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Leon sat alone at the bar, nursing yet another glass of whiskey. The amber liquid burned pleasantly down his throat, but it did nothing to quiet the restless churn in his mind. He had long since lost count of how many glasses he’d had.
The dim lights of the bar cast soft reflections across the polished counter. Low music hummed in the background, blending with the quiet murmur of conversations around him. None of it reached him.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
Leon exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for a moment.
Not again.
Another mission, probably. Another classified briefing. Another assignment that would pull him somewhere halfway across the world before sunrise.
Reluctantly, he pulled the phone from his pocket.
But the moment he looked at the screen, something inside him shifted.
Message from Claire.
Leon froze.
For a long moment, he simply stared at the name on the display.
It had been a long time since they’d last seen each other. And the last time… it hadn’t ended well. They’d argued. Not loudly, not violently, but the kind of argument that left too many things unsaid and too many things understood.
Since then, Leon had planned—more than once—to call her. To send a message. To offer the explanation she deserved.
But every time he picked up his phone, something stopped him.
Cowardice, maybe.
Or fear that whatever fragile thing still existed between them might finally break if he said the wrong words.
And now she had reached out first.
His thumb hovered over the screen as questions crowded his thoughts.
Why now?
What does she want to say?
Finally, he unlocked the phone.
The message appeared.
-
Hey. Long time.
I ran into Sherry the other day. She’s finally been given a little more freedom by the government.
They actually offered her a position, and she said she’s going to take it.
I wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but I respect her decision.
I think, deep down, she feels like she owes it to people—after everything her parents did during their time working for Umbrella.
Anyway, I just thought you should know.
-
Leon blinked.
Sherry? A government agent?
Of all the things he expected Claire to say, that hadn’t even crossed his mind.
But that wasn’t what struck him first.
What hit him was the way the message was written.
Ever since Raccoon City, Leon’s life had been turned upside down. Forced into government service. Years of brutal training. Endless missions, often without backup, sent into places most people would never survive.
An endless cycle.
Yet somehow, through all of it, Claire’s messages had always been a small constant in his life.
Little updates.
Stories about what she and Sherry were up to. Photos from their trips. Random observations about the world.
Simple things.
But after the kind of days Leon often had, those small messages had meant more than she probably realized.
They made him smile—even when he was too exhausted to do much else.
But this message…
This one sounded different.
Formal.
Professional.
Cold.
And for some reason, that hurt more than he expected.
Almost without thinking, Leon scrolled upward through their conversation history.
Older messages filled the screen.
-
Sherry finally got her diploma today! She’s officially going to be a freshman next year!
She misses you a lot.
We hope you’re doing okay. ♡
See attached photo.
-
Leon opened the image.
Sherry stood in a graduation gown, smiling brightly at the camera while Claire stood beside her with an arm around her shoulders, looking impossibly proud.
Leon remembered when that photo had arrived.
He’d been halfway across the world on a mission, sitting alone in a safehouse at three in the morning.
He’d stared at the picture for ten minutes straight.
Another message caught his eye.
-
Sherry insisted I send you this one.
We rode Space Mountain today! I almost threw up, by the way. XD
Wish you were here with us.
Maybe next time? :))
See attached photo.
-
Leon tapped the image.
The picture showed Claire and Sherry strapped into the roller coaster seats, both of them laughing wildly as the camera captured the moment mid-ride.
Leon had seen that photo at least a hundred times.
Yet every time he looked at it, the same thing happened.
He smiled.
A warmth spread quietly through his chest.
And then, just as quickly, a dull ache followed.
He refreshed the message thread once.
Then again.
And again.
Just in case.
But there were no new messages.
Leon sighed softly.
It took him a moment to realize what the feeling in his chest actually was.
He missed it.
He missed this.
The casual messages.
The photos.
The sense that somewhere out there, Claire was living a normal life—and that somehow he was still a small part of it.
More than that—
He missed her.
His gaze drifted back down to the newest message.
Sherry… working for the government.
The same system that had failed her again and again.
The same system that had treated her like a specimen… a lab rat… after Raccoon City.
The thought alone was enough to sober him.
Leon leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen.
He didn’t know exactly what he felt about it.
But Claire had said she respected Sherry’s decision.
And if Claire could do that—
Then so could he.
Leon picked up his glass, staring at the remaining whiskey for a moment before setting it back down untouched.
Whatever path Sherry had chosen…
The least he could do was make sure she survived it.
Now more than ever.