Whaaaaat? Another FP chapter? This must be a mistake, right?
No, it's not! It's a very new, very important chapter.
I hope you enjoy it.
Or... that you hate it.
Whatever you prefer.
Thank you for being there :D Xaori loves you.
Goodnight and thank you
"I'd prefer keeping you in observation, Miss Redfield. But I can't keep you here against your will." The leading doctor of the small hospital in Mtaa was a wise man, with a deep stare from dark eyes and a barely audible accent in his fluent English. He was one of those natures that radiated with calm and goodness, and Claire had felt immediately comfortable around him. He pushed his glasses in place by sliding the tip of his little finger up the bridge of his nose.
"Thank you, doctor." Claire smiled at him as she signed the form he'd handed her and climbed off the bed to proceed to pack her few belongings. Chris sat grumping in the corner. He hadn't said anything since they'd found her in the cavern, and it was starting to irritate her. The fact that she asked to leave the hospital earlier wasn't making things particularly better between them.
Claire believed that the hospital had other emergencies to take care of than the mild concussion of a death-defying North-American lady who could as well get the little supervision she needed in the tents of Terra Save. When the physician left the room, Claire knew the time had come to let her brother scold her. She turned to face him, meeting the I-told-you look on his face. He remained silent, though, getting up as she did and walking after her to the exit. In the narrow corridor, they nearly collided with Leon.
"Hey! I was just going to check on you," he commented and placed his hand onto her shoulder, a gesture Chris visibly disapproved of. However, he still didn't intervene. "How are you feeling?"
Claire nodded.
"I'm okay, it's just a tiny concussion," she clarified as they kept walking, dodging a nurse here and there.
"Shouldn't you stay in observation?" Leon asked perplexedly, and Chris clicked his tongue.
"She doesn't want to."
The two men exchanged a gaze of friendly complicity, and it annoyed Claire to the core. Her brother and her best friend were joining forces to devalue her.
She hated it.
"I'm alright!" Claire exclaimed, keeping herself from stomping her foot onto the floor. They shared a moment of silence, as much as was possible in the overrun emergency room of the main accessible hospital for people who had survived a brutal civil war. The medical teams ran up and down the hallway, and the three of them had to step aside more than once to let the others do their job. Claire eventually decided they had stood there long enough and changed the subject. "Any news?"
The tension seemed to fade when they switched back to professional topics. Jessica had been taken into custody by a team of BSAA agents in the cavern while Leon had pulled Claire up. Now they were trying to get her to talk, tell them who she was working for and who else was implicated. Leon shook his head, though.
"I admit, she's tough. My best men are interrogating her and she keeps silent." Leon turned to Chris. "Maybe the BSAA has better luck. I got the feeling she wants to speak to you."
Chris huffed out a laugh.
"Yeah, I believe that, too," he replied and the two men walked away. Claire, suddenly aware of a question that had been spinning in her mind since the cavern, stood behind.
"How did you find me?"
The two men stopped and turned back to face her and Claire's gaze of accusation jumped automatically to Chris. Her brother, stern and serious, gestured to Leon, though.
"I slipped a tracker into your breast pocket," the blond confessed bluntly without even blinking and it caused her mouth to drop open.
"You did what?" Claire asked in a high-pitched voice full of incredulity and automatically reached for the pocket on her shirt, pulling out the small device. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"And I will do it again every time I tell you not to do anything stupid and your answer is not a plain Yes, Leon." He took a step forward as he spoke in a chiding tone, and it made him look unfamiliarly aggressive. Claire suddenly felt humiliated, like a little girl who was being scolded after being caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
She couldn't believe it. Leon had always tried to protect her, that's true, but she hadn't expected him to betray her trust and use his stupid government tools to keep her under control. When would the men in her life stop treating her like she was a child? She swallowed hard, moving her jaw in circles afterwards as she intensified her stare of despise on her friend. When the silence was split by Chris' chuckle, she turned her furious stare to him.
"What? You friends with him now?" She hissed. "You know what? Fuck you all!"
She slammed the tracker onto the ground, and stomped her foot on it, crushing it into a thousand tiny pieces. Storming out of the hospital, she gave the two men an unsoft nudge when she ran past them. Air was becoming thin inside and she needed to get out of there, be alone and think. Not even Neil calling her name made her stop, and she pretended not to hear her boss as she dashed through the dusty streets of Mtaa into the dying sunlight.
No, it's okay. I was actually mad at myself. I had put myself in danger once more, like a stupid teenager that couldn't tell reality from a game, when I should've known better.
Being a savior isn't always enough, you know? There's so much more I'd like to do to help fight bioterrorism, but I've learned my lesson..
No more playing hero. I'll strictly keep within the guidelines and limitations of Terra Save.
This way nobody will have to worry about me again.
Once ignited, fury was hard to calm back down in a Redfield. Claire took a hasty drag of the cigarette one of the fishermen had given her when they'd seen her stomp upset around the streets. She was raising the attention of the people around her and she began feeling a little ashamed about it. It was good. It meant she was slowly recovering from her state of seething hatred.
She regretted having ignored Neil. He was the only one who never questioned her capabilities, offering her more and more authority inside the rows of Terra Save and she felt he would have been just the right person to talk to. He would have reminded her of the true value of their NGO, that they were often considered a secondary agent in the fight against bioterrorism but that they were actually the real heroes, because shooting a gun was easy, but staying behind and helping the injured required a special sensitivity the BSAA soldiers lacked.
She sighed.
She didn't need to be reminded of Terra Save's role in counterterrorism. The faces of the men, women and children they helped said it all. And the people that stopped by to ask about her well-being when they found her sitting on that barrel in the evening sun, fuming and hissing alone, were another proof of their value to the survivors. They wouldn't have cared that much about a BSAA soldier, of that she was sure.
Faraha had come, too. Claire had thanked her again for her assistance in the detention of the mysterious woman, and the girl had smiled widely and sincerely, proud to have been of use. It served Claire as an inspiration. She herself should be proud of her doing, too, instead of blaming herself over and over again. She hadn't put anyone but herself in danger, after all. and whose life was she ever going to risk if not her own?
She took the last drag and tossed the stub onto the dusty ground to her left. It was when she saw the person propped against the wall not far from her. Leon had his arms crossed in front of his chest and was staring at her, a hint of a smile dressing his lips.
"How long have you been there?" Claire asked in the most vexatious tone she could manage. The blond snickered and began moving towards her.
"Long enough to hear you bark at everything that moves around you," he replied and sat on the barrel next to her. "If you continue like that the locals will start fearing you."
She grimaced slightly. She hadn't been aware of the effects of her bad mood.
"You think so?" she asked, a little sorry for not controlling her anger. Leon laughed.
"Not really, no. They adore you, Claire. I think you could burn their houses and eat their children and they'd still love you." He offered her the open cigarette pack and she took one, waiting for him to give her fire before exhaling a short thank you. They sat together for a while, smoking in silence, until Leon spoke again. "I hope you know why I did what I did."
She nodded.
"I do," she said and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "And thank you for coming after me. She would have sliced me open hadn't you showed up."
Leon shrugged and laughed.
"Because of me you nearly drowned." He pressed the cigarette against the barrel to finish it before dropping the stub. "Things don't always turn out like we want them to happen, even though we do them with the best of intentions. It happens to all of us, Claire."
She smiled. Leon was being unusually considerate, which made her think that she might have scared him seriously.
"But eventually, you saved my life," she said. "That's what matters."
"And you eventually helped us arrest Jessica Sherawat. That matters, too."
She couldn't hold back the little smirk that crawled onto her lips. After all that had happened between them, everything they had lived, done and survived together, it felt good to be recognized by Leon Kennedy.
"I must admit, you're a fantastic investigator," he congratulated. "Fisher said the interrogations weren't getting results then you go and find Sherawat's hideout." Her glance moved back to Leon, whose expression told her how impressed he really was.
"I had help," Claire said. "A girl in town warned me and told me where to look."
Leon nodded.
"You see the people, Claire. You connect with them. That's a gift."
"Thanks." She had barely taken two drags, letting the cigarette consume itself as she listened to Leon praise her. She smiled and threw the smoke away. "So, did you inspect the cavern?"
The agent nodded.
"Yes, but we didn't find anything but weaponry and gold," he said and shrugged. "No sign of the other figure you mentioned, nor of the boat you saw depart. No virus samples, no BOWs." A sigh followed. "It sucks, but we need Jessica to talk."
Well that was demotivating andClaire bit her lower lip in frustration. She had genuinely hoped the cavern would contain the explanations they needed to understand Jessica's evil plans, who her employer was, and what their next target would be.
"Maybe it would have been better to leave her running free a bit longer." Her sad look dropped to her hands, which were engaged in a silent fingerplay of abstract nature.
Leon cleared his throat next to her. "Maybe. But honestly, I prefer having that woman in custody. She's dangerous and letting her run around uncontrolled would have put innocent people at stake."
Her lip twitched as her eyes turned to Leon's hand on the edge of the barrel he was seated on. She placed her hand onto it, and Leon pulled it back to lay his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer.
He smelled good.
He was probably the only being on the fucking planet who could walk through the African heat in a leather jacket and still smell like he had just walked out of a beauty salon. She took a noseful and hated him again. She herself smelled like wet monkey hair.
"Are you going to put another tracking device on me?" Claire asked, laughing, and they separated. Leon shook his head.
"Budget cuts, baby. I only get one per month and you destroyed it."
Claire mouthed a half-hearted Sorry and they laughed shortly before returning to an uncomfortable state of silence. After all, there was still something thorny to speak about.
The kiss.
He had kissed her knowing that she belonged to someone else.
He owed her an explanation. Something plausible she could ease Chris' concern with.
"I'm flying back to the States tonight."
She probably wouldn't get an explanation yet.
"So soon? I thought you'd stay until tomorrow at least."
Leon shook his head.
"I'm needed elsewhere," he said and hopped off the barrel, offering her a hand. "But it was a pleasure working with you, Miss Redfield."
She placed her hand in his and climbed off the barrel herself, walking next to him towards the city limits, where the teams were gathering.
Upon finally learning about the arrest of an internationally wanted spy, the city council of Mtaa had offered the city hall to the BSAA and the government. It wasn't more than a simple, two-floored building made of sandy stone and wood, but it was a nice alternative to the tents. It even had a small basement, where they were keeping Jessica for their interrogation.
When Leon and Claire reached the building, the agent suddenly stopped.
"I have to get some things packed before leaving," he said and shrugged. "You sure you don't want to come? I can arrange it."
She laughed at his kind offer, but shook her head.
"No, thanks, I'll take my ordinary, slow transport method tomorrow," she said, head tilted to the side. "I still have to take care of some things."
Leon nodded, understanding that looking after her camp and the people in it was part of Claire's duty just as the national security was part of his.
"Will you be okay?"
There lay so much sincerity in his question, a deep layer of that friendly concern that Claire had always appreciated immensely in Leon. Every single one of his actions was loaded with that touch of humanity, that little spark of something that unveiled the tenacious, kind heart that was beating in that killer body, and it always surfaced at the right time. His pupils swept upwards, unbothered by the drought of the African evening sun that shone directly into his face, and as Claire turned, she understood that he wasn't speaking of her recent close-to-death experience, but of the brother who stood over her like a protective shield.
How considerate of him.
"Yeah," she whispered as she sent a smile upwards to Chris, who stood leaning against the banister of the City Hall, pretending he had nothing in mind but the smoke he was puffing, when she clearly felt the impact of his eyes on herself and Leon. Reveling, as usual, in his attention, she turned back to her blond friend. "I'll be fine. But, just so you know, I'm not the only one who escaped death today."
He laughed, rolling his jaw in a seductive way that, some time in the past, would have made her drop her panties instantly, but which couldn't compare to the wholeness of love Chris made her feel.
"Oh, yeah. Taunting Big Redfield by suggesting his baby sister could have been touched by anyone is only for the brave."
A part of her wanted to slap his face, but she decided to playfully punch his shoulder instead, laughing and clicking her tongue at his words as though she had actually a reason to do so.
"Okay, I'll get going," he finally said and took a step back. "Let me know when you're back home, alright?"
Claire nodded, giving him a friendly wink before the blond turned away and she did the same. Of course, she could have stayed and helped him pack and delay the goodbye until the moment he actually left the camp, but there was someone else who needed her presence and attention more than Leon Kennedy, who was, after all, a big boy who had proven to be able to take care of himself. When she looked up to Chris again, her brother was just turning into one of the rooms, and Claire found herself climbing up the stairs to the second floor shortly after. It was finally time to put an end to that silence of his. She knew because he had left the door open for her to come in, and she knew that she'd get another taste of his jealousy.
"So," she whispered as she pressed her back to the door, shutting it. They stood in a small office, scarcely decorated with a simple wooden desk, a chair and a shelf with a couple of books in the corner. Unsure how to start the conversation, she chose the most obvious subject. "Have you spoken to Jessica?"
Chris stood by the window, watching the motions outside. A shy smirk wandered quickly over his lips before vanishing again. Just another sign that he was trying to be friendly, but that his nature was opposing.
"Yes. But she doesn't want to cooperate."
Claire sighed silently and pushed herself away from the door, stealthing through the room. She couldn't have cared less about Jessica. Her eyes were tightly set on the object of desire, who was currently playing down the evident fact that he was trembling with anger and dying of jealousy.
"I'm sorry, Chris. I should have watched out," she said with a shrug and an apologetic smirk on her lips. "I didn't mean to worry you."
Her left hand glided over his broad shoulder blades as she snuggled against him, rubbing her forehead into the crotch of his neck.
"Can you forgive me?" She cooed as though it had been the line of a porn movie, and let her fingertips tiptoe down his back, imitating the motion of little legs, until they found the spot to dive into his underwear. "I will reward your patience and understanding."
It was a fraction of a second. A very short time to break the spell of magic she was attempting to cast upon him, to remove her hand from his ass and turn away, leaving her pouting.
"Claire. No."
She shied away.
"You're right. Sorry," Claire exclaimed, realizing they could get caught and how much Chris feared it. "I got carried away."
They shared a moment of silence, staring at each other in challenging intensity, and Claire realized how tired Chris really was. His eyes were small and heavy-lidded, and the tiny wrinkles around them seemed to have grown deeper and not only from blinking into the African sunlight for too long. His breath was calm and deep, and she enjoyed watching how his nostrils narrowed and widened slightly with every breath. God, she loved that man, and every piece of suffering she'd endured for him had been worth the eff-
"I think you should give Kennedy a chance."
Her gaze drove back up to his eyes when the suggestion was spoken out. Was he serious? After nearly dying of jealousy because of Leon, was he now really pushing her into his arms?
"It's because of the kiss, right?" She rolled her eyes and reached for his hand. "Oh, Chris. You know that didn't mean anything. Leon and I are friends. He was just relieved I'm okay. That's all." She slung her arms around him. "You're the only one for me."
Chris exhaled.
"But you liked it, didn't you?" He suddenly said and caught her off guard. "You even closed your eyes."
This was ridiculous. Was he implying she enjoyed being kissed out of nowhere, against her will and by a man she didn't love? Pretty childish behavior from the one who considered himself the wiser Redfield.
"I had my eyes closed, yes, because I was in shock, Chris! I didn't expect him to do that!" She stepped in front of him and made eye-contact. "It was a reflex! Or don't you shut them when something comes rushing towards your face?" she howled and lifted her hands.
And she clapped them in front of his face. Once. Loudly.
He didn't even blink.
The loud noise died out without robbing any reaction from the man, and it just caused them to fall into another moment of quiet astoundment. Claire pouted.
"Okay. You don't."
Claire, with all her reasons deflated, didn't know where to continue until Chris laughed slightly. He let his look drop to the ground, and Claire understood she hadn't convinced him the slightest. This was going to be tiresome. He took her hands in his and fidgeted as he said, "I'm just coming to realize that it has been selfish of me to keep you for myself."
Those words broke her heart, because they harbored a truth so full of pain that it went beyond comprehension. Her eyes watered when she recognized his ultimate intention.
"Chris," she whimpered, voice low and weak. "Are you breaking up with me?"
He hesitated visibly, torturing her with every second he waited. The way he licked his lips and took a deep breath gave Claire the answer long before his words did. She sobbed.
"Claire… it's for the best."
The tears didn't waste more time and burst into her eyes. She ripped her hands free and raked the shaking fingers through her hair, loosening some strands from the ties of the ponytail.
"The best for whom?"
She turned around and walked through the room in a circle.
"He's a good man," she heard him say and sighed. "He's loyal, skilled. He has the President's full trust and he's crazy enough to put a tracker into your pocket." Claire stopped and looked at him, the tears rolling down her cheeks in abundance. So, that was what he cared about, wasn't it? That he could pass her on to someone who could control her. "And he could give you so many things I can't."
Claire shook her head in denial and licked her dry lips.
"And what are those things, Chris, huh?" she yelled as she began to stomp through the room again, ignoring all signs he made for her to keep her voice low. "Tell me! Do you know how long I have been wishing for this?" Her finger drew an invisible line between the two of them. "Years, Chris! I have been waiting for years for this to happen to me." She made a pause before adding, "For you to happen to me. Do you think I care about anything else? Leon doesn't want me. He's in love with someone else, and so am I. Chris, all I ever wanted was you!"
There was so much hope in her words. Hope to find some mercy in him. to turn the tides and make it all undone. What was happening there? How was he pushing her away when all she wanted was for him to hold her. Chris took a breath and ran a hand through his hair, visibly shaken by the situation. It was hard for him, too, she felt it, and as long as there was love, there was hope. She leaped forward and propelled herself into his grip, arms wrapping tightly around him as her eager mouth searched for his. He didn't shy back, letting her kiss him. Deep, voracious and desperate, there were no other words to define that kiss, and as Claire ran her hands along his torso, she knew Chris wanted her to go on.
The more brutal came the certainty that he wasn't going to let her.
His firm grip on her shoulders, he pushed her away from him, back down to the ground. Yes, maybe this was hard for him, too, but from the look on his face, Claire realized he wasn't going to change his mind.
"You could try. He can give you signs of affection in public. He can take you out and kiss you without worrying who is going to be around!" Chris was agitated, shivering nervously in a way she had never seen. "He can give you a family."
The sob came out unannounced, surprising them both with its ear-tearing cruelness. Claire shook her head and laid her arms around his neck again, resisting the persistence Chris tried to unloop her arms with.
"I don't need that, Chris. You are all the family I need," she said eventually, looking him directly in the eyes. A moment of deep silence followed, in which millions of thoughts spun through her head. What could she say or do to convince him? "But, anyway, Chris, with us being the first ones in the family, we-"
"Don't say it, Claire."
So, she didn't. She put her hands down, her look still stuck on his face.
"Okay, you think the natural way could get us in trouble someday? Fine! We can adopt a child! We can get a donor! Hell, it could even be Leon if you find him so fantastic!"
Chris grunted, rolling his eyes. Claire took a deep breath.
"There are ways for us to have a family." The arguments bubbled out of her mouth so vividly that she barely felt the tears roll down her cheeks. "This is not a reason to give up."
Chris exhaled, grabbing hold of her hands and catching them between his in a tight sandwich grip. When he looked at her, Claire felt nothing but sadness.
" And then, what?" he asked, head shaking in denial. "Our children call me Dad at home, and in public I'm Uncle Chris? Is that the life you want for your kids?"
Claire sighed softly, feeling the tremble in her weary limbs. No, that was not the life she wanted. Having to hide their relationship from the outer world was hard enough if it was just the two of them, and a normal family with Chris like she'd always dreamt of wasn't possible. Not in New York, not with the both of them working in near-public positions, and it broke her heart that the jobs they had been pushed into violently were now keeping them from running away together and starting a new life, with new identities and a chance to be happy. But despite all the disadvantages, the life she wanted still included Chris.
"I don't need children, Chris," she whispered as her hands sank down, Chris releasing them from his grip. A moment passed before she shouted, "I don't want them."
Another gaze of solace crawled onto his face.
"Yes, you do, Claire. It's in your eyes when you talk about Sherry or Moira. When you play with the kids in the camp here or when you hold Mario," he said and sighed. "The fact that you tried to come up with options for us to have children speaks for itself." Claire tried to deny it, but Chris shushed her. "You have the spirit of a mother, Claire. You deserve children of your own."
Claire fell into a deep silence, the quiet sobs the only sound she made. She felt the world collapse around her. Nothing mattered anymore now that Chris was leaving her. Didn't he see it? She didn't need anything but his love.
"Chris, please..." Her words came out as a whimper. "Please don't."
She watched him closely, hoping he would reconsider, embrace her and tell her he loved her, because nothing mattered as long as there was love.
"You think I'm exaggerating, but to me it's important to see you happy, Claire. And you may not be aware now, but someday you'll regret not having a family." He took a deep breath. "You can have that with someone else. Either Kennedy or-"
And she burst.
"I don't want him, I want you!" she howled, Chris barely able to cover her mouth to keep her voice muffled. She cried into his palm, tears and saliva wetting his hand.
"Please, don't. Chris. You're all the family I will ever need." Her eyes searched for his again. Searching for a hint of that love she so desperately clung to. "We can overcome anything if we just love each other."
Chris remained silent, his eyes rolling down to the floor as his hands squeezed her shoulders tighter.
"Because…" she whispered softly, afraid of her own question. "You love me, don't you?"
She watched his chest rise under the deep breath he took. He shivered as he spoke.
"Oh, Claire."
Her muscles suddenly refused to keep in tension, wobbling as she stumbled backwards.
He didn't.
He didn't love her.
Chris searched for her eyes again when she stood a foot away.
"I know this is hard, Claire. This —you and I—it was fantastic, but it was never meant to last, was it?"
This wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening. She suddenly felt the air around her become thin and it was like an invisible rope slung around her neck. Head shaking in denial, she turned away and dashed out of the room, wiping off the tears she didn't want to cry.
Chris didn't love her anymore. That is, if he had ever really loved her. Maybe he had just wanted a fucktoy to keep himself distracted from the ghost of his dead girlfriend.
When she reached the floor below, she stopped and slammed her hands onto her face. No. Chris wouldn't do that to her. She believed, she genuinely believed he wanted her to be happy.
Didn't he?
She breathed in. The anger, sadness and desperation was boiling inside her bowels. She'd always believed that being loved and losing was better than never being loved at all.
But that wasn't true.
Knowing what love was and getting it ripped from your hands was much more painful. And the anger and desperation was looking for a way out of her chest. She wanted to scream, she wanted to run and kick in doors and throw chairs through windows and crash cars against the wall.
Funny how that reminded her of Leon. And how she knew what she really wanted.
This was all Leon's fault. She had known the kiss in the cavern would gain her an argument with Chris, but she had nearly convinced herself in the hours since that kiss that it wouldn't destroy their relationship.
It was all his fault.
And he would pay for it.
Blowing out a deep breath. Claire began to move forward, slowly at first, but accelerating her pace until she was running. The team of government agents had occupied a room on the lower floor of the building. If Leon was packing stuff, he was most probably there.
She could slap him in the face. Maybe throw a punch at him. She could yell at him. Who did he even think he was?
Yeah, she could even fuck him.
A hate fuck it would be.
Because she hated him more than she had ever hated anyone in the whole world.
"Agent Kennedy?" she asked a young man in a dark suit and he pointed at the last door of the building and Claire rushed towards it. She stopped when she heard the chopper rise into the evening sky. She didn't have to wait long until she saw the swinging blades appear over the building, lifting the aircraft and the target of her anger onto a journey across the country and back home.
She'd missed him.
Claire walked around the building to have a better view of the chopper and stared after it until it disappeared on the horizon. A deep sadness invaded her as she realized that she needed him.
She needed her friend.
The orange-red of the evening seemed to drown her as she slowly walked along the nearest street, lost in thought and deprived of hope. The day had been endlessly long. She had nearly lost her life and eventually lost the love of it. When no one was around to see her, Claire sat on the ground between a barrel and a bunch of fishernets. Pulling her knees to her chest, she embraced herself and cried.
Her forehead dropped to her knees as she sobbed out all the frustration she felt, all the pain and the mourning. Maybe, just maybe, she'd stay there until she'd die of dehydration. Or maybe until she'd be found by the wild animals that made their way into the town at night, searching for food.
Or was it possible to die from a broken heart?
If so, she was probably dead already.
I'm stupid, right? That's what you think? Did that naive little girl really believe she could live on with her secret incestuous relationship forever?
Well, yeah, I thought so.
But it's only natural. Chris is the only love I have ever known, my soulmate. Nobody knows me like he does, and the idea of losing him after all we went through is so completely incomprehensible that it causes my mind to go blank.
And it just hurts so fucking much.
The bloody flood of the evening sun had something comforting, Claire thought as she leaned against the wall of the City Hall watching the sun say their daily goodbye. She had stopped crying, letting the numbness fill her and move her body robotically. It all felt like a dream, a cruel, cold dream she wouldn't wake up from.
A part of her wanted to speak to Chris, try to convince him to love her again, but she didn't want to bother him. Not now. Not in Africa. She had heard BSAA soldiers say Chris was staying to arrest some bioweapons dealer, and that Reynard Fisher had found evidence that the subject was in Kijuju. She didn't want to interfere. Chris needed to concentrate on the mission, not on the broken heart of his little sister.
Maybe when they were back home they could clarify everything. Maybe he would reconsider, tell her he was sorry. Maybe he would tell her it had all been a misunderstanding.
Claire shook her head, suppressing a new sob with a stinging ache in her throat. He wouldn't do that. Chris didn't reconsider, didn't hesitate. Chris made choices and kept going. And he had chosen to leave their relationship behind. She wasn't his girlfriend anymore, nor his lover. Now, she was only what she had always been, the condition that didn't let her be anything else.
She was the little sister.
After sighing at the last halo of sunlight that hugged the horizon before going to sleep, Claire began to walk. She'd tell Neil she'd leave early the upcoming day. Being home would help her deal with the breakup — or at least it would give her time to get her stuff from Chris' apartment before he would come back to the States. Once more, she was grateful she'd never given up her own place.
Her path led her to the frontside of the city hall, where a couple of Leon's colleagues just stepped out. One could easily identify government agents by their exaggeratedly professional business outfits. Leon stood out because he more than once refused to wear a suit, especially since she'd once teased him saying that it didn't suit him. The two government agents walked past Claire without paying more attention to her. And she didn't pay more attention to them either, as her eyes were stuck on the entrance to the city hall. There, in the basement of the building, was Jessica, held captive and being interrogated by the agents of the different organizations.
Among all the stupid things I did that day, talking to Jessica was probably the worst. I don't really know what dragged me to do so. I mean, I didn't actually believe she would talk to me out of all people, after refusing to speak to the government and the BSAA.
Maybe I just found it comforting to know that she had been rejected by Chris, too.
I hadn't been prepared for our first encounter, and I goddamn wasn't prepared for that second one, but for different reasons.
The single guard had been reluctant to let her enter, and the nice words and lashy looks from below hadn't gotten her the desired access. Once she had mentioned her close friendship with Leon, though, the agent had sighed and shrugged before opening the gate to her. And so, she walked down the stairs into the dark basement where Jessica was kept.
A sad, gloomy lightbulb swung depressingly over the head of the woman, who Claire found tied to a chair and with her head hanging low. Jessica shifted when she heard her approach, and when Claire reached the middle of the room, the brunette turned her face to her.
The image froze her blood with a speed that took her breath away.
Claire swallowed dry when the once beautiful face of Jessica emerged from behind the protective curtain made of locks. She was unrecognizable. Blood was dripping from nose and mouth onto the ripped battlesuit, the hair had lost its shine and volume, probably from being pulled hard and repeatedly. Both her eyes were black and swollen. Altogether it was a deplorable picture to contemplate and Claire felt the rage rise into her throat. Jessica managed to widen her burst lips into a challenging smile and spat blood.
"Hello!" she muttered and Claire could hear how much talking hurt her. "You wanna try your luck and make me talk?"
Claire stood paralyzed in front of Jessica, and the woman grunted.
"Never seen a government interrogation, have you?" She laughed maliciously. "Once you're on this side of the table you have no rights or worth anymore. The only reason why they haven't raped me is that they believe I'm infected with some virus."
Claire shivered at the thought. She wasn't sure what she had expected the scene to look like. Either all the movies and TV shows had been lying about how interrogations were handled, or the agents just forgot all their protocols once they left federal territory. Claire couldn't help but feel admiration for Jessica, who had resisted torture and humiliation and still hadn't spilled the beans about who she was working for. She took up a bottle of water from a side table and nearly ripped it open. Kneeling beside Jessica, she brought the bottle to her mouth and the woman drank as best she could through the destroyed face.
"Thanks."
Claire watched the woman closely, wondering if being a terrorist made her deserve to be beaten up like that.
Did Leon know about the methods the government used?
Claire sighed sadly.
Did Chris know about the methods the government used?
Jessica laughed again.
"Yes, Chris knows," she muttered through her split lips and had Claire wondering if she could read her mind. "But he's the gentlest of them all."
Claire hated not being able to tell if her words were filled with lies, plain truth or irony. It was hard to believe Chris would ever use such cruelty against human beings. Then again, his priority was to eradicate bioterrorism and people like Jessica were bringing nothing but destruction to innocent civilians. And those were the ones who really needed their protection. Claire felt her jaw clench, but she didn't allow herself to give upon her serious demeanor.
"Who were you speaking to in the cavern?" she asked, sternly. "You said they had been working with Chris. Who were they?"
Jessica laughed faintly, and Claire grimaced, unaware of how soon she'd actually get her answer.
"Talk to me, Jessica. Help me here and I will help you.
A shattering noise came from the staircase and Claire spun her head around, so fast that her ponytail swiped into Jessica's face.
"It was about time," the brunette complained and stretched her neck. "They're coming."
Claire turned back to her and stared into her broken face.
"Who are they?"
Before she could answer, the door to the cell was kicked in and Claire found herself jumping to her feet. The cloaked figure from the cavern stood in front of her, the eyes of the crow mask glowing in a bright red. Claire moved back as the figure advanced, threatening her with their mere presence. What had happened to the guard? Where were the government agents? The figure pulled out a long combat knife, the blade covered in fresh blood. Jessica laughed and turned her face to the cloaked figure as they stood next to her, still facing Claire. The redhead felt the blood rush into her head as her knees weakened, and she knew she needed to get out of there.
With one targeted hit, the figure swung her blade towards Jessica and everything turned red. Claire heard her own high-pitched scream when it rained blood onto the cloak of the assassin and the tied up body of the woman sagged into a lifeless position. It wasn't like she had found her earlier, beaten up and waiting. She was dead. Dead!
And Claire understood that the cloaked figure had come to eliminate the witnesses.
She was as good as dead..
Instinct told her to flee, and Claire sprinted to the opposite wall of the room, putting another two feet between herself and the cloaked one. When her opponent threatened to follow her, she quickly tossed the water bottle at them. The figure dodged it like a pro, but the maneuver actually stopped them for a second as they gained balance. When the opponent was standing again, Claire had almost reached the door.
Almost.
Before she could run out of the cell and dash up the stairs she was thrown into the wall by a powerful force. Shit. Not again.
'Don't let them hit you,' Claire thought desperately. No matter what happened, she couldn't make the same mistakes like in the fight with Jessica again. She was still recovering from the concussion, after all, and she began to think that she should have stayed in the hospital.
So many things wouldn't have happened had she just stayed in bed.
With that thought in mind, Claire hooked her fingers into the cloak and clung to the other person, rolling with them as the opponent turned around and tried to throw her, but Claire could kick them in the groin instead. The lack of reaction revealed something surprising.
She was fighting a woman. An incredibly strong and agile woman.
Or maybe it wasn't even a human being.
The enemy used Claire's bafflement to finally toss her to the ground. She turned when the woman came running at her, but the opponent slipped on Jessica's blood and slid to the floor. Now or never! Claire had that one chance to give up.
The empty chair in the corner became her next objective. While the other woman was getting up, Claire grabbed the backrest and swung the chair around, almost hitting the target in the face. Claire hissed. The other woman hadn't even tumbled, dodging one attack with the chair after another. She eventually grabbed hold of the legs at Claire's third attempt to hit her..
She gave the chair a pull and Claire stumbled forward, letting go of the back as the other woman tossed the piece of furniture away. Before anyone could have another thought, Claire instinctively leaped forward and charged at her opponent.
And she threw her to the ground.
She was indeed fighting some sort of superhuman, it seemed. Claire's whole weight wasn't enough to keep her in place, and It barely took the woman two seconds to position her legs under Claire and throw her over her head with one kick. Claire met the wall and dropped to the floor, quickly rolling to her knees. Both palms pressed onto the ground, she began to crawl back to her feet at the same time the cloaked woman did so. Claire scrutinized her chances to get out of this situation. Would she be able to get to the exit and flee before the other woman would catch her? Could she keep fighting until someone else came?
Was there still someone else?
She swallowed. No, one single person couldn't have murdered the whole town of Mtaa, the citizens, the government agents and the BSAA people.
Someone had to come and see who was causing so much trouble in the cell where a bioterrorist was supposed to be kept.
She had to keep going. She had once fought her way through an infested airport lobby with just an umbrella in her hands. All it took was positivity and concentration. Claire swallowed at her thought.
Her opponent hadn't used her knife again. Had she lost it? Her eyes swept to the floor and found the silver blade carelessly dropped at the dead feet of Jessica Sherawat. Maybe that was the chance she needed.
She dove forward, sliding over the ground in the fresh, warm blood that was still leaking out of the slit on Jessica's throat, hands reaching out for the knife. Yes! She'd make it! Only a couple of inches more. She felt a painful pressure on the back of her thighs and screamed at the weight of the other person slamming her knees into her legs. Her right arm flung around, trying to get rid of the woman, who took the chance to place her hands onto Claire's neck and turn her to her back.
The redhead ripped the mask off the other woman's face, and time froze.
She was staring into two very familiar eyes.
Jill Valentine.
The shock sat so deep that Claire was unable to react when the woman above her grimaced ugily and gave her a harsh hit to the head.
"Jill? Stop!"
And everything went black.