#cleonchallenge

Leon steadies the sniper rifle and puts the Umbrella scientist in his sights. All it takes is a deep breath and pulling the trigger to end that man’s research. The guards that are posted around start looking for where the shot came from, so he takes off. He leaves the gun, which he’s supposed to do, with the fingerprints of the company’s vice president on them. He makes it into the forest and keeps running. He can’t hear any footsteps behind him, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t close behind.

He runs until he gets to the edge of the forest and sees an abandoned farmhouse. He rushes inside and shuts the door. He looks at his phone and he sees a text from Hunnigan with coordinates and a time. After looking up where he is now, he nods, “Great. That’s great. I’m right at the extraction spot.”

He starts looking around the farmhouse and spots a plaid vest, fraying around the edges. It makes him think of Claire and a situation that happened almost a year earlier. 

Leon, who’s been brooding with his back against the wall and his arms folded, is waiting for Claire and Jill to finish searching for their perfect outfits. Chris had to step out to make a call, which has turned into an over thirty minute long affair. Claire’s trying to get Jill to dress up nice, but Jill doesn’t want to. Claire steps out of the dressing room and spots something on one of the wracks beside Leon. She jogs over and grabs the plaid vest. She pulls it on.

“See? I can pull anything off,” she says, turning a full three-sixty for Leon.

Leon laughs, “That’s one way to say how you look in that.”

“What are you suggesting?” Claire asks, getting right in front of Leon.

“I’m saying that you look good,” Leon answers. “It’s not an insult, Red.”

She scrunches up her nose for a moment, then kinda aggressively boops his nose. He laughs again, but she joins him this time. “Not sure what you’re trying to prove anyway, Red. I never doubted that.”

“Jill did. Speaking of, why is it taking you so long to get changed into that dress, Jill Valentine?” 

The sound of one of the shutters slamming shut startles him from his thoughts. He looks at his watch. Extraction is going to be in thirty minutes. That’s not that much time. Leon sits down with his back against the wall where he has a clear line of sight to the door. He pulls his phone out and realizes that he has a text from Claire.

Claire: Hey, you got time to talk?

No, I don’t. Why does this always happen when I don’t have time for a call? Extraction in thirty minutes, then debriefing. Considering the time difference, she’ll hopefully be sound asleep by the time I’m done with all of that.

He considers what to put down, especially since they haven’t talked since he refused to give the chip to her. He knows what the government would do to her if that information got out, what they’d do to Sherry. But he did send her that sweater that she wanted. He was hoping that she could feel some comfort while wearing it that he couldn’t give her due to the distance.

Leon: I don’t have time to talk rn, but I can call you when I do.

He looks back up at the door, still firmly shut. The wind is making the shutters slam open and shut, but he tries to ignore them.

Claire: That’s fine. Just shoot me a text a few minutes in advance to make sure that I’m not in a meeting or something.

He smiles for the first time in ages.

Maybe she’s ready to forgive me. Maybe we can move forward.

The thought brings butterflies, which he promptly ignores given the fact that he’s still in a hostile zone.

Focus on now. Focus on the present and figure out the rest later.

“We're getting too old for this,” Leon groaned, as the sound of the screaming baby started up again. “What exactly did Chris say when he dropped her off, again?”

“I already told you,” Claire rolled over so she was facing him. “He said here take this, I can't watch her right now. Then left.”

“I hate him.”

“You and me both,” Claire yawned, glimpsing the clock on Leon's bedside table. “Well it's almost 5. Might as well just call it on her sleeping anymore.”

“I guess 40 minutes of continuous sleep is enough.”

“Wait.” Claire sat up. “You're right.”

“I am?” Leon asked, sitting up as well. “I don't actually think 40 minutes is enough sleep.”

“No not that. That we're too old for this.” Claire got up, grabbing a sweater from a nearby chair. “Get dressed and gather her stuff, and I'll grab her.”

“Okaaay,” Leon said, suspicious, but still followed her instructions.

-

An hour later they stood in front of the yellow door, Claire banging her fist against it.

The door opened, Jake towering over them with a scowl. He had clearly been asleep, still shirtless with a pair of sweatpants on, and his slightly grown out hair sticking up in weird angles.

“What the fuck are you doing here at this ungodly hour?” He rubbed his eye, then took a second glance at Rosemary. “And why the hell is there a baby?”

“Here you go,” Claire said, shoving the baby into his arms while he was still caught off guard.

“Jake?”

Sherry’s voice came from behind him, before she ducked under his arm, her confused half-asleep gaze landing on Rose. “What's going on?”

“This is Rosemary, and here's her stuff.” Leon set the diaper bag, and car seat in front of them.

“Chris will be back at some point. Bye, love you, Sher!” Claire said, her and Leon quickly turning to go down the steps.

“Where do you think you're going? Come back here!” Jake yelled.

“At some point?” Sherry called.

“Yeah just call Chris he has all the details,” Claire yelled back, before sliding into the driver's seat.

“Should we feel bad about this?” Leon asked as they drove away.

“Maybe, but I'm exhausted, and they're young and have super powers and stuff so I don't,” Claire said. “I'm too tired too feel bad.”

Claire’s alarm goes off and she questions whether to get up or not. It’s getting close to the end of September and she always has a physical reaction to that. Usually, she has Leon to help, but ever since the incident with the chip, he’s been radio silent. She hasn’t tried reaching out to him either, so maybe it’s her fault too. Her phone rings and she has a brief conversation with one of her work friends, who told her that she has to come in because there’s work to be done. She goes through her morning routine at the pace of a sloth.

Once she’s completely ready, she grabs her bag to check that she has all of her things. She finishes the mental checklist, then heads to the door. Claire opens her door and she sees a box on her doorstep. It’s wrapped in pink paper with little white bunnies on it, it honestly looks like a gift for a toddler. Since she doesn’t live with any toddlers, she just assumes that it’s for her and that whoever left it has a bad sense of humor. She knows a few people with that, so it doesn’t surprise her. She puts the box inside, then heads out.

The work day is long and against her better judgment, she keeps thinking about the box on her doorstep. Several people notice how distracted she seems, but nobody asks about it. She’s been working here long enough for them to understand how hard the end of this month is for her. She texts Chris to ask if he’s the one who sent it. When he says no, she gets a good idea on who sent it, which makes her more suspicious. Claire gets home and after getting everything put away, she grabs the box. She sits down on the couch and starts unwrapping it.

It’s a taped up cardboard box, yay.

She pulls her pocket knife out and slices through the tape. Claire opens the box and pulls out the sweater she’d been eyeing last fall. She admires the sweater, trying not to think about how much he spent on it. She picks her phone up because she knows exactly who gave her this. While she’s hesitant to reach out, Leon’s clearly trying to extend an olive branch. She wants to see what he has to say about everything and the radio silence since. She clicks on Leon’s contact and the last time they messaged was the day of the incident. She ignores it and types out a quick message.

Claire: Hey, you got time to talk?

She puts her phone down and turns on the TV to distract herself. She doesn’t feel up to eating, so she goes to bed early, around nine. She’s lying in bed staring at her ceiling when her phone goes off. She picks it up, curious on who would be texting her at this odd hour.

Leon: I don’t have time to talk rn, but I can call you when I do.

Claire thinks it over for a minute.

Claire: That’s fine. Just shoot me a text a few minutes in advance to make sure that I’m not in a meeting or something.

The call was the last straw. Hunnigan called and said that Leon was drugged up and MIA not too far from where she is now. She’s been staying with Chris and Jill for a couple weeks since she has a long break from work. Leon was supposed to be done with this job by now but things kept holding him back from showing up. Claire barely allows herself to grab her jacket after grabbing her keys before rushing outside. She starts her car and speeds toward the location Hunnigan sent her. It’s an old farm area with a lake beside it. It’s been abandoned for a while and considering how cold it is, she doesn’t want to think about the kind of trouble Leon could end up in.

She knows that she’s breaking several traffic laws, but no cops in this area are gonna care. When she gets there, she turns the heater up and gets a flashlight. She starts looking for Leon, praying that she can find him before he gets into more trouble than he can handle. She’s running around, yelling his name. She doesn’t see or hear him, and she gets more concerned by the minute. She’s just about to call Chris and Jill to come assist when she spots him. He’s far off and at the edge of the frozen lake, his head tilted down. She makes a break for him, calling his name the entire time.

“Leon!” Claire can see him turn his head, but she’s not close enough to see the look on his face. “Don’t step on that ice!”

His gaze returns to the frozen lake. When she gets close enough, he turns his head again. It looks like there’s nothing behind his eyes. She stops and checks his pulse. It takes a moment, but he tries to pull away. “Leon?”

“Claire?”

“Come on, we have to go.”

“I have to get the uh…” He motions toward the frozen lake.

Claire grabs his wrist and starts gently pulling Leon toward her car. He follows, even though he’s mumbling about having to finish his mission. Claire opens the passenger’s door of her car and helps Leon get in. Once he’s in, she goes to the trunk and grabs the blanket that she thankfully left in her go bag. She gets into the driver’s seat and offers him the blanket. His eyes are starting to droop shut, so she shakes him. He looks at her and takes the blanket. She helps him get buckled up and then heads back toward Chris and Jill’s.

“Claire?”

“Yeah?” She looks toward him.

He gives her a lopsided smile, one that she hasn’t seen since that motel stay after escaping Raccoon City. “Thanks for coming. I…”

He trails off, so Claire gently grabs his shoulder. “Always.”

He takes her hand and places a soft kiss on her knuckles. He lets her hand go, so she returns it to the wheel.

“You’re taking leave,” Claire says, the finality in her tone surprising her a little. She’s been done with what the government’s been putting Leon through for a while, but he’s always convinced her that he’s gonna be okay. This is the first time that they’ve contacted her before they got him back.

“Do I get to stay with you?” Leon asks.

“Of course.”

“Then I’m more than willing. I’ve been wanting to wake up next to you for a long time.”

Claire gives his hand a gentle squeeze, “Sounds like a plan.”

“Can we get food? I’m starving.”

The statement makes Claire’s smile disappear. She’s known Leon to go days without eating and he won’t even notice until someone mentions it to him. “Do you know how long you’ve been out there? When did you get assigned?”

“I don’t know, like the sixteenth?”

Claire’s heart stops for a moment. The sixteenth was a week and a half ago. She grabs Leon’s hand, who’s blissfully unaware of the pure rage flowing through Claire’s veins. They make it back to Chris and Jill’s, and Claire takes Leon inside. Chris and Jill are nowhere to be seen, so they must have decided to go to sleep after their shower. She takes him upstairs and helps him get into the shower. She starts searching for clothes he can wear when she notices Chris in the open doorway.

“What’s happening here?” Chris asks, looking between Claire and the bathroom that you can hear the shower running from.

“Long story, I need some of your clothes,” Claire says. “Leon’s in there and he’s been in the cold for God knows how long.” Chris heads out, then comes back with warm clothes. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll check on you guys again later.”

Chris heads back to his room as Claire hears the water turn off. She pokes her head inside and Leon’s still behind the curtain. She puts the clothes down, then pops back out of the room. “Clothes are on the toilet.”

It takes a minute and mild cursing, but Leon comes out in Chris’ clothes. Sometimes she forgets that Chris is noticeably bigger than Leon until something like this. Leon likes to wear clothes that fit while Chris likes his clothes to be loose, but the way it fits on Leon almost makes Claire laugh. He’s yawning and he barely seems to be holding himself up, so Claire helps him into bed. She gets him covered up and then joins him. He pulls her against him the second he has the chance, his hands landing on her waist and right below the collar of her shirt. She wraps her arms around him, wanting to transfer as much body heat to him as possible.

“You wanna fuck?” Leon mumbles in her ear.

“Once you’re rested,” Claire replies, nestling her head against his chest. He hums, Claire’s not sure if he’s trying to argue or what, but he gets quiet.

I’m going to make sure that they don’t do this to you ever again. I’m going to make sure you get the love and care you deserve.