So slow to catch on

First topic message reminder :

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.

"You saying I'm a bad girl?" Claire asked, the old mischievous glimmer in her sapphire eyes returning for a brief moment.

"Oh please." Leon snorted. "If I have to tell you that..." He chuckled. "You know what they say...bad girls...good guys...that whole thing."

"Uh huh..." Claire replied, already feeling a little better. "If that's true, I would have to be very bad to balance our your boy scout nature."

Six months passed in a blur for Leon. In between doctor's appointments for both Claire and Chris, and his work there was little time to do more than tumble into bed at night.
Chris hated him. It was clear every moment of every day. However, because Claire had become rather pregnant, he kept his annimosity to nothing more than hateful glares and whispered curses. It didn't help that Chris still hadn't regained his ability to walk. It was further humiliating to him to have Leon helping him do the things that he should have been doing for himself.
That night the two men were sitting next to each other on the couch, the silence deafening. If not for the tv there would have been no noise at all.

Claire struggled to lower herself down onto the couch beside Leon, but when she was done she huffed loudly. "Anyone would think I was living with two children already..." She muttered, the silence having been getting on her shredded nerves for months now. Six months was a long time when trying to keep her basically suicidal brother from killing the father of her unborn child with no more than a glare. Secretly, Claire had been hoping Jill would eventually come back, that she would have some miracle cure that would fix Chris. No such luck. What she didn't realise, was they had all been being watched for the entire time Chris had been staying here.

"I don't want to anger the grouch god." Leon muttered, pretending to take more interest in his television than his girlfriend or the other man.
"I have to piss." Chris snarled in return, his fingers twitching as he fought to reach for the remote. It was clear to everyone but him what Leon was doing. He was forcing the other man to try and move. "Will you fucking find a station?!" Chris added with an angry roar.

Claire had had enough. She couldn't carry on playing referee, and still keep herself calm enough to care for her baby. Silently she struggled back to her feet, which took longer than she would have liked. Without a word to either man she simply went to the bedroom she and Leon shared, and slammed the door shut.

Leon found himself resting his head in his hands, groaning softly. This whole thing was a nightmare he truly wanted to wake up from. "Geez, Chris. You could try not being an asshole while your sister is pregnant." He muttered.
"And you could try dropping dead." Chris growled, trying to force himself into his wheelchair.

"You haven't been sleeping, have you?" It was only when Claire closed her eyes that the voice would alert her to the fact she wasn't alone in the room. "That isn't good for the baby, and Chris should know it." Jill Rose up from the chair she had been sat in by the window now.
"What the he'll are you doing here?" Claire spat, not bothering to ask how the elder woman got in.

Leon heard Jill's voice from the hallway and reached for his gun. He didn't know how she'd gotten in and he wasn't sure he was overly comfortable with it either.

"How is he?" Asked, ignoring Claire's own question. "No... I know... He's given up, hasn't he?" Jill sat down on the edge of Claire and Leon's bed, her head bowed slightly as she looked down at a small vial in her hand. "Chris and I used to joke that it was a good thing we had the same blood group... You know, in case we ever got injured out in the field." With a heavy heart she Rose back to her feet, leaving the vial in her place on the bed. "If he can accept being a monster... That will fix what damage was done to his body." She breathed, and was out the window before Claire could question her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Leon asked as he gently pushed open the door to their room. "Claire...baby...I'm worried about you."

Claire picked the vial up, holding it to the light she realised it wasn't just a dark liquid, it was infact Jill's Uroboros infused blood. "She just never stops, does she?" She murmured, ignoring Leon's comment entirely.

"Does she really think we're going to give that to Chris?" Leon shook his head. "Give it to me. I'll take it to the labs and get my guys to analyze it." He added, holding out his hand. "I don't even feel comfortable with it in the same room as you."

Claire shook her head, closing her fingers tightly around the vial. "I'm going to show it to Chris. He may know what Jill is thinking better than anyone."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea either. Claire, he's finally stopped talking about her." Leon groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. "Wasn't I just telling you that he'd stopped calling out her name when he was sleeping?"

Claire hesitated to answer, again staringndown at the vial. "Doesn't he at least deserve to be given a choice?" She asked finally. "I hate her for what she did to him, Leon, but still... What if Jill really is 'the one'?"

"Chris won't accept it and you know it. He'll tell you to get it away from him." Leon reminded her. "It's stupid to even tell him."

Claire was quick to scowl at Leon, his words unintentionally strengthening her resolve. "Don't call me stupid." She warned her lover angrily, her heavily pregnant frame storming past him.

Leon did a very childish thing. For the first time in his life he threw himself down on the bed and screamed into a pillow. If nothing else, it made him feel a little better.

Chris was still sitting on the couch, though strangely he'd managed to get the remote. He was rather happily watching an x-rated movie, thinking he was alone.

Claire cleared her throat rather loudly as she glanced from the screen to her brother. "Oh I'm sorry, am I interrupting happy time?" She asked dryly.

"There's no such thing as happy time. I can't get it up anymore." Chris snorted, turning off the television. He gave his sister a strained but true smile. "Look, I'm sorry I pissed you off earlier. It's just one of those days...you know?" He patted the couch beside him as best he could. "You're not sleeping, kiddo. I think it's time we talked."

Claire sighed quietly at the fact that wasn't the first time someone had said that to her this evening. Slowly she lowered herself back down onto the couch beside her brother. "We do need to talk... But not about me." She agreed, though didn't yet show Chris the vial of Jill's blood.

"I'm doing the best I can." Chris muttered, thinking she meant he needed to get himself walking much sooner than he was. "Wait...if it's about Leon...I'll lighten up. Okay? It just seems easier to take all this out on him. He's a big kid. He seems to take it all in stride."

Claire shook her head and reached out to squeeze her brothers hand. "It's not about that, it's..." she hesitated, but knew she needed to tell him. "Jill was here... She... Was asking about you."

Chris frowned at this, not sure why Jill would be coming around now. "It's been six months. I thought this was all over." He whispered, turning his eyes to the picture above the fireplace.

Claire followed Chris' gaze and sighed quietly, almost wishing she hadn't told him. "She... Was worried, that you weren't trying hard enough." She breathed, the vial in her hand feeling like hot iron she should rid herself of quickly. "Chris... If she had a way to fix you... Would you want to take it?"

"I'm surprised Leon let you put that up there." Chris said instead, motioning with his chin to the large picture of the Redfields. Their parents stood in a windy field, holding two laughing children. The baby, Claire, had been reaching toward her brother and he was reaching back. Their mother had adored that picture. "Seems like he'd want you to move on or something. You know how he is." He snorted softly and shook his head. "I want to fix myself, kiddo. It's about more than my body. But...I can't do it if I let someone help me. Tell her not to try to motivate me with promises she can't keep. She won't come back...no matter how hard I work. Not this time. Mom and Dad didn't either...."

Claire was staring hard at the picture, wishing she remembered their parents. "Mom always smelled so good..." She whispered, the only memory she had. "This is different though... Jill isn't dead, and she... Still loves you." the younger sibling finally looked back at her big brother, opening her palm to show him the vial Jill had left. "She said it would... Make you a monster, like her."

Immediately, Chris shook his head. He made a grab for the vial, nearly sending it tumbling to the floor. "Was she here?" He demanded, trying for the vial a second time when his fingers failed him. "Did she give that to you? I'll kick her ass! It's over, Claire! She left me when I needed her most. It's her I'm angry with." He was rambling now and he knew it. He was so angry now he could barely force himself to breathe. "Bitch. That fucking thing can hurt you...Leon!" He roared, fighting now to push out of his chair. "LEON!" He managed to get an inch or so and fell straight forward, out of his wheelchair and face first onto the carpet. "LEON!"
After what seemed like forever, the other man came running down the hall, wearing nothing but a towel. "Chris, what the..." Leon didn't finish when he saw the state the other man was in. He simply knelt down and helped him back into place.
"That's not what I fucking wanted from you!" Chris hissed. "Take that...that...thing from Claire...get it as far away from my family as possible!" Chris howled, still in the throes of his anger. "Fucking monster my ass!"
Leon turned his eyes to Claire, not sure what to do next. He'd never seen Chris react this way. Not even to him.