Blue on Black

Leon Kennedy starred at his gun as he heard the truck shudder into the drop zone. It was never going to get any easier. It didn't matter how many times he came into these towns and cleaned them out. 
It had nothing to do with the people. It was Claire Redfield. He saw her everywhere. The same scenario played out in his mind. In the end he was in her arms. Except...he wasn't. For the most part, he was alone. Until he was calling a phone number that made his chest hurt just to make the chill inside him go away. 
"Claire..." He breathed as he stepped off the truck and looked around. "Will you ever forgive me?" 

Rebecca Chambers didn't share Leon's sense of loneliness. The mousy haired woman was rather happy living alone. She'd seen far too many of her friends and loved ones die to believe in anything but science. 
At the moment she was seated on the floor of her office chewing on her pen, watching a video about the bio-experiments that had been newly discovered from Raccoon city. She didn't seem to be buying a word of it.

Claire Redfield was a name few dared speak around her family. Not just the one bound to her by blood, but the friends she had come to rely on too. Rebecca had been like the sister she never had, Jill the mother figure she had always craved, and Leon… he had been the piece of her forcibly taken after Raccoon City. A piece she never got the chance to place where it belonged. 
Today was a hard day for all those who had loved the red haired, opinionated and often sarcastic young woman. Three years. Three long years since Chris had failed to retrieve his baby sister from where she had been tangled in the plans of competing psychopaths. Claire Redfield had asked the only man she had ever loved for help; Leon had chosen a path he deemed more important. In the time it had taken him to locate Chris and send him in his stead… Claire was lost to them forever. 
Today was the anniversary, and flowers were placed on a grave that held an empty casket.

Leon took his shirt off and laid down in the darkness, listening to the rain. He hated rain. That brought back memories like nothing else. He tossed and turned, throwing the covers off. He tried laying on the floor, convincing himself that he deserved the pain of the concrete. Finally he ran outside and screamed her name into the storm, praying somehow that she could hear him. 

Rebecca gave up on the video and went for a run. It didn't matter that it was the middle of the night. Like Leon she needed to clear her head. Raccoon city was a memory that left her with a feeling of darkness that took too long to go away.

“She always loved the rain. Said if you stand in it long enough, it would wash even the worst sin away.” There she was, the only one who still deemed him worth keeping tabs on; Jill Valentine. She was toying with a golden lighter in her fingers briefly before pushing it back into her back pocket, hoping Leon hadn’t seen it. Of course she was here. It was for the same reason he was; Umbrella needed stopping. Losing Claire had been hard on them all, It had driven a wedge between Jill and Chris. Ever the protector though, she always watched over him. 

The city wasn’t a safe place for anyone anymore. It didn’t matter the horror she had survived; Rebecca was still a young woman who would make for easy prey. Of course, that would only matter if she didn’t have a silent protector. Jill wasn’t the only one who kept tabs on those she cared for. As Rebecca ran, there was a car trailing her, it’s lights off.

Leon turned to look at Jill, his chest heaving. "The rain doesn't bring anything but the dead." He gasped out. "That's all it ever did. Why are you here, Valentine?"

Rebecca still believed herself to be invulnerable. Or maybe she believed no one saw her because of her size.
Either way, she turned and cut through a dark alley, never seeing the car that was trailing her.

“Screw you too, Leon.” Jill snorted, though it wasn’t said with any real malice. “You think you have the monopoly on grief? You knew her for a few months, I knew her when she was still cutting class to race a stolen motorcycle.”

She didn’t see the car, but neither did she see the dark figure waiting at her only exit out the other side of the alley. He would stand there long enough for her to crash into him, but wouldn’t linger to help her back to her feet. The only sign anyone had been there at all, was the old, folded up photo of the STARS teams. Those already dead were crossed out, only Chris and Jill remained. Rebecca’s name was scrawled on the back, the only evidence she had even belonged there.

Leon cringed. That sounded so much like Claire. She had always been willing to try or do anything, whether he deemed insane or not. "Three years with her is...enough to know how crazy she can..." He caught himself. He'd still never been able to proclaim her gone. "I'm sorry. It's good to see you." Leon said with a half smile. "I'm surprised Carlos let you out of his sight." He laughed gently. "I figured he'd be afraid Chris might try to snatch you up."

Rebecca leaned against the wall, staring at the picture in her hand. Her fingers lingered over the image of Albert Wesker for a long moment. She should never have told him how she felt. That kiss...the nights they'd spent...his sneer and the cold look in his eyes when he'd aimed the gun at her. She still had the scar. 
Science, she sighed. Deciding the man had been her over imagination and the photo from her pocket, she shoved it back in and turned for home. Her lips were set in a thin line as she tried to keep the memories behind  her as she ran.

There was a flash of guilt in Jill’s cobalt eyes that she was a beat too slow to hide when Leon mentioned Carlos. “Chris had his chance.” She whispered, an emotional tremble to her voice that few people ever heard. “And for the record, I don’t need anyone permission to do anything.” She added quickly, giving Leon a painful poke in the chest. 

It would seem the games were only just beginning for Rebecca. As she returned to her apartment, a basketball rolled from the shadow down the hallway, halting just outside her door, though no one else was there.

"Ow!" Leon said, holding his chest. "Can you wait until I have my chest piece on next time?" He sighed softly. "I'm glad you're here. I can tell you the news. Im going to be a presidential guard. According to them I'm an expert in the undead."

This scared Rebecca. She paused in the hall, her hand shaking on the doorknob. It wasn't just any basketball. It was one she'd given Wesker as a joke when he'd laughed at her in a basketball uniform.

“What?” All the colour seemed to drain from Jill’s face. “Are tou kidding? That’s going to get you killed!” She insisted, that vulnerable note to her voice again. “Leon, please… tell me you didnt just say yes without thinking about it!” Her pale eyes were pleading with him, unable to bear the thought of losing more family.

There was something written on the basketball: 7-4. It looked like a simple low score, other than the fact it was the number of STARS now deceased versus those still alive, with only one person missing from being included in one of the scores.

"It's not a choice." Leon shrugged. "The CIA said they have something on me. Something about terrorism involving a connection with Raccoon city and Umbrella. They said they have proof I'd been hired on to go in to get a sample and nothing I say makes a difference. The Birkin girl didn't help anything. Especially not when she so suddenly disappeared." He patted her on the shoulder and smiled. "It's okay. It's not like I won't survive. You know me. I'm lucky."

Rebecca frowned at the ball, her mind clicking over the names and numbers. She'd seen all those dead personally...so whose name could possibly have been removed or maybe not been there at all?

Jill suddenly scowled, shoving Leon roughly against the wall. “Why didn’t you tell me?! I could’ve helped you!” She insisted, angry tears lining her long lashes. Jill couldn’t stomach yet another failure. 

The hall would remain silent, for now, however there was a message waiting on her machine. “Office chambers… do you have a death wish?” It had been a while, but there was no mistaking the lazy drawl that could only be Billy Coen.

Leon shook his head. "You have too much on your plate." He said softly. "Besides, what was I supposed to do? Tell them my best friend, another person they are looking for is coming to save me?" He gave her a teasing grin. "I see where Claire got the...beat them now and ask questions later. It's totally hot you know." He added, his grin widening. 

Rebecca put a hand over her mouth, the basketball dropping to the floor forgotten. The voice was deep and warm. It reminded her of a warm blanket, much like his arms had. She smiled to herself, playing it back. She'd missed the soldier, even though she knew she could never see him again.

“Now that WILL get you wrath from him…” Jill teased, tucking some of her long hair behind her ear. 

Rebecca wasn’t as alone as she thought. She was always being watched, he was always there worrying she was putting herself in danger with that damn perky, can do attitude of hers.

Leon laughed. "You really like the guy don't you?" He asked, pushing her away gently. "I hope you're happy. You deserve it. Right now Chris can't give that to you." He added, turning back to his hotel room door. "They're going to start missing me soon. I'll call you when I get to a safe spot, ok? You know Claire liked him, right?" He asked, halfway in the door now. "Hey...Jill? If I asked you to find Sherry, what would you say?" 

After a while Rebecca began to yawn, wearily she disrobed and headed for the shower. Soon she was climbing into her bed, once again replaying the message and listening to the soft sound of Billy's voice. She hoped he was safe. Anything was better than where she and Chris were. Paris was hell.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask Leon if any of them really knew what happy was any more, but she didn’t want to drag him down with her. “You know I’d do anything for you, Leon.” She told him simply, even though she knew the one thing that would indeed make him happy was the only thing she couldn’t give him. She was avoiding the question of Chris entirely.  Altos was a good guy, perhaps too good for her. 

Billy had been watching Chris too, assessing how capable he was of keeping Rebecca safe, after all… he had let his own sister die. Rebecca would be allowed the rest of the night in peace however, Billy knew he could at least give her that. It would be well into the morning when her phone screamed at the sparse room.

Leon nodded. "Just stay under the radar and don't let anyone know you're looking. Not even Chris." He warned. "And whatever you do, stay out of Paris and Spain. Umbrella is crawling all over there. All we need is for them to get their hands on her." He turned back for a moment, taking her hand. "It wasn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself. You can't carry guilt for something that you couldn't possibly have been there to stop." He hugged Jill hard. "Give Sherry my love." 

"I'm up!" Rebecca shouted into the phone, tumbling to the floor. She just barely missed smashing her head on the windowsill. "For shit sake! What?" She grumbled, fumbling along the floor until she could find her glasses.

Jill wrapped her arms around Leon and squeezed hard, like she knew it would be a long time before she saw him again. “Take care of yourself, boyscout.” She breathed, though hadn’t actually let go yet. “I don’t want to have to finally speak to Chris just to tell him you got yourself killed… or worse.” 

“Well, well… officer can do aunt a morning person, who knew.” Billy’s deep silken voice  rumbled.

"I wouldn't give him the satisfaction." Leon grunted, unable to stop the tear that slid down his cheek when she called him by Claire's pet name. She'd never been able to resist the dig, even after Raccoon City was behind them. She'd often referred to him as "her boyscout". More often than not this had been as loud as possible in a public area and more so when she thought another woman might be looking his way. 
"Hey, Supercop!" Not far away Carlos was waving to her from his truck. "We have to go! I found something you'd be interested in and it's not the ugly, naked boy there!" He snorted, wrinkling his nose at Leon, thought there was a sparkle to his eyes.

"You knew." Rebecca said softly. "Billy...What the hell?" She found her glasses and shoved them on, now looking for her pants. "Tell me you're on some desert island where not even the natives can...how did you find me?" She was practically shaking with joy as she asked this. "Are you okay? Tell me you're okay?"

“Can it, fuckface!” Jill shouted back, though she was grinning as she said it. “How am I supposed to get a piece of the hot naked boyscout with you watching?” She added, winking playfully at Leon. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to find her.” Jill swore, squeezing Leon’s hands this time, though she didn’t clarify if she meant Sherry, or some sign of what had happened to Claire. 

“Oh come on, you think a sweet little thing like you blends in?” Billy teased. “But seriously, night running? What the fuck? Just because you survived RC doesn’t make you immune to perverts down dark alleys!”

They'd been driving for awhile when Carlos finally looked across at his svelette lover and raised an eyebrow. "Penny for your thoughts?" He asked gently, resting a hand on her thigh. She'd been chewing on her thumb nail for a long while. He knew what it meant. She was planning something.

"That was you?" Rebecca hissed. "What kind of idiot...yeah well...I had a gun and I did survive RC. Perverts don't scare me." She'd almost said his name. She could have exposed him. "I'm going to get bagels now. That place on the corner has really great ones. Too bad your deserted island doesn't." She snorted.

“Hmm?” Jill had clearly been lost in thought when Carlos snapped her out of it. “Oh… just wondering how I track down a fifteen year old girl.” She replied with a heavy sigh, something she didn’t give context to immediately. Still somewhat distant, she simply laid her hand on top of his. 

“Yeah, too bad.” Billy snorted. “Just me, paradise, and all these naked women…” He mused, though was already jerking his jacket on as he balanced his phone between his shoulder and ear.

"No. I'm not like that. She has to be at least eighteen." Carlos said, pretending to be offended as he squeezed her thigh. "And besides. She has to be a blonde. I'm not even considering it if she's not." He pulled up in front of their hotel room and jumped out. 
It was a race to the other side. This went on every car trip ending. He did his best to make it to her door and open it before she could get out. So far he'd never made it. Today was no different. In fact the door hit him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. 

"Knew it." Rebecca said, taking her time as she wiggled into her jeans and searched for a shirt. "Such a pervert, dude. Geez. Some people never change." She clucked her tongue. "At least I like my coffee with a lot of chocolate in it. I'm a sweet girl, you know." She purred. "Too bad I'll be drinking it alone." She added as she headed out the door, slamming it behind her.

“Blonde, huh? So you’re what, just biding your time with me?” Jill asked, arching her brow playfully before turning to reach back into the truck to pick up her gun from where she had stowed it in the glove box. She was struggling to erase the sound of Leon screaming Claire’s name into the rain from her thoughts. She had to find Sherry, she couldn’t disappoint him. 

Rebecca would need to redefine her definition of alone that day. Inside the quaint little bagel shop a tall man was sat with his back to the door, shaggy hair slicked back under a baseball cap. He was sitting at the table Rebecca herself had sat at everyday for week; a fact he was very much aware of.

"Okay. So a girl." Carlos said as he sat down on the bed and shoved his hair back from his face. "What do you know about her and why are we looking for her?" He asked, watching Jill carefully. "You worry me, supercop. This isn't another attempt to get me to look for Claire is it? You know how I feel about that." He continued to watch her as he took off his boots and laid back. "We can't keep chasing ghosts. We've got live monsters to kill." 

Rebecca took a long moment to stare at Billy's back, her entire body stiff with emotion. He was there. It didn't seem like anything had changed and yet everything had. He had no idea what she'd been through since she'd last seen him. Or did he somehow? 
Her fingers moved to the dog tags she'd never given up. Clutching them tightly, a warm tear splashed on her hand. God how she missed him. 
With that thought she stumbled across the small shop and threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. "You big bully..." She whispered.

Jill didn’t seem to be paying attention to him as she unzipped and shrugged out of her faded STARS hoodie before sitting on the edge of the bed to remove her own equally worn boots. “Claire isn’t fifteen.” She finally responded, laying down next to Carlos and resting her head against his shoulder, a lean leg draped over his own as a finger idly traded round a piece of lint stick to the front of his t shirt. “Claire never gave up on anyone… she somehow kept a little alive through hell when I couldn’t even keep myself alive without help.”

“That’s Billy, doll face.” He chuckled, though did embrace Rebecca tightly. His even discreetly breathed her in, noting how she still smelled of clean cotton and a hint of what he thought was something floral.

Carlos sighed, wishing Jill would stop thinking about Claire. He admitted he was more than a little jealous of the Redfield twosome. He certainly would never have the hero status the two of them had obtained. 
"Okay. So back to my questions. What's the deal with the girl? Tell me about her." He asked, pressing a kiss to Jill's forehead. He may not be her hero Chris, but he certainly hoped he was enough for her right then.

"I should kill you myself for coming here!" She muttered "You're an idiot. And I...I still lo..." He'd told her never to say that to him again. He'd told her he didn't feel the same. Rebecca still couldn't keep her mouth shut. "You're a stupid bully face!" She finally shouted, giving him a good slap.

Jill let her eyes flutter closed as Carlos kissed her forehead. It was so sweet, so simple… and something she hadn’t known was missing from her life until he rolled back into it. “Sherry Birkin.” She finally breathed, as though it explained everything. “Claire found her in RC… got her out of there, with some help from Leon. But… the kid went missing right around the time we…” she still couldn’t bring herself to say the words that meant Claire was truly gone. 

Billy grinned and rubbed his cheek, the slap actually felt good. A reminder that she was really right there in front him, and it wasn’t another dream. “And you’ve become reckless.” He responded, the smile fading. “Let me guess, Redfield has you doing the grunt work while he plays god with peoples lives? Is that why you suddenly think you’re little miss badass?”

"Yeah. I met the Birkins. Don't remember much about the kid though." Carlos muttered. "It was a big...this guy and the guy with the glasses are your bosses, do as they say and you will live." He snorted at the thought. "Yeah. That worked out didn't it? So...she took off because of Claire? So we need to go back to where the three of them were living. She couldn't have gotten far. Not with a name like that. I'm sure there's a...fuck...let me guess...we're not going to be alone in this search are we? Umbrella on the opposite side of this Red Rover?" 

A few people in the Bakery applauded her slap and Rebecca blushed. She'd been in Paris too long. This was nothing out of the ordinary for them. "Don't you dare start pointing a finger at me." She hissed as she sat down across from him. She almost lost her train of thought as she saw the coffee and poppy and cream bagel. He remembered. "You had no right to be dropping off STARS photos and that basketball. That was just...mean!"

Jill nodded her head very slightly, the realisation that Carlos had encountered Wesker leaving her with a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Always Umbrella.” She breathed. “I would totally get it if you wanted out, and I wouldn’t be mad if you just want to walk away from this… from me.”

Billy had been lifting his own cream cheese and salmon bagel to his lips when Rebecca made her accusation. “Basketball? Photo?” He dropped the bagel back onto its plate and narrowed his steel coloured eyes. “I swear to Christ, I’ll shoot Redfield myself for leaving you vulnerable like that!”