiologist, and a computer engineer…"

"I admit it doesn't sound like a medical research team."

"Well, that works on our side, doesn't it? No one would ever suspect us."

The elevator finally came to a stop, and the doors opened, revealing a long white corridor. The corridor was well lit, and Leon noticed the ultraviolet light lamps positioned strategically along the corridor. The place gave an air of evident sterility.

"Environmental disinfection…" Claire explained as she caught Leon looking at the lamp, "We work with dangerous agents. We need to be quite meticulous with sanitation. Those are dressing rooms. You'll need to get changed and cleaned up before entering or going out. I hope you don't mind…"

Claire led him to a small empty hall. There was nothing in there except two doors with plates, and Claire was currently pointing at the right door.

"Even if I did, it is something that needs to get done."

"We are Biosafety Level 4, after all. I'd die before I let anything dangerous go out of this place. There are clothes in the lockers. Choose the ones that suit you better."

Leon nodded, and the pair separated: each one entering the respective dressing room.

Like the hallway, the dressing room had an aspect of extreme cleanliness and sterility. There were two doors properly labeled as entry and exit, a section of showers, and several lockers with clothes folded impeccably. Leon took the ones that corresponded to his size and cleaned up and dressed up according to the protocol.

When he came out through the entry door, he found Claire standing in a hall that was almost the replica of the hall where they had parted ways. The woman was putting up her hair in her patented ponytail.

"Hey, look at that…" she smiled, looking at him, "Only you can wear a scrub and make it look fashionable."

"You don't look that bad yourself…"

"Hush, Leon, hush. Come on, this way."

Claire led Leon to the wide area, where there were several cubicles. Leon recognized the place as the "offices" of the team members.

Leon recognized the man sitting in the first cubicle; the first time he had seen him, he wore a black uniform with a tag that identified him as a member of the security team. Now, he wore a dark green scrub and wore a pair of thick earphones. He was busy typing something on his computer. The other people in the room were Dr. Hiwamura, who was sitting in her chair in front of Helena, and a short Indian woman who was looking at her computer screen and, supposedly, showing something to Helena, who seemed quite interested. There was something oddly familiar about the woman.

"Well, there they are!" Hiwamura smiled, "Welcome home, Claire."

At the mention of the name, the Indian woman raised her head and looked at Claire with glittering eyes. Wallace, who had pushed back his chair, took off his headphones and looked at Claire with eyes wide open.

"Red?" Wallace cried out.

"Goodness, Claire!" the Indian woman said with a thick accent. She jumped out of her seat and hugged Claire lovingly " Saya told us you were back, but I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes…"

"Red! Red! Red!" Wallace exclaimed enthusiastically, embracing both women.

"Ahhh...Wallace! Let go!" the Indian woman growled.

"Ah...come on," he said, hugging them tighter, " the occasion deserves a group hug! Come over here, Saya!"

"Don't drag me into this, Wallace…" the Japanese woman said, raising her hands.

"Don't be a grumpy cat, Saya….come here!"

"That's enough, Wallace...you're squishing me." Claire groaned.

"Ah...you bunch of grumpy women…" Wallace replied, letting go disappointed.

"Claire is a married woman now. You can't keep using those excuses to hug Claire…" Saya teased.

"Ah...fake marriages don't count…" Wallace pouted, " As far as I am concerned, I still have a chance with Red…"

"You sure are a persistent boy…"

"Okay, stop it already. Wallace, get a grip. I'm not in the mood for your jokes…" Claire said, crossing her arms, "Now that I am back, you guys are not allowed to slack off. We have work to do...so hush."

"Ah fine, fine boss…"

The Indian woman laughed and turned to look at Leon with a smile; At that moment, Leon realized why the woman was so familiar.

"It's been a while, Mr. Kennedy."

"You two know each other?" Claire asked, surprised.

"Acquaintances only. Mr. Kennedy often came to buy flowers at my shop. I never had the chance to introduce myself. I am Dhriti Sanaya, the owner of the flower shop above us."

"Oh, you bought flowers from Dhriti?" Claire asked, surprised, " For a girlfriend?"

Leon snorted. He wasn't going to tell Claire that he'd bought flowers for her.

"Not...exactly…" he replied, and he heard Hiwamure let out a soft chuckle behind them.

"Mr. Kennedy sure has a peculiar taste for flowers. " Dhriti said, "The first time he entered the shop he seemed certainly lost. When I asked him if he needed help, he told me the flowers were for a special woman…"

"You just needed to buy roses, Leon. Those never fail…" Claire laughed.

"Oh, I told him that, but he clearly stated that the bouquet had to be of orchids…"

Leon coughed.

"Orchids?" Claire said, shocked.

"Peculiar, isn't it?

"Okay, okay...let's not put the young man into an awkward situation, shall we?" Hiwamura interfered, "Claire, the viral sample arrived a little while ago. The biosafety room is ready. Should we go?"

"Ah? Oh, of course…." Claire said, "Get yourselves comfortable. I gotta go...if you need anything, just ask Dhriti or Wallace…" she added, looking at Helena and Leon.

Claire and Hiwamura left the offices and went to the laboratory area, the rest of the group alone.

Leon let out a breath he had been holding without realizing it. The agent did not know why he was so, unreasonably, worried that Claire would find out that those flowers had been for her.

"Oh, well...that's going to take a while. Please take a seat." Dhriti smiled, "Can I offer you something? Tea or coffee?

"Coffee is fine…"

"You take care of those two, Dhitri. I've got a war to win."

Dhriti rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchenette to pour Leon a cup of coffee. In the meantime, Wallace had put back his earphones and sat back in his cubicle again. The Indian woman walked back and handed Leon the cup of coffee, and sat back on her chair.

"I've been watching him for a while now…" Helena commented, looking at the man, "What is he ...doing?"

"Oh, he's playing…"

"P-playing?"Helena asked, feeling bemused.

"Videogames…"

"What?"

"It's part of the security system.." Wallace explained, " If anyone would try to hack into our server all they just find all of my gaming data logs…"

"How did you do that?" Helena asked, surprised.

"I'm a genius. That's how. I encrypted our main server; set up some back doors and firewalls; put a couple of bugs, glitches, viral codes, and re-routed the IP. So if by chance someone could surpass my intellect and go through all the barriers, they would only find the data of SilverWulf 26…." Wallace replied without stopping playing, "That's my gamers tag, by the way. Believe no one would ever link a gamer with a secret laboratory studying biological weapons to prevent humanity's fall. Oh, shit. This bastard just stole an elixir from me! That's it...this is war…."

"Don't mind him. He might be a genius, but he sure has modesty issues. At least he knows what he's doing…"

"Yeah, I do. So to keep the alibi credible, I must play as many games as I can…"

"That's a poor excuse. You just want to play while you work…" Dhriti said, frowning at him, "Despite all, the system works, and that's the only reason why Claire allows him to play games here."

"Aren't you supposed to be the cybersecurity guard of Terra Save, too?" Leon asked, looking at the man.

"I am, but there's the keyword: cybersecurity. I can actually work from anywhere as long as I have a computer. I do have to do office hours twice a week, though. Maintenance and stuff, the rest of the days I'm here, kicking some newbies asses. Ahah, take that, now that relic is mine!"

Dhitri rolled her eyes and looked at Leon and Helena, who seemed visibly stunned.

"You will get used to it. It's not as bad as it seems…"

"What about the flower shop?" Leon asked.

"What about it? My flower shop is real; I did sell you the orchids you so desperately wanted Claire not to find out were for her." the Indian said chuckling "I work there when I am not needed down here. I am an epidemiologist; I'm not usually required until an outbreak has taken place, so the rest of the time, I keep our facade up there…"

"You don't work with Terra Save?"

"Oh, no. I don't. Claire is a good friend. I met her when there was an attack in my hometown in India. She saved my sister, and when she told me about this, I offered to help."

"That's noble," Helena said.

"We all have seen the things those viruses do to people, and I knew Claire was an honest person that really wanted to help people with her studies...of course, I would agree."

"I can't believe it...all this….happening right under our noses…" Helena said, shaking her head.

"We cause no harm. You can trust that…"

"I don't...I know you don't. All the info you gave us has helped a lot. It's just amazing how you've managed to stay out of the map for so long…"

"We had help from higher ranks. Your boss, for example," Dhriti shrugged.

"Yes, but still…"

"Simmons hid his activities for years before we revealed him, and he was much less careful," Leon reasoned.

"I guess you're right…"

"Would you like to take a tour? I can show you around the place."

"That wouldn't be bad. We do need to do some recon, " Leon nodded.

The truth was, Leon was curious about the place. Dhriti nodded and guided them outside the office. The laboratories turned out to be much bigger than Leon had originally imagined, and he realized that there was no way that Claire could have done this without the sponsorship from BSAA and DSO.

"These are the research rooms." Dhriti explained to them as they walked "Virology, Parasitology & mycology and Bacteriology. Since the entry to those requires protocol preparations, we won't go in, but Claire and Saya are in there now. We can see them later when we pass the observation corridor. The room over there is Genetics aka Claire's haven: her office is actually in there. We have another level below us for biological assays. Those are locked down, though. So you can't go there without permission."

The group turned a corner and came to a corridor with a long window that showed inside the laboratories. At the time, only one of the laboratories was active, and Leon and Helena saw Claire and Hiwamura working inside it. Both women wore biosecurity suits while manipulating a vial that Leon instantaneously recognized as one of the tubes they had recovered in Mexico.

"Well...they look like they know what they're doing…" Helena said. crossing her arms, "That's reassuring. Let's hope they can do what Chambers has been struggling with the past week…"

"Let's pray for the best." Dhriti nodded, "Oh, I must go to the office for a second. I'll be right back.

The Indian woman walked away, and Leon leaned against the window, watching Claire work inside the lab. The woman moved naturally despite the safety suit she was wearing, and that limited her movement. At that moment, Claire turned around to say something to Hiwamura, and coincidentally, her eyes met Leon's. She seemed surprised to find them there, and Leon smiled at the puzzled face she was holding at the moment.

" Want a virology lesson?" he saw her silently mouth at him.

Leon snorted and shook his head.

"I pass." he silently mouthed back.

Claire made a resignation gesture.

"Your loss…"

Leon chuckled as Claire returned to her work.

"Okay, so a couple of nights together, and you already have telepathy?" Helena asked teasingly, "I'd say you were going too fast, Leon, but then again, she's an old friend, isn't she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Helena…"

"Sure, you do. I don't think Ada has a taste for orchids. She's more a rose type…"

"So you can tell a woman's taste for flowers? Is it a female's sixth sense?"

"It's called intuition…" Helena chuckled, "Between us...If you asked me, I prefer Redfield from Ada. Don't get me wrong. Ada has helped us a couple of times out there, but she's stabbed us in the back, too. Redfield just seems more like a woman who would take the bullet from you rather than hiding behind…"

"That's because she is. That's the problem. I guess it is something with Redfields. Their self-preservation means nothing compared to their hero complex…"

Leon might have sounded a little bitter, but the truth was that he found that little Redfield trait admirable. But as admirable as it was, he couldn't help but feel bitter about it if that meant that either sibling would willingly throw away their life if it meant protecting the innocent. That was exactly how he had Claire the last time.

"Sounds noble…" Helena said, "and maybe a little stupid...but then again, she was working with a humanitarian organization. You know, when you first told me about her, I pictured her as one of those hippie-like women. I was surprised to see I was wrong. NOw I understand why Birkin looked up so much at her…"

"Sherry always idolized, Claire. She was her mother figure, her sister, and her friend."

Helena nodded. She crossed her arms and tilted her head, looking at the other two women as they worked.

"Dr. Hiwamura told me her health isn't that good."

"What?" Leon immediately looked at Helena with a frown.

"She ran some tests on her blood to check that her results didn't come out too well. Hiwamura said that the blood disorders she originally had seemed to have aggravated. She described it as a war between viruses. It seems that the original effect from the T-Phobos crashes in some way with the new virus in her body, and in...a figurative way, they are fighting each other inside her. That's probably why she doesn't show mutation signs..."

"And…?" Leon asked, concerned.

"She's not sure. She said she needs more tests to see, but she did say that Claire is suffering from anemia and very low platelets. By how she explained it, Claire has to be careful not to get injured since a small cut could cause a lot of blood loss. She will send us a report, but I thought you should know before you received it…"

"Does Claire know? Does Chris?"

"Hiwamura spoke to Chris earlier and Claire, well...not yet. She said that there's a chance that Claire can tell exactly what's really wrong with her, but she wants to approach the matter slowly. She doesn't know if...it might trigger something."

"What do you mean?"

"She says...that she hasn't made a psychiatric evaluation on Claire yet, so she doesn't know if they caused any damage…"

"Claire is not crazy."

"She didn't say it like that." Helena said, shaking her head, "but Claire had issues before, caused by the T-Phobos. She doesn't know if what they did made it worse…"

Leon crossed his arms with a frown. He had spent a lot of time with Claire recently, and he had seen nothing that could make him doubt Claire's mental health. It was true that there were some odd perks he had seen, such as her deathly fear of the dark and the way she sometimes seemed to space out, but it didn't mean that her mental health was wrong, did it?

"Hey, calm down. Hiwamura said she wasn't sure. So far, Claire seemed to be fine, except for her memory issues. She just wanted to be cautious…"

Leon let out a sigh and rubbed his face tiredly.

"You know her better than I do, so...keep an eye open, okay? If you see anything odd, tell the doctor."

"I know...I will."

Leon looked back at the lab. Hiwamura and Claire seemed to have finished their work, and both women were heading out. The two agents stood there waiting for them to appear in the corridor. The two women didn't appear until about 40 minutes later. Claire was reading a silver notepad with a serious look while she listened to whatever the Asian woman was telling her. Leon noticed something a little off about her walking.

"Oh, hey…" Claire said with a smile, but her voice was a little too weak for Leon's taste, "You two are still there? The office is much comfier, you know?"

"We were waiting for you," Leon said, looking at her. There was definitely something wrong with her look.

"Oh...the sample is amplifying now. It'd take about 3 h to end; then we'll need to do sequencing, so maybe you'll prefer to go somewhere more livable."

"The office sounds about right." Hiwamura agreed, "Who knows, maybe Wallace will let you play with him. I think his new game can do multiplayer..."

" I pass…." Claire said, shaking her head, "I have a migraine. I don't think I can stand the flashy screens and all the shooting. You two could try out, though…"

"Are you okay?" Helena asked, concerned.

"Yeah, too much thinking in one go." Claire chuckled, "I'll have some pain killers, and that should do."

"How about a nap?" Hiwamura suggested.

"Maybe that, too. I had forgotten how draining this was…."

"I told you it was too soon for you to start working, and so did Chris…"

"I know. It's nothing. I just need to catch up with the rhythm. Don't worry…"

"Okay, so...why don't you go to your office and I'll get you those pills?" HIwamura suggested, "Sleep it off…"

"Yeah, I think I'll do that. I'll be in Genetics if you two need me, "she added to Leon and Helena.

Both agents nodded and watched her walk down the corridor and disappear behind the door that Dhriti pointed to as Claire's haven earlier.

"Is she alright?" Helena asked as they walked back, "I already told Leon...so he knows."

"Oh. Yeah. I think she's okay. I just performed a marrow biopsy and aspiration on her, so she's a little weak and in pain. She needs to lay down for a bit..." Hiwamura replied, "her incision was still bleeding a while ago, but I made sure the bleeding wasn't that severe before letting her out. I would keep an eye on that, though...when you get her home, I mean. If the bleeding hasn't stopped tomorrow you should tell me right away. I gave her a Tranexamic Acid shot to help out with the clotting...but you never know."

"She'll be okay?" Leon asked in haste.

"She should. The pain will be there for a few days, but if there's no bleeding, she should be alright."

"Do you have any idea of what this virus is?"

"Claire has a theory, but we still need more info to be sure. For now, all we can do is...wait…"

Leon frowned. Waiting was the thing he had never liked.