Story warnings, pairings and such in previous chapters.

Disclaimer: Capcom owns all the characters and concepts from Resident Evil. Any new people, and the SI are mine so don't steal them, thanks.

AN: Sorry that it's taken so long. Hope you enjoy this and please review!

Huge thanks to SeveredWing for the beta work. I don't know what I would do without you. I did add a thing or two after, so any mistakes are mine.

Italics thoughts bold emphasis

AND INTO DREAMS; COME CLOSER, COME NEAR

Chapter 5: Coffee for the soul

After they had both gotten a cup of coffee and made their way to a small table at one of the coffee shops in the mall, there was a strange, uncomfortable silence between the pair. Neither had been expecting to see the other again, and both were now remembering how they had met. After a minute or two, Claire decided that she had done enough reminiscing and that it was time to get to know this guy.

"So, Leon, what do you do all day when you're not rescuing damsels in distress?"

Wow what a smile. Leon was a little lost in her smile. He wasn't really used to talking to any women except for Ada. He had always been popular with the girls, or at least been part of the popular group, but had never really known how to act around them. Realizing that she was waiting for an answer and that he had once more zoned out, another blush tried to make it's way onto his cheeks.

"Well, I work as a patent clerk. I sit behind a desk all day reading and filing reports. It's pretty boring. What about you? Do you…uh…" Realizing what he was about to ask, and how it might sound, he froze, but Claire only laughed. God, that's such a beautiful sound.

"Do I dance all the time? Is that what you were going to ask?" She waited for him to confirm it and he nodded with a small smile.

"No, I go to college actually. Well, except for Wednesday and weekends. And before you ask, no it's not something I planned on doing. I just kind of got into it. And it's good money. I put myself through school with it." She paused for a second before continuing. "You're not one of those who don't, how should I put it, agree with that kind of work now, are you?" she suddenly seemed more pulled back.

"Oh no, of course not. You're free to do whatever you want." Leon was quick to reassure her.

Happy at his answer, Claire smiled another thousand watt smile. "I didn't think so. But you never know." She took a sip of her cappuccino, trying to figure out what to ask next.

Slowly but surely the couple relaxed, and learned about the other. Leon was in the middle of describing an "incident" with his friends from work, Claire giggling madly, when they were interrupted by the sound of a throat being cleared. Loudly. Leon immediately stopped talking and turned around.

"Sherry! Hi!" He sounded a little guilty, even to himself. Claire was desperately trying to pull herself together.

"Hi. So, I was going to find you and ask if we could stay a bit longer. I bumped in to Sara and Naomi at the Drop." She nodded at a couple of girls that stood some way behind her. When Leon looked over, they instantly blushed and began to giggle. Sherry simply shook her head. It drove her mad that her friends could not behave around Leon. "Anyway, obviously you are busy, so that won't be a problem. Right?"

Again, Leon felt guilty, like he was doing something he absolutely should not be doing. He reminded himself that he was the adult of the two. And there is no way she's getting this to blackmail me with! He figured an introduction was in place.

"Sherry, this is Claire. She's a friend of mine. And yes, we'll be catching up for awhile longer so you can go play with your dolls with the other girls."

Sherry gave Claire a dazzling smile and gave her a quick greeting, which Claire returned, then turned to Leon and in a low, cold voice hissed "We shop, okay? That's it. I'm not a kid anymore." Leon just smiled happily while nodding his head, as if agreeing with her. They were both used to trying to push each other's buttons, and Leon had just won this round. Sherry let out a short growl before turning to Claire, giving another big smile, then saying goodbye and storming off to her friends to tell them all about the humiliation of Leon.

Leon smiled after her before turning back to Claire. She was looking at him, like she was expecting him to say something. "What?"

"I know you drive a Jeep, that you hate your job, that you love going fishing, that coffee really isn't you thing and you would actually have gone for the hot chocolate but you wanted to be all manly instead. That your secret addiction is carrot juice, and that you wish you had a cottage to live in somewhere quiet by the water, but nowhere in there did you mention you have a… sister? A daughter?" She had an amused expression.

His voice was filled with pride as he answered, "She's my daughter."

"She must take after her mother. You don't look anything alike." It wasn't a rude comment. Simply a statement of fact.

"She does. She looks just like her mother actually. I never met her father so I don't know about him." Seeing that Claire was now looking very puzzled, he decided to tell her the whole thing. Well, the cliff notes version anyway.

"I was a cop back then, four years ago, and I'd just been transferred. Just a few days after, there was this… incident, in the city. A lot of people got hurt, many died. Anyway, during that mad time I met up with Sherry. We became close. We got out alive together a week later. Then when her parents died, she wanted to stay with me. Her parents were among those who didn't make it, so I adopted her. We've been a happy family ever since."

"That's horrible! How could something like that have happened? You were a cop? I should have known." That was why he had no problem kicking Steve's ass. "Wait, this sounds familiar. This city, what was it called?"

He took a moment before answering, "Raccoon City. The mid-west." Claire seemed to be thinking about it for a minute or two.

"Yes, that's it. I remember it now. There was some disease and hundreds died, even more got sick. You were actually there? Thank God you made it out alive!" There was a short pause. "I'm so sorry for Sherry." He noticed she had a look of shock and admiration. It seemed she thought even better of him now.

"So why aren't you still a cop? It seems, to me at least, that you're made for the job."

He thought about it for a moment. It was a question that he himself had asked many times. He knew the answer of course, but for some reason it just didn't sound as convincing these days. He wanted to help people. It was what got him into law enforcement in the first place. But Ada…Realizing that he still hadn't answered Claire, and some time had gone by, he was quick to reply. "I have a family to think about now. Someone that depends on me being around. Police work can be very dangerous." Heck, I'd be happy just doing desk work at the station. But no. "You wouldn't be able to just sit by. You would want a patrol in no time. It's too dangerous. I want you to have a safe job." Sometimes that woman drives me mad.

"That's very noble of you. I'm sure Sherry loves you for it."

"Actually, she wants me to go back to being a cop. Keeps saying that there are more people out there that need a hero. Not that I see myself as a hero or anything."

Claire just smiled. "Well, you saved me. So there must be a bit of hero in there still." Leon almost felt uncomfortable by her words. If I was a hero, I should have been able to save all those people. He lived with the faces and names of the people who had died those days. They never left his thoughts completely. This subject is getting a little too serious.

Deciding to try and steer the conversation away from the horrors of his past, Leon decided to focus on Claire instead.

"So how come that guy was able to attack you like that anyway? Don't you have security or something?" This was actually something that had bothered him.

Claire was quick to defend her employer. "Of course we do. It's just that… well, they were a bit busy at the moment." At Leon's somewhat upset look, she wanted to clarify. "I know self defense as well. Barry, that's the owner, makes sure that we all take classes. I was just so surprised by him showing up like that. I… I guess I just froze. But then again you were there, so you saw that." And boy do I feel stupid right now. Thank God Chris never found out. I would never hear the end of it. Leon, however, still did not seem convinced. Suddenly Claire was struck by an ingenious idea to stay in touch with the handsome 'hero'.

"I just got an idea. You think I'm not far enough along with me self defense? Well, then why don't you help remedy that?" He got a quizzical, and doubtful, expression. "Wait, just hear me out. You were a cop, so you should be pretty good at it, right? With school and work I don't really have time for the classes that we're supposed to attend. But if I had someone who could help me when I do have time…" She trailed off. C'mon, go for it.

There was a little voice inside Leon that was screaming about how much of a bad idea this was, but he didn't listen to that one. He was too busy listening to the one that was promising more time with this amazing woman, and there was nothing wrong with friends helping each other. Was there? No. friends should help friends. And for some reason, he could imagine the loud voice in his head doing a happy dance.

"Sure. I'm positive we could work something out."

Claire's face lit up like a sun. "Great!" She grabbed a napkin and wrote down her number. "Here. Call me anytime. If I don't answer, just leave a message or something. I hope we can start soon." As soon as she had spoken the words, she felt panic rise in her. I hope I'm not coming on too strong.

But her fears were quickly eased as Leon simply grinned and replied, "That eager, huh?" Claire blushed a little.

"I just don't want to freeze the next time. If there is a next time. With your help, I'm sure I'll be prepared." Awfully confident about me, aren't you? thought Leon. But like her, he was also eager to begin their new project. And that little voice that was still whispering doubts in his mind, kept losing ground by the minute.

Two cups of coffee, or hot chocolate for Leon, and thirty minutes later Sherry returned without her friends. The trio said their goodbyes and then father and daughter were off.

Claire simply stood and watched them leave, thinking about how lucky she was that Steve had jumped her that day. Leon was a figure she was looking forward to having in her life. And Sherry seemed very nice as well. Eager to talk to one of her friends about this new development in her life, she took out her cell phone and called Rebecca. The other girl loved to hear about everything in everyone's love life, and hated being teased about her own.

Ten minutes later Claire and Rebecca had decided to meet up at Claire's house later and order some pizza. Claire looked at the time and noticed that she could still get all her shopping done if she hurried. So getting the rest of her stuff, a happy smile on her face from her meeting with Leon, she was off to shop.

End chapter 5.

So…. You know what I'm going to say! REVIEW!!!!! Let me know what you think about it. Was there something really good, or bad? Your thoughts give me inspiration, you know.

See you in chapter 6!