A/N: Flap those butterfly wings and the world changes. I may have a third potential ending in me. I have so many written down. I just can't decide how many I want to share. But this? This is what happens when you get a second chance.

GLIMPSE:

A Resident Evil Short Story

Starring:

Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield

Guest Starring:

Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers, Sherry Birkin, Albert Wesker and the Ghost of Ada Wong

Part Eleven:

Ending Two:

Time Machine

Boston, MA - 1998

He didn't wake up in a gorge with a broken neck. He didn't do anything like that. Nope.

He woke up on a bus headed home from the Academy.

A handful of moments passed as he realized he wasn't dreaming. He wasn't crazy. He wasn't hallucinating. Well, he was, a little. Because he wasn't alone in the seat.

The Ghost of Ada Wong was next to him.

She tapped one booted foot on the floor and regarded him quietly, "I'd forgotten how god damn adorable you were." Her thumb stroked the little cleft in his chin and she sighed, "What a cutie you were."

He said nothing, intensely aware that they were no alone on the bus, and that if he were to start conversing with a ghost, it might lead to a trip to a padded cell.

So Ada added, "Apparently somebody, somewhere was listening to all your whining and ranting."

He cocked a brow and she shrugged, "Leon Kennedy, this is your do over. You have a chance, right now, to change your future. In eight days, you'll be the kid that wakes up drunk late for his first shift. You can choose, if you want, to never go to Raccoon City. Change your life. Change your fate. Become a cop in Boston and get on with your life."

His throat seized, twice, before he closed his eyes. Her hand rubbed at his inner thigh and she cooed, "Listen - what good would it do to go back there anyway? You meet me. We dance. We flirt. You lose. And we know where it goes. You end up the lapdog for the government for two decades until you die, alone, in a canyon. Really? Avoid it. Claire will be fine if you don't. You barely saw her that night. She'll survive just fine without you."

His mind was racing. If he didn't go, what then? Would the world alter forever?

Would Ashley Graham end up completed Saddler's mission without him?

Would the world fall into the hands of the bad guys?

Would Claire die in Raccoon with Sherry?

Without him as a bargaining chip, would Sherry become the property of the government without strings?

Would Chris never find Claire on Rockfort Island?

Would Chris and Jill never find TALOS in Russia and end Umbrella?

Would Umbrella end at all?

Without him to expose what happened in Raccoon City in the hands of the government, would anyone ever know anything?

Jesus.

The questions were endless.

His first instinct was to call Claire and warn her away from that city. If he stopped her, could he save her? Or would saving her, kill Sherry?

Leon rolled his neck, tossing the thousands of thoughts around. How did he do this? How did he save the world without destroying it? Heavy. Hard. And reasons why Back to the Future had given them rules.

NEVER MESS WITH HISTORY UNLESS YOU WERE WILLING TO DEAL WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

He couldn't stop Claire from going to Raccoon. He couldn't do it. Without Claire, Sherry would end up dead. No one would save her from Birkin. He couldn't stop Raccoon City. It was happening already. It was eight days before his first shift, the damage was done. If he started shouting about conspiracies and madness, people would label him a nutcase like Chris Redfield and he'd be ignored anyway.

But he could do one thing. He could change one thing in this moment. He picked up the phone at the bunk house while his mates all laughed and drank and celebrated graduation and he called the number he had for the RPD. He was transferred to Jill Valentine easily enough.

She answered and he spoke, softly, "Don't hang up. Don't shrug me off. What I'm about to tell you, might change your life."

And he told her. He told her about the Nemesis. He told her about the city. He told her about Chris and Rockfort Island and the truth about Wesker still being alive. He told her about Spencer. He told her about Neo Umbrella. He told her about Hunk and his team and the sample. He unloaded twenty years of failure to stop Umbrella like the voice of god lighting the way to victory. He told her all of it and she listened. She believed. She'd survived the mansion, she believed.

He ended the call with a single phrase, "Do yourself a favor, and get out of Raccoon City. Now. Today. Don't stay there, Jill. Do you hear me? You're the target. Run."

Quietly, Jill queried, "Who are you!?"

And Leon replied, "Just a guy with nothing to lose. Stop Wesker. Do you hear me? Russia. Paris. Sleeper cells in Rome and Africa. Excella Gionne and Tricell. It's alot of info, I know that. I'll do what I can when I get there."

Jill shook her head, turning her chair away. She had pages of information written down from their phone call. "How do you know all this?"

"It's the story of my life, sweetheart. And it's about to change."

He hung up. He took a deep breath.

And he wrote down Raccoon City as his assignment destination on the board.

Some things, it seemed, just had to go the way fate wanted.

He wasn't drunk on his first day. He received a phone call four days before that said don't come. He went anyway.

He found Claire at the gas station. He brought her into the city. He told her, in the cruiser, that her brother was alive and well and on holiday in Europe.

The fire separated them. He had the key to the gate this time to let her in. He lost her when Mr. X showed his ugly face to chase them. But it had to go that way. She had to get to Sherry.

And the worst night of his life was his again to relive.

But he wasn't afraid. Not this time. Not anymore. He was calm. He was almost cold. He ran that building and the labs and the streets like he'd spent his whole life there. He hadn't. But the nightmares all his life had been enough.

He was a different man in a city gone to hell.

While Ada wasted time trying to play him, he worked out the time line in his head. While he was following Ada in the sewers, Claire was tracking Sherry in the RPD. He had a handful of moments to decide if he'd take the bullet for Ada, and beat Annette to the punch instead.

He shot first.

Like the age old question of Greedo in the bar with Han Solo - the what if of the world changed right there, on a dime. Annette panicked and fled. Ada, surprised, glanced at him, "How'd you know she'd be there?"

"Just lucky I guess." He gestured with his head, "Go after her now."

She started running and Leon warned her, "Don't be stupid, Ada. Whatever they're paying you, it's not worth your life."

She paused, surprised, "Who?"

"You know who. I'll see you soon."

She ran for it and he turned, booking it back across the tunnel. As Ada chased Annette, Leon clamored up the emergency ladder toward the garage. He could hear the shouting as he moved.

Sherry was screaming, "PLEASE! Oh PLEASE! I'll go, ok!? Don't hurt her!"

"Put the cuffs on her now, Sherry! I mean it!"

Irons. Right on schedule. Claire had never gone into details, but Leon knew that Irons had beat the shit outta of her to steal Sherry in the garage. She'd been bruised and her mouth busted up when they'd found each other again on the train.

He could have let it go down the way history had once let it. But why?

He wasn't the boy in the uniform anymore.

Leon pushed open the hatch to the emergency ladder and emerged behind the cruiser with its flashing lights as Claire spat, "You son of a bitch! My brother is S.T.A.R.S. and if you-"

She grunted as Irons kicked her in the side and spilled her to the ground. Sherry mewled desperately and Irons cursed, "BITCH! I said shut the fuck up. Open the gate, Sherry. NOW!"

The sound of the gate whirling mechanically joined him as Leon stepped around the cruiser. Irons had the gun stuck to Claire's face and was spitting as he talked, "You even fart in our direction, I will blow your tits off. You hear me?"

And Claire hissed, "I hear you...pig."

He flipped the gun around to whip her across the face and Leon whistled. The sound surprised everyone in the garage. Irons turned toward him. Claire glanced as well. And Sherry shouted, "Don't shoot!"

But he wasn't. Not at her. He commanded, "Drop the gun."

And Irons laughed, "You can't shoot me. You're a cop."

"...not anymore." Irons swung the gun. Leon pulled the trigger. Claire gasped as the blood splattered her face and Irons went down on his back a fresh hole in his head.

The silence dragged out until Sherry unlocked the cuffs on Claire and the redhead rose, watching Leon with wide eyes, "You just killed the police chief."

"...I know."

Sherry murmured, "He was a bad man, Claire. He was bad. It's ok."

Leon shook his head and gestured with his gun. "Take the girl and run. What's chasing you? It won't stop until it has her. I will finish it. I will stop it. But if you don't go now, it'll get her. It'll infect her, and they won't ever stop until they have her."

Surprised, Claire shook her head, "Who? What are you talking about? I won't leave you. Are you kidding me? Come with us."

Leon sighed and returned, "I can't. Not yet. But I will meet you, outside of town, near the abandon liquor store on 48. If you go now, you can make it before morning. Head left from this garage, slip through the alley by Kendo's, you'll have to cross over where the road is out but I left planks for you to use. When you get over the divide, go into the blue house three down on Webster."

He handed her the keys from his pocket, "This will get you in the door. And there's a truck waiting there in the garage. I left it a week ago. It's fully stocked. It's safe. Webster will take you right out of town past the road block they never finished on 48. Get out of town, Claire. Now. If you don't, she won't ever be the same."

Sherry and Claire were both staring at him. Sherry whispered, "But my Mom..."

And Leon shook his head, "I'll do what I can. But I can't promise anything. You have to trust me, I know that's asking alot. But you have to trust me. It's the only way this works."

Claire said, softly, "How do you know all this?"

Leon shook his head, "No time for that now. I need your necklace, Sherry. Can I have it?"

The girl glanced at Claire. Claire hesitated and Leon asked, "Do you trust me?"

Without hesitation, she answered, "Of course I do."

Sherry handed over the necklace. Leon said, softly, "Thank you. You'll be safe now, I swear to god."

Claire gripped his arm and implored, "Let me stay. Let me help."

"I won't risk you. It's better like this. I can handle it. You have to believe me."

"...I believe you."

"Then go now. Protect that little girl. That's all that matters." He swiped the card key when they were passed the gate. It closed, sealing Sherry and Claire beyond the metal. Claire scanned his face and murmured, "I don't want to leave you."

Jesus. His heart.

He stuck his hand through. Their palms joined. And he answered, "You're not. You're saving me. Go. Wait for me."

He turned and ran toward the kennels. He set Bertolucci free to avoid his death and cut him loose. Free of his cell, it was up to the reporter if he lived or died. Bertolucci promised to shed light on everything. He swore he'd see the end of Umbrella.

Bertolucci was gone when Ada arrived, spared his death by the monster who stalked them, and the spy who hunted him.

Alive, he might prove a powerful ally they'd lost too soon.

He played Ada's game until the sample was secured.

On the bridge, facing each other, the boy who'd once kissed a spy and mourned her death stood between her and victory. The lab began to collapse as the countdown threatened extinction. They paced each other with guns up and Ada instructed, "Don't be stupid, Leon. Pass me the sample."

Leon shook his head, laughing mirthlessly, "Make a choice, Ada. Here and now. Make a choice to do the right thing. This sample? It's the beginning of the end for you. You're on the wrong side here. It's not too late. Come with me. Forget the sample and let's bring this to the people who can stop it. Please. You can help me. It's no-"

She fired her gun and surprised him.

But not at him at Annette near the door. The doctor went down, bleeding. Ada lowered her weapon and shook her head at him, "Damnit, Leon. Why do you have to make this so hard?"

A good question.

He lowered his weapon, shaking his head, "Times up, Ada. What's it gonna be?"

"Don't do it, Leon." But he did it. He dropped the sample into the boiling fire below them. Ada watched it tumble, mournfully. He had to hope against hope that Jill had found a way to stop Hunk from getting the other sample.

This was the first step. If they could stop G, if they could stop Ashford on Rockfort, if they could stop Wesker in Russia...they could change the world. He just had to relive the horror all over again. It had to matter. It all had to matter. It had to. It was the only hope he had.

She sighed, dramatically, and holstered her gun. "You know I can't kill you. I'm not a fucking monster. Let's go."

Together, they ran for the lift to the train. He wasn't stupid. He knew she wasn't trustworthy. But he couldn't, he just couldn't, leave her to die. They tag teamed Birkin until the countdown had them desperately boarding the train.

As it raced into the sunrise, Ada jerked on his vest and tugged him over. He let her kiss him, smooth and soft. She shook her head, laughing softly, "You're something else. You sure you're a rookie?"

He shook his head, smirking, "Not for a long time, sweetheart. Not like I ever really was."

She tilted her head at him. "I can't go with you. You have to know that."

"I do. Do the right thing here, Ada. Stop Albert Wesker. Or none of this matters."

She tilted her head at him again. The train rolled to a stop at the small station. He thumb stroked the cleft in his chin and she sighed, "You're fucking adorable. That must be the only damn reason I've clearly lost my mind. The good news for you? Somebody betrayed me and stuck me in that mess back there. I don't like being betrayed. For that? I'm going to see how it feels to play for the other team for awhile. I'll help you. I'll be in touch."

She tucked a napkin in his hand and leaped over the railing of the train. He heard the sound of her hookshot firing and didn't even watch her run. There was no reason for it.

She'd find him when it was time.

He was sure of that.

On foot, he made his way to the liquor store. To his surprise, Claire was there with Sherry and Bertolucci. How the reporter had found them was a mystery. But it was also irrelevant, he had a handful of minutes to make his point.

So he said, "In about thirty minutes, the government is going to come over that hill. They're going to want answers. They're going to want samples. They'll get nothing. Because we have nothing to give them. But they won't leave empty handed."

Claire tilted her head, "Why?"

"Because they'll have me."

Surprised, she shouted, "Are you kidding?! Why?!"

"If I give myself over, they'll have no reason to look beyond me. I'm the last survivor. I'm the only one. You, Sherry, and Bertolucci make your escape. Claire - your brother isn't in Europe. He's in Wyoming at the cabin your parents owned. He's waiting there for you and Sherry. Go. Find him. Run. Hide. And trust me when I tell you, I will find you when I can."

Claire looked angry now, "I don't hide! Why would I!?"

"Because if you don't, they'll take that kid with you and imprison her. They'll make her a guinea pig. They'll manipulate you into protecting her and sacrificing yourself to help her."

"So you'd rather they do that to you?"

How far had him come? Where once he'd resented the girl who'd left him behind, now he was pushing her to run. Because he knew, he was ready, and he would find her again. This time, the story ended on his terms.

Sherry whispered, "My Mom?"

Leon shook his head, "I'm sorry. I tried. But she-"

Sherry nodded and turned away, whispering, "She had to stop my Dad."

Claire rubbed her mouth and glanced at Leon's face. "I won't leave you."

He sighed and opened the truck door, waiting for her to get in. "You will. This little girl needs you. Forget the fighting. Leave that to me. Take your life and live it, Claire. Live it with Sherry. Get her a dog. Get her a parrot. Get her an iPod when they come out, because they rule."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just...if things go like I want..." He paused, he glanced at Bertolucci, "If Ben gets this story out...it'll change everything. I need you to protect Sherry and Bertolucci and make sure that happens. I asked you to trust me. Now I have to ask you to promise me. Promise me you won't try to find me. Promise me you won't go to Paris. Promise me that you'll take this girl and get this reporter to safety and never look back. Promise me."

Claire hesitated, shaking her head, "I don't want to leave you."

Her loyalty. It crushed his soul. He gripped the back of her neck and dragged her over. She made a small sound and fisted his vest. He kissed her until he was fairly sure she'd never forget him.

Her mouth was soft and unbruised. Irons had never shown Sherry his orphanage of horror. He'd stopped all he could. From this point on, Claire was on her own.

He avowed, quietly, "I will find you again. When the time is right, I will find you. I swear to god."

The sirens lit the air and he urged, "Go. Now Claire. Go."

She leaped in the truck and gunned the engine. "...Leon...I-"

"Later. Go. NOW!" He slapped the hood of the truck and ran toward the far side of the hill. He didn't look back. He heard the tires peel off. He heard the truck roar away.

He had hope for the first time in twenty years that Claire was free of the fight. Claire and Sherry were free. He waited until they came over the hill to take him into custody.

He agreed when they offered him the shackles that had once nearly killed him.

He went.

And he never looked back.

In his head, he could hear Ada's voice whispering, "...looks like you're still on duty, Agent Kennedy."

Apparently, time machine or not, that was the story of his life.

Harvardville, 2005

The T-Virus vaccine was an enormous success. Started early, it was widely distributed like essentials were to children at birth. By the time Claire had once been fighting the losing battle against massive outbreaks, she was instead serving at the head of TerraSave to help vaccinate foreign domains and offer blanket inoculation to the poor and underserved.

Bertolucci blew the whistle on Umbrella with the safety of the right people within the FBI protecting him. He never asked how Leon knew who he could run to, he just...trusted him.

Umbrella was dismantled and destroyed before TALOS could be built or the plant in Russia utilized. Thwarted before he could amass power, Wesker wasn't easy to track down. Since his early movements were a mystery, finding him was proving tiresome. But with Rockfort destroyed and Alexia never set free, there wasn't much for him to gain by running down familiar paths.

A sanctioned hit on Hidalgo had taken out the drug lord before he could experiment on girls in South America.

The Los Illuminados were halted before they'd even hit the height of power. The plagas were exposed to heavy doses of UV light and eradicated within their caverns. People in intelligence weren't sure if Leon Kennedy was a god or a devil. They only knew his insincts were never wrong. He just knew where to find the bad guys.

Spared an untimely death at the hands of Albert Wesker, Jill Valentine was serving as the head of the BSAA. Chris had seized control of the FBC with Lansdale taken into custody long before Terragrigia could fall, and put a stop to Il Veltro before the city could become a necropolis. No one asked how Leon knew what he knew. No one.

Not once.

From the moment it all boiled out like he'd said, Jill Valentine trusted everything he uttered.

With anti-BOW laws on the books and President Graham leading the charge against bio-terror in a positive way, Ashley was safe and free to bong beers and grow up away from the eyes of the monsters that had once sought to rule through her.

And so it was just a man who showed up in a sunny little city to find a redhead waiting with a beautiful teenage daughter. Claire had adopted Sherry right after Raccoon City. She'd done just what she'd promised.

She'd raised her and protected her and loved her.

Sherry was off to college in a few months to get her degree in virology. She was planning to join Rebecca Chambers on the front lines of vaccine production.

As he stepped onto the tarmac, Sherry waved her arms and laughed, running toward him to hug. Beautiful, tall, she looked like the happy version of the girl he'd known once that nearly wrecked his car.

Claire joined them on the runway, tilting her head at him.

"I waited."

His heart. It leaped twice before he answered, "I found you. I told you I would."

"You did." She licked her lips, "I missed you."

Shit. He laughed, hoarsely, and cleared his throat, "Me too, kid. Like you wouldn't believe. You're alright?"

"I'm great. We're great. What took you so long?"

He shook his head and muttered, "What's a few years versus a lifetime?"

Claire arched her brows, "What?"

"Nothing. Doesn't matter. Forgive me and make it all worth it."

She laughed and rolled her eyes, "Forgive you for what? You saved my life. There's nothing to forgive."

His heart thumped as he queried, "You involved with anyone?"

Curious, her eyes twinkled, "Not that I'm aware of. You said wait...I waited."

Christ almighty he loved her. He laughed, skimming his hands in his hair. "I don't deserve you."

She winked at him, "You wanna tell me now how you know what you know?"

He smirked. "Does it matter?"

"Depends on what you came here for. Start talking."

He sighed and set his bag down on the tarmac. "Right here? Right now? You want the whole story?"

She pursed her lips. "That a guitar?"

He shrugged, "Maybe. Why? You want me to sing you the whole story instead?"

Amused, Claire gripped his tie and tugged him forward. "That was a helluva first date we had, Mr. Kennedy. It better be a reallllly good song."

His hands slid down her back and cupped her butt. She looped his tie around her hand.

And he said, "I can think of a better song. I promise you."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah...you ever heard Animal by Nine Inch Nails?" A song whose first line was I wanna fuck you like an animal...a filthy homage to all the glorious, wonderful, incredible, never ending pleasures that came from being inside of a woman.

He didn't just want to sing it to her. He wanted to live it with her.

And she laughed. She just laughed. She tugged his lips to hers and cooed, "Maybe you better show me instead."

Above her, sitting on the plane he'd left behind, the ghost of Ada Wong intoned, "There ya go, handsome. Quit yer bitchin...and live your fucking life."

He laughed. He tugged Claire in to kiss her breathless. Sherry laughed and asked if she could finally adopt a puppy. Fuck a puppy, he thought madly, he was ready to fill Claire up with children.

As they let go, both breathless, he queried, "I know we've actually only spent about an hour together...but is it too soon to ask you to have my baby?"

And the sound of Claire's laughter spilled around them in the warm sunlight.