PROMPT 3: DITTO/NOIR

Synopsis: This is one of many Leon and Claire farewells.

#not beta read

A melodic female voice announcing the acceptance of passengers for one of the hundred flights today resonated across the entirety of Terminal 4. When you regularly travel by chartered flight from the municipal airport; this current place seems like another universe to be. That was how Leon felt right now. Goddammit! Of all the training and experiences in the field who would thought that he was making all the mistakes at this very moment like today? Not him for sure.

Mistake number one; he lost his composure. That caused him the mix up reading the signage and he ended up parked at Terminal 8. It was foolish of him to have thought they were close to each other. Luckily, the airport transit train saved him from squandering any more time that he deprived in the first place.

Mistake number two; he ceremoniously left his cell phone in the car. His cell phone was handsomely sat in the center console. Earlier, he had grabbed the cell phone out from his jacket's inner pocket when a text notification chimed in during the red light stop. The worst part was he did not even get to read the text. As soon as he got it out, the traffic light turned green. And the only thing he knew was that the text was coming from Claire.

Mistake number three; he came unprepared. He thought it was only Thanksgiving, not Christmas. But it was bad. The place was crowded with a sea of people. In the end, it was the holiday. So everybody was trying to get someplace somewhere. Whether for work, vacations, holiday homecomings, or just idling in confusion like him. At one corner, he saw a group of students excited about their school trip to somewhere warm; and on the other corner, a guide was trying to herd a group of tourists that was speaking a language other than English. And among other people scattered sporadically throughout the floor of Terminal 4.

Leon rarely got to travel to another city during his desk duty. However, he was up in the air when his schedule required him to travel to the city that Claire living in. But all in all, it was short-lived; when she regretfully said that she would not be able to meet him. His sank in disappointment. She shed a little hope in him when she suggested a brief meeting at the airport before she flew to another part of the world. And he got only half an hour to spare.

No, only 13 minutes left. And surely he stood at Check-in Row 5 but there was no glimpse of Claire. He had blindly gone through every counter and every line, just to make sure that he didn't miss her. Alas, he met failure. He was reluctant to go back to the information booth that he went to earlier and asked the same question again. He felt confident that if he could move around in a lost city full of biohazards, surely this place would not be any worse.

One of the scenes from the movies Sherry recommended crossed his mind whilst he went through the counters and the lines in Check-in Row 5 again. Courageous young Sam ran off to catch Joanna before she left, which Sherry thought it was cute. Considering his situation right now, was this cute or purely pathetic? He wondered. Filled with frustration and refusing to waste any more time; he dropped his pride and started making his way back to the information booth to ask them for help.

-*-

Claire's eyes were scanning the crowds in the hope of finding one particular familiar face. Her partner, Inéz Diaco was still talking with the airline attendant and fussing about their luggage. In her little heart, she said a prayer in the hope that she would be able to see him before she boarded the flight to one specific doomed place. She apprehensively accepted the news from her superior that she be going back to Rockfort Island.

Since the ban on the Umbrella Corporation was repealed and on what happened at Kijuju, her organization has been comprehensive on every report that comes in from any former outbreak locations. Therefore, when some local party reported suspicious activity at the place, they decided to send Claire to check in.

Truthfully, she wished her superior nominated someone else for the job. And for the first time, she wanted the liberty to choose where to go. Somehow, those circumstances made her feel conceited. In the end, she buried her sentiment all the way in and got her where she stood right now. Currently, on her mind, she hoped that seeing a more familiar face might instill her solace and courage before she left the country.

And right then, she spotted a man in a navy blue suit, in the middle of the crowd, trying to make way what seemed to be an information booth. She did mention repeatedly that she detest the outfit no matter how appealing he look in it. "Leon!" She called as she walked in his direction. Since no response, she tried again with a voice a little higher than before.

"Leon!"

-*-

When he heard his name called by that velvety voice, he felt like Sleepless in Seattle's Sam upon seeing Annie for the first time. That darn movie was one of his favorites. Then, the thought of how Sam got distracted and missed Annie completely, consequently made him fasten his pace. He did not want to be like Sam; so he kept her in his line of sight among the crowds. As they moved toward each other, both were praying that they would not lose a glimpse of each other at any cause.

He could not contain his happiness; it transpired by the Cheshire smile plastered on his face.

"Hey.", said Leon.

She was also smiling, "You made it."

He nodded, as he wet his lips. Searching for her made his mouth dry. "Yeah. Barely.", Leon added, wiping the bead of sweat on his forehead.

"Got lost?", asked Claire with a furrowed face.

Scratching his head embarrassed, he nodded. He glanced at the signage above, it said Check-in Row 6. Goddammit again! Instead of 6, he read 5. That is why he was having trouble finding her.

She laughed and raised her eyebrow, "Familiar isn't it? You. Me. Airport." She tried to imply something.

"Well, it was quiet then. Plus, running from biohazards forces your mind to stay clear. It's autopilot."

"That's your rule of surviving, isn't it? Just being forced gets you clear-headed."

He laughed at her harmless cynical comment and replied, "I get nervous when it's not."

His figurative reply made her shift his gaze to her boots, while playfully pulling the straps of her carry-on that she shouldered. Looking at her shy demeanor, he smirked.

When she looked back up at him again, he asked, "She's with you?"

He motioned his head to the young lady with spunky blond cropped hair, standing coyly with mouth chewing gum, grinning in their direction. She did not realize that Inéz was watching their fated encounter. By the look of how toothy Inéz's grin was, she guessed she would likely get interrogated by her throughout their whole flight asking about Leon. Surprisingly, Inez was so interested in getting to know every man that was acquitted in Claire's life. She did know why.

"Yup. Just got recruited last month."

"So, you the mentor-" Leon said lyrically.

The only response he received was she hummed in approval.

These three years had been rough for her. The loss of Jill Valentine had not been devastating only for Chris but also for Claire. He presumed she must have a special place in both of the Redfield siblings' hearts. He never met her personally; nonetheless, it never stopped him from feeling sympathy for both of them.

Jill was Chris Redfield's partner in fighting crime and biohazard since way before Leon knew them. And evidently, Chris took the loss of his partner the worst, even not believing that she was actually dead. While Claire, drowned herself in work, that sometimes it worried him. There was no mourning, there were no tears.

One thing that amazed him was how Chris's tenacity and faith in his partner led him to her rescue from the alleged death. Leon received the call from Claire crying one night, delivering the news. All she wanted was to share her happiness with him and ended up wearing down all of the tears and pain that she had been holding for nearly three years. And he was glad it was him that held her faith too; like how Chris to Jill.

Leon cast an endearing gaze towards her. She looked up; and mirrored what he was doing but gave in when the staring felt longer than she could hold. She cleared her throat hinting at his queue.

He mustered his courage and said, "I'm proud of you, Claire."

Claire's eyes sparkled when she heard his sincere admission. At that moment, Leon was certain that her blue eyes got brighter as her face beamed with a smile.

Their interaction was interrupted by the bell from the airport PA system. A string of announcements for flight boarding were being called. He inhaled sharply, one hand on his hip and the other rubbing the back of his neck.

As the announcement ended, Claire chimed in, "Well, one of them is me."

"So... are we still on the same basis of not knowing where each other assignment is gonna be?" He asked her. Their logic was that due to their ignorance of each other field assignment, there ought to be less worry. It was her idea, and slowly he came to an agreement on it.

With a toothy grin, she answered, "You'll figure it out. You know when you see me."

He could only chuckle. "Right." He continued with a serious tone this time, "Claire, just be careful."

"Okay. Ditto." She winked at him, with a mischievous smile.

His mouth slightly opened, speechless at what he just heard. Waking away from him, Claire raised her hand and waved at him.

He then snickered and returned the gesture by waving at her back. With both on his sides now, he watched as Claire's silhouette disappeared among the sea of people.

That damn thing again.

Notes:

It was quite challenging to write this one since I put more narration than the previous two. I had to throw some random movie scenes just to make it descriptive.