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43. Claire
Claire stood in front of the mirror and cleaned out the fog with her hand. Her damp auburn hair fell loosely over her shoulders as she had just stepped out of the shower.
The woman turned around to look at the wound in the lower part of her back, and she bit her lip, intrigued. The injury was gone. There was not even a scar left as evidence, just smooth skin.
"Two hours after the bite, it became a minor injury, now six hours after the bite, it disappeared completely…" she mumbled to herself, "what the hell?"
It has happened before.
Her younger self was sitting on the sink, right by her side. Claire wasn't dreaming this time, she knew she was awake, so this had to be one of her hallucinations.
Die or live, can you remember?
Remember? Remembering things seemed like a challenge recently. On some occasions, Claire did not know if the images in her mind were nightmares, illusions, or dreams. She had reached a point where it was difficult for her to distinguish one from the other.
Think about it.
She was running through a dark hallway. The darkness was so thick that it was almost impossible to see her surroundings. Her body ached, and her clothes stuck her skin under a mix of blood and sweat. Someone was with her, but she couldn't remember who. They were running away from Snatchers. Suddenly, there was a scream, and Claire turned to see the creature jumping to catch her companion. The auburn-head dived in to push the person out of the way and the creature's fangs sunk into her flesh.
It was scary, and it hurt a lot. We should have died there, but we didn't, did we?
She had escaped the Snatcher. No, it had released her. Just like the one from the mall, it had thrown her away as if she was a rotten apple.
We are unlike them, but so alike at the same time.
Sometimes, she wished her hallucinations were less ambiguous and cryptic.
Claire began to dress distractedly. Her thoughts were busier thinking about that fleeting memory than the task at hand.
"I healed, too, didn't? Just like now," Claire realized, "but why?"
It works like that. There is a reason why they feed on each other.
Claire would have asked for more, but she was interrupted by a modest knock on her door. Considering that the only other person in the house was Leon, it was pretty obvious who this was.
"Come in," she said, sitting on the bed tiredly. Her small regression, if it could be called that, had made her a little dizzy, and she missed the polite knock on the door.
"Hey…" Leon said, stepping into the room. Like her, he had taken a shower and changed into clean clothes. She noticed the slash on his forehead, and it made her remember her injuries, "are you alright?"
" Yeah, the bath was useful…" she replied, "how about you? Hopefully, that won't leave a scar, huh? "
"It doesn't matter…one scar less, one scar more… " Leon shrugged, "I made some soup if you want to eat. "
Actually, she was starving. It was the first time in a long time that she felt good appetite.
"That sounds great… " she replied, getting up a little faster than she should. The sudden change of pressure made her stumble a little, and almost instantly, she felt Leon holding her.
" Hey… "
"It's fine. I just got up too fast; you know, the blood didn't reach my head."
"Right… "
Leon didn't look convinced. It was easy to tell the skepticism in his face.
"You lost a lot of blood. Maybe I should call Hiwamura to take a look at you…"
It was late at night, and even if Saya was used to sudden emergency calls, Claire didn't consider herself in such bad shape to feel the need to bother the doctor.
"I'm alright. Don't worry," Claire smiled, "Honestly, besides the headache. I'm feeling a lot better than usual."
"You are? Doesn't the wound hurt? I just remembered that it might need a change of bandages."
Claire hesitated, but she turned and lifted her shirt so that he could see the spot that had once held the famous injury. She felt his hand caressing the smooth skin and shuddered.
" It's gone… "Claire said, assuming that Leon wasn't planning to speak.
" I noticed," Leon said, softly, "so the super healing thing is real?"
" Well, I could slice a finger and see…"
Leon was not very amused by the idea, and she shrugged.
"or we can wait until tomorrow when I reach my lab."
"Hopkins gave us the day off, so you'll have all day to do whatever you do in there."
"Perk of surviving a crisis?"
"You could call it that…."
Claire grimaced.
"How's Helena?"
"The bone cracked, but it didn't break. A couple of weeks of rest should do the trick."
"That's great news."
"Yeah, she'll spend the night in the hospital and return tomorrow."
" She's excused from babysitting me then."
"only if she wants to. She's not the kind of person to stay sitting quietly, and I dare say she enjoys your company enough to want to do just that."
"I'm not in good company…"
"I beg to differ," he replied, giving her a peck, "Come let's eat something, or I'll have Barry on me, accusing me of starving you."
"Ah, Barry… he's a sweetheart."
Claire had to hold a chuckle as Leon made a face that left clear that he disagreed with her concept of Barry being a sweetheart.
The soup was good, and she had to admit that after living most of her life with men that could barely cook an egg, she still found Leon's culinary skills rather impressive.
"Any news regarding the attack?" Claire asked.
"No, I suppose that the BSAA hasn't finished with the clean up yet, so there are no reports."
"Chris is gonna lose it if they ask him to write a report." Claire chuckled, "He'll push that to Jill…"
" I can see him doing that"
"Not everyone can write as you do, Leon…"
The blond smiled. Claire stretched her hand to pet Midnight. The cat had jumped to the seat next to her and was looking as if asking for a meal.
It does feel unreal, doesn't it?
Her hallucination was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
It feels so normal that it's hard to believe it's real.
She had to admit it did. Her younger self would always point out the things she didn't want to think about and made her fall back to reality. She liked this small piece of normality, even if she knew it wouldn't be permanent. There would be a day that Chris and Leon would catch Mobius, and then there would be no reason for her to be protected. She'd go back to being Claire, and Leon would get back to his agent life.
"Claire?"
"Sorry, I think I lost you for a bit there…"
"Never mind, you are probably tired."
"No. What was it?"
"I just asked if you wanted to go to the Christmas party as my wife."
"Why? Can I go like someone else? Like I'm going as your lover, and so people can start gossiping on how you seem to have cheated on Clara? " Claire chuckled, and Leon snorted, shaking his head.
"I was more into the thought of not going at all."
"You decided to evade that girl, huh? What happened between you two?"
"What? Jealous?" Leon smirked.
"I know you are a flirt, Leon. If I were a jealous woman, I'd be doomed as your girlfriend."
Leon snorted.
"Nothing happened between us. She seems to have a long infatuation with me."
"Oh, come on. Who doesn't have an infatuation with you, Leon."
"That includes you?"
"Considering our current status… I'd say yes."
Leon smiled.
"Then you want to go?"
"Well...let's deal with the lady, shall we? Maybe I can tell her all of your not so gallant traits to spook her off."
"Oh really? Like what?"
"I never said they had to be real; maybe…"
Claire put her hand to her temple. A sudden buzzing began to resonate in her ear; it wasn't loud, and it seemed harmless, but that didn't mean it was extremely annoying.
"What's wrong…?"
"Nothing...just tinnitus...annoying."
"Tinnitus?"
"You know...ringing in the ears? Buzzing, whistling. Annoying but harmless. It might have been the fire alarm's after effect."
"Maybe you should try to sleep. I bet you're exhausted. "
And she was. Ever since they had left the mall, Claire had felt quite energetic, actually, with more energy than she had felt in recent weeks. Maybe it was an effect of adrenaline and other neurotransmitters, but whatever it was, its effect seemed to be beginning to pass, and fatigue began to return.
"Sleep sounds great.."
"You healed? No, that's not it. You regenerated," Saya said, looking at her scarless side "your healing rate had been faster than average, but this… this is something else."
"Yeah… I know that, thank you…" Claire said, rolling her eyes and pulling her blouse down, "are my sequencing results ready?"
"Fresh from the oven, or should I say sequencer?" the doctor replied, giving her a USB.
Claire took it and connected it to the laptop. Saya let out a sigh and sat down in front of her desk.
"So Mr. Cool agent isn't here?"
"He stepped out for a bit to call Helena."
"I see…" Saya said with a smile, "so… How's that relationship doing? I don't think you have had one in ages…"
" Wow… Thanks for the thumbs up."
"Teasing aside, I mean it. How is it going?"
"Are you into this for pure gossip, or is it something else?"
"I am your friend, Claire, but I am also your psychiatrist. Your PTSD with men…"
" That's not PTSD. It is a lack of trust, which is different."
"Paranoia and distrust can be signs of PTSD and after Fisher…" Saya said, "I just want to be sure you are not forcing yourself to act normal when something isn't."
Claire sighed.
"We are doing fine, better than I could expect…"
"Intimacy yet?"
"What?"
"sexual intimacy can be stimulating to anxious and depressive minds by releasing" happiness "hormones…" Saya shrugged, "just wanted to check."
" First… That's private, and second, that's not happening until I'm cured, or I confirm I am not infectious."
"So you admit you have considered the possibility?"
"Are you serious?"
Claire chose to ignore it. The sexual tension wasn't rare, and there was a little between Leon and her, but it was normal, especially between couples. She wasn't sure why Saya seemed to find it interesting. It was a biological process, but considering the situation, she wasn't planning to be intimate with anyone, especially Leo, until she was 100% sure that she wasn't contagious.
"well… so far, your blood seems to be safe." Saya said, running through a folder, " no infection or molecular alteration showed up in cells after exposure to your blood."
"Nothing?"
"Yes, nada. So I think our… " it's not blood-borne " stats are confirmed. You're not infectious, Claire. Besides, if your body fluids were infectious, I'd assume you'd have passed the virus long ago…"
Claire looked up from her screen for a moment. Saya was right, only yesterday, Leon had been covered in her blood, and he had not gotten infected. Chris had been in contact with her blood, and he was fine, too.
"I guess blood isn't a vector…"
"Nor saliva...considering Kennedy is healthy…"
Claire ignored the comment and returned to her laptop. The sequence, her sequence, was clean. There hadn't been any changes from the older ones, so there was no mutation. Her virus was the same one she'd brought back with her from Wales.
"Well...at least that's good news…" Claire sighed in relief, closing her laptop "OkayI think there are some new things I want to test…"
"Sure, but we got work to do first. There's a nasty corpse waiting for us down in biosafety…"
"Great...my favorite thing in the world, dissecting a mutant corpse first thing in the morning." Claire said, "Therapeutic…"
The body had been packed in an airtight biosafety bag and placed on the steel table wasn't exactly the greatest view in the morning, but she couldn't complain.
"Did anyone look at it when it arrived?" Claire asked, putting on gloves.
"Dhriti and I did. We took some pics for reference when it was still fresh.
"Lovely…" Claire sighed, "shit."
Claire accidentally dropped her pen, and she leaned down to pick it up.
"Oh, Dr. Chambers is here...and your brother."
"Chris?"
Claire rose abruptly, banging her head against one of the nearby tables. The woman growled in irritation and, looking at the window, clearly saw Rebecca's smiling face; Chris was standing next to Leon. The three greeted with a hand gesture, and Claire returned the greeting with a smile.
"Talk about stage panic…" Claire said, turning to the bag.
"Like it has ever affected you…" Saya replied.
Claire shrugged and opened the communication line from the room.
"Hey there…. I didn't expect you to be here."
"Didn't you get the notice that Rebecca was joining the team?" Chris asked.
"Oh, I did. I just didn't think it'd be today."
"I hope it is not a bother. I was excited to see how you worked."
"Of course, it doesn't bother us; want to come in and join the party? I can't promise to drink, but I'm sure you'll be entertained. Our guest of honor is handsome…" Claire said with her typical sarcasm, which earned Rebecca's giggle, and Chris shaking head. She also caught Leon's smile.
" For today, I think I'd like to watch first… "
" Okay, your loss, "Claire replied, winking at her. I'll leave the channel open so that we can talk…"
" Huh? " Saya said behind her, and Claire turned around to face her.
The doctor had pulled open the bag, and her face was shocked.
"What's wrong?" Claire said, walking to the table.
"It looks different…"
"More decayed?"
"Not...exactly…"
Saya pulled down the bag, and Claire knew what Saya meant. Something was different. She couldn't describe it with words, but the best way to put it was that the thing seemed more human than it originally did.
"What the hell?"
Claire examined the body from different angles; the skin had recovered some of its colors and the face, although still very monstrous, seemed to show the normal outline of a human face. The tissue around the eye sockets had seemed too thin, and she could almost make out the eyes.
"Claire...what's wrong?" Chris's voice asked.
Claire didn't answer. She raised her hand, indicating to him to wait a minute. She looked at Saya with a frown.
"Was it like this when it arrived?"
"No, It didn't look like that when it arrived. Honestly, it looked like a damn demon. We have the photos…"
She had seen the thing at the mall, and she knew Saya well enough to not believe her judgment. She saw her younger ghost in the corner of her eye. She was leaning over the body.
"One does not become fully human painlessly."
" Take a tissue sample and do cytometry and live-cell -imaging. Something is happening to those cells, and we need to know what."
"Got you…"
The two women started working. If Claire's suspicion was right, if they didn't work fast, they wouldn't find out what had caused the change in the corpse. The youngest Redfield could feel the inquiring gaze of her friends from the other side of the glass, but they would have to wait until she finished her task. The organs were messed-up, some had suffered severe structural damage, but Claire quickly determined that the cause of death was internal bleeding. She found a bullet in the thoracic area; it had pierced the coronary artery causing the bleeding. It was a normal way to die, but what wasn't normal in this case was that the creature had not healed. Usually, those things would have regenerated before a hemorrhage could take place.
"Saya...can you do histology for these?"
"Holy cow...this guy had severe sepsis...how the hell was it alive?"
"This wasn't caused by the virus…" Claire said, "This was something else that infected it afterward...and whatever it was, it contributed to its death."
"Okay. I'll do pathology. What do we do with this?" Saya said, pointing at the body.
"Leave it here...we'll come to take a look at it in a couple of hours to see if it changed."
"You've something in mind…"
"Speculation...but we'll see with the results…" Claire replied, "I'm taking this to genetics. Let me know when you have pathology and the cell time-lapse results."
"Yes, of course."
Claire made her way to the laboratory and prepared the samples. The analysis would take a few hours, and Chris would be starting to lose patience, but she wasn't ready to reveal her suspicions until she was 100% sure. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at her door. She looked up to find Leon standing at the door with a worried frown. The agent had become an expert on tracking her down these days. Saya had called it: the lover's innate instinct to find its mate, but Claire thought it was more a tracking skill he had earned in his years of service. Nevertheless, she had to admit that Leon was often the first one to notice when she seemed agitated, sick, and to know where she had crawled to hide.
"Wow...I expected someone else…" Claire snorted, "Then again, I doubt he would have found his way here in the first place."
"I also doubt Chris would have knocked…"
"He probably wouldn't. " she chuckled, leaning against the chair. " Where is he now?"
Leon stepped in and stood by her side.
"Driving Sanaya and Chambers mad, probably. Sanaya offered to give them a tour around the complex. "
"Ah, bless Dhriti. She's the sun."
Claire needed some time to get prepared to face the wave of questions that her brother would surely throw at her. Leon stepped into the office and by her side, close enough for his arm to brush against her.
"So, what are you doing?"
"What I do best." Claire replied, "Analysing DNA. Oh, by the way. I found this."
Claire handed him a small plastic bag with a single worn bullet inside. She had found it stuck in the muscle tissue, and it was the "cause" of the death of the creature. She knew Leon had become pretty selective with his ammo, according to Marie, and she recognized the bullet almost instantly.
"One of my ammunition?" Leon said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, it technically killed the thing."
"Well, that's a lead. It means that we can reduce the killing to one of us."
Claire had forgotten about that. She had been using one of Leon's handguns during the attack. How had she forgotten that?
"Oh, yeah… I forgot"
" So… What got you so worked up in there? "
Claire sighed. Where was she supposed to start? She was trying to put her thoughts together when she felt Leon rub her back comfortingly. Once more, the agent had seemed to notice her sudden uneasiness.
"Something odd happened to the corpse." Claire said, unconsciously leaning against his touch, " the best way I could explain it would be that it…" lost" its mutation… at least, phenotypically? "
" What? Is that possible?"
" Well, it is rare, but not necessarily impossible. Gene expression can be turned on or off, depending on different aspects. Either way, I think something happened, and this thing was regressing to its basal form. "
"So it became human again?"
" Ah… Almost. Whatever happened to that thing was causing a severe infective reaction. The organs showed discoloration and inflammation, which can often point to…."
"Septicemia…"
"Yeah…" Claire said, surprised, "well, some did some studying."
" As much as I'd love to take that compliment, no. The credits go to Chambers. She commented on that earlier when she saw you take out the organs."
"Ah...yes, of course. Rebecca. She would know…" Claire nodded, "And there I thought you were finally finding a taste for these things…"
"Perhaps...a little…" Leon smiled.
Claire smiled back and sighed; Leon's arm wrapped around her shoulders. If only things could stay that way forever, but deep down, she knew that it was nothing more than wishful thinking.