Let Me Live

Chapter Two
Same Place

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

-The Rolling Stones, Paint It Black

Leon sat at his usual table, his back to the wall with a clear view of the busy street. He liked to have a clear view of his surroundings, along with full knowledge of all the exits. This tiny café was so familiar to him by now that he knew when the waitresses changed shifts, which regular had developed a nasty cough, and how many seconds it took to cook a fried egg, over-easy. Some people thought this habit of constant surveillance was creepy. He found it comforting.

Though it was an overcast January morning in Seattle, the air was only slightly chilly and the café still served its smoking patrons in the partially wind-shielded outdoor patio. Leon didn't smoke, but he didn't like the cramped quarters of the indoor café either. So many bodies pressing in on his, their clammy flesh brushing against his hand as he reached for the sugar bowl, their pungent odors raising bile to the back of his throat...

Leon was suddenly startled from his brooding silence as a dark shadow loomed over him. The waitress gasped as he jerked his head up quickly, and she stepped back. Leon stared at her coolly, waiting for her to ask her pat questions. He knew all the waitresses eyed him warily, and he was willing to bet his grandfather's gold lighter that they even drew straws to see who would have to wait on him today. Claire had told him to lighten up a little, that his icy stare creeped the hell out of people, but it was hard when he was expecting one of them to suddenly start convulsing and try to bite him.

"So what can I get for you today, Mr. Sullivan?" The shy waitress seemed to have worked up the courage only to stare at her notepad and wait for his order. Leon didn't miss a beat at the wrong name. He and Claire never had the same names in two places.

"The usual... please." He remembered his manners at the last moment. Common courtesy seemed to be another normal thing that was hard to remember after Raccoon City.

"One black coffee, then." The waitress didn't even bother to scribble on her notepad, though she didn't look up from it, either. "Will Ms. Carmondy be joining you again?"

"Yes."

"I'll bring her usual, too?"

"Yes... thank you."

The waitress took off as fast as she could without being overly offensive, and Leon nearly started again at the sound of a soft laugh. His eyes darted away from the waitresses' retreating form to rest on a grinning Claire.

"Well Mr. Dark and Dangerous, are you scaring the living daylights out of the living again?" Leon snorted as she plopped down opposite him. She eyed him up and down, taking in the apparently perpetual day-old stubble on his face the loose button dangling off of his brown corduroy bomber's jacket. She sighed. "It's no wonder you scare people away, you know," she said, though not unkindly. "You could do with taking care of yourself. I'm worried about you."

Leon suppressed another snort and traded looks with her. She had probably just jumped out of bed as well, but she looked decidedly more put together than he did. His eyes barely registered the silvery scars on the hollows of her neck– they were too familiar to him, just like his. Leon felt himself relax as he watched her just sitting across from him. Claire noticed the faraway look in his eyes. She grinned at him and waved a hand in front of her. "Hey sleepy-head, you're the one who woke up so bright and early today. Want to talk about it?"

Leon grimaced and glanced away to fix his stare on a crack in the cement patio. Actually, he didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to forget about the past three months—the constant running, the repeated hellish nightmares. They had only been in Seattle for barely three weeks now, and already he was wondering how long it would be this time before their carefully guarded identities were found out again.

Claire watched him stare at the ground, that familiar brooding silence overtaking him again. She felt the forced grin fall from her face, suddenly wondering if she had ever seen him really smile. She'd met him, her solitary constant, amidst the terror of that city one night three months ago. They'd been together, running from Umbrella, ever since. All smiles were forced for the benefit of the other. She shook her head and forced the dark thoughts from her mind. She was here for Leon, and it wouldn't help if she started back down the same road he'd been on since the incident. She'd tried to help him deal with it the same way that she did—by pushing it to the back of her mind, refusing to think about the horrors she had witnessed. She focused on one goal and then the next, survival always taking the forefront. She sighed as he finally lifted his gaze back to her, always so weary. She knew what he was going through. She couldn't run from the nightmares every night, either.

The waitress arrived with their dual black coffees, setting the saucers down as quickly as she could without sloshing or breaking anything. Claire smiled and thanked her, but Leon didn't even look up, figuring he'd end up with coffee on his pants if he startled her again. It was better to keep to himself.

"So how's Amy?" Claire asked before gulping down the scalding coffee. Leon suppressed another grimace.

"Haven't seen her," he answered, picking up his spoon and stirring the coffee unnecessarily. He wondered mildly why the waitress had equipped him with a spoon when she didn't bring any cream or sugar.

"What happened this time," Claire took on a disapproving mother hen tone. "I go through all the trouble of setting you up with a date and you blow her off right away? Leon, I know you have some social skills hiding under that gloomy shadow of yours... Leon, are you listening to me?"

Leon spared her a glance and a small smile. "Hey, I took her out a couple times. She just wasn't interested."

Claire rolled her eyes. "You mean you creeped her out. What did you do, show her your ammunition collection?"

Leon really did smile this time. "I didn't show her, she found it. Besides, she shouldn't have been poking around my room while I was in the shower. She said the custom shotgun is illegal in seven states."

Claire laughed out loud. "She's probably right, you know. Anyway, most girls aren't accustomed to finding someone equipped for a small world war in their bedrooms."

It was Leon's turn to scoff. "I'll get rid of my stockpile when you get rid of yours." Claire only winked at him. Neither of them was ever going to be caught unawares again, even if they were several hundred miles away from Raccoon City.

"Alright, you win. But Leon..." she trailed off cautiously. Sensing the changing tone in her voice, he visibly retreated; the momentary smile slid from his features in exchange for the expressionless mask he had been wearing for the past three months. "Don't you get... lonely?" Claire ventured. "I mean, maybe the nightmares wouldn't happen so often if someone was there..."

"Hmph," Leon took a sip from his cooling coffee. "You're here, that's good enough." Although he appeared apathetic, Claire realized he was also being honest. She was surprised to feel a blush creep up her cheeks and quickly sought to hide it behind a long gulp from her cup. Leon had fallen back into his brooding silence, and Claire cast about for another train of conversation.

"You work today?" she asked lightly, setting her empty cup down with a soft clink. Leon tilted back in his chair, apparently finished with his barely-touched beverage.

"Yeah, I'm back on first-shift at the warehouse. How about you? Work at the restaurant today?"

"You know it," she said, fishing around in her purse for some change. Leon beat her to it and laid a few bills on the table, lifting his cup and saucer to use as a paperweight. Claire flashed a grin at him.

"I always appreciate a good tipper," she said playfully as she stood and stretched. Leon also stood and pushed in his chair.

"I may be anti-social but I can be a gentleman," he said with a small smile. They walked together past the iron and glass enclosure of the patio toward the wide sidewalk. Claire turned to him as they reached the corner where they usually went their separate ways.

"Maybe I'll see you later?" she asked, giving him a quick hug. He squeezed her back.

"Maybe," he said, releasing her to look down at her anxious face. He knew that he made her worry too much, but he really was all right, most of the time. He broadened his smile for her sake before he turned away and started walking, disappearing into the wisps of steam rising from the street.

A/N: Next chapter: Blood is Thicker:
Don't wait for the sun
It could turn black any day

-P

DISCLAIMER: Claire, Leon, and everything else Resident Evil are all published and licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment and New Line Cinema. The concept and games were developed by Capcom.