Chapter 2: If you dare
A/N: Had a really hard time trying to figure out how to make this chapter work. Rachel and Leon meet for the first time and their encounter isn't what they thought it would be. How will a shy med student react to a seasoned federal agent?
Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil; I just own my oc's.
Enjoy!
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Rachel wanted a hole to open up underneath her. Just like she expected, she was not enjoying this party. Everyone was already drunk and wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. Not only that, but Jeremy also kept offering her drinks to try when she didn't want to. She tried looking for Isabella but she was busy taking shots of expensive alcohol. It seemed she was staying true to her word by racking up Jeremy's tab.
She was tempted to sneak out and head back home, but she didn't want to leave Isabella behind when she was drunk. If only time would speed up. What was the point of going to this party anyway?
/
Leon downed a shot of whiskey as he sat near the bar. He was given a couple weeks off after what happened in the Slav Republic, and he decided to spend his vacation downing hard liquor. He had gotten a text from Claire earlier in the day wanting to see how he was doing. She must have heard what happened from his last mission and was trying to check up on him. While he was touched by his friend's gesture, he couldn't bring himself to talk to her. While they both endured the same trauma of surviving Racoon City and everything after that, they simply went down different paths. Claire wanted the world to know what was going on with the virus and he just wanted to end this fight with them.
He knew that the world needed to know what the Umbrella company did and the domino effect it caused on everyone, but he didn't want to scare anyone. He saw it firsthand as a rookie cop starting his first shift as part of the RPD. He still remembered the fear he felt when he saw the world crumbling before him. How he was so close to being one of the many individuals that perished that night. That day would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he didn't want anyone to live with that kind of feeling.
The sound of rowdy people caught his attention. Seemed like a bunch of college kids wanted to start their weekend off with a bang. He chuckled quietly. He remembered those days of feeling carefree and ready to take on the world. These kids had no idea what the real world had in store for them. They didn't know how dangerous it really was thanks to the various viruses that some shady people possessed.
He took another shot of his drink.
It wasn't in his place to judge them for wanting to have fun. He used to be like them (even though he wasn't that old). He knew how important these moments would be to them later down the road.
He would, however, judge them for being too rowdy. Couldn't they tell some people wanted to drink in peace?
He hoped that none of them would bug him while they continued to get plastered.
/
Jeremy staggered over to Rachel and had to lean on the bar to keep himself up. He was already plastered judging by how his whole body reeked of alcohol.
"Hey, Rach. You should try this drink my friend made" he slurred.
"He calls it 'The Toxic Zombie'. One shot of this and you'll be acting like one."
Rachel looked at the drink that was offered to her in disgust. It was a bright neon green concoction with foam coming off of it. The smell it gave off made her gag. Who would ever drink this?!
She carefully pushed it away and gave him a polite smile.
"Thanks, but I'm good. That looks a bit too strong for me" she said.
Jeremy just pushed the drink back at her.
"Oh, come on, live a little. One drink isn't going to kill you" he laughed.
Once again, she pushed the drink back, but a bit firmer.
"I said I'm good."
Jeremy's grin faltered a little.
"You don't need to be such a buzzkill. It's not like I'm asking you to do something insane like eloping with me."
One of his friends leaned on him and laughed.
"We should make a game out of this" they said.
"She has to do something crazy otherwise she has to drink that gross cocktail."
Everyone seemed to like the idea of playing a drinking game.
"Yeah! she has to take a shot every time she chickens out!"
"What should we have her do?"
One of the guys looked around the bar to see what Rachel had to do and spotted an older guy at the other end of the bar taking shots by himself.
Bingo.
"You have to go over to that guy over there and try to flirt with him."
Rachel was appalled at that.
"I am not doing that!" she said.
"Ah ah ah, if you back out then you have to drink this" one of the guys gestured towards the foul drink.
"Let's see how seductive you can be?"
With that, she was forcefully shoved away and stumbled over to where Leon was sitting. She didn't want to do this, but much like how tonight was going, she didn't have a choice. Letting out a shaky breath, she went over to him and took a seat right next to him. Little did she know, the federal agent was paying close attention to her and was waiting to see what she was going to do next.
Rachel looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She could tell that he probably wasn't a talker and wouldn't want to be bothered by some drunk college student. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it. She wasn't going to ruin some stranger's night because she didn't want to drink a gross cocktail. She looked back at the group helplessly. They all laughed knowing she wouldn't have done it.
"I knew she couldn't do it!"
"It was such an easy dare too!"
"Drink up, skank!"
The offending drink slid across the counter to her. Rachel gripped the ledge tightly to quell her nerves.
"You can take a sip. You don't need to drink the whole thing" she told herself.
Grabbing the drink, she took a deep breath before she started to bring it to her lips. She jumped when a hand appeared in front of her and pushed the drink back onto the table.
"You shouldn't have to drink it if you don't want to" Leon said seriously.
He was pissed off that a group of guys would force a young woman into doing something she didn't want to. Sure, it was just a drink but if she said no then that meant no.
Rachel shrugged helplessly.
"I have to since I lost" she said.
"And what exactly did you have to do in order not to drink this crap?" Leon had to ask.
"I had to talk to the grumpy old man at the end of the bar or drink this stupid thing" Rachel said.
Leon's eye twitched at being referred to as 'old'. He wasn't that old! He was in his mid-thirties for Christ Sake!
"Well, you're talking to me so now you don't have to drink it" he said flatly.
He gestured to the bartender to take the drink away. With the offending drink gone, he gave Rachel a stern look.
"Do you let your friends push you around like that?"
"They're not exactly my friends. I was kinda forced into going to this party with them" Rachel said.
"All the more reason why you shouldn't do what they say" Leon said.
Rachel glared at him. He made it sound like it was so easy.
"You think I don't know that?" she snapped.
"In case you didn't see, I told them no multiple times and they still kept pushing. You may think it's easy telling me if I don't want to do something then I don't have to do it but you're not a young woman who keeps getting pushed around. Don't tell someone what they should do when you haven't been in their shoes!"
Leon's face looked somber as he stared at her. Of course, he had been in her shoes before. He didn't want to become a special agent after the events of Racoon City. The only reason he did it was so Sherry would be safe while she was under the government's 'protection'. His pure intentions would lead to a road paved with pain and misery.
"I speak from experience. You still have your life ahead so don't ruin it by filling it with bad mistakes" he said.
Rachel's glare resided when he said that. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he knew what she was going through and was just trying to help.
Maybe he wasn't such a crabby looking man after all?
/
"Well, what do you know? Rachel actually ended up talking to that drunk guy after all" a classmate said.
Jeremy looked over to where Rachel was and sure enough, she was talking to Leon. The older man looked like he was paying attention to what she was saying, and it seemed like she wasn't going to stop talking.
He growled a little when he saw that. She always acted shy and distanced herself from him. She would keep him at bay but let older drunk men by her?
His friend laughed as he leaned against him.
"Damn, looks like quiet one really does know how to flirt. Guess that rumor that the shy ones always end up being such teases is true."
Jeremy's eyes narrowed. Turing on his heel, he sucker punched his friend in the jaw.
"Shut up, she's not seductive. She's only talking to that guy to win the dare" he said.
"As if anyone would find that shy mouse attractive."
/
"I think I've taken up enough of your time" Rachel said.
"Thank you for preventing me from drinking that nasty drink. Enjoy the rest of your night."
She went to step off the stool when Leon's hand landed on her shoulder.
"You don't have to go back to them if you don't want to" he reminded her.
Rachel gave him a weak smile.
"Oh, I'm not. I just need to get my friend. You don't want to see what she does after she's drunk a whole bottle of tequila. She's scared a few people" she joked.
Leon snorted at that.
"Oh, I've seen scarier stuff."
She would never know that he was being serious.
With a small wave of her hand, she headed back to the rowdy group where she found a very drunk Isabella. Leon watched in amusement as the tiny, petite woman dragged her friend out of the bar before she did anything questionable.
This was an interesting night. He didn't expect to spend it talking with some college student. Oh well, at least he helped her out of a sticky situation. Seeing that the rowdy college group wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Leon decided it was time to call it a night. He didn't want to go back to that lonely apartment of his, but he didn't feel like being around drunk students.
Grabbing his leather jacket, he started to leave when something caught his eye. Looking where Rachel sat, he saw a wallet resting on the seat.
'She must have dropped it when she sat next to me' he thought.
He picked it up and looked it over. It was such a basic looking wallet. The only thing that made it stand out was the little embroidered sun that was stitched in one of the corners.
The smart thing would be to hand it over to the bartender in case she came back for it. Yet for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do it. Against his better judgement, he held onto it for safe keeping.
He didn't know what compelled him to hold onto a random girl's wallet. But he would be grateful that he did later down the road.
/
A/N: And there you have it. I feel like their encounter was awkward but considering the circumstances that lead to it I'd say it fits.
Leon, you naughty boy! Keeping a young woman's wallet?! For shame! Well, it's better than Jeremy finding it.
Please review and tell me what you think!
Take care!