So slow to catch on

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Jill gave Leon a little push, then smiled. "Believe me, these things can last days." She assured him. "Besides, I want the chance to grill you myself."
"You doubt my suitability as a mother?" Claire asked thinly, folding her arms across her chest.

"Come on! Your news is always way better than mine!" Claire insisted, still not realising she had lost her cellphone. "Is it about your job? Are they finally putting you behind a desk?"

Leon's smile faded and he looked at her with horror. "Why in the world would they do that? What good would I be to anyone behind a desk?"

"You would be good to me." Claire replied, taking a great interest in something on the front of Leon's t shirt. "I would know you were safe... That some idiot wasn't going to get you killed." She added, hating the look that she knew was upon leons face right then.

"I usually end up working alone." Leon reminded her gently, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Come on, Claire. Let's get going and see if we can find a easy way out of here."

"Which idiot did you think I was referring to?" Claire asked with a smirk as her hand slipped into Leon's.

"You are so mean!" Leon wailed, pretending to pout like a small child.
This time it was his phone that rang but because he was worried about the noise it produced, he simply turned it off.

"Well that's a first." Claire commented when she saw Leon didn't answer his phone. "How do I get you to do that every time your office calls?" She added, her hand squeezing Leon's a little tighter, as though checking he really was still there.

"You know I can't do that." Leon said gently. "And besides, it wasn't the office." This time he let go of her hand and reached for his gun, frowning at the shifting darkness ahead of them.

Claire simply let her despondent gaze drift into the darkness. Unlike pretty much everyone around her, she couldn't legally carry a gun, which left her feeling somewhat inadequate at times, this being one of them.

One shadow burst out of the pure darkness and ran towards them. Leon took one shot and was rather surprised when the slender thing avoided it. "Claire!" A soft voice was all but squealing his girlfriend's name, moments before she was tackled to the ground.

Claire's back hit the ground with such force that the air was knocked clean out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath for a moment. In that moment, she was already certain she had imagined hearing something call her name.

"What the..." Leon barely had time to splutter as he grabbed for his gun and tried to press it to the head of whatever creature was trying to eat Claire. It was when the barrel touched a shock of blonde hair that he realized just who it was.
"Claire! Claire! I've missed you so much!" Sherry Birkin gushed, sitting up the elder girl and hugging her all over again.

Claire's sapphire eyes were wide as they looked up at Leon over Sherry's slender shoulder. This couldn't be, she had been told the blonde girl had died many years ago. "Sherry..." She finally managed to breathe, though she was just trying to confirm this was all real, perhaps she had hit her head harder than she had realised.

Though Sherry had grown, her expressive eyes were still the same. They still spoke louder than anything she could have said. "That's my name. Don't wear it out." She laughed, leaning back so that she could look Claire over.

Claire could still say very little. If Sherry was here... "Where you inside the lab when it self destructed?" She asked, struggling with the thought that Rebecca had been hiding the young girl there all these years.

"Yeah." Sherry's smile faded somewhat and she nodded her head. "I was hoping they'd send you and Leon here to look things over so I didn't escape. I just waited."
Leon gave Claire a horrified look over Sherry's head. It was clear his thoughts had taken the same turn as her own.

Claire hugged sherry tightly, simply so she wouldn't see the look in the elder woman's eyes. Rebecca had seen how frantic Claire had been when no one could trace Sherry, then when she was presented with supposed proof the girl was dead... Rebecca had watched Claire mourn too. It was unforgivable that she could do something like this. "Well were here now, and we're going to take you someplace safe, okay?"

Sherry nodded at this, hugging Claire tightly again before she sat back on her heels. "Sorry I knocked you over." She said softly. "I was just so excited...I haven't seen anyone I knew in so long..."

"Doesn't Leon get a hug too?" Claire asked gently, trying not to let Sherry see the worry in her sapphire eyes.

Sherry turned and hugged Leon, though there was a stiffness to it that had even Leon worried. He gently patted her on the head and laughed softly. "I've missed you, little girl."
"I've missed you guys too." Sherry gushed, now taking both their hands. "Come on. I can show you the lower levels and the way out."

Claire shot Leon another worried glance; sooner or later they were going to have to tackle to delicate subject of what was done to her. "Sherry, do you know the name of anyone who worked at this lab?"

Sherry nodded. "Not that it matters. They're all dead now. That guy...the tall blonde...he's got the same virus that I do...He killed them all except...the lady and the man in the business suit."
Leon coughed through his attempt to say something, trying his best to keep his mouth shut as he again gave Claire a horrified look.

Claire didn't need ton look at Leon to know they shared the same fear. "I'll bet you're hungry, huh?" She asked, simply to change the subject. "I'll bet you didn't know that Leon is pretty good in the kitchen, huh?"

Sherry shook her head, keeping her eyes straight ahead of her. "Actually...I don't eat anymore. I can't remember the last time I had anything that wasn't coming through a needle."
Leon was clearly to the point of stopping the caravan and demanding answers before they took another step. His free hand was on his weapon and he made it perfectly clear he was considering using it.

Claire new her boyfriend, and discretly closed her hand over his upon his weapon, shaking her head ever so slightly. "Sherry... I know it's going to be hard for you, but you need to tell us what they did to you here."

Sherry simply shook her head. "Not right now." She said simply. "Besides..." She pulled them to a stop and looked behind them. "There's a herd of lickers headed this way and some people just landed above us. There's no time for talking."

Claire looked behind them with a frown, unable to see anything. This was yet further proof that terrible things had been done to this once little girl. "Sherry... How do you know that?"

"I can hear them." Sherry said as if it were nothing at all. "Not to mention smell them. But...those men upstairs...one of them kind of smells like you." She told her, offering her protector a warm smile. "Could it be the brother you were looking for ten years ago? Oh...that reminds me...Did you find him?"

Claire couldn't meet Sherry's gaze. She didn't know what it meant if Chris was here, or what kind of mood he was in. "Yeah... I found him." She breathed at last, the thought occurring that Sherry may be able to smell her's and Leon's scents on each other too.

Sherry nodded, clapping her hands together with a grin. "That's good. I think you guys need to be together. A baby is a family effort, right?"
Leon coughed again, frowning at Sherry. "Who said anything about a baby?"
"Oh please. I can smell it all over Claire. Two scents doesn't mingle like that on their own." Sherry snorted, rolling her eyes. "Get that gun ready, Leon. You're about to need it." She added, pointing toward a long hallway. It was then that the clicking and hissing began.