Chapter Text
When he left the taxi, it was already dark and pouring rain. Leon brushed his wet hair out of his face, dropped his bag carelessly on the wet asphalt and looked at the building across the street. It was late, but there was still light on the first floor.
With a quiet sigh he wondered what he was doing here. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her for more than a year, yet he had given her address to the taxi driver at the airport without thinking.
But did she even want to see him in the middle of the night? Without warning?
How could he explain this urgent need to see her?
For a brief moment, the events of recent days flickered through his mind, as the past had caught up with him in Spain. How he had constantly compared Ashley to Claire, this deja vu when Ada had stood before him. The feeling of bitterness that had arisen with all the parallels.
Leon brushed his face and took a deep breath. His eyes immediately fell on his arms, which showed no signs of the Las Plaguas virus.
He had never felt more helpless.
The permanent fight against the virus had pushed him to his limits, not to mention Krauser’s betrayal.
At that moment he had hated his life, but then she appeared in his mind again. The memory of her eyes sparkling with joy of life, her fighting spirit had given him strength. Seeing her again had motivated him to continue and fight.
And now he stood here and was unsure whether he should go to the other side of the street to ring the doorbell.
His gaze wandered again to the windows on the first floor.
Maybe she wasn’t alone?
A year was a long time.
They had met at an event, he in his role as an agent, she as a fresh TerraSafe member. Their meeting had taken a full ten minutes and had felt more than strange.
More than short small talk was not possible. They had greeted each other, asked about the state of the other, and were then called back to their actual tasks.
So their paths had parted way too quickly. Leon, however, had taken it upon himself to turn back to her while walking. She stood with someone from TerraSafe and laughed. As if she had felt it, her gaze turned to him and he was struck by a longing that has kept him alive and eaten him ever since.
At that moment he had made up his mind not to let so much time pass and to meet with her under normal circumstances. But duty had intervened as so often.
There seemed little room to breathe, one order after another, and finally the kidnapping of Ashley.
His wet hair, meanwhile, hung deep in his face and yet he could not decide what to do.
Did she even want him near her?
Doubts grew in him.
Yes, they had a common past, but it was just one night in Racoon City and the short time after with Sherry. What did they really know about the other one?
Since she had gone looking for her brother and he had been forced to become an agent, her worlds had drifted ever further apart.
And yet he felt this inner urge to be near her; his instinct had led him to her.
Behind him, quiet footsteps sounded and he wondered who was on the road at this time, in this weather, when a voice sounded behind him that he would never forget.
"Leon?"
Surprise and disbelief swung in her voice, and as he slowly turned to her, a smile formed on her lips, as if she were pleased to see him, and at the same time there was an expression of sorrow in her beautiful eyes.
"Are you all right?"
He nodded dazzed and smiled back .
Yeah, everything was fine now.
When she reached him, she looked at him critically and raised her eyebrows.
"You are soaking wet, what devil has ridden you, do you want to get sick?"
He could no longer say anything, and Claire pushed her umbrella over both of them, reaching for his hand.
"Come with me! I live over there, so you can warm up."
Her fingers in his hand felt so right and warmed his broken battered soul in a way he never thought possible.
And so he followed her wordlessly and thanked fate that the decision had taken away from him whether he should go to her or not.
