Yay! Finally an update after so long (I am sorry). I already checked and edited the previous chapters. I hope they're clean, but still, forgive any mistake you might find.

25. Leon

Leon had never had the luxury of sitting back and contemplating what his life would have been like if he had never become what he is today. However, looking at Claire sitting on the couch in her living room with a book, a blanket, a cat on her lap, and a steaming cup of tea next to her, Leon could not help but think that it probably would. Spending afternoons after work, sitting with his wife in the living room, enjoying each other's company.

Leon looked at Claire as if trying to decipher some mystery that eluded him. They had been spending a lot of time together lately, and although it wasn't something they could avoid given the situation, Leon didn't have much to complain about the arrangement. The agent was getting used to seeing Claire as his wife, and from what he could see, she too seemed to be less uncomfortable with the title. On some occasions, Claire even played along.

Claire was a versatile woman, and Leon was impressed by the ease with which she had managed to fit into the DSO offices. Hiwamura had told him that Claire had a knack for winning over people, and knowing her the way he did, it didn't surprise him at all that everyone at DSO was delighted with her. Her generous and mischievous personality was also one of the things that had attracted him from the beginning.

In general, everyone in the office seemed to adore Claire, and some agents did not stop congratulating Leon on his good catch. However, there were some, mainly women who Claire called his fan club, who were determined to speak ill of her, but Claire did not seem upset about it.

"Sherry called me in a bad mood today," Leon said, scrolling on his tablet.

"She did?" Claire said, distractedly, "What did you do?"

Leon snorted, putting down the tablet.

"Why do you assume she was in a bad mood because of me?"

Claire looked over her book and gave him a frown.

"Because it is Sherry," Claire replied, "She and I are the only ones who would get annoyed by you."

Leon smirked. Well, that was probably true.

"Sorry to disappoint you," he answered, "the cause of her irritation was you, instead."

"Me?" Claire asked, surprised.

"Yes, something about you being too soft on those office harpies..."

Claire processed his words and then snorted in realization.

"Ah, that," she said, resting her chin on her palm. "Sherry takes it too seriously. The thing with bullies is that the more attention you pay, the more they will talk. If I act chill and like I don't care, they will get bored."

"You talk as if you had experience with it."

"I do," Claire said, picking up her book, "I got bullied a lot when I was younger. I eventually realized that they would leave me alone if I didn't pay attention, and that was even better than punching them."

That caught Leon's attention. Claire used to get bullied? That was hard to believe, considering the woman's temper.

"Wait, did you just say that you used to get bullied?" he said, surprised, "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

Claire lowered her book again and tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

"First thing, your brother..." Leon replied, looking at her, "Second, you don't look bullyable."

"Maybe not now, but it was another story when I was seven years old," Claire shrugged, "kids can be cruel, and I was an orphan who lived with a foster family. Of course, I'd get bullied."

Leon looked at her. He knew very little of Claire's childhood, and curiosity snapped. He knew that Claire and Chris's parents had died when they were young. At the time, Chris was still underage, so they ended up in a foster home until Chris could become Claire's legal guardian. That was pretty much all he knew, and since it was personal, he had not pried on it.

"How did Chris allow that?"

"Oh, trust me. Chris always got into trouble because of that," Claire chuckled, "Barry would get called by the school principal constantly, but instead of getting scolded for punching someone, he would get scolded for punching him the wrong way. I don't think Kathy approved it, but since it'd been for me, she never said anything."

"Barry..." Leon said, "wait, the Burtons?"

"Uh? Oh, I guess you wouldn't know," Claire said, tilting her head, "Kathy, Barry's wife, is a social worker. She had our case when my parents died. She got attached to us and ended up fostering Chris and me. That's why we know Barry."

That was a surprising revelation. He didn't know the Redfields and the Burtons' relationship went that far back.

"Anyway, I'll talk to Sherry," Claire said, picking her book again.

Leon watched Claire as she returned to her book. If there was something positive about their current situation, it was that Leon was getting to know Claire better.

Leon considered Claire as a close friend. The experiences they had lived together had created a bond between them. After the Racoon City incident, Claire, Sherry, and Leon had stayed together for a while. The trio had solidified their friendship during that time, but there were few opportunities to talk about more mundane things.

After Leon became an agent, the opportunities to socialize became few. The pair stayed in touch, but maybe not close enough.

Leon chuckled to himself. At that time, he remembered having a crush on Claire. Leon had started having feelings for the brave, considerate, and gentle girl with auburn hair, but their situation was not the best setting for romance to flourish. Eventually, those feelings became a platonic love. Then, they had parted ways, and Leon buried those feelings for years, until now. He hated to admit it, but living close with her was beginning to stir something that he thought forgotten.

"Earth to Leon..."

Claire's voice interrupted his thoughts. The woman was standing in the kitchen, and she was watching him as she tied the apron around her waist.

"What?"

Claire rolled her eyes.

"What are you watching on that tablet? It must be interesting if you dare pay me no attention," she said, tilting her head, "I asked if you were okay about having pasta for dinner."

"Oh, yeah. Sounds good," Leon replied, putting the tablet on the coffee table and scratching Midnight's head in the process.

Leon was not a cat person, but the furball had earned his fondness.

"You know, you don't have to cook all the time."

"I know," she replied, cutting the tomatoes, "but cooking makes me relax, and eating homemade meals is better than takeout."

He couldn't fight that logic, and he had to admit that he loved eating Claire's cooking. The woman was a skilled cook.

"Talking about cooking," she said, "We should have Chris over when he comes back."

"He would have come, even if he didn't get an invitation," Leon said, frowning, " I don't mind having him over. He's my brother-in-law, after all."

"Tch, Chris might strangle you if he heard that," Claire laughed.

"As long as he doesn't break my door..."

"He wouldn't..." Claire began but stopped in mid-sentence, "nope, forget it. Breaking the door is totally Chris."

"Sounds like it has happened," Leon smirked, "will you tell me about it?"

"It was silly," Claire smiled, "I was 15, and Chris and I got into one of those silly teenage fights. I was so angry that I ran into my room, locked the door, and refused to speak to my brother. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. This huge spider came up crawling on my bed, and I screamed like I was getting murdered."

"Because of a spider..."

"Spiders are scary. They bite..."

"Alright, alright..." Leon laughed.

The almighty Claire Redfield, who could kick zombies and mutants as if they were soccer balls, was scared of spiders.

"So, what happened?"

"Chris to the rescue, that happened. He came into the room, kicking the door open and breaking it. We laughed so much about it. We made up, but I didn't have a door for three weeks."

"Did you two bicker a lot?"

"The usual. You know, what's normal for siblings," Claire smiled, " Chris is a good brother, but when you are young, you are usually unreasonable. We argued about stupid things. It was after I grew a little older that I understood his position and his worries, and that's when I stopped being a rebellious punk."

"And you became the good little sister."

Claire snorted and looked at him playfully.

"Do I look like a party-hard girl to you?" Claire asked, "Well, don't get me wrong. I went to some parties, but I lost interest in them pretty fast. Instead, I focused on getting good grades, so that Chris would be proud and doing house chores since Chris sucked at it."

"I admit that surprises me. I thought you would be the kind to get invited to everyone's parties."

"I wasn't a popular girl at school, and honestly, I'm not a social butterfly. I had a couple of friends, and that was it."

"Who would believe that..." Leon said, shaking his head. "You have been at the office for barely a couple of weeks. However, everyone seems to be eating from your hand already."

Claire snorted skeptically.

"Not really. Our interactions are cordial, and besides, most of them treat me like that because of you," Claire said, stirring the sauce, "The female population hates me, however. It's fine, though. I am more than happy with Helena, Ingrid, and Sherry on my side."

"Ah...that brings us back to the start of the subject," Leon said. "Maybe Sherry is right, and I should do something."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Claire smiled, "It's not like they will do anything. If you want to do something, though, do something about your curious coworkers. They keep asking about how I managed to end your bachelor status."

"What did you say?"

"What could I say?" Claire shrugged, "I said I knocked some sense in you, and that was it. I'm joking. I told them that if they wanted to know, they had to ask you."

"So you pushed the ball at me."

"Of course."

Claire put the plates on the table and sat across from him with a smile. For a moment, Leon fell into a flashback from 19 years ago. He had been sitting with his back against the dusty wall of an abandoned cabin; his bandaged shoulder was so painful he could barely move, and Claire had approached him with an apple and her pretty smile. It was the same smile she was giving him now.

"What?" Claire said, confused. Leon had not realized that he was staring at the woman attentively.

"It's nothing. I just thought of something from a long time ago."

Claire shook her head with an amused expression. At that moment, Leon's cell phone sounded, announcing the arrival of a new message.

"It's from Hunnigan," Leon announced. "It seems that Hopkins wants to speak with me tomorrow morning."

"Sounds boring. Maybe Hopkins is going to scold you for being such a flirt."

"I'm making the act more real," Leon smirked. "I'll tell Helena to stay with you tomorrow."

"Oh, don't bother her with that," Claire said, rolling her eyes, "It's office work tomorrow, and since there's nothing for me to do, I'll be redecorating your lifeless office."

"As I said before, it is not like I spend much time there. You can do as you see fit."

"Seriously, Leon?" Claire said, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "Aren't you worried that I would fill the place with pink, corny things like unicorns and stuff?"

"You don't like pink, so no," Leon shrugged, "If it were anyone else, I'd worry, but I trust your taste, Claire."

"What?" Claire said, surprised, "Wow, not even Chris would be so trusting of me."

"Chris is your brother. I am your husband."

"That's only on paper," Claire sighed, rolling her eyes.

Claire and Leon ate dinner while talking cheerfully. They discussed very casual topics, from Claire's decorating ideas for Leon's listless office to the models of the weapons the organization had just acquired.

Leon was comfortable talking to young Redfield, and deep down, he wished these evenings would never end.

The next morning when they arrived at the office, Helena seemed not to have arrived yet, so Leon decided to stay a little longer before going to see Hopkins. As they walked through the hallway, Leon noticed a group of secretaries who had gathered around the coffee machine. The women murmured among themselves and looked at Claire irritably. To Claire's credit, the woman was unchanging. She looked at him with a frown and an obvious "I told you so, didn't I? " in her eyes that made Leon laugh as he put his arm around her shoulders. The gesture only made women more annoyed.

"If that was your countermeasure, let me tell you that your plan sucks," Claire whispered.

"It made them mad, so it worked."

"You are just throwing wood into the fire pit."

"And I doubt they can intimidate you."

"Of course not," Claire said, "What are some irritated women compared to getting chased around by a damn Tyrant. Though I will admit, I might reconsider if they were zombies."

"Luckily for you, that won't happen."

"There you are, lovebirds," Helena said, knocking on the door, "I am not interrupting, am I?"

"Nope, you arrived just in time," Claire replied solemnly, "What do you think is scarier? A group of gossiping zombie ladies or a massive, basically indestructible B.O.W.?"

"Ehm..." Helena said, looking at Leon, confused, but he only snorted in reply, "context?"

"No context. I'm only surveying."

"Well, gossiping women are scary, and in zombie form..."

"See?" Claire told Leon.

"Okay, I got it," Leon snorted.

"Well, Helena is here, so move that sassy ass of yours and go where you have to go."

"Are you kicking me out of my office?" Leon smiled, amused.

"Technically, it is my office, too. Besides, you'll be late to see Hopkins."

Leon smirked. That was why he liked Claire so much. Her attitude and her peculiar way of teasing while caring about the people around her. It was a charming trait that he had never seen in anyone else.

" I'll leave her in your hands, Helena. Keep her out of trouble."

"Why does everyone assume I'll get in trouble?" Claire said, rolling her eyes.

Helena snorted.

"I doubt she needs me, but don't worry. I'll be here," she said.

Leon left the office and entered the elevator. Hopkins's office was two stories above his office, and today he did not feel like using the stairs.

"Hey, Leon! What's up? " Hammil said when the doors of the elevator opened and he stepped in.

The man was the only occupant of the elevator, and Leon saw that he was holding a particularly fat folder under his arm.

"Good morning, Hammil."

"Haven't seen you around much this week. Got a new mission? "

"Sort of."

"How's Mrs. Kennedy?" he asked with a teasing chuckle, "I heard she's fitted quite well in the office."

"She's good at fitting in," Leon nodded, "Her personality makes her very likable."

Hammil smirked and elbowed him.

"Never thought you would marry a fellow agent…"

"She's not an agent. Clara is only here for an indefinite time, assisting with a mission. "

"Oh? So she's nerdy? Who would have thought? I didn't know you had a taste for nerds. "

"I am a bag full of surprises. It seems."

"Sure you are, little bastard. The next thing I hear will be you are becoming a dad, Leon ..."

Leon felt like laughing. For that to happen, he'd need to get married to Claire for real, and even though, surprisingly, he didn't find the idea unappealing at all, he couldn't speak up for Claire,

"That's not happening any time soon, Hammil…"

"Hah, how do you know? One of these days, you might get a surprise…"

Leon shook his head. If only he knew. It was time to change the topic.

"What are you holding there? It looks heavy."

"This?" Hammil asked, showing him the folder, "A stupid assignment from Mercer. Damn, I hate it when he sends me to look for old buildings and other stuff. He seems quite interested in old manors, lately."

Leon raised an eyebrow questioningly. Andrew Mercer, one of the higher-ups, as Hunnigan liked to call them. He had been the second candidate for security secretary after Hopkins. The man had a long history of service for the CIA. He was respected by many, but when the time came, Hopkins got appointed to the post.

Despite that, the man was still quite influential in the DSO. Leon had not dealt much with the man, but to be honest, he had never liked him very much. His temperament was very rigid and conservative compared to Hopkins. He was the kind of person who wanted to have the last word and did not like things that were outside the usual protocol.

"It's a case?"

"Honestly, I don't know, but since it is Mercer, I'll guess so," Hammil answered, "when I asked, he told me that it was classified information, and if I knew what was good for me, then I should keep my nose out of it and only do what I got asked. Seriously. If he wants information about something, he should look for it himself."

"You know they won't do the dirty work…"

"Tch...you tell me. What about you?"

"I've got a meeting…" Leon shrugged.

Hammill nodded when the bell rang, announcing a stop. Hamill bid him goodbye and walked out of the elevator. It took another minute for him to reach his floor and, as the door opened, he got greeted by a surprising sight.

"Oh, good morning, Leon," Jill said, putting down her mobile phone. She had just come out from the other elevator wearing her "formal" BSAA outfit: a white shirt with the BSAA patch on her shoulder and black pants. Leon noticed that the woman had a patch on the left side of her forehead.

"Jill, what a surprise…"

"You bet. I take you got called for the meeting?"

"I take you are here for it, too," he said after he had nodded.

"Yeah, I came along with Chris."

"So Chris is here, too.."

Jill smiled and shrugged. The two walked together into Hopkins's office, where they found three other people sitting around a circular table talking over smoking cups of coffee.

Chris was the first to greet them with a wave of his hand, followed, soon after, by Adams and Hopkins who greeted them and asked them to a seat. Leon noticed that the eldest Redfield looked tired, almost as if he hadn't slept well in days.

"Hey, Leon…"

"Hi, Chris. "Leon said, taking the seat at the man's right.

Chris was out of his usual military uniform and instead was wearing a more "casual" outfit; he wore a tiresome face and had a few stitches around his head and several bruises on his arms. It was more than clear that he'd been into some unpleasant business before coming back.

"You don't look that well…" Leon added with a frown.

"Been better. " the man sighed, "How's Clara?"

"She's good. Healthy as far as I've seen…"

"That's good to hear...that's good to hear…" Chris sighed.

Hopkins cleared his throat. The man pushed a folder to Leon and looked at the group with a severe expression.

"Thanks for coming, Leon. Mr. Redfield and Ms. Valentine arrived early this morning from Wales. The reports they brought are quite alarming…"

"Did something happen?" Leon asked in haste, "Was there another attack?"

"There was an attack, but luckily - I guess- not on civilians…" Chris replied with a bitter look.

Leon frowned questioningly.

"The attack was against BSAA…" Jill explained, "Mobius implanted a computer virus into the Base's main server. All systems in the welsh branch collapsed…"

"What? How did they do that? Your server is probably as good as ours…" Leon asked, a little shocked.

"We might have underestimated Mobius. They must have a pretty good hacker on their side." Adams sighed. "The welsh branch has been excommunicated for the past three days after the attack. We wouldn't know what happened if not for Chris, Jill, and Barry's rushed return…"

Leon crossed his arms thoughtfully. Both Adams and Hopkins seemed visibly concerned, and Leon did not blame them. Mobius not only had managed to hack the server of the BSAA base, but they had implanted a virus that had left incapacitated the forces of the organization stationed in the zone. What stopped them from doing the same with the DSO?

" We had to. The computer technicians in Wales haven't been able to fix the problem…" Jill explained, "so all operations in Wales have come to a halt. Also, we had important info about the new biological threat. Sierra Team, a recon squad from the Welsh Branch went missing after going to investigate a rogue transmission. A couple of hours after the group's last check-in, the virus got unleashed, and all systems began to fail. Chris, Barry, and I headed to the area where the team last reported, and we found a ship, crawling with monsters..."

"And the team..?" Hopkins asked.

"No survivors…" Chris replied bitterly, "At first, we thought there was one survivor, but...it turned out he was infected already…"

"The same things that we found in the Med Center?" Leon asked.

"No, different ones. A different type, but the same strain. We had a hard time with it…"

"How did you defeat it?" Adams asked.

"We didn't…" Jill answered, "I am not sure of what happened. There was this person with a mask. Called himself Ananke and was from Mobius. He said that it had been a failure and that not all of them could be like…"

"Like…?"

"Like Claire…" Chris growled.

A tense silence took hold of the room, and Leon unconsciously clenched his fists.

"Mobius seems to be much more dangerous than we originally thought…" Adams said, shaking his head, "They completely destroyed Terra Save's Med Center, and now they have shut down BSAA forces…"

"Did they leave any message?" Leon asked Chris.

"Just one cryptic phrase…" Chris replied, "I wrote the report, but it doesn't say much. That doesn't change the fact that the group is stronger than we thought. Claire might be in greater danger than we anticipated, Leon..."

Leon did not reply. They would have to go over his dead body before he'd allow them to lay a finger on Claire again. By the way, the eldest Redfield looked at him, Leon knew the man had understood his silent bow. Chris let out a grave sighed and leaned back on his chair.

"How's she doing with the research?" Hopkins asked.

"She's been busy, but by what I understood, she and her team are on the right path," Leon replied.

Claire had been kind enough to explain to Leon some of the things she did in the lab, and, even though the agent was not interested in biology, he found that he enjoyed listening to the woman speak so enthusiastically of what she discovered. That did not mean that he understood what Claire was talking about in most of the cases.

"We arranged a meeting with her so that she could expose the results of her research on Friday. Dr. Chambers will be joining us, of course…" Hopkins said to Chris and Jill, "Your team will be more than welcome to come, Mr. Redfield and Ms. Valentine."

Chris and Jill nodded.

"Returning to BSAA 's situation in Wales…" Adams said, " Have the technicians figured out how to fix it?"

"By the time we left, they were still working on it, sir…" Jill replied, "But they said that only a miracle or an extremely brilliant hacker would be able to help them now…"

Leon suddenly remembered something. Hadn't Claire said that Wallace was an expert hacker? Perhaps he could help them with that.

"There's a really good hacker that maybe could help…" Leon said, "He works with Clara. He even programmed and designed the whole security system of their lab…"

"Do you think he might be able to fix it?" Adams asked.

"I can't be sure, but the man is smart. He might be the man you need…"

"Well, we don't lose anything by trying…" Adams sighed, "Leon or Chris, do you think you could speak to Clara and ask her if we can borrow her boy?"

"Sure, I guess…" Chris shrugged.

"We need to find more data about Mobius…" Jill sighed, "This group doesn't follow the pattern of other terrorist groups…"

"They are smarter…" Chris said, shaking his head, "way smarter…and much quieter…The group isn't egocentrist nor narcissists. They seem to be much more modest. Regular groups would be bragging about their achievements in public, by now…"

"But why keep it quiet?" Adams said thoughtfully, "I doubt they're trying to be modest…"

Chris shrugged. It was obvious that the man had been asking himself the same question, but he had yet to come with a reasonable answer.

"There is also the situation with the missing team." Jill said, "It's safe to assume that their disappearance is related to the group as well as…"

"And the people from the first ship, too…" Adams nodded, "Maybe we should look into recent disappearances in Wales? Of course, that with the Welsh Base system down…"

"I am sure I can have someone on our side do that…" Hopkins offered.

"That sure would be useful. Now that our Welsh Base is out of service, our access to the data is quite limited." Jill sighed.

"I am sure someone in the FOS should be able to do it. Maybe Hunnigan. She was already researching Mobius, anyway…" Leon said.

Hopkins nodded. Ever since the man had taken command, the relationship between the DSO and BSAA had improved a lot. The situations. in which both entities co-operated together were increasingly common. Terra Save participated from time to time, but as the organization attended emergencies that were not limited to bioterrorism, the group did not always coincide in their missions.

"Yes, I will speak with a couple of agents from FSO and assign them to handle that. I might have a couple of people in mind."

"Thanks, Renard. That sure will help a lot…"

"No need to thank me, Ed. We all work with the same objective. We should work together. Alright. I think that's all we needed to discuss for now. We'll stay in touch."

With the meeting over, Leon, Chris, and Jill said goodbye to the two superiors and left the room. The corridor was full of agents walking from one side to another, occupied with their affairs. None seemed to pay much attention to the members of the BSAA and Leon. That was a relief for the blonde.

"So what are you guys doing now?" Leon asked casually.

"We need to return to HQ for a while…" Jill replied, " There are some things we still need to work out. "

"Want to stop by and see Clara?"

"I'd love to…" Chris admitted, "but maybe not right now. I wouldn't want to get unnecessary attention."

Leon nodded. He doubted anyone would think anything about Chris being over familiar to his "wife" since they could make up something to excuse their friendly interactions.

"Well, you could come by later...a friendly visit to my apartment."

"That sounds like a good idea…" Chris agreed, "We'll come by in the evening if that's fine."

"Sure, I'll tell her. She sure will be delighted. I'll go down this way…."

"We go this way. So guess we'll see each other later?" Jill smiled.

"Yeah."

"Leon…" Chris said before leaving, "be careful. Mobius may be closer than we thought, so we should take precautions…"

"Don't worry. I will…"