ć ā£ ć When Claire texts Leon that sheās in DC to see if heāll be free for the few days sheāll be there, she doesnāt expect a positive response. Sure, Leon lives in DC, but thatās only when heās not on some mission or other that sees him in another state, another country, another continent, and they once again miss each other from doing more than waving at the otherās plane - or even at the horizon theyāre on.
So when she gets his reply, sheās pleased that heās in DC, but doesnāt get her hopes up. āIāll see what I can doā feels like sheās once again just passing him on his way out of the city and maybe theyāll be able to ride a taxi together to the airport before she has to go back to her hotel. Itās a bit defeating, but in the end, their lives arenāt exactly easy, and their jobs donāt leave them open to much free time, especially at the same time as the other.
Itās the end of the second day of conferences, of standing in front of crowds and advising them on the safety procedures when dealing with a biohazard outbreak, of what to expect, what to do and not do, and she feels exhausted. Her voice feels tired, and when she gets off the stage and finishes all the afterparty talking and mingling, she pulls off her jacket, shakes her hair out of its ponytail, and thinks about where sheās going to eat. The hotel sheās at isnāt surrounded by fast food places - the luxury of her job paying for somewhere a bit more upscale and off the main roads - but thereās sure to be plenty around here.
She turns to find the exit, but stops when a familiar figure approaches her, and she canāt keep the grin from spreading across her face. āHey,ā she says, and something about seeing him here after such a long day perks her mood right up. āFancy that. I was sure you were gonna be catching a flight when I was in the middle of all this.ā Sheās glad he isnāt, or that he at least isnāt right now.
āSo, what are you doing here?ā She asks casually, like she doesnāt hope heās going to tell her he has all the time in the world, like heās just stopping by before leaving, because meeting Leon in right now, when theyāre not busy, when work for her is just conferences and meetings, gets her hopes up and she doesnāt want to go back to her hotel after only seeing him for ten minutes.
āOh, I was just bored, you know,ā says Leon with a smirk and a shrug. āSaw some interesting stuff on the conference program, thought Iād check it out. That last presentation was a little dry, though.ā And thatās as long as he can keep it up before he grins again and pulls Claire into a tight hug. āNah. Itās good to see you, Grease Monkey.ā
And it really, really is. When heās with Claire...itās not quite that things feel normal. Surviving Raccoon City isnāt exactly the most ordinary first meeting story, and thatās only the first outbreak they survived together. So, no, neither of their lives have been normal since the day they met. But when heās with Claire, sometimes Leon stops feeling like the elite STRATCOM agent whoās already seen too much at twenty-nine. He looks at her, and all of a sudden heās just that awkward rookie cop talking to a pretty girl through a chain link fence and forgetting all the horror around him. And itās the best feeling.
āIāve got the evening off,ā he says, letting go of the hug a little reluctantly. āThought we could have a couple of adventures. Really normal, boring ones. That is...if youāre not busy?ā
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