RE: Inclination

A/N: I'd like to say thank you to everyone who reviews. I won't be turning off anonymous reviewing.

Day three in Washington. After their meetings, the zombie went to dinner with her and then, probably angry with her about the separate rooms, he returned to his. Without similar compulsion, Claire decided to spend her evenings out. There were some galleries that were open until late, and if not that, she could always take her files to a little coffee shop around the corner from the hotel. There wasn't really time for traditional sight seeing.

It would've been nice to see Mount Vernon or something while she was in the area. She'd never been.

Staring at the clock on her phone, Claire had a thought. It was probably a hopeless thought, considering how busy Leon could get… he'd called her, what, three days prior? He was probably back on assignment. But she had said she'd call him back…

Claire pressed the talk button after selecting Leon's phone number. Closing her eyes, she bit her bottom lip gently. This wasn't like her… reaching out to Leon when she was upset by something normal. He was the one to call her, to make contact, normally… But she wanted… she wanted to hear someone friendly and familiar. She wanted someone who would listen and understand. She didn't half dare tell anyone else what she was feeling but…

A call cut across the one outgoing to Leon. Claire blinked and hit the switch button, "Hello?"

"Hey Claire, your itinerary open enough this week for a meal with your brother?"

"Chris," Claire breathed. "I'm in Washington. I really can't."

"What a coincidence," Chris's replied. "I'm in Washington too."

"Chris…"

"Or are you on location with the douche bag?"

Her brother insisted on calling Robert names. They'd met, once, Chris said. She had a better idea about that. TerraSave, the company she was finishing out her employment contract with, was a non-profit organization. Without the sort of secrets that her brother's line of work normally entailed, the computers wouldn't be heavily guarded. Chris was more than smart enough to either look through the employee records or find someone who could look into them for him. It was strange, she hadn't recalled Chris to be so involved with killing her love life before. Maybe there was something specific about Robert that Chris didn't like. He'd never snooped to having a Human Resources server cracked to satisfy his curiosity before.

"I am with Robert, but it's not like the two of us are married or attached at the hip or anything, Chris."

"Then let me take my little sister out to dinner tomorrow. Did you bring anything nice to wear?"

"Chris," Claire rolled her eyes. "Last time you asked me to dress nicely I was wearing heels in a post restaurant, and people thought I was your wife."

"I cleaned their clocks on that one," Chris reminded her.

"You could have told your squad about me."

"Give me a break, Claire, that was almost ten years ago. Air force guys are almost all like that. Hot shots until they get married, and it's not like we spent a lot of time talking about our families before that."

Claire considered. "I really have a lot to do on this project, Chris. I can't just give up on it now. We're in meetings with the Standards Committee all week on it."

"Because you've had a problem with juggling life and work up until now? Come on, you know you did all the hard work before you got on your plane, or douche bag would be complaining more."

"It doesn't help that you call him that," Claire said, narrowing her eyes. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It wouldn't hurt to see Chris… it might even help. "Tomorrow, six thirty, pick me up at the President Avenue parking lot by Grant. I'll be dressed appropriately, don't worry."

"Alright, sis, you got it. And… wear some makeup, huh?"

"That's asking a lot, Chris."

"You like it, don't argue."

"See you tomorrow, Chris," Claire said, hanging up the phone.

She shifted her files, looking out onto the night street in Washington D.C. She should get back to the hotel, take a shower, and go to bed. The morning would be a challenge. The senator they were meeting with was not a proponent of divulging information or increasing safety standards, even when it came to the safety of food production and shipping. It wasn't something to joke with, but there had to be some reason he wasn't supporting the sanctions being proposed.

Claire sighed. Maybe Chris was right about dressing nicely, and wearing some makeup. It might grease things along if the smart, passionate woman that was leading the meeting looked like someone from his level of society. She only hoped that it wasn't going to cause a fight with Robert. She could almost hear his protests in the morning…

She shook her head. It was something to worry about in the morning rather than now. She gathered her files and headed back to the hotel. The night passed without incident. In the morning, however, what she hadn't bothered imagining came straight out of Robert's mouth.

"So you can dress up for senators and reform committees?"

"I dress up more often than that. You don't give me nearly enough feminine credit, Robert."

And with that, she'd gone out to the taxi and taken a seat in it, folding her brief case on her lap. Robert followed, and their meetings passed more smoothly than expected. She was correct there too. Claire headed out past where the taxis were stationed to pick up travelers, over to meet her brother, and Robert followed.

"Claire, where are you going? The taxis are over there."

"I'm not having dinner with you tonight, Robert. I've got-"

"So you're seeing someone in Washington?"

Claire paused, crossing to stand on the walkway around the monument. She looked up at it, trying to maintain composure. Turning, she tipped her head slightly before taking a deep breath. "Robert, I'm not cheating on you."

"Claire!" a voice in the background called. Claire almost sighed. She knew it was Chris, but it didn't make it any better that Robert had never met her brother.

"Right," Robert said.

Chris came jogging over towards them. Robert started to turn on his heel, heading back for the taxis, when Claire cleared her throat. "Robert Martin, that is my brother, Chris Redfield."

Robert paused, and Chris made his way through the trees towards them. The evening sky was bright with the sunset. "Your… brother?"

"I guess we don't talk about our families, do we?" Claire asked. She turned to look at the Reflecting Pool that was beyond the monument, and took a step away from Robert.

"Claire…"

True to his word, Chris was dressed nicely. A suit, for once. More than she expected from him, honestly. Her body felt heavy. She sighed. Chris tensed at that, and turned to look at Robert for a moment. She could tell, because Robert made a startled noise. "Nice to…"

"Save it," Chris said in a low voice. He stepped over and put an arm around Claire. It was comforting. Warm. "Come on, I'm taking you to dinner."